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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8226c6f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50313 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50313) diff --git a/old/50313-0.txt b/old/50313-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4b62c78..0000000 --- a/old/50313-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13218 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Recollections of our Antislavery -Conflict, by Samuel J. May - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Some Recollections of our Antislavery Conflict - -Author: Samuel J. May - -Release Date: October 26, 2015 [EBook #50313] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS--ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT *** - - - - -Produced by Cindy Horton, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - SOME - RECOLLECTIONS - OF OUR - ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT. - - BY - SAMUEL J. MAY. - - - BOSTON: - FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO. - 1869. - - - - - Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by - SAMUEL J. MAY - in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of - Massachusetts. - - - UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & CO., - CAMBRIDGE. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Many of these Recollections were published at intervals, during the -years 1867 and 1868, in _The Christian Register_. They were written -at the special request of the editor of that paper; and without the -slightest expectation that they would ever be put to any further -use. But so many persons have requested me to republish them in a -volume, that I have gathered them here, together with several more -recollections of events and transactions, illustrative of the temper -of the times as late as the winter of 1861, when our guilty nation was -left “to be saved so as by the fire” of civil war. - -My readers must not expect to find in this book anything like a -complete history of the times to which it relates. The articles of -which it is composed are fragmentary and sketchy. I expect and hope -they will not satisfy. If they whet the appetites of those who read -them for a more thorough history of the conflict with slavery in -our country and in Great Britain, they will have accomplished their -purpose. That in the two freest, most enlightened, most Christian -nations on earth there should have been, during more than half of the -nineteenth century, so stout a defence of “the worst system of iniquity -the world has ever known,” is a marvel that cannot be fully studied and -explained, without discovering that the mightiest nation, as well as -the humblest individual, may not with impunity consent to any sin, nor -persist in unrighteousness without ruin. - -I am happy to announce that in due time a somewhat elaborate history -of the rise and fall of the slave power in America may be expected -from the Hon. Henry Wilson. He is competent to the undertaking. He -is cautious and candid as well as brave and explicit. He was an -Abolitionist before he became a politician. He has never ignored the -rights of humanity, for the sake of partisan success or personal -aggrandizement. Mr. Wilson, I believe, did as much as any one of our -prominent statesmen to procure the abolition of slavery in the District -of Columbia, and to effect its subversion throughout the country. - -My brief sketches have been taken, I presume, from a point of sight -different somewhat from his. Many of my readers may wish that I had not -reported so many of the evil words and deeds of ministers and churches. -I have done so with regret and mortification. But it has seemed to me -that the most important lesson taught in the history of the last forty -years--the influence of slavery upon the religion of our country--ought -least of all to be withheld from the generations that are coming on to -fill our places in the Church and in the State. - -My book, I fear, will be displeasing to many because they will not find -in it much that they expect. I can only beg such to bear in mind what -I have proposed to give my readers,--not a history of the antislavery -conflict, only some of my recollections of the events and actors -in it. I have merely mentioned the names of our indefatigable and -able fellow-laborers, Henry C. Wright, Stephen S. Foster, and Parker -Pillsbury. A due account of their valuable services in this country and -Great Britain would fill a volume as large as this. But, for the most -part, these became known to me through _The Liberator_ and _Antislavery -Standard_. - -My sphere of operation and observation was confined almost entirely to -Massachusetts and Connecticut, until I removed to Central New York in -1845. My travels as an antislavery agent and lecturer were restricted -to New England, and to the years from 1832 to 1836, before many who -have since become distinguished had given themselves to the work. -The field has been coextensive with our vast country. It cannot be -supposed that I have personally known a tenth part of the individuals -who have done good services, much less that I have been a witness of -their words and deeds. Often have I been encouraged and delighted by -unexpected tidings of noble words uttered and brave deeds done, in one -part and another of the land, by individuals whom I never saw before -nor since. Almost everywhere there was some one who promptly responded -to the demand for the liberation of the enslaved, and dared to advocate -their right to freedom. Could a perfect history be written of the -antislavery labors of the last forty years, hundreds would be named as -having rendered valuable services, of whom I have never heard; whose -good word or work perhaps was not known beyond the immediate circle -that was affected by it. But the memory thereof will not be lost. Every -righteous act, every heroic, generous, true utterance in the cause of -the outraged, crushed, despised bondmen, will be had in everlasting -remembrance, and He who seeth in secret will hereafter, if not here, -openly reward the faithful. - - S. J. M. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - RISE OF ABOLITIONISM 1 - Rev. John Rankin and Rev. John D. Paxton 10 - Benjamin Lundy 11 - William Lloyd Garrison 15 - Miss Prudence Crandall and the Canterbury School 39 - The Black Law of Connecticut 52 - Arthur Tappan 57 - Charles C. Burleigh 62 - Miss Crandall’s Trial 66 - House set on Fire 70 - Mr. Garrison’s Mission to England.--New York Mobs 72 - The Convention at Philadelphia 79 - Lucretia Mott 91 - Mrs. L. Maria Child 97 - Eruption of Lane Seminary 102 - George Thompson, M. P., LL. D. 108 - His First Year in America 115 - - ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT 126 - Reign of Terror 131 - Walker’s Appeal 133 - The Clergy and the Quakers 144 - The Quakers 147 - The Reign of Terror continued 150 - Francis Jackson 157 - Riot at Utica, N. Y.--Gerrit Smith 162 - Dr. Channing 170 - His Address on Slavery 177 - The Gag-Law 185 - The Gag-Law.--Second Interview 194 - Hon. James G. Birney 203 - John Quincy Adams 211 - The Alton Tragedy 221 - Woman Question.--Misses Grimké 230 - “The Pastoral Letter” and “The Clerical Appeal” 238 - Dr. Charles Follen 248 - John G. Whittier and the Antislavery Poets 259 - Prejudice against Color 266 - A Negro’s Love of Liberty 278 - Distinguished Colored Men 285 - David Ruggles, Lewis Hayden, and William C. Nell 285 - James Forten 286 - Robert Purvis 288 - William Wells Brown 289 - Charles Lenox Remond 289 - Rev. J. W. Loguen 290 - Frederick Douglass 292 - The Underground Railroad 296 - George Latimer 305 - The Annexation of Texas 313 - Abolitionists in Central New York.--Gerrit Smith 321 - Conduct of the Clergy and Churches 329 - Unitarian and Universalist Ministers and Churches 333 - Unitarians 335 - The Fugitive Slave Law 345 - Daniel Webster 348 - The Unitarians and their Ministers 366 - The Rescue of Jerry 373 - New Persecutions 389 - Riot in Syracuse 391 - - APPENDIX 397 - - - - -RISE OF ABOLITIONISM. - - -Ever and anon in the world’s history there has been some one who has -broken out as a living fountain of the _free spirit_ of humanity, -has given bold utterance to the pent-up thought of wrongs, too long -endured, and has made the demand for some God-given right, until then -withheld,--a demand so obviously just, that the tyrants of earth have -trembled as if called to judgment, and the oppressed have rejoiced as -at the voice of their deliverer. “It is thus the spirit of a single -mind makes that of multitudes take one direction.” - -Such, as the subsequent history of our country has shown, such was -the spirit of the mind of that man who will be honored through all -coming time, as the leader of the most glorious movement ever made in -humanity’s behalf,--the movement for _perfect, impartial liberty_, -which for the last thirty-nine years has rocked our Republic from -centre to circumference, and will continue to agitate it until every -vestige of slavery is shaken out of our civil fabric. - -“When the tourist of Europe has descended from the Black Forest into -Suabia, his guide asks him if he does not wish to see the source of -the Danube. Only one answer can be given to such a question. So he is -conducted into the garden of an obscure nobleman of Baden; and there, -within a small stone enclosure, he is shown the highest spring of -that river, which has worn its channel deeper and wider for sixteen -hundred miles, and, receiving on its way the contributions of thirty -navigable streams, enters the Black Sea by five mouths, thus opening -a communication between the interior of Europe and the Mediterranean, -bearing on its bosom the commerce of fifty millions of people, and -bringing them into the community of nations.” - -Soon after Mr. Garrison’s assault upon the institution of American -slavery began to be felt, (and that was almost as soon as it began,) -a Southern governor wrote to the mayor of Boston, demanding to know -what was to be expected, what to be feared, from this attack upon “the -peculiar institution of the South.” In due time the gentleman who was -then the high official addressed replied to his Southern excellency, -that there was no occasion for uneasiness. “He had made diligent search -for the would-be ‘Liberator.’ The city officers had ferreted out the -paper and its editor. His office was an obscure hole, his only visible -auxiliary a negro boy, and his supporters a few very insignificant -persons of all colors.” - -Undoubtedly to that dainty gentleman the rise of the antislavery -enterprise in our country did seem insignificant,--quite as -insignificant as the little spring of water in the garden at Baden. He -may never have learnt among his nursery rhymes, that - - “Large streams from little fountains flow, - Tall oaks from little acorns grow,” - -and he must have forgotten that Christianity began in a stable,--“that -not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble -were called. But that God chose the _foolish_ things of the world to -confound the wise, and the _weak_ things of the world to confound the -things which are mighty.” Our poet, Lowell, estimated, more justly -“the would-be Liberator,” his office and his humble assistant. - - “In a small chamber, friendless and unseen, - Toiled o’er his types one poor, unlearned young man; - The place was dark, unfurnitured, and mean; - Yet there _the freedom of a race_ began. - - “Help came but slowly; sure no man yet - Put lever to the heavy world with less. - What need of help? He knew how types to set; - He had a dauntless spirit and a press. - - “Such dauntless natures are the fiery pith, - The compact nucleus round which systems grow; - Mass after mass becomes inspired therewith, - And whirls impregnate with the central glow.” - -It cannot be denied that the spirit of Mr. Garrison’s mind has made -the minds of multitudes--yes, of the majority of the people of our -country--take a new direction in favor of impartial liberty. Of -course, I do not claim that this new love of liberty originated -with him. He was no more the creator of this moral power, which has -taken our nation in its grasp, and is remoulding all our civil and -religious institutions, than the fountain in the garden at Baden is -the originator of the mighty Danube. Mr. Garrison, no less than that -spring, is but a medium, through which the Father of all mercies pours -from the hollow of his hand the waters that refresh the earth, and, -from the fulness of his heart, the streams that purify the souls, -making glad the children of God on earth and in heaven. But although to -God we must ultimately ascribe all our blessings, yet do we naturally, -and with great reason, revere and love as our _benefactors_ those -persons who have been the means and instruments by which personal, -political, or religious blessings have been conferred upon us. -Especially do we acknowledge our indebtedness to them, if they have -suffered reproach, persecution, loss, death, for the sake of the good -which we enjoy. The time, therefore, is coming, if it be not now, when -the people of our reunited Republic will gratefully own William Lloyd -Garrison among the greatest benefactors of our nation and our race. - -However much our gratitude to the fathers of our Revolution may dispose -us to hide their shortcomings of the goal of impartial liberty, however -much we may find or devise to excuse or extenuate their infidelity to -the cause of down-trodden humanity, there the shameful facts stand, and -never can be effaced from the record;--the _fact_ that (notwithstanding -their glorious Declaration) the American revolutionists did not intend -the deliverance of _all_ men from oppression; no, not of all the men -who heroically fought for it side by side with themselves; no, not of -the men who, of all others, needed that deliverance the most;--the -_fact_ that the Constitution of this Republic (notwithstanding its -avowed purpose) did not mean to secure liberty to _all_ the dwellers -in the land over which it was to preside; nor did it provide that -those might depart from under it who were not to have any share in -its blessings, nor allow the spirit of liberty in them to assert its -claims;--the shameful _fact_ that the aim, the tendency, and the -result of that great struggle for freedom were partial, restricted, -selfish;--the terrible fact that the American revolutionists of 1776 -left more firmly established in our country a system of bondage, a -slavery, “one hour of which” was known and acknowledged by them to be -“more intolerable than whole ages of that from which they had revolted.” - -To complete, _by moral and religious means and instruments_, the great -work which the American revolutionists commenced; to do what they left -undone; to exterminate from our land the worst form of oppression, the -tremendous sin of slavery, was the sole purpose of the enterprise of -the Abolitionists, commenced in January, 1831. In this great work Mr. -Garrison has been the leader from the beginning. Of him, therefore, I -shall have the most to say. But of many other noble men and women I -shall have occasion to make most grateful mention. - -Although I claim that Mr. Garrison has done more than any one else for -the liberation of the immense slave population of America, I am not -ignorant or forgetful of those who, before his day, made some attempts -for their deliverance. Not to mention the many eminent divines and -statesmen of England and the Colonies, before the Revolution, who -utterly condemned slavery,--the prominent leaders in that momentous -conflict with Great Britain, and in the institution of our Republic, -felt and acknowledged its glaring inconsistency with a democratic -government. Some of that day predicted, with almost prophetic -foresight, the evils, the ruin, which it would bring upon our nation, -if slavery should be permitted to abide in our midst. Many protested -against the Constitution, because of those articles in it which favored -the continuance and indefinite extension of “the great iniquity.” But -their objections were too generally overruled by plausible expositions -of the potency of other parts of our Magna Charta; and they acquiesced, -in the vain hope that the _spirit_ of the Constitution would prove to -be better than the letter. - -For twenty years after the re-formation of our General Government in -1787, true-hearted men and women spoke and wrote in terms of strong -condemnation of slavery, as well as the slave-trade. They spoke and -wrote and published what the spirit of liberty dictated, in Maryland, -Virginia, and North Carolina, not less than in Pennsylvania, New York, -and the New England States. Nay, more, they instituted “societies for -the amelioration of the condition of the enslaved, and their _gradual_ -emancipation.” Headed by no less a man than Dr. Franklin, they besieged -Congress with petitions for the suppression of the African slave-trade, -and the _gradual_ abolition of slavery. But after, in 1808, they had -obtained the prohibition of the trade, they subsided, as did the -abolitionists of Great Britain, into the belief that the subversion -of the whole evil of slavery would soon follow as a consequence; not -foreseeing that, so long as the _market_ for slaves should be kept -open, the commodity demanded there would be forthcoming, let the -hazard of procuring it be ever so great. It is now notorious that the -traffic in human beings has never been carried on so briskly as since -its nominal abolition, while the sufferings of the victims, and the -destruction of their lives, have been threefold greater than before. - -Owing to this mistaken expectation of the effect of the Act of 1808 -abolishing the slave-trade, the attention of philanthropists was -in a great measure withdrawn from the subject of slavery for ten -years or more. Meanwhile, the friends of “the peculiar institution” -were busily engaged in extending its borders and strengthening its -defences. The purchase of the Louisiana and Florida territories threw -open countless acres of _virgin_ soil, on which the labor of slaves -was more profitable than elsewhere. The invention of the “cotton-gin” -rendered the preparation of that staple so easy, that our Southern -planters could compete with any producers of it the world over. Cotton -plantations, therefore, multiplied apace. The value of slaves was more -than doubled. The spirit of private manumission, which in Virginia -alone, between 1798 and 1808, had set free more than a thousand bondmen -annually, was checked by avarice, and then forbidden by law. And -the “Ancient Dominion,” proud Virginia, rapidly became the home of -slave-breeders; and from that American Guinea was carried on a traffic -in human beings as brisk and horrible as ever desolated the coast of -Africa. - -The free colored population at the South were subjected to new -disabilities, were exposed to most vexatious annoyances, and were -denied the protection of law against encroachments or personal injuries -by the “whites”; and very many of them, on slight pretexts, were -reduced to slavery again. - -Social intercourse between the Northern and the Southern States -was then infrequent. It was kept up mainly by the wealthy and -pleasure-seeking, who, in their enjoyment of the hospitality of the -planters, could learn little of the condition and character of their -bondmen, and were easily led to take “South-side views of slavery.” - -Whatsoever we gathered from these sources of information led us too -readily to acquiesce in the common assumption, that the negroes were -a thick-skulled, stupid, kind-hearted, jolly people, not much if any -worse off in slavery at the South than most of the free people of -color, and some other poor folks were at the North. So, when we were -disquieted at all on their account, it was but for a little time, and -we relieved ourselves of the burden by a sigh or two over the misery -that everywhere “flesh is heir to.” - -The first event that fixed the attention of Northern men seriously -upon the subject of slavery, over which they had slumbered since -1808, was the dispute that arose in 1819, upon the proposal to admit -Missouri into the Union as a slave State. The contest was a vehement -one. Mr. Webster was _then_ upon the side of liberty. He led the van -of the opposition that arrayed itself in New England, and would have -averted the catastrophe, but for the cry “dissolution of the Union,” -then first raised at the South, and the necromancy of Henry Clay, who, -with his wand of compromise, conjured the people into acquiescence. -Words, however, significant words, touching the evil and the awful -wrong of slavery, were uttered in that controversy which were not to -be forgotten. And feelings of compassion for the bondmen were awakened -which were not allayed by the result. - -Shortly before the Missouri controversy a movement had commenced in -the slave States, which was pregnant with effects very different from -those intended by the projectors of it. Often was it roughly demanded -of us Abolitionists, “Why we espoused so zealously the cause of the -enslaved?” “why we meddled so with the civil and domestic institutions -of the Southern States?” Our first answer always was, in the memorable -words of old Terence, “Because we are men, and, therefore, cannot be -indifferent to anything that concerns humanity.” Liberty cannot be -enjoyed, nor long preserved, at the North, if slavery be tolerated at -the South. But to those who felt so slightly the cords of love and -the bonds of a common humanity that they could not appreciate these -reasons, we gave another reason for our interference with the slavery -in our Southern States, even this: _we were solicited, we were urged, -entreated by the slaveholders themselves to interfere_. - -About the year 1816, while intent upon their projects for perpetuating -and extending their “peculiar institution,” the slaveholders were -alarmed by symptoms of discontent among the free colored people, -imagined that they were promoting insubordination amongst the slaves, -and so conceived the project of colonizing them in Africa. To insure -the accomplishment of so mighty an undertaking, it was obviously -necessary to obtain the aid of the general government. In order to -sustain that government in making such a large appropriation of the -public money as would be needed, the people of the North, as well as of -the South, were to be conciliated to the plan; and to conciliate them -it was necessary to make it appear to be a philanthropic enterprise, -conferring great benefits immediately upon the free colored people, -and tending certainly, though indirectly, to the entire abolition of -slavery. Accordingly, agents, eloquent and cunning men, were sent into -all the free States, especially into Pennsylvania, New York, and New -England, to press the claims of the oppressed people of the South upon -the compassion and generosity of the Northern philanthropists. Never -did agents do their work better. Never were more exciting appeals -made to the humane than were pressed home upon us by such men as Mr. -Gurley, Mr. Cresson, and their fellow-laborers. They kept out of sight -the real design, the primal object, the animus of the founders and -Southern patrons of the American Colonization Society. They presented -to us views of the debasing, dehumanizing effects of slavery upon its -victims; the need of a far-distant removal from its overshadowing -presence of those who had been blighted by it, that they might revive, -unfold their humanity, exhibit their capacities, command the respect of -those who had known them only in degradation, and, by their new-born -activities, not only secure comfort and plenty for themselves on the -shores of their fatherland, but prepare homes there for the reception -of millions still pining in slavery, who, we were assured, would be -gladly released whenever it should be known that the bestowment of -freedom would be a blessing and not a curse to them. Such appeals were -not made to our hearts in vain. Suffice it to say that Mr. Garrison, -Gerrit Smith, Arthur Tappan, William Goodell, and all the early -Abolitionists, were induced to espouse the cause of our oppressed -and enslaved countrymen, by the speeches and tracts of Southern -Colonizationists. - -If I were intending to write a complete history of the conflict with -slavery in our country, gratitude would impel me to give some account -of a number of philanthropists who, in different parts of the Union, -some of them in the midst of slaveholding communities, before Mr. -Garrison’s day, had fully exposed and faithfully denounced “the great -iniquity,” I should make especial mention of - - -REV. JOHN RANKIN AND REV. JOHN D. PAXTON. - -The former was a Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, where, in 1825, -having heard that his brother, Mr. Thomas Rankin, of Virginia, had -become a slaveholder, he addressed to him a series of very earnest and -impressive letters in remonstrance. They were published first in a -periodical called the _Castigator_, and afterwards went through several -editions in pamphlet form. He denounced “slavery as a never-failing -fountain of the grossest immoralities, and one of the deepest sources -of human misery.” He insisted that “the safety of our government and -the happiness of its subjects depended upon the extermination of this -evil.” We New England Abolitionists, in the early days of our warfare, -made great use of Mr. Rankin’s volume as a depository of well-attested -facts, justifying the strongest condemnation, we could utter, of the -system of oppression that had become established in our country and -sanctioned by our government. - -Mr. Paxton was the pastor of a Presbyterian church in Cumberland, -Virginia. He was a member of the Presbyterian General Assembly, which -in 1818 denounced “the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human -race as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of -human nature,--_utterly inconsistent with the law of God_.” Believing -what that grave body had declared, he set about endeavoring to convince -the church to which he ministered of the exceeding sinfulness of -slaveholding; and that “they ought to set their bondmen free so soon as -it could be done with advantage to them.” His preaching to this effect -gave offence to many of his parishioners, and led to his dismission. In -justice to himself, and to the cause of humanity, for espousing which -he had been persecuted, Mr. Paxton also published a volume of letters, -which were of great service to us. In these letters he faithfully -exposed the abject, debased, suffering condition of our American -slaves,--incomparably worse than that which was permitted under the -Mosaic dispensation,--and pretty effectually demolished the Bible -argument in support of the abomination. However, the labors of these -good men, and of those whom they roused, were erelong diverted into the -seductive channel of the Colonization scheme. - -But there was another of the early antislavery reformers, of whom I may -write much more fully in accordance with my plan, which is to give, -for the most part, only my _personal recollections_ of the prominent -actors, and the most significant incidents, in our conflict with the -giant wrong of our nation and age. - - -BENJAMIN LUNDY. - -In the month of June, 1828, there came to the town of Brooklyn, -Connecticut, where I then resided, and to the house of my friend, the -venerable philanthropist, George Benson, a man of small stature, of -feeble health, partially deaf, asking for a public hearing upon the -subject of American slavery. It was _Benjamin Lundy_. We gathered -for him a large congregation, and his address made a deep impression -on many of his hearers. He exhibited the wrong of slavery and the -sufferings of its victims in a graphic, affecting manner. But the -relief which he proposed was to be found in removing them to some of -the unoccupied territory of Texas or Mexico, rather than in recognizing -their rights as men here, in the country where so many of them had been -born; and in making all the amends possible for the injuries so long -inflicted upon them by giving them here the blessings of education, -and every opportunity and assistance to become all that God has made -them capable of being. Nevertheless, Mr. Lundy had done then, and he -continued afterwards, until his death in 1839, to do excellent service -in the cause of the enslaved. Indeed, his labors were so abundant, his -sacrifices so many, and his trials so severe, that no one will stand -before the God of the oppressed with a better record than he. - -Benjamin Lundy was born in New Jersey, of Quaker parents, in 1789, -and was educated in the sentiments and under the influence of the -society of Friends. He was, therefore, from his earliest days, taught -to regard slaveholding as a great iniquity. At the age of nineteen he -went to reside in Wheeling, Virginia, and there learnt the saddler’s -trade. This he afterwards carried on, with great success for a number -of years, in the village of St. Clairville, Ohio, about ten miles from -Wheeling. But he could not banish from his memory the sights he had -seen at Wheeling, which was the great thoroughfare of the slave-trade -between Virginia and the Southern and Southwestern States; nor efface -from his heart the impression that he ought “to attempt to do something -for the relief of that most injured portion of the human race.” - -As early as 1815, when twenty-six years of age, he formed an -antislavery society, which at first consisted of only six members, -but in a few months increased to nearly five hundred, among whom -were many of the influential ministers, lawyers, and other prominent -citizens of several of the counties in that part of Ohio. Although -unused to composition, he wrote an appeal to the philanthropists of -the United States, which was published and extensively circulated, and -led to the formation, in different parts of the State, of societies -similar in spirit and purpose to the one he had instituted. He then -engaged in the publication of an antislavery paper; and to promote its -circulation, and to gather materials for its columns, he commenced -his travels in the slave States. These were performed for the most -part on foot. Thus he journeyed thousands of miles, through Virginia, -Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. In most places -where he lectured publicly, or privately, he obtained subscribers to -his paper. In some places he succeeded in forming associations similar -to his own. Not unfrequently he met with angry rebuffs and violent -threats of personal injury. But he was a man of the most quiet courage, -as well as indomitable perseverance. He disconcerted his assailants -by letting them see that they could not frighten him; that the threat -of assassination would not deter him from prosecuting his object. -Several slaveholders were so much affected by his exposition of their -iniquity that they manumitted their bondmen, on condition that he would -take them to a place where they would be free. Twice or thrice he -went to Hayti, conducting such freed ones thither, and finding homes -for others whom he hoped to send there. Afterwards he explored large -portions of Mexico and Texas; and made strenuous endeavors to obtain -by grant or purchase sections of lands, upon which he might found -colonies of emancipated people from this country. In this attempt he -was unsuccessful; but while prosecuting it he gathered much valuable -information respecting the state of that country, of which afterwards -important use was made by the Hon. J. Q. Adams, in his strenuous -opposition in 1836 to the audacious plot by which Texas was annexed to -our Republic. - -Mr. Lundy was indefatigable in laboring for whatever he undertook to -accomplish. He learnt the printer’s art, that he might communicate -to the public whatever he discovered by his diligent inquiries of -the condition of the enslaved, and enkindle in others that sympathy -for them which glowed in his own bosom. He was not stationary for -a long while in any one place. His paper, _The Genius of Universal -Emancipation_, was published successively in Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, -and in Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore. For a considerable -time his lecturing excursions were so frequent, diverse, and distant, -that it was most convenient to him to get his paper printed, wherever -he happened to be, from month to month. So he earned along with him -the type, “heading,” the “column-rules,” and his “direction-book,” -and issued “the Genius,” &c., from any office that was accessible -to him. He often had to pay for the publication of it by working as -a journeyman printer, and at other times had to support himself by -working at his saddler’s trade. Nothing discouraged, nothing daunted -Benjamin Lundy. He possessed, in an eminent degree, the faith, -patience, self-denial, courage, and endurance necessary to a pioneer. -He was frequently threatened, repeatedly assaulted, and once brutally -beaten. But he could not be deterred from prosecuting the work to which -he was called. He was a rare specimen of perfect fidelity to duty, a -conscientious, meek, but fearless, determined man, a soldier of the -cross, a moral hero. - - -WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. - -William Lloyd Garrison commenced his literary and philanthropic labors -when a young journeyman printer, in his native place, Newburyport, -Mass. In 1825 he removed to Boston, and labored for a while in the -office of the _Recorder_. In 1827 he united with Rev. William Collier -in editing and publishing the _National Philanthropist_, the only -paper then devoted to the Temperance cause. And soon after he engaged -in conducting _The Journal of the Times_, at Bennington, Vt. In each -of these papers, especially the last, he took strong ground against -slavery. Believing the plan of the Colonization Society to be intended -to remove the great evil from our country, he espoused it with ardor, -and advocated it with such signal ability, that he was recalled to -Boston to deliver, in Park Street church, the annual address to the -Massachusetts Colonization Society, on the 4th of July, 1828. - -Mr. Garrison’s writings attracted the attention of that devoted, -self-sacrificing friend of the enslaved, Benjamin Lundy, of whom I have -just now given some account. He urged him in 1828, and persuaded him in -the autumn of 1829, to remove to Baltimore, and assist in editing _The -Genius of Universal Emancipation_. There Mr. G. soon saw, with his own -eyes, the atrocities of slavery and the inter-state slave-trade; there -he discovered the real design and spirit of the Colonization scheme; -there the radical doctrine of _immediate, unconditional_ emancipation -was revealed to him. He soon made himself obnoxious to slaveholders -by his faithful exposure of their cruelties; and his unsparing -condemnation of their atrocious system of oppression. - -After he had been in Baltimore a few months, a Northern captain came -there in a ship owned and freighted by a gentleman of Newburyport, Mr. -Garrison’s birthplace. Failing to obtain another cargo, said captain, -with the consent of his owner, took on board a load of slaves to be -transported to New Orleans. Such an outrage on humanity, perpetrated -by Massachusetts men, enkindled Mr. G.’s hottest indignation, and drew -from his pen a scathing rebuke. He was forthwith arrested as both a -civil and criminal offender. He was prosecuted for a libel upon the -captain and owner of the ship “Francis,” and for disturbing the peace -by attempting to excite the slaves to insurrection. - -It would be needless to spend time in proving that, in the presence -of a slaveholding judge, before a slaveholding jury, surrounded by a -community of incensed slaveholders, the young reformer did not have a -fair trial. He was found guilty under both indictments. He was fined -and sentenced to imprisonment a certain time, as the punishment for his -alleged crime, and afterward, until the fine imposed for “the libel” -should be paid. It was then and there that his free, undaunted spirit -inscribed upon the walls of his cell that joyous, jubilant sonnet, -which could have been written only by one conscious of innocence in the -sight of the Holy God, of a great purpose and a sacred mission yet to -be accomplished. - - “High walls and huge the body may confine, - And iron grates obstruct the prisoner’s gaze, - And massive bolts may baffle his design, - And watchful keepers eye his devious ways; - Yet scorns the immortal _mind_ this base control! - No chain can bind _it_, and no cell enclose. - Swifter than light it flies from pole to pole, - And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes. - It leaps from mount to mount. From vale to vale - It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers. - It visits home to hoar the fireside tale, - Or in sweet converse pass the joyous hours. - ’Tis up before the sun, roaming afar, - And in its watches, wearies every star.” - -After seven weeks of close confinement Mr. Garrison was liberated by -the noble, discriminating generosity of the late Arthur Tappan, then in -the height of his affluence, who, so long as he had wealth, felt that -he was an almoner of God’s bounty, and gave his money gladly, in many -ways, to the relief of suffering humanity. The spirit of freedom,--the -true American eagle,--thus uncaged, flew back to his native New -England, and thence sent forth that cry which disturbed the repose of -every slaveholder in the land, and has resounded throughout the world. - -It so happened, in the good Providence “which shapes our ends,” that I -was on a visit in Boston at that time,--October, 1830. An advertisement -appeared in the newspapers, that during the following week W. Lloyd -Garrison would deliver to the public three lectures, in which he would -exhibit the awful sinfulness of slaveholding; expose the duplicity -of the Colonization Society, revealing its true character; and, in -opposition to it, would announce and maintain the doctrine, that -immediate, unconditional emancipation is the right of every slave and -the duty of every master. The advertisement announced that his lectures -would be delivered on the Common, unless some church or commodious hall -should be proffered to him gratuitously. If I remember correctly, it -was intimated in the newspapers, or currently reported at the time, -that Mr. G. had applied for several of the Boston churches, and been -refused, because it was known that he had become an opponent of the -Colonization Society. A day or two after the first I saw a second -advertisement, informing the public that the free use of “Julien Hall,” -occupied by Rev. Abner Kneeland’s church, having been generously -tendered to Mr. Garrison, he would deliver his lectures there instead -of the Common. I had not then seen this resolute young man. I had been -much impressed by some of his writings, knew of his connection with Mr. -Lundy, and had heard of his imprisonment. Of course I was eager to see -and hear him, and went to Julien Hall in due season on the appointed -evening. My brother-in-law, A. Bronson Alcott, and my cousin, Samuel E. -Sewall, accompanied me. Truer men could not easily have been found. - -The hall was pretty well filled. Among some persons whom I did, and -many whom I did not know, I saw there Rev. Dr. Beecher, Rev. Mr. (now -Dr.) Gannett, Deacon Moses Grant, and John Tappan, Esq. - -Presently the young man arose, modestly, but with an air of calm -determination, and delivered such a lecture as he only, I believe, at -that time, could have written; for he only had had his eyes so anointed -that he could see that outrages perpetrated upon Africans were wrongs -done to our common humanity; he only, I believe, had had his ears so -completely unstopped of “prejudice against color” that the cries of -enslaved black men and black women sounded to him as if they came from -brothers and sisters. - -He began with expressing deep regret and shame for the zeal he had -lately manifested in the Colonization cause. It was, he confessed, a -zeal without knowledge. He had been deceived by the misrepresentations -so diligently given, throughout the free States by Southern agents, -of the design and tendency of the Colonization scheme. During his few -months’ residence in Maryland he had been completely undeceived. He -had there found out that the design of those who originated, and the -especial intentions of those in the Southern States that engaged in -the plan, were to remove from the country, as “a disturbing element” -in slaveholding communities, all the free colored people, so that the -bondmen might the more easily be held in subjection. He exhibited in -graphic sketches and glowing colors the suffering of the enslaved, and -denounced the plan of Colonization as devised and adapted to perpetuate -the system, and intensify the wrongs of American slavery, and therefore -utterly undeserving of the patronage of lovers of liberty and friends -of humanity. - -Never before was I so affected by the speech of man. When he had ceased -speaking I said to those around me: “That is a providential man; he is -a prophet; he will shake our nation to its centre, but he will shake -slavery out of it. We ought to know him, we ought to help him. Come, -let us go and give him our hands.” Mr. Sewall and Mr. Alcott went up -with me, and we introduced each other. I said to him: “Mr. Garrison, I -am not sure that I can indorse all you have said this evening. Much of -it requires careful consideration. But I am prepared to embrace you. -I am sure you are called to a great work, and I mean to help you.” -Mr. Sewall cordially assured him of his readiness also to co-operate -with him. Mr. Alcott invited him to his home. He went, and we sat with -him until twelve that night, listening to his discourse, in which he -showed plainly that _immediate, unconditional emancipation, without -expatriation, was the right of every slave, and could not be withheld -by his master an hour without sin_. That night my soul was baptized in -his spirit, and ever since I have been a disciple and fellow-laborer of -William Lloyd Garrison. - -The next morning, immediately after breakfast, I went to his -boarding-house and stayed until two P. M. I learned that he was poor, -dependent upon his daily labor for his daily bread, and intending to -return to the printing business. But, before he could devote himself -to his own support, he felt that he must deliver his message, must -communicate to persons of prominent influence what he had learned of -the sad condition of the enslaved, and the institutions and spirit of -the slaveholders; trusting that all true and good men would discharge -the obligation pressing upon them to espouse the cause of the poor, the -oppressed, the down-trodden. He read to me letters he had addressed to -Dr. Channing, Dr. Beecher, Dr. Edwards, the Hon. Jeremiah Mason, and -Hon. Daniel Webster, holding up to their view the tremendous iniquity -of the land, and begging them, ere it should be too late, to interpose -their great power in the Church and State to save our country from the -terrible calamities which the sin of slavery was bringing upon us. -Those letters were eloquent, solemn, impressive. I wonder they did not -produce a greater effect. It was because none to whom he appealed, in -public or private, would espouse the cause, that Mr. Garrison found -himself left and impelled to become the leader of the great antislavery -reform, which must be _thoroughly accomplished_ before our Republic can -stand upon a sure foundation. - -The hearing of Mr. Garrison’s lectures was a great epoch in my own -life. The impression which they made upon my soul has never been -effaced; indeed, they moulded it anew. They gave a new direction to my -thoughts, a new purpose to my ministry. I had become a convert to the -doctrine of “immediate, unconditional emancipation,--liberation from -slavery without expatriation.” - -I was engaged to preach on the following Sunday for Brother Young, -in Summer Street Church. Of course I could not again speak to a -congregation, as a Christian minister, and be silent respecting the -_great iniquity_ of our nation. The only sermon I had brought from my -home in Connecticut, that could be made to bear on the subject, was one -on Prejudice,--the sermon about to be published as one of the Tracts -of the American Unitarian Association. So I touched it up as well as I -could, interlining here and there words and sentences which pointed in -the new direction to which my thoughts and feelings so strongly tended, -and writing at its close what used to be called an _improvement_. -Thus: “The subject of my discourse bears most pertinently upon a -matter of the greatest national as well as personal importance. -There are more than two millions of our fellow-beings, children of -the Heavenly Father, who are held in our country in the most abject -slavery,--regarded and treated like domesticated animals, their rights -as men trampled under foot, their conjugal, parental, fraternal -relations and affections utterly set at naught. It is our _prejudice_ -against the color of these poor people that makes us consent to the -tremendous wrongs they are suffering. If they were white,--ay, if only -two thousand or two hundred _white_ men, women, and children in the -Southern States were treated as these millions of colored ones are, -we of the North should make such a stir of indignation, we should so -agitate the country, with our appeals and remonstrances, that the -oppressors would be compelled to set their bondmen free. But will our -_prejudice_ be accepted by the Almighty, the impartial Judge of all, -as a valid excuse for our indifference to the wrongs and outrages -inflicted upon these millions of our countrymen? O no! O no! He will -say, “Inasmuch as ye did not what ye could for the relief of these, -the least of the brethren, ye did it not to me.” Tell me not that -we are forbidden by the Constitution of our country to interfere in -behalf of the enslaved. No compact our fathers may have made for us, -no agreement we could ourselves make, would annul our obligations to -suffering fellow-men. “Yes, yes,” I said, with an emphasis that seemed -to startle everybody in the house, “if need be, the very foundations -of our Republic must be broken up; and if this stone of stumbling, -this rock of offence, cannot be removed from under it, the proud -superstructure must fall. It cannot stand, it ought not to stand, it -will not stand, on the necks of millions of men.” For “God is just, and -his justice will not sleep forever.” I then offered such a prayer as my -kindled spirit moved me to, and gave out the hymn commencing, - - “Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve; - And press with vigor on.” - -When I rose to pronounce the benediction I said: “Every one present -must be conscious that the closing remarks of my sermon have caused an -unusual emotion throughout the church. I am glad. Would to God that a -deeper emotion could be sent throughout our land, until all the people -thereof shall be roused from their wicked insensibility to the most -tremendous sin of which any nation was ever guilty, and be impelled -to do that righteousness which alone can avert the just displeasure -of God. I have been prompted to speak thus by the words I have heard -during the past week from a young man hitherto unknown, but who is, I -believe, called of God to do a greater work for the good of our country -than has been done by any one since the Revolution. I mean William -Lloyd Garrison. He is going to repeat his lectures the coming week. I -advise, I exhort, I entreat--would that I could compel!--you to go and -hear him.” - -On turning to Brother Young after the benediction I found that he -was very much displeased. He sharply reproved me, and gave me to -understand that I should never have an opportunity so to violate the -propriety of his pulpit again. And never since then have I lifted up my -voice within that beautiful church, which has lately been taken down. - -The excited audience gathered in clusters, evidently talking about -what had happened. I found the porch full of persons conversing in -very earnest tones. Presently a lady of fine person, her countenance -suffused with emotion, tears coursing down her cheeks, pressed through -the crowd, seized my hand, and said audibly, with deep feeling: “Mr. -May, I thank you. What a shame it is that I, who have been a constant -attendant from my childhood in this or some other Christian church, -am obliged to confess that to-day, for the first time, I have heard -from the pulpit a plea for the oppressed, the enslaved millions in -our land!” All within hearing of her voice were evidently moved in -sympathy with her, or were awed by her emotion. For myself I could only -acknowledge in a word my gratitude for her generous testimony. - -The next day I perceived, on his return from his place of business in -State Street, that my revered father was much disturbed by the reports -he had heard of my preaching. Some of the “gentlemen of property and -standing” who had been my auditors said it was fanatical, others that -it was incendiary, others that it was treasonable, and begged him to -“arrest me in my mad career.” The only one, as he soon afterwards -informed me, who had spoken in any other than terms of censure was -the great and good Dr. Bowditch, who said, “Depend upon it, the young -man is more than half right.” My father tried to dissuade me from -engaging in the attempt to overthrow the system of slavery which Mr. -Garrison proposed. He had come, with most others, to regard it as an -unavoidable evil, one that the fathers of our Republic had not ventured -to suppress, but had rather given to its protection something like a -guaranty. He thought, with most others at that day, that slavery must -be left to be gradually removed by the progress of civilization, the -growth of higher ideas of human nature, and the manifest superiority -and hotter economy of free labor. He admonished me that, in assailing -the institution of American slavery, I should only be “kicking against -the pricks,” that I should lose my standing in the ministry and my -usefulness in the church. I need not add that he failed to convince me -that “the foolishness of preaching” would not yet be “mighty to the -pulling down of the stronghold of Satan.” In less than ten years he was -reconciled to my course. - -A few days afterwards I gave my sermon on Prejudice to my most -excellent friend, Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., who was then the purveyor -of tracts for the American Unitarian Association. He accepted the -discourse as originally written, but insisted that the interlineations -and the additions respecting slavery should be omitted. He would not -have done this, nor should I have consented to it, a few years later. -But we were all in bondage then. Unconsciously to ourselves, the hand -of the slaveholding power lay _heavily_ upon the mind and heart of the -people in our Northern as well as Southern States. - -What a pity that my words in that sermon, respecting slavery, were not -published in the tract! They might have helped a little to commit our -Unitarian denomination much earlier to the cause of impartial liberty, -in earnest protest against the great oppression, the unparalleled -iniquity of our land. Of whom should opposition to slavery of every -kind have been expected so soon as from Unitarian Christians? - -The insensibility of the people of our country to the wrongs, the -outrages, we were directly and indirectly inflicting upon our colored -brethren, when Mr. Garrison commenced the antislavery reform,--the -insensibility of the Northern people, scarcely less than that of the -Southern,--of New England as well as of the Carolinas and Georgia, -of the professing Christians, almost as much as of the political -partisans,--that insensibility, not yet wholly overpast, even in -Massachusetts, is a _moral phenomenon_. A more glaring inconsistency -does not appear in the whole history of mankind. - -The love of liberty was an American passion. We gloried in our -Revolution. We thought our fathers were to be honored above all men -for throwing off the British yoke. Taxation without representation was -not to be submitted to. “Resistance to tyrants was obedience to God.” -We regarded the “Declaration of Independence” as the most momentous -document ever penned by mortal man, the herald note of deliverance -to the race. The first sentence of the second paragraph of it was as -familiar to everybody as the Lord’s Prayer; and almost as sacred as -that prayer did we hold the words “All men were created equal, endowed -by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, -liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And yet few had given a thought -to the fact that there were millions of men, women, and children in -our land who were held under a heavier bondage than that to which the -Israelites were subjected in the land of Egypt, were denied all the -rights of humanity, were herded together like brutes,--bought, sold, -worked, whipped like cattle. - -All in our country who were descendants from the Puritans, especially -those of us who claimed descent from the fathers of New England, were -imbued with the spirit of _religious_ liberty, had much to say about -the rights of conscience; but we gave no heed to the awful fact that -there were millions in the land who were not allowed to exercise any of -those rights, were not permitted to read the Bible or any other book, -and were taught little else about God, but that He was an invisible, -ever-present, almighty overseer of the plantations upon which they were -worked like cattle, standing ready at all times, everywhere, to inflict -upon them, if they neglected their unrequited tasks, a thousand-fold -more dreadful punishment than their earthly tormentors were able even -to conceive. - -We Americans, especially we New-Englanders, were, or thought we were, -all alive to the cause of human freedom. We were quick to hear the cry -of the oppressed, that came to us from distant lands. We stopped not -to ask the language, character, or complexion of the sufferers. It was -enough for us to know that they were human beings, and that they were -deprived of liberty. We hesitated not to denounce their tyrants. - -The call for succor which came to us from Greece was quickly heard and -promptly answered in almost all parts of our country. And why? Not -because the Greeks were a more virtuous or more intelligent people -than their enemies. No; we had little reason to think them better than -the Turks. But they were the _injured_ party, and therefore we roused -ourselves to aid them. How much soever our orators and poets gathered -up the hallowed associations which cluster around that classic land, -they all were but the decorations, not the point, of their appeals. It -was the story of the _wrongs_ of the Grecians which found the way to -our hearts, and stirred us up to encourage and succor them in their -conflict for _liberty_. Dr. Howe will tell you that it was not their -admiration of Greece in her ancient glory, but their sympathy for -Greece in her modern degradation, that impelled him and his chivalrous -companions to fly thither, and peril their lives in her cause. - -Coming to us from any other land, the cry for freedom sent through -American bosoms a thrilling emotion. We stopped not to inquire who they -were that would be free. If they were men, we knew they had a right to -liberty. No matter how the yoke had been fastened on them,--whether by -inheritance, or conquest, or political compromise,--we felt that it -ought to be broken. And although to break it the whole social fabric of -their oppressors must be overturned, still we said, _Let the yoke be -broken_! - -Thus we quickly felt, thus we reasoned and acted, in all cases of -oppression excepting one,--the one _at home_, the one in which we were -implicated with the oppressors. We were blind, we were deaf, we were -dumb, to the wrongs and outrages inflicted upon one sixth part of the -population of our own country. In the Southern States the colored -people were held as property, chattels personal, liable to all the -incidents of the estates of their owners, could be seized to pay their -debts, or mortgaged, or given away, or bequeathed by them. To all -intents and purposes, they were regarded by the laws of those States, -and might be legally disposed of, and otherwise treated, just like -domesticated brute animals. In most of the Northern States they were -not admitted to the prerogatives of citizens. In none of them were they -allowed to enjoy equal social, educational, or religious privileges; -nor were they permitted to engage in any of the lucrative professions, -trades, or handicrafts. They were condemned to all the menial offices. -It was impossible not to respect and value many of them as servants -and nurses, but they were not suffered to come nearer to white people -in any domestic or social relations. Intermarriages with them were -illegal, and punishable by heavy penalties. They were not allowed to -travel (unless as servants) in any public conveyances. Their children -were excluded from the schools which white children attended, and they -were set apart in one corner of the places of public worship called -the houses of God,--_the impartial Father_ of all men. A certain shade -of complexion, though much lighter than some brunettes, consigned any -one guilty of it to the grade of the blacks, which was de-gradation. -We were educated to regard negroes as an inferior race of beings, -not entitled to the distinctive rights and privileges of white men. -Ignorance, poverty, and servitude came to be considered the birthright, -the inheritance, of all Africans and their descendants; and therefore -we did not feel the pressure of their bonds, nor the smart of the -wounds that were continually given them. - -Prejudice against color had become universal. The most elevated -were not superior to it; the humblest white men were not below it. -_Colorphobia_ was a disease that infected all white Americans. Let me -give my readers one instance of its virulence. - -In 1834, being on a visit to my father in Boston, I was requested -to call upon one of his old friends, that he might dissuade me from -co-operating any further with “that wrong-headed, fanatical Garrison.” -The honorable gentleman was very prominent in the fashionable, -professional, and political society of that city. He had always -expressed a kind regard for me, and had shown his confidence by -committing to my care the education of two of his sons. - -I did not doubt that he had been moved to send for me by his sincere -concern for what he deemed my welfare. He received me with elegant -courtesy, as he was wont to do, but entered at once upon the subject -of “Mr. Garrison’s misdirected, mischievous enterprise.” He insisted -that, while the negroes ought to be treated humanely, the thought -of their ever being elevated to an equality with white men was -preposterous, and he wondered that a man of common sense should -entertain the thought an hour. He said: “Why, they are evidently an -inferior race of beings, intended to be the servants of those on whom -the Creator has conferred a higher nature,” and adduced the arguments -which were then becoming, and have since been, so common with those -who would maintain this position. At length I said to him: “Sir, we -Abolitionists are not so foolish as to require or wish that ignorant -negroes should be considered wise men, or that vicious negroes should -be considered virtuous men, or poor negroes be considered rich men. -All we demand for them is that negroes shall be permitted, encouraged, -assisted to become as wise, as virtuous, and as rich as they can, -and be acknowledged to be just what they have become, and be treated -accordingly.” He replied, with great emphasis: “Mr. M., if you should -bring me negroes who had become the wisest of the wise, the best of the -good, the richest of the rich, I would not acknowledge them to be my -equals.” “Then,” said I, “you might be laughed at; for, if there be any -meaning in your words, such men would be your superiors. Think, sir, a -moment of your presuming to contemn the wisest of the wise, the best of -the good, the richest of the rich, because of their complexion. This -would be the insanity of prejudice. Why, sir,” I continued, “Rammohun -Roy is soon coming to this country; and he is of a darker hue than -many American persons who are prescribed and degraded because of their -color.” “Well, sir,” he angrily replied, “I am not one who will show -him any respect.” “What,” I cried, “not take pains to know and treat -with respect Rammohun Roy?” “No,” he rejoined,--“no, not even Rammohun -Roy!” “Then,” I retorted, “you will lose the honor of taking by the -hand the most remarkable man of our age.” He was much offended, and, as -I afterwards learnt, chose that our acquaintance should end with that -interview. - -Such was the prejudice that Mr. Garrison found confronting him -everywhere, and it still is the greatest obstacle in our country to the -progress of liberty and the establishment of peace. - - “Truths would you teach to save a sinking land? - All fear, none aid you, and few understand.” - -Never, since the days of our Saviour, have these lines of Pope been -more fully verified than in the experience of Mr. Garrison. So soon as -it was known that he opposed the Colonization plan, and demanded for -the enslaved immediate emancipation, without expatriation, he was at -once generally denounced as a very dangerous person. Very few of those -who were convinced by his facts and his appeals that something should -be done forthwith for the relief of our oppressed millions ventured, -during the first twelve months of his labors, to help him. Even the -excellent Deacon Grant would not trust him for paper on which to print -his _Liberator_ a month. And most of those who assisted him to get -audiences wherever he went, and who subscribed for the _Liberator_, -and who expressed their best wishes, were intimidated by his boldness, -frequently half acknowledged that he demanded too much for our -bondmen, and could not be made to understand his fundamental doctrine -of “immediate unconditional emancipation,” often and clearly as he -expounded it. - -In November, 1831, I happened again to be in Boston on a visit, when -it was proposed to attempt the formation of an antislavery society. -A meeting was called at the office of Samuel E. Sewall, Esq. Fifteen -gentlemen assembled there. We agreed in the outset that, if the -apostolic number of twelve should be found ready to unite upon the -principles that should be thought vital, and in a plan of operations -deemed wise and expedient, we would then and there organize an -association. Mr. Garrison announced the doctrine of “immediate -emancipation” as being essential to the great reform that was needed -in our land, the extirpation of slavery, and the establishment of the -human rights of the millions who were groaning under a worse than -Egyptian bondage. We discussed the point two hours. But though we were -the earliest and most earnest friends of the young reformer, only -_nine_ of us were brought to see, eye to eye with him, as to the right -of the slave and the duty of the master. Only nine of us were brought -to see that a man was a man, let his complexion be what it might be; -and that no other man, not the most exalted in the land, could regard -and hold him a moment as his property, his chattel, _without sin_. -Only nine of us were brought to understand that the first thing to be -done for those men held in the condition of domesticated brutes, was -to recognize, acknowledge their _humanity_, and secure to them their -God-given rights,--those rights of all men set forth as inalienable in -the immortal Declaration of American Independence. Only nine of us were -brought to see that the _first_ thing to be done for the improvement -of the condition of the slave is to break his yoke, to set him free, -and that what needs to be done first ought to be done without delay, -immediately. The rest of the company partook of the fear, common at -that day, that it would be very dangerous to set millions of slaves -free at once. Although liberty was announced to the world, in our -American Declaration, as the _birthright_ of all the children of -men, yet were the people of our country so blinded and besotted by -the influence of our slave system, that it was almost universally -pronounced unsafe to give liberty to adult men, who were slaves, until -they should be prepared for freedom, and deemed qualified to exercise -it aright. Mr. Garrison had had to meet and combat this senseless fear -everywhere, from the commencement of his enterprise. He had shown to -all who could see that slavery was not a school in which men could -be educated for liberty; that they could no more be trained to feel -and act as freemen should, so long as they were kept in bondage, than -children could be taught to walk so long as they were held in the -arms of nurses. Moreover, he argued, that if those only should be -intrusted with liberty who knew how to use it, slaveholders were of -all men the last that should be left free, seeing that they habitually -outraged liberty,--indeed, had been educated to trample upon human -rights. Still, his doctrine was generally misunderstood, egregiously -misrepresented, and violently opposed. And, as I have stated, only nine -out of fifteen of his elect followers, after he had been preaching -and publishing the doctrine a year, fully believed or dared to unite -with him in announcing it to the world as their faith. We therefore -separated in November, 1831, without having organized. I returned -disappointed to my home in Connecticut, eighty miles from Boston; -too far at that day, ere railroads were lain, to come, in the depth -of winter, to assist in the formation of the New England Antislavery -Society, which took place in January, 1832. So I lost the honor of -being one of the actual founders of the first society based upon the -true principle,--_immediate emancipation_. - -That there was point, vitality, power, in this doctrine was proved by -the commotion which was everywhere caused by the promulgation of it. -From one end of the country to the other the cry went forth against -the editor of the _Liberator_, Fanatic! Incendiary! Madman! The -slaveholders raved, and their Northern apologists confessed that they -had too much cause to be offended. Grave statesmen and solemn divines -pronounced the doctrines of the New England Abolitionists unwise, -dangerous, false, unconstitutional, revolutionary. Encouraged by these -responses, the slaveholding aristocrats grew so bold as to demand -that “this fanatical assault upon one of their domestic institutions -should be quelled at once,” that the publications of the Abolitionists -should be suppressed, our meetings dispersed, our lecturers and agents -arrested. And scarcely had the _Liberator_ entered upon its second -year before a reward was offered by a Southern Legislature for the -abduction of the person, or for the life of its editor. And no Northern -Legislature expressed its alarm or surprise. No Northern paper, secular -or religious, reproved these assaults upon the liberty of the press and -the freedom of speech. Thus was the viper _cherished_ that has since -stung so deeply the bosom of our Republic, has inflicted a wound that -is still open and festering. - -The grossest abuse was heaped upon Mr. Garrison; the vilest aspersions -cast upon his character by those who knew nothing of his private life; -the worst designs imputed to his great enterprise by those who were -interested directly or indirectly in upholding the system of iniquity -which he had resolved to overthrow. - -One of the charges brought against him, the one which probably hindered -his success more than any other, was that he was an enemy of religion, -an infidel, and that his covert but real purpose was to subvert the -institutions of Christianity. - -Now Mr. Garrison is, and ever has been since I knew him, a profoundly -religious man, one of the most so I have ever known. No one really -acquainted with him will say the contrary, unless it be under the -impulse of a sectarian prejudice, personal resentment, or a sinister -purpose. True, his doctrinal opinions and his regard for rites and -forms have come to differ from those of the popular religionists of -our day, as much as did the opinions of Jesus Christ differ from those -of the temple and synagogue worshippers of his day. It would have been -_politic_ in him not to have incurred, as he did, the opposition and -hatred of so many of the ministers and churches of our country. But -Mr. Garrison knew not how to counsel with the wisdom of this world. -He surely had as much cause and as frequent occasions to expose the -inhumanity and hypocrisy of our country as Jesus had to denounce the -scribes, Pharisees, and priests of Judea. He soon discovered, to his -astonishment, that the American Church was the bulwark of American -slaveholders. The truth of this accusation was afterwards elaborately -proved by the Hon. J. G. Birney. It was emphatically acknowledged by -the Rev. Dr. Albert Barnes, and has since been repeatedly declared by -Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and Rev. Dr. Cheever, all honorable, orthodox -men. Now, pray, how ought a great captain, though his army be a small -one,--how ought he to treat the _bulwark_ of the enemy he means to -subdue? how but to assail and demolish it if he can? God be praised, -Christianity and the American Church were not then, and are not now, -identical. The religion of Jesus Christ is dearer to Mr. Garrison than -his own life. It was only the hollow-hearted pretenders to piety whom -he exposed, censured, ridiculed. He never uttered from his pen or his -lips a word that I have read or heard, or that has been reported to -me,--not a word but in reverence and love of the truth and the spirit, -the doctrines and the precepts, of Jesus Christ. - -Many of those who were interested in Mr. Garrison’s holy purpose, -and wished him success, thought him too severe; many more thought -him indiscreet. He was remonstrated with often earnestly. But he -could not be persuaded that it was not right and wise to blame those -persons _most_ for our national sin who had the most influence on the -government, the policy, the prevailing sentiments, the customs, and, -above all, the _religion_ of the nation. Mr. Garrison would sometimes -argue, and argue powerfully, convincingly, with those who found fault -with his words of fiery indignation, and show that tamer language -would be inapt, unfelt. At other times he would say, “Do the poor, -hunted, hounded, down-trodden slaves think my language too severe or -misapplied? Do that wretched husband and wife who have just now been -separated from each other forever by that respectable gentleman in -Virginia,--the one sold to be taken to New Orleans, the other kept at -home to pine in the hovel made desolate,--do that husband and wife -think my denunciation of their master too severe, because he is a -judge, or a governor, or a minister, or because he is a member of a -Christian church, or even because he has been hitherto, and in other -respects, a kind master to them? Until I hear such ones complain of -my severity, I shall not doubt its propriety.” “If those who deserve -the lash feel it and wince at it, I shall be assured I am striking -the right persons in the right place.” “I will be,” are his memorable -words that rung through the land,--“I will be as harsh as truth, and as -uncompromising as justice. On the subject of slavery I do not wish to -think or speak or write with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house -is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue -his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually -extricate her babe from the fire; but urge me not to use moderation -in a cause like the present. I am in earnest. I will not equivocate; I -will not excuse; I will not retreat an inch; and _I will be heard_.” - -Mr. Garrison will perhaps remember that, a few months after he -commenced the _Liberator_, when almost everybody was finding fault -with him, or wishing that he would be more temperate, I was one of -the friends that came to remonstrate and entreat. He and his faithful -partner, Isaac Knapp, were at work in the little upper chamber, No. 6 -Merchants’ Hall, where they lived, as well as they could, with their -printing-press and types, all within an enclosure sixteen or eighteen -feet square. I requested him to walk out with me, that we might confer -on an important matter. He at once laid aside his pen, and we descended -to the street. I informed him how much troubled I had become for fear -he was damaging the cause he had so much at heart by the undue severity -of his style. He listened to me patiently, tenderly. I told him what -many of the wise and prudent, who professed an interest in his object, -said about his manner of pursuing it. He replied somewhat in the way -I have described above. “But,” said I, “some of the epithets you use, -though not perhaps too severe, are not precisely applicable to the sin -you denounce, and so may seem abusive.” “Ah!” he rejoined, “until the -term ‘slaveholder’ sends as deep a feeling of horror to the hearts of -those who hear it applied to any one as the terms ‘robber,’ ‘pirate,’ -‘murderer’ do, we must use and multiply epithets when condemning the -sin of him who is guilty of the ‘_sum of all villanies_.’” “O,” cried -I, “my friend, do try to moderate your indignation, and keep more cool; -why, you are all on fire.” He stopped, laid his hand upon my shoulder -with a kind but emphatic pressure, that I have felt ever since, and -said slowly, with deep emotion, “Brother May, I have need to be _all -on fire_, for I have mountains of ice about me to melt.” From that hour -to this I have never said a word to Mr. Garrison, in complaint of his -style. I am more than half satisfied now that he was right then, and we -who objected were mistaken. - -A year or two afterwards I was in the study of Dr. Channing, who, -from the rise of the antislavery movement, watched it with deep and -increasing emotion, and often sent for me, and oftener for the heroic -Dr. Follen, to converse with us about it. I was in the Doctor’s study, -and had been endeavoring to explain and reconcile him to some measures -of the Abolitionists which I found had troubled him, when he said, with -great gravity and earnestness, “But, Mr. May, your friend Garrison’s -style is excessively severe. The epithets he uses are harsh, abusive, -exasperating.” I replied, “Dr. Channing, I thought so once myself. But -you have furnished me with a sufficient apology, if not justification, -of Mr. Garrison’s severity.” And taking from his bookcase the octavo -volume of the Doctor’s Discourses, Reviews, and Miscellanies, published -in 1830, I read parts of the passage commencing on the twenty-second -and closing on the twenty-fourth page, in which he replies to the -charge, brought against the great Milton’s prose writings, of -“party-spirit, coarse invective, and controversial asperity.” I wish -there were room here for me to quote the whole of it, it is all so -applicable to Mr. Garrison; but I will give only the close: “Men of -natural softness and timidity, of a sincere but effeminate virtue, -will be apt to look on these bolder, hardier spirits as violent, -perturbed, uncharitable; and the charge will not be wholly groundless. -But that deep feeling of evils, which is necessary to effectual -conflict with them, and which marks God’s most powerful messengers -to mankind, cannot breathe itself in soft and tender accents. The -deeply moved soul will speak strongly, and ought to speak so as to -move and shake nations. We must not mistake Christian benevolence -as if it had but one voice,--that of soft entreaty. It can speak in -piercing and awful tones. There is constantly going on in our world a -conflict between good and evil. The cause of human nature has always to -wrestle with foes. All improvement is a victory won by struggles. It is -especially true of those great periods which have been distinguished -by revolutions in government and religion, and from which we date the -most rapid movements of the human mind, that they have been signalized -by conflict. At such periods men gifted with great power of thought and -loftiness of sentiment are especially summoned to the conflict with -evil. They hear, as it were, in their own magnanimity and generous -aspirations the voice of a divinity; and thus commissioned, and burning -with a passionate devotion to truth and freedom, they must and will -speak with an indignant energy, and they ought not to be measured by -the standard of ordinary minds in ordinary times. - -“Milton reverenced and loved human nature, and attached himself to its -great interests with a fervor of which only such a mind was capable. -He lived in one of those solemn periods which determine the character -of ages to come. His spirit was stirred to its very centre by the -presence of danger. He lived in the midst of battle. That the ardor -of his spirit sometimes passed the bounds of wisdom and charity, and -poured forth unwarrantable invective, we see and lament. But the purity -and loftiness of his mind break forth amidst his bitterest invectives. -We see a noble nature still. We see that no feigned love of truth and -freedom was a covering for selfishness and malignity. He did indeed -love and adore uncorrupted religion and intellectual liberty, and let -his name be enrolled among their truest champions.” - -The Doctor bowed and smiled blandly, saying, “I confess the quotation -is not inapt nor unfairly made.” - - -MISS PRUDENCE CRANDALL AND THE CANTERBURY SCHOOL. - -Often, during the last thirty, and more often during the last ten -years, you must have seen in the newspapers, or heard from speakers in -Antislavery and Republican meetings, high commendations of the _County -of Windham_ in Connecticut, as bearing the banner of equal human and -political rights far above all the rest of that State. In the great -election of the year 1866 the people of that county gave a large -majority of votes in favor of _negro suffrage_. - -This moral and political elevation of the public sentiment there is -undoubtedly owing to the distinct presentation and thorough discussion, -throughout that region, of the most vital antislavery questions in -1833 and 1834, called out by the shameful, cruel persecution of -Miss Prudence Crandall for attempting to establish in Canterbury a -boarding-school for “colored young ladies and little misses.” - -I was then living in Brooklyn, the shire town of the county, six miles -from the immediate scene of the violent conflict, and so was fully -drawn into it. I regret that, in the following account of it, allusions -to myself and my acts must so often appear. But as Æneas said to Queen -Dido, in telling his story of the Trojan War, so may I say, respecting -the contest about the Canterbury school, “All of which I saw, and part -of which I was.” - -In the summer or fall of 1832 I heard that Miss Prudence Crandall, an -excellent, well-educated Quaker young lady, who had gained considerable -reputation as a teacher in the neighboring town of Plainfield, had been -induced by a number of ladies and gentlemen of Canterbury to purchase -a commodious, large house in their pretty village, and establish her -boarding and day school there, that their daughters might receive -instruction in several higher branches of education not taught in the -public district schools, without being obliged to live far away from -their homes. - -For a while the school answered the expectations of its patrons, and -enjoyed their favor; but early in the following year a trouble arose. -It was in this wise. Not far from the village of Canterbury there lived -a worthy colored man named Harris. He was the owner of a good farm, -and was otherwise in comfortable circumstances. He had a daughter, -Sarah, a bright girl about seventeen years of age. She had passed, -with good repute as a scholar, through the school of the district in -which she lived, and was hungering and thirsting for more education. -This she desired not only for her own sake, but that she might go -forth qualified to be a teacher of the colored people of our country, -to whose wrongs and oppression she had become very sensitive. Her -father encouraged her, and gladly offered to defray the expense of the -advantages she might be able to obtain. Sarah applied for admission -into this new Canterbury school. Miss Crandall confessed to me that at -first she hesitated and almost refused, lest admitting her might offend -the parents of her pupils, several of whom were Colonizationists, and -none of them Abolitionists. But Sarah urged her request with no little -force of argument and depth of feeling. Then she was a young lady of -pleasing appearance and manners, well known to many of Miss Crandall’s -pupils, having been their class-mate in the district school. Moreover, -she was accounted a virtuous, pious girl, and had been for some time -a member of the church of Canterbury. There could not, therefore, -have been a more unexceptionable case. No objection could be made to -her admission into the school, excepting only her dark (and not very -dark) complexion. Miss Crandall soon saw that she was unexpectedly -called to take some part (how important she could not foresee) in the -great contest for impartial liberty that was then beginning to agitate -violently our nation. She was called to act either in accordance with, -or in opposition to, the unreasonable, cruel, wicked prejudice against -the _color_ of their victims, by which the oppressors of millions -in our land were everywhere extenuating, if not justifying, their -tremendous system of iniquity. She bowed to the claim of humanity, and -admitted Sarah Harris to her school. - -Her pupils, I believe, made no objection. But in a few days the -parents of some of them called and remonstrated. Miss Crandall pressed -upon their consideration Sarah’s eager desire for more knowledge and -culture, the good use she intended to make of her acquirements, her -excellent character and lady-like deportment, and, more than all, that -she was an accepted member of the same Christian church to which many -of them belonged. Her arguments, her entreaties, however, were of no -avail. Prejudice blinds the eyes, closes the ears, hardens the heart. -“Sarah belonged to the proscribed, despised class, and therefore must -not be admitted into a private school with their daughters.” This was -the gist of all they had to say. Reasons were thrown away, appeals to -their sense of right, to their compassion for injured fellow-beings, -made no impression. “They would not have it said that their daughters -went to school with a nigger girl.” Miss Crandall was assured that, if -she did not dismiss Sarah Harris, her white pupils would be withdrawn -from her. - -She could not make up her mind to comply with such a demand, even to -save the institution she had so recently established with such fond -hopes, and in which she had invested all her property, and a debt of -several hundred dollars more. It was, indeed, a severe trial, but she -was strengthened to bear it. She determined to act right, and leave the -event with God. Accordingly, she gave notice to her neighbors, and, -on the 2d day of March, advertised in the _Liberator_, that at the -commencement of her next term, on the first Monday of April, her school -would be opened for “young ladies and little misses of color.” - -Only a few days before, on the 27th of February, I was informed of her -generous, disinterested determination, and heard that, in consequence, -the whole town was in a flame of indignation, kindled and fanned by -the influence of the prominent people of the village, her immediate -neighbors and her late patrons. Without delay, therefore, although a -stranger, I addressed a letter to her, assuring her of my sympathy, -and of my readiness to help her all in my power. On the 4th of March -her reply came, begging me to come to her so soon as my engagements -would permit. Accompanied by my friend, Mr. George W. Benson, I went -to Canterbury on the afternoon of that day. On entering the village -we were warned that we should be in personal danger if we appeared -there as Miss Crandall’s friends; and when arrived at her house we -learnt that the excitement against her had become furious. She had -been grossly insulted, and threatened with various kinds of violence, -if she persisted in her purpose, and the most egregious falsehoods had -been put in circulation respecting her intentions, the characters -of her expected pupils, and of the future supporters of her school. -Moreover, we were informed that a town-meeting was to be held on the -9th instant, to devise and adopt such measures as “would effectually -avert the nuisance, or speedily abate it, if it should be brought into -the village.” - -Though beat upon by such a storm, we found Miss Crandall resolved and -tranquil. The effect of her Quaker discipline appeared in every word -she spoke, and in every expression of her countenance. But, as she -said, it would not do for her to go into the town-meeting; and there -was not a man in Canterbury who would dare, if he were disposed, to -appear there in her behalf. “Will not you, Friend May, be my attorney?” -“Certainly,” I replied, “come what will.” We then agreed that I should -explain to the people how unexpectedly she had been led to take the -step which had given so much offence, and show them how she could -not have consented to the demand made by her former patrons without -wounding deeply the feelings of an excellent girl, known to most of -them, and adding to the mountain load of injuries and insults already -heaped upon the colored people of our country. With this arrangement, -we left her, to await the coming of the ominous meeting of the town. - -On the 9th of March I repaired again to Miss Crandall’s house, -accompanied by my faithful friend, Mr. Benson. There, to our surprise -and joy, we found Friend Arnold Buffum, a most worthy man, an able -speaker, and then the principal lecturing agent of the New England -Antislavery Society. Miss Crandall gave to each of us a respectful -letter of introduction to the Moderator of the meeting, in which she -requested that we might be heard as her attorneys, and promised to be -bound by any agreement we might see fit to make with the citizens of -Canterbury. Miss Crandall concurred with us in the opinion that, as her -house was one of the most conspicuous in the village, and not wholly -paid for, if her opponents would take it off her hands, repaying what -she had given for it, cease from molesting her, and allow her time -to procure another house for her school, it would be better that she -should move to some more retired part of the town or neighborhood. - -Thus commissioned and instructed, Friend Buffum and I proceeded to the -town-meeting. It was held in the “Meeting-House,” one of the old New -England pattern,--galleries on three sides, with room below and above -for a thousand persons, sitting and standing. We found it nearly filled -to its utmost capacity; and, not without difficulty, we passed up the -side aisle into the wall-pew next to the deacon’s seat, in which sat -the Moderator. Very soon the business commenced. After the “Warning” -had been read a series of Resolutions were laid before the meeting, -in which were set forth the disgrace and damage that would be brought -upon the town if a school for colored girls should be set up there, -protesting emphatically against the impending evil, and appointing the -civil authority and selectmen a committee to wait upon “the person -contemplating the establishment of said school, ... point out to her -the injurious effects, the incalculable evils, resulting from such -an establishment within this town, and persuade her, if possible, to -abandon the project.” The mover of the resolutions, Rufus Adams, Esq., -labored to enforce them by a speech, in which he grossly misrepresented -what Miss Crandall had done, her sentiments and purposes, and threw out -several mean and low insinuations against the motives of those who were -encouraging her enterprise. - -As soon as he sat down the Hon. Andrew T. Judson rose. This gentleman -was undoubtedly the chief of Miss Crandall’s persecutors. He was -the great man of the town, a leading politician in the State, much -talked of by the Democrats as soon to be governor, and a few years -afterwards was appointed Judge of the United States District Court. -His house on Canterbury Green stood next to Miss Crandall’s. The idea -of having “a school of nigger girls so near him was insupportable.” He -vented himself in a strain of reckless hostility to his neighbor, her -benevolent, self-sacrificing undertaking, and its patrons, and declared -his determination to thwart the enterprise. He twanged every chord -that could stir the coarser passions of the human heart, and with such -sad success that his hearers seemed to be filled with the apprehension -that a dire calamity was impending over them, that Miss Crandall was -the author or instrument of it, that there were powerful conspirators -engaged with her in the plot, and that the people of Canterbury should -be roused, by every consideration of self-preservation, as well as -self-respect, to prevent the accomplishment of the design, defying the -wealth and influence of all who were abetting it. - -When he had ended his philippic Mr. Buffum and I silently presented -to the Moderator Miss Crandall’s letters, requesting that we might be -heard on her behalf. He handed them over to Mr. Judson, who instantly -broke forth with greater violence than before; accused us of insulting -the town by coming there to interfere with its local concerns. Other -gentlemen sprang to their feet in hot displeasure; poured out their -tirades upon Miss Crandall and her accomplices, and, with fists doubled -in our faces, roughly admonished us that, if we opened our lips there, -they would inflict upon us the utmost penalty of the law, if not a more -immediate vengeance. - -Thus forbidden to speak, we of course sat in silence, and let the -waves of invective and abuse dash over us. But we sat thus only until -we heard from the Moderator the words, “This meeting is adjourned!” -Knowing that now we should violate no law by speaking, I sprang to the -seat on which I had been sitting, and cried out, “Men of Canterbury, -I have a word for you! Hear me!” More than half the crowd turned to -listen. I went rapidly over my replies to the misstatements that -had been made as to the purposes of Miss Crandall and her friends, -the characters of her expected pupils, and the spirit in which the -enterprise had been conceived and would be carried on. As soon as -possible I gave place to Friend Buffum. But he had spoken in his -impressive manner hardly five minutes, before the trustees of the -church to which the house belonged came in and ordered all out, that -the doors might be shut. Here again the hand of the law constrained -us. So we obeyed with the rest, and having lingered awhile upon the -Green to answer questions and explain to those who were willing “to -understand the matter,” we departed to our homes, musing in our own -hearts “what would come of this day’s uproar.” - -Before my espousal of Miss Crandall’s cause I had had a pleasant -acquaintance with Hon. Andrew T. Judson, which had led almost to a -personal friendship. Unwilling, perhaps, to break our connection so -abruptly, and conscious, no doubt, that he had treated me rudely, not -to say abusively, at the town-meeting on the 9th, he called to see me -two days afterwards. He assured me that he had not become unfriendly -to me personally, and regretted that he had used some expressions -and applied certain epithets to me, in the warmth of his feelings -and the excitement of the public indignation of his neighbors and -fellow-townsmen, roused as they were to the utmost in opposition to -Miss Crandall’s project, which he thought I was inconsiderately and -unjustly promoting. He went on enlarging upon the disastrous effects -the establishment of “a school for nigger girls” in the centre of their -village would have upon its desirableness as a place of residence, the -value of real estate there, and the general prosperity of the town. - -I replied: “If, sir, you had permitted Mr. Buffum and myself to speak -at your town-meeting, you would have found that we had come there, not -in a contentious spirit, but that we were ready, with Miss Crandall’s -consent, to settle the difficulty with you and your neighbors -peaceably. We should have agreed, if you would repay to Miss Crandall -what you had advised her to give for her house, and allow her time -quietly to find and purchase a suitable house for her school in some -more retired part of the town or vicinity, that she should remove to -that place.” The honorable gentleman hardly gave me time to finish my -sentences ere he said, with great emphasis:-- - -“Mr. May, we are not merely opposed to the establishment of that -school in Canterbury; we mean there shall not be such a school set up -anywhere in our State. The colored people never can rise from their -menial condition in our country; they ought not to be permitted to -rise here. They are an inferior race of beings, and never can or ought -to be recognized as the equals of the whites. Africa is the place for -them. I am in favor of the Colonization scheme. Let the niggers and -their descendants be sent back to their fatherland; and there improve -themselves as much as they may, and civilize and Christianize the -natives, if they can. I am a Colonizationist. You and your friend -Garrison have undertaken what you cannot accomplish. The condition of -the colored population of our country can never be essentially improved -on this continent. You are fanatical about them. You are violating -the Constitution of our Republic, which settled forever the status of -the black men in this land. They belong to Africa. Let them be sent -back there, or kept as they are here. The sooner you Abolitionists -abandon your project the better for our country, for the niggers, and -yourselves.” - -I replied: “Mr. Judson, there never will be fewer colored people in -this country than there are now. Of the vast majority of them this is -the native land, as much as it is ours. It will be unjust, inhuman, -in us to drive them out, or to make them willing to go by our cruel -treatment of them. And, if they should all become willing to depart, -it would not be practicable to transport across the Atlantic Ocean -and settle properly on the shores of Africa, from year to year, half -so many of them as would be born here in the same time, according to -the known rate of their natural increase. No, sir, there will never be -fewer colored people in our country than there are this day; and the -only question is, whether we will recognize the rights which God gave -them as men, and encourage and assist them to become all he has made -them capable of being, or whether we will continue wickedly to deny -them the privileges we enjoy, condemn them to degradation, enslave -and imbrute them; and so bring upon ourselves the condemnation of the -Almighty Impartial Father of all men, and the terrible visitation of -the God of the oppressed. I trust, sir, you will erelong come to see -that we must accord to these men their rights, or incur justly the loss -of our own. Education is one of the primal, fundamental rights of all -the children of men. Connecticut is the last place where this should be -denied. But as, in the providence of God, that right has been denied -in a place so near me, I feel that I am summoned to its defence. If -you and your neighbors in Canterbury had quietly consented that Sarah -Harris, whom you knew to be a bright, good girl, should enjoy the -privilege she so eagerly sought, this momentous conflict would not have -arisen in your village. But as it has arisen there, we may as well meet -it there as elsewhere.” - -“That nigger school,” he rejoined with great warmth, “shall never be -allowed in Canterbury, nor in any town of this State.” - -“How can you prevent it legally?” I inquired; “how but by Lynch law, by -violence, which you surely will not countenance?” - -“We can expel her pupils from abroad,” he replied, “under the -provisions of our old pauper and vagrant laws.” - -“But we will guard against them,” I said, “by giving your town ample -bonds.” - -“Then,” said he, “we will get a law passed by our Legislature, now in -session, forbidding the institution of such a school as Miss Crandall -proposes, in any part of Connecticut.” - -“It would be an unconstitutional law, and I will contend against it -as such to the last,” I rejoined. “If you, sir, pursue the course you -have now indicated, I will dispute every step you take, from the lowest -court in Canterbury up to the highest court of the United States.” - -“You talk big,” he cried; “it will cost more than you are aware of to -do all that you threaten. Where will you get the means to carry on such -a contest at law?” - -This defiant question inspired me to say, “Mr. Judson, I had not -foreseen all that this conversation has opened to my view. True, I do -not possess the pecuniary ability to do what you have made me promise. -I have not consulted any one. But I am sure the lovers of impartial -liberty, the friends of humanity in our land, the enemies of slavery, -will so justly appreciate the importance of sustaining Miss Crandall -in her benevolent, pious undertaking, that I shall receive from one -quarter and another all the funds I may need to withstand your attempt -to crush, by legal means, the Canterbury school.” The sequel of my -story will show that I did not misjudge the significance of my case, -nor put my confidence in those who were not worthy of it. Mr. Judson -left me in high displeasure, and I never met him afterwards but as an -opponent. - -Undismayed by the opposition of her neighbors and the violence of -their threats, Miss Crandall received early in April fifteen or -twenty colored young ladies and misses from Philadelphia, New York, -Providence, and Boston. At once her persecutors commenced operations. -All accommodations at the stores in Canterbury were denied her; so -that she was obliged to send to neighboring villages for her needful -supplies. She and her pupils were insulted whenever they appeared in -the streets. The doors and door-steps of her house were besmeared, and -her well was filled with filth. Had it not been for the assistance of -her father and another Quaker friend who lived in the town, she might -have been compelled to abandon “her castle” for the want of water and -food. But she was enabled to “hold out,” and Miss Crandall and her -little band behaved somewhat like the besieged in the immortal Fort -Sumter. The spirit that is in the children of men is usually roused by -persecution. I visited them repeatedly, and always found teacher and -pupils calm and resolute. They evidently felt that it was given them to -maintain one of the fundamental, inalienable rights of man. - -Before the close of the month, an attempt was made to frighten and -drive away these innocent girls, by a process under the obsolete -vagrant law, which provided that the selectmen of any town might warn -any person, not an inhabitant of the State, to depart forthwith from -said town; demand of him or her _one dollar and sixty-seven cents_ for -every week he or she remained in said town after having received such -warning, and in case such fine should not be paid, and the person so -warned should not have departed before the expiration of ten days after -being sentenced, then he or she should _be whipped on the naked body -not exceeding ten stripes_. - -A warrant to this effect was actually served upon Eliza Ann Hammond, -a fine girl from Providence, aged seventeen years. Although I had -protected Miss Crandall’s pupils against the operation of this old law, -by giving to the treasurer of Canterbury a bond in the sum of $10,000, -signed by responsible gentlemen of Brooklyn, to save the town from the -vagrancy of any of these pupils, I feared they would be intimidated by -the actual appearance of the constable, and the imposition of a writ. -So, on hearing of the above transaction, I went down to Canterbury -to explain the matter if necessary; to assure Miss Hammond that the -persecutors would hardly dare proceed to such an extremity, and -strengthen her to bear meekly the punishment, if they should in their -madness inflict it; knowing that every blow they should strike her -would resound throughout the land, if not over the whole civilized -world, and call out an expression of indignation before which Mr. -Judson and his associates would quail. But I found her ready for the -emergency, animated by the spirit of a martyr. - -Of course this process was abandoned. But another was resorted to, most -disgraceful to the State as well as the town. That shall be the subject -of my next. - - -THE BLACK LAW OF CONNECTICUT. - -Foiled in their attempts to frighten away Miss Crandall’s pupils by -their proceedings under the provisions of the obsolete “Pauper and -Vagrant Law,” Mr. Judson and his fellow-persecutors urgently pressed -upon the Legislature of Connecticut, then in session, a demand for the -enactment of a law, by which they should be enabled to effect their -purpose. To the lasting shame of the State, be it said, they succeeded. -On the 24th of May, 1833, the _Black Law_ was enacted as follows:-- - - “SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of - Representatives, in General Assembly convened, that no person - shall set up or establish in this State any school, academy, or - literary institution for the instruction or education of colored - persons who are not inhabitants of this State; nor instruct or - teach in any school, or other literary institution whatsoever, in - this State; nor harbor or board, for the purpose of attending or - being taught or instructed in any such school, academy, or literary - institution, any colored person who is not an inhabitant of any - town in this State, without the consent in writing, first obtained, - of a majority of the civil authority, and also of the Selectmen of - the town, in which such school, academy, or literary institution is - situated,” &c. - -I need not copy any more of this infamous Act. The penalties denounced -against the violation of it, you may be sure, were severe enough. That -the persecutors of Miss Crandall were determined to visit them upon -her, if they might, the sequel of my story will show. - -On the receipt of the tidings that the Legislature had passed the law, -joy and exultation ran wild in Canterbury. The bells were rung and a -cannon fired, until all the inhabitants for miles around were informed -of the triumph. So soon as was practicable, on the 27th of June, Miss -Crandall was arrested by the sheriff of the county, or the constable -of the town, and arraigned before Justices Adams and Bacon, two of the -leaders of the conspiracy against her and her humane enterprise. The -trial of course was a brief one; the result was predetermined. Before -noon of that day a messenger came to let me know that Miss Crandall -had been “committed” by the above-named justices, to take her trial -at the next session of the Superior Court at Brooklyn in August; that -she was in the hands of the sheriff and would be put into jail, unless -I or some of her friends would come and “give bonds” for her in the -sum of $300 or $500, I forget which. I calmly told the messenger that -there were gentlemen enough in Canterbury whose bond for that amount -would be as good or better than mine; and I should leave it for them -to do Miss Crandall that favor. “But,” said the young man, “are you -not her friend?” “Certainly,” I replied, “too sincerely her friend -to give relief to her enemies in their present embarrassment; and I -trust you will not find any one of her friends, or the patrons of her -school, who will step forward to help them any more than myself.” “But, -sir,” he cried, “do you mean to allow her to be put into jail?” “Most -certainly,” was my answer, “if her persecutors are unwise enough to let -such an outrage be committed.” He turned from me in blank surprise, and -hurried back to tell Mr. Judson and the justices of his ill success. - -A few days before, when I first heard of the passage of the law, I -had visited Miss Crandall with my friend Mr. George W. Benson, and -advised with her as to the course she and her friends ought to pursue, -when she should be brought to trial. She appreciated at once and fully -the importance of leaving her persecutors to show to the world how -base they were, and how atrocious was the law they had induced the -Legislature to enact,--a law, by the force of which a woman might -be fined and imprisoned as a felon, in the State of Connecticut, for -giving instruction to colored girls. She agreed that it would be best -for us to leave her in the hands of those with whom the law originated, -hoping that, in their madness, they would show forth all its hideous -features. - -Mr. Benson and I therefore went diligently around to all whom we knew -were friendly to Miss Crandall and her school, and counselled them by -no means to give bonds to keep her from imprisonment, because nothing -would expose so fully to the public the egregious wickedness of the -law, and the virulence of her persecutors as the fact that they had -thrust her into jail. - -When I found that her resolution was equal to the trial which seemed to -be impending, that she was ready to brave and to bear meekly the worst -treatment that her enemies would venture to subject her to, I made all -the arrangements for her comfort that were practicable in our prison. -It fortunately so happened that the most suitable room, not occupied, -was the one in which a man named Watkins had recently been confined -for the murder of his wife, and out of which he had been taken and -executed. This circumstance, we foresaw, would add not a little to the -public detestation of the _Black Law_. - -The jailer, at my request, readily put the room in as nice order as was -possible, and permitted me to substitute, for the bedstead and mattress -on which the murderer had slept, fresh and clean ones from my own house -and Mr. Benson’s. - -About two o’clock P. M. another messenger came to inform me that the -sheriff was on the way from Canterbury to the jail with Miss Crandall, -and would imprison her, unless her friends would give him the required -bail. Although in sympathy with Miss Crandall’s persecutors, he -clearly saw the disgrace that was about to be brought upon the State, -and begged me and Mr. Benson to avert it. Of course we refused. I went -to the jailer’s house and met Miss Crandall on her arrival. We stepped -aside. I said:-- - -“If now you hesitate, if you dread the gloomy place so much as to wish -to be saved from it, I will give bonds for you even now.” - -“O no,” she promptly replied; “I am only afraid they will not put me -into jail. Their evident hesitation and embarrassment show plainly -how much they deprecate the effect of this part of their folly; and -therefore I am the more anxious that they should be exposed, if not -caught in their own wicked devices.” - -We therefore returned with her to the sheriff and the company that -surrounded him to await his final act. He was ashamed to do it. He -knew it would cover the persecutors of Miss Crandall and the State of -Connecticut with disgrace. He conferred with several about him, and -delayed yet longer. Two gentlemen came and remonstrated with me in not -very seemly terms:-- - -“It would be a ---- shame, an eternal disgrace to the State, to have -her put into jail,--into the very room that Watkins had last occupied.” - -“Certainly, gentlemen,” I replied, “and you may prevent this if you -please.” - -“O,” they cried, “we are not her friends; we are not in favor of her -school; we don’t want any more ---- niggers coming among us. It is your -place to stand by Miss Crandall and help her now. You and your ---- -abolition brethren have encouraged her to bring this nuisance into -Canterbury, and it is ---- mean in you to desert her now.” - -I rejoined: “She knows we have not deserted her, and do not intend -to desert her. The law which her persecutors have persuaded our -legislators to enact is an infamous one, worthy of the Dark Ages. It -would be just as bad as it is, whether we should give bonds for her or -not. But the people generally will not so soon realize how bad, how -wicked, how cruel a law it is, unless we suffer her persecutors to -inflict upon her all the penalties it prescribes. She is willing to -bear them for the sake of the cause she has so nobly espoused. And it -is easy to foresee that Miss Crandall will be glorified, as much as her -persecutors and our State will be disgraced, by the transactions of -this day and this hour. If you see fit to keep her from imprisonment -in the cell of a murderer for having proffered the blessing of a good -education to those who, in our country, need it most, you may do so; -_we shall not_.” - -They turned from us in great wrath, words falling from their lips which -I shall not repeat. - -The sun had descended nearly to the horizon; the shadows of night were -beginning to fall around us. The sheriff could defer the dark deed no -longer. With no little emotion, and with words of earnest deprecation, -he gave that excellent, heroic, Christian young lady into the hands -of the jailer, and she was led into the cell of Watkins. So soon as -I had heard the bolts of her prison-door turned in the lock, and saw -the key taken out, I bowed and said, “The deed is done, completely -done. It cannot be recalled. It has passed into the history of our -nation and our age.” I went away with my steadfast friend, George W. -Benson, assured that the legislators of the State had been guilty of -a most unrighteous act; and that Miss Crandall’s persecutors had also -committed a great blunder; that they all would have much more reason to -be ashamed of her imprisonment than she or her friends could ever have. - -The next day we gave the required bonds. Miss Crandall was released -from the cell of the murderer, returned home, and quietly resumed the -duties of her school, until she should be summoned as a culprit into -court, there to be tried by the infamous “Black Law of Connecticut.” -And, as we expected, so soon as the evil tidings could be carried in -that day, before Professor Morse had given to Rumor her telegraphic -wings, it was known all over the country and the civilized world that -an excellent young lady had been imprisoned as a criminal,--yes, put -into a murderer’s cell,--in the State of Connecticut, for opening a -school for the instruction of colored girls. The comments that were -made upon the deed in almost all the newspapers were far from grateful -to the feelings of her persecutors. Even many who, under the same -circumstances, would probably have acted as badly as Messrs. A. T. -Judson and Company, denounced their procedure as unchristian, inhuman, -anti-democratic, base, mean. - - -ARTHUR TAPPAN. - -The words and manner of Mr. Judson in the interview I had with him -on the 11th of March, of which I have given a pretty full report, -convinced me that he would do all that could be done by legal and -political devices, to _abolish_ Miss Crandall’s school. His success in -obtaining from the Legislature the enactment of the infamous “Black -Law” showed too plainly that the majority of the people of the State -were on the side of the oppressor. But I felt sure that God and good -men would be our helpers in the contest to which we were committed. -Assurances of approval and of sympathy came from many; and erelong -a proffer of all the pecuniary assistance we could need was made by -one who was then himself a host. At that time Mr. Arthur Tappan was -one of the wealthiest merchants in the country, and was wont to give -to religious and philanthropic objects as much, in proportion to his -means, as any benefactor who has lived in the land before or since his -day. I was not then personally acquainted with him, but he had become -deeply interested in the cause of the poor, despised, enslaved millions -in our country, and alive to whatever affected them. - -Much to my surprise, and much more to my joy, a few weeks after the -commencement of the contest, and just after the enactment of the -Black Law and the imprisonment of Miss Crandall, I received from Mr. -Tappan a most cordial letter. He expressed his entire approbation of -the position I had taken in defence of Miss Crandall’s benevolent -enterprise, and his high appreciation of the importance of maintaining, -in Connecticut especially, the right of colored people, not less than -of white, to any amount of education they might wish to obtain, and the -respect and encouragement due to any teacher who would devote himself -or herself to their instruction. He added: “This contest, in which you -have been providentially called to engage, will be a serious, perhaps a -violent one. It may be prolonged and very expensive. Nevertheless, it -ought to be persisted in to the last. I venture to presume, sir, that -you cannot well afford what it may cost. You ought not to be left, even -if you are willing, to bear alone the pecuniary burden. I shall be most -happy to give you all the help of this sort that you may need. Consider -me your banker. Spare no necessary expense. Command the services of -the ablest lawyers. See to it that this great case shall be thoroughly -tried, cost what it may. I will cheerfully honor your drafts to enable -you to defray that cost.” Thus upheld, you will not wonder that I was -somewhat elated. At Mr. Tappan’s suggestion I immediately “retained” -the Hon. William W. Ellsworth, the Hon. Calvin Goddard, and the Hon. -Henry Strong, the three most distinguished members of the Connecticut -bar. They all confirmed me in the opinion that the “Black Law” was -unconstitutional, and would probably be so pronounced, if we should -carry it up to the United States Court. They moreover instructed me -that, as the act for which Miss Crandall was to be tried was denounced -as _criminal_, it would be within the province of the jury of our State -court to decide upon the character of the law, as well as the conduct -of the accused; and that therefore it would be allowable and proper for -them to urge the _wickedness_ of the law, in bar of Miss Crandall’s -condemnation under it. But, before we get to the trials of Miss -Crandall under Mr. Judson’s law, I have more to tell about Mr. Arthur -Tappan. - -He requested me to keep him fully informed of the doings of Miss -Crandall’s persecutors. And I assure you I had too many evil things -to report of them. They insulted and annoyed her and her pupils in -every way their malice could devise. The storekeepers, the butchers, -the milk-pedlers of the town, all refused to supply their wants; and -whenever her father, brother, or other relatives, who happily lived -but a few miles off, were seen coming to bring her and her pupils -the necessaries of life, they were insulted and threatened. Her well -was defiled with the most offensive filth, and her neighbors refused -her and the thirsty ones about her even a cup of cold water, leaving -them to depend for that essential element upon the scanty supplies -that could be brought from her father’s farm. Nor was this all; the -physician of the village refused to minister to any who were sick in -Miss Crandall’s family, and the trustees of the church forbade her to -come, with any of her pupils, into the House of the Lord. - -In addition to the insults and annoyances mentioned above, the -newspapers of the county and other parts of the State frequently gave -currency to the most egregious misrepresentations of the conduct of -Miss Crandall and her pupils, and the basest insinuations against her -friends and patrons. Yet our corrections and replies were persistently -refused a place in their columns. The publisher of one of the county -papers, who was personally friendly to me, and whom I had assisted to -establish in business, confessed to me that he dared not admit into -his paper an article in defence of the Canterbury school. It would -be, he said, the destruction of his establishment. Thus situated, we -were continually made to feel the great disadvantage at which we were -contending with the hosts of our enemies. - -In one of my letters to Mr. Tappan, when thus sorely pressed, I let -fall from my pen, “O that I could only leave home long enough to visit -you! For I could tell you in an hour more things, that I wish you to -know, than I can write in a week.” - -A day or two afterwards, about as quickly as he could then get to me -after the receipt of my letter, the door of my study was opened, and in -walked Arthur Tappan. I sprang to my feet, and gave him a pressure of -the hand which told him more emphatically than words could have done -how overjoyed I was to see him. In his usual quiet manner and undertone -he said, “Your last letter implied that you were in so much trouble I -thought it best to come and see, and consider with you what it will be -advisable for us to do.” I soon spread before him the circumstances -of the case,--the peculiar difficulties by which we were beset, the -increased and increasing malignity of Miss Crandall’s persecutors, -provoked, and almost justified in the public opinion, by the false -reports that were diligently circulated, and which we had no means of -correcting. “Let me go,” said he, “and see for myself Miss Crandall -and her school, and learn more of the particulars of the sore trials -to which her benevolence and her fortitude seem to be subjected.” -As soon as possible the horse and chaise were brought to the door, -and the good man went to Canterbury. In a few hours he returned. He -had been delighted, nay, deeply affected, by the calm determination -which Miss Crandall evinced, and the quiet courage with which she had -inspired her pupils. He had learned that the treatment to which they -were subjected by their neighbors was in some respects worse even than -I had represented it to him; and he said in a low, firm tone of voice, -which showed how thoroughly in earnest he was, she must be protected -and sustained. “The cause of the whole oppressed, despised colored -population of our country is to be much affected by the decision of -this question.” - -After some further consultation he rose to his feet and said, “You are -almost helpless without the press. You must issue a paper, publish it -largely, send it to all the persons whom you know in the county and -State, and to all the principal newspapers throughout the country. -Many will subscribe for it and contribute otherwise to its support, -and I will pay whatever more it may cost.” No sooner said than done. -We went without delay to the village, where fortunately there was a -pretty-well-furnished printing-office that had been lately shut up for -want of patronage. We found the proprietor, examined the premises, -satisfied ourselves that there were materials enough to begin with, and -Mr. Tappan engaged for my use for a year the office, press, types, -and whatever else was necessary to commence at once the publication -of a newspaper, to be devoted to the advocacy of all human rights in -general, and to the defence of the Canterbury school, and its heroic -teacher in particular. - -We walked back to my house communing together about the great conflict -for liberty to which we were committed, the spirit in which it ought -to be conducted on our part, and especially the course to be pursued -in the further defence of Miss Crandall. Soon after the stage-coach -came along. Mr. Tappan, after renewed assurances of support, gave -me a hearty farewell and stepped on board to return to New York. He -left me the proprietor of a printing-office, and with ample means to -maintain, as far as might be necessary, the defence of the Canterbury -school against the unrighteous and unconstitutional law of the State of -Connecticut. I need now only add that the trials at law were protracted -until August, 1834, and that they, together with the conduct of the -newspaper, cost me more than six hundred dollars, all of which amount -was most promptly and kindly paid by that true philanthropist,--Arthur -Tappan. - - -CHARLES C. BURLEIGH. - -The excitement caused by Mr. Tappan’s unexpected visit, the hearty -encouragement he had given me, and the great addition he had made to -my means of defence, altogether were so grateful to me that I did -not at first fully realize how much I had undertaken to do. But a -night’s rest brought me to my senses, and I clearly saw that I must -have some other help than even Mr. Tappan’s pecuniary generosity -could give me. I was at that time publishing a religious paper,--_The -Christian Monitor_,--which, together with my pulpit and parochial -duties, filled quite full the measure of my ability. Unfortunately -the prospectus of _The Monitor_, issued a year before the beginning -of the Canterbury difficulty, precluded from its columns all articles -relating to personal or neighborhood quarrels. Therefore, though the -editor of a paper, I could not, in that paper, repel the most injurious -attacks that were made upon my character. Had it been otherwise, there -would have been no need of starting another paper. But, as Mr. Tappan -promptly allowed, another paper must be issued, and to edit two papers -at the same time was wholly beyond my power. What should I do? - -Soon after the enactment of the “Black Law” an admirable article, -faithfully criticising it, had appeared in _The Genius of Temperance_, -and been copied into _The Emancipator_. It was attributed to Mr. -Charles C. Burleigh, living in the adjoining town of Plainfield. I -had heard him commended as a young man of great promise, and had -once listened to an able speech from him at a Colonization meeting. -To him, therefore, in the need of help, my thoughts soon turned. And -the morning after Mr. Tappan’s visit I drove over to Plainfield. -Mr. Burleigh was living with his parents, and helping them carry on -their farm, while pursuing as he could his studies preparatory to the -profession of a lawyer. It was Friday of the week, in the midst of -haying time. I was told at the house that he was in the field as busy -as he could be. Nevertheless, I insisted that my business with him -was more important than haying. So he was sent for, and in due time -appeared. Like other sensible men, at the hard, hot work of haying, -he was not attired in his Sunday clothes, but in his shirt-sleeves, -with pants the worse for wear; and, although he then _believed_ in -shaving, no razor had touched his beard since the first day of the -week. Nevertheless, I do not believe that Samuel of old saw, in the -ruddy son of Jesse, as he came up from the sheepfold, the man whom the -Lord would have him anoint, more clearly than I saw in C. C. Burleigh -the man whom I should choose to be my assistant in that emergency. So -soon as I had told him what I wanted of him his eye kindled as if eager -for the conflict. We made an arrangement to supply his place on his -father’s farm, and he engaged to come to me early the following week. -On Monday, the 14th of July, 1833, according to promise, he came to -Brooklyn. He then put on the harness of a soldier in the good fight for -equal, impartial liberty, and he has not yet laid it aside, nor are -there many, if indeed any, of the antislavery warriors who have done -more or better service than Mr. Burleigh. - -On the 25th of July, 1833, appeared the first number of our paper, -called _The Unionist_. After the first two or three numbers most -of the articles were written or selected by Mr. Burleigh, and it -was soon acknowledged by the public that the young editor wielded a -powerful weapon. The paper was continued, if I remember correctly, -about two years, and it helped us mightily in our controversy with -the persecutors of Miss Crandall. After a few months C. C. Burleigh -associated with him, in the management of _The Unionist_, his brother, -Mr. William H. Burleigh, who also, at the same time, assisted Miss -Crandall in the instruction of her school; and for so doing suffered -not a little obloquy, insult, and abuse. - -It was still the cherished intention of C. C. Burleigh to devote -himself to the law, and without neglecting his duties to _The Unionist_ -he so diligently and successfully pursued his preparatory studies, -that in January, 1835, he was examined and admitted to the bar. The -committee of examination were surprised at his proficiency. He was -pronounced the best prepared candidate that had been admitted to the -Windham County Bar within the memory of those who were then practising -there; and confident predictions were uttered by the most knowing -ones of his rapid rise to eminence in the profession. Scarcely did -Wendell Phillips awaken higher expectations of success as a lawyer -in Boston, than C. C. Burleigh had awakened in Brooklyn. But just at -the time of his admission I received a letter from Dr. Farnsworth, of -Groton, Massachusetts, then President of the Middlesex Antislavery -Society, inquiring urgently for some able lecturer, whose services -could be obtained as the general agent of that Society. I knew of no -one so able as C. C. Burleigh. So I called upon him, told him of the -many high compliments I had heard bestowed upon his appearance on the -examination, and then said, “Now I have already a most important case, -in which to engage your services,” and showed him Dr. Farnsworth’s -letter. For a few minutes he hesitated, and his countenance fell. The -bright prospect of professional eminence was suddenly overcast. He more -than suspected that, if he accepted the invitation, he should get so -engaged in the antislavery cause as to be unable to leave the field -until after its triumph. He would have to renounce all hope of wealth -or political preferment, and lead a life of continual conflict with -ungenerous opponents; be poorly requited for his labors, and suffer -contumely, hatred, persecution. I saw what was passing in his mind, and -that the struggle was severe. But it lasted only a little while,--less -than an hour. A bright and beautiful expression illuminated his -countenance when he replied, “This is not what I expected or intended, -but it is what I ought to do. I will accept the invitation.” He did so. -Before the close of the week he departed for his field of labor. And I -believe he ceased not a day to be the agent of one antislavery society -or another, until after the lamented President Lincoln had proclaimed -emancipation to all who were in bondage in our land. - -When, in April, 1835, I became the General Agent of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society, I was brought into more intimate relations with -Mr. Burleigh. We were indeed fellow-laborers. Repeatedly did we -go forth together on lecturing excursions, and never was I better -sustained. With him as my companion I felt sure our course would be -successful. I always insisted upon speaking first; for, if I failed -to do my best, he would make ample amends, covering the whole ground, -exhausting the subject, leaving nothing essential unsaid. And if I -did better than ever, Mr. Burleigh would come after me, and fill -twelve baskets full of precious fragments. He is a single-minded, -pure-hearted, conscientious, self-sacrificing man. He is not blessed -with a fine voice nor a graceful manner. And the peculiar dress of -his hair and beard has given offence to many, and may have lessened -his usefulness. But he has a great command of language. He has a -singularly acute and logical intellect. His reasoning, argumentative -powers are remarkable. And he often has delighted and astonished his -hearers by the brilliancy of his rhetoric, and the surpassing beauty -of his imagery, and aptness of his illustrations. The millions of the -emancipated in our country are indebted to the labors of few more than -to those of Charles C. Burleigh. But to return. - - -MISS CRANDALL’S TRIAL. - -On the 23d of August, 1833, the first trial of Prudence Crandall for -the _crime_ of keeping a boarding-school for colored girls in the State -of Connecticut, and endeavoring to give them a good education,--the -first trial for _this crime_,--was had in Brooklyn, the seat of the -county of Windham, within a stone’s throw of the house where lived -and died General Israel Putnam, who, with his compatriots of 1776, -perilled his life in defence of the self-evident truth that “all men -were created _equal_, and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable -right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It was had at -the County Court, Hon. Joseph Eaton presiding. - -The prosecution was conducted by Hon. A. T. Judson, Jonathan A. Welch, -Esq., and I. Bulkley, Esq. Miss Crandall’s counsel were Hon. Calvin -Goddard, Hon. W. W. Ellsworth, and Henry Strong, Esq. - -The indictment of Miss Crandall consisted of two counts, which amounted -to the same thing. The first set forth, in the technical terms of the -law, that “with force and arms” she had received into her school; and -the second, that, “with force and arms,” she had instructed certain -colored girls, who were not inhabitants of the State, without having -first obtained, in writing, permission to do so from the majority -of the civil authority and selectmen of the town of Canterbury, as -required by the law under which she was prosecuted. - -Mr. Judson opened the case. He, of course, endeavored to keep out of -sight the most odious features of the law which had been disobeyed -by Miss Crandall. He insisted that it was only a wise precaution to -keep out of the State an injurious kind of population. He urged that -the public provisions for the education of all the children of the -inhabitants of Connecticut were ample, generous, and that colored -children belonging to the State, not less than others, might enjoy the -advantages of the common schools, which were under the supervision -and control of proper officials in every town. He argued that it was -not fair nor safe to allow any person, without the permission of such -officials, to come into the State and open a school for any class of -pupils she might please to invite from other States. He alleged that -other States of the Union, Northern as well as Southern, regarded -colored persons as a kind of population respecting which there should -be some special legislation. If it were not for such protection as the -law in question had provided, the Southerners might free all their -slaves, and send them to Connecticut instead of Liberia, which would -be overwhelming. Mr. Judson denied that colored persons were citizens -in those States, where they were not enfranchised. He claimed that -the privilege of being a freeman was higher than the right of being -educated, and asked this remarkable question: “Why should a man be -educated who could not be a freeman?” He denied, however, that he was -opposed to the improvement of any class of the inhabitants of the land, -if their improvement could be effected without violating any of the -provisions of our Constitution, or endangering the union of the States. -His associates labored to maintain the same positions. - -These positions were vigorously assailed by Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. -Strong, and shown to be untenable by a great array of facts adduced -from the history of our own country, of the opinions of some of the -most illustrious lawyers and civilians of England and America, and of -arguments, the force of which was palpable. - -Nevertheless, the Judge saw fit, though somewhat timidly, in his charge -to the Jury, to give it as his opinion that “the law was constitutional -and obligatory on the people of the State.” - -The Jury, after an absence of several hours, returned into court, not -having agreed upon a verdict. They were instructed on some points, and -sent out a second, and again a third time, but with no better success. -They stated to the Court that there was no probability they should -ever agree. Seven of them were for conviction, and five for acquittal. -So they were discharged. - -Supposing that this result operated as a continuance of the case to the -next term of the County Court, to be held the following December, a -few days after the trial I went with my family to spend several weeks -with my friends in Boston and the neighborhood. But much to my surprise -and discomfort, the last week in September, just as I was starting -off to deliver an antislavery lecture, at a distance from Boston, I -received the information that the persecutors of Miss Crandall, too -impatient to wait until December for the regular course of law, had -got up a new prosecution of her, to be tried on the 3d of October, -before Judge Daggett of the Supreme Court, who was known to be hostile -to the colored people, and a strenuous advocate of the Black Law. It -was impossible for me so to dispose of my engagements that I could get -back to Brooklyn in time to attend the trial. I could only write and -instruct the counsel of Miss Crandall, in case a verdict should be -obtained against her, to carry the cause up to the Court of Errors. - -The second trial was had on the 3d of October; the same defence as -before was set up, and ably maintained. But Chief Justice Daggett’s -influence with the Jury was overpowering. He delivered an elaborate -and able charge, insisting upon the constitutionality of the law; and, -without much hesitation, the verdict was given against Miss Crandall. -Her counsel at once filed a bill of exceptions, and an appeal to the -Court of Errors, which was granted. Before that--the highest legal -tribunal in the State--the cause was argued on the 22d of July, 1834. -The Hon. W. W. Ellsworth and the Hon. Calvin Goddard argued against -the constitutionality of the Black Law, with very great ability and -eloquence. The Hon. A. T. Judson and the Hon. C. F. Cleaveland said all -that perhaps could be said to prove such a law to be consistent with -the Magna Charta of our Republic. All who attended the trial seemed to -be deeply interested, and were made to acknowledge the vital importance -of the question at issue. Most persons, I believe, were persuaded that -the Court ought to and would decide against the law. But they reserved -the decision until some future time. And that decision, I am sorry to -say, was never given. The Court evaded it the next week by finding -that the defects in the information prepared by the State’s Attorney -were such that it ought to be quashed; thus rendering it “unnecessary -for the Court to come to any decision upon the question as to the -constitutionality of the law.” - -Whether her persecutors were or were not in despair of breaking down -Miss Crandall’s school by legal process, I am unable to say, but they -soon resorted to other means, which were effectual. - - -HOUSE SET ON FIRE. - -Soon after their failure to get a decision from the Court of Errors, -an attempt was made to set her house on fire. Fortunately the match -was applied to combustibles tucked under a corner where the sills -were somewhat decayed. They burnt like a slow match. Some time before -daylight the inmates perceived the smell of fire, but not until nearly -nine o’clock did any blaze appear. It was quickly quenched; and I was -sent for to advise whether, if her enemies were so malignant as this -attempt showed them to be, it was safe and right for her to expose her -pupils’ and her own life any longer to their wicked devices. It was -concluded that she should hold on and bear yet a little longer. Perhaps -the atrocity of this attempt to fire her house, and at the same time -endanger the dwellings of her neighbors would frighten the leaders and -instigators of the persecution to put more restraint upon “the baser -sort.” But a few nights afterwards it was made only too plain that the -enemies of the school were bent upon its destruction. About twelve -o’clock, on the night of the 9th of September, Miss Crandall’s house -was assaulted by a number of persons with heavy clubs and iron bars; -five window-sashes were demolished and ninety panes of glass dashed to -pieces. - -I was summoned next morning to the scene of destruction and the -terror-stricken family. Never before had Miss Crandall seemed to -quail, and her pupils had become afraid to remain another night under -her roof. The front rooms of the house were hardly tenantable; and it -seemed foolish to repair them only to be destroyed again. After due -consideration, therefore, it was determined that the school should -be abandoned. The pupils were called together, and I was requested -to announce to them our decision. Never before had I felt so deeply -sensible of the cruelty of the persecution which had been carried on -for eighteen months, in that New England village against a family of -defenceless females. Twenty harmless, well-behaved girls, whose only -offence against the peace of the community was that they had come -together there to obtain useful knowledge and moral culture, were to -be told that they had better go away, because, forsooth, the house -in which they dwelt would not be protected by the guardians of the -town, the conservators of the peace, the officers of justice, the men -of influence in the village where it was situated. The words almost -blistered my lips. My bosom glowed with indignation. I felt ashamed -of Canterbury, ashamed of Connecticut, ashamed of my country, ashamed -of my color. Thus ended the generous, disinterested, philanthropic, -Christian enterprise of Prudence Crandall. - -This was the second attempt made in Connecticut to establish a school -for the education of colored youth. The other was in New Haven, two -years before. So prevalent and malignant was our national prejudice -against the most injured of our fellow-men! - - -MR. GARRISON’S MISSION TO ENGLAND.--NEW YORK MOBS. - -The subject of this article is very opportune at the present time.[A] -While the roar of the cannon, fired in honor of Mr. Garrison at the -moment of his late departure from England, is still reverberating -through the land, it will be interesting and instructive to recall the -purpose of his mission to that country just thirty-four years ago; and -how he was vilified when he went, and denounced, hunted, mobbed, on -his return. He went there to undeceive the philanthropists of Great -Britain as to a gigantic fraud which had been practised upon them, as -well as the antislavery people of the United States. He has gone now -to the World’s Antislavery Convention as a delegate from our _National -Association_ for the education, and individual, domestic, and civil -elevation of our colored population, whose condition thirty years ago, -and until a much more recent period, it was confidently maintained, and -pretty generally conceded, could not be essentially improved within the -borders of our Republic, if, indeed, on the same continent with our -_superior Anglo-Saxon race_. - -The conscience of our country was never at peace concerning the -enslavement of the colored people. It was denounced by Jefferson in -his original draft of the Declaration of Independence, and afterwards -in his “Notes on Virginia.” An effort to abolish slavery was made in -the Convention that framed our Constitution; and strenuous opposition -to that Magna Charta was made in several of the State Conventions -called to ratify it, because the abominable wrong was indirectly and -covertly sanctioned therein. Soon after we became a nation plans were -proposed and associations formed for the improvement of the condition -of the colored population; and the General Government was earnestly -entreated, in a petition headed by Dr. Franklin, “to go to the utmost -limits of its power” to eradicate the great evil from the land. But the -doctrine was industriously taught by our statesmen that the status of -that class of the people was left, in the Constitution of the Union, -to be determined by the government of each of the States in which they -may be found. And still greater pains were taken, by those who were -bent on the perpetuation of slavery, to make it generally believed -throughout the country that negroes were naturally a very inferior -race of men; utterly incapable of much mental or moral culture, and -better off in domestic servitude on our continent than in their native -state in Africa. Notwithstanding this disparagement of them, and the -other inducements pressed upon the white people everywhere to acquiesce -in their enslavement, many colored persons emancipated themselves, -especially in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana; and many -more were set free by the workings of the consciences of their owners, -or in gratitude for their services to individuals or the public. Thus, -considerable bodies of freedmen were found almost everywhere in the -midst of the slaves. Not without reason, these persons became objects -of distrust to slaveholders. Devices were therefore sought to get rid -of their disturbing influence, and to prevent the increase of the -number of such persons. - -In 1816 the grand scheme was proposed, and readily adopted in most of -the slaveholding States, for colonizing on the coast of Africa the free -colored people of the United States, and prohibiting the emancipation -of any more of the enslaved, excepting upon the condition of their -removal to Liberia. - -To carry this great undertaking into complete effect it was necessary -to secure the patronage of the Federal Government. This obviously could -not be done, without first conciliating to the project the approval and -co-operation of the people of the non-slaveholding States. Accordingly, -agents, eloquent and cunning, were sent north, east, and west, to -summon the benevolent and patriotic everywhere to aid in an enterprise -which, it was claimed, would result in the safe but entire abolition of -American slavery. - -The dreadful wrongs and cruelties inflicted upon our bondmen were -not kept out of sight by these agents, but sometimes glowingly -depicted. The participation of the Northern States in the original -sin of the enslavement of Africans was pertinently urged. The utter -impracticability and danger of setting free such hordes of ignorant, -degraded people were insisted on with particular emphasis. The -immense good that would be done to benighted Africa was eloquently -portrayed,--how the slave-trade might be stopped, and the knowledge -of the arts of civilized America, and the blessings of our Christian -religion, might be spread throughout that dark region of the earth, -from the basis of colonies planted at Liberia and elsewhere along those -coasts, hitherto visited only by mercenary and cruel white men. All -these considerations were so pressed upon the churches and ministers -and kind-hearted people of the Northern States, that erelong an -enthusiasm was awakened everywhere in favor of colonizing the colored -people of our country “in their native land,” and thus, at the same -time, evangelizing Africa and wiping out the shame of the American -Republic. Without stopping to consider the glaring inconsistencies of -the scheme, it was taken for granted to be the only feasible way of -doing what we all longed to have done,--abolishing slavery. So the -colonization of our colored population became the favorite enterprise -at the North, even more than at the South. Thousands who were so -prejudiced against them that they would never consent to admit them -to the enjoyment of the rights, and the exercise of the prerogatives, -of men in our country were ready to give liberally to have them -transported across the Atlantic, and were deluded into the belief that -it was a benevolent, yes, a Christian enterprise. The very elect were -deceived. The men who have since been most distinguished among the -Abolitionists--Mr. Garrison, Arthur Tappan, Gerrit Smith, James G. -Birney, and hundreds more--were for a while zealous Colonizationists. - -Not until Mr. Garrison had been some time resident in Baltimore -as co-editor, with Benjamin Lundy, of the _Genius of Universal -Emancipation_, were the true purpose and spirit of Colonization -discovered. He there found out, as he afterwards made it plainly -appear, that the _intention_ of the originators, and of the Southern -promoters of the scheme, really was, “to rivet still closer the fetters -of the slaves, and to deepen the prejudice against the free people of -color.” - -So different had been the representations of its purpose by the -agents of the Colonization Society who had labored in its behalf -throughout the free States, and so utterly unconscious were most of the -Colonizationists on this side of Mason and Dixon’s line of harboring -any such designs, that Mr. Garrison’s accusations fired them with -indignation and wrath. They would not give heed to his incontrovertible -evidence. Though his witnesses were numerous and could not be -impeached, yet were they spurned by most of the persons in the free -States who had espoused the cause. It was enough that Mr. Garrison had -come out in opposition to the plan of Colonization. He was denounced as -an infidel, set upon as an enemy of his country. The churches were all -closed against him. Few ministers ventured to give him any countenance, -and the politicians heaped upon him unmeasured abuse. All this made the -more plain to the young Reformer and his co-laborers how thoroughly -the virus of slavery had poisoned the American body ecclesiastic, as -well as the body politic. It was seen that the church was becoming the -bulwark of slaveholders. Mr. Garrison felt that the first thing to be -done, therefore, was to batter down the confidence of the humane in -the Colonization plan. Against this he drove his sharpest points, at -this he aimed his heaviest artillery. So when it became known to us -that the agents of that plan had labored, with sad effect, in Great -Britain; that they had suborned to their purpose the aid of the English -philanthropists, we all felt, with Mr. Garrison, that those friends of -the oppressed must be undeceived without delay. No one was competent -to do this work so thoroughly as Mr. Garrison himself. Accordingly, it -was determined, in the spring of 1833, that he must see personally the -prominent Abolitionists of Great Britain. - -In pursuance of this object he sailed from New York on the first day -of this month, thirty-four years ago. He went with the execrations -of the leading Colonizationists, and all the proslavery partisans of -our country upon his head. He was received in England with the utmost -cordiality and respectful confidence by all the friends of liberty; for -although, as he found, many of them had been persuaded by the agents of -the Colonization Society to give their approval and aid to that scheme, -they had done so because they had been made to believe that it was -intended and adapted to effect the entire abolition of slavery in the -United States. - -Nothing could have been more opportune than was his arrival in London. -He found there most of the leading Abolitionists of the United Kingdom -watching and aiding the measures in Parliament about to issue in the -emancipation of the enslaved in the British West India Islands. He was -invited to their councils, and interchanged opinions freely and fully -with them on the great questions, which were essentially the same in -that country and our own. It was especially his privilege to become -acquainted with William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson and Fowell -Buxton and George Thompson, to name no more of the noble host that had -fought the battles and won the victory of freedom for eight hundred -thousand slaves. He was there when William Wilberforce was summoned to -lay aside his earthly life, with his antislavery armor, and ascend, we -trust, to the right hand of God. How appropriate that the young leader -of the Abolitionists of America, whose work had just begun, should -be present, as he was, at the obsequies of the veteran leader of the -British Abolitionists just as their work was done! - -Mr. Garrison remained in England three or four months, long enough to -accomplish fully the object of his mission. He reached New York on -the 30th of the following September, bringing with him this emphatic -protest, signed by the most distinguished philanthropists, and several -of the most distinguished statesmen of Great Britain:-- - - “We, the undersigned, having observed with regret that the American - Colonization Society appears to be gaining some adherents in this - country, are desirous to express our opinions respecting it. Our - motive and excuse for thus coming forward are the claims which - that Society has put forth to _Antislavery_ support. These claims - are, in our opinion, wholly groundless; and we feel bound to - affirm that our deliberate judgment and conviction are that the - professions made by the Colonization Society of promoting the - abolition of slavery are delusive.... - - “While we believe its precepts to be delusive we are convinced that - its _real_ effects are of the most dangerous nature. It takes its - root from a cruel prejudice and alienation in the whites of America - against the colored people, slave or free. This being its source, - its effects are what might be expected.... - - “On these grounds, therefore, and while we acknowledge the colony - of Liberia, or any other colony on the coast of Africa, to be _in - itself_ a good thing, we must be understood utterly to repudiate - the principles of the American Colonization Society. That Society - is, in our estimation, not deserving of the countenance of the - British public. - - (Signed) - “WM. WILBERFORCE, - ZACHARY MACAULAY, - WILLIAM EVANS, M. P., - SAMUEL GURNEY, - S. LUSHINGTON, M. P., - T. FOWELL BUXTON, M. P., - JAMES CROPPER, - DANIEL O’CONNELL, M. P.,” - and others. - -Nothing could have maddened the slaveholders and their Northern -abettors more than Mr. Garrison’s success in England, and their -malignant, ferocious hatred of him broke out on his return. It so -happened that, without any expectation of his arrival at the time, a -meeting of those desirous of the abolition of slavery was called, on -the evening of October 2, in Clinton Hall, to organize a city society. -When it was known that Mr. Garrison would be present, most of the New -York newspapers teemed with exciting articles, and an advertisement, -signed “Many Southerners,” summoned “all persons interested in the -subject” to be present at the same time and place. The Abolitionists, -aware that a meeting at Clinton Hall would be broken up, quietly -withdrew to Chatham Street Chapel, and had nearly completed the -organization of the “New York City Antislavery Society,” when the mob -of _slaveholding patriots_, disappointed of their prey at Clinton -Hall, and finding out the retreat of the Abolitionists, rushed upon -and dispersed them from Chatham Street Chapel, with horrid cries of -detestation and threats of utmost violence, especially aimed at Mr. -Garrison, of whom they went in search from place to place, declaring -their determination to wreak upon him their utmost vengeance. Mr. -Garrison, secure in their ignorance of his person, and curious to learn -all he might of the mistaken notions and corrupt principles by which -they were misled and driven to such excesses, went around with them in -their bootless pursuit until he was tired, and the fire of their fury -had cooled. - -The New York newspapers, especially the _Courier and Inquirer_, -the _Gazette_, _Evening Post_, and _Commercial Advertiser_, by -their half-way condemnation of this outrage, and their gross -misrepresentations of the sentiments and purposes of Mr. Garrison and -his fellow-laborers, virtually justified that fearful assault upon “the -liberty of speech,” and inauguration of “the Reign of Terror,” of which -I shall hereafter give my readers some account. - - -THE CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA. - -The publication of Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization” had -arrested the attention of philanthropists in all parts of our country. -Everywhere, public as well as private discussions were had respecting -the professed and the real purpose and tendency of the Colonization -plan. Converts to the great doctrine of the young Reformer--“Immediate -emancipation _without expatriation_, the right of the slave and the -duty of the master”--were added daily. Tidings came to us that many -town and several county antislavery societies had been formed in -several States of the Union, and the circulation of the _Liberator_ -had greatly increased. There was a growing feeling that Abolitionists -of the whole country ought to know each other, devise some plan of -co-operation, and make their influence more manifest. Repeatedly during -the spring of 1833 Mr. Garrison expressed his opinion that the time had -come for the formation of a National Antislavery Society. - -After his departure on his mission to England the need of such an -organization became more and more apparent, and before Mr. Garrison’s -return, on the 30th of September, the call was issued for the -Convention to be held in Philadelphia on the fourth, fifth, and sixth -days of the ensuing December. Had we foreseen the peculiarly excited -state of the public mind at that time, the important meeting might -have been deferred. The success of Mr. Garrison’s labors in England, -in opening the eyes of the British philanthropists to the egregious -imposition which had been put upon them by the Colonization Society, -the protest of the sainted Wilberforce and his most illustrious -fellow-laborers, the stinging sarcasms of O’Connell, the champion of -Ireland and of universal freedom, were working like moral blisters. -More than all, the report of the great Exeter Hall meeting in -London, by which colonization was denounced, and the doctrine of -“immediate emancipation” fully indorsed, had lashed into fury all the -proslavery-colonization-pseudo patriotism throughout the land. The -storm had burst upon us in the mobs at New York; and whether it would -ever subside until it had overwhelmed us, was a question which many -answered in tones of fearful foreboding to our little band. But the -Convention had been called before the outbreak, and we were not “wise -and prudent” enough to relinquish our purpose of holding it. - -On my way to the “City of Brotherly Love” I joined, at New York, a -number of the brethren going thither, whom I had never seen before. -I studied anxiously their countenances and bearing, and caught most -thirstily every word that dropped from their lips, until I was -satisfied that most of them were men ready to die, if need be, in the -pass of Thermopylæ. - -There was a large company on the steamer that took us from New York -to Elizabethtown, and again from Bordentown to Philadelphia. There -was much earnest talking by other parties beside our own. Presently a -gentleman turned from one of them to me and said, “What, sir, are the -Abolitionists going to do in Philadelphia?” I informed him that we -intended to form a National Antislavery Society. This brought from him -an outpouring of the commonplace objections to our enterprise, which I -replied to as well as I was able. Mr. Garrison drew near, and I soon -shifted my part of the discussion into his hands, and listened with -delight to the admirable manner in which he expounded and maintained -the doctrines and purposes of those who believed with him that the -slaves--the blackest of them--were men, entitled as much as the whitest -and most exalted men in the land to their liberty, to a residence here, -if they choose, and to acquire as much wisdom, as much property, and as -high a position as they may. - -After a long conversation, which attracted as many as could get within -hearing, the gentleman said, courteously: “I have been much interested, -sir, in what you have said, and in the exceedingly frank and temperate -manner in which you have treated the subject. If all Abolitionists were -like you, there would be much less opposition to your enterprise. But, -sir, depend upon it, that hair-brained, reckless, violent fanatic, -Garrison will damage, if he does not shipwreck, any cause.” Stepping -forward, I replied, “Allow me, sir, to introduce you to Mr. Garrison, -of whom you entertain so bad an opinion. The gentleman you have been -talking with is he.” I need not describe, you can easily imagine, the -incredulous surprise with which this announcement was received. And so -it has been from the beginning until now. Those who have only heard of -Mr. Garrison, and have believed the misrepresentations of his enemies, -have supposed him to be “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” -But those who have become most intimately acquainted with him have -found him to be “as harmless as a dove,” though indeed “as wise as a -serpent.” - -When we arrived in Philadelphia on the afternoon of the 3d of December, -1833, we learnt that a goodly number were already there; and the -newspapers of the day were seeking to make our coming a formidable -affair, worthy the especial attention of those patriotic conservators -of the peace who dealt in brickbats, rotten eggs, and tar and feathers. -The Police of the city had given notice to our Philadelphia associates -that they could not protect us in the evening, and therefore our -meetings must be held by daylight. - -A previous gathering was had that evening at the house of Evan Lewis, a -man who was afraid of nothing but doing or being wrong. Between thirty -and forty were there, and we made such arrangements as we could for the -ensuing day. One thing we did, which we were not careful to report, so -you may never have heard of it. It was a weak, a servile act. We were -ashamed of it ourselves, and you shall have a laugh at our expense if -you like. - -Some one suggested that, as we were strangers in Philadelphia, our -characters and manner of life not known there, the populace might -the more easily be made to believe that we had come for an incendiary -purpose, and be roused to prevent the accomplishment of it; that, in -order to avert the opposition which seemed preparing to thwart us, it -would be well to get some one of the distinguished philanthropists -of that city to preside over our deliberations, and thus be, as it -were, a voucher to the public for our harmlessness. There was no one -proposed of whom we could hope such patronage, save only Robert Vaux, a -prominent and wealthy Quaker. To him it was resolved we should apply. -Five or seven of us were delegated to wait upon the great man, and -solicit his acceptance of the Presidency of the Convention. Of this -committee I had the honor to be one. Just for this once I wish I had -some wit, that I might be able to do justice to the scene. But I need -not help you to see it in all its ludicrousness. There were at least -six of us--Beriah Green, Evan Lewis, Eppingham L. Capron, Lewis Tappan, -John G. Whittier, and myself--sitting around a richly furnished parlor, -gravely arguing, by turns, with the wealthy occupant, to persuade him -that it was his duty to come and be the most prominent one in a meeting -of men already denounced as “fanatics, amalgamationists, disorganizers, -disturbers of the peace, and dangerous enemies of the country.” Of -course our suit was unsuccessful. We came away mortified much more -because we had made such a request, than because it had been denied. -As we left the door Beriah Green said in his most sarcastic tone, “If -there is not timber amongst ourselves big enough to make a president -of, let us get along without one, or go home and stay there until we -have grown up to be men.” - -The next morning as we passed along the streets leading to the place of -meeting, the Adelphi Buildings, we were repeatedly assailed with most -insulting words. On arriving at the hall we found the entrance guarded -by police officers, placed there, I suppose, at the suggestion of some -friends by order of the Mayor. These incidents helped us to realize -how we and the cause we had espoused, were regarded in that City of -Brotherly Love and Quakers. - -At the hour appointed, on the morning of the 4th, nearly all the -members were in their seats,--fifty-six in all, representing ten -different States. No time was lost. A fervent prayer was offered for -the divine guidance. If there was ever a praying assembly I believe -that was one. - -Beriah Green, then President of Oneida Institute, was chosen President -of our Convention. Lewis Tappan, one of the earliest and most untiring -laborers in the cause of the oppressed, a well-known merchant of New -York, and John G. Whittier, one of Liberty’s choicest poets, were -chosen Secretaries. - -The first forenoon was spent in a free but somewhat desultory -interchange of thought upon the topics of prominent interest, and in -listening to a number of cheering letters from individuals in different -parts of the United States, assuring us of their hearty sympathy and -co-operation, though they were unable to be with us in person. - -Discussion and argument were not found necessary to bring us to the -resolution to institute an American Antislavery Society, for that was -the especial purpose for which we had come together. Committees were -chosen to draft a constitution and to nominate a list of officers. When -the dining hour arrived, with one consent it was agreed that it was -better than meat to remain in the hall, and commune with one another -upon the interests of the cause we had espoused. And there and thus -did we spend the dinner-time on that and each of the succeeding days. -Baskets of crackers and pitchers of cold water supplied all the bodily -refreshment that we needed. - -The reports of the committees occupied us through the afternoon. We -then came unanimously to the conclusion that it was needful to give, -to our country and the world, a fuller declaration of the sentiments -and purposes of the American Antislavery Society than could be embodied -in its Constitution. It was therefore resolved “that Messrs. Atlee, -Wright, Garrison, Joselyn, Thurston, Sterling, William Green, Jr., -Whittier, Goodell, and May be a committee to draft a Declaration of -the Principles of the American Antislavery Society for publication, -to which the signatures of the members of this Convention shall be -affixed.” - -In my next article I will give my readers a particular account of the -conception and production of our Magna Charta. - - -THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION. - -The committee of ten, appointed at the close of the first day to -prepare a declaration of the sentiments and purposes of the American -Antislavery Society, felt that the work assigned them ought to be most -carefully and thoroughly done, embodying, as far as possible, the -best thoughts of the whole Convention. Accordingly, about half of the -members were invited to meet, and did meet, the committee early at the -house of our chairman, Dr. Edwin P. Atlee. - -After an hour’s general conversation upon the importance of the -document to be prepared, and the character it ought to possess, we -agreed that each one present should, in his turn, utter the sentiment -or announce the purpose which he thought ought to be given in the -declaration. This was done, and revealed great unanimity, and at the -same time not a little individuality of opinion among the members. I -cannot now recall many of the suggestions thrown out. One, however, was -so pregnant that it contained the text and the substance of several -of my lectures afterwards. “I wish,” said Elizur Wright, “that the -difference between our purpose and that of the Colonization Society -should be explicitly stated. We mean to exterminate _slavery_ from our -country with its accursed influences. The Colonizationists aim only -to _get rid of the slaves_ so soon as they become free. Their plan is -unrighteous, cruel, and impracticable withal. Our plan needs but a good -will, a right spirit amongst the white people, to accomplish it.” - -After a session of more than two hours thus spent a sub-committee of -three was appointed to prepare a draft of the proposed declaration, to -be reported next morning at nine o’clock to the whole committee, in the -room adjoining the hall of the Convention. William L. Garrison, John -G. Whittier, and myself composed that sub-committee. We immediately -repaired to the house of Mr. James McCrummel, a colored gentleman, -with whom Mr. Garrison was at home; and there, after a half-hour’s -consultation, it was of course determined that Mr. Garrison, our -Coryphæus, should write the document, in which were to be set before -our country and the world “the sentiments and purposes of the American -Antislavery Society.” We left him about ten o’clock, agreeing to come -to him again next morning at eight. - -On our return at the appointed hour we found him, with shutters closed -and lamps burning, just writing the last paragraph of his admirable -draft. We read it over together two or three times very carefully, -agreed to a few slight alterations, and at nine went to lay it -before the whole committee. By them it was subjected to the severest -examination. Nearly three hours of intense application were given -to it, notwithstanding repeated and urgent calls from the Convention -for our report. All the while Mr. Garrison evinced the most unruffled -patience. Very few alterations were proposed, and only once did he -offer any resistance. He had introduced into his draft more than a page -in condemnation of the Colonization scheme. It was the concentrated -essence of all he had written or thought upon that egregious -imposition. It was as finished and powerful in expression as any part -of that Magna Charta. We commented upon it as a whole and in all its -parts. We writhed somewhat under its severity, but were obliged to -acknowledge its exact, its singular justice, and were about to accept -it, when I ventured to propose that all of it, excepting only the first -comprehensive paragraph, be stricken from the document, giving as my -reason for this large erasure, that the Colonization Society could not -long survive the deadly blows it had received; and it was not worth -while for us to perpetuate the memory of it, in this Declaration of -the Rights of Man, which will live a perpetual, impressive protest -against every form of oppression, until it shall have given place to -that brotherly kindness, which all the children of the common Father -owe to one another. At first, Mr. Garrison rose up to save a portion -of his work that had doubtless cost him as much mental effort as any -other part of it. But so soon as he found that a large majority of -the committee concurred in favor of the erasure, he submitted very -graciously, saying, “Brethren, it is your report, not mine.” - -With this exception, the alterations and amendments which were made, -after all our criticisms, were surprisingly few and unessential; and we -cordially agreed to report it to the Convention very much as it came -from his pen. - -Between twelve and one o’clock we repaired with it to the hall. Edwin -P. Atlee, the Chairman, read the Declaration to the Convention. Never -in my life have I seen a deeper impression made by words than was made -by that admirable document upon all who were there present. After the -voice of the reader had ceased there was a profound silence for several -minutes. Our hearts were in perfect unison. There was but one thought -with us all. Either of the members could have told what the whole -Convention felt. We felt that the word had just been uttered which -would be mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the strongholds of -slavery. - -The solemn silence was broken by a Quaker brother, Evan Lewis, or -Thomas Shipley, who moved that we adopt the Declaration, and proceed -at once to append to it our signatures. He said, “We have already -given it our assent; every heart here has responded to it; and there -is a doctrine of the ‘Friends’ which impelled me to make the motion -I have done: ‘_First impressions are from heaven_.’ I fear, if we go -about criticising and amending this Declaration, we shall qualify its -truthfulness and impair its strength.” - -The majority of the Convention, however, thought it best, in a matter -so momentous, to be deliberate; to weigh well every word and act by -which our countrymen and the world would be called to justify or -condemn us and our enterprise. Accordingly, we adjusted ourselves to -hear the Declaration read again, paragraph by paragraph, sentence -by sentence, and to pass judgment upon it in every particular. The -whole afternoon, from one o’clock until five, was assiduously and -patiently devoted to this review. Discussion arose on several points; -but no one spoke who had not something to say. Never had I heard in -a public assembly so much pertinent speech, never so little that was -unimportant. The result of the afternoon’s deliberations was a deeper -satisfaction with the Declaration. Some expressions in it were called -in question, but few were changed. And just as the darkness of night -had shut down upon us we resolved unanimously to adopt it. On motion of -Lewis Tappan we voted that Abraham L. Cox, M. D., whom the mover knew -to be an excellent penman, be requested to procure a suitable sheet of -parchment, and engross thereon our magna charta before the following -morning, that it might then receive the signatures of each one of the -members. - -At the opening of the meeting next morning the Doctor was there, with -the work assigned him beautifully executed. He read the Declaration -once and again. Another hour was expended in the consideration of -certain expressions in it. But no changes were made. It was then -submitted for signatures; and Thomas Whitson, of Chester County, -Pennsylvania, being obliged to leave the city immediately, came forward -and had the honor of signing it first. Sixty-one others subscribed -their names on the 6th day of December, 1833. - -If I ever boast of anything it is this: that I was a member of the -Convention that instituted the American Antislavery Society. That -assembly, gathered from eleven different States of our Republic, was -composed of devout men of every sect and of no sect in religion, of -each political party and of neither; but they were all of one mind. -They evidently felt that they had come together for a purpose higher -and better than that of any religious sect or political party. Never -have I seen men so ready, so anxious to rid themselves of whatsoever -was narrow, selfish, or merely denominational. I was all the more -affected by the manifestation of this spirit, because I had been living -for ten years in Connecticut, where every one who did not profess a -faith essentially “Orthodox” was peremptorily proscribed. In the -Philadelphia Convention there were but two or three of my sect, which -you know at that time had but few avowed adherents anywhere except in -the eastern half of Massachusetts, and was then, much more than now, -especially obnoxious to all other religionists in the land. Yet we were -cordially treated as brethren, admitted freely, without reserve or -qualification, into that goodly fellowship. They were indeed a company -of the Lord’s freemen, a truly devout company. And the scrupulous -regard for the rights of the human mind, no less than for the other -natural rights of man, was shown from the beginning to the end of the -Convention. - -Much the largest number of any sect present were what were then, and -are now, called Orthodox, or Evangelical. There were ten or twelve -ministers of one or the other of those denominations that claim to be -Orthodox; yet I distinctly remember that some of them were the most -forward and eager to lay aside sectarianism, and their generous example -was gladly followed by all others. At the suggestion of an Orthodox -brother, and without a vote of the Convention, our President himself, -then an Orthodox minister, readily condescended to the scruples of our -Quaker brethren, so far as not to _call upon_ any individual to offer -prayer; but at the opening of our sessions each day he gave notice that -a portion of time would be spent in prayer. Any one prayed aloud who -was moved so to do. - -It was at the suggestion also of an Orthodox member that we agreed to -dispense with all titles, civil or ecclesiastical. Accordingly, you -will not find in the published minutes of the Convention appendages to -any names,--neither D. D., nor Rev., nor Hon., nor Esq.,--no, not even -plain Mr. We met as fellow-men, in the cause of suffering fellow-men. - -When the resolution was read recommending the institution of a monthly -“concert of prayer” for the abolition of slavery, a Quaker objected to -its passage, on the ground that he believed not in stated times and -seasons for prayers, but that then only can we truly pray when we are -moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. Effingham L. Capron, a member of -the “Society of Friends,” immediately and earnestly expressed regret -that his brother had interposed such an objection. “For,” said he, -“this measure is only to be recommended by the Convention, not insisted -on, much less to be incorporated into the constitution of the society -we have formed; and such is the liberal, catholic spirit of all here -present,” he added, “that I do not suspect any one wishes to urge the -measure upon those who would have conscientious scruples against it.” -“Certainly not, certainly not,” said the mover of the resolution. -“Certainly not, certainly not,” was responded from all parts of the -hall. On this explanation the brother withdrew his opposition, and the -resolution passed, _nem. con._ - - -LUCRETIA MOTT. - -A number of excellent women, most of them of the “Society of Friends,” -were in constant attendance upon the meetings of the Convention, which -continued three days successively, without adjournment for dinner. On -the afternoon of the second day, in the midst of a very interesting -debate (I think it was on the use of the productions of slave-labor), -a sweet female voice was heard. It was Lucretia Mott’s. She had risen -and commenced speaking, but was hesitating, because she feared the -larger part of the Convention not being Quakers might think it “a -shame for a woman to speak in a church,” and she was unwilling to give -them offence. Her beautiful countenance was radiant with the thoughts -that had moved her to speak; and the expression was made all the more -engaging by the emotion of deference to the supposed prejudices of her -auditors, with which it was suffused. - -Our President, Beriah Green, conferred not with flesh and blood, but, -filled as he was with the liberal spirit of the apostle who wrote, -“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female; -for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,” at once, without waiting for the -formal sanction of the Convention, cried out in the most encouraging, -cordial tone, “Go on, ma’am, we shall all be glad to hear you.” “Go -on,” “Go on,” was responded by many voices. She did go on; and no man -who was there will dissent from me when I add that she made a more -impressive and effective speech than any other that was made in the -Convention, excepting only our President’s closing address. - -Lucretia Mott afterwards spoke repeatedly; and one or two graceful -amendments of the language of our Declaration were made at her -suggestion. Two other excellent women also took part in our -discussions,--Esther Moore and Lydia White,--and they spoke to good -purpose. Now, that no brother was scandalized by this procedure (and -there were several there who afterwards opposed us on the “woman -question,”) we have evidence enough in the following resolution, which -was passed near the close of the third day, without dissent or a word -to qualify or limit its application: “_Resolved_, that the thanks -of the Convention be presented to our female friends for the deep -interest they have manifested in the cause of antislavery, during the -long and fatiguing session of the Convention.” Was not the fact that -three of our female friends had taken an active part in our meetings, -had repeatedly “spoken in the church”--must not this fact have been -prominent to the view of every one who was called to vote on the above -resolution? And yet I do aver that I heard not a word, either in or out -of the hall, censuring their course, or expressing regret that they -had been allowed to take part in our discussions. Far otherwise. It -seemed to be regarded as another of the many indications we had seen -of the deep hold which the antislavery cause had taken of the public -heart. We remembered in the history of our race that, (although women -had ordinarily kept themselves in the retirement of domestic life,) -in the great emergencies of humanity,--in those imminent crises which -have tried men’s souls, and from which we date the signal advances -of civilization,--women have always been conspicuous at the martyr’s -stake, in the councils of Church and State, and even in the conduct of -armies. We therefore hailed the deep interest manifested by them in -the cause of our oppressed countrymen, as an omen that another triumph -of humanity was at hand. No one suggested that it would be well to -invite the women to enroll their names as members of the Convention -and sign the Declaration. It was not thought of in season. But I -have not a doubt, such was the spirit of that assembly, that, if the -proposal had been made, it would have been acceded to joyfully by a -large majority, if not by all. We had not convened there to shape our -enterprise to the received opinions or usages of any sect or party. We -were not careful to do what might please “the scribes and pharisees and -rulers of the people.” We had come together at the cry of suffering, -wronged, outraged millions. We had come to say and do what, we hoped, -would rouse the nation to a sense of her tremendous iniquity. We were -willing, we were anxious, that all who had ears to hear should hear -“the truth which only tyrants dread.” And I have no doubt, that at -that time all immediate Abolitionists would have readily consented that -every one (man or woman) who had the _power_ had also the _right_ to -utter that truth; to utter it with the pen or with the living voice; -to utter it at the fireside in the private circle, or to the largest -congregation from the pulpit, or, if need be, from the house-top. It -was not then in our hearts to bid any one be silent, who might be -moved to plead for the down-trodden millions in our country who were -not permitted to speak for themselves. We were willing “that the very -stones should cry out,” if they would. - -The subjects that elicited most discussion in the Convention were -Colonization; the use of the productions of slave-labor; the doctrine -of compensation; and the duty of relying wholly on moral power. The -results to which we came are expressed in the Constitution, the -Declaration, or the Resolutions that were passed. - -No one can read the published minutes of our proceedings, and not -perceive how emphatically and solemnly we avowed the determination not -to commit the cause we had espoused in any way to an arm of flesh, -but to trust wholly to the power of truth and the influence of the -Holy Spirit to change the hearts of slaveholders and their abettors. -This principle, which was repudiated by a portion of the American -Antislavery Society under the excitement caused by the murder of -Lovejoy in 1837, was accounted by a large majority of the Convention -as _the principle_ upon which our enterprise should be prosecuted, or -could be brought to a peaceful triumph. Those only who were ready to -take up the cross, to suffer loss, shame, and even death, seemed to -us then fit to engage in the work we proposed. The third article of -the Constitution was as follows: “This Society will never, in any way, -countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by physical -force.” And the pacific spirit and intentions of the Society were still -more distinctively and emphatically set forth in the Declaration, in -exposition of the third article above quoted. That document begins -with an allusion to the Magna Charta of the American Revolution, which -was prepared and signed fifty-seven years before in the very city -where we were assembled. It exhibits clearly the contrast between our -philanthropic enterprise and that of our fathers. It says: “_Their_ -principles led them to _wage war_ against their oppressors, and to -spill human blood like water in order to be free. _Ours_ forbid the -doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and entreat -the oppressed to reject, the use of any carnal weapons for deliverance -from bondage; relying solely upon those which are spiritual and ‘mighty -through God’ to the pulling down of strongholds. _Their_ measures were -physical,--the marshalling in arms, the hostile array, the mortal -encounter. _Ours_ shall be such only as the opposition of moral purity -to moral corruption, the destruction of error by the potency of truth, -the overthrow of prejudice by the power of love, the abolition of -slavery by the spirit of repentance.” - -This language was not adopted hastily or inconsiderately. Its import -was duly weighed. A few of the members hesitated. They were not -non-resistants. They were not, at first, ready to say they would not -fight, if they should be roughly used by the opposers of our cause. But -it was strenuously urged in reply that, whatever might be true as to -the right of self-defence, in the prosecution of our great undertaking, -_violent_ resistance to the injurious treatment we might receive would -have a disastrous effect. It was insisted that we ought to go forth -to labor for the abolition of slavery, in the spirit of _Christian_ -reformers, expecting to be persecuted, and resolved never to return -evil for evil. The result of our discussion was that all the members -of the Convention signed the Declaration, thereby pledging themselves, -and all who should thereafter sign the Constitution--“Come what may -to our persons, our interests, or our reputations; whether we live -to witness the triumph of liberty, justice, and humanity, or perish -untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and holy cause.” - -Such was the spirit that at last pervaded the whole body. I cannot -describe the holy enthusiasm which lighted up every face as we gathered -around the table on which the Declaration lay, to put our names to -that sacred instrument. It seemed to me that every man’s heart was in -his hand,--as if every one felt that he was about to offer himself a -living sacrifice in the cause of _freedom_, and to do it cheerfully. -There are moments when heart touches heart, and souls flow into one -another. That was such a moment. I was in them and they in me; we were -all one. There was no need that each should tell the other how he felt -and what he thought, for we were in each other’s bosoms. I am sure -there was not, in all our hearts, the thought of ever making violent, -much less mortal, defence of the liberty of speech, or the freedom of -the press, or of our own persons, though we foresaw that they all would -be grievously outraged. Our President, Beriah Green, in his admirable -closing speech, gave utterance to what we all felt and intended should -be our course of conduct. He distinctly foretold the obloquy, the -despiteful treatment, the bitter persecution, perhaps even the cruel -deaths we were going to encounter in the prosecution of the undertaking -to which we had bound ourselves. Not an intimation fell from his lips -that, in any extremity, we were to resort to carnal weapons and fight -rather than die in the cause. Much less did he intimate that it might -ever be proper for us to defend, by deadly weapons, the liberty of -speech and the press. O no! The words which came glowing from his lips -were of a very different import. He exhorted us most solemnly, most -tenderly, to cherish the Holy Spirit which he felt was then in all -our hearts, and go forth to our several places of labor willing to -suffer shame, loss of property, and, if need be, even of life, in the -cause of human rights; but not intending to hurt a hair of the heads -of our opposers, whom we ought to regard in pity more than in anger. -Would that every syllable which he uttered had been engraven upon some -imperishable tablet! Would that the spirit which then inspired him had -been infused into the bosom of every one who has since engaged in the -antislavery cause! - - -MRS. L. MARIA CHILD. - -The account I have given above of the valuable services rendered in -the Philadelphia Convention by Lucretia Mott, Esther Moore, and Lydia -White, doubtless reminded my readers of many other excellent women, -whose names stand high among the early antislavery reformers. The -memories of them are most precious to me. If I live to write out half -of my Recollections, and you do not weary of them, I shall make most -grateful mention of our female fellow-laborers in general, of several -of them in particular, though I cannot do ample justice to any. - -There is one of whom I must speak now, because I have already passed -the time, at which her inestimable services commenced. In July, 1833, -when the number, the variety, and the malignity of our opponents had -become manifest, we were not much more delighted than surprised by the -publication of a thoroughgoing antislavery volume, from the pen of -Mrs. Lydia Maria Child. She was at that time, perhaps, the most popular -as well as useful of our female writers. None certainly, excepting -Miss Sedgwick, rivalled her. The _North American Review_, then, if -not now, the highest authority on matters of literary criticism, -said at the time: “We are not sure that any woman in our country -would outrank Mrs. Child. This lady has long been before the public -as an author with much success. And she well deserves it, for in all -her works we think that nothing can be found which does not commend -itself by its tone of healthy morality and good sense. Few female -writers, if any, have done more or better things for our literature, -in its lighter or graver departments.” That such an author--ay, such -an _authority_--should espouse our cause just at that crisis, I do -assure you, was a matter of no small joy, yes, exultation. She was -extensively known in the Southern as well as the Northern States, and -her books commanded a ready sale there not less than here. We had seen -her often at our meetings. We knew that she sympathized with her brave -husband in his abhorrence of our American system of slavery; but we -did not know that she had so carefully studied and thoroughly mastered -the subject. Nor did we suspect that she possessed the power, if she -had the courage, to strike so heavy a blow. Why, the very title-page -was pregnant with the gist of the whole matters under dispute between -us,--“Immediate Abolitionists,” and the slaveholders on the one hand, -and the Colonizationists on the other,--“_An Appeal in Favor of that -Class of Americans_ CALLED _Africans_.” The volume, still prominent -in the literature of our conflict, is replete with facts showing, not -only the horrible cruelties that had been perpetrated by individual -slaveholders or their overseers, but the essential barbarity of the -_system of slavery_, its dehumanizing influences upon those who -enforced it scarcely less than upon those who were crushed under it. -Her book did us an especially valuable service in showing, to those who -had paid little attention to the subject, that the Africans are not by -_nature_ inferior to other--even the _white_--races of men; but that -“Ethiopia held a conspicuous place among the nations of ancient times. -Her princes were wealthy and powerful, and her people distinguished -for integrity and wisdom. Even the proud Grecians evinced respect -for Ethiopia, almost amounting to reverence, and derived thence the -sublimest portions of their mythology. And the popular belief, that all -the gods made an annual visit to feast with the excellent Ethiopians, -shows the high estimation in which they were then held, for we are not -told that such an honor was bestowed on any other nation.” Mrs. Child’s -exposure of the fallacy of the Colonization scheme, as well as the -falsity of the pretensions put forth by its advocates, amply sustained -all Mr. Garrison’s accusations. And her _exposé_ of the principles of -the “Immediate Abolitionists” was clear, and her defence of them was -impregnable. - -This “Appeal” reached thousands who had given no heed to us before, and -made many converts to the doctrines of Mr. Garrison. - -Of course, what pleased and helped us so much gave proportionate -offence to slaveholders, Colonizationists, and their Northern abettors. -Mrs. Child was denounced. Her effeminate admirers, both male and -female, said there were “some very indelicate things in her book,” -though there was nothing narrated in it that had not been allowed, if -not perpetrated, by “the refined, hospitable, chivalric gentlemen and -ladies” on their Southern plantations. The politicians and statesmen -scouted the woman who “presumed to criticise so freely the constitution -and government of her country. Women had better let politics alone.” -And certain ministers gravely foreboded “evil and ruin to our country, -if the women generally should follow Mrs. Child’s bad example, and -neglect their domestic duties to attend to the affairs of state.” - -Mrs. Child’s popularity was reversed. Her writings on other subjects -were no longer sought after with the avidity that was shown for them -before the publication of her “Appeal.” Most of them were sent back to -their publishers from the Southern bookstores, with the notice that -the demand for her books had ceased. The sale of them at the North was -also greatly diminished. It was said at the time that her income from -the productions of her pen was lessened six or eight hundred dollars -a year. But this did not daunt her. On the contrary, it roused her to -greater exertion, as it revealed to her more fully the moral corruption -which slavery had diffused throughout our country, and summoned her -patriotism as well as her benevolence to more determined conflict with -our nation’s deadliest enemy. Indeed, she consecrated herself to the -cause of the enslaved. Many of her publications since then have related -to the great subject, viz.: The Oasis, Antislavery Catechism, Authentic -Anecdotes, Evils and Cure of Slavery, Other Tracts, Life of Isaac T. -Hopper, and, more than all, her letters to Governor Wise, of Virginia, -and to Mrs. Mason, respecting John Brown. Those letters had an immense -circulation throughout the free States, and were blazoned by all -manner of anathemas in the Southern papers. Her letter to Mrs. Mason -especially was copied by hundreds of thousands, and was doubtless one -of the efficient agencies that prepared the mind of the North for the -final great crisis. - -For several years, assisted by her husband, Mrs. Child edited the -_Antislavery Standard_, elevated its literary character, extended its -circulation, and increased its efficiency. - -But, in a more private way, this admirable woman rendered the early -Abolitionists most important services. She, together with Mrs. Maria -W. Chapman and Eliza Lee Follen, and others, of whom I shall write -hereafter, were presiding geniuses in all our councils and more public -meetings, often proposing the wisest measures, and suggesting to -those who were “allowed to speak in the assembly” the most weighty -thoughts, pertinent facts, apt illustrations, which they could not -be persuaded to utter aloud. Repeatedly in those early days, before -Angelina and Sarah Grimké had taught others besides Quaker women -“to _speak_ in meeting,” if they had anything to say that was worth -hearing,--repeatedly did I spring to the platform, crying, “Hear me as -the mouthpiece of Mrs. Child, or Mrs. Chapman, or Mrs. Follen,” and -convulsed the audience with a stroke of wit, or electrified them with -a flash of eloquence, caught from the lips of one or the other of our -antislavery prophetesses. - -N. B.--That Mrs. Child, when she became an Abolitionist, did not become -a woman “of one idea” is evinced, not only by her two volumes of -enchanting “Letters from New York,” “Memoirs of Madame de Staël” and -“Madame Roland,” “Biographies of Good Wives,” and several exquisite -books for children, but still more by her three octavo volumes, -entitled “Progress of Religious Ideas,” which must have been the result -of a vast amount of reading and profound thought on all the subjects -of theology and religion. Her later work, “Looking towards Sunset,” is -full of beautiful ideas about that future life, for which her untiring -devotion to all the humanities in this life must have so fully prepared -her. - - -ERUPTION OF LANE SEMINARY. - -Lane Seminary was an institution established by our orthodox -fellow-Christians, mainly for the preparation of young men for the -ministry. It attained so much importance in the estimation of its -patrons, that, in 1832, they claimed for it the services and the -reputation of Rev. Dr. Beecher, who left Boston at that time and became -its president. There he found, or was soon after joined by, Prof. -Calvin E. Stowe, another distinguished teacher of Calvinistic theology. -This school of the prophets was placed on Walnut Hill, in the vicinity -of Cincinnati, that it might be near to the Southwestern States, and -was separated from Kentucky only by the river Ohio. It had attracted, -by the reputation of its Faculty, from all parts of the country, quite -a number of remarkably able, earnest, conscientious, and, as they -proved to be, eloquent young men. - -At the time when the signal event occurred of which I am now to give -some account, there were in the literary and theological departments -of Lane Seminary more than a hundred students. Eleven of these were -from different slave States; seven of them sons of slaveholders, one -himself a slaveholder when he entered the institution, and one of the -number--James Bradley--had emancipated himself from the cruel bondage -by the payment of a large sum, that he had earned by extra labor. -Besides these, there were ten of the students who had resided more or -less in the slave States, and were well acquainted with the condition -of the people, and the influence of their “peculiar institution” -of domestic servitude. Moreover, that you may appreciate fully the -importance of the event I am going to narrate to you, and know that it -was not (as some at the time represented it to be) a boyish prank, or -mere college rebellion,--“a tempest in a teapot,”--let me tell you that -the youngest student in the seminary was nineteen years of age, most of -the students were more than twenty-six years old, and several of them -were over thirty. They were sober, Christian men, who were preparing -themselves, in good earnest, to preach the Gospel; and they believed -that one of its proclamations was “liberty to the captives, let the -oppressed go free, break every yoke.” - -Soon after the seminary was opened, a Colonization Society was formed -among the students. At the time of which I speak most of them were -members of that Society, and were encouraged by the Faculty so to be. -But the publication of Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization,” and -the formation of the “American Antislavery Society,” attracted the -attention of some of their number. Conversations arose on the subject -between them and their fellows. An anxious inquiry was awakened as to -the truth of the allegations brought against the Colonization scheme, -and as to the justice of the new demand made by Mr. Garrison and his -associates for the “immediate abolition of slavery.” At length, in -February, 1834, it was proposed that there should be a thorough public -discussion of two questions:-- - -1st. Whether the people of the slaveholding States ought to abolish -slavery at once, and without prescribing, as a condition, that the -emancipated should be sent to Liberia, or elsewhere, out of our country? - -2d. Whether the doctrines, tendencies, measures, spirit of the -Colonization Society were such as to render it worthy of the patronage -of Christian people? - -We were informed at the time, by several who were cognizant of the -fact, that the Faculty, fearing the effect of such a discussion upon -the prosperity of the seminary, officially and earnestly advised -that it should be indefinitely postponed. But many of the students -had become too deeply interested in these questions to consent that -they should remain unsettled. They were therefore discussed,--each -one through nine evenings,--in the presence of the President and -most of the Faculty, fully, faithfully, earnestly, but courteously -debated. The results were, on the first question, an almost unanimous -vote to this effect: that “Immediate emancipation from slavery was -the right of every slave and the duty of every slaveholder.” And on -the second question it was voted, by a large majority, “That the -American Colonization Society and its scheme were not deserving of -the approbation and aid of Christians.” This was the purport, if not -the exact language, of the resolutions at the close of the debate of -eighteen evenings. - -The report of the proceeding and the result went speedily through the -land; and, as speedily, there came back, from certain quarters, no -stinted measure of condemnation, warning, threats. These so alarmed the -Faculty that, as soon as was practicable, they formally prohibited the -continued existence of an Antislavery Society among the students of -Lane Seminary; and required that the Colonization Society, which they -had cherished hitherto, should be also disbanded and abolished. - -At the next meeting of the Overseers, or Corporation of the Seminary, -this high-handed measure of the Faculty was approved and confirmed. The -remonstrance of the students (all but one of them adult men, thirty -of them more than twenty-six years of age) availed not to procure a -reconsideration of this oppressive decree. Accordingly, nearly all of -them--seventy or eighty in number--withdrew from the Seminary, refusing -to be the pupils of theological professors who showed so plainly that -their sympathies were with the oppressors, rather than with the -oppressed; or that they had not courage enough to denounce so egregious -a wrong, so tremendous a sin, as the enslavement of millions of human -beings. - -Like the disciples after the martyrdom of Stephen, these faithful young -men were scattered abroad throughout the land, and went everywhere, -preaching the word which they were forbidden to utter within the -enclosure of a school, dedicated to the promulgation of the religion of -Jesus of Nazareth. - -Antislavery truth was disseminated far and wide by their agency. Those -who were the sons of slaveholders returned to the homes of their -parents, and besought them and their neighbors to repent of their great -unrighteousness and flee from the wrath to come. These entreaties were -not all lost. Several slaveholders were converted, and gave liberty to -their bondmen. If I mistake not, the attention of that admirable man, -Hon. James G. Birney, of Kentucky, was fixed by the discussions in Lane -Seminary, and by conversations with the students upon the really evil -tendency of the Colonization plan, which, with the best intentions, he -had done so much to promote. At any rate, his conversion about that -time to the doctrine of “immediate emancipation” was an event of signal -importance, as I hope to show you in a future article. - -It was not my privilege to become personally acquainted with many -of these young men, whose conscientious, courteous, dignified, yet -determined course of conduct awakened our admiration, and whose -subsequent labors helped mightily the great work projected by the -American Antislavery Society. Several of them were called to announce -and advocate their principles in communities where it was especially -dangerous “to speak those truths which tyrants dread.” We were -delighted from time to time by the accounts that came to us of their -unflinching fidelity. And undoubtedly there were some cases of peculiar -trial and suffering endured by them, which are treasured among the -secret things that are to be made known, when He “who seeth in secret -will reward men openly.” - -Amos Dresser, eager to raise the funds he needed to enable him to -pursue his studies and complete his preparation for the ministry, took -of the publishers an agency for the sale of the “Cottage Bible” in -Tennessee. For the transportation of himself and his load he procured -a horse and barouche. He had proceeded without molestation as far as -Nashville. There it was discovered that he was an Abolitionist,--one of -the students that had left Lane Seminary on account of his principles. -He was arrested by order of the Mayor, and brought before the Committee -of Vigilance. By them his trunk was searched, his journal, private -papers, and letters were examined. These showed plainly enough, and he -promptly acknowledged, that he was opposed to slavery; that he pitied -his fellow-men who were in bondage, and regarded those who held them in -chains as guilty of great wickedness. - -Therefore, although there was not the slightest proofs that, thus far, -he had done or said anything that did not pertain to his business, he -was condemned by the Committee to be taken out immediately, to receive -twenty lashes upon his bare back, and to depart from the city within -twenty-four hours. Accordingly, that American citizen, for the crime of -believing “the Declaration of Independence,” was taken by the excited -populace to a public square in Nashville, and there on his knees -received upon his naked back twenty lashes, laid on by a city officer -with a heavy cowhide. He was then hurried away, leaving behind him five -hundred dollars’ worth of property, which was never restored. - -James A. Thome, the son of a Kentucky slaveholder, was so thoroughly -converted to Abolitionism that, during the pendency of the infamous -decree of the Faculty and Trustees of the Seminary, he was sent as a -delegate from the Antislavery Society which the students had formed -to attend the annual meetings of the Abolitionists in May, 1834. He -came and addressed the public in New York, Boston, and elsewhere. His -heartfelt sincerity, his tender, fervid eloquence, made a peculiarly -deep impression upon his audiences. And having been born and brought -up in the midst of slavery, his testimony to its cruelties, its -licentiousness, and its depraving influences was received without -distrust, though it sustained the worst allegations that had ever been -brought against the domestic servitude in our Southern States. - -Henry B. Stanton came with Mr. Thome as another delegate from the Lane -Seminary Antislavery Society to the May meetings of 1834. This then -young man also evinced so much zeal in the cause, so much power as a -speaker and skill in debate, that soon after the dissolution of his -connection with the seminary, in the month of October of that year, -he was appointed an agent of the American Antislavery Society, and, -for ten years or more afterwards, Mr. Stanton continued to do us most -valuable service by his eloquent lectures, his pertinent contributions -to our antislavery papers, and his diligence and fidelity as one of the -secretaries of the National Society. - -But Theodore D. Weld was the master-spirit among the Lane Seminary -students. Indeed, he was accused by the Trustees of being the -instigator of all the fanaticism and incendiary movements that had -given them so much trouble and threatened the ruin of the institution. -Accordingly, it was moved that Mr. Weld be expelled. No breach of law -was charged upon this gentleman; no disrespect to the Faculty, nor -anything implicating in the least his moral character, only that he was -the leader of the Abolitionists. Still, the proposition to expel him -was favored by the majority of the Trustees. When, therefore, the final -action of the Board had determined the students to ask for a dismission -from the seminary, Theodore D. Weld, with becoming self-respect, chose -to remain until he should be cleared by the Faculty of all charges of -misconduct. As soon as the Board had had a meeting and withdrawn their -accusation, he applied for and received an honorable dismission. - -Then he accepted an appointment as an agent of the Antislavery Society, -at a salary less by half than was offered him by another benevolent -association. And throughout the Western and Middle States, and -occasionally in New England, he lectured with a frequency, a fervor, -and an effect that justify me in saying that no one, excepting only -Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips, has done more than Mr. Weld for the -abolition of American slavery. - -What a loss it would have been to the cause of liberty, if the Faculty -and Trustees of Lane Seminary had been wiser men! - - -GEORGE THOMPSON, M.P., LL.D. - -I am careful to affix his _titles_ to the name of this distinguished -friend of humanity, because they indicate, in some measure, the -estimation to which George Thompson has risen both in England and in -the United States. The former title was conferred upon him in his own -country, the latter in ours. But both nations owe him much more than -_titles_. By each he should be placed high on the list of its public -benefactors, and the two should unite to give him every comfort that he -may need in his old age, and enable him to provide well for all who -are dependent upon him. - -George Thompson was born in 1804, the same year that gave birth to -William Lloyd Garrison, and, like our illustrious countryman, has risen -to his high elevation from a lowly estate of life. His native place was -Liverpool, not far from the residence of William Roscoe, his father -being, at the time of his birth, in the service of that distinguished -scholar and philanthropist. He never attended school a day, but, like -Garrison, was indebted to his mother for all elementary instruction. -For the rest of his acquisitions he was left to depend upon himself. - -While he was quite young his parents removed to London, and so soon -as he could be made serviceable he was employed as an errand-boy. -Quickened and guided by his excellent mother’s love of knowledge, he -early acquired the habit of reading, and greedily devoured all books -adapted to his age that she could procure for him. - -He was so fortunate as to attract the kind regard of the Rev. Richard -Watson, the distinguished writer and preacher in defence of the -doctrines of Methodism. He was taken as a chore-boy into that good -man’s family, and was with him, as his humble assistant in indoor and -outdoor work, during most of the time that Mr. Watson was preparing -his most famous publications. Owing to the influence of this divine, -but more to his mother, at the age of fifteen George Thompson became -the subject of deep, religious convictions, and consecrated himself, -by public profession, to the service of God and the redemption of man. -When sixteen years old he was appointed a Tract distributor, and joined -a society for visiting and nursing the destitute sick. About the same -time he was apprenticed to a grocer, and continued in his employment a -number of years, having in due time become his accountant. - -At the age of twenty George Thompson was admitted a member of a large -debating-club. In this connection, he soon disclosed to those about -him the value of the acquisitions he had made by reading, under the -direction of his mother and Mr. Watson; and sometimes gave off more -than sparks of that eloquence which since then has so often electrified -and fired his large audiences, throughout Great Britain and our -Northern and Western States. - -In the course of the years 1825, 1826, and 1827, the benevolent people -of England were pretty thoroughly roused by Clarkson, Wilberforce, -Macaulay, and their brother philanthropists, to a consciousness of -their nation’s wickedness, in consenting to the system of West India -slavery under the dominion of the British Crown. The question of -immediate emancipation was agitated everywhere throughout the realm. -It was introduced into the debating-club which George Thompson had -joined. His sympathy for the slaves had been awakened very early in -life. His father, when a young man, ran away from home, and enlisted as -captain’s clerk on board a slave-ship, not knowing what he did. But so -soon as he witnessed the embarkation of the victims of that accursed -traffic, and the treatment of them on the “middle passage,” he was too -much horrified to remain an hour longer, than he was obliged to, in any -way connected with “a business too bad for demons to do.” Immediately, -therefore, on the arrival of his ship in the West Indies, he fled to an -officer of a British man-of-war, and begged that he might be impressed -into the naval service, and so escape the repetition of the horrors -he had seen and unwillingly helped to perpetrate. Often had George -heard his father narrate the cruelties which were inflicted on board -the ship with which he was connected,--cruelties inseparable from the -forcible transportation of human beings, without the least regard to -their personal comfort, from the freedom of their native wilds to the -hell of slavery in America. Thus was his young heart and soul fired -with indignation at the sin of his nation, and baptized into the love -of impartial liberty. He, of course, welcomed the introduction of the -question into the club, and entered upon the debate with holy zeal. -The discussion was continued through twelve evenings. It attracted -much attention; resulted in a resolution, passed almost unanimously, -in favor of _immediate emancipation_; and was deemed of sufficient -importance to be reported to the government. Especial mention was made -of “the heartfelt, impassioned eloquence of a young man, named George -Thompson”; and our friend became the cherished associate of several -gentlemen who have since been widely known among the active friends of -all the reforms and social improvements that have blessed Great Britain -and Ireland within the last forty years. - -In 1828 Mr. Thompson was especially invited to join “The London -Literary and Scientific Association,” comprising about a thousand -young men. Here, too, the question of West India emancipation came -up for consideration, was earnestly and ably debated through three -long evenings, and resulted in favor of the _immediate abolition_ of -slavery. This result was attributed mainly to “the masterly logic, as -well as fervid eloquence, of young Thompson.” The newspapers commented -on his success, as an augury of what might be expected from him in _a -more august debating-club_, which in England means Parliament. - -And here I must tell you a family secret. The lady who afterwards -became his wife, whose position in society was much higher than his -own (a circumstance of far greater importance in England than in -our country), was present at these debates. She was fired with such -admiration of his powers, and of his consecration of them to the cause -of suffering humanity, that it lighted a kindred flame in his bosom; -or, to speak in plain American English, they there fell in love with -each other, and were soon after married. - -About this time the London Antislavery Society was formed. The -directors, or executive committee thereof, advertised for a suitable -man, who was willing to become their lecturing agent. This opened the -door to what has since been the business of his life. He hesitated -several weeks, distrusting his ability. But, encouraged and urged by -his young wife, he at length consented that the Secretary, Mr. Thomas -Pringle, should be informed of his wish to receive an appointment. By -that gentleman he was invited to an interview with Sir George Stevens -and Rev. Zachary Macaulay, who, after satisfying themselves of his -qualifications, commended him to Lord Brougham, Lord Denham, and Sir -George Bunting, the committee that was to decide the question of -appointment. These gentlemen, after an extended conversation with him, -gave him a commission for three months, and sent him forth to agitate -the community on the question of West India emancipation. - -Could you but turn to the English papers of that day, you would see -for yourself how rapidly, and to what an unexampled height, rose his -reputation as a lecturer. At the end of three months, the demands -that came from all parts of the kingdom for the services of Mr. -Thompson settled the question with the committee. They gave him an -appointment until “the warfare should be accomplished.” And for three -or four years he was the principal, if not the only, agent of that -Society, performing an amount of labor which seems almost superhuman. -In all parts of the United Kingdom his voice was heard, either in -speeches to the crowds that everywhere thronged to listen to him, -or in debates with Mr. Bostwick and other agents hired by the West -India slaveholders to oppose him. And when, in 1833, the victory was -achieved; when, overpowered by the outward pressure, both Houses of -Parliament were compelled to make a virtue of necessity, and to magnify -the glory of England by that Act which gave liberty to eight hundred -thousand slaves, Lord Brougham rose in the House of Lords and said: “I -rise to take the crown of this most glorious victory from every other -head, and place it upon George Thompson’s. He has done more than any -other man to achieve it.” This tribute was most justly deserved. - -Yet for all his labors, his inestimable services, Mr. Thompson received -only pecuniary compensation enough to pay his expenses and support his -small family. He asked no more. He had consecrated himself to the cause -of suffering humanity for its own sake, not expecting to be enriched -thereby. But the friends of that cause which he had served so well, so -nobly, could not be indifferent to his future career. Lord Brougham, -Lord Denham, and others, confident that he would become an ornament -and an honor to the legal profession, offered him all the assistance -he could need to defray his own and his family’s expenses for five -years, while he should be pursuing his preparatory studies, and getting -established as a member of the English bar. The prospect thus opened -was most inviting to him; the proposed profession was congenial to -his taste. Indeed, if I have been correctly informed, the preliminary -arrangements were made, when the claims of the most oppressed of all -men,--the enslaved in the United States,--were forcibly urged upon him. - -Mr. Garrison had been in England several weeks, laboring successfully -to undeceive the philanthropists and people of Great Britain as to the -real design and tendency of the American Colonization Society. Their -kindred spirits had met and mingled. He had heard Mr. Garrison’s -exposition, and had become, with Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, and -others, fully satisfied that the expatriation of the free colored -people, their removal from this country, if practicable, would only -perpetuate the bondage of the enslaved, and aggravate their wrongs. Mr. -Garrison, on the other hand, had repeatedly witnessed the surpassing -power of Mr. Thompson’s eloquence on the audiences he addressed, had -heard the tributes everywhere paid to the importance of his services, -and was present at the consummation of his unsparing labors,--the -passage by the British Parliament of the bill for the abolition of -West India slavery. It was manifest to him that the man, who had done -so much for the overthrow of British slavery, could help mightily to -accomplish the far greater work needed to be done in this country; -and his heart was set on enlisting Mr. Thompson in the service of the -American Antislavery Society. He pressed his wish, his demand, upon him -just as Mr. Thompson was about to agree to the above-named arrangement -for the study of the law. Mr. Garrison’s invitation was not to be -accepted hastily, nor could he reject it without consideration. He -revolved it anxiously in his mind, as he went from city to city with -his now beloved brother, hearing him portray the peculiarities of the -American system of slavery, the far greater difficulties against which -Abolitionists here had to contend, the need we felt of a living voice, -potent enough to wake up thousands who were _dead_ in this iniquity. - -On the eve of Mr. Garrison’s departure from England in the fall of 1833 -Mr. Thompson, with deep emotion, said to him: “I have thought much of -the bright professional prospects opened to me here. I have thought -yet more of the dark, dismal, desperate condition of millions of my -fellow-beings in your country. They are no farther from me than are -the eight hundred thousand whom I have been laboring to emancipate, -and their claims upon me for the help God may enable me to give them -are just as strong. I cannot withhold myself from their service. If, -on your return to Boston, you shall still think I can render you much -assistance, and your fellow-laborers concur with you in that opinion, -command me, and I will hasten to you.” - -Mr. Thompson, however, remained in England almost a year after Mr. -Garrison left him, that he might reorganize the antislavery hosts who -had triumphed so gloriously in the conflict for British West India -emancipation, and induce them to engage as heartily in the enterprise -for the emancipation of the millions held in the most abject bondage in -these United States, and for the abolition of slavery throughout the -world. - - -GEORGE THOMPSON’S FIRST YEAR IN AMERICA. - -When, on his return from England in October, 1833, Mr. Garrison -informed us that he had obtained from George Thompson--the champion of -the triumphant conflict for West India emancipation--the promise to -“come over and help us,” if we concurred in the invitation Mr. Garrison -had given him, our hearts were encouraged, our hands strengthened, -our purpose confirmed. Our own great antislavery orators, male and -female, who since then have done so much to convict and convert the -nation, had not yet appeared. Theodore D. Weld and Henry B. Stanton -were studying theology in Lane Seminary; Parker Pillsbury, Stephen S. -Foster, and John A. Collins were doing likewise somewhere in Vermont; -Henry C. Wright had not plucked up quite courage enough to justify Mr. -Garrison’s terrible denunciations of slaveholders and their abettors; -James G. Birney was the Secretary of the Kentucky Colonization Society; -Gerrit Smith had not got wholly out of the toils of that fraudulent -scheme which had deceived “the very elect”; Charles C. Burleigh was an -unknown youth in Plainfield Academy; Wendell Phillips, our Apollo, was -just preparing to leap into his place at the head of the Massachusetts -bar; and Angelina Grimké, Lucy Stone, Abby Kelly Foster, Susan B. -Anthony, Antoinette L. Brown, Sallie Holley, and other excellent women, -who have since rendered such signal services, had not then left “the -appropriate sphere of women.” - -That George Thompson would come to our aid, the orator to whose -relentless logic and surpassing eloquence, more than to any other -instrumentality, Lord Brougham had just attributed the triumph of the -antislavery cause in England,--that he was about coming to help us did -seem at that time a godsend indeed. But, as was stated in my last, his -coming was deferred a year, that the Abolitionists of Great Britain -and Ireland might not lay aside their well-used weapons, nor cease -from their warfare, while so many millions of human beings remained -in the most abject slavery, especially in the United States, where -the horrid institution was established by the authority of England. -Having re-enlisted his fellow-laborers throughout the United Kingdom to -co-operate with us, he came to Boston in the fall of 1834. - -At that time I was devoting a few weeks of permitted absence from my -church in Connecticut to a lecturing tour in the antislavery cause, -and came to Mr. Garrison’s house in Roxbury an hour after the arrival -of Mr. Thompson. He readily consented to go with us the next day to -Groton, there to attend a county convention. We gladly spent the -remainder of that day together, in earnest and prayerful communion -over the great work in which we had engaged; and at night repaired -to lodge at the Earl Hotel in Hanover Street, that we might not fail -to be off for Groton the next morning at four o’clock, in the first -stage-coach, no conveyance thither by railroad being extant then. - -At the appointed hour, the house being well filled, the meeting was -called to order, and business commenced. As all were eager to see -and hear the great English orator, preliminary matters were disposed -of as soon as practicable. Then Mr. Thompson was called up by a -resolution enthusiastically passed, declaring our appreciation of the -inestimable value of his antislavery labors in England, our joy that -he had come to aid us to deliver our country from the dominion of -slaveholders, and our wish that he would occupy as much of the time of -the convention as his inclination might prompt and his strength would -enable him to do. He rose, and soon enchained the attention of all -present. He set forth the essential, immitigable sin of holding human -beings as slaves in a light, if possible, more vivid, more intense, -than even Mr. Garrison had thrown upon that “sum of all villanies.” He -illustrated and sustained his assertions by the most pertinent facts -in the history of West India slavery. He inculcated the spirit in -which we ought to prosecute our endeavor to emancipate the bondmen,--a -spirit of compassion for the masters as well as their slaves,--a -compassion too considerate of the harm which the slaveholder suffers, -as well as inflicts, to consent to any continuance of the iniquity. -He most solemnly enjoined the use of only moral and political means -and instrumentalities to effect the subversion and extermination of -the gigantic system of iniquity, although it seemed to tower above -and overshadow the civil and religious institutions of our country. -He showed us that he justly appreciated the greater difficulties of -the work to be done in our land, than of that which had just been -so gloriously accomplished in England, but exhorted us to trust -undoubtingly in “the might of the right,”--the mercy, the justice, the -power of God,--and to go forward in the full assurance that He, who had -crowned the labors of the British Abolitionists with such a triumph, -would enable us in like manner to accomplish the greater work he had -given us to do. - -Mr. Thompson then went on to give us a graphic, glowing account of the -long and fierce conflict they had had in England for the abolition -of slavery in the British West Indies. His eloquence rose to a still -higher order. His narrative became _a continuous metaphor_, admirably -sustained. He represented the antislavery enterprise in which he -had been so long engaged as a stout, well-built ship, manned by a -noble-hearted crew, launched upon a stormy ocean, bound to carry -inestimable relief to 800,000 sufferers in a far-distant land. He -clothed all the kinds of opposition they had met, all the difficulties -they had contended with, in imagery suggested by the observation and -experience of the voyager across the Atlantic in the most tempestuous -season of the year. In the height of his descriptions, my attention was -withdrawn from the emotions enkindled in my own bosom sufficiently to -observe the effect of his eloquence upon half a dozen boys, of twelve -or fourteen years of age, sitting together not far from the platform. -They were completely possessed by it. When the ship reeled or plunged -or staggered in the storms, they unconsciously went through the same -motions. When the enemy attacked her, the boys took the liveliest part -in battle,--manning the guns, or handing shot and shell, or pressing -forward to repulse the boarders. When the ship struck upon an iceberg, -the boys almost fell from their seats in the recoil. When the sails -and topmasts were wellnigh carried away by the gale, they seemed to -be straining themselves to prevent the damage; and when at length the -ship triumphantly sailed into her destined port with colors flying -and signals of glad tidings floating from her topmast, and the shout -of welcome rose from thousands of expectant freedmen on the shore, -the boys gave three loud cheers, “Hurrah! Hurrah!! Hurrah!!!” This -irrepressible explosion of their feelings brought them at once to -themselves. They blushed, covered their faces, sank down on their -seats, one of them upon the floor. It was an ingenuous, thrilling -tribute to the surpassing power of the orator, and only added to the -zest and heartiness with which the whole audience applauded (to use the -words of another at the time) “the persuasive reasonings, the earnest -appeals, the melting pathos, the delightful but caustic irony and -enrapturing eloquence of Mr. Thompson.” - -Thus commenced his brilliant career in this country. The Groton -Convention lasted two days, the 1st and 2d of October. Mr. Thompson -went thence immediately to Lowell, where he spoke to a delighted crowd -on the 5th. Four days after, on the 9th of October, he gave his first -address in Boston. It was at an adjourned meeting of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society. All the prominent Abolitionists, who could be, -were there to see and hear “the almost inspired apostle of negro -emancipation,” who had “come over to help us.” Every one that heard -him then felt that his signal gifts had not been overrated, and joined -in thanksgiving to the God of the oppressed, whose Holy Spirit, we -believed, had moved him to consecrate those gifts to the abolition of -slavery. - -Reports of Mr. Thompson’s eloquence spread rapidly, and invitations -came to him from all quarters. The day after the meeting in Boston he -went into the State of Maine, and lectured on the 12th in Portland, -on the 13th in Brunswick, on the 15th in Augusta. Everywhere he was -heard with delight, and made many converts. At Augusta, it is true, -he received an angry letter from five “gentlemen of property and -standing,” informing him that his “coming to their city had given great -offence,” and admonishing him not to presume to address the public -there again. But his engagements elsewhere, rather than their threats, -obliged him to leave immediately. The next evening he lectured in the -neighboring city of Hallowell, where the people heard him gladly. On -the 17th he delivered an address in Waterville, which was listened to -by most of the students and several of the faculty of the College, and -made deep impressions upon a large number. On the 20th he spoke again -to a crowded audience in Brunswick, with like effect upon the students -and faculty of Bowdoin College. Returning, he lectured at Portland in -six different churches, to large and delighted audiences, before the -close of the month; and then came into New Hampshire and gave lectures -in Plymouth, Concord, and other places, on his way back to Boston. -After a few days’ repose, he went forth again, in answer to many -urgent invitations, and lifted up his voice for the enslaved in Rhode -Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Whoever will -turn over the leaves of the _Liberator_ for 1834 and 1835 will find -on almost every page some admiring mention of Mr. Thompson’s lectures -or speeches, and grateful acknowledgments of the deep impressions his -words had made. - -It is true that in the same paper will be found, under the appropriate -head “_Refuge of Oppression_,” extracts from newspapers and letters -from all parts of the country, denouncing, execrating him, and calling -upon the patriotic to put a stop to his incendiary career. He was a -foreign intruder, who had come here to “meddle with a delicate matter -about which he could know nothing.” He was “a British emissary, sent -to embroil the Northern with the Southern States, and break up our -glorious Union.” He was “the paid agent of the enemies of republican -institutions, supported in our midst, that he might do all in his -power to prevent the success of the grandest experiment in national -government ever tried on earth.” The changes were rung on these and -similar charges until those, who could be deceived thereby, were -maddened in their fear and hatred of Mr. Thompson. He was threatened -with all kinds of ill-treatment; yet he went fearlessly wherever he was -invited to speak, and not unfrequently disarmed and converted some who -had come to the meetings intending to do him harm. - -In several of his lecturing tours I was his companion; and I wondered -how any persons who heard him speak, in public or in private, could -suspect or be persuaded that he was an enemy of our country. I was -continually surprised, as well as delighted, by the evidences he gave -of his just appreciation of the principles of our government, and the -admiration of them that he always cordially expressed. Having hitherto -contemplated our Republic from a distance, he seemed to have taken -a more comprehensive view of it than too many of our own citizens, -even statesmen, had done, whose regard for the whole nation had been -warped by their concern for the supposed interests of a section or a -State. Mr. Thompson’s detestation of slavery was intensified by his -clear perception of the corruption it had diffused throughout our body -politic and body ecclesiastic; and, if not abolished, the ruin it -would inevitably bring upon our country, called, in the providence of -God, to be “the land of the free and the asylum of the oppressed.” No -American patriot ever felt, for no human heart could feel, a deeper, -more sincere, or more intelligent concern for the honor, glory, -perpetuity of our Republic than Mr. Thompson felt and evinced in his -every word and act. Few home-born lovers of our country have done a -tithe as much as he did to save her from the ruin she was bringing upon -herself by her recreancy to the fundamental principles, upon which she -professed to stand. Not a dozen names, of those who have lived within -the last forty years, deserve to stand higher on the list of our public -benefactors than the name of George Thompson. - -Yet was he maligned, hated, hunted, driven from our shores. The story -of the treatment he received is too shameful to be told. During the -last six months of his stay here the persecution of him was continuous. -The newspapers, from Maine to Georgia, with a few most honorable -exceptions, denounced him daily, and called for his punishment as an -enemy, or his expulsion from the country. Those few who dared to tell -the truth testified, not only to his enrapturing eloquence and his -friendliness to our nation, but to his eminently Christian deportment -and spirit. But the tide of persecution could not be stayed. He was -often insulted in the streets. Meetings to which he spoke, or at which -he was expected to speak, were broken up by mobs. Rewards were offered -for his person or his life. Twice I assisted to help his escape from -the hands of hired ruffians. - -All this he bore, for the most part, with fortitude and sweet -serenity. He seemed less apprehensive of his danger than his friends -were. Sometimes he overawed the men who were sent to take him by his -dignified, heroic bearing, and at other times dispelled their evil -intentions by his pertinent wit. I will give a single instance. At one -of the last meetings he addressed in Boston, some Southerners cried -out:-- - -“We wish we had you at the South. We would cut your ears off, if not -your head.” - -Mr. Thompson promptly replied: “Would you? Then should I cry out -all the louder, ‘He that _hath_ ears to hear let him hear.’” It was -irresistible. I believe the Southerners themselves joined in the -rapturous applause. - -On the 27th of September, 1835, we left Boston together in a private -conveyance,--he to lecture at Abington, one of the most antislavery -towns in the State, and I at Halifax, a few miles beyond. On my return -the next morning I learnt that there had been a fearful onslaught -upon Mr. Thompson; and, when I called to take him back to the city, I -found him more subdued than I had ever seen him. He had not expected -ill-usage there. As we passed the meeting-house, from which he and -his audience had been routed the night before, he was overcome by -his emotions. There lay strewn upon the ground fragments of windows, -blinds, and doors, and some of the heavy missiles with which they had -been broken down. He fell back in the chaise, and for several minutes -gave way to his feelings. When able to command himself he said:-- - -“What does it mean? Am I indeed an enemy of your country? Do I deserve -this at your hands? Testify against me if you can, Mr. May. You know, -if any one does, what sentiments I have uttered, what spirit I have -evinced. You have been with me in private and in public. Have you -ever suspected me? Have you ever heard a word from my lips unfriendly -to your country,--your magnificent, your might-be-glorious, but your -awfully guilty country? What have I said, what have I done, that I -should be treated as an enemy? Have not all my words and all my acts -tended to the removal of an evil which is your nation’s disgrace, and, -if permitted to continue, must be your ruin?” - -We rode on in silence, for he knew my answers without hearing them from -my lips. But the outrage at Abington assured us that the spirit of -persecution was rife in the land, and might manifest itself anywhere. - -Nevertheless, Mr. Thompson accepted an invitation to lecture a few -days afterwards in the afternoon, by daylight, at East Abington. -Accordingly, on the 15th of October, I went with him to the appointed -place. We had been credibly informed that a number of men were going -thither to take him, if they could do so without harm to themselves. -But the good men and women of the town and neighborhood were up to -the occasion. The meeting-house was crowded, so that, though the evil -intenders were there in force, they soon saw that the capture could not -be made there. And then the wit, the wisdom, the pathos, the eloquence -of the speaker disarmed them, took them captive, and, for the hour, at -least, made them delighted hearers. - -This was Mr. Thompson’s last public appearance during his first year in -America. All his friends insisted that he must keep out of sight, and -as soon as practicable return to England. It was well known that his -life was in danger. That we had not attributed too great malignity to -our countrymen--even to the citizens of Boston--was soon made apparent -by their own acts. - -It was announced in the _Liberator_, and so became publicly known, that -a regular meeting of the “Boston Female Antislavery Society” would be -held in the Hall, 46 Washington Street, on the 21st of October, 1835. -Without authority, it was reported by other papers that Mr. Thompson -was to address them; and it was more than intimated that then and there -would be the time and place to seize him. On the morning of that day -the following placard was posted in all parts of the city:-- - - “THOMPSON THE ABOLITIONIST. - - “That infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson, will hold forth - this afternoon at 46 Washington Street. The present is a fair - opportunity for the friends of the Union to _snake_ Thompson out! - It will be a contest between the Abolitionists and the friends of - the Union. A purse of _one hundred dollars_ has been raised by a - number of patriotic citizens, to reward the individual who shall - first lay violent hands on Thompson, so that he may be brought to - the Tar Kettle before dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!” - -The sequel of the infamous proceedings thus inaugurated will be given -hereafter. Mr. Thompson was not there, and so the mob vented itself -upon another. Mr. Thompson was, and had been for several days, secreted -by his friends in Boston, and afterwards in Brookline, Lynn, Salem, -Phillips Beach, and elsewhere, until his enemies were baffled in their -pursuit of him, and arrangements were made to take him safely out of -the country. - -On or about the 20th of November he was conveyed in a small boat, -rowed by two of his friends, from one of the Boston wharves to a -small English brig, that had fortunately been consigned to Henry G. -Chapman, one of our earliest and best antislavery brothers; and in -that vessel he was carried to St. Johns. From that port he sailed for -England on the 28th of the same month. Would that all my countrymen -could read the letter that he wrote to Mr. Garrison on the eve of his -departure. If words can truly express a man’s thoughts and feelings, -the words of that letter were written by a lover of our country, a true -philanthropist, a Christian hero. - - - - -ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT. - - -There were many noble confessors of the antislavery gospel, and -many self-sacrificing sufferers in the cause, in various parts of -our country, to whom I should be doing great injustice not to speak -particularly of their services, if I were writing a complete history -of our protracted conflict for impartial liberty. But I must confine -myself, for the most part, to my personal recollections of prominent -events and the individuals who were most conspicuous within my own -limited view. - -It is to be hoped that a complete history of this second American -Revolution will, erelong, be written by Mr. Garrison, the man of all -others best qualified to write it,--except that he will not give that -prominence to himself in his narrative which he took in the beginning -and occupied until emancipation was proclaimed for all in bondage -throughout our borders. He has been the coryphæus of our antislavery -band. He uttered the first note that thrilled the heart of the nation. -He, more than any one, has corrected the national discord. And he has -led the grand symphony in which so many millions of our countrymen at -last have gladly, exultingly joined. - -But so many have, at different periods and in various ways, contributed -to the glorious result that it will not be possible even for Mr. -Garrison to do ample justice to all his fellow-laborers. Indeed, many -of them cannot be known to him, or to any one but the Omniscient. -As in every other war, the fate of many a battle was decided by the -indomitable will and heroic self-sacrifice of some nameless private -soldier, who happened to be at the point of imminent peril, so, -no doubt, has a favorable turn sometimes been given to our great -enterprise by the undaunted moral courage and persistent fidelity of -one and another, who are unknown but to Him who seeth in secret. - -In my last article I gave an account of the bitter persecution of Mr. -Thompson. The fact that he was a foreigner was used with great effect -to exasperate the mobocratic spirit against him; but the real gist of -his offence was the same that every one was guilty of, who insisted -upon the abolition of slavery. - -At the annual meeting of the American Antislavery Society in May, 1835, -I was sitting upon the platform of the Houston Street Presbyterian -Church in New York, when I was surprised to see a gentleman enter -and take his seat who, I knew, was a partner in one of the most -prominent mercantile houses in the city. He had not been seated long -before he beckoned me to meet him at the door. I did so. “Please walk -out with me, sir,” said he; “I have something of great importance -to communicate.” When we had reached the sidewalk he said, with -considerable emotion and emphasis, “Mr. May, we are not such fools -as not to know that slavery is a great evil, a great wrong. But it -was consented to by the founders of our Republic. It was provided for -in the Constitution of our Union. A great portion of the property of -the Southerners is invested under its sanction; and the business of -the North, as well as the South, has become adjusted to it. There are -millions upon millions of dollars due from Southerners to the merchants -and mechanics of this city alone, the payment of which would be -jeopardized by any rupture between the North and the South. We cannot -afford, sir, to let you and your associates succeed in your endeavor -to overthrow slavery. It is not a matter of principle with us. It is a -matter of business necessity. We cannot afford to let you succeed. And -I have called you out to let you know, and to let your fellow-laborers -know, that we do not mean to allow you to succeed. We mean, sir,” said -he, with increased emphasis,--“we mean, sir, to put you Abolitionists -down,--by fair means if we can, by foul means if we must.” - -After a minute’s pause I replied: “Then, sir, the gain of gold -must be better than that of godliness. Error must be mightier than -truth; wrong stronger than right. The Devil must preside over the -affairs of the universe, and not God. Now, sir, I believe neither of -these propositions. If holding men in slavery be wrong, it will be -abolished. We shall succeed, your pecuniary interests to the contrary -notwithstanding.” He turned hastily away; but he has lived long enough -to find that he was mistaken, and to rejoice in the abolition of -slavery. - -We were soon made to realize that the words of the New York merchant -were not an unmeaning threat. He had not spoken for himself, or any -number of the moving spirits of that commercial metropolis alone. He -was warranted in saying what he did by the pretty general intention -of the “gentlemen of property and standing” throughout the country to -put a stop to the antislavery reform. The storm-clouds of persecution -had gathered heavily upon our Southern horizon. Fiery flashes of -wrath had often darted thence towards us. But we were slow to believe -that our Northern sky would ever become so surcharged with hatred for -those, who were only contending for “the inalienable rights of man,” -as to break upon us in any serious harm. The summer and fall of 1835 -dispelled our misplaced confidence. We found, to our shame and dismay, -that even New England had leagued with the slaveholding oligarchy to -quench the spirit of impartial liberty, and uphold in our country the -most cruel system of domestic servitude the world has ever known. The -denunciations of the South were reverberated throughout the North. The -public ear was filled with most wanton, cruel misrepresentations of our -sentiments and purposes, and closed, as far as possible, against all -our replies in contradiction, explanation, or defence. The political -newspapers, with scarcely an exception, teemed with false accusations, -the grossest abuse, and the most alarming predictions of the ultimate -effects of our measures. The religious papers and periodicals were -no better. The churches in Boston, not less than elsewhere, were -closed against us. Not a minister[B]--excepting Dr. Channing, and -the one in Pine Street Church--would even venture to read a notice -of an antislavery meeting. Dr. Henry Ware, Jr., was denounced and -vilified for having done so from Dr. Channing’s pulpit. All the public -halls, too, of any tolerable size, were one after the other refused -us. Even Faneuil Hall, the so-called cradle of American liberty, was -denied to our use, though asked for in a respectful petition signed -by the names of a hundred and twenty-five gentlemen of Boston, whose -characters were as irreproachable as any in the city. But a few weeks -afterwards, on the 21st of August, at the request of fifteen hundred -of the “gentlemen of property and standing,” that hall, in which had -been cradled the independence of the United States, was turned into the -Refuge of Slavery. There as large a multitude as could crowd within its -spacious walls, with feelings of alarm for the safety of our country, -and of indignation at the Abolitionists as disturbers of the peace, -already excited by the grossest misrepresentations of our sentiments, -purposes, and acts, industriously disseminated by newspapers and in -reports of public speeches throughout the Southern States,--there, in -Faneuil Hall, thousands of our fellow-citizens were infuriated yet -more against us by harangues from no less distinguished civilians than -the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, Peleg Sprague, and Richard Fletcher. -These gentlemen reiterated all the common unproved charges against -us, and solemnly, eloquently, passionately argued and urged that the -enslavement of millions of the people in our country was a matter -with which we of the Northern States had no right to meddle. It was a -concern, they insisted, of the Southern States alone, found there when -these portions of our Republic were about to emerge from their colonial -dependence upon Great Britain, and left there by the framers of the -Constitution, which was meant to be the fundamental law of our glorious -Union. They harped upon the guaranties given to the slaveholders, -that they should be sustained and undisturbed in _enforcing_ their -claim of _property_ in the persons and services of their laborers. -And those gentlemen insisted that the endeavors of Abolitionists to -convince their fellow-citizens of the heinous wickedness of holding -human beings in slavery gave just offence to those who were guilty of -the sin; violated the compact by which these United States were held -together, and, if they were permitted to be prosecuted, would cause the -dissolution of the Union. - -Meetings of a similar character, in the same or a more violent spirit -of denunciation, were held in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and -most of the cities of the nation. What were the immediate effects of -this general outcry against us I shall narrate as briefly as I may. - - -REIGN OF TERROR. - -The nearly simultaneous uprising of the proslavery hosts in 1835, and -the almost universal outbreak of violence upon our antislavery heads -in all parts of the country, from Louisiana to Maine, showed plainly -enough that Mr. Garrison’s demand for the immediate emancipation of the -enslaved had entered into the ear of the whole nation. All the people -had heard it, or heard of it. It had received a heartfelt response from -not a few of the purest and best men and women in the land. This was -manifest at the Convention in Philadelphia, in December, 1833, where -were delegates from ten of the States of our Union, all of whom seemed -ready to do, to dare, and to suffer whatever the cause of the oppressed -millions might require. It waked at once the lyre of our Whittier, -which has never slumbered since, and inspired him to utter those -thrilling strains which all but tyrants and their minions love to hear. -It drew from Elizur Wright, Jr., Professor in Western Reserve College, -Ohio, in 1833, a thorough searching pamphlet on “the sin of slavery.” -It called out from Hon. Judge William Jay, of New York, that “Inquiry,” -which brought so many to the conclusion that the Colonization plan -tended, if it were not _intended_, to perpetuate slavery, and -satisfied them that “the class of Americans called Africans” (to use -the pregnant title of Mrs. Child’s impressive Appeal) had as much -right to live in this country and enjoy liberty here as any other -Americans. Mr. Garrison’s word gave rise to that memorable discussion -in Lane Seminary, of which I have heretofore given some account, and -which resulted in the departure, from that narrow enclosure, of eighty -preachers of the doctrine of “immediate emancipation,” to repeat and -urge their deep convictions upon the willing and the unwilling in -almost every part of the land, which sent out Theodore D. Weld and -Henry B. Stanton and James A. Thome, sons of thunder, whose voices -reverberated throughout our Middle, Western, and Southern States. -Mr. Garrison’s word came to the ears, and at once found its way -to the hearts, of those admirable ladies in South Carolina, Sarah -and Angelina Grimké, who erelong came to the North, and bore their -emphatic, eloquent, thrilling testimony to the intrinsic, all-pervading -sinfulness of that system of domestic servitude to which they had been -accustomed from their birth. And, more than all, his word had reached -that high-souled, brave, courteous civilian, philanthropist, and -Christian in Alabama, Hon. James G. Birney, who, as I shall hereafter -relate, having for several years devoted his time, his personal -influence, and persuasive eloquence to the Colonization cause, when he -came to see its essential injustice and proslavery tendency, earnestly -renounced his error. He forthwith emancipated his slaves, paid them -fairly for their services, did all he could for their improvement, -and thenceforward consecrated himself, through much evil report and -bitter persecution, to the dissemination of the sentiments and the -accomplishment of the great object of the American Antislavery Society. -Immediately after his conversion he wrote and published two letters -addressed to the American Presbyterians, of whose body he had been a -highly esteemed member. In those letters he set forth most clearly the -sinfulness of slaveholding, and implored his brethren to turn from it, -and rid themselves wholly of the awful guilt of holding, or allowing -others to hold, human beings as their chattels personal, and treating -them as domesticated brutes. - -These and other instances might be adduced to show how far and widely -the antislavery doctrines had been made known at the time of which -I am writing. But, alas! there were a great many different and very -disagreeable evidences that _the truth_, which alone could make our -nation _free_, had been heard, or heard of, everywhere. - - -WALKER’S APPEAL. - -It should be stated, however, that the excitement which had become -so general and so furious against the Abolitionists throughout the -slaveholding States was owing in no small measure to an individual -with whom Mr. Garrison and his associates had had no connection. David -Walker, a very intelligent colored man of Boston, having travelled -pretty extensively over the United States, and informed himself -thoroughly of the condition of the colored population, bond and free, -had become so exasperated that he set himself to the work of rousing -his fellow-sufferers to a due sense of “their degraded, wretched, -abject condition,” and preparing them for a general and organized -insurrection. In the course of the year 1828 Mr. Walker gathered about -him, in Boston and elsewhere, audiences of colored men, into whom he -strove to infuse his spirit of determined, self-sacrificing rebellion -against their too-long endured and unparalleled oppression. Little was -known of these meetings, excepting by those who had been specially -called to them. But in September, 1829, he published his “_Appeal to -the colored citizens of the world, in particular and very expressly to -those of the United States_.” - -It was a pamphlet of more than eighty octavo pages, ably written, very -impassioned and well adapted to its purpose. The second and third -editions of it were published in less than twelve months. And Mr. -Walker devoted himself until his death, which happened soon after, to -the distribution of copies of this Appeal to colored men who were able -to read it in every State of the Union. - -Just as I had written the above sentence, Dr. W. H. Irwin, of -Louisiana, came in with an introduction to me. He is one of many Union -men who have been stripped of their property and driven out of the -State by President Johnson’s and Mayor Monroe’s partisans. Learning -that he had been a resident many years in the Southern States, I -inquired if he saw or heard of Walker’s Appeal in the time of it. He -replied that he was living in Georgia in 1834, was acquainted with -the Rev. Messrs. Worcester and Butler, missionaries to the Cherokees, -and knew that they were maltreated and imprisoned in 1829 or 1830 for -having one of Walker’s pamphlets, as well as for admitting some colored -children into their Indian school. - -So soon as this attempt to excite the slaves to insurrection came -to the knowledge of Mr. Garrison, he earnestly deprecated it in his -lectures, especially those addressed to colored people. And in his -first number of the _Liberator_ he repudiated the resort to violence, -as wrong in principle and disastrous in policy. His opinions on this -point were generally embraced by his followers, and explicitly declared -by the American Antislavery Society in 1833. - -But as we wished that our fellow-citizens South as well as North should -be assured of our pacific principles, and as we hoped to abolish the -institution of slavery by convincing slaveholders and their abettors -of the exceeding wickedness of the system, we did send our reports, -tracts, and papers to all white persons in the Southern States with -whom we were any of us acquainted, and to distinguished individuals -whom we knew by common fame, to ministers of religion, legislators, -civilians, and editors. _But in no case did we send our publications to -slaves._ This we forbore to do, because we knew that few of them could -read; because our arguments and appeals were not addressed to them; and -especially because we thought it probable that, if our publications -should be found in their possession, they would be subjected to some -harsher treatment. - -Notwithstanding our precaution, the Southern “gentlemen of property -and standing” denounced us as incendiaries, enemies, accused us of -intending to excite their bondmen to insurrection, and to dissolve -the Union. They would not themselves give any heed to our _exposé_ -of the sin and danger of slavery, nor would they suffer others so -to do who seemed inclined to hear and consider. They assaulted, -lynched, imprisoned any one in whose possession they found antislavery -publications. They waylaid the mails, or broke into post-offices, -and tore to pieces or burnt up all papers and pamphlets from the -North that contained aught against their “peculiar institution,” and -significantly admonished, if they did not summarily punish, those to -whom such publications were addressed. Meetings were called in most, if -not all, of the principal cities of the South, at which Abolitionists -were denounced in unmeasured terms, and the friends of the Union, North -and South, and East and West, were peremptorily summoned to suppress -them. By the votes of such meetings, and still more by the acts of -the Legislatures of several States, large rewards--$5,000, $10,000, -$20,000--were offered for the abduction or assassination of Arthur -Tappan, William Lloyd Garrison, Amos A. Phelps, and other prominent -antislavery men. Moreover, letters of the most abusive character were -sent to us individually, threatening us with all sorts of violence, -arson, and murder. - -Sad to relate, the corrupting, demoralizing influence of slavery was -not confined to those who were directly enforcing the great wrong -upon their fellow-beings. Those who had consented to such desecration -of humanity were found to be almost as much contaminated as the -slaveholders themselves. “The whole head of the nation was sick, and -the whole heart was faint.” The “gentlemen of property and standing” -at the North, yes, even in Massachusetts, espoused the cause of the -slaveholders. The editors of most of the newspapers, religious as well -as secular, and of some of the graver periodicals, nearly all of the -popular orators, and very many of the ministers of religion, spoke and -wrote against the doctrine of the Abolitionists. They extenuated the -crime of denying to fellow-men the God-given, inalienable rights of -humanity, apologized for those who had been born to an inheritance of -slaves, and insisted that “slavery was an ordination of Providence, -sanctioned by our sacred Scriptures, even the Christian Scriptures.” -This last was the chief weapon with which the religionists throughout -the Northern as well as Southern States combated the Abolitionists. Not -a few sermons were preached in various parts of New England, as well -as New York and other Middle States, in justification of slaveholding. -The professors of Princeton Theological School published a pamphlet in -defence of slavery, and Professor Stuart, of Andover, the great leader -of New England orthodoxy, gave the abomination his sanction. The record -of our Cambridge Divinity School is much more honorable. Dr. Henry -Ware, Jr., evinced a deep interest in our enterprise, and incurred some -censure for manifesting his interest. Dr. Follen identified himself -with us at an early day, and, as I shall tell hereafter, was one of -the sufferers in the cause; and Dr. Palfrey, though at the time of -which I am writing rather privately, expressed an appreciation of our -principles, which a few years afterwards impelled him to pecuniary -sacrifice and a course of conduct in Congress which deservedly placed -him high on the list of the antislavery worthies.[C] All the large, -influential ecclesiastical bodies in our country--the Presbyterian, -the Episcopal, the Methodist, the Baptist--threw over the churches of -their sects throughout the Southern States the shield of their consent -to, if not their approval of, slaveholding; and, I grieve to add, the -American Unitarian Association could not be induced to pronounce its -condemnation of the tremendous sin, the sum of all iniquities. - -Most religionists of every name, our own not excepted, insisted that -slavery was a political institution, with which, as Christians, -it would be inexpedient for us to meddle; and the politicians and -merchants did all in their power to disseminate this view of the -matter, and close the doors of the churches and the lips of the -ministers against this “exciting subject.” I need not add they were too -successful. - -Most of the prominent statesmen, and all the political demagogues -of both parties, took the ground that the great question as to the -enslavement of the colored population of the South was _settled_ by -the framers of the Constitution; that it was a matter to be left -exclusively to the States in which slavery existed; that to meddle -with it was to violate the provisions of the fundamental law of the -land and loosen the bands of the Union. Therefore the Abolitionists -were to be regarded as disturbers of the public peace, incendiaries, -enemies of their country, traitors. And it was proclaimed by many in -high authority, and shouted everywhere by the baser sort, “that the -Abolitionists ought to be abolished,” by any means that should be found -necessary. Thus outlawed, given up to the fury of the populace, we were -subjected to abuses and outrages, of which I can give only a brief -account. - -We were slow to believe that our fellow-citizens of the New England -States could be so besotted by the influence of the institution of -slavery, that they would _outrage our persons_ in its defence. We had -had proofs enough that “the gentlemen of property and standing,” “the -wise and prudent,” with their dependants, had shut their ears against -the truth, and turned away their eyes from the grievous wrongs we were -imploring our country to redress. This treatment we had experienced, -with increasing frequency, ever since the formation of the American -Antislavery Society, in December, 1833. But we were unwilling to -apprehend anything worse, certainly in Massachusetts. We trusted that -our persons would be sacred, though we had learned that the liberty of -speech and of the press was not. - -Late in the fall of 1833 I delivered, in Boylston Hall, at the request -of the New England Antislavery Society, a discourse “On the Principles -and Purposes of the Abolitionists, and the Means by which they intended -to subvert the Institution of Slavery.” The audience was large, and -among my hearers I was delighted to see my good friend (afterwards -Dr.) F. W. P. Greenwood, then one of the editors of the _Christian -Examiner_. He remained after the meeting was over, and to my great joy -said to me, “I have liked your discourse much. I wish everybody who is -opposed to the antislavery reform could hear or read it. If you will -prepare it as an article for the _Examiner_, I will publish it there.” -Glad of this avenue to the minds and hearts of so many who I especially -wished should understand and appreciate the work to which I had wholly -committed myself, I set about converting my discourse into a review -of our best antislavery publications, and making it, as a literary -production, more worthy of a place in the chief periodical of our -denomination. It was too late for the January number, 1834, so I aimed -to have it in readiness for the March number. In due time I called at -the office and inquired how soon my manuscript would be wanted. The -publisher asked what was the subject of my article; and on learning -that it was to be an explanation of the sentiments and purposes of -the Abolitionists, he said, to my astonishment, with much emphasis, -“We do not want it; it cannot be published.” “Why,” I said, “is not -Mr. Greenwood one of the editors, and do not he and his colleague -decide what shall be put into the _Examiner_?” “Generally they do,” -he replied; “indeed, I never interfered before. But in this case I -must and shall. The _Examiner_ is my property. It would be seriously -damaged if an article favoring Abolition should appear in it. I should -lose most of my subscribers in the slave, and many in the free States. -And I cannot afford to make such a sacrifice.” But I rejoined, “Mr. -Greenwood has heard all the essential parts of the article. He approved -of it, thought it would do good, and requested me to prepare it for -publication.” Mr. B. replied, with more earnestness than before, “Mr. -May, it shall not be published. If I should find it all printed on the -pages of the _Examiner_, just ready to be issued, I would suppress the -number and publish another, with some other article in the place of -yours.” - -I hastened to Mr. Greenwood for redress. With evident mortification -and sorrow he confessed his inability to do me justice. Nevertheless, -in the July number, 1834, there was allowed to be published, on the -397th page, a paragraph, written by one of the Boston ministers, “for -the special instruction of such ardent, but mistaken philanthropists -among us as think they are justified, from their abhorrence of -slavery, and their zeal for universal emancipation, to interfere with -the constitutions of civil governments, or the personal rights of -individuals.” - -Having permitted such an assault to be made upon us in their pages, -I could not doubt that the editors of the _Examiner_ would suffer me -to be heard in defence. I therefore prepared carefully a respectful -“letter” to them, trusting it would appear in their next number. But, -to my surprise and serious displeasure, it was excluded. The letter was -accordingly published in the _Liberator_, which, here let me say to -its distinctive honor, always allowed the foes as well as the friends -of freedom and humanity a place in its columns. And the editors of the -_Examiner_, unsolicited, did me the favor, in their November number, -1834, page 282, to refer to my letter, commending its “eloquence -and its good spirit, although circumstances obliged them to decline -publishing it, and advising their readers to procure it and read it, -and the documents to which it refers.” This evinced the willingness of -those gentlemen to deal fairly, but showed that they were _in bondage_. - -Immediately after the first New England Antislavery Convention, -which closed on the 29th of May, 1834, I devoted four or five weeks -to lecturing on the Abolition of Slavery in most of the principal -towns between Boston and Portland. In several places there were -strong expressions of hostility to our undertaking. But nothing like -personal violence was offered me. I stopped over Sunday, 8th of June, -at Portsmouth, to supply brother A. P. Peabody’s pulpit, that he -might preach in a neighboring town. I consented to do this, on the -condition that I might deliver an antislavery lecture from his pulpit -on Sunday evening. This he gladly agreed to, and took pains to publish -my intention. But, greatly to my surprise, after the forenoon service, -the Trustees of the church waited upon me, and informed me that, at the -earnest demand of many prominent members, I should not be allowed to -speak on slavery from their pulpit; that the meeting-house would not -be opened that evening. My remonstrance with them was of no avail. So -at the close of my afternoon services I said to the congregation: “You -are all doubtless aware that I had arranged with your excellent pastor -to deliver a lecture on American slavery from this desk this evening. -But during the intermission your Trustees called and peremptorily -forbade my doing so. Has our consenting with the oppressors of the poor -indeed brought us to this? That I, who am striving to be a minister of -Him “who came to break every yoke” am forbidden to plead with you who -are reputed to be an eminently Christian church the cause of millions -of our countrymen who are suffering the most abject bondage ever -enforced upon human beings? I know not, I do not wish to know, who -those prominent members of your church are that have presumed to close -this pulpit, and deny to others the right to manifest their sympathy -for the down-trodden, and to hear what may and should be done for their -relief. The time shall come when those prominent ones will be brought -down, and their children and children’s children will be ashamed to -hear of their act.” - -With this exception, and an unsuccessful attempt to disturb a meeting -that I was addressing in Worcester, I met with no serious molestation -in any of the towns of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine, where -I lectured during the summer and autumn of 1834. The faces of many of -the rich and fashionable were averted from me; but “the common people” -seemed to hear me gladly. Politicians and would-be statesmen often -encountered me in the stage-coaches and at the hotels where I stopped. -Many of our conflicts were amusing rather than terrible. They always -based themselves upon “the provisions of the Constitution,” about -which it was soon made to appear, that they knew little or nothing. -They took it for granted that the fathers of our Republic agreed that -slavery should exist in any of the States where the white citizens -chose to have it; and that the Constitution of our Union gave certain -guarantees for the protection of their “peculiar institution” to the -States in which it was maintained. Moreover, these political savans -insisted that the Constitution provided that this matter should be -left wholly to the slaveholders themselves; and that all condemnation -of it as a wicked system, and the exposure of its evils and its -horrors, was a violation of State comity, if not of the _rights_ of our -fellow-citizens of the South. - -Perceiving how little most of such friends of the Union knew about the -fundamental law of our Republic, and finding, on inquiry, that copies -of the Constitution were in that day very scarce, I not unfrequently -shut up my opponents almost as soon as they opened their mouths upon -the subject. When they ventured to say, “The Constitution, sir, settled -this question in the beginning,” I would inquire, “My friend, have you -ever read the Constitution?” “Everybody knows, sir, that slavery--” -“Have you, yourself, read that document to which you appeal?” “Why, -sir, do you presume to deny that guarantees--” “My friend, I ask again, -have you yourself ever read the Constitution of the United States? I -do not care to go into an argument with you until I know whether you -are acquainted with our great national charter.” In this way, time -and again, I drew from my would-be opponents (sometimes justices of -the peace), the acknowledgment that they had never themselves seen a -copy of the Constitution, but supposed that what everybody, except -the Abolitionists, said of its provisions must be true. Occurrences -of this sort I reported to the managers of the Antislavery Society so -frequently, that they caused a large edition of the United States -Constitution to be printed, so that copies of it might be distributed -with our tracts, wherever the agents and lecturers saw fit. This was -one of the _naughty_ things we did, so inimical to the peace and -well-being of our country. - -The discussions which I had with sundry individuals who were acquainted -with the subject led me to study the Constitution with greater care -and deeper interest than ever before. It seemed to me that we owed it -to the memory of those venerated men whose names are conspicuous in -the early history of our Republic--those men who so solemnly pledged -“their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” to the cause -of freedom and the inalienable rights of man--to exonerate them, if -we fairly could, from the awful responsibility that was laid upon -them by those who insisted that they _guaranteed_ to the Southern -States the unquestioned exercise of their assumed right to enforce the -_enslavement_ of one sixth part of the population of the land, many -of whom had shared with them in all the hardships and perils of their -struggles for independence. It seemed to me that every article of -the Constitution usually quoted as intended to favor the assumptions -of slaveholders admitted of an opposite interpretation, and that we -were bound by every honorable and humane consideration to prefer -that interpretation. The conclusions to which I was brought on this -subject I gave some time afterwards in the _Antislavery Magazine_ -for 1836. But the publication of the “Madison Papers,” in which was -given the minutes, debates, etc., of the convention which framed the -Constitution, I confess, disconcerted me somewhat. I could not so -easily maintain my ground in the discussions which afterwards agitated -so seriously the Abolitionists themselves,--some maintaining that -the Constitution was, and was intended to be, proslavery; others -maintaining that it was antislavery. It seemed to me that it might be -whichever the people pleased to make it. I rejoice, therefore, with joy -unspeakable that the question is at length practically settled, though -by the issue of our late awful war. - - -THE CLERGY AND THE QUAKERS. - -The coming of George Thompson to our country in the fall of -1834, and his thrilling eloquence respecting our great national -iniquity, awakened general attention to the subject, and caused more -excitement about it than before. He came, as it were, a missionary -from the philanthropists of Great Britain to show our people their -transgression. The politicians tried to get up the public indignation -against him as “a foreign emissary interfering with our political -affairs.” The religionists resented his coming as an impertinence, -though _they_ were much engaged in sending missionaries to the heathen -to reclaim them from sins no more heinous than ours. Nevertheless, -the people flocked to hear him, and many were converted. The demand -for antislavery lectures came from all parts of New England, and from -many parts of the Middle and Western States. A great work was to be -done. The fields were whitening to the harvest, but the laborers were -few. I therefore accepted the renewed invitation of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society to become its General Agent and Corresponding -Secretary, and removed to Boston early in the spring of 1835. Many -of my nearest relatives and dearest friends received me kindly, but -with sadness. They feared I should lose my standing in the ministry -and become an outcast from the churches. For a while it seemed as if -their apprehensions were not groundless. None of the Boston ministers, -excepting Dr. Channing, welcomed me. Dr. Follen, Dr. Ware, Jr., and -Dr. Palfrey were then resident in Cambridge; Mr. Pierpont was in -Europe. James Freeman Clarke had not left Louisville, and Theodore -Parker was a student in the Divinity School. I was indeed soon made to -feel that I was not in good repute. Dr. Ware, who had charge of the -Hollis Street pulpit in the absence of the pastor, invited me to supply -it, if I found I could do so consistently with my new duties. I engaged -for two Sundays. But at the close of the first, one of the chief -officers of the church waited upon me, by direction of the principal -members, and requested me not to enter their pulpit again, assuring me, -if I should do so, that a dozen or more of the prominent men with their -families would leave the house. Of course I yielded that, and I was not -invited into any other pulpit in the city, excepting Dr. Channing’s, -during the fifteen months that I resided there. - -Soon after my removal to Boston I was informed that a young and very -popular minister in a neighboring town had preached an antislavery -sermon on the Fast Day then just past. I hurried to see him, and -requested him to read to me the sermon. He did so. It was an admirable -_exposé_ of the wickedness of holding men in slavery, and of the -duty incumbent upon all Christian and humane persons to do what they -could to break such a yoke. It was the outpouring of an ingenuous, -benevolent, generous heart, that deeply felt for the wrongs of the -outraged millions in our country. - -I begged a copy of the discourse for the press, assuring him it would -be a most valuable contribution to the cause of the oppressed. He -consented to let me have it, promising that, after retouching and -fitting it for the press, he would send it to me. I returned to the -Antislavery office and made arrangements to publish a large edition of -that, which would then have been a remarkable sermon. - -After waiting more than a week for the promised manuscript I called -upon the author again. In answer to my inquiry why he had not fulfilled -his promise he said: “I have concluded not to allow the discourse to -be published. Some of the most prominent members of our church have -earnestly advised me not to give it to the press.” “Why,” said I, -“have they convinced you that slaveholding is not as sinful as you -represented it to be, or that you have been misinformed as to the -condition of our enslaved countrymen?” “O no,” he replied, “but then -this is a very complicated, difficult matter between our Northern and -Southern States, and I have been admonished to let it alone.” “Do you -believe,” I inquired, “that those who so admonished you were prompted -to give you such advice by their sense of justice to the enslaved, -their compassion for those millions to whom all rights are denied, -and whose conjugal, parental, filial, and fraternal affections are -trampled under foot? Or were they influenced by pecuniary, or by party -political considerations?” “It is not for me, sir, to say what their -motives were,” he replied, in a tone that intimated displeasure. “They -are among my best friends, and the most respectable members of my -parish. I am bound to give heed to their counsel. I mean so to do. I -shall not allow my sermon to be published. I shall not commit myself -to the antislavery cause.” “Let me only say,” I added, “if you do not -commit yourself to the cause of the _oppressed_, you will probably, -erelong, be found on the side of the _oppressor_.” So we parted. And my -prediction was fulfilled. - -Two or three years afterwards it was reported that the same gentleman, -having visited the Southern States and enjoyed the hospitality of the -slaveholders, returned and preached a discourse very like “The South -Side View of Slavery,” by Dr. Adams, of Essex Street. - -On Fast Day, 1852, it so happened that I was visiting a parishioner -of this brother minister. I accompanied him to church, and heard from -that very able and eloquent preacher the most unjust and cruel sermon -against the Abolitionists that I had ever listened to or read. - -This incident and my reception in Boston prepared me in a measure -for the warning given me by the New York merchant, as related on -page 127. Still, I could not think so badly of my fellow-citizens, -my fellow-Christians of the North, the New England States, as I was -afterwards compelled to do. - -That the cancer of slavery had eaten still deeper than I was willing to -believe was soon after made too apparent to me. - - -THE QUAKERS. - -We had always counted upon the aid and co-operation of the _Quakers_. -We considered them “birthright” Abolitionists. And many of Mr. -Garrison’s earliest supporters, most untiring co-laborers, and generous -contributors were members of “the Society of Friends,” or had been. -Besides John G. Whittier and James and Lucretia Mott, Evan Lewis, -Thomas Shipley, and others, of whom I have already spoken, in my -account of the Philadelphia Convention, there were the venerable Moses -Brown, and the indefatigable Arnold Buffum, and that remarkable man, -Isaac T. Hopper, and the large-hearted, open-handed Andrew Robeson and -William Rotch, and Isaac and Nathan Winslow, and Nathaniel Barney, and -Joseph and Anne Southwick,[D] and fifty more, whose praises I should -delight to celebrate. - -But we had received no expression of sympathy from any “Yearly” or -“Monthly Meeting,” and we felt moved to _seek a sign_ from them. -Accordingly, at the suggestion of some of the Friends who were -actively engaged with us, I went to Newport, R. I., in June, 1835, at -the time of the great New England Yearly Meeting, to see if I could -obtain from them any intimation of friendliness. My wife accompanied -me. When we arrived at the principal hotel in the place, where I was -told we should find “the weighty” as well as a large number of the -lighter members of the Society, we were at a loss to account for the -fluster of the landlord and his helpers, and the tardiness with which -we were informed that we could be accommodated. After we had got -established, I learned from one who had urged my coming, that there had -been quite a commotion in consequence of the report that the General -Agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society was about to visit the -“Yearly Meeting.” William ----, and William ----, and Oliver ----, -and Isaac ----, and Thomas ----, wealthy cotton manufacturers and -merchants, had bestirred themselves to prevent such “an intrusion,” -as they were pleased to term it. They had secured the public halls of -Newport against me during the continuance of the “Yearly Meeting,” and -had been trying, on the morning of the day that I arrived, to induce -the landlord to refuse me any accommodation in his house. And they -would have succeeded, had not forty of his boarders informed him that -if he did not receive me they would quit his premises. These forty, -though of less account in the meeting, which, I learned, was governed -by the aristocracy that occupied the high seats, were more weighty in -the receipts of the hotel-keeper. He therefore compromised with the -dignitaries by agreeing to serve their meals in a private parlor, so -that their eyes might not be offended at the sight of the antislavery -agent in the common dining hall. - -I sought, through several of their very respectable members, -permission to attend their “Meeting on Sufferings” and present to their -consideration the principles and plans of the American Antislavery -Society and its auxiliaries. This request was peremptorily denied. I -then besought them to give their “testimony on slavery,” as they had -sometimes done in times past. This they also refused. - -An arrangement was then made by the members who were Abolitionists, -many of whom boarded with me at “Whitfield’s,” that I should address as -many as saw fit to meet me in the large reception-room of the hotel, in -the evening of the second day of my visit. So soon as this was known, -it was asked of me if I would consent to let the meeting be conducted -somewhat in the manner of “the Society of Friends” so that any who -should be moved to speak might have the liberty. I acquiesced most -cheerfully, not doubting that I should be moved, and should be expected -to address the meeting first and give the direction to it. - -Fifty or sixty persons assembled at the hour appointed. Deeming it -respectful to my Quaker brethren to sit in silence a few minutes after -the meeting came to order, I did so, and in so doing lost my chance -to be heard. A wily brother took advantage of my sense of propriety, -rose before me and delivered a long discourse upon slavery, made up of -the commonplaces and platitudes of the subject, about which all were -agreed. He was followed instantly by another in the same vein, and when -the evening was far spent and the auditors were beginning to withdraw, -I was permitted to speak a few minutes upon the vital points in the -questions between the immediate Abolitionists and the slaveholders on -the one hand, and the Colonizationists on the other hand. - -However, the next morning, in the presence of twenty or more, I -had unexpectedly a long and pretty thorough discussion with the -distinguished John Griscom, so that my visit to Newport was not wholly -lost. - -I am sorry that truth compels me to add, that afterwards we had too -many proofs that “the Society of Friends,” with all their antislavery -professions, were not, as a religious sect, much more friendly -than others to the immediate emancipation of the enslaved without -expatriation. They were disposed to be Colonizationists rather than -Abolitionists. - - -THE REIGN OF TERROR. - -Rejected as we Abolitionists were generally by the religionists of -every denomination, denounced by many of the clergy as dangerous, yes, -impious persons, refused a hearing in almost all the churches, it was -not strange that the statesmen and politicians had no mercy upon us. - -The first most serious opposition from any minister I myself directly -encountered was in the pleasant town of Taunton. I went thither on the -15th of April, 1835, and had a very successful meeting in the Town -Hall, which was filled full with respectable persons of both sexes. -So much interest in the subject was awakened that a large number on -the spot signified their readiness to co-operate with those who were -laboring to procure the abolition of American slavery. To my surprise, -the most prominent minister in the town, a learned and liberal -theologian, and a gentleman of unexceptionable private character, took -the utmost pains to prevent the formation of an auxiliary antislavery -society there. He declared that “the slaves were the property of -their masters,” that “we of the North had no more right to disturb -this _domestic arrangement_ of our Southern brethren, and prevent the -prosecution of their industrial operations, than the planters had to -interfere with our manufactures and commerce.” He dealt out to the -Abolitionists no small number of opprobrious epithets; charged us with -being the cause of the New York mobs of October, 1834, and insisted -that, if we “were permitted to prosecute our measures, it would -inevitably dissolve the Union and cause a civil war.” - -This was the substance of the _verbal_ opposition that we met with -everywhere throughout the Northern, Middle, and Western States; -strengthened by the arguments of the civilians and statesmen, intended -to show that the enslavement of the colored population of certain -States was settled by the _founders_ of our Republic, who made several -compromises in relation to it, and gave sundry guarantees to the -slaveholders which must be held sacred. - -Many timid persons everywhere, by such assertions and appeals, were -deterred from yielding to the convictions which the self-evident -truths, urged by the Abolitionists, awakened. Still the cause of the -oppressed made visible progress in all parts of the non-slaveholding -States. Alarmed by this, the barons of the South, as Mr. Adams -significantly styled them, stirred up their dependants and partisans -to demand something more of their Northern brethren than denunciation -and opprobrium against the Abolitionists. “They must be put down by -law or _without law_, as the necessity of the case might require.” -And the determination to do _just this_ was at length come to by “the -gentlemen of property and standing” throughout the North, as the New -York merchant, mentioned on the foregoing 127th page informed me. - -In pursuance of this determination, the great meeting in Faneuil Hall, -called, as I have said already, by fifteen hundred of the respectable -gentlemen of Boston, was held on the 21st of August, 1835. The grave -misrepresentations, the plausible arguments, the inflammatory appeals -made by the very distinguished civilians who addressed that meeting, -invoked those demon spirits throughout New England that did deeds, of -which I hope the instigators themselves became heartily ashamed. - -How devilish those spirits were I was made to know a few evenings -after that never-to-be-forgotten meeting. I went to the quiet town -of Haverhill, by special invitation from John G. Whittier and a -number more of the genuine friends of humanity. I had lectured there -twice before without opposition, and went again not apprehending any -disturbance. The meeting was held in the Freewill Baptist Church,--a -large hall over a row of stores. The audience was numerous, occupying -all the seats and evidently eager to hear. I had spoke about fifteen -minutes, when the most hideous outcries, yells, from a crowd of men -who had surrounded the house startled us, and then came heavy missiles -against the doors and blinds of the windows. I persisted in speaking -for a few minutes, hoping the blinds and doors were strong enough to -stand the siege. But presently a heavy stone broke through one of the -blinds, shattered a pane of glass and fell upon the head of a lady -sitting near the centre of the hall. She uttered a shriek and fell -bleeding into the arms of her sister. The panic-stricken audience -rose _en masse_, and began a rush for the doors. Seeing the danger, I -shouted in a voice louder than I ever uttered before or since, “_Sit -down, every one of you, sit down!_ The doors are not wide; the platform -outside is narrow; the stairs down to the street are steep. If you go -in a rush, you will jam one another, or be thrown down and break your -limbs, if not your necks. If there is any one here whom the mob wish to -injure, it is myself. I will stand here and wait until you are safely -out of the house. But you must go in some order as I bid you.” To my -great joy they obeyed. All sat down, and then rose, as I told them to, -from the successive rows of pews, and went out without any accident. - -When the house was nearly empty I took on my arm a brave young lady, -who would not leave me to go through the mob alone, and went out. -Fortunately none of the ill-disposed knew me. So we passed through the -lane of madmen unharmed, hearing their imprecations and threats of -violence to the ---- Abolitionist when he should come out. - -It was well we had delayed no longer to empty the hall, for at the -corner of the street above we met a posse of men more savage than the -rest, dragging a cannon, which they intended to explode against the -building and at the same time tear away the stairs; so furious and -bloodthirsty had “the baser sort” been made by the instigations of “the -gentlemen of property and standing.” - -In October it was thought advisable for me to go and lecture in -several of the principal towns of Vermont. I did so, and everywhere -I met with contumely and insult. I was mobbed five times. In Rutland -and Montpelier my meetings were dispersed with violence. Of the last -only shall I give any account, because I had been specially invited -to Montpelier to address the Vermont State Antislavery Society. The -Legislature was in session there at that time, and many of the members -of that body were Abolitionists. We were, therefore, without much -opposition, granted the use of the Representatives’ Hall for our first -meeting, on the evening of October 20. A large number of persons--as -many as the hall could conveniently hold--were present, including many -members of the Legislature, and ladies not a few. There were some -demonstrations of displeasure in the yard of the Capitol and a couple -of eggs and a stone or two were thrown through the window before -which I was standing. But their force was spent before they reached -me, and therefore they were not suffered to interrupt my discourse. -At the close, I was requested to tarry in Montpelier and address the -public again the next evening from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian -Church, the largest audience-room in the village. This I gladly -consented to do. But the next morning placards were seen all about the -village, admonishing “the people generally, and ladies in particular, -not to attend the antislavery meeting proposed to be held that evening -in the Presbyterian church, as the person who is advertised to speak -will certainly be prevented, _by violence if necessary_.” In the -afternoon I received a letter signed by the President of the bank, the -Postmaster, and five other “gentlemen of property and standing” in -Montpelier, requesting me to leave town “without any further attempt -to hold forth the absurd doctrine of antislavery, and save them the -trouble of using any other measures to that effect.” But as I had -accepted the invitation to deliver a second lecture, I determined to -make the attempt so to do, these threats notwithstanding. Accordingly, -just before the hour appointed, with a venerable Quaker lady on my arm, -I proceeded to the meeting-house and took a seat in the pulpit. After -a prayer had been offered by Rev. Mr. Hurlbut, I rose to speak. But I -had hardly uttered a sentence when the ringleader of the riot, Timothy -Hubbard, Esq., rose with a gang about him and commanded me to desist. -I replied, “Is this the respect paid to the _liberty of speech_ by the -free people of Vermont? Let any one of your number step forward and -give reasons, if he can, why his fellow-citizens, who wish, should not -be permitted to hear the lecture I have been invited here to deliver. -If I cannot show those reasons to be fallacious, false, I will yield -to your demand. But for the sake of one of our essential rights, the -liberty of speech, I shall proceed if I can.” While I was saying these -words the rioters were still. But so soon as I commenced my lecture -again, Mr. Hubbard and his fellows cried out, “Down with him!” “Throw -him over!” “Choke him!” Hon. Chauncy L. Knapp, then, or afterwards, -I believe, Secretary of State, remonstrated earnestly, implored his -fellow-citizens not to continue disgracing themselves, the town, and -the State. But his words were of no avail. The moment I attempted a -third time to speak the rioters commenced a rush for the pulpit, loudly -shouting their violent intentions. At this crisis Colonel Miller, well -known as the companion of Dr. Howe in a generous endeavor to aid Greece -in her struggle for independence in 1824,--Colonel Miller, renowned for -his courage and prowess, sprang forward and planted himself in front of -the leader, crying in a voice of thunder, “Mr. Hubbard, if you do not -stop this outrage now, I will knock you down!” The rush for the pulpit -was stayed; but such an alarm had spread through the house, that there -was a hasty movement from all parts towards the doors, and my audience -dispersed. Colonel Miller, Mr. Knapp, and several other gentlemen -urged me to remain in town another day and attempt a meeting the next -evening, assuring me that it should be protected against the ruffians. -But it was Friday, and I had engaged to be in Burlington the next day, -to preach for Brother Ingersoll the following Sunday, and deliver an -antislavery lecture from his pulpit in the evening. So I was obliged to -leave our good friends in the capital of Vermont mortified and vexed at -what had occurred there. - -But on my arrival at Burlington I received tidings from Boston of a -far greater outrage that had been perpetrated at the same time, in -the metropolis of New England. On page 127 I made mention of the -“well-dressed, gentlemanly” mob of October 21st, which broke up a -regular meeting of the Female Antislavery Society. The fury of the -populace had been incited to the utmost by articles in the _Commercial -Gazette_, the _Courier_, the _Sentinel_, and other newspapers, of which -the following is a specimen: “It is in vain that we hold meetings in -Faneuil Hall, and call into action the eloquence and patriotism of -our most talented citizens; it is in vain that speeches are made and -resolutions adopted, assuring our brethren of the South that we cherish -rational and correct notions on the subject of slavery, if Thompson and -Garrison, and their vile associates in this city, are to be permitted -to hold their meetings in the broad face of day, and to continue their -denunciations against the planters of the South. They _must be put -down_ if we would preserve our consistency. The evil is one of the -greatest magnitude; and _the opinion prevails very generally_ that if -there is no law that will reach it, it must be reached in some other -way.” - -Though “the patriots” had been especially maddened by the report that -“the infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson,” “the British emissary, -the paid incendiary, Thompson,” was to address the meeting, yet, when -assured he was not and would not be there, they did not desist. “But -Garrison is!” was the cry; “snake him out and finish him!” They tore -down the sign of the Antislavery office and dashed it to pieces; -compelled the excellent women to leave their hall, seized upon Mr. -Garrison, tore off his clothes, dragged him through the streets, and -would have hanged him, had it not been for the almost superhuman -efforts of several gentlemen, assisted by some of the police and a -vigorous hack-driver, who together succeeded in getting him to Leverett -Street Jail, where he was committed for safe-keeping. - -The disgraceful story was too well told at the time ever to be -forgotten, especially by Mr. Garrison himself, and more especially by -Mrs. Maria Weston Chapman, in a little volume entitled “Right and Wrong -in Boston.” - -To show my readers still further how general the determination had -become throughout the Northern States to put down the antislavery -agitation by foul means, I will here only allude to the significant -fact that on the same day, October 21, 1835, a mob, led on or -countenanced by gentlemen of respectability, broke up an antislavery -meeting in Utica, N. Y., and drove out of the city such men as Gerrit -Smith, Alvan Stuart, and Beriah Green. Hereafter I will give a full -account of the infamous proceeding, and of some of its consequences. - - -FRANCIS JACKSON. - -There is a most interesting sequel to my brief narrative of the great -outrage upon liberty in the metropolis of New England, which cannot be -so pertinently told in any other connection. - -After the first attempt of the Female Antislavery Society to hold their -annual meeting on the 14th of October, in Congress Hall, was thwarted -by the fears of the owner and lessee, Mr. Francis Jackson offered the -use of his dwelling-house in Hollis Street for that purpose. But the -ladies were unwilling to believe that they should be molested in their -own small hall, No. 46 Washington Street, and thought it more becoming -to meet there than to retreat to the protection of a private house. So -the meeting was appointed to be held there on the 21st. The result, so -disgraceful to the reputation of Boston, has just been given. - -On the evening of that sad day, while the rioters were yet patrolling -the city, exulting over their shameful deeds, and threatening the -persons and property of the Abolitionists, Francis Jackson, called upon -Miss Mary Parker, the truly devout and brave President of the Boston -Female Antislavery Society, and renewed the offer of his dwelling in -the following letter of invitation:-- - - “TO THE LADIES OF THE BOSTON FEMALE ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY. - - “Having with deep regret and mortification observed the manner in - which your Society has been treated by a portion of the community, - especially by some of our public journals, and approving as I do - most cordially the objects of your association, I offer you the use - of my dwelling-house in Hollis Street for the purpose of holding - your annual meeting, or for any other meeting. - - “Such accommodations as I have are at your service, and I assure - you it would afford me great pleasure to extend this slight - testimony of my regard for a Society whose objects are second to - none other in the city. - - “With great respect, - “FRANCIS JACKSON.” - -This heroic act thrilled with joy the hearts of the “faithful,” and -inspired them with new courage. For two or three years Mr. Jackson -had evinced a deep interest in the antislavery cause, but we did not -suspect that he had so much Roman virtue. - -His invitation was gratefully accepted, and due notices were published -in the usual form that the meeting would be held at his house on the -19th of November. Renewed efforts were made by our opposers to create -another excitement. The air was filled with threats. But the editors of -the newspapers did not come up to the work as before. Fewer prominent -gentlemen encouraged “the baser sort,” and therefore the mob did not -come out in its strength. About a hundred and thirty ladies and four -gentlemen gathered at the time appointed in Mr. Jackson’s house, and -were not molested on the way thither or while there, excepting by a few -insulting epithets and an occasional ribald shout. - -It was an intensely interesting meeting, conducted in the usual manner -with the utmost propriety;[E] and an air of unfeigned solemnity was -thrown over it by the consciousness of the dense cloud of malignant -hatred that was hanging over us, and which might again burst upon us in -some cruel outrage. - -Among the ladies present were the celebrated Miss Harriet Martineau, -of England, and her very intelligent travelling companion, Miss -Jeffrey. At the right moment, when the regular business of the meeting -had been transacted, Ellis Gray Loring, from the beginning a leading -Abolitionist,--and one whose lead it was always well to follow, for he -was a very wise, a single-hearted, and most conscientious man,--Mr. -Loring handed me a slip of paper for Miss Martineau, on which was -written an earnest request that she would then favor the meeting with -some expression of her sympathy in the objects of the association. She -immediately rose and said, with cordial earnestness: “I had supposed -that my presence here would be understood as showing my sympathy with -you. But as I am requested to speak, I will say what I have said -through the whole South, in every family where I have been, that I -consider slavery inconsistent with the law of God, and incompatible -with the course of his providence. I should certainly say no less at -the North than at the South concerning this utter abomination, and now -I declare that in your principles I fully agree.” - -Hitherto Miss Martineau had received from the _élite_ of Boston very -marked attentions. She had been treated with great respect, as one so -distinguished for her literary works and philanthropic labors deserved -to be. But from the day of that meeting, and because of the words she -uttered there, she was slighted, rejected, and in various ways made to -understand that she had given great offence to “the best society in -that metropolis.” - -Two days afterwards the Board of Managers of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society directed me, their Corresponding Secretary, by -a unanimous vote, to express to Mr. Jackson the very high sense -which they entertained of his generosity and noble independence in -proffering, as he had done unsolicited, the use and protection of his -dwelling-house to the Boston Female Antislavery Society, when they had -just been expelled by lawless violence from a public hall. - -My letter, written immediately in pursuance of this vote, drew from Mr. -Jackson the following reply, which, considering the place where and the -time when it was written, as well as its intrinsic excellence, deserves -to be preserved among the most precious deposits in the Temple of -Impartial Liberty, whenever such a structure shall be reared upon earth. - - “BOSTON, November 25, 1835. - - “DEAR SIR,--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your - highly esteemed letter of the 21st inst., written in behalf of the - Managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, and expressing - in very flattering terms their approbation of my conduct in - granting to the ladies of the Antislavery Society the use of my - dwelling-house for their Annual Meeting. - - “That meeting was a most interesting and impressive one. It will - ever be treasured by me, among the most pleasing recollections of - my life, that it was my good fortune to extend to those respectable - ladies the protection of my roof after they had been reviled, - insulted, and driven from their own hall by a mob. - - “But in tendering them the use of my house, sir, I not only had - in view their accommodation, but also, according to my humble - measure, to recover and perpetuate the right of free discussion, - which has been shamefully trampled on. A great principle has been - assailed,--one which lies at the very foundation of our republican - institutions. - - “If a large majority of this community choose to turn a deaf ear to - the wrongs which are inflicted upon millions of their countrymen in - other portions of the land,--if they are content to turn away from - the sight of oppression, and ‘to pass by on the other side,’ so it - must be. - - “But when they undertake in any way to annul or impair my right - to speak, write, and publish my thoughts upon any subject, more - especially upon enormities which are the common concern of every - lover of his country and his kind, so it must not be,--so it shall - not be, if I can prevent it. Upon this great right let us hold on - at all hazards. And should we, in its exercise, be driven from - public halls to private dwellings, one house at least shall be - consecrated to its preservation. And if in defence of this sacred - privilege, which man did not give me, and shall not (if I can help - it) take from me, this roof and these walls shall be levelled to - the earth, let them fall! If it must be so, let them fall! They - cannot crumble in a better cause. They will appear of very little - value to me after their owner shall have been whipped into silence. - - “Mobs and gag-laws, and the other contrivances by which fraud - or force would stifle inquiry, will not long work well in this - community. They betray the essential rottenness of the cause they - are meant to strengthen. These outrages are doing their work with - the reflecting. - - “Happily, one point seems to be gaining universal assent, that - slavery cannot long survive free discussion. Hence the efforts of - the friends and apologists of slavery to break down this right. - And hence the immense stake which the enemies of slavery hold, in - behalf of freedom and mankind, in the preservation of this right. - The contest is therefore substantially between liberty and slavery. - - “As slavery cannot exist with free discussion, so neither can - liberty breathe without it. Losing this, we shall not be freemen - indeed, but little, if at all, superior to the millions we are now - seeking to emancipate. - - “With the highest respect, - “Your friend, - “FRANCIS JACKSON. - - “REV. S. J. MAY, Cor. Sec. Mass. A. S. S.” - -Well said Mrs. Maria W. Chapman, who was usually the first to give the -most pertinent expression to the best thought of every occasion,--well -said Mrs. Chapman, “Ten such men would have saved our city and country -from the indelible disgrace which has been inflicted upon them by the -outrageous proceedings of the 21st and 24th of October. Mr. Jackson -has by this act done all that _one_ man can do to redeem the character -of Boston.” And were there not nine other men in the metropolis of New -England, where dwelt descendants of Samuel Adams and Josiah Quincy, -and relatives of Joseph Warren and James Otis and John Hancock, and -other men of Revolutionary fame; were there not nine other men there to -spring to the rescue of the ark of civil liberty? Alas! they did not -appear. The abettors of slavery were in the ascendant. “The gentlemen -of property and standing” thought it good policy, both politically and -pecuniarily considered, to trample the Declaration of Independence -under foot. And the people generally seemed willing to perpetrate -wrongs far greater than Great Britain ever inflicted on their fathers. - - -RIOT AT UTICA, N. Y.--GERRIT SMITH. - -The resort to mobocratic violence in so many parts of the Middle, -Northern, and Eastern States showed how general had become the -determination of the “gentlemen of property and standing” (as the -leaders everywhere claimed or were reported to be) to put down the -Abolitionists by _foul means_, having found it impossible to do so by -_fair_ discussion. This had been peremptorily demanded of them by their -Southern masters; and they had evidently come to the conclusion that -no other means would be effectual to stay the progress of universal, -impartial liberty. No one fact showed us how almost universally this -plan of operations was adopted, so plainly as the fact that, at the -very same time, October 21, 1835, antislavery meetings were broken up -and violently dispersed in Boston, Mass., Utica, N. Y., and Montpelier, -Vt. - -Societies for the abolition of slavery had been formed in the city of -New York, and in many towns and several counties of the State. And it -had come to be obvious that their efficiency would be greatly increased -if they should be united in a State organization. Accordingly, -invitations were sent everywhere to all known associations, and to -individuals where there were no associations, calling them to meet on -the 21st of October in Utica, then the most central and convenient -place, for the purpose of forming a New York State Antislavery Society. - -So soon as it became public that such a Convention was to be held -in their city, certain very “prominent and respectable gentlemen” -set about to avert “the calamity and disgrace.” It was denounced in -the newspapers, and deprecated by loud talkers in the streets. Soon -the excitement became general. When it was known that permission had -been given for the Convention to occupy the Court-room, “the whole -population was thrown into an uproar.” A large meeting of the people -was held on Saturday evening, October 17th, and adopted measures to -preoccupy the room where the Convention were called to assemble; and -in every way, by any means, prevent the proceedings of such a body of -“fanatics,” “incendiaries,” “madmen.” Hon. Samuel Beardsley, member of -Congress from Oneida County, declared that “the disgrace of having -an Abolition Convention held in the city is a deeper one than that of -twenty mobs; and that it would be better to have Utica razed to its -foundations, or to have it destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, than to -have the Convention meet here.”[F] - -Nevertheless, delegates from all parts of the State and individuals -interested in the great cause, at the appointed time, came into Utica -in great numbers,--six or eight hundred strong. On arriving at the -Court house, they found the room pre-occupied by a crowd of their -vociferous opponents, and therefore quietly repaired to the Second -Presbyterian meeting house. - -As soon as practicable the Convention was organized by the choice of -Hon. Judge Brewster, of Genesee County, Chairman, and Rev. Oliver -Wetmore, of Utica, Secretary. The Hon. Alvan Stewart, a most excellent -man and distinguished lawyer, as Chairman of the Committee of the -Utica Antislavery Society, which had first proposed the calling of the -Convention, rose, and after a few pertinent and impressive remarks, -moved the formation of a New York State Antislavery Society, and -read a draft of a Constitution. While he was reading a noisy crowd -thundered at the doors for admission. One of the Aldermen of the city, -in attempting to keep them back, had his coat torn to pieces. As soon -as the reading of the draft was finished, it was unanimously adopted as -the Constitution, and the _State Antislavery Society was formed_. - -Mr. Lewis Tappan then proceeded to read a declaration of sentiments -and purposes, that had been carefully prepared. But he had not half -finished the document, when a large concourse of persons rushed into -the house and commanded him to stop. He, however, persisted in the -discharge of his duty with increased earnestness to the end, when the -declaration was adopted unanimously by a rising vote. - -The Convention then gave audience to the leaders of the mob, who -declared themselves to be a Committee of twenty-five, sent thither by a -meeting of the citizens of Utica, held that morning in the Court-house. -Hon. Chester Hayden, first Judge of the County, was Chairman of this -Committee. He presented a series of condemnatory resolutions, which had -just been adopted at the Court-house. They were respectfully listened -to by the Convention, and then the mob gave loud utterance to their -denunciations and threats. The Judge remonstrated with the rioters, -saying: “We have been respectfully listened to by the Convention, I -hope _my friends_ will permit the answer of the Convention to be heard -in peace.” Mr. Tappan then moved that a committee of ten be appointed -to report what answer should be made to the citizens. - -Hon. Mr. Beardsley, mentioned above, one of the Committee of -twenty-five, also said, “It is proper we should hear what the -Convention have to say, either now or by their Committee. We are bound -to hear them; we are bound to exercise all patience and long-suffering, -_even towards such an assembly as this_.... For my part, I should -like to hear what apology can be made for proceedings which we know, -and they know, are intended to exasperate the members of our National -Union against each other. They profess to come here on an errand of -religion, while, under its guise, they are hypocritically plotting the -dissolution of the American Union. They have been warned beforehand, -have been treated with unexampled patience, and if they now refuse to -yield to our demand, and any unpleasant circumstances should follow, -we shall not be responsible.” Such talk, and more of the same sort -that he uttered, was adapted, if it was not intended, to inflame the -mobocrats yet more. So when, in conclusion, he said, “But let us hear -their justification for this outrage on our feelings, if they have -any to offer,” the cry rose, “No! we won’t hear them; they sha’n’t be -heard. Let them go home. Let them ask our forgiveness, and we will -let them go.” Many of the rioters were too evidently inflamed with -strong drink as well as passion; and this was easily accounted for, -though it was in the forenoon of the day, by the fact afterwards stated -in the New York _Commercial Advertiser_, that the grog-shops in the -neighborhood were thrown open and liquor furnished _gratuitously_ to -the tools and minions of “the very respectable citizens, the best -people of Utica,” who were determined their city should not tolerate -a Convention of Abolitionists. It was evident that these leaders -held “the baser sort” under some restraint, for one of them cried -out, “Let _them_ say the word, and I am ready to tear the rascals in -pieces.” Loud threats of violence were reiterated, with imprecations -and blasphemies. The leading members of the Committee of twenty-five -besought the Convention to adjourn, and seeing that it was impossible -to transact any more business, they did adjourn _sine die_. - -Most of the members retired unmolested excepting by abusive, profane, -and obscene epithets. A cry was raised by some of the Committee for -“the minutes” of the Convention, and members pressed upon the venerable -Secretary, demanding that he should give them up. But he resolutely -refused, though they crowded him against the wall, seized him by the -collar, and threatened to beat him. A member of the Committee of -twenty-five, a man holding an important public office, raised his cane -over that aged and faithful minister of the Gospel and cried out, “God -damn you! give the papers up, or I will knock you on the head.” At -this, another of the Committee, a young man--his son--sprang forward -and begged him, “Do, father, give them up and save your life. Give them -to me, and I will pledge myself they shall be returned to you again.” -With this Rev. Mr. Wetmore complied, and was let off without any -further harm. - -Many of the newspapers, especially those of New York City, exulted over -the results of the riots of the 21st of October in Boston and Utica. -They boasted that, by thus dealing with the Abolitionists, the people -of the Northern States proved themselves to be sound to the core on -the subject of slavery. “Hereafter,” said the New York _Sunday Morning -News_, “hereafter the leaders of the Abolitionists will be treated -with less forbearance than they have been heretofore. The people -will consider them as out of the pale of the legal and conventional -protection which society affords to its honest and well-meaning -members. They will be treated as robbers and pirates, as the enemies of -the human kind.” - -The most important incident of the Utica riot was the accession which -it caused of _Gerrit Smith_ to our ranks. The great and good man had, -for many years, been an active opponent of slavery. He had always -been in favor of immediate emancipation, and was unusually free from -prejudice against colored people. But from almost the beginning of the -Colonization Society he had been a member of it, deceived as we all -were by the representations which its agents at the North made of its -intentions and the tendency of its operations. He believed its scheme -was intended to effect and would effect the abolition of slavery. -He therefore joined it, and labored heartily in its behalf, and -contributed most generously to its funds,--_ten thousand dollars_, if -not more. Mr. Smith was repulsed from the American Antislavery Society, -and kept away for nearly two years, because he thought Mr. Garrison and -his associates were unjust in their denunciations of the Colonization -Society, and too severe in their censures of the American churches and -ministers, as virtually the accomplices of slaveholders. - -But the outrages committed upon the Abolitionists in the fall of 1834, -and throughout the year 1835, fixed his attention more fully upon them. -He determined to know, to search, and prove those who had become the -subjects of such general and unsparing persecution. When, therefore, -the Convention for the formation of a State Antislavery Society was to -be held in Utica (only twenty-five or thirty miles from his residence), -he could not withhold himself from it. He went thither, not as a member -of any Antislavery Society, not intending to become a member, but -determined to hear for himself what should be said, see what should -be done, learn what might be proposed, and decide as he should find -reason to, between the Abolitionists and their adversaries. Alas, that -the prominent, influential, professedly religious men in every part of -our country did not do likewise! Then would the names of comparatively -few of them have gone down, in the history of this generation, as the -leaders and instigators of a most shameful persecution of the friends -of freedom and humanity. - -Mr. Smith was so disgusted, shocked, alarmed, at the proceedings of -“the gentlemen of property and standing” in Utica, that he invited all -the members of the antislavery convention to repair to Peterboro’. -And a large proportion of the members accepted his invitation. -Insults and threats of violence were showered upon them wherever they -were met in the streets of Utica and at the hotels where they had -quartered themselves. The same evil spirit of hatred pursued them on -their way. Especially at Vernon, the hotel at which they had stopped -for refreshment was beset by a mob, with an evident determination to -rout them and drive them from the village. But the resolute action of -Captain Hand, the landlord, dispersed the rioters. - -Arrived at Peterboro’, the Abolitionists were most cordially received, -not only at the hospitable and spacious mansion of Gerrit Smith, but -into the houses of most of his neighbors. And the next day was held -in the Presbyterian Church the first meeting of the New York State -Antislavery Society. At that meeting Mr. Smith brought forward the -following resolution:-- - - “_Resolved_, That the right of FREE DISCUSSION given us by our God, - and asserted and guarded by the laws of our country, is a right so - vital to man’s freedom and dignity and usefulness that we can never - be guilty of its surrender, without consenting to exchange that - liberty for slavery and that dignity and usefulness for debasement - and worthlessness.” - -This resolution he supported and enforced by a speech of surpassing -power,--a speech which deserves to be printed in letters of light large -enough to be seen throughout our country.[G] - -Ever since that eventful period of our history Gerrit Smith has been -a most zealous fellow-laborer in the antislavery cause, and bountiful -contributor of money in its behalf. He has made as many speeches in -large meetings and small as any man who has not been a hired agent. -He announced the doctrines of the immediate Abolitionists in the -Congress of the United States and maintained them in several speeches -of great ability. He has made frequent donations to some special, or to -the general purposes of our Society of one, two, five, ten thousand -dollars at a time. He has in every way befriended the colored people -of our country, and at one time gave forty acres of land, in the State -of New York, to each one of three thousand poor, temperate men of -that class. I shall have an occasion in another place to speak more -particularly of the acts of this almost unequalled giver. - - -DR. CHANNING. - -Another and a most auspicious event signalizes in my memory the year -1835. It was the publication of Dr. Channing’s book on Slavery. He had -for many years been the most distinguished minister of religion in New -England, certainly in the estimation of the Unitarian denomination; and -his fame as a Christian moralist, a philosopher, and finished writer -had been spread far and wide throughout England, France, and Germany by -a large volume of his Discourses, Essays, and Reviews published in 1830. - -A few weeks after his graduation from Harvard College in 1798, when -about nineteen years of age, determined to be no longer dependent upon -his mother and friends for a living, he gladly accepted the situation -of a tutor in the family of Mr. Randolph, of Richmond, Virginia. Here -he often met many of the most distinguished gentlemen and ladies of the -city and the State, and visited them freely at their city homes and -on their plantations. He was delighted with their cordial and elegant -courtesy. But he saw also their _slaves_ and the sensuality which -abounded amongst them. These made an impression upon his heart which -was never effaced. - -In the fall of 1830 he went to the West Indies for his health, and -passed the winter in St. Croix. There he witnessed again the inherent -wrongs of slavery and the vices which it engenders. On his return -in May, 1831, he spoke freely and with the deepest feeling from -his pulpit of the inhuman system, and its debasing effects upon the -oppressors as well as the oppressed. At that time the public mind in -New England had begun to be agitated upon the subject of slavery, -as it never had been before by the scathing denunciations that were -every week poured from _The Liberator_ upon slaveholders and their -abettors and apologists. Dr. Channing’s sensitive nature shrank from -the severity of Mr. Garrison’s blows, and yet he acknowledged that -the gigantic system of domestic servitude in our country ought to -be exposed, condemned, and subverted. He found his highly esteemed -friend, Dr. Follen, with his excellent wife and several others of the -best women in Boston, and Ellis Gray Loring and Samuel E. Sewall and -others, whom he highly esteemed, giving countenance and aid to the -“young fanatic.” This drew his attention still more to the subject -of slavery. Soon after his return from the West Indies I visited Dr. -Channing, and found his mind very much exercised. He sympathized with -the Abolitionists in their abhorrence of the domestic servitude in our -Southern States, and their apprehension of its corrupting influence -upon the government of our Republic, and the political as well as -moral ruin to which it tended. But he distrusted our measures, and -was particularly annoyed, as I have already stated, by Mr. Garrison’s -“scorching and stinging invectives.” Whenever I was in the city and -called upon the Doctor, he would make particular inquiries respecting -our doctrines, purposes, measures, and progress. Repeatedly he invited -me to his house for the express purpose, as he said, of learning more -about our antislavery enterprise. He always spoke as if he were deeply -interested in it, but he was afraid of what he supposed to be some -of our opinions and measures. I was surprised that he was so slow to -accept our vital doctrine, “immediate emancipation.” But owing, I -suppose, to his great aversion to excited speeches and exaggerated -statements, and his peculiar distrust of associations, he had never -attended any of our antislavery meetings, where the doctrine of -immediate emancipation was always explained. The Doctor, therefore, -as well as the people generally, misunderstood it, and had been -misinformed in several other respects as to the purposes, measures, -and spirit of the Abolitionists. Still he persisted in abstaining from -our meetings until after the alarming course taken by the Governor and -Legislature of Massachusetts, in the spring of 1836, of which I shall -give an account in the proper place. - -Late in the year 1834, being on a visit in Boston, I spent several -hours with Dr. Channing in earnest conversation upon Abolitionism and -the Abolitionists. My habitual reverence for him was such that I had -always been apt to defer perhaps too readily to his opinions, or not -to make a very stout defence of my own when they differed from his. -But at the time to which I refer I had become so thoroughly convinced -of the truth of the essential doctrines of the American Antislavery -Society, and so earnestly engaged in the dissemination of them, that -our conversation assumed, more than it had ever done, the character of -a debate. He acknowledged the inestimable importance of the object we -had in view. The evils of Slavery he assented could not be overstated. -He allowed that removal to Africa ought not to be made a condition -of the liberation of the enslaved. But he hesitated still to accept -the doctrine of immediate emancipation. His principal objections, -however, were alleged against the severity of our denunciations, the -harshness of our epithets, the vehemence, heat, and excitement caused -by the harangues at our meetings, and still more by Mr. Garrison’s -_Liberator_. The Doctor dwelt upon these objections, which, if they -were as well founded as he assumed them to be, lay against what was -only incidental, not an essential part of our movement. He dwelt upon -them until I became impatient, and, forgetting for the moment my wonted -deference, I broke out with not a little warmth of expression and -manner:-- - -“Dr. Channing,” I said, “I am tired of these complaints. The cause -of suffering humanity, the cause of our oppressed, crushed colored -countrymen, has called as loudly upon others as upon us Abolitionists. -It was just as incumbent upon others as upon us to espouse it. _We_ are -not to blame that wiser and better men did not espouse it long ago. -The cry of millions, suffering the most cruel bondage in our land, had -been heard for half a century and disregarded. ‘The wise and prudent’ -saw the terrible wrong, but thought it not wise and prudent to lift a -finger for its correction. The priests and Levites beheld their robbed -and wounded countrymen, but passed by on the other side. The children -of Abraham held their peace, and at last ‘the very stones have cried -out’ in abhorrence of this tremendous iniquity; and you must expect -them to cry out like ‘the stones.’ You must not wonder if many of those -who have been left to take up this great cause, do not plead it in all -that seemliness of phrase which the scholars and practised rhetoricians -of our country might use. You must not expect them to manage with all -the calmness and discretion that clergymen and statesmen might exhibit. -But the scholars, the statesmen, the clergy had done nothing,--did -not seem about to do anything, and for my part I thank God that at -last any persons, be they who they may, have earnestly engaged in this -cause; for no _movement_ can be in vain. We Abolitionists are what we -are,--babes, sucklings, obscure men, silly women, publicans, sinners, -and we shall manage this matter just as might be expected of such -persons as we are. It is unbecoming in abler men who stood by and would -do nothing to complain of us because we do no better. - -“Dr. Channing,” I continued with increased earnestness, “it is not -_our fault_ that those who might have conducted this great reform more -prudently have left it to us to manage as we may. It is not _our fault_ -that those who might have pleaded for the enslaved so much more wisely -and eloquently, both with the pen and the living voice than we can, -have been silent. We are not to blame, sir, that you, who, more perhaps -than any other man, might have so raised the voice of remonstrance -that it should have been heard throughout the length and breadth of -the land,--we are not to blame, sir, that you have not so spoken. And -now that inferior men have been impelled to speak and act against what -you acknowledge to be an awful system of iniquity, it is not becoming -in you to complain of us because we do it in an inferior style. Why, -sir, have you not taken this matter in hand yourself? Why have you not -spoken to the nation long ago, as you, better than any other one, could -have spoken?” - -At this point I bethought me to whom I was administering this -rebuke,--the man who stood among the highest of the great and good in -our land,--the man whose reputation for wisdom and sanctity had become -world-wide,--the man, too, who had ever treated me with the kindness of -a father, and whom, from my childhood, I had been accustomed to revere -more than any one living. I was almost overwhelmed with a sense of my -temerity. His countenance showed that he was much moved. I could not -suppose he would receive all I had said very graciously. I awaited his -reply in painful expectation. The minutes seemed very long that elapsed -before the silence was broken. Then in a very subdued manner and in -the kindliest tones of his voice he said, “Brother May, I acknowledge -the justice of your reproof. I have been silent too long.” Never shall -I forget his words, look, whole appearance. I then and there saw the -beauty, the magnanimity, the humility of a truly great Christian soul. -He was exalted in my esteem more even than before. - -The next spring, when I removed to Boston and became the General Agent -of the Antislavery Society, Dr. Channing was the first of the ministers -there to call upon me, and express any sympathy with me in the great -work to which I had come to devote myself. And during the whole -fourteen months that I continued in that office he treated me with -uniform kindness, and often made anxious inquiries about the phases of -our attempted reform of the nation. - -Early in December, 1835, Dr. Channing’s volume on Slavery issued from -the press. A few days after its publication, he invited Samuel E. -Sewall and myself to dine with him, that he might learn how we liked -his book. Both of us had been delighted with some parts of it, but -neither of us was satisfied with other parts; much dissatisfied with -some. He requested and insisted on the utmost freedom in our comments. -He listened to our objections very patiently, and seemed disposed to -give them their due weight. - -As was to be expected, the appearance of a work on Slavery, by Dr. -Channing, caused a great sensation throughout the land. It was sought -for with avidity. It found its way into many parlors from which a copy -of _The Liberator_ would have been spurned. Most of the statesmen of -our country read it, and many slaveholders. - -Not many days elapsed before the responses which it awakened began -to be heard; and they were by no means altogether such as he had -expected. Although he disclaimed the Abolitionists; stated that -he had never attended one of our meetings, nor heard one of our -lecturers; although he made several grave objections to our doctrines -and measures, and unwittingly gave his sanction to several of the -most serious misrepresentations of our sentiments, our objects, and -means of prosecuting them; yet he so utterly repudiated the right of -any man to _property_ in the person of any other man, and gave such -a fearful _exposé_ of the sinfulness of holding slaves and the vices -which infested the communities where human beings were held in such an -unnatural condition, that the Southern aristocracy and their Northern -partisans came soon to regard him as a more dangerous man than even Mr. -Garrison. He was denounced as an enemy of his country, as encouraging -the insurrection of the slaves, and as in effect laboring to do as much -harm as the Abolitionists. - -In due time an octavo pamphlet of forty-eight pages was published in -Boston, entitled “Remarks on Dr. Channing’s Slavery.” It was evidently -written by a very able hand, and was attributed to one of the most -prominent lawyers in that city. The writer spoke respectfully of -Dr. Channing, but condemned utterly his doctrines on the subject -of slavery, and found in them all the viciousness of the extremest -abolitionism. The author announced and labored to maintain the -following false propositions: “First. Public sentiment in the free -States in relation to slavery is perfectly sound and _ought not_ to be -altered. Second. Public sentiment in the slaveholding States, whether -right or not, _cannot_ be altered. Third. An attempt to produce any -alteration in the public sentiment of the country will cause great -additional evil,--moral, social, and political.” - -Such bald scepticism was not to be tolerated. “A Review of the Remarks” -was soon sent forth. This called out a “Reply to the Review,” and thus -the subject of slavery was fully broached among a class of people who -had given no heed to _The Liberator_ and our antislavery tracts. - -In future articles I shall have occasion gratefully to acknowledge the -further services rendered by Dr. Channing to the antislavery cause, -and to show how at last he came nearly to accord in sentiment with the -ultra-Abolitionists. - - -SLAVERY,--BY WILLIAM E. CHANNING. - -This was the title of Dr. Channing’s book. It rendered the antislavery -cause services so important that I am impelled to give a further -account of it. It seemed to me at the time, it seems to me now, one -of the most inconsistent books I have ever read. It showed how, all -unconsciously to himself, the judgment of that wise man had been -warped and his prejudices influenced by the deference, which had come -to be paid pretty generally throughout our country, to the Southern -slaveholding oligarchy; and by the denunciations which their admirers, -sympathizers, abettors, and minions in the free States, poured without -measure upon Mr. Garrison and his comparatively few fellow-laborers. - -Dr. Channing’s profound respect for human nature and the rights of man, -and his heartfelt compassion for the oppressed, suffering, despised, -were such that he could not but see clearly the essential, inevitable, -terrible wrongs and evils of slavery to the master as well as to his -subject. He portrayed these cruelties and vices so clearly and forcibly -that the pages of his book contain as utter condemnations of the -domestic servitude in our Southern States, and as awful exposures of -the consequent corruption, pollution of families and the community in -those States,--condemnations as utter and exposures as awful as could -be found in _The Liberator_. To his chapters on “Property in Man,” -“Rights,” and “Evils of Slavery,” we could take no exceptions. But his -chapter entitled “Explanations” seems to us, as Mr. Garrison called it, -a chapter in _recantation_,--a disastrous attempt to make it appear as -if there could be sin without a sinner. He says that the character of -the master and the wrong done to the slave are distinct points, having -little or no relation to each other. He therefore did not “intend to -pass sentence on the character of the slaveholder.” Jesus Christ taught -that “by their fruits ye shall know men.” But the Doctor said in this -chapter, “Men are not always to be interpreted by their acts or their -institutions.” “Our ancestors,” he continued, “committed a deed now -branded as piracy,” i. e. the slave-trade. “Were they, therefore, -the offscouring of the earth?” No,--but they were _pirates_, their -good qualities in other respects notwithstanding. They were guilty of -kidnapping the Africans, and made themselves rich by selling their -victims into slavery. Piracy was too mild a term for such atrocious -acts. They were just as wicked before they were denounced by law as -afterwards. And it was by bringing the people of England and of this -country to see the enormity of the crimes inseparable from that trade -in human beings, that they were persuaded to repent of it, to renounce -and abhor it. Again Dr. Channing says under this head, “How many sects -have persecuted and shed blood! Were their members, therefore, monsters -of depravity?” I answer, their spirit was cruel and devilish, utterly -unlike the spirit of Jesus. They were none of his, whatever may have -been their professions. As well might we deny that David was a gross -adulterer and mean murderer, because he wrote some very devotional -psalms. - -A more marvellous inconsistency in the book before us is this. The -Doctor declares “that cruelty is not the habit of the slave States -in this country.” “He might have affirmed just as truly,” said Mr. -Garrison, “that idolatry is not the habit of pagan countries.” What -is cruelty? The extremest is the reducing of a human being to the -condition of a domesticated brute, a piece of mere property. The Doctor -himself has said as much in another part of this volume, see the 26th -page in his excellent chapter on “Property.” Having described what man -is by nature, he adds, “The sacrifice of such a being to another’s -will, to another’s present, outward, ill-comprehended good, _is the -greatest violence which can be offered to any creature of God_. It is -to cast him out from God’s spiritual family into the brutal herd.” -“No robbery is _so great_ as that to which the slave is _habitually_ -subjected.” “The slave _must_ meet cruel _treatment_ either inwardly -or outwardly. Either the soul or the body must receive the blow. -Either the flesh must be tortured or the spirit be struck down.” No -Abolitionist, not even Mr. Garrison, has set forth more clearly the -extreme cruelty, inseparable from holding a fellow-man in slavery one -hour. - -Still Dr. Channing objected to our primal doctrine,--“immediate -emancipation.” But could there have been a more obvious inference than -this, which an upright mind would unavoidably draw from a consideration -of the rights of man, the evils of slavery, and the unparalleled -iniquity of subjecting a human being to such degradation. I ask, could -there have been a more obvious inference than that any, every human -being held in such a condition ought to be _immediately released_ from -it? It is plain to me that Dr. Channing himself drew the same inference -that Elizabeth Heyrick,[H] of England, and Mr. Garrison had drawn, -although he rejected the trenchant phrase in which they declared that -inference. Having exhibited so faithfully and feelingly the wrongs and -the evils of slavery, he says, on the 119th page of this book: “What, -then, is to be done for the removal of slavery? _In the first place_, -the slaveholder should solemnly disclaim the right of property in human -beings. The great principle that man cannot belong to man should be -distinctly recognized. The slave should be acknowledged as a partaker -of a common nature, as having the essential rights of humanity. -This great truth lies at the foundation of every wise plan for his -relief.” Would not any one suppose, if he had not been forbidden the -supposition, that the writer of these lines intended to enjoin the -_immediate_ emancipation of the enslaved? Surely, he would have _the -first thing_ that is to be done for their relief done immediately. -Surely, he would have the foot of the oppressor taken from their necks -_at once_. He would have the heavy yoke that crushes them broken -without delay. Surely, he would have the _foundation_ of the plan for -the removal of slavery laid _immediately_. He would not, could not -counsel the slaveholder to postpone a day, nor an hour, the recognition -of the right of his slave to be treated as a fellow-man. There is a -remarkable resemblance between what Dr. Channing here says ought to -be done _in the first place_, and what the Abolitionists had from the -beginning insisted ought to be done _immediately_. - -One of the Doctor’s objections to our chosen phrase was that it was -liable to be misunderstood. But, as we said at the time, “if _immediate -emancipation_ expresses our leading doctrine exactly, it ought to be -used and explanations of it be patiently given until the true doctrine -has come to be generally understood, received, and obeyed.” Now, -_immediate emancipation_ was the comprehensive phrase that did best -express the right of the slave and the duty of the master. In whatever -sense we used the word _immediate_, whether in regard to time or order, -the word expressed just what we Abolitionists meant. We insisted upon -it in opposition to those who were teaching slaveholders to defer to -another generation, or to some future time an act of common humanity -that was due to their fellow-men _at once_; and would be due every -minute until it should be done. We insisted upon it in opposition -to the popular but deceptive, impracticable, and cruel scheme which -proposed to liberate the slaves on condition of their removal to Africa. - -Dr. Channing further objected that “the use of the phrase _immediate -emancipation_ had contributed much to spread far and wide the belief, -that the Abolitionists wished immediately to free the slave from _all_ -his restraints.” But ought we to have been held responsible for such a -senseless, wanton misconstruction of words that had been explained a -thousand times by our appointed lecturers, in our tracts, and in the -“Declaration of the Sentiments, Purposes, and Plans of the American -Antislavery Society,” which was published three years before Dr. -Channing’s book appeared? Freemen,--Republican freemen were, are, and -ever ought to be subject to the restraints of civil government, equal -and righteous laws. From the commencement of our enterprise, our only -demand for our enslaved countrymen has been that they should forthwith -be admitted to all the rights and privileges of freemen upon the same -conditions as others, after they shall have acquired (those of them who -do not now possess) the qualifications demanded of others. - -Still further the Doctor accused us Abolitionists of having “fallen -into the common error of enthusiasts,--that of exaggerating their -object, of feeling as if no evil existed but that which they opposed, -and as if no guilt could be compared with that of countenancing or -upholding it.” We grieved especially that he suffered this censure -to drop from his pen, as, coming from him, it would repress in many -bosoms the concern which was beginning to be felt more than ever -before for the slaves and the slaveholders. There was no danger that -we should esteem or lead others to esteem the evils of their condition -to be greater than they were. All about us there was still an alarming -insensibility or indifference to the subject. This could not have been -made to appear more glaring than by the Doctor himself, on the 137th -page of his book. “Suppose,” he there said, “suppose that millions of -_white_ men were enslaved, robbed of all their rights in a neighboring -country, and enslaved by a black race who had torn their ancestors from -the shores on which our fathers had lived. How deeply should we feel -their wrongs!” Ay, how much more deeply would even the Abolitionists -feel for them! Yet why should we not all feel as much, in the case that -actually existed in our country as in the one supposed? We are unable -to find a reason of which we ought not to be ashamed, because it must -be one based upon a cruel prejudice, the offspring of the degradation -into which we had forced the black men. I really wish if there are any -who think with Dr. Channing that the Abolitionists did _exaggerate_ the -guilt of holding men in slavery, or consenting with slaveholders,--I -really wish such persons would read Dr. Channing’s chapter on the -“Evils of Slavery,” and then show us, if he can, wherein we exaggerated -them. - -Dr. Channing repelled with great emphasis the charge often brought -against Abolitionists, that we were endeavoring to incite the slaves -to violence, bloodshed, insurrection. He said, page 131: “It is a -remarkable fact, that though the South and the North have been leagued -to crush them, though they have been watched by a million of eyes, -and though prejudice has been prepared to detect the slightest sign -of corrupt communication with the slave, yet this crime has not been -fastened on a single member of this body.” No, not one of our number, -that I was acquainted with, ever suggested the resort to insurrection -and murder by the enslaved as the means of delivering them from -bondage. And in our Declaration at Philadelphia we solemnly disclaimed -any such intention. - -We knew that slavery could be _peaceably_ abolished only by the consent -of the slaveholders and the legislators of their States. We knew -that they could not fail to be affected, moved by the right action -of our Federal Government, touching the enslavement of the colored -population in the District of Columbia, and in the territories that -were entirely under the jurisdiction of Congress. And we knew that -the members of Congress could not be reached and impelled to act as -we wished them to, but by the known sentiments and expressed wishes -of their constituents,--the people of the nation North and South. It -was needful, therefore, to press the subject upon the consideration of -the people throughout the land. Accordingly, we did all in our power -to awaken the public attention, to agitate the public mind, to touch -the public heart. We sent able lecturers to speak wherever there were -ears to hear them, and we sent newspapers and tracts wherever the mails -would carry them. - -Dr. Channing reproached us for this, especially for sending our -publications to the slaveholders. But we know not how else we could -have made them sensible of the horror with which their system of -domestic servitude was viewed by thousands in the Northern States; and -inform them correctly of our determination to effect the liberation of -their bondmen; and the peaceful means and legal measures by which we -intended, if possible, to accomplish our purpose. We wondered greatly -at the Doctor’s objection to our course in this direction. To whom -should we have sent our publications, if not to those whose cherished -institution we were aiming by them to undermine and overthrow? Would it -have been open, manly, honorable not to have done so? - -One more objection Dr. Channing made, which seemed to us as -unreasonable as the last. It was to our _manner_ of forming our -Antislavery Associations. He said: “The Abolitionists might have formed -an association, but it should have been an elective one. Men of strong -principles, judiciousness, sobriety, should have been carefully sought -as members. Much good might have been accomplished by the co-operation -of such philanthropists.” Alas! such philanthropists, the wise and -prudent men, to whom he probably alluded, seemed to have made up -their minds to acquiesce in the continuance of slavery, so long as -our white brethren at the South saw fit to retain the institution; or -to help them take it down very gradually, by removing the victims of -it to the shores of Africa. Nearly fifty years had passed, and such -philanthropists as he indicated had done little or nothing for the -enslaved, and seemed to be growing more indifferent to their wrongs. -If we had elected them, would they have associated with us? Are they -the men to bear the brunt of a moral conflict? “Not many wise,”--as -this world counts wisdom,--“not many rich, not many mighty,” were ever -found among the leaders of reform. God has always chosen the foolish to -confound the wise. It is left for imprudent men, enthusiasts, fanatics, -to begin all difficult enterprises. They have usually been the pioneers -of reform. Else why was not the abolition of slavery attempted and -accomplished long before by that “better class”? - -I have not dwelt so long upon this book, and criticised parts of it so -seriously, in order to throw any shade upon the memory of that great -man, whom I have so much reason to revere and love. But I have done -this in order to reveal more fully to the present generation, and to -those who may come after us, the sad state of the public mind and heart -in New England thirty-five years ago. All the objections Dr. Channing -alleged against us in this book were the common current objections -of that day, hurled at us in less seemly phrases from the press, the -platform, and the pulpit. They would not have been thought of, if we -had been laboring for the emancipation of white men. It was sad that a -man of such a mind and heart as Dr. Channing’s could have thought them -of sufficient importance to press them upon us as he did. Nevertheless, -his book contained so many of the vital principles for which we were -contesting, set forth so luminously and urged so fervently, that it -proved to be, as I have already said, a far greater help to our cause -than we at first expected. And we look back with no little admiration -upon one who, enjoying as he did, in the utmost serenity, the highest -reputation as a writer and a divine, put at hazard the repose of the -rest of his life, and sacrificed hundreds of the admirers of his -genius, eloquence, and piety, by espousing the cause of the oppressed, -which most of the eminent men in the land would not touch with one of -their fingers. - - -THE GAG-LAW. - -In the winter of 1835 and 1836 the slaveholding oligarchy made a -bolder assault than ever before upon the liberty of our nation, and -the most alarming intimations were given of a willingness to yield to -their imperious demands. The legislatures of Alabama, Georgia, South -Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia passed resolutions of the same -import, only those of Virginia and South Carolina were clothed, as -might have been expected, in somewhat more imperative and threatening -terms. These resolutions insisted that each State, in which slavery -was established, had the exclusive right to manage the matter in the -way that the inhabitants thereof saw fit; and that the citizens of -other States who were interfering with slavery in any way, directly or -indirectly, were guilty of violating their social and constitutional -obligations, and ought to be punished. They therefore “claimed and -earnestly requested that the non-slaveholding States of the Union -should promptly and _effectually suppress_ all abolition societies, -and that they should make it _highly penal_ to print, publish, and -distribute newspapers, pamphlets, tracts, and pictorial representations -calculated or having a tendency to excite the slaves of the Southern -States to insurrection and revolt.” - -These resolutions further declared that “they should consider every -interference with slavery by any other State, or by the General -Government, as a direct and unlawful interference, to be resisted at -once, and under every possible circumstance.” Moreover, they insisted -that they “should consider the abolition of slavery in the District of -Columbia as a violation of the rights of the citizens of that District, -and as a usurpation _to be at once resisted_, as nothing less than the -commencement of a scheme of much more extensive and flagrant injustice.” - -Resolutions in these words, or to the same effect, passed by the -legislatures of the above-mentioned States, were transmitted by the -governors of those States severally to the governors of each of -the non-slaveholding States, among them to the chief magistrate of -Massachusetts, then the Hon. Edward Everett. - -On the 15th of January, 1836, that gentleman delivered his address -to both branches of the Legislature at the organization of the State -Government. In the course of that address, as in duty bound to do under -the circumstances, he alluded particularly to the subject of slavery, -and to the excitement kindled throughout the country by the discussion -of it in the free States. - -But instead of showing that the subject of human rights was ever up, -and must needs be ever up, for the consideration of the American -people, in private circles and public assemblies; that it ought not -and could not be prohibited,--instead of conceding the impossibility -(in our country especially) of preventing the freest expression of -the opinion, that such a glaring inconsistency, such a tremendous -iniquity as the enslavement of millions ought not to be tolerated; -that the genius of our Republic, the spirit of the age, the principles -of Christianity, the impartial love of the Father of all mankind, -each and all demanded the abolition of slavery,--instead of availing -himself of the occasion so fully given him, from his high position, to -reiterate the glorious doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, -and to press upon the complaining States the obvious necessity of their -yielding to the self-evident claims of humanity,--instead of this, His -Excellency saw fit to commend the disastrous policy of the framers of -our Republic; to pass a severe censure upon us Abolitionists, and to -intimate his opinion that we were guilty of offences punishable at -common law. - -This part of his speech was referred to a joint committee of two -from the Senate and three from the House of Representatives, Hon. -George Lunt, Chairman. By order of the managers of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society, I addressed a letter to the above-named committee, -asking permission to appear before them by representatives, and show -reasons why there should be no legislative action condemnatory of the -Abolitionists. The request was granted, and on the 4th of March the -proposed interview took place in the chamber of the Representatives, in -the presence of many citizens. - -At first a member of the committee, Mr. Lucas, objected to our -proceeding; said we were premature; that we should have waited until -the committee had reported; that we had no reason to apprehend the -Legislature would do anything prejudicial to us, or to the liberties of -the people. I replied, “that formerly it would have been a gratuitous, -an impertinent apprehension, but recent occurrences have admonished -us, that we may not any longer safely rest in the assurance that our -liberties are secure. Alarming encroachments have been made upon them, -even in the metropolis of New England. We do not fear,” I continued, -“that your committee will recommend, or that our Legislature will -enact, a penal law against Abolitionists. But we do apprehend that -condemnatory resolutions may be reported and passed; and these we -deprecate more than a penal law for reasons that we wish to press upon -your consideration.” - -After some discussion between the members of the committee Mr. -Lucas withdrew his objection, and we were allowed to proceed. I -commenced, being the General Agent of the Society, and gave a sketch -of the origin, the organization, and progress of the abolition -enterprise,--stating distinctly our purpose and the instrumentalities -by which we intended to accomplish it. I laid before the committee -copies of our newspapers, reports, and tracts,--especially the -constitutions of several State and County Antislavery Societies, and -more especially the report of the convention that met in Philadelphia, -in December 1833, and organized the American Antislavery Society, and -issued a declaration of sentiments and purposes. All these documents, -I insisted, would make it plain to the committee that we were -endeavoring to effect the abolition of slavery by moral means,--not -by rousing the enslaved to insurrection, but by working such changes -in the public sentiment of the nation respecting the cruelty and -wickedness of our slave system, that strong, earnest remonstrances -would be sent from the Legislature, and still more from the -ecclesiastical bodies in all the free States to corresponding bodies -in the slave States, imploring them to consider the awful iniquity of -making merchandise of fellow-men, and treating them like domesticated -brutes; at the same time offering to co-operate with them and share -generously in the expense of abolishing slavery, and raising their -bondmen to the condition and privileges of the free. - -Some discussion here ensued as to the character of some of our -publications, and the propriety of certain expressions used by some -of our speakers and writers. And then Ellis Gray Loring was heard in -our behalf. This gentleman had been prominent among the New England -Abolitionists from the very beginning of Mr. Garrison’s undertaking. -There were combined in him the strength and resolution of a man -with the intuitive wisdom and delicacy of a woman. He addressed the -committee more than half an hour in a most pertinent manner, replying -aptly to their questions and objections. “The general duty,” said Mr. -Loring, “of sympathizing with and succoring the oppressed will probably -be conceded. It is enjoined by Christianity. We are impelled to it by -the very nature which our Creator has conferred upon us. What, then, is -to limit our exercise, as Abolitionists, of this duty and this right? -The relations we bear to the oppressor control, it is said, our duty -to the oppressed. If we are bound to abstain from the discussion of -slavery, it must be either because we are restrained by the principles -of international law, or by some provisions of the Constitution of the -United States. But, gentlemen, if the slaveholding States were foreign -nations, it could not be shown that we have done anything which the law -of nations forbids. We have done nothing for the overthrow of slavery -in our Southern States which that law forbids, more than our foreign -missionary societies have for many years been doing for the subversion -of idolatry in pagan lands,--nothing more than was done in this city -and all over our country to aid the Poles and the Greeks in their -struggle for freedom, of which our ancient allies, the Russians and the -Turks, were determined to deprive them. If, then, the Law of nations -does not restrain us, is it in the Constitution of the United States -that such restraint is imposed? Far from it. I find in that, our Magna -Charta, an abundant guaranty for the liberty of speech; but I look in -vain in the letter of the Constitution for any prohibition of the use -of moral means for the extirpation of slavery or any other evil.” - -Mr. Loring here took up the three clauses of the Constitution in which -alone any allusion is made to the subject of slavery, and showed -clearly that there was nothing in them which forbade the fullest and -freest discussion of the political expediency or moral character of -that system of oppression. And he confirmed his position by referring -to the fact, that the framers of that great document did not understand -it as the proslavery statesmen and politicians of our day would -have it understood. Washington declared himself warmly in favor of -emancipation. Jefferson’s writings contain more appalling descriptions -and more bitter denunciations of slavery than are to be found in the -publications of modern Abolitionists; and Franklin, Rush, and John Jay -were members of an antislavery society formed a few years after they -had signed the Constitution, and they joined in a petition to Congress -praying for the abolition of that system of domestic servitude, so -inconsistent with our political principles and disastrous to our -national honor and prosperity.” - -I have not given, nor have I room to give, anything like a full -report of Mr. Loring’s speech. He closed with these words: “A -great _principle_, gentlemen, is involved in the decision of this -Legislature. I esteem as nothing in comparison our feelings or wishes -as individuals. Personal interests sink into insignificance here. -Sacrifice us if you will, but do not wound liberty through us. Care -nothing for men, but let the oppressor and his apologist, whether at -the North or the South, beware of the certain defeat which awaits him -who is found fighting against God.” - -The next one who addressed the committee was the Rev. William -Goodell, one of the sturdiest, most sagacious and logical of our -fellow-laborers. We are indebted to him for “a full statement of the -reasons which were in part offered to the committee,” &c., &c., given -to the public in a pamphlet which was issued from the press a few days -after our interviews with said committee. - -I shall here quote only the most important passage in his speech: -“We would deprecate the passage of any condemnatory resolutions by -the Legislature, even more than the enactment of a penal law, for -in the latter case we should have some redress. We could plead the -unconstitutionality of such a law, at any rate, it could not take -effect until we had had a fair trial. Not so, gentlemen of this -committee, in the case of resolutions. We should have no redress for -the injurious operation of such an extra-judicial sentence. The passage -of such resolutions by this and other legislatures would help to -fix in the public mind the belief that Abolitionists are a specially -dangerous body of men, and so prepare the public to receive such a law -as the slaveholding States might dictate. We solemnly protest against a -legislative censure, because it would be a usurpation of an authority -never intrusted to the Legislature. They are not a judicial body, and -have no right to pronounce the condemnation of any one.” - -“Hold,” said Mr. Lunt, the Chairman of the committee, “you must not -indulge in such remarks, sir. We cannot sit here and permit you to -instruct us as to the duties of the Legislature.” - -Mr. Goodell resumed, justified the remark for which he had been called -to order, and completed his very able argument against any concurrence -on the part of the General Court of Massachusetts with the demands of -the Southern States. - -Mr. Garrison next addressed the committee in a very comprehensive and -forcible speech. But he neglected to give any report of it in his -_Liberator_. I can therefore lay before your readers only this brief -passage: “It is said, Mr. Chairman, that the Abolitionists wish to -destroy the Union. It is not true. We would save the Union, if it be -not too late. To us it would seem that the Union is already destroyed. -To us there is no Union. We, sir, cannot go through these so-called -United States enjoying the privileges which the Constitution of the -Union professed to secure to all the citizens of this Republic. And -why? Because, and only because, we are laboring to accomplish the very -purposes for which it is declared in the preamble to the Constitution -that the Union was formed! Because we are laboring ‘to establish -justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and promote the general -welfare.’” - -Dr. Follen then arose. He was extensively known and very much -respected and beloved by all who had known him, as a Professor in -Harvard College, or as a preacher of true Christianity in several -parishes in the vicinity of Boston. He had done and suffered -much for the sake of civil and religious liberty in his own -country,--Germany,--and had come to our country in the high hope -of enjoying the blessings and privileges of true freedom. He early -espoused the antislavery cause, and rendered us essential services by -his wise counsels and his labors with several prominent persons whom -we had failed to reach. He was selected as one of the nine to maintain -our rights before the legislative committee, and avert the wrong that -seemed impending over us from the unhappy suggestions in the speech of -Governor Everett. - -The Doctor evidently felt very deeply the grave importance of the -occasion. He commenced his speech with some profound remarks upon -the rights of man and the spirit and purpose of our republican -institutions, and then proceeded to point out the fearful -encroachments, that had been made on the fundamental principles of -our Republic by slaveholders and their Northern partisans. “And now,” -said he, “they are calling upon the Northern legislatures to abolish -the Abolitionists by law. We do not apprehend, gentlemen, that you -will recommend, or that our General Court will enact, such a law. But -we do apprehend that you may advise, and the Legislature may pass, -resolutions severely censuring the Abolitionists. Against this measure -we most earnestly protest. We think its effects would be worse than -those of the penal law. The outrages committed in this city upon the -liberty of speech, the mobs in Boston last October, were doubtless -countenanced and incited by the great meeting of August, in Faneuil -Hall. Now, gentlemen, would not similar consequences follow the -expression by the Legislature of a similar condemnation? Would not -the mobocrats again undertake to execute the informal sentence of the -General Court? Would they not let loose again their bloodhounds upon -us?” - -“Stop, sir!” cried Mr. Lunt. “You may not pursue this course of remark. -It is insulting to the committee and to the Legislature which they -represent.” - -Dr. Follen sat down, and an emotion of deep displeasure evidently -passed through the crowd of witnesses. - -I sprang to my feet and remonstrated with Mr. Lunt. Mr. Loring and -Mr. Goodell also expressed their surprise and indignation at his -course. But it was of no avail. He would not consent that Dr. Follen -should proceed to point out what we considered the chief danger to -be guarded against. We therefore declined to continue our interview -with the committee; and gave them notice that we should appeal to the -Legislature for permission to present and argue our case in our own way -before them, or before another committee. - - -THE GAG-LAW.--SECOND INTERVIEW. - -We left the committee very much dissatisfied with the treatment we -had received from Mr. Lunt and the majority of his associates. Hon. -Ebenezer Moseley was an honorable exception. From the first he had -treated us in the most fair and gentlemanly manner. And at the last he -protested against the procedure of the Chairman. - -We forthwith drew up, and the next morning presented, a memorial to -the Legislature, intimating that we had not been properly treated -by the committee, and asking that our _right_ to be heard might be -recognized, and that we might be permitted to appear and show our -reasons in full, why the Legislature of Massachusetts should not enact -any penal law, nor pass any resolutions condemning Abolitionists and -antislavery societies. The remonstrance was read in both branches of -the Legislature and referred to the same committee, with instructions -to hear us according to our request. - -On the afternoon of the 8th, therefore, we met the committee again in -the Hall of the Representatives. The reports which had gone forth of -our first interview had so interested the public, that the house was -now quite filled with gentlemen and ladies, many of whom had never -before shown any sympathy with the antislavery reform. - -It was intended that Dr. Follen should address the committee first, -beginning just where he had been, on the 4th, so rudely commanded by -Mr. Lunt to leave off, and that he should press home that part of -his argument which we all deemed so important. But he was detained -from the meeting until a later hour. It devolved upon me, therefore, -to commence. I confined my remarks to two points. First, I contended -that our publications were not incendiary, not intended nor adapted to -excite the oppressed to insurrection. Secondly, I assured the committee -that, whatever they might think of the character of our publications, -we had never sent them to the slaves nor to the colored people of the -South, and gave them our reasons for having refrained so to do. - -Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., then made a somewhat extended, but very close -legal and logical argument against the demands of the slaveholding -States,--“arrogant, insolent demands,” as he called them. “To yield to -them would be to subvert the foundations of our civil liberties, and -make it criminal to obey the laws of God, and follow the example of -Jesus Christ.” His excellent speech evidently made an impression upon -the committee as well as his larger audience. But I have not room here -for such an abstract of it as I should like to give. - -While Mr. Sewall was speaking Dr. Follen came in, and when he had -ended the Doctor arose and commenced by showing very clearly that we -Abolitionists were accused of _crime_ by the legislatures of several -of our Southern States, and that the Governor of Massachusetts had -indorsed the accusation, because we had exercised in the cause of -humanity that liberty of speech and of the press which was guaranteed -to us in the Constitution of our Republic, not less explicitly than in -the fundamental law of this State. “We have endeavored by persuasion, -by argument, by moral and religious appeals to urge upon the nation, -and especially upon our Southern brethren, the necessity of freeing -themselves from the sin, the evils, and the shame of slavery. You -cannot punish or censure freedom of speech in Abolitionists, without -preparing the way to censure it in any other class of citizens who may -for the moment be obnoxious to the majority. A penal enactment against -us is less to be dreaded than condemnatory resolutions; for these are -left to be enforced by Judge Lynch and his minions, and I must say, as -I said the other day--” - -“I call you to order, sir,” said Mr. Lunt, with great emphasis. “This -is not respectful to the committee.” - -Dr. Follen replied, “I am not conscious of having said anything -disrespectful to the committee. I beg to be informed in what I am out -of order.” - -Mr. Lunt replied, “Your allusion to mobs, for which you were called to -order at our first interview, is not proper.” - -“Am I then to understand,” said Dr. Follen, “that deprecating mobs is -disrespectful to this committee?” - -Mr. Moseley, one of the committee, here spoke with much feeling; -said he dissented wholly from the action of the Chairman. “I see -nothing in the allusion to mobs disrespectful to the committee or the -Legislature; and I consider Dr. Follen entirely in order.” - -Some discussion ensued. Two others of the committee, making a majority, -silently assented to the opinion of Mr. Lunt. So it was decided that -the Doctor was out of order, and must not allude to mobs. - -Here I called the attention of Mr. Lunt to the memorial, in answer -to which we were permitted by the Legislature to appear before the -committee, and they were instructed to hear us. “It seemed, on the -fourth instant, that the Chairman considered that we came here by his -grace to exculpate ourselves from the charges alleged against us by the -Legislatures of several of the Southern States; and that we were not -to be permitted to express our anxious apprehensions of the effects of -any acts by our Legislature intended to gratify the wishes of those -States. In order, therefore, that we might appear before you in the -_exercise of our right as free citizens_, we have appealed to the -Senate and House of Representatives, and have received their permission -so to do. Dr. Follen was setting before you what we deem the most -probable and most serious evil to be apprehended from any condemnatory -resolutions which the Legislature might be induced to pass; and if he -is not permitted to press this upon your consideration our interview -with the committee must end here.” Mr. Lunt then consulted with his -associates and intimated that Dr. Follen might proceed. He did so, and -having referred to the disastrous influence of the great meeting in -Faneuil Hall, August, 1835, and of the condemnatory resolutions there -passed, he showed clearly that far greater outrages upon the property -and persons of Abolitionists would be likely to follow the passage of -similar resolutions by the Legislature of the Commonwealth. - -Rev. William Goodell then arose and made a most able and eloquent -speech. He ignored for the time being all the personal dangers and -private wrongs of the Abolitionists; he set aside for the moment the -consideration of everything else but the imminent peril that seemed to -be impending over the very life of liberty in our country. “For what, -Mr. Chairman,” said he, “are Abolitionists accused by the Southern -States, and our own Legislature called upon to condemn them? For -nothing else but exercising and defending the inalienable rights of -the people. What have we said that is not said in your Declaration of -Independence? and why are we censured for carrying into practice what -others have been immortalized as patriots for writing and adopting? -In censuring us you censure the Father of our Country. I turn to the -portrait of Washington as it looks upon us in this hall, and remind -you how he declared that he earnestly desired to see the time when -slavery should be abolished. For saying this, and urging it upon our -countrymen, the mandate has come from the South to stop our mouths, and -we are here to avert the sentence our own Legislature is called upon -to pronounce upon us.” Mr. Goodell then went on to quote the strongest -antislavery sentiments uttered by President Jefferson, Chief Justice -John Jay, and Hon. William Pinckney, a distinguished member of the -Legislature of Maryland, the last in stronger language of condemnation -than ever issued from an antislavery press. “Shall the men of the -South speak thus, and we be compelled to hold our peace? Mr. Chairman, -in this hour of my country’s danger, I should disdain to stand here -pleading for my personal security. In behalf of my fellow-citizens -throughout the land, I implore the Legislature of this Commonwealth to -pause before they act on those documents of the South. What are they? -A demand for the unconditional surrender to the South of the first -principles of your Constitution, the surrender of your liberties. It -is a blow particularly aimed at the independence of your laboring -classes.” Mr. Goodell here quoted the declaration of Governor McDuffie -and other distinguished Southern gentlemen, distinctly asserting the -doctrine that “the laboring population of no nation on earth are -entitled to liberty or capable of enjoying it.” “Mr. Chairman, we are -charged with aiming at disunion, because we seek what only can save the -Union. I charge upon those who promulgate the doctrines on your table, -a deep and foul conspiracy against the liberties of the laboring people -of the North.” Mr. Lunt here interrupted him. - -“Mr. Goodell, I must interfere,” he said. “You must not charge other -States with a foul conspiracy, nor treat their public documents with -disrespect.” Mr. Goodell replied: “Something may be pardoned to a man -when he speaks for the liberties of a nation.” Mr. Lunt continued: -“The documents emanating from other States are required by our -Federal Constitution to be received with full faith and credit here.” -“Certainly, sir,” responded Mr. Goodell. “I wish them to be regarded as -official, accredited documents, and I have referred to an accredited -document from the Governor of South Carolina, in which he says, _that -the laborers of the North are incapable of understanding or enjoying -freedom, that liberty in a free State best subsists with slavery, and -that the laborers must be reduced to slavery, or the laws cannot be -maintained_. This, sir, is also a document entitled to full faith and -credit,--holding up a report of the doings of the Legislature of South -Carolina, in which they declared an entire accordance with Governor -McDuffie in the sentiments expressed in his message.” Mr. Lunt here -interposed with great warmth. “Stop, sir!” Mr. Goodell stopped, but -remained standing. “Sit down, sir,” said Mr. Lunt; “the committee will -hear no more of this.” Mr. Goodell said: “My duty is discharged, Mr. -Chairman, if I cannot proceed in the way that seems to me necessary -to bring our case properly before the committee and the Legislature. -We came here as free men, and we will go away as freemen should.” -Some one in the vast audience that had been watching our proceedings -with intensest interest cried out, “Let us go quickly lest we be made -slaves.” I here made one more appeal to Mr. Lunt. “Are we, sir, to be -again denied our right of being heard in pursuance of our memorial to -the Legislature?” The Chairman intimated that they had heard enough. - -The audience here began to leave the hall, but were arrested by a voice -in their midst. It was that of Dr. Gamaliel Bradford, not a member -of the Antislavery Society, who had come there only as a spectator, -but had been so moved by what he had witnessed that he pronounced an -eloquent, thrilling, impassioned, but respectful appeal in favor of -free discussion. I wish that I could spread the whole of it before -my readers. So soon as he sat down Mr. George Bond, one of the most -prominent merchants and estimable gentlemen of Boston, expressed a -desire to say a few words to the committee. “I am not a petitioner nor -an Abolitionist,” said he; “but, though opposed to some of the measures -of these antislavery gentlemen, I hold to some opinions in common with -them. If under these circumstances the committee will permit, I beg -leave to offer a few remarks.” The Chairman preserved silence; but -another member of the committee intimated to Mr. Bond that he might -proceed. “It strikes me,” said Mr. Bond, “that this is a subject of -deep and vital importance; and I fear as a citizen that the manner in -which it has been treated by the committee will produce an excitement -throughout the Commonwealth. With due respect to the committee, I beg -leave to say that, from the little experience I have had in legislative -proceedings, it is not the practice to require of persons, appearing -before a committee, a strict conformity to rules. They are usually -indulged in telling their own story in their own way, provided it be -not disrespectful. I have certainly heard nothing from the gentlemen -of the Antislavery Society that called for the course that has been -adopted. It does seem to me that some of the committee have been too -fastidious, too hypercritical.” - -Mr. Lunt here broke out again. “Be careful, sir, what you say. The -committee will not submit to it.” Mr. Bond replied: “I certainly have -no wish to say anything unpleasant to the committee, but I cannot -help regretting the course that has been taken to withhold a full -hearing from the parties interested. They came here through their -memorial, which had been received by the Legislature and referred to -this committee, and I expected that the committee would have allowed -them to say what they pleased, using proper language. If they state -their case improperly, it will injure them and not the committee. I -may be wrong, but I regret to see the grounds given for the gentlemen -and their friends to say they have been denied a hearing. The action -on this question here is of immense importance in the influence it may -have, not only upon those who have appeared before the committee, but -upon the Legislature, the community, the Commonwealth, and the whole -country.” When Mr. Bond had closed, instead of proffering to us a -further hearing, the committee broke up without a formal adjournment, -the Chairman immediately retiring, conscious, as it seems to me he -must have been, of the very general indignation which his conduct had -excited. Just as he was leaving, Mr. Moseley, one of the committee, -said to him, “I am not satisfied with your course. You have been wrong -from the beginning. I will not sit again on such a committee.” - -The large audience retired from the hall murmuring their astonishment, -shame, indignation at the conduct of the Chairman. Many gentlemen and -ladies, who had never shown us favor before, came to assure us that -they had been led, by what they had heard and seen that afternoon, to -take a new view of the importance of the great reform we were laboring -to effect. - -Nothing, however, gratified us so much as seeing Dr. Channing approach -Mr. Garrison, whom until then he had appeared to avoid, shake him -cordially by the hand, and utter some words of sympathy. From that time -until his death the larger portion of his publications were upon the -subject of slavery, increasing in earnestness and power to the last. - -The conduct of the committee, especially the Chairman, was severely -censured next day in the Senate by Hon. Mr. Whitmarsh, and other -members of that body. Reports of our interviews were published -and republished throughout the Commonwealth, and called out from -almost every part of it condemnatory comments. Many were brought -over to the antislavery faith, and our party became not a little -significant in the estimation of the politicians. Governor Everett’s -too evident inclination to yield to the insolent demands of the -slaveholding oligarchy damaged him seriously in the confidence of -his fellow-citizens, and, if I remember correctly, at the very next -election he was beaten by the opposing candidate, whose sentiments on -slavery were thought to be more correct than his. - - -HON. JAMES G. BIRNEY. - -Let me again beg my readers to bear in mind, that I am not attempting -to write a complete history of the antislavery conflict. Many -individuals rendered essential services to the cause in different -parts of our country whose names even may not be mentioned on any of -my pages, for the reason that I had little or no personal acquaintance -with them. My purpose is merely to give my recollections of the most -important incidents in the progress of the great reform, and of the -individuals whom I personally knew in connection with those incidents. - -Although I did not enjoy a very intimate acquaintance with the -distinguished gentleman whose name stands at the head of this article, -my connection with him was such that it will be very proper, as well as -very grateful to me, to give some account of him and of his inestimable -services. - -At the annual meetings of the American Antislavery Society in New York, -and of the Massachusetts Society in Boston in May, 1835, our hearts -were greatly encouraged and our hands strengthened by the presence and -eloquence of the Hon. James G. Birney, then of Kentucky, lately of -Alabama. We had repeatedly heard of him during the preceding twelve -months, and of his labors and sacrifices in the cause of our enslaved -countrymen. As I said in my report at the time, all were charmed with -him. He was mild yet firm, cautious yet not afraid to speak the whole -truth, candid but not compromising, careful not to exaggerate in aught, -and equally careful not to conceal or extenuate. He imparted much -valuable information and animated us to persevere in our work. - -Mr. Birney was a native of Kentucky, the only son of a wealthy -planter, who gave him some of the best opportunities that our country -then afforded for acquiring a thorough classical, scientific, and -professional education, to which were added the advantages of extensive -foreign travel. When he had completed his preparations for the practice -of the law he opened an office in Danville, his native place, and -married a Miss McDowell, of Virginia. Thus he was allied by marriage -as well as birth to a large circle of prominent slaveholders in two -States. Soon after he removed to Huntsville, Alabama, where he rapidly -rose to great distinction in his profession and in the estimation of -his fellow-citizens. He was elected Solicitor-General of the State, -and in 1828, when John Q. Adams was nominated for the Presidency, -Mr. Birney was chosen by the Whig party one of the Alabama Electors. -Moreover, he was an honored member of the Presbyterian church, and -was zealous and active as an elder in that denomination. I make these -statements to show that Mr. Birney occupied a very high position, both -civil and ecclesiastical. - -He had been accustomed to slavery from his birth. So he purchased -a cotton plantation near Huntsville and directed the management of -it. But his kind heart was ill at ease in view of the condition of -the slaves. He could not regard them as brute animals, and felt that -there must be a terrible wrong in treating them as if they were. He -gladly entered into the project of the Colonization Society, hoping it -would lead ultimately to the deliverance of the bondsmen. He became -so interested in it that he turned from his legal practice, which -had become very lucrative, that he might discharge the duties of -General Superintendent of the Colonization Society in the States of -Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. He travelled -extensively throughout those States, was everywhere treated with -respect, and had abundant opportunities for forming an opinion of the -real effect of the Colonization scheme upon the institution of slavery. -He saw that it was tending to perpetuate rather than to put an end to -the great iniquity. - -Towards the close of 1833 Mr. Birney removed back to his native place, -that he might be near and minister to the comfort of his aged father. -He returned carrying with him his new-formed opinions of Colonization. -He found a few who had come to feel, with him, that something else and -more should be done for the relief of the oppressed. In December of -that year he joined them and formed the “Kentucky Gradual Emancipation -Society.” But the principles of it did not long satisfy him. - -Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization,” published more than a -year before in Boston, had reached that neighborhood, and probably -had come under the consideration of Mr. Birney. It contained a -faithful searching review of the purposes, the spirit and tendency -of Colonization. Soon after, the famous discussion arose in Lane -Seminary, of which I have given some account on a previous page, -and which resulted in an eruption that threw eighty “live coals” in -as many directions over the country,--fervent young men, who went -diligently about, kindling up the minds of the people on the question -of _immediate_ emancipation. - -That remarkable young man, Theodore D. Weld, leader of the antislavery -party in Lane Seminary, visited Mr. Birney, and found him ready for -conversion, if not already a convert to the highest antislavery truth. -Their interviews resulted in Mr. Birney’s entire conviction that the -Colonization plan tended to uphold rather than to subvert slavery; and -that immediate emancipation, without removal from their homes, was the -right of every slave, and the duty of every slaveholder. - -Without delay, he acted in accordance with this conviction. He -addressed an admirable letter to Rev. Mr. Mills, Corresponding -Secretary of the Kentucky Colonization Society, announcing that -he must no longer be considered a member of that association, and -stating, in a very lucid and impressive manner, his weighty reasons -for disapproving of, and feeling impelled to oppose, an enterprise -in which he had taken so much interest, and to which he had devoted -so much time and labor. Better than this, he summoned all his slaves -into his presence, acknowledged that he had been guilty of great wrong -in holding them as his property, informed them that he had executed -deeds of manumission for each and all of them, and that henceforth -they were free men, free women, free children. He offered to retain -in his service all who preferred to remain with him, and to pay them -fair wages for their labor. None left him, and, as he himself told me, -they afterwards toiled not only more cheerfully than before, but more -effectively, and for a greater number of hours. In several instances -he had been impelled to go to them in person, and insist upon their -“hanging up the shovel and the hoe.” In the fall of 1834 he addressed -a letter to the members of the Presbyterian Synod, in the vicinity of -Danville, in which he pressed upon them the sinfulness of holding their -fellow-beings as property, and showed them the true Scripture doctrine -respecting slavery. He also visited the seat of government during the -session of the Kentucky Legislature, and conversed with many members. -He found that most of them regarded slavery as an evil which could not -be perpetual, but most of them recoiled from the plan of immediate -emancipation. - -Convinced that this was the vital doctrine, he determined to do all -in his power to disseminate it among the people. For this purpose he -purchased a printing-press and types, and engaged a man to print for -him at Danville a paper to be called _The Philanthropist_. So soon as -his intention became known, his neighbors roused themselves to prevent -the execution of it. While he continued a slaveholder and in favor of -Colonization, it was proper and safe enough for him to express freely -his opinions. But when he became an immediate emancipationist, and -liberated his slaves, he was regarded as a dangerous man. And now that -he was preparing to disseminate his doctrines through the press, he was -to be denounced and silenced. - -On the 12th of July, 1835, the slaveholders of his neighborhood -assembled in mass meeting, in the town of Danville, and after rousing -themselves and each other to the right pitch of madness, they addressed -a letter to Mr. Birney, vehemently remonstrating with him, and pledging -themselves to prevent the publication of his paper, by the most violent -means, if necessary. Mr. Birney respectfully but firmly refused to -yield to their demand, assured them that he understood the rights of -an American citizen, and that he should exercise and defend them. -However, their threats, which did not intimidate him, so far excited -the apprehensions of his printer that he utterly refused to undertake -the publication. - -When the report reached Alabama that Mr. Birney had become an immediate -Abolitionist, had renounced the Colonization Society, and had liberated -his slaves, most of those who had formerly known and honored him there -united in expressing very emphatically their displeasure, and declaring -their contempt for his new fanatical opinions. The Supreme Court of -that State expunged his name from the roll of attorneys practising at -its bar. And in the University of Alabama, of which he had been a most -useful trustee, several literary societies, of which he had been an -honorary member, hastened to pass resolutions expelling him from their -bodies. These acts convinced him of their hatred, but not of his error. - -Finding that he could not get his paper printed in Danville, he removed -his press and types to Cincinnati, in order that he might publish his -_Philanthropist_ as near to his father’s home and his native State as -possible, and under the ægis of Ohio, whose constitution explicitly -guarantees to her citizens freedom of speech and of the press. - -But he had not got himself and family settled in Cincinnati, before -he found that the inhabitants of that city were so swayed by Southern -influence that it would be useless to attempt to issue a paper there, -opposed to slavery and to the expatriation of the free colored people. -He therefore removed twenty miles up the river to the town of New -Richmond, where the dominant influence was in the hands of Quakers. -_The Philanthropist_ was much better received by the public than he -expected, and was so generally commended for the excellent spirit -with which the subject of slavery was discussed, that he thought it -best to remove his press back to Cincinnati. But he had hardly got -it established there before “the gentlemen of property and standing” -bestirred themselves and their minions to the determination that the -incendiary paper “must be suppressed by all means, right or wrong, -peaceably or forcibly.” Mr. Birney contended manfully, nobly, for the -liberty of speech and of the press. He met his opponents in public -and in private, refuted their arguments and exposed the fearful -consequences of their conduct, if persisted in. But his facts, his -logic, and his eloquence were of no avail. What had not been reasoned -into them could not be reasoned out of them. His opponents were -fixed in a foregone conclusion that slavery was a matter with which -the citizens of the free States were bound not to meddle, and were -made more impetuous by that dislike of the colored people, which was -intensified by the consciousness that they were living witnesses to the -inconsistency, cruelty, and meanness of our nation. I wish I had room -for a full account of Mr. Birney’s courageous and persistent defence of -his antislavery opinions, and of his right to publish and disseminate -them. - -Suffice it to add that, on the evening of the 1st of August, 1836, -Mr. Birney having gone to a distant town to deliver a lecture, large -numbers of persons, among them some of the _most respectable_ citizens -of Cincinnati, went to the office of _The Philanthropist_, demolished -or threw into the streets everything they found there excepting the -printing-press. That they dragged to the bank of the Ohio, half a mile -distant, conveyed it in a boat to the middle of the river and threw it -in. - -In the fall of 1837 Mr. Birney removed to New York, and for two years -or more rendered inestimable services as one of the Corresponding -Secretaries of the American Antislavery Society. - -While there, some time in 1839, his father died, leaving a large amount -of property in lands, money, and slaves to him and his only sister, -Mrs. Marshall. Mr. Birney requested that all the slaves, twenty-one -in number, might be set off to him at their market value, as a part -of his patrimony. This was done. He immediately wrote and executed a -deed manumitting them all. Thus he sacrificed to his sense of right, -his respect for humanity, that which he might legally have retained -or disposed of as property, amounting to eighteen or twenty thousand -dollars.[I] - -This act, added to all else that he had done and said in the cause -of liberty, and the invaluable contributions from his pen, and the -noble traits of character that were ever manifest in all his deeds and -words, raised Mr. Birney to the highest point in the estimation of -all Abolitionists. When, therefore, they had become weary of striving -to induce one or the other of the political parties to recognize the -rights of the colored population of the country; when they had found -that neither the Whigs nor the Democrats would attempt anything for the -relief of the millions of the oppressed, but what their _oppressors_ -approved or consented to; when thus forced to the conclusion that a -Third Party must needs be formed in order to compel politicians and -statesmen to heed their demands for the relief of suffering outraged -millions in our land, James G. Birney was unanimously selected to be -their candidate for the presidency. He unquestionably possessed higher -qualifications for that office than either of the candidates of the -other parties. But, with shame be it said, he had too much faith in -the glorious doctrine of the Declaration of Independence, and in the -declared purpose of the Constitution of the United States to suit -the depraved policy of the nation in 1840. In that year the Liberty -party gave a very significant number of votes for Mr. Birney. And -again in 1844 their votes for him amounted to 62,300. These votes, -if given for Mr. Clay, as they would have been had he been true to -“the inalienable rights of man,” would have secured his election by a -majority of 23,119. This number was too large to be ignored. It showed -that the Abolitionists held the balance of power between the Whigs -and the Democrats. Their opinions and wishes thenceforward were more -respected by politicians and their partisans. Various attempts were -made to conciliate them, which, after several political abortions, -gave birth to the _Republican party_. This party, we hope and trust, -will be guided or forced to pursue such measures as will not only -abolish slavery, but raise the colored population of our country -to the enjoyment of all the privileges and the exercise of all the -prerogatives of American citizens. - - -JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. - -Although this gentleman--so prominent for more than half a century -among our American statesmen and scholars--was not a member of our -Antislavery Society, he rendered us and our cause, in one respect, a -most important service. And as I have some interesting recollections of -him, a few pages devoted to them will be german to my plan. - -In January, 1835, a petition was committed to Mr. Adams, signed by more -than a hundred women of his congressional district, praying for the -abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. He presented it and -moved its reference to a select committee. Instantly several Southern -representatives sprang to their feet and vehemently opposed even the -reception of it. They insisted that Congress ought not to receive -such petitions, adapted as they were, if not intended, to create an -excitement, and wound the feelings of members from the slaveholding -States. Mr. Adams urged the reception of the petition with earnestness -and eloquence, reminding his opponents that the feelings of his -constituents, and of many of the people of the non-slaveholding States, -were deeply wounded by being held in any way responsible for the -continuance of such a system of oppression as they considered slavery. -No right of the people, he said, could be more vital, or should be held -as more sacred, than the _right of petition_,--the right to implore -their rulers to relieve them of any unnecessary burden, or to correct -what seemed to them a grievous wrong. He besought the representatives -of the American people to show their respect for the right of petition -by receiving the paper he now presented. If there were any expressions -in the language of this petition disrespectful or improper, let the -signers of it be reproved. It might be easy, he added, to show that -this prayer of his constituents ought not to be granted, but that was -no reason for refusing to hear their request. To petition is a right -guaranteed to every one by the Constitution, of our Republic,--yes, -a right inherent in the constitution of man, and Congress is not -authorized to deny it or to abridge it. Such was the effect of his -speech that the petition was received. But it was immediately laid on -the table. - -Again in January, 1837, Mr. Adams offered a petition of the same tenor, -signed by a hundred and fifty women. Forthwith several Southern members -passionately objected to the reception of it. Mr. Adams planted himself -as firmly as before in defence of the _right of petition_. He charged -upon the opposers that they were violating most fearfully the federal -Constitution, which they had sworn to support. He besought the House -not to give its countenance, its sanction, to the violent assaults -which had been made in our country within the last eighteen months -upon the freedom of the press and the liberty of speech, by denying -the still more fundamental right,--the _right of petition_; and this -“to a class of citizens as virtuous and pure as the inhabitants of any -section of the United States.” - -A violent debate ensued, in which Mr. Adams maintained his part with -so much fortitude, dignity, and force of argument that the petition -was received by a large majority. I am sorry to add that it was soon -after laid on the table by a majority almost as large. And a few days -afterwards, on the 18th of January, 1837, the House of Representatives -passed this infamous resolution: “That all petitions relating to -slavery, _without being printed or referred_, shall be laid on the -table, and no action shall be had thereon.” This resolution, intended -to shut the door of legislative justice and mercy against millions of -the most cruelly oppressed people on earth, was passed in the Congress -of these United States by a vote of 139 ayes to 96 nays. - -Petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia -had been sent to Mr. Adams and to other members of Congress, from -various parts of the country. For it was the feeling of Abolitionists -everywhere that we were all, in some measure, directly responsible for -the continuance of slavery in that District, over which Congress had -then, and has now, exclusive jurisdiction. Seeing how such petitions -were to be spurned, by the advice of the managers of the Antislavery -Society, I addressed a letter to Mr. Adams, proposing that thereafter -our petitions should be “for the removal of the national capital to -some place north of Mason and Dixon’s line.” He replied that nothing -would be gained by such a change. Petitions so worded, coming from -Abolitionists, would be treated with the same contempt. And he thought -it better to persist in demanding the abolition of slavery in the -District, and contend for the right of petition on that issue. - -Nothing daunted by the high-handed measure of January 18th, Mr. Adams, -on the 6th of the following month, announced to the Speaker that he -held in his hand a petition which purported to come from a number of -slaves, without, however, stating what it prayed for. Before presenting -it, he wished to be informed by the Speaker whether such a paper would -come under the order of the 18th ult. Without waiting for the decision, -several slaveholders rose in quick succession and poured out their -astonishment, their indignation, their wrath at the effrontery of -the man who could propose to offer such a petition,--a petition from -slaves! One said it was so gross an insult to the House that the paper -ought to be taken and burnt. Another insisted that the representative -from Massachusetts deserved the severest censure, yes, that he ought -to be immediately brought to the bar of the House and reproved by the -Speaker. Others demanded that Mr. Adams should be forthwith expelled -from his seat with those he had so grossly insulted. - -Amidst this storm Mr. Adams remained as little moved as “the house -that was founded upon a rock.” When it had spent its rage enough for a -human voice to be heard, the brave “old man eloquent” rose and said: -“Mr. Speaker, to prevent further consumption of the time of the House, -I deem it my duty to request the members to modify their several -resolutions so that they may be in accordance with the facts. I did not -present the petition. I only informed the Speaker that I held in my -hand a paper purporting to be a petition from slaves, and asked if such -a petition would come under the general order of January 18th. I stated -distinctly that I should not send the paper to the table until that -question was decided. This is one _fact_, and one of the resolutions -offered to the House should be amended to accord with it. - -“Another gentleman alleged in his resolution that the paper I hold is -a petition from slaves, praying for the abolition of slavery. Now, -Mr. Speaker, that is not the fact. If the House should choose to hear -this paper read they would learn that it is a petition the reverse of -what the resolution states it to be. If, therefore, the gentleman from -Alabama still shall choose to call me to the bar of the House, he will -have to amend his resolution by stating in it that my crime has been -attempting to introduce a petition from slaves, praying that slavery -may _not_ be abolished,--precisely that which the gentleman desires.” - -A variety of absurd and incoherent resolutions were proposed, and -as many abusive speeches were made, after which the following were -adopted: “_Resolved_, That this House cannot receive the said petition -without disregarding its own dignity, the rights of a large class of -citizens of the South and West, and the Constitution of the United -States.” Yeas, 160. Nays, 35. “_Resolved_, That slaves do not possess -the right of petition secured to the people of the United States by the -Constitution.” Yeas, 162. Nays, 18. - -None of the Northern representatives interposed to aid Mr. Adams in the -conflict, excepting only Messrs. Lincoln and Cushing, of Massachusetts, -and Mr. Evans, of Maine. These gentlemen defended his positions with -distinguished ability. But the “old man eloquent” was a host in -himself,--a match for all who rose up against him. Through the whole of -the unparalleled excitement he behaved with exemplary equanimity and -admirable self-possession. “His speech, in vindication of his cause,” -said Mr. Garrison, “was the hewing of Agag in pieces by the hand of -Samuel.” His exposure of the vice and licentiousness of slaveholding -communities was unsparing. His sarcasms were as cutting as the -surgeon’s knife. His rebukes were terrible. He contended that there was -not a word, not an intimation in the Constitution, excluding petitions -from slaves. “The right of petition,” said he, “God gave to the whole -human race when he made them _men_,--the right of prayer,--the right of -those who need to ask a favor of those who can bestow it. It belongs -to humanity; it does not depend upon the condition of the petitioners. -It belongs to the wronged, the destitute, the wretched. Those who -most need relief of any kind have the best right to petition for it, -_enslaved men more than all others_. Did the gentleman from South -Carolina think he could frighten me by his threat of a grand jury? Let -me tell him _he mistook his man_; I am not to be frightened from the -discharge of a duty by his indignation, nor by all the grand juries in -the universe. Mr. Speaker, I never was more serious in any moment of my -life. I never acted under a more solemn sense of duty. What I have done -I should do again under the same circumstances if it were to be done -to-morrow.” - -For this dignified, persistent, heroic defence of the right of petition -Mr. Adams deserved the gratitude of all the suffering, and those who -desired their relief,--of the enslaved and those who were laboring for -their redemption. But in the course of the debate he said, “It is well -known to all the members of this house that, from the day I entered -this hall to the present moment, I have invariably, here and elsewhere, -declared my opinion to be adverse to the prayer of petitions which -call for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. I have, -however, uniformly insisted, and do insist, that such petitions ought -to be respectfully received, duly considered, and our reasons given for -refusing to grant them.” - -Such a declaration from the champion of our petitions, it will readily -be believed, disconcerted us Abolitionists not a little. Some denounced -him. Many thought he certainly ought not to be returned to Congress -again. - -I was then one of his constituents, living about thirteen miles from -his residence. I was as much disconcerted as any were by Mr. Adams’s -opposition to the prayer of our petition, and could not rest without -hearing from himself his reasons for that opposition. Accordingly, -soon after his return to Quincy, in the summer of 1837, I called at -his house. He received me graciously, and, on being told what was the -object of my visit, he thanked me for coming to himself to learn what -were the principles by which he endeavored to govern his conduct as -a member of the National Legislature, and what the reasons for the -opinion he held respecting the abolition of slavery in the District -of Columbia by an act of Congress. “You cannot doubt,” said he, “that -I desire the abolition of slavery there, and everywhere, as much as -you or any Abolitionist desires it. I am ready to do all that I think -can be done legally to exterminate that great wrong, that alarming -evil, that dark shame from our country. I shall ever withstand any -plan for the extension of slavery in any direction an inch beyond -the limits within which unhappily it existed at the formation of our -Union. I have repeatedly declared myself at any time ready to go for -the most stringent prohibition of our interstate slave-trade, putting -it under the same ban with the foreign slave-trade.