diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/50313-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50313-0.txt | 13218 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 13218 deletions
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. May - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS--ANTISLAVERY CONFLICT *** - -***** This file should be named 50313-0.txt or 50313-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/1/50313/ - -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.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - 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. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |