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W AHIl'S It. ROIIIXSOM, Editor.
"NO U1U0H WIID IHTED OIDEBJ."
EMILY nOBI.SO!V, Fubllahinff Agent. -
VOL. 8--N0. 24.
SALEM, COLUMBIANA CO., OHIO, MARCH 5, 1853.
WHOLE NO 388.
it f i 9? T jt h iti
Cljje
Puttie
THE ANTI-SLAVEUY Bl'GLE.
ToiHHKHO BVIHT 8TCBDAY, AT SaLEM, O.
Tsbhs. $t, 50 per annum if paid in advance.
Sl,7 per annum if paid within the Brtt aix
Montht of the suliscriber'a year.
1,00 per annum, if payment ba delayed be
yond aix month..
T"W occasionally aend number! to those
who ara not suhscribers, but who are believed
to ba interested in the dissemination of ami
slavsry truth, with the hope that they will
ither subscribe themselves, or uso their influ.
ncs to extend lu circulation among their
frienda.
IT Communication intended for insertion,
to be addressed to Mamcs R. Rohiiimii, Editor.
AU other, to Emit KoniMsoK.l'ublishing Ag't.
J. HUDSOX. PRINTER-
THE BUGLE.
SPEECH
OF
WENDELL PHILLIPS
AT THE
Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts A. S.
Society, Thursday Evening, Jan. 27, 1853.
Concludtd.)
So far, however you distrust my (iliiloso
phy, you will not doubt my atn lenient.
' 1'liMt we hnve denounced nml relinked with
unsparing fidelity will not he denied. Ilnvo
we not also addressed ourselves to thnt oth
er duly of arguing our question thoroughly
of lining due discretion and fiir sngncily
in endeavoring to promote our cause? Yes,
: we hnve. Every statement wo hnve made
haa heen doubted. J:', very principle wo hnve
laid down hua been denied by overwhelming
imijiiritira against ua. No one step has ever
been gained hut hy the most lulmrious re
search nml the moat exhausting argument.
Ami no question Inn ever, since Revolution
nry diiva, been so thoroughly investigated or
argued' here, a that of tluvery. Of thiil
research nml tlmt argument, of the whole of
it, the old-fashioned, liiiintical, rrny Gurri
aoiiiun anti slavery movement hua been thu
author. From this hmiil of men hna pro
ceeded every iuiKirtiuit arugmeut or idea
thnt hna heen hroiirbcd on the anti-slavery
question from l&IO to the present lime.
(Cheers.) I Kill well awure of the extent of
lie chiiiu I make. I recognize ua fully aa
any one con the ability of the new laborers
the eloquence and geniua wi:h which they
hnve recommended this cause to the iiiilion,
and flushed conviction home on the cousci
nice of the community. I ilo not mean,
cither, to assert that ihey have in every
inatouce Itorrowed from our treaiury "their
facta nml nrgiimenta. Left to themaelves,
they would probably huve looked up the
one and originnled the other. An a matter
of fuel, however, Ihey hnve generally made
uae of the inateriuls collected to their hand.
Jiut there are aoiue persons about ua, sym
pathizers, to n great extent, with Ion, who
pretend that the mili-slavery movement hna
been hitherto mere fanaticism, ita only
weapon nugry abuse. They are obliged l
assert this, in order to justify their pnat in
difference or hostility. At present, when il
auila their purose to give it some ultemion,
Ihey endeavor to explain the chnrgu by al
leging that now it hua been taken lip by
men of thoughtful minds, and ila claims ure
Urged hy fair discussion anil able argument.
My claim, then, is this: thnt nriiher the
charily of the most timid of seels, the sa
gacity of our wisest converts, nor the cul
ture of the ripest scholars, though nil hnve
been aided hy our twenty years' experience,
haa yet airuck nut nuy new method of
reaching the public mind, or originnled any
new urgument or train ut thought, or dis
covered any new fart bearing on the ques
tion. When once brought fully into the
struggle, they have louiid it necessary lo
adopt the aiime menus, to ndy on the suiiin
arguments, tit hold up the same men and
the mime ineiisurea to public reprobation,
with thu Hume buhl rebuke and inirpaiing
invective that we huve used. All their con
ciliatory bearing, their pains-taking modera
tion, their conscious nml nnxious endeavor
to draw a broad line between their ennip
and ours, have been thrown uwny. Just au
Jar ua they huve been effective luhorera, they
have found, ua we huve, their hands against
every man, nnd every man's blind nguiuat
them. The most experienced of them lire
ready lo acknowledge thnt our plan hna
fbeeu wiae, our course efficient, nnd lliut our
Ainpopiilarily is no fault of out a, but flow
tiecessuiily and unavoidably from our posi
tion. ' I should suspect,' anye old Fuller,
' thnt his preaching hud nn anlt in it, if no
galled horse did wince.' Our frienda find,
after nil, that men do not so much hale ua,
ua the truth we utter and ilia light we bring.