[J] But, sir, the -citizens of the District of Columbia are in an anomalous condition,--a -condition not to be reconciled with one of the fundamental principles -of our democratic institutions. They are governed by laws enacted by a -Legislature in which they have no representative, and to the enactment -of which they have given no consent. Whenever, therefore, I am called -upon to act as a legislator for the District of Columbia, I feel myself -to be all the more bound in honor to act as if I were a representative -chosen by the people of that District, that is, to act in accordance -with what I know to be the will of my quasi constituents. Therefore, -until I know that the people of that District generally desire the -abolition of slavery, I cannot vote for it consistently with my idea of -the duty of a representative.” - -Of course I demurred at the sufficiency of this reason, and urged -several objections to it. But I need not add a stern old statesman was -not to be moved from his allegiance to a principle which he said had -governed him through his long political life. - -I left him dissatisfied and doubting whether I could help by my vote -to re-elect him to Congress. I conferred much with some of the leading -Abolitionists in his district. They were troubled in like manner. But -we could think of no man who could be elected in his place that would -go further in opposition to slavery than Mr. Adams had gone, or could -utter such scathing condemnation of our American despotism. When, too, -we reviewed the course he had pursued in Congress in defence of the -right of petition, and considered his venerable age, his high official -and personal character, his intimate acquaintance with every part of -the history of our country, his unequalled adroitness in the conduct of -a legislative debate, the insults and abuse he had endured in Congress, -because of his words and acts bearing upon the subject of slavery, and -his perfect fearlessness in the midst of the angry, violent, bullying -slaveholders, we came to the conclusion that it would be most unjust, -ungrateful, and unwise in Abolitionists to withhold their support from -Mr. Adams. We determined rather to rally about him. - -And first we thought it would be becoming in his constituents to -give some public and emphatic expression of their high and grateful -appreciation of his faithfulness and heroic courage, in advocating and -maintaining the sacred right of petition. Accordingly, we conferred -with the prominent members of the Whig party in his district, who, -after some hesitation, agreed to unite with us in calling a delegated -convention to consider the alarming assaults that had been made in -the Congress of the nation upon the right of petition, and the noble -defence of that right by the venerable and illustrious representative -of the twelfth Congressional District. - -Such a convention was held in Quincy, on the 23d of August, 1837. -Seventeen towns were represented by delegates, and a large number of -other citizens were present. - -Hon. Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy, was chosen President. Hon. Cushing -Otis, of South Scituate, and Hon. John B. Turner, of Scituate, -Vice-Presidents. Hon. Gershom B. Weston, of Duxbury, and Orrin P. -Bacon, Esq., of Dorchester, Secretaries. The forenoon was spent in -listening to speeches upon the sacredness of the right of petition, the -assaults made upon that right in the Congress of our nation, and the -persistent, dauntless, noble defence of it by our representative. A -series of appropriate resolutions was passed and a committee appointed -to present a copy of them to Mr. Adams, and request him to favor the -convention with his presence in the afternoon. - -We reassembled soon after 2 P. M., and were informed by the committee -that Mr. Adams would be with us at three o’clock. There was no other -business before the convention. Several topics were proposed by -resolutions or motions that were ruled out of order, as not german -to the purpose of the meeting. Members were getting impatient. I -had begun to fear that some of our ardent ones would break over the -agreement under which the convention had been called. Just at this -crisis our excellent friend, Francis Jackson, of Boston, came into -the hall. His face was radiant with his message of glad tidings. He -came straight towards me, and placed in my hand a paper covered with -lines, in the clear, beautiful handwriting of that true philanthropist, -John Pierpont, with which I was familiar. “A Word from a Petitioner.” -Nothing could have been more timely, nothing more appropriate. I seized -it, and commenced reading at once:-- - - “What! our petitions spurned! The prayer - Of thousands, tens of thousands, cast - Unheard beneath your Speaker’s chair! - But you _will_ hear us first or last. - The thousands that last year ye scorned - Are millions now. Be warned! Be warned!” - -The reading of this first stanza brought down the house in rapturous -applause. It struck the key-note to which the feelings of all were -attuned. Every stanza was received with some response of approval or -delight. When the last line was read and I began to fold the paper, -“Encore! Encore!!” resounded from every part of the hall. So I read -the admirable poem again and better than the first time. And just as I -was reading the last stanza, Mr. Adams entered the convention escorted -by the committee. Now the applauses rose in deafening cheers. “Hurrah! -Hurrah!! Hurrah!!! the hero comes!!!!” Three times three and then -again. Mr. Adams tottered to his seat next the President, wellnigh -overcome with emotion. And when the uproar ceased and he rose to speak -he seemed for the moment no more “the old man eloquent.” He could not -utter a word. He stood trembling before us. But the moment passed, and -the orator was himself again. His first words were: “My friends, my -neighbors, my constituents, though I tremble before _you_, I hope, I -trust you know that I have never trembled before the enemies of your -liberties, your sacred rights.” Again was the assembly thrown into an -uproar of applause, which did not die away until his self-possession -had entirely revived. And then he addressed us for nearly an hour, -giving a very graphic account of his conflict with the slaveholders in -Congress, and making it evident, perhaps more evident to us than to -himself, that some of them were determined to rule or else to ruin our -Republic. - -By order of the convention a memorial was sent to our fellow-citizens -of each congressional district in the Commonwealth, commending to their -just appreciation the conduct of Mr. Adams in defence of the right of -petition, and praying them to send representatives who would be equally -true, faithful, fearless in withstanding the enemies of freedom. - - -THE ALTON TRAGEDY. - -Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was a young Presbyterian minister, a native -of Maine, who soon after his graduation from college settled in the -city of St. Louis, first as a school-teacher, then as a preacher, -and lastly as the editor of a religious paper. In all these offices -he had commended himself to the respect and affectionate regards of -a large circle of friends. He conducted his paper to very general -acceptance, until he became an Abolitionist. An awful, a diabolical -deed perpetrated in or near St. Louis, compelled him to look after the -evil influences which could have prepared any individuals to be guilty -of such an atrocity, and the community in which it was done to tolerate -it. - -Some time in the latter part of 1836, or the beginning of 1837, a -slave was accused of a heinous crime (not worse, however, than many -white men had been guilty of). He was tried by a Lynch Court, over -which a man most appropriately named Judge Lawless presided. He was -found guilty, sentenced _to be burned alive_, and actually suffered -that horrid death at the hands of American citizens, some of whom -were called “most respectable.” Mr. Lovejoy faithfully denounced -the horrible outrage as belonging to the Dark Ages and a community -of savages, and thenceforward devoted a portion of his paper to the -exposure of the sinfulness and demoralizing influence of slaveholding. -This was not long endured. His printing-office was broken up, his press -destroyed, and he was driven out of the State of Missouri. He removed -about twenty miles up the Mississippi River to Alton, Illinois, and -there commenced the publication of a similar paper, called the _Alton -Observer_. But though in a nominally free State, he was not beyond the -power of the slaveholders. The people of that town, obsequious to the -will and tainted with the spirit of their Southern and Southwestern -neighbors, soon followed the example of the Missourians, demolished his -printing-office and threw his press into the river. - -Mr. Lovejoy was a man whose determination to withstand oppression was -a high moral principle rather than a resentful passion. He therefore -set about, with calm resolution, to re-establish his office and his -paper. In this he was encouraged and assisted by the sympathy and the -contributions of some of the best people in Alton, St. Louis, and that -region of country. But he had issued only one or two numbers of his -_Observer_, before the ruffians again fell upon his establishment and -destroyed it. - -This second violation of his rights, in a State professedly free, -brought him and his patrons to feel that they were indeed “set for the -defence” of the liberty of the press. They appealed in deeper tones of -earnest remonstrance and solemn warning to their fellow-citizens, to -their countrymen, to all who appreciated the value of our political -institutions, to help them re-establish and maintain their desecrated -press. They called a convention of the people to consider the disgrace -that had been brought upon their town and State, and to awaken a -public sentiment that would overbear the minions of the slaveholding -oligarchy, which was assuming to rule our nation. Dr. Edward Beecher, -of Jacksonville, came to Alton and spoke with wisdom and power in -defence of the _Alton Observer_, and its devoted editor. - -Mr. Lovejoy gave notice that he felt it to be a momentous duty -incumbent on him, there to vindicate the precious right which had been -so ruthlessly outraged in his person and property. He gave notice that -he had taken measures to procure another printing-press and materials -for the publication of his paper. He hoped the violent men, who had -twice broken up his office, would see their fearful mistake and molest -him no more. He trusted the good people of Alton and the officials of -their city would see to it that he should be protected, if the spirit -of outrage should again appear in their midst. - -Many of the good people of the place gathered about him with assurances -of help, if needed. A Mr. Gilman, by all acknowledged to be one of the -very best men in the community, readily consented to receive the press -into his store for safe-keeping, and many other gentlemen agreed to -come there to defend it, if any attempt to take it away should be made. - -As the day drew near on which the press was to arrive, alarming threats -were heard about the city, and evidences of preparation for another -deed of violence were too plain to be mistaken. Mr. Gilman called -upon the Mayor for protection,--to appoint a special police for the -occasion, or to have an armed force in readiness, if the emergency -should require their interposition. That official informed him that he -had no military at his service, and did not feel authorized to appoint -a special police. Then Mr. Gilman craved to know if the Mayor would -authorize him to collect an armed force to protect his property if it -should be assaulted. The Mayor gave him to understand that he would be -justified in so doing. - -The boat arrived in the night of the 6th of November, and the press was -safely deposited in Messrs. Godfrey & Gilman’s store. The next evening -a mob assembled with the declared purpose of destroying the press or -the building that contained it, in which were goods valued at more than -$100,000. Mr. Gilman went out and calmly remonstrated with the mob. He -assured them that it was his determination, as it was his right, to -defend his own property and that of another, which had been committed -to him for safe-keeping, and that he was prepared so to do; that there -were a considerable number of loaded muskets in his store and resolute -men there to use them. He had no wish to harm any one, and besought -them to refrain from their threatened assault, which would certainly -be repulsed. They heeded him not, but reiterated their cries for the -onset. It was agreed between himself, Mr. Lovejoy, and their helpers -that they would forbear until there could be no longer any doubt of -the fell purpose of the assailants. The suspense was brief. Stones and -other heavy missiles were thrown against the building and through the -windows. These were quickly followed by bullets. At this several of -the besieged party fired upon the mob, killing one man and wounding -another. After a temporary retreat, the madmen returned bringing -materials with which to fire the store. A ladder was raised and a torch -applied to the roof. Mr. Lovejoy came out and aimed his musket at the -incendiary. So soon as he was recognized he was fired upon and fell, -his bosom pierced by five bullets. - -Mr. Garrison and most of the oldest Abolitionists regretted that Mr. -Lovejoy and his friends had resorted to deadly weapons. If he was -to fall in our righteous cause we wished that he had chosen to fall -an unresisting martyr. From the beginning we had determined not to -harm our foes. And though we had been insulted, buffeted, starved, -imprisoned, our houses sacked, our property destroyed, our buildings -burnt, not the life of one of our number had hitherto been lost. But we -doubted not that our devoted brother had been governed by his highest -sense of right. He had acted in accordance with the accepted morality -of the Christian world, and in the spirit of our Revolutionary fathers. -A sensation of horror at the murder of that amiable and excellent young -man thrilled the hearts of all the people that were not steeped in the -insensibility to the rights of humanity which slaveholding produces. -The 7th of November, 1837, was fixed in the calendar as one of the days -never to be forgotten in our country, nor remembered but with shame. - -The American Antislavery Society, the Massachusetts, and other kindred -societies took especial and very appropriate notice of the dreadful -outrage, and renewed their solemn pledges to labor all the more -assiduously, for the utter extermination of that system of iniquity in -the land, which could be upheld only at the expense of our freedom of -speech and the liberty of the press. - -Rev. Dr. Channing and many more of the prominent citizens of Boston -were moved to call a public meeting in their “Old Cradle of Liberty,” -without distinction of sect or party, there to express the alarm and -horror which were felt at the outrage on civil liberty, and the murder -of a Christian minister, for attempting to maintain his constitutional -and inalienable rights. Accordingly, the Doctor and a hundred other -gentlemen made an application to the Mayor and Aldermen of the city for -permission to occupy Faneuil Hall for that purpose. Their application -was rejected as follows:-- - - “City of Boston. In Board of Aldermen, November 29, 1837: On the - petition of William E. Channing and others, for the use of Faneuil - Hall on the evening of Monday, the 4th of December, - - “_Resolved_, That in the opinion of this Board, it is inexpedient - to grant the prayer of said petition, for the reason that - resolutions and votes passed by a public meeting in Faneuil Hall - are often considered, in other places, as the expression of public - opinion in this city; but it is believed by the Board that the - resolutions which would be likely to be sanctioned by the signers - of this petition on this occasion ought not to be regarded as the - public voice of this city.” - -This extraordinary conduct of the city authorities kindled a fire -of indignation throughout the city and the Commonwealth, that sent -forth burning words of surprise and censure. Dr. Channing addressed -an eloquent and impressive “letter to the citizens of Boston,” that -produced the intended effect. It was widely circulated, and everywhere -read with deep emotion. A public meeting was called by gentlemen who -were not Abolitionists, to be held in the old Supreme Court Room, -“to take into consideration the reasons assigned by the Mayor and -Aldermen for withholding the use of Faneuil Hall, and to act in the -premises as may be deemed expedient.” A large concourse of citizens -assembled. George Bond, Esq., was chosen chairman, and B. F. Hallett, -Secretary. Dr. Channing’s letter was read, and then a series of -resolutions, “drawn up with consummate ability and strikingly adapted -to the occasion,” were offered by Mr. Hallett, and after an animated -discussion were unanimously adopted. A committee of two from each ward -was appointed to renew the application (precisely in the words of the -former one) for the use of Faneuil Hall, and to obtain signatures to -the same. This request was not to be denied. The Mayor and Aldermen -yielded to the pressure. - -On the 8th of December the doors of Faneuil Hall were thrown open, and -as many people as could find a place pressed in. Hon. Jonathan Phillips -was called to the chair, and made some excellent introductory remarks. -Dr. Channing then made an eloquent and impressive address, after -which B. F. Hallett, Esq., read the resolutions which Dr. Channing -had drawn up. These were seconded by George S. Hillard, Esq., in a -very able speech. Then arose James T. Austin, the Attorney-General, -and made a speech in the highest degree inflammatory and mobocratic. -He declared that “Lovejoy died as the fool dieth.” He justified the -riotous procedure of the Altonians, and compared them to “the patriotic -Tea-Party of the Revolution.” What he said of the slaves was really -atrocious. Hear him! - -“We have a menagerie in our city with lions, tigers, hyenas, an -elephant, a jackass or two, and monkeys in plenty. Suppose, now, some -new cosmopolite, some man of philanthropic feelings, not only towards -men but animals, who believes that all are entitled to freedom as an -inalienable right, should engage in the humane task of giving liberty -to these wild beasts of the forest, some of whom are nobler than -their keepers, or, having discovered some new mode to reach their -understandings, should try to induce them _to break their cages and -be free_? The people of Missouri had as much reason to be afraid of -their _slaves_ as we should have to be afraid of the wild beasts of -the menagerie. They had the same dread of Lovejoy that we should have -of this supposed instigator, if we really believed the bars would be -broken and the caravan let loose to prowl about our streets.” - -Though this was the most disgusting passage in Mr. Austin’s speech, -nearly all of it was offensive to every true American heart, and some -parts were really impious. He likened the Alton and St. Louis rioters -to the men who inspired and led our Revolution. He infused so much of -his riotous spirit into a portion of his audience that at the close of -his speech they attempted to break up the meeting in an uproar. Happily -for the reputation of Boston, there were present a preponderance of -the moral _élite_ of the city. So soon as the disorder had subsided, -a young man, then unknown to most of his fellow-citizens, took the -platform, and soon arrested and then riveted the attention of the -vast assembly to a reply to the Attorney-General that was “sublime, -irresistible, annihilating.” I wish there were room in these columns -for the whole of it. I can give you but a brief passage. - -“Mr. Chairman, when I heard the gentleman lay down principles which -placed the rioters, incendiaries, and murderers of Alton side by -side with Otis and Hancock, with Quincy and Adams, I thought those -pictured lips [pointing to the portraits in the hall] would have -broken into voice to rebuke the recreant American, the slanderer of -the dead. [Great applause and counter-applause.] Sir, the gentleman -said that he should sink into insignificance if he dared not to gainsay -the principles of the resolutions before this meeting. Sir, for the -sentiments he has uttered on soil consecrated by the prayers of -Puritans and the blood of patriots, the earth should have yawned and -swallowed him up!” - -I need only tell my readers that this was the _début_ of our Wendell -Phillips, who has since become the leading orator of our nation, and -the dauntless champion of our enslaved, down-trodden countrymen. He -was then just established in the practice of law in Boston, with the -most brilliant prospect of success in his profession. No young man -would have risen so soon as he, or to so great a height as an advocate -at the bar and a speaker in the forum, if he had pursued his course as -a lawyer and a politician. But, blessed be the God of the oppressed, -the cry of the millions, to whom in our Republic every right of -humanity was denied, entered into his bosom. He espoused their cause -with no hope of fee or reward, but that best of all compensations, the -consciousness of having relieved suffering, and maintained great moral -and political principles, and throughout the thirty-two years that -have since passed away, he has consecrated his brilliant powers to the -service of the enslaved with an assiduity and effect of which our whole -nation has been the admiring witness. - -Another young man, to whom we owe scarcely less than to Mr. Phillips, -was brought into our ranks and impelled to take upon himself the odium -of an Abolitionist by the awful catastrophe at Alton,--a young man -bearing a name illustrious in the history of our country, and still -highly honored in our State and nation. I allude to Edmund Quincy, a -son of Hon. Josiah Quincy, who, having filled almost every other office -in the gift of the people, was then President of Harvard College, and -grandson of Josiah Quincy, Jr., one of the leading spirits of the -American Revolution. - -From the beginning of our antislavery efforts Mr. Edmund Quincy had -been deeply interested in our undertaking. But, like very many others, -he distrusted the wisdom of some of our measures, and especially the -terrible severity of Mr. Garrison’s condemnation of slaveholders. - -The outrages perpetrated upon Mr. Lovejoy and the liberty of the press -at St. Louis and Alton dispelled all doubt of the unparalleled iniquity -of holding human beings in the condition of domesticated brutes, and -of the sinfulness of all who consent thereto. He has since been one of -the towers of our strength; has presided, often with signal ability, at -our meetings in the most troublous times, and occasionally spoken with -force and marked effect. But he has rendered us especial services by -his able pen. His contributions to _The Antislavery Standard_ and _The -Liberator_ have been numerous and invaluable. His style has been as -vigorous and penetrating as that of Junius, and his satire sometimes as -keen. Thus have the attempts of slaveholders and their minions to crush -the spirit of liberty served rather to bring to her standard the ablest -defenders. - - -WOMAN QUESTION.--MISSES GRIMKÉ. - -The title of this article announces a great event in the progress of -our antislavery conflict, and opens a subject the adequate treatment of -which would fill a volume much larger than I intend to impose upon the -public. - -From the beginning of Mr. Garrison’s enterprise excellent women were -among his most earnest, devoted, unshrinking fellow-laborers. Their -moral instincts made them quicker to discern the right than most men -were, and their lack of political discipline left them to the guidance -of their convictions and humane feelings. Would that I could name all -the women who rendered us valuable services when we most needed help. -In our early meetings, at our lectures, public discussions, &c., a -large portion of our auditors were females, whose sympathy cheered and -animated us. Among our first and fastest friends in Boston were Mrs. -L. M. Child, Mrs. M. W. Chapman, and her sisters, the Misses Weston, -and her husband’s sisters, Miss Mary and Miss Ann G. Chapman, and their -cousin, Miss Anna Green, now Mrs. Wendell Phillips,--then, as now, in -feeble health, but strong in faith and unfaltering in purpose. There, -too, were Mrs. E. L. Follen and her sister, Miss Susan Cabot, Miss -Mary S. Parker, Mrs. Anna Southwick, Mrs. Mary May, Mrs. Philbrick, -Miss Henrietta Sargent, and others. In Philadelphia we found wholly -with us, Lucretia Mott, Esther Moore, Lydia White, Sarah Pugh, Mrs. -Purvis, the Misses Forten, and Mary Grew. In New York, too, there were -many with whom I did not become personally acquainted. And indeed -wherever in our country the doctrine of “immediate, unconditional -emancipation” (first taught by a woman[K]) was proclaimed there were -found good women ready to embrace and help to propagate it. Often were -they our self-appointed committees of ways and means, and by fairs -and other pleasant devices raised much money to sustain our lecturers -and periodicals. The contributions from their pens were frequent and -invaluable. I have already spoken of Mrs. Child’s “Appeal,” and of her -many other excellent antislavery writings. I ought also to acknowledge -our indebtedness to her as the editor, for several years, of _The -Antislavery Standard_, which, without compromising its fidelity or -efficiency, she made very attractive by its literary qualities and its -entertaining and instructive miscellany. - -Mrs. Maria W. Chapman, who wielded gracefully a trenchant pen, plied -it busily in our cause with great effect. Her successive numbers -of “Right and Wrong in Boston” were too incisive not to touch the -feelings of the good people of that metropolis, which claimed to be the -birthplace of American independence, but had ceased to be jealous for -“the inalienable rights of man.” Year after year her “Liberty Bell” -rung out the clearest notes of personal, civil, and spiritual liberty, -and she compiled our Antislavery Hymn Book,--“The Songs of the -Free,”--effusions of her own and her sisters’ warm hearts, and of their -kindred spirits in this country and England. - -But though the excellent women whom I have named, and many more like -them, constantly attended our meetings, and often _suggested_ the best -things that were said and done at them, they could not be persuaded -to utter their thoughts aloud. They were bound to silence by the -almost universal sentiment and custom which forbade “women to speak in -meeting.” - -In 1836 two ladies of a distinguished family in South Carolina--Sarah -and Angelina E. Grimké--came to New York, under a deep sense of -obligation to do what they could in the service of that class of -persons with whose utter enslavement they had been familiar from -childhood. They were members of the “Society of Friends,” and were -moved by the Holy Spirit, as the event proved, to come on this mission -of love. They made themselves acquainted with the Abolitionists, -our principles, measures, and spirit. These commended themselves -so entirely to their consciences and benevolent feelings that they -advocated them with great earnestness, and enforced their truth by -numerous facts drawn from their own past experience and observation. - -In the fall of 1836 Miss A. E. Grimké published an “Appeal to the -Women of the South,” on the subject of slavery. This evinced such a -thorough acquaintance with the American system of oppression, and so -deep a conviction of its fearful sinfulness, that Professor Elizur -Wright, then Corresponding Secretary of the American Antislavery -Society, urged her and her sister Sarah to come to the city of New York -and address ladies in their sewing-circles, and in parlors, to which -they might be invited to meet antislavery ladies and their friends. -No man was better able than Professor Wright to appreciate the value -of the contributions which these South Carolina ladies were prepared -to make to the cause of impartial liberty and outraged humanity. As -early as 1833, while Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy -in Western Reserve College, he published an elaborate and powerful -pamphlet on “The Sin of Slave-holding,” which we accounted one of our -most important tracts. Commended by him and by others who had read her -“Appeal,” Miss Grimké and her sister attracted the antislavery women of -New York in such numbers that soon no parlor or drawing-room was large -enough to accommodate those who were eager to hear them. The Rev. Dr. -Dunbar, therefore, offered them the use of the vestry or lecture-room -of his church for their meetings, and they were held there several -times. Such, however, was the interest created by their addresses, that -the vestry was too small for their audiences. Accordingly, the Rev. -Henry G. Ludlow opened his church to them and their hearers, of whom a -continually increasing number were gentlemen. - -Early in 1837 the Massachusetts Antislavery Society invited these -ladies to come to Boston to address meetings of those of their own sex. -But it was impossible to keep them thus exclusive, and soon, wherever -they were advertised to speak, there a large concourse of men as well -as women was sure to be assembled. This was an added offence, which our -opposers were not slow to mark, nor to condemn in any small measure. -It showed plainly enough that “the Abolitionists were ready to set at -naught the order and decorum of the Christian church.” - -My readers may smile when I confess to them that at first I was myself -not a little disturbed in my sense of propriety. But I took the matter -into serious consideration. I looked the facts fully in the face. -Here were millions of our countrymen held in the most abject, cruel -bondage. More than half of them were females, whose condition in some -respects was more horrible than that of the males. The people of the -North had consented to this gigantic wrong with those of the South, and -those who had risen up to oppose it were denounced as enemies of their -country, were persecuted, their property and their persons violated. -The pulpit for the most part was dumb, the press was everywhere, -with small exceptions, wielded in the service of the oppressors, the -political parties were vying with each other in obsequiousness to the -slaveholding oligarchy, and the petitions of the slaves and their -advocates were contemptuously and angrily spurned from the legislature -of the Republic. Surely, the condition of our country was wretched and -most perilous. I remembered that in the greatest emergencies of nations -women had again and again come forth from the retirement to which they -were consigned, or in which they preferred to dwell, and had spoken the -word or done the deed which the crises demanded. Surely, the friends -of humanity, of the right and the true, never needed help more than -we needed it. And here had come two well-informed persons of exalted -character from the midst of slavedom to testify to the correctness of -our allegations against slavery, and tell of more of its horrors than -we knew. And shall they not be heard because they are women? I saw, I -felt it was a miserable prejudice that would forbid woman to speak or -to act in behalf of the suffering, the outraged, just as her heart may -prompt and as God has given her power. So I sat me down and penned as -earnest a letter as I could write to the Misses Grimké, inviting them -to come to my house, then in South Scituate, to stay with us as long as -their engagements would permit, to speak to the people from my pulpit, -from the pulpit of my excellent cousin, Rev. E. Q. Sewall, Scituate, -and from as many other pulpits in the county of Plymouth as might be -opened to them. - -They came to us the last week of October, 1837, and tarried eight days. -It was a week of highest, purest enjoyment to me and my precious wife, -and most profitable to the community. - -On Sunday evening Angelina addressed a full house from my pulpit for -two hours in strains of wise remark and eloquent appeal, which settled -the question of the propriety of her “speaking in meeting.” - -The next afternoon she spoke to a large audience in Mr. Sewall’s -meeting-house in Scituate, for an hour and a half, evidently to their -great acceptance. The following Wednesday I took the sisters to -Duxbury, where, in the Methodist Church that evening, Angelina held six -hundred hearers in fixed attention for two hours, and received from -them frequent audible (as well as visible) expressions of assent and -sympathy. - -On Friday afternoon I went with them to the Baptist meeting-house -in Hanover, where a crowd was already assembled to hear them. Sarah -Grimké, the state of whose voice had prevented her speaking on either -of the former occasions, gave a most impressive discourse of more than -an hour’s length on the dangers of slavery, revealing to us some things -which only those who had lived in the prison-house could have learnt. -Angelina followed in a speech of nearly an hour, in which she made the -duty and safety of immediate emancipation appear so plainly that the -wayfaring man though a fool must have seen the truth. If there was a -person there who went away unaffected, he would not have been moved -though an angel instead of Angelina had spoken to him. I said then, I -have often said since, that I never have heard from any other lips, -male or female, such eloquence as that of her closing appeal. Several -gentlemen who had come from Hingham, not disposed nor expecting to be -pleased, rushed up to me when the audience began to depart, and after -berating me roundly for “going about the neighborhood with these women -setting public sentiment at naught and violating the decorum of the -church,” said “there can be no doubt that they have a right to speak in -public, and they ought to be heard; do bring them to Hingham as soon as -may be. Our meeting-house shall be at their service.” Accordingly, the -next day I took them thither, and they spoke there with great effect on -Sunday evening, November 5th, from the pulpit of the Unitarian Church, -then occupied by Rev. Charles Brooks. - -The experience of that week dispelled my Pauline prejudice. I needed -no other warrant for the course the Misses Grimké were pursuing than -the evidence they gave of their power to speak so as to instruct and -deeply impress those who listened to them. I could not believe that -God gave them such talents as they evinced to be buried in a napkin. -I could not think they would be justified in withholding what was so -obviously given them to say on the great iniquity of our country, -because they were women. And ever since that day I have been steadfast -in the opinion that the daughters of men ought to be just as thoroughly -and highly educated as the sons, that their physical, mental, and moral -powers should be as fully developed, and that they should be allowed -and encouraged to engage in any employment, enter into any profession, -for which they have properly qualified themselves, and that women -ought to be paid the same compensation as men for services of any kind -equally well performed. This radical opinion is spreading rapidly in -this country and in England, and it will ultimately prevail, just -as surely as that God is impartial and that “in Christ Jesus there -is neither bond nor free, neither male nor female.” And yet it has -been, and is, as strenuously opposed and as harshly denounced as was -our demand of the immediate emancipation of the enslaved. Men and -women, press and pulpit, statesmen and clergymen, legislative and -ecclesiastical bodies have raised the cry of alarm, and pronounced -the advocates of the equal rights of women dangerous persons, -disorganizers, infidels. - -The first combined assault was made upon “The Rights of Women” by -the Pastoral Association of Massachusetts in the fall of 1837 or the -spring of 1838, in their spiritual bull against the antislavery labors -of the Misses Grimké, which it utterly condemned as unchristian and -demoralizing. This, of course, made it the duty, as it was pleasure, of -the New England Abolitionists to stand by those excellent women, who -had rendered such inestimable services to the cause of the enslaved, -the down-trodden, the despised millions of our countrymen. Therefore, -at the next New England Antislavery Convention, held in Boston, May, -1838, attended by delegates from eleven States, it was “_Voted_, That -all persons present, or who may be present, at subsequent meetings, -whether men or women, who agree with us in sentiment on the subject -of slavery, be invited to become members and participate in the -proceedings of the Convention.” - -This gave rise to a long and very animated discussion, but was passed -by a very large majority. Immediately eight Orthodox clergymen -requested to have their names erased from the roll of that Convention, -and seven others, including some of our faithful fellow-laborers, -presented a protest against the vote, which, by their request, was -entered upon the records, and published with the doings of the -Convention. - -At that same great gathering a committee of three persons was -appointed to prepare and transmit a memorial to each and all of the -ecclesiastical associations in New England, of every sect, beseeching -them to testify against the further continuance in our country of -slavery, and take such measures as they might deem best to induce the -members of their several denominations who were guilty of the dreadful -iniquity to consider and turn away from it. One of that committee was a -much respected woman, as well qualified as either of her associates to -discharge the duties assigned them. An excellent memorial was prepared -and presented in accordance with the vote. But it was very coldly -received by some, and rudely treated by others of the ecclesiastical -bodies to which it was sent. On the presentation of it to the Rhode -Island Congregational Consociation, a scene of great excitement -ensued. The memorial was treated with all possible indignity. Most of -the brethren who had been earnest for the reception of it, and for -such action as it requested, when they were informed that one of the -committee by whom the memorial was prepared was a woman, united in a -vote “_to turn the illegitimate product from the house, and obliterate -from the records all traces of its entrance_.” No deliberative assembly -ever behaved in a more indecorous manner. And those who were most -active in trampling upon that respectful petition in behalf of bleeding -humanity were the professed ministers of Him who came to preach -deliverance to the captive. “_O tempora! O mores!!_” - - -“THE PASTORAL LETTER” AND “THE CLERICAL APPEAL.” - -Abolitionists from the first were persons of both sexes and all -complexions, of every class in society, of every religious -denomination, of each of the three learned professions, of both -political parties, and of all the various trades and occupations -in which men and women engage. Although it is too true that most -ministers, especially in the cities, were slow to espouse the cause of -the oppressed, yet it is due to them to say that, taking the country -through, there were, in proportion to their numbers, more of that -profession than of either of the others who embraced the doctrine -of “immediate emancipation,” advocated it publicly, wrote columns, -pamphlets, and volumes in its defence, and suffered no little obloquy -and persecution for so doing. And they were, as I have said, of every -Protestant sect. Whenever a complete history of our antislavery -conflict shall be written, grateful and admiring mention will be made -of the valuable services and generous sacrifices of many ministers -whose names may not appear in my slight sketches. - -These various individuals were evidently moved by one spirit, drawn -together by the conviction that there was a great, a fearful iniquity -involved in the enslavement of millions of the inhabitants of our -land, that if the God-given rights of humanity were (as the founders -of our Republic declared them to be) inalienable, then those men, who -were holding human beings as their chattels, were setting the will and -authority of the Almighty at defiance, and would bring themselves to -ruin. Moreover, there was a deep conviction awakened in the hearts of -those who openly espoused the cause of the bondmen, that the people -of the North were verily guilty in consenting to their enslavement; -and, as the States and the churches refused to interfere for their -deliverance, it was left for individuals and voluntary associations -to do what might be done, so to correct public opinion and awaken the -public conscience that slavery could not be tolerated in the land. - -Further than this there was little agreement among the early -Abolitionists. But this proved to be a mighty solvent. And for -years the wonderful, the beautiful, the Christian sight was -seen,--Trinitarians and Unitarians, Methodists and Universalists, -Baptists and Quakers, laboring together in the cause of suffering -fellow-beings, with so much earnestness that they had set aside, for -the while, their theological and ritualistic peculiarities, and seemed -to rejoice in their release from those narrow enclosures. Coming out -of our hall on the second evening of our Convention in Philadelphia, -in December, 1833, a young Orthodox minister took my arm with an -affectionate pressure, and said, “Brother May, I never thought that I -could feel towards a Unitarian as I feel towards you.” My reply was: -“Dear M., if professing Christians were only real Christians, engaged -in the work of the Lord, they could not find the time nor the heart to -quarrel about creeds and rites.” Wherever I went, preaching the gospel -of impartial liberty, I was as cordially received by Orthodox as by -Unitarian Abolitionists, until I came to have a much more brotherly -feeling towards an antislavery Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist -than I did towards a Unitarian who was proslavery, or indifferent -to the wrongs of the bondmen. And this feeling was obviously -reciprocated. I was repeatedly invited to preach in the pulpits of -Orthodox ministers, and to commune with Orthodox churches. Once I -attended a church in company with Miss Ann G. Chapman, one of the most -single-minded and true-hearted of women. The invitation to the Lord’s -table was given in such words as virtually excluded us. Of course -we arose and departed. But so soon as the service was over both the -minister and deacon (beloved antislavery brethren) came to my lodgings -to assure me that the exclusion was not intended, and that whenever -Miss Chapman and myself might again be at their church on a similar -occasion, they hoped that we would commune there. - -I give these facts, and could give many more like them, to show -the anti-sectarian tendency of the antislavery reform. This was -perceived by many of “the wise and prudent” leaders of the sects, -and was evidently watched by them with a jealous eye. As the number -of Abolitionists increased, and our influence in the churches came -to be felt more and more, many of those leaders joined antislavery -societies, partly, no doubt, because they had been brought to see the -truth of our doctrines and the importance of the work we were laboring -to accomplish, but also in part, if not chiefly (as I was afterwards -forced to suspect), because they wished to maintain the ascendency -over their sects, and to prevent the obliteration of the lines which -separated them from such as they were pleased to consider unsound in -faith. - -We were greatly encouraged and gladdened by the accessions we received -in 1835 and 1836. Many ministers of the evangelical sects joined -us, not a few of them Doctors of Divinity. And the obligations of -Christians to the bondmen in our land, and the discipline that should -be brought to bear on those professing Christians who were holding them -in slavery, became the subjects of earnest debate in several of the -large ecclesiastical bodies. But we found these new-comers were much -disposed to object to the liberty that was allowed on our platform. -Generally the president or chairman of our meetings would call upon -some one to invoke the divine blessing upon our undertaking. Sometimes, -in deference to our Quaker brethren, we would sit in silence until the -Spirit moved some one to offer prayer. Then again, persons who were -not members of any religious denomination, nay, even some who were -suspected of being, if not known to be, unbelievers, infidels, were -permitted to co-operate with us, to contribute to our funds, to take -part in our deliberations, and to be put upon our committees. This -was a scandal in the estimation of those of the “straitest sect.” Our -only reply was, that as so many, who made the highest professions of -Christian faith, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the millions who -were suffering the greatest wrongs, we were grateful for the assistance -of such as made no professions. Not those who cried Lord, Lord, but -those who were eager to do the will of the impartial Father, were the -persons we valued most. - -But nothing gave so much offence as the admission of women to speak in -our meetings, to act on our committees, and to co-operate with us in -any way they saw fit. In my last I gave some account of the rupture -it caused in our New England Antislavery Convention in 1838. This was -foreshadowed the year previous. Some time in the summer of 1837 the -General Association of Massachusetts issued a “Pastoral Letter to the -churches under their care,” intended to avert the alarming evils which -were coming upon them from the over-heated zeal of the Abolitionists. -First, the extraordinary document mourns over the loss of deference -to the pastoral office, which is enjoined in Scripture, and which is -essential to the best influence of the ministry. At this day, when -all but Roman Catholics and High Church Episcopalians are wondering -at, if not amused by, the dealing of Bishop Potter with Mr. Tyng, it -may surprise my readers to be told that thirty years ago the Orthodox -Congregational ministers of Massachusetts set up the same claim of -authority in their several parishes, that the diocesan of New York and -New Jersey demands for his clergymen. “One way,” they said in their -Pastoral Letter, “one way in which the respect due to the pastoral -office has been in some cases violated, is in encouraging lecturers or -preachers on certain topics of reform to present their subjects within -the parochial limits of settled pastors, _without their consent_.” -“Your minister is ordained of God to be your teacher, and is commanded -to feed that flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made him overseer. -If there are certain topics upon which he does not preach with the -frequency, or in the manner that would please _you_, it is a violation -of _sacred and important_ RIGHTS to encourage a stranger to present -them.” “Deference and _subordination_ are essential to the happiness -of society, and _peculiarly so_ in the relation of a people to their -pastor.” Happily for those who may come after us, we Abolitionists have -done much to emancipate the people from such spiritual bondage, and -secure to them the privilege of seeking after knowledge wherever it may -be found, and yielding themselves to good influences, let them come -through whatever channel they may. - -But the “Pastoral Letter” dwelt at greater length upon the dangers -which threatened the female character with wide-spread and permanent -injury. Forgetting that women were the _bravest_, as well as the -most devoted and affectionate of the first disciples of Jesus, that -in all ages since they have been prominent among the confessors of -Christianity, and that in our day they do more than men to uphold the -churches,--forgetting these facts, the frightened authors and signers -of that letter uttered themselves thus: “The power of woman is in her -_dependence_, flowing from the consciousness of that weakness which -God has given her _for_ her protection, and which keeps her in those -departments of life that form the characters of individuals and of the -nation.... But, when she assumes the place and tone of man as a public -reformer, _our care and protection of her seem unnecessary_; we put -ourselves in self-defence against her; she yields the power which God -has given her for protection, and her character becomes unnatural. If -the vine, whose strength and beauty is to lean upon the trellis-work -and half conceal its clusters, thinks to assume the independence and -the overshading nature of the elm, it will not only cease to bear -fruit, but will fall in shame and dishonor into the dust.” Did not -those ministers know--were there not in their day wives who sustained -their husbands instead of leaning upon them? women who were the stay -and staff of the men of their families--their mental and moral stamina? -There have been such women in all other times; we have known and do -know such women now. If our antislavery conflict has done nothing else, -it has shown that there is neither orthodox nor heterodox, neither -white nor black, neither male nor female, but all _are one in the work -of the Lord_. - -Undismayed by the censure and warning of so exalted a body as the -General Association, we Abolitionists continued to labor as we had -done, pursuing the same measures, using the same instrumentalities, -employing as our agents and lecturers women no less than men, whom -we found able as well as willing to do good service. And to several, -besides those I have already named, the bondmen and their advocates -were immeasurably indebted. Abby Kelly (now Mrs. Foster) performed -for years an incredible amount of labor. Her manner of speaking in -her best days was singularly effective. Her knowledge of the subject -was complete, her facts were pertinent, her arguments forcible, her -criticisms were keen, her condemnation was terrible. Few of our agents -of either sex did more work while her strength lasted, or did it better. - -Susan B. Anthony was one of the living spirits of our financial -department, indomitable in her purposes, ingenious in her plans, -untiring in her exertions, she not only kept herself continually at -work, but spurred all about her to new effort. She has often herself -spoken to excellent effect, and more frequently stimulated others to -their best efforts. - -Miss Sallie Holley has seldom consented to speak in our largest -assemblies, or in our cities. But we have very frequently heard of her -diligent labors in the rural districts, and of the good fruits she has -gathered there. Her eloquence is particularly dignified and impressive. - -I should love to tell of Lucy Stone, and Antoinette L. Brown, and Mrs. -E. C. Stanton, and Ernestine L. Rose, all wise women and attractive -speakers, but their word and work has been given more to the advocacy -of “Woman’s Rights.” The reformation for which they have toiled so -long and so well, though the offspring of Abolitionism, is still _more -radical_; and to the history of it volumes will hereafter be devoted. - -I can here only name Miss Anna E. Dickinson, now one of the most -attractive of the popular lecturers. Although another of the women who -have been brought out of their retirement by the exigency of the times, -yet she came upon the platform about the period at which I intend these -recollections shall cease. - -As surely as the conflict with slavery has been found to be -irrepressible, so surely will it be found to be impossible to suppress -the conflict for the rights of women until they shall be securely -placed where the Creator intended them to stand, on an entire equality -with men in their domestic, social, legal, and political relations. - -Not long after the “Pastoral Letter,” there came forth from some of -the members of the Massachusetts General Association a still more -pointed attack upon _The Liberator_, Mr. Garrison and his associates, -one which would have been very damaging if it had not been so easily -repelled. It was entitled the “Appeal of Clerical Abolitionists on -Antislavery Measures,” signed by two Orthodox ministers of Boston, and -three in the vicinity of that city. As these gentlemen had belonged -to the Antislavery Society, and two of them had been vehement if not -fierce in their advocacy of our doctrines, it would seem that they -must have known whereof they affirmed. They prefaced their Appeal with -a declaration of their lively interest in the cause of the oppressed, -their clear perception of the sinfulness and their detestation of -slavery. Then they went on to accuse the leading Abolitionists, 1st, -of hasty, unsparing, and almost ferocious denunciation “of a certain -reverend gentleman because he had resided in the South,” without having -taken pains to ascertain whether he had been a slaveholder or not; 2d, -They accused us of “hasty insinuations” against an Orthodox minister of -high standing in Boston, that he was a slaveholder, without having had -any proof of the _truth_ of the reports we may have heard so damaging -to the reverend gentleman’s reputation. Their third, fourth, and fifth -accusations were, that we had demanded of ministers what we had no -right to require of them; had abused them for not doing as we called -upon them to do, and, through our zeal in the cause of the enslaved, -we had become indifferent to other Christian enterprises, and would -withdraw from them the regards of those who co-operated with us, and -that we had censured and denounced excellent Christian ministers and -church-members because they were not prepared to enter fully into the -work of antislavery societies. - -This document, coming from such persons, of course was the occasion of -no little excitement. Our enemies exulted over it as testimony against -us, given by those who had been in our councils and well knew what -spirit animated us. Others who had been timid friends, or half inclined -to join our ranks, were at first repulsed from us by the apprehension -that there was too much truth in these charges. - -But as soon as possible elaborate and thorough replies were published -to this Appeal, denying the truth of each of the above-named -accusations, and showing them to be false. One of the replies was -written by Mr. Garrison, in his clear and trenchant style, and showed -up the inconsistency as well as the falseness of the accusations by -ample quotations from the writings and speeches of Mr. Fitch, the -author of the Appeal. The other reply was from the pen of Rev. A. A. -Phelps. - -This good orthodox brother was then the General Agent of the -Antislavery Society, and therefore felt it to be incumbent upon him to -repel charges so unjust and so injurious. No one but Mr. Garrison was -so competent as he to do this. From an early period Mr. Phelps had been -engaged in this great reform. In 1833 or 1834 he published a volume on -the subject, which showed how thoroughly he understood the principles, -how deeply he was imbued with the spirit, of the undertaking. He gave -years of undivided attention to the cause, and by the labors of his pen -and his voice rendered essential services. His reply to the Appeal was -complete, exhaustive, unanswerable. And thus what was intended to do us -harm was overruled for our good. It gave a fair and proper occasion for -the fullest exposition to the public of our doctrines, our measures, -and of the spirit in which we intended to prosecute them. - -I am most happy to conclude this narrative by stating, because it is so -highly honorable to Rev. Charles Fitch, the author of the Appeal, that -some time afterwards he saw and frankly confessed his fault. On the 9th -of January, 1840, in a letter addressed to Mr. Garrison, after a very -proper introduction to such a confession, Mr. Fitch said:-- - -“I feel bound in duty to say to you, sir, that to gain the good will -of man was the only object I had in view in everything which I did -relative to the ‘Clerical Appeal.’ As I now look back upon it, in the -light in which it has of late been spread before my own mind (as I -doubt not by the Spirit of God), I can clearly see that in all that -matter I had no regard for the glory of God or the good of man. If -you can make any use of this communication that you think will be an -honor to Him, or a service to the cause of truth, dispose of it at your -pleasure.” - -It surely will do good to republish this magnanimous, noble, Christian -confession of the wrong that was attempted to be done by that “Clerical -Appeal.” - - -DR. CHARLES FOLLEN. - -The name of Dr. Follen will send a grateful thrill through the -memory of every one who really knew him. He was a dear son of -God, and attracted all but such as were repulsed by the spirit of -righteousness and freedom. He was a native of that country which gave -birth to Luther. The light of civil and religious liberty kindled -in Wittenberg shone upon his cradle. He was the son of Protestant -parents, and received a religious education with little reference to -the dogmas of any sect. He was born in the early years of the French -Revolution,--that event which at first revived the hopes of the -oppressed subjects of European despots. The Germans, especially those -of the smaller members of the Confederacy, hailed the prospect of more -liberal institutions in France as the harbinger of a better day for -themselves. Charles Follen was just then at the age to receive into the -depths of his soul the generous sentiments that were uttered by the -purest, best men of Germany. His father, an enlightened civilian and -liberal Christian, encouraged the growing ardor of his son in the cause -of freedom and humanity. - -When, therefore, the German States, finding themselves deceived by -Bonaparte, united with one accord to oppose him, Charles Follen, then -a student at the University of Giesen, and only nineteen years of -age, came forward to act his first public part in the great struggle -for civil liberty. He entered the allied army in a volunteer corps -of young men, and endured the fatigues and incurred the dangers of -those battle-fields, on which were witnessed the death-throes of the -first Napoleon’s ambition. I have heard him describe his feelings, and -what he believed to be the feelings of his youthful comrades, in that -so-called “holy war of the people.” They refused to wear the trappings -of soldiers. They needed not “the pomp and circumstance of war” to -rouse or sustain the purpose of their souls. They came into the field -of mortal strife as men, not soldiers, to contend for liberty, not -laurels. Whenever he spoke of that momentous period of his life, a -solemnity came over the calm, sweet face of Dr. Follen, his utterance -was subdued, his whole frame pervaded by a deep emotion, so that, much -as I differed from him in my opinion of that resort to carnal weapons, -I could not doubt that he had thrown himself into the dread conflict -with a self-sacrificing, I had almost said, a holy spirit. Körner, “the -patriot poet of Germany,” was his personal friend, and it is a touching -incident that some of his last mental efforts were most successful -translations into our language of the breathing thoughts and burning -words of that enthusiast of liberty. - -Although the issue of the French Revolution cast down the hope of the -friends of freedom, that hope was not destroyed. True they had been -deceived. But they could not doubt that freedom was a reality, the -birthright of man. When, therefore, the real design of the self-styled -“Holy Alliance” between Russia, Austria, and Prussia became manifest, -many of the choicest spirits who had united under their banner to -overthrow the tyrant of France uprose to withstand them. None were -more resolute, few became more conspicuous, than the still youthful -Follen, who had scarcely entered upon his professional career. He -boldly claimed for his fellow-subjects of Hesse Darmstadt a mitigation -of the feudal tenures under which they were oppressed. Thus he incurred -the displeasure of the Grand Duke. But the farmers of that country -gratefully acknowledged the importance of his service in letters that -are still extant. - -In 1817, when twenty-two years of age, he took his degree of Doctor of -Laws, and became a teacher in the University of Jena. Here he found -an atmosphere congenial to his free spirit. The most distinguished -professors there were friends of liberal institutions. And the Duke of -Saxe-Weimar was for a while indulgent towards them. At Jena appeared -the first periodical publications that disturbed the diplomatists of -Frankfort and Vienna. To these publications Dr. Follen contributed, -and, even among such men as Dr. Oken and Professors Fries and Luden, he -distinguished himself as an advocate of the rights of man. - -The sovereigns of Austria and Prussia were alarmed. The professors of -the University at Jena were proscribed, and the young men of Austria -and Prussia who were students there were required to leave the infected -spot. The persecution of Dr. Follen was carried further. An attempt was -made to involve him in the guilt of the deluded murderer of Kotzebue, -“that unblushing hireling of the Russian Autocrat,” and he was arrested -on the charge. He was fully exonerated, but the spirit which dictated -his arrest made it uncomfortable for him to remain in Germany. - -He went to Switzerland, the resort of the free spirits of that day, -and was appointed Professor of Civil Law at the University of Basle. -Here he continued, both in his lectures and through the press, to give -utterance to his liberal opinions. Consequently, in August, 1824, the -governments of Prussia, Austria, and Russia demanded of the government -of Basle to deliver him up, with the other Professors of Law in their -university. At first this demand was refused. But, being afterwards -enforced by a threat of the serious displeasure of the allied powers, -it was yielded to, and Dr. Follen was compelled to depart, with no -reproach upon his character but that which was cast upon it by the -enemies of freedom. Exiled from Germany as the dreaded foe of the -oppressors of his country, hunted by the allied sovereigns out of -Europe, as if their thrones were insecure while he dwelt on the same -continent with themselves--surely the man who made himself such a -terror to despots was entitled to a _carte-blanche_ on the confidence -of freemen! - -Thus recommended, he came to our country in December, 1824, a few -months after the arrival of Lafayette. The illustrious Frenchman -came to feast his eyes and rejoice his heart with the sight of the -astonishing growth and unexampled prosperity of the nation for whose -deliverance from a foreign yoke he had in his early manhood lavished -his fortune and exposed his life. The illustrious German came, as it -proved, to assist in a great moral enterprise, the success of which was -indispensably necessary to complete the American Revolution, and verify -the truths which it declared to the world. - -Nearly a year after his arrival he spent in Philadelphia perfecting -himself in the language of our country. But by the advice of Lafayette, -who highly esteemed him, he came to Boston, and in December, 1825, was -appointed teacher of the German language in Harvard College, where, in -1830, he was raised to a professorship of German literature. - -He had not been long in the United States before he was struck by -the contrast between our institutions and our habits of thought and -conversation. He was surprised that he so seldom met with a free mind, -or saw an individual who acted independently. Most persons seemed to -be in bonds to a political party or a religious sect, or both. “I -perceive,” said he to an intimate friend, “that liberty in this country -is a fact rather than a principle.” - -Such a soul as Dr. Follen could not be indifferent to any movement -tending to liberate more than three millions of people in the country, -of which he had become a citizen, from the most abject cruel slavery, -and his fellow-citizens from the awful iniquity of keeping them in -such bondage. The bugle-blast of _The Liberator_ in 1831 summoned him -to the conflict. Worldly wisdom, prudential considerations, would have -withheld him if he had been like too many other men. He had then been -in a professor’s chair at Cambridge about a year. He had married a lady -worthy of his love. He had become a father. He had made many friends. -He was admired for his rich and varied endowments, his extensive -and accurate knowledge, and sound understanding. He was honored for -his exertions and sacrifices in the cause of liberty in Europe. He -was cherished as an invaluable acquisition to the literature of our -country, and as a most successful teacher of youth. How obvious, then, -that he had as many reasons as any, and more reasons than most, for -remaining quiet, contenting himself with an occasional sigh over the -wrongs of the slaves, or an eloquent condemnation of slavery in the -abstract, or the utterance of the form of prayer,--that the Sovereign -Disposer of all events would, in his own good time, cause every yoke to -be broken and oppression to cease. He was occupying a sphere of great -responsibility, where, as was intimated to him, he might find enough -to fill even the large measure of his ability for labor. Then he was -wholly dependent upon his own exertions for the support of his family. -Moreover, being a foreigner by birth, he was reminded that it was -less decorous in him, than it might be in others, to meddle with the -“delicate question” which touched so vitally the institutions of a very -sensitive portion of the country. - -But Charles Follen was a genuine man. In godly sincerity he felt as -well as said, “that whatever affected the welfare of mankind was a -matter of concern to himself.” He was astonished at the apathy of so -large a portion of the respectable and professedly religious of our -country to the wretched condition of more than a sixth part of the -population, to the disastrous influence of their enslavement upon the -characters of their immediate oppressors, upon the well-being of the -whole Republic, and the cause of liberty throughout the world. When, -therefore, the words of Garrison came to his ears, “he rejoiced in -spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast hid these -things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto the -babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” He sought -out the editor of _The Liberator_. He clambered up into his little -chamber in Merchants’ Hall, where were his writing-desk, his types, -his printing-press; and where, with the faithful partner of his early -toils, Isaac Knapp, he was living like the four children of Israel in -the midst of the corruptions of Babylon, living on pulse and water. -This was a sight to fill with hope Follen’s sagacious soul. While, -therefore, many who counted themselves servants of God and friends of -humanity thought, or affected to think, that no good could come out of -such a Nazareth, he often went to _The Liberator_ office to converse -with and encourage the young man who had dared to brave the contumely -and detestation of the world in “preaching deliverance to the captives -and liberty to them that are bruised.” - -He stopped not to inquire how it might affect his temporal interests, -or even his good name, to espouse so unpopular a cause. “Some men,” -said he, “are so afraid of doing wrong that they never do right.” The -shameful fact, that the cause of millions of enslaved human beings -in a country that made such high pretensions to liberty as ours was -_unpopular_, so astonished and alarmed him that he felt all the more -called to rise above personal considerations. Therefore, soon after -the New England Antislavery Society was instituted, he made known his -intention to join it. Some friends remonstrated. They admonished him -that so doing would be very detrimental to his professional success. -He hesitated a little while on account of his wife. But that gifted, -high-minded, whole-hearted lady reproved the hesitation, and bade him -act in accordance with his sense of duty, and in keeping with his -long devotion to the cause of liberty and humanity. He joined the -society, became one of its vice-presidents, was an efficient officer, -and rendered us invaluable services. At that time I became intimately -acquainted with him, and soon learned to love him tenderly and respect -him profoundly. - -The apprehensions of his friends proved to be too well founded. The -funds for the support of his professorship at Cambridge were withheld; -and he was obliged to retire from a position which had been most -agreeable to himself, for which he was admirably qualified, and in -which he had been exceedingly useful. It was a severe trial to his -feelings, and the loss of his salary subjected him to no little -inconvenience. But liberty, the rights of man, and his sense of duty -were more precious to him than physical comforts or even life. - -In May, 1834, was held in Boston the first New England Antislavery -Convention. It was a large gathering. Dr. Follen was one of the -committee of arrangements, and evinced great interest in making the -meeting effective.[L] He was also appointed Chairman of the “address” -that was ordered “to the people of the United States,” and was the -writer of it. His spirit breathes throughout it. It showed how -wholly committed he was to the enterprise of the Abolitionists, how -thoroughly he understood the principles on which we had from the first -relied, and how unfeignedly he desired to make them acceptable to his -fellow-citizens by the most lucid exposition of them, and the most -earnest presentation of their importance. - -In 1835 and 1836 I was the General Agent of the Society. This brought -me into a much closer connection with him. It was during the most -stormy period,--the time that tried men’s souls. I have given some -account of it in previous articles, and have made some allusions to Dr. -Follen’s fidelity and fearlessness. He never quailed. His countenance -always wore its accustomed expression of calm determination. He -aided us by his counsels, animated us by his resolute spirit, and -strengthened us by the heart-refreshing tones of his voice. In this -crisis it was, at our annual meeting in January, 1836, that he made -his bravest speech. There was not a word, not a tone, not a look of -compromise in it. He met our opponents at the very points where some of -our friends thought us deserving of blame, and he manfully maintained -every inch of our ground. That speech may be found in the Appendix -to the Memoir of his life. It is not easy even for us to recall, and -it is impossible to give to those who were not Abolitionists then, a -clear idea of the state of the community at the time the above-named -speech was made. The culmination of our trials was the sanction which -the Governor of Massachusetts gave to the opinion of one of the judges, -that we had committed acts that were punishable at common law. I have -given some description of the scenes that were witnessed in the Hall -of Representatives. Dr. Follen distinguished himself there. We can -never cease to be grateful to him for his pertinacity in withstanding -the aggressive overbearance of the Chairman of the joint-committee of -the Senate and House appointed to consider our remonstrance against -Governor Everett’s condemnation of us. I have sometimes thought it was -the turning-point of our affairs in the old Commonwealth. - -Soon afterwards Dr. Follen removed to New York and became pastor of the -first Unitarian church. It was a situation so eligible, and in every -respect so desirable to him, that many supposed he would suffer his -Abolitionism to become latent, or at least would refrain from giving -full and free expression to it in the pulpit. They knew not the man. He -did there as he had done elsewhere. Modestly, mildly, yet distinctly, -he avowed his antislavery sentiments, and endeavored to make his -hearers perceive how imperative was the obligation pressing upon them -as patriots, scarcely less than as Christians, to do all in their power -to exterminate slavery from our country. He was chosen a member of the -Executive Committee of the American Antislavery Society, and promptly -accepted the appointment. The members of that Board testified that “his -sound judgment, his discriminating intellect, his amenity of manners, -and his uncommonly single-hearted integrity greatly endeared him to his -associates.” Yet was the offence he gave by his antislavery preaching -such that, after about two years, his services were dispensed with by -the Unitarian church. - -He returned to Massachusetts, and soon interested so highly the -liberal Christians at East Lexington that he was invited to become -their pastor. They set about in 1839 the building of a meeting-house, -in accordance with his taste, and after a plan which I believe he -furnished. The 15th day of January, 1840, was fixed upon as the day for -the dedication, and Dr. Channing was engaged to preach on the occasion. - -In December Dr. Follen went to New York and delivered a course of -lectures. On the evening of the 13th of January he embarked on board -the ill-omened steamer Lexington to return. She took fire in the night, -and all the passengers and crew excepting three perished in the flames, -or in their attempts to escape from them. Dr. Follen, alas! was not one -of the three. - -The grief and consternation caused by that awful catastrophe need not -be described. Few if any persons in the community had so great cause -for sorrow as the Abolitionists. One of the towers of our strength -had fallen. The greatness of our loss was dwelt upon at the annual -meeting of the Massachusetts Society a few days afterward, and it -was unanimously voted: “That an address on the life and character of -Charles Follen, and in particular upon his early and eminent services -to the cause of abolition, be delivered by such person and at such time -and place as the Board of Managers shall appoint.” Their appointment -fell upon me, and I was requested to give notice so soon as my eulogy -should be written. I gave such a notice early in February, when I was -informed by the managers that they had not yet been able to procure a -suitable place, for such a service as they wished to have in connection -with my discourse. They had applied for the use of every one of the -Unitarian and for several of the Orthodox churches in Boston, and -all had been refused them. It was said that Dr. Channing did obtain -from the trustees of Federal Street Church consent that the eulogy on -Dr. Follen, whom he esteemed so highly, might be pronounced from his -pulpit. But another meeting of the trustees, or of the proprietors, -was called, and that permission was revoked. More sad still the -meeting-house at East Lexington, which had been built under his -direction, which he was coming from New York to dedicate, and in which -he was to have preached as the pastor of the church if his life had -been spared,--even that meeting-house was refused for a eulogy and -other appropriate exercises in commemoration of the early and eminent -services of Dr. Follen to the cause of freedom and humanity in Europe, -and more especially in our country. Such was the temper of that time, -such the opposition of the people in and about the metropolis of New -England to Mr. Garrison and his associates. - -In consequence of this treatment by the churches, and as a protest -against it, the Board of Managers determined to defer the delivery of -the eulogy, until the meeting-house of some religious body in Boston -should be granted for that purpose. No door was unbarred to us for -more than two months. In April one of our fellow-laborers, Hon. Amasa -Walker, having become one of the proprietors of Marlborough Chapel, -succeeded in getting permission for the Massachusetts Antislavery -Society, and other friends of Dr. Follen, to meet in that central -and very ample room on the evening of the 17th of April, there to -express in prayer, in eulogy, and hymns our gratitude to the Father -of spirits for the gift of such a brother, so able, so devoted, -so self-sacrificing; to attempt some delineation of his admirable -character, some acknowledgment of his inestimable services, and thus -make manifest our deep sense of bereavement and loss occasioned by his -sudden and as we supposed dreadful death. - -It so happened that the 17th of April, 1840, was Good Friday,--a -most appropriate day on which to mourn the death and commemorate the -glorious life of one who had been so true a disciple of Him, who was -crucified on Calvary for his fidelity to God and to the redemption of -man. - -The assemblage was large, estimated by some at two thousand. A prayer -was offered by Rev. Henry Ware, Jr.,--such a prayer as we expected -would rise from the large, liberal, loving, devout heart of that -excellent man. A most appropriate hymn, written by himself, was then -read by Rev. John Pierpont. After my discourse was delivered another -touching hymn from the pen, or rather the heart, of Mrs. Maria W. -Chapman was read by Rev. Dr. Channing, and sung very impressively by -the congregation, after which the services were closed by a benediction -from Rev. J. V. Himes, a zealous antislavery brother of the Christian -denomination. - - -JOHN G. WHITTIER AND THE ANTISLAVERY POETS. - -All great reformations have had their bards. The Hebrew prophets were -poets. They clothed their terrible denunciations of national iniquities -and their confident predictions of the ultimate triumph of truth and -righteousness in imagery so vivid that it will never fade. Mr. Garrison -was bathed in their spirit when a child by his pious mother. He is a -poet and an ardent lover of poetry. The columns of _The Liberator_, -from the beginning, were every week enriched by gems in verse, not -unfrequently the product of his own rapt soul. No sentiment inspires -men to such exalted strains as the love of liberty. Many of the early -Abolitionists uttered themselves in fervid lines of poetry,--Mrs. M. W. -Chapman, Mrs. E. L. Follen, Miss E. M. Chandler, Miss A. G. Chapman, -Misses C. and A. E. Weston, Mrs. L. M. Child, Mrs. Maria Lowell, Miss -Mary Ann Collier, and others, male and female. In 1836--the time that -tried men’s souls--Mrs. Chapman gathered into a volume the effusions -of the above-named, together with those of kindred spirits in other -lands and other times. The volume was entitled, “Songs of the Free and -Hymns of Christian Freedom.” Many of these songs and hymns will live -so long as oppression of every kind is abhorred, and men aspire after -true liberty. This book was a powerful weapon in our moral welfare. My -memory glows with the recollections of the fervor, and often obvious -effect, with which we used to sing in true accord the 13th hymn, by -_Miss E. M. Chandler_:-- - - “Think of our country’s glory - All dimmed with Afric’s tears! - Her broad flag stained and gory - With the hoarded guilt of years!” - -Or the 15th, by _Mr. Garrison_:-- - - “The hour of freedom! come it must. - O, hasten it in mercy, Heaven! - When all who grovel in the dust - Shall stand erect, their fetters riven.” - -Or the 7th, by _Mrs. Follen_:-- - - “‘What mean ye, that ye bruise and bind - My people,’ saith the Lord; - ‘And starve your craving brother’s mind, - That asks to hear my word?’” - -Or the 102d, by _Mrs. Chapman_:-- - - “Hark! hark! to the trumpet call,-- - ‘Arise in the name of God most high!’ - On ready hearts the deep notes fall, - And firm and full is the strong reply: - ‘The hour is at hand to do and dare! - Bound with the bondmen now are we! - We may not utter the patriot’s prayer, - Or bend in the house of God the knee!’” - -Or that stirring song, by _Mr. Garrison_:-- - - “I am an Abolitionist; - I glory in the name.” - -The singing of such hymns and songs as these was like the bugle’s blast -to an army ready for battle. No one seemed unmoved. If there were any -faint hearts amongst us, they were hidden by the flush of excitement -and sympathy. - -In 1838 or 1839 Mrs. Chapman, assisted by her sisters, the Misses -Weston, and Mrs. Child, commenced the publication of _The Liberty -Bell_. A volume with this title was issued annually by them for ten or -twelve years, especially for sale at the yearly antislavery fair. These -volumes were full of poetry in prose and verse. The editors levied -contributions upon the true-hearted of other countries besides our -own, and enriched their pages with articles from the pens of all the -above-named, and from Whittier, Pierpont, Lowell, Longfellow, Phillips, -Quincy, Clarke, Sewall, Adams, Channing, Bradburn, Pillsbury, Rogers, -Wright, Parker, Stowe, Emerson, Furness, Higginson, Sargent, Jackson, -Stone, Whipple, our own countrymen and women; and Bowring, Martineau, -Thompson, Browning, Combe, Sturge, Webb, Lady Byron, and others, of -England; and Arago, Michelet, Monod, Beaumont, Souvestre, Paschoud, and -others, of France. It would not be easy to find elsewhere so full a -treasury of mental and moral jewels. - -The names of most of our illustrious American poets appear in The -_Liberty Bell_ more or less frequently. To all of them we were and are -much indebted. James Russell Lowell was never, I believe, a member of -the Antislavery Society. He was seldom seen at our meetings. But his -muse rendered us essential services. His poems--“The Present Crisis,” -“On the Capture of Fugitive Slaves near Washington,” “On the Death of -Charles T. Torrey,” “To John G. Palfrey,” and especially his “Lines -to William L. Garrison,” and his “Stanzas sung at the Antislavery -Picnic in Dedham, August 1, 1843”--committed him fully to the cause of -freedom,--the cause of our enslaved countrymen. - -Rev. John Pierpont gave us his hand at an earlier day. He took upon -himself “our reproach” in 1836, when we most needed help. I have -already made grateful mention of his “Word from a Petitioner,” sent -to me by the hand of the heroic Francis Jackson in the midst of the -convention of the constituents of Hon. J. Q. Adams, called at Quincy to -assure their brave, invincible representative of their deep, admiring -sense of obligation to him for his persistent and almost single-handed -defence of the sacred right of petition on the floor of Congress. - -Mr. Pierpont’s next was a _tocsin_ in deed as well as in name. He -was impelled to strike his lyre by the alarm he justly felt at the -tidings from Alton of the destruction of Mr. Lovejoy’s antislavery -printing-office, and the murder of the devoted proprietor. His -indignation was roused yet more by the burning of “Pennsylvania Hall” -in Philadelphia, and the shameful fact that at the same time, 1838, -no church or decent hall could be obtained in Boston for “love or -money,” in which to hold an antislavery meeting; but we were compelled -to resort to an inconvenient and insufficient room over the stable of -Marlborough Hotel. - -His next powerful effusion was _The Gag_, a caustic and scathing -satire upon the Hon. C. G. Atherton, of New Hampshire, for his base -attempt in the House of Representatives at Washington to put an entire -stop to any discussion of the subject of slavery. - -His next piece was _The Chain_, a most touching comparison of the -wrongs and sufferings of the slaves with other evils that injured men -have been made to endure. - -Then followed _The Fugitive Slave’s Apostrophe to the North Star_, -which showed how deeply he sympathized with the many hundreds of our -countrymen who, to escape from slavery, had toiled through dismal -swamps, thick-set canebrakes, deep rivers, tangled forests, alone, by -night, hungry, almost naked and penniless, guided only by the steady -light of the polar star, which some kind friend had taught them to -distinguish, and had assured them would be an unerring leader to a -land of liberty. They who have heard the narratives of such as have -so escaped need not be told that Mr. Pierpont must have had the tale -poured through his ear into his generous heart.[M] - -But of all our American poets, John G. Whittier has from first to last -done most for the abolition of slavery. All my antislavery brethren, -I doubt not, will unite with me to crown him our laureate. From 1832 -to the close of our dreadful war in 1865 his harp of liberty was never -hung up. Not an important occasion escaped him. Every significant -incident drew from his heart some pertinent and often very impressive -or rousing verses. His name appears in the first volume of _The -Liberator_, with high commendations of his poetry and his character. -As early as 1831 he was attracted to Mr. Garrison by sympathy with his -avowed purpose to abolish slavery. Their acquaintance soon ripened into -a heartfelt friendship, as he declared in the following lines, written -in 1833:-- - - “Champion of those who groan beneath - Oppression’s iron hand: - In view of penury, hate, and death, - I see thee fearless stand. - Still bearing up thy lofty brow, - In the steadfast strength of truth, - In manhood sealing well the vow - And promise of thy youth. - - * * * * * - - “I love thee with a brother’s love; - I feel my pulses thrill, - To mark thy spirit soar above - The cloud of human ill. - My heart hath leaped to answer thine, - And echo back thy words, - As leaps the warrior’s at the shine - And flash of kindred swords! - - * * * * * - - “Go on--the dagger’s point may glare - Amid thy pathway’s gloom,-- - The fate which sternly threatens there - Is glorious martyrdom! - Then onward with a martyr’s zeal; - And wait thy sure reward, - When man to man no more shall kneel, - And God alone be Lord!” - -Mr. Whittier proved the sincerity of these professions. He joined -the first antislavery society and became an active official. -Notwithstanding his dislike of public speaking, he sometimes lectured -at that early day, when so few were found willing to avow and advocate -the right of the enslaved to immediate liberation from bondage -without the condition of removal to Liberia. Mr. Whittier attended -the convention at Philadelphia in December, 1833, that formed the -American Antislavery Society. He was one of the secretaries of that -body, and a member, with Mr. Garrison, of the committee appointed to -prepare the “Declaration of our Sentiments and Purposes.” Although, -as I have elsewhere stated, Mr. Garrison wrote almost every sentence -of that admirable document just as it now stands, yet I well remember -the intense interest with which Mr. Whittier scrutinized it, and how -heartily he indorsed it. - -In 1834, by his invitation I visited Haverhill, where he then resided. -I was his guest, and lectured under his auspices in explanation and -defence of our abolition doctrines and plans. Again the next year, -after the mob spirit had broken out, I went to Haverhill by his -invitation, and he shared with me in the perils which I have described -on a former page. - -In January, 1836, Mr. Whittier attended the annual meeting of the -Massachusetts Antislavery Society, and boarded the while in the -house where I was living. He heard Dr. Follen’s great speech on that -occasion, and came home so much affected by it that, either that night -or the next morning, he wrote those “Stanzas for the Times,” which are -among the best of his productions:-- - - “Is this the land our fathers loved, - The freedom which they toiled to win? - Is this the soil whereon they moved? - Are these the graves they slumber in? - Are _we_ the sons by whom are borne - The mantles which the dead have worn? - - “And shall we crouch above these graves - With craven soul and fettered lip? - Yoke in with marked and branded slaves, - And tremble at the driver’s whip? - Bend to the earth our pliant knees, - And speak but as our masters please? - - * * * * * - - “Shall tongues be mute when deeds are wrought - Which well might shame extremest hell? - Shall freemen lock the indignant thought? - Shall Pity’s bosom cease to swell? - Shall Honor bleed? Shall Truth succumb? - Shall pen and press and soul be dumb? - - “No;--by each spot of haunted ground, - Where Freedom weeps her children’s fall,-- - By Plymouth’s rock and Bunker’s mound,-- - By Griswold’s stained and shattered wall,-- - By Warren’s ghost,--by Langdon’s shade,-- - By all the memories of our dead! - - * * * * * - - “By all above, around, below, - Be our indignant answer,--NO!” - -I can hardly refrain from giving my readers the whole of these stanzas. -But I hope they all are, or will at once make themselves, familiar with -them. As I read them now, they revive in my bosom not the memory only, -but the glow they kindled there when I first pored over them. Then his -lines entitled “Massachusetts to Virginia,” and those he wrote on the -adoption of Pinckney’s Resolution, and the passage of Calhoun’s Bill, -excluding antislavery newspapers and pamphlets and letters from the -United States Mail,--indeed, all his antislavery poetry helped mightily -to keep us alive to our high duties, and fired us with holy resolution. -Let our laureate’s verses still be said and sung throughout the land, -for if the portents of the day be true, our conflict with the enemies -of liberty, the oppressors of humanity, is not yet ended. - - -PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR. - -If the enslaved millions of our countrymen had been white, the task -of emancipating them would have been a light one. But as only colored -persons were to be seen in that condition, and they were ignorant -and degraded, and as all of that complexion, with rare exceptions, -even in the free States, were poor, uneducated, and held in servile -relations, or engaged in only menial employments, it had come to be -taken for granted that they were fitted only for such things. It -was confidently assumed that they belonged to an _inferior race_ of -beings, somewhere between monkey and man; that they were made by the -Creator for our service, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water; and -pious ministers, and some who were reputed to be wise in the sacred -Scriptures, gave their sanction to the arrogant assumption by proving -(to those who were anxious to believe) that negroes were descendants -from the impious son of Noah, whom that patriarch cursed, and in his -wrath decreed that his posterity should be the lowest of servants. - -Our opponents gave no heed to the glaring facts, that the colored -people were not permitted to rise from their low estate, were _held -down_ by our laws, customs, and contemptuous treatment. Not only were -they prevented from engaging in any of the lucrative occupations, but -they were denied the privileges of education, and hardly admitted to -the houses dedicated to the worship of the impartial Father of all men. - -I have given in early numbers of this series a full account of the -fight we had in defence of the Canterbury School in Connecticut. More -than a year before that, a number of well-qualified young men having -been refused admission into Yale College and the Wesleyan Seminary at -Middletown, _because of their complexion_, the Rev. Simeon S. Jocelyn, -one of the best of men, generously assisted by Arthur Tappan and his -brother Lewis Tappan, and others, endeavored to establish in New Haven -an institution for the collegiate education of colored young men. The -benevolent project was so violently opposed by “the most respectable -citizens” of the place, Hon. Judge Daggett among them, that it was -abandoned. A year or two afterwards the trustees of “Noyes Academy,” in -Plymouth, New Hampshire, after due consideration, consented to allow -colored pupils to be admitted into the academy. The respectable people -of the town were so incensed, enraged by this encroachment upon the -prerogative of white children, that, readily helped by the rougher -but not baser sort of folks, they razed the building in which the -school was kept from its foundation and carted it off into a meadow -or swamp. In none of our cities, that I was acquainted with before -the antislavery reform commenced, were colored children admitted into -the “common schools” with white children. Hon. Horace Mann and his -fellow-laborers in the cause of humanity, as well as education, put -this injustice to shame in Massachusetts, if not elsewhere, and the -doors of all public schools were opened to the young, without regard to -complexion. - -But this was not the utmost of the contempt with which colored -people were treated. They were not permitted to ride in any public -conveyances, stage-coaches, omnibuses, or railroad-cars, nor to take -passage on any steamboats or sail-packets, excepting in the steerage -or on deck. Many instances of extreme suffering, as well as great -inconvenience and expense, to which worthy, excellent colored persons -were subjected came to the knowledge of Abolitionists, and were pressed -upon the public consideration, until the crying iniquity was abated. - -And still there was a deeper depth to the wrong we did to these -innocent victims of prejudice. In all our churches they were set -apart from the white brethren, often in pews or pens, built high up -against the ceiling in the corners back of the congregation, so that -the favored ones who came to worship the “_impartial_ Father” of -all men might not be offended at the sight of those to whom in his -_inscrutable_ wisdom he had given a dark complexion. - -There was quite an excitement caused in the Federal Street Church in -1822 or 1823, because one of the very wealthy merchants of Boston -introduced into his pew in the broad aisle, one Sunday, a black -gentleman. To be sure he was richly dressed, and had a handsome person, -but he was black,--very black. - - “That Sunday’s sermon all was lost, - The very text forgot by most.” - -The refined and sensitive were much disturbed, offended, felt that -their sacred rights had been invaded. They upbraided their neighbor -for having so egregiously violated the propriety of the sacred place, -and given their feelings such a shock. “Why,” said the merchant, “what -else could I do? That man, though black, is, as you must have seen, -a gentleman. He is well educated, of polished manners. He comes from -a foreign country a visitor to our city. He has long been a business -correspondent of mine.” “Then he is very rich.” “Why, bless you, he is -worth a million. How could I send such a gentleman up into the negro -pew?” - -In 1835, if I remember correctly, a wealthy and pious colored man -bought a pew on the floor of Park Street Church. It caused great -disturbance. Some of his neighbors nailed up the door of his pew; and -so many of “the aggrieved brethren” threatened to leave the society, if -they could not be relieved of such an offence, that the trustees were -obliged to eject the colored purchaser. Another of the churches[N] of -Boston, admonished by the above-mentioned occurrence, inserted in their -_pew-deeds_ a clause, providing that they should “_be held by none but -respectable white persons_.” - -Belonging to the society to which I ministered in Connecticut was a -very worthy colored family. They were condemned to sit only in the -negro pew, which was as far back from the rest of the congregation -as it could be placed. Being blessed with a numerous family, as the -children grew up they were uncomfortably crowded in that pew. Our -church occupied the old meeting-house, which was somewhat larger than -we needed, so that the congregation were easily accommodated on the -lower floor. Only the choir sat in the gallery, except on extraordinary -occasions. I therefore invited my colored parishioners to occupy one of -the large, front pews in the side-gallery. They hesitated some time, -lest their doing so should give offence. But I insisted that none -would have any right to be offended, and at length persuaded them to -do as I requested. But one man, a political partisan of the leader of -Miss Crandall’s persecutors, was or pretended to be much offended. He -said with great warmth, “How came that nigger family to come down into -that front pew?” “Because,” I replied, “it was unoccupied; they were -uncomfortably crowded in the pew assigned them, and I requested them to -remove.” “Well,” said he, “there are many in the society besides myself -who will not consent to their sitting there.” “Why?” I asked. “They are -always well dressed, well behaved, and good-looking withal.” “But,” -said he, “they are niggers, and niggers should be kept to their place.” -I argued the matter with him till I saw he could not be moved, and he -repeated the declaration that they should be driven back. I then said, -with great earnestness: “Mr. A. B., if you do anything or say anything -to hurt the feelings of that worthy family, and induce them to return -to the pew which you know is not large enough for them, so sure as your -name is A. B. and my name is S. J. M., the first time you afterwards -appear in the congregation, I will state the facts of the case exactly -as they are, and administer to you as severe a reproof as I may be able -to frame in words.” This had the desired effect. My colored friends -retained their new seat. - -To counteract as much as possible the effect of this cruel prejudice, -of which I have given a few specimens, we Abolitionists gathered up and -gave to the public the numerous evidences that were easily obtained -of the intellectual and moral equality of the colored with the white -races of mankind. Mrs. Child, in her admirable “Appeal,” devoted two -excellent chapters to this purpose. The Hon. Alexander H. Everett -also, in 1835, delivered in Boston a lecture on “African Mind,” in -which he showed, on the authority of the fathers of history, that -the colored races of men were the leaders in civilization. He said: -“While Greece and Rome were yet barbarous, we find the ‘_light of -learning and improvement_ emanating from them,’ the inhabitants of the -degraded and accursed continent of Africa,--out of the very midst of -this woolly-haired, flat-nosed, thick-lipped, coal-black race which -some persons are tempted to station at a pretty low intermediate point -between men and monkeys.” Again he said: “The high estimation in which -the Africans were held for wisdom and virtue is strikingly shown by the -mythological fable, current among the ancient Greeks, and repeatedly -alluded to by Homer, which represented the Gods as going annually in -a body to make a long visit to the Ethiopians.” Referring my readers -to Mrs. Child’s chapters, and Mr. Everett’s oration on this subject, I -will give a few of my own recollections of facts going to establish the -natural equality of our colored brethren. - -Since the admission of their children to the public schools, a fair -proportion of them have shown themselves to be fully equal to white -children in their aptness to learn. And surely no one who is acquainted -with them will presume to speak of the inferiority of such men as -Frederick Douglass, Henry H. Garnett, Samuel R. Ward, Charles L. -Remond, William Wells Brown, J. W. Loguen, and many more men and women -who have been our faithful and able fellow-laborers in the antislavery -cause.[O] - -But I have, recorded in my memory, many touching evidences of the -_moral_ equality, if not superiority, of the colored race. Let -me premise these recollections by stating the general fact that, -notwithstanding the serious disadvantages to which our prejudices have -subjected them, the colored population of our country have nowhere -imposed upon the public their proportion of paupers or of criminals. In -this respect they are excelled only by the Quakers and the Jews. - -I shall always remember with great pleasure once meeting the Rev. -Dr. Tuckerman in Tremont Street, in 1835. He hurried towards me, his -countenance beaming with a delight which only such a benevolent heart -as his could give to the human countenance, saying: “O Brother May, I -have a precious fact for you Abolitionists. Never in all my intercourse -with the poor, or indeed with any class of my fellow-beings, have -I met with a brighter instance of true, self-sacrificing Christian -benevolence than lately in the case of a poor _colored_ woman. Two -colored women, not related, have been living for several years on the -same floor in a tenement-house, each having only a common room and a -small bedroom. Each of them was getting a living for herself and a -young child by washing and day-labor. They had managed to subsist, -earning about enough to meet current expenses. Several months ago one -of them was taken very sick with inflammatory rheumatism. All was -done for her relief that medical skill could do, but without avail. -She grew worse rather than better, until she became utterly helpless. -The overseers of the poor made the customary provision for her, and -benevolent individuals helped her privately. But it came to be a case -for an infirmary. The overseers and others thought best to remove her -to the almshouse. When this decision was made known to her she became -much distressed. The thought of going to the poorhouse--of becoming a -public pauper--was dreadful to her. We tried to reconcile her to what -seemed to us the best provision that could be made for her, not only -by assuring her that she would be kindly cared for, but by reminding -her that she had been brought to her condition, as we believed, by no -fault of her own, and by such considerations as our blessed religion -suggests. But she could not be comforted. We left her, trusting that -private reflection would in a few days bring her to acquiesce in what -seemed to be inevitable. In due time I called again to learn if she was -prepared for her removal to the almshouse. I found her not in her own -but in her generous-hearted neighbor’s room. Thither had been removed -all her little furniture. So deep was that neighbor’s sympathy with -her feeling of shame and humiliation at becoming a public pauper,--an -inmate of the almshouse,--that she had determined to take upon herself -the care and support of this sick, infirm, helpless woman, and had -subjected herself to all the inconvenience of an over-crowded room, as -well as the great additional labor and care which she had thus assumed.” - -Whatever Dr. Tuckerman thought, or we may think, of the -unreasonableness of the poor helpless invalid’s dread of the almshouse, -or of the _imprudence_ of her poor friend in undertaking to support -and nurse her, we cannot help admiring, as he did, that ardor of -benevolence which impelled to such a labor of loving-kindness, and -pronounce it a very rare instance of self-sacrificing charity. Let it -redound as it should to the credit of that portion of the human race -which our nation has so wickedly dared to despise and oppress. - -I have several more precious recollections of elevated moral sentiment -and principle evinced by black men and women whom I have known. Two of -these I will give. - -It was my privilege to see much of Edward S. Abdy, Esq., of England, -during his visit to our country in 1833 and 1834. The first time I met -him was at the house of Mr. James Forten, of Philadelphia, in company -with two other English gentlemen, who had come to the United States -commissioned by the British Parliament to examine our systems of prison -and penitentiary discipline. Mr. Abdy was interested in whatsoever -affected the welfare of man, but he was more particularly devoted to -the investigation of slavery. He travelled extensively in our Southern -States and contemplated with his own eyes the manifold abominations -of our American despotism. He was too much exasperated by our tyranny -to be enamored of our democratic institutions; and on his return to -England he published two very sensible volumes, that were so little -complimentary to our nation that our booksellers thought it not worth -their while to republish them. - -This warm-hearted philanthropist visited me several times at my home -in Connecticut. The last afternoon that he was there we were sitting -together at my study window, when our attention was arrested by a -very handsome carriage driving up to the hotel opposite my house. A -gentleman and lady occupied the back seat, and on the front were two -children tended by a black woman, who wore the turban that was then -usually worn by slave-women. We hastened over to the hotel, and soon -entered into conversation with the slaveholder. He was polite, but -somewhat nonchalant and defiant of our sympathy with his victim. He -readily acknowledged, as slaveholders of that day generally did, that, -abstractly considered, the enslavement of fellow-men was a great wrong. -But then he contended that it had become a necessary evil,--necessary -to the enslaved no less than to the enslavers, the former being unable -to do without masters as much as the latter were unable to do without -servants, and he added, in a very confident tone, “You are at liberty -to persuade our servant-woman to remain here if you can.” - -Thus challenged, we of course sought an interview with the slave, and -informed her that, having been brought by her master into the free -States, she was, by the laws of the land, set at liberty. “No, I am -not, gentlemen,” was her prompt reply. We adduced cases and quoted -authorities to establish our assertion that she was free. But she -significantly shook her head, and still insisted that the examples -and the legal decisions did not reach her case. “For,” said she, “I -promised mistress that I would go back with her and the children.” Mr. -Abdy undertook to argue with her that such a promise was not binding. -He had been drilled in the moral philosophy of Dr. Paley, and in that -debate seemed to be possessed of its spirit. But he failed to make any -visible impression upon the woman. She had _bound_ herself by a promise -to her mistress that she would not leave her, and that promise had -fastened upon her conscience an obligation from which she could not be -persuaded that even her natural right to liberty could exonerate her. -Mr. Abdy at last was impatient with her, and said in his haste: “Is -it possible that you do not wish to be free?” She replied with solemn -earnestness: “Was there ever a slave that did not wish to be free? I -long for liberty. I will get out of slavery if I can the day after I -have returned, but go back I must because I _promised_ that I would.” -At this we desisted from our endeavor to induce her to take the boon -that was apparently within her reach. We could not but feel a profound -respect for that moral sensibility, which would not allow her to -embrace even her freedom at the expense of violating a promise. - -The next morning at an early hour the slaveholder, with his wife and -children, drove off, leaving the slave-woman and their heaviest trunk -to be brought on after them in the stage-coach. We could not refrain -from again trying to persuade her to remain and be free. We told her -that her master had given us leave to persuade her, if we could. She -pointed to the trunk and to a very valuable gold watch and chain, which -her mistress had committed to her care, and insisted that fidelity to a -trust was of more consequence to her soul even than the attainment of -liberty. Mr. Abdy offered to take the trunk and watch into his charge, -follow her master, and deliver them into his hands. But she could not -be made to see that in this there would be no violation of her duty; -and then her own person, that too she had promised should be returned -to the home of her master. And much as she longed for liberty, she -longed for a clear conscience more. - -Mr. Abdy was astonished, delighted, at this instance of heroic virtue -in a poor, ignorant slave. He packed his trunk, gave me a hearty adieu, -and when the coach drove up he took his seat on the outside with the -trunk and the slave-chattel of a Mississippi slaveholder, that he might -study for a few hours more the morality of that strong-hearted woman -who could not be bribed to violate her promise, even by the gift of -liberty. It was the last time I saw Mr. Abdy, and it was a sight to be -remembered,--he, an accomplished English gentleman, a Fellow of Oxford -or Cambridge University, riding on the driver’s box of a stage-coach -side by side with an American slave-woman, that he might learn more of -her history and character. - - “Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, - The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear; - Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, - And waste its sweetness on the desert air.” - -In this connection I must be allowed to narrate an incident (though not -an antislavery one), because it may interest my readers generally, and, -should it come to the notice of any of my English friends, may lead to -the return of a valuable manuscript which I wish very much to recover. - -I had been for several years in possession of a letter of seven pages -in the handwriting of General Washington, given me by a lady who -obtained it in Richmond, Va. It was a letter addressed to Mr. Custis -in 1794, while Washington was detained in Philadelphia in attendance -upon his duties as President. He had left Mr. Custis in charge of his -estates at Mount Vernon. The letter was one of particular instructions -as to the management of “the people” and the disposition of the crops. -It showed how exact were the business habits of that great man, and his -anxiety that his slaves should be properly cared for. - -Mr. Abdy read it and reread it with the deepest interest, and seemed -to me to covet the possession of it. Just as he was about to take his -departure I longed to give him something that he would value as a -memento of his visit to me. There was nothing I could think of at the -moment but the letter, so I put it into his hand, saying, “Keep it as -my parting token of regard for you.” “What!” said he, seizing it with -surprise as well as delight, “will you give me this invaluable relic?” -“Yes,” I replied; “there are a great many of General Washington’s -letters in our country, but not many in England. Take it, and show your -countrymen that he was a man of method as well as of might.” - -Some time after he had gone, and the fervor of feeling which impelled -me to the gift had subsided, I began to regret that I had parted with -the letter. There were in it, incidentally given, some traits of the -character of Washington that might not be found elsewhere. It came to -me that such a letter should not have been held or disposed of as my -private property. It belonged rather to the nation. - -A few years afterwards Mr. Abdy died. I learned from an English paper -the fact of his demise and the name of the executor of his estate. -To that gentleman I wrote, described the letter of Washington, the -circumstances under which I had given it to Mr. Abdy, and requested -that, as he had departed this life, the letter might be returned to -me, with my reasons for wishing to possess it again. In due time I -received a very courteous reply from that gentleman, assuring me that -he sympathized with my feelings, and appreciated the propriety of my -reclaiming the letter. But he added that he had searched for it in -vain among Mr. Abdy’s papers, and presumed he had deposited it in the -library of some literary or historical institution, but had left no -intimation as to the disposal of it. - -When in England, in 1859, I inquired for it of the librarian of the -British Museum, and of Dr. William’s Library in Red-cross Street, but -without success. If these lines should meet the eye of any friend in -England who may know, or be able to find, where the valuable autograph -is, I shall be very grateful for the information.[P] - - -A NEGRO’S LOVE OF LIBERTY. - -A year or two after my removal to Syracuse a colored man accosted me in -the street, and asked for a private interview with me on a matter of -great importance. I had repeatedly met him about the city, and supposed -from his appearance that he was a smart, enterprising, free negro. - -At the time appointed he came to my house, and after looking carefully -about to be sure we were alone, he informed me that he was a fugitive -from slavery; that he had resided in our city several years, but nobody -here except his wife knew whence he came, and he was very desirous that -his secret should be kept. - -“I have come,” he continued, “to ask your assistance to enable me to -get my mother out of slavery. I have been industrious, have lived -economically, and have saved three hundred dollars. With this I hope -to purchase my mother, and bring her here to finish her days with -me.” “You say,” I replied, “that you are a fugitive slave; from what -place in the South did you escape?” “From W----, in Virginia,” he -answered. I opened my atlas, and found a town so named in that State. -“What towns are there adjoining or near W----?” I asked. He named -several, enough to satisfy me that he was acquainted with that part of -Virginia. “Well,” said I, “how did you get here?” “By the light of the -north-star,” was his prompt reply. “How did you know anything about -the north-star, and that it would guide you to freedom?” I doubtingly -inquired. “I have _heard_ of a great many Southern slaves who have made -their way into the free States and to Canada by the light of that star, -but I have never before seen one who had done so. I am very desirous -to hear particularly about your escape.” “Well, sir,” said he, “a good -man in W----, a member of the Society of Friends, knowing how much I -longed to be free, pointed out to me the north-star, and showed me how -I might always find it. And he assured me, if I would travel towards -it, that I should at length reach a part of the country where slavery -was not allowed. I need not tell you, sir, how impatient I became -to set off. After a while my master left home to be absent several -days, and the next Saturday night I started with a bundle on my back, -containing a part of the very few clothes I had, and all the food I -could get with my mother’s help, and a little money in my pocket--not -three dollars--that I had been gathering for a long time. The first and -the second nights were pleasant, the stars shone bright, and there was -no moon, so I travelled from the moment it was dark enough to venture -out until the light of day began to appear. Then I found some place -to hide, and there I lay all day until darkness came again. Thus I -travelled night after night, always looking towards the north-star. -Sometimes I lost sight of it in the woods through which I was obliged -to pass, and oh! how glad I was to see it again. Sometimes I had to go -a great ways round to avoid houses and grounds that were guarded by -dogs, or that I feared it would not be safe for me to cross, but still -I kept looking for the star, and turned and travelled towards it when I -could. At other times (thank God, not often) the nights were so cloudy -I could not see, and so was obliged to stay where I had been through -the previous days. O sir, how long those nights did seem! - -“When the food I had brought away in my bundle was all eaten up, I -was forced to call at some houses and beg for something to relieve -my hunger. I was generally treated kindly, for, as I learnt, I had -gotten out of Virginia and Maryland. Still, I did not dare to stop so -soon, but kept on until I reached this place, where I saw many colored -people, evidently as free as the white folks. So I thought it would be -safe to look about for employment here and a home. Here I have been -living seven or eight years; have married a wife, and we have two -children. As I told you at first, I have saved money enough, I believe, -to buy my mother, and I want you, sir, to help me get her here.” - -It cannot be necessary for me to assure my readers that I was deeply -interested in this narrative, which I have repeated so often that I -have kept its essential parts fresh in my memory. But, wishing to test -its truth still further, I asked him what towns he had passed through -in coming from W---- to Syracuse. “O,” said he, “as I travelled at -night and avoided people all I could, and asked few questions of those -I did meet, I learned the names of only a few places through which I -came. I remember M---- and D---- and B----,” and so on, giving the -names of six or eight towns in all. “Ah,” said I, “how did you get to -B----, if you travelled only towards the north-star?” - -“O,” he replied, “I got scared there. I thought the slave-catchers -were after me. I ran for luck. I travelled two nights in the road that -was easiest for me, without caring for anything but to escape. Then, -supposing I had got away from those who were after me, I took to the -north-star again, and that brought me here.” - -The few towns which he named as having passed through after his last -starting-point, I found on the map lying almost directly in the line -running thence due north to this city. - -Being thus assured of the correctness of his story, I began to question -the expediency of his attempting to bring his mother away from her -old home, even if I should be able to get possession of her for him. -“She must be an aged woman by this time,” said I. “You look as if you -were forty years old; she probably is sixty, perhaps nearly or quite -seventy.” - -“It may be so,” he replied; “but she used to be mighty smart and -healthy, and may live a good many years yet, and I want to do what I -can for my mother. I am her only child I believe, and I know she would -be mighty glad to see me again before she dies.” - -“Very true,” I rejoined; “but you have been so long separated she must -have got used to living without you. Like other old slave-women in our -Southern States (_mammies_ or _aunties_, as they are called), I presume -she is pretty kindly treated, and such a change as you propose at her -time of life might make her much less comfortable than she would be to -continue to the last in her accustomed place and condition.” - -“O sir!” he said, with great earnestness, “she is a slave. Every one -in slavery longs to be free. I am sure she would rather suffer a great -deal as a free woman than to live any longer, however comfortably, as a -slave.” - -“Yes,” I replied, with all apparent want of sympathy, “but it will cost -you all the money you have saved, and I fear much more, to buy her and -get her brought on to you here, so that you may then be too poor to -make her comfortable. But your three hundred dollars will enable you to -increase in many ways the comfort of your wife and children. That sum -will go far towards the purchase of a nice little home for them. Now, -do you not owe them quite as much as you do your mother?” “My wife,” he -exclaimed, “is just as anxious as I am to get mother out of slavery. -She is willing to work as hard as I will to make mother comfortable -after we get her here. I am sure we shall not let mother suffer for -anything she may need in her old age. Do, sir, help us get her here, -and you shall see what we will do for her.” Repressing my feelings as -much as possible, I said once more: “But, my good fellow, your mother -is so old she can live but a little while after you have spent your all -and more to get her here. Very likely the excitement and the fatigue -of the journey and the change of the climate will kill her very soon.” -With the deepest emotion and in a most subdued manner, he replied, “No -matter if it does,--buy her, bring her here, and _let her die free_.” -This was irresistible. I seized his hand. “Sanford, you must not think -me as unsympathizing and cold as I have appeared. I have been trying -you, proving you. I am satisfied that you know the value of liberty, -that you hold it above all price. Be assured I will do all in my power -to help you to accomplish your generous, your pious purpose. Nothing -will give me more heartfelt satisfaction than to be instrumental in -procuring the release of your mother and presenting her to you a free -woman.” - -The sequel to my story is sad, but most instructive. It will show -how demoralizing, dehumanizing it has been and must be to hold human -beings, fellow-men, as property, chattels; that, as Cowper wrote long -ago, “it were better to be a slave and wear the chains, than to fasten -them on another.” - -How to compass the purpose which had thus been so forcibly fixed in -my heart required some device. It would not have done for Sanford -himself to have gone for his mother. That would have been like going -into the den of an angry tiger. No sin that a slave could commit was so -unpardonable then, in the estimation of a slaveholder, as running away. - -I did not, until five years afterwards, become acquainted with that -remarkable woman, _Harriet Tubman_, or I might have engaged her -services in the assurance that she would have brought off the old -woman without _paying_ for what belonged to her by an inalienable -right,--_her liberty_. - -I therefore soon determined to intrust the undertaking to John Needles, -of Baltimore, a most excellent man and member of the Society of -Friends. Accordingly, I wrote to him, giving all the particulars of -the case,--the name of the town in Virginia where the slave-woman was -supposed to be still living, usually called Aunt Bess or Old Bess, and -the name of the planter who held her as his chattel. I promised to send -him the three hundred dollars which Sanford had put at my disposal, and -more, if more would be needed, so soon as he should inform me that he -had gotten or could get possession of the woman. - -After six or eight weeks I received a letter, informing me that he -had secured the ready assistance of a very suitable man,--a Quaker, -residing in the town of W----, not far from the plantation on which was -still living the mother of Sanford, an old woman in pretty good health. -But alas! his endeavor to purchase her had been utterly unavailing. He -had approached the business as warily as he knew how to. Yet almost -instantly the truth had been seen by the jealous eyes of the planter, -through the disguise the Quaker had attempted to throw around it. “You -don’t want that old black wench for yourself,” said the master. “She -would be of no use to you. You want to get her for Sanford. And, damn -him, he can’t have her, unless he comes for her himself. And then, I -reckon, I shall let Old Bess have him, and not let him have her. He -may stay here where he belongs, the damned runaway!” No entreaty or -argument the Quaker used seemed to move the master. Even the offer -of two hundred dollars and two hundred and fifty dollars--much more -than the market value of the old woman--was spurned. It was better to -him than money to punish the runaway slave through his disappointed -affections, now that he could not do it by lacerating his back or -putting him in irons. - -I need not attempt to describe the sorrow and vexation of the son thus -wantonly denied the satisfaction of contributing to the comfort of his -mother through the few last days of her life, in which her services -could have been of little or no worth to the tyrant. Nor need I measure -for my readers the vast _moral superiority_ of the poor black man, who -had been the slave, to the rich white man, who had been the master. - - -DISTINGUISHED COLORED MEN. - -I have given above some instances of exalted _moral_ excellence -which greatly increased my regard for colored men,--instances of -self-sacrificing benevolence, of rigid adherence to a promise under the -strongest temptation to break it, and of their inestimable value of -liberty. I wish now to tell of several colored men who have given us -abundant evidences of their mental power and executive ability. - - -DAVID RUGGLES, LEWIS HAYDEN, AND WILLIAM C. NELL. - -David Ruggles first became known to me as a most active, adventurous, -and daring conductor on the underground railroad. He helped six hundred -slaves to escape from one and another of the Southern States into -Canada, or to places of security this side of the St. Lawrence. So -great were the dangers to which he was often exposed, so severe the -labors and hardships he often incurred, and so intense the excitement -into which he was sometimes thrown, that his eyes became seriously -diseased, and he lost entirely the sight of them. For a while he was -obliged to depend for his livelihood upon the contributions of his -antislavery friends, which they gave much more cheerfully than he -received them. Dependence was irksome to his enterprising spirit. So -soon, therefore, as his health, in other respects, was sufficiently -restored, he eagerly inquired for some employment by which, -notwithstanding his blindness, he could be useful to others and gain -a support for himself and family. Having a strong inclination to, and -not a little tact and experience in the curative art, he determined to -attempt the management of a Water-cure Hospital. He was assisted to -obtain the lease of suitable accommodations in or near Northampton, -and conducted his establishment with great skill and good success, I -believe, until his death. - -Lewis Hayden and William C. Nell were active, devoted young colored -men, who, in the early days of our antislavery enterprise, rendered us -valuable services in various ways. The latter--Mr. Nell--especially -assisted in making arrangements for our meetings, gathering important -and pertinent information, and sometimes addressing our meetings -very acceptably. He was always careful in preserving valuable facts -and documents, and grew to be esteemed so highly for his fidelity -and carefulness, that, when the Hon. J. G. Palfrey came to be the -Postmaster of Boston, he appointed W. C. Nell one of his clerks; and, -if I mistake not, he retains that situation to this day. - - -JAMES FORTEN. - -While at the Convention in Philadelphia, in 1833, I became acquainted -with two colored gentlemen who interested me deeply,--Mr. James Forten -and Mr. Robert Purvis. The former, then nearly sixty years of age, was -evidently a man of commanding mind, and well informed. He had for many -years carried on the largest private sail-making establishment in that -city, having at times forty men in his employ, most, if not all of -them, white men. He was much respected by them, and by all with whom he -had any business transactions, among whom were many of the prominent -merchants of Philadelphia. He had acquired wealth, and he lived in as -handsome a style as any one should wish to live. I dined at his table -with several members of the Convention, and two English gentlemen who -had recently come to our country on some philanthropic mission. We -were entertained with as much ease and elegance as I could desire to -see. Of course, the conversation was, for the most part, on topics -relating to our antislavery conflict. The Colonization scheme came -up for consideration, and I shall never forget Mr. Forten’s scathing -satire. Among other things he said: “My great-grandfather was brought -to this country a slave from Africa. My grandfather obtained his own -freedom. My father never wore the yoke. He rendered valuable services -to his country in the war of our Revolution; and I, though then a boy, -was a drummer in that war. I was taken prisoner, and was made to suffer -not a little on board the Jersey prison-ship. I have since lived and -labored in a useful employment, have acquired property, and have paid -taxes in this city. Here I have dwelt until I am nearly sixty years of -age, and have brought up and educated a family, as you see, thus far. -Yet some ingenious gentlemen have recently discovered that I am still -an African; that a continent, three thousand miles, and more, from the -place where I was born, is my native country. And I am advised to go -home. Well, it may be so. Perhaps, if I should only be set on the shore -of that distant land, I should recognize all I might see there, and -run at once to the old hut where my forefathers lived a hundred years -ago.” His tone of voice, his whole manner, sharpened the edge of his -sarcasm. It was irresistible. And the laugh which it at first awakened -soon gave way to an expression, on every countenance, of that ineffable -contempt which he evidently felt for the pretence of the Colonization -Society. At the table sat his excellent, motherly wife, and his lovely, -accomplished daughters,--all with himself somewhat under the ban of -that accursed American prejudice, which is the offspring of slavery. I -learnt from him that their education, evidently of a superior kind, had -cost him very much more than it would have done, if they had not been -denied admission into the best schools of the city. - -Soon after dinner we all left the house to attend a meeting of the -Philadelphia Female Antislavery Society. It was my privilege to escort -one of the Misses Forten to the place of meeting. What was my surprise, -when, on my return to Boston, I learnt that this action of mine had -been noticed and reported at home. “Is it true, Mr. May,” said a lady -to me, “that you walked in the streets of Philadelphia with a colored -girl?” “I did,” was my reply, “and should be happy to do it again. -And I wish that all the white young ladies of my acquaintance were as -sensible, well educated, refined, and handsome withal as Miss Forten.” -This was too bad, and I was set down as one of the incorrigibles. - - -MR. ROBERT PURVIS - -was then an elegant, a brilliant young gentleman, well educated and -wealthy. He was so nearly white that he was generally taken to be so. I -first saw and heard him in our Antislavery Convention in Philadelphia. -I was attracted to him by his fervid eloquence, and was surprised at -the intimation, which fell from his lips, that he belonged to the -proscribed, disfranchised class. Away from the neighborhood of his -birth he might easily have passed as a white man. Indeed, I was told -he had travelled much in stage-coaches, and stopped days and weeks at -Saratoga and other fashionable summer resorts, and mingled, without -question, among the beaux and belles, regarded by the latter as one of -the most attractive of his sex. Robert Purvis, therefore, might have -removed to any part of our country, far distant from Philadelphia, -and have lived as one of the self-styled superior race. But, rather -than forsake his kindred, or try to conceal the secret of his birth, -he magnanimously chose to bear the unjust reproach, the cruel wrongs -of the colored people, although he has been more annoyed, chafed, -exasperated by them than any other one I have ever met with. Indeed, he -seems to have grown more impatient and irascible as the heavy burden of -his people has been lightened. Because all their rights have not been -accorded to them, he sometimes seems to deny that any of their rights -have been recognized. Because the _elective franchise_ is still meanly -withheld from them in some of the States, he will hardly acknowledge -that _slavery_ has been abolished throughout the land,--a glorious -triumph in the cause of humanity, which his own eloquence and pecuniary -contributions have helped to achieve. But we must make the largest -allowance for Mr. Purvis. No man of conscious power and high spirit, -who has not felt the gnawing, rasping, burning of a cruel stigma, can -conceive how hard it is to bear. - - -WILLIAM WELLS BROWN - -has distinguished himself as a diligent agent and able antislavery -lecturer in this country and throughout Great Britain and Ireland. He -has also published books that have been highly creditable to him as an -author. - - -CHARLES LENOX REMOND, - -when quite a young man, became a frequent and effective speaker -in our meetings. In 1838 or 1839 he was appointed an agent of the -Massachusetts Antislavery Society, in which capacity he rendered -abundant and very valuable services. He spent the greater part of the -year 1841 in Great Britain and Ireland. He lectured in many of the -most important places throughout the United Kingdom. Everywhere he drew -large audiences, and was much commended and admired for the pertinence -of his facts, the cogency of his arguments, and the fire of his -eloquence. In _The Liberator_ for November 19, 1841, there was copied -from a Dublin paper a speech which Mr. Remond had then recently made -to a large and most respectable audience in that city. Mr. Garrison -commended it to his readers as “a very eloquent production, worthy of -careful perusal and high commendation. Let those,” he added, “who are -ever disposed to deny the possession of genius, talent, and eloquence -by the colored man read that speech, and acknowledge their meanness and -injustice.” - - -REV. J. W. LOGUEN. - -Soon after I removed to Syracuse, in 1845, I became acquainted with -the Rev. J. W. Loguen, then a school-teacher, and for several years -since minister of the African Methodist Church here. His personal -history is a remarkable one, revealing at times no little force -of character. He was born in Tennessee, the slave of an ignorant, -intemperate, and brutal slaveholder. He witnessed the sale of several -of his mother’s children, her frantic but unavailing resistance, the -horrible scourging she endured without releasing them from her embrace, -and her agonizing grief when they were at last violently torn from -her. Twice he was himself beaten nearly to death,--left bleeding and -senseless, to be comforted and brought back to life by the care of -his fond mother. At last he saw his sister (after a terrible fight -with the ruffian slave-traders to whom she had been sold) subdued, -manacled, and forced away, screaming for her children, imploring at -least that she might have her infant. He could endure his bondage no -longer. He resolved to escape to the land of the free, and there earn -the means and find the way to bring his mother to partake with him of -the blessings of liberty. He took his master’s best horse,--one that -he had trained to do great feats, if required,--and, in company with -another young slave of kindred spirit, also well mounted, he started, -on the night before Christmas, 1834, from the interior of Tennessee, -near Nashville, to go to Canada,--a distance of six hundred miles, -half the way through a slaveholding country. They encountered, as they -expected to do, fearful perils and exhausting hardships. At last they -reached a place of safety, but it was in the dead of a Canadian winter. -Their stock of provisions had long since been exhausted; their money -was all spent; their clothing utterly insufficient; and thus they had -come into a most inhospitable climate, unknowing and unknown, at a -season of the year when little employment was to be had. Undaunted by -this array of appalling circumstances, Mr. Loguen persevered, made -friends, got work, and in the spring of 1837, only three years after -his escape from slavery, had so commended himself to the confidence of -an employer that he was intrusted with a farm of two hundred acres, -near Hamilton, which he was to work on shares. Here, and afterwards -by labor in St. Catharine, he laid up several hundred dollars, and -then removed to Rochester, N. Y. In that city he obtained a situation -as waiter in the best hotel, where, by his aptness and readiness to -serve, he so ingratiated himself with all the boarders and transient -visitors that his perquisites amounted to more than enough to support -him, and being totally abstinent from the use of intoxicating liquors -and tobacco, he was able to lay up all his wages,--thirty dollars a -month. At the expiration of two years he found that, together with -what he had brought from Canada, he was possessed of about nine -hundred dollars. As much of this as might be necessary, he resolved -to expend in the acquisition of knowledge. Ever since his arrival at -the North he had availed himself of all the assistance he could get -to learn to read, and had attained to some proficiency in the art. By -plying this, whenever opportunity offered him the use of books and -newspapers, he had added much to his information. But he longed for -more education,--at least sufficient to enable him to be useful as a -minister of religion, or as a teacher of the children of his people. So -he left his lucrative situation in Rochester, and entered the Oneida -Institute, a manual labor school, then under the excellent management -of Rev. Beriah Green. - -In 1841 Mr. Loguen came to reside in Syracuse, and undertook the duties -of pastor of the “African Methodist Church,” and of school-teacher to -the children of his people. In both these offices he was successful. -And not in these alone. With the help of one of the best of wives, he -has brought up a family of children, and educated them well. He has -established a good, commodious, hospitable home. In it was fitted up an -apartment for fugitive slaves, and, for years before the Emancipation -Act, scarcely a week passed without some one, in his flight from -slavedom to Canada, enjoyed shelter and repose at Elder Loguen’s. By -industry, frugality, and the skilful investment of his property, he has -gained a good estate. He is respected by his fellow-citizens, and has -so risen in the esteem of his Methodist brethren, that within the last -year he has been made a bishop of their order. - - -FREDERICK DOUGLASS. - -I need give but one more example of a colored man of my acquaintance -who has exhibited great intellectual ability as well as moral worth. -And he is one extensively known and admired throughout our country, -Great Britain, and Ireland. Of course I mean Frederick Douglass. His -well-written, intensely interesting autobiography, entitled “My Bondage -and My Freedom,” has probably been read so generally that I need not -attempt any sketch of his life. Suffice it to say he was born a slave -in Maryland. He experienced all the indignities, and suffered most of -the hardships and cruelties, that passionate slaveholders could inflict -upon their bondmen. When about twenty-one years of age he resolved -that he would endure them no longer, and in 1838 he found his way from -Baltimore to New Bedford, the best place, on the whole, to which he -could have gone. There, with his young wife, he commenced the life of -a freeman. The severest toil now seemed light. He worked with a will, -because the avails of his labor were to be his own. Being, as most -colored persons are, religiously inclined, he soon became a member of a -Methodist church, and erelong was appointed a class-leader and a local -preacher. - -While in slavery Mr. Douglass had contrived, in various ingenious ways, -to learn to read and write. So soon, therefore, as he came to live in -Massachusetts, he diligently improved his enlarged opportunities to -acquire knowledge. Erelong he became a subscriber for _The Liberator_, -and week after week made himself master of its contents, in which -he never found a silly or a worthless line. Of course its doctrines -and its purpose were altogether such as his own bitter experience -justified. And the exalted spirit of religious faith and hope, at all -times inspiring the writings and speeches of Mr. Garrison, awakened -in the bosom of Mr. Douglass the assurance that he was “the man,--the -Moses raised up by God to deliver his Israel in America from a worse -than Egyptian bondage.” - -In the summer of 1841 there was a large antislavery convention -held in Nantucket. Mr. Douglass attended it. In the midst of the -meeting, to his great confusion, he was called upon and urged to -address the convention. A number were present from New Bedford who -had heard his exhortations in the Methodist church, and they would -not allow his plea of inability to speak. After much hesitation he -rose, and, notwithstanding his embarrassment, he gave evidence of -such intellectual power--wisdom as well as wit--that all present were -astonished. Mr. Garrison followed him in one of his sublimest speeches. -“Here was a living witness of the justice of the severest condemnation -he had ever uttered of slavery. Here was one ‘every inch a man,’ ay, -a man of no common power, who yet had been held at the South as a -piece of property, a chattel, and had been treated as if he were a -domesticated brute,” &c. - -At the close of the meeting, Mr. John A. Collins, then the general -agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, urgently invited Mr. -Douglass to become a lecturing agent. He begged to be excused. He was -sure that he was not competent to such an undertaking. But Mr. Garrison -and others, who had heard him that day, joined Mr. Collins in pressing -him to accept the appointment. He yielded to the pressure. And, in -less than three years from the day of his escape from slavery, he was -introduced to the people of New England as a suitable person to lecture -them upon the subject that was of more moment than any other to which -the attention of our Republic had ever been called. - -Mr. Douglass henceforth improved rapidly. He applied himself diligently -to reading and study. The number and range of his topics in lecturing -increased and widened continually. He soon became one of the favorite -antislavery speakers. The notoriety which he thus acquired could not be -confined to New England or the Northern States. A murmur of inquiry -came up from Maryland who this man could be. A pamphlet which he felt -called upon to publish in 1845, in answer to the current assertions -that he was an impostor, that he had never been a slave, made it no -longer possible to conceal his personality. The danger of his being -captured and taken back to Maryland was so great that it was thought -advisable he should go to England. Accordingly, he went thither that -year in company with James N. Buffum, one of the truest of antislavery -men, and with the Hutchinson family, the sweetest of singers. - -Although not permitted to go as a cabin passenger, many of the -cabin passengers sought to make his acquaintance and visited him -in the steerage, and invited him to visit them on the saloon-deck. -At length they requested him to give them an antislavery lecture. -This he consented and was about to do, when some passengers who -were slaveholders chose to consider it an insult to them, and were -proceeding to punish him for his insolence; they threatened even to -throw him overboard, and would have done so had not the captain of the -steamer interposed his absolute authority: called his men, and ordered -them to put those disturbers of the peace _in irons_ if they did not -instantly desist. Of course they at once obeyed, and shrank back in the -consciousness that they were under the dominion of a power that had -broken the staff of such oppressors as themselves. - -This incident of the voyage was reported in the newspapers immediately -on the arrival of the vessel at Liverpool, and introduced Mr. Douglass -at once to the British public. He was treated with great attention -by the Abolitionists of the United Kingdom; was invited to lecture -everywhere, and rendered most valuable services to the cause of his -oppressed countrymen. So deeply did he interest the philanthropists of -that country that they paid seven hundred and fifty dollars to procure -from his master a formal, legal certificate of manumission, so that, -on his return to these United States, he would be no longer liable to -be sent back into slavery. They also presented him with the sum of -twenty-five hundred dollars for his own benefit, to be appropriated, -if he should see fit, to the establishment of a weekly paper edited by -himself, which was then his favorite project. - -Soon after his return in 1847 he did establish such a paper at -Rochester and conducted it with ability for several years. He has since -become one of the popular lecturers of our country, and every season -has as many invitations as he cares to accept. He is extensively known -and much respected. Many there are who wish to see him a member of -Congress; and we confidently predict that, if he shall ever be sent -to Washington as a Representative or a Senator, he will soon become a -prominent man in either House. - - -THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. - -Everybody has heard of the Underground Railroad. Many have read of its -operations who have been puzzled to know where it was laid, who were -the conductors of it, who kept the stations, and how large were the -profits. As the company is dissolved, the rails taken up, the business -at an end, I propose now to tell my readers about it. - -There have always been scattered throughout the slaveholding States -individuals who have abhorred slavery, and have pitied the victims -of our American despotism. These persons have known, or have taken -pains to find out, others at convenient distances northward from their -abodes who sympathized with them in commiserating the slaves. These -sympathizers have known or heard of others of like mind still farther -North, who again have had acquaintances in the free States that they -knew would help the fugitive on his way to liberty. Thus, lines of -friends at longer or shorter distances were formed from many parts -of the South to the very borders of Canada,--not very straight lines -generally, but such as the fleeing bondmen might pass over safely, if -they could escape their pursuers until they had come beyond the second -or third stage from their starting-point. Furnished at first with -written “passes,” as from their masters, and afterwards with letters -of introduction from one friend to another, we had reason to believe -that a large proportion of those who, in this way, attempted to escape -from slavery were successful. Twenty thousand at least found homes in -Canada, and hundreds ventured to remain this side of the Lakes. - -So long ago as 1834, when I was living in the eastern part of -Connecticut, I had fugitives addressed to my care. I helped them on to -that excellent man, Effingham L. Capron, in Uxbridge, afterwards in -Worcester, and he forwarded them to secure retreats. - -Ever after I came to reside in Syracuse I had much to do as a -station-keeper or conductor on the Underground Railroad, until -slavery was abolished by the Proclamation of President Lincoln, and -subsequently by the according Acts of Congress. Fugitives came to me -from Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana. They came, -too, at all hours of day and night, sometimes comfortably,--yes, and -even handsomely clad, but generally in clothes every way unfit to be -worn, and in some instances too unclean and loathsome to be admitted -into my house. Once in particular, a most squalid mortal came to my -back-door with a note that he had been a passenger on the Underground -Railroad. “O Massa,” said he, “I’m not fit to come into your house.” -“No,” I replied, “you are not now, but soon shall be.” So I stepped in -and got a tub of warm water, with towels and soap. He helped me with -them into the barn. “There,” said I, “give yourself a thorough washing, -and throw every bit of your clothing out upon the dung-hill.” He set -about his task with a hearty good-will. I ran back to the house and -brought out to him a complete suit of clean clothes from a deposit -which my kind parishioners kept pretty well supplied. He received each -article with unspeakable thankfulness. But the clean white shirt, with -a collar and stock, delighted him above measure. He tarried with me a -couple of days. I found him to be a man of much natural intelligence, -but utterly ignorant of letters. He had had a hard master, and he went -on his way to Canada exulting in his escape from tyranny. - -In contrast with this specimen, my eldest son, late one Saturday night, -came up from the city, and as he opened the parlor-door, said, “Here, -father, is another living epistle to you from the South,” and ushered -in a fine-looking, well-dressed young man. I took his hand to make him -sure of a welcome. “But this,” said I, “is not the hand of one who -has been used to doing hard work. It is softer than mine.” “No, sir,” -he replied, “I have not been allowed to do work that would harden my -hands. I have been the slave of a very wealthy planter in Kentucky, -who kept me only to drive the carriage for mistress and her daughters, -to wait upon them at table, and accompany them on their journeys. I -was not allowed even to groom the horses, and was required to wear -gloves when I drove them.” Perceiving that he used good language -and pronounced it properly, I said, “You must have received some -instruction. I thought the laws of the slave States sternly prohibited -the teaching of slaves.” “They do, sir,” he replied, “but my master -was an easy man in that respect. My young mistresses taught me to read, -and got me books and papers from their father’s library. I have had -much leisure time, and I have improved it.” In further conversation -with him I found that he was quite familiar with a considerable number -of the best American and English authors, both in poetry and prose. -“If you had such an easy time, and were so much favored, why,” I -asked, “did you run away?” “O, sir,” he replied, “slavery at best is -a bitter draught. Under the most favored circumstances it is bondage -and degradation still. I often writhed in my chains, though they sat -so lightly on me compared with most others. I was often on the point -of taking wings for the North, but then the words of Hamlet would come -to me, ‘Better to bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we -know not of,’ and I should have remained with my master had it not -been that I learned, a few weeks ago, that he was about to sell me -to a particular friend of his, then visiting him from New Orleans. I -suspected this evil was impending over me from the notice the gentleman -took of me and the kind of questions he asked me. - -“At length, one of my young mistresses, who knew my dread of being -sold, came to me and, bursting into tears, said, ‘Harry, father is -going to sell you.’ She put five dollars into my hand and went weeping -away. With that, and with much more money that I had received from -time to time, and saved for the hour of need, I started that night -and reached the Ohio River before morning. I immediately crossed to -Cincinnati and hurried on board a steamer, the steward of which was -a black man of my acquaintance. He concealed me until the boat had -returned to Pittsburg. There he introduced me to a gentleman that he -knew to be a friend of us colored folks. That gentleman sent me to a -friend in Meadville, and he directed me to come to you.” “Well,” said -I, “Harry, if you are a good coachman and waiter withal, I can get you -an excellent situation in this city, which will enable you to live -comfortably until you shall have become acquainted with our Northern -manners and customs, and have found some better business.” “O,” he -hastily replied, “thank you, sir, but I should not dare to stop this -side of Canada. My master, though he was kind to me, is a proud and -very passionate man. He will never forgive me for running away. He has -already advertised me, offering a large reward for my apprehension and -return to him. I should not be beyond his reach here. I must go to -Canada.” He tarried with us until Monday afternoon, when I sent him to -Oswego with a letter of introduction to a gentleman in Kingston, and a -few days afterwards heard of his safe arrival there. - -Not long after, I one day saw a young lady, of fine person and -handsomely dressed, coming up our front steps. She inquired for me, -and was ushered into my study. A blue veil partly concealed her face -and a pair of white gloves covered her hands. On being assured that I -was Mr. S. J. May she said, “I have come to you, sir, as a friend of -colored people and of slaves.” “Is it possible,” I replied, “that you -are one of that class of my fellow-beings?” She removed her veil, and a -slight tinge in her complexion revealed the fact that she belonged to -the proscribed race,--a beautiful octoroon. “But where were you ever -a slave?” I asked. “In New Orleans, sir. My master, who, I believe, -was also my father, is concerned in a line of packet steamers that ply -between New Orleans and Galveston. He has, for several years past, kept -me on board one of his boats as the chamber-maid. This was rather an -easy and not a disagreeable situation. I was with the lady passengers -most of the time, and by my close attentions to them, especially when -they were sea-sick, I conciliated many. They often made me presents -of money, clothes, and trinkets. And, what was better than all, they -taught me to read. At each end of the route I had hours and days of -leisure, which I improved as best I could. The thought that I was a -slave often tormented me. But, as in other respects I was comfortable, -I might have continued in bondage, had I not found out that my master -was about to sell me to a dissolute young man for the vilest of -purposes. I at once looked about for a way of escape. Being so much of -the time among the shipping at New Orleans, I had learnt to distinguish -the vessels of different nations. So I went to one that I saw was an -English ship, on board of which I espied a lady,--the captain’s wife. -I asked if I might come on board. ‘Certainly,’ she replied. Encouraged -by her kind manner, I soon revealed to her my secret and my wish to -escape. She could hardly be persuaded that I was a slave. But when all -doubt on that point was removed, she readily consented to take me with -her to New York. To my unspeakable relief we sailed the next day. The -captain was equally kind. I was able to pay as much as he would take -for my passage, for I had succeeded in getting all the money I had -saved, with much of my clothing, on board the ship the night before she -left New Orleans. On our arrival at New York the captain took pains to -inquire for the Abolitionists. He was directed to Mr. Lewis Tappan, and -took me with him to that good gentleman. Mr. Tappan at once provided -for my safety in that city, and the next day sent me to Mr. Myers, at -Albany, on my way to you.” - -I offered to find a place for her in some one of the best families -in Syracuse; but she was afraid to remain here. She had seen in New -York her master’s advertisement, offering five hundred dollars for her -restoration to him. She was sure there were pursuers on her track. Two -men in the car between Albany and Syracuse had annoyed and alarmed her -by their close observation of her. One had seated himself by her side -and tried to engage her in conversation and look through her veil. At -length he asked her to take off the glove on her left hand. By this -she knew he must have seen the advertisement, that stated, among other -marks by which she might be identified, that one finger on her left -hand was minus a joint. She at once called to the conductor and asked -him to protect her from the impertinent liberties the man was taking -with her. So he gave her another seat by a lady, and she reached our -city without any further molestation, but in great alarm. - -We secreted her several days, until we supposed her pursuers must have -gone on. She occupied herself most of the time by reading, and we -observed that she often was poring over a French book, and on inquiring -learnt that she could read that language about as well as English. -So soon as her fears were sufficiently allayed, I committed her to -the care of one of my good antislavery parishioners who happened to -be going to Oswego. He escorted her thither, saw her safely on board -the steamboat for Kingston, and a few days afterwards I received a -well-written letter from her informing me of her safe arrival, and that -she had obtained a good situation in a pleasant family as children’s -maid. - -I need give my readers but one more specimen of the many passengers -I have conducted on the Underground Railroad. At eleven o’clock one -Saturday night, in the fall of the year, three stalwart negroes came to -my door with “a pass” from a friend in Albany. They were miserably clad -for that season of the year and almost famished with hunger. We gave -them a good, hearty supper, but could not accommodate them through the -night. So at twelve o’clock I sallied forth with them to find a place -or places where they could be safely and comfortably kept, until we -could forward them to Canada. This was not so easily done as it might -have been at an earlier hour. I did not get back to my home until after -two in the morning. The next forenoon, after sermon I made known to -my congregation their destitute condition, and asked for clothes and -money. Before night I received enough of each for the three, and some -to spare for other comers. I need only add, that in due time they were -safely committed to the protection of the British Queen. - -Other friends of the slave in Syracuse were often called upon in -like manner, and sometimes put to as great inconvenience as I was in -the last instance named above. So we formed an association to raise -the means to carry on our operations at this station. And we made an -arrangement with Rev. J. W. Loguen to fit up suitably an apartment in -his house for the accommodation of all the fugitives, that might come -here addressed to either one of us. The charge thus committed to them -Mr. Loguen and his excellent wife faithfully and kindly cared for to -the last. And I more than suspect that the fugitives they harbored, and -helped on their way, often cost them much more than they called upon us -to pay. - -It was natural that I should feel not a little curious, and sometimes -quite anxious, to know how those whom I had helped into Canada were -faring there. So I went twice to see; the first time to Toronto and its -neighborhood, the second time to that part of Canada which lies between -Lake Erie and Lake Huron. I visited Windsor, Sandwich, Chatham, and -Buxton. In each of these towns I found many colored people, most of -whom had escaped thither from slavery in one or another of the United -States. With very few exceptions, I found them living comfortably, -and, without an exception, all of them were rejoicing in their liberty. - -I was particularly interested in the Buxton settlement, called so -in honor of that distinguished English philanthropist, Hon. Fowell -Buxton. It was established by the benevolent enterprise and managed -by the excellent good sense of Rev. William King. This gentleman was -a well-educated Scotch Presbyterian minister. He had come to America -and settled in Mississippi. There he married a lady whose parents soon -after died, leaving him, with his wife, in possession of a considerable -property in slaves. He was ill at ease in such a possession, but, as he -held it in the right of his wife, he did not feel at liberty to do with -it as he would otherwise have done. A few years afterwards she died. -By this dispensation he was made the sole proprietor of the persons of -fifteen of his fellow-beings, and he was brought to feel that the great -purpose of his life should be to deliver them from slavery, and place -them in circumstances under which they might become what God had made -them capable of being. With this purpose at heart he went to Canada. -He purchased nine thousand acres of government land of good quality -and well located, though covered with a dense forest. To this place he -transported, from Mississippi, his fifteen slaves, and gave to each of -them fifty acres. He then offered to sell farms for two dollars and a -half an acre to colored men, who should bring satisfactory testimonials -of good moral character and strictly temperate habits. When I was there -in 1852, about four years after the beginning of his undertaking, there -were ninety families settled in Buxton. Mr. King told me there had not -been a single instance of intoxication or of any disorderly conduct, -and most of them had nearly paid for their farms. - -I spent the whole day with this wise man, this practical -philanthropist, in visiting the settlers at their homes in the woods. -I found them all contented, happy, enterprising. Several of them -confessed to me that they had never suffered such hardships as they -had experienced since they came to live in Canada. The severity of the -cold had sometimes tried them to the utmost, and clearing up their -heavy-timbered lands had been hard work indeed, especially for those -who had been house-servants in Southern cities. But not one of them -looked back with desiring eyes to the leeks and onions of the Egypt -from which they had escaped. They seemed to be sustained and animated -by one of the noblest sentiments that can take possession of the human -soul,--the love of liberty, the determination to be free. They had -cheerfully made sacrifices in this behalf. Like the Pilgrim Fathers of -New England, many of them had fled from the abodes of ease, elegance, -luxury, and sought homes in a wilderness that they might be free. Like -them they counted it all joy to suffer,--perils by land and by water, -travels by night, a flight in the winter, and a life in the wilds -in an inhospitable climate, if by so suffering they might secure to -themselves and their posterity the inestimable boon of liberty. - - -GEORGE LATIMER. - -It must be obvious to my readers that I have not been guided in my -narrative by the order of time, so much as by the relation of events -and actors to one another. My last article had to do in part with -occurrences that happened in 1852. I shall now return to 1842. - -Much to my surprise, in 1842, I was nominated by Hon. Horace Mann, and -appointed by the Massachusetts Board of Education, to succeed Rev. -Cyrus Peirce as Principal of the Normal School then at Lexington. - -At once was heard from various quarters murmurs of displeasure, because -an _Abolitionist_ had been intrusted with the preparation of teachers -for our common schools. Mr. Mann was not a little annoyed. He earnestly -admonished me to beware of giving occasion to those unfriendly to -the school to allege that I was taking advantage of my position to -disseminate my antislavery opinions and spirit. I assured him that I -should not conceal my sentiments and feelings on a subject of such -transcendent importance. But he might depend upon me that I should not -give any time that belonged to the school to any other institution -or enterprise; that I should conscientiously endeavor to discharge -faithfully every one of my duties; but that, as I should not be able -to attend antislavery meetings, or co-operate personally with the -Abolitionists, except perhaps in vacations, I should contribute to -their treasury more money than I had hitherto been able to afford. - -Accordingly, I consecrated every day and every evening of every week -of term time to my duties, so long as I was principal of that school, -excepting only the afternoon and evening of every Saturday. Those hours -I always gave up to some kind of recreation. So much as this about -myself, the readers will soon perceive, is pertinent to the tale now to -be unfolded. - -Some time in the month of October, 1842, an interesting young man, -calling himself George Latimer, made his appearance in Boston. He was -so nearly white that few suspected he belonged to the proscribed class. -But soon afterwards a Mr. Gray, of Norfolk, Virginia, arrived in the -city, and claimed the young man as his slave. At his instigation a -constable arrested Latimer, and the keeper of Leverett Street Jail took -him into confinement. Their only warrant for this assault upon the -liberty of Latimer was a written order from the said Gray. It was as -follows:-- - - “TO THE JAILER OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. - - “SIR,--George Latimer, a negro slave belonging to me, and a - fugitive from my service in Norfolk, in the State of Virginia, - who is now committed to your custody by John Wilson, my agent and - attorney, I request and DIRECT you to hold on my account, at my - costs, until removed by me according to law. - - “JAMES B. GRAY. - - “BOSTON, October 21, 1842.” - -To this high-handed assumption of authority was added an indorsement, -by a young lawyer of Boston, of which the following is a copy:-- - - “BOSTON, October 21, 1842. - - “I hereby promise to pay to the keeper of the jail any sum due him - for keeping the body of said Latimer, on demand. - - “E. G. AUSTIN.” - -With reason were the good people of Boston and the old Commonwealth -aroused, excited, almost maddened with indignation and alarm at this -insolent, daring assault upon the palladium of their liberty. If such -a proceeding should be allowed, no one would be safe, black or white. -Here comes a man from a distant part of our country, an utter stranger -in our city, and arrests another man about as light-complexioned as -himself, claims him as his negro slave, and, without offering any proof -that he had ever held the man in that condition, hands him over to a -common jailer for safe-keeping. This surely could not be borne with. -Some of the colored people to whom Latimer was known first bestirred -themselves. They attempted to get him out of prison by a writ of -_habeas corpus_. Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, the long-tried friend of the -oppressed, always ready to endure obloquy and encounter danger in -their service, assisted by his friend, C. M. Ellis, Esq., earnestly -endeavored to get that writ allowed. They petitioned for it in the -Court at which Chief Justice Shaw was then presiding, and, strange to -say, their petition was denied. That eminent jurist, on the authority -of the United States Court, in the famous Prigg case, gave it as his -opinion, that, by the supreme law of the land, so expounded, the man -Gray had permission to come to Boston and seize the man Latimer (as he -had done), put him into jail or some other place of confinement, and -keep him there until he could have time to bring on proof that he was -his property, and then take him off by the assistance of any persons -he could get to help him. Accordingly, Judge Shaw refused the writ -of _habeas corpus_, and left Latimer in Leverett Street prison. This -action of the chief justice aggravated the public excitement. - -Mr. Gray, alarmed probably by the outcries of indignation that came to -him from so many quarters, brought charges against Latimer of thefts -committed upon his property, both in Norfolk and in Boston, as the -reason for his arrest. If this were true, it was said, he surely should -have proceeded against the criminal, in the ordinary course at common -law, and not under the decision in the Prigg case. But by this step -he got himself into another and graver difficulty. George Latimer, -instructed by his legal advisers, at once commenced the prosecution -of Gray for slander and libel. So the biter, finding he was about to -be bitten, let go this hold upon poor Latimer, and determined to rely -wholly upon the decision of Judge Story of the United States Court, who -was soon to hold a session in Boston. - -But the excitement of the public had spread far and wide, and the tones -of indignation were deeper and louder. An immense meeting was held in -Faneuil Hall. Mr. Sewall presided, and made a full, clear statement -of the case, exhibiting all its odious features. Mr. Edmund Quincy -addressed the meeting with great force; and Mr. Phillips spoke most -effectively. Public meetings on the subject were held in Lynn, Salem, -New Bedford, Worcester, Abington, and in many other large towns. And -petitions were prepared and extensively signed and sent to Congress, -praying that we of the free States might be relieved from such outrages -upon the feelings of the people, and such violations of common law, as -could be perpetrated under the exposition of United States law, given -by the court in the “Prigg case.” Petitions were also prepared and -extensively signed to the Massachusetts Legislature, praying that the -prisons and jails of the Commonwealth might not be used by slaveholders -or their agents for the safe-keeping of their fugitive bondmen when -retaken; and that all sheriffs, constables, police officers of every -grade might be peremptorily forbidden, in any way, to assist in the -capture or return of slaves. - -The sheriff and the deputy sheriff of Suffolk County and the keeper of -Leverett Street Jail were severely censured for the part they had taken -in Mr. Gray’s service. And the sheriff was about to order the release -of Latimer, when negotiations were entered into with Mr. Gray for the -purchase of his victim’s emancipation. Fearing that he might lose all, -he concluded to take a part, and sold him for four hundred dollars, -although he had declared he would not let him go for three times that -sum. - -Wholly engrossed as I was by my duties in the Normal School, I could -not help hearing of the great excitement, and sympathizing with those -who were determined Massachusetts should not be made a hunting-ground -for slaves. At length it was reported that there was to be “_a Latimer -meeting_” at Waltham, five or six miles from Lexington. And lo! a few -days afterwards there came letters from Rev. Samuel Ripley, then the -prominent minister of Waltham, and from his son-in-law, the Rev. -George F. Simmons, who a few years before had been compelled to resign -his pastorate of the Unitarian Church of Mobile, and hastily leave the -city, because he had dared to speak from his pulpit of the evils of -slavery and the duties of those who held their fellow-beings in that -condition. - -Each of those gentlemen cordially invited me, urgently requested me, to -attend the meeting in behalf of George Latimer that was to be held in -their meeting-house, adding that it was appointed on the next Saturday -evening, so as to accommodate the operatives in the factories, who were -not required to work on that evening. - -As I have already said, Saturday evening was my _leisure_ time. Always -on closing school at noon of Saturday, I endeavored to lay aside my -cares with my textbooks, and if possible think no more of school until -Sunday evening, when I never failed to examine the lessons I intended -to teach the next day. It seemed to me that nothing would refresh and -recreate me so much as attending an antislavery meeting, and giving -vent to my pent-up feelings. Then I was the more eager to go to -Waltham, because Mr. Ripley was one of those who had been particularly -severe and satirical in their remarks upon _my_ appointment to the -charge of the Normal School. I really wished to see how he would look, -and act, and speak, under the inspiration of his new-born zeal in -the cause of freedom. So I informed my two devoted assistants, who -needed recreation not less than myself, and who I knew were zealous -Abolitionists, of my intention, and invited them to accompany me. -Almost immediately I received the names of twenty of my pupils who -wished to attend the meeting. Accordingly, I procured two double -sleighs, and we started for Waltham, as I supposed in good season. But -we did not reach the meeting-house until just as the exercises were to -begin. We naturally walked in together without the slightest thought of -making a parade. But on opening the door, we found all the pews filled -excepting the conspicuous ones, on either side of the pulpit. To these, -therefore, we went as quietly as possible, but not without attracting -the notice of the audience, and calling out the remark from more than -one, “There comes Mr. May with his Normal School!” - -Before long I was invited by Rev. Mr. Ripley, who presided, to address -the meeting. I did so for twenty minutes or more, and I have no doubt -that my words and manner, my accents and emphases, showed plainly -enough how deep was my abhorrence of slavery, and how sincerely I -sympathized in the public alarm caused by the high-handed procedure of -the claimant of Latimer and his abettors. - -I returned to Lexington revived, invigorated, knowing that I had -neglected no duty to the school, and utterly unconscious that I had -violated any obligations, expressed or implied by my words, when I -accepted the appointment. But a few days afterwards I received a letter -from Mr. Mann, complaining of what I had done, informing me that I -had given serious offence to several prominent gentlemen of Waltham, -and had lost as a pupil a bright, fine girl who was intending to -enter my school at the beginning of the next term. I replied stating -the circumstances of the case just as I have done above,--that I had -taken no time, withheld no attention, no thought, which was due to the -school; adding that I did not believe any concealment of my sentiments, -or other unreasonable concessions to the prejudices of the proslavery -portion of the community, would conciliate them. But, as it seemed my -understanding of my duties differed so much from his, I thought it best -for me to retire from the position; and therefore I tendered him my -resignation. This he would not communicate to the Board, and requested -me to withdraw it. I did so. But scarcely a month had elapsed before it -was announced in the newspapers that I was to deliver one in a course -of antislavery lectures in Boston, without stating, as I had requested, -that it would be given _during my vacation_. This brought a still more -earnest remonstrance from Mr. Mann, showing how hard pressed he was -on every side by the conflicting influences, in the midst of which -he was striving so nobly to infuse into our common schools the right -spirit, and to establish our system of public instruction upon the -true principles of human development and culture. In this instance he -was more easily satisfied that I had not departed from even the letter -of our agreement, though I have no doubt he wished I would keep my -antislavery zeal in abeyance through my vacations, as well as in term -time. - -I have given this recollection, that my readers may be more fully -informed to what extent the so-called free States of our Union, -not excepting Massachusetts, were permeated by the spirit of the -slaveholders, or rather by the disposition to acquiesce in their most -overbearing demands. - -Let it not, however, for a moment be inferred, from what I have -related, that Horace Mann was ever willing, for any consideration, to -abandon the rights of the enslaved to the will of their oppressors, and -suffer the dominion of slaveholders to be extended over the whole of -our country. Far otherwise. A few years after the arrest of Latimer, -Mr. Mann became a member of Congress; and there he uttered some of the -boldest words for freedom and humanity ever heard in our Capitol. As he -assured his constituents, in convention at Dedham on the 6th November, -1850, “with voice and vote, by expostulation and by remonstrance, by -all means in his power, to the full extent of his ability, he resisted -the passage of all the laws” proposed in Mr. Clay’s Omnibus Bill, -especially the one respecting fugitives from slavery. He emphatically -declared that “he regarded the question of human freedom, with all the -public and private consequences dependent upon it, both now and in all -futurity, as first, foremost, chiefest among all the questions that -have been before the government, or are likely to be before it.” - -But in 1842 Mr. Mann could not foresee, nor be persuaded to apprehend, -that the senators and representatives of the Southern States would -become audacious enough in 1850 to demand that the people of the free -States should do for them the work of slave-catchers and bloodhounds. -And he was, at that time, so intent upon his great undertaking for -the improvement of our common schools, that he thought it our duty to -repress our interest in every other reform that was unpopular. - - -THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. - -He who knew so well what is in man said: “The children of this world -are wiser towards their generation than the children of light.” And -certainly the slaveholders of our country and their partisans have -been incomparably more vigilant in watching for whatever might affect -the stability of their “peculiar institution,” and far more adroit in -devising measures, and resolute in pressing them to the maintenance and -extension of _Slavery_, than their opponents have been in behalf of -_Liberty_. - -Slave labor has ever been found wasteful and exhaustive of the soil -from which it has taken the crops. Therefore, it used to be a common -saying, “the Southern planter needs all the lands that join his -estate.” Ample as was the territory of that portion of the United -States in which slavery was established, the “barons of the South” -early looked beyond their borders for new acquisitions of land. Partly -to gratify their cupidity, the immense tract of land between the -Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, with the valley of the Columbia -River, was purchased by our Federal Government in 1803. Sixteen years -afterwards Florida was given them. And then they began to turn their -desiring eyes upon the rich and fertile plains of Texas. They gained -admission to these by an artifice worthy of men who were accustomed to -set at naught all the rights of humanity. In 1819 a man named Austin, -then living in Missouri, went to Spain, represented to the King that -the Roman Catholics in the United States were subjected to grievous -persecutions, and supplicated for them an asylum in Mexico. His pious -Majesty, deeply moved by this appeal, made a very large and gratuitous -grant of land of the finest quality to Austin and his associates on -this one condition, that they should introduce within a limited time a -certain number of Roman Catholic settlers “of good moral character.” -This condition was complied with, and thus our Southern slaveholders -gained a foothold in Texas. They were diligent to confirm and extend -their possession by the sale of immense quantities of land to intended -settlers and to land jobbers throughout the Southern States. Thus -commenced what erelong became “one of the most stupendous systems of -bribery and corruption ever devised by man.” - -In 1821 Mexico became independent of the Spanish crown, and soon after -confirmed the royal grant to the settlers in her province of Texas. In -1824 the Mexican Government adopted some measures preparatory to the -manumission of slaves, and in 1829 decreed the complete and immediate -emancipation of all in bonds throughout their borders. - -The vigilant Southerners were of course alarmed. A nation of freemen -adjoining them on the Southwest! A door thrown wide open for the -easy escape of fugitives from their tyrannous grasp!! Something -must be done to avert the threatened evil. Mr. Benton, of Missouri, -in 1829, broached the scheme of the annexation of Texas, and the -re-establishment of slavery there. He urged this as obviously -necessary: first, in order to prevent the easy and continual escape of -their slaves into an adjoining free country, the government of which -had persistently refused to return the fugitives; second, to open a -new field for slave labor, which was rapidly exhausting the soil of -the old States, and a new market for the slaves of those States which, -no longer capable of producing large crops, might still be sustained -in population and political power by becoming the nurseries of slaves -for the immense territory, to be obtained from Mexico by purchase or -force; third, by adding to the number of slave States, to provide new -securities for the continued ascendency of the slaveholders’ influence -in the government of the nation. - -This last reason was probably the most momentous in the estimation of -Southern statesmen. For the Texas, which they aimed to annex to our -country, they foresaw might from time to time be divided and subdivided -into seven States as large as New York, or into forty-three States -as large as Massachusetts. Thus might the majority of the United -States Senate be kept always ready to support any measure favorable -to the interests of the slaveholding aristocracy, which had assumed -the government of our Republic. Mr. Calhoun openly declared that -“the measure of annexation is calculated and designed to uphold the -institution of slavery, extend its influence, and secure its permanent -duration.” - -The devoted, indefatigable, self-sacrificing, Benjamin Lundy, was -living in Missouri at the time when Mr. Benton first proposed the -Texas scheme, and at once gave him battle, so far as he was permitted -to do it, in the newspapers of that State. Afterwards on removing to -Maryland and establishing there his own paper, _The Genius of Universal -Emancipation_, he did all in his power to alarm the country. He went -to Texas and, at great personal hazard, traversed that country and -gathered a large amount of most important information, revealing the -spirit of the settlers there and the designs of the projectors and -managers of the scheme. - -He did not labor in vain. The leading National Republican papers in -the free States seconded his efforts. Especially my good friend and -classmate David Lee Child, Esq., as early as 1829, when editor of _The -Massachusetts Journal_, emphatically denounced the dismemberment and -robbery of Mexico for the protection and perpetuation of slavery in -the United States. And he manfully contended against that nefarious, -execrable plot until further opposition was made useless, as we shall -see, by the perpetration of the great iniquity in 1845. In 1835 Mr. -Child addressed a number of carefully prepared letters to Mr. Edward -S. Abdy, a philanthropic English gentleman, hoping thereby to awaken -the attention of British Abolitionists. In 1836 he wrote nine or -ten able articles on the impending evil, that were published in a -Philadelphia paper. The next year he went to France and England. In -Paris he addressed an elaborate memoir to the “Société pour l’Abolition -d’Esclavage,” and in London he published in the _Eclectic Review_ a -full exposition of the interest which the British nation ought to -take in utterly extinguishing the slave-trade, and preventing the -re-establishment of slavery in Texas, and the aggrandizement of the -unprincipled slaveholding power in that country, larger than the whole -of France. No two persons did so much to prevent the annexation of -Texas as did Benjamin Lundy and David L. Child. They undoubtedly -furnished the Hon. John Q. Adams with much of the information and -some of the weapons that he plied with so much vigor on the floor -of Congress; but, alas! as the event proved, with so little effect -to prevent the great transgression which the Southern statesmen -led our nation to commit. At first the indignation of the people -in many of the free States at the proposed extension of the domain -of slaveholders, and the confirmation of their ascendency in the -government of our nation, seemed to be general, deep, and fervent. In -1838 the legislatures of Massachusetts, Ohio, and Rhode Island, with -great unanimity, passed resolutions, earnestly and solemnly protesting -against the annexation of Texas to our Union, and declaring that no act -done, or compact made for that purpose, by the government of the United -States would be binding on the States or the people. - -For a while it seemed as if the villany was averted; but it was started -again in 1843, and from that time until its consummation the protests -of the above-named States were renewed with frequent repetition and, -if possible, in still more emphatic language. No party within their -borders ventured to take the side of the slaveholders. Connecticut and -New Jersey at that time joined in the protest. Massachusetts of course -took the lead. Meetings of the people, to declare their opposition to -the proposed outrage upon the Union, were held in many of the principal -towns of the State. At length, when the resolutions providing for the -annexation were pending in both Houses of Congress, a great convention -of her citizens met in Faneuil Hall, to make known their displeasure -in a still more impressive tone and manner. The call to the meeting -was signed by prominent men of all parties. It invited the cities and -towns of the Commonwealth to send as many delegates to the Convention -as they could legally send representatives to the General Court. This -took place in January, 1845, only three months before my removal to -Syracuse. I was then living in Lexington. A town-meeting was held there -to respond to the call to Faneuil Hall, by the choice of two delegates. -To my great surprise I was chosen one of the two, and General Chandler, -high sheriff of the county, was the other. But unutterable was my -astonishment when, on coming into the Convention, I found William Lloyd -Garrison seated among the members, sent thither with other delegates -by the votes of a large majority of the Tenth Ward of the city of -Boston, where he resided. This did, indeed, betoken a marvellous -change in the sentiments and feelings of the community. He, who a -few years before had been dragged through the streets with a halter, -by a mob of “gentlemen of property and standing,” clamoring for his -immediate execution, was there in the “Cradle of Liberty,” member of a -Convention that comprised the men of Massachusetts who were accustomed -to represent, on important occasions, the intelligence, the patriotism, -and weight of character of the Commonwealth. - -Mr. Garrison addressed the Convention, and was listened to with -respectful attention. I need not say that he spoke in a manner worthy -of the place and the occasion, and in perfect consistency with his -avowed principles. The chief business done by the Convention was the -issuing of an elaborate, carefully prepared Address to the people of -the United States, setting forth the reasons why Texas should not be -annexed to our Republic, and why we ought not to submit to such a -violation of the Constitution of our Union, and such an outrage upon -the territory and institutions of an adjoining nation. Mr. Garrison -published the document in his _Liberator_ of the next week and said, -“The Address of the Convention was, as a whole, a most forcible and -eloquent document, worthy to be read of all men, and to be preserved to -the latest posterity. It was adopted unanimously, after a disclaimer by -Samuel J. May and myself of that portion of it which seeks to vindicate -the United States Constitution from the charge of guaranteeing -protection to slavery.” I was irresistibly impelled to ask that that -part of the otherwise admirable Address might be omitted, because it -would obliterate the most momentous lesson taught in the history of -our nation,--namely, that the reluctant, indirect, inferential consent -given by the framers of our Republic to the continuance of slavery in -the land--not any deliberate explicit guaranty--had countenanced and -sustained the friends of that “System of Iniquity,” from generation -to generation, in violating the inalienable rights of millions of our -fellow-beings, and had brought upon us, who are opposed to that system, -the evils of political discord, national disgrace, and the fear of -national disruption and ruin. - -I urged the Convention to acknowledge distinctly that, “under the -commonly received interpretation of the Constitution, we have hitherto -been giving our countenance and support to the slaveholders in their -outrages upon humanity, the fundamental rights of man,--an iniquity -of which we will no longer be guilty. We have been roused from our -insensibility to the wrongs we have wickedly consented should be -inflicted upon others--”the least of the brethren“--by the discovery -of the evils we have thereby brought upon ourselves, and the ruin -that awaits our nation if we do not stay the iniquity where it is, -and commence at once the work “meet for the repentance” that alone -can save us,--the extermination of slavery from our borders.” “Let -this Convention declare, that we certainly will not consent to the -extension of slavery,--no, not an inch. And if they urge to its -consummation the annexation of Texas, in the way they propose, they -will, by so doing, trample the Constitution under foot, set at naught -some of its most important provisions, grossly violate the compact of -our United States, and therefore absolve us from all obligations to -respect it or live under it any longer.” - -Mr. Garrison urged that the Address should be further amended by adding -that, if our protest and remonstrance shall be disregarded, and Texas -be annexed, then shall the Committee of the Convention call another at -the same place; that then and there Massachusetts shall declare the -union of these States dissolved, and invite all the States, that may be -disposed, to reunite with her as a Republic based truly upon the grand -principles of the Declaration of Independence. Although his motion was -not carried by the Convention, it was received with great favor by a -large portion of the members and other auditors; and he sat down amidst -the most hearty bursts of applause. - -It seemed as if the opposition of Massachusetts and other States to -annexation was too strong, and the reasons urged against it were too -weighty, to be disregarded by the legislators, the guardians of the -nation. The contest waxed and waned throughout the whole of the year -1845. A petition signed by fifty thousand persons was sent to Congress -at its opening in December of that year. But several prominent Whig -members of Congress from the Southern States were found, in the end, to -care more for the perpetuation of slavery than for their party or their -principles. And certain members from the free States (one even from -Massachusetts) were plied by considerations and alarmed by threats, -which the Southern statesmen knew so well how to wield, until they gave -way, and suffered the nefarious, the abominable, unconstitutional, -disastrous deed to be done,--_Texas to be annexed_. - -Late in the year 1845, when some of the hitherto opposers were -evidently about to yield, Mr. D. L. Child, as a final effort against -the consummation of the great iniquity, prepared an admirable article -for the _New York Tribune_, under the title,--“Taking Naboth’s -Vineyard.” But alas! “considerations” had affected Mr. Greeley’s mind -also, and he refused to publish it. Mr. Child then hired him to publish -the article in a supplement to his paper, and paid him sixty dollars -for the service. But instead of treating it as a supplement is wont to -be treated, instead of distributing it coextensively with the principal -issue, my friend tells me that Mr. Greeley, having supplied the members -of the two Houses of Congress each with a copy, sent the residue -of the edition to him. So strangely have political considerations, -particularly those suggested by slaveholding statesmen, influenced the -politicians of the North. - -Other besides political considerations were no doubt plied to affect -the votes of the representatives of the free States. It was reported at -the time that no less than forty of them had their pockets stuffed with -Texas scrip, which would become very valuable if annexation should be -effected. - - -ABOLITIONISTS IN CENTRAL NEW YORK.