They find that the community lire not the
honest aeckera alter truth which they fancied,
but selfish politicians and sectarian bigots,
who shiver, like Alexnudcr'a butler, when
ever the sun shines on them. Experience
haa driven these new luhorera hack to our
method. We have no quarrel with them
would not aleid one wreath of their laurels.
All we claim is, that if they are to be com
plimented ua prudent, moderate, Christian,
sagacious, atatesmnnlike reformers, we de
serve the anine praise, (or ihey have done
nothing that we in our measures, did not
attempt belbre. (Cheers.)
1 cluim this, thnt the cause, in its recent
' . has lint Oil HOlllillU but timidity. It
lias taken to itself no new weapons of re
cent yeara ; il haa become more compromis
ing that is all! It lias neither become
more persuasive, mora learned, more Christ
ian, more charitable, nor more effective,
than for the twenty years preceding. Mr.
liale, the head of the Free Soil movement,
after a career in the Seuate that would do
honor to any man after six years' course
which entitles him to the respect and conn
denoeof the arui-slsvery publio can put
his within lbs tut month, to an ap
peal from the city of Washington, signed hy
a Houston and a Cass, for a monument to
he raised to Henry Clny I If that be the
teat of charity ami courtesy, we cannot give
it to the world. (Loud cheers.) Home of
the leaders of the Free Soil party of Massa
chusetts, after exhatiMina the whole canncitv
of our Inngiinge to paint the treachery of
uainei wetistcr to tne cause ot liberty, nnd
the evil Ihey thought he was nble nnd seek
ing to do ; after Hint, could feel it in their
hearts to parade themselves in the funeral
procession got up to do him honor! In this
we allow we cannot follow them. The de
ference which every gentleman owes to the
proprieties of social life, that self-respect
nml regnrd to consistency which is every
man's duty, these, if no deeper feelings, will
ever prevent us from giving such proofs of
una newiy-mveiiicn tjnnstian courtesy.
(Great cheering.) We do not play jioliiics;
anti-slavery is no half-jest Willi us; it is a
terrible earnest, with life or death, worse
than life or death, on the issue. It is no
law-suit, where il matters not to the good
feeling of opposing counsel which wny the
veidict govs, and where advocates can clasp
hands niter the decision as pleasantly os be
fore. When we look upon such a mnn as
Henry Clny, his long lite, his mighty influ
ence, cast ni iwaya into the scale against the
slave of that irresistible fascination with
w hich he moulded every one to bin will j
when we remember that, his conscience
acknowledging the justice nl our cause, and
his heart open on every other side lo Ihe
gentlest impulses, he could sacrifice so re
morselessly his convictions nod the welfare
of millions to his low ambition ; when we
think how the slave trembled at the sound
of hia voice, and thiil, from a multitude of
breaking hearts, there went up nothing but
gratitude to God when it pleased Hun to
cull that great sinner from this world, we
cannot find il in our hearts, we could not
shape our lips lo ask any man lo do him
honor. (Great sensation.) No amount of
eloquence, no sheen of official position, no
luuilgiiel ol partisan li lends, would ever
lead ua to nsk monuments or walk in fine
processions for pirates; and the sectarian
zeal or selfish nmbiiion which gives up, de
liberately ami in lull knowledge ot the tacts,
three million of human being to hopeless
ignorance, daily robbery, systematic prosti
tution nnd murder, which the law neither
can nor tiudertukes to prevent or avenge, is
mure monstrous, in our eyes, than the love
ot gold which takes a score of lives with
merciliil quickness on the high sens. Iluy
iiau on the Danube is no more hateful lo
us than Hnynau on the Potomac. Why
give mobs lo one, and monument to the
olhef ?
If these things be necessary lo courtesy, I
cnunnt claim lliut we are courteous. We
seek only lu be holiest men, nnd speak the
same of the dead as of the living. If the
grave that hides their bodies could swallow
also the evil they hnve dune nnd the exnmplu
they leave, we might enjoy nl least the lux
ury of lorgeltiug them, lint Ihe evil Ihal
men do lives alter llieui, and Exnmplo ac
quires tenlbld uuthority w hen it speaks from
the grave. History, also, is to be written.
How shall a feeble minority, without weight
or influence in ihe country, with no jury of
millions to appeal to, denounced, vilified
and contemned, how ahull we make wny
against Ihe overw helming weight of some
colossal reputation, if we do not turn from
idolatrous Present, and appeal lo the 'I.nnnn
ttnee i snying to your idi!; r' to-day, 'Here
we lire defeated, ,ux w e will write our judg
ment with the iron pen of n century to
come, nnd il shall never be Ibrgutten, if we
can help it, that you were lidse in your gen
eration to the claims of the slave'! (Loud
cheers.)
At present, our lending nit.ii, strong in
the support of large minorities, nnd counting
aalely o-i ihe prejudices of the community,
can afford lu despise ua. They know Ihey
can overawe or cnjole the present ; their
only fear is the judgment ol the future.
Strange fear, perhaps, considering how short
nnd local their liime! l!ut however little,
il is their all. Our only hold upon them is
the thought of that bur of posterity, before
w hich we are oil to atund. Thank God !
there is the elder brother of the Faxon race
across the water there i the army of hon
est men to come! Before thnt jury we
summon you. we are weak nere out
talked, out voted. You load our names
with in I'a my, mid shout ua down. Jiut our
word bidu their time. We warn Ihe living
thnt we huve terrible memories, and that
their aina ure never to be forgotten. We
will gibbet the mime of every apostate so
bluck and high that his children's children
ahull blush lo heor it. Yet we bear no
malice cherish no resentment. We thank
God thut the love of fame, ' thnt lust infirm
ity of noble mind,' is shared by Ihe ignoble,
lu our necessity, we seize this weapon in
the vlnve's behalf, and teach caution to Ihe
living hy meting out relentless justice to the
dead. How atrunue the chuuge death pro
duces in Ihe way a man is talked about
here! While leudins men live, they avoid
ns much as possible ull mention of slavery,
from fear of being thought abolitionists.
the moment they ore dead, their frienda rake
un every word thev ever contrived to wins-
per in a corner for liberty, and parade it
before the world ; growing angry, all the
wlule, with us, Ixjcuute we insist on explain
ing these chance expressions hy the tenor
..I I ....I I ;C. VI.',I .Iriinlc Ulilll
(Ullg RIIII IMIBO IIIV. . ... w.. ......
the temptations of Ihe present hour, inen
are willing lo how to any Moloch. When
their friends bury them, they feel what bit
ter inockerv. a hundred years nence, any
epitaph, will be, if it cannot record of one
living in this era, some service rendered to
the slavo ! These, Mr. Chairman are the
reasons why we tuke cara mat ' tne memory
of the wicked shall rot.'
I hsvn claimed ihut the snti-slnvery couse
has, from the first, been ably and dispas
sionately argued, every objection candidly
examined, and every difficulty or doubt any
where, honestly entertained, treated witn re
spect. Let me glance at the literature of
the cause, and try not so much, in a brief
hour, to prove this assertion, as to point out
the sources from which any one may satisfy
himsell or its truth.
I will beuin with ccrtninlv the ablest and
perhaps Ihe moat honest statesman who haa
ever touched the slave question, wnen
Jon Quijtcr Adams first broke ground on
the Texas (Juration, he confessed hia debt
to the full and able exposure of the Texas
Plot prepared by llenj. Lundy. Every one
acquainted with those years will allow thnt
the North owea its enrliest knowledge and
first awakening nn thnt subject to Mr. Lun
dy, who made long journey and devoted
years lo the investixatinn. ilia labors have
thia attestation, thai they stirred the teal
nnd strengthened the hand of such men as
Adams.
Look next at the Right of Petition. Long
before any member of Congress had oiened
his mouth in it defence, the abolition pres
ses nnd lecturers had examined nnd defend
ed the limits of this right, with profound
historical research and eminent constitution
al ability. So thoroughly had the work
been done, that all clnsseaof the people had
mnde up their minds about it, long before
nny apenker of eminence had touched it in
Congress. The politicians were little aware
of this. When Mr. Adams threw himself
so gallantly into the breach, it is said he
wrote anxiously home lo know whether he
would be supported in Massachusetts; little
nwnre of the outburst of popular gratitude
thnt the Northern breeze was even then
bringing him, deep and cordial enough to
wipe away the old grudge Massachusetts hod
borne him ao long. Mr. Adams himself
was only in favor of receiving the petitions,
and advised lo refuse their prayer, which
was the abolition of slavery in Iho District.