--GERRIT SMITH. - -In April, 1845, I came to reside in Syracuse. Having visited the place -twice before, I was pretty well acquainted with the characters of -the people with whom I should be associated, and the rapidly growing -importance of the town, owing to its central position and its staple -product. During each of my visits I had delivered antislavery lectures -to good audiences, and found quite a number of individuals here who had -accepted the doctrines of the Immediate Abolitionists. Mr. Garrison, -Gerrit Smith, Mr. Douglass, and others, had lectured in Syracuse -several times, and, though at first insulted and repulsed, they had -convinced so many people of the justice of their demands for the -enslaved, and of the disastrous influence of the “peculiar institution” -of our Southern States, that the community had come to respect somewhat -the right of any who pleased to hold antislavery meetings. The minister -and many of the members of the Orthodox Congregational Church, as well -as the Unitarian, were decided Abolitionists, and several members of -the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches openly favored the -great reform. - -On the first of the following August, at the invitation of a large -number of the citizens, I delivered an address on British West India -Emancipation from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church, and it -was published by the request of a large number of the auditors,--half -of them members of one or another of the orthodox sects. - -On the 10th of the next month a large meeting was held in the -Congregational Church to uphold the freedom of the press, and to -protest against the alarming assault that had been made upon that -palladium of our liberties in Kentucky, by the violent suppression of -_The True American_,--a paper established and edited by Hon. Cassius -M. Clay, to urge upon his fellow-citizens the self-evident truths of -our Declaration of Independence, and their application to the colored -population of that State. Our meeting was officered by some of the most -prominent and highly respected citizens of Syracuse. And after several -excellent speeches, a series of very pertinent, explicit, emphatic -antislavery resolutions was unanimously adopted. Thus was my great -regret at being removed so far from the New England Abolitionists -assuaged by the sympathy and co-operation of many of my new neighbors -and fellow-citizens. - -On another account I had reason to rejoice in my removal to this -place. Here I found myself within a few miles of the residence of -Gerrit Smith, and very soon was brought into an intimate acquaintance -with that pre-eminent philanthropist. Here I must indulge myself in -telling some of the much that I have known of the benefactions of this -magnificent giver. - -If I have been correctly informed, Mr. Smith obtained by inheritance -from his father and by purchase from his fellow-heirs (besides much -other property) _seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of land_ lying -in various parts of New York and of several other States. Erelong he -became deeply impressed by a sense of his responsibility to God for -the right use of such an immense portion of the earth’s surface,--the -common heritage of man. He could not believe that it had been given him -merely for his own gratification or aggrandizement. He received it as a -trust committed to him for the benefit of others. He felt as a steward, -who would have to give an account of the estate intrusted to his care. -He contrasted his condition with that of others,--he the possessor of -an amount of land which no one man could occupy and improve,--millions -of his fellow-men, inhabitants of the same country, without a rood -that they could call their own and fix upon it the humblest home. He -profoundly pitied the landless, and earnestly set himself to consider -the best way in which to bestow portions of his estate upon those who -needed them most. - -The father of Mr. Smith, like most other gentlemen of his day in New -York, was a slaveholder until many years after the Revolution. Gerrit -was accustomed to slavery through his childhood, and until he was old -enough to judge for himself of its essential and terrible iniquity. He -has repeatedly assured me that, although the bondage of his father’s -negroes was of the mildest type, he early saw that slaveholding was -egregiously wrong, and sympathized deeply with the enslaved. He -rejoiced when the law of the State, in 1827, prohibited utterly its -continuance, and immediately felt that all that could be should be -done to repair the injuries it had inflicted upon those who had been -subjected to it. He longed for the entire, immediate abolition of the -great iniquity throughout the land. He early joined the Colonization -Society, believing that the tendency of the plan, as well as the -intention of many of its Southern patrons, was to effect the subversion -and overthrow of that gigantic system of wickedness. Notwithstanding -the exposures of its duplicity made by Mr. Garrison and Judge William -Jay, he retained his confidence in the Colonization Society, and -contributed generously to its funds, until near the close of the year -1835. At that time, as I have stated heretofore, Mr. Smith became fully -convinced that the Society was opposed to the emancipation of our -enslaved countrymen, unless followed by their expatriation. Thereupon -he paid three thousand dollars, the balance due on his subscription to -its funds, and withdrew forever from the Colonization Society, to which -he had contributed at least _ten thousand_ dollars. - -This discovery that even these professed friends of our colored people, -with whom he had been co-operating, were planning to get them out -of the country, and proposed to make their _removal_ the condition -of their release from slavery, roused Mr. Smith to new efforts and -still more generous contributions of money for their relief. He not -only joined the American and the New York Antislavery Societies, and -gave very largely to the funds of each,--in all not less than _fifty -thousand_ dollars,--but, he set about endeavoring to get as many free -colored men as possible settled upon lands and in homes of their own. -Before the middle of 1847 he had given an average of forty acres apiece -to three thousand colored men, in all one hundred and twenty thousand -acres. He did me the honor to appoint me one of the almoners of this -bounty, so I am not left merely to conjecture how much time and caution -were put in requisition to insure as far as practicable the judicious -bestowment of these parcels of land. The only conditions prescribed by -the donor were, that the receivers of his acres should be known to be -landless, strictly temperate and honest men. - -Mr. Smith exerted himself in various ways to secure the blessings of -_education_ to those of the proscribed race who were at liberty to -receive them. He established and for a number of years maintained a -school in Peterboro’, to which colored people came from far and near. -He was an early and very liberal patron of Oneida Institute, the -doors of which were ever open, without any respect to complexion or -race. He gave to that school several thousand dollars, and upwards of -three thousand acres in Vermont, besides land contracts upon which -considerable sums were still due. - -Mr. Smith did much more for Oberlin College, because of its hospitality -to colored pupils and those of both sexes as well as all complexions. -He gave to it outright between five and six thousand dollars, and -twenty thousand acres of land in Virginia, from the sales of which the -college must have derived more than fifty thousand dollars. - -Moreover, the unsuccessful attempt to establish and maintain New York -Central College at McGrawville, where colored and white young men and -women were well instructed together for a few years, cost Mr. Smith -four or five thousand dollars. - -But I cannot leave my readers to infer from my silence that his -benefactions were confined wholly or mainly to colored persons. His -gifts to other needy ones, and to institutions for their benefit, were -more numerous and larger than he himself has been careful to record. -Many of them have come to my knowledge, and I will so far depart from -the main object of my book as to mention two. - -In 1850 Mr. Smith called upon me and other friends to assist him in -selecting five hundred poor white men, strictly temperate and honest, -to each of whom he would give forty acres. And having learnt that some -of his colored beneficiaries had been unable to raise means enough to -remove with their families to the lands he had given them, he added ten -dollars apiece to the portions that he gave to the white men. - -Not satisfied with these bestowments, yearning over the poverty of -the many who had little or nothing in a world where he had so much, -and having given fifty dollars to each of a hundred and forty poor, -worthy women, whose wants had been brought to his consideration, he -again requested me and others to find out in our neighborhoods five -hundred worthy widowed or single poor white women, to whom such a -donation would be especially helpful, that he might have the pleasure -of bestowing upon them also fifty dollars apiece. I need not say that -these unasked, unexpected gifts carried great relief and joy wherever -they were sent. - -But such labors of love, although so grateful to his benevolent -heart, were _labors_. Then Mr. Smith’s sympathy with his suffering -fellow-beings, whom he could not immediately relieve, and his lively -interest and hearty co-operation in all moral and social reforms, -were unavoidably wearing. As might have been expected, his health was -impaired and at length gave away. In the latter part of 1858 he had a -serious attack of typhoid fever, which was followed by months of mental -prostration. And after his recovery he was obliged for a long while to -be sparing of himself, especially avoiding exciting scenes and subjects. - -This incident in the life of my noble friend came upon him when he was -planning a magnificent enterprise for the public good. His enlightened -benevolence prompted him to devise an institution for the highest -education of youths of both sexes, and all complexions and races. It -was to be a university based upon the most advanced principles of -intellectual and moral culture. He disclosed his intention to his -intimate friend and legal adviser, the late Hon. Timothy Jenkins, of -Oneida, and to myself, informing us that he meant to appropriate five -hundred thousand dollars to its accomplishment. At his request I made -known his purpose to the late Hon. Horace Mann, whom we regarded as -the best adapted to develop the plan and preside over the execution -of it, and who we thought would like to take charge of an educational -institution that might from the beginning be ordered so much in -accordance with his own enlarged ideas; but he promptly declined the -invitation, being, as he said, too far committed to Antioch College. - -Mr. Mann’s refusal deferred the undertaking, and no other one, -who could be had, appearing to Mr. Smith to be just the person to -whose conduct he should be willing to commit the university, it was -postponed until his alarming sickness and protracted debility, and the -threatening aspect of our national affairs, led him to dismiss the -project altogether. So he distributed among his nephews and nieces the -larger part of the money he had intended to expend as I have stated -above. - -Shortly after, our awful civil war broke out. Of this he could not be a -silent or inactive spectator. He freely gave his money, his influence, -himself, to the cause of his country in every way that a private -citizen of infirm health could. He not only gave many thousand dollars -to promote the enlistment of white soldiers in his town and county, -but he offered to equip a whole regiment of _colored_ men, if the -governor of the State would put one in commission. But, alas! the chief -magistrate of New York was not another John A. Andrew. - -Mr. Smith contributed largely to the funds of the Sanitary Commission, -and not a little to the Christian Commission; and he kindly cared -for many families at home that had been called to part with fathers, -husbands, or sons, on whom they were dependent. - -So soon as the grand project of establishing schools for the freedmen -was started, Mr. Smith entered into it with his wonted zeal and -generosity. I have heard often of his donations larger or smaller, and -have not a doubt that he has contributed as much as any other person in -our country. - -I need not say that it has indeed been a great benefit, as well as joy, -to me to have been brought to know so intimately, and to co-operate -so much as I have done, for more than twenty years, with such a -philanthropist as Gerrit Smith. - -Not alone by his bountiful gifts of land and money has he mightily -helped the cause of our cruelly oppressed and despised countrymen. -He has spoken often, and written abundantly in their behalf,--always -faithfully, sometimes with exceeding power. I am sure there is not an -individual in Central New York, I doubt if there be one in our whole -country, unless he has been an agent or appointed lecturer of some -Antislavery Society, who has attended so many antislavery meetings, -has made so many antislavery speeches, and written and published so -many antislavery letters, as has our honored and beloved brother of -Peterboro’, always excepting, of course, those devotees, Mr. Garrison -and Mr. Phillips. I shall have occasion hereafter to tell of one or -more of his timely and most effective speeches. - -Mr. Smith has entertained and freely expressed some opinions that have -been peculiar to himself, and has done some things that have appeared -eccentric; but I believe that he has never consciously done or said -anything unfriendly to an oppressed or despised fellow-being, white or -black. - - -CONDUCT OF THE CLERGY AND CHURCHES. - -The most serious obstacle to the progress of the antislavery cause was -the conduct of the clergy and churches in our country. Perhaps it would -be more proper to say the churches and the clergy, for it was only too -obvious that, in the wrong course which they took, the shepherds were -driven by the sheep. The influential members of the churches,--“the -gentlemen of property and standing,”--still more the politicians, who -“of course understood better than ministers the Constitution of the -United States, and the guaranties that were given to slaveholders -by the framers of our Union,”--these gentlemen, too important to be -alienated, were permitted to direct the action of the churches, and -the preaching of their pastors on this “delicate question,” “this -exciting topic.” Consequently the histories of the several religious -denominations in our country (with very small exceptions) evince, from -the time of our Revolution, a continual decline of respect for the -rights of colored persons, and of disapproval of their enslavement. -In the early days of our Republic--until after 1808--all the -religious sects in the land, I believe, gave more or less emphatic -testimonies against enslaving fellow-men, especially against the -African slave-trade. But after that accursed traffic was nominally -abolished, the zeal of its opponents subsided (not very slowly) to -acquiescence in the condition of those who had long been enslaved and -their descendants. “They are used to it”; “they seem happy enough”; -“unconscious of their degradation”; it was said. Then “the labor of -slaves is indispensable to their owners, especially on the rich, virgin -soils of the Southern States.” “It is sad,” said the semi-apologists, -“but so it is. The condition of laboring people everywhere is hard, -and we are by no means sure that the condition of the slaves is worse, -if so bad as, that of many laborers elsewhere who are nominally free.” -“Many masters,” it was added, “are very kind to their slaves; feed them -and clothe them well, and never overwork them, unless it is absolutely -necessary.” But the consciences of the doubting were quieted more than -all by the plea that “in one respect certainly the condition of the -enslaved Africans has been immensely improved by their transportation -to our country. Here they are introduced to the knowledge of ‘the way -of salvation’; here many of them become Christians. As Joseph through -his bondage in Egypt was led to the highest position in that empire, -next only to the king, so these poor, benighted heathen, by being -brought in slavery to our land, may be led to become children of the -King of kings, so wonderful are the ways of Divine Providence.” By -these and similar palliations and apologies, the people of almost -every religious sect at the South, and their Methodist or Baptist -or Presbyterian or Episcopalian brethren at the North, were led to -overlook the _essential_ evil, the tremendous wrong of slavery, and to -hope and trust that God would, in due time, by his inscrutable method, -bring some inestimable good out of this great evil. - -Accordingly, we find, on turning to the doings of the great -ecclesiastical bodies of our country, that they have descended from -their very distinct protests against the enslavement of men, in 1780, -1789, 1794, &c., to palliations of the “sum of all villanies,” as -Wesley called it,--and apologies for it, and justifications of it, and -explicit, biblical defences of it, until at length--after Mr. Garrison -and his co-laborers arose, demanding for the slaves their inalienable -right to liberty--the churches and ministers of all denominations -(excepting the Freewill Baptists and Scotch Covenanters) gathered -about the “Peculiar Institution” for its _protection_; and vehemently -denounced as incendiaries, disunionists, infidels, all those who -insisted upon its abolition.[Q] - -This, I repeat, was the most serious obstacle to the progress of our -antislavery reform. In 1830, and for several years afterwards, the -influence of the clergy and the churches was paramount in our Northern, -if not in the Southern communities; certainly it was second only to -the love of money. The people generally, then, were wont to take for -granted that what the ministers and church-members approved must be -morally right, and what they so vehemently denounced must be morally -wrong. Accordingly, the most violent conflicts we had, and the most -outrageous mobs we encountered, were led on or instigated by persons -professing to be religious. - -If the clergy and churches have less influence over the people now than -they had forty years ago, it must be in a great measure because the -people find that they were wofully deceived by them as to the character -of slavery, and misled to oppose its abolition, until the slaveholders, -encouraged by their Northern abettors, dared to attempt the dissolution -of our Union, and so brought on our late civil war, in which hundreds -of thousands of the people were killed, and an immense debt imposed -upon this and succeeding generations. - -In justice, however, to the professing Christians of our country, -it should be recorded that very much the larger portions of our -antislavery host were recruited from the churches of all denominations, -though some persons who made no pretensions to a religious character -rendered us signal services. It ought also to be stated that more of -the antislavery lecturers, agents, and devoted laborers had been of the -_ministerial_ profession than of any other of the callings of men, in -proportion to the numbers of each. Still, it cannot be denied that the -most formidable opposition we had to contend against was that which was -made by the ministers and churches and ecclesiastical authorities. When -the true history of the antislavery conflict shall be fully written, -and the sayings and doings of preachers, theological professors, -editors of religious periodicals, and of Presbyteries, Associations, -Conferences, and General Assemblies, shall be spread before the people -in the light of our enlarged liberty, no one will fail to see that, -practically, the worst enemies of truth, righteousness, and humanity -were of those who professed to be the friends and followers of Christ. -Had _they_ been generally faithful and fearless in behalf of the -oppressed, no other opponents would have dared to withstand the just -demand for their immediate emancipation. - -Mr. Garrison, who was and is by nature and education an unfeignedly -religious man, felt that he ought to look first to the clergy and the -professing Christians for sympathy, and should confidently expect their -co-operation. Indeed, he knew that if they would heartily espouse the -cause of our enslaved countrymen, he might, without unfaithfulness -to them, retire to some printing-office, and get his living as he -had been trained to do. His disappointment and astonishment were -unspeakable when he found how blind and deaf and dumb the preachers of -the Gospel were in view of the unparalleled iniquity of our nation, -and the inestimable wrongs that were allowed to be inflicted upon -millions of the people. It was as painful to him and his associates -as it was necessary, to expose to the people the infidelity of their -religious teachers and guides; to show them that, not only had the -statesmen and politicians of our country become fearfully corrupted by -consenting with slaveholders, but also the bishops, priests, ministers -of religion. All, with few exceptions, had lost faith in the true and -the right, and in the God of truth and righteousness. They were afraid -to obey the Divine Law, and bowed rather to the commandments of men. -They respected a compromise more than a principle, and trusted to what -seemed politic rather than to that which was self-evidently right. “The -whole _head_ of our nation was sick, and the whole _heart_ was faint. -From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there seemed to be no -soundness in it.” “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very -small remnant, we should have been as Sodom; we should have been like -unto Gomorrah.” - - -UNITARIAN AND UNIVERSALIST MINISTERS AND CHURCHES. - -It must have been observed by my readers that, in speaking above of -the sympathy and co-operation of the Northern ministers and churches -with their slaveholding brethren in the Southern States, I did not name -Universalists and Unitarians among the guilty sects. This was because I -reserved them for a separate, and the Unitarians for a more particular -notice. Of the course pursued by the Universalists I have known but -little. There are very few churches of their denomination in any of the -slaveholding States; in most of them, I believe, not one. They claimed -the Rev. Theodore Clapp, of New Orleans, a preacher of distinguished -ability, and in some respects a very estimable gentleman, but who was -one of the most unblushing advocates of slavery in the country. In a -sermon preached at New Orleans, April 15, 1838, he said: “The venerable -patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others were all slaveholders. -In all probability each possessed a greater number of bondmen and -bondwomen than any planter now living in Louisiana or Mississippi.” -“The same God who gave Abraham sunshine, air, rain, earth, flocks, -herds, silver, and gold _blessed him with a donative of slaves_. Here -we see God dealing in slaves, giving them to his favorite child,--a -man of superlative worth, and as a reward for his eminent goodness.” -These extracts are not an exaggerated specimen of the whole discourse. -A few years afterwards, it was rumored that Mr. Clapp had essentially -modified his opinions as above expressed. This rumor brought out an -explanation in _The New Orleans Picayune_ (probably from himself), -to the effect that, “Christian philanthropy does not require the -immediate emancipation of slaves.” “Whilst one lives in a slave State, -he is bound by Christianity to submit to its laws touching slavery.” -“Christianity does not propose to release the obligations of slaves to -their masters.” I am not informed that his Universalist brethren at -the North ever passed any censure upon him for such misrepresentations -of our Heavenly Father, and of the duty of men to their oppressed -fellow-beings. - - -UNITARIANS. - -In commencing the discreditable account I must give of the proslavery -conduct of the Unitarian denomination, I may as well record the fact, -of which the mention of Rev. Theodore Clapp reminds me. Notwithstanding -the utterance of such sentiments as I have just now quoted, none of -which had been retracted or apologized for, a few years afterwards Mr. -Clapp was specially invited by a committee of Boston Unitarians to -attend their religious anniversaries; and his letter in reply was read -in their principal meeting, where, perhaps, a thousand persons were -present, including a large number of ministers and prominent laymen, -without any remonstrance or rebuke to those who had invited him. - -But before I proceed further with the disagreeable narrative, let -me state, to the honor of the sect, that though a very small one -in comparison with those called Orthodox (having at this day not -more than three hundred and sixty ministers, and in 1853 only two -hundred and seven), we Unitarians have given to the antislavery cause -more preachers, writers, lecturers, agents, poets, than any other -denomination in proportion to our numbers, if not more without that -comparison. Of those Unitarian ministers no longer on earth, we hold in -most grateful remembrance Dr. N. Worcester, Dr. Follen, Dr. Channing, -Dr. S. Willard, Theodore Parker, John Pierpont, Dr. H. Ware, Jr., and -A. H. Conant. Others, though less outspoken, were always explicitly -on the side of the oppressed,--Dr. Lowell, Dr. C. Francis, Dr. E. B. -Hall, G. F. Simmons, E. Q. Sewall, B. Whitman, N. A. Staples, S. Judd, -B. Frost. Of those who are still in the body, we gratefully claim as -fellow-laborers in the antislavery cause Drs. J. G. Palfrey, W. H. -Furness, J. F. Clarke, T. T. Stone, J. Allen, G. W. Briggs, R. P. -Stebbins, O. Stearns, and Rev. Messrs. S. May, Jr., C. Stetson, W. H. -Channing, M. D. Conway, O. B. Frothingham, J. Parkman, Jr., J. T. -Sargent, N. Hall, A. A. Livermore, J. L. Russell, J. H. Heywood, T. W. -Higginson, R. W. Emerson, S. Longfellow, S. Johnson, F. Frothingham, -W. H. Knapp, R. F. Wallcut, R. Collyer, E. B. Willson, W. P. Tilden, -W. H. Fish, C. G. Ames, John Weiss, R. C. Waterston, T. J. Mumford, -C. C. Shackford, F. W. Holland, E. Buckingham, C. C. Sewall, F. -Tiffany, R. R. Shippen. All these are or were Unitarian preachers, -and did service in the conflict. Many of them suffered obloquy, -persecution, loss, because of their fidelity to the principles of -impartial liberty. I may have forgotten some whose names should stand -in this honored list. I have mentioned all whose services I remember to -have witnessed or to have heard of. How small a portion of the whole -number of our ministers during the last forty years! - -The Unitarians as a body dealt with the question of slavery in any -but an impartial, courageous, and Christian way. Continually in -their public meetings the question was staved off and driven out, -because of technical, formal, verbal difficulties which were of no -real importance, and ought not to have caused a moment’s hesitation. -Avowing among their distinctive doctrines, “The _fatherly character_ -of God as reflected in his Son Jesus Christ,” and “_The brotherhood of -man with man everywhere_,” we had a right to expect from Unitarians -a steadfast and unqualified protest against so unjust, tyrannical, -and cruel a system as that of American slavery. And considering their -position as a body, not entangled with any proslavery alliances, not -hampered by any ecclesiastical organization, it does seem to me that -they were _pre-eminently guilty_ in reference to the enslavement of -the millions in our land with its attendant wrongs, cruelties, horrors. -They, of all other sects, ought to have spoken boldly, as one man, -for _God our Father_, for _Jesus the all-loving Saviour and Elder -Brother_, and for _Humanity_, especially where it was outraged _in the -least of the brethren_. But they did not. They refused to speak as a -body, and censured, condemned, execrated their members who did speak -faithfully for the down-trodden, and who co-operated with him whom a -merciful Providence sent as the prophet of the reform, which alone -could have saved our country from our late awful civil war. Let no -honor be withheld from the individuals who were so prominent and noble -exceptions to the general policy of the denomination,--the ministers -whom I have named above, together with those faithful laymen, Samuel -E. Sewall, Francis Jackson, David L. Child, Ellis Gray Loring, Edmund -Quincy, A. Bronson Alcott, Dr. H. I. Bowditch, William I. Bowditch, -with others; and those excellent women, Mrs. L. M. Child, Mrs. Maria W. -Chapman, Mrs. Follen, Miss Cabot, Mrs. Mary May, Misses Weston, Misses -Chapman, Miss Sargent, and more who should be named; let no honor be -withheld from these and such as they were. But let the sad truth be -plainly told, as a solemn warning to all coming generations, that even -the Unitarians, as a body, were corrupted and morally paralyzed by our -national consenting with slaveholders, even the Unitarians to whose -avowed faith in the paternity of God, the brotherhood of all mankind, -and the divinity of human nature, the enslavement of men should have -been especially abhorrent. On a subsequent page I shall have occasion -to tell of their most glaring dereliction of duty to the enslaved, and -those who were ready to help them out of bondage. Meanwhile I must -state some facts in support of my allegations against the sect to -which I belong and with which I shall labor for the dissemination of -our _most precious faith_ so long as life and strength remain. - -In 1843 the subject of the slavery of millions in our land was brought -before the American Unitarian Association by Rev. John Parkman, Jr. But -it was not discussed. It was put aside as a matter about which there -were serious differences of opinion among the members, and with which -that body, therefore, had better not meddle. - -Early in 1844 an address on the subject was sent from British -Unitarians to their brethren in America. It was an able, affectionate, -respectful appeal to us, signed by one hundred and eighty-five -ministers. A meeting of the Unitarian clergy was held in Boston to -consider and reply to it. But it seemed to be regarded by many, and -was spoken of by some, as an _impertinence_. “Our British brethren,” -it was said, “are interfering in a matter which is beset with peculiar -difficulties in this country, about which they know little or nothing.” -And my cousin, Rev. Samuel May, Jr., of Leicester, who had visited -England the year before, was severely censured for having encouraged -our brethren there thus to meddle. Here let me say, few have labored so -diligently, faithfully, disinterestedly, as Mr. May has in the cause of -the slaves. And no one of our denomination has taken so much pains to -prevent the Unitarians from committing themselves to the wrong side, or -failing to do their duty on the right side, of every question relating -to slavery. For this fidelity he has received anything but the thanks -of most of the brethren. Here and elsewhere I am bound to tell what I -know of him, for owing to the similarity of our names, and the sameness -of our connections with the Antislavery Societies, many of _his_ good -words and deeds have been attributed to _me_ by those who do not know -both of us. - -At the Autumnal Unitarian Conference held at Worcester, Mass., October, -1842, he offered a series of resolutions, setting forth the great -extent, the appalling evils, and fearful wickedness of slavery, and -endeavored to bring the Conference to resolve: “That, as ministers and -disciples of Jesus Christ, we feel bound to declare our solemn opinion, -that the institution of slavery is radically and inherently opposite -to his religion; that it ought to be immediately abandoned by all -who profess to be Christians; and that we do affectionately admonish -and entreat all who hold ‘the like precious faith’ with us, to free -themselves at once from the guilt of sustaining this evil thing.” There -was manifested a great unwillingness to express any opinion upon the -subject, and the Conference adjourned without taking action upon it. - -When in England, in the summer of 1843, Mr. May attended a large -meeting of Unitarians. Having been invited to address them, and to -speak particularly upon the subject of slavery in America, and of -the attitude of our denomination towards the great iniquity, he did -speak at considerable length. But he gave a very truthful and candid -statement of the case as it then was. He set before his British hearers -the influences which tended to mislead even the most kindly disposed -in this country, and the obstacles and difficulties that beset the -way of those who were most resolute in the cause of the enslaved. He -acknowledged gratefully, generously, the important services which -Dr. Follen, Dr. Channing, and other Unitarian ministers and laymen -had rendered. But he was obliged, as a man of truth, to confess that -our denomination as a whole had been recreant to their duty. And he -encouraged our English brethren to address a letter of fraternal -counsel and entreaty to us, not doubting that such a communication -would be gratefully received by the American Unitarians as coming from -those who had had to contend against a similar system of iniquity, and -had helped their national government to abolish it. But I have already -stated how utterly disappointed he was in the result. - -Soon after his return from England, at the annual meeting of the -American Unitarian Association in May, 1844, he again brought up the -subject, and earnestly endeavored, with others, to induce that body to -vote that slaveholding was anti-republican, inhuman, and unchristian. -It led to a protracted discussion of two days or more, which resulted -in nothing else than a vote of censure passed upon the Unitarian Church -in Savannah, Georgia, because they refused to receive the services of -the Rev. Mr. Motte, sent to them by the Executive Committee of the -Association, having heard that he had protested in a sermon against the -wrongs inflicted upon the colored people both at the North and South. - -Henry H. Fuller, of Boston, strenuously opposed the introduction of -the subject of slavery to the consideration of the Association in -any way. “We of the North have nothing to do with it. It is a system -of labor established in some of our sister States by their highest -legislative authority. It was consented to by the framers of our -National Constitution, and guaranties given for its protection,” &c., -&c. After much more of the same sort, he gave way for Mr. May to offer -the following resolutions, instead of those by which he had called up -the debate:-- - - 1. “_Resolved_, That the American Unitarian Association, desirous - that the pecuniary or other aid rendered by them from time to time - to individuals and societies in the slaveholding sections of our - country should not be misunderstood or misconstrued, do hereby - declare their conviction that the institution of slavery, as - existing in this country, is contrary to the will of God, to the - Gospel of Christ (especially to the views which _we_ entertain - of it), to the rights of man, and to every principle of justice - and humanity; and in a spirit not of dictation, but of friendly - remonstrance and entreaty, would call upon those whom they may - address, as believers in one God and Father of all, to bear a - faithful testimony against slavery. - - 2. “_Resolved_, That the Executive Committee be, and they hereby - are, requested to transmit a copy of the preceding resolution to - each of our auxiliary Associations, and to such societies in the - slaveholding sections of the country as may from time to time - receive pecuniary aid from this Association.” - -Dr. J. H. Morison objected to any action by the meeting. “1st. Because -we shall thereby lose our influence at the South. 2d. Because we shall -convert the Association into an Abolition Society. 3d. Because it would -be a dastardly proceeding, at our distance from the scene of danger, to -utter sentiments hostile to slavery, with which the Southern Unitarian -societies might be identified.” - -Dr. E. S. Gannett said that the Association never contemplated any -action on slavery. It was contrary to the objects of its formation. -It would also be an invasion of the rights of conscience,--being -the setting up of a creed with reference to this subject. Moreover, -he said, it would be injurious to the slaves. Ten years ago their -bondage was much lighter than at present. And then it would be to -identify ourselves with the Abolitionists of the free States, whom he -most unsparingly and vehemently condemned, and said there was little -comparative need for us to go South to rebuke an evil, when we had such -a “hellish spirit alive and active here in our very midst, even in New -England.” - -Hon. S. C. Phillips, of Salem, was not in favor of such action as the -resolutions proposed, but still thought we should take some action, and -very properly in connection with this case of the Savannah church we -should present, as we fairly might, our views on the whole subject of -slavery. He said there had been great error in our so long silence on -the subject. Our leading policy had been to avoid it, and much injury, -and the prevention of much good, had been the consequence. “The time -has come,” said he, “when no man can be silent everywhere, and at all -times, on this subject without guilt.” - -Mr. Phillips offered a series of resolutions instead of Mr. May’s. - -Rev. Mr. Lunt, of Quincy, opposed any action, and spoke with great -severity of the Abolitionists, whom he charged with being bent on the -dissolution of our Union and also the subversion of Christianity. - -My cousin vindicated the Abolitionists from Mr. Lunt’s charges, -reminding him and the audience of the ground which Dr. Channing and -other true friends of our country had taken respecting disunion, in -case of the annexation of Texas. Mr. May showed that the Abolitionists -had opposed only a false and corrupt church, not the Church of Christ, -and still less Christianity itself, in which they gloried as the basis -and impelling principle of their movement. - -The resolutions were ably supported by the mover, Mr. Phillips, and -four other laymen, and by eleven ministers, and finally passed by a -majority of forty to fifteen, and were in part as follows:-- - -After a preamble, setting forth the offensive conduct of the Savannah -church,-- - - “_Resolved_, That, viewing the institution of slavery in the light - of Christianity, we cannot fail to perceive that it conflicts with - the natural rights of human beings as the equal children of a - common Father, and that it subverts the fundamental principle of - human brotherhood. - - “_Resolved_, In the necessary effects of slavery upon the personal - and social condition, and upon the moral and religious character - of all affected by it, we perceive an accumulation of evils over - which Christianity must weep, against which Christianity should - remonstrate, and for the removal of which Christianity appeals to - the hearts and consciences of all disciples of Jesus to do what - they can by their prayers, by the indulgence and expression of - their sympathy, and by the unremitting and undisguised exertion of - whatever moral and religious influence they may possess.” - -Then follows a resolution that it should not be considered, in any -part of our country, a disqualification of any minister or missionary -for the performance of the appropriate duties of his office, that he -is known to have expressed antislavery sentiments, and approving the -course of the Executive Committee in withdrawing their assistance from -the church in Savannah because of their rejection of Rev. Mr. Motte. - -The discussions at that meeting were seasoned with many vehement -denunciations of the Abolitionists, uttered by several prominent -Unitarian ministers. William L. Garrison was denounced as one -“instigated by a diabolical spirit.” “The Abolitionists,” it was said, -“were aiming to subvert Christianity, to extirpate it from the earth.” -Dr. Francis Parkman, of Boston, loudly declared that “no letter or -resolution condemning slavery should ever go forth from the American -Unitarian Association while he was a member of it.” And he highly -commended a New England captain, of whom we had then recently heard, -because “he put his ship about and carried back to the master a slave -whom he had found secreted on board the vessel.” Dr. Parkman openly -and personally denounced those who introduced the subject, as “born -to plague the Association.” And he, together with Dr. G. Putnam, and -other prominent ministers, spoke of Dr. Channing’s earnestness in the -antislavery cause as a great weakness. - -Later in the same year, 1845, at a meeting of Unitarian ministers in -Boston, “A Protest against American Slavery,” prepared I suppose by -Rev. Caleb Stetson, John T. Sargent, and Samuel May, Jr., was adopted -and sent out to be circulated for signatures. It received the names -of one hundred and seventy-three ministers, of whom one hundred and -fifty-three were of New England. It was publicly stated at the time -that about eighty, comprising many of the most influential ministers -of the denomination, refused to sign the Protest. Among the recusants -were the Rev. Drs. Gannett, Dewey, Young, Parkman, Lothrop, G. Putnam, -Lamson, N. Frothingham, S. Barrett, E. Peabody, G. E. Ellis, Bartol, -Morison, and Lunt. - -Of those who did sign the Protest, I am sorry to add not a large -proportion can with truth be said to have been faithful to the solemn -pledge they therein gave, as follows: “We on our part do hereby pledge -ourselves, before God and our brethren, never to be weary in laboring -in the cause of human rights and freedom, until slavery shall be -abolished and every slave set free.” - -Once or twice afterwards Mr. May pressed the subject upon the Unitarian -Association, but with little better results. Subsequent events, -however, have shown, too plainly to be denied or doubted, that it -would have been more creditable to themselves, and far better for -our country, if “the older and wiser” men of our denomination had -listened to his counsels and followed his noble example. Alas, our land -is filled with testimonies written in blood, that if the ministers -of religion had only been fearless and faithful in declaring the -impartial love of the Heavenly Father for the children of men of all -complexions, and their equal, inalienable rights, which would assuredly -be vindicated by Divine justice, our late civil war would have been -averted! - -In 1847 Mr. May was appointed _General Agent of the Massachusetts -Antislavery Society_, and continued in that responsible and laborious -office until after the abolition of slavery in 1865. He was instant -in season and out of season, and in co-operation with his devoted -assistant, Rev. R. F. Wallcut, rendered services the amount and value -of which cannot easily be estimated. - - -THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. - -The awful iniquity of our nation culminated in the enactment of the -_Fugitive Slave Law_, which, as Edmund Quincy said at the time, -stood, as it now stands, “a piece of diabolical ingenuity, for the -accomplishment of a devilish purpose, _without a rival_ among all the -tyrannical enactments or edicts of servile parliaments or despotic -monarchs.” It was the essential article of a political conglomerate, -prepared by the Arch Compromiser, Henry Clay, which was called the -Omnibus Bill; some parts of which, he vainly thought, would conciliate -the Northern States to the reception of the whole. It provided for -the admission of California into our Union, with an antislavery -Constitution; for the organization of two other Territories without -the prohibition of slavery; the extension of the southwestern boundary -of Texas to the Rio Grande; the abolition of the slave-trade in the -District of Columbia, with the guaranty of slavery to its inhabitants -until they should see fit to abolish it; and the perpetuity of the -interstate slave-trade; but infinitely worse than any of these -objectionable parts were the stringent measures it proposed for the -recovery of fugitives from slavery. Stripped of the verbiage of legal -enactments, the provisions of this abominable law were as follows:-- - - 1. The claimant of any person who had escaped, or should escape - from slavery in any State or Territory, might apply to any Court - of Record or Judge thereof, describe the fugitive and make - satisfactory proof that he or she owed service or labor to said - claimant. Thereupon the Court, or in vacation the Judge, was - required to cause a record to be made of the description of the - alleged fugitive, and of the proof of his or her enslavement, and - give an attested copy of that record to the claimant; which copy - was required to be received by any court, judge, or commissioner in - any other State or Territory of the Union, as full and conclusive - evidence that the person claimed, and so described, was a fugitive - from slavery and owed service to the claimant, and therefore should - be delivered up. - - Any marshal or deputy who should refuse to arrest such a fugitive - was to be fined _one thousand dollars_. And if, after having - arrested him or her, the fugitive should in any way escape from his - custody, the marshal or deputy should be held liable to pay to the - claimant the value of the runaway. - - And any person who should in any way prevent the claimant or his - agent or assistants from getting possession of the fugitive, by - hiding him or helping him to escape, or by open opposition to his - would-be captor,--such offender was to be fined _one thousand - dollars_ for violating this _righteous_ law; and be liable to pay - another _thousand dollars_ to the claimant of the fugitive. - -In order that every facility should be afforded to _our slaveholding -brethren_ to retake their fleeing property, many commissioners were -ordered to be appointed in all suitable places (in addition to the -courts and judges) whose especial duty it should be to attend to cases -that might arise under the Fugitive Slave Law. And each commissioner or -judge, who found the accused guilty of having fled from bondage, was to -receive a fee of ten dollars. But if the proof adduced by the claimant -did not satisfy him that the accused was a fugitive from his service, -then the judge or commissioner was to receive only five dollars. Thus -bribery was by this law superadded to every other device to enable the -American slaveholder to recover his escaped slave, and return him or -her to a still more cruel bondage. - -Nor was this all that was atrociously wicked in the enactment. It -provided further that, while the claimant or his agent might give -testimony or make affidavit to the enslavement of the arrested one, -“in no trial or hearing under the Act was the testimony of the alleged -fugitive to be admitted in evidence” that he was not the one that his -claimant called him, or that he had been emancipated by the will of a -former owner, or by the purchase of his liberty. - -If there be among the laws of any other nation, in any other part and -in any other age of the world, an enactment, a decree, a ukase, so -profoundly wicked, so ingeniously cruel, as this law which the Congress -of the United States passed in 1850,--the very middle of the nineteenth -century,--I beg to be informed of it, for I confess at the close of -this recital I feel as if, in my shame and misery, I should be relieved -for a moment by bad company. - -At first it may seem strange that Mr. Clay should have supposed the -people of the Northern States would conform to the requirements -of such a law; would consent that their States should be made the -hunting-grounds, and themselves the bloodhounds of Southern oppressors -in pursuit of their fleeing slaves. And yet was he not justified in -this low opinion of us by the conduct of many of those who were elected -to be representatives of the opinions and wishes of the majority of our -communities? The execrable bill could not have become a law, without -the concurrence of Northern members in both Houses of Congress; for, in -both, the larger number were from the non-slaveholding States. Yet it -was enacted by the votes of twenty-seven of the Senators against only -twelve; and by one hundred and nine of the Representatives opposed by -seventy-five. And many of these recreants to the fundamental principles -of justice and humanity had led Mr. Clay, and the Southern politicians -generally, to expect such votes as they gave by the sentiments they -uttered in the preceding debates. - - -DANIEL WEBSTER. - -The man who did more than any one, if not more than all of the members -of Congress from the free States, to procure the passage of the Bill of -Abominations, was _Daniel Webster_, who had represented Massachusetts -in the United States Senate for twenty-five years; who led her in -opposition to the Missouri Compromise in 1819, and for nearly twenty -years afterwards was regarded as a leader of the advanced guard of -liberty and humanity. But when, in 1838, he went into the Southern -States to make his bids for the presidency, he uttered words that -foretold his moral declension, though not to so deep a depth as he -descended in his advocacy of the Fugitive Slave Law. The infamy of his -speech on the 7th of March, 1850, can never be forgotten while he is -remembered. He then declared it to be his intention “to support the -Bill with all its provisions to the fullest extent.” - -Another fact which adds a sting of bitterness to the shame of the North -was, that this Act, the baseness, meanness, cruelty of which no epithet -in my vocabulary can adequately express, became a law by the signature -of the President, subscribed by _Millard Fillmore_, a New York man and -a Unitarian withal. - -Notwithstanding the general expressions of indignation and disgust at -Mr. Webster’s baseness and treachery in supporting the Fugitive Slave -Bill throughout the North, especially from all parts of his own State, -Massachusetts, he and other members of the Senate and the House of -Representatives persisted until, as we have seen, the Act became a law. -The arch-traitor was rewarded with the office of Secretary of State. -Such was his gratitude for this small compensation that, on taking -leave of the Senate, he pledged himself anew to the infamous principles -he had avowed on the 7th of March.[R] - -No sooner was the deed done, the Fugitive Slave Act sent forth to be -the law of the land, than outcries of contempt and defiance came from -every free State, and pledges of protection were given to the colored -population. It is not within the scope of my plan to attempt an account -of the indignation-meetings that were held in places too numerous -to be even mentioned here. They will make a proud episode in the -history of our nation since 1830, whenever it shall be fully written. -Meanwhile, let me here refer my readers to the admirable Reports of -the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, especially those written by the -piquant pen, under the guidance of the astute mind, of Edmund Quincy, -for the last ten or fifteen years of our fiery conflict. - -I must confine myself to my personal recollections, and in this -particular they are most grateful to me, and honorable to the city of -Syracuse, where I have resided since 1845. - -The Fugitive Slave Act was signed by the President on the 18th of -September. Eight days afterwards, a call was issued through our -newspapers summoning the citizens of Syracuse and its vicinity, without -respect to party, to meet in our City Hall on the 4th of October -ensuing, to denounce and take measures to withstand this law. As the -time of the meeting approached the popular excitement increased, and -at an early hour the hall was crowded to its utmost capacity. Hon. A. -H. Hovey, the Mayor of the city, was elected to preside, sustained -by eight vice-presidents of the two political parties, three of whom -had been then, or have been since, mayors of Syracuse, and the other -five, gentlemen of the highest respectability, though only one of them -had been active with the Abolitionists,--Hon. E. W. Leavenworth, Hon. -Horace Wheaton, John Woodruff, Esq., Captain Oliver Teall, Robert Gere, -Esq., Hon. L. Kingsley, Captain Hiram Putnam, Dr. Lyman Clary. - -The President addressed the meeting very acceptably, declared himself -to be with us in opposition to the law, adding: “The colored man must -be protected,--he must be secure among us, come what will of political -organizations.” A series of thirteen resolutions was read, three of -which will make known sufficiently the spirit of them all. The second -was:-- - - 1. “_Resolved_, That the Fugitive Slave Law, recently enacted by - the Congress of these United States, is a most flagrant outrage - upon the inalienable rights of man, and a daring assault upon the - palladium of American liberties.” - - 3. “That every intelligent man and woman throughout our country, - ought to read attentively, and understand the provisions of this - law, in all its details, so that they may be fully aware of its - diabolical spirit and cruel ingenuity, and prepare themselves to - _oppose_ all attempts to enforce it.” - - 13. “_Resolved_, That we recommend the appointment of a Vigilance - Committee of thirteen citizens, whose duty it shall be to see - that no person is deprived of his liberty without ‘due process of - law.’ And all good citizens are earnestly requested to aid and - sustain them in all needed efforts for the security of every person - claiming the protection of our laws.” - -The meeting was addressed in a very spirited strain by two colored -gentlemen,--Rev. S. R. Ward and Rev. J. W. Loguen. They each declared -that they and their colored fellow-citizens generally had determined to -make the most violent resistance to any attempt that might be made to -re-enslave them. They would have their liberty or die in its defence. - -Mr. Charles A. Wheaton, Chairman of a Committee, then read an Address -to the citizens of the State of New York, setting very plainly -before them the degradation to which this law would reduce them. It -showed them how the law would nullify all the provisions made in the -Constitution for the protection of our dearest rights, as well as the -liberties of any amongst us who might have complexions shaded in any -measure. And it called upon the citizens of the Empire State to rise in -their majesty and put down all attempts to enforce this law. - -Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick then rose and advocated the Resolutions and -Address in an admirable speech. He exposed the atrocious features of -the slave-catching law in detail, demonstrated its unconstitutionality -as well as cruelty, and awakened throughout his audience the keenest -indignation against it. He said it was the vilest law that tyranny -ever devised. He would resist it, and he called on all who heard him -to resist it everywhere, in every way, to the utmost of their power. -Rev. R. R. Raymond, of the Baptist Church, then spoke stirring words in -thrilling tones. “How can we do to others as we would that they should -do to us, if we do not resist this law? Citizens of Syracuse! shall -a live man ever be taken out of our city by force of this law?” “No! -No!!” was the response loud as thunder. “Let us tell the Southerners, -then, that it will not be safe for them to come or send their agents -here to attempt to take away a fugitive slave. [Great applause.] I will -take the hunted man to my own house, and he shall not be torn away, and -I be left alive. [Tremendous and long cheering.]” - -I was then called up. But I shall leave my readers to imagine what I -said, if they will only let it be in very strong opposition to the law. - -The Report of the Committee on Resolutions, and an Address, was then -put to vote, and adopted with only one dissenting voice. The Vigilance -Committee of thirteen was appointed, and the meeting was adjourned to -the evening of the 12th. - -Our second meeting was, if possible, more enthusiastic than the first. -All the seats in the hall were filled, and the aisles crowded before -the hour to which the meeting was adjourned. The Mayor called to order -precisely at seven o’clock. It devolved upon me, as Chairman of the -Committee, to report Resolutions. There were too many of them to be -repeated here. Two or three must suffice. - - 1. “_Resolved_, That we solemnly reiterate our abhorrence of the - Fugitive Slave Law, which in effect is nothing less than a license - for _kidnapping_, under the protection and at the expense of our - Federal Government, which has become the tool of oppressors.” - - 6. “_Resolved_, That now is the day and now the hour to take our - stand for liberty and humanity. If we now refuse to assert our - independency of the tyrants who aspire to absolute power in our - Republic, we may hope for nothing better than entire subjugation - to their will, and shall leave our children in a condition little - better than that of the creatures of absolute despots.” - - 10. “_Resolved_, That as all of us are liable at any moment to - be summoned to assist in kidnapping such persons as anybody may - claim to be his slaves, and to be fined one thousand dollars if - we refuse to do the bidding of the land-pirates, whom this law - would encourage to prowl through our country, it is the dictate of - prudence as well as good fellowship in a righteous cause, that we - should unite ourselves in an Association, pledged to stand by its - members in opposing this law, and to share with any of them the - pecuniary losses they may incur, under the operation of this law.” - - 11. “_Resolved_, That such an Association be now formed, so that - Southern oppressors may know that the people of Syracuse and its - vicinity are prepared to sustain one another in resisting the - encroachments of despotism.” - -William H. Burleigh first spoke in support of the resolutions. One of -the newspapers the next day said: “We can do no justice to the ability -and surpassing eloquence of Mr. Burleigh’s speech; the deep feelings -of his soul were poured out in terms of consuming oratory.” Judge Nye, -then of Madison County, was present, and being called to address the -meeting, said, among many other good things: “I am an officer of the -law. I am not sure that I am not one of those officers who are clothed -with anomalous and terrible powers by this Bill of Abominations. If I -am, I will tell my constituency that I will trample that law in the -dust, and they must find another man, if there be one who will degrade -himself, to do this dirty work.” “Be assured, Syracusians, there is -not a man among the hills and valleys of Madison County who would take -my office on condition of obedience to this statute.” These sentences, -and other good things that Judge Nye said, were received with great -applause. - -Hon. C. B. Sedgwick then presented a petition to Congress for the -repeal of the Act, and called upon his fellow-citizens to sign it. He -enforced this call by a very impressive speech, declaring again and -again his fixed determination to oppose to the utmost any attempt to -carry back from Syracuse a fugitive slave. “A man (no, a dog) may come -here scenting blood on the track of our brother Loguen; shall we let -him drag him off to slavery again? No! never!! Loguen has been driven -and stricken from childhood to manhood. He has been literally a man of -sorrows. His soul was trodden upon by oppression. But he rose in the -might of his manhood, and made his way across rivers, through swamps, -over mountains, to our city. And it shall be a place of safety to him. -We will not give him up. He is a husband and a father on our free soil, -and will you give him back to the hell of slavery? No! never!! - - ‘Dear as freedom is, - And in my soul’s just estimation prized above all price, I had - rather be myself the slave, - And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.’” - -I wish I could convey to the ears of my readers the hearty, deep-toned -notes of applause that welcomed these declarations. - -I then presented a pledge, binding those who might sign it to stand by -one another, and share equally all pecuniary penalties they might be -made to suffer because of their opposition to this oppressive and cruel -Act. - -Rev. Mr. Raymond was afterwards called up, and he spoke in a manner -that was very affecting. I have room for only a brief extract from the -report of it. - -“Oh! the hardships this law has brought upon the fugitives from slavery -that have sought an asylum with us! I attended the other day a meeting -of Baptist ministers in Rochester. There was a colored brother there -in the depths of distress. He arose in our midst and gave voice to -the agonies of his soul. A few years since he escaped from one of the -richest slaveholders in Kentucky. With him, he had been brought up -in ignorance. Since coming among us he had learnt to read, and had -become so well educated as to be able to teach others. In the course -of two years he had gathered a church in a meeting-house that had been -built mainly by his instrumentality. He had a comfortable homestead in -Rochester, and a happy family about him. But now his master had sent -for him, declaring he would have him under this law. ‘Oh!’ he cried, -‘what have I done? what is my crime? All the power and cunning and -sagacity of this great nation are moving to drag me back again into -slavery,--worse than death.’ His head fell upon his bosom, he sobbed -aloud, and we wept with him, and a deep groan of execration went up -from the souls of us all to the God of mercy against this law.” This -recital awakened intense feeling throughout our meeting and murmurs -of indignation. “And now,” Mr. Raymond continued, “suppose that while -we were glowing with sympathy for that brother and abhorrence of the -law,--suppose the man-thief had come into that meeting and put his hand -upon that brother to bear him off to the South. What would have been -the result? I tell you we would have defended him, if we had had to -tear that man-thief in pieces.” This was received with great applause. -“What,” continued Mr. Raymond, “what if the officers should come here -and put their hand on me as one claimed to be the property of another -man, would you let me go?” “No! No!! No!!!” from every quarter was the -hearty response. “And yet why not me as readily as a man of darker -skin? If ever there was a law which it was right to trample upon, it is -this. You are counselling revolution, some may say. Revolution indeed! -O, my fellow-citizens, blood has been flowing, not in battle-fields, -but from the backs of our enslaved countrymen ever since 1776, and -is flowing now. [Deep sensation.] Yes, and that blood has gone up to -Heaven and provoked God against us. Yes, and blood will flow profusely -on the battle-fields of a civil war if we carry out this accursed -law,--if we do not proclaim freedom throughout the land.” - -Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting in a similar strain; -among them, Colonel Titus, who said: “With all my heart I concur in -the sentiments and spirit of the resolutions and in the speech of Mr. -Raymond. I am for suspending the operation of the bill until it shall -be repealed. If the Southerners or their Northern minions undertake to -enforce its provisions, and attempt to carry off our friend Loguen, -or any other citizens, I am prepared to fight in their defence. I -would advise our colored neighbors not to remove to Canada, but to -rely on the patriotism of the citizens of Syracuse for protection. The -Assistant United States Marshal is in the hall, and it is well to have -him understand what are the real sentiments of his fellow-citizens, -which I trust will be found to be almost unanimous in favor of -resistance to this execrable law.” - -Such was the very general uprising of the people of Syracuse in -opposition to the rendition of fugitives from slavery. - -My own sentiments and feelings were very fully declared, a few days -afterwards, from my own pulpit, and subsequently in Rochester and -Oswego. I trust my readers will bear with a somewhat extended abstract -of my sermon. - - “If there be a God, almighty, perfectly wise, and impartially - just and good, his will ought to be supreme with all moral beings - throughout his universe. To teach otherwise,--to teach that we or - any of his moral offspring are bound or can be bound by any earthly - power to do what is contrary to _divine law_, is virtually Atheism; - it is to enthrone Baal or Mammon in the place of Jehovah. _And - this is just what the people of this country are now called upon - by our Federal Government to do._ The legislators of this Republic - have enacted a law which offends every feeling of humanity, sets - at naught every precept of the Christian religion, outrages our - highest sense of right. And now they and their political and - priestly abettors demand that we shall conform to the requirements - of this law, because it was enacted by the government under which - we live. - - “Brethren, are any of you ready to bow and take this yoke upon - your necks, and do the biddings of these wicked men? I hope not. - You shall not be, if I can convince you that you ought not. The - iniquity of our country has culminated in the passage of this - infernal law. Fearful encroachments have successively been made - upon our liberties. This last is the worst, the most daring. If - we yield to it, all will be lost. Our country will be given up - to oppressors. There can be no insult, no outrage upon our moral - sense, which we shall be able to withstand; no spot on which we can - raise a barrier to the tide of political and personal pollution - that must ever follow in the wake of slavery. Our government will - become a despotism or a cruel oligarchy, and our religion will be - in effect, if not in name, the worship of Baal, which means ‘him - that subdues.’... - - “This horrible law, which in the middle of the nineteenth century - of the Christian era the legislators of the most highly favored - nation on earth have had the effrontery to enact,--this law - peremptorily, under heavy fines and penalties, forbids us to give - assistance and comfort to a certain class of our fellow-men in - the utmost need of help,--those who have fled and are longing - to be saved from the greatest wrongs that can be inflicted upon - human beings,--_the wrongs of slavery_. And yet we are told - by many--many who profess to be Christians, even teachers of - Christianity, ah! Doctors of Divinity--that the pulpit may not - remonstrate against this tremendous iniquity, because, forsooth, - it has passed into a law. What, are we, then, to allow that there - is no authority higher than that of the earthly government under - which we live,--a government framed by our revered but fallible - fathers, and which we administer by agents of our own election, - who are by no means incorruptible? Has it come to this? Is this - the best lesson our Republican and Christian wisdom can teach the - suffering nations of earth? Nay, are we to submit to this human - authority without question? May we not so much as discuss the - justice of its demands upon us? Must even those men be silent who - were set in our midst for the defence of the Gospel,--the Gospel - of Him who was ‘anointed to preach to the poor, who was sent to - heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to - set at liberty them that are bruised?’ Such is the doctrine of our - politicians and of our politico-religious ministers. But a more - heartless, demoralizing, base, antidemocrat, and antichristian - doctrine could not be preached. I repudiate it utterly.... _The - pulpit has no higher function than to expound, assert, and - maintain the rights of man._ The assumption of Mr. Webster and his - abettors--that there is no higher law than an enactment of our - Congress or the Constitution of the United States--is glaringly - _atheistical_, inasmuch as it denies the supremacy of the Divine - Author of the _moral constitution_ of man.... - - “It is a matter of great interest to me personally, that my - attention was first powerfully called to the subject of slavery, - and my resolution to do my duty regarding it, was first roused by - Daniel Webster, when he was a _man_, and not a mere selfseeking - politician. The first antislavery meeting I ever attended was - one in which Mr. Webster took a conspicuous part. It was on the - 3d of December, 1819, in the State House at Boston, called to - oppose the Missouri Compromise. Then and there generous, humane, - Christian sentiments respecting slavery were uttered by him and - others that kindled in my bosom a warmth of interest in the cause - of the oppressed that has never cooled. But the next year, on the - 22d of December, 1820, a few days before I entered the pulpit as - a preacher, Mr. Webster delivered his famous oration at Plymouth. - It was an admirable exposition of the rise, characteristics, and - spirit of our free political and religious institutions. Towards - the close, having alluded to slavery and the slave-trade, he said, - with deep solemnity: ‘_I invoke the ministers of our religion, that - they proclaim its denunciation of these crimes. If the pulpit be - silent wherever or whenever there may be a sin bloody with this - guilt within the hearing of its voice, the pulpit is false to its - trust._’ - - “Thus solemnly charged by one whom I _then_ revered as a good man, - no less than as a great statesman, the following Sunday I commenced - preaching. Tremblingly alive to the weighty responsibilities I was - about to incur, I fully resolved that the pulpit which might be - committed to my charge should not be silent respecting slavery or - any other great public wrong.... - - “And now, that same Daniel Webster, who first roused me to feel - somewhat as I ought for the enslaved, has done more than any - other man to procure the enactment of a law, under the provisions - of which, if I do my duty, and by my preaching incite others to - do their duty, to those who are in danger of being enslaved, I - and they may be subjected to unusually heavy fines, or may be - thrown into prison as malefactors. Have I not, then, a personal - controversy with that distinguished man,--distinguished now, alas! - for something else than splendid talents and exalted virtues? If I - have gone wrong, did not Mr. Webster misdirect me? If I have done - no more than he solemnly charged all preachers to do, has he not - basely deserted and betrayed me? Verily, verily I say unto you, he - bound the burden of this antislavery reform, and laid it upon the - shoulders of others, but he himself has not helped to bear it,--no, - not with one of his fingers. Nay, worse, he has done all he could - to prepare the prison, and to whet the sword of vengeance for those - sons of New England who shall obey the injunction he gave them from - Plymouth Rock, that spot hallowed by all who truly love liberty and - hate oppression.... - - “Tell me, then, no more that the pulpit has nothing to do,--that - I as a Christian minister have nothing to do with politics, when - I see how politics have corrupted, yes, utterly spoiled the once - noble (we used in our admiration to say), godlike Daniel Webster! - If that man, with his surpassing strength of intellect and once - enlarged, generous views of the right and the good,--if he has not - been able to withstand the demoralizing influences of political - partyism, but has been shrivelled up into a mere aspirant for - office, basely consenting to any and every sacrifice of humanity - demanded by the oppressors of our country, and at last pledging - himself to sustain all the provisions of a law more ingeniously - wicked than the stimulated fears of the most cowardly tyrants ever - before devised,--I repeat, if such a man as Daniel Webster once was - has been corrupted and ruined by politics, shall I, a minister of - the Christian religion, fail to point out as plainly as I may, and - proclaim as earnestly as I can, the moral dangers that beset those - who engage in the strife for political preferment?... - - “For one, I will not help to uphold our nation in its - iniquity,--no, not for an hour. If it cannot be reclaimed, let - it be dissolved. The declaration so often made by the professed - friends of our Union, that it cannot be preserved unless this - horrible law can be enforced, is unwittingly a declaration that - it is the implacable enemy of liberty,--an obstacle in the way of - human progress. If it really be so, it must be, it will be removed. - And he who attempts to prevent its dissolution will find himself - fighting against God. If such a law as this for the recapture of - fugitive slaves be essential to our Republic as now constituted, - let it be broken up, and some new form of government arise in its - stead. A better one would doubtless succeed. A worse one it could - not be, if the enslavement, continued degradation and outlawry of - more than three millions of our people, be indeed the bond of our - present Union.... - - “Suppose that a considerable proportion of the States in this Union - were, or should become, idolatrous heathen. Suppose that they - worshipped Moloch, or some other false deity who delighted in human - sacrifices. And suppose that, to propitiate the people of those - States, and to secure the pecuniary and political advantages of a - continued Union with them, Congress should enact that the people - of the Christian States should allow those idolaters to come here - when they pleased and offer human sacrifices in our midst, or carry - away our children to be burnt on their altars at the South; would - Mr. Webster or Mr. Clay, or the editors of _The New York Observer_, - or _The Journal of Commerce_, or the Doctors of Divinity who have - endeavored to array the public on the side of wrong,--would even - they call upon us to obey such a law? I am sure they would not. And - yet I fain would know wherein such a law as I have supposed would - be any worse than this law which they are laboring to enforce.... - Why, then, if it would be reasonable and proper, in the view of Mr. - Webster and his reverend abettors, to nullify a law requiring us to - permit human beings to be offered as burnt sacrifices,--why is it - not equally reasonable and proper for us to set at naught this law - which commands us to do something worse,--that is, to assist in - reducing human beings to the condition of domesticated brutes?... - Nay, further, I insisted that the Fugitive Slave Law violates - the religious liberty, interferes with the faith and worship of - Christians, just as much as the law I have supposed would do.... - A law of the land requiring you, as this Fugitive Slave Law - does, to disobey the Golden Rule is, indeed, a far more grievous - encroachment upon your liberty of conscience than a law prescribing - to your faith any creed, or any rites and ceremonies by which you - must worship God.... - - “Fellow-citizens! Christian brethren! the time has come that is to - test our principles, to try our souls. I would not that any one - in this emergency should trust to his own unaided strength. Let - us fervently pray for wisdom to direct us, and for fortitude to - do whatever may be demanded at our hands, by the Royal Law,--the - Golden Rule.... - - “I would counsel prudence, although this evil day demands of us - courage and self-sacrifice.... We should spare no pains through the - press, by conversation, and by public addresses, particularly by - faithful discourses from the pulpits, to cherish and quicken the - sense of right and the love of liberty in the hearts of the people. - A correct public sentiment is our surest safeguard.... - - “Do you inquire of me by what means you ought to withstand the - execution of this diabolical law? It is not for me to determine - the action of any one but myself. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as - thyself,’ is the second great command which all should faithfully - try to obey. Every man and woman among you is bound, as I am, to do - for the protection or rescue of a fugitive from slavery what, in - your hearts before God, you believe it would be right for you to do - in behalf of your own life or liberty, or that of a member of your - family. If you are fully persuaded that it would be right for you - to maim or kill the kidnapper who had laid hands upon your wife, - son, or daughter, or should be attempting to drag yourself away to - be enslaved, I see not how you can excuse yourself from helping, by - the same degree of violence, to rescue the fugitive slave from the - like outrage.... - - “Before all men, I declare that you are, every one of you, under - the highest obligation to disobey this law,--nay, oppose to the - utmost the execution of it. If you know of no better way to do this - than by force and arms, then are you bound to use force and arms - to prevent a fellow-being from being enslaved. There never was, - there cannot be, a more righteous cause for revolution than the - demands made upon us by this law. It would make you kidnappers, - men-stealers, bloodhounds.... - - “It is known that I have been and am a preacher of the ‘doctrine - of non-resistance.’ I believe it to be one of the distinctive - doctrines of Christianity. But I have never presumed to affirm that - I possessed enough of the spirit of Christ,--enough confidence - in God and man,--enough moral courage and self-command to act in - accordance with the Gospel precept in the treatment of enemies. - But there is not a doubt in my heart that, if I should be enabled - to speak and act as Jesus would, I should produce a far greater - and better effect than could be wrought by clubs, or swords, or - any deadly weapons.... I shall go to the rescue of any one I may - hear is in danger, not intending to harm the cruel men who may - be attempting to kidnap him. I shall take no weapon of violence - along with me, not even the cane that I usually wear. I shall go, - praying that I may say and do what will smite the hearts rather - than the bodies of the impious claimants of property in human - beings,--pierce their consciences rather than their flesh.... - - “Fellow-citizens, fellow-men, fellow-Christians! the hour is - come! A stand must be taken against the ruthless oppressors of - our country. Resistants and non-resistants have now a work to do - that may task to the utmost the energies of their souls. We owe it - to the millions who are wearing out a miserable existence under - the yoke of slavery; we owe it to the memory of our fathers who - solemnly pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred - honor to the cause of liberty; We owe it to the expectations, the - claims of oppressed and suffering men the world over; we owe it to - ourselves, if we would be true men and not the menials of tyrants, - to trample this Fugitive Slave Law under foot, and throw it - indignantly back at the wicked legislators who had the hardihood to - enact it.” - -It was obvious enough that some parts of the discourse were not -relished by quite a number of my auditors. Several seemed to be -seriously offended. It is therefore to be cherished among my many -grateful recollections that, as I was coming down from the pulpit the -late Major James E. Heron, of the United States Army, then one of the -prominent members of our society, came up to me glowing with emotion, -gave me his hand, and said, quite audibly: “Mr. May, I thank you. I was -once a slaveholder. I know all about the Southern system of domestic -servitude. I am intimately acquainted with the principles of the -slaveholders, and the condition of their bondmen. You have never in my -hearing exaggerated the wrongs and the vices inherent in the system. -You cannot overstate them. And the bold attempt which is now making to -subjugate the people of the Northern States to the will and service of -the slaveholders ought to be resisted to the last.” He must have been -heard by many. His words were repeated about the city, and his full -indorsement of my antislavery fanaticism helped to make it much more -tolerable, in the regards of some who were ready to revolt from it. - -The Vigilance Committee appointed on the 4th of October, and the -Association we formed on the 12th, to co-operate with that committee, -and to bear mutually the expenses that might be incurred in resisting -the law, kept the attention of our citizens alive to the subject. And -their interest was quickened and their determination confirmed by the -reports that came to us from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and many -other places, of the preparations that were making to protect the -colored people, and set at defiance the plan for their re-enslavement. -The historian of our country, if he be one worthy of the task, will -linger with delight over the pages on which he shall narrate the -uprising of the people generally, in 1850 and 1851, throughout the -Northern States, in opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. There were -not wanting fearless preachers who took up the arms of the Gospel -and faithfully fought against the great unrighteousness. Only a few -days after the infamous speech of Mr. Webster on the 7th of March, -Theodore Parker addressed a crowded audience in Faneuil Hall, and -exposed to their deeper abhorrence the atrocious provisions of the Bill -which the Massachusetts senator had had the effrontery to advocate -and pledge himself to maintain. On the 22d of September following he -preached to his hearers in the Melodeon a thrilling discourse on “The -Function and Place of Conscience in Relation to the Laws of Men,” -which must have fired them all the more to stand to the death in -defence of any human being who had sought, or should seek, an asylum -in Massachusetts. And again on the 28th of November, 1850, the day of -annual Thanksgiving, he delivered his comprehensive, deep-searching -discourse on “The State of the Nation,” showing the reckless impiety -of rulers who could frame such unrighteousness into law, and the -folly of the people who could suppose themselves bound to obey such -a law. Oh! if the ministers of religion generally, throughout our -country, had said and done, before and after that date, a tithe as -much as Mr. Parker said and did against the “great iniquity” of our -nation, the slaveholders could never have gained such an ascendency -in our Government, nor have become so inflated with the idea of their -power, as to have attempted the dissolution of the Union, which it -cost all the blood and treasure expended in our awful civil war to -preserve. Mr. Parker was not indeed left alone to fight the battle of -the Lord. Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y., Rev. G. W. Perkins, -of Guilford, Conn., Rev. J. G. Forman, of West Bridgewater, Rev. -Charles Beecher, Rev. William C. Whitcomb, of Stoneham, Rev. Nathaniel -West, of Pittsburg, each spoke and wrote words of sound truth and -great power, as well as those whose services I have acknowledged in -another place, and others no doubt whose names have escaped my memory. -But of the thirty thousand ministers of all the denominations in the -United States, I believe not one in a hundred ever raised his voice -against the enslavement of millions of our countrymen, nor lifted a -finger to protect one who had escaped from bondage. And many, very -many of the clergy openly and vehemently espoused the cause of the -oppressors. Not only did the preachers in the slaveholding States, with -scarcely an exception, justify and defend the institution of slavery, -but there were many ministers in the free States who took sides with -them. The most distinguished in this bad company were Professor -Stuart, of Andover, Dr. Lord, President of Dartmouth College, New -Hampshire, Bishop Hopkins, of Burlington, Vt., and Rev. Dr. Nehemiah -Adams, of Boston. But I must refer my readers to the books mentioned -at the bottom of page 349, if they would know how “the orthodox and -evangelical” ministers of the free States contributed their influence -to uphold “the peculiar institution of the South.” And it must be left -for the future historian of our Republic in the nineteenth century to -tell to posterity how fearfully the American Church and ninety-nine -hundredths of the ministers were subjugated to the will and behest of -our slaveholding oligarchy. My purpose is to give, for the most part, -only my personal recollections. And on this point, I am sorry to say, -they are numerous and mortifying enough. - - -THE UNITARIANS AND THEIR MINISTERS. - -When the Fugitive Slave Law was first promulgated, there was, as I -have stated, a very general outburst of indignation throughout the -North,--a feeling of dreadful shame, a sense of a most bitter insult. -The first impulse of the Unitarians, as of others, was to denounce it. -At their autumnal convention in Springfield, October, 1850, they did -so, though not without strong opposition to any vote or action on the -subject. Probably the opposers would have prevailed, and the law have -been left unrebuked, had not that venerable man, the late Rev. Dr. -Willard, of Deerfield, risen and earnestly--yes, solemnly--protested -against passing lightly over a matter of such fearful importance. Dr. -Willard was old, and had long been blind. Would to God that the moral -sight of many of his younger ministerial brethren had been half as -clear and pure as his! With tremulous eloquence he called upon them to -reconsider their motion. He appealed to their pity for men and women -over whom was impending the greatest calamity that could befall human -beings. He appealed to their regard for the honor of their country, -and besought them to avert her shame, by doing what they might to -show the world, that it was the statesmen and politicians, not the -people of the Northern States, who approved of this wicked, cruel law. -His words roused others, who spoke to the same effect; and so that -Convention was persuaded to adopt resolutions condemning the law. But -quite a number of the prominent ministers of the denomination soon -after gave strong utterance to an opposite opinion. I need mention but -three. Rev. Dr. Lunt, of Quincy, preached a discourse on the “Divine -Right of Government,” in which he endeavored to bring his hearers to -the conclusion that, “wise, practical men would allow the laws of the -land, which have been enacted in due form, to have their course and be -executed, until we can so far change the current of public opinion that -what is objectionable in those laws may be corrected.” He conceded, -indeed, that “there are cases when rulers may be rightfully resisted, -and when revolution is a duty; yet these are extreme cases, and require -for their justification the most imperative necessity.” He said this -all unconscious, it would seem, that such an extreme case was upon us; -unconscious, and leaving his hearers unconscious, that the Fugitive -Slave Law must be resisted, or the people of Massachusetts would -consent to become menials of the slaveholders, kidnappers, robbers of -men, bloodhounds. - -The excellent Dr. E. S. Gannett, of Boston, was heard to say, more -than once, very emphatically, and to justify it, “that he should feel -it to be his duty to turn away from his door a fugitive slave,--unfed, -unaided in any way, rather than set at naught the law of the land.” - -And Rev. Dr. Dewey, whom we accounted one of the ablest expounders and -most eloquent defenders of our Unitarian faith,--Dr. Dewey was reported -to have said at two different times, in public lectures or speeches -during the fall of 1850 and the winter of 1851, that “he would send his -_mother_ into slavery, rather than endanger the Union, by resisting -this law enacted by the constituted government of the nation.” He -has often denied that he spoke thus of his “maternal relative,” and -therefore I allow that he was misunderstood. But he has repeatedly -acknowledged that he did say, “I would consent that my own brother, -my own son, should go, _ten times rather_ would I go myself into -slavery, than that this Union should be sacrificed.” The rhetoric of -this sentence may be less shocking, but the principle that underlies -it is equally immoral and demoralizing. It is, that the inalienable, -God-given rights of man ought to be violated, outraged, rather than -overturn or seriously endanger a human institution called a government. - -Although our denomination at that time was numerically a very small -one, yet it was so prominent, not only in Boston and its immediate -vicinity, but before the whole nation, and in view of all the world, -that it seemed to me to be a matter of great moral consequence that -it should take and maintain a truly Christian stand respecting this -high-handed, glaring attempt to bring our Northern free States into -entire subjection to the slaveholding oligarchy. Therefore, at the next -annual meeting of the American Unitarian Association, in May, 1851, I -offered the following Preamble and Resolution:-- - - “Whereas, his Excellency, Millard Fillmore, whose official - signature made the Fugitive Slave Bill a law, is a _Unitarian_; - and the Hon. Daniel Webster, who exerted all his official and - personal influence to procure the passage of that bill, has - been until recently, if he is not now, a member of a Unitarian - church; and whereas, one of the only three Representatives from - New England, who voted for that bill, is the Hon. S. A. Eliot, a - distinguished Unitarian of Boston, known to have been educated for - the Unitarian ministry; and whereas, the present representative of - the United States Government at the Court of the British Empire is - a Unitarian, and his two immediate predecessors were once preachers - of this Gospel, and one of them, Hon. Edward Everett, has publicly - declared his approval of Mr. Webster’s course touching this most - wicked law; and whereas, the Hon. Jared Sparks, President of - Harvard College, and President of the Divinity School at Cambridge, - formerly a distinguished minister, and a very elaborate and able - expounder of our distinctive doctrines, is one of the number who - addressed a letter to Mr. Webster, commending him for what he had - said and done in behalf of the Fugitive Slave Law; and still more, - because the late President of this American Unitarian Association - (Dr. Dewey), one of the most popular preachers, expounders, and - champions of the Unitarian faith, has been more earnest and - emphatic than any man in his asseveration that this law, infernal - as it is, ought nevertheless to be obeyed; and because the - gentleman who this day retires from the highest position in our - ecclesiastical body, the Rev. Dr. Gannett, is understood to have - given his adhesion to this lowest of all laws, and several of the - distinguished, titled ministers of our denomination in and near - Boston, the head-quarters of Unitarians, have preached obedience to - _this law_,-- - - “We, therefore, feel especially called upon by the highest - considerations, at this, the first general gathering of our body, - since the above-named exposures of the unsoundness of our members, - to declare in the most public and emphatic manner that we consider - the Fugitive Slave Law a most fearful violation of the law of God, - as taught by Jesus Christ and his apostles, and, therefore, all - obedience to it is practical infidelity to the Author and Finisher - of the Christian faith, and to the impartial Father of the whole - human family. - - “_Resolved_, Therefore, that we, the American Unitarian - Association, earnestly exhort all who would honor the Christian - name, but especially all who have embraced with us views of human - nature similar to those held up by our revered Channing,--to - remember those in bonds as bound with them; ever to attempt to do - for them, as we would that the now enslaved or fugitive should do - for us in an exchange of circumstances,--to comfort and aid them in - all their attempts to escape from their oppressors, and by no means - to betray the fugitives, or in any way assist or give the least - countenance to the cruel men who would return them to slavery.” - -Both the Preamble and Resolutions were cordially seconded by Rev. -Theodore Parker, and their adoption urged in a brief but most -significant speech. The moment he had ceased speaking Henry Fuller, -Esq., of Boston, sprang to his feet, and, in an impassioned manner, -moved that the paper just read by the Rev. Mr. May, of Syracuse, be not -even received by the Association. “This ecclesiastical body had nothing -to do with such a political matter. The entertaining of the subject -here would be indecorous, and only help to increase the alienation -of feeling between the South and the North.” With equal warmth of -manner and speech Rev. Joseph Richardson, of Hingham, seconded Mr. -Fuller’s motion, and cut off all debate by calling for the “previous -question.” So the motion not to receive my paper was put, and carried -by twenty-seven to twenty-two. - -The next day, at a meeting of the “Ministerial Conference,” which -comprised all the clerical members of the American Unitarian -Association, I proposed for adoption the same Preamble and Resolution, -and am happy to add, with a much more gratifying result. The following -is a very brief report of the discussion and action of that body, taken -from _The Commonwealth_ of June 2, 1851:-- - - “Rev. Mr. Judd, of Augusta, Me., thought it the duty of the clergy - to speak freely upon the question of slavery, but with perfect - plainness to all parties. He approved of the sentiment of the - resolve, but disliked the preamble, as too personal in its language. - - “Rev. Mr. May, of Syracuse, N. Y., said reference was made in the - resolve to those only whom the Conference had a right to mention, - namely, prominent Unitarians who had sustained the Fugitive Slave - Law. - - “Rev. Dr. Hall, of Providence, R. I., thought that, as citizens, as - Unitarians, and as Christians, they were called upon to speak in - opposition to the law, but the right place should be selected, in - order that no false impression should be given in case the topic - should not be acted upon. For himself, he should not obey the law, - though the country went to pieces. - - “Rev. Mr. Parker, of Boston, read extracts from an English paper, - showing the action of an ecclesiastical body abroad that had - resolved not to countenance or admit to its pulpits any of the - American clergy who uphold the Fugitive Slave Law or slavery. - - “Rev. Mr. Holland, of Rochester, N. Y., deemed obedience to the law - a violation of conscience and duty. His voice and prayer were for - progress and liberty. - - “Rev. Mr. Frost, of Concord, Mass., had had a committee of his - society ask him to abstain from preaching on slavery thenceforth. - He replied, that when the slave power had taken possession of the - departments of Government, controlled the decisions of our courts, - and influenced the moral position of the Church itself, glossing - over all the iniquities of the system, he should not keep silence. - Obedience to the Fugitive Law was treason to God; he preferred to - be disloyal to man. - - “Rev. William H. Channing, of New York City, thought the Church - should take common ground against this national sin. But to the - slaveholder he would be fair and candid. He would meet him in - conclave, show him the evils of slavery, the worth of freedom, - and join with him in removing the willing free colored population - to the lands of the West, and as a remuneration give them the - blessings of free labor and social prosperity. - - “Rev. Mr. Osgood, of New York City, admitted the iniquity of the - Fugitive Slave Law, and the sin of slavery, and thought them proper - subjects for pulpit discussion; but he wanted a moral influence to - be exerted, without a violation of Christian gentleness. He said - Rev. Mr. Furness, of Philadelphia, and Rev. Dr. Dewey, of New York, - had had a correspondence in reference to the latter’s position on - political questions, and he (Mr. Osgood) honestly believed, from - the results of that correspondence, and from conversations he - himself had held with the Doctor, that, in his support of the Slave - Law, he was making self-sacrifice to what he conceived his duty. - - “Rev. Mr. Pierpont, of Medford, proclaimed the superiority of God’s - law to man’s law. He would not obey the latter when it interfered - with the former. The government might fine and imprison, but it - could do no more; he was mindful of the penalty, but he would - not obey. If all would act with him the law would fail of being - executed. - - “Rev. Dr. Gannett, of Boston, was impressed with the immensity - of this question, the terrible awfulness that lay behind it, and - he would discuss it with all solemnity and seriousness in view - of the impending evil. He believed in his heart the maintenance - of government, the comfort of the people, _and the perpetuity of - our Union depended on the support of the Fugitive Law_. He would - not have the subject treated lightly, but prayerfully, fearfully, - in view of the great responsibilities resting upon it. We should - respect private convictions, and allow the integrity of motives of - those who differ with us. - - “Rev. Mr. Ellis, of Charlestown, hailed that day as the first - when these differences had been rightly discussed. But if the - Conference, comprising members of different though honest views, - should take ground on this question, he should leave it. As an - organized body we have nothing to do with it. No action could be - binding, and he was unwilling to have the Conference interfere - with the question. He had himself ever entertained ultra-abolition - views, and did now; but he had no such fears for the Union as - Brother Gannett. If the Union was held together by so feeble a - tenure as here presented, he thought it was not worth saving; and - further, if our Northern land is to be the scouring-ground of - slave-hunters, the sooner the Union was sundered the better. But - our sphere of action did not allow interference with the question. - - “Dr. Gannett spoke of the character of that parishioner of his who - returned a slave (Curtis). He had done so from convictions of his - constitutional obligations as an upholder of law and as a good - citizen, and he esteemed that a wrong was done him in stigmatizing - him as a ‘cruel’ man, because of that return, as the resolution - expressed it. - - “On motion of Mr. Pierpont, the word ‘cruel’ was stricken out, and - the resolution having been previously altered so as to make it a - proposition for discussion rather than as a test for votes, it was - entered upon the records. - - “The debate (of which I have given a very limited sketch) here - terminated by general consent, the feeling being almost unanimous - as expressed by the majority of the speakers.” - -But the Unitarians as a body were by no means redeemed from the moral -thraldom in which the whole nation was held. There was still among them -so little heartfelt abhorrence of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law, -that the year after Mr. Fillmore was dropped from the presidency of -the nation, which he had so dishonored, he was specially invited to -preside at the Annual Festival of the Unitarians, to be given, if I -remember correctly, in Faneuil Hall. He declined the honor proffered -him, but our denomination was left to bear the shame of having asked -him to receive an expression of our respect, as there was no protest -against the action of the Committee. - - -THE RESCUE OF JERRY. - -I should love to tell of the generous, daring, self-sacrificing -conflicts with the abettors and minions of the slaveholders in -different parts of our country. But I must leave those bright pages to -be written by the historian of those times, and confine myself to that -part of the field where I saw and was engaged in the fight. - -In the early part of the summer of 1851 Mr. Webster travelled quite -extensively about the country, exerting all his personal and official -influence, and the remnants of his eloquence, to persuade the people -to yield themselves to the requirements of the Fugitive Slave Law. On -the 5th or 6th of June he came to Syracuse. He stood in a small balcony -overlooking the yard in front of our City Hall and the intervening -street. Of course he had a large audience. But his hearers generally -were disappointed in his appearance and speech, and those who were -not already members of the proslavery party were much offended at his -authoritative, dictatorial, commanding tones and language. There is -no need that I should give an abstract of what he said. It was but a -rehash of his infamous speech in Congress on the 7th of March, 1850. -At or near the close he said, in his severest manner, “Those persons -in this city who mean to oppose the execution of the Fugitive Slave -Law are traitors! traitors!! traitors!!! This law ought to be obeyed, -and it will be enforced,--yes, it shall be enforced; in the city of -Syracuse it shall be enforced, and that, too, in the midst of the next -antislavery Convention, if then there shall be any occasion to enforce -it.” Indignation flashed from many eyes in that assembly, and one might -almost hear the gritting of teeth in defiance of the threat. - -I stated on page 354 that at the meeting on the 12th of October, 1850, -we commenced an association to co-operate and to bear one another’s -burdens in defence of any among us who should be arrested as slaves. -Many came into our agreement. We fixed upon a rendezvous, and agreed -that any one of our number, who might know or hear of a person in -danger, should toll the bell of an adjoining meeting-house in a -particular manner, and that, on hearing that signal, we would all -repair at once to the spot, ready to do and to dare whatever might -seem to be necessary. Two or three times in the ensuing twelve months -the alarm was given, but the cause for action was removed by the time -we reached our rendezvous, excepting in one case, when it was thought -advisable to send a guard to protect a threatened man to Auburn or -Rochester. - -But on the first day of October, 1851, a real and, as it proved to -be, a signal case was given us. Whether it was given on that day -intentionally to fulfil Mr. Webster’s prediction is known only to those -who have not yet divulged the secret. There was, however, on that day -an antislavery convention in Syracuse, and, moreover, a meeting of the -County Agricultural Society, so that our city was unusually full of -people, which proved to be favorable to our enterprise. - -Just as I was about to rise from my dinner on that day I heard the -signal-bell, and hurried towards the appointed place, nearly a mile -from my home. But I had not gone half-way before I met the report that -Jerry McHenry had been claimed as a slave, arrested by the police, and -taken to the office of the Commissioner. So I turned my steps thither. -The nearer I got to the place, the more persons I met, all excited, -many of them infuriated by the thought that a man among us was to be -carried away into slavery. - -Jerry was an athletic mulatto, who had been residing in Syracuse -for a number of years, and working quite expertly, it was said, as -a cooper. I found him in the presence of the Commissioner with the -District Attorney, who was conducting the trial,--a one-sided process, -in which the agent of the claimant alone was to be heard in proof, -that the prisoner was an escaped slave belonging to a Mr. Reynolds, -of Missouri. The doomed man was not to be allowed to state his own -case, nor refute the testimony of his adversary, however false it -might be. While we were attending to the novel proceedings, Jerry, not -being closely guarded, slipped out of the room under the guidance of -a young man of more zeal than discretion, and in a moment was in the -street below. The crowd cheered and made way for him, but no vehicle -having been provided to help his escape, he was left to depend upon his -agility as a runner. Being manacled, he could not do his best; but he -had got off nearly half a mile, before the police officers and their -partisans overtook him. I was not there to witness the meeting; but it -was said the rencounter was a furious one. Jerry fought like a tiger, -but fought against overwhelming odds. He was attacked behind and before -and soon subdued. He was battered and bruised, his clothes sadly torn -and bloody, and one rib cracked, if not broken. In this plight he was -thrown upon a carman’s wagon, two policemen sat upon him, one across -his legs, the other across his body, and thus confined he was brought -down through the centre of the city, and put into a back room of the -police office, the whole _posse_ being gathered there to guard him. -The people, citizens and strangers, were alike indignant. As I passed -amongst them I heard nothing but execrations and threats of release. -Two or three times men came to me and said, “Mr. May, speak the word, -and we’ll have Jerry out.” “And what will you do with him,” I replied, -“when you get him out? You have just seen the bad effect of one -ill-advised attempt to rescue him. Wait until proper arrangements are -made. Stay near here to help at the right moment and in the right way. -In a little while it will be quite dark, and then the poor fellow can -be easily disposed of.” - -Presently the Chief of the Police came to me, and said, “Jerry is in a -perfect rage, a fury of passion; do come in and see if you can quiet -him.” So I followed into the little room where he was confined. He was -indeed a horrible object. I was left alone with him, and sat down by -his side. So soon as I could get him to hear me, I said, “Jerry, do -try to be calm.” “Would you be calm,” he roared out, “with these irons -on you? What have I done to be treated so? Take off these handcuffs, -and then if I do not fight my way through these fellows that have got -me here,--then you may make me a slave.” Thus he raved on, until in a -momentary interval I whispered, “Jerry, we are going to rescue you; do -be more quiet!” “Who are you?” he cried. “How do I know you can or will -rescue me?” After a while I told him by snatches what we meant to do, -who I was, and how many there were who had come resolved to save him -from slavery. At length he seemed to believe me, became more tranquil, -and consented to lie down, so I left him. Immediately after I went to -the office of the late Dr. Hiram Hoyt, where I found twenty or thirty -picked men laying a plan for the rescue. Among them was Gerrit Smith, -who happened to be in town attending the Liberty Party Convention. It -was agreed that a skilful and bold driver in a strong buggy, with the -fleetest horse to be got in the city, should be stationed not far off -to receive Jerry, when he should be brought out. Then to drive hither -and thither about the city until he saw no one pursuing him; not to -attempt to get out of town, because it was reported that every exit was -well guarded, but to return to a certain point near the centre of the -city, where he would find two men waiting to receive his charge. With -them he was to leave Jerry, and know nothing about the place of his -retreat. - -At a given signal the doors and windows of the police office were to -be demolished at once, and the rescuers to rush in and fill the room, -press around and upon the officers, overwhelming them by their numbers, -not by blows, and so soon as they were confined and powerless by the -pressure of bodies about them, several men were to take up Jerry and -bear him to the buggy aforesaid. Strict injunctions were given, and it -was agreed not intentionally to injure the policemen. Gerrit Smith and -several others pressed this caution very urgently upon those who were -gathered in Dr. Hoyt’s office. And the last thing I said as we were -coming away was, “If any one is to be injured in this fray, I hope it -may be one of our own party.” - -The plan laid down as I have sketched it was well and quickly executed, -about eight o’clock in the evening. The police office was soon in -our possession. One officer in a fright jumped out of a window and -seriously injured himself. Another officer fired a pistol and slightly -wounded one of the rescuers. With these exceptions there were no -personal injuries. The driver of the buggy managed adroitly, escaped -all pursuers, and about nine o’clock delivered Jerry into the hands of -Mr. Jason S. Hoyt and Mr. James Davis. They led him not many steps to -the house of the late Caleb Davis, who with his wife promptly consented -to give the poor fellow a shelter in their house, at the corner of -Genesee and Orange Streets. Here they at once cut off his shackles, -and after some refreshing food put him to bed. Now the excitement was -over, Jerry was utterly exhausted, and soon became very feverish. A -physician was called, who dressed his wounds and administered such -medicine as was applicable. But rest, sleep, was what he needed, and -he enjoyed them undisturbed for five days,--only four or five persons, -besides Mr. and Mrs. Davis, knowing what had become of Jerry. It -was generally supposed he had gone to Canada. But the next Sunday -evening, just after dark, a covered wagon with a span of very fleet -horses was seen standing for a few minutes near the door of Mr. Caleb -Davis’s house. Mr. Jason S. Hoyt and Mr. James Davis were seen to -help a somewhat infirm man into the vehicle, jump in themselves, and -start off at a rapid rate. Suspicion was awakened, and several of -the “patriots” of our city set off in pursuit of the “traitors.” The -chase was a hot one for eight or ten miles, but Jerry’s deliverers had -the advantage on the start, and in the speed of the horses that were -bearing him to liberty. They took him that night about twenty miles to -the house of a Mr. Ames, a Quaker, in the town of Mexico. There he was -kept concealed several days, and then conveyed to the house of a Mr. -Clarke, on the confines of the city of Oswego. This gentleman searched -diligently nearly a week for a vessel that would take Jerry across -to the dominions of the British Queen. He dared not trust a Yankee -captain, and the English vessels were so narrowly watched, that it was -not until several days had elapsed that he was able to find one who -would undertake to transport a fugitive slave over the lake. At length -the captain of a small craft agreed to set sail after dark, and when -well off on the lake to hoist a light to the top of his mast, that his -whereabouts might be known. Mr. Clarke took Jerry to a less frequented -part of the shore, embarked with him in a small boat, and rowed him -to the little schooner of the friendly captain. By him he was taken -to Kingston, where he soon was established again in the business of -a cooper. Not many days after his arrival there we received a letter -from him, expressing in the warmest terms his gratitude for what the -Abolitionists in Syracuse had done in his behalf. After pouring out a -heartful of thanks to us, he assured us that he had been led to think -more than ever before of his indebtedness to God,--the ultimate Source -of all goodness,--and had been brought to the resolution to lead a -purer, better life than he had ever done. We heard afterwards that he -was well married, and was living comfortably and respectably. But, ere -the fourth year of his deliverance had closed, he was borne away to -that world where there never was and never will be a slaveholder nor a -slave. - -Foiled in their attempt to lay a tribute at the feet of the Southern -oligarchy, the officers of the United States Government set about to -punish us “traitors,” who had evinced so much more regard for “the -rights of man conferred by God” than for a wicked law enacted by -Congress. Eighteen of us were indicted. The accusation was brought -before Judge Conkling at Auburn. Thither, therefore, the accused -were taken. But we went accompanied by nearly a hundred of our -fellow-citizens, many of them the most prominent men of Syracuse, with -not a few ladies. So soon as the indictment was granted, and bailors -called for, Hon. William H. Seward stepped forward and put his name -first upon the bond. His good example was promptly followed, and the -required amount was quickly pledged by a number of our most responsible -gentlemen. Mr. Seward then invited the rescuers of Jerry and their -friends, especially the ladies, to his house, where all were hospitably -entertained until it was time for us to return to Syracuse. - -But the hand of law was not laid upon the friends of Jerry alone. James -Lear, the agent of his claimant, and the Deputy Marshal who assisted -him, were arrested on warrants for attempting to kidnap a citizen of -Syracuse. They, however, easily escaped conviction on the plea that -they were acting under a law of the United States. - -Many of the political newspapers were emphatic in their condemnation -of our resistance to the law, and only a few ventured to justify it. -_The Advertiser_ and _The American_ of Rochester, _The Gazette_ and -_Observer_ of Utica, _The Oneida Whig_, _The Register_, _The Argus_, -and _The Express_ of Albany, _The Courier and Inquirer_ and _The -Express_ of New York, although of opposite political parties, were -agreed in pronouncing “the rescue of Jerry a disgraceful, demoralizing, -and alarming act.” - -A mass convention of the citizens of Onondaga County, called to -consider the propriety of the rescue, met in our City Hall on the 15th -of October, and with entire unanimity passed a series of resolutions -fully justifying and applauding the deed. - -Ten days afterwards, an opposing convention of the city and county was -held in the same place, and sent forth an opposite opinion, but not -without dissent. - -In one of our city papers I was called out by three of my -fellow-citizens as the one more responsible than any other for the -rescue of Jerry, and was challenged to justify such an open defiance of -a law of my country. Thus was the subject kept before the public, and -the questions involved in it were pretty thoroughly discussed. - -Meanwhile the United States District Attorney was not neglectful of -his official duty. He summoned several of the indicted ones to trial -at Buffalo, at Albany, and at Canandaigua. But he did not obtain a -conviction in either case. Gerrit Smith, Charles A. Wheaton, and myself -published in the papers an acknowledgment that we had assisted all we -could in the rescue of Jerry; that we were ready for trial; would give -the Court no trouble as to the fact, and should rest our defence upon -the unconstitutionality and extreme wickedness of the Fugitive Slave -Law. The Attorney did not, however, see fit to bring the matter to that -test. He brought a poor colored man--Enoch Reed--to trial at Albany, -and summoned me as one of the witnesses against him. When called to the -stand to tell the jury all that I knew of Mr. Reed’s participation in -the rescue, I testified that I saw him doing what hundreds of others -did or attempted to do, and that he was not particularly conspicuous in -that good work. The Attorney was much offended. He assured the Judge -that I knew much more about the matter than I had told the jury, and -requested him to remind me of my oath to tell the whole truth. When -the Court had so admonished me, I bowed and said: “May it please your -Honor, I do know all about the rescue of Jerry; and if the prosecuting -officer will arraign Gerrit Smith, Charles A. Wheaton or myself, I -shall have occasion to tell the jury all about the transaction. I have -now truly given the jury all the testimony I have to give respecting -the prisoner at the bar.” - -Of course Enoch Reed was acquitted, and no other one of those indicted -was convicted. The last attempt to procure a conviction was made at -Canandaigua, before Judge Hall, of the United States District Court, -in the autumn of 1852. A few days before the setting of that Court, -Mr. Gerrit Smith sent copies of a handbill to be distributed in that -village and the surrounding country, announcing that he would be in -Canandaigua at the time of the Court, and speak to the people who might -assemble to hear him, on the atrocious wickedness of the Fugitive Slave -Law. - -On his arrival at Canandaigua, Mr. Smith found all the public buildings -closed against him. He therefore requested that a wagon might be drawn -into an adjoining pasture, and notice given that he would speak there. -At the appointed hour a large assembly had gathered to hear him. He -addressed them in his most impressive manner. He exposed fully the -great iniquity that was about to be attempted in the court-room hard -by,--the iniquity of sentencing a man as guilty of a crime for doing -that which, in the sight of God, was innocent, praiseworthy,--yes, -required by the Golden Rule. He argued to the jurors, who might be in -the crowd surrounding him, that, whatever might be the testimony given -them to prove that Jerry was a slave; whatever words might be quoted -from statutes or constitutions to show that a man can be by law turned -into a slave, a chattel, the property of another man, they nevertheless -might, with a good conscience, bring in a verdict acquitting any one of -crime, who should be accused before them of having helped to rescue a -fellow-man from those who would make him a slave. “If,” said he, “the -ablest lawyer should argue before you, and quote authorities to prove -that an article which you know to be wood is stone or iron, would you -consent to regard it as stone or iron, and bring in a verdict based -upon such a supposition, even though the judge in his charge should -instruct you so to do? I trust not. So neither should any argument or -amount of testimony or weight of authorities satisfy you that a man is -a chattel. Jurors cannot be bound more than other persons to believe an -absurdity.” - -The United States Attorney, Mr. Garvin, found that he could not empanel -a jury upon which there were not several who had formed an opinion -against the law. So he let all the “Jerry Rescue Causes” fall to the -ground forever. - -At the time of this his boldest, most defiant act, Mr. Smith was a -member of Congress. For this reason “his contempt of the Court,” “his -disrespect for the forms of law, the precedents of judicial decisions, -and the authority of the constitution,” was pronounced by “the wise and -prudent” to be the more shameful, mischievous, and alarming. But “the -common people” could not be easily convinced that any wrong could be so -great as enslaving a man, nor that it was criminal to help him escape -from servile bondage. - -My readers will readily believe that we exulted not a little in the -triumph of our exploit. For several years afterwards we celebrated the -1st of October as the anniversary of the greatest event in the history -of Syracuse. Either because, in 1852, there was no hall in our city -capacious enough to accommodate so large a meeting as we expected, -or else because we could not obtain the most capacious hall,--for -one or the other of these reasons,--the first anniversary of the -Rescue of Jerry was celebrated in the rotunda of the New York Central -Railroad, just then completed for the accommodation of the engines. -John Wilkinson, Esq., at that time President of the road, promptly, -and without our solicitation, proffered the use of the building, large -enough to hold thousands. It was well filled. Gerrit Smith presided, -and the speeches made by him, by Mr. Garrison, and other prominent -Abolitionists, together with the letters of congratulation received -from Hon. Charles Sumner, Rev. Theodore Parker, and others, would fill -a volume, half the size of this, with the most exalted political and -moral sentiments, and not a few passages of sublime eloquence. - -After our triumph over the Fugitive Slave Law, we Abolitionists in -Central New York enjoyed for several years a season of comparative -peace. We held our regular and our occasional antislavery meetings -without molestation, and were encouraged in the belief that our -sentiments were coming to be more generally received. The Republican -party was evidently bound to become an abolition party. Hon. Charles -Sumner was doing excellent service in the Senate of the United States, -and Hon. Henry Wilson and others in Congress were seconding his -efforts, to bring the legislators of our nation to see and own that the -institution of slavery was utterly incompatible with a free, democratic -government, and irreconcilable with the Christian religion. - -Still we could perceive no signs of repentance in the slaveholding -States, and had despaired of a _peaceful_ settlement of the great -controversy. How soon the appeal to the arbitrament of war would come -we could not predict; but we saw it to be inevitable. All, therefore, -that remained for the friends of our country and of humanity to do, was -diligently to disseminate throughout the non-slaveholding States a just -appreciation of the great question at issue between the North and the -South; a true respect for the God-given rights of man, which our nation -had so impiously dared to trample upon; and the sincere belief that -nothing less than the extermination of slavery from our borders could -insure the true union of the States and the prosperity of our Republic. -To this work of patriotism, as well as benevolence, therefore, we -addressed ourselves so long as the terrible chastisement which our -nation had incurred was delayed. - -Wellnigh exhausted by my unremitted attention to the duties of my -profession, and to the several great reforms that have signalized the -last fifty years, I was persuaded to go to Europe for recreation and -the recovery of my health. I spent six months of the year 1859 on the -Continent, and three months in England, Scotland, and Ireland. - -Numerous as are the interesting places and persons to be seen in -each of these last-named countries, I must confess that my greatest -attraction to them was the expectation of seeing many of the friends of -liberty, who had co-operated so generously with us for the abolition -of slavery. And in this respect I was not disappointed. I lectured -by request to large audiences in several of the chief cities of the -kingdom. But, what was much better, I had meetings for conversation -with the prominent Abolitionists, especially in London, Glasgow, and -Dublin. These were numerously attended, and the intelligent questions -put to me, by those who were so well informed and so deeply interested -in the cause of my enslaved countrymen, saved me from misspending a -minute on the commonplaces of the subject, and led me to give our -friends the most recent information of the kinds they craved. - -I remember particularly the conversations that I had in Glasgow -and Dublin. The former was held in the ample, well-stored library -room of Professor Nichol of the University of that city. His wife -was, a few years before, Miss Elizabeth Pease, one of the earliest, -best-informed, and most liberal of our English fellow-laborers. He -promptly concurred with her in cordially inviting me to his home. And -on my second or third visit, he had gathered there to meet me the -prominent Abolitionists of the city and immediate neighborhood. He -presided at the meeting, and introduced me in a most comprehensive and -impressive speech on human freedom,--the paramount right of man,--of -all men,--demanding protection wherever it was denied or endangered -from all who can give it aid, without consideration of distance or -nationality. That well-spent evening I shall never forget, especially -his and his wife’s contributions of wise thought and elevated -sentiment. But my too brief personal acquaintance with them is kept -more sacred in my memory by his death, which happened soon after, and -an intensely interesting incident connected with it. - -At Dublin and its vicinity I spent a fortnight,--too short a time. But -I had the happiness, while there, of seeing face to face several of -our warm-hearted sympathizers and active co-laborers, especially James -Haughton, Esq., and Richard D. Webb. The former I found to be more -engaged in the cause of Peace, and much more of Temperance, than in -the antislavery cause. Indeed, in the cause of Temperance he had done -then, and has done since, more than any other man in Ireland, excepting -Father Matthew. Still, he had always been, and was then, heartily in -earnest for the abolition of slavery everywhere. - -But Richard D. Webb could hardly have taken a more active part with -American Abolitionists, or have rendered us much more valuable -services, if he had been a countryman of ours, and living in our -midst. The readers of _The Liberator_ cannot have forgotten how often -communications from his pen appeared in its columns, nor how thorough -an acquaintance they evinced with whatever pertained to our conflict -with “the peculiar institution,” that great anomaly in our democracy. -Mr. Webb was afterwards the author of an excellent memoir of John -Brown, whose “soul is still marching on,”--the spirit of whose hatred -of oppression, and sympathy with the down-trodden, is spreading wider -and descending deeper into the hearts of our people, and will continue -so to spread, until every vestige of slavery shall be effaced from -our land, and all the inhabitants thereof shall enjoy equal rights -and privileges on the same conditions. Mr. Webb’s memoir shows how -justly he appreciated and how heartily he admired the intentions of -John Brown, whatever he thought of the expediency of his plan of -operations. For a week I enjoyed the hospitality of Mrs. Edmundson, and -at her house met one evening many of the moral _élite_ of Dublin, for -conversation respecting the conflict with slavery in our country. Their -inquiries showed them to be very well informed on the subject, and -alive to whatever then seemed likely to affect the issue favorably or -unfavorably. - -Lord Morpeth, who was at that time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, -graciously invited me to lunch with him. He had visited our country a -few years before, and had manifested while here the deepest interest -in the principles and purposes of the Abolitionists. I was delighted -to find that he and his sister, Lady Howard, continued to be as much -concerned as ever for our success. - -On my return from Europe, early in November, 1859, the steamer stopped -as usual at Halifax. There we first received the tidings of John -Brown’s raid, and the failure of his enterprise. I felt at once that -it was “the beginning of the end” of our conflict with slavery. There -were several Southern gentlemen and ladies among our fellow-passengers, -and Northern sympathizers with them, as well as others of opposite -opinions. During our short passage from Halifax to Boston there was -evidently a deep excitement in many bosoms. Occasionally words of -bitter execration escaped the lips of one and another of the proslavery -party. But there was no dispute or general conversation upon the -subject. The event, of which we had just heard, was a portent of too -much magnitude to be hastily estimated, and the consequences thereof -flippantly foretold. - -On my arrival in Boston, and the next day in Syracuse, I found the -public in a state of high excitement; and for two or three months the -case of John Brown was the subject of continual debate in private -circles as well as public meetings. The murmurs and threats that came -daily from the South, intimated plainly enough that the slaveholding -oligarchy were preparing for something harsher than a war of words. -They were gathering themselves to rule or ruin our Republic. Under -the imbecile administration of Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of War, -John B. Floyd, could do as he saw fit in his department. It was -observed that the arms and ammunition of the nation, with the greater -part of the small army needed in times of peace, were removed and -disposed of in such places as would make them most available to the -Southerners, if the emergency for which they were preparing should -come. They awaited only the issue of the next presidential contest. -The first ten months of the year 1860 were given to that contest. All -the strength of the two political parties was put in requisition, -drawn out, and fully tested and compared. And when victory crowned -the friends of freedom and human rights,--when the election of Mr. -Lincoln was proclaimed,--then came forth from the South the fierce -cry of disunion, and the standard of a new Confederacy was set up. It -is not my intention to enter upon the period of our Civil War. These -Recollections will close with occurrences before the fall of Fort -Sumter. - -In pursuance of a plan adopted several years before, by the American -Antislavery Society, arrangements were made early in December, 1860, to -hold our annual conventions during the months of January and February, -in Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, and in a dozen other of the principal -cities and villages between the two extremes. We who had devoted -ourselves so assiduously for a quarter of a century or more to the -subversion of the slavery in our land, of course had many thoughts and -feelings upon the subject at that time, which pressed for utterance. -We were the last persons who could be indifferent to the state of our -country in 1860, or be silent in view of it. Nor had we any reason then -to suppose that our counsels and admonitions would be particularly -unacceptable to the people, as we were then frequently assured that the -public sentiment of New York, as well as New England, had become quite -antislavery. - -We were not a little surprised, therefore, at the new outbreak of -violent opposition in Boston, and afterwards in Buffalo and other -places. About the middle of January I attended the convention at -Rochester, where we were rudely treated and grossly insulted. I could -no longer doubt that there was a concerted plan, among the Democrats -everywhere, to evince a revival of their zeal in behalf of their -Southern partisans by breaking up our meetings. And it appeared that -the Republicans were afraid to take the responsibility, and incur the -new odium of protecting our conventions in their constitutional rights. -Still I hoped better things of Syracuse. - -But a few days before the time appointed for our Convention, I was -earnestly requested by the Mayor of the city to prevent the holding of -such a meeting. I replied I would do so, if there was indeed so little -respect for the liberty of speech in Syracuse that the assembly would -be violently dispersed. In answer to this, his Honor assured me that, -much as he wished we would forbear to exercise our undoubted right, -still, if we felt it to be our duty to hold the convention, “he would -fearlessly use every means at his command to secure order, and to -prevent any interference with our proceedings.” Thus he took from me -the only apology I could offer to our Committee of Arrangements for -interposing to prevent the assembling of a meeting, which they had -called in accordance with the duty assigned them. - -A day or two afterwards I received a letter, written probably at the -solicitation of the Mayor, and signed by twenty of the most respectable -gentlemen of Syracuse (ten of them prominent members of my church), -urging me to prevent the holding of the convention, as “they were -credibly informed that an organized and forcible effort would be made -to oppose us, and a collision might ensue between the police force -of the city and a lawless mob.” Still, they assured me that they -recognized our right to hold such a convention, and “that they should -be in duty bound to aid in protecting us if we did assemble.” I felt -obliged to answer them very much as I had answered the Mayor, and added -what follows:-- - -“In common with my associates, I am very sincere in believing that the -principles we inculcate, and the measures we advise, are the only ones -that can (without war) extirpate from our country the root of that evil -which now overshadows us, and threatens our ruin. We have much to say -to the people, much that we deem it very important that they should -hear and believe, lest they bow themselves to another compromise with -the slaveholding oligarchy, which for many years has really ruled our -Republic, and which nothing will satisfy but the entire subjugation of -our liberties to their supposed interests. - -“We perceive that the ‘strong’ men of the Republican party are -trembling, and concession and compromise are coming to be their policy. -We deprecate their fears, their want of confidence in moral principle -and in God. We therefore feel deeply urged to cry aloud, and warn the -people of the snare into which politicians would lead them. We are -bound at least to _offer_ to them the word of truth, whether they will -hear or whether they will forbear. - -“If, gentlemen, you had assured me that our proposed meeting will be -violently assaulted; that those who may assemble peacefully to listen -will not be allowed to hear us; that they will be dispersed with insult -if not with personal injury; and that you, gentlemen of influence as -you are, shall stand aside and let the violent have their way; then I -should have felt it to be incumbent on me to advertise the friends of -liberty and humanity that it would not be worth their while to convene -here, as it would be only to be dispersed. - -“But, gentlemen, as you generously ‘affirm,’ in the letter before me, -‘that your duties as citizens will require you to aid in extending -protection to our convention, in case it shall be convened, in the -exercise of all the rights which all deliberative bodies may claim,’ -and as the Mayor of our city has assured me that ‘he shall fearlessly -use every means at his command to secure order and to prevent any -interference with our proceedings,’ I should not be justified in -assuming the responsibility of postponing the convention. For, -gentlemen, if you will do what you acknowledge to be your duty, and if -the Mayor will fulfil his generous promise, I am confident the rioters -will be overawed, the liberty of speech will be vindicated, and our -city rescued from a deep disgrace. - -“Yours, gentlemen, in great haste, but very respectfully, - - “SAMUEL J. MAY.” - -Just before the hour appointed for the opening of the convention, on -the 29th of January, 1861, I went to the hall which I had hired for its -accommodation. It was already fully occupied by the rioters. A meeting -had been organized, and the chairman was making his introductory -speech. So soon as he had finished it, I addressed him: “Mr. Chairman, -there is some mistake here, or a greater wrong. More than a week ago I -engaged this hall for our Annual Antislavery Convention to be held at -this hour.” Immediately, several rough men turned violently upon me, -touched my head and face with their doubled fists, and swore they would -knock me down, and thrust me out of the hall, if I said another word. -Meanwhile, the Rev. Mr. Strieby, of the Plymouth Church, had succeeded -in getting upon the platform, and had commenced a remonstrance, when he -was set upon in like manner, and threatened with being thrown down and -put out, if he did not desist at once. - -The only police officer that I saw in the hall soon after rose, -addressed the chairman and said: “I came here, Sir, by order of the -Mayor, who had heard that there was to be a disturbance, and that the -liberty of speech would be outraged here. But I see no indications of -such an intended wrong. The meeting seems to me to be an orderly one, -properly organized. I approve the objects of the meeting as set forth -in your introductory speech, and trust you will have a quiet time.” - -Thus dispossessed, we of course retired, and, after consultation, -agreed to gather as many of the members of the intended convention, -as could be found, at the dwelling-house of Dr. R. W. Pease, who -generously proffered us the use of it. A large number of ladies -and gentlemen assembled there early in the evening, and were duly -organized. Pertinent and impressive addresses were made by Beriah -Green, Aaron M. Powell, Susan B. Anthony, C. D. B. Mills, and others, -after which a series of resolutions was passed, of which the following -were the most important:-- - - “_Resolved_, That the only escape for nations, as well as - individuals, from sin and its consequences, is by the way of - unfeigned repentance; and that our proud Republic must go down - in ruin, unless the people shall be brought to repentance,--shall - be persuaded to ‘cease to do evil, and learn to do well; to seek - justice, relieve the oppressed.’ Compromises with the wrong-doers - will only plunge us deeper in their iniquity. Civil war will not - settle the difficulty, but complicate it all the more, and superadd - rapine and murder to the sin of slaveholding. The dissolution of - the Union, even, may not relieve us; for if slavery still remains - in the land, it will be a perpetual trouble to the inhabitants - thereof, whether they be separate or whether they be united; - slavery must be abolished, or there can be no peace within these - borders. - - “_Resolved_, That our General Government ought to abolish all - Fugitive Slave Laws; for, unless they can dethrone God, the people - will ever be under higher obligations to obey him than to obey any - laws, any constitutions that men may have framed and enacted. And - the law of God requires us to befriend the friendless, to succor - the distressed, to hide the outcast, to deliver the oppressed. - - “_Resolved_, That as the people of the free States have from the - beginning been partakers in the iniquity of slavery,--accomplices - of the oppressors of the poor laborers at the South,--therefore we - ought to join hands with them in any well-devised measures for the - emancipation of their bondmen. Our wealth and the wealth of the - nation ought to be put in requisition, to relieve those who may - impoverish themselves by setting their captives free; to furnish - the freed men with such comforts, conveniences, implements of labor - as they may need; and to establish such educational and religious - institutions as will be indispensable everywhere, to enable them, - and, yet more, their children and children’s children, to become - what the free people, the citizens of self-governing states, ought - to be,--_intelligent_, _moral_, _religious_. - - “_Resolved_, That the abolition of slavery is the great concern of - the American people,--‘the one thing needful’ for them,--without - which there can be no union, no peace, no political virtue, no - real, lasting prosperity in all these once United States. - - “_Resolved_, That, so far from its being untimely or inappropriate - to stand forth for unpopular truths, in seasons of great popular - excitement, apprehension, and wide passionate denial of them, - it is then pre-eminently timely, appropriate, and all vitally - important, whether regarded in view of the paramount obligations - of fealty to the Supreme King, or the sacred considerations of the - redemption and welfare of mankind; and as it behooved then most of - all to speak for Jesus, when Jesus was arraigned for condemnation - and crucifixion, as it has ever been the bounden and, sooner or - later, the well-acknowledged duty of every friend of the truth in - past history to stand firm, and ever firmer in its behalf, amid - whatever wave of passion, malignity, and madness, even though the - multitude all shout, Crucify! and devils be gathered thick as tiles - on the house-tops of Worms to devour; so at the present hour it - sacredly behooves Abolitionists to abide fast by their principles, - and in the very midst of the present storm of passion and insane - folly, in face of every assault, whether of threat or infliction, - to speak for the slave and for man; and, with an earnestness - and pointed emphasis unknown before, to press home upon their - countrymen the question daily becoming more imminent and vital, - whether the few vestiges of freedom yet remaining shall be blotted - out, and this entire land overswept with tyranny, violence, and - blood.” - -The members of the Convention refused to make any further attempt to -hold a public meeting, but the citizens who were present at Dr. Pease’s -house resolved to attempt a meeting the next forenoon in the hall from -which the convention had been expelled, for the express purpose of -testing the faithfulness of the city authorities, and manifesting a -just indignation at the outrage which had been perpetrated in our midst -upon some of the fundamental rights of a free people. But the attempt -was frustrated by the same rioters that had ruled the day before. - -And the following night the mob celebrated their too successful -onslaught upon popular liberty by a procession led by a band of music, -with transparent banners, bearing these inscriptions:-- - - “FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUT NOT TREASON.” - - “THE RIGHTS OF THE SOUTH MUST BE PROTECTED.” - - “ABOLITIONISM NO LONGER IN SYRACUSE.” - - “THE JERRY RESCUERS PLAYED OUT.” - -Prominently in the procession there were carried two large-sized -effigies,--one of a man the other of a woman,--the former bearing -my name, the latter Miss Anthony’s. After parading through some of -the principal streets, the procession repaired to Hanover Square, -the centre of the business part of our city, and there amid shouts, -hootings, mingled with disgusting profanity and ribaldry, the effigies -were burned up; but not the great realities for which we were -contending. - - * * * * * - -For more than thirty years the Abolitionists had been endeavoring to -rouse the people to exterminate slavery by moral, ecclesiastical, -and political instrumentalities, urging them to their duty by every -religious consideration, and by reiterating the solemn admonition of -Thomas Jefferson, that “If they would not liberate the enslaved in the -land by the generous energies of their own minds and hearts, the slaves -would be liberated by the awful processes of civil and servile war.” -But the counsels of the Abolitionists were spurned, their sentiments -and purposes were shamelessly misrepresented, their characters -traduced, their property destroyed, their persons maltreated. And -lo! our country, favored of Heaven above all others, was given up to -fratricidal, parricidal, and for a while we feared it would be suicidal -war. - -God be praised! the threatened dissolution of our Union was averted. -But discord still reigns in the land. Our country is not surely saved. -It was right that our Federal Government should be forbearing in their -treatment of the Southern Rebels, because the people of the North had -been, to so great an extent, their partners in the enslavement of our -fellow-men, that it would have ill become us to have punished them -condignly. But our Government has been guilty of great injustice to the -colored population of the South, who were all loyal throughout the war. -These should not have been left as they have been, in a great measure, -at the mercy of their former masters. Homes and adequate portions of -the land (they so long had cultivated without compensation) ought to -have been secured to every family of the Freedmen, and some provision -for their education should have been made. With these and the elective -franchise conferred upon them, the Freedmen might safely have been left -to maintain themselves in their new condition, and work themselves out -of the evils that were enforced upon them by their long enslavement. - -May the sad experience of the past prompt and impel our nation, before -it be too late, to do all for the colored population of our country, -South and North, that righteousness demands at our hands. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - -APPENDIX I. - -On page 137 I have alluded to Hon. J. G. Palfrey. He evinced his -respect for the rights of man by an act which was incomparably more -significant and convincing than the most eloquent words could have -been. On the death of his father, who was a slaveholder in Louisiana, -he became heir to one third of the estate, comprising about fifty -slaves. His co-heirs would readily have taken his share of these -chattels and have given him an equivalent in land or money. But he -was too conscientious to consent to such a bargain. If his portion of -his father’s bondmen should thereafter continue in slavery, it must -be by an act of his own will, and involve him in the crime of making -merchandise of men. From this his whole soul revolted. Accordingly, -he requested that such a division of the slaves might be made as -would put the largest number of them into his share. The money value -of the women, children, and old men being much less than that of the -able-bodied men, twenty-two of the slaves were assigned to him. I -presume their market value could not have been less than nine thousand -dollars. All of them were brought on, at Mr. Palfrey’s expense, from -Louisiana to Massachusetts. - -Assisted by his Abolitionist friends, especially Mrs. L. M. Child, -Mrs. E. G. Loring, and the Hathaways of Farmington, N. Y., and their -Quaker friends, he succeeded after a while in getting them all well -situated in good families, where the old were kindly cared for, the -able-bodied adults were employed and duly remunerated for their labors, -and the young were brought up to be worthy and useful. It has been my -happiness to be personally acquainted with some of them and their -friends, and to know that what I have stated above is true. Their -transportation from Louisiana to Massachusetts; their maintenance here -until places were found for them; and their removal to their several -homes, must have cost Mr. Palfrey several hundred dollars,--I suppose -eight or ten hundred. If so, he nobly sacrificed ten thousand dollars’ -worth of his patrimony to his sense of right and his love of liberty. - -In 1847 this excellent man was elected a Representative of -Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States. As those who knew -him best confidently expected, he early took high antislavery ground -there. - -The following are extracts from his first speech in Congress: “The -question is not at all between North and South, but between the many -millions of non-slaveholding Americans, North, South, East, and West, -and the very few hundreds of thousands of their fellow-citizens who -hold slaves. It is time that this idea of a geographical distinction -of parties, with relation to this subject, was abandoned. It has no -substantial foundation. Freedom, with its fair train of boundless -blessings for white and black,--slavery, with its untold miseries for -both,--these are the two parties in the field.... I will now only -express my deliberate and undoubting conviction, that the time has -quite gone by when the friends of slavery might hope anything from an -attempt to move the South to disunion for its defence.... I do not -believe it is good policy for the slaveholders to let their neighbors -hear them talk of disunion. Unless I read very stupidly the signs of -the times, _it will not be the Union they will thus endanger, but the -interest to which they would sacrifice it_. If they insist that the -Union and slavery cannot live together, they may be taken at their -word, but IT IS THE UNION THAT MUST STAND.” - -At its close, the Hon. J. Q. Adams is reported to have exclaimed: -“Thank God the seal is broken! Lord, now lettest thou thy servant -depart in peace.” And “the old man eloquent” died at his post a month -afterwards. - - -APPENDIX II. - -On page 147 I have named, among other members of the Society of Friends -who gave us efficient support in the day when we most needed help, -Nathaniel Barney, then of Nantucket. He was one of the earliest of -the immediate Abolitionists, was most explicit and fearless in the -avowal of his sentiments, most consistent and conscientious in acting -accordingly with them. He denounced “the prejudice against color as -opposed to every precept and principle of the Gospel,” and said, “It -betrays a littleness of soul to which, when it is rightly considered, -an honorable mind can never descend.” Therefore, he would not ride in a -stage-coach or other public conveyance, from which an applicant for a -seat was excluded _because of his complexion_. - -He was a stockholder in the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad. In 1842 -he learned that _colored_ persons were excluded from the cars on -that road. Immediately he sent an admirable letter, dated April 14, -1842, to the New Bedford _Mercury_ for publication, condemning such -proscription. It was refused. He then offered it to the _Bulletin_, -where it was likewise rejected. At length it appeared in the New -Bedford _Morning Register_, and was worthy of being republished in -every respectable newspaper in our country. In it he said: “The -thought never entered my mind, when I advocated a liberal subscription -to that railroad among our citizens, that I was contributing to a -structure where, in coming years, should be exhibited a cowardice and -despotism which I know the better feelings of the proprietors would, on -reflection, repudiate.... I cannot conscientiously withdraw the little -I invested, neither can I sell my share of the stock of this road, -while the existing prescriptive character attaches to it; and with my -present views and feelings, so long as the privileges of the traveller -are suspended on one of the accidents of humanity, I should be recreant -to every principle of propriety and justice, _were I to receive aught -of the price_ which the directors attach to them. In the exclusion, -therefore, by the established rules of one equally entitled with myself -to a seat, _I am excluded from any share of the money_,--the profit of -said infraction of right.” - -Surely, the name of such a man ought to be handed down to our posterity -to be duly honored, when the great and mean iniquity of our nation -shall be abhorred. - - -APPENDIX III. - -Speech of Gerrit Smith, referred to on page 169. I have omitted a few -passages for want of room. - -“On returning home from Utica last night, my mind was so much excited -with the horrid scenes of the day, and the frightful encroachments made -on the right of free discussion, that I could not sleep, and at three -o’clock I left my bed and drafted this resolution:-- - -“‘_Resolved_, That the right of free discussion, given to us by God, -and asserted and guarded by the laws of our country, is a right so -vital to man’s freedom and dignity and usefulness, that we can never be -guilty of its surrender, without consenting to exchange that freedom -for slavery, and that dignity and usefulness for debasement and -worthlessness.’ - -“I love our free and happy government, but not because it confers any -new rights upon us. Our rights spring from a nobler source than human -constitutions and governments,--from the favor of Almighty God. - -“We are not indebted to the Constitution of the United States, or of -this State, for the right of free discussion. We are thankful that they -have hedged it about with so noble a defence. We are thankful, I say, -that they have neither restrained nor abridged it; but we owe them no -thanks for our possession of rights which God gave us. And the proof -that he gave them is in the fact that he requires us to exercise them. - -“When, then, this right of free discussion is invaded, this home-bred -right, which is yours, and is mine, and belongs to every member of the -human family, it is an invasion of something which was not obtained by -human concession, something as old as our own being, a part of the -original man, a component portion of our own identity, something which -we cannot be deprived of without dismemberment, something which we -never can deprive ourselves of without ceasing to be MEN. - -“This right, so sacred and essential, is now sought to be trammelled, -and is in fact virtually denied.... Men in denying this right are not -only guilty of violating the Constitution, and destroying the blessings -bought by the blood and toil of our fathers, but guilty of making war -with God himself. I want to see this right placed on this true, this -infinitely high ground, as a DIVINE right. I want to see men defend -it and exercise it with that belief. I want to see men determined to -maintain, to their extremest boundaries, all the rights which God has -given them for their enjoyment, their dignity, and their usefulness. - - * * * * * - -“We are even now threatened with legislative restrictions on this -right. Let us tell our legislators, in advance, that we cannot bear -any. The man who attempts to interpose such restrictions does a -grievous wrong to God and man, which we cannot bear. Submit to this, -and we are no longer what God made us to be,--MEN. Laws to gag men’s -mouths, to seal up their lips, to freeze up the warm gushings of the -heart, are laws which the free spirit cannot brook; they are laws -contrary alike to the nature of man and the commands of God; laws -destructive of human happiness and the divine constitution; and before -God and man they are null and void. They defeat the very purposes for -which God made man, and throw him mindless, helpless, and worthless at -the feet of the oppressor. - -“And for what purpose are we called to throw down our pens, and seal up -our lips, and sacrifice our influence over our fellow-men by the use of -free discussion? If it were for an object of benevolence that we are -called to renounce that freedom of speech with which God made us, there -would be some color of fitness in the demand; but such a sacrifice the -cause of truth and mercy never calls us to make. That cause requires -the exertion, not the suppression, of our noblest powers. But here we -are called on to degrade and unman ourselves, and to withhold from our -fellow-men that influence which we ought to exercise for their good. -And for what? I will tell you for what. That the oppressed may lie more -passive at the feet of the oppressor; that one sixth of our American -people may never know their rights; that two and a half millions of our -countrymen, crushed in the cruel folds of slavery, may remain in all -their misery and despair, without pity and without hope. - -“For such a purpose, so wicked, so inexpressibly mean, the Southern -slaveholder calls on us to lie down like whipped and trembling spaniels -at his feet. Our reply is this: Our republican spirits cannot submit to -such conditions. God did not make us, Jesus did not redeem us, for such -vile and sinful uses. - -“I knew before that slavery would not survive free discussion. But -the demands recently put forth by the South for our surrender of the -right of discussion, and the avowed reasons of that demand, involve -a full concession of this fact, that free discussion is incompatible -with slavery. The South, by her own showing, admits that slavery cannot -live unless the North is tongue-tied. Now you, and I, and all these -Abolitionists, have two objections to this: One is, we desire and -purpose to employ all our influence lawfully and kindly and temperately -to deliver our Southern brethren from bondage, and never to give rest -to our lips or our pens till it is accomplished. The other objection -is that we are not willing to be slaves ourselves. The enormous and -insolent demands put forth by the South show us that the question is -now, not only whether the blacks shall continue to be slaves, but -whether our necks shall come under the yoke. While we are trying to -break it off from others, we are called to see to it that it is not -fastened on our own necks also. - -“It is said: ‘The South will not molest our liberty if we will not -molest their slavery; they do not wish to restrict us if we will cease -to speak of their peculiar institution.’ Our liberty is not our _ex -gratia_ privilege, conceded to us by the South, and which we are to -have more or less, as they please to allow. No, sir! The liberty which -the South proffers us, to speak and write and print, if we do not touch -that subject, is a liberty we do not ask, a liberty which we do not -accept, but which we scornfully reject. - -“It is not to be disguised, sir, that war has broken out between -the South and the North, not easily to be terminated. Political and -commercial men, for their own purposes, are industriously striving -to restore peace; but the peace which they may accomplish will be -superficial and hollow. True and permanent peace can only be restored -by removing the cause of the war,--that is, _slavery_. It can never -be established on any other terms. The sword now drawn will not be -sheathed until that deep and damning stain is washed out from our -nation. It is idle, criminal, to speak of peace on any other terms. - - * * * * * - -“Whom shall we muster on our side in this great battle between liberty -and slavery? The many never will muster in such a cause, until they -first see unequivocal signs of its triumph. We don’t want the many, but -the true-hearted, who are not skilled in the weapons of carnal warfare. -We don’t want the politicians, who, to secure the votes of the South, -care not if slavery is perpetual. We don’t want the merchant, who, to -secure the custom of the South, is willing to applaud slavery, and -leave his countrymen, and their children, and their children’s children -to the tender mercies of slavery forever. - -“We want only one class of men for this warfare. Be that class ever -so small, we want only those who will stand on the rock of Christian -principle. We want men who can defend the right of free discussion on -the ground that God gave it. We want men who will act with unyielding -honesty and firmness. We have room for all such, but no room for the -time-serving and selfish.” - - -APPENDIX IV. - -Notwithstanding the caution I have given my readers in the Preface -and elsewhere, not to expect in this volume anything like a complete -history of our antislavery conflict, many may be disappointed in not -finding any acknowledgment of the services of some whom they have -known as efficient, brave, self-sacrificing laborers in our cause. I -was reproached, accused of ingratitude and injustice, because I did -not give in my articles in _The Christian Register_ any account of -the labors of certain persons, whose names stand high on the roll of -antislavery philanthropists. The following is a copy of a part of one -of the letters that I received:-- - - BOSTON, April, 1868. - - DEAR SIR,--The writer of this is a subscriber to _The Christian - Register_, and has there read your “Reminiscences of the - Antislavery Reformers.” The numbers thus far (including the - thirty-eighth) contain no notice of, or allusion to, our late - lamented friend, Nathaniel P. Rogers, editor of _The Herald of - Freedom_. His numerous friends in New England have been waiting and - wondering that his name did not appear in your papers. Mr. Rogers - gave up a lucrative profession, in which he had attained a high - rank, and devoted himself _soul, body, and estate_, to the service - of the antislavery cause, in which he labored conscientiously - during the rest of his life, and left his family impoverished in - consequence. That Mr. Rogers was one of the few most talented - Abolitionists no one will deny who knew them; and that he was the - intimate friend and fellow-laborer of Mr. Garrison was equally - well known. He went to Europe with Mr. Garrison, and together - they visited the most distinguished Abolitionists in England and - Scotland; and, after his return, George Thompson, on his first - visit to this country, was received by him in his family, and - passed several days with him. - - You have mentioned many names in your papers quite obscure, and of - very little account in this movement, and why you have thus far - omitted one of such prominence has puzzled many of your readers. - - Notwithstanding, the writer will not allow himself to doubt that it - is your intention in the end to do to all equal and exact - - JUSTICE. - -I cordially indorse my unknown correspondent’s eulogium of Nathaniel P. -Rogers. I remember hearing much of his faithfulness and fearlessness -in the cause of our enslaved countrymen, and of liberty of speech -and of the press. Between the years 1836 and 1846 he wrote much, -and so well that his articles in the _Herald of Freedom_ were often -republished in the _Antislavery Standard_ and _Liberator_. I generally -read them with great satisfaction. They were racy, spicy, and unsparing -of anything he deemed wrong. Mr. Rogers, I have no doubt, rendered -very important services to the antislavery cause, especially in New -Hampshire, and was held in the highest esteem by the Abolitionists -of that State. But it was not my good fortune to know much of him -personally. I seldom saw him, and never heard him speak in any of our -meetings more than two or three times. The only reason why I have -only named him is that I really have no personal recollections of -him. A volume of his writings, prefaced by a sketch of his life and -character from the pen of Rev. John Pierpont, was published in 1847 and -republished in 1849. It will repay any one for an attentive perusal, -and help not a little to a knowledge of the temper of the times,--the -spirit of the State and the Church,--when N. P. Rogers labored, -sacrificed, and suffered for impartial liberty, for personal, civil, -and religious freedom. The fact that he was a lineal descendant of the -never-to-be-forgotten Rev. John Rogers--the martyr of Smithfield--and -also one of the Peabody race, will add to the interest with which his -writings will be read. - - -APPENDIX V. - -An intimation is given on page 272 that I have known some remarkable -colored women. I wish my readers had seen, in her best days, _Sojourner -Truth_. She was a tall, gaunt, very black person, who made her -appearance in our meetings at an early period. Though then advanced -in life, she was very vigorous in body and mind. She was a slave in -New York State, from her birth in 1787 until the abolition of slavery -in that State in 1827, and had never been taught to read. But she was -deeply religious. She had a glowing faith in the power, wisdom, and -goodness of God. She had had such a full experience of the wrongs of -slavery, that she could not believe they were permitted by God. She -was sure He must hate them, and would destroy those who persisted in -perpetrating them. She often spoke in our meetings, never uttering many -sentences, but always such as were pertinent, impressive, and sometimes -thrilling. - - -APPENDIX VI. - -On page 283 I have spoken of Harriet Tubman. She deserves to be placed -first on the list of American heroines. Having escaped from slavery -twenty-two years ago, she set about devising ways and means to help -her kindred and acquaintances out of bondage. She first succeeded in -leading off her brother, with his wife and several children. Then -she helped her aged parents from slavery in Virginia to a free and -comfortable home in Auburn, N. Y. Thus encouraged she continued for -several years her semi-annual raids into the Southern plantations. -Twelve or fifteen times she went. Most adroitly did she evade the -patrols and the pursuers. Very large sums of money were offered for her -capture, but in vain. She succeeded in assisting nearly two hundred -persons to escape from slavery. - -When the war broke out she felt, as she said, that “the good Lord has -come down to deliver my people, and I must go and help him.” She went -into Georgia and Florida, attached herself to the army, performed -an incredible amount of labor as a cook, a laundress, and a nurse, -still more as the leader of soldiers in scouting parties and raids. -She seemed to know no fear and scarcely ever fatigue. They called her -their _Moses_. And several of the officers testified that her services -were of so great value, that she was entitled to a pension from the -Government. The life of this remarkable woman has been written by a -lady,--Mrs. Bradford,--and published in Auburn, N. Y. I hope many of -my readers will procure copies of it, that they may know more about -Harriet Tubman. - - -APPENDIX VII. - -The saddest, most astounding evidence of the demoralization of our -Northern citizens in respect to slavery, and of Mr. Webster’s depraving -influence upon them, is given in the following letter addressed to him -soon after the delivery of his speech on the 7th of March,--signed by -eight hundred of the prominent citizens of Massachusetts. I have given -the names of a few as specimens of the whole. - - From the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 2, 1850. - - TO THE HON. DANIEL WEBSTER: - - SIR,--Impressed with the magnitude and importance of the service - to the Constitution and the Union which you have rendered by your - recent speech in the Senate of the United States on the subject of - slavery, we desire to express to you our deep obligation for what - this speech has done and is doing to enlighten the public mind, and - to bring the present crisis in our national affairs to a fortunate - and peaceful termination. As citizens of the United States, we wish - to thank you for recalling us to our duties under the Constitution, - and for the broad, national, and patriotic views which you have - sent with the weight of your great authority, and with the power of - your unanswerable reasoning into every corner of the Union. - - It is, permit us to say, sir, no common good which you have thus - done for the country. In a time of almost unprecedented excitement, - when the minds of men have been bewildered by an apparent conflict - of duties, and when multitudes have been unable to find solid - ground on which to rest with security and peace, you have pointed - out to a whole people the path of duty, have convinced the - understanding and touched the conscience of a nation. You have met - this great exigency as a patriot and a statesman, and although the - debt of gratitude which the people of this country owe to you was - large before, you have increased it by a peculiar service, which is - felt throughout the land. - - We desire, therefore, to express to you our entire concurrence - in the sentiments of your speech, and our heartfelt thanks for - the inestimable aid it has afforded towards the preservation and - perpetuation of the Union. For this purpose, we respectfully - present to you this, our Address of thanks and congratulation, in - reference to this most interesting and important occasion in your - public life. - - We have the honor to be, with the highest respect, - - Your obedient servants, - - T. H. PERKINS, - CHARLES C. PARSONS, - THOMAS B. WALES, - CALEB LORING, - WM. APPLETON, - JAMES SAVAGE, - CHARLES P. CURTIS, - CHARLES JACKSON, - GEORGE TICKNOR, - BENJ. R. CURTIS, - RUFUS CHOATE, - JOSIAH BRADLEE, - EDWARD G. LORING, - THOMAS B. CURTIS, - FRANCIS J. OLIVER, - J. A. LOWELL, - J. W. PAGE, - THOMAS C. AMORY, - BENJ. LORING, - GILES LODGE, - WM. P. MASON, - WM. STURGIS, - W. H. PRESCOTT, - SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, - SAMUEL A. ELIOT, - JAMES JACKSON, - MOSES STUART,[S] - LEONARD WOODS,[S] - RALPH EMERSON,[S] - JARED SPARKS,[T] - C. C. FELTON,[U] - - And over seven hundred others. - - -THE END. - - -Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[A] This chapter was written in June, 1867, and I give it here as it -first came from my pen. - -[B] Rev. Mr. Pierpont, who afterwards did good service, was absent in -Europe during 1835. - -[C] See Appendix. - -[D] See Appendix. - -[E] See “Right and Wrong in Boston,” by Mrs. M. W. Chapman. - -[F] I have been told, and I record it here to his honor, that Hon. -Joshua A. Spencer made an earnest, excellent speech, in behalf of free -discussion. - -[G] See Appendix. - -[H] Of Leicester, England, who first demanded “immediate emancipation.” - -[I] See Appendix. - -[J] On that occasion, or another, I am not sure which, Mr. Adams -announced another very pregnant opinion which he was ready to maintain; -namely, that slaveholders had no right to bring or send their slaves -into a free State, and keep them in slavery there; but that whenever -slaves were brought into any State where all the people were free, they -became partakers of that freedom, were slaves no longer. - -[K] Elizabeth Heyrick, of Leicester, England. - -[L] I am most happy to preserve and make known the fact that Dr. Henry -Ware, Jr., then at the head of the Divinity School, and Professor -Sidney Willard, of the college in Cambridge, were also members of that -Convention. - -[M] Would that justice would allow shame to wipe forever from the -memory of man the disgraceful fact that, on the 27th of July, 1840, -the Rev. John Pierpont was arraigned before an Ecclesiastical -Council in Boston, by a committee of the parish of Hollis Street, as -guilty of offences for which his connection with that parish ought -to be dissolved,--and was dissolved. His offences were “his too -busy interference with questions of legislation on the subject of -prohibiting the sale of ardent spirits, his too busy interference with -questions of legislation on the subject of imprisonment for debt, _and -his too busy interference with the popular controversy on the subject -of the abolition of slavery_.” - -[N] The one of which Rev. Baron Stow, D. D., was pastor. - -[O] See Appendix. - -[P] I advertised my request in “Notes and Queries” for August, 1859. - -[Q] See “The American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery,” by -J. G. Birney, “Slavery and Antislavery,” by W. Goodell, and “The Church -and Slavery,” by Rev. Albert Barnes. - -[R] See Appendix. - -[S] Of the Theological Institution at Andover. - -[T] President of Harvard University. - -[U] Professor of Greek in Harvard University. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not -changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -The entries in the Table of Contents for pages 389 and 391 do not have -corresponding sub-headings on the referenced pages, and the sub-heading -on page 85 is not mentioned in the Table of Contents. - -Page 28: “de-gradation” was printed with the hyphen; in context, this -appears to be intentional. - -Page 40: “through the school” was printed as “though the school”; -changed here. - -Page 111: Extraneous opening quotation mark removed before “Here, too, -the”. - -Page 191: Unmatched closing quotation mark retained after “national -honor and prosperity.” - -Page 237: Unmatched opening quotation mark removed before “Pastoral -Association of Massachusetts”. - -Page 354: The second line of poetry, beginning “And in my soul’s just -estimation”, was printed as one very long line. In other books, those -lines are in several different ways. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Recollections of our Antislavery -Conflict, by Samuel J. 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May - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Some Recollections of our Antislavery Conflict - -Author: Samuel J. May - -Release Date: October 26, 2015 [EBook #50313] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS--ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT *** - - - - -Produced by Cindy Horton, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="transnote covernote"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note: Cover created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.</p> -</div> - -<h1 class="vspace wspace"> -<span class="smaller">SOME</span><br /> -RECOLLECTIONS<br /> -<span class="small">OF OUR</span><br /> -<span class="larger">ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT.</span></h1> - -<p class="p2 center vspace"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<span class="larger">SAMUEL J. MAY.</span></p> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="gesperrt">BOSTON:<br /> -FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO.</span><br /> -1869. -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center smaller vspace"> -Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by<br /> -<span class="wspace">SAMUEL J. MAY</span><br /> -in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.</p> - -<p class="p2 center smaller"><span class="smcap">University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co.,<br /> -Cambridge.</span> -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii">iii</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Many</span> of these Recollections were published at intervals, -during the years 1867 and 1868, in <cite>The -Christian Register</cite>. They were written at the special -request of the editor of that paper; and without the -slightest expectation that they would ever be put to any -further use. But so many persons have requested me -to republish them in a volume, that I have gathered -them here, together with several more recollections of -events and transactions, illustrative of the temper of -the times as late as the winter of 1861, when our guilty -nation was left “to be saved so as by the fire” of civil -war.</p> - -<p>My readers must not expect to find in this book anything -like a complete history of the times to which it -relates. The articles of which it is composed are fragmentary -and sketchy. I expect and hope they will not -satisfy. If they whet the appetites of those who read -them for a more thorough history of the conflict with -slavery in our country and in Great Britain, they will -have accomplished their purpose. That in the two freest, -most enlightened, most Christian nations on earth there -should have been, during more than half of the nineteenth -century, so stout a defence of “the worst system -of iniquity the world has ever known,” is a marvel that -cannot be fully studied and explained, without discovering -that the mightiest nation, as well as the humblest -individual, may not with impunity consent to any sin, -nor persist in unrighteousness without ruin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv">iv</a></span> -I am happy to announce that in due time a somewhat -elaborate history of the rise and fall of the slave power -in America may be expected from the Hon. Henry Wilson. -He is competent to the undertaking. He is cautious -and candid as well as brave and explicit. He was -an Abolitionist before he became a politician. He has -never ignored the rights of humanity, for the sake of partisan -success or personal aggrandizement. Mr. Wilson, -I believe, did as much as any one of our prominent -statesmen to procure the abolition of slavery in the -District of Columbia, and to effect its subversion throughout -the country.</p> - -<p>My brief sketches have been taken, I presume, from a -point of sight different somewhat from his. Many of -my readers may wish that I had not reported so many -of the evil words and deeds of ministers and churches. -I have done so with regret and mortification. But it -has seemed to me that the most important lesson taught -in the history of the last forty years—the influence of -slavery upon the religion of our country—ought least -of all to be withheld from the generations that are -coming on to fill our places in the Church and in the -State.</p> - -<p>My book, I fear, will be displeasing to many because -they will not find in it much that they expect. I can -only beg such to bear in mind what I have proposed to -give my readers,—not a history of the antislavery conflict, -only some of my recollections of the events and -actors in it. I have merely mentioned the names of our -indefatigable and able fellow-laborers, Henry C. Wright, -Stephen S. Foster, and Parker Pillsbury. A due account -of their valuable services in this country and Great -Britain would fill a volume as large as this. But, for -the most part, these became known to me through <cite>The -Liberator</cite> and <cite>Antislavery Standard</cite>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v">v</a></span> -My sphere of operation and observation was confined -almost entirely to Massachusetts and Connecticut, until -I removed to Central New York in 1845. My travels -as an antislavery agent and lecturer were restricted to -New England, and to the years from 1832 to 1836, before -many who have since become distinguished had -given themselves to the work. The field has been coextensive -with our vast country. It cannot be supposed -that I have personally known a tenth part of the individuals -who have done good services, much less that I -have been a witness of their words and deeds. Often -have I been encouraged and delighted by unexpected -tidings of noble words uttered and brave deeds done, in -one part and another of the land, by individuals whom -I never saw before nor since. Almost everywhere there -was some one who promptly responded to the demand -for the liberation of the enslaved, and dared to advocate -their right to freedom. Could a perfect history be written -of the antislavery labors of the last forty years, -hundreds would be named as having rendered valuable -services, of whom I have never heard; whose good word -or work perhaps was not known beyond the immediate -circle that was affected by it. But the memory thereof -will not be lost. Every righteous act, every heroic, -generous, true utterance in the cause of the outraged, -crushed, despised bondmen, will be had in everlasting -remembrance, and He who seeth in secret will hereafter, -if not here, openly reward the faithful.</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -S. J. M. -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii">vii</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</a></h2> -</div> - - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr class="small"> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl chap"><span class="smcap">Rise of Abolitionism</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp1">1</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Rev. John Rankin and Rev. John D. Paxton</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp10">10</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Benjamin Lundy</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp11">11</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">William Lloyd Garrison</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp15">15</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Miss Prudence Crandall and the Canterbury School</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp39">39</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Black Law of Connecticut</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp52">52</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Arthur Tappan</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp57">57</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Charles C. Burleigh</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp62">62</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Miss Crandall’s Trial</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp66">66</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">House set on Fire</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp70">70</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Mr. Garrison’s Mission to England.—New York Mobs</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp72">72</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Convention at Philadelphia</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp79">79</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Lucretia Mott</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp91">91</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Mrs. L. Maria Child</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp97">97</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Eruption of Lane Seminary</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp102">102</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">George Thompson, M. P., LL. D.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp108">108</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">His First Year in America</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp115">115</a></td></tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl chap tpad"><span class="smcap">Antislavery Conflict</span></td> - <td class="tdr tpad"><a href="#hp126">126</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Reign of Terror</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp131">131</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Walker’s Appeal</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp133">133</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Clergy and the Quakers</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp144">144</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Quakers</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp147">147</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Reign of Terror continued</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp150">150</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Francis Jackson</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp157">157</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Riot at Utica, N. Y.—Gerrit Smith</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp162">162</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Dr. Channing</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp170">170</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">His Address on Slavery</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp177">177</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Gag-Law</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp185">185</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Gag-Law.—Second Interview</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp194">194</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Hon. James G. Birney</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp203">203</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii">viii</a></span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">John Quincy Adams</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp211">211</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Alton Tragedy</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp221">221</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Woman Question.—Misses Grimké</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp230">230</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">“The Pastoral Letter” and “The Clerical Appeal”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp238">238</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Dr. Charles Follen</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp248">248</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">John G. Whittier and the Antislavery Poets</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp259">259</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Prejudice against Color</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp266">266</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">A Negro’s Love of Liberty</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp278">278</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Distinguished Colored Men</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp285">285</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">David Ruggles, Lewis Hayden, and William C. Nell</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp285a">285</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">James Forten</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp286">286</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">Robert Purvis</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp288">288</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">William Wells Brown</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp289">289</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">Charles Lenox Remond</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp289a">289</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">Rev. J. W. Loguen</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp290">290</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl subchap">Frederick Douglass</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp292">292</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Underground Railroad</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp296">296</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">George Latimer</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp305">305</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Annexation of Texas</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp313">313</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Abolitionists in Central New York.—Gerrit Smith</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp321">321</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Conduct of the Clergy and Churches</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp329">329</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Unitarian and Universalist Ministers and Churches</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp333">333</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Unitarians</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp335">335</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Fugitive Slave Law</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp345">345</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Daniel Webster</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp348">348</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Unitarians and their Ministers</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp366">366</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">The Rescue of Jerry</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hp373">373</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">New Persecutions</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_389">389</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Riot in Syracuse</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_391">391</a></td></tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl chap tpad"><span class="smcap">Appendix</span></td> - <td class="tdr tpad"><a href="#hp397">397</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="hp1">RISE OF ABOLITIONISM.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Ever</span> and anon in the world’s history there has -been some one who has broken out as a living -fountain of the <em>free spirit</em> of humanity, has given bold -utterance to the pent-up thought of wrongs, too long -endured, and has made the demand for some God-given -right, until then withheld,—a demand so obviously -just, that the tyrants of earth have trembled as if -called to judgment, and the oppressed have rejoiced -as at the voice of their deliverer. “It is thus the -spirit of a single mind makes that of multitudes take -one direction.”</p> - -<p>Such, as the subsequent history of our country has -shown, such was the spirit of the mind of that man -who will be honored through all coming time, as the -leader of the most glorious movement ever made in -humanity’s behalf,—the movement for <em>perfect, impartial -liberty</em>, which for the last thirty-nine years has rocked -our Republic from centre to circumference, and will continue -to agitate it until every vestige of slavery is -shaken out of our civil fabric.</p> - -<p>“When the tourist of Europe has descended from -the Black Forest into Suabia, his guide asks him if he -does not wish to see the source of the Danube. Only -one answer can be given to such a question. So he is -conducted into the garden of an obscure nobleman of -Baden; and there, within a small stone enclosure, he is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">2</a></span> -shown the highest spring of that river, which has worn -its channel deeper and wider for sixteen hundred miles, -and, receiving on its way the contributions of thirty -navigable streams, enters the Black Sea by five mouths, -thus opening a communication between the interior of -Europe and the Mediterranean, bearing on its bosom -the commerce of fifty millions of people, and bringing -them into the community of nations.”</p> - -<p>Soon after Mr. Garrison’s assault upon the institution -of American slavery began to be felt, (and that was almost -as soon as it began,) a Southern governor wrote to the -mayor of Boston, demanding to know what was to be -expected, what to be feared, from this attack upon “the -peculiar institution of the South.” In due time the -gentleman who was then the high official addressed -replied to his Southern excellency, that there was no -occasion for uneasiness. “He had made diligent search -for the would-be ‘Liberator.’ The city officers had ferreted -out the paper and its editor. His office was an -obscure hole, his only visible auxiliary a negro boy, and -his supporters a few very insignificant persons of all -colors.”</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly to that dainty gentleman the rise of the -antislavery enterprise in our country did seem insignificant,—quite -as insignificant as the little spring of -water in the garden at Baden. He may never have -learnt among his nursery rhymes, that</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Large streams from little fountains flow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tall oaks from little acorns grow,”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">and he must have forgotten that Christianity began in -a stable,—“that not many wise men after the flesh, not -many mighty, not many noble were called. But that -God chose the <em>foolish</em> things of the world to confound -the wise, and the <em>weak</em> things of the world to confound -the things which are mighty.” Our poet, Lowell, estimated,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">3</a></span> -more justly “the would-be Liberator,” his office -and his humble assistant.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“In a small chamber, friendless and unseen,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Toiled o’er his types one poor, unlearned young man;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The place was dark, unfurnitured, and mean;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Yet there <em>the freedom of a race</em> began.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Help came but slowly; sure no man yet<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Put lever to the heavy world with less.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What need of help? He knew how types to set;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">He had a dauntless spirit and a press.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Such dauntless natures are the fiery pith,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The compact nucleus round which systems grow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mass after mass becomes inspired therewith,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And whirls impregnate with the central glow.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>It cannot be denied that the spirit of Mr. Garrison’s -mind has made the minds of multitudes—yes, of the -majority of the people of our country—take a new direction -in favor of impartial liberty. Of course, I do -not claim that this new love of liberty originated with -him. He was no more the creator of this moral power, -which has taken our nation in its grasp, and is remoulding -all our civil and religious institutions, than the fountain -in the garden at Baden is the originator of the -mighty Danube. Mr. Garrison, no less than that spring, -is but a medium, through which the Father of all mercies -pours from the hollow of his hand the waters that -refresh the earth, and, from the fulness of his heart, the -streams that purify the souls, making glad the children -of God on earth and in heaven. But although to God -we must ultimately ascribe all our blessings, yet do we -naturally, and with great reason, revere and love as our -<em>benefactors</em> those persons who have been the means and -instruments by which personal, political, or religious -blessings have been conferred upon us. Especially do -we acknowledge our indebtedness to them, if they have -suffered reproach, persecution, loss, death, for the sake<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">4</a></span> -of the good which we enjoy. The time, therefore, is -coming, if it be not now, when the people of our reunited -Republic will gratefully own William Lloyd Garrison -among the greatest benefactors of our nation and -our race.</p> - -<p>However much our gratitude to the fathers of our -Revolution may dispose us to hide their shortcomings -of the goal of impartial liberty, however much we may -find or devise to excuse or extenuate their infidelity to -the cause of down-trodden humanity, there the shameful -facts stand, and never can be effaced from the record;—the -<em>fact</em> that (notwithstanding their glorious Declaration) -the American revolutionists did not intend the deliverance -of <em>all</em> men from oppression; no, not of all the -men who heroically fought for it side by side with themselves; -no, not of the men who, of all others, needed -that deliverance the most;—the <em>fact</em> that the Constitution -of this Republic (notwithstanding its avowed purpose) -did not mean to secure liberty to <em>all</em> the dwellers -in the land over which it was to preside; nor did it -provide that those might depart from under it who -were not to have any share in its blessings, nor allow -the spirit of liberty in them to assert its claims;—the -shameful <em>fact</em> that the aim, the tendency, and the result -of that great struggle for freedom were partial, restricted, -selfish;—the terrible fact that the American -revolutionists of 1776 left more firmly established in our -country a system of bondage, a slavery, “one hour of -which” was known and acknowledged by them to be -“more intolerable than whole ages of that from which -they had revolted.”</p> - -<p>To complete, <em>by moral and religious means and instruments</em>, -the great work which the American revolutionists -commenced; to do what they left undone; to exterminate -from our land the worst form of oppression, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">5</a></span> -tremendous sin of slavery, was the sole purpose of the -enterprise of the Abolitionists, commenced in January, -1831. In this great work Mr. Garrison has been the -leader from the beginning. Of him, therefore, I shall -have the most to say. But of many other noble men -and women I shall have occasion to make most grateful -mention.</p> - -<p>Although I claim that Mr. Garrison has done more -than any one else for the liberation of the immense -slave population of America, I am not ignorant or forgetful -of those who, before his day, made some attempts -for their deliverance. Not to mention the many eminent -divines and statesmen of England and the Colonies, -before the Revolution, who utterly condemned slavery,—the -prominent leaders in that momentous conflict with -Great Britain, and in the institution of our Republic, felt -and acknowledged its glaring inconsistency with a democratic -government. Some of that day predicted, with almost -prophetic foresight, the evils, the ruin, which it -would bring upon our nation, if slavery should be permitted -to abide in our midst. Many protested against -the Constitution, because of those articles in it which -favored the continuance and indefinite extension of “the -great iniquity.” But their objections were too generally -overruled by plausible expositions of the potency of other -parts of our Magna Charta; and they acquiesced, in the -vain hope that the <em>spirit</em> of the Constitution would -prove to be better than the letter.</p> - -<p>For twenty years after the re-formation of our General -Government in 1787, true-hearted men and women -spoke and wrote in terms of strong condemnation of -slavery, as well as the slave-trade. They spoke and -wrote and published what the spirit of liberty dictated, -in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, not less than -in Pennsylvania, New York, and the New England<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">6</a></span> -States. Nay, more, they instituted “societies for the -amelioration of the condition of the enslaved, and -their <em>gradual</em> emancipation.” Headed by no less a man -than Dr. Franklin, they besieged Congress with petitions -for the suppression of the African slave-trade, and the -<em>gradual</em> abolition of slavery. But after, in 1808, they -had obtained the prohibition of the trade, they subsided, -as did the abolitionists of Great Britain, into the belief -that the subversion of the whole evil of slavery would -soon follow as a consequence; not foreseeing that, so long -as the <em>market</em> for slaves should be kept open, the commodity -demanded there would be forthcoming, let the -hazard of procuring it be ever so great. It is now notorious -that the traffic in human beings has never been -carried on so briskly as since its nominal abolition, -while the sufferings of the victims, and the destruction -of their lives, have been threefold greater than before.</p> - -<p>Owing to this mistaken expectation of the effect of -the Act of 1808 abolishing the slave-trade, the attention -of philanthropists was in a great measure withdrawn -from the subject of slavery for ten years or more. -Meanwhile, the friends of “the peculiar institution” -were busily engaged in extending its borders and strengthening -its defences. The purchase of the Louisiana and -Florida territories threw open countless acres of <em>virgin</em> -soil, on which the labor of slaves was more profitable -than elsewhere. The invention of the “cotton-gin” -rendered the preparation of that staple so easy, that -our Southern planters could compete with any producers -of it the world over. Cotton plantations, therefore, -multiplied apace. The value of slaves was more than -doubled. The spirit of private manumission, which in -Virginia alone, between 1798 and 1808, had set free -more than a thousand bondmen annually, was checked<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">7</a></span> -by avarice, and then forbidden by law. And the “Ancient -Dominion,” proud Virginia, rapidly became the -home of slave-breeders; and from that American Guinea -was carried on a traffic in human beings as brisk and -horrible as ever desolated the coast of Africa.</p> - -<p>The free colored population at the South were subjected -to new disabilities, were exposed to most vexatious -annoyances, and were denied the protection of -law against encroachments or personal injuries by the -“whites”; and very many of them, on slight pretexts, -were reduced to slavery again.</p> - -<p>Social intercourse between the Northern and the -Southern States was then infrequent. It was kept up -mainly by the wealthy and pleasure-seeking, who, in -their enjoyment of the hospitality of the planters, could -learn little of the condition and character of their bondmen, -and were easily led to take “South-side views of -slavery.”</p> - -<p>Whatsoever we gathered from these sources of information -led us too readily to acquiesce in the common -assumption, that the negroes were a thick-skulled, stupid, -kind-hearted, jolly people, not much if any worse -off in slavery at the South than most of the free people -of color, and some other poor folks were at the North. -So, when we were disquieted at all on their account, it -was but for a little time, and we relieved ourselves of -the burden by a sigh or two over the misery that everywhere -“flesh is heir to.”</p> - -<p>The first event that fixed the attention of Northern -men seriously upon the subject of slavery, over which -they had slumbered since 1808, was the dispute that -arose in 1819, upon the proposal to admit Missouri into -the Union as a slave State. The contest was a vehement -one. Mr. Webster was <em>then</em> upon the side of liberty. -He led the van of the opposition that arrayed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">8</a></span> -itself in New England, and would have averted the -catastrophe, but for the cry “dissolution of the Union,” -then first raised at the South, and the necromancy of -Henry Clay, who, with his wand of compromise, conjured -the people into acquiescence. Words, however, -significant words, touching the evil and the awful wrong -of slavery, were uttered in that controversy which -were not to be forgotten. And feelings of compassion -for the bondmen were awakened which were not allayed -by the result.</p> - -<p>Shortly before the Missouri controversy a movement -had commenced in the slave States, which was pregnant -with effects very different from those intended by the -projectors of it. Often was it roughly demanded of us -Abolitionists, “Why we espoused so zealously the cause -of the enslaved?” “why we meddled so with the civil -and domestic institutions of the Southern States?” Our -first answer always was, in the memorable words of old -Terence, “Because we are men, and, therefore, cannot -be indifferent to anything that concerns humanity.” -Liberty cannot be enjoyed, nor long preserved, at the -North, if slavery be tolerated at the South. But to -those who felt so slightly the cords of love and the -bonds of a common humanity that they could not appreciate -these reasons, we gave another reason for our -interference with the slavery in our Southern States, -even this: <em>we were solicited, we were urged, entreated by -the slaveholders themselves to interfere</em>.</p> - -<p>About the year 1816, while intent upon their projects -for perpetuating and extending their “peculiar institution,” -the slaveholders were alarmed by symptoms of -discontent among the free colored people, imagined -that they were promoting insubordination amongst the -slaves, and so conceived the project of colonizing them -in Africa. To insure the accomplishment of so mighty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">9</a></span> -an undertaking, it was obviously necessary to obtain -the aid of the general government. In order to sustain -that government in making such a large appropriation -of the public money as would be needed, the people -of the North, as well as of the South, were to be conciliated -to the plan; and to conciliate them it was necessary -to make it appear to be a philanthropic enterprise, -conferring great benefits immediately upon the free colored -people, and tending certainly, though indirectly, to -the entire abolition of slavery. Accordingly, agents, -eloquent and cunning men, were sent into all the free -States, especially into Pennsylvania, New York, and New -England, to press the claims of the oppressed people of -the South upon the compassion and generosity of the -Northern philanthropists. Never did agents do their -work better. Never were more exciting appeals made -to the humane than were pressed home upon us by such -men as Mr. Gurley, Mr. Cresson, and their fellow-laborers. -They kept out of sight the real design, the primal -object, the animus of the founders and Southern patrons -of the American Colonization Society. They presented -to us views of the debasing, dehumanizing effects of -slavery upon its victims; the need of a far-distant removal -from its overshadowing presence of those who -had been blighted by it, that they might revive, unfold -their humanity, exhibit their capacities, command the -respect of those who had known them only in degradation, -and, by their new-born activities, not only secure -comfort and plenty for themselves on the shores of their -fatherland, but prepare homes there for the reception -of millions still pining in slavery, who, we were assured, -would be gladly released whenever it should be known -that the bestowment of freedom would be a blessing and -not a curse to them. Such appeals were not made to -our hearts in vain. Suffice it to say that Mr. Garrison,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">10</a></span> -Gerrit Smith, Arthur Tappan, William Goodell, and all -the early Abolitionists, were induced to espouse the -cause of our oppressed and enslaved countrymen, by -the speeches and tracts of Southern Colonizationists.