He doubted the power of Congress. His
doubts were examined by Mr. William
Guodell, in two letters of most able and
ncute logic, and of masterly ability. If Mr.
Adams still retained hia doubts, it is certain,
at least, thnt he never expressed them after
ward. When Mr. Clny paraded Ihe name
objections, Die whole question of the power
of Congress over the District wns treated hy
I. D. Weld, m ihe fullest mnnuer, and with
Ihe widest research ; indeed, leaving nothing
to be added. No answer was ever attemp
ted. The bt proof of its ability is, thnt
no one since haa presumed to doubt the
power. Lawyers and statesmen have tacitly
settled down into ita full acknowledgement.
The influence of ihe Colonization Society
on the welfare of I lie colored race was the
first question our movement encountered.
To the close logic, eloquent npu nnd
fully sustained charges of Mr. Garrison's
Letters on that subject, no answer was ever
made. Judge Jay followed with n work
full anil able, establishing every chnrge by
the most patient investigation of facts. Il
is not too much lo say of these two volumes,
that they left the Colonization Society hope
less ul the North. It dares never show its
face before the people, and only lingers in
some few nooks of sectarian pride, so se
cluded from Ihe influence of present ideas
as lo be almost Ibssil in their character.
The practical working of the slave system,
the slave Inws, the treutinent of slaves, their
food, the duration of their lives, their igno
rance nnd nioial condition, Hud the influence
of Solid:;, ii public opinion on their fate,
have iKieu sprcud out in n dctuil and with a
fullness of evidence which no subject tins
ever received belbre in this country. Wit
ness the w orks of Phelps, Kimkm, Ui iuiKe,
the 1 Anti-Slavery Kecoril,' and, above all,
that encyclopedia of facta and storehouse of
arguments, the Thousand Witnesses' of
Mr. T. D. Weld. Unique in anti-slavery
literature is Mrs. Child's 'Anneal, one ol
Ihe ablest of our weapons, and one of Ihe
finest efforts of her rare genius.
The Princeton Review, I believe, first
challenged the abolitionists to an investiga
tion of Hie teaching ol the llilite on slave
ry. Hint hehl nml neen somewnni uroKcn
..... i . tn
by our English predecessors, jiut in r.ng
lund, the pro-slavery party had been soon
shamed out of the attempt lo drag the bible
into their service, and hence Ihe discussion
there hud been short ami somewhat super
ficial. The pro-slavery side of Ihe question
has been eagerly aualained by Theological
Reviews and Doclora of Divinity without
number, from ihe hull' way and timid fuller
ing of Waylund up lo the unblushing and
melancholy recklessness of Stuart. The
argument on the other sido has come wholly
from the anolilioinsls. 1'or lieitner ur.
Ilncue nor Dr. Bnrues can be said to hnve
added uny thing lo the wide research, criti
cal iicuuinn and comprehensive views of T.
U. Weld, Ueriuh Green, J. G. Fee, and the
old work of Duncan.
On the constitutional questions which
have at various times arisen, Ihe citizenship
of the colored man, the soundness of the
1 Prigg' decision, the constitutionality of the
old I ugttive bluve Law, the truo construction
of the slave code, nothing haa been added,
either in the wny of fact or argument, to the
works of Jay, Weld, A Ivan Stewart, E. G.
Loring, S. E. Bewail, Richard Hildrelh, W.
I. Jtowdiich, the masterly Essays of the
Emancipator at New York, and the Jiibtrator
of boston, and the various addresses of the
Massachusetts and American Societies for
the Inst twenty years. The idea of the anti
slavery character of tie Constitution the
opiuie with which Free Soil quiets its con
science for voting under a pro-sluvery gov-
arniaent I heard first suggested by Mr. Gar
rison in 1638. Il wus elaborately argued ia
thutyeurln all our cnti-alavsry eatneringa,
both here and in New York, and sustained
with great ability by Alvan Slewart, and in
part by T. D. Weld. Jf it baa either merit
or truth, they are due to no legal learning
recently added to our ranka, but to soma of
its old and well known pioneers. This top
ic haa received tha fulleat investijrstion from
Mr. Lysander Spooner, who haa urged it
with ail hia unrivalled ingenuity, laborious
research, and close logic. Ila writes
lawyer, and has no wish, I believe, lo lie
ranked with any class of anti-slavery men.
The Influence of Slavery on our govern
ment has received the profoundest philo
sophical investigation from the pen of Rich
ard Hildrelh, in hia valuable assay on 'Des
potism in America,' a work which deserves
s place by the side of the ablest political
disquisitions of anv aire.
Mrs. Chapman's survey of 'Ten Yeara of
mii-aiavery experience,' was the firat at
tempt at a philosophical discussion of the
various aspects of the anti-slavery cause,
and the problems raised by its struggles
with sect and party. You, Mr. Chairman,
Edmund Quincv, Esq., in the elaborate
Reports of the Massachusetts Anti-Hlavery
Society for the last ten years, have followed
in the same path, making to American lite
rature a contribution of Ihe highest value,
and in a department where you have few
rivals and no superior. Whoevershall write
the history either of this movement, or any
oilier attempted under a Republican Gov
ernment, will find no where else so clenran
insight ami so full an acquaintance with the
most difficult part of hia subject.
Even the vigorous mind of Rnnlotil, the
ablest, without doubt, of Ihe Democratic
party, and, tierhups, the ahleat politician in
New England, added little or nothing lo the
storehouse of Auli-Sluvei v argument. The
grasp of his intellect nnd 'the fullness of his
learning every one will acknowledge. He
never trusted himself to snenk on anv sub
ject till he had dug down In it primal grnu-
ie. ue lam a most generous conlriliuliou
on the altar of the Anti-Slavery Cause. His
speeches on one question, too short and too
few, are remarkable for their compact state
ment, true logic, bold denunciations, and the
wonderful light thrown hick upon our his
tory. Yet how little do they present which
was not familiar for years in our Ami Sla
very meetings ?
Look, too, at the Inst grent eflorf of the
idol of ao many thousands, Mr. Senator
Sumner; a discussion of a great national
question, of which it has heen said that we
must go back to Webster's reply lo llayne,
and Fisher Amea on the Jay Treaty, to Hud ita
equal in congress praise which we might
perhaps quality, if nuy adequate report were
ielt us ofsome of those ruble orations of Ad
ams. No one can he blind to the skillfull use he
hna made of hi materials, Ihe consumnte
ability with which ho hna marshalled them,
and the radieul glow which hi geniu ha
thrown over all. lint, with the exception
of his reference to the Ami-Slavery debate
in Congress in 1837, there i no train of
thought or Argument, and no single luce in the
whole speech, which baa not been familiar
nl Otir" meetings" "and essays fur the last ten
years.
Before leaving the Halls of Congress I have
great pleasure in recognizing one exception
lo my remarks, Mr. Giddings. Perhaps ho
is no real exception, since it would not be
difficult lo establish his claim to be consid
ered one of the original Abolition party.
Out whether he would choose to he so con
sidered or not, it is certainly true that his
long presence ul Ihe seat ol government, hia
whole-anuled dovotcdness, hia aagacily mid
nn wearied industry, have made him a lame
contributor lo our snti-slnvery resources.
The relations of the American Church to
slavery, and the duties of private Christians,
the whole casuistry of this portion of the
question, so momentous nmong descendants
of the rurilniis, have been discussed with
great ncuteness and rare common sense by
Messrs. Unrrisnn, Guodell, Gerrit Smith,
Pillsbury and Foster. They have never nl-
tended lo judge Ihe American Church hy nuy
standard except thnt which aha hna herself
laid down never claimed that alio should he
perfect, but huve contented themselves with
demanding that she should be consistent.
They have never judged her ercept out of
her own mouth, nnd on facts asserted hy her
own presses nnd leaders. The sundering of
the Methodist and llaptist denomination, nnd
the universal agitation of the religious world,
are the best proof of the sagacity with which
their measures have been chosen, the cngeul
arguments Ihey have used, ond the indispu
table facts on which their criticisms huve
been founded,
In nothing have the abolitionists shown
more sngacity or more thorough knowledge
of their countrymen, than in the course they
have pursued in relation to the Church.
None but a New Englander can appreciate
the power which Church organizations wield
over all that share ihe blood of the Puritans.