</p> - -<p>If I were intending to write a complete history of the -conflict with slavery in our country, gratitude would -impel me to give some account of a number of philanthropists -who, in different parts of the Union, some of -them in the midst of slaveholding communities, before -Mr. Garrison’s day, had fully exposed and faithfully denounced -“the great iniquity,” I should make especial -mention of</p> - -<h3 id="hp10">REV. JOHN RANKIN AND REV. JOHN D. PAXTON.</h3> - -<p>The former was a Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, -where, in 1825, having heard that his brother, Mr. -Thomas Rankin, of Virginia, had become a slaveholder, -he addressed to him a series of very earnest and impressive -letters in remonstrance. They were published first -in a periodical called the <cite>Castigator</cite>, and afterwards -went through several editions in pamphlet form. He -denounced “slavery as a never-failing fountain of the -grossest immoralities, and one of the deepest sources of -human misery.” He insisted that “the safety of our -government and the happiness of its subjects depended -upon the extermination of this evil.” We New England -Abolitionists, in the early days of our warfare, made great -use of Mr. Rankin’s volume as a depository of well-attested -facts, justifying the strongest condemnation, we -could utter, of the system of oppression that had become -established in our country and sanctioned by our government.</p> - -<p>Mr. Paxton was the pastor of a Presbyterian church -in Cumberland, Virginia. He was a member of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">11</a></span> -Presbyterian General Assembly, which in 1818 denounced -“the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race -as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights -of human nature,—<em>utterly inconsistent with the law of -God</em>.” Believing what that grave body had declared, he -set about endeavoring to convince the church to which -he ministered of the exceeding sinfulness of slaveholding; -and that “they ought to set their bondmen free -so soon as it could be done with advantage to them.” -His preaching to this effect gave offence to many of his -parishioners, and led to his dismission. In justice to -himself, and to the cause of humanity, for espousing -which he had been persecuted, Mr. Paxton also published -a volume of letters, which were of great service to us. -In these letters he faithfully exposed the abject, debased, -suffering condition of our American slaves,—incomparably -worse than that which was permitted under the -Mosaic dispensation,—and pretty effectually demolished -the Bible argument in support of the abomination. -However, the labors of these good men, and of those -whom they roused, were erelong diverted into the seductive -channel of the Colonization scheme.</p> - -<p>But there was another of the early antislavery reformers, -of whom I may write much more fully in accordance -with my plan, which is to give, for the most part, only -my <em>personal recollections</em> of the prominent actors, and the -most significant incidents, in our conflict with the giant -wrong of our nation and age.</p> - -<h3 id="hp11">BENJAMIN LUNDY.</h3> - -<p>In the month of June, 1828, there came to the town -of Brooklyn, Connecticut, where I then resided, and to -the house of my friend, the venerable philanthropist, -George Benson, a man of small stature, of feeble health,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">12</a></span> -partially deaf, asking for a public hearing upon the subject -of American slavery. It was <em>Benjamin Lundy</em>. -We gathered for him a large congregation, and his address -made a deep impression on many of his hearers. -He exhibited the wrong of slavery and the sufferings of -its victims in a graphic, affecting manner. But the -relief which he proposed was to be found in removing -them to some of the unoccupied territory of Texas or -Mexico, rather than in recognizing their rights as men -here, in the country where so many of them had been -born; and in making all the amends possible for the -injuries so long inflicted upon them by giving them here -the blessings of education, and every opportunity and assistance -to become all that God has made them capable -of being. Nevertheless, Mr. Lundy had done then, and -he continued afterwards, until his death in 1839, to do -excellent service in the cause of the enslaved. Indeed, -his labors were so abundant, his sacrifices so many, and -his trials so severe, that no one will stand before the -God of the oppressed with a better record than he.</p> - -<p>Benjamin Lundy was born in New Jersey, of Quaker -parents, in 1789, and was educated in the sentiments -and under the influence of the society of Friends. He -was, therefore, from his earliest days, taught to regard -slaveholding as a great iniquity. At the age of nineteen -he went to reside in Wheeling, Virginia, and there learnt -the saddler’s trade. This he afterwards carried on, with -great success for a number of years, in the village of St. -Clairville, Ohio, about ten miles from Wheeling. But -he could not banish from his memory the sights he had -seen at Wheeling, which was the great thoroughfare of -the slave-trade between Virginia and the Southern and -Southwestern States; nor efface from his heart the impression -that he ought “to attempt to do something for -the relief of that most injured portion of the human -race.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">13</a></span> -As early as 1815, when twenty-six years of age, he -formed an antislavery society, which at first consisted -of only six members, but in a few months increased to -nearly five hundred, among whom were many of the -influential ministers, lawyers, and other prominent -citizens of several of the counties in that part of Ohio. -Although unused to composition, he wrote an appeal to -the philanthropists of the United States, which was -published and extensively circulated, and led to the formation, -in different parts of the State, of societies similar -in spirit and purpose to the one he had instituted. -He then engaged in the publication of an antislavery -paper; and to promote its circulation, and to gather -materials for its columns, he commenced his travels in -the slave States. These were performed for the most -part on foot. Thus he journeyed thousands of miles, -through Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and -North Carolina. In most places where he lectured -publicly, or privately, he obtained subscribers to his paper. -In some places he succeeded in forming associations -similar to his own. Not unfrequently he met with -angry rebuffs and violent threats of personal injury. -But he was a man of the most quiet courage, as well as -indomitable perseverance. He disconcerted his assailants -by letting them see that they could not frighten him; -that the threat of assassination would not deter him -from prosecuting his object. Several slaveholders were -so much affected by his exposition of their iniquity that -they manumitted their bondmen, on condition that he -would take them to a place where they would be free. -Twice or thrice he went to Hayti, conducting such freed -ones thither, and finding homes for others whom he -hoped to send there. Afterwards he explored large -portions of Mexico and Texas; and made strenuous -endeavors to obtain by grant or purchase sections of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">14</a></span> -lands, upon which he might found colonies of emancipated -people from this country. In this attempt he -was unsuccessful; but while prosecuting it he gathered -much valuable information respecting the state of that -country, of which afterwards important use was made -by the Hon. J. Q. Adams, in his strenuous opposition -in 1836 to the audacious plot by which Texas was annexed -to our Republic.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lundy was indefatigable in laboring for whatever -he undertook to accomplish. He learnt the printer’s art, -that he might communicate to the public whatever he -discovered by his diligent inquiries of the condition of -the enslaved, and enkindle in others that sympathy for -them which glowed in his own bosom. He was not -stationary for a long while in any one place. His paper, -<cite>The Genius of Universal Emancipation</cite>, was published -successively in Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, and in Philadelphia, -Washington, and Baltimore. For a considerable -time his lecturing excursions were so frequent, -diverse, and distant, that it was most convenient to him -to get his paper printed, wherever he happened to be, -from month to month. So he earned along with him -the type, “heading,” the “column-rules,” and his “direction-book,” -and issued “the Genius,” &c., from any -office that was accessible to him. He often had to pay -for the publication of it by working as a journeyman -printer, and at other times had to support himself by -working at his saddler’s trade. Nothing discouraged, -nothing daunted Benjamin Lundy. He possessed, in an -eminent degree, the faith, patience, self-denial, courage, -and endurance necessary to a pioneer. He was frequently -threatened, repeatedly assaulted, and once -brutally beaten. But he could not be deterred from -prosecuting the work to which he was called. He was -a rare specimen of perfect fidelity to duty, a conscientious,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">15</a></span> -meek, but fearless, determined man, a soldier of -the cross, a moral hero.</p> - -<h3 id="hp15">WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.</h3> - -<p>William Lloyd Garrison commenced his literary and -philanthropic labors when a young journeyman printer, -in his native place, Newburyport, Mass. In 1825 he -removed to Boston, and labored for a while in the office -of the <cite>Recorder</cite>. In 1827 he united with Rev. William -Collier in editing and publishing the <cite>National Philanthropist</cite>, -the only paper then devoted to the Temperance -cause. And soon after he engaged in conducting <cite>The -Journal of the Times</cite>, at Bennington, Vt. In each of these -papers, especially the last, he took strong ground against -slavery. Believing the plan of the Colonization Society -to be intended to remove the great evil from our country, -he espoused it with ardor, and advocated it with such -signal ability, that he was recalled to Boston to deliver, -in Park Street church, the annual address to the Massachusetts -Colonization Society, on the 4th of July, 1828.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison’s writings attracted the attention of that -devoted, self-sacrificing friend of the enslaved, Benjamin -Lundy, of whom I have just now given some account. -He urged him in 1828, and persuaded him in the -autumn of 1829, to remove to Baltimore, and assist in -editing <cite>The Genius of Universal Emancipation</cite>. There -Mr. G. soon saw, with his own eyes, the atrocities of -slavery and the inter-state slave-trade; there he discovered -the real design and spirit of the Colonization -scheme; there the radical doctrine of <em>immediate, unconditional</em> -emancipation was revealed to him. He soon -made himself obnoxious to slaveholders by his faithful -exposure of their cruelties; and his unsparing condemnation -of their atrocious system of oppression.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">16</a></span> -After he had been in Baltimore a few months, a -Northern captain came there in a ship owned and -freighted by a gentleman of Newburyport, Mr. Garrison’s -birthplace. Failing to obtain another cargo, said -captain, with the consent of his owner, took on board a -load of slaves to be transported to New Orleans. Such -an outrage on humanity, perpetrated by Massachusetts -men, enkindled Mr. G.’s hottest indignation, and drew -from his pen a scathing rebuke. He was forthwith arrested -as both a civil and criminal offender. He was -prosecuted for a libel upon the captain and owner of the -ship “Francis,” and for disturbing the peace by attempting -to excite the slaves to insurrection.</p> - -<p>It would be needless to spend time in proving that, -in the presence of a slaveholding judge, before a slaveholding -jury, surrounded by a community of incensed -slaveholders, the young reformer did not have a fair -trial. He was found guilty under both indictments. -He was fined and sentenced to imprisonment a certain -time, as the punishment for his alleged crime, and afterward, -until the fine imposed for “the libel” should be -paid. It was then and there that his free, undaunted -spirit inscribed upon the walls of his cell that joyous, -jubilant sonnet, which could have been written only by -one conscious of innocence in the sight of the Holy God, -of a great purpose and a sacred mission yet to be accomplished.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">17</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“High walls and huge the body may confine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And iron grates obstruct the prisoner’s gaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And massive bolts may baffle his design,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And watchful keepers eye his devious ways;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet scorns the immortal <em>mind</em> this base control!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">No chain can bind <em>it</em>, and no cell enclose.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swifter than light it flies from pole to pole,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It leaps from mount to mount. From vale to vale<br /></span> -<span class="i2">It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It visits home to hoar the fireside tale,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Or in sweet converse pass the joyous hours.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Tis up before the sun, roaming afar,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And in its watches, wearies every star.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>After seven weeks of close confinement Mr. Garrison -was liberated by the noble, discriminating generosity -of the late Arthur Tappan, then in the height of his -affluence, who, so long as he had wealth, felt that he was -an almoner of God’s bounty, and gave his money gladly, -in many ways, to the relief of suffering humanity. The -spirit of freedom,—the true American eagle,—thus uncaged, -flew back to his native New England, and thence -sent forth that cry which disturbed the repose of every -slaveholder in the land, and has resounded throughout -the world.</p> - -<p>It so happened, in the good Providence “which shapes -our ends,” that I was on a visit in Boston at that time,—October, -1830. An advertisement appeared in the -newspapers, that during the following week W. Lloyd -Garrison would deliver to the public three lectures, in -which he would exhibit the awful sinfulness of slaveholding; -expose the duplicity of the Colonization Society, -revealing its true character; and, in opposition to it, -would announce and maintain the doctrine, that immediate, -unconditional emancipation is the right of every -slave and the duty of every master. The advertisement -announced that his lectures would be delivered on the -Common, unless some church or commodious hall should -be proffered to him gratuitously. If I remember correctly, -it was intimated in the newspapers, or currently -reported at the time, that Mr. G. had applied for several -of the Boston churches, and been refused, because it was -known that he had become an opponent of the Colonization -Society. A day or two after the first I saw a -second advertisement, informing the public that the free -use of “Julien Hall,” occupied by Rev. Abner Kneeland’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">18</a></span> -church, having been generously tendered to Mr. -Garrison, he would deliver his lectures there instead of -the Common. I had not then seen this resolute young -man. I had been much impressed by some of his -writings, knew of his connection with Mr. Lundy, and -had heard of his imprisonment. Of course I was eager -to see and hear him, and went to Julien Hall in due -season on the appointed evening. My brother-in-law, -A. Bronson Alcott, and my cousin, Samuel E. Sewall, -accompanied me. Truer men could not easily have -been found.</p> - -<p>The hall was pretty well filled. Among some persons -whom I did, and many whom I did not know, I saw there -Rev. Dr. Beecher, Rev. Mr. (now Dr.) Gannett, Deacon -Moses Grant, and John Tappan, Esq.</p> - -<p>Presently the young man arose, modestly, but with -an air of calm determination, and delivered such a lecture -as he only, I believe, at that time, could have written; -for he only had had his eyes so anointed that he could -see that outrages perpetrated upon Africans were wrongs -done to our common humanity; he only, I believe, had -had his ears so completely unstopped of “prejudice -against color” that the cries of enslaved black men and -black women sounded to him as if they came from -brothers and sisters.</p> - -<p>He began with expressing deep regret and shame for -the zeal he had lately manifested in the Colonization -cause. It was, he confessed, a zeal without knowledge. -He had been deceived by the misrepresentations so diligently -given, throughout the free States by Southern -agents, of the design and tendency of the Colonization -scheme. During his few months’ residence in Maryland -he had been completely undeceived. He had there -found out that the design of those who originated, and -the especial intentions of those in the Southern States<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">19</a></span> -that engaged in the plan, were to remove from the -country, as “a disturbing element” in slaveholding -communities, all the free colored people, so that the -bondmen might the more easily be held in subjection. -He exhibited in graphic sketches and glowing colors the -suffering of the enslaved, and denounced the plan of -Colonization as devised and adapted to perpetuate the -system, and intensify the wrongs of American slavery, -and therefore utterly undeserving of the patronage of -lovers of liberty and friends of humanity.</p> - -<p>Never before was I so affected by the speech of man. -When he had ceased speaking I said to those around -me: “That is a providential man; he is a prophet; -he will shake our nation to its centre, but he will shake -slavery out of it. We ought to know him, we ought to -help him. Come, let us go and give him our hands.” -Mr. Sewall and Mr. Alcott went up with me, and we -introduced each other. I said to him: “Mr. Garrison, -I am not sure that I can indorse all you have said -this evening. Much of it requires careful consideration. -But I am prepared to embrace you. I am sure you are -called to a great work, and I mean to help you.” Mr. -Sewall cordially assured him of his readiness also to co-operate -with him. Mr. Alcott invited him to his home. -He went, and we sat with him until twelve that night, -listening to his discourse, in which he showed plainly -that <em>immediate, unconditional emancipation, without expatriation, -was the right of every slave, and could not be -withheld by his master an hour without sin</em>. That night -my soul was baptized in his spirit, and ever since I -have been a disciple and fellow-laborer of William -Lloyd Garrison.</p> - -<p>The next morning, immediately after breakfast, I went -to his boarding-house and stayed until two <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> I -learned that he was poor, dependent upon his daily labor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">20</a></span> -for his daily bread, and intending to return to the printing -business. But, before he could devote himself to -his own support, he felt that he must deliver his message, -must communicate to persons of prominent influence -what he had learned of the sad condition of the enslaved, -and the institutions and spirit of the slaveholders; trusting -that all true and good men would discharge the -obligation pressing upon them to espouse the cause of -the poor, the oppressed, the down-trodden. He read to -me letters he had addressed to Dr. Channing, Dr. Beecher, -Dr. Edwards, the Hon. Jeremiah Mason, and Hon. -Daniel Webster, holding up to their view the tremendous -iniquity of the land, and begging them, ere it should -be too late, to interpose their great power in the Church -and State to save our country from the terrible calamities -which the sin of slavery was bringing upon us. -Those letters were eloquent, solemn, impressive. I -wonder they did not produce a greater effect. It was -because none to whom he appealed, in public or private, -would espouse the cause, that Mr. Garrison found himself -left and impelled to become the leader of the great -antislavery reform, which must be <em>thoroughly accomplished</em> -before our Republic can stand upon a sure -foundation.</p> - -<p>The hearing of Mr. Garrison’s lectures was a great -epoch in my own life. The impression which they made -upon my soul has never been effaced; indeed, they -moulded it anew. They gave a new direction to my -thoughts, a new purpose to my ministry. I had become -a convert to the doctrine of “immediate, unconditional -emancipation,—liberation from slavery without expatriation.”</p> - -<p>I was engaged to preach on the following Sunday for -Brother Young, in Summer Street Church. Of course I -could not again speak to a congregation, as a Christian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">21</a></span> -minister, and be silent respecting the <em>great iniquity</em> of -our nation. The only sermon I had brought from my home -in Connecticut, that could be made to bear on the subject, -was one on Prejudice,—the sermon about to be -published as one of the Tracts of the American Unitarian -Association. So I touched it up as well as I could, -interlining here and there words and sentences which -pointed in the new direction to which my thoughts and -feelings so strongly tended, and writing at its close -what used to be called an <em>improvement</em>. Thus: “The -subject of my discourse bears most pertinently upon a -matter of the greatest national as well as personal importance. -There are more than two millions of our -fellow-beings, children of the Heavenly Father, who are -held in our country in the most abject slavery,—regarded -and treated like domesticated animals, their rights -as men trampled under foot, their conjugal, parental, -fraternal relations and affections utterly set at naught. -It is our <em>prejudice</em> against the color of these poor people -that makes us consent to the tremendous wrongs they -are suffering. If they were white,—ay, if only two -thousand or two hundred <em>white</em> men, women, and children -in the Southern States were treated as these millions -of colored ones are, we of the North should make such -a stir of indignation, we should so agitate the country, -with our appeals and remonstrances, that the oppressors -would be compelled to set their bondmen free. But will -our <em>prejudice</em> be accepted by the Almighty, the impartial -Judge of all, as a valid excuse for our indifference -to the wrongs and outrages inflicted upon these millions -of our countrymen? O no! O no! He will say, “Inasmuch -as ye did not what ye could for the relief of these, -the least of the brethren, ye did it not to me.” Tell me -not that we are forbidden by the Constitution of our -country to interfere in behalf of the enslaved. No compact<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">22</a></span> -our fathers may have made for us, no agreement -we could ourselves make, would annul our obligations -to suffering fellow-men. “Yes, yes,” I said, with an -emphasis that seemed to startle everybody in the house, -“if need be, the very foundations of our Republic must -be broken up; and if this stone of stumbling, this rock -of offence, cannot be removed from under it, the proud -superstructure must fall. It cannot stand, it ought not -to stand, it will not stand, on the necks of millions of -men.” For “God is just, and his justice will not sleep -forever.” I then offered such a prayer as my kindled -spirit moved me to, and gave out the hymn commencing,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And press with vigor on.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>When I rose to pronounce the benediction I said: -“Every one present must be conscious that the closing -remarks of my sermon have caused an unusual emotion -throughout the church. I am glad. Would to God -that a deeper emotion could be sent throughout our -land, until all the people thereof shall be roused from -their wicked insensibility to the most tremendous sin -of which any nation was ever guilty, and be impelled -to do that righteousness which alone can avert the just -displeasure of God. I have been prompted to speak -thus by the words I have heard during the past week -from a young man hitherto unknown, but who is, I believe, -called of God to do a greater work for the good of -our country than has been done by any one since the -Revolution. I mean William Lloyd Garrison. He is -going to repeat his lectures the coming week. I advise, -I exhort, I entreat—would that I could compel!—you -to go and hear him.”</p> - -<p>On turning to Brother Young after the benediction I -found that he was very much displeased. He sharply<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">23</a></span> -reproved me, and gave me to understand that I should -never have an opportunity so to violate the propriety -of his pulpit again. And never since then have I lifted -up my voice within that beautiful church, which has -lately been taken down.</p> - -<p>The excited audience gathered in clusters, evidently -talking about what had happened. I found the porch -full of persons conversing in very earnest tones. Presently -a lady of fine person, her countenance suffused -with emotion, tears coursing down her cheeks, pressed -through the crowd, seized my hand, and said audibly, -with deep feeling: “Mr. May, I thank you. What a -shame it is that I, who have been a constant attendant -from my childhood in this or some other Christian -church, am obliged to confess that to-day, for the first -time, I have heard from the pulpit a plea for the oppressed, -the enslaved millions in our land!” All within -hearing of her voice were evidently moved in sympathy -with her, or were awed by her emotion. For myself I -could only acknowledge in a word my gratitude for her -generous testimony.</p> - -<p>The next day I perceived, on his return from his place -of business in State Street, that my revered father -was much disturbed by the reports he had heard of my -preaching. Some of the “gentlemen of property and -standing” who had been my auditors said it was fanatical, -others that it was incendiary, others that it was -treasonable, and begged him to “arrest me in my mad -career.” The only one, as he soon afterwards informed -me, who had spoken in any other than terms of censure -was the great and good Dr. Bowditch, who said, “Depend -upon it, the young man is more than half right.” My -father tried to dissuade me from engaging in the attempt -to overthrow the system of slavery which Mr. Garrison -proposed. He had come, with most others, to regard<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">24</a></span> -it as an unavoidable evil, one that the fathers of our -Republic had not ventured to suppress, but had rather -given to its protection something like a guaranty. He -thought, with most others at that day, that slavery must -be left to be gradually removed by the progress of civilization, -the growth of higher ideas of human nature, -and the manifest superiority and hotter economy of free -labor. He admonished me that, in assailing the institution -of American slavery, I should only be “kicking -against the pricks,” that I should lose my standing in -the ministry and my usefulness in the church. I need -not add that he failed to convince me that “the foolishness -of preaching” would not yet be “mighty to the -pulling down of the stronghold of Satan.” In less than -ten years he was reconciled to my course.</p> - -<p>A few days afterwards I gave my sermon on Prejudice -to my most excellent friend, Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., -who was then the purveyor of tracts for the American -Unitarian Association. He accepted the discourse as -originally written, but insisted that the interlineations -and the additions respecting slavery should be omitted. -He would not have done this, nor should I have consented -to it, a few years later. But we were all in -bondage then. Unconsciously to ourselves, the hand of -the slaveholding power lay <em>heavily</em> upon the mind and -heart of the people in our Northern as well as Southern -States.</p> - -<p>What a pity that my words in that sermon, respecting -slavery, were not published in the tract! They might -have helped a little to commit our Unitarian denomination -much earlier to the cause of impartial liberty, in -earnest protest against the great oppression, the unparalleled -iniquity of our land. Of whom should opposition -to slavery of every kind have been expected so soon as -from Unitarian Christians?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">25</a></span> -The insensibility of the people of our country to the -wrongs, the outrages, we were directly and indirectly -inflicting upon our colored brethren, when Mr. Garrison -commenced the antislavery reform,—the insensibility -of the Northern people, scarcely less than that of the -Southern,—of New England as well as of the Carolinas -and Georgia, of the professing Christians, almost as -much as of the political partisans,—that insensibility, -not yet wholly overpast, even in Massachusetts, is a -<em>moral phenomenon</em>. A more glaring inconsistency does -not appear in the whole history of mankind.</p> - -<p>The love of liberty was an American passion. We -gloried in our Revolution. We thought our fathers -were to be honored above all men for throwing off the -British yoke. Taxation without representation was not -to be submitted to. “Resistance to tyrants was obedience -to God.” We regarded the “Declaration of Independence” -as the most momentous document ever penned -by mortal man, the herald note of deliverance to the -race. The first sentence of the second paragraph of it -was as familiar to everybody as the Lord’s Prayer; and -almost as sacred as that prayer did we hold the words -“All men were created equal, endowed by their Creator -with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, -liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And yet few -had given a thought to the fact that there were millions -of men, women, and children in our land who were held -under a heavier bondage than that to which the Israelites -were subjected in the land of Egypt, were denied -all the rights of humanity, were herded together like -brutes,—bought, sold, worked, whipped like cattle.</p> - -<p>All in our country who were descendants from the -Puritans, especially those of us who claimed descent -from the fathers of New England, were imbued with -the spirit of <em>religious</em> liberty, had much to say about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">26</a></span> -the rights of conscience; but we gave no heed to the -awful fact that there were millions in the land who -were not allowed to exercise any of those rights, were -not permitted to read the Bible or any other book, and -were taught little else about God, but that He was an -invisible, ever-present, almighty overseer of the plantations -upon which they were worked like cattle, standing -ready at all times, everywhere, to inflict upon them, if -they neglected their unrequited tasks, a thousand-fold -more dreadful punishment than their earthly tormentors -were able even to conceive.</p> - -<p>We Americans, especially we New-Englanders, were, -or thought we were, all alive to the cause of human freedom. -We were quick to hear the cry of the oppressed, -that came to us from distant lands. We stopped not -to ask the language, character, or complexion of the sufferers. -It was enough for us to know that they were -human beings, and that they were deprived of liberty. -We hesitated not to denounce their tyrants.</p> - -<p>The call for succor which came to us from Greece -was quickly heard and promptly answered in almost -all parts of our country. And why? Not because the -Greeks were a more virtuous or more intelligent people -than their enemies. No; we had little reason to think -them better than the Turks. But they were the <em>injured</em> -party, and therefore we roused ourselves to aid them. -How much soever our orators and poets gathered up the -hallowed associations which cluster around that classic -land, they all were but the decorations, not the point, of -their appeals. It was the story of the <em>wrongs</em> of the -Grecians which found the way to our hearts, and stirred -us up to encourage and succor them in their conflict -for <em>liberty</em>. Dr. Howe will tell you that it was not -their admiration of Greece in her ancient glory, but -their sympathy for Greece in her modern degradation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">27</a></span> -that impelled him and his chivalrous companions to fly -thither, and peril their lives in her cause.</p> - -<p>Coming to us from any other land, the cry for freedom -sent through American bosoms a thrilling emotion. -We stopped not to inquire who they were that would be -free. If they were men, we knew they had a right to -liberty. No matter how the yoke had been fastened on -them,—whether by inheritance, or conquest, or political -compromise,—we felt that it ought to be broken. And -although to break it the whole social fabric of their oppressors -must be overturned, still we said, <em>Let the yoke be -broken</em>!</p> - -<p>Thus we quickly felt, thus we reasoned and acted, in -all cases of oppression excepting one,—the one <em>at home</em>, -the one in which we were implicated with the oppressors. -We were blind, we were deaf, we were dumb, to the -wrongs and outrages inflicted upon one sixth part of the -population of our own country. In the Southern States -the colored people were held as property, chattels personal, -liable to all the incidents of the estates of their -owners, could be seized to pay their debts, or mortgaged, -or given away, or bequeathed by them. To all intents -and purposes, they were regarded by the laws of those -States, and might be legally disposed of, and otherwise -treated, just like domesticated brute animals. In most -of the Northern States they were not admitted to the -prerogatives of citizens. In none of them were they -allowed to enjoy equal social, educational, or religious -privileges; nor were they permitted to engage in any of -the lucrative professions, trades, or handicrafts. They -were condemned to all the menial offices. It was impossible -not to respect and value many of them as -servants and nurses, but they were not suffered to come -nearer to white people in any domestic or social relations. -Intermarriages with them were illegal, and punishable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">28</a></span> -by heavy penalties. They were not allowed to travel -(unless as servants) in any public conveyances. Their -children were excluded from the schools which white -children attended, and they were set apart in one corner -of the places of public worship called the houses -of God,—<em>the impartial Father</em> of all men. A certain -shade of complexion, though much lighter than some -brunettes, consigned any one guilty of it to the grade -of the blacks, which was de-gradation. We were educated -to regard negroes as an inferior race of beings, not -entitled to the distinctive rights and privileges of white -men. Ignorance, poverty, and servitude came to be considered -the birthright, the inheritance, of all Africans -and their descendants; and therefore we did not feel -the pressure of their bonds, nor the smart of the wounds -that were continually given them.</p> - -<p>Prejudice against color had become universal. The -most elevated were not superior to it; the humblest -white men were not below it. <em>Colorphobia</em> was a disease -that infected all white Americans. Let me give my -readers one instance of its virulence.</p> - -<p>In 1834, being on a visit to my father in Boston, I -was requested to call upon one of his old friends, that -he might dissuade me from co-operating any further with -“that wrong-headed, fanatical Garrison.” The honorable -gentleman was very prominent in the fashionable, -professional, and political society of that city. He had -always expressed a kind regard for me, and had shown -his confidence by committing to my care the education -of two of his sons.</p> - -<p>I did not doubt that he had been moved to send for -me by his sincere concern for what he deemed my welfare. -He received me with elegant courtesy, as he was -wont to do, but entered at once upon the subject of -“Mr. Garrison’s misdirected, mischievous enterprise.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">29</a></span> -He insisted that, while the negroes ought to be treated -humanely, the thought of their ever being elevated to -an equality with white men was preposterous, and he -wondered that a man of common sense should entertain -the thought an hour. He said: “Why, they are evidently -an inferior race of beings, intended to be the servants -of those on whom the Creator has conferred a higher -nature,” and adduced the arguments which were then -becoming, and have since been, so common with those -who would maintain this position. At length I said to -him: “Sir, we Abolitionists are not so foolish as to require -or wish that ignorant negroes should be considered -wise men, or that vicious negroes should be considered -virtuous men, or poor negroes be considered rich men. -All we demand for them is that negroes shall be permitted, -encouraged, assisted to become as wise, as virtuous, -and as rich as they can, and be acknowledged to be -just what they have become, and be treated accordingly.” -He replied, with great emphasis: “Mr. M., if you -should bring me negroes who had become the wisest of -the wise, the best of the good, the richest of the rich, I -would not acknowledge them to be my equals.” “Then,” -said I, “you might be laughed at; for, if there be any -meaning in your words, such men would be your superiors. -Think, sir, a moment of your presuming to -contemn the wisest of the wise, the best of the good, -the richest of the rich, because of their complexion. -This would be the insanity of prejudice. Why, sir,” I -continued, “Rammohun Roy is soon coming to this -country; and he is of a darker hue than many American -persons who are prescribed and degraded because of -their color.” “Well, sir,” he angrily replied, “I am not -one who will show him any respect.” “What,” I cried, -“not take pains to know and treat with respect Rammohun -Roy?” “No,” he rejoined,—“no, not even<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">30</a></span> -Rammohun Roy!” “Then,” I retorted, “you will lose -the honor of taking by the hand the most remarkable -man of our age.” He was much offended, and, as I -afterwards learnt, chose that our acquaintance should -end with that interview.</p> - -<p>Such was the prejudice that Mr. Garrison found confronting -him everywhere, and it still is the greatest -obstacle in our country to the progress of liberty and -the establishment of peace.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Truths would you teach to save a sinking land?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All fear, none aid you, and few understand.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>Never, since the days of our Saviour, have these lines -of Pope been more fully verified than in the experience -of Mr. Garrison. So soon as it was known that he -opposed the Colonization plan, and demanded for the -enslaved immediate emancipation, without expatriation, -he was at once generally denounced as a very dangerous -person. Very few of those who were convinced by his -facts and his appeals that something should be done -forthwith for the relief of our oppressed millions ventured, -during the first twelve months of his labors, to -help him. Even the excellent Deacon Grant would not -trust him for paper on which to print his <cite>Liberator</cite> a -month. And most of those who assisted him to get -audiences wherever he went, and who subscribed for the -<cite>Liberator</cite>, and who expressed their best wishes, were -intimidated by his boldness, frequently half acknowledged -that he demanded too much for our bondmen, -and could not be made to understand his fundamental -doctrine of “immediate unconditional emancipation,” -often and clearly as he expounded it.</p> - -<p>In November, 1831, I happened again to be in Boston -on a visit, when it was proposed to attempt the formation -of an antislavery society. A meeting was called at -the office of Samuel E. Sewall, Esq. Fifteen gentlemen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">31</a></span> -assembled there. We agreed in the outset that, if the -apostolic number of twelve should be found ready to -unite upon the principles that should be thought vital, -and in a plan of operations deemed wise and expedient, -we would then and there organize an association. Mr. -Garrison announced the doctrine of “immediate emancipation” -as being essential to the great reform that -was needed in our land, the extirpation of slavery, and -the establishment of the human rights of the millions -who were groaning under a worse than Egyptian bondage. -We discussed the point two hours. But though -we were the earliest and most earnest friends of the -young reformer, only <em>nine</em> of us were brought to see, -eye to eye with him, as to the right of the slave and the -duty of the master. Only nine of us were brought to -see that a man was a man, let his complexion be what -it might be; and that no other man, not the most exalted -in the land, could regard and hold him a moment -as his property, his chattel, <em>without sin</em>. Only nine of us -were brought to understand that the first thing to be -done for those men held in the condition of domesticated -brutes, was to recognize, acknowledge their <em>humanity</em>, -and secure to them their God-given rights,—those rights -of all men set forth as inalienable in the immortal -Declaration of American Independence. Only nine of -us were brought to see that the <em>first</em> thing to be done -for the improvement of the condition of the slave is to -break his yoke, to set him free, and that what needs to -be done first ought to be done without delay, immediately. -The rest of the company partook of the fear, -common at that day, that it would be very dangerous to -set millions of slaves free at once. Although liberty was -announced to the world, in our American Declaration, as -the <em>birthright</em> of all the children of men, yet were the -people of our country so blinded and besotted by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">32</a></span> -influence of our slave system, that it was almost universally -pronounced unsafe to give liberty to adult men, -who were slaves, until they should be prepared for freedom, -and deemed qualified to exercise it aright. Mr. -Garrison had had to meet and combat this senseless fear -everywhere, from the commencement of his enterprise. -He had shown to all who could see that slavery was -not a school in which men could be educated for liberty; -that they could no more be trained to feel and act as -freemen should, so long as they were kept in bondage, -than children could be taught to walk so long as they -were held in the arms of nurses. Moreover, he argued, -that if those only should be intrusted with liberty who -knew how to use it, slaveholders were of all men the -last that should be left free, seeing that they habitually -outraged liberty,—indeed, had been educated to trample -upon human rights. Still, his doctrine was generally -misunderstood, egregiously misrepresented, and violently -opposed. And, as I have stated, only nine out of fifteen -of his elect followers, after he had been preaching and -publishing the doctrine a year, fully believed or dared -to unite with him in announcing it to the world as their -faith. We therefore separated in November, 1831, without -having organized. I returned disappointed to my -home in Connecticut, eighty miles from Boston; too far -at that day, ere railroads were lain, to come, in the depth -of winter, to assist in the formation of the New England -Antislavery Society, which took place in January, 1832. -So I lost the honor of being one of the actual founders -of the first society based upon the true principle,—<em>immediate -emancipation</em>.</p> - -<p>That there was point, vitality, power, in this doctrine -was proved by the commotion which was everywhere -caused by the promulgation of it. From one end of the -country to the other the cry went forth against the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">33</a></span> -editor of the <cite>Liberator</cite>, Fanatic! Incendiary! Madman! -The slaveholders raved, and their Northern apologists -confessed that they had too much cause to be offended. -Grave statesmen and solemn divines pronounced the -doctrines of the New England Abolitionists unwise, dangerous, -false, unconstitutional, revolutionary. Encouraged -by these responses, the slaveholding aristocrats grew -so bold as to demand that “this fanatical assault upon -one of their domestic institutions should be quelled at -once,” that the publications of the Abolitionists should -be suppressed, our meetings dispersed, our lecturers -and agents arrested. And scarcely had the <cite>Liberator</cite> -entered upon its second year before a reward was offered -by a Southern Legislature for the abduction of the -person, or for the life of its editor. And no Northern -Legislature expressed its alarm or surprise. No Northern -paper, secular or religious, reproved these assaults -upon the liberty of the press and the freedom of speech. -Thus was the viper <em>cherished</em> that has since stung so -deeply the bosom of our Republic, has inflicted a wound -that is still open and festering.</p> - -<p>The grossest abuse was heaped upon Mr. Garrison; -the vilest aspersions cast upon his character by those -who knew nothing of his private life; the worst designs -imputed to his great enterprise by those who were interested -directly or indirectly in upholding the system -of iniquity which he had resolved to overthrow.</p> - -<p>One of the charges brought against him, the one -which probably hindered his success more than any -other, was that he was an enemy of religion, an infidel, -and that his covert but real purpose was to subvert -the institutions of Christianity.</p> - -<p>Now Mr. Garrison is, and ever has been since I knew -him, a profoundly religious man, one of the most so I -have ever known. No one really acquainted with him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">34</a></span> -will say the contrary, unless it be under the impulse of -a sectarian prejudice, personal resentment, or a sinister -purpose. True, his doctrinal opinions and his regard -for rites and forms have come to differ from those of the -popular religionists of our day, as much as did the opinions -of Jesus Christ differ from those of the temple and -synagogue worshippers of his day. It would have been -<em>politic</em> in him not to have incurred, as he did, the opposition -and hatred of so many of the ministers and -churches of our country. But Mr. Garrison knew not -how to counsel with the wisdom of this world. He -surely had as much cause and as frequent occasions -to expose the inhumanity and hypocrisy of our country -as Jesus had to denounce the scribes, Pharisees, and -priests of Judea. He soon discovered, to his astonishment, -that the American Church was the bulwark of -American slaveholders. The truth of this accusation -was afterwards elaborately proved by the Hon. J. G. -Birney. It was emphatically acknowledged by the Rev. -Dr. Albert Barnes, and has since been repeatedly declared -by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and Rev. Dr. -Cheever, all honorable, orthodox men. Now, pray, how -ought a great captain, though his army be a small one,—how -ought he to treat the <em>bulwark</em> of the enemy he -means to subdue? how but to assail and demolish it -if he can? God be praised, Christianity and the American -Church were not then, and are not now, identical. -The religion of Jesus Christ is dearer to Mr. Garrison -than his own life. It was only the hollow-hearted pretenders -to piety whom he exposed, censured, ridiculed. -He never uttered from his pen or his lips a word that -I have read or heard, or that has been reported to me,—not -a word but in reverence and love of the truth and -the spirit, the doctrines and the precepts, of Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">35</a></span> -Many of those who were interested in Mr. Garrison’s -holy purpose, and wished him success, thought him too -severe; many more thought him indiscreet. He was -remonstrated with often earnestly. But he could not -be persuaded that it was not right and wise to blame -those persons <em>most</em> for our national sin who had the -most influence on the government, the policy, the prevailing -sentiments, the customs, and, above all, the -<em>religion</em> of the nation. Mr. Garrison would sometimes -argue, and argue powerfully, convincingly, with those -who found fault with his words of fiery indignation, and -show that tamer language would be inapt, unfelt. At -other times he would say, “Do the poor, hunted, hounded, -down-trodden slaves think my language too severe -or misapplied? Do that wretched husband and wife -who have just now been separated from each other forever -by that respectable gentleman in Virginia,—the -one sold to be taken to New Orleans, the other kept at -home to pine in the hovel made desolate,—do that -husband and wife think my denunciation of their master -too severe, because he is a judge, or a governor, or -a minister, or because he is a member of a Christian -church, or even because he has been hitherto, and in other -respects, a kind master to them? Until I hear such -ones complain of my severity, I shall not doubt its -propriety.” “If those who deserve the lash feel it and -wince at it, I shall be assured I am striking the right -persons in the right place.” “I will be,” are his memorable -words that rung through the land,—“I will be as -harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On -the subject of slavery I do not wish to think or speak -or write with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose -house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to -moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; -tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">36</a></span> -the fire; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause -like the present. I am in earnest. I will not equivocate; -I will not excuse; I will not retreat an inch; and -<em>I will be heard</em>.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison will perhaps remember that, a few -months after he commenced the <cite>Liberator</cite>, when almost -everybody was finding fault with him, or wishing that -he would be more temperate, I was one of the friends -that came to remonstrate and entreat. He and his -faithful partner, Isaac Knapp, were at work in the little -upper chamber, No. 6 Merchants’ Hall, where they lived, -as well as they could, with their printing-press and types, -all within an enclosure sixteen or eighteen feet square. I -requested him to walk out with me, that we might confer -on an important matter. He at once laid aside his pen, -and we descended to the street. I informed him how -much troubled I had become for fear he was damaging -the cause he had so much at heart by the undue severity -of his style. He listened to me patiently, tenderly. I -told him what many of the wise and prudent, who professed -an interest in his object, said about his manner of -pursuing it. He replied somewhat in the way I have -described above. “But,” said I, “some of the epithets -you use, though not perhaps too severe, are not precisely -applicable to the sin you denounce, and so may seem -abusive.” “Ah!” he rejoined, “until the term ‘slaveholder’ -sends as deep a feeling of horror to the hearts of -those who hear it applied to any one as the terms ‘robber,’ -‘pirate,’ ‘murderer’ do, we must use and multiply epithets -when condemning the sin of him who is guilty of the -‘<em>sum of all villanies</em>.’” “O,” cried I, “my friend, do -try to moderate your indignation, and keep more cool; -why, you are all on fire.” He stopped, laid his hand -upon my shoulder with a kind but emphatic pressure, -that I have felt ever since, and said slowly, with deep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">37</a></span> -emotion, “Brother May, I have need to be <em>all on fire</em>, -for I have mountains of ice about me to melt.” From -that hour to this I have never said a word to Mr. Garrison, -in complaint of his style. I am more than half -satisfied now that he was right then, and we who objected -were mistaken.</p> - -<p>A year or two afterwards I was in the study of Dr. -Channing, who, from the rise of the antislavery movement, -watched it with deep and increasing emotion, and -often sent for me, and oftener for the heroic Dr. Follen, -to converse with us about it. I was in the Doctor’s study, -and had been endeavoring to explain and reconcile him -to some measures of the Abolitionists which I found -had troubled him, when he said, with great gravity and -earnestness, “But, Mr. May, your friend Garrison’s style -is excessively severe. The epithets he uses are harsh, -abusive, exasperating.” I replied, “Dr. Channing, I -thought so once myself. But you have furnished me with -a sufficient apology, if not justification, of Mr. Garrison’s -severity.” And taking from his bookcase the octavo -volume of the Doctor’s Discourses, Reviews, and Miscellanies, -published in 1830, I read parts of the passage commencing -on the twenty-second and closing on the twenty-fourth -page, in which he replies to the charge, brought -against the great Milton’s prose writings, of “party-spirit, -coarse invective, and controversial asperity.” I wish -there were room here for me to quote the whole of it, it is -all so applicable to Mr. Garrison; but I will give only the -close: “Men of natural softness and timidity, of a sincere -but effeminate virtue, will be apt to look on these -bolder, hardier spirits as violent, perturbed, uncharitable; -and the charge will not be wholly groundless. But that -deep feeling of evils, which is necessary to effectual -conflict with them, and which marks God’s most powerful -messengers to mankind, cannot breathe itself in soft<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">38</a></span> -and tender accents. The deeply moved soul will speak -strongly, and ought to speak so as to move and shake -nations. We must not mistake Christian benevolence as -if it had but one voice,—that of soft entreaty. It can -speak in piercing and awful tones. There is constantly -going on in our world a conflict between good and evil. -The cause of human nature has always to wrestle with -foes. All improvement is a victory won by struggles. -It is especially true of those great periods which have -been distinguished by revolutions in government and -religion, and from which we date the most rapid movements -of the human mind, that they have been signalized -by conflict. At such periods men gifted with -great power of thought and loftiness of sentiment are -especially summoned to the conflict with evil. They -hear, as it were, in their own magnanimity and generous -aspirations the voice of a divinity; and thus -commissioned, and burning with a passionate devotion -to truth and freedom, they must and will speak with -an indignant energy, and they ought not to be measured -by the standard of ordinary minds in ordinary -times.</p> - -<p>“Milton reverenced and loved human nature, and -attached himself to its great interests with a fervor of -which only such a mind was capable. He lived in one -of those solemn periods which determine the character -of ages to come. His spirit was stirred to its very -centre by the presence of danger. He lived in the -midst of battle. That the ardor of his spirit sometimes -passed the bounds of wisdom and charity, and poured -forth unwarrantable invective, we see and lament. But -the purity and loftiness of his mind break forth amidst -his bitterest invectives. We see a noble nature still. We -see that no feigned love of truth and freedom was a -covering for selfishness and malignity. He did indeed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">39</a></span> -love and adore uncorrupted religion and intellectual -liberty, and let his name be enrolled among their truest -champions.”</p> - -<p>The Doctor bowed and smiled blandly, saying, “I confess -the quotation is not inapt nor unfairly made.”</p> - -<h3 id="hp39">MISS PRUDENCE CRANDALL AND THE CANTERBURY SCHOOL.</h3> - -<p>Often, during the last thirty, and more often during -the last ten years, you must have seen in the newspapers, -or heard from speakers in Antislavery and Republican -meetings, high commendations of the <em>County of Windham</em> -in Connecticut, as bearing the banner of equal human -and political rights far above all the rest of that State. -In the great election of the year 1866 the people of -that county gave a large majority of votes in favor of -<em>negro suffrage</em>.</p> - -<p>This moral and political elevation of the public sentiment -there is undoubtedly owing to the distinct presentation -and thorough discussion, throughout that region, -of the most vital antislavery questions in 1833 and 1834, -called out by the shameful, cruel persecution of Miss -Prudence Crandall for attempting to establish in Canterbury -a boarding-school for “colored young ladies and -little misses.”</p> - -<p>I was then living in Brooklyn, the shire town of the -county, six miles from the immediate scene of the -violent conflict, and so was fully drawn into it. I -regret that, in the following account of it, allusions to -myself and my acts must so often appear. But as -Æneas said to Queen Dido, in telling his story of the -Trojan War, so may I say, respecting the contest about -the Canterbury school, “All of which I saw, and part -of which I was.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">40</a></span> -In the summer or fall of 1832 I heard that Miss -Prudence Crandall, an excellent, well-educated Quaker -young lady, who had gained considerable reputation as -a teacher in the neighboring town of Plainfield, had -been induced by a number of ladies and gentlemen of -Canterbury to purchase a commodious, large house in -their pretty village, and establish her boarding and day -school there, that their daughters might receive instruction -in several higher branches of education not taught -in the public district schools, without being obliged to -live far away from their homes.</p> - -<p>For a while the school answered the expectations of -its patrons, and enjoyed their favor; but early in the -following year a trouble arose. It was in this wise. Not -far from the village of Canterbury there lived a worthy -colored man named Harris. He was the owner of a -good farm, and was otherwise in comfortable circumstances. -He had a daughter, Sarah, a bright girl -about seventeen years of age. She had passed, with -good repute as a scholar, through the school of the -district in which she lived, and was hungering and -thirsting for more education. This she desired not -only for her own sake, but that she might go forth qualified -to be a teacher of the colored people of our country, -to whose wrongs and oppression she had become very -sensitive. Her father encouraged her, and gladly offered -to defray the expense of the advantages she might be -able to obtain. Sarah applied for admission into this -new Canterbury school. Miss Crandall confessed to me -that at first she hesitated and almost refused, lest -admitting her might offend the parents of her pupils, -several of whom were Colonizationists, and none of them -Abolitionists. But Sarah urged her request with no -little force of argument and depth of feeling. Then she -was a young lady of pleasing appearance and manners,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">41</a></span> -well known to many of Miss Crandall’s pupils, having -been their class-mate in the district school. Moreover, -she was accounted a virtuous, pious girl, and had been -for some time a member of the church of Canterbury. -There could not, therefore, have been a more unexceptionable -case. No objection could be made to her admission -into the school, excepting only her dark (and not -very dark) complexion. Miss Crandall soon saw that she -was unexpectedly called to take some part (how important -she could not foresee) in the great contest for -impartial liberty that was then beginning to agitate -violently our nation. She was called to act either in -accordance with, or in opposition to, the unreasonable, -cruel, wicked prejudice against the <em>color</em> of their victims, -by which the oppressors of millions in our land were -everywhere extenuating, if not justifying, their tremendous -system of iniquity. She bowed to the claim of -humanity, and admitted Sarah Harris to her school.</p> - -<p>Her pupils, I believe, made no objection. But in a -few days the parents of some of them called and remonstrated. -Miss Crandall pressed upon their consideration -Sarah’s eager desire for more knowledge and culture, the -good use she intended to make of her acquirements, her -excellent character and lady-like deportment, and, more -than all, that she was an accepted member of the same -Christian church to which many of them belonged. Her -arguments, her entreaties, however, were of no avail. -Prejudice blinds the eyes, closes the ears, hardens the -heart. “Sarah belonged to the proscribed, despised -class, and therefore must not be admitted into a private -school with their daughters.” This was the gist of all -they had to say. Reasons were thrown away, appeals to -their sense of right, to their compassion for injured fellow-beings, -made no impression. “They would not have it -said that their daughters went to school with a nigger<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">42</a></span> -girl.” Miss Crandall was assured that, if she did not -dismiss Sarah Harris, her white pupils would be withdrawn -from her.</p> - -<p>She could not make up her mind to comply with such -a demand, even to save the institution she had so recently -established with such fond hopes, and in which she -had invested all her property, and a debt of several -hundred dollars more. It was, indeed, a severe trial, but -she was strengthened to bear it. She determined to act -right, and leave the event with God. Accordingly, she -gave notice to her neighbors, and, on the 2d day of -March, advertised in the <cite>Liberator</cite>, that at the commencement -of her next term, on the first Monday of -April, her school would be opened for “young ladies -and little misses of color.”</p> - -<p>Only a few days before, on the 27th of February, I -was informed of her generous, disinterested determination, -and heard that, in consequence, the whole town was in a -flame of indignation, kindled and fanned by the influence -of the prominent people of the village, her immediate -neighbors and her late patrons. Without delay, -therefore, although a stranger, I addressed a letter to -her, assuring her of my sympathy, and of my readiness -to help her all in my power. On the 4th of March her -reply came, begging me to come to her so soon as my -engagements would permit. Accompanied by my friend, -Mr. George W. Benson, I went to Canterbury on the -afternoon of that day. On entering the village we were -warned that we should be in personal danger if we appeared -there as Miss Crandall’s friends; and when -arrived at her house we learnt that the excitement -against her had become furious. She had been grossly -insulted, and threatened with various kinds of violence, -if she persisted in her purpose, and the most egregious -falsehoods had been put in circulation respecting her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">43</a></span> -intentions, the characters of her expected pupils, and of -the future supporters of her school. Moreover, we were -informed that a town-meeting was to be held on the 9th -instant, to devise and adopt such measures as “would -effectually avert the nuisance, or speedily abate it, if it -should be brought into the village.”</p> - -<p>Though beat upon by such a storm, we found Miss -Crandall resolved and tranquil. The effect of her Quaker -discipline appeared in every word she spoke, and in every -expression of her countenance. But, as she said, it -would not do for her to go into the town-meeting; and -there was not a man in Canterbury who would dare, if -he were disposed, to appear there in her behalf. “Will -not you, Friend May, be my attorney?” “Certainly,” I -replied, “come what will.” We then agreed that I -should explain to the people how unexpectedly she had -been led to take the step which had given so much -offence, and show them how she could not have consented -to the demand made by her former patrons without -wounding deeply the feelings of an excellent girl, known -to most of them, and adding to the mountain load of -injuries and insults already heaped upon the colored -people of our country. With this arrangement, we left -her, to await the coming of the ominous meeting of the -town.</p> - -<p>On the 9th of March I repaired again to Miss Crandall’s -house, accompanied by my faithful friend, Mr. -Benson. There, to our surprise and joy, we found -Friend Arnold Buffum, a most worthy man, an able -speaker, and then the principal lecturing agent of the -New England Antislavery Society. Miss Crandall gave -to each of us a respectful letter of introduction to the -Moderator of the meeting, in which she requested that -we might be heard as her attorneys, and promised to be -bound by any agreement we might see fit to make with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">44</a></span> -the citizens of Canterbury. Miss Crandall concurred with -us in the opinion that, as her house was one of the most -conspicuous in the village, and not wholly paid for, if -her opponents would take it off her hands, repaying -what she had given for it, cease from molesting her, -and allow her time to procure another house for her -school, it would be better that she should move to some -more retired part of the town or neighborhood.</p> - -<p>Thus commissioned and instructed, Friend Buffum -and I proceeded to the town-meeting. It was held in the -“Meeting-House,” one of the old New England pattern,—galleries -on three sides, with room below and above for -a thousand persons, sitting and standing. We found it -nearly filled to its utmost capacity; and, not without -difficulty, we passed up the side aisle into the wall-pew -next to the deacon’s seat, in which sat the Moderator. -Very soon the business commenced. After the “Warning” -had been read a series of Resolutions were laid -before the meeting, in which were set forth the disgrace -and damage that would be brought upon the town if a -school for colored girls should be set up there, protesting -emphatically against the impending evil, and appointing -the civil authority and selectmen a committee to wait -upon “the person contemplating the establishment of -said school, ... point out to her the injurious effects, -the incalculable evils, resulting from such an establishment -within this town, and persuade her, if possible, to -abandon the project.” The mover of the resolutions, -Rufus Adams, Esq., labored to enforce them by a speech, -in which he grossly misrepresented what Miss Crandall -had done, her sentiments and purposes, and threw out -several mean and low insinuations against the motives -of those who were encouraging her enterprise.</p> - -<p>As soon as he sat down the Hon. Andrew T. Judson -rose. This gentleman was undoubtedly the chief of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">45</a></span> -Miss Crandall’s persecutors. He was the great man of -the town, a leading politician in the State, much talked -of by the Democrats as soon to be governor, and a few -years afterwards was appointed Judge of the United -States District Court. His house on Canterbury Green -stood next to Miss Crandall’s. The idea of having “a -school of nigger girls so near him was insupportable.” -He vented himself in a strain of reckless hostility to his -neighbor, her benevolent, self-sacrificing undertaking, and -its patrons, and declared his determination to thwart -the enterprise. He twanged every chord that could -stir the coarser passions of the human heart, and with -such sad success that his hearers seemed to be filled -with the apprehension that a dire calamity was impending -over them, that Miss Crandall was the author or -instrument of it, that there were powerful conspirators -engaged with her in the plot, and that the people of -Canterbury should be roused, by every consideration of -self-preservation, as well as self-respect, to prevent the -accomplishment of the design, defying the wealth and -influence of all who were abetting it.</p> - -<p>When he had ended his philippic Mr. Buffum and -I silently presented to the Moderator Miss Crandall’s -letters, requesting that we might be heard on her behalf. -He handed them over to Mr. Judson, who instantly -broke forth with greater violence than before; -accused us of insulting the town by coming there to -interfere with its local concerns. Other gentlemen -sprang to their feet in hot displeasure; poured out their -tirades upon Miss Crandall and her accomplices, and, with -fists doubled in our faces, roughly admonished us that, if -we opened our lips there, they would inflict upon us the -utmost penalty of the law, if not a more immediate -vengeance.</p> - -<p>Thus forbidden to speak, we of course sat in silence,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">46</a></span> -and let the waves of invective and abuse dash over us. -But we sat thus only until we heard from the Moderator -the words, “This meeting is adjourned!” Knowing -that now we should violate no law by speaking, I sprang -to the seat on which I had been sitting, and cried out, -“Men of Canterbury, I have a word for you! Hear -me!” More than half the crowd turned to listen. I -went rapidly over my replies to the misstatements that -had been made as to the purposes of Miss Crandall and -her friends, the characters of her expected pupils, and -the spirit in which the enterprise had been conceived -and would be carried on. As soon as possible I gave -place to Friend Buffum. But he had spoken in his -impressive manner hardly five minutes, before the -trustees of the church to which the house belonged -came in and ordered all out, that the doors might be -shut. Here again the hand of the law constrained us. -So we obeyed with the rest, and having lingered awhile -upon the Green to answer questions and explain to those -who were willing “to understand the matter,” we departed -to our homes, musing in our own hearts “what -would come of this day’s uproar.”</p> - -<p>Before my espousal of Miss Crandall’s cause I had had -a pleasant acquaintance with Hon. Andrew T. Judson, -which had led almost to a personal friendship. Unwilling, -perhaps, to break our connection so abruptly, and -conscious, no doubt, that he had treated me rudely, not -to say abusively, at the town-meeting on the 9th, he -called to see me two days afterwards. He assured me -that he had not become unfriendly to me personally, -and regretted that he had used some expressions and -applied certain epithets to me, in the warmth of his -feelings and the excitement of the public indignation of -his neighbors and fellow-townsmen, roused as they were -to the utmost in opposition to Miss Crandall’s project,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">47</a></span> -which he thought I was inconsiderately and unjustly -promoting. He went on enlarging upon the disastrous -effects the establishment of “a school for nigger girls” -in the centre of their village would have upon its desirableness -as a place of residence, the value of real -estate there, and the general prosperity of the town.</p> - -<p>I replied: “If, sir, you had permitted Mr. Buffum -and myself to speak at your town-meeting, you would -have found that we had come there, not in a contentious -spirit, but that we were ready, with Miss Crandall’s -consent, to settle the difficulty with you and your neighbors -peaceably. We should have agreed, if you would -repay to Miss Crandall what you had advised her to -give for her house, and allow her time quietly to find -and purchase a suitable house for her school in some -more retired part of the town or vicinity, that she should -remove to that place.” The honorable gentleman hardly -gave me time to finish my sentences ere he said, with -great <span class="locked">emphasis:—</span></p> - -<p>“Mr. May, we are not merely opposed to the establishment -of that school in Canterbury; we mean there -shall not be such a school set up anywhere in our State. -The colored people never can rise from their menial -condition in our country; they ought not to be permitted -to rise here. They are an inferior race of beings, -and never can or ought to be recognized as the -equals of the whites. Africa is the place for them. I -am in favor of the Colonization scheme. Let the niggers -and their descendants be sent back to their fatherland; -and there improve themselves as much as they -may, and civilize and Christianize the natives, if they -can. I am a Colonizationist. You and your friend Garrison -have undertaken what you cannot accomplish. -The condition of the colored population of our country -can never be essentially improved on this continent.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">48</a></span> -You are fanatical about them. You are violating the -Constitution of our Republic, which settled forever the -status of the black men in this land. They belong to -Africa. Let them be sent back there, or kept as they -are here. The sooner you Abolitionists abandon your -project the better for our country, for the niggers, and -yourselves.”</p> - -<p>I replied: “Mr. Judson, there never will be fewer colored -people in this country than there are now. Of the -vast majority of them this is the native land, as much as -it is ours. It will be unjust, inhuman, in us to drive them -out, or to make them willing to go by our cruel treatment -of them. And, if they should all become willing -to depart, it would not be practicable to transport across -the Atlantic Ocean and settle properly on the shores of -Africa, from year to year, half so many of them as would -be born here in the same time, according to the known -rate of their natural increase. No, sir, there will never -be fewer colored people in our country than there are -this day; and the only question is, whether we will recognize -the rights which God gave them as men, and -encourage and assist them to become all he has made -them capable of being, or whether we will continue -wickedly to deny them the privileges we enjoy, condemn -them to degradation, enslave and imbrute them; -and so bring upon ourselves the condemnation of the -Almighty Impartial Father of all men, and the terrible -visitation of the God of the oppressed. I trust, sir, you -will erelong come to see that we must accord to these -men their rights, or incur justly the loss of our own. -Education is one of the primal, fundamental rights of all -the children of men. Connecticut is the last place where -this should be denied. But as, in the providence of -God, that right has been denied in a place so near -me, I feel that I am summoned to its defence. If you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">49</a></span> -and your neighbors in Canterbury had quietly consented -that Sarah Harris, whom you knew to be a bright, -good girl, should enjoy the privilege she so eagerly -sought, this momentous conflict would not have arisen -in your village. But as it has arisen there, we may -as well meet it there as elsewhere.”</p> - -<p>“That nigger school,” he rejoined with great warmth, -“shall never be allowed in Canterbury, nor in any town -of this State.”</p> - -<p>“How can you prevent it legally?” I inquired; “how -but by Lynch law, by violence, which you surely will -not countenance?”</p> - -<p>“We can expel her pupils from abroad,” he replied, -“under the provisions of our old pauper and vagrant -laws.”</p> - -<p>“But we will guard against them,” I said, “by giving -your town ample bonds.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” said he, “we will get a law passed by our -Legislature, now in session, forbidding the institution of -such a school as Miss Crandall proposes, in any part of -Connecticut.”</p> - -<p>“It would be an unconstitutional law, and I will -contend against it as such to the last,” I rejoined. “If -you, sir, pursue the course you have now indicated, I -will dispute every step you take, from the lowest court -in Canterbury up to the highest court of the United -States.”</p> - -<p>“You talk big,” he cried; “it will cost more than -you are aware of to do all that you threaten. Where -will you get the means to carry on such a contest at -law?”</p> - -<p>This defiant question inspired me to say, “Mr. Judson, -I had not foreseen all that this conversation has -opened to my view. True, I do not possess the pecuniary -ability to do what you have made me promise. I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">50</a></span> -have not consulted any one. But I am sure the lovers -of impartial liberty, the friends of humanity in our -land, the enemies of slavery, will so justly appreciate -the importance of sustaining Miss Crandall in her -benevolent, pious undertaking, that I shall receive from -one quarter and another all the funds I may need to -withstand your attempt to crush, by legal means, the -Canterbury school.” The sequel of my story will show -that I did not misjudge the significance of my case, nor -put my confidence in those who were not worthy of it. -Mr. Judson left me in high displeasure, and I never met -him afterwards but as an opponent.</p> - -<p>Undismayed by the opposition of her neighbors and -the violence of their threats, Miss Crandall received -early in April fifteen or twenty colored young ladies -and misses from Philadelphia, New York, Providence, -and Boston. At once her persecutors commenced operations. -All accommodations at the stores in Canterbury -were denied her; so that she was obliged to send -to neighboring villages for her needful supplies. She -and her pupils were insulted whenever they appeared -in the streets. The doors and door-steps of her house -were besmeared, and her well was filled with filth. -Had it not been for the assistance of her father and -another Quaker friend who lived in the town, she might -have been compelled to abandon “her castle” for the -want of water and food. But she was enabled to “hold -out,” and Miss Crandall and her little band behaved -somewhat like the besieged in the immortal Fort Sumter. -The spirit that is in the children of men is usually -roused by persecution. I visited them repeatedly, and -always found teacher and pupils calm and resolute. -They evidently felt that it was given them to maintain -one of the fundamental, inalienable rights of man.</p> - -<p>Before the close of the month, an attempt was made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">51</a></span> -to frighten and drive away these innocent girls, by a -process under the obsolete vagrant law, which provided -that the selectmen of any town might warn any person, -not an inhabitant of the State, to depart forthwith from -said town; demand of him or her <em>one dollar and sixty-seven -cents</em> for every week he or she remained in said -town after having received such warning, and in case -such fine should not be paid, and the person so warned -should not have departed before the expiration of ten -days after being sentenced, then he or she should <em>be -whipped on the naked body not exceeding ten stripes</em>.</p> - -<p>A warrant to this effect was actually served upon -Eliza Ann Hammond, a fine girl from Providence, aged -seventeen years. Although I had protected Miss Crandall’s -pupils against the operation of this old law, by -giving to the treasurer of Canterbury a bond in the -sum of $10,000, signed by responsible gentlemen of -Brooklyn, to save the town from the vagrancy of any of -these pupils, I feared they would be intimidated by the -actual appearance of the constable, and the imposition -of a writ. So, on hearing of the above transaction, I -went down to Canterbury to explain the matter if necessary; -to assure Miss Hammond that the persecutors -would hardly dare proceed to such an extremity, and -strengthen her to bear meekly the punishment, if they -should in their madness inflict it; knowing that every -blow they should strike her would resound throughout -the land, if not over the whole civilized world, and -call out an expression of indignation before which Mr. -Judson and his associates would quail. But I found -her ready for the emergency, animated by the spirit of -a martyr.</p> - -<p>Of course this process was abandoned. But another -was resorted to, most disgraceful to the State as well as -the town. That shall be the subject of my next.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">52</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp52">THE BLACK LAW OF CONNECTICUT.</h3> - -<p>Foiled in their attempts to frighten away Miss Crandall’s -pupils by their proceedings under the provisions -of the obsolete “Pauper and Vagrant Law,” Mr. Judson -and his fellow-persecutors urgently pressed upon the -Legislature of Connecticut, then in session, a demand -for the enactment of a law, by which they should be -enabled to effect their purpose. To the lasting shame -of the State, be it said, they succeeded. On the 24th -of May, 1833, the <cite>Black Law</cite> was enacted as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Section 1.</span> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of -Representatives, in General Assembly convened, that no person -shall set up or establish in this State any school, academy, -or literary institution for the instruction or education of colored -persons who are not inhabitants of this State; nor instruct -or teach in any school, or other literary institution whatsoever, -in this State; nor harbor or board, for the purpose of -attending or being taught or instructed in any such school, -academy, or literary institution, any colored person who is -not an inhabitant of any town in this State, without the consent -in writing, first obtained, of a majority of the civil authority, -and also of the Selectmen of the town, in which -such school, academy, or literary institution is situated,” &c.</p></blockquote> - -<p>I need not copy any more of this infamous Act. The -penalties denounced against the violation of it, you may -be sure, were severe enough. That the persecutors of -Miss Crandall were determined to visit them upon her, -if they might, the sequel of my story will show.</p> - -<p>On the receipt of the tidings that the Legislature -had passed the law, joy and exultation ran wild in -Canterbury. The bells were rung and a cannon fired, -until all the inhabitants for miles around were informed -of the triumph. So soon as was practicable, on the 27th -of June, Miss Crandall was arrested by the sheriff of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">53</a></span> -the county, or the constable of the town, and arraigned -before Justices Adams and Bacon, two of the leaders of the -conspiracy against her and her humane enterprise. The -trial of course was a brief one; the result was predetermined. -Before noon of that day a messenger came to -let me know that Miss Crandall had been “committed” -by the above-named justices, to take her trial at the -next session of the Superior Court at Brooklyn in -August; that she was in the hands of the sheriff and -would be put into jail, unless I or some of her friends -would come and “give bonds” for her in the sum of -$300 or $500, I forget which. I calmly told the messenger -that there were gentlemen enough in Canterbury -whose bond for that amount would be as good or -better than mine; and I should leave it for them to do -Miss Crandall that favor. “But,” said the young man, -“are you not her friend?” “Certainly,” I replied, “too -sincerely her friend to give relief to her enemies in their -present embarrassment; and I trust you will not find -any one of her friends, or the patrons of her school, who -will step forward to help them any more than myself.” -“But, sir,” he cried, “do you mean to allow her to be -put into jail?” “Most certainly,” was my answer, “if -her persecutors are unwise enough to let such an outrage -be committed.” He turned from me in blank surprise, -and hurried back to tell Mr. Judson and the justices of -his ill success.</p> - -<p>A few days before, when I first heard of the passage -of the law, I had visited Miss Crandall with my friend -Mr. George W. Benson, and advised with her as to the -course she and her friends ought to pursue, when she -should be brought to trial. She appreciated at once -and fully the importance of leaving her persecutors to -show to the world how base they were, and how atrocious -was the law they had induced the Legislature to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">54</a></span> -enact,—a law, by the force of which a woman might -be fined and imprisoned as a felon, in the State of Connecticut, -for giving instruction to colored girls. She -agreed that it would be best for us to leave her in the -hands of those with whom the law originated, hoping -that, in their madness, they would show forth all its -hideous features.</p> - -<p>Mr. Benson and I therefore went diligently around to -all whom we knew were friendly to Miss Crandall and her -school, and counselled them by no means to give bonds -to keep her from imprisonment, because nothing would -expose so fully to the public the egregious wickedness -of the law, and the virulence of her persecutors as the -fact that they had thrust her into jail.</p> - -<p>When I found that her resolution was equal to the -trial which seemed to be impending, that she was -ready to brave and to bear meekly the worst treatment -that her enemies would venture to subject her to, I -made all the arrangements for her comfort that were -practicable in our prison. It fortunately so happened -that the most suitable room, not occupied, was the one -in which a man named Watkins had recently been confined -for the murder of his wife, and out of which he -had been taken and executed. This circumstance, we -foresaw, would add not a little to the public detestation -of the <cite>Black Law</cite>.</p> - -<p>The jailer, at my request, readily put the room in as -nice order as was possible, and permitted me to substitute, -for the bedstead and mattress on which the murderer -had slept, fresh and clean ones from my own house -and Mr. Benson’s.</p> - -<p>About two o’clock P. M. another messenger came to -inform me that the sheriff was on the way from Canterbury -to the jail with Miss Crandall, and would imprison -her, unless her friends would give him the required bail.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">55</a></span> -Although in sympathy with Miss Crandall’s persecutors, -he clearly saw the disgrace that was about to be brought -upon the State, and begged me and Mr. Benson to avert -it. Of course we refused. I went to the jailer’s house -and met Miss Crandall on her arrival. We stepped -aside. I <span class="locked">said:—</span></p> - -<p>“If now you hesitate, if you dread the gloomy -place so much as to wish to be saved from it, I will -give bonds for you even now.”</p> - -<p>“O no,” she promptly replied; “I am only afraid -they will not put me into jail. Their evident hesitation -and embarrassment show plainly how much they deprecate -the effect of this part of their folly; and therefore -I am the more anxious that they should be exposed, if -not caught in their own wicked devices.”</p> - -<p>We therefore returned with her to the sheriff and the -company that surrounded him to await his final act. -He was ashamed to do it. He knew it would cover the -persecutors of Miss Crandall and the State of Connecticut -with disgrace. He conferred with several about -him, and delayed yet longer. Two gentlemen came and -remonstrated with me in not very seemly <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p> - -<p>“It would be a —— shame, an eternal disgrace to the -State, to have her put into jail,—into the very room -that Watkins had last occupied.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, gentlemen,” I replied, “and you may -prevent this if you please.”</p> - -<p>“O,” they cried, “we are not her friends; we are -not in favor of her school; we don’t want any more —— -niggers coming among us. It is your place to stand by -Miss Crandall and help her now. You and your —— -abolition brethren have encouraged her to bring this -nuisance into Canterbury, and it is —— mean in you to -desert her now.”</p> - -<p>I rejoined: “She knows we have not deserted her,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">56</a></span> -and do not intend to desert her. The law which her -persecutors have persuaded our legislators to enact is an -infamous one, worthy of the Dark Ages. It would be -just as bad as it is, whether we should give bonds for -her or not. But the people generally will not so soon -realize how bad, how wicked, how cruel a law it is, unless -we suffer her persecutors to inflict upon her all the -penalties it prescribes. She is willing to bear them for -the sake of the cause she has so nobly espoused. And -it is easy to foresee that Miss Crandall will be glorified, -as much as her persecutors and our State will be disgraced, -by the transactions of this day and this hour. -If you see fit to keep her from imprisonment in the cell -of a murderer for having proffered the blessing of a -good education to those who, in our country, need it -most, you may do so; <em>we shall not</em>.”</p> - -<p>They turned from us in great wrath, words falling -from their lips which I shall not repeat.</p> - -<p>The sun had descended nearly to the horizon; the -shadows of night were beginning to fall around us. The -sheriff could defer the dark deed no longer. With no -little emotion, and with words of earnest deprecation, -he gave that excellent, heroic, Christian young lady into -the hands of the jailer, and she was led into the cell of -Watkins. So soon as I had heard the bolts of her prison-door -turned in the lock, and saw the key taken out, I -bowed and said, “The deed is done, completely done. -It cannot be recalled. It has passed into the history -of our nation and our age.” I went away with my -steadfast friend, George W. Benson, assured that the -legislators of the State had been guilty of a most unrighteous -act; and that Miss Crandall’s persecutors had -also committed a great blunder; that they all would -have much more reason to be ashamed of her imprisonment -than she or her friends could ever have.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">57</a></span> -The next day we gave the required bonds. Miss -Crandall was released from the cell of the murderer, -returned home, and quietly resumed the duties of her -school, until she should be summoned as a culprit into -court, there to be tried by the infamous “Black Law of -Connecticut.” And, as we expected, so soon as the evil -tidings could be carried in that day, before Professor Morse -had given to Rumor her telegraphic wings, it was known -all over the country and the civilized world that an excellent -young lady had been imprisoned as a criminal,—yes, -put into a murderer’s cell,—in the State of Connecticut, -for opening a school for the instruction of colored -girls. The comments that were made upon the -deed in almost all the newspapers were far from grateful -to the feelings of her persecutors. Even many who, -under the same circumstances, would probably have -acted as badly as Messrs. A. T. Judson and Company, denounced -their procedure as unchristian, inhuman, anti-democratic, -base, mean.</p> - -<h3 id="hp57">ARTHUR TAPPAN.</h3> - -<p>The words and manner of Mr. Judson in the interview -I had with him on the 11th of March, of which I -have given a pretty full report, convinced me that he -would do all that could be done by legal and political -devices, to <em>abolish</em> Miss Crandall’s school. His success -in obtaining from the Legislature the enactment of the -infamous “Black Law” showed too plainly that the -majority of the people of the State were on the side of -the oppressor. But I felt sure that God and good men -would be our helpers in the contest to which we were -committed. Assurances of approval and of sympathy -came from many; and erelong a proffer of all the pecuniary -assistance we could need was made by one who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">58</a></span> -was then himself a host. At that time Mr. Arthur -Tappan was one of the wealthiest merchants in the -country, and was wont to give to religious and philanthropic -objects as much, in proportion to his means, as -any benefactor who has lived in the land before or since -his day. I was not then personally acquainted with -him, but he had become deeply interested in the cause -of the poor, despised, enslaved millions in our country, -and alive to whatever affected them.</p> - -<p>Much to my surprise, and much more to my joy, a -few weeks after the commencement of the contest, and -just after the enactment of the Black Law and the imprisonment -of Miss Crandall, I received from Mr. Tappan -a most cordial letter. He expressed his entire approbation -of the position I had taken in defence of Miss -Crandall’s benevolent enterprise, and his high appreciation -of the importance of maintaining, in Connecticut -especially, the right of colored people, not less than of -white, to any amount of education they might wish to -obtain, and the respect and encouragement due to any -teacher who would devote himself or herself to their -instruction. He added: “This contest, in which you -have been providentially called to engage, will be a serious, -perhaps a violent one. It may be prolonged and -very expensive. Nevertheless, it ought to be persisted -in to the last. I venture to presume, sir, that you -cannot well afford what it may cost. You ought not to -be left, even if you are willing, to bear alone the pecuniary -burden. I shall be most happy to give you all the -help of this sort that you may need. Consider me -your banker. Spare no necessary expense. Command -the services of the ablest lawyers. See to it that this -great case shall be thoroughly tried, cost what it may. -I will cheerfully honor your drafts to enable you to -defray that cost.” Thus upheld, you will not wonder<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">59</a></span> -that I was somewhat elated. At Mr. Tappan’s suggestion -I immediately “retained” the Hon. William W. -Ellsworth, the Hon. Calvin Goddard, and the Hon. -Henry Strong, the three most distinguished members of -the Connecticut bar. They all confirmed me in the -opinion that the “Black Law” was unconstitutional, -and would probably be so pronounced, if we should -carry it up to the United States Court. They moreover -instructed me that, as the act for which Miss Crandall -was to be tried was denounced as <em>criminal</em>, it would be -within the province of the jury of our State court to -decide upon the character of the law, as well as the -conduct of the accused; and that therefore it would be -allowable and proper for them to urge the <em>wickedness</em> of -the law, in bar of Miss Crandall’s condemnation under -it. But, before we get to the trials of Miss Crandall -under Mr. Judson’s law, I have more to tell about Mr. -Arthur Tappan.</p> - -<p>He requested me to keep him fully informed of the -doings of Miss Crandall’s persecutors. And I assure -you I had too many evil things to report of them. -They insulted and annoyed her and her pupils in every -way their malice could devise. The storekeepers, the -butchers, the milk-pedlers of the town, all refused to -supply their wants; and whenever her father, brother, or -other relatives, who happily lived but a few miles off, -were seen coming to bring her and her pupils the necessaries -of life, they were insulted and threatened. Her -well was defiled with the most offensive filth, and her -neighbors refused her and the thirsty ones about her -even a cup of cold water, leaving them to depend -for that essential element upon the scanty supplies that -could be brought from her father’s farm. Nor was this -all; the physician of the village refused to minister to -any who were sick in Miss Crandall’s family, and the trustees<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">60</a></span> -of the church forbade her to come, with any of her -pupils, into the House of the Lord.</p> - -<p>In addition to the insults and annoyances mentioned -above, the newspapers of the county and other parts -of the State frequently gave currency to the most -egregious misrepresentations of the conduct of Miss -Crandall and her pupils, and the basest insinuations -against her friends and patrons. Yet our corrections -and replies were persistently refused a place in their -columns. The publisher of one of the county papers, -who was personally friendly to me, and whom I had -assisted to establish in business, confessed to me that -he dared not admit into his paper an article in defence -of the Canterbury school. It would be, he said, the -destruction of his establishment. Thus situated, we -were continually made to feel the great disadvantage -at which we were contending with the hosts of our -enemies.</p> - -<p>In one of my letters to Mr. Tappan, when thus sorely -pressed, I let fall from my pen, “O that I could only -leave home long enough to visit you! For I could tell -you in an hour more things, that I wish you to know, -than I can write in a week.”</p> - -<p>A day or two afterwards, about as quickly as he could -then get to me after the receipt of my letter, the door -of my study was opened, and in walked Arthur Tappan. -I sprang to my feet, and gave him a pressure of the -hand which told him more emphatically than words -could have done how overjoyed I was to see him. In -his usual quiet manner and undertone he said, “Your -last letter implied that you were in so much trouble I -thought it best to come and see, and consider with you -what it will be advisable for us to do.” I soon spread -before him the circumstances of the case,—the peculiar -difficulties by which we were beset, the increased and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">61</a></span> -increasing malignity of Miss Crandall’s persecutors, -provoked, and almost justified in the public opinion, by -the false reports that were diligently circulated, and -which we had no means of correcting. “Let me go,” said -he, “and see for myself Miss Crandall and her school, and -learn more of the particulars of the sore trials to which -her benevolence and her fortitude seem to be subjected.” -As soon as possible the horse and chaise were -brought to the door, and the good man went to Canterbury. -In a few hours he returned. He had been -delighted, nay, deeply affected, by the calm determination -which Miss Crandall evinced, and the quiet -courage with which she had inspired her pupils. He -had learned that the treatment to which they were subjected -by their neighbors was in some respects worse -even than I had represented it to him; and he said in -a low, firm tone of voice, which showed how thoroughly -in earnest he was, she must be protected and sustained. -“The cause of the whole oppressed, despised colored -population of our country is to be much affected by -the decision of this question.”</p> - -<p>After some further consultation he rose to his feet -and said, “You are almost helpless without the press. -You must issue a paper, publish it largely, send it to all -the persons whom you know in the county and State, -and to all the principal newspapers throughout the -country. Many will subscribe for it and contribute -otherwise to its support, and I will pay whatever more -it may cost.” No sooner said than done. We went -without delay to the village, where fortunately there was -a pretty-well-furnished printing-office that had been -lately shut up for want of patronage. We found the -proprietor, examined the premises, satisfied ourselves -that there were materials enough to begin with, and -Mr. Tappan engaged for my use for a year the office,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">62</a></span> -press, types, and whatever else was necessary to commence -at once the publication of a newspaper, to be -devoted to the advocacy of all human rights in general, -and to the defence of the Canterbury school, and its -heroic teacher in particular.</p> - -<p>We walked back to my house communing together -about the great conflict for liberty to which we were -committed, the spirit in which it ought to be conducted -on our part, and especially the course to be pursued in -the further defence of Miss Crandall. Soon after the -stage-coach came along. Mr. Tappan, after renewed -assurances of support, gave me a hearty farewell and -stepped on board to return to New York. He left me -the proprietor of a printing-office, and with ample means -to maintain, as far as might be necessary, the defence -of the Canterbury school against the unrighteous and -unconstitutional law of the State of Connecticut. I -need now only add that the trials at law were protracted -until August, 1834, and that they, together with -the conduct of the newspaper, cost me more than six -hundred dollars, all of which amount was most promptly -and kindly paid by that true philanthropist,—Arthur -Tappan.</p> - -<h3 id="hp62">CHARLES C. BURLEIGH.</h3> - -<p>The excitement caused by Mr. Tappan’s unexpected -visit, the hearty encouragement he had given me, and -the great addition he had made to my means of defence, -altogether were so grateful to me that I did not at first -fully realize how much I had undertaken to do. But a -night’s rest brought me to my senses, and I clearly saw -that I must have some other help than even Mr. Tappan’s -pecuniary generosity could give me. I was at -that time publishing a religious paper,—<cite>The Christian -Monitor</cite>,—which, together with my pulpit and parochial<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">63</a></span> -duties, filled quite full the measure of my ability. Unfortunately -the prospectus of <cite>The Monitor</cite>, issued a year -before the beginning of the Canterbury difficulty, precluded -from its columns all articles relating to personal -or neighborhood quarrels. Therefore, though the editor -of a paper, I could not, in that paper, repel the most -injurious attacks that were made upon my character. -Had it been otherwise, there would have been no need -of starting another paper. But, as Mr. Tappan promptly -allowed, another paper must be issued, and to edit -two papers at the same time was wholly beyond my -power. What should I do?</p> - -<p>Soon after the enactment of the “Black Law” an admirable -article, faithfully criticising it, had appeared -in <cite>The Genius of Temperance</cite>, and been copied into <cite>The -Emancipator</cite>. It was attributed to Mr. Charles C. Burleigh, -living in the adjoining town of Plainfield. I -had heard him commended as a young man of great -promise, and had once listened to an able speech from -him at a Colonization meeting. To him, therefore, in -the need of help, my thoughts soon turned. And the -morning after Mr. Tappan’s visit I drove over to Plainfield. -Mr. Burleigh was living with his parents, and -helping them carry on their farm, while pursuing as he -could his studies preparatory to the profession of a lawyer. -It was Friday of the week, in the midst of haying -time. I was told at the house that he was in the field -as busy as he could be. Nevertheless, I insisted that -my business with him was more important than haying. -So he was sent for, and in due time appeared. Like -other sensible men, at the hard, hot work of haying, he -was not attired in his Sunday clothes, but in his shirt-sleeves, -with pants the worse for wear; and, although -he then <em>believed</em> in shaving, no razor had touched his -beard since the first day of the week. Nevertheless, I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">64</a></span> -do not believe that Samuel of old saw, in the ruddy son -of Jesse, as he came up from the sheepfold, the man -whom the Lord would have him anoint, more clearly -than I saw in C. C. Burleigh the man whom I should -choose to be my assistant in that emergency. So soon -as I had told him what I wanted of him his eye kindled -as if eager for the conflict. We made an arrangement -to supply his place on his father’s farm, and he engaged -to come to me early the following week. On Monday, -the 14th of July, 1833, according to promise, he came -to Brooklyn. He then put on the harness of a soldier -in the good fight for equal, impartial liberty, and he has -not yet laid it aside, nor are there many, if indeed any, -of the antislavery warriors who have done more or better -service than Mr. Burleigh.</p> - -<p>On the 25th of July, 1833, appeared the first number -of our paper, called <cite>The Unionist</cite>. After the first two -or three numbers most of the articles were written or -selected by Mr. Burleigh, and it was soon acknowledged -by the public that the young editor wielded a powerful -weapon. The paper was continued, if I remember correctly, -about two years, and it helped us mightily in our -controversy with the persecutors of Miss Crandall. After -a few months C. C. Burleigh associated with him, in the -management of <cite>The Unionist</cite>, his brother, Mr. William H. -Burleigh, who also, at the same time, assisted Miss -Crandall in the instruction of her school; and for so -doing suffered not a little obloquy, insult, and abuse.</p> - -<p>It was still the cherished intention of C. C. Burleigh to -devote himself to the law, and without neglecting his -duties to <cite>The Unionist</cite> he so diligently and successfully -pursued his preparatory studies, that in January, 1835, -he was examined and admitted to the bar. The committee -of examination were surprised at his proficiency. -He was pronounced the best prepared candidate that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">65</a></span> -had been admitted to the Windham County Bar within -the memory of those who were then practising there; -and confident predictions were uttered by the most -knowing ones of his rapid rise to eminence in the profession. -Scarcely did Wendell Phillips awaken higher -expectations of success as a lawyer in Boston, than C. -C. Burleigh had awakened in Brooklyn. But just at the -time of his admission I received a letter from Dr. Farnsworth, -of Groton, Massachusetts, then President of the -Middlesex Antislavery Society, inquiring urgently for -some able lecturer, whose services could be obtained as -the general agent of that Society. I knew of no one so -able as C. C. Burleigh. So I called upon him, told him -of the many high compliments I had heard bestowed -upon his appearance on the examination, and then -said, “Now I have already a most important case, in -which to engage your services,” and showed him Dr. -Farnsworth’s letter. For a few minutes he hesitated, -and his countenance fell. The bright prospect of professional -eminence was suddenly overcast. He more -than suspected that, if he accepted the invitation, he -should get so engaged in the antislavery cause as to be -unable to leave the field until after its triumph. He -would have to renounce all hope of wealth or political -preferment, and lead a life of continual conflict with -ungenerous opponents; be poorly requited for his labors, -and suffer contumely, hatred, persecution. I saw what -was passing in his mind, and that the struggle was severe. -But it lasted only a little while,—less than an -hour. A bright and beautiful expression illuminated -his countenance when he replied, “This is not what I -expected or intended, but it is what I ought to do. I -will accept the invitation.” He did so. Before the -close of the week he departed for his field of labor. -And I believe he ceased not a day to be the agent of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">66</a></span> -one antislavery society or another, until after the -lamented President Lincoln had proclaimed emancipation -to all who were in bondage in our land.</p> - -<p>When, in April, 1835, I became the General Agent -of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, I was brought -into more intimate relations with Mr. Burleigh. We -were indeed fellow-laborers. Repeatedly did we go -forth together on lecturing excursions, and never was -I better sustained. With him as my companion I felt -sure our course would be successful. I always insisted -upon speaking first; for, if I failed to do my best, he -would make ample amends, covering the whole ground, -exhausting the subject, leaving nothing essential unsaid. -And if I did better than ever, Mr. Burleigh would come -after me, and fill twelve baskets full of precious fragments. -He is a single-minded, pure-hearted, conscientious, self-sacrificing -man. He is not blessed with a fine voice nor -a graceful manner. And the peculiar dress of his hair -and beard has given offence to many, and may have -lessened his usefulness. But he has a great command -of language. He has a singularly acute and logical -intellect. His reasoning, argumentative powers are -remarkable. And he often has delighted and astonished -his hearers by the brilliancy of his rhetoric, and the -surpassing beauty of his imagery, and aptness of his -illustrations. The millions of the emancipated in our -country are indebted to the labors of few more than to -those of Charles C. Burleigh. But to return.</p> - -<h3 id="hp66">MISS CRANDALL’S TRIAL.</h3> - -<p>On the 23d of August, 1833, the first trial of Prudence -Crandall for the <em>crime</em> of keeping a boarding-school -for colored girls in the State of Connecticut, -and endeavoring to give them a good education,—the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">67</a></span> -first trial for <em>this crime</em>,—was had in Brooklyn, the seat -of the county of Windham, within a stone’s throw of the -house where lived and died General Israel Putnam, who, -with his compatriots of 1776, perilled his life in defence -of the self-evident truth that “all men were created -<em>equal</em>, and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable -right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It was -had at the County Court, Hon. Joseph Eaton presiding.</p> - -<p>The prosecution was conducted by Hon. A. T. Judson, -Jonathan A. Welch, Esq., and I. Bulkley, Esq. Miss -Crandall’s counsel were Hon. Calvin Goddard, Hon. W. -W. Ellsworth, and Henry Strong, Esq.</p> - -<p>The indictment of Miss Crandall consisted of two counts, -which amounted to the same thing. The first set forth, -in the technical terms of the law, that “with force and -arms” she had received into her school; and the second, -that, “with force and arms,” she had instructed certain -colored girls, who were not inhabitants of the State, -without having first obtained, in writing, permission to -do so from the majority of the civil authority and selectmen -of the town of Canterbury, as required by the -law under which she was prosecuted.</p> - -<p>Mr. Judson opened the case. He, of course, endeavored -to keep out of sight the most odious features of -the law which had been disobeyed by Miss Crandall. -He insisted that it was only a wise precaution to keep -out of the State an injurious kind of population. He -urged that the public provisions for the education of all -the children of the inhabitants of Connecticut were ample, -generous, and that colored children belonging to -the State, not less than others, might enjoy the advantages -of the common schools, which were under the supervision -and control of proper officials in every town. -He argued that it was not fair nor safe to allow any person, -without the permission of such officials, to come<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">68</a></span> -into the State and open a school for any class of pupils -she might please to invite from other States. He alleged -that other States of the Union, Northern as well as -Southern, regarded colored persons as a kind of population -respecting which there should be some special legislation. -If it were not for such protection as the law -in question had provided, the Southerners might free all -their slaves, and send them to Connecticut instead of Liberia, -which would be overwhelming. Mr. Judson denied -that colored persons were citizens in those States, where -they were not enfranchised. He claimed that the privilege -of being a freeman was higher than the right -of being educated, and asked this remarkable question: -“Why should a man be educated who could not be a -freeman?” He denied, however, that he was opposed -to the improvement of any class of the inhabitants of -the land, if their improvement could be effected without -violating any of the provisions of our Constitution, -or endangering the union of the States. His associates -labored to maintain the same positions.</p> - -<p>These positions were vigorously assailed by Mr. Ellsworth -and Mr. Strong, and shown to be untenable by a -great array of facts adduced from the history of our -own country, of the opinions of some of the most illustrious -lawyers and civilians of England and America, -and of arguments, the force of which was palpable.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, the Judge saw fit, though somewhat -timidly, in his charge to the Jury, to give it as his opinion -that “the law was constitutional and obligatory on -the people of the State.”</p> - -<p>The Jury, after an absence of several hours, returned -into court, not having agreed upon a verdict. They -were instructed on some points, and sent out a second, -and again a third time, but with no better success. -They stated to the Court that there was no probability<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">69</a></span> -they should ever agree. Seven of them were for conviction, -and five for acquittal. So they were discharged.</p> - -<p>Supposing that this result operated as a continuance -of the case to the next term of the County Court, to be -held the following December, a few days after the trial -I went with my family to spend several weeks with my -friends in Boston and the neighborhood. But much to -my surprise and discomfort, the last week in September, -just as I was starting off to deliver an antislavery lecture, -at a distance from Boston, I received the information -that the persecutors of Miss Crandall, too impatient -to wait until December for the regular course of -law, had got up a new prosecution of her, to be -tried on the 3d of October, before Judge Daggett of -the Supreme Court, who was known to be hostile to the -colored people, and a strenuous advocate of the Black -Law. It was impossible for me so to dispose of my engagements -that I could get back to Brooklyn in time to -attend the trial. I could only write and instruct the -counsel of Miss Crandall, in case a verdict should be -obtained against her, to carry the cause up to the Court -of Errors.</p> - -<p>The second trial was had on the 3d of October; the -same defence as before was set up, and ably maintained. -But Chief Justice Daggett’s influence with the -Jury was overpowering. He delivered an elaborate and -able charge, insisting upon the constitutionality of the -law; and, without much hesitation, the verdict was -given against Miss Crandall. Her counsel at once filed -a bill of exceptions, and an appeal to the Court of -Errors, which was granted. Before that—the highest -legal tribunal in the State—the cause was argued on -the 22d of July, 1834. The Hon. W. W. Ellsworth and -the Hon. Calvin Goddard argued against the constitutionality -of the Black Law, with very great ability and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">70</a></span> -eloquence. The Hon. A. T. Judson and the Hon. C. F. -Cleaveland said all that perhaps could be said to prove -such a law to be consistent with the Magna Charta of -our Republic. All who attended the trial seemed to be -deeply interested, and were made to acknowledge the -vital importance of the question at issue. Most persons, -I believe, were persuaded that the Court ought to -and would decide against the law. But they reserved -the decision until some future time. And that decision, -I am sorry to say, was never given. The Court evaded -it the next week by finding that the defects in the information -prepared by the State’s Attorney were such -that it ought to be quashed; thus rendering it “unnecessary -for the Court to come to any decision upon the -question as to the constitutionality of the law.”</p> - -<p>Whether her persecutors were or were not in despair -of breaking down Miss Crandall’s school by legal process, -I am unable to say, but they soon resorted to other -means, which were effectual.</p> - -<h3 id="hp70">HOUSE SET ON FIRE.</h3> - -<p>Soon after their failure to get a decision from the -Court of Errors, an attempt was made to set her house -on fire. Fortunately the match was applied to combustibles -tucked under a corner where the sills were somewhat -decayed. They burnt like a slow match. Some -time before daylight the inmates perceived the smell of -fire, but not until nearly nine o’clock did any blaze appear. -It was quickly quenched; and I was sent for to -advise whether, if her enemies were so malignant as -this attempt showed them to be, it was safe and right -for her to expose her pupils’ and her own life any longer -to their wicked devices. It was concluded that she -should hold on and bear yet a little longer. Perhaps -the atrocity of this attempt to fire her house, and at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">71</a></span> -same time endanger the dwellings of her neighbors -would frighten the leaders and instigators of the persecution -to put more restraint upon “the baser sort.” But -a few nights afterwards it was made only too plain that -the enemies of the school were bent upon its destruction. -About twelve o’clock, on the night of the 9th of September, -Miss Crandall’s house was assaulted by a number -of persons with heavy clubs and iron bars; five window-sashes -were demolished and ninety panes of glass dashed -to pieces.</p> - -<p>I was summoned next morning to the scene of destruction -and the terror-stricken family. Never before -had Miss Crandall seemed to quail, and her pupils had become -afraid to remain another night under her roof. The -front rooms of the house were hardly tenantable; and it -seemed foolish to repair them only to be destroyed again. -After due consideration, therefore, it was determined -that the school should be abandoned. The pupils were -called together, and I was requested to announce to them -our decision. Never before had I felt so deeply sensible -of the cruelty of the persecution which had been carried -on for eighteen months, in that New England village -against a family of defenceless females. Twenty harmless, -well-behaved girls, whose only offence against the peace of -the community was that they had come together there to -obtain useful knowledge and moral culture, were to be told -that they had better go away, because, forsooth, the house -in which they dwelt would not be protected by the guardians -of the town, the conservators of the peace, the officers -of justice, the men of influence in the village where it -was situated. The words almost blistered my lips. My -bosom glowed with indignation. I felt ashamed of Canterbury, -ashamed of Connecticut, ashamed of my country, -ashamed of my color. Thus ended the generous, -disinterested, philanthropic, Christian enterprise of Prudence -Crandall.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">72</a></span> -This was the second attempt made in Connecticut -to establish a school for the education of colored youth. -The other was in New Haven, two years before. So -prevalent and malignant was our national prejudice -against the most injured of our fellow-men!</p> - -<h3 id="hp72">MR. GARRISON’S MISSION TO ENGLAND.—NEW YORK MOBS.</h3> - -<p>The subject of this article is very opportune at the -present time.<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> While the roar of the cannon, fired in -honor of Mr. Garrison at the moment of his late departure -from England, is still reverberating through the -land, it will be interesting and instructive to recall the -purpose of his mission to that country just thirty-four -years ago; and how he was vilified when he went, and -denounced, hunted, mobbed, on his return. He went -there to undeceive the philanthropists of Great Britain -as to a gigantic fraud which had been practised upon them, -as well as the antislavery people of the United States. -He has gone now to the World’s Antislavery Convention -as a delegate from our <cite>National Association</cite> for the -education, and individual, domestic, and civil elevation -of our colored population, whose condition thirty years -ago, and until a much more recent period, it was confidently -maintained, and pretty generally conceded, could -not be essentially improved within the borders of our -Republic, if, indeed, on the same continent with our -<em>superior Anglo-Saxon race</em>.</p> - -<p>The conscience of our country was never at peace -concerning the enslavement of the colored people. It -was denounced by Jefferson in his original draft of the -Declaration of Independence, and afterwards in his -“Notes on Virginia.” An effort to abolish slavery was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">73</a></span> -made in the Convention that framed our Constitution; -and strenuous opposition to that Magna Charta was made -in several of the State Conventions called to ratify it, -because the abominable wrong was indirectly and covertly -sanctioned therein. Soon after we became a nation -plans were proposed and associations formed for the improvement -of the condition of the colored population; and -the General Government was earnestly entreated, in a petition -headed by Dr. Franklin, “to go to the utmost limits -of its power” to eradicate the great evil from the land. -But the doctrine was industriously taught by our statesmen -that the status of that class of the people was left, -in the Constitution of the Union, to be determined by -the government of each of the States in which they -may be found. And still greater pains were taken, by -those who were bent on the perpetuation of slavery, to -make it generally believed throughout the country that -negroes were naturally a very inferior race of men; utterly -incapable of much mental or moral culture, and better -off in domestic servitude on our continent than in their -native state in Africa. Notwithstanding this disparagement -of them, and the other inducements pressed upon -the white people everywhere to acquiesce in their enslavement, -many colored persons emancipated themselves, -especially in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and -Louisiana; and many more were set free by the workings -of the consciences of their owners, or in gratitude -for their services to individuals or the public. Thus, -considerable bodies of freedmen were found almost everywhere -in the midst of the slaves. Not without reason, -these persons became objects of distrust to slaveholders. -Devices were therefore sought to get rid of their disturbing -influence, and to prevent the increase of the -number of such persons.</p> - -<p>In 1816 the grand scheme was proposed, and readily<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">74</a></span> -adopted in most of the slaveholding States, for colonizing -on the coast of Africa the free colored people of the -United States, and prohibiting the emancipation of any -more of the enslaved, excepting upon the condition of -their removal to Liberia.</p> - -<p>To carry this great undertaking into complete effect -it was necessary to secure the patronage of the Federal -Government. This obviously could not be done, without -first conciliating to the project the approval and co-operation -of the people of the non-slaveholding States. -Accordingly, agents, eloquent and cunning, were sent -north, east, and west, to summon the benevolent and -patriotic everywhere to aid in an enterprise which, it -was claimed, would result in the safe but entire abolition -of American slavery.</p> - -<p>The dreadful wrongs and cruelties inflicted upon our -bondmen were not kept out of sight by these agents, -but sometimes glowingly depicted. The participation of -the Northern States in the original sin of the enslavement -of Africans was pertinently urged. The utter impracticability -and danger of setting free such hordes of -ignorant, degraded people were insisted on with particular -emphasis. The immense good that would be done to -benighted Africa was eloquently portrayed,—how the -slave-trade might be stopped, and the knowledge of the -arts of civilized America, and the blessings of our Christian -religion, might be spread throughout that dark -region of the earth, from the basis of colonies planted at -Liberia and elsewhere along those coasts, hitherto visited -only by mercenary and cruel white men. All these considerations -were so pressed upon the churches and ministers -and kind-hearted people of the Northern States, -that erelong an enthusiasm was awakened everywhere -in favor of colonizing the colored people of our country -“in their native land,” and thus, at the same time, evangelizing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">75</a></span> -Africa and wiping out the shame of the American -Republic. Without stopping to consider the glaring -inconsistencies of the scheme, it was taken for granted -to be the only feasible way of doing what we all longed -to have done,—abolishing slavery. So the colonization -of our colored population became the favorite enterprise -at the North, even more than at the South. Thousands -who were so prejudiced against them that they would -never consent to admit them to the enjoyment of the -rights, and the exercise of the prerogatives, of men in -our country were ready to give liberally to have them -transported across the Atlantic, and were deluded into -the belief that it was a benevolent, yes, a Christian enterprise. -The very elect were deceived. The men who -have since been most distinguished among the Abolitionists—Mr. Garrison, -Arthur Tappan, Gerrit Smith, -James G. Birney, and hundreds more—were for a while -zealous Colonizationists.</p> - -<p>Not until Mr. Garrison had been some time resident -in Baltimore as co-editor, with Benjamin Lundy, of the -<cite>Genius of Universal Emancipation</cite>, were the true purpose -and spirit of Colonization discovered. He there found -out, as he afterwards made it plainly appear, that the -<em>intention</em> of the originators, and of the Southern promoters -of the scheme, really was, “to rivet still closer the -fetters of the slaves, and to deepen the prejudice against -the free people of color.”</p> - -<p>So different had been the representations of its purpose -by the agents of the Colonization Society who had -labored in its behalf throughout the free States, and so -utterly unconscious were most of the Colonizationists on -this side of Mason and Dixon’s line of harboring any -such designs, that Mr. Garrison’s accusations fired them -with indignation and wrath. They would not give heed -to his incontrovertible evidence. Though his witnesses<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">76</a></span> -were numerous and could not be impeached, yet were -they spurned by most of the persons in the free States -who had espoused the cause. It was enough that Mr. -Garrison had come out in opposition to the plan of Colonization. -He was denounced as an infidel, set upon as -an enemy of his country. The churches were all closed -against him. Few ministers ventured to give him any -countenance, and the politicians heaped upon him unmeasured -abuse. All this made the more plain to the -young Reformer and his co-laborers how thoroughly the -virus of slavery had poisoned the American body ecclesiastic, -as well as the body politic. It was seen that the -church was becoming the bulwark of slaveholders. Mr. -Garrison felt that the first thing to be done, therefore, -was to batter down the confidence of the humane in the -Colonization plan. Against this he drove his sharpest -points, at this he aimed his heaviest artillery. So when -it became known to us that the agents of that plan had -labored, with sad effect, in Great Britain; that they had -suborned to their purpose the aid of the English philanthropists, -we all felt, with Mr. Garrison, that those -friends of the oppressed must be undeceived without -delay. No one was competent to do this work so -thoroughly as Mr. Garrison himself. Accordingly, it was -determined, in the spring of 1833, that he must see personally -the prominent Abolitionists of Great Britain.</p> - -<p>In pursuance of this object he sailed from New York -on the first day of this month, thirty-four years ago. He -went with the execrations of the leading Colonizationists, -and all the proslavery partisans of our country upon his -head. He was received in England with the utmost -cordiality and respectful confidence by all the friends of -liberty; for although, as he found, many of them had -been persuaded by the agents of the Colonization Society -to give their approval and aid to that scheme, they had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">77</a></span> -done so because they had been made to believe that it -was intended and adapted to effect the entire abolition -of slavery in the United States.</p> - -<p>Nothing could have been more opportune than was -his arrival in London. He found there most of the leading -Abolitionists of the United Kingdom watching and -aiding the measures in Parliament about to issue in the -emancipation of the enslaved in the British West India -Islands. He was invited to their councils, and interchanged -opinions freely and fully with them on the great -questions, which were essentially the same in that country -and our own. It was especially his privilege to become -acquainted with William Wilberforce and Thomas -Clarkson and Fowell Buxton and George Thompson, to -name no more of the noble host that had fought the -battles and won the victory of freedom for eight hundred -thousand slaves. He was there when William Wilberforce -was summoned to lay aside his earthly life, with -his antislavery armor, and ascend, we trust, to the right -hand of God. How appropriate that the young leader -of the Abolitionists of America, whose work had just -begun, should be present, as he was, at the obsequies of -the veteran leader of the British Abolitionists just as -their work was done!</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison remained in England three or four -months, long enough to accomplish fully the object of -his mission. He reached New York on the 30th of the -following September, bringing with him this emphatic -protest, signed by the most distinguished philanthropists, -and several of the most distinguished statesmen of Great -<span class="locked">Britain:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“We, the undersigned, having observed with regret that -the American Colonization Society appears to be gaining -some adherents in this country, are desirous to express our -opinions respecting it. Our motive and excuse for thus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">78</a></span> coming -forward are the claims which that Society has put forth -to <em>Antislavery</em> support. These claims are, in our opinion, -wholly groundless; and we feel bound to affirm that our -deliberate judgment and conviction are that the professions -made by the Colonization Society of promoting the abolition -of slavery are delusive....</p> - -<p>“While we believe its precepts to be delusive we are convinced -that its <em>real</em> effects are of the most dangerous nature. -It takes its root from a cruel prejudice and alienation in -the whites of America against the colored people, slave or -free. This being its source, its effects are what might be expected....</p> - -<p>“On these grounds, therefore, and while we acknowledge -the colony of Liberia, or any other colony on the coast of -Africa, to be <em>in itself</em> a good thing, we must be understood -utterly to repudiate the principles of the American Colonization -Society. That Society is, in our estimation, not deserving -of the countenance of the British public.</p> - -<p class="in0 in4"><span class="in2">(Signed)</span><br /> -<span class="iq">“<span class="smcap">Wm. Wilberforce</span>,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Zachary Macaulay</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">William Evans</span>, M. P.,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Samuel Gurney</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">S. Lushington</span>, M. P.,<br /> -<span class="smcap">T. Fowell Buxton</span>, M. P.,<br /> -<span class="smcap">James Cropper</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Daniel O’Connell</span>, M. P.,”<br /> -<span class="in2">and others.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Nothing could have maddened the slaveholders and -their Northern abettors more than Mr. Garrison’s success -in England, and their malignant, ferocious hatred of him -broke out on his return. It so happened that, without -any expectation of his arrival at the time, a meeting -of those desirous of the abolition of slavery was called, -on the evening of October 2, in Clinton Hall, to organize a -city society. When it was known that Mr. Garrison -would be present, most of the New York newspapers -teemed with exciting articles, and an advertisement, -signed “Many Southerners,” summoned “all persons interested -in the subject” to be present at the same time -and place. The Abolitionists, aware that a meeting at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">79</a></span> -Clinton Hall would be broken up, quietly withdrew to -Chatham Street Chapel, and had nearly completed the -organization of the “New York City Antislavery Society,” -when the mob of <em>slaveholding patriots</em>, disappointed -of their prey at Clinton Hall, and finding out the retreat -of the Abolitionists, rushed upon and dispersed them -from Chatham Street Chapel, with horrid cries of detestation -and threats of utmost violence, especially aimed -at Mr. Garrison, of whom they went in search from place -to place, declaring their determination to wreak upon -him their utmost vengeance. Mr. Garrison, secure in -their ignorance of his person, and curious to learn all he -might of the mistaken notions and corrupt principles -by which they were misled and driven to such excesses, -went around with them in their bootless pursuit until he -was tired, and the fire of their fury had cooled.</p> - -<p>The New York newspapers, especially the <cite>Courier and -Inquirer</cite>, the <cite>Gazette</cite>, <cite>Evening Post</cite>, and <cite>Commercial Advertiser</cite>, -by their half-way condemnation of this outrage, -and their gross misrepresentations of the sentiments and -purposes of Mr. Garrison and his fellow-laborers, virtually -justified that fearful assault upon “the liberty of -speech,” and inauguration of “the Reign of Terror,” of -which I shall hereafter give my readers some account.</p> - -<h3 id="hp79">THE CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA.</h3> - -<p>The publication of Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization” -had arrested the attention of philanthropists -in all parts of our country. Everywhere, public as well -as private discussions were had respecting the professed -and the real purpose and tendency of the Colonization -plan. Converts to the great doctrine of the young Reformer—“Immediate -emancipation <em>without expatriation</em>, -the right of the slave and the duty of the master”—<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">80</a></span>were -added daily. Tidings came to us that many town -and several county antislavery societies had been formed -in several States of the Union, and the circulation of -the <cite>Liberator</cite> had greatly increased. There was a growing -feeling that Abolitionists of the whole country ought -to know each other, devise some plan of co-operation, -and make their influence more manifest. Repeatedly -during the spring of 1833 Mr. Garrison expressed his -opinion that the time had come for the formation of a -National Antislavery Society.</p> - -<p>After his departure on his mission to England the -need of such an organization became more and more -apparent, and before Mr. Garrison’s return, on the 30th -of September, the call was issued for the Convention to -be held in Philadelphia on the fourth, fifth, and sixth -days of the ensuing December. Had we foreseen the -peculiarly excited state of the public mind at that time, -the important meeting might have been deferred. The -success of Mr. Garrison’s labors in England, in opening -the eyes of the British philanthropists to the egregious -imposition which had been put upon them by the Colonization -Society, the protest of the sainted Wilberforce -and his most illustrious fellow-laborers, the stinging -sarcasms of O’Connell, the champion of Ireland and of -universal freedom, were working like moral blisters. -More than all, the report of the great Exeter Hall meeting -in London, by which colonization was denounced, -and the doctrine of “immediate emancipation” fully -indorsed, had lashed into fury all the proslavery-colonization-pseudo -patriotism throughout the land. The -storm had burst upon us in the mobs at New York; and -whether it would ever subside until it had overwhelmed -us, was a question which many answered in tones of -fearful foreboding to our little band. But the Convention -had been called before the outbreak, and we were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">81</a></span> -not “wise and prudent” enough to relinquish our purpose -of holding it.</p> - -<p>On my way to the “City of Brotherly Love” I joined, -at New York, a number of the brethren going thither, -whom I had never seen before. I studied anxiously their -countenances and bearing, and caught most thirstily -every word that dropped from their lips, until I was satisfied -that most of them were men ready to die, if need -be, in the pass of Thermopylæ.</p> - -<p>There was a large company on the steamer that took -us from New York to Elizabethtown, and again from -Bordentown to Philadelphia. There was much earnest -talking by other parties beside our own. Presently a -gentleman turned from one of them to me and said, -“What, sir, are the Abolitionists going to do in Philadelphia?” -I informed him that we intended to form a -National Antislavery Society. This brought from him -an outpouring of the commonplace objections to our enterprise, -which I replied to as well as I was able. Mr. -Garrison drew near, and I soon shifted my part of the -discussion into his hands, and listened with delight to -the admirable manner in which he expounded and maintained -the doctrines and purposes of those who believed -with him that the slaves—the blackest of them—were -men, entitled as much as the whitest and most -exalted men in the land to their liberty, to a residence -here, if they choose, and to acquire as much wisdom, as -much property, and as high a position as they may.</p> - -<p>After a long conversation, which attracted as many as -could get within hearing, the gentleman said, courteously: -“I have been much interested, sir, in what you have -said, and in the exceedingly frank and temperate manner -in which you have treated the subject. If all Abolitionists -were like you, there would be much less opposition -to your enterprise. But, sir, depend upon it, that hair-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">82</a></span>brained, -reckless, violent fanatic, Garrison will damage, -if he does not shipwreck, any cause.” Stepping forward, -I replied, “Allow me, sir, to introduce you to Mr. Garrison, -of whom you entertain so bad an opinion. The -gentleman you have been talking with is he.” I need -not describe, you can easily imagine, the incredulous surprise -with which this announcement was received. And -so it has been from the beginning until now. Those -who have only heard of Mr. Garrison, and have believed -the misrepresentations of his enemies, have supposed -him to be “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” -But those who have become most intimately -acquainted with him have found him to be “as harmless -as a dove,” though indeed “as wise as a serpent.”</p> - -<p>When we arrived in Philadelphia on the afternoon of -the 3d of December, 1833, we learnt that a goodly number -were already there; and the newspapers of the day -were seeking to make our coming a formidable affair, -worthy the especial attention of those patriotic conservators -of the peace who dealt in brickbats, rotten eggs, -and tar and feathers. The Police of the city had given -notice to our Philadelphia associates that they could not -protect us in the evening, and therefore our meetings -must be held by daylight.</p> - -<p>A previous gathering was had that evening at the -house of Evan Lewis, a man who was afraid of nothing -but doing or being wrong. Between thirty and forty -were there, and we made such arrangements as we could -for the ensuing day. One thing we did, which we were -not careful to report, so you may never have heard of it. -It was a weak, a servile act. We were ashamed of it -ourselves, and you shall have a laugh at our expense if -you like.</p> - -<p>Some one suggested that, as we were strangers in Philadelphia, -our characters and manner of life not known<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">83</a></span> -there, the populace might the more easily be made to -believe that we had come for an incendiary purpose, -and be roused to prevent the accomplishment of it; that, -in order to avert the opposition which seemed preparing -to thwart us, it would be well to get some one of the -distinguished philanthropists of that city to preside over -our deliberations, and thus be, as it were, a voucher to -the public for our harmlessness. There was no one proposed -of whom we could hope such patronage, save only -Robert Vaux, a prominent and wealthy Quaker. To him -it was resolved we should apply. Five or seven of us -were delegated to wait upon the great man, and solicit -his acceptance of the Presidency of the Convention. -Of this committee I had the honor to be one. Just for -this once I wish I had some wit, that I might be able to -do justice to the scene. But I need not help you to see -it in all its ludicrousness. There were at least six of -us—Beriah Green, Evan Lewis, Eppingham L. Capron, -Lewis Tappan, John G. Whittier, and myself—sitting -around a richly furnished parlor, gravely arguing, by -turns, with the wealthy occupant, to persuade him that -it was his duty to come and be the most prominent one -in a meeting of men already denounced as “fanatics, -amalgamationists, disorganizers, disturbers of the peace, -and dangerous enemies of the country.” Of course our -suit was unsuccessful. We came away mortified much -more because we had made such a request, than because -it had been denied. As we left the door Beriah Green -said in his most sarcastic tone, “If there is not timber -amongst ourselves big enough to make a president of, -let us get along without one, or go home and stay there -until we have grown up to be men.”</p> - -<p>The next morning as we passed along the streets -leading to the place of meeting, the Adelphi Buildings, -we were repeatedly assailed with most insulting words.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">84</a></span> -On arriving at the hall we found the entrance guarded -by police officers, placed there, I suppose, at the suggestion -of some friends by order of the Mayor. These incidents -helped us to realize how we and the cause we -had espoused, were regarded in that City of Brotherly -Love and Quakers.</p> - -<p>At the hour appointed, on the morning of the 4th, -nearly all the members were in their seats,—fifty-six in -all, representing ten different States. No time was lost. -A fervent prayer was offered for the divine guidance. -If there was ever a praying assembly I believe that -was one.</p> - -<p>Beriah Green, then President of Oneida Institute, was -chosen President of our Convention. Lewis Tappan, -one of the earliest and most untiring laborers in the -cause of the oppressed, a well-known merchant of New -York, and John G. Whittier, one of Liberty’s choicest -poets, were chosen Secretaries.</p> - -<p>The first forenoon was spent in a free but somewhat -desultory interchange of thought upon the topics of -prominent interest, and in listening to a number of -cheering letters from individuals in different parts -of the United States, assuring us of their hearty sympathy -and co-operation, though they were unable to be -with us in person.</p> - -<p>Discussion and argument were not found necessary to -bring us to the resolution to institute an American Antislavery -Society, for that was the especial purpose for -which we had come together. Committees were chosen -to draft a constitution and to nominate a list of officers. -When the dining hour arrived, with one consent it was -agreed that it was better than meat to remain in the -hall, and commune with one another upon the interests -of the cause we had espoused. And there and thus did -we spend the dinner-time on that and each of the succeeding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">85</a></span> -days. Baskets of crackers and pitchers of cold -water supplied all the bodily refreshment that we needed.</p> - -<p>The reports of the committees occupied us through the -afternoon. We then came unanimously to the conclusion -that it was needful to give, to our country and the -world, a fuller declaration of the sentiments and purposes -of the American Antislavery Society than could -be embodied in its Constitution. It was therefore resolved -“that Messrs. Atlee, Wright, Garrison, Joselyn, -Thurston, Sterling, William Green, Jr., Whittier, Goodell, -and May be a committee to draft a Declaration of -the Principles of the American Antislavery Society for -publication, to which the signatures of the members of -this Convention shall be affixed.”</p> - -<p>In my next article I will give my readers a particular -account of the conception and production of our Magna -Charta.</p> - -<h3 id="hp85">THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION.</h3> - -<p>The committee of ten, appointed at the close of the -first day to prepare a declaration of the sentiments and -purposes of the American Antislavery Society, felt that -the work assigned them ought to be most carefully and -thoroughly done, embodying, as far as possible, the best -thoughts of the whole Convention. Accordingly, about -half of the members were invited to meet, and did meet, -the committee early at the house of our chairman, Dr. -Edwin P. Atlee.</p> - -<p>After an hour’s general conversation upon the importance -of the document to be prepared, and the character -it ought to possess, we agreed that each one present -should, in his turn, utter the sentiment or announce the -purpose which he thought ought to be given in the declaration. -This was done, and revealed great unanimity,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">86</a></span> -and at the same time not a little individuality of opinion -among the members. I cannot now recall many -of the suggestions thrown out. One, however, was so -pregnant that it contained the text and the substance -of several of my lectures afterwards. “I wish,” said -Elizur Wright, “that the difference between our purpose -and that of the Colonization Society should be explicitly -stated. We mean to exterminate <em>slavery</em> from our country -with its accursed influences. The Colonizationists -aim only to <em>get rid of the slaves</em> so soon as they become -free. Their plan is unrighteous, cruel, and impracticable -withal. Our plan needs but a good will, a right spirit -amongst the white people, to accomplish it.”</p> - -<p>After a session of more than two hours thus spent a -sub-committee of three was appointed to prepare a draft -of the proposed declaration, to be reported next morning -at nine o’clock to the whole committee, in the room adjoining -the hall of the Convention. William L. Garrison, -John G. Whittier, and myself composed that sub-committee. -We immediately repaired to the house of Mr. -James McCrummel, a colored gentleman, with whom -Mr. Garrison was at home; and there, after a half-hour’s -consultation, it was of course determined that Mr. Garrison, -our Coryphæus, should write the document, in -which were to be set before our country and the world -“the sentiments and purposes of the American Antislavery -Society.” We left him about ten o’clock, agreeing -to come to him again next morning at eight.</p> - -<p>On our return at the appointed hour we found him, -with shutters closed and lamps burning, just writing the -last paragraph of his admirable draft. We read it over -together two or three times very carefully, agreed to a -few slight alterations, and at nine went to lay it before the -whole committee. By them it was subjected to the -severest examination. Nearly three hours of intense<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">87</a></span> -application were given to it, notwithstanding repeated -and urgent calls from the Convention for our report. -All the while Mr. Garrison evinced the most unruffled -patience. Very few alterations were proposed, and only -once did he offer any resistance. He had introduced -into his draft more than a page in condemnation of the -Colonization scheme. It was the concentrated essence -of all he had written or thought upon that egregious -imposition. It was as finished and powerful in expression -as any part of that Magna Charta. We commented -upon it as a whole and in all its parts. We writhed -somewhat under its severity, but were obliged to acknowledge -its exact, its singular justice, and were about -to accept it, when I ventured to propose that all of it, -excepting only the first comprehensive paragraph, be -stricken from the document, giving as my reason for -this large erasure, that the Colonization Society could -not long survive the deadly blows it had received; and -it was not worth while for us to perpetuate the memory -of it, in this Declaration of the Rights of Man, which -will live a perpetual, impressive protest against every -form of oppression, until it shall have given place to -that brotherly kindness, which all the children of the -common Father owe to one another. At first, Mr. Garrison -rose up to save a portion of his work that had -doubtless cost him as much mental effort as any other -part of it. But so soon as he found that a large majority -of the committee concurred in favor of the erasure, -he submitted very graciously, saying, “Brethren, it is -your report, not mine.”</p> - -<p>With this exception, the alterations and amendments -which were made, after all our criticisms, were surprisingly -few and unessential; and we cordially agreed to -report it to the Convention very much as it came from -his pen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">88</a></span> -Between twelve and one o’clock we repaired with it to -the hall. Edwin P. Atlee, the Chairman, read the Declaration -to the Convention. Never in my life have I seen -a deeper impression made by words than was made by -that admirable document upon all who were there present. -After the voice of the reader had ceased there was -a profound silence for several minutes. Our hearts were -in perfect unison. There was but one thought with us -all. Either of the members could have told what the -whole Convention felt. We felt that the word had just -been uttered which would be mighty, through God, to -the pulling down of the strongholds of slavery.</p> - -<p>The solemn silence was broken by a Quaker brother, -Evan Lewis, or Thomas Shipley, who moved that we -adopt the Declaration, and proceed at once to append to -it our signatures. He said, “We have already given it -our assent; every heart here has responded to it; and -there is a doctrine of the ‘Friends’ which impelled me -to make the motion I have done: ‘<em>First impressions are -from heaven</em>.’ I fear, if we go about criticising and amending -this Declaration, we shall qualify its truthfulness and -impair its strength.”</p> - -<p>The majority of the Convention, however, thought it -best, in a matter so momentous, to be deliberate; to -weigh well every word and act by which our countrymen -and the world would be called to justify or condemn -us and our enterprise. Accordingly, we adjusted -ourselves to hear the Declaration read again, paragraph -by paragraph, sentence by sentence, and to pass judgment -upon it in every particular. The whole afternoon, -from one o’clock until five, was assiduously and patiently -devoted to this review. Discussion arose on several points; -but no one spoke who had not something to say. Never -had I heard in a public assembly so much pertinent -speech, never so little that was unimportant. The result<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">89</a></span> -of the afternoon’s deliberations was a deeper satisfaction -with the Declaration. Some expressions in it -were called in question, but few were changed. And -just as the darkness of night had shut down upon us -we resolved unanimously to adopt it. On motion of -Lewis Tappan we voted that Abraham L. Cox, M. D., -whom the mover knew to be an excellent penman, be -requested to procure a suitable sheet of parchment, and -engross thereon our magna charta before the following -morning, that it might then receive the signatures of -each one of the members.</p> - -<p>At the opening of the meeting next morning the Doctor -was there, with the work assigned him beautifully -executed. He read the Declaration once and again. -Another hour was expended in the consideration of certain -expressions in it. But no changes were made. It -was then submitted for signatures; and Thomas Whitson, -of Chester County, Pennsylvania, being obliged to -leave the city immediately, came forward and had the -honor of signing it first. Sixty-one others subscribed -their names on the 6th day of December, 1833.</p> - -<p>If I ever boast of anything it is this: that I was -a member of the Convention that instituted the American -Antislavery Society. That assembly, gathered from -eleven different States of our Republic, was composed of -devout men of every sect and of no sect in religion, of -each political party and of neither; but they were all -of one mind. They evidently felt that they had come -together for a purpose higher and better than that of -any religious sect or political party. Never have I seen -men so ready, so anxious to rid themselves of whatsoever -was narrow, selfish, or merely denominational. I -was all the more affected by the manifestation of this -spirit, because I had been living for ten years in Connecticut, -where every one who did not profess a faith essentially<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">90</a></span> -“Orthodox” was peremptorily proscribed. In the -Philadelphia Convention there were but two or three of -my sect, which you know at that time had but few -avowed adherents anywhere except in the eastern half -of Massachusetts, and was then, much more than now, -especially obnoxious to all other religionists in the land. -Yet we were cordially treated as brethren, admitted -freely, without reserve or qualification, into that goodly -fellowship. They were indeed a company of the Lord’s -freemen, a truly devout company. And the scrupulous -regard for the rights of the human mind, no less than for -the other natural rights of man, was shown from the beginning -to the end of the Convention.</p> - -<p>Much the largest number of any sect present were -what were then, and are now, called Orthodox, or Evangelical. -There were ten or twelve ministers of one or the -other of those denominations that claim to be Orthodox; -yet I distinctly remember that some of them were the -most forward and eager to lay aside sectarianism, and -their generous example was gladly followed by all others. -At the suggestion of an Orthodox brother, and without -a vote of the Convention, our President himself, then an -Orthodox minister, readily condescended to the scruples -of our Quaker brethren, so far as not to <em>call upon</em> any -individual to offer prayer; but at the opening of our sessions -each day he gave notice that a portion of time -would be spent in prayer. Any one prayed aloud who -was moved so to do.</p> - -<p>It was at the suggestion also of an Orthodox member -that we agreed to dispense with all titles, civil or ecclesiastical. -Accordingly, you will not find in the published -minutes of the Convention appendages to any names,—neither -D. D., nor Rev., nor Hon., nor Esq.,—no, not -even plain Mr. We met as fellow-men, in the cause of -suffering fellow-men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">91</a></span> -When the resolution was read recommending the institution -of a monthly “concert of prayer” for the abolition -of slavery, a Quaker objected to its passage, on -the ground that he believed not in stated times and seasons -for prayers, but that then only can we truly pray -when we are moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. Effingham -L. Capron, a member of the “Society of Friends,” -immediately and earnestly expressed regret that his -brother had interposed such an objection. “For,” said -he, “this measure is only to be recommended by the -Convention, not insisted on, much less to be incorporated -into the constitution of the society we have formed; -and such is the liberal, catholic spirit of all here present,” -he added, “that I do not suspect any one wishes -to urge the measure upon those who would have conscientious -scruples against it.” “Certainly not, certainly -not,” said the mover of the resolution. “Certainly not, -certainly not,” was responded from all parts of the hall. -On this explanation the brother withdrew his opposition, -and the resolution passed, <em>nem. con.</em></p> - -<h3 id="hp91">LUCRETIA MOTT.</h3> - -<p>A number of excellent women, most of them of the -“Society of Friends,” were in constant attendance upon -the meetings of the Convention, which continued three -days successively, without adjournment for dinner. On -the afternoon of the second day, in the midst of a very -interesting debate (I think it was on the use of the productions -of slave-labor), a sweet female voice was heard. -It was Lucretia Mott’s. She had risen and commenced -speaking, but was hesitating, because she feared the -larger part of the Convention not being Quakers might -think it “a shame for a woman to speak in a church,” -and she was unwilling to give them offence. Her beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">92</a></span> -countenance was radiant with the thoughts that -had moved her to speak; and the expression was made -all the more engaging by the emotion of deference to -the supposed prejudices of her auditors, with which it -was suffused.</p> - -<p>Our President, Beriah Green, conferred not with flesh -and blood, but, filled as he was with the liberal spirit -of the apostle who wrote, “There is neither Jew nor -Greek, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all -one in Christ Jesus,” at once, without waiting for the formal -sanction of the Convention, cried out in the most -encouraging, cordial tone, “Go on, ma’am, we shall all -be glad to hear you.” “Go on,” “Go on,” was responded -by many voices. She did go on; and no man -who was there will dissent from me when I add that -she made a more impressive and effective speech than -any other that was made in the Convention, excepting -only our President’s closing address.</p> - -<p>Lucretia Mott afterwards spoke repeatedly; and one -or two graceful amendments of the language of our -Declaration were made at her suggestion. Two other -excellent women also took part in our discussions,—Esther -Moore and Lydia White,—and they spoke to -good purpose. Now, that no brother was scandalized by -this procedure (and there were several there who afterwards -opposed us on the “woman question,”) we have -evidence enough in the following resolution, which was -passed near the close of the third day, without dissent -or a word to qualify or limit its application: “<em>Resolved</em>, -that the thanks of the Convention be presented to our -female friends for the deep interest they have manifested -in the cause of antislavery, during the long and -fatiguing session of the Convention.” Was not the fact -that three of our female friends had taken an active part -in our meetings, had repeatedly “spoken in the church”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">93</a></span>—must -not this fact have been prominent to the view -of every one who was called to vote on the above resolution? -And yet I do aver that I heard not a word, -either in or out of the hall, censuring their course, or -expressing regret that they had been allowed to take -part in our discussions. Far otherwise. It seemed to be -regarded as another of the many indications we had -seen of the deep hold which the antislavery cause had -taken of the public heart. We remembered in the history -of our race that, (although women had ordinarily -kept themselves in the retirement of domestic life,) in the -great emergencies of humanity,—in those imminent -crises which have tried men’s souls, and from which we -date the signal advances of civilization,—women have -always been conspicuous at the martyr’s stake, in the -councils of Church and State, and even in the conduct -of armies. We therefore hailed the deep interest manifested -by them in the cause of our oppressed countrymen, -as an omen that another triumph of humanity was -at hand. No one suggested that it would be well to -invite the women to enroll their names as members of -the Convention and sign the Declaration. It was not -thought of in season. But I have not a doubt, such was -the spirit of that assembly, that, if the proposal had -been made, it would have been acceded to joyfully by a -large majority, if not by all. We had not convened -there to shape our enterprise to the received opinions or -usages of any sect or party. We were not careful to do -what might please “the scribes and pharisees and rulers -of the people.” We had come together at the cry of -suffering, wronged, outraged millions. We had come to -say and do what, we hoped, would rouse the nation to a -sense of her tremendous iniquity. We were willing, we -were anxious, that all who had ears to hear should hear -“the truth which only tyrants dread.” And I have no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">94</a></span> -doubt, that at that time all immediate Abolitionists -would have readily consented that every one (man or -woman) who had the <em>power</em> had also the <em>right</em> to utter -that truth; to utter it with the pen or with the living -voice; to utter it at the fireside in the private circle, or -to the largest congregation from the pulpit, or, if need -be, from the house-top. It was not then in our hearts -to bid any one be silent, who might be moved to plead for -the down-trodden millions in our country who were not -permitted to speak for themselves. We were willing -“that the very stones should cry out,” if they -would.</p> - -<p>The subjects that elicited most discussion in the Convention -were Colonization; the use of the productions of -slave-labor; the doctrine of compensation; and the duty -of relying wholly on moral power. The results to which -we came are expressed in the Constitution, the Declaration, -or the Resolutions that were passed.</p> - -<p>No one can read the published minutes of our proceedings, -and not perceive how emphatically and solemnly -we avowed the determination not to commit the cause -we had espoused in any way to an arm of flesh, but to -trust wholly to the power of truth and the influence of -the Holy Spirit to change the hearts of slaveholders -and their abettors. This principle, which was repudiated -by a portion of the American Antislavery Society -under the excitement caused by the murder of Lovejoy -in 1837, was accounted by a large majority of the Convention -as <em>the principle</em> upon which our enterprise should -be prosecuted, or could be brought to a peaceful triumph. -Those only who were ready to take up the cross, to suffer -loss, shame, and even death, seemed to us then fit to -engage in the work we proposed. The third article of -the Constitution was as follows: “This Society will -never, in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">95</a></span> -their rights by physical force.” And the pacific spirit -and intentions of the Society were still more distinctively -and emphatically set forth in the Declaration, in exposition -of the third article above quoted. That document begins -with an allusion to the Magna Charta of the American -Revolution, which was prepared and signed fifty-seven -years before in the very city where we were assembled. -It exhibits clearly the contrast between our philanthropic -enterprise and that of our fathers. It says: “<em>Their</em> -principles led them to <em>wage war</em> against their oppressors, -and to spill human blood like water in order to be free. -<em>Ours</em> forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead -us to reject, and entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of -any carnal weapons for deliverance from bondage; relying -solely upon those which are spiritual and ‘mighty through -God’ to the pulling down of strongholds. <em>Their</em> measures -were physical,—the marshalling in arms, the hostile -array, the mortal encounter. <em>Ours</em> shall be such -only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption, -the destruction of error by the potency of truth, -the overthrow of prejudice by the power of love, the -abolition of slavery by the spirit of repentance.”</p> - -<p>This language was not adopted hastily or inconsiderately. -Its import was duly weighed. A few of the -members hesitated. They were not non-resistants. They -were not, at first, ready to say they would not fight, if -they should be roughly used by the opposers of our -cause. But it was strenuously urged in reply that, -whatever might be true as to the right of self-defence, -in the prosecution of our great undertaking, <em>violent</em> resistance -to the injurious treatment we might receive -would have a disastrous effect. It was insisted that we -ought to go forth to labor for the abolition of slavery, in -the spirit of <em>Christian</em> reformers, expecting to be persecuted, -and resolved never to return evil for evil. The result<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">96</a></span> -of our discussion was that all the members of the -Convention signed the Declaration, thereby pledging -themselves, and all who should thereafter sign the Constitution—“Come -what may to our persons, our interests, -or our reputations; whether we live to witness the -triumph of liberty, justice, and humanity, or perish untimely -as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and holy -cause.”</p> - -<p>Such was the spirit that at last pervaded the whole -body. I cannot describe the holy enthusiasm which -lighted up every face as we gathered around the table -on which the Declaration lay, to put our names to that -sacred instrument. It seemed to me that every man’s -heart was in his hand,—as if every one felt that he was -about to offer himself a living sacrifice in the cause of -<em>freedom</em>, and to do it cheerfully. There are moments -when heart touches heart, and souls flow into one another. -That was such a moment. I was in them and -they in me; we were all one. There was no need that -each should tell the other how he felt and what he -thought, for we were in each other’s bosoms. I am -sure there was not, in all our hearts, the thought of ever -making violent, much less mortal, defence of the liberty -of speech, or the freedom of the press, or of our own persons, -though we foresaw that they all would be grievously -outraged. Our President, Beriah Green, in his -admirable closing speech, gave utterance to what we -all felt and intended should be our course of conduct. -He distinctly foretold the obloquy, the despiteful treatment, -the bitter persecution, perhaps even the cruel -deaths we were going to encounter in the prosecution -of the undertaking to which we had bound ourselves. -Not an intimation fell from his lips that, in any extremity, -we were to resort to carnal weapons and fight rather -than die in the cause. Much less did he intimate that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">97</a></span> -it might ever be proper for us to defend, by deadly -weapons, the liberty of speech and the press. O no! -The words which came glowing from his lips were of a -very different import. He exhorted us most solemnly, -most tenderly, to cherish the Holy Spirit which he felt -was then in all our hearts, and go forth to our several -places of labor willing to suffer shame, loss of property, -and, if need be, even of life, in the cause of human -rights; but not intending to hurt a hair of the heads of -our opposers, whom we ought to regard in pity more -than in anger. Would that every syllable which he uttered -had been engraven upon some imperishable tablet! -Would that the spirit which then inspired him had -been infused into the bosom of every one who has since -engaged in the antislavery cause!</p> - -<h3 id="hp97">MRS. L. MARIA CHILD.</h3> - -<p>The account I have given above of the valuable services -rendered in the Philadelphia Convention by Lucretia -Mott, Esther Moore, and Lydia White, doubtless -reminded my readers of many other excellent women, -whose names stand high among the early antislavery reformers. -The memories of them are most precious to -me. If I live to write out half of my Recollections, -and you do not weary of them, I shall make most grateful -mention of our female fellow-laborers in general, of -several of them in particular, though I cannot do ample -justice to any.</p> - -<p>There is one of whom I must speak now, because I -have already passed the time, at which her inestimable -services commenced. In July, 1833, when the number, -the variety, and the malignity of our opponents had become -manifest, we were not much more delighted than -surprised by the publication of a thoroughgoing antislavery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">98</a></span> -volume, from the pen of Mrs. Lydia Maria Child. -She was at that time, perhaps, the most popular as well -as useful of our female writers. None certainly, excepting -Miss Sedgwick, rivalled her. The <cite>North American -Review</cite>, then, if not now, the highest authority on matters -of literary criticism, said at the time: “We are not sure -that any woman in our country would outrank Mrs. Child. -This lady has long been before the public as an author -with much success. And she well deserves it, for in all -her works we think that nothing can be found which -does not commend itself by its tone of healthy morality -and good sense. Few female writers, if any, have done -more or better things for our literature, in its lighter or -graver departments.” That such an author—ay, such -an <em>authority</em>—should espouse our cause just at that crisis, -I do assure you, was a matter of no small joy, yes, exultation. -She was extensively known in the Southern as -well as the Northern States, and her books commanded -a ready sale there not less than here. We had seen her -often at our meetings. We knew that she sympathized -with her brave husband in his abhorrence of our American -system of slavery; but we did not know that she -had so carefully studied and thoroughly mastered the -subject. Nor did we suspect that she possessed the -power, if she had the courage, to strike so heavy a blow. -Why, the very title-page was pregnant with the gist of -the whole matters under dispute between us,—“Immediate -Abolitionists,” and the slaveholders on the one -hand, and the Colonizationists on the other,—“<cite>An Appeal -in Favor of that Class of Americans <span class="smcap smaller upright">CALLED</span> Africans</cite>.” -The volume, still prominent in the literature of our conflict, -is replete with facts showing, not only the horrible -cruelties that had been perpetrated by individual slaveholders -or their overseers, but the essential barbarity of the -<em>system of slavery</em>, its dehumanizing influences upon those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">99</a></span> -who enforced it scarcely less than upon those who were -crushed under it. Her book did us an especially valuable -service in showing, to those who had paid little attention -to the subject, that the Africans are not by <em>nature</em> -inferior to other—even the <em>white</em>—races of men; but -that “Ethiopia held a conspicuous place among the -nations of ancient times. Her princes were wealthy and -powerful, and her people distinguished for integrity and -wisdom. Even the proud Grecians evinced respect for -Ethiopia, almost amounting to reverence, and derived -thence the sublimest portions of their mythology. And -the popular belief, that all the gods made an annual -visit to feast with the excellent Ethiopians, shows the -high estimation in which they were then held, for we -are not told that such an honor was bestowed on any -other nation.” Mrs. Child’s exposure of the fallacy of -the Colonization scheme, as well as the falsity of the -pretensions put forth by its advocates, amply sustained -all Mr. Garrison’s accusations. And her <em>exposé</em> of the -principles of the “Immediate Abolitionists” was clear, -and her defence of them was impregnable.</p> - -<p>This “Appeal” reached thousands who had given no -heed to us before, and made many converts to the doctrines -of Mr. Garrison.</p> - -<p>Of course, what pleased and helped us so much gave -proportionate offence to slaveholders, Colonizationists, -and their Northern abettors. Mrs. Child was denounced. -Her effeminate admirers, both male and female, said -there were “some very indelicate things in her book,” -though there was nothing narrated in it that had not -been allowed, if not perpetrated, by “the refined, hospitable, -chivalric gentlemen and ladies” on their Southern -plantations. The politicians and statesmen scouted -the woman who “presumed to criticise so freely the constitution -and government of her country. Women had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">100</a></span> -better let politics alone.” And certain ministers gravely -foreboded “evil and ruin to our country, if the women -generally should follow Mrs. Child’s bad example, and -neglect their domestic duties to attend to the affairs of -state.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Child’s popularity was reversed. Her writings -on other subjects were no longer sought after with the -avidity that was shown for them before the publication -of her “Appeal.” Most of them were sent back to their -publishers from the Southern bookstores, with the notice -that the demand for her books had ceased. The sale of -them at the North was also greatly diminished. It was -said at the time that her income from the productions -of her pen was lessened six or eight hundred dollars a -year. But this did not daunt her. On the contrary, it -roused her to greater exertion, as it revealed to her more -fully the moral corruption which slavery had diffused -throughout our country, and summoned her patriotism -as well as her benevolence to more determined conflict -with our nation’s deadliest enemy. Indeed, she consecrated -herself to the cause of the enslaved. Many of -her publications since then have related to the great -subject, viz.: The Oasis, Antislavery Catechism, Authentic -Anecdotes, Evils and Cure of Slavery, Other -Tracts, Life of Isaac T. Hopper, and, more than all, -her letters to Governor Wise, of Virginia, and to Mrs. Mason, -respecting John Brown. Those letters had an immense -circulation throughout the free States, and were -blazoned by all manner of anathemas in the Southern -papers. Her letter to Mrs. Mason especially was copied -by hundreds of thousands, and was doubtless one of the -efficient agencies that prepared the mind of the North -for the final great crisis.</p> - -<p>For several years, assisted by her husband, Mrs. Child -edited the <cite>Antislavery Standard</cite>, elevated its literary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">101</a></span> -character, extended its circulation, and increased its -efficiency.</p> - -<p>But, in a more private way, this admirable woman -rendered the early Abolitionists most important services. -She, together with Mrs. Maria W. Chapman and Eliza -Lee Follen, and others, of whom I shall write hereafter, -were presiding geniuses in all our councils and more -public meetings, often proposing the wisest measures, -and suggesting to those who were “allowed to speak in -the assembly” the most weighty thoughts, pertinent -facts, apt illustrations, which they could not be persuaded -to utter aloud. Repeatedly in those early days, before -Angelina and Sarah Grimké had taught others besides -Quaker women “to <em>speak</em> in meeting,” if they had -anything to say that was worth hearing,—repeatedly -did I spring to the platform, crying, “Hear me as the -mouthpiece of Mrs. Child, or Mrs. Chapman, or Mrs. -Follen,” and convulsed the audience with a stroke of -wit, or electrified them with a flash of eloquence, caught -from the lips of one or the other of our antislavery -prophetesses.</p> - -<p>N. B.—That Mrs. Child, when she became an Abolitionist, -did not become a woman “of one idea” is -evinced, not only by her two volumes of enchanting -“Letters from New York,” “Memoirs of Madame de -Staël” and “Madame Roland,” “Biographies of Good -Wives,” and several exquisite books for children, but still -more by her three octavo volumes, entitled “Progress -of Religious Ideas,” which must have been the result of -a vast amount of reading and profound thought on all -the subjects of theology and religion. Her later work, -“Looking towards Sunset,” is full of beautiful ideas -about that future life, for which her untiring devotion -to all the humanities in this life must have so fully prepared -her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">102</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp102">ERUPTION OF LANE SEMINARY.</h3> - -<p>Lane Seminary was an institution established by our -orthodox fellow-Christians, mainly for the preparation of -young men for the ministry. It attained so much importance -in the estimation of its patrons, that, in 1832, -they claimed for it the services and the reputation of -Rev. Dr. Beecher, who left Boston at that time and became -its president. There he found, or was soon after -joined by, Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, another distinguished -teacher of Calvinistic theology. This school of the -prophets was placed on Walnut Hill, in the vicinity of -Cincinnati, that it might be near to the Southwestern -States, and was separated from Kentucky only by the -river Ohio. It had attracted, by the reputation of its -Faculty, from all parts of the country, quite a number -of remarkably able, earnest, conscientious, and, as they -proved to be, eloquent young men.</p> - -<p>At the time when the signal event occurred of which -I am now to give some account, there were in the literary -and theological departments of Lane Seminary more -than a hundred students. Eleven of these were from -different slave States; seven of them sons of slaveholders, -one himself a slaveholder when he entered the institution, -and one of the number—James Bradley—had -emancipated himself from the cruel bondage by the -payment of a large sum, that he had earned by extra -labor. Besides these, there were ten of the students -who had resided more or less in the slave States, and -were well acquainted with the condition of the people, -and the influence of their “peculiar institution” of domestic -servitude. Moreover, that you may appreciate -fully the importance of the event I am going to narrate -to you, and know that it was not (as some at the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">103</a></span> -represented it to be) a boyish prank, or mere college rebellion,—“a -tempest in a teapot,”—let me tell you -that the youngest student in the seminary was nineteen -years of age, most of the students were more than -twenty-six years old, and several of them were over -thirty. They were sober, Christian men, who were preparing -themselves, in good earnest, to preach the Gospel; -and they believed that one of its proclamations was -“liberty to the captives, let the oppressed go free, break -every yoke.”</p> - -<p>Soon after the seminary was opened, a Colonization -Society was formed among the students. At the time of -which I speak most of them were members of that Society, -and were encouraged by the Faculty so to be. But -the publication of Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization,” -and the formation of the “American Antislavery -Society,” attracted the attention of some of their number. -Conversations arose on the subject between them -and their fellows. An anxious inquiry was awakened -as to the truth of the allegations brought against the -Colonization scheme, and as to the justice of the new -demand made by Mr. Garrison and his associates for -the “immediate abolition of slavery.” At length, in -February, 1834, it was proposed that there should be -a thorough public discussion of two <span class="locked">questions:—</span></p> - -<p>1st. Whether the people of the slaveholding States -ought to abolish slavery at once, and without prescribing, -as a condition, that the emancipated should be sent -to Liberia, or elsewhere, out of our country?</p> - -<p>2d. Whether the doctrines, tendencies, measures, spirit -of the Colonization Society were such as to render it -worthy of the patronage of Christian people?</p> - -<p>We were informed at the time, by several who were -cognizant of the fact, that the Faculty, fearing the effect -of such a discussion upon the prosperity of the seminary,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">104</a></span> -officially and earnestly advised that it should be indefinitely -postponed. But many of the students had become -too deeply interested in these questions to consent -that they should remain unsettled. They were therefore -discussed,—each one through nine evenings,—in the -presence of the President and most of the Faculty, fully, -faithfully, earnestly, but courteously debated. The results -were, on the first question, an almost unanimous -vote to this effect: that “Immediate emancipation from -slavery was the right of every slave and the duty of every -slaveholder.” And on the second question it was voted, -by a large majority, “That the American Colonization -Society and its scheme were not deserving of the approbation -and aid of Christians.” This was the purport, -if not the exact language, of the resolutions at the close -of the debate of eighteen evenings.</p> - -<p>The report of the proceeding and the result went -speedily through the land; and, as speedily, there came -back, from certain quarters, no stinted measure of condemnation, -warning, threats. These so alarmed the Faculty -that, as soon as was practicable, they formally prohibited -the continued existence of an Antislavery Society -among the students of Lane Seminary; and required -that the Colonization Society, which they had cherished -hitherto, should be also disbanded and abolished.</p> - -<p>At the next meeting of the Overseers, or Corporation -of the Seminary, this high-handed measure of the Faculty -was approved and confirmed. The remonstrance of -the students (all but one of them adult men, thirty of -them more than twenty-six years of age) availed not to -procure a reconsideration of this oppressive decree. Accordingly, -nearly all of them—seventy or eighty in -number—withdrew from the Seminary, refusing to be -the pupils of theological professors who showed so plainly -that their sympathies were with the oppressors, rather<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">105</a></span> -than with the oppressed; or that they had not courage -enough to denounce so egregious a wrong, so tremendous -a sin, as the enslavement of millions of human beings.</p> - -<p>Like the disciples after the martyrdom of Stephen, -these faithful young men were scattered abroad throughout -the land, and went everywhere, preaching the word -which they were forbidden to utter within the enclosure -of a school, dedicated to the promulgation of the religion -of Jesus of Nazareth.</p> - -<p>Antislavery truth was disseminated far and wide by -their agency. Those who were the sons of slaveholders -returned to the homes of their parents, and besought -them and their neighbors to repent of their great unrighteousness -and flee from the wrath to come. These -entreaties were not all lost. Several slaveholders were -converted, and gave liberty to their bondmen. If I mistake -not, the attention of that admirable man, Hon. -James G. Birney, of Kentucky, was fixed by the discussions -in Lane Seminary, and by conversations with the -students upon the really evil tendency of the Colonization -plan, which, with the best intentions, he had done -so much to promote. At any rate, his conversion about -that time to the doctrine of “immediate emancipation” -was an event of signal importance, as I hope to show -you in a future article.</p> - -<p>It was not my privilege to become personally acquainted -with many of these young men, whose conscientious, -courteous, dignified, yet determined course of conduct -awakened our admiration, and whose subsequent labors -helped mightily the great work projected by the American -Antislavery Society. Several of them were called -to announce and advocate their principles in communities -where it was especially dangerous “to speak those -truths which tyrants dread.” We were delighted from -time to time by the accounts that came to us of their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">106</a></span> -unflinching fidelity. And undoubtedly there were some -cases of peculiar trial and suffering endured by them, -which are treasured among the secret things that are to -be made known, when He “who seeth in secret will reward -men openly.”</p> - -<p>Amos Dresser, eager to raise the funds he needed to -enable him to pursue his studies and complete his -preparation for the ministry, took of the publishers an -agency for the sale of the “Cottage Bible” in Tennessee. -For the transportation of himself and his load he procured -a horse and barouche. He had proceeded without -molestation as far as Nashville. There it was discovered -that he was an Abolitionist,—one of the students that -had left Lane Seminary on account of his principles. -He was arrested by order of the Mayor, and brought before -the Committee of Vigilance. By them his trunk -was searched, his journal, private papers, and letters were -examined. These showed plainly enough, and he promptly -acknowledged, that he was opposed to slavery; that -he pitied his fellow-men who were in bondage, and regarded -those who held them in chains as guilty of great -wickedness.</p> - -<p>Therefore, although there was not the slightest proofs -that, thus far, he had done or said anything that did not -pertain to his business, he was condemned by the Committee -to be taken out immediately, to receive twenty -lashes upon his bare back, and to depart from the city -within twenty-four hours. Accordingly, that American -citizen, for the crime of believing “the Declaration of -Independence,” was taken by the excited populace to a -public square in Nashville, and there on his knees received -upon his naked back twenty lashes, laid on by a -city officer with a heavy cowhide. He was then hurried -away, leaving behind him five hundred dollars’ worth of -property, which was never restored.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">107</a></span> -James A. Thome, the son of a Kentucky slaveholder, -was so thoroughly converted to Abolitionism that, during -the pendency of the infamous decree of the Faculty and -Trustees of the Seminary, he was sent as a delegate from -the Antislavery Society which the students had formed -to attend the annual meetings of the Abolitionists in May, -1834. He came and addressed the public in New York, -Boston, and elsewhere. His heartfelt sincerity, his tender, -fervid eloquence, made a peculiarly deep impression upon -his audiences. And having been born and brought up in -the midst of slavery, his testimony to its cruelties, its -licentiousness, and its depraving influences was received -without distrust, though it sustained the worst allegations -that had ever been brought against the domestic -servitude in our Southern States.</p> - -<p>Henry B. Stanton came with Mr. Thome as another -delegate from the Lane Seminary Antislavery Society to -the May meetings of 1834. This then young man also -evinced so much zeal in the cause, so much power as a -speaker and skill in debate, that soon after the dissolution -of his connection with the seminary, in the month -of October of that year, he was appointed an agent of -the American Antislavery Society, and, for ten years or -more afterwards, Mr. Stanton continued to do us most -valuable service by his eloquent lectures, his pertinent -contributions to our antislavery papers, and his diligence -and fidelity as one of the secretaries of the National -Society.</p> - -<p>But Theodore D. Weld was the master-spirit among -the Lane Seminary students. Indeed, he was accused -by the Trustees of being the instigator of all the fanaticism -and incendiary movements that had given them so -much trouble and threatened the ruin of the institution. -Accordingly, it was moved that Mr. Weld be expelled. -No breach of law was charged upon this gentleman; no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">108</a></span> -disrespect to the Faculty, nor anything implicating in -the least his moral character, only that he was the leader -of the Abolitionists. Still, the proposition to expel -him was favored by the majority of the Trustees. When, -therefore, the final action of the Board had determined the -students to ask for a dismission from the seminary, Theodore -D. Weld, with becoming self-respect, chose to remain -until he should be cleared by the Faculty of all -charges of misconduct. As soon as the Board had had -a meeting and withdrawn their accusation, he applied -for and received an honorable dismission.</p> - -<p>Then he accepted an appointment as an agent of the -Antislavery Society, at a salary less by half than was -offered him by another benevolent association. And -throughout the Western and Middle States, and occasionally -in New England, he lectured with a frequency, -a fervor, and an effect that justify me in saying that no -one, excepting only Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips, has -done more than Mr. Weld for the abolition of American -slavery.</p> - -<p>What a loss it would have been to the cause of liberty, -if the Faculty and Trustees of Lane Seminary had been -wiser men!</p> - -<h3 id="hp108">GEORGE THOMPSON, M.P., LL.D.</h3> - -<p>I am careful to affix his <em>titles</em> to the name of this distinguished -friend of humanity, because they indicate, in -some measure, the estimation to which George Thompson -has risen both in England and in the United States. The -former title was conferred upon him in his own country, -the latter in ours. But both nations owe him much more -than <em>titles</em>. By each he should be placed high on the list -of its public benefactors, and the two should unite to give -him every comfort that he may need in his old age, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">109</a></span> -enable him to provide well for all who are dependent upon -him.</p> - -<p>George Thompson was born in 1804, the same year that -gave birth to William Lloyd Garrison, and, like our illustrious -countryman, has risen to his high elevation from a -lowly estate of life. His native place was Liverpool, not -far from the residence of William Roscoe, his father being, -at the time of his birth, in the service of that distinguished -scholar and philanthropist. He never attended school a -day, but, like Garrison, was indebted to his mother for all -elementary instruction. For the rest of his acquisitions -he was left to depend upon himself.</p> - -<p>While he was quite young his parents removed to London, -and so soon as he could be made serviceable he was -employed as an errand-boy. Quickened and guided by his -excellent mother’s love of knowledge, he early acquired the -habit of reading, and greedily devoured all books adapted -to his age that she could procure for him.</p> - -<p>He was so fortunate as to attract the kind regard of the -Rev. Richard Watson, the distinguished writer and preacher -in defence of the doctrines of Methodism. He was taken -as a chore-boy into that good man’s family, and was with -him, as his humble assistant in indoor and outdoor work, -during most of the time that Mr. Watson was preparing -his most famous publications. Owing to the influence of -this divine, but more to his mother, at the age of fifteen -George Thompson became the subject of deep, religious -convictions, and consecrated himself, by public profession, -to the service of God and the redemption of man. -When sixteen years old he was appointed a Tract distributor, -and joined a society for visiting and nursing the -destitute sick. About the same time he was apprenticed -to a grocer, and continued in his employment a number -of years, having in due time become his accountant.</p> - -<p>At the age of twenty George Thompson was admitted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">110</a></span> -a member of a large debating-club. In this connection, -he soon disclosed to those about him the value of the acquisitions -he had made by reading, under the direction of -his mother and Mr. Watson; and sometimes gave off more -than sparks of that eloquence which since then has so -often electrified and fired his large audiences, throughout -Great Britain and our Northern and Western States.</p> - -<p>In the course of the years 1825, 1826, and 1827, the benevolent -people of England were pretty thoroughly roused -by Clarkson, Wilberforce, Macaulay, and their brother philanthropists, -to a consciousness of their nation’s wickedness, -in consenting to the system of West India slavery -under the dominion of the British Crown. The question -of immediate emancipation was agitated everywhere -throughout the realm. It was introduced into the debating-club -which George Thompson had joined. His -sympathy for the slaves had been awakened very early -in life. His father, when a young man, ran away from -home, and enlisted as captain’s clerk on board a slave-ship, -not knowing what he did. But so soon as he witnessed -the embarkation of the victims of that accursed -traffic, and the treatment of them on the “middle passage,” -he was too much horrified to remain an hour longer, -than he was obliged to, in any way connected with “a -business too bad for demons to do.” Immediately, therefore, -on the arrival of his ship in the West Indies, he fled -to an officer of a British man-of-war, and begged that he -might be impressed into the naval service, and so escape -the repetition of the horrors he had seen and unwillingly -helped to perpetrate. Often had George heard his father -narrate the cruelties which were inflicted on board the -ship with which he was connected,—cruelties inseparable -from the forcible transportation of human beings, -without the least regard to their personal comfort, from -the freedom of their native wilds to the hell of slavery in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">111</a></span> -America. Thus was his young heart and soul fired with -indignation at the sin of his nation, and baptized into the -love of impartial liberty. He, of course, welcomed the -introduction of the question into the club, and entered -upon the debate with holy zeal. The discussion was continued -through twelve evenings. It attracted much attention; -resulted in a resolution, passed almost unanimously, -in favor of <em>immediate emancipation</em>; and was -deemed of sufficient importance to be reported to the -government. Especial mention was made of “the heartfelt, -impassioned eloquence of a young man, named -George Thompson”; and our friend became the cherished -associate of several gentlemen who have since been -widely known among the active friends of all the reforms -and social improvements that have blessed Great Britain -and Ireland within the last forty years.</p> - -<p>In 1828 Mr. Thompson was especially invited to join -“The London Literary and Scientific Association,” comprising -about a thousand young men. Here, too, the -question of West India emancipation came up for consideration, -was earnestly and ably debated through -three long evenings, and resulted in favor of the <em>immediate -abolition</em> of slavery. This result was attributed -mainly to “the masterly logic, as well as fervid eloquence, -of young Thompson.” The newspapers commented on his -success, as an augury of what might be expected from him -in <em>a more august debating-club</em>, which in England means -Parliament.</p> - -<p>And here I must tell you a family secret. The lady -who afterwards became his wife, whose position in society -was much higher than his own (a circumstance of far -greater importance in England than in our country), was -present at these debates. She was fired with such admiration -of his powers, and of his consecration of them -to the cause of suffering humanity, that it lighted a kindred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">112</a></span> -flame in his bosom; or, to speak in plain American -English, they there fell in love with each other, and were -soon after married.