The influence of each sect over its own
members is overw helming, often shutting out,
or controlling, nil other influences. Ihe ty
raiiny of our Methodism need not fear coin
iiarisoil with the darkest picture of Cuthol
icism that Protestant pencil ever pniuted.
Thut euch locnl church is independent of
all others, we hnve been somewhat cnrelul
to assert, in theory and practice. But the
individual's independence of nil organiza
tions thai plnce themselves between him and
his God, some few bold minds hnve asserted
in theory, but most eveu of those have stop
ped there.
In sucb a lend, the abolitionists early saw,
that for a moral question like theirs, only two
paths lay open : lo work through the Church
that fuilinir, lo join buttle with il. Some
tried Ions, like Luther, to be Protestants, and
yet not couio out of Catholicism but their
evea were soon onctied. Since then, we
have been convinced that to come out from
the Church, to hold her up as the Bulwark
of Slavery, Mid to l.nake her short comings
tha main burden of our appeals to ihe relig
ious sentiment cf the community, was our
first dutv and beet uoiicv. This course ali
enated many friends, and was a subject
frequent rebuke Irorn sucn men as ut. iuan
nimr. But nothinff has ever more strength
ened the cause, or won it more influence
and it has had tha healthiest effect on the
Church iutelC British Christians hava al
ways aanctiooed il, whenever the case has
been fairlv uresented to them. Mr. J. Q.
Adams, man far better acquainted with bit
of
;
own times than Dr. Chatiuing, recognized
the soundness ef our policy. I do not know
Ihal he ever uttered a word in public on the
delinquency of lbs churches; blithe U said
to have assured his son, at the lime the Meth
odist Church broke asunder, that other men
might be more startled by lite eclat of polit
ical success, but nothing, in his opinion,
promised more good, or showed more clcnr
ly the renl strength of the ami slavery move
ment, than that momentous event.
In IrJ'W, the British Emancipation in the
West Indies opened a rich field for observn.
tinn, and a full ImrveM of important ficts.
The abolitionists, not willing lo wait for Ihe
official reiorts of the government, sent special
agents through thnso islands, whose reports
they scattered, at great expense and hy great
exertion, broadcast through the land. This
was nl a time when no newspaper in Ihe
country would either lend or sell them the
aid of it columns to enlighten the nation on
nn experiment ao vitally important to us.
And even now, hardly a press in the country
cures or dares to bestow a linn or communi
cate a fact tow ard the history of thnt remark
able revolution. Tho columns of the .hit
Stnveru Standard, 1'eitntytvania Fiteman, and
Ohio liiiglf, huve been for yenrs full of all
that a thorough and patient advocacy of our
cause demands. And Ihe eloquent lips of
many w hum l see around me, nnd whom 1
need not name here, hnve dnun their share
Inward pressing till these topics on public
Uttl'lltlOII.
I remember thnt when in IS 15, the pres
ent leaders of Ilia Free Soil party, with Dan-
let Welistcr in their ciiuiiiiiiiv, met to drnw
up the Auti-'I'exus Address of the Massachu
setts Convention, they sent lo ' abolitionists
lor null slavery (acts nnd history, lor the re
markable testimonies of our Revolutionary
great men which they wished lo quote.
(' Hear, hear.') When, many year ago, the
Legislature of .Massachusetts w isbed to send
lo Cuiigrcta u resolution affirming tho duty
if immediate cuiaiif iputinn, the Committee
sent to M. Ll.ovn (iAnitiso luuinw it up,
and it stands now on ojr Stutule Book an
he drafted it.
How vigilantly, how patiently did he
watch the Texas plot from its commence
ment ! The public South felt that their first
move bud been too bold, and lliencelorward
winked underground. Fur many a yenr,
men laughed at us liir entertaining any ap
prehensions. It was impossible to rouse the
North to its peril. D. L. Child was thought
crazy, because he would not helievo there
was no danger. I reinemlier being one of a
Committee which wailed on Abbott l.Kw
renco, a year or two only Indbre annexation,
to nsk his couutennnco to some general
movement, " without distinction of party,
against the Texas scheme. He smiled ul
our fears, begged us lo huve no apprehen
sions j stating thai lii correspondence w ith
leading men ut Washington enuhlcd him lo
nrsiire u that annexation was impossible,
ami thai the Smith itself was determined lo
delent Ihe project. Il was hut a short while
after that the Senators and Representatives
from Texas took their seats in Congress!
Muuy of lliesH services to the slave were
done lieline I joined hi cause. In thu re
ferring to them, do not suppose mo merely
seeking occasion of eulogy on my predeces
sors and present co-la borers. I recall these
things only to rebut the contemptuous crit
icism which some about us make the excuse
fiir their past neglect of the movement, and
in answer to Ion's represeu'atiou of our
course ns reckless fuliiilicisiu, childish im
patience, inter lack of good sense, uud of
our meetings us scenes only of excitement,
of reckless and indiscriminate denunciation.
I asHcrt that every social, moral, economical,
religious, political and historical aspect of
the question bus been nhly and patiently ex
amined. If the people ure still in doubt, il
is from Ihe inherent difficulty of the subject,
or n hatred of light, not fioni waul of il.
And all Ibis has been done with an industry
and ability which have left little for the pro
fessional skill, scholarly culture uud histori
cal learning, of the new laborers lo accom
plish.
So lur from ihe anti-slavery cause bavins
lacked a manly and able discussion, 1 think
it will lie acknowledged hereafter, that Ibis
discussion bus been one of the noblest con
tributions to a literature really Americun.
llerutolore, not only has our tone been but an
echo of foreign culture, hut the very topic
we discussed, uud I lie views we maintained,
have been too often pale reflections of Eu
ropean politics nnd Euro pen n philosophy.
No mutter what dress we assumed, Ihe voice
wos ever ' Ihe voice of Jacob. At lust we
have stirred a question thoroughly American
The subject bus been looked ut from a point
ol view entirely American ; and it is ot such
deep interest thai it Inn called out all the in
tellectual strength of tha nation. For ortce,
the nation speaks its own thoughts, in il own
language, nml the tone also is all its own.
It will hardly do fur the defeated parly to
claim thai, iu this discussion, ull the ubilily
I on tlieir side.
We nre charged with lucking foresight,
oud said lo exuggernte. This charge of ex
aggeration bring lo my mind a liicl I men
tioned, lust month, nl Horticultural Hall.
The thentres, in many of our large citius,
bring out, night alter night, all the radieul
doctrines and nil the startling scenes of Un
cle Tom.' They pi euch immediate emanci
pation, nnd slHvec shoot their hunters to loud
applause. Three yeas ago, sitting in this hull,
I was myself somewhat startled hy ihe as
sertion of my friend, Mr. Pillshiiry, that the
theatres would r-ceive Ihe gospel of iiuli
rtavcry truth earlier limn the churches. A
hiss went up from the galleries, and many
in the audience wera shocked by Ihe remark.
1 asked myself whether 1 coufd endorse audi
a statement, and full that I could not. 1
could not believe it lo be true. Only three
yeara huve passed, and whut;wus then deem
ed rant and fanaticism, by seven out of ten
who heard it, haa proved true. The tiiualre,
bowing to ita audience, has preached imme
diate emancipation, and given us Ihe whole
of ' Uncle Tom while from the pulpits, and
in the columns of theological piper, tha
work ia subjected to criticism, to reproach,
and its author to severe rebuke. Do not,
therefore, friends, set down as extravagant
every statement which your experience does
not warrant. It may he thnt you and 1 hava
not studied the signs of the limes ns accu
ately ns the speaker. Going up and down
the land, coming in closer contact with tha
feelings nnd prejudices of tha community,
he is sometimes a better judge than you are
of its present state. An abolitionist has more
motives for welching nnd more means ot
finding out the true etnte of public opinion,
thnn most of those careless critics who jeer
nt his assertions to-day, nnd are the first to
cry, Just whnt said,' when hia prophecy
becomes fuel to-morrow.
Mr. Ion think, also, thnt we have thrown
away opportunities, and needlessly outraged
the men and parlies bIkxiI us. Far from it.
Tho anti-slavery movement wns a patient
and humble suppliant nt every door whence
nny help could possibly be hoped. If we
now repudiate nnd denounce some of our
institutions, it is becauaa we have faithfully
tried them, and found them deaf to tha
claims of justice nnd humanity. Our grent
Lender, when he first meditulod this crusado,
did not
'At once, like a sunburst, his banner unfurl.'
O, no ! he sounded his wny warily forward.