</p> - -<p>About this time the London Antislavery Society was -formed. The directors, or executive committee thereof, -advertised for a suitable man, who was willing to become -their lecturing agent. This opened the door to -what has since been the business of his life. He hesitated -several weeks, distrusting his ability. But, encouraged -and urged by his young wife, he at length consented -that the Secretary, Mr. Thomas Pringle, should -be informed of his wish to receive an appointment. By -that gentleman he was invited to an interview with Sir -George Stevens and Rev. Zachary Macaulay, who, after -satisfying themselves of his qualifications, commended -him to Lord Brougham, Lord Denham, and Sir George -Bunting, the committee that was to decide the question -of appointment. These gentlemen, after an extended -conversation with him, gave him a commission for three -months, and sent him forth to agitate the community on -the question of West India emancipation.</p> - -<p>Could you but turn to the English papers of that day, -you would see for yourself how rapidly, and to what an -unexampled height, rose his reputation as a lecturer. -At the end of three months, the demands that came -from all parts of the kingdom for the services of Mr. -Thompson settled the question with the committee. -They gave him an appointment until “the warfare -should be accomplished.” And for three or four years -he was the principal, if not the only, agent of that Society, -performing an amount of labor which seems -almost superhuman. In all parts of the United Kingdom -his voice was heard, either in speeches to the crowds -that everywhere thronged to listen to him, or in debates -with Mr. Bostwick and other agents hired by the West<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">113</a></span> -India slaveholders to oppose him. And when, in 1833, -the victory was achieved; when, overpowered by the -outward pressure, both Houses of Parliament were compelled -to make a virtue of necessity, and to magnify the -glory of England by that Act which gave liberty to eight -hundred thousand slaves, Lord Brougham rose in the -House of Lords and said: “I rise to take the crown of -this most glorious victory from every other head, and -place it upon George Thompson’s. He has done more -than any other man to achieve it.” This tribute was -most justly deserved.</p> - -<p>Yet for all his labors, his inestimable services, Mr. -Thompson received only pecuniary compensation enough -to pay his expenses and support his small family. He -asked no more. He had consecrated himself to the -cause of suffering humanity for its own sake, not expecting -to be enriched thereby. But the friends of that -cause which he had served so well, so nobly, could not -be indifferent to his future career. Lord Brougham, -Lord Denham, and others, confident that he would become -an ornament and an honor to the legal profession, -offered him all the assistance he could need to defray his -own and his family’s expenses for five years, while he -should be pursuing his preparatory studies, and getting -established as a member of the English bar. The prospect -thus opened was most inviting to him; the proposed -profession was congenial to his taste. Indeed, if I have -been correctly informed, the preliminary arrangements -were made, when the claims of the most oppressed of all -men,—the enslaved in the United States,—were forcibly -urged upon him.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison had been in England several weeks, laboring -successfully to undeceive the philanthropists and -people of Great Britain as to the real design and tendency -of the American Colonization Society. Their kindred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">114</a></span> -spirits had met and mingled. He had heard Mr. Garrison’s -exposition, and had become, with Clarkson, Wilberforce, -Buxton, and others, fully satisfied that the expatriation -of the free colored people, their removal from -this country, if practicable, would only perpetuate the -bondage of the enslaved, and aggravate their wrongs. -Mr. Garrison, on the other hand, had repeatedly witnessed -the surpassing power of Mr. Thompson’s eloquence -on the audiences he addressed, had heard the -tributes everywhere paid to the importance of his services, -and was present at the consummation of his unsparing -labors,—the passage by the British Parliament -of the bill for the abolition of West India slavery. It -was manifest to him that the man, who had done so -much for the overthrow of British slavery, could help -mightily to accomplish the far greater work needed to be -done in this country; and his heart was set on enlisting -Mr. Thompson in the service of the American Antislavery -Society. He pressed his wish, his demand, upon -him just as Mr. Thompson was about to agree to the -above-named arrangement for the study of the law. Mr. -Garrison’s invitation was not to be accepted hastily, nor -could he reject it without consideration. He revolved it -anxiously in his mind, as he went from city to city with -his now beloved brother, hearing him portray the peculiarities -of the American system of slavery, the far -greater difficulties against which Abolitionists here had -to contend, the need we felt of a living voice, potent -enough to wake up thousands who were <em>dead</em> in this -iniquity.</p> - -<p>On the eve of Mr. Garrison’s departure from England -in the fall of 1833 Mr. Thompson, with deep emotion, -said to him: “I have thought much of the bright professional -prospects opened to me here. I have thought -yet more of the dark, dismal, desperate condition of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">115</a></span> -millions of my fellow-beings in your country. They are -no farther from me than are the eight hundred thousand -whom I have been laboring to emancipate, and their -claims upon me for the help God may enable me to give -them are just as strong. I cannot withhold myself from -their service. If, on your return to Boston, you shall -still think I can render you much assistance, and your -fellow-laborers concur with you in that opinion, command -me, and I will hasten to you.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thompson, however, remained in England almost -a year after Mr. Garrison left him, that he might reorganize -the antislavery hosts who had triumphed so gloriously -in the conflict for British West India emancipation, -and induce them to engage as heartily in the enterprise -for the emancipation of the millions held in the most -abject bondage in these United States, and for the abolition -of slavery throughout the world.</p> - -<h3 id="hp115">GEORGE THOMPSON’S FIRST YEAR IN AMERICA.</h3> - -<p>When, on his return from England in October, 1833, -Mr. Garrison informed us that he had obtained from -George Thompson—the champion of the triumphant -conflict for West India emancipation—the promise to -“come over and help us,” if we concurred in the invitation -Mr. Garrison had given him, our hearts were encouraged, -our hands strengthened, our purpose confirmed. -Our own great antislavery orators, male and female, who -since then have done so much to convict and convert -the nation, had not yet appeared. Theodore D. Weld -and Henry B. Stanton were studying theology in Lane -Seminary; Parker Pillsbury, Stephen S. Foster, and -John A. Collins were doing likewise somewhere in Vermont; -Henry C. Wright had not plucked up quite courage -enough to justify Mr. Garrison’s terrible denunciations<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">116</a></span> -of slaveholders and their abettors; James G. Birney -was the Secretary of the Kentucky Colonization Society; -Gerrit Smith had not got wholly out of the toils of that -fraudulent scheme which had deceived “the very elect”; -Charles C. Burleigh was an unknown youth in Plainfield -Academy; Wendell Phillips, our Apollo, was just preparing -to leap into his place at the head of the Massachusetts -bar; and Angelina Grimké, Lucy Stone, Abby -Kelly Foster, Susan B. Anthony, Antoinette L. Brown, -Sallie Holley, and other excellent women, who have since -rendered such signal services, had not then left “the appropriate -sphere of women.”</p> - -<p>That George Thompson would come to our aid, the -orator to whose relentless logic and surpassing eloquence, -more than to any other instrumentality, Lord Brougham -had just attributed the triumph of the antislavery cause -in England,—that he was about coming to help us did -seem at that time a godsend indeed. But, as was -stated in my last, his coming was deferred a year, that -the Abolitionists of Great Britain and Ireland might not -lay aside their well-used weapons, nor cease from their -warfare, while so many millions of human beings remained -in the most abject slavery, especially in the -United States, where the horrid institution was established -by the authority of England. Having re-enlisted -his fellow-laborers throughout the United Kingdom to -co-operate with us, he came to Boston in the fall of -1834.</p> - -<p>At that time I was devoting a few weeks of permitted -absence from my church in Connecticut to a lecturing -tour in the antislavery cause, and came to Mr. Garrison’s -house in Roxbury an hour after the arrival of Mr. -Thompson. He readily consented to go with us the -next day to Groton, there to attend a county convention. -We gladly spent the remainder of that day together,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">117</a></span> -in earnest and prayerful communion over the -great work in which we had engaged; and at night repaired -to lodge at the Earl Hotel in Hanover Street, that -we might not fail to be off for Groton the next morning -at four o’clock, in the first stage-coach, no conveyance -thither by railroad being extant then.</p> - -<p>At the appointed hour, the house being well filled, the -meeting was called to order, and business commenced. -As all were eager to see and hear the great English -orator, preliminary matters were disposed of as soon as -practicable. Then Mr. Thompson was called up by a -resolution enthusiastically passed, declaring our appreciation -of the inestimable value of his antislavery labors -in England, our joy that he had come to aid us to deliver -our country from the dominion of slaveholders, and our -wish that he would occupy as much of the time of the -convention as his inclination might prompt and his -strength would enable him to do. He rose, and soon -enchained the attention of all present. He set forth the -essential, immitigable sin of holding human beings as -slaves in a light, if possible, more vivid, more intense, -than even Mr. Garrison had thrown upon that “sum of -all villanies.” He illustrated and sustained his assertions -by the most pertinent facts in the history of West -India slavery. He inculcated the spirit in which we -ought to prosecute our endeavor to emancipate the bondmen,—a -spirit of compassion for the masters as well as -their slaves,—a compassion too considerate of the harm -which the slaveholder suffers, as well as inflicts, to consent -to any continuance of the iniquity. He most solemnly -enjoined the use of only moral and political means -and instrumentalities to effect the subversion and extermination -of the gigantic system of iniquity, although it -seemed to tower above and overshadow the civil and religious -institutions of our country. He showed us that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">118</a></span> -he justly appreciated the greater difficulties of the work -to be done in our land, than of that which had just been -so gloriously accomplished in England, but exhorted us -to trust undoubtingly in “the might of the right,”—the -mercy, the justice, the power of God,—and to go -forward in the full assurance that He, who had crowned -the labors of the British Abolitionists with such a triumph, -would enable us in like manner to accomplish the -greater work he had given us to do.</p> - -<p>Mr. Thompson then went on to give us a graphic, -glowing account of the long and fierce conflict they had -had in England for the abolition of slavery in the British -West Indies. His eloquence rose to a still higher order. -His narrative became <em>a continuous metaphor</em>, admirably -sustained. He represented the antislavery enterprise in -which he had been so long engaged as a stout, well-built -ship, manned by a noble-hearted crew, launched upon a -stormy ocean, bound to carry inestimable relief to 800,000 -sufferers in a far-distant land. He clothed all the -kinds of opposition they had met, all the difficulties they -had contended with, in imagery suggested by the observation -and experience of the voyager across the Atlantic -in the most tempestuous season of the year. In the -height of his descriptions, my attention was withdrawn -from the emotions enkindled in my own bosom sufficiently -to observe the effect of his eloquence upon half a -dozen boys, of twelve or fourteen years of age, sitting -together not far from the platform. They were completely -possessed by it. When the ship reeled or plunged -or staggered in the storms, they unconsciously went -through the same motions. When the enemy attacked -her, the boys took the liveliest part in battle,—manning -the guns, or handing shot and shell, or pressing -forward to repulse the boarders. When the ship struck -upon an iceberg, the boys almost fell from their seats in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">119</a></span> -the recoil. When the sails and topmasts were wellnigh -carried away by the gale, they seemed to be straining -themselves to prevent the damage; and when at length -the ship triumphantly sailed into her destined port with -colors flying and signals of glad tidings floating from her -topmast, and the shout of welcome rose from thousands -of expectant freedmen on the shore, the boys gave three -loud cheers, “Hurrah! Hurrah!! Hurrah!!!” This irrepressible -explosion of their feelings brought them at -once to themselves. They blushed, covered their faces, -sank down on their seats, one of them upon the floor. -It was an ingenuous, thrilling tribute to the surpassing -power of the orator, and only added to the zest and -heartiness with which the whole audience applauded -(to use the words of another at the time) “the persuasive -reasonings, the earnest appeals, the melting pathos, -the delightful but caustic irony and enrapturing eloquence -of Mr. Thompson.”</p> - -<p>Thus commenced his brilliant career in this country. -The Groton Convention lasted two days, the 1st and 2d -of October. Mr. Thompson went thence immediately -to Lowell, where he spoke to a delighted crowd on the -5th. Four days after, on the 9th of October, he gave -his first address in Boston. It was at an adjourned -meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. All -the prominent Abolitionists, who could be, were there -to see and hear “the almost inspired apostle of negro -emancipation,” who had “come over to help us.” Every -one that heard him then felt that his signal gifts had -not been overrated, and joined in thanksgiving to the -God of the oppressed, whose Holy Spirit, we believed, -had moved him to consecrate those gifts to the abolition -of slavery.</p> - -<p>Reports of Mr. Thompson’s eloquence spread rapidly, -and invitations came to him from all quarters. The day<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">120</a></span> -after the meeting in Boston he went into the State of -Maine, and lectured on the 12th in Portland, on the 13th -in Brunswick, on the 15th in Augusta. Everywhere he -was heard with delight, and made many converts. At -Augusta, it is true, he received an angry letter from five -“gentlemen of property and standing,” informing him -that his “coming to their city had given great offence,” -and admonishing him not to presume to address the -public there again. But his engagements elsewhere, -rather than their threats, obliged him to leave immediately. -The next evening he lectured in the neighboring -city of Hallowell, where the people heard him gladly. -On the 17th he delivered an address in Waterville, which -was listened to by most of the students and several of -the faculty of the College, and made deep impressions -upon a large number. On the 20th he spoke again to a -crowded audience in Brunswick, with like effect upon -the students and faculty of Bowdoin College. Returning, -he lectured at Portland in six different churches, to -large and delighted audiences, before the close of the -month; and then came into New Hampshire and gave -lectures in Plymouth, Concord, and other places, on his -way back to Boston. After a few days’ repose, he went -forth again, in answer to many urgent invitations, and -lifted up his voice for the enslaved in Rhode Island, -Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Whoever -will turn over the leaves of the <cite>Liberator</cite> for 1834 -and 1835 will find on almost every page some admiring -mention of Mr. Thompson’s lectures or speeches, and -grateful acknowledgments of the deep impressions his -words had made.</p> - -<p>It is true that in the same paper will be found, under -the appropriate head “<cite>Refuge of Oppression</cite>,” extracts -from newspapers and letters from all parts of the country, -denouncing, execrating him, and calling upon the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">121</a></span> -patriotic to put a stop to his incendiary career. He -was a foreign intruder, who had come here to “meddle -with a delicate matter about which he could know nothing.” -He was “a British emissary, sent to embroil the -Northern with the Southern States, and break up our -glorious Union.” He was “the paid agent of the enemies -of republican institutions, supported in our midst, -that he might do all in his power to prevent the success -of the grandest experiment in national government ever -tried on earth.” The changes were rung on these and -similar charges until those, who could be deceived thereby, -were maddened in their fear and hatred of Mr. -Thompson. He was threatened with all kinds of ill-treatment; -yet he went fearlessly wherever he was invited -to speak, and not unfrequently disarmed and converted -some who had come to the meetings intending -to do him harm.</p> - -<p>In several of his lecturing tours I was his companion; -and I wondered how any persons who heard him speak, -in public or in private, could suspect or be persuaded -that he was an enemy of our country. I was continually -surprised, as well as delighted, by the evidences he -gave of his just appreciation of the principles of our -government, and the admiration of them that he always -cordially expressed. Having hitherto contemplated our -Republic from a distance, he seemed to have taken a -more comprehensive view of it than too many of our -own citizens, even statesmen, had done, whose regard for -the whole nation had been warped by their concern for -the supposed interests of a section or a State. Mr. -Thompson’s detestation of slavery was intensified by his -clear perception of the corruption it had diffused throughout -our body politic and body ecclesiastic; and, if not -abolished, the ruin it would inevitably bring upon our -country, called, in the providence of God, to be “the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">122</a></span> -land of the free and the asylum of the oppressed.” No -American patriot ever felt, for no human heart could -feel, a deeper, more sincere, or more intelligent concern -for the honor, glory, perpetuity of our Republic than -Mr. Thompson felt and evinced in his every word and -act. Few home-born lovers of our country have done a -tithe as much as he did to save her from the ruin she -was bringing upon herself by her recreancy to the fundamental -principles, upon which she professed to stand. -Not a dozen names, of those who have lived within -the last forty years, deserve to stand higher on the list -of our public benefactors than the name of George -Thompson.</p> - -<p>Yet was he maligned, hated, hunted, driven from our -shores. The story of the treatment he received is too -shameful to be told. During the last six months of his -stay here the persecution of him was continuous. The -newspapers, from Maine to Georgia, with a few most -honorable exceptions, denounced him daily, and called -for his punishment as an enemy, or his expulsion from -the country. Those few who dared to tell the truth testified, -not only to his enrapturing eloquence and his friendliness -to our nation, but to his eminently Christian deportment -and spirit. But the tide of persecution could -not be stayed. He was often insulted in the streets. -Meetings to which he spoke, or at which he was expected -to speak, were broken up by mobs. Rewards were offered -for his person or his life. Twice I assisted to help -his escape from the hands of hired ruffians.</p> - -<p>All this he bore, for the most part, with fortitude and -sweet serenity. He seemed less apprehensive of his danger -than his friends were. Sometimes he overawed the -men who were sent to take him by his dignified, heroic -bearing, and at other times dispelled their evil intentions -by his pertinent wit. I will give a single instance.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">123</a></span> -At one of the last meetings he addressed in -Boston, some Southerners cried <span class="locked">out:—</span></p> - -<p>“We wish we had you at the South. We would cut -your ears off, if not your head.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thompson promptly replied: “Would you? Then -should I cry out all the louder, ‘He that <em>hath</em> ears to -hear let him hear.’” It was irresistible. I believe the -Southerners themselves joined in the rapturous applause.</p> - -<p>On the 27th of September, 1835, we left Boston together -in a private conveyance,—he to lecture at Abington, -one of the most antislavery towns in the State, and -I at Halifax, a few miles beyond. On my return the -next morning I learnt that there had been a fearful onslaught -upon Mr. Thompson; and, when I called to take -him back to the city, I found him more subdued than I had -ever seen him. He had not expected ill-usage there. -As we passed the meeting-house, from which he and his -audience had been routed the night before, he was overcome -by his emotions. There lay strewn upon the -ground fragments of windows, blinds, and doors, and -some of the heavy missiles with which they had been broken -down. He fell back in the chaise, and for several -minutes gave way to his feelings. When able to command -himself he <span class="locked">said:—</span></p> - -<p>“What does it mean? Am I indeed an enemy of -your country? Do I deserve this at your hands? Testify -against me if you can, Mr. May. You know, if any -one does, what sentiments I have uttered, what spirit I -have evinced. You have been with me in private and in -public. Have you ever suspected me? Have you ever -heard a word from my lips unfriendly to your country,—your -magnificent, your might-be-glorious, but your -awfully guilty country? What have I said, what have I -done, that I should be treated as an enemy? Have not -all my words and all my acts tended to the removal of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">124</a></span> -an evil which is your nation’s disgrace, and, if permitted -to continue, must be your ruin?”</p> - -<p>We rode on in silence, for he knew my answers without -hearing them from my lips. But the outrage at -Abington assured us that the spirit of persecution was -rife in the land, and might manifest itself anywhere.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, Mr. Thompson accepted an invitation to -lecture a few days afterwards in the afternoon, by daylight, -at East Abington. Accordingly, on the 15th of -October, I went with him to the appointed place. We -had been credibly informed that a number of men were -going thither to take him, if they could do so without -harm to themselves. But the good men and women of -the town and neighborhood were up to the occasion. -The meeting-house was crowded, so that, though the evil -intenders were there in force, they soon saw that the -capture could not be made there. And then the wit, -the wisdom, the pathos, the eloquence of the speaker -disarmed them, took them captive, and, for the hour, at -least, made them delighted hearers.</p> - -<p>This was Mr. Thompson’s last public appearance during -his first year in America. All his friends insisted -that he must keep out of sight, and as soon as practicable -return to England. It was well known that his -life was in danger. That we had not attributed too -great malignity to our countrymen—even to the citizens -of Boston—was soon made apparent by their own -acts.</p> - -<p>It was announced in the <cite>Liberator</cite>, and so became -publicly known, that a regular meeting of the “Boston -Female Antislavery Society” would be held in the Hall, -46 Washington Street, on the 21st of October, 1835. -Without authority, it was reported by other papers that -Mr. Thompson was to address them; and it was more -than intimated that then and there would be the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">125</a></span> -and place to seize him. On the morning of that day -the following placard was posted in all parts of the -<span class="locked">city:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">“THOMPSON THE ABOLITIONIST.</p> - -<p>“That infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson, will hold -forth this afternoon at 46 Washington Street. The present -is a fair opportunity for the friends of the Union to <em>snake</em> -Thompson out! It will be a contest between the Abolitionists -and the friends of the Union. A purse of <em>one hundred -dollars</em> has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens, to -reward the individual who shall first lay violent hands on -Thompson, so that he may be brought to the Tar Kettle before -dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!”</p></blockquote> - -<p>The sequel of the infamous proceedings thus inaugurated -will be given hereafter. Mr. Thompson was not -there, and so the mob vented itself upon another. Mr. -Thompson was, and had been for several days, secreted -by his friends in Boston, and afterwards in Brookline, -Lynn, Salem, Phillips Beach, and elsewhere, until his -enemies were baffled in their pursuit of him, and -arrangements were made to take him safely out of the -country.</p> - -<p>On or about the 20th of November he was conveyed -in a small boat, rowed by two of his friends, from one -of the Boston wharves to a small English brig, that had -fortunately been consigned to Henry G. Chapman, one -of our earliest and best antislavery brothers; and in -that vessel he was carried to St. Johns. From that port -he sailed for England on the 28th of the same month. -Would that all my countrymen could read the letter -that he wrote to Mr. Garrison on the eve of his departure. -If words can truly express a man’s thoughts and -feelings, the words of that letter were written by a lover -of our country, a true philanthropist, a Christian hero.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="hp126">ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">There</span> were many noble confessors of the antislavery -gospel, and many self-sacrificing sufferers in the cause, -in various parts of our country, to whom I should be -doing great injustice not to speak particularly of their -services, if I were writing a complete history of our protracted -conflict for impartial liberty. But I must confine -myself, for the most part, to my personal recollections -of prominent events and the individuals who were -most conspicuous within my own limited view.</p> - -<p>It is to be hoped that a complete history of this second -American Revolution will, erelong, be written by -Mr. Garrison, the man of all others best qualified to -write it,—except that he will not give that prominence -to himself in his narrative which he took in the beginning -and occupied until emancipation was proclaimed -for all in bondage throughout our borders. He has been -the coryphæus of our antislavery band. He uttered -the first note that thrilled the heart of the nation. He, -more than any one, has corrected the national discord. -And he has led the grand symphony in which so many -millions of our countrymen at last have gladly, exultingly -joined.</p> - -<p>But so many have, at different periods and in various -ways, contributed to the glorious result that it will not -be possible even for Mr. Garrison to do ample justice to -all his fellow-laborers. Indeed, many of them cannot be -known to him, or to any one but the Omniscient. As<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">127</a></span> -in every other war, the fate of many a battle was decided -by the indomitable will and heroic self-sacrifice of -some nameless private soldier, who happened to be at -the point of imminent peril, so, no doubt, has a favorable -turn sometimes been given to our great enterprise -by the undaunted moral courage and persistent fidelity -of one and another, who are unknown but to Him who -seeth in secret.</p> - -<p>In my last article I gave an account of the bitter -persecution of Mr. Thompson. The fact that he was a -foreigner was used with great effect to exasperate the -mobocratic spirit against him; but the real gist of his -offence was the same that every one was guilty of, who -insisted upon the abolition of slavery.</p> - -<p>At the annual meeting of the American Antislavery -Society in May, 1835, I was sitting upon the platform -of the Houston Street Presbyterian Church in New -York, when I was surprised to see a gentleman enter -and take his seat who, I knew, was a partner in one of -the most prominent mercantile houses in the city. He -had not been seated long before he beckoned me to -meet him at the door. I did so. “Please walk out -with me, sir,” said he; “I have something of great importance -to communicate.” When we had reached the -sidewalk he said, with considerable emotion and emphasis, -“Mr. May, we are not such fools as not to know that -slavery is a great evil, a great wrong. But it was -consented to by the founders of our Republic. It was -provided for in the Constitution of our Union. A great -portion of the property of the Southerners is invested -under its sanction; and the business of the North, as -well as the South, has become adjusted to it. There are -millions upon millions of dollars due from Southerners -to the merchants and mechanics of this city alone, the -payment of which would be jeopardized by any rupture<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">128</a></span> -between the North and the South. We cannot afford, -sir, to let you and your associates succeed in your endeavor -to overthrow slavery. It is not a matter of principle -with us. It is a matter of business necessity. -We cannot afford to let you succeed. And I have called -you out to let you know, and to let your fellow-laborers -know, that we do not mean to allow you to succeed. -We mean, sir,” said he, with increased emphasis,—“we -mean, sir, to put you Abolitionists down,—by fair means -if we can, by foul means if we must.”</p> - -<p>After a minute’s pause I replied: “Then, sir, the -gain of gold must be better than that of godliness. Error -must be mightier than truth; wrong stronger than -right. The Devil must preside over the affairs of the -universe, and not God. Now, sir, I believe neither of -these propositions. If holding men in slavery be wrong, -it will be abolished. We shall succeed, your pecuniary -interests to the contrary notwithstanding.” He turned -hastily away; but he has lived long enough to find that -he was mistaken, and to rejoice in the abolition of slavery.</p> - -<p>We were soon made to realize that the words of the -New York merchant were not an unmeaning threat. He -had not spoken for himself, or any number of the moving -spirits of that commercial metropolis alone. He was -warranted in saying what he did by the pretty general -intention of the “gentlemen of property and standing” -throughout the country to put a stop to the antislavery -reform. The storm-clouds of persecution had gathered -heavily upon our Southern horizon. Fiery flashes of -wrath had often darted thence towards us. But we were -slow to believe that our Northern sky would ever become -so surcharged with hatred for those, who were only contending -for “the inalienable rights of man,” as to break -upon us in any serious harm. The summer and fall of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">129</a></span> -1835 dispelled our misplaced confidence. We found, to -our shame and dismay, that even New England had -leagued with the slaveholding oligarchy to quench the -spirit of impartial liberty, and uphold in our country -the most cruel system of domestic servitude the world -has ever known. The denunciations of the South were -reverberated throughout the North. The public ear was -filled with most wanton, cruel misrepresentations of our -sentiments and purposes, and closed, as far as possible, -against all our replies in contradiction, explanation, or -defence. The political newspapers, with scarcely an exception, -teemed with false accusations, the grossest abuse, -and the most alarming predictions of the ultimate effects -of our measures. The religious papers and periodicals -were no better. The churches in Boston, not less than -elsewhere, were closed against us. Not a minister<a id="FNanchor_B" href="#Footnote_B" class="fnanchor">B</a>—excepting -Dr. Channing, and the one in Pine Street -Church—would even venture to read a notice of an antislavery -meeting. Dr. Henry Ware, Jr., was denounced -and vilified for having done so from Dr. Channing’s -pulpit. All the public halls, too, of any tolerable size, -were one after the other refused us. Even Faneuil Hall, -the so-called cradle of American liberty, was denied to -our use, though asked for in a respectful petition signed -by the names of a hundred and twenty-five gentlemen -of Boston, whose characters were as irreproachable as -any in the city. But a few weeks afterwards, on the -21st of August, at the request of fifteen hundred of -the “gentlemen of property and standing,” that hall, in -which had been cradled the independence of the United -States, was turned into the Refuge of Slavery. There -as large a multitude as could crowd within its spacious -walls, with feelings of alarm for the safety of our country,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">130</a></span> -and of indignation at the Abolitionists as disturbers of -the peace, already excited by the grossest misrepresentations -of our sentiments, purposes, and acts, industriously -disseminated by newspapers and in reports of public -speeches throughout the Southern States,—there, in Faneuil -Hall, thousands of our fellow-citizens were infuriated -yet more against us by harangues from no less distinguished -civilians than the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, -Peleg Sprague, and Richard Fletcher. These gentlemen -reiterated all the common unproved charges against us, -and solemnly, eloquently, passionately argued and urged -that the enslavement of millions of the people in our -country was a matter with which we of the Northern -States had no right to meddle. It was a concern, they -insisted, of the Southern States alone, found there when -these portions of our Republic were about to emerge -from their colonial dependence upon Great Britain, and -left there by the framers of the Constitution, which was -meant to be the fundamental law of our glorious Union. -They harped upon the guaranties given to the slaveholders, -that they should be sustained and undisturbed in -<em>enforcing</em> their claim of <em>property</em> in the persons and services -of their laborers. And those gentlemen insisted -that the endeavors of Abolitionists to convince their fellow-citizens -of the heinous wickedness of holding human -beings in slavery gave just offence to those who were -guilty of the sin; violated the compact by which these -United States were held together, and, if they were permitted -to be prosecuted, would cause the dissolution of -the Union.</p> - -<p>Meetings of a similar character, in the same or a more -violent spirit of denunciation, were held in New York, -Philadelphia, Baltimore, and most of the cities of the -nation. What were the immediate effects of this general -outcry against us I shall narrate as briefly as I may.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">131</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp131">REIGN OF TERROR.</h3> - -<p>The nearly simultaneous uprising of the proslavery -hosts in 1835, and the almost universal outbreak of -violence upon our antislavery heads in all parts of the -country, from Louisiana to Maine, showed plainly -enough that Mr. Garrison’s demand for the immediate -emancipation of the enslaved had entered into the ear -of the whole nation. All the people had heard it, or -heard of it. It had received a heartfelt response from -not a few of the purest and best men and women in the -land. This was manifest at the Convention in Philadelphia, -in December, 1833, where were delegates from ten -of the States of our Union, all of whom seemed ready to -do, to dare, and to suffer whatever the cause of the oppressed -millions might require. It waked at once the -lyre of our Whittier, which has never slumbered since, -and inspired him to utter those thrilling strains which -all but tyrants and their minions love to hear. It drew -from Elizur Wright, Jr., Professor in Western Reserve -College, Ohio, in 1833, a thorough searching pamphlet -on “the sin of slavery.” It called out from Hon. Judge -William Jay, of New York, that “Inquiry,” which -brought so many to the conclusion that the Colonization -plan tended, if it were not <em>intended</em>, to perpetuate slavery, -and satisfied them that “the class of Americans called -Africans” (to use the pregnant title of Mrs. Child’s impressive -Appeal) had as much right to live in this country -and enjoy liberty here as any other Americans. Mr. -Garrison’s word gave rise to that memorable discussion -in Lane Seminary, of which I have heretofore given -some account, and which resulted in the departure, from -that narrow enclosure, of eighty preachers of the doctrine -of “immediate emancipation,” to repeat and urge their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">132</a></span> -deep convictions upon the willing and the unwilling in -almost every part of the land, which sent out Theodore -D. Weld and Henry B. Stanton and James A. Thome, -sons of thunder, whose voices reverberated throughout -our Middle, Western, and Southern States. Mr. Garrison’s -word came to the ears, and at once found its way to the -hearts, of those admirable ladies in South Carolina, Sarah -and Angelina Grimké, who erelong came to the North, -and bore their emphatic, eloquent, thrilling testimony to -the intrinsic, all-pervading sinfulness of that system of -domestic servitude to which they had been accustomed -from their birth. And, more than all, his word had -reached that high-souled, brave, courteous civilian, philanthropist, -and Christian in Alabama, Hon. James G. -Birney, who, as I shall hereafter relate, having for several -years devoted his time, his personal influence, and persuasive -eloquence to the Colonization cause, when he -came to see its essential injustice and proslavery tendency, -earnestly renounced his error. He forthwith -emancipated his slaves, paid them fairly for their services, -did all he could for their improvement, and thenceforward -consecrated himself, through much evil report -and bitter persecution, to the dissemination of the sentiments -and the accomplishment of the great object of the -American Antislavery Society. Immediately after his -conversion he wrote and published two letters addressed -to the American Presbyterians, of whose body he had -been a highly esteemed member. In those letters he -set forth most clearly the sinfulness of slaveholding, and -implored his brethren to turn from it, and rid themselves -wholly of the awful guilt of holding, or allowing others -to hold, human beings as their chattels personal, and -treating them as domesticated brutes.</p> - -<p>These and other instances might be adduced to show -how far and widely the antislavery doctrines had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">133</a></span> -made known at the time of which I am writing. But, -alas! there were a great many different and very disagreeable -evidences that <em>the truth</em>, which alone could make our -nation <em>free</em>, had been heard, or heard of, everywhere.</p> - -<h3 id="hp133">WALKER’S APPEAL.</h3> - -<p>It should be stated, however, that the excitement -which had become so general and so furious against the -Abolitionists throughout the slaveholding States was -owing in no small measure to an individual with whom -Mr. Garrison and his associates had had no connection. -David Walker, a very intelligent colored man of Boston, -having travelled pretty extensively over the United -States, and informed himself thoroughly of the condition -of the colored population, bond and free, had become so -exasperated that he set himself to the work of rousing -his fellow-sufferers to a due sense of “their degraded, -wretched, abject condition,” and preparing them for a -general and organized insurrection. In the course of the -year 1828 Mr. Walker gathered about him, in Boston and -elsewhere, audiences of colored men, into whom he strove -to infuse his spirit of determined, self-sacrificing rebellion -against their too-long endured and unparalleled oppression. -Little was known of these meetings, excepting by -those who had been specially called to them. But in -September, 1829, he published his “<em>Appeal to the colored -citizens of the world, in particular and very expressly to those -of the United States</em>.”</p> - -<p>It was a pamphlet of more than eighty octavo pages, -ably written, very impassioned and well adapted to its -purpose. The second and third editions of it were published -in less than twelve months. And Mr. Walker devoted -himself until his death, which happened soon after, -to the distribution of copies of this Appeal to colored<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">134</a></span> -men who were able to read it in every State of the -Union.</p> - -<p>Just as I had written the above sentence, Dr. W. H. -Irwin, of Louisiana, came in with an introduction to me. -He is one of many Union men who have been stripped -of their property and driven out of the State by President -Johnson’s and Mayor Monroe’s partisans. Learning -that he had been a resident many years in the Southern -States, I inquired if he saw or heard of Walker’s Appeal -in the time of it. He replied that he was living in -Georgia in 1834, was acquainted with the Rev. Messrs. -Worcester and Butler, missionaries to the Cherokees, -and knew that they were maltreated and imprisoned in -1829 or 1830 for having one of Walker’s pamphlets, as -well as for admitting some colored children into their -Indian school.</p> - -<p>So soon as this attempt to excite the slaves to insurrection -came to the knowledge of Mr. Garrison, he earnestly -deprecated it in his lectures, especially those -addressed to colored people. And in his first number -of the <cite>Liberator</cite> he repudiated the resort to violence, as -wrong in principle and disastrous in policy. His opinions -on this point were generally embraced by his followers, -and explicitly declared by the American Antislavery Society -in 1833.</p> - -<p>But as we wished that our fellow-citizens South as well -as North should be assured of our pacific principles, and -as we hoped to abolish the institution of slavery by convincing -slaveholders and their abettors of the exceeding -wickedness of the system, we did send our reports, tracts, -and papers to all white persons in the Southern States -with whom we were any of us acquainted, and to distinguished -individuals whom we knew by common fame, -to ministers of religion, legislators, civilians, and editors. -<em>But in no case did we send our publications to slaves.</em> This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">135</a></span> -we forbore to do, because we knew that few of them -could read; because our arguments and appeals were -not addressed to them; and especially because we -thought it probable that, if our publications should be -found in their possession, they would be subjected to -some harsher treatment.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding our precaution, the Southern “gentlemen -of property and standing” denounced us as incendiaries, -enemies, accused us of intending to excite -their bondmen to insurrection, and to dissolve the Union. -They would not themselves give any heed to our <em>exposé</em> -of the sin and danger of slavery, nor would they suffer -others so to do who seemed inclined to hear and consider. -They assaulted, lynched, imprisoned any one in -whose possession they found antislavery publications. -They waylaid the mails, or broke into post-offices, and -tore to pieces or burnt up all papers and pamphlets -from the North that contained aught against their “peculiar -institution,” and significantly admonished, if they -did not summarily punish, those to whom such publications -were addressed. Meetings were called in most, if -not all, of the principal cities of the South, at which -Abolitionists were denounced in unmeasured terms, and -the friends of the Union, North and South, and East and -West, were peremptorily summoned to suppress them. -By the votes of such meetings, and still more by the acts -of the Legislatures of several States, large rewards—$5,000, -$10,000, $20,000—were offered for the abduction -or assassination of Arthur Tappan, William Lloyd -Garrison, Amos A. Phelps, and other prominent antislavery -men. Moreover, letters of the most abusive character -were sent to us individually, threatening us with all -sorts of violence, arson, and murder.</p> - -<p>Sad to relate, the corrupting, demoralizing influence -of slavery was not confined to those who were directly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">136</a></span> -enforcing the great wrong upon their fellow-beings. -Those who had consented to such desecration of humanity -were found to be almost as much contaminated as -the slaveholders themselves. “The whole head of the -nation was sick, and the whole heart was faint.” The -“gentlemen of property and standing” at the North, -yes, even in Massachusetts, espoused the cause of the -slaveholders. The editors of most of the newspapers, religious -as well as secular, and of some of the graver periodicals, -nearly all of the popular orators, and very many -of the ministers of religion, spoke and wrote against the -doctrine of the Abolitionists. They extenuated the crime -of denying to fellow-men the God-given, inalienable rights -of humanity, apologized for those who had been born to -an inheritance of slaves, and insisted that “slavery was -an ordination of Providence, sanctioned by our sacred -Scriptures, even the Christian Scriptures.” This last -was the chief weapon with which the religionists throughout -the Northern as well as Southern States combated -the Abolitionists. Not a few sermons were preached in -various parts of New England, as well as New York and -other Middle States, in justification of slaveholding. -The professors of Princeton Theological School published -a pamphlet in defence of slavery, and Professor -Stuart, of Andover, the great leader of New England -orthodoxy, gave the abomination his sanction. The -record of our Cambridge Divinity School is much more -honorable. Dr. Henry Ware, Jr., evinced a deep interest -in our enterprise, and incurred some censure for -manifesting his interest. Dr. Follen identified himself -with us at an early day, and, as I shall tell hereafter, -was one of the sufferers in the cause; and Dr. Palfrey, -though at the time of which I am writing rather privately, -expressed an appreciation of our principles, which a -few years afterwards impelled him to pecuniary sacrifice<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">137</a></span> -and a course of conduct in Congress which deservedly -placed him high on the list of the antislavery worthies.<a id="FNanchor_C" href="#Footnote_C" class="fnanchor">C</a> -All the large, influential ecclesiastical bodies in our country—the -Presbyterian, the Episcopal, the Methodist, -the Baptist—threw over the churches of their sects -throughout the Southern States the shield of their consent -to, if not their approval of, slaveholding; and, I -grieve to add, the American Unitarian Association could -not be induced to pronounce its condemnation of the -tremendous sin, the sum of all iniquities.</p> - -<p>Most religionists of every name, our own not excepted, -insisted that slavery was a political institution, with -which, as Christians, it would be inexpedient for us to -meddle; and the politicians and merchants did all in -their power to disseminate this view of the matter, and -close the doors of the churches and the lips of the ministers -against this “exciting subject.” I need not add -they were too successful.</p> - -<p>Most of the prominent statesmen, and all the political -demagogues of both parties, took the ground that -the great question as to the enslavement of the colored -population of the South was <em>settled</em> by the framers of -the Constitution; that it was a matter to be left exclusively -to the States in which slavery existed; that to -meddle with it was to violate the provisions of the fundamental -law of the land and loosen the bands of the -Union. Therefore the Abolitionists were to be regarded -as disturbers of the public peace, incendiaries, enemies -of their country, traitors. And it was proclaimed by -many in high authority, and shouted everywhere by the -baser sort, “that the Abolitionists ought to be abolished,” -by any means that should be found necessary. -Thus outlawed, given up to the fury of the populace, we -were subjected to abuses and outrages, of which I can -give only a brief account.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">138</a></span> -We were slow to believe that our fellow-citizens of -the New England States could be so besotted by the influence -of the institution of slavery, that they would -<em>outrage our persons</em> in its defence. We had had proofs -enough that “the gentlemen of property and standing,” -“the wise and prudent,” with their dependants, had -shut their ears against the truth, and turned away their -eyes from the grievous wrongs we were imploring our -country to redress. This treatment we had experienced, -with increasing frequency, ever since the formation of -the American Antislavery Society, in December, 1833. -But we were unwilling to apprehend anything worse, -certainly in Massachusetts. We trusted that our persons -would be sacred, though we had learned that the -liberty of speech and of the press was not.</p> - -<p>Late in the fall of 1833 I delivered, in Boylston Hall, -at the request of the New England Antislavery Society, -a discourse “On the Principles and Purposes of the -Abolitionists, and the Means by which they intended to -subvert the Institution of Slavery.” The audience was -large, and among my hearers I was delighted to see my -good friend (afterwards Dr.) F. W. P. Greenwood, then -one of the editors of the <cite>Christian Examiner</cite>. He remained -after the meeting was over, and to my great joy -said to me, “I have liked your discourse much. I wish -everybody who is opposed to the antislavery reform -could hear or read it. If you will prepare it as an article -for the <cite>Examiner</cite>, I will publish it there.” Glad of -this avenue to the minds and hearts of so many who I -especially wished should understand and appreciate the -work to which I had wholly committed myself, I set -about converting my discourse into a review of our best -antislavery publications, and making it, as a literary production, -more worthy of a place in the chief periodical -of our denomination. It was too late for the January<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">139</a></span> -number, 1834, so I aimed to have it in readiness for the -March number. In due time I called at the office and -inquired how soon my manuscript would be wanted. -The publisher asked what was the subject of my article; -and on learning that it was to be an explanation of the -sentiments and purposes of the Abolitionists, he said, to -my astonishment, with much emphasis, “We do not -want it; it cannot be published.” “Why,” I said, “is -not Mr. Greenwood one of the editors, and do not he -and his colleague decide what shall be put into the <cite>Examiner</cite>?” -“Generally they do,” he replied; “indeed, I -never interfered before. But in this case I must and -shall. The <cite>Examiner</cite> is my property. It would be seriously -damaged if an article favoring Abolition should -appear in it. I should lose most of my subscribers in -the slave, and many in the free States. And I cannot -afford to make such a sacrifice.” But I rejoined, “Mr. -Greenwood has heard all the essential parts of the article. -He approved of it, thought it would do good, and requested -me to prepare it for publication.” Mr. B. replied, -with more earnestness than before, “Mr. May, it shall -not be published. If I should find it all printed on the -pages of the <cite>Examiner</cite>, just ready to be issued, I would -suppress the number and publish another, with some -other article in the place of yours.”</p> - -<p>I hastened to Mr. Greenwood for redress. With evident -mortification and sorrow he confessed his inability -to do me justice. Nevertheless, in the July number, -1834, there was allowed to be published, on the 397th -page, a paragraph, written by one of the Boston ministers, -“for the special instruction of such ardent, but -mistaken philanthropists among us as think they are -justified, from their abhorrence of slavery, and their -zeal for universal emancipation, to interfere with the -constitutions of civil governments, or the personal rights -of individuals.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">140</a></span> -Having permitted such an assault to be made upon -us in their pages, I could not doubt that the editors of -the <cite>Examiner</cite> would suffer me to be heard in defence. -I therefore prepared carefully a respectful “letter” to -them, trusting it would appear in their next number. -But, to my surprise and serious displeasure, it was excluded. -The letter was accordingly published in the -<cite>Liberator</cite>, which, here let me say to its distinctive -honor, always allowed the foes as well as the friends of -freedom and humanity a place in its columns. And the -editors of the <cite>Examiner</cite>, unsolicited, did me the favor, -in their November number, 1834, page 282, to refer to -my letter, commending its “eloquence and its good -spirit, although circumstances obliged them to decline -publishing it, and advising their readers to procure it -and read it, and the documents to which it refers.” -This evinced the willingness of those gentlemen to deal -fairly, but showed that they were <em>in bondage</em>.</p> - -<p>Immediately after the first New England Antislavery -Convention, which closed on the 29th of May, 1834, I -devoted four or five weeks to lecturing on the Abolition -of Slavery in most of the principal towns between Boston -and Portland. In several places there were strong -expressions of hostility to our undertaking. But nothing -like personal violence was offered me. I stopped over -Sunday, 8th of June, at Portsmouth, to supply brother A. -P. Peabody’s pulpit, that he might preach in a neighboring -town. I consented to do this, on the condition that -I might deliver an antislavery lecture from his pulpit on -Sunday evening. This he gladly agreed to, and took -pains to publish my intention. But, greatly to my surprise, -after the forenoon service, the Trustees of the -church waited upon me, and informed me that, at the -earnest demand of many prominent members, I should -not be allowed to speak on slavery from their pulpit;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">141</a></span> -that the meeting-house would not be opened that evening. -My remonstrance with them was of no avail. So at the -close of my afternoon services I said to the congregation: -“You are all doubtless aware that I had arranged with -your excellent pastor to deliver a lecture on American -slavery from this desk this evening. But during the -intermission your Trustees called and peremptorily forbade -my doing so. Has our consenting with the oppressors -of the poor indeed brought us to this? That I, who -am striving to be a minister of Him “who came to break -every yoke” am forbidden to plead with you who are -reputed to be an eminently Christian church the cause -of millions of our countrymen who are suffering the -most abject bondage ever enforced upon human beings? -I know not, I do not wish to know, who those prominent -members of your church are that have presumed to -close this pulpit, and deny to others the right to manifest -their sympathy for the down-trodden, and to hear -what may and should be done for their relief. The time -shall come when those prominent ones will be brought -down, and their children and children’s children will be -ashamed to hear of their act.”</p> - -<p>With this exception, and an unsuccessful attempt to -disturb a meeting that I was addressing in Worcester, I -met with no serious molestation in any of the towns of -Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine, where I lectured -during the summer and autumn of 1834. The -faces of many of the rich and fashionable were averted -from me; but “the common people” seemed to hear me -gladly. Politicians and would-be statesmen often encountered -me in the stage-coaches and at the hotels -where I stopped. Many of our conflicts were amusing -rather than terrible. They always based themselves -upon “the provisions of the Constitution,” about which -it was soon made to appear, that they knew little or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">142</a></span> -nothing. They took it for granted that the fathers of -our Republic agreed that slavery should exist in any of -the States where the white citizens chose to have it; and -that the Constitution of our Union gave certain guarantees -for the protection of their “peculiar institution” -to the States in which it was maintained. Moreover, -these political savans insisted that the Constitution provided -that this matter should be left wholly to the slaveholders -themselves; and that all condemnation of it as -a wicked system, and the exposure of its evils and its -horrors, was a violation of State comity, if not of the -<em>rights</em> of our fellow-citizens of the South.</p> - -<p>Perceiving how little most of such friends of the Union -knew about the fundamental law of our Republic, and -finding, on inquiry, that copies of the Constitution were -in that day very scarce, I not unfrequently shut up my -opponents almost as soon as they opened their mouths -upon the subject. When they ventured to say, “The -Constitution, sir, settled this question in the beginning,” -I would inquire, “My friend, have you ever read -the Constitution?” “Everybody knows, sir, that slavery—” -“Have you, yourself, read that document -to which you appeal?” “Why, sir, do you presume -to deny that guarantees—” “My friend, I ask again, -have you yourself ever read the Constitution of the -United States? I do not care to go into an argument -with you until I know whether you are acquainted with -our great national charter.” In this way, time and again, -I drew from my would-be opponents (sometimes justices -of the peace), the acknowledgment that they had never -themselves seen a copy of the Constitution, but supposed -that what everybody, except the Abolitionists, said -of its provisions must be true. Occurrences of this sort -I reported to the managers of the Antislavery Society -so frequently, that they caused a large edition of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">143</a></span> -United States Constitution to be printed, so that copies -of it might be distributed with our tracts, wherever the -agents and lecturers saw fit. This was one of the <em>naughty</em> -things we did, so inimical to the peace and well-being of -our country.</p> - -<p>The discussions which I had with sundry individuals -who were acquainted with the subject led me to study -the Constitution with greater care and deeper interest -than ever before. It seemed to me that we owed it to -the memory of those venerated men whose names are -conspicuous in the early history of our Republic—those -men who so solemnly pledged “their lives, their -fortunes, and their sacred honor” to the cause of freedom -and the inalienable rights of man—to exonerate -them, if we fairly could, from the awful responsibility -that was laid upon them by those who insisted that they -<em>guaranteed</em> to the Southern States the unquestioned exercise -of their assumed right to enforce the <em>enslavement</em> -of one sixth part of the population of the land, many -of whom had shared with them in all the hardships and -perils of their struggles for independence. It seemed to -me that every article of the Constitution usually quoted -as intended to favor the assumptions of slaveholders -admitted of an opposite interpretation, and that we were -bound by every honorable and humane consideration to -prefer that interpretation. The conclusions to which I -was brought on this subject I gave some time afterwards -in the <cite>Antislavery Magazine</cite> for 1836. But the publication -of the “Madison Papers,” in which was given the -minutes, debates, etc., of the convention which framed -the Constitution, I confess, disconcerted me somewhat. -I could not so easily maintain my ground in the discussions -which afterwards agitated so seriously the Abolitionists -themselves,—some maintaining that the Constitution -was, and was intended to be, proslavery; others<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">144</a></span> -maintaining that it was antislavery. It seemed to me -that it might be whichever the people pleased to make -it. I rejoice, therefore, with joy unspeakable that the -question is at length practically settled, though by the -issue of our late awful war.</p> - -<h3 id="hp144">THE CLERGY AND THE QUAKERS.</h3> - -<p>The coming of George Thompson to our country in -the fall of 1834, and his thrilling eloquence respecting -our great national iniquity, awakened general attention -to the subject, and caused more excitement about it than -before. He came, as it were, a missionary from the -philanthropists of Great Britain to show our people their -transgression. The politicians tried to get up the public -indignation against him as “a foreign emissary interfering -with our political affairs.” The religionists resented -his coming as an impertinence, though <em>they</em> were much -engaged in sending missionaries to the heathen to reclaim -them from sins no more heinous than ours. Nevertheless, -the people flocked to hear him, and many were converted. -The demand for antislavery lectures came from -all parts of New England, and from many parts of the -Middle and Western States. A great work was to be -done. The fields were whitening to the harvest, but the -laborers were few. I therefore accepted the renewed -invitation of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society to -become its General Agent and Corresponding Secretary, -and removed to Boston early in the spring of 1835. -Many of my nearest relatives and dearest friends received -me kindly, but with sadness. They feared I should lose -my standing in the ministry and become an outcast from -the churches. For a while it seemed as if their apprehensions -were not groundless. None of the Boston ministers, -excepting Dr. Channing, welcomed me. Dr. Follen,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">145</a></span> -Dr. Ware, Jr., and Dr. Palfrey were then resident in -Cambridge; Mr. Pierpont was in Europe. James Freeman -Clarke had not left Louisville, and Theodore Parker -was a student in the Divinity School. I was indeed soon -made to feel that I was not in good repute. Dr. Ware, -who had charge of the Hollis Street pulpit in the absence -of the pastor, invited me to supply it, if I found I -could do so consistently with my new duties. I engaged -for two Sundays. But at the close of the first, one of the -chief officers of the church waited upon me, by direction -of the principal members, and requested me not to enter -their pulpit again, assuring me, if I should do so, that a -dozen or more of the prominent men with their families -would leave the house. Of course I yielded that, and I -was not invited into any other pulpit in the city, excepting -Dr. Channing’s, during the fifteen months that I resided -there.</p> - -<p>Soon after my removal to Boston I was informed that -a young and very popular minister in a neighboring -town had preached an antislavery sermon on the Fast -Day then just past. I hurried to see him, and requested -him to read to me the sermon. He did so. It was an -admirable <em>exposé</em> of the wickedness of holding men in -slavery, and of the duty incumbent upon all Christian -and humane persons to do what they could to break such -a yoke. It was the outpouring of an ingenuous, benevolent, -generous heart, that deeply felt for the wrongs of -the outraged millions in our country.</p> - -<p>I begged a copy of the discourse for the press, assuring -him it would be a most valuable contribution to the cause -of the oppressed. He consented to let me have it, promising -that, after retouching and fitting it for the press, he -would send it to me. I returned to the Antislavery office -and made arrangements to publish a large edition of that, -which would then have been a remarkable sermon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">146</a></span> -After waiting more than a week for the promised -manuscript I called upon the author again. In answer -to my inquiry why he had not fulfilled his promise he -said: “I have concluded not to allow the discourse to -be published. Some of the most prominent members of -our church have earnestly advised me not to give it to -the press.” “Why,” said I, “have they convinced you -that slaveholding is not as sinful as you represented it -to be, or that you have been misinformed as to the condition -of our enslaved countrymen?” “O no,” he replied, -“but then this is a very complicated, difficult -matter between our Northern and Southern States, and -I have been admonished to let it alone.” “Do you -believe,” I inquired, “that those who so admonished -you were prompted to give you such advice by their -sense of justice to the enslaved, their compassion for -those millions to whom all rights are denied, and whose -conjugal, parental, filial, and fraternal affections are -trampled under foot? Or were they influenced by pecuniary, -or by party political considerations?” “It is not -for me, sir, to say what their motives were,” he replied, -in a tone that intimated displeasure. “They are among -my best friends, and the most respectable members of -my parish. I am bound to give heed to their counsel. -I mean so to do. I shall not allow my sermon to be published. -I shall not commit myself to the antislavery -cause.” “Let me only say,” I added, “if you do not -commit yourself to the cause of the <em>oppressed</em>, you will -probably, erelong, be found on the side of the <em>oppressor</em>.” -So we parted. And my prediction was fulfilled.</p> - -<p>Two or three years afterwards it was reported that the -same gentleman, having visited the Southern States and -enjoyed the hospitality of the slaveholders, returned and -preached a discourse very like “The South Side View of -Slavery,” by Dr. Adams, of Essex Street.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">147</a></span> -On Fast Day, 1852, it so happened that I was visiting -a parishioner of this brother minister. I accompanied -him to church, and heard from that very able and eloquent -preacher the most unjust and cruel sermon against -the Abolitionists that I had ever listened to or read.</p> - -<p>This incident and my reception in Boston prepared me -in a measure for the warning given me by the New York -merchant, as related on page <a href="#Page_127">127</a>. Still, I could not -think so badly of my fellow-citizens, my fellow-Christians -of the North, the New England States, as I was -afterwards compelled to do.</p> - -<p>That the cancer of slavery had eaten still deeper than -I was willing to believe was soon after made too apparent -to me.</p> - -<h3 id="hp147">THE QUAKERS.</h3> - -<p>We had always counted upon the aid and co-operation -of the <em>Quakers</em>. We considered them “birthright” -Abolitionists. And many of Mr. Garrison’s earliest supporters, -most untiring co-laborers, and generous contributors -were members of “the Society of Friends,” or had -been. Besides John G. Whittier and James and Lucretia -Mott, Evan Lewis, Thomas Shipley, and others, of -whom I have already spoken, in my account of the Philadelphia -Convention, there were the venerable Moses -Brown, and the indefatigable Arnold Buffum, and that -remarkable man, Isaac T. Hopper, and the large-hearted, -open-handed Andrew Robeson and William Rotch, and -Isaac and Nathan Winslow, and Nathaniel Barney, and -Joseph and Anne Southwick,<a id="FNanchor_D" href="#Footnote_D" class="fnanchor">D</a> and fifty more, whose -praises I should delight to celebrate.</p> - -<p>But we had received no expression of sympathy from -any “Yearly” or “Monthly Meeting,” and we felt moved -to <em>seek a sign</em> from them. Accordingly, at the suggestion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">148</a></span> -of some of the Friends who were actively engaged with -us, I went to Newport, R. I., in June, 1835, at the time -of the great New England Yearly Meeting, to see if I -could obtain from them any intimation of friendliness. -My wife accompanied me. When we arrived at the principal -hotel in the place, where I was told we should find -“the weighty” as well as a large number of the lighter -members of the Society, we were at a loss to account for -the fluster of the landlord and his helpers, and the tardiness -with which we were informed that we could be -accommodated. After we had got established, I learned -from one who had urged my coming, that there had -been quite a commotion in consequence of the report -that the General Agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery -Society was about to visit the “Yearly Meeting.” William -——, and William ——, and Oliver ——, and -Isaac ——, and Thomas ——, wealthy cotton manufacturers -and merchants, had bestirred themselves to prevent -such “an intrusion,” as they were pleased to term -it. They had secured the public halls of Newport -against me during the continuance of the “Yearly Meeting,” -and had been trying, on the morning of the day -that I arrived, to induce the landlord to refuse me any -accommodation in his house. And they would have succeeded, -had not forty of his boarders informed him that -if he did not receive me they would quit his premises. -These forty, though of less account in the meeting, -which, I learned, was governed by the aristocracy that -occupied the high seats, were more weighty in the receipts -of the hotel-keeper. He therefore compromised -with the dignitaries by agreeing to serve their meals in a -private parlor, so that their eyes might not be offended -at the sight of the antislavery agent in the common -dining hall.</p> - -<p>I sought, through several of their very respectable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">149</a></span> -members, permission to attend their “Meeting on Sufferings” -and present to their consideration the principles -and plans of the American Antislavery Society and its -auxiliaries. This request was peremptorily denied. I -then besought them to give their “testimony on slavery,” -as they had sometimes done in times past. This they -also refused.</p> - -<p>An arrangement was then made by the members who -were Abolitionists, many of whom boarded with me at -“Whitfield’s,” that I should address as many as saw fit -to meet me in the large reception-room of the hotel, in -the evening of the second day of my visit. So soon as -this was known, it was asked of me if I would consent -to let the meeting be conducted somewhat in the manner -of “the Society of Friends” so that any who should -be moved to speak might have the liberty. I acquiesced -most cheerfully, not doubting that I should be moved, -and should be expected to address the meeting first and -give the direction to it.</p> - -<p>Fifty or sixty persons assembled at the hour appointed. -Deeming it respectful to my Quaker brethren to -sit in silence a few minutes after the meeting came to -order, I did so, and in so doing lost my chance to be -heard. A wily brother took advantage of my sense of -propriety, rose before me and delivered a long discourse -upon slavery, made up of the commonplaces and platitudes -of the subject, about which all were agreed. He -was followed instantly by another in the same vein, and -when the evening was far spent and the auditors were -beginning to withdraw, I was permitted to speak a few -minutes upon the vital points in the questions between -the immediate Abolitionists and the slaveholders on the -one hand, and the Colonizationists on the other hand.</p> - -<p>However, the next morning, in the presence of twenty -or more, I had unexpectedly a long and pretty thorough<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">150</a></span> -discussion with the distinguished John Griscom, so that -my visit to Newport was not wholly lost.</p> - -<p>I am sorry that truth compels me to add, that afterwards -we had too many proofs that “the Society of -Friends,” with all their antislavery professions, were not, -as a religious sect, much more friendly than others to the -immediate emancipation of the enslaved without expatriation. -They were disposed to be Colonizationists rather -than Abolitionists.</p> - -<h3 id="hp150">THE REIGN OF TERROR.</h3> - -<p>Rejected as we Abolitionists were generally by the -religionists of every denomination, denounced by many -of the clergy as dangerous, yes, impious persons, refused -a hearing in almost all the churches, it was not strange -that the statesmen and politicians had no mercy upon us.</p> - -<p>The first most serious opposition from any minister I -myself directly encountered was in the pleasant town -of Taunton. I went thither on the 15th of April, 1835, -and had a very successful meeting in the Town Hall, -which was filled full with respectable persons of both -sexes. So much interest in the subject was awakened -that a large number on the spot signified their readiness -to co-operate with those who were laboring to procure the -abolition of American slavery. To my surprise, the -most prominent minister in the town, a learned and -liberal theologian, and a gentleman of unexceptionable -private character, took the utmost pains to prevent the -formation of an auxiliary antislavery society there. He -declared that “the slaves were the property of their -masters,” that “we of the North had no more right -to disturb this <em>domestic arrangement</em> of our Southern -brethren, and prevent the prosecution of their industrial -operations, than the planters had to interfere with our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">151</a></span> -manufactures and commerce.” He dealt out to the -Abolitionists no small number of opprobrious epithets; -charged us with being the cause of the New York mobs -of October, 1834, and insisted that, if we “were permitted -to prosecute our measures, it would inevitably -dissolve the Union and cause a civil war.”</p> - -<p>This was the substance of the <em>verbal</em> opposition that -we met with everywhere throughout the Northern, -Middle, and Western States; strengthened by the arguments -of the civilians and statesmen, intended to show -that the enslavement of the colored population of certain -States was settled by the <em>founders</em> of our Republic, who -made several compromises in relation to it, and gave -sundry guarantees to the slaveholders which must be -held sacred.</p> - -<p>Many timid persons everywhere, by such assertions -and appeals, were deterred from yielding to the convictions -which the self-evident truths, urged by the Abolitionists, -awakened. Still the cause of the oppressed made -visible progress in all parts of the non-slaveholding -States. Alarmed by this, the barons of the South, as -Mr. Adams significantly styled them, stirred up their -dependants and partisans to demand something more of -their Northern brethren than denunciation and opprobrium -against the Abolitionists. “They must be put -down by law or <em>without law</em>, as the necessity of the case -might require.” And the determination to do <em>just this</em> -was at length come to by “the gentlemen of property -and standing” throughout the North, as the New York -merchant, mentioned on the foregoing <a href="#Page_127">127</a>th page informed -me.</p> - -<p>In pursuance of this determination, the great meeting -in Faneuil Hall, called, as I have said already, by fifteen -hundred of the respectable gentlemen of Boston, was held -on the 21st of August, 1835. The grave misrepresentations,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">152</a></span> -the plausible arguments, the inflammatory appeals -made by the very distinguished civilians who addressed -that meeting, invoked those demon spirits throughout -New England that did deeds, of which I hope the instigators -themselves became heartily ashamed.</p> - -<p>How devilish those spirits were I was made to know a -few evenings after that never-to-be-forgotten meeting. I -went to the quiet town of Haverhill, by special invitation -from John G. Whittier and a number more of the genuine -friends of humanity. I had lectured there twice before -without opposition, and went again not apprehending -any disturbance. The meeting was held in the Freewill -Baptist Church,—a large hall over a row of stores. -The audience was numerous, occupying all the seats and -evidently eager to hear. I had spoke about fifteen minutes, -when the most hideous outcries, yells, from a -crowd of men who had surrounded the house startled us, -and then came heavy missiles against the doors and blinds -of the windows. I persisted in speaking for a few minutes, -hoping the blinds and doors were strong enough to -stand the siege. But presently a heavy stone broke -through one of the blinds, shattered a pane of glass and -fell upon the head of a lady sitting near the centre of the -hall. She uttered a shriek and fell bleeding into the arms -of her sister. The panic-stricken audience rose <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">en masse</i>, -and began a rush for the doors. Seeing the danger, I -shouted in a voice louder than I ever uttered before or -since, “<em>Sit down, every one of you, sit down!</em> The doors -are not wide; the platform outside is narrow; the stairs -down to the street are steep. If you go in a rush, you -will jam one another, or be thrown down and break your -limbs, if not your necks. If there is any one here whom -the mob wish to injure, it is myself. I will stand here -and wait until you are safely out of the house. But you -must go in some order as I bid you.” To my great joy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">153</a></span> -they obeyed. All sat down, and then rose, as I told them -to, from the successive rows of pews, and went out without -any accident.</p> - -<p>When the house was nearly empty I took on my arm -a brave young lady, who would not leave me to go -through the mob alone, and went out. Fortunately -none of the ill-disposed knew me. So we passed through -the lane of madmen unharmed, hearing their imprecations -and threats of violence to the —— Abolitionist -when he should come out.</p> - -<p>It was well we had delayed no longer to empty the -hall, for at the corner of the street above we met a -posse of men more savage than the rest, dragging a cannon, -which they intended to explode against the building -and at the same time tear away the stairs; so furious -and bloodthirsty had “the baser sort” been made by -the instigations of “the gentlemen of property and -standing.”</p> - -<p>In October it was thought advisable for me to go and -lecture in several of the principal towns of Vermont. I -did so, and everywhere I met with contumely and insult. -I was mobbed five times. In Rutland and Montpelier -my meetings were dispersed with violence. Of the last -only shall I give any account, because I had been specially -invited to Montpelier to address the Vermont State -Antislavery Society. The Legislature was in session -there at that time, and many of the members of that -body were Abolitionists. We were, therefore, without -much opposition, granted the use of the Representatives’ -Hall for our first meeting, on the evening of October -20. A large number of persons—as many as the hall -could conveniently hold—were present, including many -members of the Legislature, and ladies not a few. -There were some demonstrations of displeasure in the -yard of the Capitol and a couple of eggs and a stone or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">154</a></span> -two were thrown through the window before which I was -standing. But their force was spent before they reached -me, and therefore they were not suffered to interrupt -my discourse. At the close, I was requested to tarry -in Montpelier and address the public again the next -evening from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian -Church, the largest audience-room in the village. This -I gladly consented to do. But the next morning placards -were seen all about the village, admonishing “the -people generally, and ladies in particular, not to attend -the antislavery meeting proposed to be held that evening -in the Presbyterian church, as the person who is -advertised to speak will certainly be prevented, <em>by violence -if necessary</em>.” In the afternoon I received a letter -signed by the President of the bank, the Postmaster, -and five other “gentlemen of property and standing” -in Montpelier, requesting me to leave town “without -any further attempt to hold forth the absurd doctrine of -antislavery, and save them the trouble of using any -other measures to that effect.” But as I had accepted -the invitation to deliver a second lecture, I determined -to make the attempt so to do, these threats notwithstanding. -Accordingly, just before the hour appointed, -with a venerable Quaker lady on my arm, I proceeded -to the meeting-house and took a seat in the pulpit. -After a prayer had been offered by Rev. Mr. Hurlbut, I -rose to speak. But I had hardly uttered a sentence -when the ringleader of the riot, Timothy Hubbard, Esq., -rose with a gang about him and commanded me to desist. -I replied, “Is this the respect paid to the <em>liberty -of speech</em> by the free people of Vermont? Let any one -of your number step forward and give reasons, if he can, -why his fellow-citizens, who wish, should not be permitted -to hear the lecture I have been invited here to deliver. -If I cannot show those reasons to be fallacious,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">155</a></span> -false, I will yield to your demand. But for the sake of -one of our essential rights, the liberty of speech, I shall -proceed if I can.” While I was saying these words the -rioters were still. But so soon as I commenced my -lecture again, Mr. Hubbard and his fellows cried out, -“Down with him!” “Throw him over!” “Choke him!” -Hon. Chauncy L. Knapp, then, or afterwards, I believe, -Secretary of State, remonstrated earnestly, implored his -fellow-citizens not to continue disgracing themselves, the -town, and the State. But his words were of no avail. -The moment I attempted a third time to speak the -rioters commenced a rush for the pulpit, loudly shouting -their violent intentions. At this crisis Colonel Miller, -well known as the companion of Dr. Howe in a generous -endeavor to aid Greece in her struggle for independence -in 1824,—Colonel Miller, renowned for his courage and -prowess, sprang forward and planted himself in front of -the leader, crying in a voice of thunder, “Mr. Hubbard, -if you do not stop this outrage now, I will knock you -down!” The rush for the pulpit was stayed; but such -an alarm had spread through the house, that there was -a hasty movement from all parts towards the doors, and -my audience dispersed. Colonel Miller, Mr. Knapp, and -several other gentlemen urged me to remain in town -another day and attempt a meeting the next evening, -assuring me that it should be protected against the ruffians. -But it was Friday, and I had engaged to be in -Burlington the next day, to preach for Brother Ingersoll -the following Sunday, and deliver an antislavery lecture -from his pulpit in the evening. So I was obliged to -leave our good friends in the capital of Vermont mortified -and vexed at what had occurred there.</p> - -<p>But on my arrival at Burlington I received tidings -from Boston of a far greater outrage that had been perpetrated -at the same time, in the metropolis of New<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">156</a></span> -England. On page <a href="#Page_127">127</a> I made mention of the “well-dressed, -gentlemanly” mob of October 21st, which broke -up a regular meeting of the Female Antislavery Society. -The fury of the populace had been incited to the utmost -by articles in the <cite>Commercial Gazette</cite>, the <cite>Courier</cite>, the -<cite>Sentinel</cite>, and other newspapers, of which the following -is a specimen: “It is in vain that we hold meetings in -Faneuil Hall, and call into action the eloquence and patriotism -of our most talented citizens; it is in vain that -speeches are made and resolutions adopted, assuring our -brethren of the South that we cherish rational and correct -notions on the subject of slavery, if Thompson and -Garrison, and their vile associates in this city, are to be -permitted to hold their meetings in the broad face of -day, and to continue their denunciations against the -planters of the South. They <em>must be put down</em> if we -would preserve our consistency. The evil is one of the -greatest magnitude; and <em>the opinion prevails very generally</em> -that if there is no law that will reach it, it must -be reached in some other way.”</p> - -<p>Though “the patriots” had been especially maddened -by the report that “the infamous foreign scoundrel, -Thompson,” “the British emissary, the paid incendiary, -Thompson,” was to address the meeting, yet, when -assured he was not and would not be there, they did -not desist. “But Garrison is!” was the cry; “snake -him out and finish him!” They tore down the sign of -the Antislavery office and dashed it to pieces; compelled -the excellent women to leave their hall, seized upon Mr. -Garrison, tore off his clothes, dragged him through the -streets, and would have hanged him, had it not been for -the almost superhuman efforts of several gentlemen, assisted -by some of the police and a vigorous hack-driver, -who together succeeded in getting him to Leverett -Street Jail, where he was committed for safe-keeping.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">157</a></span> -The disgraceful story was too well told at the time -ever to be forgotten, especially by Mr. Garrison himself, -and more especially by Mrs. Maria Weston Chapman, in -a little volume entitled “Right and Wrong in Boston.”</p> - -<p>To show my readers still further how general the determination -had become throughout the Northern States -to put down the antislavery agitation by foul means, I -will here only allude to the significant fact that on the -same day, October 21, 1835, a mob, led on or countenanced -by gentlemen of respectability, broke up an antislavery -meeting in Utica, N. Y., and drove out of the -city such men as Gerrit Smith, Alvan Stuart, and Beriah -Green. Hereafter I will give a full account of the infamous -proceeding, and of some of its consequences.</p> - -<h3 id="hp157">FRANCIS JACKSON.</h3> - -<p>There is a most interesting sequel to my brief narrative -of the great outrage upon liberty in the metropolis -of New England, which cannot be so pertinently told in -any other connection.</p> - -<p>After the first attempt of the Female Antislavery Society -to hold their annual meeting on the 14th of October, -in Congress Hall, was thwarted by the fears of the -owner and lessee, Mr. Francis Jackson offered the use -of his dwelling-house in Hollis Street for that purpose. -But the ladies were unwilling to believe that they -should be molested in their own small hall, No. 46 -Washington Street, and thought it more becoming to -meet there than to retreat to the protection of a private -house. So the meeting was appointed to be held there -on the 21st. The result, so disgraceful to the reputation -of Boston, has just been given.</p> - -<p>On the evening of that sad day, while the rioters were -yet patrolling the city, exulting over their shameful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">158</a></span> -deeds, and threatening the persons and property of the -Abolitionists, Francis Jackson, called upon Miss Mary -Parker, the truly devout and brave President of the -Boston Female Antislavery Society, and renewed the offer -of his dwelling in the following letter of <span class="locked">invitation:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center larger">“<span class="smcap">To the Ladies of the Boston Female Antislavery Society.</span></p> - -<p>“Having with deep regret and mortification observed the -manner in which your Society has been treated by a portion -of the community, especially by some of our public journals, -and approving as I do most cordially the objects of your association, -I offer you the use of my dwelling-house in Hollis -Street for the purpose of holding your annual meeting, or for -any other meeting.</p> - -<p>“Such accommodations as I have are at your service, and -I assure you it would afford me great pleasure to extend this -slight testimony of my regard for a Society whose objects -are second to none other in the city.</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l4">“With great respect,</span><br /> -“<span class="smcap">Francis Jackson</span>.” -</p></blockquote> - -<p>This heroic act thrilled with joy the hearts of the -“faithful,” and inspired them with new courage. For -two or three years Mr. Jackson had evinced a deep interest -in the antislavery cause, but we did not suspect that -he had so much Roman virtue.</p> - -<p>His invitation was gratefully accepted, and due notices -were published in the usual form that the meeting -would be held at his house on the 19th of November. -Renewed efforts were made by our opposers to create -another excitement. The air was filled with threats. -But the editors of the newspapers did not come up to -the work as before. Fewer prominent gentlemen encouraged -“the baser sort,” and therefore the mob did -not come out in its strength. About a hundred and -thirty ladies and four gentlemen gathered at the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">159</a></span> -appointed in Mr. Jackson’s house, and were not molested -on the way thither or while there, excepting by a few -insulting epithets and an occasional ribald shout.</p> - -<p>It was an intensely interesting meeting, conducted in -the usual manner with the utmost propriety;<a id="FNanchor_E" href="#Footnote_E" class="fnanchor">E</a> and an -air of unfeigned solemnity was thrown over it by the consciousness -of the dense cloud of malignant hatred that -was hanging over us, and which might again burst upon -us in some cruel outrage.</p> - -<p>Among the ladies present were the celebrated Miss -Harriet Martineau, of England, and her very intelligent -travelling companion, Miss Jeffrey. At the right moment, -when the regular business of the meeting had -been transacted, Ellis Gray Loring, from the beginning a -leading Abolitionist,—and one whose lead it was always -well to follow, for he was a very wise, a single-hearted, -and most conscientious man,—Mr. Loring handed me a -slip of paper for Miss Martineau, on which was written -an earnest request that she would then favor the meeting -with some expression of her sympathy in the objects -of the association. She immediately rose and said, with -cordial earnestness: “I had supposed that my presence -here would be understood as showing my sympathy with -you. But as I am requested to speak, I will say what -I have said through the whole South, in every family -where I have been, that I consider slavery inconsistent -with the law of God, and incompatible with the course -of his providence. I should certainly say no less at the -North than at the South concerning this utter abomination, -and now I declare that in your principles I fully -agree.”</p> - -<p>Hitherto Miss Martineau had received from the <em>élite</em> -of Boston very marked attentions. She had been treated -with great respect, as one so distinguished for her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">160</a></span> -literary works and philanthropic labors deserved to be. -But from the day of that meeting, and because of the -words she uttered there, she was slighted, rejected, and -in various ways made to understand that she had given -great offence to “the best society in that metropolis.”</p> - -<p>Two days afterwards the Board of Managers of the -Massachusetts Antislavery Society directed me, their -Corresponding Secretary, by a unanimous vote, to -express to Mr. Jackson the very high sense which they -entertained of his generosity and noble independence -in proffering, as he had done unsolicited, the use and -protection of his dwelling-house to the Boston Female -Antislavery Society, when they had just been expelled -by lawless violence from a public hall.</p> - -<p>My letter, written immediately in pursuance of this -vote, drew from Mr. Jackson the following reply, which, -considering the place where and the time when it was -written, as well as its intrinsic excellence, deserves to be -preserved among the most precious deposits in the Temple -of Impartial Liberty, whenever such a structure -shall be reared upon earth.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="sigright smaller"> -“<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, November 25, 1835. -</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt -of your highly esteemed letter of the 21st inst., written in -behalf of the Managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery -Society, and expressing in very flattering terms their approbation -of my conduct in granting to the ladies of the -Antislavery Society the use of my dwelling-house for their -Annual Meeting.</p> - -<p>“That meeting was a most interesting and impressive one. -It will ever be treasured by me, among the most pleasing recollections -of my life, that it was my good fortune to extend to -those respectable ladies the protection of my roof after they -had been reviled, insulted, and driven from their own hall by -a mob.</p> - -<p>“But in tendering them the use of my house, sir, I not only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">161</a></span> -had in view their accommodation, but also, according to my -humble measure, to recover and perpetuate the right of free -discussion, which has been shamefully trampled on. A great -principle has been assailed,—one which lies at the very -foundation of our republican institutions.</p> - -<p>“If a large majority of this community choose to turn a deaf -ear to the wrongs which are inflicted upon millions of their -countrymen in other portions of the land,—if they are content -to turn away from the sight of oppression, and ‘to pass -by on the other side,’ so it must be.</p> - -<p>“But when they undertake in any way to annul or impair -my right to speak, write, and publish my thoughts upon any -subject, more especially upon enormities which are the common -concern of every lover of his country and his kind, so -it must not be,—so it shall not be, if I can prevent it. Upon -this great right let us hold on at all hazards. And should we, -in its exercise, be driven from public halls to private dwellings, -one house at least shall be consecrated to its preservation. -And if in defence of this sacred privilege, which man -did not give me, and shall not (if I can help it) take from me, -this roof and these walls shall be levelled to the earth, let -them fall! If it must be so, let them fall! They cannot -crumble in a better cause. They will appear of very little -value to me after their owner shall have been whipped into -silence.</p> - -<p>“Mobs and gag-laws, and the other contrivances by which -fraud or force would stifle inquiry, will not long work well in -this community. They betray the essential rottenness of the -cause they are meant to strengthen. These outrages are doing -their work with the reflecting.</p> - -<p>“Happily, one point seems to be gaining universal assent, -that slavery cannot long survive free discussion. Hence the -efforts of the friends and apologists of slavery to break down -this right. And hence the immense stake which the enemies -of slavery hold, in behalf of freedom and mankind, in the -preservation of this right. The contest is therefore substantially -between liberty and slavery.</p> - -<p>“As slavery cannot exist with free discussion, so neither -can liberty breathe without it. Losing this, we shall not be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">162</a></span> -freemen indeed, but little, if at all, superior to the millions we -are now seeking to emancipate.</p> - -<p class="sigright b0"> -<span class="l4">“With the highest respect,</span><br /> -<span class="l2">“Your friend,</span><br /> -“<span class="smcap">Francis Jackson</span>. -</p> - -<p class="p0 in0 b1">“<span class="smcap">Rev. S. J. May</span>, Cor. Sec. Mass. A. S. S.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Well said Mrs. Maria W. Chapman, who was usually -the first to give the most pertinent expression to the -best thought of every occasion,—well said Mrs. Chapman, -“Ten such men would have saved our city and -country from the indelible disgrace which has been inflicted -upon them by the outrageous proceedings of the -21st and 24th of October. Mr. Jackson has by this act -done all that <em>one</em> man can do to redeem the character of -Boston.” And were there not nine other men in the -metropolis of New England, where dwelt descendants of -Samuel Adams and Josiah Quincy, and relatives of -Joseph Warren and James Otis and John Hancock, and -other men of Revolutionary fame; were there not nine -other men there to spring to the rescue of the ark of -civil liberty? Alas! they did not appear. The abettors -of slavery were in the ascendant. “The gentlemen of -property and standing” thought it good policy, both -politically and pecuniarily considered, to trample the -Declaration of Independence under foot. And the people -generally seemed willing to perpetrate wrongs far greater -than Great Britain ever inflicted on their fathers.</p> - -<h3 id="hp162">RIOT AT UTICA, N. Y.—GERRIT SMITH.</h3> - -<p>The resort to mobocratic violence in so many parts of -the Middle, Northern, and Eastern States showed how -general had become the determination of the “gentlemen -of property and standing” (as the leaders everywhere -claimed or were reported to be) to put down the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">163</a></span> -Abolitionists by <em>foul means</em>, having found it impossible -to do so by <em>fair</em> discussion. This had been peremptorily -demanded of them by their Southern masters; and they -had evidently come to the conclusion that no other means -would be effectual to stay the progress of universal, impartial -liberty. No one fact showed us how almost universally -this plan of operations was adopted, so plainly as -the fact that, at the very same time, October 21, 1835, -antislavery meetings were broken up and violently dispersed -in Boston, Mass., Utica, N. Y., and Montpelier, Vt.</p> - -<p>Societies for the abolition of slavery had been formed -in the city of New York, and in many towns and several -counties of the State. And it had come to be obvious -that their efficiency would be greatly increased if they -should be united in a State organization. Accordingly, -invitations were sent everywhere to all known associations, -and to individuals where there were no associations, calling -them to meet on the 21st of October in Utica, then -the most central and convenient place, for the purpose of -forming a New York State Antislavery Society.</p> - -<p>So soon as it became public that such a Convention -was to be held in their city, certain very “prominent -and respectable gentlemen” set about to avert “the -calamity and disgrace.” It was denounced in the newspapers, -and deprecated by loud talkers in the streets. -Soon the excitement became general. When it was -known that permission had been given for the Convention -to occupy the Court-room, “the whole population -was thrown into an uproar.” A large meeting of the -people was held on Saturday evening, October 17th, and -adopted measures to preoccupy the room where the Convention -were called to assemble; and in every way, by -any means, prevent the proceedings of such a body of -“fanatics,” “incendiaries,” “madmen.” Hon. Samuel -Beardsley, member of Congress from Oneida County, declared<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">164</a></span> -that “the disgrace of having an Abolition Convention -held in the city is a deeper one than that of twenty -mobs; and that it would be better to have Utica razed to -its foundations, or to have it destroyed like Sodom and -Gomorrah, than to have the Convention meet here.”<a id="FNanchor_F" href="#Footnote_F" class="fnanchor">F</a></p> - -<p>Nevertheless, delegates from all parts of the State and -individuals interested in the great cause, at the appointed -time, came into Utica in great numbers,—six or eight -hundred strong. On arriving at the Court house, they -found the room pre-occupied by a crowd of their vociferous -opponents, and therefore quietly repaired to the -Second Presbyterian meeting house.</p> - -<p>As soon as practicable the Convention was organized -by the choice of Hon. Judge Brewster, of Genesee County, -Chairman, and Rev. Oliver Wetmore, of Utica, Secretary. -The Hon. Alvan Stewart, a most excellent man and distinguished -lawyer, as Chairman of the Committee of the -Utica Antislavery Society, which had first proposed the -calling of the Convention, rose, and after a few pertinent -and impressive remarks, moved the formation of a New -York State Antislavery Society, and read a draft of a -Constitution. While he was reading a noisy crowd -thundered at the doors for admission. One of the Aldermen -of the city, in attempting to keep them back, had -his coat torn to pieces. As soon as the reading of the -draft was finished, it was unanimously adopted as the -Constitution, and the <em>State Antislavery Society was -formed</em>.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lewis Tappan then proceeded to read a declaration -of sentiments and purposes, that had been carefully -prepared. But he had not half finished the document, -when a large concourse of persons rushed into the house<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">165</a></span> -and commanded him to stop. He, however, persisted in -the discharge of his duty with increased earnestness to -the end, when the declaration was adopted unanimously -by a rising vote.</p> - -<p>The Convention then gave audience to the leaders of -the mob, who declared themselves to be a Committee of -twenty-five, sent thither by a meeting of the citizens of -Utica, held that morning in the Court-house. Hon. -Chester Hayden, first Judge of the County, was Chairman -of this Committee. He presented a series of condemnatory -resolutions, which had just been adopted at -the Court-house. They were respectfully listened to by -the Convention, and then the mob gave loud utterance -to their denunciations and threats. The Judge remonstrated -with the rioters, saying: “We have been respectfully -listened to by the Convention, I hope <em>my -friends</em> will permit the answer of the Convention to be -heard in peace.” Mr. Tappan then moved that a committee -of ten be appointed to report what answer should -be made to the citizens.</p> - -<p>Hon. Mr. Beardsley, mentioned above, one of the -Committee of twenty-five, also said, “It is proper we -should hear what the Convention have to say, either -now or by their Committee. We are bound to hear -them; we are bound to exercise all patience and long-suffering, -<em>even towards such an assembly as this</em>.... -For my part, I should like to hear what apology can be -made for proceedings which we know, and they know, -are intended to exasperate the members of our National -Union against each other. They profess to come here -on an errand of religion, while, under its guise, they are -hypocritically plotting the dissolution of the American -Union. They have been warned beforehand, have been -treated with unexampled patience, and if they now refuse -to yield to our demand, and any unpleasant circumstances<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">166</a></span> -should follow, we shall not be responsible.” -Such talk, and more of the same sort that he uttered, -was adapted, if it was not intended, to inflame the mobocrats -yet more. So when, in conclusion, he said, “But -let us hear their justification for this outrage on our -feelings, if they have any to offer,” the cry rose, “No! -we won’t hear them; they sha’n’t be heard. Let them -go home. Let them ask our forgiveness, and we will let -them go.” Many of the rioters were too evidently inflamed -with strong drink as well as passion; and this -was easily accounted for, though it was in the forenoon -of the day, by the fact afterwards stated in the New -York <cite>Commercial Advertiser</cite>, that the grog-shops in the -neighborhood were thrown open and liquor furnished -<em>gratuitously</em> to the tools and minions of “the very respectable -citizens, the best people of Utica,” who were -determined their city should not tolerate a Convention -of Abolitionists. It was evident that these leaders held -“the baser sort” under some restraint, for one of them -cried out, “Let <em>them</em> say the word, and I am ready to -tear the rascals in pieces.” Loud threats of violence -were reiterated, with imprecations and blasphemies. -The leading members of the Committee of twenty-five -besought the Convention to adjourn, and seeing that it -was impossible to transact any more business, they did -adjourn <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">sine die</i>.</p> - -<p>Most of the members retired unmolested excepting -by abusive, profane, and obscene epithets. A cry was -raised by some of the Committee for “the minutes” of -the Convention, and members pressed upon the venerable -Secretary, demanding that he should give them up. -But he resolutely refused, though they crowded him -against the wall, seized him by the collar, and threatened -to beat him. A member of the Committee of -twenty-five, a man holding an important public office,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">167</a></span> -raised his cane over that aged and faithful minister of -the Gospel and cried out, “God damn you! give the -papers up, or I will knock you on the head.” At this, -another of the Committee, a young man—his son—sprang -forward and begged him, “Do, father, give -them up and save your life. Give them to me, and I -will pledge myself they shall be returned to you again.” -With this Rev. Mr. Wetmore complied, and was let off -without any further harm.</p> - -<p>Many of the newspapers, especially those of New York -City, exulted over the results of the riots of the 21st of -October in Boston and Utica. They boasted that, by -thus dealing with the Abolitionists, the people of the -Northern States proved themselves to be sound to the -core on the subject of slavery. “Hereafter,” said the -New York <cite>Sunday Morning News</cite>, “hereafter the leaders -of the Abolitionists will be treated with less forbearance -than they have been heretofore. The people will consider -them as out of the pale of the legal and conventional -protection which society affords to its honest and -well-meaning members. They will be treated as robbers -and pirates, as the enemies of the human kind.”</p> - -<p>The most important incident of the Utica riot was the -accession which it caused of <em>Gerrit Smith</em> to our ranks. -The great and good man had, for many years, been an -active opponent of slavery. He had always been in -favor of immediate emancipation, and was unusually -free from prejudice against colored people. But from -almost the beginning of the Colonization Society he had -been a member of it, deceived as we all were by the -representations which its agents at the North made of -its intentions and the tendency of its operations. He -believed its scheme was intended to effect and would -effect the abolition of slavery. He therefore joined it, -and labored heartily in its behalf, and contributed most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">168</a></span> -generously to its funds,—<em>ten thousand dollars</em>, if not -more. Mr. Smith was repulsed from the American Antislavery -Society, and kept away for nearly two years, because -he thought Mr. Garrison and his associates were -unjust in their denunciations of the Colonization Society, -and too severe in their censures of the American -churches and ministers, as virtually the accomplices of -slaveholders.</p> - -<p>But the outrages committed upon the Abolitionists in -the fall of 1834, and throughout the year 1835, fixed -his attention more fully upon them. He determined to -know, to search, and prove those who had become the -subjects of such general and unsparing persecution. -When, therefore, the Convention for the formation of a -State Antislavery Society was to be held in Utica (only -twenty-five or thirty miles from his residence), he could -not withhold himself from it. He went thither, not as -a member of any Antislavery Society, not intending to -become a member, but determined to hear for himself -what should be said, see what should be done, learn -what might be proposed, and decide as he should find -reason to, between the Abolitionists and their adversaries. -Alas, that the prominent, influential, professedly religious -men in every part of our country did not do likewise! -Then would the names of comparatively few of -them have gone down, in the history of this generation, -as the leaders and instigators of a most shameful persecution -of the friends of freedom and humanity.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith was so disgusted, shocked, alarmed, at the -proceedings of “the gentlemen of property and standing” -in Utica, that he invited all the members of the -antislavery convention to repair to Peterboro’. And a -large proportion of the members accepted his invitation. -Insults and threats of violence were showered upon them -wherever they were met in the streets of Utica and at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">169</a></span> -the hotels where they had quartered themselves. The -same evil spirit of hatred pursued them on their way. -Especially at Vernon, the hotel at which they had stopped -for refreshment was beset by a mob, with an evident -determination to rout them and drive them from the -village. But the resolute action of Captain Hand, the -landlord, dispersed the rioters.</p> - -<p>Arrived at Peterboro’, the Abolitionists were most -cordially received, not only at the hospitable and spacious -mansion of Gerrit Smith, but into the houses of -most of his neighbors. And the next day was held in -the Presbyterian Church the first meeting of the New -York State Antislavery Society. At that meeting Mr. -Smith brought forward the following <span class="locked">resolution:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That the right of <span class="smcap smaller">FREE DISCUSSION</span> given us by -our God, and asserted and guarded by the laws of our country, -is a right so vital to man’s freedom and dignity and usefulness -that we can never be guilty of its surrender, without consenting -to exchange that liberty for slavery and that dignity -and usefulness for debasement and worthlessness.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>This resolution he supported and enforced by a speech -of surpassing power,—a speech which deserves to -be printed in letters of light large enough to be seen -throughout our country.<a id="FNanchor_G" href="#Footnote_G" class="fnanchor">G</a></p> - -<p>Ever since that eventful period of our history Gerrit -Smith has been a most zealous fellow-laborer in the antislavery -cause, and bountiful contributor of money in its -behalf. He has made as many speeches in large meetings -and small as any man who has not been a hired agent. -He announced the doctrines of the immediate Abolitionists -in the Congress of the United States and maintained -them in several speeches of great ability. He has made -frequent donations to some special, or to the general -purposes of our Society of one, two, five, ten thousand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">170</a></span> -dollars at a time. He has in every way befriended the -colored people of our country, and at one time gave forty -acres of land, in the State of New York, to each one of -three thousand poor, temperate men of that class. I -shall have an occasion in another place to speak more -particularly of the acts of this almost unequalled giver.</p> - -<h3 id="hp170">DR. CHANNING.</h3> - -<p>Another and a most auspicious event signalizes in my -memory the year 1835. It was the publication of Dr. -Channing’s book on Slavery. He had for many years -been the most distinguished minister of religion in New -England, certainly in the estimation of the Unitarian -denomination; and his fame as a Christian moralist, a -philosopher, and finished writer had been spread far and -wide throughout England, France, and Germany by a -large volume of his Discourses, Essays, and Reviews published -in 1830.</p> - -<p>A few weeks after his graduation from Harvard College -in 1798, when about nineteen years of age, determined -to be no longer dependent upon his mother and -friends for a living, he gladly accepted the situation of a -tutor in the family of Mr. Randolph, of Richmond, Virginia. -Here he often met many of the most distinguished -gentlemen and ladies of the city and the State, and -visited them freely at their city homes and on their plantations. -He was delighted with their cordial and elegant -courtesy. But he saw also their <em>slaves</em> and the sensuality -which abounded amongst them. These made an -impression upon his heart which was never effaced.</p> - -<p>In the fall of 1830 he went to the West Indies for his -health, and passed the winter in St. Croix. There he -witnessed again the inherent wrongs of slavery and the -vices which it engenders. On his return in May, 1831,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">171</a></span> -he spoke freely and with the deepest feeling from his -pulpit of the inhuman system, and its debasing effects -upon the oppressors as well as the oppressed. At that -time the public mind in New England had begun to be -agitated upon the subject of slavery, as it never had -been before by the scathing denunciations that were -every week poured from <cite>The Liberator</cite> upon slaveholders -and their abettors and apologists. Dr. Channing’s -sensitive nature shrank from the severity of Mr. Garrison’s -blows, and yet he acknowledged that the gigantic -system of domestic servitude in our country ought to be -exposed, condemned, and subverted. He found his highly -esteemed friend, Dr. Follen, with his excellent wife and -several others of the best women in Boston, and Ellis -Gray Loring and Samuel E. Sewall and others, whom he -highly esteemed, giving countenance and aid to the -“young fanatic.” This drew his attention still more to -the subject of slavery. Soon after his return from the -West Indies I visited Dr. Channing, and found his mind -very much exercised. He sympathized with the Abolitionists -in their abhorrence of the domestic servitude in -our Southern States, and their apprehension of its corrupting -influence upon the government of our Republic, -and the political as well as moral ruin to which it tended. -But he distrusted our measures, and was particularly -annoyed, as I have already stated, by Mr. Garrison’s -“scorching and stinging invectives.” Whenever I was -in the city and called upon the Doctor, he would make -particular inquiries respecting our doctrines, purposes, -measures, and progress. Repeatedly he invited me to his -house for the express purpose, as he said, of learning more -about our antislavery enterprise. He always spoke as -if he were deeply interested in it, but he was afraid of -what he supposed to be some of our opinions and measures. -I was surprised that he was so slow to accept our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">172</a></span> -vital doctrine, “immediate emancipation.” But owing, -I suppose, to his great aversion to excited speeches and -exaggerated statements, and his peculiar distrust of associations, -he had never attended any of our antislavery -meetings, where the doctrine of immediate emancipation -was always explained. The Doctor, therefore, as well -as the people generally, misunderstood it, and had been -misinformed in several other respects as to the purposes, -measures, and spirit of the Abolitionists. Still he persisted -in abstaining from our meetings until after the -alarming course taken by the Governor and Legislature -of Massachusetts, in the spring of 1836, of which I shall -give an account in the proper place.</p> - -<p>Late in the year 1834, being on a visit in Boston, I -spent several hours with Dr. Channing in earnest conversation -upon Abolitionism and the Abolitionists. My -habitual reverence for him was such that I had always -been apt to defer perhaps too readily to his opinions, or -not to make a very stout defence of my own when they -differed from his. But at the time to which I refer I -had become so thoroughly convinced of the truth of the -essential doctrines of the American Antislavery Society, -and so earnestly engaged in the dissemination of them, -that our conversation assumed, more than it had ever -done, the character of a debate. He acknowledged the -inestimable importance of the object we had in view. -The evils of Slavery he assented could not be overstated. -He allowed that removal to Africa ought not to be -made a condition of the liberation of the enslaved. But -he hesitated still to accept the doctrine of immediate -emancipation. His principal objections, however, were -alleged against the severity of our denunciations, the -harshness of our epithets, the vehemence, heat, and excitement -caused by the harangues at our meetings, -and still more by Mr. Garrison’s <cite>Liberator</cite>. The Doctor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">173</a></span> -dwelt upon these objections, which, if they were as well -founded as he assumed them to be, lay against what was -only incidental, not an essential part of our movement. -He dwelt upon them until I became impatient, and, forgetting -for the moment my wonted deference, I broke -out with not a little warmth of expression and <span class="locked">manner:—</span></p> - -<p>“Dr. Channing,” I said, “I am tired of these complaints. -The cause of suffering humanity, the cause of -our oppressed, crushed colored countrymen, has called -as loudly upon others as upon us Abolitionists. It was -just as incumbent upon others as upon us to espouse it. -<em>We</em> are not to blame that wiser and better men did not -espouse it long ago. The cry of millions, suffering the -most cruel bondage in our land, had been heard for -half a century and disregarded. ‘The wise and prudent’ -saw the terrible wrong, but thought it not wise and prudent -to lift a finger for its correction. The priests and -Levites beheld their robbed and wounded countrymen, -but passed by on the other side. The children of Abraham -held their peace, and at last ‘the very stones have -cried out’ in abhorrence of this tremendous iniquity; -and you must expect them to cry out like ‘the stones.’ -You must not wonder if many of those who have been -left to take up this great cause, do not plead it in all -that seemliness of phrase which the scholars and practised -rhetoricians of our country might use. You must -not expect them to manage with all the calmness and -discretion that clergymen and statesmen might exhibit. -But the scholars, the statesmen, the clergy had done -nothing,—did not seem about to do anything, and for -my part I thank God that at last any persons, be they -who they may, have earnestly engaged in this cause; for -no <em>movement</em> can be in vain. We Abolitionists are what -we are,—babes, sucklings, obscure men, silly women, -publicans, sinners, and we shall manage this matter just<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">174</a></span> -as might be expected of such persons as we are. It is -unbecoming in abler men who stood by and would do -nothing to complain of us because we do no better.</p> - -<p>“Dr. Channing,” I continued with increased earnestness, -“it is not <em>our fault</em> that those who might have conducted -this great reform more prudently have left it to -us to manage as we may. It is not <em>our fault</em> that those -who might have pleaded for the enslaved so much more -wisely and eloquently, both with the pen and the living -voice than we can, have been silent. We are not to -blame, sir, that you, who, more perhaps than any other -man, might have so raised the voice of remonstrance -that it should have been heard throughout the length -and breadth of the land,—we are not to blame, sir, that -you have not so spoken. And now that inferior men -have been impelled to speak and act against what you -acknowledge to be an awful system of iniquity, it is not -becoming in you to complain of us because we do it in -an inferior style. Why, sir, have you not taken this -matter in hand yourself? Why have you not spoken to -the nation long ago, as you, better than any other one, -could have spoken?”</p> - -<p>At this point I bethought me to whom I was administering -this rebuke,—the man who stood among the -highest of the great and good in our land,—the man -whose reputation for wisdom and sanctity had become -world-wide,—the man, too, who had ever treated me -with the kindness of a father, and whom, from my childhood, -I had been accustomed to revere more than any -one living. I was almost overwhelmed with a sense of -my temerity. His countenance showed that he was -much moved. I could not suppose he would receive all -I had said very graciously. I awaited his reply in painful -expectation. The minutes seemed very long that -elapsed before the silence was broken. Then in a very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">175</a></span> -subdued manner and in the kindliest tones of his voice -he said, “Brother May, I acknowledge the justice of -your reproof. I have been silent too long.” Never shall -I forget his words, look, whole appearance. I then and -there saw the beauty, the magnanimity, the humility of -a truly great Christian soul. He was exalted in my -esteem more even than before.</p> - -<p>The next spring, when I removed to Boston and became -the General Agent of the Antislavery Society, Dr. -Channing was the first of the ministers there to call upon -me, and express any sympathy with me in the great -work to which I had come to devote myself. And during -the whole fourteen months that I continued in that -office he treated me with uniform kindness, and often -made anxious inquiries about the phases of our attempted -reform of the nation.</p> - -<p>Early in December, 1835, Dr. Channing’s volume on -Slavery issued from the press. A few days after its -publication, he invited Samuel E. Sewall and myself to -dine with him, that he might learn how we liked his -book. Both of us had been delighted with some parts -of it, but neither of us was satisfied with other parts; -much dissatisfied with some. He requested and insisted -on the utmost freedom in our comments. He listened to -our objections very patiently, and seemed disposed to -give them their due weight.</p> - -<p>As was to be expected, the appearance of a work on -Slavery, by Dr. Channing, caused a great sensation -throughout the land. It was sought for with avidity. -It found its way into many parlors from which a copy -of <cite>The Liberator</cite> would have been spurned. Most of the -statesmen of our country read it, and many slaveholders.</p> - -<p>Not many days elapsed before the responses which it -awakened began to be heard; and they were by no means -altogether such as he had expected. Although he disclaimed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">176</a></span> -the Abolitionists; stated that he had never attended -one of our meetings, nor heard one of our lecturers; -although he made several grave objections to our -doctrines and measures, and unwittingly gave his sanction -to several of the most serious misrepresentations of -our sentiments, our objects, and means of prosecuting -them; yet he so utterly repudiated the right of any man -to <em>property</em> in the person of any other man, and gave -such a fearful <em>exposé</em> of the sinfulness of holding slaves -and the vices which infested the communities where human -beings were held in such an unnatural condition, -that the Southern aristocracy and their Northern partisans -came soon to regard him as a more dangerous man -than even Mr. Garrison. He was denounced as an enemy -of his country, as encouraging the insurrection of -the slaves, and as in effect laboring to do as much harm -as the Abolitionists.</p> - -<p>In due time an octavo pamphlet of forty-eight pages -was published in Boston, entitled “Remarks on Dr. -Channing’s Slavery.” It was evidently written by a -very able hand, and was attributed to one of the most -prominent lawyers in that city. The writer spoke respectfully -of Dr. Channing, but condemned utterly his -doctrines on the subject of slavery, and found in them -all the viciousness of the extremest abolitionism. The -author announced and labored to maintain the following -false propositions: “First. Public sentiment in the free -States in relation to slavery is perfectly sound and <em>ought -not</em> to be altered. Second. Public sentiment in the -slaveholding States, whether right or not, <em>cannot</em> be -altered. Third. An attempt to produce any alteration -in the public sentiment of the country will cause great -additional evil,—moral, social, and political.”</p> - -<p>Such bald scepticism was not to be tolerated. “A -Review of the Remarks” was soon sent forth. This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">177</a></span> -called out a “Reply to the Review,” and thus the subject -of slavery was fully broached among a class of -people who had given no heed to <cite>The Liberator</cite> and our -antislavery tracts.</p> - -<p>In future articles I shall have occasion gratefully to -acknowledge the further services rendered by Dr. Channing -to the antislavery cause, and to show how at last -he came nearly to accord in sentiment with the ultra-Abolitionists.</p> - -<h3 id="hp177">SLAVERY,—BY WILLIAM E. CHANNING.</h3> - -<p>This was the title of Dr. Channing’s book. It rendered -the antislavery cause services so important that I -am impelled to give a further account of it. It seemed -to me at the time, it seems to me now, one of the most -inconsistent books I have ever read. It showed how, all -unconsciously to himself, the judgment of that wise man -had been warped and his prejudices influenced by the -deference, which had come to be paid pretty generally -throughout our country, to the Southern slaveholding -oligarchy; and by the denunciations which their admirers, -sympathizers, abettors, and minions in the free -States, poured without measure upon Mr. Garrison and -his comparatively few fellow-laborers.</p> - -<p>Dr. Channing’s profound respect for human nature -and the rights of man, and his heartfelt compassion for -the oppressed, suffering, despised, were such that he -could not but see clearly the essential, inevitable, terrible -wrongs and evils of slavery to the master as well as -to his subject. He portrayed these cruelties and vices -so clearly and forcibly that the pages of his book contain -as utter condemnations of the domestic servitude in -our Southern States, and as awful exposures of the consequent -corruption, pollution of families and the community<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">178</a></span> -in those States,—condemnations as utter and -exposures as awful as could be found in <cite>The Liberator</cite>. -To his chapters on “Property in Man,” “Rights,” and -“Evils of Slavery,” we could take no exceptions. But -his chapter entitled “Explanations” seems to us, as Mr. -Garrison called it, a chapter in <em>recantation</em>,—a disastrous -attempt to make it appear as if there could be sin -without a sinner. He says that the character of the -master and the wrong done to the slave are distinct -points, having little or no relation to each other. He -therefore did not “intend to pass sentence on the character -of the slaveholder.” Jesus Christ taught that “by -their fruits ye shall know men.” But the Doctor said in -this chapter, “Men are not always to be interpreted by -their acts or their institutions.” “Our ancestors,” he -continued, “committed a deed now branded as piracy,” -i. e. the slave-trade. “Were they, therefore, the offscouring -of the earth?” No,—but they were <em>pirates</em>, their -good qualities in other respects notwithstanding. They -were guilty of kidnapping the Africans, and made themselves -rich by selling their victims into slavery. Piracy -was too mild a term for such atrocious acts. They were -just as wicked before they were denounced by law as -afterwards. And it was by bringing the people of England -and of this country to see the enormity of the -crimes inseparable from that trade in human beings, that -they were persuaded to repent of it, to renounce and -abhor it. Again Dr. Channing says under this head, -“How many sects have persecuted and shed blood! -Were their members, therefore, monsters of depravity?” -I answer, their spirit was cruel and devilish, utterly unlike -the spirit of Jesus. They were none of his, whatever -may have been their professions. As well might -we deny that David was a gross adulterer and mean -murderer, because he wrote some very devotional psalms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">179</a></span> -A more marvellous inconsistency in the book before us -is this. The Doctor declares “that cruelty is not the -habit of the slave States in this country.” “He might -have affirmed just as truly,” said Mr. Garrison, “that idolatry -is not the habit of pagan countries.” What is -cruelty? The extremest is the reducing of a human being -to the condition of a domesticated brute, a piece of -mere property. The Doctor himself has said as much -in another part of this volume, see the 26th page in his -excellent chapter on “Property.” Having described -what man is by nature, he adds, “The sacrifice of such -a being to another’s will, to another’s present, outward, -ill-comprehended good, <em>is the greatest violence which can -be offered to any creature of God</em>. It is to cast him out -from God’s spiritual family into the brutal herd.” “No -robbery is <em>so great</em> as that to which the slave is <em>habitually</em> -subjected.” “The slave <em>must</em> meet cruel <em>treatment</em> -either inwardly or outwardly. Either the soul or the -body must receive the blow. Either the flesh must be -tortured or the spirit be struck down.” No Abolitionist, -not even Mr. Garrison, has set forth more clearly the -extreme cruelty, inseparable from holding a fellow-man -in slavery one hour.</p> - -<p>Still Dr. Channing objected to our primal doctrine,—“immediate -emancipation.” But could there have been -a more obvious inference than this, which an upright -mind would unavoidably draw from a consideration of -the rights of man, the evils of slavery, and the unparalleled -iniquity of subjecting a human being to such -degradation. I ask, could there have been a more obvious -inference than that any, every human being held -in such a condition ought to be <em>immediately released</em> from -it? It is plain to me that Dr. Channing himself drew -the same inference that Elizabeth Heyrick,<a id="FNanchor_H" href="#Footnote_H" class="fnanchor">H</a> of England,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">180</a></span> -and Mr. Garrison had drawn, although he rejected the -trenchant phrase in which they declared that inference. -Having exhibited so faithfully and feelingly the wrongs -and the evils of slavery, he says, on the 119th page of this -book: “What, then, is to be done for the removal of slavery? -<em>In the first place</em>, the slaveholder should solemnly -disclaim the right of property in human beings. The -great principle that man cannot belong to man should -be distinctly recognized. The slave should be acknowledged -as a partaker of a common nature, as having the -essential rights of humanity. This great truth lies at -the foundation of every wise plan for his relief.” Would -not any one suppose, if he had not been forbidden the -supposition, that the writer of these lines intended to -enjoin the <em>immediate</em> emancipation of the enslaved? -Surely, he would have <em>the first thing</em> that is to be done for -their relief done immediately. Surely, he would have the -foot of the oppressor taken from their necks <em>at once</em>. He -would have the heavy yoke that crushes them broken -without delay. Surely, he would have the <em>foundation</em> -of the plan for the removal of slavery laid <em>immediately</em>. -He would not, could not counsel the slaveholder to postpone -a day, nor an hour, the recognition of the right of -his slave to be treated as a fellow-man. There is a remarkable -resemblance between what Dr. Channing here -says ought to be done <em>in the first place</em>, and what the -Abolitionists had from the beginning insisted ought to -be done <em>immediately</em>.</p> - -<p>One of the Doctor’s objections to our chosen phrase was -that it was liable to be misunderstood. But, as we said -at the time, “if <em>immediate emancipation</em> expresses our -leading doctrine exactly, it ought to be used and explanations -of it be patiently given until the true doctrine -has come to be generally understood, received, and -obeyed.” Now, <em>immediate emancipation</em> was the comprehensive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">181</a></span> -phrase that did best express the right of the -slave and the duty of the master. In whatever sense -we used the word <em>immediate</em>, whether in regard to time -or order, the word expressed just what we Abolitionists -meant. We insisted upon it in opposition to those who -were teaching slaveholders to defer to another generation, -or to some future time an act of common humanity that -was due to their fellow-men <em>at once</em>; and would be due -every minute until it should be done. We insisted upon -it in opposition to the popular but deceptive, impracticable, -and cruel scheme which proposed to liberate the -slaves on condition of their removal to Africa.</p> - -<p>Dr. Channing further objected that “the use of the -phrase <em>immediate emancipation</em> had contributed much to -spread far and wide the belief, that the Abolitionists -wished immediately to free the slave from <em>all</em> his restraints.” -But ought we to have been held responsible for -such a senseless, wanton misconstruction of words that -had been explained a thousand times by our appointed -lecturers, in our tracts, and in the “Declaration of the Sentiments, -Purposes, and Plans of the American Antislavery -Society,” which was published three years before Dr. Channing’s -book appeared? Freemen,—Republican freemen -were, are, and ever ought to be subject to the restraints -of civil government, equal and righteous laws. From the -commencement of our enterprise, our only demand for -our enslaved countrymen has been that they should forthwith -be admitted to all the rights and privileges of freemen -upon the same conditions as others, after they shall -have acquired (those of them who do not now possess) -the qualifications demanded of others.</p> - -<p>Still further the Doctor accused us Abolitionists of -having “fallen into the common error of enthusiasts,—that -of exaggerating their object, of feeling as if no evil existed -but that which they opposed, and as if no guilt could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">182</a></span> -be compared with that of countenancing or upholding it.” -We grieved especially that he suffered this censure to -drop from his pen, as, coming from him, it would repress -in many bosoms the concern which was beginning to be -felt more than ever before for the slaves and the slaveholders. -There was no danger that we should esteem or -lead others to esteem the evils of their condition to be -greater than they were. All about us there was still -an alarming insensibility or indifference to the subject. -This could not have been made to appear more glaring -than by the Doctor himself, on the 137th page of his -book. “Suppose,” he there said, “suppose that millions -of <em>white</em> men were enslaved, robbed of all their rights in -a neighboring country, and enslaved by a black race who -had torn their ancestors from the shores on which our -fathers had lived. How deeply should we feel their -wrongs!” Ay, how much more deeply would even the -Abolitionists feel for them! Yet why should we not all -feel as much, in the case that actually existed in our -country as in the one supposed? We are unable to find -a reason of which we ought not to be ashamed, because -it must be one based upon a cruel prejudice, the offspring -of the degradation into which we had forced the -black men. I really wish if there are any who think -with Dr. Channing that the Abolitionists did <em>exaggerate</em> -the guilt of holding men in slavery, or consenting with -slaveholders,—I really wish such persons would read -Dr. Channing’s chapter on the “Evils of Slavery,” and -then show us, if he can, wherein we exaggerated them.</p> - -<p>Dr. Channing repelled with great emphasis the charge -often brought against Abolitionists, that we were endeavoring -to incite the slaves to violence, bloodshed, insurrection. -He said, page 131: “It is a remarkable fact, -that though the South and the North have been leagued -to crush them, though they have been watched by a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">183</a></span> -million of eyes, and though prejudice has been prepared -to detect the slightest sign of corrupt communication -with the slave, yet this crime has not been fastened on -a single member of this body.” No, not one of our -number, that I was acquainted with, ever suggested the -resort to insurrection and murder by the enslaved as the -means of delivering them from bondage. And in our -Declaration at Philadelphia we solemnly disclaimed any -such intention.</p> - -<p>We knew that slavery could be <em>peaceably</em> abolished -only by the consent of the slaveholders and the legislators -of their States. We knew that they could not fail -to be affected, moved by the right action of our Federal -Government, touching the enslavement of the colored -population in the District of Columbia, and in the territories -that were entirely under the jurisdiction of Congress. -And we knew that the members of Congress -could not be reached and impelled to act as we wished -them to, but by the known sentiments and expressed -wishes of their constituents,—the people of the nation -North and South. It was needful, therefore, to press -the subject upon the consideration of the people throughout -the land. Accordingly, we did all in our power to -awaken the public attention, to agitate the public mind, -to touch the public heart. We sent able lecturers to -speak wherever there were ears to hear them, and we -sent newspapers and tracts wherever the mails would -carry them.</p> - -<p>Dr. Channing reproached us for this, especially for -sending our publications to the slaveholders. But we -know not how else we could have made them sensible -of the horror with which their system of domestic servitude -was viewed by thousands in the Northern States; -and inform them correctly of our determination to effect -the liberation of their bondmen; and the peaceful means<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">184</a></span> -and legal measures by which we intended, if possible, to -accomplish our purpose. We wondered greatly at the -Doctor’s objection to our course in this direction. To -whom should we have sent our publications, if not to -those whose cherished institution we were aiming by -them to undermine and overthrow? Would it have been -open, manly, honorable not to have done so?</p> - -<p>One more objection Dr. Channing made, which seemed -to us as unreasonable as the last. It was to our <em>manner</em> -of forming our Antislavery Associations. He said: “The -Abolitionists might have formed an association, but it -should have been an elective one. Men of strong principles, -judiciousness, sobriety, should have been carefully -sought as members. Much good might have been -accomplished by the co-operation of such philanthropists.” -Alas! such philanthropists, the wise and prudent men, -to whom he probably alluded, seemed to have made up -their minds to acquiesce in the continuance of slavery, -so long as our white brethren at the South saw fit to retain -the institution; or to help them take it down very -gradually, by removing the victims of it to the shores of -Africa. Nearly fifty years had passed, and such philanthropists -as he indicated had done little or nothing for -the enslaved, and seemed to be growing more indifferent -to their wrongs. If we had elected them, would they -have associated with us? Are they the men to bear the -brunt of a moral conflict? “Not many wise,”—as this -world counts wisdom,—“not many rich, not many -mighty,” were ever found among the leaders of reform. -God has always chosen the foolish to confound the wise. -It is left for imprudent men, enthusiasts, fanatics, to begin -all difficult enterprises. They have usually been the pioneers -of reform. Else why was not the abolition of slavery -attempted and accomplished long before by that “better -class”?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">185</a></span> -I have not dwelt so long upon this book, and criticised -parts of it so seriously, in order to throw any shade upon -the memory of that great man, whom I have so much -reason to revere and love. But I have done this in order -to reveal more fully to the present generation, and to -those who may come after us, the sad state of the public -mind and heart in New England thirty-five years ago. -All the objections Dr. Channing alleged against us in -this book were the common current objections of that -day, hurled at us in less seemly phrases from the press, -the platform, and the pulpit. They would not have been -thought of, if we had been laboring for the emancipation -of white men. It was sad that a man of such a mind and -heart as Dr. Channing’s could have thought them of sufficient -importance to press them upon us as he did. Nevertheless, -his book contained so many of the vital principles -for which we were contesting, set forth so luminously and -urged so fervently, that it proved to be, as I have already -said, a far greater help to our cause than we at first expected. -And we look back with no little admiration upon -one who, enjoying as he did, in the utmost serenity, -the highest reputation as a writer and a divine, put at -hazard the repose of the rest of his life, and sacrificed -hundreds of the admirers of his genius, eloquence, and -piety, by espousing the cause of the oppressed, which -most of the eminent men in the land would not touch -with one of their fingers.</p> - -<h3 id="hp185">THE GAG-LAW.</h3> - -<p>In the winter of 1835 and 1836 the slaveholding oligarchy -made a bolder assault than ever before upon the -liberty of our nation, and the most alarming intimations -were given of a willingness to yield to their imperious -demands. The legislatures of Alabama, Georgia,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">186</a></span> -South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia passed -resolutions of the same import, only those of Virginia -and South Carolina were clothed, as might have been expected, -in somewhat more imperative and threatening -terms. These resolutions insisted that each State, in -which slavery was established, had the exclusive right to -manage the matter in the way that the inhabitants thereof -saw fit; and that the citizens of other States who were -interfering with slavery in any way, directly or indirectly, -were guilty of violating their social and constitutional -obligations, and ought to be punished. They therefore -“claimed and earnestly requested that the non-slaveholding -States of the Union should promptly and <em>effectually -suppress</em> all abolition societies, and that they should -make it <em>highly penal</em> to print, publish, and distribute -newspapers, pamphlets, tracts, and pictorial representations -calculated or having a tendency to excite the -slaves of the Southern States to insurrection and revolt.”</p> - -<p>These resolutions further declared that “they should -consider every interference with slavery by any other -State, or by the General Government, as a direct and -unlawful interference, to be resisted at once, and under -every possible circumstance.” Moreover, they insisted -that they “should consider the abolition of slavery in -the District of Columbia as a violation of the rights of -the citizens of that District, and as a usurpation <em>to be at -once resisted</em>, as nothing less than the commencement of -a scheme of much more extensive and flagrant injustice.”</p> - -<p>Resolutions in these words, or to the same effect, -passed by the legislatures of the above-mentioned -States, were transmitted by the governors of those -States severally to the governors of each of the non-slaveholding -States, among them to the chief magistrate -of Massachusetts, then the Hon. Edward Everett.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">187</a></span> -On the 15th of January, 1836, that gentleman delivered -his address to both branches of the Legislature at -the organization of the State Government. In the -course of that address, as in duty bound to do under the -circumstances, he alluded particularly to the subject of -slavery, and to the excitement kindled throughout the -country by the discussion of it in the free States.</p> - -<p>But instead of showing that the subject of human -rights was ever up, and must needs be ever up, for the -consideration of the American people, in private circles -and public assemblies; that it ought not and could not -be prohibited,—instead of conceding the impossibility -(in our country especially) of preventing the freest expression -of the opinion, that such a glaring inconsistency, -such a tremendous iniquity as the enslavement of millions -ought not to be tolerated; that the genius of our -Republic, the spirit of the age, the principles of Christianity, -the impartial love of the Father of all mankind, -each and all demanded the abolition of slavery,—instead -of availing himself of the occasion so fully given him, -from his high position, to reiterate the glorious doctrines -of the Declaration of Independence, and to press upon -the complaining States the obvious necessity of their -yielding to the self-evident claims of humanity,—instead -of this, His Excellency saw fit to commend the disastrous -policy of the framers of our Republic; to pass a severe -censure upon us Abolitionists, and to intimate his -opinion that we were guilty of offences punishable at -common law.</p> - -<p>This part of his speech was referred to a joint committee -of two from the Senate and three from the House -of Representatives, Hon. George Lunt, Chairman. By -order of the managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery -Society, I addressed a letter to the above-named committee, -asking permission to appear before them by representatives,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">188</a></span> -and show reasons why there should be -no legislative action condemnatory of the Abolitionists. -The request was granted, and on the 4th of March -the proposed interview took place in the chamber of the -Representatives, in the presence of many citizens.</p> - -<p>At first a member of the committee, Mr. Lucas, objected -to our proceeding; said we were premature; that -we should have waited until the committee had reported; -that we had no reason to apprehend the Legislature -would do anything prejudicial to us, or to the liberties -of the people. I replied, “that formerly it would have -been a gratuitous, an impertinent apprehension, but recent -occurrences have admonished us, that we may not -any longer safely rest in the assurance that our liberties -are secure. Alarming encroachments have been made -upon them, even in the metropolis of New England. -We do not fear,” I continued, “that your committee will -recommend, or that our Legislature will enact, a penal -law against Abolitionists. But we do apprehend that -condemnatory resolutions may be reported and passed; -and these we deprecate more than a penal law for reasons -that we wish to press upon your consideration.”</p> - -<p>After some discussion between the members of the -committee Mr. Lucas withdrew his objection, and we -were allowed to proceed. I commenced, being the General -Agent of the Society, and gave a sketch of the -origin, the organization, and progress of the abolition -enterprise,—stating distinctly our purpose and the instrumentalities -by which we intended to accomplish it. -I laid before the committee copies of our newspapers, -reports, and tracts,—especially the constitutions of several -State and County Antislavery Societies, and more -especially the report of the convention that met in -Philadelphia, in December 1833, and organized the -American Antislavery Society, and issued a declaration<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">189</a></span> -of sentiments and purposes. All these documents, I insisted, -would make it plain to the committee that we -were endeavoring to effect the abolition of slavery by -moral means,—not by rousing the enslaved to insurrection, -but by working such changes in the public sentiment -of the nation respecting the cruelty and wickedness -of our slave system, that strong, earnest remonstrances -would be sent from the Legislature, and still more from -the ecclesiastical bodies in all the free States to corresponding -bodies in the slave States, imploring them to -consider the awful iniquity of making merchandise of -fellow-men, and treating them like domesticated brutes; -at the same time offering to co-operate with them and -share generously in the expense of abolishing slavery, -and raising their bondmen to the condition and privileges -of the free.</p> - -<p>Some discussion here ensued as to the character of -some of our publications, and the propriety of certain -expressions used by some of our speakers and writers. -And then Ellis Gray Loring was heard in our behalf. -This gentleman had been prominent among the New -England Abolitionists from the very beginning of Mr. -Garrison’s undertaking. There were combined in him -the strength and resolution of a man with the intuitive -wisdom and delicacy of a woman. He addressed the -committee more than half an hour in a most pertinent -manner, replying aptly to their questions and objections. -“The general duty,” said Mr. Loring, “of sympathizing -with and succoring the oppressed will probably be conceded. -It is enjoined by Christianity. We are impelled -to it by the very nature which our Creator has -conferred upon us. What, then, is to limit our exercise, -as Abolitionists, of this duty and this right? The relations -we bear to the oppressor control, it is said, our -duty to the oppressed. If we are bound to abstain from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">190</a></span> -the discussion of slavery, it must be either because we -are restrained by the principles of international law, or -by some provisions of the Constitution of the United -States. But, gentlemen, if the slaveholding States were -foreign nations, it could not be shown that we have done -anything which the law of nations forbids. We have -done nothing for the overthrow of slavery in our Southern -States which that law forbids, more than our foreign -missionary societies have for many years been doing for -the subversion of idolatry in pagan lands,—nothing -more than was done in this city and all over our country -to aid the Poles and the Greeks in their struggle for freedom, -of which our ancient allies, the Russians and the -Turks, were determined to deprive them. If, then, the -Law of nations does not restrain us, is it in the Constitution -of the United States that such restraint is imposed? -Far from it. I find in that, our Magna Charta, an -abundant guaranty for the liberty of speech; but I look -in vain in the letter of the Constitution for any prohibition -of the use of moral means for the extirpation of -slavery or any other evil.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Loring here took up the three clauses of the Constitution -in which alone any allusion is made to the subject -of slavery, and showed clearly that there was nothing -in them which forbade the fullest and freest discussion -of the political expediency or moral character of that -system of oppression. And he confirmed his position -by referring to the fact, that the framers of that great -document did not understand it as the proslavery statesmen -and politicians of our day would have it understood. -Washington declared himself warmly in favor of emancipation. -Jefferson’s writings contain more appalling -descriptions and more bitter denunciations of slavery -than are to be found in the publications of modern -Abolitionists; and Franklin, Rush, and John Jay were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">191</a></span> -members of an antislavery society formed a few years -after they had signed the Constitution, and they joined -in a petition to Congress praying for the abolition of that -system of domestic servitude, so inconsistent with our -political principles and disastrous to our national honor -and prosperity.”</p> - -<p>I have not given, nor have I room to give, anything -like a full report of Mr. Loring’s speech. He closed with -these words: “A great <em>principle</em>, gentlemen, is involved -in the decision of this Legislature. I esteem as nothing -in comparison our feelings or wishes as individuals. Personal -interests sink into insignificance here. Sacrifice us -if you will, but do not wound liberty through us. Care -nothing for men, but let the oppressor and his apologist, -whether at the North or the South, beware of the -certain defeat which awaits him who is found fighting -against God.”</p> - -<p>The next one who addressed the committee was the -Rev. William Goodell, one of the sturdiest, most sagacious -and logical of our fellow-laborers. We are indebted -to him for “a full statement of the reasons which -were in part offered to the committee,” &c., &c., given to -the public in a pamphlet which was issued from the press -a few days after our interviews with said committee.</p> - -<p>I shall here quote only the most important passage in -his speech: “We would deprecate the passage of any condemnatory -resolutions by the Legislature, even more -than the enactment of a penal law, for in the latter case -we should have some redress. We could plead the unconstitutionality -of such a law, at any rate, it could -not take effect until we had had a fair trial. Not -so, gentlemen of this committee, in the case of resolutions. -We should have no redress for the injurious -operation of such an extra-judicial sentence. The passage -of such resolutions by this and other legislatures<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">192</a></span> -would help to fix in the public mind the belief that -Abolitionists are a specially dangerous body of men, and -so prepare the public to receive such a law as the slaveholding -States might dictate. We solemnly protest -against a legislative censure, because it would be a usurpation -of an authority never intrusted to the Legislature. -They are not a judicial body, and have no right -to pronounce the condemnation of any one.”</p> - -<p>“Hold,” said Mr. Lunt, the Chairman of the committee, -“you must not indulge in such remarks, sir. -We cannot sit here and permit you to instruct us as to -the duties of the Legislature.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Goodell resumed, justified the remark for which -he had been called to order, and completed his very able -argument against any concurrence on the part of the -General Court of Massachusetts with the demands of the -Southern States.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison next addressed the committee in a very -comprehensive and forcible speech. But he neglected -to give any report of it in his <cite>Liberator</cite>. I can therefore -lay before your readers only this brief passage: “It -is said, Mr. Chairman, that the Abolitionists wish to destroy -the Union. It is not true. We would save the -Union, if it be not too late. To us it would seem that -the Union is already destroyed. To us there is no -Union. We, sir, cannot go through these so-called United -States enjoying the privileges which the Constitution -of the Union professed to secure to all the citizens of -this Republic. And why? Because, and only because, -we are laboring to accomplish the very purposes for -which it is declared in the preamble to the Constitution -that the Union was formed! Because we are laboring -‘to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and -promote the general welfare.’”</p> - -<p>Dr. Follen then arose. He was extensively known<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">193</a></span> -and very much respected and beloved by all who had -known him, as a Professor in Harvard College, or as a -preacher of true Christianity in several parishes in the -vicinity of Boston. He had done and suffered much for -the sake of civil and religious liberty in his own country,—Germany,—and -had come to our country in the -high hope of enjoying the blessings and privileges of true -freedom. He early espoused the antislavery cause, and -rendered us essential services by his wise counsels and -his labors with several prominent persons whom we had -failed to reach. He was selected as one of the nine to -maintain our rights before the legislative committee, -and avert the wrong that seemed impending over us from -the unhappy suggestions in the speech of Governor -Everett.</p> - -<p>The Doctor evidently felt very deeply the grave importance -of the occasion. He commenced his speech with -some profound remarks upon the rights of man and the -spirit and purpose of our republican institutions, and -then proceeded to point out the fearful encroachments, -that had been made on the fundamental principles of our -Republic by slaveholders and their Northern partisans. -“And now,” said he, “they are calling upon the Northern -legislatures to abolish the Abolitionists by law. We -do not apprehend, gentlemen, that you will recommend, -or that our General Court will enact, such a law. -But we do apprehend that you may advise, and the Legislature -may pass, resolutions severely censuring the Abolitionists. -Against this measure we most earnestly -protest. We think its effects would be worse than those -of the penal law. The outrages committed in this city -upon the liberty of speech, the mobs in Boston last October, -were doubtless countenanced and incited by the -great meeting of August, in Faneuil Hall. Now, gentlemen, -would not similar consequences follow the expression<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">194</a></span> -by the Legislature of a similar condemnation? -Would not the mobocrats again undertake to execute -the informal sentence of the General Court? Would -they not let loose again their bloodhounds upon us?”</p> - -<p>“Stop, sir!” cried Mr. Lunt. “You may not pursue -this course of remark. It is insulting to the committee -and to the Legislature which they represent.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Follen sat down, and an emotion of deep displeasure -evidently passed through the crowd of witnesses.</p> - -<p>I sprang to my feet and remonstrated with Mr. Lunt. -Mr. Loring and Mr. Goodell also expressed their surprise -and indignation at his course. But it was of no avail. -He would not consent that Dr. Follen should proceed to -point out what we considered the chief danger to be -guarded against. We therefore declined to continue our -interview with the committee; and gave them notice that -we should appeal to the Legislature for permission to -present and argue our case in our own way before them, -or before another committee.</p> - -<h3 id="hp194">THE GAG-LAW.—SECOND INTERVIEW.</h3> - -<p>We left the committee very much dissatisfied with -the treatment we had received from Mr. Lunt and the -majority of his associates. Hon. Ebenezer Moseley was -an honorable exception. From the first he had treated -us in the most fair and gentlemanly manner. And at -the last he protested against the procedure of the Chairman.</p> - -<p>We forthwith drew up, and the next morning presented, -a memorial to the Legislature, intimating that we -had not been properly treated by the committee, and -asking that our <em>right</em> to be heard might be recognized, -and that we might be permitted to appear and show our -reasons in full, why the Legislature of Massachusetts<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">195</a></span> -should not enact any penal law, nor pass any resolutions -condemning Abolitionists and antislavery societies. The -remonstrance was read in both branches of the Legislature -and referred to the same committee, with instructions -to hear us according to our request.</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of the 8th, therefore, we met the -committee again in the Hall of the Representatives. The -reports which had gone forth of our first interview had -so interested the public, that the house was now quite -filled with gentlemen and ladies, many of whom had -never before shown any sympathy with the antislavery -reform.</p> - -<p>It was intended that Dr. Follen should address the -committee first, beginning just where he had been, on -the 4th, so rudely commanded by Mr. Lunt to leave -off, and that he should press home that part of his argument -which we all deemed so important. But he was -detained from the meeting until a later hour. It devolved -upon me, therefore, to commence. I confined -my remarks to two points. First, I contended that our -publications were not incendiary, not intended nor adapted -to excite the oppressed to insurrection. Secondly, I -assured the committee that, whatever they might think -of the character of our publications, we had never sent -them to the slaves nor to the colored people of the -South, and gave them our reasons for having refrained -so to do.</p> - -<p>Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., then made a somewhat extended, -but very close legal and logical argument against -the demands of the slaveholding States,—“arrogant, -insolent demands,” as he called them. “To yield to -them would be to subvert the foundations of our civil -liberties, and make it criminal to obey the laws of God, -and follow the example of Jesus Christ.” His excellent -speech evidently made an impression upon the committee<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">196</a></span> -as well as his larger audience. But I have not room -here for such an abstract of it as I should like to give.</p> - -<p>While Mr. Sewall was speaking Dr. Follen came in, -and when he had ended the Doctor arose and commenced -by showing very clearly that we Abolitionists were accused -of <em>crime</em> by the legislatures of several of our Southern -States, and that the Governor of Massachusetts had -indorsed the accusation, because we had exercised in -the cause of humanity that liberty of speech and of -the press which was guaranteed to us in the Constitution -of our Republic, not less explicitly than in the fundamental -law of this State. “We have endeavored by -persuasion, by argument, by moral and religious appeals -to urge upon the nation, and especially upon our Southern -brethren, the necessity of freeing themselves from -the sin, the evils, and the shame of slavery. You cannot -punish or censure freedom of speech in Abolitionists, -without preparing the way to censure it in any other -class of citizens who may for the moment be obnoxious -to the majority. A penal enactment against us is less -to be dreaded than condemnatory resolutions; for these -are left to be enforced by Judge Lynch and his minions, -and I must say, as I said the other day—”</p> - -<p>“I call you to order, sir,” said Mr. Lunt, with great -emphasis. “This is not respectful to the committee.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Follen replied, “I am not conscious of having -said anything disrespectful to the committee. I beg to -be informed in what I am out of order.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lunt replied, “Your allusion to mobs, for which you -were called to order at our first interview, is not proper.”</p> - -<p>“Am I then to understand,” said Dr. Follen, “that -deprecating mobs is disrespectful to this committee?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Moseley, one of the committee, here spoke with -much feeling; said he dissented wholly from the action -of the Chairman. “I see nothing in the allusion to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">197</a></span> -mobs disrespectful to the committee or the Legislature; -and I consider Dr. Follen entirely in order.”</p> - -<p>Some discussion ensued. Two others of the committee, -making a majority, silently assented to the opinion -of Mr. Lunt. So it was decided that the Doctor -was out of order, and must not allude to mobs.</p> - -<p>Here I called the attention of Mr. Lunt to the memorial, -in answer to which we were permitted by the Legislature -to appear before the committee, and they were -instructed to hear us. “It seemed, on the fourth instant, -that the Chairman considered that we came here -by his grace to exculpate ourselves from the charges -alleged against us by the Legislatures of several of the -Southern States; and that we were not to be permitted -to express our anxious apprehensions of the effects of -any acts by our Legislature intended to gratify the -wishes of those States. In order, therefore, that we -might appear before you in the <em>exercise of our right as -free citizens</em>, we have appealed to the Senate and House -of Representatives, and have received their permission -so to do. Dr. Follen was setting before you what we -deem the most probable and most serious evil to be apprehended -from any condemnatory resolutions which the -Legislature might be induced to pass; and if he is not -permitted to press this upon your consideration our interview -with the committee must end here.” Mr. Lunt -then consulted with his associates and intimated that -Dr. Follen might proceed. He did so, and having referred -to the disastrous influence of the great meeting in -Faneuil Hall, August, 1835, and of the condemnatory -resolutions there passed, he showed clearly that far -greater outrages upon the property and persons of Abolitionists -would be likely to follow the passage of similar -resolutions by the Legislature of the Commonwealth.</p> - -<p>Rev. William Goodell then arose and made a most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">198</a></span> -able and eloquent speech. He ignored for the time being -all the personal dangers and private wrongs of the -Abolitionists; he set aside for the moment the consideration -of everything else but the imminent peril that -seemed to be impending over the very life of liberty in -our country. “For what, Mr. Chairman,” said he, “are -Abolitionists accused by the Southern States, and our -own Legislature called upon to condemn them? For -nothing else but exercising and defending the inalienable -rights of the people. What have we said that is not -said in your Declaration of Independence? and why are -we censured for carrying into practice what others have -been immortalized as patriots for writing and adopting? -In censuring us you censure the Father of our Country. -I turn to the portrait of Washington as it looks upon us -in this hall, and remind you how he declared that he -earnestly desired to see the time when slavery should be -abolished. For saying this, and urging it upon our -countrymen, the mandate has come from the South to -stop our mouths, and we are here to avert the sentence -our own Legislature is called upon to pronounce upon -us.” Mr. Goodell then went on to quote the strongest -antislavery sentiments uttered by President Jefferson, -Chief Justice John Jay, and Hon. William Pinckney, a -distinguished member of the Legislature of Maryland, -the last in stronger language of condemnation than ever -issued from an antislavery press. “Shall the men of -the South speak thus, and we be compelled to hold our -peace? Mr. Chairman, in this hour of my country’s -danger, I should disdain to stand here pleading for my -personal security. In behalf of my fellow-citizens -throughout the land, I implore the Legislature of this -Commonwealth to pause before they act on those documents -of the South. What are they? A demand for -the unconditional surrender to the South of the first<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">199</a></span> -principles of your Constitution, the surrender of your -liberties. It is a blow particularly aimed at the independence -of your laboring classes.” Mr. Goodell here -quoted the declaration of Governor McDuffie and other -distinguished Southern gentlemen, distinctly asserting -the doctrine that “the laboring population of no nation -on earth are entitled to liberty or capable of enjoying -it.” “Mr. Chairman, we are charged with aiming at -disunion, because we seek what only can save the Union. -I charge upon those who promulgate the doctrines on -your table, a deep and foul conspiracy against the liberties -of the laboring people of the North.” Mr. Lunt -here interrupted him.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Goodell, I must interfere,” he said. “You must -not charge other States with a foul conspiracy, nor treat -their public documents with disrespect.” Mr. Goodell -replied: “Something may be pardoned to a man when -he speaks for the liberties of a nation.” Mr. Lunt continued: -“The documents emanating from other States -are required by our Federal Constitution to be received -with full faith and credit here.” “Certainly, sir,” responded -Mr. Goodell. “I wish them to be regarded as -official, accredited documents, and I have referred to an -accredited document from the Governor of South Carolina, -in which he says, <em>that the laborers of the North -are incapable of understanding or enjoying freedom, that -liberty in a free State best subsists with slavery, and that -the laborers must be reduced to slavery, or the laws cannot -be maintained</em>. This, sir, is also a document entitled to -full faith and credit,—holding up a report of the doings -of the Legislature of South Carolina, in which they declared -an entire accordance with Governor McDuffie in -the sentiments expressed in his message.” Mr. Lunt -here interposed with great warmth. “Stop, sir!” Mr. -Goodell stopped, but remained standing. “Sit down,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">200</a></span> -sir,” said Mr. Lunt; “the committee will hear no more -of this.” Mr. Goodell said: “My duty is discharged, -Mr. Chairman, if I cannot proceed in the way that seems -to me necessary to bring our case properly before the -committee and the Legislature. We came here as free -men, and we will go away as freemen should.” Some -one in the vast audience that had been watching our -proceedings with intensest interest cried out, “Let us -go quickly lest we be made slaves.” I here made one -more appeal to Mr. Lunt. “Are we, sir, to be again -denied our right of being heard in pursuance of our memorial -to the Legislature?” The Chairman intimated -that they had heard enough.</p> - -<p>The audience here began to leave the hall, but were -arrested by a voice in their midst. It was that of Dr. -Gamaliel Bradford, not a member of the Antislavery -Society, who had come there only as a spectator, but -had been so moved by what he had witnessed that he -pronounced an eloquent, thrilling, impassioned, but respectful -appeal in favor of free discussion. I wish that -I could spread the whole of it before my readers. So -soon as he sat down Mr. George Bond, one of the most -prominent merchants and estimable gentlemen of Boston, -expressed a desire to say a few words to the committee. -“I am not a petitioner nor an Abolitionist,” said he; -“but, though opposed to some of the measures of these -antislavery gentlemen, I hold to some opinions in common -with them. If under these circumstances the committee -will permit, I beg leave to offer a few remarks.” -The Chairman preserved silence; but another member -of the committee intimated to Mr. Bond that he might -proceed. “It strikes me,” said Mr. Bond, “that this is -a subject of deep and vital importance; and I fear as a -citizen that the manner in which it has been treated by -the committee will produce an excitement throughout<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">201</a></span> -the Commonwealth. With due respect to the committee, -I beg leave to say that, from the little experience I have -had in legislative proceedings, it is not the practice to -require of persons, appearing before a committee, a strict -conformity to rules. They are usually indulged in telling -their own story in their own way, provided it be not -disrespectful. I have certainly heard nothing from the -gentlemen of the Antislavery Society that called for the -course that has been adopted. It does seem to me that -some of the committee have been too fastidious, too -hypercritical.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lunt here broke out again. “Be careful, sir, -what you say. The committee will not submit to it.” -Mr. Bond replied: “I certainly have no wish to say anything -unpleasant to the committee, but I cannot help -regretting the course that has been taken to withhold a -full hearing from the parties interested. They came -here through their memorial, which had been received -by the Legislature and referred to this committee, and I -expected that the committee would have allowed them -to say what they pleased, using proper language. If -they state their case improperly, it will injure them and -not the committee. I may be wrong, but I regret to -see the grounds given for the gentlemen and their friends -to say they have been denied a hearing. The action on -this question here is of immense importance in the influence -it may have, not only upon those who have appeared -before the committee, but upon the Legislature, the community, -the Commonwealth, and the whole country.” -When Mr. Bond had closed, instead of proffering to us a -further hearing, the committee broke up without a formal -adjournment, the Chairman immediately retiring, conscious, -as it seems to me he must have been, of the very -general indignation which his conduct had excited. Just as -he was leaving, Mr. Moseley, one of the committee, said to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">202</a></span> -him, “I am not satisfied with your course. You have -been wrong from the beginning. I will not sit again on -such a committee.”</p> - -<p>The large audience retired from the hall murmuring -their astonishment, shame, indignation at the conduct -of the Chairman. Many gentlemen and ladies, who had -never shown us favor before, came to assure us that -they had been led, by what they had heard and seen -that afternoon, to take a new view of the importance of -the great reform we were laboring to effect.</p> - -<p>Nothing, however, gratified us so much as seeing Dr. -Channing approach Mr. Garrison, whom until then he -had appeared to avoid, shake him cordially by the hand, -and utter some words of sympathy. From that time -until his death the larger portion of his publications -were upon the subject of slavery, increasing in earnestness -and power to the last.</p> - -<p>The conduct of the committee, especially the Chairman, -was severely censured next day in the Senate by -Hon. Mr. Whitmarsh, and other members of that body. -Reports of our interviews were published and republished -throughout the Commonwealth, and called out from -almost every part of it condemnatory comments. Many -were brought over to the antislavery faith, and our party -became not a little significant in the estimation of the -politicians. Governor Everett’s too evident inclination -to yield to the insolent demands of the slaveholding oligarchy -damaged him seriously in the confidence of his -fellow-citizens, and, if I remember correctly, at the very -next election he was beaten by the opposing candidate, -whose sentiments on slavery were thought to be more -correct than his.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">203</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp203">HON. JAMES G. BIRNEY.</h3> - -<p>Let me again beg my readers to bear in mind, that I -am not attempting to write a complete history of the -antislavery conflict. Many individuals rendered essential -services to the cause in different parts of our country -whose names even may not be mentioned on any of my -pages, for the reason that I had little or no personal acquaintance -with them. My purpose is merely to give -my recollections of the most important incidents in the -progress of the great reform, and of the individuals -whom I personally knew in connection with those incidents.</p> - -<p>Although I did not enjoy a very intimate acquaintance -with the distinguished gentleman whose name stands at -the head of this article, my connection with him was -such that it will be very proper, as well as very grateful -to me, to give some account of him and of his inestimable -services.</p> - -<p>At the annual meetings of the American Antislavery -Society in New York, and of the Massachusetts Society -in Boston in May, 1835, our hearts were greatly encouraged -and our hands strengthened by the presence and -eloquence of the Hon. James G. Birney, then of Kentucky, -lately of Alabama. We had repeatedly heard -of him during the preceding twelve months, and of his -labors and sacrifices in the cause of our enslaved countrymen. -As I said in my report at the time, all were -charmed with him. He was mild yet firm, cautious -yet not afraid to speak the whole truth, candid but not -compromising, careful not to exaggerate in aught, and -equally careful not to conceal or extenuate. He imparted -much valuable information and animated us to persevere -in our work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">204</a></span> -Mr. Birney was a native of Kentucky, the only son -of a wealthy planter, who gave him some of the best -opportunities that our country then afforded for acquiring -a thorough classical, scientific, and professional education, -to which were added the advantages of extensive -foreign travel. When he had completed his preparations -for the practice of the law he opened an office in Danville, -his native place, and married a Miss McDowell, of Virginia. -Thus he was allied by marriage as well as birth -to a large circle of prominent slaveholders in two States. -Soon after he removed to Huntsville, Alabama, where he -rapidly rose to great distinction in his profession and in -the estimation of his fellow-citizens. He was elected -Solicitor-General of the State, and in 1828, when John -Q. Adams was nominated for the Presidency, Mr. Birney -was chosen by the Whig party one of the Alabama -Electors. Moreover, he was an honored member of the -Presbyterian church, and was zealous and active as an -elder in that denomination. I make these statements -to show that Mr. Birney occupied a very high position, -both civil and ecclesiastical.</p> - -<p>He had been accustomed to slavery from his birth. -So he purchased a cotton plantation near Huntsville and -directed the management of it. But his kind heart was -ill at ease in view of the condition of the slaves. He -could not regard them as brute animals, and felt that -there must be a terrible wrong in treating them as if -they were. He gladly entered into the project of the -Colonization Society, hoping it would lead ultimately to -the deliverance of the bondsmen. He became so interested -in it that he turned from his legal practice, which -had become very lucrative, that he might discharge the -duties of General Superintendent of the Colonization -Society in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, -Tennessee, and Arkansas. He travelled extensively<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">205</a></span> -throughout those States, was everywhere treated with -respect, and had abundant opportunities for forming an -opinion of the real effect of the Colonization scheme upon -the institution of slavery. He saw that it was tending -to perpetuate rather than to put an end to the great -iniquity.</p> - -<p>Towards the close of 1833 Mr. Birney removed back -to his native place, that he might be near and minister -to the comfort of his aged father. He returned carrying -with him his new-formed opinions of Colonization. He -found a few who had come to feel, with him, that something -else and more should be done for the relief of the -oppressed. In December of that year he joined them -and formed the “Kentucky Gradual Emancipation Society.” -But the principles of it did not long satisfy -him.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison’s “Thoughts on Colonization,” published -more than a year before in Boston, had reached that -neighborhood, and probably had come under the consideration -of Mr. Birney. It contained a faithful searching -review of the purposes, the spirit and tendency of -Colonization. Soon after, the famous discussion arose -in Lane Seminary, of which I have given some account -on a previous page, and which resulted in an eruption -that threw eighty “live coals” in as many directions -over the country,—fervent young men, who went diligently -about, kindling up the minds of the people on the -question of <em>immediate</em> emancipation.</p> - -<p>That remarkable young man, Theodore D. Weld, leader -of the antislavery party in Lane Seminary, visited Mr. -Birney, and found him ready for conversion, if not already -a convert to the highest antislavery truth. Their -interviews resulted in Mr. Birney’s entire conviction that -the Colonization plan tended to uphold rather than to -subvert slavery; and that immediate emancipation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">206</a></span> -without removal from their homes, was the right of -every slave, and the duty of every slaveholder.</p> - -<p>Without delay, he acted in accordance with this conviction. -He addressed an admirable letter to Rev. Mr. -Mills, Corresponding Secretary of the Kentucky Colonization -Society, announcing that he must no longer be -considered a member of that association, and stating, in -a very lucid and impressive manner, his weighty reasons -for disapproving of, and feeling impelled to oppose, an enterprise -in which he had taken so much interest, and to -which he had devoted so much time and labor. Better -than this, he summoned all his slaves into his presence, -acknowledged that he had been guilty of great wrong in -holding them as his property, informed them that he had -executed deeds of manumission for each and all of them, -and that henceforth they were free men, free women, free -children. He offered to retain in his service all who preferred -to remain with him, and to pay them fair wages -for their labor. None left him, and, as he himself told me, -they afterwards toiled not only more cheerfully than before, -but more effectively, and for a greater number of -hours. In several instances he had been impelled to go -to them in person, and insist upon their “hanging up the -shovel and the hoe.” In the fall of 1834 he addressed a -letter to the members of the Presbyterian Synod, in the -vicinity of Danville, in which he pressed upon them the -sinfulness of holding their fellow-beings as property, and -showed them the true Scripture doctrine respecting slavery. -He also visited the seat of government during the -session of the Kentucky Legislature, and conversed with -many members. He found that most of them regarded -slavery as an evil which could not be perpetual, but most -of them recoiled from the plan of immediate emancipation.</p> - -<p>Convinced that this was the vital doctrine, he determined<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">207</a></span> -to do all in his power to disseminate it among the -people. For this purpose he purchased a printing-press -and types, and engaged a man to print for him at Danville -a paper to be called <cite>The Philanthropist</cite>. So soon -as his intention became known, his neighbors roused -themselves to prevent the execution of it. While he -continued a slaveholder and in favor of Colonization, it -was proper and safe enough for him to express freely his -opinions. But when he became an immediate emancipationist, -and liberated his slaves, he was regarded as a -dangerous man. And now that he was preparing to disseminate -his doctrines through the press, he was to be -denounced and silenced.</p> - -<p>On the 12th of July, 1835, the slaveholders of his -neighborhood assembled in mass meeting, in the town of -Danville, and after rousing themselves and each other to -the right pitch of madness, they addressed a letter to -Mr. Birney, vehemently remonstrating with him, and -pledging themselves to prevent the publication of his -paper, by the most violent means, if necessary. Mr. -Birney respectfully but firmly refused to yield to their -demand, assured them that he understood the rights of -an American citizen, and that he should exercise and defend -them. However, their threats, which did not intimidate -him, so far excited the apprehensions of his printer -that he utterly refused to undertake the publication.</p> - -<p>When the report reached Alabama that Mr. Birney had -become an immediate Abolitionist, had renounced the Colonization -Society, and had liberated his slaves, most of -those who had formerly known and honored him there -united in expressing very emphatically their displeasure, -and declaring their contempt for his new fanatical opinions. -The Supreme Court of that State expunged his -name from the roll of attorneys practising at its bar. -And in the University of Alabama, of which he had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">208</a></span> -a most useful trustee, several literary societies, of which -he had been an honorary member, hastened to pass resolutions -expelling him from their bodies. These acts convinced -him of their hatred, but not of his error.</p> - -<p>Finding that he could not get his paper printed in -Danville, he removed his press and types to Cincinnati, -in order that he might publish his <cite>Philanthropist</cite> as near -to his father’s home and his native State as possible, and -under the ægis of Ohio, whose constitution explicitly -guarantees to her citizens freedom of speech and of the -press.</p> - -<p>But he had not got himself and family settled in Cincinnati, -before he found that the inhabitants of that city -were so swayed by Southern influence that it would be -useless to attempt to issue a paper there, opposed to slavery -and to the expatriation of the free colored people. -He therefore removed twenty miles up the river to the -town of New Richmond, where the dominant influence -was in the hands of Quakers. <cite>The Philanthropist</cite> was -much better received by the public than he expected, and -was so generally commended for the excellent spirit with -which the subject of slavery was discussed, that he -thought it best to remove his press back to Cincinnati. -But he had hardly got it established there before “the -gentlemen of property and standing” bestirred themselves -and their minions to the determination that the -incendiary paper “must be suppressed by all means, -right or wrong, peaceably or forcibly.” Mr. Birney contended -manfully, nobly, for the liberty of speech and of -the press. He met his opponents in public and in private, -refuted their arguments and exposed the fearful -consequences of their conduct, if persisted in. But his -facts, his logic, and his eloquence were of no avail. What -had not been reasoned into them could not be reasoned -out of them. His opponents were fixed in a foregone<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">209</a></span> -conclusion that slavery was a matter with which the -citizens of the free States were bound not to meddle, and -were made more impetuous by that dislike of the colored -people, which was intensified by the consciousness that -they were living witnesses to the inconsistency, cruelty, -and meanness of our nation. I wish I had room for a -full account of Mr. Birney’s courageous and persistent -defence of his antislavery opinions, and of his right to -publish and disseminate them.</p> - -<p>Suffice it to add that, on the evening of the 1st of -August, 1836, Mr. Birney having gone to a distant town -to deliver a lecture, large numbers of persons, among -them some of the <em>most respectable</em> citizens of Cincinnati, -went to the office of <cite>The Philanthropist</cite>, demolished or -threw into the streets everything they found there excepting -the printing-press. That they dragged to the -bank of the Ohio, half a mile distant, conveyed it in a -boat to the middle of the river and threw it in.</p> - -<p>In the fall of 1837 Mr. Birney removed to New York, -and for two years or more rendered inestimable services -as one of the Corresponding Secretaries of the American -Antislavery Society.</p> - -<p>While there, some time in 1839, his father died, leaving -a large amount of property in lands, money, and -slaves to him and his only sister, Mrs. Marshall. Mr. -Birney requested that all the slaves, twenty-one in number, -might be set off to him at their market value, as a -part of his patrimony. This was done. He immediately -wrote and executed a deed manumitting them all. -Thus he sacrificed to his sense of right, his respect for -humanity, that which he might legally have retained or -disposed of as property, amounting to eighteen or twenty -thousand dollars.<a id="FNanchor_I" href="#Footnote_I" class="fnanchor">I</a></p> - -<p>This act, added to all else that he had done and said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">210</a></span> -in the cause of liberty, and the invaluable contributions -from his pen, and the noble traits of character that were -ever manifest in all his deeds and words, raised Mr. Birney -to the highest point in the estimation of all Abolitionists. -When, therefore, they had become weary of striving to -induce one or the other of the political parties to recognize -the rights of the colored population of the country; -when they had found that neither the Whigs nor the -Democrats would attempt anything for the relief of the -millions of the oppressed, but what their <em>oppressors</em> approved -or consented to; when thus forced to the conclusion -that a Third Party must needs be formed in order -to compel politicians and statesmen to heed their demands -for the relief of suffering outraged millions in our -land, James G. Birney was unanimously selected to be -their candidate for the presidency. He unquestionably -possessed higher qualifications for that office than either -of the candidates of the other parties. But, with shame -be it said, he had too much faith in the glorious doctrine -of the Declaration of Independence, and in the declared -purpose of the Constitution of the United States to suit -the depraved policy of the nation in 1840. In that year -the Liberty party gave a very significant number of -votes for Mr. Birney. And again in 1844 their votes for -him amounted to 62,300. These votes, if given for Mr. -Clay, as they would have been had he been true to “the -inalienable rights of man,” would have secured his election -by a majority of 23,119. This number was too large -to be ignored. It showed that the Abolitionists held -the balance of power between the Whigs and the Democrats. -Their opinions and wishes thenceforward were -more respected by politicians and their partisans. Various -attempts were made to conciliate them, which, after -several political abortions, gave birth to the <em>Republican -party</em>. This party, we hope and trust, will be guided or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">211</a></span> -forced to pursue such measures as will not only abolish -slavery, but raise the colored population of our country -to the enjoyment of all the privileges and the exercise of -all the prerogatives of American citizens.</p> - -<h3 id="hp211">JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.</h3> - -<p>Although this gentleman—so prominent for more -than half a century among our American statesmen and -scholars—was not a member of our Antislavery Society, -he rendered us and our cause, in one respect, a most -important service. And as I have some interesting recollections -of him, a few pages devoted to them will be -german to my plan.</p> - -<p>In January, 1835, a petition was committed to Mr. -Adams, signed by more than a hundred women of his -congressional district, praying for the abolition of slavery -in the District of Columbia. He presented it and moved -its reference to a select committee. Instantly several -Southern representatives sprang to their feet and vehemently -opposed even the reception of it. They insisted -that Congress ought not to receive such petitions, adapted -as they were, if not intended, to create an excitement, -and wound the feelings of members from the slaveholding -States. Mr. Adams urged the reception of the petition -with earnestness and eloquence, reminding his -opponents that the feelings of his constituents, and of -many of the people of the non-slaveholding States, were -deeply wounded by being held in any way responsible for -the continuance of such a system of oppression as they -considered slavery. No right of the people, he said, -could be more vital, or should be held as more sacred, -than the <em>right of petition</em>,—the right to implore their -rulers to relieve them of any unnecessary burden, or to -correct what seemed to them a grievous wrong. He besought<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">212</a></span> -the representatives of the American people to -show their respect for the right of petition by receiving -the paper he now presented. If there were any expressions -in the language of this petition disrespectful or improper, -let the signers of it be reproved. It might be -easy, he added, to show that this prayer of his constituents -ought not to be granted, but that was no reason for -refusing to hear their request. To petition is a right -guaranteed to every one by the Constitution, of our Republic,—yes, -a right inherent in the constitution of man, -and Congress is not authorized to deny it or to abridge -it. Such was the effect of his speech that the petition -was received. But it was immediately laid on the table.</p> - -<p>Again in January, 1837, Mr. Adams offered a petition -of the same tenor, signed by a hundred and fifty women. -Forthwith several Southern members passionately objected -to the reception of it. Mr. Adams planted himself -as firmly as before in defence of the <em>right of petition</em>. -He charged upon the opposers that they were violating -most fearfully the federal Constitution, which they had -sworn to support. He besought the House not to give -its countenance, its sanction, to the violent assaults -which had been made in our country within the last -eighteen months upon the freedom of the press and the -liberty of speech, by denying the still more fundamental -right,—the <em>right of petition</em>; and this “to a class of -citizens as virtuous and pure as the inhabitants of any -section of the United States.”</p> - -<p>A violent debate ensued, in which Mr. Adams maintained -his part with so much fortitude, dignity, and force -of argument that the petition was received by a large -majority. I am sorry to add that it was soon after -laid on the table by a majority almost as large. And a -few days afterwards, on the 18th of January, 1837, the -House of Representatives passed this infamous resolution:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">213</a></span> -“That all petitions relating to slavery, <em>without being -printed or referred</em>, shall be laid on the table, and no -action shall be had thereon.” This resolution, intended -to shut the door of legislative justice and mercy against -millions of the most cruelly oppressed people on earth, -was passed in the Congress of these United States by a -vote of 139 ayes to 96 nays.</p> - -<p>Petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of -Columbia had been sent to Mr. Adams and to other -members of Congress, from various parts of the country. -For it was the feeling of Abolitionists everywhere that -we were all, in some measure, directly responsible for the -continuance of slavery in that District, over which Congress -had then, and has now, exclusive jurisdiction. -Seeing how such petitions were to be spurned, by the -advice of the managers of the Antislavery Society, I addressed -a letter to Mr. Adams, proposing that thereafter -our petitions should be “for the removal of the national -capital to some place north of Mason and Dixon’s line.” -He replied that nothing would be gained by such a -change. Petitions so worded, coming from Abolitionists, -would be treated with the same contempt. And he -thought it better to persist in demanding the abolition -of slavery in the District, and contend for the right of -petition on that issue.</p> - -<p>Nothing daunted by the high-handed measure of January -18th, Mr. Adams, on the 6th of the following month, -announced to the Speaker that he held in his hand a petition -which purported to come from a number of slaves, -without, however, stating what it prayed for. Before -presenting it, he wished to be informed by the Speaker -whether such a paper would come under the order of -the 18th ult. Without waiting for the decision, several -slaveholders rose in quick succession and poured out -their astonishment, their indignation, their wrath at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">214</a></span> -effrontery of the man who could propose to offer such a -petition,—a petition from slaves! One said it was so -gross an insult to the House that the paper ought to be -taken and burnt. Another insisted that the representative -from Massachusetts deserved the severest censure, -yes, that he ought to be immediately brought to the bar -of the House and reproved by the Speaker. Others demanded -that Mr. Adams should be forthwith expelled -from his seat with those he had so grossly insulted.</p> - -<p>Amidst this storm Mr. Adams remained as little -moved as “the house that was founded upon a rock.” -When it had spent its rage enough for a human voice to -be heard, the brave “old man eloquent” rose and said: -“Mr. Speaker, to prevent further consumption of the -time of the House, I deem it my duty to request the -members to modify their several resolutions so that they -may be in accordance with the facts. I did not present -the petition. I only informed the Speaker that I held -in my hand a paper purporting to be a petition from -slaves, and asked if such a petition would come under -the general order of January 18th. I stated distinctly -that I should not send the paper to the table until that -question was decided. This is one <em>fact</em>, and one of the -resolutions offered to the House should be amended to -accord with it.</p> - -<p>“Another gentleman alleged in his resolution that the -paper I hold is a petition from slaves, praying for the -abolition of slavery. Now, Mr. Speaker, that is not the -fact. If the House should choose to hear this paper -read they would learn that it is a petition the reverse -of what the resolution states it to be. If, therefore, the -gentleman from Alabama still shall choose to call me to -the bar of the House, he will have to amend his resolution -by stating in it that my crime has been attempting -to introduce a petition from slaves, praying that slavery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">215</a></span> -may <em>not</em> be abolished,—precisely that which the gentleman -desires.”</p> - -<p>A variety of absurd and incoherent resolutions were -proposed, and as many abusive speeches were made, -after which the following were adopted: “<em>Resolved</em>, -That this House cannot receive the said petition without -disregarding its own dignity, the rights of a large class -of citizens of the South and West, and the Constitution -of the United States.” Yeas, 160. Nays, 35. “<em>Resolved</em>, -That slaves do not possess the right of petition -secured to the people of the United States by the Constitution.” -Yeas, 162. Nays, 18.</p> - -<p>None of the Northern representatives interposed to -aid Mr. Adams in the conflict, excepting only Messrs. -Lincoln and Cushing, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Evans, -of Maine. These gentlemen defended his positions with -distinguished ability. But the “old man eloquent” was -a host in himself,—a match for all who rose up against -him. Through the whole of the unparalleled excitement -he behaved with exemplary equanimity and admirable -self-possession. “His speech, in vindication of his -cause,” said Mr. Garrison, “was the hewing of Agag in -pieces by the hand of Samuel.” His exposure of the -vice and licentiousness of slaveholding communities was -unsparing. His sarcasms were as cutting as the surgeon’s -knife. His rebukes were terrible. He contended -that there was not a word, not an intimation in the -Constitution, excluding petitions from slaves. “The -right of petition,” said he, “God gave to the whole -human race when he made them <em>men</em>,—the right of -prayer,—the right of those who need to ask a favor of -those who can bestow it. It belongs to humanity; it -does not depend upon the condition of the petitioners. -It belongs to the wronged, the destitute, the wretched. -Those who most need relief of any kind have the best<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">216</a></span> -right to petition for it, <em>enslaved men more than all others</em>. -Did the gentleman from South Carolina think he could -frighten me by his threat of a grand jury? Let me tell -him <em>he mistook his man</em>; I am not to be frightened from -the discharge of a duty by his indignation, nor by all the -grand juries in the universe. Mr. Speaker, I never was -more serious in any moment of my life. I never acted -under a more solemn sense of duty. What I have done -I should do again under the same circumstances if it -were to be done to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>For this dignified, persistent, heroic defence of the -right of petition Mr. Adams deserved the gratitude of -all the suffering, and those who desired their relief,—of -the enslaved and those who were laboring for their redemption. -But in the course of the debate he said, -“It is well known to all the members of this house that, -from the day I entered this hall to the present moment, -I have invariably, here and elsewhere, declared my opinion -to be adverse to the prayer of petitions which call -for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. -I have, however, uniformly insisted, and do insist, that -such petitions ought to be respectfully received, duly -considered, and our reasons given for refusing to grant -them.”</p> - -<p>Such a declaration from the champion of our petitions, -it will readily be believed, disconcerted us Abolitionists -not a little. Some denounced him. Many -thought he certainly ought not to be returned to Congress -again.</p> - -<p>I was then one of his constituents, living about thirteen -miles from his residence. I was as much disconcerted -as any were by Mr. Adams’s opposition to the -prayer of our petition, and could not rest without hearing -from himself his reasons for that opposition. Accordingly, -soon after his return to Quincy, in the summer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">217</a></span> -of 1837, I called at his house. He received me -graciously, and, on being told what was the object of my -visit, he thanked me for coming to himself to learn what -were the principles by which he endeavored to govern -his conduct as a member of the National Legislature, -and what the reasons for the opinion he held respecting -the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by -an act of Congress. “You cannot doubt,” said he, -“that I desire the abolition of slavery there, and everywhere, -as much as you or any Abolitionist desires it. I -am ready to do all that I think can be done legally to -exterminate that great wrong, that alarming evil, that -dark shame from our country. I shall ever withstand -any plan for the extension of slavery in any direction an -inch beyond the limits within which unhappily it existed -at the formation of our Union. I have repeatedly -declared myself at any time ready to go for the most -stringent prohibition of our interstate slave-trade, putting -it under the same ban with the foreign slave-trade.<a id="FNanchor_J" href="#Footnote_J" class="fnanchor">J</a> -But, sir, the citizens of the District of Columbia are in -an anomalous condition,—a condition not to be reconciled -with one of the fundamental principles of our -democratic institutions. They are governed by laws enacted -by a Legislature in which they have no representative, -and to the enactment of which they have given -no consent. Whenever, therefore, I am called upon to -act as a legislator for the District of Columbia, I feel -myself to be all the more bound in honor to act as if I -were a representative chosen by the people of that District, -that is, to act in accordance with what I know to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">218</a></span> -be the will of my quasi constituents. Therefore, until I -know that the people of that District generally desire -the abolition of slavery, I cannot vote for it consistently -with my idea of the duty of a representative.”</p> - -<p>Of course I demurred at the sufficiency of this reason, -and urged several objections to it. But I need not add -a stern old statesman was not to be moved from his allegiance -to a principle which he said had governed him -through his long political life.</p> - -<p>I left him dissatisfied and doubting whether I could -help by my vote to re-elect him to Congress. I conferred -much with some of the leading Abolitionists in -his district. They were troubled in like manner. But -we could think of no man who could be elected in his -place that would go further in opposition to slavery than -Mr. Adams had gone, or could utter such scathing condemnation -of our American despotism. When, too, we -reviewed the course he had pursued in Congress in defence -of the right of petition, and considered his venerable -age, his high official and personal character, his intimate -acquaintance with every part of the history of -our country, his unequalled adroitness in the conduct -of a legislative debate, the insults and abuse he had endured -in Congress, because of his words and acts bearing -upon the subject of slavery, and his perfect fearlessness -in the midst of the angry, violent, bullying slaveholders, -we came to the conclusion that it would be most unjust, -ungrateful, and unwise in Abolitionists to withhold their -support from Mr. Adams. We determined rather to -rally about him.</p> - -<p>And first we thought it would be becoming in his constituents -to give some public and emphatic expression -of their high and grateful appreciation of his faithfulness -and heroic courage, in advocating and maintaining -the sacred right of petition. Accordingly, we conferred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">219</a></span> -with the prominent members of the Whig party in his -district, who, after some hesitation, agreed to unite with -us in calling a delegated convention to consider the -alarming assaults that had been made in the Congress -of the nation upon the right of petition, and the noble -defence of that right by the venerable and illustrious -representative of the twelfth Congressional District.</p> - -<p>Such a convention was held in Quincy, on the 23d of -August, 1837. Seventeen towns were represented by -delegates, and a large number of other citizens were -present.</p> - -<p>Hon. Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy, was chosen President. -Hon. Cushing Otis, of South Scituate, and Hon. -John B. Turner, of Scituate, Vice-Presidents. Hon. -Gershom B. Weston, of Duxbury, and Orrin P. Bacon, -Esq., of Dorchester, Secretaries. The forenoon was -spent in listening to speeches upon the sacredness of -the right of petition, the assaults made upon that right -in the Congress of our nation, and the persistent, dauntless, -noble defence of it by our representative. A series -of appropriate resolutions was passed and a committee -appointed to present a copy of them to Mr. Adams, and -request him to favor the convention with his presence in -the afternoon.</p> - -<p>We reassembled soon after 2 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, and were informed -by the committee that Mr. Adams would be with us -at three o’clock. There was no other business before -the convention. Several topics were proposed by resolutions -or motions that were ruled out of order, as not -german to the purpose of the meeting. Members were -getting impatient. I had begun to fear that some of -our ardent ones would break over the agreement under -which the convention had been called. Just at this -crisis our excellent friend, Francis Jackson, of Boston, -came into the hall. His face was radiant with his message<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">220</a></span> -of glad tidings. He came straight towards me, and -placed in my hand a paper covered with lines, in the -clear, beautiful handwriting of that true philanthropist, -John Pierpont, with which I was familiar. “A Word from -a Petitioner.” Nothing could have been more timely, -nothing more appropriate. I seized it, and commenced -reading at <span class="locked">once:—</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“What! our petitions spurned! The prayer<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of thousands, tens of thousands, cast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unheard beneath your Speaker’s chair!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">But you <em>will</em> hear us first or last.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thousands that last year ye scorned<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Are millions now. Be warned! Be warned!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>The reading of this first stanza brought down the -house in rapturous applause. It struck the key-note to -which the feelings of all were attuned. Every stanza was -received with some response of approval or delight. -When the last line was read and I began to fold the -paper, “Encore! Encore!!” resounded from every part of -the hall. So I read the admirable poem again and better -than the first time. And just as I was reading the last -stanza, Mr. Adams entered the convention escorted by -the committee. Now the applauses rose in deafening -cheers. “Hurrah! Hurrah!! Hurrah!!! the hero -comes!!!!” Three times three and then again. Mr. -Adams tottered to his seat next the President, wellnigh -overcome with emotion. And when the uproar ceased -and he rose to speak he seemed for the moment no -more “the old man eloquent.” He could not utter a -word. He stood trembling before us. But the moment -passed, and the orator was himself again. His first words -were: “My friends, my neighbors, my constituents, -though I tremble before <em>you</em>, I hope, I trust you know -that I have never trembled before the enemies of your -liberties, your sacred rights.” Again was the assembly -thrown into an uproar of applause, which did not die<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">221</a></span> -away until his self-possession had entirely revived. And -then he addressed us for nearly an hour, giving a very -graphic account of his conflict with the slaveholders in -Congress, and making it evident, perhaps more evident -to us than to himself, that some of them were determined -to rule or else to ruin our Republic.</p> - -<p>By order of the convention a memorial was sent to -our fellow-citizens of each congressional district in the -Commonwealth, commending to their just appreciation -the conduct of Mr. Adams in defence of the right of -petition, and praying them to send representatives who -would be equally true, faithful, fearless in withstanding -the enemies of freedom.</p> - -<h3 id="hp221">THE ALTON TRAGEDY.</h3> - -<p>Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was a young Presbyterian minister, -a native of Maine, who soon after his graduation -from college settled in the city of St. Louis, first as a -school-teacher, then as a preacher, and lastly as the editor -of a religious paper. In all these offices he had -commended himself to the respect and affectionate regards -of a large circle of friends. He conducted his -paper to very general acceptance, until he became an -Abolitionist. An awful, a diabolical deed perpetrated in -or near St. Louis, compelled him to look after the evil -influences which could have prepared any individuals to -be guilty of such an atrocity, and the community in -which it was done to tolerate it.</p> - -<p>Some time in the latter part of 1836, or the beginning -of 1837, a slave was accused of a heinous crime -(not worse, however, than many white men had been -guilty of). He was tried by a Lynch Court, over which -a man most appropriately named Judge Lawless presided. -He was found guilty, sentenced <em>to be burned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">222</a></span> -alive</em>, and actually suffered that horrid death at the -hands of American citizens, some of whom were called -“most respectable.” Mr. Lovejoy faithfully denounced -the horrible outrage as belonging to the Dark Ages and -a community of savages, and thenceforward devoted a -portion of his paper to the exposure of the sinfulness -and demoralizing influence of slaveholding. This was -not long endured. His printing-office was broken up, -his press destroyed, and he was driven out of the State -of Missouri. He removed about twenty miles up the -Mississippi River to Alton, Illinois, and there commenced -the publication of a similar paper, called the <cite>Alton Observer</cite>. -But though in a nominally free State, he was -not beyond the power of the slaveholders. The people -of that town, obsequious to the will and tainted with -the spirit of their Southern and Southwestern neighbors, -soon followed the example of the Missourians, demolished -his printing-office and threw his press into the -river.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lovejoy was a man whose determination to withstand -oppression was a high moral principle rather than -a resentful passion. He therefore set about, with calm -resolution, to re-establish his office and his paper. In this -he was encouraged and assisted by the sympathy and the -contributions of some of the best people in Alton, St. -Louis, and that region of country. But he had issued -only one or two numbers of his <cite>Observer</cite>, before the ruffians -again fell upon his establishment and destroyed it.</p> - -<p>This second violation of his rights, in a State professedly -free, brought him and his patrons to feel that -they were indeed “set for the defence” of the liberty -of the press. They appealed in deeper tones of earnest -remonstrance and solemn warning to their fellow-citizens, -to their countrymen, to all who appreciated the value of -our political institutions, to help them re-establish and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">223</a></span> -maintain their desecrated press. They called a convention -of the people to consider the disgrace that had been -brought upon their town and State, and to awaken a -public sentiment that would overbear the minions of the -slaveholding oligarchy, which was assuming to rule our -nation. Dr. Edward Beecher, of Jacksonville, came to -Alton and spoke with wisdom and power in defence of -the <cite>Alton Observer</cite>, and its devoted editor.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lovejoy gave notice that he felt it to be a momentous -duty incumbent on him, there to vindicate the -precious right which had been so ruthlessly outraged in -his person and property. He gave notice that he had -taken measures to procure another printing-press and -materials for the publication of his paper. He hoped -the violent men, who had twice broken up his office, -would see their fearful mistake and molest him no more. -He trusted the good people of Alton and the officials of -their city would see to it that he should be protected, if -the spirit of outrage should again appear in their midst.</p> - -<p>Many of the good people of the place gathered about -him with assurances of help, if needed. A Mr. Gilman, -by all acknowledged to be one of the very best men in -the community, readily consented to receive the press -into his store for safe-keeping, and many other gentlemen -agreed to come there to defend it, if any attempt to take -it away should be made.</p> - -<p>As the day drew near on which the press was to arrive, -alarming threats were heard about the city, and -evidences of preparation for another deed of violence -were too plain to be mistaken. Mr. Gilman called upon -the Mayor for protection,—to appoint a special police -for the occasion, or to have an armed force in readiness, -if the emergency should require their interposition. That -official informed him that he had no military at his service, -and did not feel authorized to appoint a special<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">224</a></span> -police. Then Mr. Gilman craved to know if the Mayor -would authorize him to collect an armed force to protect -his property if it should be assaulted. The Mayor gave -him to understand that he would be justified in so doing.</p> - -<p>The boat arrived in the night of the 6th of November, -and the press was safely deposited in Messrs. Godfrey & -Gilman’s store. The next evening a mob assembled with -the declared purpose of destroying the press or the -building that contained it, in which were goods valued -at more than $100,000. Mr. Gilman went out and -calmly remonstrated with the mob. He assured them -that it was his determination, as it was his right, to defend -his own property and that of another, which had -been committed to him for safe-keeping, and that he -was prepared so to do; that there were a considerable -number of loaded muskets in his store and resolute men -there to use them. He had no wish to harm any one, and -besought them to refrain from their threatened assault, -which would certainly be repulsed. They heeded him -not, but reiterated their cries for the onset. It was -agreed between himself, Mr. Lovejoy, and their helpers -that they would forbear until there could be no longer -any doubt of the fell purpose of the assailants. The -suspense was brief. Stones and other heavy missiles -were thrown against the building and through the windows. -These were quickly followed by bullets. At this -several of the besieged party fired upon the mob, killing -one man and wounding another. After a temporary retreat, -the madmen returned bringing materials with -which to fire the store. A ladder was raised and a torch -applied to the roof. Mr. Lovejoy came out and aimed -his musket at the incendiary. So soon as he was recognized -he was fired upon and fell, his bosom pierced by -five bullets.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison and most of the oldest Abolitionists regretted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">225</a></span> -that Mr. Lovejoy and his friends had resorted -to deadly weapons. If he was to fall in our righteous -cause we wished that he had chosen to fall an unresisting -martyr. From the beginning we had determined -not to harm our foes. And though we had been insulted, -buffeted, starved, imprisoned, our houses sacked, -our property destroyed, our buildings burnt, not the life -of one of our number had hitherto been lost. But we -doubted not that our devoted brother had been governed -by his highest sense of right. He had acted in accordance -with the accepted morality of the Christian world, -and in the spirit of our Revolutionary fathers. A sensation -of horror at the murder of that amiable and excellent -young man thrilled the hearts of all the people that -were not steeped in the insensibility to the rights of humanity -which slaveholding produces. The 7th of November, -1837, was fixed in the calendar as one of the -days never to be forgotten in our country, nor remembered -but with shame.</p> - -<p>The American Antislavery Society, the Massachusetts, -and other kindred societies took especial and very appropriate -notice of the dreadful outrage, and renewed -their solemn pledges to labor all the more assiduously, -for the utter extermination of that system of iniquity -in the land, which could be upheld only at the expense -of our freedom of speech and the liberty of the press.</p> - -<p>Rev. Dr. Channing and many more of the prominent -citizens of Boston were moved to call a public meeting in -their “Old Cradle of Liberty,” without distinction of sect -or party, there to express the alarm and horror which -were felt at the outrage on civil liberty, and the murder -of a Christian minister, for attempting to maintain his -constitutional and inalienable rights. Accordingly, the -Doctor and a hundred other gentlemen made an application -to the Mayor and Aldermen of the city for permission<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">226</a></span> -to occupy Faneuil Hall for that purpose. Their -application was rejected as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“City of Boston. In Board of Aldermen, November 29, -1837: On the petition of William E. Channing and others, -for the use of Faneuil Hall on the evening of Monday, the 4th -of December,</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That in the opinion of this Board, it is inexpedient -to grant the prayer of said petition, for the reason that -resolutions and votes passed by a public meeting in Faneuil -Hall are often considered, in other places, as the expression -of public opinion in this city; but it is believed by -the Board that the resolutions which would be likely to be -sanctioned by the signers of this petition on this occasion -ought not to be regarded as the public voice of this city.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>This extraordinary conduct of the city authorities -kindled a fire of indignation throughout the city and the -Commonwealth, that sent forth burning words of surprise -and censure. Dr. Channing addressed an eloquent -and impressive “letter to the citizens of Boston,” that -produced the intended effect. It was widely circulated, -and everywhere read with deep emotion. A public -meeting was called by gentlemen who were not Abolitionists, -to be held in the old Supreme Court Room, -“to take into consideration the reasons assigned by the -Mayor and Aldermen for withholding the use of Faneuil -Hall, and to act in the premises as may be deemed -expedient.” A large concourse of citizens assembled. -George Bond, Esq., was chosen chairman, and B. F. Hallett, -Secretary. Dr. Channing’s letter was read, and -then a series of resolutions, “drawn up with consummate -ability and strikingly adapted to the occasion,” -were offered by Mr. Hallett, and after an animated discussion -were unanimously adopted. A committee of -two from each ward was appointed to renew the application -(precisely in the words of the former one) for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">227</a></span> -use of Faneuil Hall, and to obtain signatures to the -same. This request was not to be denied. The Mayor -and Aldermen yielded to the pressure.</p> - -<p>On the 8th of December the doors of Faneuil Hall -were thrown open, and as many people as could find a -place pressed in. Hon. Jonathan Phillips was called to -the chair, and made some excellent introductory remarks. -Dr. Channing then made an eloquent and impressive -address, after which B. F. Hallett, Esq., read -the resolutions which Dr. Channing had drawn up. -These were seconded by George S. Hillard, Esq., in a -very able speech. Then arose James T. Austin, the Attorney-General, -and made a speech in the highest degree -inflammatory and mobocratic. He declared that “Lovejoy -died as the fool dieth.” He justified the riotous procedure -of the Altonians, and compared them to “the -patriotic Tea-Party of the Revolution.” What he said -of the slaves was really atrocious. Hear him!</p> - -<p>“We have a menagerie in our city with lions, tigers, -hyenas, an elephant, a jackass or two, and monkeys in -plenty. Suppose, now, some new cosmopolite, some man -of philanthropic feelings, not only towards men but animals, -who believes that all are entitled to freedom as -an inalienable right, should engage in the humane task -of giving liberty to these wild beasts of the forest, some -of whom are nobler than their keepers, or, having discovered -some new mode to reach their understandings, -should try to induce them <em>to break their cages and be free</em>? -The people of Missouri had as much reason to be afraid -of their <em>slaves</em> as we should have to be afraid of the -wild beasts of the menagerie. They had the same -dread of Lovejoy that we should have of this supposed -instigator, if we really believed the bars would be broken -and the caravan let loose to prowl about our streets.”</p> - -<p>Though this was the most disgusting passage in Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">228</a></span> -Austin’s speech, nearly all of it was offensive to every -true American heart, and some parts were really impious. -He likened the Alton and St. Louis rioters to the men -who inspired and led our Revolution. He infused so -much of his riotous spirit into a portion of his audience -that at the close of his speech they attempted to break -up the meeting in an uproar. Happily for the reputation -of Boston, there were present a preponderance of -the moral <em>élite</em> of the city. So soon as the disorder had -subsided, a young man, then unknown to most of his -fellow-citizens, took the platform, and soon arrested and -then riveted the attention of the vast assembly to a -reply to the Attorney-General that was “sublime, irresistible, -annihilating.” I wish there were room in these -columns for the whole of it. I can give you but a brief -passage.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Chairman, when I heard the gentleman lay down -principles which placed the rioters, incendiaries, and -murderers of Alton side by side with Otis and Hancock, -with Quincy and Adams, I thought those pictured lips -[pointing to the portraits in the hall] would have broken -into voice to rebuke the recreant American, the slanderer -of the dead. [Great applause and counter-applause.] -Sir, the gentleman said that he should sink -into insignificance if he dared not to gainsay the principles -of the resolutions before this meeting. Sir, for the -sentiments he has uttered on soil consecrated by the -prayers of Puritans and the blood of patriots, the earth -should have yawned and swallowed him up!”</p> - -<p>I need only tell my readers that this was the <em>début</em> of -our Wendell Phillips, who has since become the leading -orator of our nation, and the dauntless champion of our -enslaved, down-trodden countrymen. He was then just -established in the practice of law in Boston, with the -most brilliant prospect of success in his profession. No<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229">229</a></span> -young man would have risen so soon as he, or to so great -a height as an advocate at the bar and a speaker in the -forum, if he had pursued his course as a lawyer and a -politician. But, blessed be the God of the oppressed, -the cry of the millions, to whom in our Republic every -right of humanity was denied, entered into his bosom. -He espoused their cause with no hope of fee or reward, -but that best of all compensations, the consciousness of -having relieved suffering, and maintained great moral -and political principles, and throughout the thirty-two -years that have since passed away, he has consecrated his -brilliant powers to the service of the enslaved with an -assiduity and effect of which our whole nation has been -the admiring witness.</p> - -<p>Another young man, to whom we owe scarcely less -than to Mr. Phillips, was brought into our ranks and impelled -to take upon himself the odium of an Abolitionist -by the awful catastrophe at Alton,—a young man -bearing a name illustrious in the history of our country, -and still highly honored in our State and nation. I allude -to Edmund Quincy, a son of Hon. Josiah Quincy, -who, having filled almost every other office in the gift of -the people, was then President of Harvard College, and -grandson of Josiah Quincy, Jr., one of the leading spirits -of the American Revolution.</p> - -<p>From the beginning of our antislavery efforts Mr. -Edmund Quincy had been deeply interested in our undertaking. -But, like very many others, he distrusted the -wisdom of some of our measures, and especially the terrible -severity of Mr. Garrison’s condemnation of slaveholders.</p> - -<p>The outrages perpetrated upon Mr. Lovejoy and the -liberty of the press at St. Louis and Alton dispelled all -doubt of the unparalleled iniquity of holding human -beings in the condition of domesticated brutes, and of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">230</a></span> -the sinfulness of all who consent thereto. He has since -been one of the towers of our strength; has presided, -often with signal ability, at our meetings in the most -troublous times, and occasionally spoken with force and -marked effect. But he has rendered us especial services -by his able pen. His contributions to <cite>The Antislavery -Standard</cite> and <cite>The Liberator</cite> have been numerous -and invaluable. His style has been as vigorous and -penetrating as that of Junius, and his satire sometimes as -keen. Thus have the attempts of slaveholders and their -minions to crush the spirit of liberty served rather to -bring to her standard the ablest defenders.</p> - -<h3 id="hp230">WOMAN QUESTION.—MISSES GRIMKÉ.</h3> - -<p>The title of this article announces a great event in -the progress of our antislavery conflict, and opens a subject -the adequate treatment of which would fill a volume -much larger than I intend to impose upon the -public.</p> - -<p>From the beginning of Mr. Garrison’s enterprise excellent -women were among his most earnest, devoted, -unshrinking fellow-laborers. Their moral instincts made -them quicker to discern the right than most men -were, and their lack of political discipline left them to -the guidance of their convictions and humane feelings. -Would that I could name all the women who rendered -us valuable services when we most needed help. In our -early meetings, at our lectures, public discussions, &c., -a large portion of our auditors were females, whose sympathy -cheered and animated us. Among our first and -fastest friends in Boston were Mrs. L. M. Child, Mrs. M. -W. Chapman, and her sisters, the Misses Weston, and -her husband’s sisters, Miss Mary and Miss Ann G. Chapman, -and their cousin, Miss Anna Green, now Mrs. Wendell<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">231</a></span> -Phillips,—then, as now, in feeble health, but strong -in faith and unfaltering in purpose. There, too, were -Mrs. E. L. Follen and her sister, Miss Susan Cabot, Miss -Mary S. Parker, Mrs. Anna Southwick, Mrs. Mary May, -Mrs. Philbrick, Miss Henrietta Sargent, and others. In -Philadelphia we found wholly with us, Lucretia Mott, -Esther Moore, Lydia White, Sarah Pugh, Mrs. Purvis, -the Misses Forten, and Mary Grew. In New York, too, -there were many with whom I did not become personally -acquainted. And indeed wherever in our country -the doctrine of “immediate, unconditional emancipation” -(first taught by a woman<a id="FNanchor_K" href="#Footnote_K" class="fnanchor">K</a>) was proclaimed there were -found good women ready to embrace and help to propagate -it. Often were they our self-appointed committees -of ways and means, and by fairs and other pleasant devices -raised much money to sustain our lecturers and -periodicals. The contributions from their pens were -frequent and invaluable. I have already spoken of Mrs. -Child’s “Appeal,” and of her many other excellent antislavery -writings. I ought also to acknowledge our indebtedness -to her as the editor, for several years, of <cite>The -Antislavery Standard</cite>, which, without compromising its -fidelity or efficiency, she made very attractive by its literary -qualities and its entertaining and instructive miscellany.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Maria W. Chapman, who wielded gracefully a -trenchant pen, plied it busily in our cause with great -effect. Her successive numbers of “Right and Wrong -in Boston” were too incisive not to touch the feelings -of the good people of that metropolis, which claimed to -be the birthplace of American independence, but had -ceased to be jealous for “the inalienable rights of man.” -Year after year her “Liberty Bell” rung out the clearest -notes of personal, civil, and spiritual liberty, and she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">232</a></span> -compiled our Antislavery Hymn Book,—“The Songs -of the Free,”—effusions of her own and her sisters’ -warm hearts, and of their kindred spirits in this country -and England.</p> - -<p>But though the excellent women whom I have named, -and many more like them, constantly attended our meetings, -and often <em>suggested</em> the best things that were said -and done at them, they could not be persuaded to utter -their thoughts aloud. They were bound to silence by -the almost universal sentiment and custom which forbade -“women to speak in meeting.”</p> - -<p>In 1836 two ladies of a distinguished family in South -Carolina—Sarah and Angelina E. Grimké—came to New -York, under a deep sense of obligation to do what they -could in the service of that class of persons with whose -utter enslavement they had been familiar from childhood. -They were members of the “Society of Friends,” -and were moved by the Holy Spirit, as the event proved, -to come on this mission of love. They made themselves -acquainted with the Abolitionists, our principles, measures, -and spirit. These commended themselves so entirely -to their consciences and benevolent feelings that -they advocated them with great earnestness, and enforced -their truth by numerous facts drawn from their own -past experience and observation.</p> - -<p>In the fall of 1836 Miss A. E. Grimké published an -“Appeal to the Women of the South,” on the subject -of slavery. This evinced such a thorough acquaintance -with the American system of oppression, and so deep a -conviction of its fearful sinfulness, that Professor Elizur -Wright, then Corresponding Secretary of the American -Antislavery Society, urged her and her sister Sarah to -come to the city of New York and address ladies in their -sewing-circles, and in parlors, to which they might be -invited to meet antislavery ladies and their friends.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">233</a></span> -No man was better able than Professor Wright to appreciate -the value of the contributions which these South -Carolina ladies were prepared to make to the cause of -impartial liberty and outraged humanity. As early as -1833, while Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy -in Western Reserve College, he published an -elaborate and powerful pamphlet on “The Sin of Slave-holding,” -which we accounted one of our most important -tracts. Commended by him and by others who -had read her “Appeal,” Miss Grimké and her sister attracted -the antislavery women of New York in such -numbers that soon no parlor or drawing-room was large -enough to accommodate those who were eager to hear -them. The Rev. Dr. Dunbar, therefore, offered them -the use of the vestry or lecture-room of his church for -their meetings, and they were held there several times. -Such, however, was the interest created by their addresses, -that the vestry was too small for their audiences. -Accordingly, the Rev. Henry G. Ludlow opened his -church to them and their hearers, of whom a continually -increasing number were gentlemen.</p> - -<p>Early in 1837 the Massachusetts Antislavery Society -invited these ladies to come to Boston to address meetings -of those of their own sex. But it was impossible -to keep them thus exclusive, and soon, wherever they -were advertised to speak, there a large concourse of men -as well as women was sure to be assembled. This was -an added offence, which our opposers were not slow to -mark, nor to condemn in any small measure. It showed -plainly enough that “the Abolitionists were ready to -set at naught the order and decorum of the Christian -church.”</p> - -<p>My readers may smile when I confess to them that -at first I was myself not a little disturbed in my sense -of propriety. But I took the matter into serious consideration.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">234</a></span> -I looked the facts fully in the face. Here -were millions of our countrymen held in the most abject, -cruel bondage. More than half of them were females, -whose condition in some respects was more horrible than -that of the males. The people of the North had consented -to this gigantic wrong with those of the South, -and those who had risen up to oppose it were denounced as -enemies of their country, were persecuted, their property -and their persons violated. The pulpit for the most -part was dumb, the press was everywhere, with small -exceptions, wielded in the service of the oppressors, the -political parties were vying with each other in obsequiousness -to the slaveholding oligarchy, and the petitions -of the slaves and their advocates were contemptuously -and angrily spurned from the legislature of the Republic. -Surely, the condition of our country was wretched -and most perilous. I remembered that in the greatest -emergencies of nations women had again and again -come forth from the retirement to which they were consigned, -or in which they preferred to dwell, and had -spoken the word or done the deed which the crises -demanded. Surely, the friends of humanity, of the -right and the true, never needed help more than we -needed it. And here had come two well-informed persons -of exalted character from the midst of slavedom -to testify to the correctness of our allegations against -slavery, and tell of more of its horrors than we knew. -And shall they not be heard because they are women? -I saw, I felt it was a miserable prejudice that would forbid -woman to speak or to act in behalf of the suffering, -the outraged, just as her heart may prompt and as God -has given her power. So I sat me down and penned as -earnest a letter as I could write to the Misses Grimké, -inviting them to come to my house, then in South Scituate, -to stay with us as long as their engagements would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">235</a></span> -permit, to speak to the people from my pulpit, from the -pulpit of my excellent cousin, Rev. E. Q. Sewall, Scituate, -and from as many other pulpits in the county of Plymouth -as might be opened to them.</p> - -<p>They came to us the last week of October, 1837, and -tarried eight days. It was a week of highest, purest enjoyment -to me and my precious wife, and most profitable -to the community.</p> - -<p>On Sunday evening Angelina addressed a full house -from my pulpit for two hours in strains of wise remark -and eloquent appeal, which settled the question of the -propriety of her “speaking in meeting.”</p> - -<p>The next afternoon she spoke to a large audience in -Mr. Sewall’s meeting-house in Scituate, for an hour and -a half, evidently to their great acceptance. The following -Wednesday I took the sisters to Duxbury, where, -in the Methodist Church that evening, Angelina held six -hundred hearers in fixed attention for two hours, and -received from them frequent audible (as well as visible) -expressions of assent and sympathy.</p> - -<p>On Friday afternoon I went with them to the Baptist -meeting-house in Hanover, where a crowd was already -assembled to hear them. Sarah Grimké, the state of -whose voice had prevented her speaking on either of the -former occasions, gave a most impressive discourse of -more than an hour’s length on the dangers of slavery, -revealing to us some things which only those who had -lived in the prison-house could have learnt. Angelina -followed in a speech of nearly an hour, in which she -made the duty and safety of immediate emancipation -appear so plainly that the wayfaring man though a fool -must have seen the truth. If there was a person there -who went away unaffected, he would not have been -moved though an angel instead of Angelina had spoken -to him. I said then, I have often said since, that I never<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">236</a></span> -have heard from any other lips, male or female, such -eloquence as that of her closing appeal. Several gentlemen -who had come from Hingham, not disposed nor -expecting to be pleased, rushed up to me when the audience -began to depart, and after berating me roundly -for “going about the neighborhood with these women -setting public sentiment at naught and violating the decorum -of the church,” said “there can be no doubt that -they have a right to speak in public, and they ought to be -heard; do bring them to Hingham as soon as may be. -Our meeting-house shall be at their service.” Accordingly, -the next day I took them thither, and they spoke -there with great effect on Sunday evening, November -5th, from the pulpit of the Unitarian Church, then occupied -by Rev. Charles Brooks.</p> - -<p>The experience of that week dispelled my Pauline prejudice. -I needed no other warrant for the course the -Misses Grimké were pursuing than the evidence they -gave of their power to speak so as to instruct and deeply -impress those who listened to them. I could not believe -that God gave them such talents as they evinced -to be buried in a napkin. I could not think they would -be justified in withholding what was so obviously given -them to say on the great iniquity of our country, because -they were women. And ever since that day I -have been steadfast in the opinion that the daughters -of men ought to be just as thoroughly and highly educated -as the sons, that their physical, mental, and moral -powers should be as fully developed, and that they should -be allowed and encouraged to engage in any employment, -enter into any profession, for which they have properly -qualified themselves, and that women ought to be paid -the same compensation as men for services of any kind -equally well performed. This radical opinion is spreading -rapidly in this country and in England, and it will<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">237</a></span> -ultimately prevail, just as surely as that God is impartial -and that “in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free, -neither male nor female.” And yet it has been, and is, -as strenuously opposed and as harshly denounced as was -our demand of the immediate emancipation of the enslaved. -Men and women, press and pulpit, statesmen -and clergymen, legislative and ecclesiastical bodies have -raised the cry of alarm, and pronounced the advocates -of the equal rights of women dangerous persons, disorganizers, -infidels.</p> - -<p>The first combined assault was made upon “The Rights -of Women” by the Pastoral Association of Massachusetts -in the fall of 1837 or the spring of 1838, in their spiritual -bull against the antislavery labors of the Misses -Grimké, which it utterly condemned as unchristian and -demoralizing. This, of course, made it the duty, as it -was pleasure, of the New England Abolitionists to stand -by those excellent women, who had rendered such inestimable -services to the cause of the enslaved, the down-trodden, -the despised millions of our countrymen. Therefore, -at the next New England Antislavery Convention, -held in Boston, May, 1838, attended by delegates from -eleven States, it was “<em>Voted</em>, That all persons present, or -who may be present, at subsequent meetings, whether men -or women, who agree with us in sentiment on the subject -of slavery, be invited to become members and participate -in the proceedings of the Convention.”</p> - -<p>This gave rise to a long and very animated discussion, -but was passed by a very large majority. Immediately -eight Orthodox clergymen requested to have their names -erased from the roll of that Convention, and seven others, -including some of our faithful fellow-laborers, presented a -protest against the vote, which, by their request, was entered -upon the records, and published with the doings of -the Convention.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">238</a></span> -At that same great gathering a committee of three -persons was appointed to prepare and transmit a memorial -to each and all of the ecclesiastical associations in -New England, of every sect, beseeching them to testify -against the further continuance in our country of slavery, -and take such measures as they might deem best to induce -the members of their several denominations who -were guilty of the dreadful iniquity to consider and turn -away from it. One of that committee was a much respected -woman, as well qualified as either of her associates -to discharge the duties assigned them. An excellent -memorial was prepared and presented in accordance with -the vote. But it was very coldly received by some, and -rudely treated by others of the ecclesiastical bodies to -which it was sent. On the presentation of it to the -Rhode Island Congregational Consociation, a scene of -great excitement ensued. The memorial was treated -with all possible indignity. Most of the brethren who -had been earnest for the reception of it, and for such -action as it requested, when they were informed that -one of the committee by whom the memorial was prepared -was a woman, united in a vote “<em>to turn the illegitimate -product from the house, and obliterate from the records -all traces of its entrance</em>.” No deliberative assembly ever -behaved in a more indecorous manner. And those who -were most active in trampling upon that respectful petition -in behalf of bleeding humanity were the professed -ministers of Him who came to preach deliverance to -the captive. “<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">O tempora! O mores!!</i>”</p> - -<h3 id="hp238">“THE PASTORAL LETTER” AND “THE CLERICAL APPEAL.”</h3> - -<p>Abolitionists from the first were persons of both sexes -and all complexions, of every class in society, of every<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">239</a></span> -religious denomination, of each of the three learned professions, -of both political parties, and of all the various -trades and occupations in which men and women engage. -Although it is too true that most ministers, especially -in the cities, were slow to espouse the cause of the oppressed, -yet it is due to them to say that, taking the -country through, there were, in proportion to their numbers, -more of that profession than of either of the others -who embraced the doctrine of “immediate emancipation,” -advocated it publicly, wrote columns, pamphlets, and volumes -in its defence, and suffered no little obloquy and -persecution for so doing. And they were, as I have said, -of every Protestant sect. Whenever a complete history -of our antislavery conflict shall be written, grateful and -admiring mention will be made of the valuable services -and generous sacrifices of many ministers whose names -may not appear in my slight sketches.</p> - -<p>These various individuals were evidently moved by -one spirit, drawn together by the conviction that there -was a great, a fearful iniquity involved in the enslavement -of millions of the inhabitants of our land, that if -the God-given rights of humanity were (as the founders -of our Republic declared them to be) inalienable, then -those men, who were holding human beings as their chattels, -were setting the will and authority of the Almighty -at defiance, and would bring themselves to ruin. Moreover, -there was a deep conviction awakened in the hearts -of those who openly espoused the cause of the bondmen, -that the people of the North were verily guilty in consenting -to their enslavement; and, as the States and the -churches refused to interfere for their deliverance, it was -left for individuals and voluntary associations to do what -might be done, so to correct public opinion and awaken -the public conscience that slavery could not be tolerated -in the land.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">240</a></span> -Further than this there was little agreement among -the early Abolitionists. But this proved to be a mighty -solvent. And for years the wonderful, the beautiful, the -Christian sight was seen,—Trinitarians and Unitarians, -Methodists and Universalists, Baptists and Quakers, -laboring together in the cause of suffering fellow-beings, -with so much earnestness that they had set aside, for -the while, their theological and ritualistic peculiarities, -and seemed to rejoice in their release from those narrow -enclosures. Coming out of our hall on the second evening -of our Convention in Philadelphia, in December, -1833, a young Orthodox minister took my arm with an -affectionate pressure, and said, “Brother May, I never -thought that I could feel towards a Unitarian as I feel -towards you.” My reply was: “Dear M., if professing -Christians were only real Christians, engaged in the work -of the Lord, they could not find the time nor the heart -to quarrel about creeds and rites.” Wherever I went, -preaching the gospel of impartial liberty, I was as cordially -received by Orthodox as by Unitarian Abolitionists, -until I came to have a much more brotherly feeling towards -an antislavery Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist -than I did towards a Unitarian who was proslavery, -or indifferent to the wrongs of the bondmen. And this -feeling was obviously reciprocated. I was repeatedly invited -to preach in the pulpits of Orthodox ministers, and -to commune with Orthodox churches. Once I attended -a church in company with Miss Ann G. Chapman, one -of the most single-minded and true-hearted of women. -The invitation to the Lord’s table was given in such -words as virtually excluded us. Of course we arose and -departed. But so soon as the service was over both -the minister and deacon (beloved antislavery brethren) -came to my lodgings to assure me that the exclusion -was not intended, and that whenever Miss Chapman and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">241</a></span> -myself might again be at their church on a similar occasion, -they hoped that we would commune there.</p> - -<p>I give these facts, and could give many more like -them, to show the anti-sectarian tendency of the antislavery -reform. This was perceived by many of “the -wise and prudent” leaders of the sects, and was evidently -watched by them with a jealous eye. As the -number of Abolitionists increased, and our influence in -the churches came to be felt more and more, many of -those leaders joined antislavery societies, partly, no -doubt, because they had been brought to see the truth -of our doctrines and the importance of the work we were -laboring to accomplish, but also in part, if not chiefly -(as I was afterwards forced to suspect), because they -wished to maintain the ascendency over their sects, and -to prevent the obliteration of the lines which separated -them from such as they were pleased to consider unsound -in faith.</p> - -<p>We were greatly encouraged and gladdened by the -accessions we received in 1835 and 1836. Many ministers -of the evangelical sects joined us, not a few of them -Doctors of Divinity. And the obligations of Christians -to the bondmen in our land, and the discipline that -should be brought to bear on those professing Christians -who were holding them in slavery, became the subjects -of earnest debate in several of the large ecclesiastical -bodies. But we found these new-comers were much disposed -to object to the liberty that was allowed on our -platform. Generally the president or chairman of our -meetings would call upon some one to invoke the divine -blessing upon our undertaking. Sometimes, in deference -to our Quaker brethren, we would sit in silence -until the Spirit moved some one to offer prayer. Then -again, persons who were not members of any religious -denomination, nay, even some who were suspected of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">242</a></span> -being, if not known to be, unbelievers, infidels, were permitted -to co-operate with us, to contribute to our funds, -to take part in our deliberations, and to be put upon our -committees. This was a scandal in the estimation of -those of the “straitest sect.” Our only reply was, that -as so many, who made the highest professions of Christian -faith, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the millions -who were suffering the greatest wrongs, we were grateful -for the assistance of such as made no professions. Not -those who cried Lord, Lord, but those who were eager to -do the will of the impartial Father, were the persons we -valued most.</p> - -<p>But nothing gave so much offence as the admission of -women to speak in our meetings, to act on our committees, -and to co-operate with us in any way they saw fit. -In my last I gave some account of the rupture it caused -in our New England Antislavery Convention in 1838. -This was foreshadowed the year previous. Some time in -the summer of 1837 the General Association of Massachusetts -issued a “Pastoral Letter to the churches under -their care,” intended to avert the alarming evils -which were coming upon them from the over-heated zeal -of the Abolitionists. First, the extraordinary document -mourns over the loss of deference to the pastoral office, -which is enjoined in Scripture, and which is essential to -the best influence of the ministry. At this day, when -all but Roman Catholics and High Church Episcopalians -are wondering at, if not amused by, the dealing of Bishop -Potter with Mr. Tyng, it may surprise my readers to be -told that thirty years ago the Orthodox Congregational -ministers of Massachusetts set up the same claim of authority -in their several parishes, that the diocesan of New -York and New Jersey demands for his clergymen. “One -way,” they said in their Pastoral Letter, “one way in -which the respect due to the pastoral office has been in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243">243</a></span> -some cases violated, is in encouraging lecturers or preachers -on certain topics of reform to present their subjects -within the parochial limits of settled pastors, <em>without -their consent</em>.” “Your minister is ordained of God to be -your teacher, and is commanded to feed that flock over -which the Holy Ghost hath made him overseer. If -there are certain topics upon which he does not preach -with the frequency, or in the manner that would please -<em>you</em>, it is a violation of <em>sacred and important</em> RIGHTS to -encourage a stranger to present them.” “Deference and -<em>subordination</em> are essential to the happiness of society, -and <em>peculiarly so</em> in the relation of a people to their pastor.” -Happily for those who may come after us, we -Abolitionists have done much to emancipate the people -from such spiritual bondage, and secure to them the privilege -of seeking after knowledge wherever it may be -found, and yielding themselves to good influences, let -them come through whatever channel they may.</p> - -<p>But the “Pastoral Letter” dwelt at greater length -upon the dangers which threatened the female character -with wide-spread and permanent injury. Forgetting that -women were the <em>bravest</em>, as well as the most devoted and -affectionate of the first disciples of Jesus, that in all ages -since they have been prominent among the confessors of -Christianity, and that in our day they do more than men -to uphold the churches,—forgetting these facts, the -frightened authors and signers of that letter uttered -themselves thus: “The power of woman is in her <em>dependence</em>, -flowing from the consciousness of that weakness -which God has given her <em>for</em> her protection, and which -keeps her in those departments of life that form the -characters of individuals and of the nation.... But, -when she assumes the place and tone of man as a public -reformer, <em>our care and protection of her seem unnecessary</em>; -we put ourselves in self-defence against her; she yields<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244">244</a></span> -the power which God has given her for protection, and -her character becomes unnatural. If the vine, whose -strength and beauty is to lean upon the trellis-work and -half conceal its clusters, thinks to assume the independence -and the overshading nature of the elm, it will -not only cease to bear fruit, but will fall in shame and -dishonor into the dust.” Did not those ministers know—were -there not in their day wives who sustained their -husbands instead of leaning upon them? women who -were the stay and staff of the men of their families—their -mental and moral stamina? There have been such -women in all other times; we have known and do know -such women now. If our antislavery conflict has done -nothing else, it has shown that there is neither orthodox -nor heterodox, neither white nor black, neither male nor -female, but all <em>are one in the work of the Lord</em>.</p> - -<p>Undismayed by the censure and warning of so exalted -a body as the General Association, we Abolitionists -continued to labor as we had done, pursuing the same -measures, using the same instrumentalities, employing as -our agents and lecturers women no less than men, whom -we found able as well as willing to do good service. And -to several, besides those I have already named, the bondmen -and their advocates were immeasurably indebted. -Abby Kelly (now Mrs. Foster) performed for years an -incredible amount of labor. Her manner of speaking -in her best days was singularly effective. Her knowledge -of the subject was complete, her facts were pertinent, -her arguments forcible, her criticisms were keen, her -condemnation was terrible. Few of our agents of either -sex did more work while her strength lasted, or did it -better.</p> - -<p>Susan B. Anthony was one of the living spirits of our -financial department, indomitable in her purposes, ingenious -in her plans, untiring in her exertions, she not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">245</a></span> -only kept herself continually at work, but spurred all -about her to new effort. She has often herself spoken to -excellent effect, and more frequently stimulated others -to their best efforts.</p> - -<p>Miss Sallie Holley has seldom consented to speak in -our largest assemblies, or in our cities. But we have -very frequently heard of her diligent labors in the rural -districts, and of the good fruits she has gathered there. -Her eloquence is particularly dignified and impressive.</p> - -<p>I should love to tell of Lucy Stone, and Antoinette L. -Brown, and Mrs. E. C. Stanton, and Ernestine L. Rose, -all wise women and attractive speakers, but their word -and work has been given more to the advocacy of “Woman’s -Rights.” The reformation for which they have -toiled so long and so well, though the offspring of Abolitionism, -is still <em>more radical</em>; and to the history of it -volumes will hereafter be devoted.</p> - -<p>I can here only name Miss Anna E. Dickinson, now -one of the most attractive of the popular lecturers. Although -another of the women who have been brought -out of their retirement by the exigency of the times, yet -she came upon the platform about the period at which -I intend these recollections shall cease.</p> - -<p>As surely as the conflict with slavery has been found -to be irrepressible, so surely will it be found to be impossible -to suppress the conflict for the rights of women -until they shall be securely placed where the Creator intended -them to stand, on an entire equality with men in -their domestic, social, legal, and political relations.</p> - -<p>Not long after the “Pastoral Letter,” there came -forth from some of the members of the Massachusetts -General Association a still more pointed attack upon <cite>The -Liberator</cite>, Mr. Garrison and his associates, one which -would have been very damaging if it had not been so -easily repelled. It was entitled the “Appeal of Clerical<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">246</a></span> -Abolitionists on Antislavery Measures,” signed by two -Orthodox ministers of Boston, and three in the vicinity -of that city. As these gentlemen had belonged to the -Antislavery Society, and two of them had been vehement -if not fierce in their advocacy of our doctrines, it -would seem that they must have known whereof they -affirmed. They prefaced their Appeal with a declaration -of their lively interest in the cause of the oppressed, -their clear perception of the sinfulness and their detestation -of slavery. Then they went on to accuse the -leading Abolitionists, 1st, of hasty, unsparing, and almost -ferocious denunciation “of a certain reverend gentleman -because he had resided in the South,” without having -taken pains to ascertain whether he had been a slaveholder -or not; 2d, They accused us of “hasty insinuations” -against an Orthodox minister of high standing in Boston, -that he was a slaveholder, without having had any -proof of the <em>truth</em> of the reports we may have heard so -damaging to the reverend gentleman’s reputation. Their -third, fourth, and fifth accusations were, that we had -demanded of ministers what we had no right to require of -them; had abused them for not doing as we called upon -them to do, and, through our zeal in the cause of the enslaved, -we had become indifferent to other Christian enterprises, -and would withdraw from them the regards of -those who co-operated with us, and that we had censured -and denounced excellent Christian ministers and church-members -because they were not prepared to enter fully -into the work of antislavery societies.</p> - -<p>This document, coming from such persons, of course -was the occasion of no little excitement. Our enemies -exulted over it as testimony against us, given by those -who had been in our councils and well knew what spirit -animated us. Others who had been timid friends, or -half inclined to join our ranks, were at first repulsed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">247</a></span> -from us by the apprehension that there was too much -truth in these charges.</p> - -<p>But as soon as possible elaborate and thorough replies -were published to this Appeal, denying the truth of each -of the above-named accusations, and showing them to be -false. One of the replies was written by Mr. Garrison, -in his clear and trenchant style, and showed up the inconsistency -as well as the falseness of the accusations by -ample quotations from the writings and speeches of Mr. -Fitch, the author of the Appeal. The other reply was -from the pen of Rev. A. A. Phelps.</p> - -<p>This good orthodox brother was then the General -Agent of the Antislavery Society, and therefore felt it -to be incumbent upon him to repel charges so unjust -and so injurious. No one but Mr. Garrison was so competent -as he to do this. From an early period Mr. -Phelps had been engaged in this great reform. In 1833 -or 1834 he published a volume on the subject, which -showed how thoroughly he understood the principles, -how deeply he was imbued with the spirit, of the undertaking. -He gave years of undivided attention to the -cause, and by the labors of his pen and his voice rendered -essential services. His reply to the Appeal was -complete, exhaustive, unanswerable. And thus what -was intended to do us harm was overruled for our good. -It gave a fair and proper occasion for the fullest exposition -to the public of our doctrines, our measures, and -of the spirit in which we intended to prosecute them.</p> - -<p>I am most happy to conclude this narrative by stating, -because it is so highly honorable to Rev. Charles -Fitch, the author of the Appeal, that some time afterwards -he saw and frankly confessed his fault. On the -9th of January, 1840, in a letter addressed to Mr. Garrison, -after a very proper introduction to such a confession, -Mr. Fitch <span class="locked">said:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">248</a></span> -“I feel bound in duty to say to you, sir, that to gain -the good will of man was the only object I had in view -in everything which I did relative to the ‘Clerical Appeal.’ -As I now look back upon it, in the light in which -it has of late been spread before my own mind (as I -doubt not by the Spirit of God), I can clearly see that -in all that matter I had no regard for the glory of God -or the good of man. If you can make any use of this -communication that you think will be an honor to Him, -or a service to the cause of truth, dispose of it at your -pleasure.”</p> - -<p>It surely will do good to republish this magnanimous, -noble, Christian confession of the wrong that was attempted -to be done by that “Clerical Appeal.”</p> - -<h3 id="hp248">DR. CHARLES FOLLEN.</h3> - -<p>The name of Dr. Follen will send a grateful thrill -through the memory of every one who really knew him. -He was a dear son of God, and attracted all but such -as were repulsed by the spirit of righteousness and freedom. -He was a native of that country which gave birth -to Luther. The light of civil and religious liberty -kindled in Wittenberg shone upon his cradle. He -was the son of Protestant parents, and received a religious -education with little reference to the dogmas of -any sect. He was born in the early years of the French -Revolution,—that event which at first revived the hopes -of the oppressed subjects of European despots. The -Germans, especially those of the smaller members of -the Confederacy, hailed the prospect of more liberal institutions -in France as the harbinger of a better day for -themselves. Charles Follen was just then at the age to -receive into the depths of his soul the generous sentiments -that were uttered by the purest, best men of Germany.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">249</a></span> -His father, an enlightened civilian and liberal -Christian, encouraged the growing ardor of his son in the -cause of freedom and humanity.</p> - -<p>When, therefore, the German States, finding themselves -deceived by Bonaparte, united with one accord to -oppose him, Charles Follen, then a student at the University -of Giesen, and only nineteen years of age, came -forward to act his first public part in the great struggle -for civil liberty. He entered the allied army in a volunteer -corps of young men, and endured the fatigues and -incurred the dangers of those battle-fields, on which were -witnessed the death-throes of the first Napoleon’s ambition. -I have heard him describe his feelings, and what -he believed to be the feelings of his youthful comrades, -in that so-called “holy war of the people.” They refused -to wear the trappings of soldiers. They needed -not “the pomp and circumstance of war” to rouse or -sustain the purpose of their souls. They came into the -field of mortal strife as men, not soldiers, to contend for -liberty, not laurels. Whenever he spoke of that momentous -period of his life, a solemnity came over the calm, -sweet face of Dr. Follen, his utterance was subdued, his -whole frame pervaded by a deep emotion, so that, much -as I differed from him in my opinion of that resort to -carnal weapons, I could not doubt that he had thrown -himself into the dread conflict with a self-sacrificing, I -had almost said, a holy spirit. Körner, “the patriot -poet of Germany,” was his personal friend, and it is a -touching incident that some of his last mental efforts -were most successful translations into our language of -the breathing thoughts and burning words of that enthusiast -of liberty.</p> - -<p>Although the issue of the French Revolution cast -down the hope of the friends of freedom, that hope was -not destroyed. True they had been deceived. But they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">250</a></span> -could not doubt that freedom was a reality, the birthright -of man. When, therefore, the real design of the -self-styled “Holy Alliance” between Russia, Austria, and -Prussia became manifest, many of the choicest spirits -who had united under their banner to overthrow the -tyrant of France uprose to withstand them. None were -more resolute, few became more conspicuous, than the -still youthful Follen, who had scarcely entered upon his -professional career. He boldly claimed for his fellow-subjects -of Hesse Darmstadt a mitigation of the feudal -tenures under which they were oppressed. Thus he incurred -the displeasure of the Grand Duke. But the -farmers of that country gratefully acknowledged the -importance of his service in letters that are still extant.</p> - -<p>In 1817, when twenty-two years of age, he took his -degree of Doctor of Laws, and became a teacher in the -University of Jena. Here he found an atmosphere congenial -to his free spirit. The most distinguished professors -there were friends of liberal institutions. And the -Duke of Saxe-Weimar was for a while indulgent towards -them. At Jena appeared the first periodical publications -that disturbed the diplomatists of Frankfort and Vienna. -To these publications Dr. Follen contributed, and, even -among such men as Dr. Oken and Professors Fries and -Luden, he distinguished himself as an advocate of the -rights of man.</p> - -<p>The sovereigns of Austria and Prussia were alarmed. -The professors of the University at Jena were proscribed, -and the young men of Austria and Prussia who were -students there were required to leave the infected spot. -The persecution of Dr. Follen was carried further. An -attempt was made to involve him in the guilt of the deluded -murderer of Kotzebue, “that unblushing hireling -of the Russian Autocrat,” and he was arrested on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">251</a></span> -charge. He was fully exonerated, but the spirit which -dictated his arrest made it uncomfortable for him to remain -in Germany.</p> - -<p>He went to Switzerland, the resort of the free spirits -of that day, and was appointed Professor of Civil Law -at the University of Basle. Here he continued, both in -his lectures and through the press, to give utterance to -his liberal opinions. Consequently, in August, 1824, the -governments of Prussia, Austria, and Russia demanded -of the government of Basle to deliver him up, with the -other Professors of Law in their university. At first -this demand was refused. But, being afterwards enforced -by a threat of the serious displeasure of the -allied powers, it was yielded to, and Dr. Follen was compelled -to depart, with no reproach upon his character but -that which was cast upon it by the enemies of freedom. -Exiled from Germany as the dreaded foe of the oppressors -of his country, hunted by the allied sovereigns out -of Europe, as if their thrones were insecure while he -dwelt on the same continent with themselves—surely -the man who made himself such a terror to despots was -entitled to a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">carte-blanche</i> on the confidence of freemen!</p> - -<p>Thus recommended, he came to our country in December, -1824, a few months after the arrival of Lafayette. -The illustrious Frenchman came to feast his eyes and rejoice -his heart with the sight of the astonishing growth -and unexampled prosperity of the nation for whose deliverance -from a foreign yoke he had in his early manhood -lavished his fortune and exposed his life. The -illustrious German came, as it proved, to assist in a great -moral enterprise, the success of which was indispensably -necessary to complete the American Revolution, and -verify the truths which it declared to the world.</p> - -<p>Nearly a year after his arrival he spent in Philadelphia<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">252</a></span> -perfecting himself in the language of our country. But -by the advice of Lafayette, who highly esteemed him, he -came to Boston, and in December, 1825, was appointed -teacher of the German language in Harvard College, -where, in 1830, he was raised to a professorship of German -literature.</p> - -<p>He had not been long in the United States before he -was struck by the contrast between our institutions and -our habits of thought and conversation. He was surprised -that he so seldom met with a free mind, or saw an -individual who acted independently. Most persons seemed -to be in bonds to a political party or a religious sect, or -both. “I perceive,” said he to an intimate friend, “that -liberty in this country is a fact rather than a principle.”</p> - -<p>Such a soul as Dr. Follen could not be indifferent to any -movement tending to liberate more than three millions -of people in the country, of which he had become a citizen, -from the most abject cruel slavery, and his fellow-citizens -from the awful iniquity of keeping them in such -bondage. The bugle-blast of <cite>The Liberator</cite> in 1831 summoned -him to the conflict. Worldly wisdom, prudential -considerations, would have withheld him if he had been -like too many other men. He had then been in a professor’s -chair at Cambridge about a year. He had married -a lady worthy of his love. He had become a father. -He had made many friends. He was admired for his rich -and varied endowments, his extensive and accurate knowledge, -and sound understanding. He was honored for his -exertions and sacrifices in the cause of liberty in Europe. -He was cherished as an invaluable acquisition to the literature -of our country, and as a most successful teacher of -youth. How obvious, then, that he had as many reasons -as any, and more reasons than most, for remaining quiet, -contenting himself with an occasional sigh over the wrongs -of the slaves, or an eloquent condemnation of slavery in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">253</a></span> -the abstract, or the utterance of the form of prayer,—that -the Sovereign Disposer of all events would, in his -own good time, cause every yoke to be broken and oppression -to cease. He was occupying a sphere of great -responsibility, where, as was intimated to him, he might -find enough to fill even the large measure of his ability -for labor. Then he was wholly dependent upon his own -exertions for the support of his family. Moreover, being -a foreigner by birth, he was reminded that it was less decorous -in him, than it might be in others, to meddle with -the “delicate question” which touched so vitally the -institutions of a very sensitive portion of the country.</p> - -<p>But Charles Follen was a genuine man. In godly sincerity -he felt as well as said, “that whatever affected the -welfare of mankind was a matter of concern to himself.” -He was astonished at the apathy of so large a portion of -the respectable and professedly religious of our country -to the wretched condition of more than a sixth part of -the population, to the disastrous influence of their enslavement -upon the characters of their immediate oppressors, -upon the well-being of the whole Republic, and -the cause of liberty throughout the world. When, therefore, -the words of Garrison came to his ears, “he rejoiced -in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast -hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed -them unto the babes; even so, Father, for so it -seemed good in thy sight.” He sought out the editor -of <cite>The Liberator</cite>. He clambered up into his little chamber -in Merchants’ Hall, where were his writing-desk, his -types, his printing-press; and where, with the faithful -partner of his early toils, Isaac Knapp, he was living like -the four children of Israel in the midst of the corruptions -of Babylon, living on pulse and water. This was a sight -to fill with hope Follen’s sagacious soul. While, therefore, -many who counted themselves servants of God and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">254</a></span> -friends of humanity thought, or affected to think, that no -good could come out of such a Nazareth, he often went -to <cite>The Liberator</cite> office to converse with and encourage the -young man who had dared to brave the contumely and -detestation of the world in “preaching deliverance to the -captives and liberty to them that are bruised.”</p> - -<p>He stopped not to inquire how it might affect his temporal -interests, or even his good name, to espouse so unpopular -a cause. “Some men,” said he, “are so afraid -of doing wrong that they never do right.” The shameful -fact, that the cause of millions of enslaved human beings -in a country that made such high pretensions to -liberty as ours was <em>unpopular</em>, so astonished and alarmed -him that he felt all the more called to rise above personal -considerations. Therefore, soon after the New England -Antislavery Society was instituted, he made known his -intention to join it. Some friends remonstrated. They -admonished him that so doing would be very detrimental -to his professional success. He hesitated a little while -on account of his wife. But that gifted, high-minded, -whole-hearted lady reproved the hesitation, and bade -him act in accordance with his sense of duty, and in -keeping with his long devotion to the cause of liberty -and humanity. He joined the society, became one of its -vice-presidents, was an efficient officer, and rendered us -invaluable services. At that time I became intimately -acquainted with him, and soon learned to love him tenderly -and respect him profoundly.</p> - -<p>The apprehensions of his friends proved to be too well -founded. The funds for the support of his professorship -at Cambridge were withheld; and he was obliged to retire -from a position which had been most agreeable to -himself, for which he was admirably qualified, and in -which he had been exceedingly useful. It was a severe -trial to his feelings, and the loss of his salary subjected<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">255</a></span> -him to no little inconvenience. But liberty, the rights -of man, and his sense of duty were more precious to -him than physical comforts or even life.</p> - -<p>In May, 1834, was held in Boston the first New England -Antislavery Convention. It was a large gathering. -Dr. Follen was one of the committee of arrangements, -and evinced great interest in making the meeting effective.<a id="FNanchor_L" href="#Footnote_L" class="fnanchor">L</a> -He was also appointed Chairman of the “address” -that was ordered “to the people of the United States,” -and was the writer of it. His spirit breathes throughout -it. It showed how wholly committed he was to the enterprise -of the Abolitionists, how thoroughly he understood -the principles on which we had from the first -relied, and how unfeignedly he desired to make them -acceptable to his fellow-citizens by the most lucid exposition -of them, and the most earnest presentation of -their importance.</p> - -<p>In 1835 and 1836 I was the General Agent of the Society. -This brought me into a much closer connection -with him. It was during the most stormy period,—the -time that tried men’s souls. I have given some account -of it in previous articles, and have made some allusions -to Dr. Follen’s fidelity and fearlessness. He never -quailed. His countenance always wore its accustomed -expression of calm determination. He aided us by his -counsels, animated us by his resolute spirit, and strengthened -us by the heart-refreshing tones of his voice. In -this crisis it was, at our annual meeting in January, -1836, that he made his bravest speech. There was not -a word, not a tone, not a look of compromise in it. He -met our opponents at the very points where some of our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">256</a></span> -friends thought us deserving of blame, and he manfully -maintained every inch of our ground. That speech may -be found in the Appendix to the Memoir of his life. It -is not easy even for us to recall, and it is impossible to -give to those who were not Abolitionists then, a clear idea -of the state of the community at the time the above-named -speech was made. The culmination of our trials -was the sanction which the Governor of Massachusetts -gave to the opinion of one of the judges, that we had -committed acts that were punishable at common law. I -have given some description of the scenes that were witnessed -in the Hall of Representatives. Dr. Follen distinguished -himself there. We can never cease to be -grateful to him for his pertinacity in withstanding the -aggressive overbearance of the Chairman of the joint-committee -of the Senate and House appointed to consider -our remonstrance against Governor Everett’s condemnation -of us. I have sometimes thought it was the -turning-point of our affairs in the old Commonwealth.</p> - -<p>Soon afterwards Dr. Follen removed to New York and -became pastor of the first Unitarian church. It was a -situation so eligible, and in every respect so desirable to -him, that many supposed he would suffer his Abolitionism -to become latent, or at least would refrain from giving -full and free expression to it in the pulpit. They -knew not the man. He did there as he had done elsewhere. -Modestly, mildly, yet distinctly, he avowed his -antislavery sentiments, and endeavored to make his hearers -perceive how imperative was the obligation pressing -upon them as patriots, scarcely less than as Christians, -to do all in their power to exterminate slavery from our -country. He was chosen a member of the Executive -Committee of the American Antislavery Society, and -promptly accepted the appointment. The members of -that Board testified that “his sound judgment, his discriminating<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">257</a></span> -intellect, his amenity of manners, and his -uncommonly single-hearted integrity greatly endeared -him to his associates.” Yet was the offence he gave by -his antislavery preaching such that, after about two -years, his services were dispensed with by the Unitarian -church.</p> - -<p>He returned to Massachusetts, and soon interested so -highly the liberal Christians at East Lexington that he -was invited to become their pastor. They set about in -1839 the building of a meeting-house, in accordance with -his taste, and after a plan which I believe he furnished. -The 15th day of January, 1840, was fixed upon as the -day for the dedication, and Dr. Channing was engaged -to preach on the occasion.</p> - -<p>In December Dr. Follen went to New York and delivered -a course of lectures. On the evening of the 13th -of January he embarked on board the ill-omened steamer -Lexington to return. She took fire in the night, and -all the passengers and crew excepting three perished in -the flames, or in their attempts to escape from them. -Dr. Follen, alas! was not one of the three.</p> - -<p>The grief and consternation caused by that awful -catastrophe need not be described. Few if any persons -in the community had so great cause for sorrow as the -Abolitionists. One of the towers of our strength had -fallen. The greatness of our loss was dwelt upon at the -annual meeting of the Massachusetts Society a few days -afterward, and it was unanimously voted: “That an -address on the life and character of Charles Follen, and -in particular upon his early and eminent services to the -cause of abolition, be delivered by such person and at -such time and place as the Board of Managers shall appoint.” -Their appointment fell upon me, and I was requested -to give notice so soon as my eulogy should be -written. I gave such a notice early in February, when I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">258</a></span> -was informed by the managers that they had not yet -been able to procure a suitable place, for such a service -as they wished to have in connection with my discourse. -They had applied for the use of every one of the Unitarian -and for several of the Orthodox churches in Boston, -and all had been refused them. It was said that Dr. -Channing did obtain from the trustees of Federal Street -Church consent that the eulogy on Dr. Follen, whom -he esteemed so highly, might be pronounced from his -pulpit. But another meeting of the trustees, or of the -proprietors, was called, and that permission was revoked. -More sad still the meeting-house at East Lexington, -which had been built under his direction, which -he was coming from New York to dedicate, and in which -he was to have preached as the pastor of the church if -his life had been spared,—even that meeting-house was -refused for a eulogy and other appropriate exercises in -commemoration of the early and eminent services of -Dr. Follen to the cause of freedom and humanity in -Europe, and more especially in our country. Such was -the temper of that time, such the opposition of the -people in and about the metropolis of New England to -Mr. Garrison and his associates.</p> - -<p>In consequence of this treatment by the churches, and -as a protest against it, the Board of Managers determined -to defer the delivery of the eulogy, until the -meeting-house of some religious body in Boston should -be granted for that purpose. No door was unbarred to -us for more than two months. In April one of our fellow-laborers, -Hon. Amasa Walker, having become one of the -proprietors of Marlborough Chapel, succeeded in getting -permission for the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, -and other friends of Dr. Follen, to meet in that central -and very ample room on the evening of the 17th of -April, there to express in prayer, in eulogy, and hymns<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">259</a></span> -our gratitude to the Father of spirits for the gift of -such a brother, so able, so devoted, so self-sacrificing; -to attempt some delineation of his admirable character, -some acknowledgment of his inestimable services, and -thus make manifest our deep sense of bereavement -and loss occasioned by his sudden and as we supposed -dreadful death.</p> - -<p>It so happened that the 17th of April, 1840, was -Good Friday,—a most appropriate day on which to -mourn the death and commemorate the glorious life of -one who had been so true a disciple of Him, who was -crucified on Calvary for his fidelity to God and to the -redemption of man.</p> - -<p>The assemblage was large, estimated by some at two -thousand. A prayer was offered by Rev. Henry Ware, -Jr.,—such a prayer as we expected would rise from the -large, liberal, loving, devout heart of that excellent man. -A most appropriate hymn, written by himself, was then -read by Rev. John Pierpont. After my discourse was -delivered another touching hymn from the pen, or rather -the heart, of Mrs. Maria W. Chapman was read by Rev. -Dr. Channing, and sung very impressively by the congregation, -after which the services were closed by a -benediction from Rev. J. V. Himes, a zealous antislavery -brother of the Christian denomination.</p> - -<h3 id="hp259">JOHN G. WHITTIER AND THE ANTISLAVERY POETS.</h3> - -<p>All great reformations have had their bards. The -Hebrew prophets were poets. They clothed their terrible -denunciations of national iniquities and their confident -predictions of the ultimate triumph of truth and -righteousness in imagery so vivid that it will never fade. -Mr. Garrison was bathed in their spirit when a child by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">260</a></span> -his pious mother. He is a poet and an ardent lover of -poetry. The columns of <cite>The Liberator</cite>, from the beginning, -were every week enriched by gems in verse, not -unfrequently the product of his own rapt soul. No sentiment -inspires men to such exalted strains as the love -of liberty. Many of the early Abolitionists uttered -themselves in fervid lines of poetry,—Mrs. M. W. Chapman, -Mrs. E. L. Follen, Miss E. M. Chandler, Miss A. -G. Chapman, Misses C. and A. E. Weston, Mrs. L. M. -Child, Mrs. Maria Lowell, Miss Mary Ann Collier, and -others, male and female. In 1836—the time that tried -men’s souls—Mrs. Chapman gathered into a volume -the effusions of the above-named, together with those of -kindred spirits in other lands and other times. The volume -was entitled, “Songs of the Free and Hymns of -Christian Freedom.” Many of these songs and hymns -will live so long as oppression of every kind is abhorred, -and men aspire after true liberty. This book was a powerful -weapon in our moral welfare. My memory glows -with the recollections of the fervor, and often obvious -effect, with which we used to sing in true accord the -13th hymn, by <em>Miss E. M. Chandler</em>:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Think of our country’s glory<br /></span> -<span class="i2">All dimmed with Afric’s tears!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her broad flag stained and gory<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With the hoarded guilt of years!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">Or the 15th, by <em>Mr. Garrison</em>:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“The hour of freedom! come it must.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">O, hasten it in mercy, Heaven!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When all who grovel in the dust<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Shall stand erect, their fetters riven.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">Or the 7th, by <em>Mrs. Follen</em>:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“‘What mean ye, that ye bruise and bind<br /></span> -<span class="i2">My people,’ saith the Lord;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">‘And starve your craving brother’s mind,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That asks to hear my word?’”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> -<p class="in0"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">261</a></span> -Or the 102d, by <em>Mrs. Chapman</em>:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Hark! hark! to the trumpet call,—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">‘Arise in the name of God most high!’<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On ready hearts the deep notes fall,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And firm and full is the strong reply:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">‘The hour is at hand to do and dare!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Bound with the bondmen now are we!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We may not utter the patriot’s prayer,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Or bend in the house of God the knee!’”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">Or that stirring song, by <em>Mr. Garrison</em>:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“I am an Abolitionist;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I glory in the name.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>The singing of such hymns and songs as these was -like the bugle’s blast to an army ready for battle. No -one seemed unmoved. If there were any faint hearts -amongst us, they were hidden by the flush of excitement -and sympathy.</p> - -<p>In 1838 or 1839 Mrs. Chapman, assisted by her sisters, -the Misses Weston, and Mrs. Child, commenced the -publication of <cite>The Liberty Bell</cite>. A volume with this -title was issued annually by them for ten or twelve years, -especially for sale at the yearly antislavery fair. These -volumes were full of poetry in prose and verse. The -editors levied contributions upon the true-hearted of -other countries besides our own, and enriched their pages -with articles from the pens of all the above-named, and -from Whittier, Pierpont, Lowell, Longfellow, Phillips, -Quincy, Clarke, Sewall, Adams, Channing, Bradburn, -Pillsbury, Rogers, Wright, Parker, Stowe, Emerson, Furness, -Higginson, Sargent, Jackson, Stone, Whipple, our -own countrymen and women; and Bowring, Martineau, -Thompson, Browning, Combe, Sturge, Webb, Lady Byron, -and others, of England; and Arago, Michelet, -Monod, Beaumont, Souvestre, Paschoud, and others, of -France. It would not be easy to find elsewhere so full -a treasury of mental and moral jewels.</p> - -<p>The names of most of our illustrious American poets<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">262</a></span> -appear in The <cite>Liberty Bell</cite> more or less frequently. To -all of them we were and are much indebted. James -Russell Lowell was never, I believe, a member of the -Antislavery Society. He was seldom seen at our meetings. -But his muse rendered us essential services. His -poems—“The Present Crisis,” “On the Capture of -Fugitive Slaves near Washington,” “On the Death of -Charles T. Torrey,” “To John G. Palfrey,” and especially -his “Lines to William L. Garrison,” and his -“Stanzas sung at the Antislavery Picnic in Dedham, -August 1, 1843”—committed him fully to the cause -of freedom,—the cause of our enslaved countrymen.</p> - -<p>Rev. John Pierpont gave us his hand at an earlier day. -He took upon himself “our reproach” in 1836, when -we most needed help. I have already made grateful -mention of his “Word from a Petitioner,” sent to me by -the hand of the heroic Francis Jackson in the midst of -the convention of the constituents of Hon. J. Q. Adams, -called at Quincy to assure their brave, invincible representative -of their deep, admiring sense of obligation to -him for his persistent and almost single-handed defence -of the sacred right of petition on the floor of Congress.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pierpont’s next was a <em>tocsin</em> in deed as well as in -name. He was impelled to strike his lyre by the alarm -he justly felt at the tidings from Alton of the destruction -of Mr. Lovejoy’s antislavery printing-office, and the -murder of the devoted proprietor. His indignation was -roused yet more by the burning of “Pennsylvania Hall” -in Philadelphia, and the shameful fact that at the same -time, 1838, no church or decent hall could be obtained in -Boston for “love or money,” in which to hold an antislavery -meeting; but we were compelled to resort to an -inconvenient and insufficient room over the stable of -Marlborough Hotel.</p> - -<p>His next powerful effusion was <cite>The Gag</cite>, a caustic and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">263</a></span> -scathing satire upon the Hon. C. G. Atherton, of New -Hampshire, for his base attempt in the House of Representatives -at Washington to put an entire stop to any discussion -of the subject of slavery.</p> - -<p>His next piece was <cite>The Chain</cite>, a most touching comparison -of the wrongs and sufferings of the slaves with -other evils that injured men have been made to endure.</p> - -<p>Then followed <cite>The Fugitive Slave’s Apostrophe to the -North Star</cite>, which showed how deeply he sympathized -with the many hundreds of our countrymen who, to escape -from slavery, had toiled through dismal swamps, thick-set -canebrakes, deep rivers, tangled forests, alone, by -night, hungry, almost naked and penniless, guided only -by the steady light of the polar star, which some kind -friend had taught them to distinguish, and had assured -them would be an unerring leader to a land of liberty. -They who have heard the narratives of such as have so -escaped need not be told that Mr. Pierpont must have -had the tale poured through his ear into his generous -heart.<a id="FNanchor_M" href="#Footnote_M" class="fnanchor">M</a></p> - -<p>But of all our American poets, John G. Whittier has -from first to last done most for the abolition of slavery. -All my antislavery brethren, I doubt not, will unite with -me to crown him our laureate. From 1832 to the close -of our dreadful war in 1865 his harp of liberty was -never hung up. Not an important occasion escaped him. -Every significant incident drew from his heart some pertinent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">264</a></span> -and often very impressive or rousing verses. His -name appears in the first volume of <cite>The Liberator</cite>, with -high commendations of his poetry and his character. As -early as 1831 he was attracted to Mr. Garrison by sympathy -with his avowed purpose to abolish slavery. Their -acquaintance soon ripened into a heartfelt friendship, as -he declared in the following lines, written in 1833:—</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Champion of those who groan beneath<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Oppression’s iron hand:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In view of penury, hate, and death,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I see thee fearless stand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still bearing up thy lofty brow,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In the steadfast strength of truth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In manhood sealing well the vow<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And promise of thy youth.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“I love thee with a brother’s love;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">I feel my pulses thrill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To mark thy spirit soar above<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The cloud of human ill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My heart hath leaped to answer thine,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And echo back thy words,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As leaps the warrior’s at the shine<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And flash of kindred swords!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Go on—the dagger’s point may glare<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Amid thy pathway’s gloom,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fate which sternly threatens there<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Is glorious martyrdom!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then onward with a martyr’s zeal;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And wait thy sure reward,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When man to man no more shall kneel,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And God alone be Lord!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Whittier proved the sincerity of these professions. -He joined the first antislavery society and became an active -official. Notwithstanding his dislike of public speaking, -he sometimes lectured at that early day, when so few -were found willing to avow and advocate the right of -the enslaved to immediate liberation from bondage without -the condition of removal to Liberia. Mr. Whittier -attended the convention at Philadelphia in December,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">265</a></span> -1833, that formed the American Antislavery Society. -He was one of the secretaries of that body, and a member, -with Mr. Garrison, of the committee appointed to -prepare the “Declaration of our Sentiments and Purposes.” -Although, as I have elsewhere stated, Mr. Garrison -wrote almost every sentence of that admirable -document just as it now stands, yet I well remember the -intense interest with which Mr. Whittier scrutinized it, -and how heartily he indorsed it.</p> - -<p>In 1834, by his invitation I visited Haverhill, where -he then resided. I was his guest, and lectured under -his auspices in explanation and defence of our abolition -doctrines and plans. Again the next year, after the mob -spirit had broken out, I went to Haverhill by his invitation, -and he shared with me in the perils which I have -described on a former page.</p> - -<p>In January, 1836, Mr. Whittier attended the annual -meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, and -boarded the while in the house where I was living. He -heard Dr. Follen’s great speech on that occasion, and -came home so much affected by it that, either that night -or the next morning, he wrote those “Stanzas for the -Times,” which are among the best of his <span class="locked">productions:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">266</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Is this the land our fathers loved,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The freedom which they toiled to win?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is this the soil whereon they moved?<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Are these the graves they slumber in?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are <em>we</em> the sons by whom are borne<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mantles which the dead have worn?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“And shall we crouch above these graves<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With craven soul and fettered lip?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yoke in with marked and branded slaves,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And tremble at the driver’s whip?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bend to the earth our pliant knees,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And speak but as our masters please?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Shall tongues be mute when deeds are wrought<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Which well might shame extremest hell?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall freemen lock the indignant thought?<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Shall Pity’s bosom cease to swell?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall Honor bleed? Shall Truth succumb?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall pen and press and soul be dumb?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“No;—by each spot of haunted ground,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Where Freedom weeps her children’s fall,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By Plymouth’s rock and Bunker’s mound,—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">By Griswold’s stained and shattered wall,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By Warren’s ghost,—by Langdon’s shade,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By all the memories of our dead!<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“By all above, around, below,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be our indignant answer,—NO!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>I can hardly refrain from giving my readers the whole -of these stanzas. But I hope they all are, or will at -once make themselves, familiar with them. As I read -them now, they revive in my bosom not the memory -only, but the glow they kindled there when I first pored -over them. Then his lines entitled “Massachusetts to -Virginia,” and those he wrote on the adoption of Pinckney’s -Resolution, and the passage of Calhoun’s Bill, -excluding antislavery newspapers and pamphlets and -letters from the United States Mail,—indeed, all his -antislavery poetry helped mightily to keep us alive to our -high duties, and fired us with holy resolution. Let our -laureate’s verses still be said and sung throughout the -land, for if the portents of the day be true, our conflict -with the enemies of liberty, the oppressors of humanity, -is not yet ended.</p> - -<h3 id="hp266">PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR.</h3> - -<p>If the enslaved millions of our countrymen had been -white, the task of emancipating them would have been -a light one. But as only colored persons were to be -seen in that condition, and they were ignorant and degraded,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267">267</a></span> -and as all of that complexion, with rare exceptions, -even in the free States, were poor, uneducated, -and held in servile relations, or engaged in only menial -employments, it had come to be taken for granted that -they were fitted only for such things. It was confidently -assumed that they belonged to an <em>inferior race</em> of beings, -somewhere between monkey and man; that they were -made by the Creator for our service, to be hewers of -wood and drawers of water; and pious ministers, and -some who were reputed to be wise in the sacred Scriptures, -gave their sanction to the arrogant assumption by -proving (to those who were anxious to believe) that negroes -were descendants from the impious son of Noah, whom -that patriarch cursed, and in his wrath decreed that his -posterity should be the lowest of servants.</p> - -<p>Our opponents gave no heed to the glaring facts, that -the colored people were not permitted to rise from their -low estate, were <em>held down</em> by our laws, customs, and -contemptuous treatment. Not only were they prevented -from engaging in any of the lucrative occupations, but -they were denied the privileges of education, and hardly -admitted to the houses dedicated to the worship of the -impartial Father of all men.</p> - -<p>I have given in early numbers of this series a full account -of the fight we had in defence of the Canterbury -School in Connecticut. More than a year before that, a -number of well-qualified young men having been refused -admission into Yale College and the Wesleyan Seminary -at Middletown, <em>because of their complexion</em>, the Rev. -Simeon S. Jocelyn, one of the best of men, generously -assisted by Arthur Tappan and his brother Lewis Tappan, -and others, endeavored to establish in New Haven -an institution for the collegiate education of colored -young men. The benevolent project was so violently -opposed by “the most respectable citizens” of the place,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268">268</a></span> -Hon. Judge Daggett among them, that it was abandoned. -A year or two afterwards the trustees of “Noyes Academy,” -in Plymouth, New Hampshire, after due consideration, -consented to allow colored pupils to be admitted into -the academy. The respectable people of the town were -so incensed, enraged by this encroachment upon the prerogative -of white children, that, readily helped by the -rougher but not baser sort of folks, they razed the -building in which the school was kept from its foundation -and carted it off into a meadow or swamp. In none -of our cities, that I was acquainted with before the antislavery -reform commenced, were colored children admitted -into the “common schools” with white children. -Hon. Horace Mann and his fellow-laborers in the cause -of humanity, as well as education, put this injustice to -shame in Massachusetts, if not elsewhere, and the doors -of all public schools were opened to the young, without -regard to complexion.</p> - -<p>But this was not the utmost of the contempt with -which colored people were treated. They were not permitted -to ride in any public conveyances, stage-coaches, -omnibuses, or railroad-cars, nor to take passage on any -steamboats or sail-packets, excepting in the steerage or -on deck. Many instances of extreme suffering, as well -as great inconvenience and expense, to which worthy, -excellent colored persons were subjected came to the -knowledge of Abolitionists, and were pressed upon the -public consideration, until the crying iniquity was -abated.</p> - -<p>And still there was a deeper depth to the wrong we -did to these innocent victims of prejudice. In all our -churches they were set apart from the white brethren, -often in pews or pens, built high up against the ceiling -in the corners back of the congregation, so that the favored -ones who came to worship the “<em>impartial</em> Father”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269">269</a></span> -of all men might not be offended at the sight of those -to whom in his <em>inscrutable</em> wisdom he had given a dark -complexion.</p> - -<p>There was quite an excitement caused in the Federal -Street Church in 1822 or 1823, because one of the very -wealthy merchants of Boston introduced into his pew in -the broad aisle, one Sunday, a black gentleman. To be -sure he was richly dressed, and had a handsome person, -but he was black,—very black.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“That Sunday’s sermon all was lost,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The very text forgot by most.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>The refined and sensitive were much disturbed, offended, -felt that their sacred rights had been invaded. -They upbraided their neighbor for having so egregiously -violated the propriety of the sacred place, and given -their feelings such a shock. “Why,” said the merchant, -“what else could I do? That man, though black, is, as -you must have seen, a gentleman. He is well educated, -of polished manners. He comes from a foreign country -a visitor to our city. He has long been a business correspondent -of mine.” “Then he is very rich.” “Why, -bless you, he is worth a million. How could I send -such a gentleman up into the negro pew?”</p> - -<p>In 1835, if I remember correctly, a wealthy and pious -colored man bought a pew on the floor of Park Street -Church. It caused great disturbance. Some of his -neighbors nailed up the door of his pew; and so many of -“the aggrieved brethren” threatened to leave the society, -if they could not be relieved of such an offence, that -the trustees were obliged to eject the colored purchaser. -Another of the churches<a id="FNanchor_N" href="#Footnote_N" class="fnanchor">N</a> of Boston, admonished by -the above-mentioned occurrence, inserted in their <em>pew-deeds</em> -a clause, providing that they should “<em>be held by -none but respectable white persons</em>.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270">270</a></span> -Belonging to the society to which I ministered in -Connecticut was a very worthy colored family. They -were condemned to sit only in the negro pew, which was -as far back from the rest of the congregation as it could -be placed. Being blessed with a numerous family, as the -children grew up they were uncomfortably crowded in -that pew. Our church occupied the old meeting-house, -which was somewhat larger than we needed, so that the -congregation were easily accommodated on the lower floor. -Only the choir sat in the gallery, except on extraordinary -occasions. I therefore invited my colored parishioners -to occupy one of the large, front pews in the side-gallery. -They hesitated some time, lest their doing so should -give offence. But I insisted that none would have any -right to be offended, and at length persuaded them to -do as I requested. But one man, a political partisan of -the leader of Miss Crandall’s persecutors, was or pretended -to be much offended. He said with great warmth, -“How came that nigger family to come down into that -front pew?” “Because,” I replied, “it was unoccupied; -they were uncomfortably crowded in the pew assigned -them, and I requested them to remove.” “Well,” said -he, “there are many in the society besides myself who -will not consent to their sitting there.” “Why?” I -asked. “They are always well dressed, well behaved, -and good-looking withal.” “But,” said he, “they are -niggers, and niggers should be kept to their place.” I -argued the matter with him till I saw he could not be -moved, and he repeated the declaration that they should -be driven back. I then said, with great earnestness: -“Mr. A. B., if you do anything or say anything to hurt -the feelings of that worthy family, and induce them to -return to the pew which you know is not large enough -for them, so sure as your name is A. B. and my name is -S. J. M., the first time you afterwards appear in the congregation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271">271</a></span> -I will state the facts of the case exactly as -they are, and administer to you as severe a reproof as I -may be able to frame in words.” This had the desired -effect. My colored friends retained their new seat.</p> - -<p>To counteract as much as possible the effect of this -cruel prejudice, of which I have given a few specimens, -we Abolitionists gathered up and gave to the public the -numerous evidences that were easily obtained of the -intellectual and moral equality of the colored with the -white races of mankind. Mrs. Child, in her admirable -“Appeal,” devoted two excellent chapters to this purpose. -The Hon. Alexander H. Everett also, in 1835, delivered -in Boston a lecture on “African Mind,” in which -he showed, on the authority of the fathers of history, that -the colored races of men were the leaders in civilization. -He said: “While Greece and Rome were yet barbarous, -we find the ‘<em>light of learning and improvement</em> emanating -from them,’ the inhabitants of the degraded and accursed -continent of Africa,—out of the very midst of this woolly-haired, -flat-nosed, thick-lipped, coal-black race which some -persons are tempted to station at a pretty low intermediate -point between men and monkeys.” Again he said: -“The high estimation in which the Africans were held -for wisdom and virtue is strikingly shown by the mythological -fable, current among the ancient Greeks, and repeatedly -alluded to by Homer, which represented the -Gods as going annually in a body to make a long visit to -the Ethiopians.” Referring my readers to Mrs. Child’s -chapters, and Mr. Everett’s oration on this subject, I -will give a few of my own recollections of facts going to -establish the natural equality of our colored brethren.</p> - -<p>Since the admission of their children to the public -schools, a fair proportion of them have shown themselves -to be fully equal to white children in their aptness to -learn. And surely no one who is acquainted with them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272">272</a></span> -will presume to speak of the inferiority of such men as -Frederick Douglass, Henry H. Garnett, Samuel R. Ward, -Charles L. Remond, William Wells Brown, J. W. Loguen, -and many more men and women who have been our faithful -and able fellow-laborers in the antislavery cause.<a id="FNanchor_O" href="#Footnote_O" class="fnanchor">O</a></p> - -<p>But I have, recorded in my memory, many touching -evidences of the <em>moral</em> equality, if not superiority, of the -colored race. Let me premise these recollections by -stating the general fact that, notwithstanding the serious -disadvantages to which our prejudices have subjected -them, the colored population of our country have nowhere -imposed upon the public their proportion of paupers -or of criminals. In this respect they are excelled -only by the Quakers and the Jews.</p> - -<p>I shall always remember with great pleasure once meeting -the Rev. Dr. Tuckerman in Tremont Street, in 1835. -He hurried towards me, his countenance beaming with a -delight which only such a benevolent heart as his could -give to the human countenance, saying: “O Brother May, -I have a precious fact for you Abolitionists. Never in all -my intercourse with the poor, or indeed with any class of -my fellow-beings, have I met with a brighter instance of -true, self-sacrificing Christian benevolence than lately in -the case of a poor <em>colored</em> woman. Two colored women, -not related, have been living for several years on the -same floor in a tenement-house, each having only a common -room and a small bedroom. Each of them was getting -a living for herself and a young child by washing and -day-labor. They had managed to subsist, earning about -enough to meet current expenses. Several months ago -one of them was taken very sick with inflammatory rheumatism. -All was done for her relief that medical skill -could do, but without avail. She grew worse rather -than better, until she became utterly helpless. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273">273</a></span> -overseers of the poor made the customary provision for -her, and benevolent individuals helped her privately. -But it came to be a case for an infirmary. The overseers -and others thought best to remove her to the almshouse. -When this decision was made known to her she -became much distressed. The thought of going to the -poorhouse—of becoming a public pauper—was dreadful -to her. We tried to reconcile her to what seemed to -us the best provision that could be made for her, not only -by assuring her that she would be kindly cared for, but -by reminding her that she had been brought to her condition, -as we believed, by no fault of her own, and by such -considerations as our blessed religion suggests. But she -could not be comforted. We left her, trusting that private -reflection would in a few days bring her to acquiesce -in what seemed to be inevitable. In due time I called -again to learn if she was prepared for her removal to -the almshouse. I found her not in her own but in -her generous-hearted neighbor’s room. Thither had been -removed all her little furniture. So deep was that neighbor’s -sympathy with her feeling of shame and humiliation -at becoming a public pauper,—an inmate of the -almshouse,—that she had determined to take upon -herself the care and support of this sick, infirm, helpless -woman, and had subjected herself to all the inconvenience -of an over-crowded room, as well as the great additional -labor and care which she had thus assumed.”</p> - -<p>Whatever Dr. Tuckerman thought, or we may think, -of the unreasonableness of the poor helpless invalid’s -dread of the almshouse, or of the <em>imprudence</em> of her -poor friend in undertaking to support and nurse her, we -cannot help admiring, as he did, that ardor of benevolence -which impelled to such a labor of loving-kindness, -and pronounce it a very rare instance of self-sacrificing -charity. Let it redound as it should to the credit of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274">274</a></span> -that portion of the human race which our nation has so -wickedly dared to despise and oppress.</p> - -<p>I have several more precious recollections of elevated -moral sentiment and principle evinced by black men and -women whom I have known. Two of these I will give.</p> - -<p>It was my privilege to see much of Edward S. Abdy, -Esq., of England, during his visit to our country in -1833 and 1834. The first time I met him was at the -house of Mr. James Forten, of Philadelphia, in company -with two other English gentlemen, who had come to the -United States commissioned by the British Parliament -to examine our systems of prison and penitentiary discipline. -Mr. Abdy was interested in whatsoever affected -the welfare of man, but he was more particularly devoted -to the investigation of slavery. He travelled extensively -in our Southern States and contemplated with -his own eyes the manifold abominations of our American -despotism. He was too much exasperated by our tyranny -to be enamored of our democratic institutions; and -on his return to England he published two very sensible -volumes, that were so little complimentary to our nation -that our booksellers thought it not worth their while -to republish them.</p> - -<p>This warm-hearted philanthropist visited me several -times at my home in Connecticut. The last afternoon that -he was there we were sitting together at my study window, -when our attention was arrested by a very handsome -carriage driving up to the hotel opposite my house. A -gentleman and lady occupied the back seat, and on the -front were two children tended by a black woman, who -wore the turban that was then usually worn by slave-women. -We hastened over to the hotel, and soon entered -into conversation with the slaveholder. He was -polite, but somewhat nonchalant and defiant of our sympathy -with his victim. He readily acknowledged, as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275">275</a></span> -slaveholders of that day generally did, that, abstractly -considered, the enslavement of fellow-men was a great -wrong. But then he contended that it had become a -necessary evil,—necessary to the enslaved no less than -to the enslavers, the former being unable to do without -masters as much as the latter were unable to do without -servants, and he added, in a very confident tone, “You -are at liberty to persuade our servant-woman to remain -here if you can.”</p> - -<p>Thus challenged, we of course sought an interview with -the slave, and informed her that, having been brought -by her master into the free States, she was, by the laws -of the land, set at liberty. “No, I am not, gentlemen,” -was her prompt reply. We adduced cases and quoted -authorities to establish our assertion that she was free. -But she significantly shook her head, and still insisted -that the examples and the legal decisions did not reach -her case. “For,” said she, “I promised mistress that I -would go back with her and the children.” Mr. Abdy -undertook to argue with her that such a promise was -not binding. He had been drilled in the moral philosophy -of Dr. Paley, and in that debate seemed to be possessed -of its spirit. But he failed to make any visible -impression upon the woman. She had <em>bound</em> herself by -a promise to her mistress that she would not leave her, -and that promise had fastened upon her conscience an -obligation from which she could not be persuaded that -even her natural right to liberty could exonerate her. -Mr. Abdy at last was impatient with her, and said in his -haste: “Is it possible that you do not wish to be free?” -She replied with solemn earnestness: “Was there ever -a slave that did not wish to be free? I long for liberty. -I will get out of slavery if I can the day after I have -returned, but go back I must because I <em>promised</em> that I -would.” At this we desisted from our endeavor to induce<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276">276</a></span> -her to take the boon that was apparently within -her reach. We could not but feel a profound respect -for that moral sensibility, which would not allow her to -embrace even her freedom at the expense of violating a -promise.</p> - -<p>The next morning at an early hour the slaveholder, -with his wife and children, drove off, leaving the slave-woman -and their heaviest trunk to be brought on after -them in the stage-coach. We could not refrain from -again trying to persuade her to remain and be free. We -told her that her master had given us leave to persuade -her, if we could. She pointed to the trunk and to a -very valuable gold watch and chain, which her mistress -had committed to her care, and insisted that fidelity to -a trust was of more consequence to her soul even than -the attainment of liberty. Mr. Abdy offered to take the -trunk and watch into his charge, follow her master, and -deliver them into his hands. But she could not be made -to see that in this there would be no violation of her -duty; and then her own person, that too she had promised -should be returned to the home of her master. -And much as she longed for liberty, she longed for a -clear conscience more.</p> - -<p>Mr. Abdy was astonished, delighted, at this instance -of heroic virtue in a poor, ignorant slave. He packed -his trunk, gave me a hearty adieu, and when the coach -drove up he took his seat on the outside with the trunk -and the slave-chattel of a Mississippi slaveholder, that -he might study for a few hours more the morality of -that strong-hearted woman who could not be bribed to -violate her promise, even by the gift of liberty. It was -the last time I saw Mr. Abdy, and it was a sight to be -remembered,—he, an accomplished English gentleman, -a Fellow of Oxford or Cambridge University, riding on -the driver’s box of a stage-coach side by side with an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277">277</a></span> -American slave-woman, that he might learn more of her -history and character.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>In this connection I must be allowed to narrate an incident -(though not an antislavery one), because it may interest -my readers generally, and, should it come to the notice -of any of my English friends, may lead to the return of a -valuable manuscript which I wish very much to recover.</p> - -<p>I had been for several years in possession of a letter -of seven pages in the handwriting of General Washington, -given me by a lady who obtained it in Richmond, -Va. It was a letter addressed to Mr. Custis in 1794, -while Washington was detained in Philadelphia in attendance -upon his duties as President. He had left Mr. -Custis in charge of his estates at Mount Vernon. The -letter was one of particular instructions as to the management -of “the people” and the disposition of the -crops. It showed how exact were the business habits of -that great man, and his anxiety that his slaves should -be properly cared for.</p> - -<p>Mr. Abdy read it and reread it with the deepest interest, -and seemed to me to covet the possession of it. -Just as he was about to take his departure I longed to -give him something that he would value as a memento -of his visit to me. There was nothing I could think of -at the moment but the letter, so I put it into his hand, -saying, “Keep it as my parting token of regard for -you.” “What!” said he, seizing it with surprise as well -as delight, “will you give me this invaluable relic?” -“Yes,” I replied; “there are a great many of General -Washington’s letters in our country, but not many in -England. Take it, and show your countrymen that he -was a man of method as well as of might.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278">278</a></span> -Some time after he had gone, and the fervor of feeling -which impelled me to the gift had subsided, I began to -regret that I had parted with the letter. There were in -it, incidentally given, some traits of the character of -Washington that might not be found elsewhere. It -came to me that such a letter should not have been held -or disposed of as my private property. It belonged -rather to the nation.</p> - -<p>A few years afterwards Mr. Abdy died. I learned -from an English paper the fact of his demise and the -name of the executor of his estate. To that gentleman -I wrote, described the letter of Washington, the circumstances -under which I had given it to Mr. Abdy, and -requested that, as he had departed this life, the letter -might be returned to me, with my reasons for wishing to -possess it again. In due time I received a very courteous -reply from that gentleman, assuring me that he -sympathized with my feelings, and appreciated the propriety -of my reclaiming the letter. But he added that -he had searched for it in vain among Mr. Abdy’s papers, -and presumed he had deposited it in the library of some -literary or historical institution, but had left no intimation -as to the disposal of it.</p> - -<p>When in England, in 1859, I inquired for it of the -librarian of the British Museum, and of Dr. William’s -Library in Red-cross Street, but without success. If -these lines should meet the eye of any friend in England -who may know, or be able to find, where the valuable -autograph is, I shall be very grateful for the information.<a id="FNanchor_P" href="#Footnote_P" class="fnanchor">P</a></p> - -<h3 id="hp278">A NEGRO’S LOVE OF LIBERTY.</h3> - -<p>A year or two after my removal to Syracuse a colored -man accosted me in the street, and asked for a private<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279">279</a></span> -interview with me on a matter of great importance. I -had repeatedly met him about the city, and supposed -from his appearance that he was a smart, enterprising, -free negro.</p> - -<p>At the time appointed he came to my house, and after -looking carefully about to be sure we were alone, he informed -me that he was a fugitive from slavery; that he -had resided in our city several years, but nobody here -except his wife knew whence he came, and he was very -desirous that his secret should be kept.</p> - -<p>“I have come,” he continued, “to ask your assistance to -enable me to get my mother out of slavery. I have been -industrious, have lived economically, and have saved three -hundred dollars. With this I hope to purchase my mother, -and bring her here to finish her days with me.” “You -say,” I replied, “that you are a fugitive slave; from -what place in the South did you escape?” “From -W——, in Virginia,” he answered. I opened my atlas, -and found a town so named in that State. “What -towns are there adjoining or near W——?” I asked. -He named several, enough to satisfy me that he was -acquainted with that part of Virginia. “Well,” said I, -“how did you get here?” “By the light of the north-star,” -was his prompt reply. “How did you know anything -about the north-star, and that it would guide you -to freedom?” I doubtingly inquired. “I have <em>heard</em> of -a great many Southern slaves who have made their way -into the free States and to Canada by the light of that -star, but I have never before seen one who had done so. -I am very desirous to hear particularly about your escape.” -“Well, sir,” said he, “a good man in W——, a -member of the Society of Friends, knowing how much I -longed to be free, pointed out to me the north-star, and -showed me how I might always find it. And he assured -me, if I would travel towards it, that I should at length<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280">280</a></span> -reach a part of the country where slavery was not allowed. -I need not tell you, sir, how impatient I became -to set off. After a while my master left home to be absent -several days, and the next Saturday night I started -with a bundle on my back, containing a part of the very -few clothes I had, and all the food I could get with my -mother’s help, and a little money in my pocket—not -three dollars—that I had been gathering for a long -time. The first and the second nights were pleasant, -the stars shone bright, and there was no moon, so I -travelled from the moment it was dark enough to venture -out until the light of day began to appear. Then I -found some place to hide, and there I lay all day until -darkness came again. Thus I travelled night after night, -always looking towards the north-star. Sometimes I -lost sight of it in the woods through which I was obliged -to pass, and oh! how glad I was to see it again. Sometimes -I had to go a great ways round to avoid houses -and grounds that were guarded by dogs, or that I feared -it would not be safe for me to cross, but still I kept looking -for the star, and turned and travelled towards it -when I could. At other times (thank God, not often) -the nights were so cloudy I could not see, and so was -obliged to stay where I had been through the previous -days. O sir, how long those nights did seem!</p> - -<p>“When the food I had brought away in my bundle -was all eaten up, I was forced to call at some houses and -beg for something to relieve my hunger. I was generally -treated kindly, for, as I learnt, I had gotten out of -Virginia and Maryland. Still, I did not dare to stop so -soon, but kept on until I reached this place, where I -saw many colored people, evidently as free as the white -folks. So I thought it would be safe to look about for -employment here and a home. Here I have been living -seven or eight years; have married a wife, and we have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281">281</a></span> -two children. As I told you at first, I have saved money -enough, I believe, to buy my mother, and I want you, -sir, to help me get her here.”</p> - -<p>It cannot be necessary for me to assure my readers -that I was deeply interested in this narrative, which I -have repeated so often that I have kept its essential -parts fresh in my memory. But, wishing to test its -truth still further, I asked him what towns he had -passed through in coming from W—— to Syracuse. -“O,” said he, “as I travelled at night and avoided people -all I could, and asked few questions of those I did -meet, I learned the names of only a few places through -which I came. I remember M—— and D—— and -B——,” and so on, giving the names of six or eight -towns in all. “Ah,” said I, “how did you get to B——, -if you travelled only towards the north-star?”</p> - -<p>“O,” he replied, “I got scared there. I thought the -slave-catchers were after me. I ran for luck. I travelled -two nights in the road that was easiest for me, -without caring for anything but to escape. Then, supposing -I had got away from those who were after me, I -took to the north-star again, and that brought me here.”</p> - -<p>The few towns which he named as having passed -through after his last starting-point, I found on the map -lying almost directly in the line running thence due -north to this city.</p> - -<p>Being thus assured of the correctness of his story, I -began to question the expediency of his attempting to -bring his mother away from her old home, even if I -should be able to get possession of her for him. “She -must be an aged woman by this time,” said I. “You -look as if you were forty years old; she probably is -sixty, perhaps nearly or quite seventy.”</p> - -<p>“It may be so,” he replied; “but she used to be -mighty smart and healthy, and may live a good many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282">282</a></span> -years yet, and I want to do what I can for my mother. -I am her only child I believe, and I know she would be -mighty glad to see me again before she dies.”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” I rejoined; “but you have been so long -separated she must have got used to living without you. -Like other old slave-women in our Southern States -(<em>mammies</em> or <em>aunties</em>, as they are called), I presume she -is pretty kindly treated, and such a change as you propose -at her time of life might make her much less comfortable -than she would be to continue to the last in her -accustomed place and condition.”</p> - -<p>“O sir!” he said, with great earnestness, “she is a -slave. Every one in slavery longs to be free. I am -sure she would rather suffer a great deal as a free woman -than to live any longer, however comfortably, as a -slave.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” I replied, with all apparent want of sympathy, -“but it will cost you all the money you have saved, and -I fear much more, to buy her and get her brought on to -you here, so that you may then be too poor to make her -comfortable. But your three hundred dollars will enable -you to increase in many ways the comfort of your wife -and children. That sum will go far towards the purchase -of a nice little home for them. Now, do you not owe -them quite as much as you do your mother?” “My -wife,” he exclaimed, “is just as anxious as I am to get -mother out of slavery. She is willing to work as hard -as I will to make mother comfortable after we get her -here. I am sure we shall not let mother suffer for anything -she may need in her old age. Do, sir, help us get her -here, and you shall see what we will do for her.” Repressing -my feelings as much as possible, I said once -more: “But, my good fellow, your mother is so old she can -live but a little while after you have spent your all and -more to get her here. Very likely the excitement and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283">283</a></span> -the fatigue of the journey and the change of the climate -will kill her very soon.” With the deepest emotion and -in a most subdued manner, he replied, “No matter if it -does,—buy her, bring her here, and <em>let her die free</em>.” -This was irresistible. I seized his hand. “Sanford, you -must not think me as unsympathizing and cold as I -have appeared. I have been trying you, proving you. -I am satisfied that you know the value of liberty, -that you hold it above all price. Be assured I will do -all in my power to help you to accomplish your generous, -your pious purpose. Nothing will give me more -heartfelt satisfaction than to be instrumental in procuring -the release of your mother and presenting her to -you a free woman.”</p> - -<p>The sequel to my story is sad, but most instructive. -It will show how demoralizing, dehumanizing it has been -and must be to hold human beings, fellow-men, as property, -chattels; that, as Cowper wrote long ago, “it were -better to be a slave and wear the chains, than to fasten -them on another.”</p> - -<p>How to compass the purpose which had thus been so -forcibly fixed in my heart required some device. It -would not have done for Sanford himself to have gone -for his mother. That would have been like going into -the den of an angry tiger. No sin that a slave could -commit was so unpardonable then, in the estimation of -a slaveholder, as running away.</p> - -<p>I did not, until five years afterwards, become acquainted -with that remarkable woman, <em>Harriet Tubman</em>, or I might -have engaged her services in the assurance that she would -have brought off the old woman without <em>paying</em> for what -belonged to her by an inalienable right,—<em>her liberty</em>.</p> - -<p>I therefore soon determined to intrust the undertaking -to John Needles, of Baltimore, a most excellent man -and member of the Society of Friends. Accordingly,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284">284</a></span> -I wrote to him, giving all the particulars of the case,—the -name of the town in Virginia where the slave-woman -was supposed to be still living, usually called Aunt Bess -or Old Bess, and the name of the planter who held her -as his chattel. I promised to send him the three hundred -dollars which Sanford had put at my disposal, and -more, if more would be needed, so soon as he should inform -me that he had gotten or could get possession of -the woman.</p> - -<p>After six or eight weeks I received a letter, informing -me that he had secured the ready assistance of a very -suitable man,—a Quaker, residing in the town of W——, -not far from the plantation on which was still living the -mother of Sanford, an old woman in pretty good health. -But alas! his endeavor to purchase her had been utterly -unavailing. He had approached the business as warily -as he knew how to. Yet almost instantly the truth had -been seen by the jealous eyes of the planter, through the -disguise the Quaker had attempted to throw around it. -“You don’t want that old black wench for yourself,” said -the master. “She would be of no use to you. You -want to get her for Sanford. And, damn him, he can’t -have her, unless he comes for her himself. And then, I -reckon, I shall let Old Bess have him, and not let him -have her. He may stay here where he belongs, the -damned runaway!” No entreaty or argument the Quaker -used seemed to move the master. Even the offer of -two hundred dollars and two hundred and fifty dollars—much -more than the market value of the old woman—was -spurned. It was better to him than money to punish -the runaway slave through his disappointed affections, -now that he could not do it by lacerating his back or -putting him in irons.</p> - -<p>I need not attempt to describe the sorrow and vexation -of the son thus wantonly denied the satisfaction of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285">285</a></span> -contributing to the comfort of his mother through the -few last days of her life, in which her services could have -been of little or no worth to the tyrant. Nor need I -measure for my readers the vast <em>moral superiority</em> of the -poor black man, who had been the slave, to the rich white -man, who had been the master.</p> - -<h3 id="hp285">DISTINGUISHED COLORED MEN.</h3> - -<p>I have given above some instances of exalted <em>moral</em> -excellence which greatly increased my regard for colored -men,—instances of self-sacrificing benevolence, of rigid -adherence to a promise under the strongest temptation -to break it, and of their inestimable value of liberty. I -wish now to tell of several colored men who have given -us abundant evidences of their mental power and executive -ability.</p> - -<h4 id="hp285a">DAVID RUGGLES, LEWIS HAYDEN, AND WILLIAM C. NELL.</h4> - -<p>David Ruggles first became known to me as a most -active, adventurous, and daring conductor on the underground -railroad. He helped six hundred slaves to escape -from one and another of the Southern States into Canada, -or to places of security this side of the St. Lawrence. -So great were the dangers to which he was often exposed, -so severe the labors and hardships he often incurred, and -so intense the excitement into which he was sometimes -thrown, that his eyes became seriously diseased, and he -lost entirely the sight of them. For a while he was -obliged to depend for his livelihood upon the contributions -of his antislavery friends, which they gave much -more cheerfully than he received them. Dependence -was irksome to his enterprising spirit. So soon, therefore, -as his health, in other respects, was sufficiently restored, -he eagerly inquired for some employment by which, notwithstanding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286">286</a></span> -his blindness, he could be useful to others -and gain a support for himself and family. Having a -strong inclination to, and not a little tact and experience -in the curative art, he determined to attempt the management -of a Water-cure Hospital. He was assisted to -obtain the lease of suitable accommodations in or near -Northampton, and conducted his establishment with -great skill and good success, I believe, until his death.</p> - -<p>Lewis Hayden and William C. Nell were active, devoted -young colored men, who, in the early days of our -antislavery enterprise, rendered us valuable services in -various ways. The latter—Mr. Nell—especially assisted -in making arrangements for our meetings, gathering -important and pertinent information, and sometimes -addressing our meetings very acceptably. He was always -careful in preserving valuable facts and documents, and -grew to be esteemed so highly for his fidelity and carefulness, -that, when the Hon. J. G. Palfrey came to be the -Postmaster of Boston, he appointed W. C. Nell one of -his clerks; and, if I mistake not, he retains that situation -to this day.</p> - -<h4 id="hp286">JAMES FORTEN.</h4> - -<p>While at the Convention in Philadelphia, in 1833, I -became acquainted with two colored gentlemen who interested -me deeply,—Mr. James Forten and Mr. Robert -Purvis. The former, then nearly sixty years of age, was -evidently a man of commanding mind, and well informed. -He had for many years carried on the largest private -sail-making establishment in that city, having at times -forty men in his employ, most, if not all of them, white -men. He was much respected by them, and by all with -whom he had any business transactions, among whom -were many of the prominent merchants of Philadelphia. -He had acquired wealth, and he lived in as handsome a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287">287</a></span> -style as any one should wish to live. I dined at his -table with several members of the Convention, and two -English gentlemen who had recently come to our country -on some philanthropic mission. We were entertained with -as much ease and elegance as I could desire to see. Of -course, the conversation was, for the most part, on topics -relating to our antislavery conflict. The Colonization -scheme came up for consideration, and I shall never -forget Mr. Forten’s scathing satire. Among other things -he said: “My great-grandfather was brought to this -country a slave from Africa. My grandfather obtained -his own freedom. My father never wore the yoke. He -rendered valuable services to his country in the war of -our Revolution; and I, though then a boy, was a drummer -in that war. I was taken prisoner, and was made to -suffer not a little on board the Jersey prison-ship. I -have since lived and labored in a useful employment, -have acquired property, and have paid taxes in this city. -Here I have dwelt until I am nearly sixty years of age, -and have brought up and educated a family, as you see, -thus far. Yet some ingenious gentlemen have recently -discovered that I am still an African; that a continent, -three thousand miles, and more, from the place where I -was born, is my native country. And I am advised to go -home. Well, it may be so. Perhaps, if I should only -be set on the shore of that distant land, I should recognize -all I might see there, and run at once to the old -hut where my forefathers lived a hundred years ago.” -His tone of voice, his whole manner, sharpened the edge -of his sarcasm. It was irresistible. And the laugh -which it at first awakened soon gave way to an expression, -on every countenance, of that ineffable contempt -which he evidently felt for the pretence of the Colonization -Society. At the table sat his excellent, motherly -wife, and his lovely, accomplished daughters,—all with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288">288</a></span> -himself somewhat under the ban of that accursed American -prejudice, which is the offspring of slavery. I -learnt from him that their education, evidently of a -superior kind, had cost him very much more than it -would have done, if they had not been denied admission -into the best schools of the city.</p> - -<p>Soon after dinner we all left the house to attend a meeting -of the Philadelphia Female Antislavery Society. It -was my privilege to escort one of the Misses Forten to -the place of meeting. What was my surprise, when, on -my return to Boston, I learnt that this action of mine -had been noticed and reported at home. “Is it true, -Mr. May,” said a lady to me, “that you walked in the -streets of Philadelphia with a colored girl?” “I did,” -was my reply, “and should be happy to do it again. -And I wish that all the white young ladies of my acquaintance -were as sensible, well educated, refined, and -handsome withal as Miss Forten.” This was too bad, -and I was set down as one of the incorrigibles.</p> - -<h4 id="hp288">MR. ROBERT PURVIS</h4> - -<p class="in0">was then an elegant, a brilliant young gentleman, well -educated and wealthy. He was so nearly white that he -was generally taken to be so. I first saw and heard him -in our Antislavery Convention in Philadelphia. I was -attracted to him by his fervid eloquence, and was surprised -at the intimation, which fell from his lips, that he -belonged to the proscribed, disfranchised class. Away -from the neighborhood of his birth he might easily have -passed as a white man. Indeed, I was told he had -travelled much in stage-coaches, and stopped days and -weeks at Saratoga and other fashionable summer resorts, -and mingled, without question, among the beaux and -belles, regarded by the latter as one of the most attractive -of his sex. Robert Purvis, therefore, might have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289">289</a></span> -removed to any part of our country, far distant from -Philadelphia, and have lived as one of the self-styled -superior race. But, rather than forsake his kindred, -or try to conceal the secret of his birth, he magnanimously -chose to bear the unjust reproach, the cruel wrongs of -the colored people, although he has been more annoyed, -chafed, exasperated by them than any other one I have -ever met with. Indeed, he seems to have grown more -impatient and irascible as the heavy burden of his people -has been lightened. Because all their rights have -not been accorded to them, he sometimes seems to deny -that any of their rights have been recognized. Because -the <em>elective franchise</em> is still meanly withheld from them -in some of the States, he will hardly acknowledge that -<em>slavery</em> has been abolished throughout the land,—a -glorious triumph in the cause of humanity, which his -own eloquence and pecuniary contributions have helped -to achieve. But we must make the largest allowance for -Mr. Purvis. No man of conscious power and high spirit, -who has not felt the gnawing, rasping, burning of a cruel -stigma, can conceive how hard it is to bear.</p> - -<h4 id="hp289">WILLIAM WELLS BROWN</h4> - -<p class="in0">has distinguished himself as a diligent agent and able -antislavery lecturer in this country and throughout -Great Britain and Ireland. He has also published books -that have been highly creditable to him as an author.</p> - -<h4 id="hp289a">CHARLES LENOX REMOND,</h4> - -<p class="in0">when quite a young man, became a frequent and effective -speaker in our meetings. In 1838 or 1839 he was appointed -an agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, -in which capacity he rendered abundant and very -valuable services. He spent the greater part of the year -1841 in Great Britain and Ireland. He lectured in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290">290</a></span> -many of the most important places throughout the -United Kingdom. Everywhere he drew large audiences, -and was much commended and admired for the pertinence -of his facts, the cogency of his arguments, and -the fire of his eloquence. In <cite>The Liberator</cite> for November -19, 1841, there was copied from a Dublin paper a -speech which Mr. Remond had then recently made to a -large and most respectable audience in that city. Mr. -Garrison commended it to his readers as “a very eloquent -production, worthy of careful perusal and high -commendation. Let those,” he added, “who are ever -disposed to deny the possession of genius, talent, and -eloquence by the colored man read that speech, and -acknowledge their meanness and injustice.”</p> - -<h4 id="hp290">REV. J. W. LOGUEN.</h4> - -<p>Soon after I removed to Syracuse, in 1845, I became -acquainted with the Rev. J. W. Loguen, then a school-teacher, -and for several years since minister of the African -Methodist Church here. His personal history is a -remarkable one, revealing at times no little force of -character. He was born in Tennessee, the slave of an -ignorant, intemperate, and brutal slaveholder. He witnessed -the sale of several of his mother’s children, her -frantic but unavailing resistance, the horrible scourging -she endured without releasing them from her embrace, -and her agonizing grief when they were at last violently -torn from her. Twice he was himself beaten nearly to -death,—left bleeding and senseless, to be comforted and -brought back to life by the care of his fond mother. At -last he saw his sister (after a terrible fight with the ruffian -slave-traders to whom she had been sold) subdued, -manacled, and forced away, screaming for her children, -imploring at least that she might have her infant. He -could endure his bondage no longer. He resolved to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291">291</a></span> -escape to the land of the free, and there earn the means -and find the way to bring his mother to partake with -him of the blessings of liberty. He took his master’s -best horse,—one that he had trained to do great feats, if -required,—and, in company with another young slave -of kindred spirit, also well mounted, he started, on the -night before Christmas, 1834, from the interior of Tennessee, -near Nashville, to go to Canada,—a distance of -six hundred miles, half the way through a slaveholding -country. They encountered, as they expected to do, -fearful perils and exhausting hardships. At last they -reached a place of safety, but it was in the dead of a -Canadian winter. Their stock of provisions had long -since been exhausted; their money was all spent; their -clothing utterly insufficient; and thus they had come -into a most inhospitable climate, unknowing and unknown, -at a season of the year when little employment -was to be had. Undaunted by this array of appalling -circumstances, Mr. Loguen persevered, made friends, got -work, and in the spring of 1837, only three years after -his escape from slavery, had so commended himself to -the confidence of an employer that he was intrusted -with a farm of two hundred acres, near Hamilton, which -he was to work on shares. Here, and afterwards by -labor in St. Catharine, he laid up several hundred dollars, -and then removed to Rochester, N. Y. In that city -he obtained a situation as waiter in the best hotel, -where, by his aptness and readiness to serve, he so ingratiated -himself with all the boarders and transient -visitors that his perquisites amounted to more than -enough to support him, and being totally abstinent from -the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco, he was able -to lay up all his wages,—thirty dollars a month. At -the expiration of two years he found that, together -with what he had brought from Canada, he was possessed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292">292</a></span> -of about nine hundred dollars. As much of this -as might be necessary, he resolved to expend in the -acquisition of knowledge. Ever since his arrival at the -North he had availed himself of all the assistance he -could get to learn to read, and had attained to some proficiency -in the art. By plying this, whenever opportunity -offered him the use of books and newspapers, he had added -much to his information. But he longed for more education,—at -least sufficient to enable him to be useful as -a minister of religion, or as a teacher of the children of his -people. So he left his lucrative situation in Rochester, and -entered the Oneida Institute, a manual labor school, then -under the excellent management of Rev. Beriah Green.</p> - -<p>In 1841 Mr. Loguen came to reside in Syracuse, and -undertook the duties of pastor of the “African Methodist -Church,” and of school-teacher to the children of his -people. In both these offices he was successful. And -not in these alone. With the help of one of the best of -wives, he has brought up a family of children, and educated -them well. He has established a good, commodious, -hospitable home. In it was fitted up an apartment -for fugitive slaves, and, for years before the Emancipation -Act, scarcely a week passed without some one, in -his flight from slavedom to Canada, enjoyed shelter -and repose at Elder Loguen’s. By industry, frugality, -and the skilful investment of his property, he has gained -a good estate. He is respected by his fellow-citizens, and -has so risen in the esteem of his Methodist brethren, that -within the last year he has been made a bishop of their -order.</p> - -<h4 id="hp292">FREDERICK DOUGLASS.</h4> - -<p>I need give but one more example of a colored man of -my acquaintance who has exhibited great intellectual -ability as well as moral worth. And he is one extensively<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293">293</a></span> -known and admired throughout our country, Great -Britain, and Ireland. Of course I mean Frederick Douglass. -His well-written, intensely interesting autobiography, -entitled “My Bondage and My Freedom,” has -probably been read so generally that I need not attempt -any sketch of his life. Suffice it to say he was born a slave -in Maryland. He experienced all the indignities, and -suffered most of the hardships and cruelties, that passionate -slaveholders could inflict upon their bondmen. When -about twenty-one years of age he resolved that he would -endure them no longer, and in 1838 he found his way -from Baltimore to New Bedford, the best place, on the -whole, to which he could have gone. There, with his -young wife, he commenced the life of a freeman. The -severest toil now seemed light. He worked with a will, -because the avails of his labor were to be his own. Being, -as most colored persons are, religiously inclined, he -soon became a member of a Methodist church, and erelong -was appointed a class-leader and a local preacher.</p> - -<p>While in slavery Mr. Douglass had contrived, in various -ingenious ways, to learn to read and write. So soon, -therefore, as he came to live in Massachusetts, he diligently -improved his enlarged opportunities to acquire -knowledge. Erelong he became a subscriber for <cite>The -Liberator</cite>, and week after week made himself master of -its contents, in which he never found a silly or a worthless -line. Of course its doctrines and its purpose were -altogether such as his own bitter experience justified. -And the exalted spirit of religious faith and hope, at all -times inspiring the writings and speeches of Mr. Garrison, -awakened in the bosom of Mr. Douglass the assurance -that he was “the man,—the Moses raised up by -God to deliver his Israel in America from a worse than -Egyptian bondage.”</p> - -<p>In the summer of 1841 there was a large antislavery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294">294</a></span> -convention held in Nantucket. Mr. Douglass attended -it. In the midst of the meeting, to his great confusion, -he was called upon and urged to address the convention. -A number were present from New Bedford who had -heard his exhortations in the Methodist church, and -they would not allow his plea of inability to speak. -After much hesitation he rose, and, notwithstanding his -embarrassment, he gave evidence of such intellectual -power—wisdom as well as wit—that all present were -astonished. Mr. Garrison followed him in one of his sublimest -speeches. “Here was a living witness of the justice -of the severest condemnation he had ever uttered of slavery. -Here was one ‘every inch a man,’ ay, a man of no -common power, who yet had been held at the South as a -piece of property, a chattel, and had been treated as if -he were a domesticated brute,” &c.</p> - -<p>At the close of the meeting, Mr. John A. Collins, then -the general agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, -urgently invited Mr. Douglass to become a lecturing -agent. He begged to be excused. He was sure that -he was not competent to such an undertaking. But Mr. -Garrison and others, who had heard him that day, joined -Mr. Collins in pressing him to accept the appointment. -He yielded to the pressure. And, in less than three -years from the day of his escape from slavery, he was -introduced to the people of New England as a suitable -person to lecture them upon the subject that was of -more moment than any other to which the attention of -our Republic had ever been called.</p> - -<p>Mr. Douglass henceforth improved rapidly. He applied -himself diligently to reading and study. The number -and range of his topics in lecturing increased and widened -continually. He soon became one of the favorite -antislavery speakers. The notoriety which he thus acquired -could not be confined to New England or the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295">295</a></span> -Northern States. A murmur of inquiry came up from -Maryland who this man could be. A pamphlet which -he felt called upon to publish in 1845, in answer to the -current assertions that he was an impostor, that he -had never been a slave, made it no longer possible to -conceal his personality. The danger of his being captured -and taken back to Maryland was so great that it -was thought advisable he should go to England. Accordingly, -he went thither that year in company with -James N. Buffum, one of the truest of antislavery men, -and with the Hutchinson family, the sweetest of singers.</p> - -<p>Although not permitted to go as a cabin passenger, -many of the cabin passengers sought to make his acquaintance -and visited him in the steerage, and invited -him to visit them on the saloon-deck. At length they -requested him to give them an antislavery lecture. -This he consented and was about to do, when some passengers -who were slaveholders chose to consider it an insult -to them, and were proceeding to punish him for his -insolence; they threatened even to throw him overboard, -and would have done so had not the captain of the steamer -interposed his absolute authority: called his men, and -ordered them to put those disturbers of the peace <em>in -irons</em> if they did not instantly desist. Of course they at -once obeyed, and shrank back in the consciousness that -they were under the dominion of a power that had broken -the staff of such oppressors as themselves.</p> - -<p>This incident of the voyage was reported in the newspapers -immediately on the arrival of the vessel at -Liverpool, and introduced Mr. Douglass at once to the -British public. He was treated with great attention by -the Abolitionists of the United Kingdom; was invited -to lecture everywhere, and rendered most valuable services -to the cause of his oppressed countrymen. So -deeply did he interest the philanthropists of that country<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296">296</a></span> -that they paid seven hundred and fifty dollars to -procure from his master a formal, legal certificate of -manumission, so that, on his return to these United -States, he would be no longer liable to be sent back into -slavery. They also presented him with the sum of -twenty-five hundred dollars for his own benefit, to be -appropriated, if he should see fit, to the establishment -of a weekly paper edited by himself, which was then his -favorite project.</p> - -<p>Soon after his return in 1847 he did establish such a paper -at Rochester and conducted it with ability for several -years. He has since become one of the popular lecturers -of our country, and every season has as many invitations -as he cares to accept. He is extensively known and -much respected. Many there are who wish to see him -a member of Congress; and we confidently predict that, -if he shall ever be sent to Washington as a Representative -or a Senator, he will soon become a prominent man -in either House.</p> - -<h3 id="hp296">THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.</h3> - -<p>Everybody has heard of the Underground Railroad. -Many have read of its operations who have been puzzled -to know where it was laid, who were the conductors of -it, who kept the stations, and how large were the profits. -As the company is dissolved, the rails taken up, the business -at an end, I propose now to tell my readers about it.</p> - -<p>There have always been scattered throughout the slaveholding -States individuals who have abhorred slavery, -and have pitied the victims of our American despotism. -These persons have known, or have taken pains to find -out, others at convenient distances northward from their -abodes who sympathized with them in commiserating the -slaves. These sympathizers have known or heard of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297">297</a></span> -others of like mind still farther North, who again have -had acquaintances in the free States that they knew -would help the fugitive on his way to liberty. Thus, -lines of friends at longer or shorter distances were formed -from many parts of the South to the very borders of -Canada,—not very straight lines generally, but such as -the fleeing bondmen might pass over safely, if they could -escape their pursuers until they had come beyond the -second or third stage from their starting-point. Furnished -at first with written “passes,” as from their masters, -and afterwards with letters of introduction from -one friend to another, we had reason to believe that a -large proportion of those who, in this way, attempted to -escape from slavery were successful. Twenty thousand -at least found homes in Canada, and hundreds ventured -to remain this side of the Lakes.</p> - -<p>So long ago as 1834, when I was living in the eastern -part of Connecticut, I had fugitives addressed to my -care. I helped them on to that excellent man, Effingham -L. Capron, in Uxbridge, afterwards in Worcester, -and he forwarded them to secure retreats.</p> - -<p>Ever after I came to reside in Syracuse I had much to -do as a station-keeper or conductor on the Underground -Railroad, until slavery was abolished by the Proclamation -of President Lincoln, and subsequently by the according -Acts of Congress. Fugitives came to me from -Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana. -They came, too, at all hours of day and night, sometimes -comfortably,—yes, and even handsomely clad, -but generally in clothes every way unfit to be worn, and -in some instances too unclean and loathsome to be admitted -into my house. Once in particular, a most -squalid mortal came to my back-door with a note that -he had been a passenger on the Underground Railroad. -“O Massa,” said he, “I’m not fit to come into<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298">298</a></span> -your house.” “No,” I replied, “you are not now, but -soon shall be.” So I stepped in and got a tub of -warm water, with towels and soap. He helped me with -them into the barn. “There,” said I, “give yourself a -thorough washing, and throw every bit of your clothing -out upon the dung-hill.” He set about his task -with a hearty good-will. I ran back to the house and -brought out to him a complete suit of clean clothes -from a deposit which my kind parishioners kept pretty -well supplied. He received each article with unspeakable -thankfulness. But the clean white shirt, with a -collar and stock, delighted him above measure. He -tarried with me a couple of days. I found him to be a -man of much natural intelligence, but utterly ignorant -of letters. He had had a hard master, and he went on -his way to Canada exulting in his escape from tyranny.</p> - -<p>In contrast with this specimen, my eldest son, late -one Saturday night, came up from the city, and as he -opened the parlor-door, said, “Here, father, is another -living epistle to you from the South,” and ushered in a -fine-looking, well-dressed young man. I took his hand -to make him sure of a welcome. “But this,” said I, -“is not the hand of one who has been used to doing hard -work. It is softer than mine.” “No, sir,” he replied, -“I have not been allowed to do work that would harden -my hands. I have been the slave of a very wealthy -planter in Kentucky, who kept me only to drive the carriage -for mistress and her daughters, to wait upon them -at table, and accompany them on their journeys. I was -not allowed even to groom the horses, and was required -to wear gloves when I drove them.” Perceiving that he -used good language and pronounced it properly, I said, -“You must have received some instruction. I thought -the laws of the slave States sternly prohibited the teaching -of slaves.” “They do, sir,” he replied, “but my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299">299</a></span> -master was an easy man in that respect. My young -mistresses taught me to read, and got me books and -papers from their father’s library. I have had much -leisure time, and I have improved it.” In further conversation -with him I found that he was quite familiar -with a considerable number of the best American and -English authors, both in poetry and prose. “If you had -such an easy time, and were so much favored, why,” I -asked, “did you run away?” “O, sir,” he replied, -“slavery at best is a bitter draught. Under the most -favored circumstances it is bondage and degradation still. -I often writhed in my chains, though they sat so lightly -on me compared with most others. I was often on the -point of taking wings for the North, but then the words -of Hamlet would come to me, ‘Better to bear those ills -we have, than fly to others that we know not of,’ and I -should have remained with my master had it not been that -I learned, a few weeks ago, that he was about to sell me to -a particular friend of his, then visiting him from New -Orleans. I suspected this evil was impending over me -from the notice the gentleman took of me and the kind -of questions he asked me.</p> - -<p>“At length, one of my young mistresses, who knew my -dread of being sold, came to me and, bursting into tears, -said, ‘Harry, father is going to sell you.’ She put five -dollars into my hand and went weeping away. With -that, and with much more money that I had received from -time to time, and saved for the hour of need, I started -that night and reached the Ohio River before morning. -I immediately crossed to Cincinnati and hurried on board -a steamer, the steward of which was a black man of my -acquaintance. He concealed me until the boat had returned -to Pittsburg. There he introduced me to a gentleman -that he knew to be a friend of us colored folks. -That gentleman sent me to a friend in Meadville, and he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300">300</a></span> -directed me to come to you.” “Well,” said I, “Harry, if -you are a good coachman and waiter withal, I can get you -an excellent situation in this city, which will enable you to -live comfortably until you shall have become acquainted -with our Northern manners and customs, and have found -some better business.” “O,” he hastily replied, “thank -you, sir, but I should not dare to stop this side of Canada. -My master, though he was kind to me, is a proud and -very passionate man. He will never forgive me for running -away. He has already advertised me, offering a -large reward for my apprehension and return to him. I -should not be beyond his reach here. I must go to -Canada.” He tarried with us until Monday afternoon, -when I sent him to Oswego with a letter of introduction -to a gentleman in Kingston, and a few days afterwards -heard of his safe arrival there.</p> - -<p>Not long after, I one day saw a young lady, of fine -person and handsomely dressed, coming up our front -steps. She inquired for me, and was ushered into my -study. A blue veil partly concealed her face and a pair -of white gloves covered her hands. On being assured -that I was Mr. S. J. May she said, “I have come to you, -sir, as a friend of colored people and of slaves.” “Is it -possible,” I replied, “that you are one of that class of -my fellow-beings?” She removed her veil, and a slight -tinge in her complexion revealed the fact that she belonged -to the proscribed race,—a beautiful octoroon. -“But where were you ever a slave?” I asked. “In -New Orleans, sir. My master, who, I believe, was also -my father, is concerned in a line of packet steamers that -ply between New Orleans and Galveston. He has, for -several years past, kept me on board one of his boats as -the chamber-maid. This was rather an easy and not a disagreeable -situation. I was with the lady passengers most -of the time, and by my close attentions to them, especially<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301">301</a></span> -when they were sea-sick, I conciliated many. They -often made me presents of money, clothes, and trinkets. -And, what was better than all, they taught me to read. -At each end of the route I had hours and days of leisure, -which I improved as best I could. The thought that I -was a slave often tormented me. But, as in other respects -I was comfortable, I might have continued in -bondage, had I not found out that my master was about -to sell me to a dissolute young man for the vilest of purposes. -I at once looked about for a way of escape. Being -so much of the time among the shipping at New Orleans, -I had learnt to distinguish the vessels of different nations. -So I went to one that I saw was an English ship, on -board of which I espied a lady,—the captain’s wife. I -asked if I might come on board. ‘Certainly,’ she replied. -Encouraged by her kind manner, I soon revealed -to her my secret and my wish to escape. She could -hardly be persuaded that I was a slave. But when all -doubt on that point was removed, she readily consented -to take me with her to New York. To my unspeakable -relief we sailed the next day. The captain was equally -kind. I was able to pay as much as he would take for -my passage, for I had succeeded in getting all the money -I had saved, with much of my clothing, on board the -ship the night before she left New Orleans. On our -arrival at New York the captain took pains to inquire -for the Abolitionists. He was directed to Mr. Lewis -Tappan, and took me with him to that good gentleman. -Mr. Tappan at once provided for my safety in that city, -and the next day sent me to Mr. Myers, at Albany, on -my way to you.”</p> - -<p>I offered to find a place for her in some one of the best -families in Syracuse; but she was afraid to remain here. -She had seen in New York her master’s advertisement, -offering five hundred dollars for her restoration to him.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302">302</a></span> -She was sure there were pursuers on her track. Two men -in the car between Albany and Syracuse had annoyed and -alarmed her by their close observation of her. One had -seated himself by her side and tried to engage her in -conversation and look through her veil. At length he -asked her to take off the glove on her left hand. By this -she knew he must have seen the advertisement, that -stated, among other marks by which she might be identified, -that one finger on her left hand was minus a joint. -She at once called to the conductor and asked him to -protect her from the impertinent liberties the man was -taking with her. So he gave her another seat by a lady, -and she reached our city without any further molestation, -but in great alarm.</p> - -<p>We secreted her several days, until we supposed her -pursuers must have gone on. She occupied herself most -of the time by reading, and we observed that she often -was poring over a French book, and on inquiring learnt -that she could read that language about as well as English. -So soon as her fears were sufficiently allayed, I -committed her to the care of one of my good antislavery -parishioners who happened to be going to Oswego. He -escorted her thither, saw her safely on board the steamboat -for Kingston, and a few days afterwards I received -a well-written letter from her informing me of her safe -arrival, and that she had obtained a good situation in a -pleasant family as children’s maid.</p> - -<p>I need give my readers but one more specimen of the -many passengers I have conducted on the Underground -Railroad. At eleven o’clock one Saturday night, in the -fall of the year, three stalwart negroes came to my door -with “a pass” from a friend in Albany. They were -miserably clad for that season of the year and almost -famished with hunger. We gave them a good, hearty -supper, but could not accommodate them through the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303">303</a></span> -night. So at twelve o’clock I sallied forth with them to -find a place or places where they could be safely and -comfortably kept, until we could forward them to Canada. -This was not so easily done as it might have been at an -earlier hour. I did not get back to my home until after -two in the morning. The next forenoon, after sermon -I made known to my congregation their destitute condition, -and asked for clothes and money. Before night I -received enough of each for the three, and some to spare -for other comers. I need only add, that in due time -they were safely committed to the protection of the -British Queen.</p> - -<p>Other friends of the slave in Syracuse were often -called upon in like manner, and sometimes put to as -great inconvenience as I was in the last instance named -above. So we formed an association to raise the means -to carry on our operations at this station. And we -made an arrangement with Rev. J. W. Loguen to fit up -suitably an apartment in his house for the accommodation -of all the fugitives, that might come here addressed -to either one of us. The charge thus committed to them -Mr. Loguen and his excellent wife faithfully and kindly -cared for to the last. And I more than suspect that the -fugitives they harbored, and helped on their way, often -cost them much more than they called upon us to pay.</p> - -<p>It was natural that I should feel not a little curious, -and sometimes quite anxious, to know how those whom -I had helped into Canada were faring there. So I went -twice to see; the first time to Toronto and its neighborhood, -the second time to that part of Canada which lies -between Lake Erie and Lake Huron. I visited Windsor, -Sandwich, Chatham, and Buxton. In each of these -towns I found many colored people, most of whom had -escaped thither from slavery in one or another of the -United States. With very few exceptions, I found them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304">304</a></span> -living comfortably, and, without an exception, all of them -were rejoicing in their liberty.</p> - -<p>I was particularly interested in the Buxton settlement, -called so in honor of that distinguished English philanthropist, -Hon. Fowell Buxton. It was established by -the benevolent enterprise and managed by the excellent -good sense of Rev. William King. This gentleman was -a well-educated Scotch Presbyterian minister. He had -come to America and settled in Mississippi. There he -married a lady whose parents soon after died, leaving -him, with his wife, in possession of a considerable property -in slaves. He was ill at ease in such a possession, -but, as he held it in the right of his wife, he did not feel -at liberty to do with it as he would otherwise have done. -A few years afterwards she died. By this dispensation -he was made the sole proprietor of the persons of fifteen -of his fellow-beings, and he was brought to feel that the -great purpose of his life should be to deliver them from -slavery, and place them in circumstances under which -they might become what God had made them capable of -being. With this purpose at heart he went to Canada. -He purchased nine thousand acres of government land -of good quality and well located, though covered with a -dense forest. To this place he transported, from Mississippi, -his fifteen slaves, and gave to each of them fifty acres. -He then offered to sell farms for two dollars and a half an -acre to colored men, who should bring satisfactory testimonials -of good moral character and strictly temperate habits. -When I was there in 1852, about four years after the -beginning of his undertaking, there were ninety families -settled in Buxton. Mr. King told me there had not been -a single instance of intoxication or of any disorderly -conduct, and most of them had nearly paid for their -farms.</p> - -<p>I spent the whole day with this wise man, this practical<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305">305</a></span> -philanthropist, in visiting the settlers at their homes -in the woods. I found them all contented, happy, enterprising. -Several of them confessed to me that they -had never suffered such hardships as they had experienced -since they came to live in Canada. The severity -of the cold had sometimes tried them to the utmost, and -clearing up their heavy-timbered lands had been hard -work indeed, especially for those who had been house-servants -in Southern cities. But not one of them looked -back with desiring eyes to the leeks and onions of the -Egypt from which they had escaped. They seemed to -be sustained and animated by one of the noblest sentiments -that can take possession of the human soul,—the -love of liberty, the determination to be free. They -had cheerfully made sacrifices in this behalf. Like the -Pilgrim Fathers of New England, many of them had -fled from the abodes of ease, elegance, luxury, and -sought homes in a wilderness that they might be free. -Like them they counted it all joy to suffer,—perils by -land and by water, travels by night, a flight in the winter, -and a life in the wilds in an inhospitable climate, if by so -suffering they might secure to themselves and their posterity -the inestimable boon of liberty.</p> - -<h3 id="hp305">GEORGE LATIMER.</h3> - -<p>It must be obvious to my readers that I have not -been guided in my narrative by the order of time, so -much as by the relation of events and actors to one another. -My last article had to do in part with occurrences -that happened in 1852. I shall now return to 1842.</p> - -<p>Much to my surprise, in 1842, I was nominated by -Hon. Horace Mann, and appointed by the Massachusetts -Board of Education, to succeed Rev. Cyrus Peirce as -Principal of the Normal School then at Lexington.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306">306</a></span> -At once was heard from various quarters murmurs of -displeasure, because an <em>Abolitionist</em> had been intrusted -with the preparation of teachers for our common schools. -Mr. Mann was not a little annoyed. He earnestly admonished -me to beware of giving occasion to those unfriendly -to the school to allege that I was taking advantage -of my position to disseminate my antislavery -opinions and spirit. I assured him that I should not -conceal my sentiments and feelings on a subject of such -transcendent importance. But he might depend upon -me that I should not give any time that belonged to the -school to any other institution or enterprise; that I -should conscientiously endeavor to discharge faithfully -every one of my duties; but that, as I should not be -able to attend antislavery meetings, or co-operate personally -with the Abolitionists, except perhaps in vacations, -I should contribute to their treasury more money -than I had hitherto been able to afford.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, I consecrated every day and every evening -of every week of term time to my duties, so long as I -was principal of that school, excepting only the afternoon -and evening of every Saturday. Those hours I always -gave up to some kind of recreation. So much as -this about myself, the readers will soon perceive, is pertinent -to the tale now to be unfolded.</p> - -<p>Some time in the month of October, 1842, an interesting -young man, calling himself George Latimer, made -his appearance in Boston. He was so nearly white that -few suspected he belonged to the proscribed class. But -soon afterwards a Mr. Gray, of Norfolk, Virginia, arrived -in the city, and claimed the young man as his slave. -At his instigation a constable arrested Latimer, and the -keeper of Leverett Street Jail took him into confinement. -Their only warrant for this assault upon the liberty of -Latimer was a written order from the said Gray. It was -as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307">307</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">“TO THE JAILER OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—George Latimer, a negro slave belonging to me, -and a fugitive from my service in Norfolk, in the State of -Virginia, who is now committed to your custody by John -Wilson, my agent and attorney, I request and <span class="smcap smaller">DIRECT</span> you to -hold on my account, at my costs, until removed by me according -to law.</p> - -<p class="sigright b0"> -“<span class="smcap">James B. Gray.</span></p> - -<p class="p0 smaller">“<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, October 21, 1842.” -</p></blockquote> - -<p>To this high-handed assumption of authority was -added an indorsement, by a young lawyer of Boston, of -which the following is a <span class="locked">copy:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="sigright smaller"> -“<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, October 21, 1842. -</p> - -<p>“I hereby promise to pay to the keeper of the jail any sum -due him for keeping the body of said Latimer, on demand.</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -“<span class="smcap">E. G. Austin.</span>” -</p></blockquote> - -<p>With reason were the good people of Boston and the -old Commonwealth aroused, excited, almost maddened -with indignation and alarm at this insolent, daring assault -upon the palladium of their liberty. If such a -proceeding should be allowed, no one would be safe, black -or white. Here comes a man from a distant part of our -country, an utter stranger in our city, and arrests another -man about as light-complexioned as himself, claims him -as his negro slave, and, without offering any proof that -he had ever held the man in that condition, hands -him over to a common jailer for safe-keeping. This -surely could not be borne with. Some of the colored -people to whom Latimer was known first bestirred -themselves. They attempted to get him out of prison -by a writ of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">habeas corpus</i>. Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, -the long-tried friend of the oppressed, always ready to -endure obloquy and encounter danger in their service, -assisted by his friend, C. M. Ellis, Esq., earnestly endeavored<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308">308</a></span> -to get that writ allowed. They petitioned for -it in the Court at which Chief Justice Shaw was then -presiding, and, strange to say, their petition was denied. -That eminent jurist, on the authority of the United States -Court, in the famous Prigg case, gave it as his opinion, -that, by the supreme law of the land, so expounded, the -man Gray had permission to come to Boston and seize -the man Latimer (as he had done), put him into jail or -some other place of confinement, and keep him there -until he could have time to bring on proof that he was -his property, and then take him off by the assistance of -any persons he could get to help him. Accordingly, -Judge Shaw refused the writ of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">habeas corpus</i>, and -left Latimer in Leverett Street prison. This action of -the chief justice aggravated the public excitement.</p> - -<p>Mr. Gray, alarmed probably by the outcries of indignation -that came to him from so many quarters, brought -charges against Latimer of thefts committed upon his -property, both in Norfolk and in Boston, as the reason -for his arrest. If this were true, it was said, he surely -should have proceeded against the criminal, in the ordinary -course at common law, and not under the decision -in the Prigg case. But by this step he got himself into -another and graver difficulty. George Latimer, instructed -by his legal advisers, at once commenced the prosecution -of Gray for slander and libel. So the biter, finding he -was about to be bitten, let go this hold upon poor Latimer, -and determined to rely wholly upon the decision of -Judge Story of the United States Court, who was soon -to hold a session in Boston.</p> - -<p>But the excitement of the public had spread far and -wide, and the tones of indignation were deeper and louder. -An immense meeting was held in Faneuil Hall. Mr. -Sewall presided, and made a full, clear statement of the -case, exhibiting all its odious features. Mr. Edmund<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309">309</a></span> -Quincy addressed the meeting with great force; and Mr. -Phillips spoke most effectively. Public meetings on the -subject were held in Lynn, Salem, New Bedford, Worcester, -Abington, and in many other large towns. And -petitions were prepared and extensively signed and sent -to Congress, praying that we of the free States might be -relieved from such outrages upon the feelings of the -people, and such violations of common law, as could be -perpetrated under the exposition of United States law, -given by the court in the “Prigg case.” Petitions were -also prepared and extensively signed to the Massachusetts -Legislature, praying that the prisons and jails of the Commonwealth -might not be used by slaveholders or their -agents for the safe-keeping of their fugitive bondmen -when retaken; and that all sheriffs, constables, police -officers of every grade might be peremptorily forbidden, -in any way, to assist in the capture or return of slaves.</p> - -<p>The sheriff and the deputy sheriff of Suffolk County and -the keeper of Leverett Street Jail were severely censured -for the part they had taken in Mr. Gray’s service. And -the sheriff was about to order the release of Latimer, -when negotiations were entered into with Mr. Gray for -the purchase of his victim’s emancipation. Fearing that -he might lose all, he concluded to take a part, and sold -him for four hundred dollars, although he had declared -he would not let him go for three times that sum.</p> - -<p>Wholly engrossed as I was by my duties in the Normal -School, I could not help hearing of the great excitement, -and sympathizing with those who were determined -Massachusetts should not be made a hunting-ground for -slaves. At length it was reported that there was to be -“<em>a Latimer meeting</em>” at Waltham, five or six miles from -Lexington. And lo! a few days afterwards there came -letters from Rev. Samuel Ripley, then the prominent -minister of Waltham, and from his son-in-law, the Rev.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310">310</a></span> -George F. Simmons, who a few years before had been -compelled to resign his pastorate of the Unitarian -Church of Mobile, and hastily leave the city, because -he had dared to speak from his pulpit of the evils of -slavery and the duties of those who held their fellow-beings -in that condition.</p> - -<p>Each of those gentlemen cordially invited me, urgently -requested me, to attend the meeting in behalf of -George Latimer that was to be held in their meeting-house, -adding that it was appointed on the next Saturday -evening, so as to accommodate the operatives in the -factories, who were not required to work on that evening.</p> - -<p>As I have already said, Saturday evening was my -<em>leisure</em> time. Always on closing school at noon of Saturday, -I endeavored to lay aside my cares with my textbooks, -and if possible think no more of school until Sunday -evening, when I never failed to examine the lessons -I intended to teach the next day. It seemed to me that -nothing would refresh and recreate me so much as attending -an antislavery meeting, and giving vent to my -pent-up feelings. Then I was the more eager to go to -Waltham, because Mr. Ripley was one of those who had -been particularly severe and satirical in their remarks -upon <em>my</em> appointment to the charge of the Normal -School. I really wished to see how he would look, and -act, and speak, under the inspiration of his new-born -zeal in the cause of freedom. So I informed my two -devoted assistants, who needed recreation not less than -myself, and who I knew were zealous Abolitionists, of -my intention, and invited them to accompany me. Almost -immediately I received the names of twenty of my -pupils who wished to attend the meeting. Accordingly, -I procured two double sleighs, and we started for Waltham, -as I supposed in good season. But we did not -reach the meeting-house until just as the exercises<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311">311</a></span> -were to begin. We naturally walked in together without -the slightest thought of making a parade. But -on opening the door, we found all the pews filled excepting -the conspicuous ones, on either side of the pulpit. -To these, therefore, we went as quietly as possible, but -not without attracting the notice of the audience, and -calling out the remark from more than one, “There -comes Mr. May with his Normal School!”</p> - -<p>Before long I was invited by Rev. Mr. Ripley, who -presided, to address the meeting. I did so for twenty -minutes or more, and I have no doubt that my words -and manner, my accents and emphases, showed plainly -enough how deep was my abhorrence of slavery, and how -sincerely I sympathized in the public alarm caused by -the high-handed procedure of the claimant of Latimer -and his abettors.</p> - -<p>I returned to Lexington revived, invigorated, knowing -that I had neglected no duty to the school, and utterly -unconscious that I had violated any obligations, expressed -or implied by my words, when I accepted the appointment. -But a few days afterwards I received a letter -from Mr. Mann, complaining of what I had done, informing -me that I had given serious offence to several prominent -gentlemen of Waltham, and had lost as a pupil a -bright, fine girl who was intending to enter my school at -the beginning of the next term. I replied stating the -circumstances of the case just as I have done above,—that -I had taken no time, withheld no attention, no -thought, which was due to the school; adding that I did -not believe any concealment of my sentiments, or other -unreasonable concessions to the prejudices of the proslavery -portion of the community, would conciliate them. -But, as it seemed my understanding of my duties differed -so much from his, I thought it best for me to retire from -the position; and therefore I tendered him my resignation.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312">312</a></span> -This he would not communicate to the Board, -and requested me to withdraw it. I did so. But -scarcely a month had elapsed before it was announced -in the newspapers that I was to deliver one in a course -of antislavery lectures in Boston, without stating, as I -had requested, that it would be given <em>during my vacation</em>. -This brought a still more earnest remonstrance -from Mr. Mann, showing how hard pressed he was on -every side by the conflicting influences, in the midst of -which he was striving so nobly to infuse into our common -schools the right spirit, and to establish our system -of public instruction upon the true principles of human -development and culture. In this instance he was more -easily satisfied that I had not departed from even the -letter of our agreement, though I have no doubt he -wished I would keep my antislavery zeal in abeyance -through my vacations, as well as in term time.</p> - -<p>I have given this recollection, that my readers may be -more fully informed to what extent the so-called free -States of our Union, not excepting Massachusetts, were -permeated by the spirit of the slaveholders, or rather by -the disposition to acquiesce in their most overbearing -demands.</p> - -<p>Let it not, however, for a moment be inferred, from -what I have related, that Horace Mann was ever willing, -for any consideration, to abandon the rights of the enslaved -to the will of their oppressors, and suffer the -dominion of slaveholders to be extended over the whole -of our country. Far otherwise. A few years after the -arrest of Latimer, Mr. Mann became a member of Congress; -and there he uttered some of the boldest words -for freedom and humanity ever heard in our Capitol. As -he assured his constituents, in convention at Dedham on -the 6th November, 1850, “with voice and vote, by expostulation -and by remonstrance, by all means in his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313">313</a></span> -power, to the full extent of his ability, he resisted the -passage of all the laws” proposed in Mr. Clay’s Omnibus -Bill, especially the one respecting fugitives from slavery. -He emphatically declared that “he regarded the question -of human freedom, with all the public and private consequences -dependent upon it, both now and in all futurity, -as first, foremost, chiefest among all the questions that -have been before the government, or are likely to be before -it.”</p> - -<p>But in 1842 Mr. Mann could not foresee, nor be persuaded -to apprehend, that the senators and representatives -of the Southern States would become audacious -enough in 1850 to demand that the people of the free -States should do for them the work of slave-catchers and -bloodhounds. And he was, at that time, so intent upon -his great undertaking for the improvement of our common -schools, that he thought it our duty to repress our -interest in every other reform that was unpopular.</p> - -<h3 id="hp313">THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.</h3> - -<p>He who knew so well what is in man said: “The -children of this world are wiser towards their generation -than the children of light.” And certainly the slaveholders -of our country and their partisans have been -incomparably more vigilant in watching for whatever -might affect the stability of their “peculiar institution,” -and far more adroit in devising measures, and resolute -in pressing them to the maintenance and extension of -<em>Slavery</em>, than their opponents have been in behalf of -<em>Liberty</em>.</p> - -<p>Slave labor has ever been found wasteful and exhaustive -of the soil from which it has taken the crops. -Therefore, it used to be a common saying, “the Southern -planter needs all the lands that join his estate.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314">314</a></span> -Ample as was the territory of that portion of the United -States in which slavery was established, the “barons of -the South” early looked beyond their borders for new -acquisitions of land. Partly to gratify their cupidity, -the immense tract of land between the Mississippi and -the Rocky Mountains, with the valley of the Columbia -River, was purchased by our Federal Government in 1803. -Sixteen years afterwards Florida was given them. And -then they began to turn their desiring eyes upon the -rich and fertile plains of Texas. They gained admission -to these by an artifice worthy of men who were accustomed -to set at naught all the rights of humanity. In -1819 a man named Austin, then living in Missouri, went -to Spain, represented to the King that the Roman Catholics -in the United States were subjected to grievous -persecutions, and supplicated for them an asylum in -Mexico. His pious Majesty, deeply moved by this appeal, -made a very large and gratuitous grant of land of -the finest quality to Austin and his associates on this -one condition, that they should introduce within a limited -time a certain number of Roman Catholic settlers “of -good moral character.” This condition was complied -with, and thus our Southern slaveholders gained a foothold -in Texas. They were diligent to confirm and extend -their possession by the sale of immense quantities -of land to intended settlers and to land jobbers throughout -the Southern States. Thus commenced what erelong -became “one of the most stupendous systems of -bribery and corruption ever devised by man.”</p> - -<p>In 1821 Mexico became independent of the Spanish -crown, and soon after confirmed the royal grant to the -settlers in her province of Texas. In 1824 the Mexican -Government adopted some measures preparatory to -the manumission of slaves, and in 1829 decreed the -complete and immediate emancipation of all in bonds -throughout their borders.