Brought up in the strictest reverence for
church organizations, his first effort was to
enlist the clergymen of Boston in the sup
port of his views. On their aid he counted
confidently in his effort to preach immedinto
repentnuce of nil sin. I hi did not go, with
maiice prrene, as some seem to imagine, up
lo that attic' where Mayor Otis Willi diffi
culty liiiind him. He did not court hostility
or seek exile. He did not sedulously endea
vor to cut himself off from Ihe sympathy
nnd countenance of the community about
nun. u, no! A lurvid disciple of the
American Church, ho conferred with some
of the lending clergy of the city, and laid
before them bis convictions on the subject
of slavery. (I) Ilo painted tlieir responsi
bility, and tried lo induce Ihem lo tuke from
his shoulder the burden of so mighty a
movement. He laid himself at their feet,
lie recognized tho colossal strength of the
Church ; Jiu knew that ngniiiFt tlieir opposi
tion it would be almost ileserale to attempt
lo relieve the alove. He entreated them
therefore, lo luke up the cause. But the
Church turned nway from him ! They shut
tlieir doors upon him! They bade him com
promise hi convictions smother one half
of ihem, and support the Colonization move
ment, making his own auxiliary to that, or
they would have none of him. Like Luther
ho said' Hero I stand ; God help me ; 1 can
no other!' But Ihe men who joined him
were not persuaded ihal Ihe case was so des
perate. So ihey returned, each lo his own
local sect, and remained in them until soma
of us, myself among the number later con
vert lo Ihe anti-slavery movement thought
Ihey were alow nnd faltering in their obedi
ence to conscience, nnd Ihey ought to hnve
cm Innso much sooner thnn they did. But
patience, that old sympathies would not al
low to be exhausted, associations plunted ao
deeply in youth, and spreading over so large
a part of their iiiuuhood, were too strong for
nny mere argument to dislodge ihem. So
ihey still persisted in remaining in the church.
Tlieir zeul was so fervent and their labors so
abundant, that in soiuo towns lurge societies
were form d, led by most of the clergy men.
and having tilinost ull the church member.
uu iheir list, lu those same towns now,
you w ill not find one single abolitionist, of
any stump w hatever. They excuse their full
ing hack by ullegmir that wo huve injured
the cause hy our extravagance and denunci
ation, and hy the various other questions
with which our names are associated. This
might lie a good reason why they should not
work wiin us, but dues it excuse tlieir not
working nt all ? These people have been
once awakened, thoroughly instructed in the
momentous character ol the movement, and
have acknowledged the nubtful cluiin of the
slave on tlieir sympathy and exertions. It ia
not possible thai a lew thousand persons.
however extravagant, could prevent devoted
men from finding some wny to help such
cause, or at least manifesting their interest
in it. lint they have not only lull us, ihey
have utterly deserted the sluve, in the hour
when the interest of their sects came ncrosa
hia cuuse. 1 it uncharitable to conjecture
the reason?
At tho early period, however, lo which 1
hnve referred, the Church was much exer
cised by ihe persistency of the abolitionists
in not going out from her. When 1 joined
the ami sluvery rank, sixteen years ago, the
voice of the clergy wus, Will these pests
new leave us? Vill ihey still remain ti
trouble us? If you do not like us, there is
the dour!' When our iViemls had exhausted
ull entreaty, and tested the Christianity of
thut body, they thook off the dust of their
leet, nnd came out of her. Afterwnrds, Air.
Garrison called on the bend of the Orthodox
denomination a man compured with whose
influence on the mind of New England, that
of Ihe statesman whose death you have just
mourned was but as dust in the buluuce, in
(1) 'Tho writer accompanied Mr. Gasrisox,
in IS20, in culling upon a number of prominent
ministers in Boston, to secure Iheir co-opcralion
in tliii cauio. Our erjKctaHont cf important
tilour from Mom trurs, at that time, very lan
iiuiiu.' I'ettimoti) of WlLLUM UuBDKLL. lit
rerttU icork tulilttd 'Slavekt & ANrt-ciLAVSUV.'
In ar. address on blavtry and Colonisation,
delivered by Mr, Oauuuon, in the Park Street
Church, Uo.ton, July 4, 1829, (which waa sub
sequently published in the SatiowU I'hilanthro
pin,) bo mid '1 cult on the ambassadors of
Christ, everywhere, to make known thia proc
lamation, "Thus saith the Lord God of tha
Africans, 11 this people go, that they may
serve me." I ask them to 11 proclaim liberty to
the captive, and the opening of tha prison to
them that are bound." I call on the uburchaa
of tha living God to LEAD in this great ante,
prise.'
Centiuutd on fttrth Pag.) . .