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315">315</a></span> -The vigilant Southerners were of course alarmed. A -nation of freemen adjoining them on the Southwest! -A door thrown wide open for the easy escape of fugitives -from their tyrannous grasp!! Something must be done -to avert the threatened evil. Mr. Benton, of Missouri, in -1829, broached the scheme of the annexation of Texas, -and the re-establishment of slavery there. He urged -this as obviously necessary: first, in order to prevent the -easy and continual escape of their slaves into an adjoining -free country, the government of which had persistently -refused to return the fugitives; second, to open a new field -for slave labor, which was rapidly exhausting the soil of the -old States, and a new market for the slaves of those States -which, no longer capable of producing large crops, might -still be sustained in population and political power by -becoming the nurseries of slaves for the immense territory, -to be obtained from Mexico by purchase or force; -third, by adding to the number of slave States, to provide -new securities for the continued ascendency of the slaveholders’ -influence in the government of the nation.</p> - -<p>This last reason was probably the most momentous in -the estimation of Southern statesmen. For the Texas, -which they aimed to annex to our country, they foresaw -might from time to time be divided and subdivided into -seven States as large as New York, or into forty-three -States as large as Massachusetts. Thus might the majority -of the United States Senate be kept always ready to -support any measure favorable to the interests of the -slaveholding aristocracy, which had assumed the government -of our Republic. Mr. Calhoun openly declared that -“the measure of annexation is calculated and designed to -uphold the institution of slavery, extend its influence, and -secure its permanent duration.”</p> - -<p>The devoted, indefatigable, self-sacrificing, Benjamin -Lundy, was living in Missouri at the time when Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316">316</a></span> -Benton first proposed the Texas scheme, and at once -gave him battle, so far as he was permitted to do it, in -the newspapers of that State. Afterwards on removing -to Maryland and establishing there his own paper, <cite>The -Genius of Universal Emancipation</cite>, he did all in his -power to alarm the country. He went to Texas and, -at great personal hazard, traversed that country and -gathered a large amount of most important information, -revealing the spirit of the settlers there and the designs -of the projectors and managers of the scheme.</p> - -<p>He did not labor in vain. The leading National Republican -papers in the free States seconded his efforts. -Especially my good friend and classmate David Lee -Child, Esq., as early as 1829, when editor of <cite>The Massachusetts -Journal</cite>, emphatically denounced the dismemberment -and robbery of Mexico for the protection and -perpetuation of slavery in the United States. And he -manfully contended against that nefarious, execrable plot -until further opposition was made useless, as we shall see, -by the perpetration of the great iniquity in 1845. In -1835 Mr. Child addressed a number of carefully prepared -letters to Mr. Edward S. Abdy, a philanthropic -English gentleman, hoping thereby to awaken the attention -of British Abolitionists. In 1836 he wrote nine or -ten able articles on the impending evil, that were published -in a Philadelphia paper. The next year he went -to France and England. In Paris he addressed an elaborate -memoir to the “Société pour l’Abolition d’Esclavage,” -and in London he published in the <cite>Eclectic Review</cite> -a full exposition of the interest which the British nation -ought to take in utterly extinguishing the slave-trade, -and preventing the re-establishment of slavery in Texas, -and the aggrandizement of the unprincipled slaveholding -power in that country, larger than the whole of France. -No two persons did so much to prevent the annexation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317">317</a></span> -of Texas as did Benjamin Lundy and David L. Child. -They undoubtedly furnished the Hon. John Q. Adams -with much of the information and some of the weapons -that he plied with so much vigor on the floor of Congress; -but, alas! as the event proved, with so little effect -to prevent the great transgression which the Southern -statesmen led our nation to commit. At first the indignation -of the people in many of the free States at the -proposed extension of the domain of slaveholders, and -the confirmation of their ascendency in the government -of our nation, seemed to be general, deep, and fervent. -In 1838 the legislatures of Massachusetts, Ohio, and -Rhode Island, with great unanimity, passed resolutions, -earnestly and solemnly protesting against the annexation -of Texas to our Union, and declaring that no act done, -or compact made for that purpose, by the government -of the United States would be binding on the States or -the people.</p> - -<p>For a while it seemed as if the villany was averted; -but it was started again in 1843, and from that time -until its consummation the protests of the above-named -States were renewed with frequent repetition and, if possible, -in still more emphatic language. No party within -their borders ventured to take the side of the slaveholders. -Connecticut and New Jersey at that time joined -in the protest. Massachusetts of course took the lead. -Meetings of the people, to declare their opposition to the -proposed outrage upon the Union, were held in many of -the principal towns of the State. At length, when the -resolutions providing for the annexation were pending in -both Houses of Congress, a great convention of her citizens -met in Faneuil Hall, to make known their displeasure -in a still more impressive tone and manner. The -call to the meeting was signed by prominent men of all -parties. It invited the cities and towns of the Commonwealth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318">318</a></span> -to send as many delegates to the Convention -as they could legally send representatives to the General -Court. This took place in January, 1845, only -three months before my removal to Syracuse. I was -then living in Lexington. A town-meeting was held -there to respond to the call to Faneuil Hall, by the -choice of two delegates. To my great surprise I was -chosen one of the two, and General Chandler, high -sheriff of the county, was the other. But unutterable -was my astonishment when, on coming into the Convention, -I found William Lloyd Garrison seated among the -members, sent thither with other delegates by the votes -of a large majority of the Tenth Ward of the city of -Boston, where he resided. This did, indeed, betoken a -marvellous change in the sentiments and feelings of the -community. He, who a few years before had been dragged -through the streets with a halter, by a mob of “gentlemen -of property and standing,” clamoring for his immediate -execution, was there in the “Cradle of Liberty,” -member of a Convention that comprised the men of -Massachusetts who were accustomed to represent, on -important occasions, the intelligence, the patriotism, and -weight of character of the Commonwealth.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison addressed the Convention, and was listened -to with respectful attention. I need not say that -he spoke in a manner worthy of the place and the occasion, -and in perfect consistency with his avowed principles. -The chief business done by the Convention was -the issuing of an elaborate, carefully prepared Address -to the people of the United States, setting forth the -reasons why Texas should not be annexed to our Republic, -and why we ought not to submit to such a violation -of the Constitution of our Union, and such an outrage -upon the territory and institutions of an adjoining -nation. Mr. Garrison published the document in his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319">319</a></span> -<cite>Liberator</cite> of the next week and said, “The Address of -the Convention was, as a whole, a most forcible and eloquent -document, worthy to be read of all men, and to -be preserved to the latest posterity. It was adopted unanimously, -after a disclaimer by Samuel J. May and myself -of that portion of it which seeks to vindicate the United -States Constitution from the charge of guaranteeing protection -to slavery.” I was irresistibly impelled to ask -that that part of the otherwise admirable Address might -be omitted, because it would obliterate the most momentous -lesson taught in the history of our nation,—namely, -that the reluctant, indirect, inferential consent -given by the framers of our Republic to the continuance -of slavery in the land—not any deliberate explicit guaranty—had -countenanced and sustained the friends of -that “System of Iniquity,” from generation to generation, -in violating the inalienable rights of millions of our -fellow-beings, and had brought upon us, who are opposed -to that system, the evils of political discord, national -disgrace, and the fear of national disruption and ruin.</p> - -<p>I urged the Convention to acknowledge distinctly that, -“under the commonly received interpretation of the -Constitution, we have hitherto been giving our countenance -and support to the slaveholders in their outrages -upon humanity, the fundamental rights of man,—an -iniquity of which we will no longer be guilty. We have -been roused from our insensibility to the wrongs we have -wickedly consented should be inflicted upon others—”the -least of the brethren“—by the discovery of the evils -we have thereby brought upon ourselves, and the ruin -that awaits our nation if we do not stay the iniquity -where it is, and commence at once the work “meet for -the repentance” that alone can save us,—the extermination -of slavery from our borders.” “Let this Convention -declare, that we certainly will not consent to the extension<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320">320</a></span> -of slavery,—no, not an inch. And if they urge -to its consummation the annexation of Texas, in the way -they propose, they will, by so doing, trample the Constitution -under foot, set at naught some of its most important -provisions, grossly violate the compact of our United -States, and therefore absolve us from all obligations to -respect it or live under it any longer.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison urged that the Address should be further -amended by adding that, if our protest and remonstrance -shall be disregarded, and Texas be annexed, then -shall the Committee of the Convention call another at -the same place; that then and there Massachusetts shall -declare the union of these States dissolved, and invite all -the States, that may be disposed, to reunite with her as -a Republic based truly upon the grand principles of the -Declaration of Independence. Although his motion was -not carried by the Convention, it was received with great -favor by a large portion of the members and other auditors; -and he sat down amidst the most hearty bursts -of applause.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if the opposition of Massachusetts and -other States to annexation was too strong, and the reasons -urged against it were too weighty, to be disregarded -by the legislators, the guardians of the nation. The -contest waxed and waned throughout the whole of the -year 1845. A petition signed by fifty thousand persons -was sent to Congress at its opening in December of that -year. But several prominent Whig members of Congress -from the Southern States were found, in the end, to care -more for the perpetuation of slavery than for their party -or their principles. And certain members from the free -States (one even from Massachusetts) were plied by considerations -and alarmed by threats, which the Southern -statesmen knew so well how to wield, until they gave -way, and suffered the nefarious, the abominable, unconstitutional,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321">321</a></span> -disastrous deed to be done,—<em>Texas to be -annexed</em>.</p> - -<p>Late in the year 1845, when some of the hitherto opposers -were evidently about to yield, Mr. D. L. Child, -as a final effort against the consummation of the great -iniquity, prepared an admirable article for the <cite>New York -Tribune</cite>, under the title,—“Taking Naboth’s Vineyard.” -But alas! “considerations” had affected Mr. Greeley’s -mind also, and he refused to publish it. Mr. Child -then hired him to publish the article in a supplement -to his paper, and paid him sixty dollars for the service. -But instead of treating it as a supplement is wont to -be treated, instead of distributing it coextensively with -the principal issue, my friend tells me that Mr. Greeley, -having supplied the members of the two Houses of Congress -each with a copy, sent the residue of the edition -to him. So strangely have political considerations, particularly -those suggested by slaveholding statesmen, -influenced the politicians of the North.</p> - -<p>Other besides political considerations were no doubt -plied to affect the votes of the representatives of the -free States. It was reported at the time that no less -than forty of them had their pockets stuffed with Texas -scrip, which would become very valuable if annexation -should be effected.</p> - -<h3 id="hp321">ABOLITIONISTS IN CENTRAL NEW YORK.—GERRIT SMITH.</h3> - -<p>In April, 1845, I came to reside in Syracuse. Having -visited the place twice before, I was pretty well acquainted -with the characters of the people with whom I -should be associated, and the rapidly growing importance -of the town, owing to its central position and its staple -product. During each of my visits I had delivered antislavery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322">322</a></span> -lectures to good audiences, and found quite a -number of individuals here who had accepted the doctrines -of the Immediate Abolitionists. Mr. Garrison, -Gerrit Smith, Mr. Douglass, and others, had lectured in -Syracuse several times, and, though at first insulted and -repulsed, they had convinced so many people of the -justice of their demands for the enslaved, and of the -disastrous influence of the “peculiar institution” of our -Southern States, that the community had come to respect -somewhat the right of any who pleased to hold -antislavery meetings. The minister and many of the -members of the Orthodox Congregational Church, as -well as the Unitarian, were decided Abolitionists, and -several members of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and -Baptist churches openly favored the great reform.</p> - -<p>On the first of the following August, at the invitation -of a large number of the citizens, I delivered an address -on British West India Emancipation from the pulpit of -the First Presbyterian Church, and it was published by -the request of a large number of the auditors,—half -of them members of one or another of the orthodox -sects.</p> - -<p>On the 10th of the next month a large meeting was -held in the Congregational Church to uphold the freedom -of the press, and to protest against the alarming assault -that had been made upon that palladium of our liberties -in Kentucky, by the violent suppression of <cite>The True -American</cite>,—a paper established and edited by Hon. -Cassius M. Clay, to urge upon his fellow-citizens the self-evident -truths of our Declaration of Independence, and -their application to the colored population of that State. -Our meeting was officered by some of the most prominent -and highly respected citizens of Syracuse. And -after several excellent speeches, a series of very pertinent, -explicit, emphatic antislavery resolutions was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323">323</a></span> -unanimously adopted. Thus was my great regret at -being removed so far from the New England Abolitionists -assuaged by the sympathy and co-operation of many -of my new neighbors and fellow-citizens.</p> - -<p>On another account I had reason to rejoice in my removal -to this place. Here I found myself within a few -miles of the residence of Gerrit Smith, and very soon -was brought into an intimate acquaintance with that -pre-eminent philanthropist. Here I must indulge myself -in telling some of the much that I have known of -the benefactions of this magnificent giver.</p> - -<p>If I have been correctly informed, Mr. Smith obtained -by inheritance from his father and by purchase from his -fellow-heirs (besides much other property) <em>seven hundred -and fifty thousand acres of land</em> lying in various parts of -New York and of several other States. Erelong he became -deeply impressed by a sense of his responsibility -to God for the right use of such an immense portion of -the earth’s surface,—the common heritage of man. He -could not believe that it had been given him merely for -his own gratification or aggrandizement. He received it -as a trust committed to him for the benefit of others. -He felt as a steward, who would have to give an account -of the estate intrusted to his care. He contrasted his -condition with that of others,—he the possessor of an -amount of land which no one man could occupy and improve,—millions -of his fellow-men, inhabitants of the -same country, without a rood that they could call their -own and fix upon it the humblest home. He profoundly -pitied the landless, and earnestly set himself to consider -the best way in which to bestow portions of his estate -upon those who needed them most.</p> - -<p>The father of Mr. Smith, like most other gentlemen -of his day in New York, was a slaveholder until many -years after the Revolution. Gerrit was accustomed to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324">324</a></span> -slavery through his childhood, and until he was old -enough to judge for himself of its essential and terrible -iniquity. He has repeatedly assured me that, although -the bondage of his father’s negroes was of the mildest -type, he early saw that slaveholding was egregiously -wrong, and sympathized deeply with the enslaved. He -rejoiced when the law of the State, in 1827, prohibited -utterly its continuance, and immediately felt that all that -could be should be done to repair the injuries it had inflicted -upon those who had been subjected to it. He -longed for the entire, immediate abolition of the great -iniquity throughout the land. He early joined the Colonization -Society, believing that the tendency of the -plan, as well as the intention of many of its Southern -patrons, was to effect the subversion and overthrow of -that gigantic system of wickedness. Notwithstanding -the exposures of its duplicity made by Mr. Garrison and -Judge William Jay, he retained his confidence in the -Colonization Society, and contributed generously to its -funds, until near the close of the year 1835. At that -time, as I have stated heretofore, Mr. Smith became -fully convinced that the Society was opposed to the -emancipation of our enslaved countrymen, unless followed -by their expatriation. Thereupon he paid three -thousand dollars, the balance due on his subscription to -its funds, and withdrew forever from the Colonization -Society, to which he had contributed at least <em>ten thousand</em> -dollars.</p> - -<p>This discovery that even these professed friends of -our colored people, with whom he had been co-operating, -were planning to get them out of the country, and -proposed to make their <em>removal</em> the condition of their -release from slavery, roused Mr. Smith to new efforts and -still more generous contributions of money for their relief. -He not only joined the American and the New York Antislavery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325">325</a></span> -Societies, and gave very largely to the funds of -each,—in all not less than <em>fifty thousand</em> dollars,—but, -he set about endeavoring to get as many free colored -men as possible settled upon lands and in homes of their -own. Before the middle of 1847 he had given an average -of forty acres apiece to three thousand colored men, -in all one hundred and twenty thousand acres. He did -me the honor to appoint me one of the almoners of this -bounty, so I am not left merely to conjecture how much -time and caution were put in requisition to insure as far -as practicable the judicious bestowment of these parcels -of land. The only conditions prescribed by the donor -were, that the receivers of his acres should be known to -be landless, strictly temperate and honest men.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith exerted himself in various ways to secure -the blessings of <em>education</em> to those of the proscribed race -who were at liberty to receive them. He established -and for a number of years maintained a school in Peterboro’, -to which colored people came from far and near. -He was an early and very liberal patron of Oneida Institute, -the doors of which were ever open, without any -respect to complexion or race. He gave to that school -several thousand dollars, and upwards of three thousand -acres in Vermont, besides land contracts upon which -considerable sums were still due.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith did much more for Oberlin College, because -of its hospitality to colored pupils and those of both -sexes as well as all complexions. He gave to it outright -between five and six thousand dollars, and twenty thousand -acres of land in Virginia, from the sales of which -the college must have derived more than fifty thousand -dollars.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the unsuccessful attempt to establish and -maintain New York Central College at McGrawville, -where colored and white young men and women were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326">326</a></span> -well instructed together for a few years, cost Mr. Smith -four or five thousand dollars.</p> - -<p>But I cannot leave my readers to infer from my -silence that his benefactions were confined wholly or -mainly to colored persons. His gifts to other needy -ones, and to institutions for their benefit, were more numerous -and larger than he himself has been careful to -record. Many of them have come to my knowledge, -and I will so far depart from the main object of my -book as to mention two.</p> - -<p>In 1850 Mr. Smith called upon me and other friends -to assist him in selecting five hundred poor white men, -strictly temperate and honest, to each of whom he would -give forty acres. And having learnt that some of his -colored beneficiaries had been unable to raise means -enough to remove with their families to the lands he -had given them, he added ten dollars apiece to the portions -that he gave to the white men.</p> - -<p>Not satisfied with these bestowments, yearning over -the poverty of the many who had little or nothing in a -world where he had so much, and having given fifty dollars -to each of a hundred and forty poor, worthy women, -whose wants had been brought to his consideration, he -again requested me and others to find out in our neighborhoods -five hundred worthy widowed or single poor -white women, to whom such a donation would be especially -helpful, that he might have the pleasure of bestowing -upon them also fifty dollars apiece. I need not say -that these unasked, unexpected gifts carried great relief -and joy wherever they were sent.</p> - -<p>But such labors of love, although so grateful to his -benevolent heart, were <em>labors</em>. Then Mr. Smith’s sympathy -with his suffering fellow-beings, whom he could -not immediately relieve, and his lively interest and -hearty co-operation in all moral and social reforms, were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327">327</a></span> -unavoidably wearing. As might have been expected, -his health was impaired and at length gave away. In -the latter part of 1858 he had a serious attack of typhoid -fever, which was followed by months of mental -prostration. And after his recovery he was obliged for -a long while to be sparing of himself, especially avoiding -exciting scenes and subjects.</p> - -<p>This incident in the life of my noble friend came upon -him when he was planning a magnificent enterprise -for the public good. His enlightened benevolence prompted -him to devise an institution for the highest education -of youths of both sexes, and all complexions and races. -It was to be a university based upon the most advanced -principles of intellectual and moral culture. He disclosed -his intention to his intimate friend and legal adviser, -the late Hon. Timothy Jenkins, of Oneida, and to -myself, informing us that he meant to appropriate five -hundred thousand dollars to its accomplishment. At -his request I made known his purpose to the late Hon. -Horace Mann, whom we regarded as the best adapted to -develop the plan and preside over the execution of it, -and who we thought would like to take charge of an educational -institution that might from the beginning be -ordered so much in accordance with his own enlarged -ideas; but he promptly declined the invitation, being, -as he said, too far committed to Antioch College.</p> - -<p>Mr. Mann’s refusal deferred the undertaking, and no -other one, who could be had, appearing to Mr. Smith to -be just the person to whose conduct he should be willing -to commit the university, it was postponed until -his alarming sickness and protracted debility, and the -threatening aspect of our national affairs, led him to dismiss -the project altogether. So he distributed among -his nephews and nieces the larger part of the money he -had intended to expend as I have stated above.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328">328</a></span> -Shortly after, our awful civil war broke out. Of this -he could not be a silent or inactive spectator. He freely -gave his money, his influence, himself, to the cause of his -country in every way that a private citizen of infirm -health could. He not only gave many thousand dollars -to promote the enlistment of white soldiers in his town -and county, but he offered to equip a whole regiment of -<em>colored</em> men, if the governor of the State would put one -in commission. But, alas! the chief magistrate of New -York was not another John A. Andrew.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith contributed largely to the funds of the -Sanitary Commission, and not a little to the Christian -Commission; and he kindly cared for many families -at home that had been called to part with fathers, husbands, -or sons, on whom they were dependent.</p> - -<p>So soon as the grand project of establishing schools for -the freedmen was started, Mr. Smith entered into it with -his wonted zeal and generosity. I have heard often of his -donations larger or smaller, and have not a doubt that -he has contributed as much as any other person in our -country.</p> - -<p>I need not say that it has indeed been a great benefit, -as well as joy, to me to have been brought to know so -intimately, and to co-operate so much as I have done, -for more than twenty years, with such a philanthropist -as Gerrit Smith.</p> - -<p>Not alone by his bountiful gifts of land and money -has he mightily helped the cause of our cruelly oppressed -and despised countrymen. He has spoken often, and -written abundantly in their behalf,—always faithfully, -sometimes with exceeding power. I am sure there is -not an individual in Central New York, I doubt if there -be one in our whole country, unless he has been an agent -or appointed lecturer of some Antislavery Society, who -has attended so many antislavery meetings, has made so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329">329</a></span> -many antislavery speeches, and written and published so -many antislavery letters, as has our honored and beloved -brother of Peterboro’, always excepting, of course, those -devotees, Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips. I shall have -occasion hereafter to tell of one or more of his timely -and most effective speeches.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith has entertained and freely expressed some -opinions that have been peculiar to himself, and has done -some things that have appeared eccentric; but I believe -that he has never consciously done or said anything unfriendly -to an oppressed or despised fellow-being, white or -black.</p> - -<h3 id="hp329">CONDUCT OF THE CLERGY AND CHURCHES.</h3> - -<p>The most serious obstacle to the progress of the antislavery -cause was the conduct of the clergy and churches -in our country. Perhaps it would be more proper to -say the churches and the clergy, for it was only too obvious -that, in the wrong course which they took, the shepherds -were driven by the sheep. The influential members of -the churches,—“the gentlemen of property and standing,”—still -more the politicians, who “of course understood -better than ministers the Constitution of the -United States, and the guaranties that were given to -slaveholders by the framers of our Union,”—these gentlemen, -too important to be alienated, were permitted to -direct the action of the churches, and the preaching of -their pastors on this “delicate question,” “this exciting -topic.” Consequently the histories of the several religious -denominations in our country (with very small exceptions) -evince, from the time of our Revolution, a continual -decline of respect for the rights of colored persons, and -of disapproval of their enslavement. In the early days -of our Republic—until after 1808—all the religious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330">330</a></span> -sects in the land, I believe, gave more or less emphatic -testimonies against enslaving fellow-men, especially -against the African slave-trade. But after that accursed -traffic was nominally abolished, the zeal of its opponents -subsided (not very slowly) to acquiescence in the condition -of those who had long been enslaved and their descendants. -“They are used to it”; “they seem happy -enough”; “unconscious of their degradation”; it was -said. Then “the labor of slaves is indispensable to their -owners, especially on the rich, virgin soils of the Southern -States.” “It is sad,” said the semi-apologists, “but -so it is. The condition of laboring people everywhere is -hard, and we are by no means sure that the condition of -the slaves is worse, if so bad as, that of many laborers -elsewhere who are nominally free.” “Many masters,” it -was added, “are very kind to their slaves; feed them and -clothe them well, and never overwork them, unless it is -absolutely necessary.” But the consciences of the doubting -were quieted more than all by the plea that “in one -respect certainly the condition of the enslaved Africans -has been immensely improved by their transportation to -our country. Here they are introduced to the knowledge -of ‘the way of salvation’; here many of them become -Christians. As Joseph through his bondage in Egypt -was led to the highest position in that empire, next only -to the king, so these poor, benighted heathen, by being -brought in slavery to our land, may be led to become -children of the King of kings, so wonderful are the ways -of Divine Providence.” By these and similar palliations -and apologies, the people of almost every religious sect -at the South, and their Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian -or Episcopalian brethren at the North, were led -to overlook the <em>essential</em> evil, the tremendous wrong of -slavery, and to hope and trust that God would, in due -time, by his inscrutable method, bring some inestimable -good out of this great evil.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331">331</a></span> -Accordingly, we find, on turning to the doings of the -great ecclesiastical bodies of our country, that they have -descended from their very distinct protests against the -enslavement of men, in 1780, 1789, 1794, &c., to palliations -of the “sum of all villanies,” as Wesley called it,—and -apologies for it, and justifications of it, and explicit, -biblical defences of it, until at length—after Mr. -Garrison and his co-laborers arose, demanding for the -slaves their inalienable right to liberty—the churches -and ministers of all denominations (excepting the Freewill -Baptists and Scotch Covenanters) gathered about the -“Peculiar Institution” for its <em>protection</em>; and vehemently -denounced as incendiaries, disunionists, infidels, all those -who insisted upon its abolition.<a id="FNanchor_Q" href="#Footnote_Q" class="fnanchor">Q</a></p> - -<p>This, I repeat, was the most serious obstacle to the -progress of our antislavery reform. In 1830, and for -several years afterwards, the influence of the clergy and -the churches was paramount in our Northern, if not in the -Southern communities; certainly it was second only to -the love of money. The people generally, then, were -wont to take for granted that what the ministers and -church-members approved must be morally right, and -what they so vehemently denounced must be morally -wrong. Accordingly, the most violent conflicts we had, -and the most outrageous mobs we encountered, were led -on or instigated by persons professing to be religious.</p> - -<p>If the clergy and churches have less influence over the -people now than they had forty years ago, it must be in -a great measure because the people find that they were -wofully deceived by them as to the character of slavery, -and misled to oppose its abolition, until the slaveholders, -encouraged by their Northern abettors, dared to attempt -the dissolution of our Union, and so brought on our late<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332">332</a></span> -civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of the people -were killed, and an immense debt imposed upon this and -succeeding generations.</p> - -<p>In justice, however, to the professing Christians of our -country, it should be recorded that very much the larger -portions of our antislavery host were recruited from -the churches of all denominations, though some persons -who made no pretensions to a religious character rendered -us signal services. It ought also to be stated that -more of the antislavery lecturers, agents, and devoted -laborers had been of the <em>ministerial</em> profession than of any -other of the callings of men, in proportion to the numbers -of each. Still, it cannot be denied that the most -formidable opposition we had to contend against was -that which was made by the ministers and churches and -ecclesiastical authorities. When the true history of the -antislavery conflict shall be fully written, and the sayings -and doings of preachers, theological professors, -editors of religious periodicals, and of Presbyteries, Associations, -Conferences, and General Assemblies, shall be -spread before the people in the light of our enlarged -liberty, no one will fail to see that, practically, the worst -enemies of truth, righteousness, and humanity were of -those who professed to be the friends and followers of -Christ. Had <em>they</em> been generally faithful and fearless -in behalf of the oppressed, no other opponents would -have dared to withstand the just demand for their immediate -emancipation.</p> - -<p>Mr. Garrison, who was and is by nature and education -an unfeignedly religious man, felt that he ought to -look first to the clergy and the professing Christians for -sympathy, and should confidently expect their co-operation. -Indeed, he knew that if they would heartily espouse -the cause of our enslaved countrymen, he might, -without unfaithfulness to them, retire to some printing-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333">333</a></span>office, -and get his living as he had been trained to do. -His disappointment and astonishment were unspeakable -when he found how blind and deaf and dumb the -preachers of the Gospel were in view of the unparalleled -iniquity of our nation, and the inestimable wrongs -that were allowed to be inflicted upon millions of the -people. It was as painful to him and his associates as -it was necessary, to expose to the people the infidelity -of their religious teachers and guides; to show them -that, not only had the statesmen and politicians of our -country become fearfully corrupted by consenting with -slaveholders, but also the bishops, priests, ministers of -religion. All, with few exceptions, had lost faith in the -true and the right, and in the God of truth and righteousness. -They were afraid to obey the Divine Law, and -bowed rather to the commandments of men. They respected -a compromise more than a principle, and trusted -to what seemed politic rather than to that which was -self-evidently right. “The whole <em>head</em> of our nation was -sick, and the whole <em>heart</em> was faint. From the sole of -the foot, even unto the head, there seemed to be no -soundness in it.” “Except the Lord of hosts had left -unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as -Sodom; we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”</p> - -<h3 id="hp333">UNITARIAN AND UNIVERSALIST MINISTERS AND CHURCHES.</h3> - -<p>It must have been observed by my readers that, in -speaking above of the sympathy and co-operation of the -Northern ministers and churches with their slaveholding -brethren in the Southern States, I did not name Universalists -and Unitarians among the guilty sects. This was -because I reserved them for a separate, and the Unitarians -for a more particular notice. Of the course pursued<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334">334</a></span> -by the Universalists I have known but little. There are -very few churches of their denomination in any of the -slaveholding States; in most of them, I believe, not one. -They claimed the Rev. Theodore Clapp, of New Orleans, -a preacher of distinguished ability, and in some respects -a very estimable gentleman, but who was one of the -most unblushing advocates of slavery in the country. -In a sermon preached at New Orleans, April 15, 1838, -he said: “The venerable patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, -Jacob, and others were all slaveholders. In all probability -each possessed a greater number of bondmen and -bondwomen than any planter now living in Louisiana or -Mississippi.” “The same God who gave Abraham sunshine, -air, rain, earth, flocks, herds, silver, and gold -<em>blessed him with a donative of slaves</em>. Here we see God -dealing in slaves, giving them to his favorite child,—a -man of superlative worth, and as a reward for his eminent -goodness.” These extracts are not an exaggerated -specimen of the whole discourse. A few years afterwards, -it was rumored that Mr. Clapp had essentially -modified his opinions as above expressed. This rumor -brought out an explanation in <cite>The New Orleans Picayune</cite> -(probably from himself), to the effect that, “Christian -philanthropy does not require the immediate emancipation -of slaves.” “Whilst one lives in a slave State, -he is bound by Christianity to submit to its laws touching -slavery.” “Christianity does not propose to release -the obligations of slaves to their masters.” I am not -informed that his Universalist brethren at the North -ever passed any censure upon him for such misrepresentations -of our Heavenly Father, and of the duty of men -to their oppressed fellow-beings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335">335</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp335">UNITARIANS.</h3> - -<p>In commencing the discreditable account I must give -of the proslavery conduct of the Unitarian denomination, -I may as well record the fact, of which the mention of -Rev. Theodore Clapp reminds me. Notwithstanding the -utterance of such sentiments as I have just now quoted, -none of which had been retracted or apologized for, a -few years afterwards Mr. Clapp was specially invited by -a committee of Boston Unitarians to attend their religious -anniversaries; and his letter in reply was read in -their principal meeting, where, perhaps, a thousand persons -were present, including a large number of ministers -and prominent laymen, without any remonstrance or rebuke -to those who had invited him.</p> - -<p>But before I proceed further with the disagreeable -narrative, let me state, to the honor of the sect, that -though a very small one in comparison with those called -Orthodox (having at this day not more than three hundred -and sixty ministers, and in 1853 only two hundred -and seven), we Unitarians have given to the antislavery -cause more preachers, writers, lecturers, agents, poets, -than any other denomination in proportion to our numbers, -if not more without that comparison. Of those -Unitarian ministers no longer on earth, we hold in most -grateful remembrance Dr. N. Worcester, Dr. Follen, -Dr. Channing, Dr. S. Willard, Theodore Parker, John -Pierpont, Dr. H. Ware, Jr., and A. H. Conant. Others, -though less outspoken, were always explicitly on the -side of the oppressed,—Dr. Lowell, Dr. C. Francis, Dr. -E. B. Hall, G. F. Simmons, E. Q. Sewall, B. Whitman, -N. A. Staples, S. Judd, B. Frost. Of those who are still -in the body, we gratefully claim as fellow-laborers in the -antislavery cause Drs. J. G. Palfrey, W. H. Furness, J.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336">336</a></span> -F. Clarke, T. T. Stone, J. Allen, G. W. Briggs, R. P. -Stebbins, O. Stearns, and Rev. Messrs. S. May, Jr., -C. Stetson, W. H. Channing, M. D. Conway, O. B. -Frothingham, J. Parkman, Jr., J. T. Sargent, N. Hall, -A. A. Livermore, J. L. Russell, J. H. Heywood, T. W. -Higginson, R. W. Emerson, S. Longfellow, S. Johnson, -F. Frothingham, W. H. Knapp, R. F. Wallcut, R. Collyer, -E. B. Willson, W. P. Tilden, W. H. Fish, C. G. -Ames, John Weiss, R. C. Waterston, T. J. Mumford, -C. C. Shackford, F. W. Holland, E. Buckingham, C. C. -Sewall, F. Tiffany, R. R. Shippen. All these are or were -Unitarian preachers, and did service in the conflict. -Many of them suffered obloquy, persecution, loss, because -of their fidelity to the principles of impartial -liberty. I may have forgotten some whose names should -stand in this honored list. I have mentioned all whose -services I remember to have witnessed or to have heard -of. How small a portion of the whole number of our -ministers during the last forty years!</p> - -<p>The Unitarians as a body dealt with the question of -slavery in any but an impartial, courageous, and Christian -way. Continually in their public meetings the question -was staved off and driven out, because of technical, -formal, verbal difficulties which were of no real importance, -and ought not to have caused a moment’s hesitation. -Avowing among their distinctive doctrines, “The -<em>fatherly character</em> of God as reflected in his Son Jesus -Christ,” and “<em>The brotherhood of man with man everywhere</em>,” -we had a right to expect from Unitarians a -steadfast and unqualified protest against so unjust, -tyrannical, and cruel a system as that of American -slavery. And considering their position as a body, not -entangled with any proslavery alliances, not hampered -by any ecclesiastical organization, it does seem to me -that they were <em>pre-eminently guilty</em> in reference to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337">337</a></span> -enslavement of the millions in our land with its attendant -wrongs, cruelties, horrors. They, of all other -sects, ought to have spoken boldly, as one man, for <em>God -our Father</em>, for <em>Jesus the all-loving Saviour and Elder -Brother</em>, and for <em>Humanity</em>, especially where it was outraged -<em>in the least of the brethren</em>. But they did not. -They refused to speak as a body, and censured, condemned, -execrated their members who did speak faithfully -for the down-trodden, and who co-operated with him -whom a merciful Providence sent as the prophet of -the reform, which alone could have saved our country -from our late awful civil war. Let no honor be withheld -from the individuals who were so prominent and -noble exceptions to the general policy of the denomination,—the -ministers whom I have named above, together -with those faithful laymen, Samuel E. Sewall, -Francis Jackson, David L. Child, Ellis Gray Loring, -Edmund Quincy, A. Bronson Alcott, Dr. H. I. Bowditch, -William I. Bowditch, with others; and those excellent -women, Mrs. L. M. Child, Mrs. Maria W. Chapman, -Mrs. Follen, Miss Cabot, Mrs. Mary May, Misses -Weston, Misses Chapman, Miss Sargent, and more who -should be named; let no honor be withheld from these -and such as they were. But let the sad truth be plainly -told, as a solemn warning to all coming generations, that -even the Unitarians, as a body, were corrupted and morally -paralyzed by our national consenting with slaveholders, -even the Unitarians to whose avowed faith in the -paternity of God, the brotherhood of all mankind, and -the divinity of human nature, the enslavement of men -should have been especially abhorrent. On a subsequent -page I shall have occasion to tell of their most -glaring dereliction of duty to the enslaved, and those -who were ready to help them out of bondage. Meanwhile -I must state some facts in support of my allegations<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338">338</a></span> -against the sect to which I belong and with which -I shall labor for the dissemination of our <em>most precious -faith</em> so long as life and strength remain.</p> - -<p>In 1843 the subject of the slavery of millions in our -land was brought before the American Unitarian Association -by Rev. John Parkman, Jr. But it was not discussed. -It was put aside as a matter about which there -were serious differences of opinion among the members, -and with which that body, therefore, had better not -meddle.</p> - -<p>Early in 1844 an address on the subject was sent -from British Unitarians to their brethren in America. -It was an able, affectionate, respectful appeal to us, -signed by one hundred and eighty-five ministers. A -meeting of the Unitarian clergy was held in Boston to -consider and reply to it. But it seemed to be regarded -by many, and was spoken of by some, as an <em>impertinence</em>. -“Our British brethren,” it was said, “are interfering in -a matter which is beset with peculiar difficulties in this -country, about which they know little or nothing.” And -my cousin, Rev. Samuel May, Jr., of Leicester, who had -visited England the year before, was severely censured -for having encouraged our brethren there thus to meddle. -Here let me say, few have labored so diligently, faithfully, -disinterestedly, as Mr. May has in the cause of the -slaves. And no one of our denomination has taken so -much pains to prevent the Unitarians from committing -themselves to the wrong side, or failing to do their duty -on the right side, of every question relating to slavery. -For this fidelity he has received anything but the -thanks of most of the brethren. Here and elsewhere -I am bound to tell what I know of him, for owing to -the similarity of our names, and the sameness of our -connections with the Antislavery Societies, many of <em>his</em> -good words and deeds have been attributed to <em>me</em> by -those who do not know both of us.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339">339</a></span> -At the Autumnal Unitarian Conference held at Worcester, -Mass., October, 1842, he offered a series of resolutions, -setting forth the great extent, the appalling -evils, and fearful wickedness of slavery, and endeavored -to bring the Conference to resolve: “That, as ministers -and disciples of Jesus Christ, we feel bound to declare -our solemn opinion, that the institution of slavery is -radically and inherently opposite to his religion; that -it ought to be immediately abandoned by all who profess -to be Christians; and that we do affectionately admonish -and entreat all who hold ‘the like precious faith’ with -us, to free themselves at once from the guilt of sustaining -this evil thing.” There was manifested a great unwillingness -to express any opinion upon the subject, and -the Conference adjourned without taking action upon it.</p> - -<p>When in England, in the summer of 1843, Mr. May -attended a large meeting of Unitarians. Having been -invited to address them, and to speak particularly upon -the subject of slavery in America, and of the attitude -of our denomination towards the great iniquity, he did -speak at considerable length. But he gave a very truthful -and candid statement of the case as it then was. He -set before his British hearers the influences which tended -to mislead even the most kindly disposed in this country, -and the obstacles and difficulties that beset the way of -those who were most resolute in the cause of the enslaved. -He acknowledged gratefully, generously, the important -services which Dr. Follen, Dr. Channing, and -other Unitarian ministers and laymen had rendered. -But he was obliged, as a man of truth, to confess that -our denomination as a whole had been recreant to their -duty. And he encouraged our English brethren to address -a letter of fraternal counsel and entreaty to us, -not doubting that such a communication would be gratefully -received by the American Unitarians as coming<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340">340</a></span> -from those who had had to contend against a similar system -of iniquity, and had helped their national government -to abolish it. But I have already stated how utterly disappointed -he was in the result.</p> - -<p>Soon after his return from England, at the annual -meeting of the American Unitarian Association in May, -1844, he again brought up the subject, and earnestly -endeavored, with others, to induce that body to vote -that slaveholding was anti-republican, inhuman, and unchristian. -It led to a protracted discussion of two days -or more, which resulted in nothing else than a vote of -censure passed upon the Unitarian Church in Savannah, -Georgia, because they refused to receive the services of -the Rev. Mr. Motte, sent to them by the Executive Committee -of the Association, having heard that he had protested -in a sermon against the wrongs inflicted upon the -colored people both at the North and South.</p> - -<p>Henry H. Fuller, of Boston, strenuously opposed the -introduction of the subject of slavery to the consideration -of the Association in any way. “We of the North -have nothing to do with it. It is a system of labor established -in some of our sister States by their highest -legislative authority. It was consented to by the framers -of our National Constitution, and guaranties given for its -protection,” &c., &c. After much more of the same -sort, he gave way for Mr. May to offer the following resolutions, -instead of those by which he had called up the -<span class="locked">debate:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1. “<em>Resolved</em>, That the American Unitarian Association, desirous -that the pecuniary or other aid rendered by them from -time to time to individuals and societies in the slaveholding -sections of our country should not be misunderstood or misconstrued, -do hereby declare their conviction that the institution -of slavery, as existing in this country, is contrary to the -will of God, to the Gospel of Christ (especially to the views<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341">341</a></span> -which <em>we</em> entertain of it), to the rights of man, and to every -principle of justice and humanity; and in a spirit not of dictation, -but of friendly remonstrance and entreaty, would call -upon those whom they may address, as believers in one God -and Father of all, to bear a faithful testimony against slavery.</p> - -<p>2. “<em>Resolved</em>, That the Executive Committee be, and they -hereby are, requested to transmit a copy of the preceding resolution -to each of our auxiliary Associations, and to such -societies in the slaveholding sections of the country as may -from time to time receive pecuniary aid from this Association.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Dr. J. H. Morison objected to any action by the meeting. -“1st. Because we shall thereby lose our influence -at the South. 2d. Because we shall convert the Association -into an Abolition Society. 3d. Because it would -be a dastardly proceeding, at our distance from the scene -of danger, to utter sentiments hostile to slavery, with -which the Southern Unitarian societies might be identified.”</p> - -<p>Dr. E. S. Gannett said that the Association never contemplated -any action on slavery. It was contrary to the -objects of its formation. It would also be an invasion -of the rights of conscience,—being the setting up of -a creed with reference to this subject. Moreover, he -said, it would be injurious to the slaves. Ten years ago -their bondage was much lighter than at present. And -then it would be to identify ourselves with the Abolitionists -of the free States, whom he most unsparingly -and vehemently condemned, and said there was little -comparative need for us to go South to rebuke an evil, -when we had such a “hellish spirit alive and active here -in our very midst, even in New England.”</p> - -<p>Hon. S. C. Phillips, of Salem, was not in favor of such -action as the resolutions proposed, but still thought we -should take some action, and very properly in connection -with this case of the Savannah church we should present,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342">342</a></span> -as we fairly might, our views on the whole subject -of slavery. He said there had been great error in our -so long silence on the subject. Our leading policy had -been to avoid it, and much injury, and the prevention -of much good, had been the consequence. “The time -has come,” said he, “when no man can be silent everywhere, -and at all times, on this subject without guilt.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Phillips offered a series of resolutions instead of -Mr. May’s.</p> - -<p>Rev. Mr. Lunt, of Quincy, opposed any action, and -spoke with great severity of the Abolitionists, whom he -charged with being bent on the dissolution of our Union -and also the subversion of Christianity.</p> - -<p>My cousin vindicated the Abolitionists from Mr. -Lunt’s charges, reminding him and the audience of the -ground which Dr. Channing and other true friends of our -country had taken respecting disunion, in case of the annexation -of Texas. Mr. May showed that the Abolitionists -had opposed only a false and corrupt church, not the -Church of Christ, and still less Christianity itself, in -which they gloried as the basis and impelling principle -of their movement.</p> - -<p>The resolutions were ably supported by the mover, -Mr. Phillips, and four other laymen, and by eleven ministers, -and finally passed by a majority of forty to fifteen, -and were in part as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<p>After a preamble, setting forth the offensive conduct -of the Savannah <span class="locked">church,—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That, viewing the institution of slavery in the -light of Christianity, we cannot fail to perceive that it conflicts -with the natural rights of human beings as the equal -children of a common Father, and that it subverts the fundamental -principle of human brotherhood.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, In the necessary effects of slavery upon the -personal and social condition, and upon the moral and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343">343</a></span> religious -character of all affected by it, we perceive an accumulation -of evils over which Christianity must weep, against -which Christianity should remonstrate, and for the removal -of which Christianity appeals to the hearts and consciences -of all disciples of Jesus to do what they can by their prayers, -by the indulgence and expression of their sympathy, and by -the unremitting and undisguised exertion of whatever moral -and religious influence they may possess.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Then follows a resolution that it should not be considered, -in any part of our country, a disqualification of -any minister or missionary for the performance of the -appropriate duties of his office, that he is known to have -expressed antislavery sentiments, and approving the -course of the Executive Committee in withdrawing their -assistance from the church in Savannah because of their -rejection of Rev. Mr. Motte.</p> - -<p>The discussions at that meeting were seasoned with -many vehement denunciations of the Abolitionists, uttered -by several prominent Unitarian ministers. William L. -Garrison was denounced as one “instigated by a diabolical -spirit.” “The Abolitionists,” it was said, “were aiming -to subvert Christianity, to extirpate it from the -earth.” Dr. Francis Parkman, of Boston, loudly declared -that “no letter or resolution condemning slavery -should ever go forth from the American Unitarian Association -while he was a member of it.” And he highly -commended a New England captain, of whom we had -then recently heard, because “he put his ship about and -carried back to the master a slave whom he had found -secreted on board the vessel.” Dr. Parkman openly and -personally denounced those who introduced the subject, -as “born to plague the Association.” And he, together -with Dr. G. Putnam, and other prominent ministers, spoke -of Dr. Channing’s earnestness in the antislavery cause -as a great weakness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344">344</a></span> -Later in the same year, 1845, at a meeting of Unitarian -ministers in Boston, “A Protest against American -Slavery,” prepared I suppose by Rev. Caleb Stetson, -John T. Sargent, and Samuel May, Jr., was adopted and -sent out to be circulated for signatures. It received -the names of one hundred and seventy-three ministers, -of whom one hundred and fifty-three were of New England. -It was publicly stated at the time that about -eighty, comprising many of the most influential ministers -of the denomination, refused to sign the Protest. -Among the recusants were the Rev. Drs. Gannett, Dewey, -Young, Parkman, Lothrop, G. Putnam, Lamson, N. -Frothingham, S. Barrett, E. Peabody, G. E. Ellis, Bartol, -Morison, and Lunt.</p> - -<p>Of those who did sign the Protest, I am sorry to add -not a large proportion can with truth be said to have -been faithful to the solemn pledge they therein gave, as -follows: “We on our part do hereby pledge ourselves, -before God and our brethren, never to be weary in laboring -in the cause of human rights and freedom, until -slavery shall be abolished and every slave set free.”</p> - -<p>Once or twice afterwards Mr. May pressed the subject -upon the Unitarian Association, but with little better -results. Subsequent events, however, have shown, too -plainly to be denied or doubted, that it would have been -more creditable to themselves, and far better for our -country, if “the older and wiser” men of our denomination -had listened to his counsels and followed his noble -example. Alas, our land is filled with testimonies -written in blood, that if the ministers of religion had -only been fearless and faithful in declaring the impartial -love of the Heavenly Father for the children of men of -all complexions, and their equal, inalienable rights, which -would assuredly be vindicated by Divine justice, our late -civil war would have been averted!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345">345</a></span> -In 1847 Mr. May was appointed <em>General Agent of the -Massachusetts Antislavery Society</em>, and continued in that -responsible and laborious office until after the abolition -of slavery in 1865. He was instant in season and out -of season, and in co-operation with his devoted assistant, -Rev. R. F. Wallcut, rendered services the amount and -value of which cannot easily be estimated.</p> - -<h3 id="hp345">THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.</h3> - -<p>The awful iniquity of our nation culminated in the -enactment of the <cite>Fugitive Slave Law</cite>, which, as Edmund -Quincy said at the time, stood, as it now stands, “a piece -of diabolical ingenuity, for the accomplishment of a -devilish purpose, <em>without a rival</em> among all the tyrannical -enactments or edicts of servile parliaments or despotic -monarchs.” It was the essential article of a political -conglomerate, prepared by the Arch Compromiser, Henry -Clay, which was called the Omnibus Bill; some parts of -which, he vainly thought, would conciliate the Northern -States to the reception of the whole. It provided for the -admission of California into our Union, with an antislavery -Constitution; for the organization of two other -Territories without the prohibition of slavery; the extension -of the southwestern boundary of Texas to the -Rio Grande; the abolition of the slave-trade in the District -of Columbia, with the guaranty of slavery to its inhabitants -until they should see fit to abolish it; and the -perpetuity of the interstate slave-trade; but infinitely -worse than any of these objectionable parts were the -stringent measures it proposed for the recovery of fugitives -from slavery. Stripped of the verbiage of legal enactments, -the provisions of this abominable law were as -<span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346">346</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1. The claimant of any person who had escaped, or should -escape from slavery in any State or Territory, might apply to -any Court of Record or Judge thereof, describe the fugitive -and make satisfactory proof that he or she owed service or -labor to said claimant. Thereupon the Court, or in vacation -the Judge, was required to cause a record to be made of the -description of the alleged fugitive, and of the proof of his or -her enslavement, and give an attested copy of that record to -the claimant; which copy was required to be received by any -court, judge, or commissioner in any other State or Territory -of the Union, as full and conclusive evidence that the person -claimed, and so described, was a fugitive from slavery and -owed service to the claimant, and therefore should be delivered -up.</p> - -<p>Any marshal or deputy who should refuse to arrest such a -fugitive was to be fined <em>one thousand dollars</em>. And if, after -having arrested him or her, the fugitive should in any way -escape from his custody, the marshal or deputy should be -held liable to pay to the claimant the value of the runaway.</p> - -<p>And any person who should in any way prevent the claimant -or his agent or assistants from getting possession of the -fugitive, by hiding him or helping him to escape, or by open -opposition to his would-be captor,—such offender was to be -fined <em>one thousand dollars</em> for violating this <em>righteous</em> law; and -be liable to pay another <em>thousand dollars</em> to the claimant of the -fugitive.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In order that every facility should be afforded to <em>our -slaveholding brethren</em> to retake their fleeing property, -many commissioners were ordered to be appointed in -all suitable places (in addition to the courts and judges) -whose especial duty it should be to attend to cases that -might arise under the Fugitive Slave Law. And each -commissioner or judge, who found the accused guilty of -having fled from bondage, was to receive a fee of ten dollars. -But if the proof adduced by the claimant did not -satisfy him that the accused was a fugitive from his service, -then the judge or commissioner was to receive only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347">347</a></span> -five dollars. Thus bribery was by this law superadded to -every other device to enable the American slaveholder to -recover his escaped slave, and return him or her to a still -more cruel bondage.</p> - -<p>Nor was this all that was atrociously wicked in the -enactment. It provided further that, while the claimant -or his agent might give testimony or make affidavit -to the enslavement of the arrested one, “in no trial or -hearing under the Act was the testimony of the alleged -fugitive to be admitted in evidence” that he was not the -one that his claimant called him, or that he had been -emancipated by the will of a former owner, or by the -purchase of his liberty.</p> - -<p>If there be among the laws of any other nation, in any -other part and in any other age of the world, an enactment, -a decree, a ukase, so profoundly wicked, so ingeniously -cruel, as this law which the Congress of the United -States passed in 1850,—the very middle of the nineteenth -century,—I beg to be informed of it, for I confess -at the close of this recital I feel as if, in my shame and -misery, I should be relieved for a moment by bad company.</p> - -<p>At first it may seem strange that Mr. Clay should -have supposed the people of the Northern States would -conform to the requirements of such a law; would consent -that their States should be made the hunting-grounds, -and themselves the bloodhounds of Southern -oppressors in pursuit of their fleeing slaves. And yet -was he not justified in this low opinion of us by the conduct -of many of those who were elected to be representatives -of the opinions and wishes of the majority of our -communities? The execrable bill could not have become -a law, without the concurrence of Northern members in -both Houses of Congress; for, in both, the larger number -were from the non-slaveholding States. Yet it was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348">348</a></span> -enacted by the votes of twenty-seven of the Senators -against only twelve; and by one hundred and nine of -the Representatives opposed by seventy-five. And many -of these recreants to the fundamental principles of justice -and humanity had led Mr. Clay, and the Southern politicians -generally, to expect such votes as they gave by the -sentiments they uttered in the preceding debates.</p> - -<h3 id="hp348">DANIEL WEBSTER.</h3> - -<p>The man who did more than any one, if not more than -all of the members of Congress from the free States, -to procure the passage of the Bill of Abominations, was -<em>Daniel Webster</em>, who had represented Massachusetts in -the United States Senate for twenty-five years; who led -her in opposition to the Missouri Compromise in 1819, -and for nearly twenty years afterwards was regarded -as a leader of the advanced guard of liberty and humanity. -But when, in 1838, he went into the Southern -States to make his bids for the presidency, he uttered -words that foretold his moral declension, though not to -so deep a depth as he descended in his advocacy of the -Fugitive Slave Law. The infamy of his speech on the -7th of March, 1850, can never be forgotten while he is -remembered. He then declared it to be his intention -“to support the Bill with all its provisions to the fullest -extent.”</p> - -<p>Another fact which adds a sting of bitterness to the -shame of the North was, that this Act, the baseness, -meanness, cruelty of which no epithet in my vocabulary -can adequately express, became a law by the signature -of the President, subscribed by <em>Millard Fillmore</em>, a New -York man and a Unitarian withal.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the general expressions of indignation -and disgust at Mr. Webster’s baseness and treachery in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349">349</a></span> -supporting the Fugitive Slave Bill throughout the North, -especially from all parts of his own State, Massachusetts, -he and other members of the Senate and the House -of Representatives persisted until, as we have seen, the -Act became a law. The arch-traitor was rewarded with -the office of Secretary of State. Such was his gratitude -for this small compensation that, on taking leave of the -Senate, he pledged himself anew to the infamous principles -he had avowed on the 7th of March.<a id="FNanchor_R" href="#Footnote_R" class="fnanchor">R</a></p> - -<p>No sooner was the deed done, the Fugitive Slave Act -sent forth to be the law of the land, than outcries of -contempt and defiance came from every free State, and -pledges of protection were given to the colored population. -It is not within the scope of my plan to attempt -an account of the indignation-meetings that were held -in places too numerous to be even mentioned here. -They will make a proud episode in the history of our -nation since 1830, whenever it shall be fully written. -Meanwhile, let me here refer my readers to the admirable -Reports of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, especially -those written by the piquant pen, under the guidance -of the astute mind, of Edmund Quincy, for the -last ten or fifteen years of our fiery conflict.</p> - -<p>I must confine myself to my personal recollections, -and in this particular they are most grateful to me, and -honorable to the city of Syracuse, where I have resided -since 1845.</p> - -<p>The Fugitive Slave Act was signed by the President -on the 18th of September. Eight days afterwards, a -call was issued through our newspapers summoning the -citizens of Syracuse and its vicinity, without respect to -party, to meet in our City Hall on the 4th of October -ensuing, to denounce and take measures to withstand -this law. As the time of the meeting approached the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350">350</a></span> -popular excitement increased, and at an early hour -the hall was crowded to its utmost capacity. Hon. A. -H. Hovey, the Mayor of the city, was elected to preside, -sustained by eight vice-presidents of the two political -parties, three of whom had been then, or have been -since, mayors of Syracuse, and the other five, gentlemen -of the highest respectability, though only one of -them had been active with the Abolitionists,—Hon. -E. W. Leavenworth, Hon. Horace Wheaton, John Woodruff, -Esq., Captain Oliver Teall, Robert Gere, Esq., Hon. -L. Kingsley, Captain Hiram Putnam, Dr. Lyman Clary.</p> - -<p>The President addressed the meeting very acceptably, -declared himself to be with us in opposition to the law, -adding: “The colored man must be protected,—he -must be secure among us, come what will of political -organizations.” A series of thirteen resolutions was -read, three of which will make known sufficiently the -spirit of them all. The second <span class="locked">was:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1. “<em>Resolved</em>, That the Fugitive Slave Law, recently enacted -by the Congress of these United States, is a most flagrant -outrage upon the inalienable rights of man, and a daring assault -upon the palladium of American liberties.”</p> - -<p>3. “That every intelligent man and woman throughout our -country, ought to read attentively, and understand the provisions -of this law, in all its details, so that they may be -fully aware of its diabolical spirit and cruel ingenuity, and -prepare themselves to <em>oppose</em> all attempts to enforce it.”</p> - -<p>13. “<em>Resolved</em>, That we recommend the appointment of a -Vigilance Committee of thirteen citizens, whose duty it shall -be to see that no person is deprived of his liberty without -‘due process of law.’ And all good citizens are earnestly requested -to aid and sustain them in all needed efforts for the -security of every person claiming the protection of our laws.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>The meeting was addressed in a very spirited strain -by two colored gentlemen,—Rev. S. R. Ward and Rev.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351">351</a></span> -J. W. Loguen. They each declared that they and their -colored fellow-citizens generally had determined to make -the most violent resistance to any attempt that might -be made to re-enslave them. They would have their -liberty or die in its defence.</p> - -<p>Mr. Charles A. Wheaton, Chairman of a Committee, -then read an Address to the citizens of the State of New -York, setting very plainly before them the degradation -to which this law would reduce them. It showed them -how the law would nullify all the provisions made in the -Constitution for the protection of our dearest rights, as -well as the liberties of any amongst us who might have -complexions shaded in any measure. And it called upon -the citizens of the Empire State to rise in their majesty -and put down all attempts to enforce this law.</p> - -<p>Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick then rose and advocated -the Resolutions and Address in an admirable speech. -He exposed the atrocious features of the slave-catching -law in detail, demonstrated its unconstitutionality as -well as cruelty, and awakened throughout his audience -the keenest indignation against it. He said it was the -vilest law that tyranny ever devised. He would resist -it, and he called on all who heard him to resist it everywhere, -in every way, to the utmost of their power. -Rev. R. R. Raymond, of the Baptist Church, then spoke -stirring words in thrilling tones. “How can we do to -others as we would that they should do to us, if we do not -resist this law? Citizens of Syracuse! shall a live man -ever be taken out of our city by force of this law?” “No! -No!!” was the response loud as thunder. “Let us tell -the Southerners, then, that it will not be safe for them -to come or send their agents here to attempt to take -away a fugitive slave. [Great applause.] I will take the -hunted man to my own house, and he shall not be torn -away, and I be left alive. [Tremendous and long cheering.]”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352">352</a></span> -I was then called up. But I shall leave my readers -to imagine what I said, if they will only let it be in very -strong opposition to the law.</p> - -<p>The Report of the Committee on Resolutions, and an -Address, was then put to vote, and adopted with only -one dissenting voice. The Vigilance Committee of thirteen -was appointed, and the meeting was adjourned to -the evening of the 12th.</p> - -<p>Our second meeting was, if possible, more enthusiastic -than the first. All the seats in the hall were filled, -and the aisles crowded before the hour to which the -meeting was adjourned. The Mayor called to order precisely -at seven o’clock. It devolved upon me, as Chairman -of the Committee, to report Resolutions. There -were too many of them to be repeated here. Two or -three must suffice.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1. “<em>Resolved</em>, That we solemnly reiterate our abhorrence -of the Fugitive Slave Law, which in effect is nothing less -than a license for <em>kidnapping</em>, under the protection and at the -expense of our Federal Government, which has become the -tool of oppressors.”</p> - -<p>6. “<em>Resolved</em>, That now is the day and now the hour to -take our stand for liberty and humanity. If we now refuse -to assert our independency of the tyrants who aspire to absolute -power in our Republic, we may hope for nothing better -than entire subjugation to their will, and shall leave our -children in a condition little better than that of the creatures -of absolute despots.”</p> - -<p>10. “<em>Resolved</em>, That as all of us are liable at any moment -to be summoned to assist in kidnapping such persons as anybody -may claim to be his slaves, and to be fined one thousand -dollars if we refuse to do the bidding of the land-pirates, -whom this law would encourage to prowl through our country, -it is the dictate of prudence as well as good fellowship in -a righteous cause, that we should unite ourselves in an Association, -pledged to stand by its members in opposing this law,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353">353</a></span> -and to share with any of them the pecuniary losses they may -incur, under the operation of this law.”</p> - -<p>11. “<em>Resolved</em>, That such an Association be now formed, -so that Southern oppressors may know that the people of -Syracuse and its vicinity are prepared to sustain one another -in resisting the encroachments of despotism.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>William H. Burleigh first spoke in support of the resolutions. -One of the newspapers the next day said: -“We can do no justice to the ability and surpassing eloquence -of Mr. Burleigh’s speech; the deep feelings of his -soul were poured out in terms of consuming oratory.” -Judge Nye, then of Madison County, was present, and -being called to address the meeting, said, among many -other good things: “I am an officer of the law. I am -not sure that I am not one of those officers who are -clothed with anomalous and terrible powers by this Bill -of Abominations. If I am, I will tell my constituency -that I will trample that law in the dust, and they must -find another man, if there be one who will degrade himself, -to do this dirty work.” “Be assured, Syracusians, -there is not a man among the hills and valleys of Madison -County who would take my office on condition of -obedience to this statute.” These sentences, and other -good things that Judge Nye said, were received with -great applause.</p> - -<p>Hon. C. B. Sedgwick then presented a petition to -Congress for the repeal of the Act, and called upon his -fellow-citizens to sign it. He enforced this call by a very -impressive speech, declaring again and again his fixed -determination to oppose to the utmost any attempt to -carry back from Syracuse a fugitive slave. “A man (no, -a dog) may come here scenting blood on the track of our -brother Loguen; shall we let him drag him off to slavery -again? No! never!! Loguen has been driven and -stricken from childhood to manhood. He has been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354">354</a></span> -literally a man of sorrows. His soul was trodden upon -by oppression. But he rose in the might of his manhood, -and made his way across rivers, through swamps, -over mountains, to our city. And it shall be a place of -safety to him. We will not give him up. He is a husband -and a father on our free soil, and will you give him -back to the hell of slavery? No! never!!</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i24">‘Dear as freedom is,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And in my soul’s just estimation prized above all price, I had rather be myself the slave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.’”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>I wish I could convey to the ears of my readers the -hearty, deep-toned notes of applause that welcomed these -declarations.</p> - -<p>I then presented a pledge, binding those who might -sign it to stand by one another, and share equally all -pecuniary penalties they might be made to suffer because -of their opposition to this oppressive and cruel -Act.</p> - -<p>Rev. Mr. Raymond was afterwards called up, and he -spoke in a manner that was very affecting. I have room -for only a brief extract from the report of it.</p> - -<p>“Oh! the hardships this law has brought upon the fugitives -from slavery that have sought an asylum with us! -I attended the other day a meeting of Baptist ministers -in Rochester. There was a colored brother there in the -depths of distress. He arose in our midst and gave -voice to the agonies of his soul. A few years since he -escaped from one of the richest slaveholders in Kentucky. -With him, he had been brought up in ignorance. Since -coming among us he had learnt to read, and had become -so well educated as to be able to teach others. In the -course of two years he had gathered a church in a meeting-house -that had been built mainly by his instrumentality. -He had a comfortable homestead in Rochester,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355">355</a></span> -and a happy family about him. But now his master -had sent for him, declaring he would have him under -this law. ‘Oh!’ he cried, ‘what have I done? what is -my crime? All the power and cunning and sagacity of -this great nation are moving to drag me back again into -slavery,—worse than death.’ His head fell upon his -bosom, he sobbed aloud, and we wept with him, and a -deep groan of execration went up from the souls of us -all to the God of mercy against this law.” This recital -awakened intense feeling throughout our meeting and -murmurs of indignation. “And now,” Mr. Raymond -continued, “suppose that while we were glowing with -sympathy for that brother and abhorrence of the law,—suppose -the man-thief had come into that meeting and -put his hand upon that brother to bear him off to the -South. What would have been the result? I tell you -we would have defended him, if we had had to tear that -man-thief in pieces.” This was received with great applause. -“What,” continued Mr. Raymond, “what if -the officers should come here and put their hand on me -as one claimed to be the property of another man, would -you let me go?” “No! No!! No!!!” from every -quarter was the hearty response. “And yet why not -me as readily as a man of darker skin? If ever there -was a law which it was right to trample upon, it is this. -You are counselling revolution, some may say. Revolution -indeed! O, my fellow-citizens, blood has been flowing, -not in battle-fields, but from the backs of our enslaved -countrymen ever since 1776, and is flowing now. [Deep -sensation.] Yes, and that blood has gone up to Heaven -and provoked God against us. Yes, and blood will flow -profusely on the battle-fields of a civil war if we carry -out this accursed law,—if we do not proclaim freedom -throughout the land.”</p> - -<p>Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting in a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356">356</a></span> -similar strain; among them, Colonel Titus, who said: -“With all my heart I concur in the sentiments and -spirit of the resolutions and in the speech of Mr. Raymond. -I am for suspending the operation of the bill -until it shall be repealed. If the Southerners or their -Northern minions undertake to enforce its provisions, -and attempt to carry off our friend Loguen, or any other -citizens, I am prepared to fight in their defence. I would -advise our colored neighbors not to remove to Canada, -but to rely on the patriotism of the citizens of Syracuse -for protection. The Assistant United States Marshal is -in the hall, and it is well to have him understand what -are the real sentiments of his fellow-citizens, which I -trust will be found to be almost unanimous in favor of -resistance to this execrable law.”</p> - -<p>Such was the very general uprising of the people of -Syracuse in opposition to the rendition of fugitives from -slavery.</p> - -<p>My own sentiments and feelings were very fully declared, -a few days afterwards, from my own pulpit, and -subsequently in Rochester and Oswego. I trust my -readers will bear with a somewhat extended abstract of -my sermon.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“If there be a God, almighty, perfectly wise, and impartially -just and good, his will ought to be supreme with all -moral beings throughout his universe. To teach otherwise,—to -teach that we or any of his moral offspring are bound -or can be bound by any earthly power to do what is contrary -to <em>divine law</em>, is virtually Atheism; it is to enthrone -Baal or Mammon in the place of Jehovah. <em>And this is just -what the people of this country are now called upon by our Federal -Government to do.</em> The legislators of this Republic have -enacted a law which offends every feeling of humanity, sets -at naught every precept of the Christian religion, outrages -our highest sense of right. And now they and their political -and priestly abettors demand that we shall conform to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357">357</a></span> requirements -of this law, because it was enacted by the government -under which we live.</p> - -<p>“Brethren, are any of you ready to bow and take this yoke -upon your necks, and do the biddings of these wicked men? -I hope not. You shall not be, if I can convince you that you -ought not. The iniquity of our country has culminated in -the passage of this infernal law. Fearful encroachments have -successively been made upon our liberties. This last is the -worst, the most daring. If we yield to it, all will be lost. -Our country will be given up to oppressors. There can be no -insult, no outrage upon our moral sense, which we shall be -able to withstand; no spot on which we can raise a barrier to -the tide of political and personal pollution that must ever -follow in the wake of slavery. Our government will become -a despotism or a cruel oligarchy, and our religion will be in -effect, if not in name, the worship of Baal, which means ‘him -that subdues.’...</p> - -<p>“This horrible law, which in the middle of the nineteenth -century of the Christian era the legislators of the most highly -favored nation on earth have had the effrontery to enact,—this -law peremptorily, under heavy fines and penalties, forbids us -to give assistance and comfort to a certain class of our fellow-men -in the utmost need of help,—those who have fled and -are longing to be saved from the greatest wrongs that can be -inflicted upon human beings,—<em>the wrongs of slavery</em>. And -yet we are told by many—many who profess to be Christians, -even teachers of Christianity, ah! Doctors of Divinity—that -the pulpit may not remonstrate against this tremendous -iniquity, because, forsooth, it has passed into a law. What, -are we, then, to allow that there is no authority higher than -that of the earthly government under which we live,—a government -framed by our revered but fallible fathers, and which -we administer by agents of our own election, who are by no -means incorruptible? Has it come to this? Is this the best -lesson our Republican and Christian wisdom can teach the -suffering nations of earth? Nay, are we to submit to this -human authority without question? May we not so much -as discuss the justice of its demands upon us? Must even -those men be silent who were set in our midst for the defence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_358">358</a></span> -of the Gospel,—the Gospel of Him who was ‘anointed to -preach to the poor, who was sent to heal the brokenhearted, -to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty them -that are bruised?’ Such is the doctrine of our politicians -and of our politico-religious ministers. But a more heartless, -demoralizing, base, antidemocrat, and antichristian doctrine -could not be preached. I repudiate it utterly.... <em>The pulpit -has no higher function than to expound, assert, and maintain -the rights of man.</em> The assumption of Mr. Webster and -his abettors—that there is no higher law than an enactment -of our Congress or the Constitution of the United States—is -glaringly <em>atheistical</em>, inasmuch as it denies the supremacy of -the Divine Author of the <em>moral constitution</em> of man....</p> - -<p>“It is a matter of great interest to me personally, that my -attention was first powerfully called to the subject of slavery, -and my resolution to do my duty regarding it, was first roused -by Daniel Webster, when he was a <em>man</em>, and not a mere selfseeking -politician. The first antislavery meeting I ever attended -was one in which Mr. Webster took a conspicuous -part. It was on the 3d of December, 1819, in the State -House at Boston, called to oppose the Missouri Compromise. -Then and there generous, humane, Christian sentiments respecting -slavery were uttered by him and others that kindled -in my bosom a warmth of interest in the cause of the oppressed -that has never cooled. But the next year, on the -22d of December, 1820, a few days before I entered the pulpit -as a preacher, Mr. Webster delivered his famous oration -at Plymouth. It was an admirable exposition of the rise, -characteristics, and spirit of our free political and religious institutions. -Towards the close, having alluded to slavery and -the slave-trade, he said, with deep solemnity: ‘<em>I invoke the -ministers of our religion, that they proclaim its denunciation -of these crimes. If the pulpit be silent wherever or whenever -there may be a sin bloody with this guilt within the hearing of -its voice, the pulpit is false to its trust.</em>’</p> - -<p>“Thus solemnly charged by one whom I <em>then</em> revered as a -good man, no less than as a great statesman, the following -Sunday I commenced preaching. Tremblingly alive to the -weighty responsibilities I was about to incur, I fully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_359">359</a></span> resolved -that the pulpit which might be committed to my -charge should not be silent respecting slavery or any other -great public wrong....</p> - -<p>“And now, that same Daniel Webster, who first roused me -to feel somewhat as I ought for the enslaved, has done more -than any other man to procure the enactment of a law, under -the provisions of which, if I do my duty, and by my preaching -incite others to do their duty, to those who are in danger -of being enslaved, I and they may be subjected to unusually -heavy fines, or may be thrown into prison as malefactors. -Have I not, then, a personal controversy with that distinguished -man,—distinguished now, alas! for something else -than splendid talents and exalted virtues? If I have gone -wrong, did not Mr. Webster misdirect me? If I have done -no more than he solemnly charged all preachers to do, has he -not basely deserted and betrayed me? Verily, verily I say -unto you, he bound the burden of this antislavery reform, -and laid it upon the shoulders of others, but he himself has -not helped to bear it,—no, not with one of his fingers. Nay, -worse, he has done all he could to prepare the prison, and to -whet the sword of vengeance for those sons of New England -who shall obey the injunction he gave them from Plymouth -Rock, that spot hallowed by all who truly love liberty and -hate oppression....</p> - -<p>“Tell me, then, no more that the pulpit has nothing to do,—that -I as a Christian minister have nothing to do with politics, -when I see how politics have corrupted, yes, utterly spoiled -the once noble (we used in our admiration to say), godlike -Daniel Webster! If that man, with his surpassing strength -of intellect and once enlarged, generous views of the right and -the good,—if he has not been able to withstand the demoralizing -influences of political partyism, but has been shrivelled -up into a mere aspirant for office, basely consenting to any -and every sacrifice of humanity demanded by the oppressors -of our country, and at last pledging himself to sustain all the -provisions of a law more ingeniously wicked than the stimulated -fears of the most cowardly tyrants ever before devised,—I -repeat, if such a man as Daniel Webster once was has been -corrupted and ruined by politics, shall I, a minister of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_360">360</a></span> -Christian religion, fail to point out as plainly as I may, and -proclaim as earnestly as I can, the moral dangers that beset -those who engage in the strife for political preferment?...</p> - -<p>“For one, I will not help to uphold our nation in its iniquity,—no, -not for an hour. If it cannot be reclaimed, let it be dissolved. -The declaration so often made by the professed friends -of our Union, that it cannot be preserved unless this horrible -law can be enforced, is unwittingly a declaration that it is the -implacable enemy of liberty,—an obstacle in the way of human -progress. If it really be so, it must be, it will be removed. -And he who attempts to prevent its dissolution will find himself -fighting against God. If such a law as this for the recapture -of fugitive slaves be essential to our Republic as now constituted, -let it be broken up, and some new form of government -arise in its stead. A better one would doubtless succeed. A -worse one it could not be, if the enslavement, continued degradation -and outlawry of more than three millions of our people, -be indeed the bond of our present Union....</p> - -<p>“Suppose that a considerable proportion of the States in this -Union were, or should become, idolatrous heathen. Suppose -that they worshipped Moloch, or some other false deity who -delighted in human sacrifices. And suppose that, to propitiate -the people of those States, and to secure the pecuniary and -political advantages of a continued Union with them, Congress -should enact that the people of the Christian States should allow -those idolaters to come here when they pleased and offer -human sacrifices in our midst, or carry away our children to be -burnt on their altars at the South; would Mr. Webster or Mr. -Clay, or the editors of <cite>The New York Observer</cite>, or <cite>The Journal -of Commerce</cite>, or the Doctors of Divinity who have endeavored -to array the public on the side of wrong,—would even they -call upon us to obey such a law? I am sure they would not. -And yet I fain would know wherein such a law as I have -supposed would be any worse than this law which they are -laboring to enforce.... Why, then, if it would be reasonable -and proper, in the view of Mr. Webster and his reverend -abettors, to nullify a law requiring us to permit human beings -to be offered as burnt sacrifices,—why is it not equally reasonable -and proper for us to set at naught this law which commands<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_361">361</a></span> -us to do something worse,—that is, to assist in reducing human -beings to the condition of domesticated brutes?... -Nay, further, I insisted that the Fugitive Slave Law violates -the religious liberty, interferes with the faith and worship of -Christians, just as much as the law I have supposed would do.... -A law of the land requiring you, as this Fugitive Slave -Law does, to disobey the Golden Rule is, indeed, a far more -grievous encroachment upon your liberty of conscience than -a law prescribing to your faith any creed, or any rites and -ceremonies by which you must worship God....</p> - -<p>“Fellow-citizens! Christian brethren! the time has come -that is to test our principles, to try our souls. I would not -that any one in this emergency should trust to his own unaided -strength. Let us fervently pray for wisdom to direct -us, and for fortitude to do whatever may be demanded at our -hands, by the Royal Law,—the Golden Rule....</p> - -<p>“I would counsel prudence, although this evil day demands -of us courage and self-sacrifice.... We should spare no -pains through the press, by conversation, and by public addresses, -particularly by faithful discourses from the pulpits, to -cherish and quicken the sense of right and the love of liberty -in the hearts of the people. A correct public sentiment is our -surest safeguard....</p> - -<p>“Do you inquire of me by what means you ought to withstand -the execution of this diabolical law? It is not for me -to determine the action of any one but myself. ‘Thou shalt -love thy neighbor as thyself,’ is the second great command -which all should faithfully try to obey. Every man and woman -among you is bound, as I am, to do for the protection or -rescue of a fugitive from slavery what, in your hearts before -God, you believe it would be right for you to do in behalf of -your own life or liberty, or that of a member of your family. -If you are fully persuaded that it would be right for you to -maim or kill the kidnapper who had laid hands upon your -wife, son, or daughter, or should be attempting to drag yourself -away to be enslaved, I see not how you can excuse yourself -from helping, by the same degree of violence, to rescue -the fugitive slave from the like outrage....</p> - -<p>“Before all men, I declare that you are, every one of you,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_362">362</a></span> -under the highest obligation to disobey this law,—nay, oppose -to the utmost the execution of it. If you know of no better -way to do this than by force and arms, then are you bound to -use force and arms to prevent a fellow-being from being enslaved. -There never was, there cannot be, a more righteous -cause for revolution than the demands made upon us by this -law. It would make you kidnappers, men-stealers, bloodhounds....</p> - -<p>“It is known that I have been and am a preacher of the -‘doctrine of non-resistance.’ I believe it to be one of the -distinctive doctrines of Christianity. But I have never presumed -to affirm that I possessed enough of the spirit of Christ,—enough -confidence in God and man,—enough moral courage -and self-command to act in accordance with the Gospel -precept in the treatment of enemies. But there is not a doubt in -my heart that, if I should be enabled to speak and act as Jesus -would, I should produce a far greater and better effect than could -be wrought by clubs, or swords, or any deadly weapons.... -I shall go to the rescue of any one I may hear is in danger, not -intending to harm the cruel men who may be attempting to kidnap -him. I shall take no weapon of violence along with me, not -even the cane that I usually wear. I shall go, praying that -I may say and do what will smite the hearts rather than the -bodies of the impious claimants of property in human beings,—pierce -their consciences rather than their flesh....</p> - -<p>“Fellow-citizens, fellow-men, fellow-Christians! the hour is -come! A stand must be taken against the ruthless oppressors -of our country. Resistants and non-resistants have now -a work to do that may task to the utmost the energies of their -souls. We owe it to the millions who are wearing out a miserable -existence under the yoke of slavery; we owe it to the -memory of our fathers who solemnly pledged their lives, their -fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty; We -owe it to the expectations, the claims of oppressed and suffering -men the world over; we owe it to ourselves, if we -would be true men and not the menials of tyrants, to trample -this Fugitive Slave Law under foot, and throw it indignantly -back at the wicked legislators who had the hardihood to -enact it.”</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_363">363</a></span> -It was obvious enough that some parts of the discourse -were not relished by quite a number of my auditors. -Several seemed to be seriously offended. It is -therefore to be cherished among my many grateful recollections -that, as I was coming down from the pulpit the -late Major James E. Heron, of the United States Army, -then one of the prominent members of our society, came -up to me glowing with emotion, gave me his hand, and -said, quite audibly: “Mr. May, I thank you. I was -once a slaveholder. I know all about the Southern system -of domestic servitude. I am intimately acquainted -with the principles of the slaveholders, and the condition -of their bondmen. You have never in my hearing exaggerated -the wrongs and the vices inherent in the system. -You cannot overstate them. And the bold attempt -which is now making to subjugate the people of -the Northern States to the will and service of the slaveholders -ought to be resisted to the last.” He must have -been heard by many. His words were repeated about -the city, and his full indorsement of my antislavery -fanaticism helped to make it much more tolerable, in the -regards of some who were ready to revolt from it.</p> - -<p>The Vigilance Committee appointed on the 4th of -October, and the Association we formed on the 12th, to -co-operate with that committee, and to bear mutually -the expenses that might be incurred in resisting the law, -kept the attention of our citizens alive to the subject. -And their interest was quickened and their determination -confirmed by the reports that came to us from Boston, -New York, Philadelphia, and many other places, of -the preparations that were making to protect the colored -people, and set at defiance the plan for their re-enslavement. -The historian of our country, if he be one -worthy of the task, will linger with delight over the -pages on which he shall narrate the uprising of the people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_364">364</a></span> -generally, in 1850 and 1851, throughout the Northern -States, in opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. -There were not wanting fearless preachers who took up -the arms of the Gospel and faithfully fought against the -great unrighteousness. Only a few days after the infamous -speech of Mr. Webster on the 7th of March, -Theodore Parker addressed a crowded audience in -Faneuil Hall, and exposed to their deeper abhorrence the -atrocious provisions of the Bill which the Massachusetts -senator had had the effrontery to advocate and pledge -himself to maintain. On the 22d of September following -he preached to his hearers in the Melodeon a thrilling -discourse on “The Function and Place of Conscience -in Relation to the Laws of Men,” which must have fired -them all the more to stand to the death in defence of -any human being who had sought, or should seek, an -asylum in Massachusetts. And again on the 28th of -November, 1850, the day of annual Thanksgiving, he -delivered his comprehensive, deep-searching discourse -on “The State of the Nation,” showing the reckless impiety -of rulers who could frame such unrighteousness -into law, and the folly of the people who could suppose -themselves bound to obey such a law. Oh! if the ministers -of religion generally, throughout our country, had -said and done, before and after that date, a tithe as -much as Mr. Parker said and did against the “great -iniquity” of our nation, the slaveholders could never -have gained such an ascendency in our Government, -nor have become so inflated with the idea of their -power, as to have attempted the dissolution of the -Union, which it cost all the blood and treasure expended -in our awful civil war to preserve. Mr. Parker was -not indeed left alone to fight the battle of the Lord. -Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y., Rev. G. W. Perkins, -of Guilford, Conn., Rev. J. G. Forman, of West Bridgewater,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_365">365</a></span> -Rev. Charles Beecher, Rev. William C. Whitcomb, -of Stoneham, Rev. Nathaniel West, of Pittsburg, each -spoke and wrote words of sound truth and great power, -as well as those whose services I have acknowledged in -another place, and others no doubt whose names have -escaped my memory. But of the thirty thousand ministers -of all the denominations in the United States, I -believe not one in a hundred ever raised his voice against -the enslavement of millions of our countrymen, nor lifted -a finger to protect one who had escaped from bondage. -And many, very many of the clergy openly and vehemently -espoused the cause of the oppressors. Not only -did the preachers in the slaveholding States, with -scarcely an exception, justify and defend the institution -of slavery, but there were many ministers in the free -States who took sides with them. The most distinguished -in this bad company were Professor Stuart, of -Andover, Dr. Lord, President of Dartmouth College, -New Hampshire, Bishop Hopkins, of Burlington, Vt., -and Rev. Dr. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston. But I -must refer my readers to the books mentioned at the -bottom of page <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, if they would know how “the orthodox -and evangelical” ministers of the free States contributed -their influence to uphold “the peculiar institution -of the South.” And it must be left for the future -historian of our Republic in the nineteenth century to -tell to posterity how fearfully the American Church and -ninety-nine hundredths of the ministers were subjugated -to the will and behest of our slaveholding oligarchy. My -purpose is to give, for the most part, only my personal -recollections. And on this point, I am sorry to say, they -are numerous and mortifying enough.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366">366</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="hp366">THE UNITARIANS AND THEIR MINISTERS.</h3> - -<p>When the Fugitive Slave Law was first promulgated, -there was, as I have stated, a very general outburst of -indignation throughout the North,—a feeling of dreadful -shame, a sense of a most bitter insult. The first impulse -of the Unitarians, as of others, was to denounce it. -At their autumnal convention in Springfield, October, -1850, they did so, though not without strong opposition -to any vote or action on the subject. Probably the opposers -would have prevailed, and the law have been left -unrebuked, had not that venerable man, the late Rev. Dr. -Willard, of Deerfield, risen and earnestly—yes, solemnly—protested -against passing lightly over a matter of such -fearful importance. Dr. Willard was old, and had long -been blind. Would to God that the moral sight of many -of his younger ministerial brethren had been half as clear -and pure as his! With tremulous eloquence he called -upon them to reconsider their motion. He appealed to -their pity for men and women over whom was impending -the greatest calamity that could befall human beings. He -appealed to their regard for the honor of their country, -and besought them to avert her shame, by doing what -they might to show the world, that it was the statesmen -and politicians, not the people of the Northern States, -who approved of this wicked, cruel law. His words roused -others, who spoke to the same effect; and so that Convention -was persuaded to adopt resolutions condemning -the law. But quite a number of the prominent ministers -of the denomination soon after gave strong utterance to -an opposite opinion. I need mention but three. Rev. -Dr. Lunt, of Quincy, preached a discourse on the “Divine -Right of Government,” in which he endeavored to bring -his hearers to the conclusion that, “wise, practical men -would allow the laws of the land, which have been enacted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_367">367</a></span> -in due form, to have their course and be executed, -until we can so far change the current of public opinion -that what is objectionable in those laws may be corrected.” -He conceded, indeed, that “there are cases when -rulers may be rightfully resisted, and when revolution is -a duty; yet these are extreme cases, and require for -their justification the most imperative necessity.” He -said this all unconscious, it would seem, that such an -extreme case was upon us; unconscious, and leaving -his hearers unconscious, that the Fugitive Slave Law -must be resisted, or the people of Massachusetts would -consent to become menials of the slaveholders, kidnappers, -robbers of men, bloodhounds.</p> - -<p>The excellent Dr. E. S. Gannett, of Boston, was heard -to say, more than once, very emphatically, and to justify -it, “that he should feel it to be his duty to turn away -from his door a fugitive slave,—unfed, unaided in any -way, rather than set at naught the law of the land.”</p> - -<p>And Rev. Dr. Dewey, whom we accounted one of the -ablest expounders and most eloquent defenders of our -Unitarian faith,—Dr. Dewey was reported to have said -at two different times, in public lectures or speeches during -the fall of 1850 and the winter of 1851, that “he -would send his <em>mother</em> into slavery, rather than endanger -the Union, by resisting this law enacted by the constituted -government of the nation.” He has often denied -that he spoke thus of his “maternal relative,” and therefore -I allow that he was misunderstood. But he has -repeatedly acknowledged that he did say, “I would consent -that my own brother, my own son, should go, <em>ten -times rather</em> would I go myself into slavery, than that -this Union should be sacrificed.” The rhetoric of this -sentence may be less shocking, but the principle that -underlies it is equally immoral and demoralizing. It is, -that the inalienable, God-given rights of man ought to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_368">368</a></span> -be violated, outraged, rather than overturn or seriously -endanger a human institution called a government.</p> - -<p>Although our denomination at that time was numerically -a very small one, yet it was so prominent, not only -in Boston and its immediate vicinity, but before the -whole nation, and in view of all the world, that it seemed -to me to be a matter of great moral consequence that -it should take and maintain a truly Christian stand respecting -this high-handed, glaring attempt to bring our -Northern free States into entire subjection to the slaveholding -oligarchy. Therefore, at the next annual meeting -of the American Unitarian Association, in May, 1851, -I offered the following Preamble and <span class="locked">Resolution:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Whereas, his Excellency, Millard Fillmore, whose official -signature made the Fugitive Slave Bill a law, is a <em>Unitarian</em>; -and the Hon. Daniel Webster, who exerted all his official and -personal influence to procure the passage of that bill, has -been until recently, if he is not now, a member of a Unitarian -church; and whereas, one of the only three Representatives -from New England, who voted for that bill, is the Hon. S. A. -Eliot, a distinguished Unitarian of Boston, known to have -been educated for the Unitarian ministry; and whereas, the -present representative of the United States Government at -the Court of the British Empire is a Unitarian, and his two -immediate predecessors were once preachers of this Gospel, -and one of them, Hon. Edward Everett, has publicly declared -his approval of Mr. Webster’s course touching this most -wicked law; and whereas, the Hon. Jared Sparks, President -of Harvard College, and President of the Divinity School at -Cambridge, formerly a distinguished minister, and a very -elaborate and able expounder of our distinctive doctrines, is -one of the number who addressed a letter to Mr. Webster, -commending him for what he had said and done in behalf of the -Fugitive Slave Law; and still more, because the late President -of this American Unitarian Association (Dr. Dewey), one of -the most popular preachers, expounders, and champions of -the Unitarian faith, has been more earnest and emphatic than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_369">369</a></span> -any man in his asseveration that this law, infernal as it is, -ought nevertheless to be obeyed; and because the gentleman -who this day retires from the highest position in our ecclesiastical -body, the Rev. Dr. Gannett, is understood to have -given his adhesion to this lowest of all laws, and several of -the distinguished, titled ministers of our denomination in and -near Boston, the head-quarters of Unitarians, have preached -obedience to <em>this law</em>,—</p> - -<p>“We, therefore, feel especially called upon by the highest -considerations, at this, the first general gathering of our body, -since the above-named exposures of the unsoundness of our -members, to declare in the most public and emphatic manner -that we consider the Fugitive Slave Law a most fearful violation -of the law of God, as taught by Jesus Christ and his -apostles, and, therefore, all obedience to it is practical infidelity -to the Author and Finisher of the Christian faith, and -to the impartial Father of the whole human family.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, Therefore, that we, the American Unitarian -Association, earnestly exhort all who would honor the Christian -name, but especially all who have embraced with us -views of human nature similar to those held up by our -revered Channing,—to remember those in bonds as bound -with them; ever to attempt to do for them, as we would -that the now enslaved or fugitive should do for us in an -exchange of circumstances,—to comfort and aid them in all -their attempts to escape from their oppressors, and by no means -to betray the fugitives, or in any way assist or give the least -countenance to the cruel men who would return them to -slavery.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Both the Preamble and Resolutions were cordially -seconded by Rev. Theodore Parker, and their adoption -urged in a brief but most significant speech. The moment -he had ceased speaking Henry Fuller, Esq., of -Boston, sprang to his feet, and, in an impassioned manner, -moved that the paper just read by the Rev. Mr. -May, of Syracuse, be not even received by the Association. -“This ecclesiastical body had nothing to do with -such a political matter. The entertaining of the subject<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_370">370</a></span> -here would be indecorous, and only help to increase the -alienation of feeling between the South and the North.” -With equal warmth of manner and speech Rev. Joseph -Richardson, of Hingham, seconded Mr. Fuller’s motion, -and cut off all debate by calling for the “previous question.” -So the motion not to receive my paper was put, -and carried by twenty-seven to twenty-two.</p> - -<p>The next day, at a meeting of the “Ministerial Conference,” -which comprised all the clerical members of -the American Unitarian Association, I proposed for -adoption the same Preamble and Resolution, and am -happy to add, with a much more gratifying result. The -following is a very brief report of the discussion and -action of that body, taken from <cite>The Commonwealth</cite> of -June 2, 1851:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Judd, of Augusta, Me., thought it the duty of -the clergy to speak freely upon the question of slavery, but -with perfect plainness to all parties. He approved of the sentiment -of the resolve, but disliked the preamble, as too personal -in its language.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. May, of Syracuse, N. Y., said reference was made -in the resolve to those only whom the Conference had a right -to mention, namely, prominent Unitarians who had sustained -the Fugitive Slave Law.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Dr. Hall, of Providence, R. I., thought that, as citizens, -as Unitarians, and as Christians, they were called upon -to speak in opposition to the law, but the right place should -be selected, in order that no false impression should be given -in case the topic should not be acted upon. For himself, he -should not obey the law, though the country went to pieces.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Parker, of Boston, read extracts from an English -paper, showing the action of an ecclesiastical body abroad -that had resolved not to countenance or admit to its pulpits -any of the American clergy who uphold the Fugitive Slave -Law or slavery.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Holland, of Rochester, N. Y., deemed obedience -to the law a violation of conscience and duty. His voice and -prayer were for progress and liberty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_371">371</a></span> -“Rev. Mr. Frost, of Concord, Mass., had had a committee -of his society ask him to abstain from preaching on slavery -thenceforth. He replied, that when the slave power had -taken possession of the departments of Government, controlled -the decisions of our courts, and influenced the moral -position of the Church itself, glossing over all the iniquities of -the system, he should not keep silence. Obedience to the -Fugitive Law was treason to God; he preferred to be disloyal -to man.</p> - -<p>“Rev. William H. Channing, of New York City, thought -the Church should take common ground against this national -sin. But to the slaveholder he would be fair and candid. -He would meet him in conclave, show him the evils of slavery, -the worth of freedom, and join with him in removing the -willing free colored population to the lands of the West, and -as a remuneration give them the blessings of free labor and -social prosperity.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Osgood, of New York City, admitted the iniquity -of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the sin of slavery, and -thought them proper subjects for pulpit discussion; but he -wanted a moral influence to be exerted, without a violation -of Christian gentleness. He said Rev. Mr. Furness, of Philadelphia, -and Rev. Dr. Dewey, of New York, had had a correspondence -in reference to the latter’s position on political -questions, and he (Mr. Osgood) honestly believed, from the -results of that correspondence, and from conversations he -himself had held with the Doctor, that, in his support of the -Slave Law, he was making self-sacrifice to what he conceived -his duty.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Pierpont, of Medford, proclaimed the superiority -of God’s law to man’s law. He would not obey the latter -when it interfered with the former. The government might -fine and imprison, but it could do no more; he was mindful -of the penalty, but he would not obey. If all would act with -him the law would fail of being executed.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Dr. Gannett, of Boston, was impressed with the immensity -of this question, the terrible awfulness that lay behind -it, and he would discuss it with all solemnity and seriousness -in view of the impending evil. He believed in his heart the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_372">372</a></span> -maintenance of government, the comfort of the people, <em>and -the perpetuity of our Union depended on the support of the -Fugitive Law</em>. He would not have the subject treated lightly, -but prayerfully, fearfully, in view of the great responsibilities -resting upon it. We should respect private convictions, -and allow the integrity of motives of those who differ with us.</p> - -<p>“Rev. Mr. Ellis, of Charlestown, hailed that day as the first -when these differences had been rightly discussed. But if the -Conference, comprising members of different though honest -views, should take ground on this question, he should leave -it. As an organized body we have nothing to do with it. -No action could be binding, and he was unwilling to have -the Conference interfere with the question. He had himself -ever entertained ultra-abolition views, and did now; but he -had no such fears for the Union as Brother Gannett. If the -Union was held together by so feeble a tenure as here presented, -he thought it was not worth saving; and further, if our -Northern land is to be the scouring-ground of slave-hunters, -the sooner the Union was sundered the better. But our -sphere of action did not allow interference with the question.</p> - -<p>“Dr. Gannett spoke of the character of that parishioner of -his who returned a slave (Curtis). He had done so from -convictions of his constitutional obligations as an upholder of -law and as a good citizen, and he esteemed that a wrong was -done him in stigmatizing him as a ‘cruel’ man, because of -that return, as the resolution expressed it.</p> - -<p>“On motion of Mr. Pierpont, the word ‘cruel’ was stricken -out, and the resolution having been previously altered so as -to make it a proposition for discussion rather than as a test -for votes, it was entered upon the records.</p> - -<p>“The debate (of which I have given a very limited sketch) -here terminated by general consent, the feeling being almost -unanimous as expressed by the majority of the speakers.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>But the Unitarians as a body were by no means redeemed -from the moral thraldom in which the whole -nation was held. There was still among them so little -heartfelt abhorrence of slavery and the Fugitive Slave -Law, that the year after Mr. Fillmore was dropped from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_373">373</a></span> -the presidency of the nation, which he had so dishonored, -he was specially invited to preside at the Annual Festival -of the Unitarians, to be given, if I remember correctly, -in Faneuil Hall. He declined the honor proffered him, -but our denomination was left to bear the shame of having -asked him to receive an expression of our respect, -as there was no protest against the action of the Committee.</p> - -<h3 id="hp373">THE RESCUE OF JERRY.</h3> - -<p>I should love to tell of the generous, daring, self-sacrificing -conflicts with the abettors and minions of the -slaveholders in different parts of our country. But I -must leave those bright pages to be written by the historian -of those times, and confine myself to that part of -the field where I saw and was engaged in the fight.</p> - -<p>In the early part of the summer of 1851 Mr. Webster -travelled quite extensively about the country, exerting -all his personal and official influence, and the -remnants of his eloquence, to persuade the people to -yield themselves to the requirements of the Fugitive -Slave Law. On the 5th or 6th of June he came to -Syracuse. He stood in a small balcony overlooking the -yard in front of our City Hall and the intervening street. -Of course he had a large audience. But his hearers -generally were disappointed in his appearance and -speech, and those who were not already members of the -proslavery party were much offended at his authoritative, -dictatorial, commanding tones and language. There -is no need that I should give an abstract of what he -said. It was but a rehash of his infamous speech in -Congress on the 7th of March, 1850. At or near the -close he said, in his severest manner, “Those persons in -this city who mean to oppose the execution of the Fugitive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_374">374</a></span> -Slave Law are traitors! traitors!! traitors!!! This -law ought to be obeyed, and it will be enforced,—yes, -it shall be enforced; in the city of Syracuse it shall be -enforced, and that, too, in the midst of the next antislavery -Convention, if then there shall be any occasion to -enforce it.” Indignation flashed from many eyes in that -assembly, and one might almost hear the gritting of -teeth in defiance of the threat.</p> - -<p>I stated on page <a href="#Page_354">354</a> that at the meeting on the -12th of October, 1850, we commenced an association -to co-operate and to bear one another’s burdens in defence -of any among us who should be arrested as slaves. -Many came into our agreement. We fixed upon a rendezvous, -and agreed that any one of our number, who -might know or hear of a person in danger, should toll -the bell of an adjoining meeting-house in a particular -manner, and that, on hearing that signal, we would all repair -at once to the spot, ready to do and to dare whatever -might seem to be necessary. Two or three times -in the ensuing twelve months the alarm was given, but -the cause for action was removed by the time we reached -our rendezvous, excepting in one case, when it was -thought advisable to send a guard to protect a threatened -man to Auburn or Rochester.</p> - -<p>But on the first day of October, 1851, a real and, as -it proved to be, a signal case was given us. Whether it -was given on that day intentionally to fulfil Mr. Webster’s -prediction is known only to those who have not -yet divulged the secret. There was, however, on that -day an antislavery convention in Syracuse, and, moreover, -a meeting of the County Agricultural Society, so that our -city was unusually full of people, which proved to be -favorable to our enterprise.</p> - -<p>Just as I was about to rise from my dinner on that -day I heard the signal-bell, and hurried towards the appointed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_375">375</a></span> -place, nearly a mile from my home. But I had -not gone half-way before I met the report that Jerry -McHenry had been claimed as a slave, arrested by the -police, and taken to the office of the Commissioner. So -I turned my steps thither. The nearer I got to the -place, the more persons I met, all excited, many of them -infuriated by the thought that a man among us was to -be carried away into slavery.</p> - -<p>Jerry was an athletic mulatto, who had been residing -in Syracuse for a number of years, and working quite -expertly, it was said, as a cooper. I found him in the -presence of the Commissioner with the District Attorney, -who was conducting the trial,—a one-sided process, -in which the agent of the claimant alone was to be -heard in proof, that the prisoner was an escaped slave -belonging to a Mr. Reynolds, of Missouri. The doomed -man was not to be allowed to state his own case, nor -refute the testimony of his adversary, however false it -might be. While we were attending to the novel proceedings, -Jerry, not being closely guarded, slipped out -of the room under the guidance of a young man of more -zeal than discretion, and in a moment was in the street -below. The crowd cheered and made way for him, but -no vehicle having been provided to help his escape, he -was left to depend upon his agility as a runner. Being -manacled, he could not do his best; but he had got off -nearly half a mile, before the police officers and their -partisans overtook him. I was not there to witness the -meeting; but it was said the rencounter was a furious -one. Jerry fought like a tiger, but fought against overwhelming -odds. He was attacked behind and before -and soon subdued. He was battered and bruised, his -clothes sadly torn and bloody, and one rib cracked, if -not broken. In this plight he was thrown upon a carman’s -wagon, two policemen sat upon him, one across<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_376">376</a></span> -his legs, the other across his body, and thus confined he -was brought down through the centre of the city, and -put into a back room of the police office, the whole -<em>posse</em> being gathered there to guard him. The people, -citizens and strangers, were alike indignant. As I passed -amongst them I heard nothing but execrations and -threats of release. Two or three times men came to me -and said, “Mr. May, speak the word, and we’ll have -Jerry out.” “And what will you do with him,” I replied, -“when you get him out? You have just seen the -bad effect of one ill-advised attempt to rescue him. -Wait until proper arrangements are made. Stay near -here to help at the right moment and in the right way. -In a little while it will be quite dark, and then the poor -fellow can be easily disposed of.”</p> - -<p>Presently the Chief of the Police came to me, and -said, “Jerry is in a perfect rage, a fury of passion; do -come in and see if you can quiet him.” So I followed -into the little room where he was confined. He was indeed -a horrible object. I was left alone with him, and -sat down by his side. So soon as I could get him to -hear me, I said, “Jerry, do try to be calm.” “Would -you be calm,” he roared out, “with these irons on you? -What have I done to be treated so? Take off these -handcuffs, and then if I do not fight my way through -these fellows that have got me here,—then you may -make me a slave.” Thus he raved on, until in a momentary -interval I whispered, “Jerry, we are going to -rescue you; do be more quiet!” “Who are you?” he -cried. “How do I know you can or will rescue me?” -After a while I told him by snatches what we meant to -do, who I was, and how many there were who had come -resolved to save him from slavery. At length he seemed -to believe me, became more tranquil, and consented to -lie down, so I left him. Immediately after I went to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_377">377</a></span> -the office of the late Dr. Hiram Hoyt, where I found -twenty or thirty picked men laying a plan for the rescue. -Among them was Gerrit Smith, who happened to be in -town attending the Liberty Party Convention. It was -agreed that a skilful and bold driver in a strong buggy, -with the fleetest horse to be got in the city, should be -stationed not far off to receive Jerry, when he should be -brought out. Then to drive hither and thither about -the city until he saw no one pursuing him; not to attempt -to get out of town, because it was reported that -every exit was well guarded, but to return to a certain -point near the centre of the city, where he would find -two men waiting to receive his charge. With them he -was to leave Jerry, and know nothing about the place of -his retreat.</p> - -<p>At a given signal the doors and windows of the police -office were to be demolished at once, and the rescuers to -rush in and fill the room, press around and upon the officers, -overwhelming them by their numbers, not by blows, -and so soon as they were confined and powerless by the -pressure of bodies about them, several men were to take -up Jerry and bear him to the buggy aforesaid. Strict -injunctions were given, and it was agreed not intentionally -to injure the policemen. Gerrit Smith and several -others pressed this caution very urgently upon those who -were gathered in Dr. Hoyt’s office. And the last thing -I said as we were coming away was, “If any one is to be -injured in this fray, I hope it may be one of our own -party.”</p> - -<p>The plan laid down as I have sketched it was well -and quickly executed, about eight o’clock in the evening. -The police office was soon in our possession. One officer -in a fright jumped out of a window and seriously injured -himself. Another officer fired a pistol and slightly -wounded one of the rescuers. With these exceptions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_378">378</a></span> -there were no personal injuries. The driver of the -buggy managed adroitly, escaped all pursuers, and about -nine o’clock delivered Jerry into the hands of Mr. Jason -S. Hoyt and Mr. James Davis. They led him not many -steps to the house of the late Caleb Davis, who with his -wife promptly consented to give the poor fellow a shelter -in their house, at the corner of Genesee and Orange -Streets. Here they at once cut off his shackles, and -after some refreshing food put him to bed. Now the -excitement was over, Jerry was utterly exhausted, and -soon became very feverish. A physician was called, who -dressed his wounds and administered such medicine as -was applicable. But rest, sleep, was what he needed, and -he enjoyed them undisturbed for five days,—only four or -five persons, besides Mr. and Mrs. Davis, knowing what -had become of Jerry. It was generally supposed he had -gone to Canada. But the next Sunday evening, just after -dark, a covered wagon with a span of very fleet horses -was seen standing for a few minutes near the door of Mr. -Caleb Davis’s house. Mr. Jason S. Hoyt and Mr. James -Davis were seen to help a somewhat infirm man into the -vehicle, jump in themselves, and start off at a rapid rate. -Suspicion was awakened, and several of the “patriots” of -our city set off in pursuit of the “traitors.” The chase -was a hot one for eight or ten miles, but Jerry’s deliverers -had the advantage on the start, and in the speed -of the horses that were bearing him to liberty. They -took him that night about twenty miles to the house of -a Mr. Ames, a Quaker, in the town of Mexico. There -he was kept concealed several days, and then conveyed -to the house of a Mr. Clarke, on the confines of the city -of Oswego. This gentleman searched diligently nearly a -week for a vessel that would take Jerry across to the -dominions of the British Queen. He dared not trust a -Yankee captain, and the English vessels were so narrowly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_379">379</a></span> -watched, that it was not until several days had elapsed -that he was able to find one who would undertake to -transport a fugitive slave over the lake. At length the -captain of a small craft agreed to set sail after dark, and -when well off on the lake to hoist a light to the top of -his mast, that his whereabouts might be known. Mr. -Clarke took Jerry to a less frequented part of the shore, -embarked with him in a small boat, and rowed him to -the little schooner of the friendly captain. By him he -was taken to Kingston, where he soon was established -again in the business of a cooper. Not many days after -his arrival there we received a letter from him, expressing -in the warmest terms his gratitude for what the -Abolitionists in Syracuse had done in his behalf. After -pouring out a heartful of thanks to us, he assured us -that he had been led to think more than ever before of -his indebtedness to God,—the ultimate Source of all -goodness,—and had been brought to the resolution to -lead a purer, better life than he had ever done. We -heard afterwards that he was well married, and was -living comfortably and respectably. But, ere the fourth -year of his deliverance had closed, he was borne away -to that world where there never was and never will be -a slaveholder nor a slave.</p> - -<p>Foiled in their attempt to lay a tribute at the feet of -the Southern oligarchy, the officers of the United States -Government set about to punish us “traitors,” who had -evinced so much more regard for “the rights of man conferred -by God” than for a wicked law enacted by Congress. -Eighteen of us were indicted. The accusation -was brought before Judge Conkling at Auburn. Thither, -therefore, the accused were taken. But we went accompanied -by nearly a hundred of our fellow-citizens, many -of them the most prominent men of Syracuse, with not -a few ladies. So soon as the indictment was granted,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_380">380</a></span> -and bailors called for, Hon. William H. Seward stepped -forward and put his name first upon the bond. His good -example was promptly followed, and the required amount -was quickly pledged by a number of our most responsible -gentlemen. Mr. Seward then invited the rescuers of -Jerry and their friends, especially the ladies, to his house, -where all were hospitably entertained until it was time -for us to return to Syracuse.</p> - -<p>But the hand of law was not laid upon the friends of -Jerry alone. James Lear, the agent of his claimant, and -the Deputy Marshal who assisted him, were arrested on -warrants for attempting to kidnap a citizen of Syracuse. -They, however, easily escaped conviction on the plea -that they were acting under a law of the United States.</p> - -<p>Many of the political newspapers were emphatic in -their condemnation of our resistance to the law, and only -a few ventured to justify it. <cite>The Advertiser</cite> and <cite>The -American</cite> of Rochester, <cite>The Gazette</cite> and <cite>Observer</cite> of Utica, -<cite>The Oneida Whig</cite>, <cite>The Register</cite>, <cite>The Argus</cite>, and <cite>The Express</cite> -of Albany, <cite>The Courier and Inquirer</cite> and <cite>The Express</cite> -of New York, although of opposite political parties, -were agreed in pronouncing “the rescue of Jerry a disgraceful, -demoralizing, and alarming act.”</p> - -<p>A mass convention of the citizens of Onondaga County, -called to consider the propriety of the rescue, met in our -City Hall on the 15th of October, and with entire unanimity -passed a series of resolutions fully justifying and -applauding the deed.</p> - -<p>Ten days afterwards, an opposing convention of the -city and county was held in the same place, and sent -forth an opposite opinion, but not without dissent.</p> - -<p>In one of our city papers I was called out by three of -my fellow-citizens as the one more responsible than any -other for the rescue of Jerry, and was challenged to justify -such an open defiance of a law of my country. Thus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_381">381</a></span> -was the subject kept before the public, and the questions -involved in it were pretty thoroughly discussed.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the United States District Attorney was -not neglectful of his official duty. He summoned several -of the indicted ones to trial at Buffalo, at Albany, and at -Canandaigua. But he did not obtain a conviction in either -case. Gerrit Smith, Charles A. Wheaton, and myself -published in the papers an acknowledgment that we had -assisted all we could in the rescue of Jerry; that we were -ready for trial; would give the Court no trouble as to the -fact, and should rest our defence upon the unconstitutionality -and extreme wickedness of the Fugitive Slave -Law. The Attorney did not, however, see fit to bring -the matter to that test. He brought a poor colored man—Enoch -Reed—to trial at Albany, and summoned me -as one of the witnesses against him. When called to the -stand to tell the jury all that I knew of Mr. Reed’s participation -in the rescue, I testified that I saw him doing -what hundreds of others did or attempted to do, and -that he was not particularly conspicuous in that good -work. The Attorney was much offended. He assured -the Judge that I knew much more about the matter than -I had told the jury, and requested him to remind me of -my oath to tell the whole truth. When the Court had -so admonished me, I bowed and said: “May it please -your Honor, I do know all about the rescue of Jerry; -and if the prosecuting officer will arraign Gerrit Smith, -Charles A. Wheaton or myself, I shall have occasion -to tell the jury all about the transaction. I have now -truly given the jury all the testimony I have to give respecting -the prisoner at the bar.”</p> - -<p>Of course Enoch Reed was acquitted, and no other one -of those indicted was convicted. The last attempt to -procure a conviction was made at Canandaigua, before -Judge Hall, of the United States District Court, in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_382">382</a></span> -autumn of 1852. A few days before the setting of that -Court, Mr. Gerrit Smith sent copies of a handbill to be -distributed in that village and the surrounding country, -announcing that he would be in Canandaigua at the time -of the Court, and speak to the people who might assemble -to hear him, on the atrocious wickedness of the Fugitive -Slave Law.</p> - -<p>On his arrival at Canandaigua, Mr. Smith found all the -public buildings closed against him. He therefore requested -that a wagon might be drawn into an adjoining -pasture, and notice given that he would speak there. At -the appointed hour a large assembly had gathered to -hear him. He addressed them in his most impressive -manner. He exposed fully the great iniquity that was -about to be attempted in the court-room hard by,—the -iniquity of sentencing a man as guilty of a crime for -doing that which, in the sight of God, was innocent, -praiseworthy,—yes, required by the Golden Rule. He -argued to the jurors, who might be in the crowd surrounding -him, that, whatever might be the testimony -given them to prove that Jerry was a slave; whatever -words might be quoted from statutes or constitutions to -show that a man can be by law turned into a slave, a -chattel, the property of another man, they nevertheless -might, with a good conscience, bring in a verdict acquitting -any one of crime, who should be accused before them -of having helped to rescue a fellow-man from those who -would make him a slave. “If,” said he, “the ablest -lawyer should argue before you, and quote authorities to -prove that an article which you know to be wood is -stone or iron, would you consent to regard it as stone or -iron, and bring in a verdict based upon such a supposition, -even though the judge in his charge should instruct -you so to do? I trust not. So neither should any argument -or amount of testimony or weight of authorities<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_383">383</a></span> -satisfy you that a man is a chattel. Jurors cannot be -bound more than other persons to believe an absurdity.”</p> - -<p>The United States Attorney, Mr. Garvin, found that -he could not empanel a jury upon which there were not -several who had formed an opinion against the law. So -he let all the “Jerry Rescue Causes” fall to the ground -forever.</p> - -<p>At the time of this his boldest, most defiant act, Mr. -Smith was a member of Congress. For this reason “his -contempt of the Court,” “his disrespect for the forms of -law, the precedents of judicial decisions, and the authority -of the constitution,” was pronounced by “the wise and -prudent” to be the more shameful, mischievous, and -alarming. But “the common people” could not be easily -convinced that any wrong could be so great as enslaving -a man, nor that it was criminal to help him escape from -servile bondage.</p> - -<p>My readers will readily believe that we exulted not a -little in the triumph of our exploit. For several years -afterwards we celebrated the 1st of October as the anniversary -of the greatest event in the history of Syracuse. -Either because, in 1852, there was no hall in our city capacious -enough to accommodate so large a meeting as we -expected, or else because we could not obtain the most -capacious hall,—for one or the other of these reasons,—the -first anniversary of the Rescue of Jerry was celebrated -in the rotunda of the New York Central Railroad, -just then completed for the accommodation of the engines. -John Wilkinson, Esq., at that time President of -the road, promptly, and without our solicitation, proffered -the use of the building, large enough to hold thousands. -It was well filled. Gerrit Smith presided, and the -speeches made by him, by Mr. Garrison, and other prominent -Abolitionists, together with the letters of congratulation -received from Hon. Charles Sumner, Rev. Theodore<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_384">384</a></span> -Parker, and others, would fill a volume, half the size of -this, with the most exalted political and moral sentiments, -and not a few passages of sublime eloquence.</p> - -<p>After our triumph over the Fugitive Slave Law, we -Abolitionists in Central New York enjoyed for several -years a season of comparative peace. We held our -regular and our occasional antislavery meetings without -molestation, and were encouraged in the belief that our -sentiments were coming to be more generally received. -The Republican party was evidently bound to become an -abolition party. Hon. Charles Sumner was doing excellent -service in the Senate of the United States, and -Hon. Henry Wilson and others in Congress were seconding -his efforts, to bring the legislators of our nation -to see and own that the institution of slavery was utterly -incompatible with a free, democratic government, -and irreconcilable with the Christian religion.</p> - -<p>Still we could perceive no signs of repentance in the -slaveholding States, and had despaired of a <em>peaceful</em> -settlement of the great controversy. How soon the appeal -to the arbitrament of war would come we could not -predict; but we saw it to be inevitable. All, therefore, -that remained for the friends of our country and of humanity -to do, was diligently to disseminate throughout the -non-slaveholding States a just appreciation of the great -question at issue between the North and the South; a -true respect for the God-given rights of man, which our -nation had so impiously dared to trample upon; and the -sincere belief that nothing less than the extermination of -slavery from our borders could insure the true union of -the States and the prosperity of our Republic. To this -work of patriotism, as well as benevolence, therefore, we -addressed ourselves so long as the terrible chastisement -which our nation had incurred was delayed.</p> - -<p>Wellnigh exhausted by my unremitted attention to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_385">385</a></span> -the duties of my profession, and to the several great reforms -that have signalized the last fifty years, I was persuaded -to go to Europe for recreation and the recovery -of my health. I spent six months of the year 1859 on -the Continent, and three months in England, Scotland, -and Ireland.</p> - -<p>Numerous as are the interesting places and persons to -be seen in each of these last-named countries, I must confess -that my greatest attraction to them was the expectation -of seeing many of the friends of liberty, who had co-operated -so generously with us for the abolition of slavery. -And in this respect I was not disappointed. I -lectured by request to large audiences in several of the -chief cities of the kingdom. But, what was much better, -I had meetings for conversation with the prominent -Abolitionists, especially in London, Glasgow, and Dublin. -These were numerously attended, and the intelligent -questions put to me, by those who were so well informed -and so deeply interested in the cause of my enslaved -countrymen, saved me from misspending a minute on -the commonplaces of the subject, and led me to give our -friends the most recent information of the kinds they -craved.</p> - -<p>I remember particularly the conversations that I had -in Glasgow and Dublin. The former was held in the -ample, well-stored library room of Professor Nichol of -the University of that city. His wife was, a few years -before, Miss Elizabeth Pease, one of the earliest, best-informed, -and most liberal of our English fellow-laborers. -He promptly concurred with her in cordially inviting me -to his home. And on my second or third visit, he had -gathered there to meet me the prominent Abolitionists -of the city and immediate neighborhood. He presided -at the meeting, and introduced me in a most comprehensive -and impressive speech on human freedom,—the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_386">386</a></span> -paramount right of man,—of all men,—demanding -protection wherever it was denied or endangered from -all who can give it aid, without consideration of distance -or nationality. That well-spent evening I shall never -forget, especially his and his wife’s contributions of wise -thought and elevated sentiment. But my too brief personal -acquaintance with them is kept more sacred in my -memory by his death, which happened soon after, and -an intensely interesting incident connected with it.</p> - -<p>At Dublin and its vicinity I spent a fortnight,—too -short a time. But I had the happiness, while there, -of seeing face to face several of our warm-hearted sympathizers -and active co-laborers, especially James Haughton, -Esq., and Richard D. Webb. The former I found -to be more engaged in the cause of Peace, and much -more of Temperance, than in the antislavery cause. Indeed, -in the cause of Temperance he had done then, and -has done since, more than any other man in Ireland, excepting -Father Matthew. Still, he had always been, and -was then, heartily in earnest for the abolition of slavery -everywhere.</p> - -<p>But Richard D. Webb could hardly have taken a more -active part with American Abolitionists, or have rendered -us much more valuable services, if he had been a -countryman of ours, and living in our midst. The readers -of <cite>The Liberator</cite> cannot have forgotten how often communications -from his pen appeared in its columns, nor how -thorough an acquaintance they evinced with whatever -pertained to our conflict with “the peculiar institution,” -that great anomaly in our democracy. Mr. Webb was -afterwards the author of an excellent memoir of John -Brown, whose “soul is still marching on,”—the spirit -of whose hatred of oppression, and sympathy with the -down-trodden, is spreading wider and descending deeper -into the hearts of our people, and will continue so to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_387">387</a></span> -spread, until every vestige of slavery shall be effaced from -our land, and all the inhabitants thereof shall enjoy -equal rights and privileges on the same conditions. Mr. -Webb’s memoir shows how justly he appreciated and -how heartily he admired the intentions of John Brown, -whatever he thought of the expediency of his plan of -operations. For a week I enjoyed the hospitality of -Mrs. Edmundson, and at her house met one evening -many of the moral <em>élite</em> of Dublin, for conversation respecting -the conflict with slavery in our country. Their -inquiries showed them to be very well informed on the -subject, and alive to whatever then seemed likely to affect -the issue favorably or unfavorably.</p> - -<p>Lord Morpeth, who was at that time Lord Lieutenant -of Ireland, graciously invited me to lunch with him. -He had visited our country a few years before, and had -manifested while here the deepest interest in the principles -and purposes of the Abolitionists. I was delighted -to find that he and his sister, Lady Howard, continued -to be as much concerned as ever for our success.</p> - -<p>On my return from Europe, early in November, 1859, -the steamer stopped as usual at Halifax. There we -first received the tidings of John Brown’s raid, and the -failure of his enterprise. I felt at once that it was “the -beginning of the end” of our conflict with slavery. -There were several Southern gentlemen and ladies -among our fellow-passengers, and Northern sympathizers -with them, as well as others of opposite opinions. During -our short passage from Halifax to Boston there was -evidently a deep excitement in many bosoms. Occasionally -words of bitter execration escaped the lips of one -and another of the proslavery party. But there was no -dispute or general conversation upon the subject. The -event, of which we had just heard, was a portent of too -much magnitude to be hastily estimated, and the consequences -thereof flippantly foretold.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_388">388</a></span> -On my arrival in Boston, and the next day in Syracuse, -I found the public in a state of high excitement; -and for two or three months the case of John Brown -was the subject of continual debate in private circles as -well as public meetings. The murmurs and threats that -came daily from the South, intimated plainly enough -that the slaveholding oligarchy were preparing for something -harsher than a war of words. They were gathering -themselves to rule or ruin our Republic. Under -the imbecile administration of Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary -of War, John B. Floyd, could do as he saw fit in -his department. It was observed that the arms and -ammunition of the nation, with the greater part of the -small army needed in times of peace, were removed and -disposed of in such places as would make them most -available to the Southerners, if the emergency for which -they were preparing should come. They awaited only -the issue of the next presidential contest. The first ten -months of the year 1860 were given to that contest. -All the strength of the two political parties was put in -requisition, drawn out, and fully tested and compared. -And when victory crowned the friends of freedom and -human rights,—when the election of Mr. Lincoln was -proclaimed,—then came forth from the South the fierce -cry of disunion, and the standard of a new Confederacy -was set up. It is not my intention to enter upon the -period of our Civil War. These Recollections will close -with occurrences before the fall of Fort Sumter.</p> - -<p>In pursuance of a plan adopted several years before, -by the American Antislavery Society, arrangements were -made early in December, 1860, to hold our annual conventions -during the months of January and February, in -Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, and in a dozen other of the -principal cities and villages between the two extremes. -We who had devoted ourselves so assiduously for a quarter<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_389">389</a></span> -of a century or more to the subversion of the slavery -in our land, of course had many thoughts and feelings -upon the subject at that time, which pressed for utterance. -We were the last persons who could be indifferent -to the state of our country in 1860, or be silent in -view of it. Nor had we any reason then to suppose that -our counsels and admonitions would be particularly unacceptable -to the people, as we were then frequently -assured that the public sentiment of New York, as well -as New England, had become quite antislavery.</p> - -<p>We were not a little surprised, therefore, at the new outbreak -of violent opposition in Boston, and afterwards in -Buffalo and other places. About the middle of January -I attended the convention at Rochester, where we were -rudely treated and grossly insulted. I could no longer -doubt that there was a concerted plan, among the Democrats -everywhere, to evince a revival of their zeal in behalf -of their Southern partisans by breaking up our -meetings. And it appeared that the Republicans were -afraid to take the responsibility, and incur the new -odium of protecting our conventions in their constitutional -rights. Still I hoped better things of Syracuse.</p> - -<p>But a few days before the time appointed for our Convention, -I was earnestly requested by the Mayor of the -city to prevent the holding of such a meeting. I replied -I would do so, if there was indeed so little respect for -the liberty of speech in Syracuse that the assembly -would be violently dispersed. In answer to this, his -Honor assured me that, much as he wished we would -forbear to exercise our undoubted right, still, if we felt -it to be our duty to hold the convention, “he would -fearlessly use every means at his command to secure -order, and to prevent any interference with our proceedings.” -Thus he took from me the only apology I could -offer to our Committee of Arrangements for interposing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_390">390</a></span> -to prevent the assembling of a meeting, which they had -called in accordance with the duty assigned them.</p> - -<p>A day or two afterwards I received a letter, written -probably at the solicitation of the Mayor, and signed by -twenty of the most respectable gentlemen of Syracuse -(ten of them prominent members of my church), urging -me to prevent the holding of the convention, as “they -were credibly informed that an organized and forcible effort -would be made to oppose us, and a collision might -ensue between the police force of the city and a lawless -mob.” Still, they assured me that they recognized our -right to hold such a convention, and “that they should be -in duty bound to aid in protecting us if we did assemble.” -I felt obliged to answer them very much as I had answered -the Mayor, and added what <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<p>“In common with my associates, I am very sincere in -believing that the principles we inculcate, and the measures -we advise, are the only ones that can (without war) -extirpate from our country the root of that evil which -now overshadows us, and threatens our ruin. We have -much to say to the people, much that we deem it very -important that they should hear and believe, lest they -bow themselves to another compromise with the slaveholding -oligarchy, which for many years has really ruled -our Republic, and which nothing will satisfy but the -entire subjugation of our liberties to their supposed -interests.</p> - -<p>“We perceive that the ‘strong’ men of the Republican -party are trembling, and concession and compromise -are coming to be their policy. We deprecate their -fears, their want of confidence in moral principle and in -God. We therefore feel deeply urged to cry aloud, and -warn the people of the snare into which politicians would -lead them. We are bound at least to <em>offer</em> to them the -word of truth, whether they will hear or whether they -will forbear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_391">391</a></span> -“If, gentlemen, you had assured me that our proposed -meeting will be violently assaulted; that those who -may assemble peacefully to listen will not be allowed to -hear us; that they will be dispersed with insult if not -with personal injury; and that you, gentlemen of influence -as you are, shall stand aside and let the violent have -their way; then I should have felt it to be incumbent -on me to advertise the friends of liberty and humanity -that it would not be worth their while to convene here, -as it would be only to be dispersed.</p> - -<p>“But, gentlemen, as you generously ‘affirm,’ in the -letter before me, ‘that your duties as citizens will require -you to aid in extending protection to our convention, -in case it shall be convened, in the exercise of all -the rights which all deliberative bodies may claim,’ and -as the Mayor of our city has assured me that ‘he shall -fearlessly use every means at his command to secure -order and to prevent any interference with our proceedings,’ -I should not be justified in assuming the responsibility -of postponing the convention. For, gentlemen, if -you will do what you acknowledge to be your duty, and -if the Mayor will fulfil his generous promise, I am confident -the rioters will be overawed, the liberty of speech -will be vindicated, and our city rescued from a deep disgrace.</p> - -<p>“Yours, gentlemen, in great haste, but very respectfully,</p> - -<p class="sigright b1"> -“<span class="smcap">Samuel J. May</span>.” -</p> - -<p>Just before the hour appointed for the opening of the -convention, on the 29th of January, 1861, I went to the -hall which I had hired for its accommodation. It was already -fully occupied by the rioters. A meeting had been -organized, and the chairman was making his introductory -speech. So soon as he had finished it, I addressed him:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_392">392</a></span> -“Mr. Chairman, there is some mistake here, or a greater -wrong. More than a week ago I engaged this hall for -our Annual Antislavery Convention to be held at this -hour.” Immediately, several rough men turned violently -upon me, touched my head and face with their doubled -fists, and swore they would knock me down, and thrust -me out of the hall, if I said another word. Meanwhile, -the Rev. Mr. Strieby, of the Plymouth Church, had succeeded -in getting upon the platform, and had commenced -a remonstrance, when he was set upon in like manner, -and threatened with being thrown down and put out, if -he did not desist at once.</p> - -<p>The only police officer that I saw in the hall soon after -rose, addressed the chairman and said: “I came here, -Sir, by order of the Mayor, who had heard that there was -to be a disturbance, and that the liberty of speech would -be outraged here. But I see no indications of such an -intended wrong. The meeting seems to me to be an -orderly one, properly organized. I approve the objects of -the meeting as set forth in your introductory speech, and -trust you will have a quiet time.”</p> - -<p>Thus dispossessed, we of course retired, and, after consultation, -agreed to gather as many of the members of -the intended convention, as could be found, at the dwelling-house -of Dr. R. W. Pease, who generously proffered -us the use of it. A large number of ladies and gentlemen -assembled there early in the evening, and were duly organized. -Pertinent and impressive addresses were made -by Beriah Green, Aaron M. Powell, Susan B. Anthony, -C. D. B. Mills, and others, after which a series of resolutions -was passed, of which the following were the most -<span class="locked">important:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That the only escape for nations, as well as individuals, -from sin and its consequences, is by the way of unfeigned -repentance; and that our proud Republic must go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_393">393</a></span> -down in ruin, unless the people shall be brought to repentance,—shall -be persuaded to ‘cease to do evil, and learn to -do well; to seek justice, relieve the oppressed.’ Compromises -with the wrong-doers will only plunge us deeper in their iniquity. -Civil war will not settle the difficulty, but complicate -it all the more, and superadd rapine and murder to the sin of -slaveholding. The dissolution of the Union, even, may not -relieve us; for if slavery still remains in the land, it will be a -perpetual trouble to the inhabitants thereof, whether they be -separate or whether they be united; slavery must be abolished, -or there can be no peace within these borders.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That our General Government ought to abolish -all Fugitive Slave Laws; for, unless they can dethrone God, the -people will ever be under higher obligations to obey him than -to obey any laws, any constitutions that men may have framed -and enacted. And the law of God requires us to befriend the -friendless, to succor the distressed, to hide the outcast, to deliver -the oppressed.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That as the people of the free States have from -the beginning been partakers in the iniquity of slavery,—accomplices -of the oppressors of the poor laborers at the South,—therefore -we ought to join hands with them in any well-devised -measures for the emancipation of their bondmen. Our -wealth and the wealth of the nation ought to be put in requisition, -to relieve those who may impoverish themselves by -setting their captives free; to furnish the freed men with such -comforts, conveniences, implements of labor as they may need; -and to establish such educational and religious institutions as -will be indispensable everywhere, to enable them, and, yet -more, their children and children’s children, to become what -the free people, the citizens of self-governing states, ought to -be,—<em>intelligent</em>, <em>moral</em>, <em>religious</em>.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That the abolition of slavery is the great concern -of the American people,—‘the one thing needful’ for them,—without -which there can be no union, no peace, no political virtue, -no real, lasting prosperity in all these once United States.</p> - -<p>“<em>Resolved</em>, That, so far from its being untimely or inappropriate -to stand forth for unpopular truths, in seasons of great -popular excitement, apprehension, and wide passionate denial<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_394">394</a></span> -of them, it is then pre-eminently timely, appropriate, and all -vitally important, whether regarded in view of the paramount -obligations of fealty to the Supreme King, or the sacred considerations -of the redemption and welfare of mankind; and as -it behooved then most of all to speak for Jesus, when Jesus was -arraigned for condemnation and crucifixion, as it has ever been -the bounden and, sooner or later, the well-acknowledged duty -of every friend of the truth in past history to stand firm, and -ever firmer in its behalf, amid whatever wave of passion, malignity, -and madness, even though the multitude all shout, Crucify! -and devils be gathered thick as tiles on the house-tops of -Worms to devour; so at the present hour it sacredly behooves -Abolitionists to abide fast by their principles, and in the very -midst of the present storm of passion and insane folly, in face -of every assault, whether of threat or infliction, to speak for -the slave and for man; and, with an earnestness and pointed -emphasis unknown before, to press home upon their countrymen -the question daily becoming more imminent and vital, -whether the few vestiges of freedom yet remaining shall be -blotted out, and this entire land overswept with tyranny, violence, -and blood.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>The members of the Convention refused to make any -further attempt to hold a public meeting, but the citizens -who were present at Dr. Pease’s house resolved to attempt -a meeting the next forenoon in the hall from which -the convention had been expelled, for the express purpose -of testing the faithfulness of the city authorities, -and manifesting a just indignation at the outrage which -had been perpetrated in our midst upon some of the -fundamental rights of a free people. But the attempt -was frustrated by the same rioters that had ruled the -day before.</p> - -<p>And the following night the mob celebrated their too -successful onslaught upon popular liberty by a procession -led by a band of music, with transparent banners, bearing -these <span class="locked">inscriptions:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_395">395</a></span></p> - -<p class="center vspace"> -“<span class="smcap">Freedom of Speech, but not Treason.</span>”<br /> -“<span class="smcap">The Rights of the South must be protected.</span>”<br /> -“<span class="smcap">Abolitionism no longer in Syracuse.</span>”<br /> -“<span class="smcap">The Jerry Rescuers played out.</span>” -</p> - -<p>Prominently in the procession there were carried two -large-sized effigies,—one of a man the other of a woman,—the -former bearing my name, the latter Miss Anthony’s. -After parading through some of the principal -streets, the procession repaired to Hanover Square, the -centre of the business part of our city, and there amid -shouts, hootings, mingled with disgusting profanity and -ribaldry, the effigies were burned up; but not the great -realities for which we were contending.</p> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<p>For more than thirty years the Abolitionists had been -endeavoring to rouse the people to exterminate slavery -by moral, ecclesiastical, and political instrumentalities, -urging them to their duty by every religious consideration, -and by reiterating the solemn admonition of Thomas -Jefferson, that “If they would not liberate the enslaved -in the land by the generous energies of their own minds -and hearts, the slaves would be liberated by the awful -processes of civil and servile war.” But the counsels of -the Abolitionists were spurned, their sentiments and -purposes were shamelessly misrepresented, their characters -traduced, their property destroyed, their persons -maltreated. And lo! our country, favored of Heaven -above all others, was given up to fratricidal, parricidal, -and for a while we feared it would be suicidal war.</p> - -<p>God be praised! the threatened dissolution of our -Union was averted. But discord still reigns in the land. -Our country is not surely saved. It was right that our -Federal Government should be forbearing in their treatment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_396">396</a></span> -of the Southern Rebels, because the people of -the North had been, to so great an extent, their partners -in the enslavement of our fellow-men, that it would -have ill become us to have punished them condignly. -But our Government has been guilty of great injustice -to the colored population of the South, who were all -loyal throughout the war. These should not have been -left as they have been, in a great measure, at the mercy -of their former masters. Homes and adequate portions -of the land (they so long had cultivated without compensation) -ought to have been secured to every family of -the Freedmen, and some provision for their education -should have been made. With these and the elective -franchise conferred upon them, the Freedmen might -safely have been left to maintain themselves in their new -condition, and work themselves out of the evils that -were enforced upon them by their long enslavement.</p> - -<p>May the sad experience of the past prompt and impel -our nation, before it be too late, to do all for the colored -population of our country, South and North, that -righteousness demands at our hands.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_397">397</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="hp397">APPENDIX.</h2> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix I.</span></h3> - -<p>On page <a href="#Page_137">137</a> I have alluded to Hon. J. G. Palfrey. He -evinced his respect for the rights of man by an act which was -incomparably more significant and convincing than the most -eloquent words could have been. On the death of his father, -who was a slaveholder in Louisiana, he became heir to one -third of the estate, comprising about fifty slaves. His co-heirs -would readily have taken his share of these chattels and have -given him an equivalent in land or money. But he was too -conscientious to consent to such a bargain. If his portion of -his father’s bondmen should thereafter continue in slavery, it -must be by an act of his own will, and involve him in the -crime of making merchandise of men. From this his whole -soul revolted. Accordingly, he requested that such a division -of the slaves might be made as would put the largest number -of them into his share. The money value of the women, -children, and old men being much less than that of the able-bodied -men, twenty-two of the slaves were assigned to him. -I presume their market value could not have been less than -nine thousand dollars. All of them were brought on, at Mr. -Palfrey’s expense, from Louisiana to Massachusetts.</p> - -<p>Assisted by his Abolitionist friends, especially Mrs. L. M. -Child, Mrs. E. G. Loring, and the Hathaways of Farmington, -N. Y., and their Quaker friends, he succeeded after a while in -getting them all well situated in good families, where the old -were kindly cared for, the able-bodied adults were employed -and duly remunerated for their labors, and the young were -brought up to be worthy and useful. It has been my happiness<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_398">398</a></span> -to be personally acquainted with some of them and their -friends, and to know that what I have stated above is true. -Their transportation from Louisiana to Massachusetts; their -maintenance here until places were found for them; and their -removal to their several homes, must have cost Mr. Palfrey -several hundred dollars,—I suppose eight or ten hundred. If -so, he nobly sacrificed ten thousand dollars’ worth of his patrimony -to his sense of right and his love of liberty.</p> - -<p>In 1847 this excellent man was elected a Representative -of Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States. As -those who knew him best confidently expected, he early took -high antislavery ground there.</p> - -<p>The following are extracts from his first speech in Congress: -“The question is not at all between North and South, but -between the many millions of non-slaveholding Americans, -North, South, East, and West, and the very few hundreds of -thousands of their fellow-citizens who hold slaves. It is time -that this idea of a geographical distinction of parties, with -relation to this subject, was abandoned. It has no substantial -foundation. Freedom, with its fair train of boundless blessings -for white and black,—slavery, with its untold miseries -for both,—these are the two parties in the field.... -I will now only express my deliberate and undoubting conviction, -that the time has quite gone by when the friends of -slavery might hope anything from an attempt to move the -South to disunion for its defence.... I do not believe -it is good policy for the slaveholders to let their neighbors -hear them talk of disunion. Unless I read very stupidly -the signs of the times, <em>it will not be the Union they -will thus endanger, but the interest to which they would sacrifice -it</em>. If they insist that the Union and slavery cannot live together, -they may be taken at their word, but <span class="smcap">it is the Union -that must stand</span>.”</p> - -<p>At its close, the Hon. J. Q. Adams is reported to have exclaimed: -“Thank God the seal is broken! Lord, now lettest -thou thy servant depart in peace.” And “the old man eloquent” -died at his post a month afterwards.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_399">399</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix II.</span></h3> - -<p>On page <a href="#Page_147">147</a> I have named, among other members of the -Society of Friends who gave us efficient support in the day -when we most needed help, Nathaniel Barney, then of -Nantucket. He was one of the earliest of the immediate -Abolitionists, was most explicit and fearless in the avowal -of his sentiments, most consistent and conscientious in acting -accordingly with them. He denounced “the prejudice against -color as opposed to every precept and principle of the Gospel,” -and said, “It betrays a littleness of soul to which, when -it is rightly considered, an honorable mind can never descend.” -Therefore, he would not ride in a stage-coach or other public -conveyance, from which an applicant for a seat was excluded -<em>because of his complexion</em>.</p> - -<p>He was a stockholder in the New Bedford and Taunton -Railroad. In 1842 he learned that <em>colored</em> persons were excluded -from the cars on that road. Immediately he sent an -admirable letter, dated April 14, 1842, to the New Bedford -<cite>Mercury</cite> for publication, condemning such proscription. It -was refused. He then offered it to the <cite>Bulletin</cite>, where it was -likewise rejected. At length it appeared in the New Bedford -<cite>Morning Register</cite>, and was worthy of being republished in -every respectable newspaper in our country. In it he said: -“The thought never entered my mind, when I advocated a -liberal subscription to that railroad among our citizens, that I -was contributing to a structure where, in coming years, should -be exhibited a cowardice and despotism which I know the -better feelings of the proprietors would, on reflection, repudiate.... -I cannot conscientiously withdraw the little I invested, -neither can I sell my share of the stock of this road, -while the existing prescriptive character attaches to it; and -with my present views and feelings, so long as the privileges -of the traveller are suspended on one of the accidents of humanity, -I should be recreant to every principle of propriety -and justice, <em>were I to receive aught of the price</em> which the directors -attach to them. In the exclusion, therefore, by the -established rules of one equally entitled with myself to a seat,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_400">400</a></span> -<em>I am excluded from any share of the money</em>,—the profit of -said infraction of right.”</p> - -<p>Surely, the name of such a man ought to be handed down -to our posterity to be duly honored, when the great and mean -iniquity of our nation shall be abhorred.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix III.</span></h3> - -<p>Speech of Gerrit Smith, referred to on page <a href="#Page_169">169</a>. I have -omitted a few passages for want of room.</p> - -<p>“On returning home from Utica last night, my mind was so -much excited with the horrid scenes of the day, and the frightful -encroachments made on the right of free discussion, that I -could not sleep, and at three o’clock I left my bed and drafted -this <span class="locked">resolution:—</span></p> - -<p>“‘<em>Resolved</em>, That the right of free discussion, given to us by -God, and asserted and guarded by the laws of our country, is -a right so vital to man’s freedom and dignity and usefulness, -that we can never be guilty of its surrender, without consenting -to exchange that freedom for slavery, and that dignity and -usefulness for debasement and worthlessness.’</p> - -<p>“I love our free and happy government, but not because it -confers any new rights upon us. Our rights spring from a -nobler source than human constitutions and governments,—from -the favor of Almighty God.</p> - -<p>“We are not indebted to the Constitution of the United -States, or of this State, for the right of free discussion. We -are thankful that they have hedged it about with so noble a -defence. We are thankful, I say, that they have neither restrained -nor abridged it; but we owe them no thanks for our -possession of rights which God gave us. And the proof that -he gave them is in the fact that he requires us to exercise them.</p> - -<p>“When, then, this right of free discussion is invaded, this -home-bred right, which is yours, and is mine, and belongs to -every member of the human family, it is an invasion of something -which was not obtained by human concession, something<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_401">401</a></span> -as old as our own being, a part of the original man, a -component portion of our own identity, something which we -cannot be deprived of without dismemberment, something -which we never can deprive ourselves of without ceasing to -be MEN.</p> - -<p>“This right, so sacred and essential, is now sought to be -trammelled, and is in fact virtually denied.... Men in -denying this right are not only guilty of violating the Constitution, -and destroying the blessings bought by the blood -and toil of our fathers, but guilty of making war with God -himself. I want to see this right placed on this true, this infinitely -high ground, as a DIVINE right. I want to see men -defend it and exercise it with that belief. I want to see men -determined to maintain, to their extremest boundaries, all the -rights which God has given them for their enjoyment, their -dignity, and their usefulness.</p> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<p>“We are even now threatened with legislative restrictions -on this right. Let us tell our legislators, in advance, that we -cannot bear any. The man who attempts to interpose such restrictions -does a grievous wrong to God and man, which we -cannot bear. Submit to this, and we are no longer what God -made us to be,—MEN. Laws to gag men’s mouths, to seal up -their lips, to freeze up the warm gushings of the heart, are laws -which the free spirit cannot brook; they are laws contrary -alike to the nature of man and the commands of God; laws -destructive of human happiness and the divine constitution; -and before God and man they are null and void. They defeat -the very purposes for which God made man, and throw -him mindless, helpless, and worthless at the feet of the oppressor.</p> - -<p>“And for what purpose are we called to throw down our -pens, and seal up our lips, and sacrifice our influence over our -fellow-men by the use of free discussion? If it were for an -object of benevolence that we are called to renounce that freedom -of speech with which God made us, there would be some -color of fitness in the demand; but such a sacrifice the cause -of truth and mercy never calls us to make. That cause requires -the exertion, not the suppression, of our noblest powers. But<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_402">402</a></span> -here we are called on to degrade and unman ourselves, and to -withhold from our fellow-men that influence which we ought -to exercise for their good. And for what? I will tell you for -what. That the oppressed may lie more passive at the feet of -the oppressor; that one sixth of our American people may -never know their rights; that two and a half millions of our -countrymen, crushed in the cruel folds of slavery, may remain -in all their misery and despair, without pity and without hope.</p> - -<p>“For such a purpose, so wicked, so inexpressibly mean, the -Southern slaveholder calls on us to lie down like whipped and -trembling spaniels at his feet. Our reply is this: Our republican -spirits cannot submit to such conditions. God did not -make us, Jesus did not redeem us, for such vile and sinful -uses.</p> - -<p>“I knew before that slavery would not survive free discussion. -But the demands recently put forth by the South for -our surrender of the right of discussion, and the avowed -reasons of that demand, involve a full concession of this fact, -that free discussion is incompatible with slavery. The South, -by her own showing, admits that slavery cannot live unless -the North is tongue-tied. Now you, and I, and all these -Abolitionists, have two objections to this: One is, we desire -and purpose to employ all our influence lawfully and kindly -and temperately to deliver our Southern brethren from bondage, -and never to give rest to our lips or our pens till it is accomplished. -The other objection is that we are not willing -to be slaves ourselves. The enormous and insolent demands -put forth by the South show us that the question is now, not -only whether the blacks shall continue to be slaves, but -whether our necks shall come under the yoke. While we are -trying to break it off from others, we are called to see to it -that it is not fastened on our own necks also.</p> - -<p>“It is said: ‘The South will not molest our liberty if we will -not molest their slavery; they do not wish to restrict us if we -will cease to speak of their peculiar institution.’ Our liberty is -not our <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex gratia</i> privilege, conceded to us by the South, and -which we are to have more or less, as they please to allow. No, -sir! The liberty which the South proffers us, to speak and write -and print, if we do not touch that subject, is a liberty we do not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_403">403</a></span> -ask, a liberty which we do not accept, but which we scornfully -reject.</p> - -<p>“It is not to be disguised, sir, that war has broken out between -the South and the North, not easily to be terminated. -Political and commercial men, for their own purposes, are industriously -striving to restore peace; but the peace which -they may accomplish will be superficial and hollow. True -and permanent peace can only be restored by removing the -cause of the war,—that is, <em>slavery</em>. It can never be established -on any other terms. The sword now drawn will not -be sheathed until that deep and damning stain is washed out -from our nation. It is idle, criminal, to speak of peace on any -other terms.</p> - -<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div> - -<p>“Whom shall we muster on our side in this great battle between -liberty and slavery? The many never will muster in -such a cause, until they first see unequivocal signs of its triumph. -We don’t want the many, but the true-hearted, who are not -skilled in the weapons of carnal warfare. We don’t want the -politicians, who, to secure the votes of the South, care not if -slavery is perpetual. We don’t want the merchant, who, to -secure the custom of the South, is willing to applaud slavery, -and leave his countrymen, and their children, and their children’s -children to the tender mercies of slavery forever.</p> - -<p>“We want only one class of men for this warfare. Be that -class ever so small, we want only those who will stand on the -rock of Christian principle. We want men who can defend -the right of free discussion on the ground that God gave it. -We want men who will act with unyielding honesty and -firmness. We have room for all such, but no room for the -time-serving and selfish.”</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix IV.</span></h3> - -<p>Notwithstanding the caution I have given my readers in -the Preface and elsewhere, not to expect in this volume anything -like a complete history of our antislavery conflict, many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_404">404</a></span> -may be disappointed in not finding any acknowledgment of -the services of some whom they have known as efficient, -brave, self-sacrificing laborers in our cause. I was reproached, -accused of ingratitude and injustice, because I did not give -in my articles in <cite>The Christian Register</cite> any account of the -labors of certain persons, whose names stand high on the roll -of antislavery philanthropists. The following is a copy of a -part of one of the letters that I <span class="locked">received:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="sigright smaller"> -<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, April, 1868. -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—The writer of this is a subscriber to <cite>The -Christian Register</cite>, and has there read your “Reminiscences -of the Antislavery Reformers.” The numbers thus far (including -the thirty-eighth) contain no notice of, or allusion to, -our late lamented friend, Nathaniel P. Rogers, editor of <cite>The -Herald of Freedom</cite>. His numerous friends in New England -have been waiting and wondering that his name did not appear -in your papers. Mr. Rogers gave up a lucrative profession, in -which he had attained a high rank, and devoted himself <em>soul, -body, and estate</em>, to the service of the antislavery cause, in which -he labored conscientiously during the rest of his life, and left -his family impoverished in consequence. That Mr. Rogers was -one of the few most talented Abolitionists no one will deny who -knew them; and that he was the intimate friend and fellow-laborer -of Mr. Garrison was equally well known. He went -to Europe with Mr. Garrison, and together they visited the -most distinguished Abolitionists in England and Scotland; and, -after his return, George Thompson, on his first visit to this -country, was received by him in his family, and passed -several days with him.</p> - -<p>You have mentioned many names in your papers quite obscure, -and of very little account in this movement, and why -you have thus far omitted one of such prominence has puzzled -many of your readers.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding, the writer will not allow himself to doubt -that it is your intention in the end to do to all equal and exact</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="smcap">Justice</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>I cordially indorse my unknown correspondent’s eulogium -of Nathaniel P. Rogers. I remember hearing much of his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_405">405</a></span> -faithfulness and fearlessness in the cause of our enslaved countrymen, -and of liberty of speech and of the press. Between -the years 1836 and 1846 he wrote much, and so well that his -articles in the <cite>Herald of Freedom</cite> were often republished in -the <cite>Antislavery Standard</cite> and <cite>Liberator</cite>. I generally read -them with great satisfaction. They were racy, spicy, and unsparing -of anything he deemed wrong. Mr. Rogers, I have -no doubt, rendered very important services to the antislavery -cause, especially in New Hampshire, and was held in the -highest esteem by the Abolitionists of that State. But it was -not my good fortune to know much of him personally. I -seldom saw him, and never heard him speak in any of our -meetings more than two or three times. The only reason -why I have only named him is that I really have no personal -recollections of him. A volume of his writings, prefaced by a -sketch of his life and character from the pen of Rev. John -Pierpont, was published in 1847 and republished in 1849. It -will repay any one for an attentive perusal, and help not a -little to a knowledge of the temper of the times,—the spirit -of the State and the Church,—when N. P. Rogers labored, -sacrificed, and suffered for impartial liberty, for personal, civil, -and religious freedom. The fact that he was a lineal descendant -of the never-to-be-forgotten Rev. John Rogers—the -martyr of Smithfield—and also one of the Peabody race, will -add to the interest with which his writings will be read.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix V.</span></h3> - -<p>An intimation is given on page <a href="#Page_272">272</a> that I have known -some remarkable colored women. I wish my readers had -seen, in her best days, <em>Sojourner Truth</em>. She was a tall, -gaunt, very black person, who made her appearance in our -meetings at an early period. Though then advanced in life, -she was very vigorous in body and mind. She was a slave -in New York State, from her birth in 1787 until the abolition -of slavery in that State in 1827, and had never been taught -to read. But she was deeply religious. She had a glowing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_406">406</a></span> -faith in the power, wisdom, and goodness of God. She had -had such a full experience of the wrongs of slavery, that she -could not believe they were permitted by God. She was -sure He must hate them, and would destroy those who persisted -in perpetrating them. She often spoke in our meetings, -never uttering many sentences, but always such as were -pertinent, impressive, and sometimes thrilling.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix VI.</span></h3> - -<p>On page <a href="#Page_283">283</a> I have spoken of Harriet Tubman. She deserves -to be placed first on the list of American heroines. -Having escaped from slavery twenty-two years ago, she set -about devising ways and means to help her kindred and acquaintances -out of bondage. She first succeeded in leading -off her brother, with his wife and several children. Then she -helped her aged parents from slavery in Virginia to a free -and comfortable home in Auburn, N. Y. Thus encouraged -she continued for several years her semi-annual raids into the -Southern plantations. Twelve or fifteen times she went. -Most adroitly did she evade the patrols and the pursuers. -Very large sums of money were offered for her capture, but -in vain. She succeeded in assisting nearly two hundred persons -to escape from slavery.</p> - -<p>When the war broke out she felt, as she said, that “the -good Lord has come down to deliver my people, and I must -go and help him.” She went into Georgia and Florida, attached -herself to the army, performed an incredible amount -of labor as a cook, a laundress, and a nurse, still more as the -leader of soldiers in scouting parties and raids. She seemed -to know no fear and scarcely ever fatigue. They called her -their <em>Moses</em>. And several of the officers testified that her -services were of so great value, that she was entitled to a -pension from the Government. The life of this remarkable -woman has been written by a lady,—Mrs. Bradford,—and -published in Auburn, N. Y. I hope many of my readers -will procure copies of it, that they may know more about -Harriet Tubman.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_407">407</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix VII.</span></h3> - -<p>The saddest, most astounding evidence of the demoralization -of our Northern citizens in respect to slavery, and of Mr. -Webster’s depraving influence upon them, is given in the following -letter addressed to him soon after the delivery of his -speech on the 7th of March,—signed by eight hundred of the -prominent citizens of Massachusetts. I have given the names -of a few as specimens of the whole.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="center">From the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 2, 1850.</p> - -<p class="in0"> -<span class="smcap">To the Hon. Daniel Webster</span>: -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—Impressed with the magnitude and importance of -the service to the Constitution and the Union which you -have rendered by your recent speech in the Senate of the -United States on the subject of slavery, we desire to express -to you our deep obligation for what this speech has done and -is doing to enlighten the public mind, and to bring the present -crisis in our national affairs to a fortunate and peaceful termination. -As citizens of the United States, we wish to thank -you for recalling us to our duties under the Constitution, and -for the broad, national, and patriotic views which you have -sent with the weight of your great authority, and with the -power of your unanswerable reasoning into every corner of -the Union.</p> - -<p>It is, permit us to say, sir, no common good which you have -thus done for the country. In a time of almost unprecedented -excitement, when the minds of men have been bewildered by -an apparent conflict of duties, and when multitudes have been -unable to find solid ground on which to rest with security and -peace, you have pointed out to a whole people the path of -duty, have convinced the understanding and touched the conscience -of a nation. You have met this great exigency as a -patriot and a statesman, and although the debt of gratitude -which the people of this country owe to you was large before, -you have increased it by a peculiar service, which is felt -throughout the land.</p> - -<p>We desire, therefore, to express to you our entire<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_408">408</a></span> concurrence -in the sentiments of your speech, and our heartfelt thanks -for the inestimable aid it has afforded towards the preservation -and perpetuation of the Union. For this purpose, we respectfully -present to you this, our Address of thanks and congratulation, -in reference to this most interesting and important occasion -in your public life.</p> - -<p>We have the honor to be, with the highest respect,</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -Your obedient servants,</p> - -<p class="in0 in4"><span class="smcap">T. H. Perkins</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Charles C. Parsons</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thomas B. Wales</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Caleb Loring</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Wm. Appleton</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">James Savage</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Charles P. Curtis</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Charles Jackson</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">George Ticknor</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Benj. R. Curtis</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Rufus Choate</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Josiah Bradlee</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Edward G. Loring</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thomas B. Curtis</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Francis J. Oliver</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">J. A. Lowell</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">J. W. Page</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thomas C. Amory</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Benj. Loring</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Giles Lodge</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Wm. P. Mason</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Wm. Sturgis</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">W. H. Prescott</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Samuel T. Armstrong</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Samuel A. Eliot</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">James Jackson</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Moses Stuart</span>,<a href="#Footnote_S" class="fnanchor">S</a><br /> -<span class="smcap">Leonard Woods</span>,<a href="#Footnote_S" class="fnanchor">S</a><br /> -<span class="smcap">Ralph Emerson</span>,<a id="FNanchor_S" href="#Footnote_S" class="fnanchor">S</a><br /> -<span class="smcap">Jared Sparks</span>,<a id="FNanchor_T" href="#Footnote_T" class="fnanchor">T</a><br /> -<span class="smcap">C. C. Felton</span>,<a id="FNanchor_U" href="#Footnote_U" class="fnanchor">U</a><br /> -<span class="in4">And over seven hundred others.</span> -</p></blockquote> -</div> - -<p class="p2 center wspace">THE END.</p> - -<p class="p2 center smaller">Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="footnotes"> -<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a></h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> This chapter was written in June, 1867, and I give it here as it -first came from my pen.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_B" href="#FNanchor_B" class="fnanchor">B</a> Rev. Mr. Pierpont, who afterwards did good service, was absent in -Europe during 1835.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_C" href="#FNanchor_C" class="fnanchor">C</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_D" href="#FNanchor_D" class="fnanchor">D</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_E" href="#FNanchor_E" class="fnanchor">E</a> See “Right and Wrong in Boston,” by Mrs. M. W. Chapman.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_F" href="#FNanchor_F" class="fnanchor">F</a> I have been told, and I record it here to his honor, that Hon. Joshua -A. Spencer made an earnest, excellent speech, in behalf of free discussion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_G" href="#FNanchor_G" class="fnanchor">G</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_H" href="#FNanchor_H" class="fnanchor">H</a> Of Leicester, England, who first demanded “immediate emancipation.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_I" href="#FNanchor_I" class="fnanchor">I</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_J" href="#FNanchor_J" class="fnanchor">J</a> On that occasion, or another, I am not sure which, Mr. Adams announced -another very pregnant opinion which he was ready to maintain; -namely, that slaveholders had no right to bring or send their -slaves into a free State, and keep them in slavery there; but that -whenever slaves were brought into any State where all the people were -free, they became partakers of that freedom, were slaves no longer.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_K" href="#FNanchor_K" class="fnanchor">K</a> Elizabeth Heyrick, of Leicester, England.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_L" href="#FNanchor_L" class="fnanchor">L</a> I am most happy to preserve and make known the fact that Dr. -Henry Ware, Jr., then at the head of the Divinity School, and Professor -Sidney Willard, of the college in Cambridge, were also members -of that Convention.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_M" href="#FNanchor_M" class="fnanchor">M</a> Would that justice would allow shame to wipe forever from the -memory of man the disgraceful fact that, on the 27th of July, 1840, -the Rev. John Pierpont was arraigned before an Ecclesiastical Council -in Boston, by a committee of the parish of Hollis Street, as guilty of -offences for which his connection with that parish ought to be dissolved,—and -was dissolved. His offences were “his too busy interference -with questions of legislation on the subject of prohibiting the sale of -ardent spirits, his too busy interference with questions of legislation on -the subject of imprisonment for debt, <em>and his too busy interference with -the popular controversy on the subject of the abolition of slavery</em>.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_N" href="#FNanchor_N" class="fnanchor">N</a> The one of which Rev. Baron Stow, D. D., was pastor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_O" href="#FNanchor_O" class="fnanchor">O</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_P" href="#FNanchor_P" class="fnanchor">P</a> I advertised my request in “Notes and Queries” for August, 1859.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_Q" href="#FNanchor_Q" class="fnanchor">Q</a> See “The American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery,” -by J. G. Birney, “Slavery and Antislavery,” by W. Goodell, and -“The Church and Slavery,” by Rev. Albert Barnes.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_R" href="#FNanchor_R" class="fnanchor">R</a> See Appendix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_S" href="#FNanchor_S" class="fnanchor">S</a> Of the Theological Institution at Andover.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_T" href="#FNanchor_T" class="fnanchor">T</a> President of Harvard University.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_U" href="#FNanchor_U" class="fnanchor">U</a> Professor of Greek in Harvard University.</p></div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</a></h2> - -<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained.</p> - -<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.</p> - -<p>The entries in the Table of Contents for pages 389 and 391 do -not have corresponding sub-headings on the referenced pages, and -the sub-heading on page 85 is not mentioned in the Table of Contents.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_28">28</a>: “de-gradation” was printed with the hyphen; in context, -this appears to be intentional.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_40">40</a>: “through the school” was printed as “though the school”; -changed here.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_111">111</a>: Extraneous opening quotation mark removed before “Here, too, the”.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_191">191</a>: Unmatched closing quotation mark retained after “national -honor and prosperity.”</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_237">237</a>: Unmatched opening quotation mark removed before -“Pastoral Association of Massachusetts”.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_354">354</a>: The second line of poetry, beginning “And in my soul’s just estimation”, -was printed as one very long line. In other books, those lines are -in several different ways. -</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Recollections of our Antislavery -Conflict, by Samuel J. 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