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22
THE LIBERATOR
FEBRUARY 8.
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compromise will take possession of its councils, control its internal affairs, and govern its intercourse with the neighboring slave States; while, as a still more lamentable consequence, apathy will settle upon the whole Northern mind, satisfied with their seeming victory, but the end of which will be only to invite fresh insults and aggressions from the Southern despotism. No ! there is no safety, as there is no honor and no right, in our Union with men-stealers. No temporary advantage gained, while in that fatal fellowship, can be of any value.  There is a sure way to terminate the strife, to terminate the whole vast complication of crimes at once; and that will come when the North takes itself out of the Union with the slaveholding and slave-trading States.  That must terminate the wrong, for the South is unequal to maintaining it alone.  She has acknowledged this again and again.  She is daily declaring it now, by her desperate efforts to subject the whole North to her power, and thus bring all Northern capital and all Northern labor, the men and the money which are the sinews of war, completely under her control. 

As we sit here, and cast a backward glance on the year just gone, few things rise to the stern and ominous importance of the prison-cell of PASSMORE WILLIAMSON.  There is no mistaking or misunderstanding that case.  Mr. Williamson not only did what any and every man of common decency and humanity might do and ought to do, but he did no more than the statute law of the State, on whose soil he lived and acted, in that case authorized him to do.  But the slave-despotism of the land dwelt in Philadelphia, incarnate in John K. Kane; that despotism which cares for no Constitution, law, or reason; which, as Judge Kane very truly remarked, 'knows of no law' (and does not mean to know of any) 'of Pennsylvania,' nor of any other State, to deprive the Southern slaveholder of his property in his human chattels.  Passmore Williamson's manliness and humanity were manifest treason to the Power whose servant Judge Kane burned to prove himself.  Mr. Williamson's humiliation or incarceration-one or the other-was of course inevitable.  The whole country looked on, Pennsylvania looked on, and saw her sovereignty trampled in the dust, her laws defied and trodden under foot, her noblest principles scouted and abjured.  And for what?  To establish a North Carolina mans's RIGHT OF PROPERTY in a woman and her two sons!  Away with the hypocrisy which prates of American liberty, and which insults the Creator and Savior of mankind by sending missionaries to convert the people of Asia, Africa, and the South Sea Islands to our religion and morality!  Unto us belong shame and confusion of face ; for, as a nation, and as States, and as men and women, we have sinned most fearfully, and registered our own just condemnation. Passmore Williamson's cell, like Anthony Burns's seizure and enslavement in Boston, is a too solid proof of what the Slave Power dares to attempt in our very Northern streets and houses, using our own brothers, and the very court-houses and prisons we have builded, for our own humiliation and subjection,-and not that only, but also what it can successfully attempt, and triumphantly achieve.  Mr. Williamson's martyr spirit and calm and fearless bearing, whilst in the power of the tyrant's minion, will be ever memorable, and deserves our grateful honor ; for it was that throughout which made the minion quail.  But Slavery was triumphant in Pennsylvania, as she has again and again been in Massachusetts, and it yet remains to be seen whether their sons will redeem their character, and 'scorn to be slaves.'  The duty of the North to demand the impeachment of Judge Kane seems too evident to be discussed. 

At least one great, hopeful sign stands forth before the nation.  Two months has Congress been in session, unable to organize, unable to do the national work.  Never before, at least in our day, have we seen the cheering sight of a Northern majority refusing to submit to a Southern minority.  The South is aghast, and lost in astonishment ; for it was not wont so to be done unto them.  Now we see, what we have long desired to see, that a Northern 'backbone' is not wholly a myth, or legend of other days.  Let the result be what it may, this proof that the Northern spirit is arising, and that it will yet assert its right, in the name of the living God, and without care for the idle cry of Disunion raised by her former Southern masters,-this proof, I say, is worth all it shall cost, ten times told.  Never have Congressmen, in our day, earned their per diem so well. 

In a brief sketch like the present, no more can be done than to glance from one to another of a few prominent matters.  The position of the churches and religious bodies of the country involves questions of such immense magnitude and importance that, while they cannot be wholly passed over, s neither can the be discussed here.  Let it suffice to say, that there has been , though a small, yet, we incline to believe, a real advance in our so-called churches, and a gain for freedom.  This, however, will only appear by singling out cases of individuals and small communities.  Looking at the great masses, at the leading societies and associations, at the favorite Boards and Unions and Conventions and Assemblies, and these mighty glaciers do not even seem to move,-no little trickling rills from them betoken that the heart is warming.  The pro-slavery spirit rules in them as despotically as ever.  In proof of this, let the case of the Rev. Doctor Nehemiah Adams, of Essex Street Church in this city, be considered.  Somewhere about a year ago, he published his 'South-Side View of Slavery,'-i. e., slavery seen with the eyes and in the spirit of a slaveholder, of course; a just and proper title of the book, and leading to no deception ; so much, at least, it is due to Dr. Adams to say.  What happens to Dr. Adams herupon? He becomes tenfold the man, in the estimation of the Northern Church, or of those who control and manage it, that he ever was before.  The American Tract Society, the vassal of slavery, hastened to make him one of the Examining Committee, -submitting their publications to his censorship and expurgation !  NEW ENGLAND ORTHODOXY, at its annual gathering in this city, in May last, selects him before all elder, wiser, humbler, better men, to lead their devotions and supplicate the God of heaven in their behalf!  The AMERICAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS, the great and powerful, the pet association of American evangelical religion, selects him to preach its Annual Sermon, and awards him thus its highest approbation ; and no word of rebuke breaks the silence of the churches !  These honors, and many minor ones, coming thick and fast in one short year upon Dr. Adams, connect themselves, of necessity, with his pro-slavery servility, his spiteful war upon the anti-slavery movement, (the great foe of a false and Christ-less Church,) and were obviously meant to be his reward!  They cannot elevate him.  They can and do bring shame and fearful guilt upon those who made such haste to be his sponsors.  In the face of such evidence, we cannot say that the American Church has taken one single step, as yet, to free itself from it's guilty connection with, and responsibility for, slavery.

Shall we summons another witness?  The task is unwelcome and disgusting.  Rev. Dr. Nathan Lord, of Dartmouth College, again comes before the community with a thick pamphlet in defence and justification of slavery ; and this time, with more brazen face and positive assertion than before.  And still he holds his place as the President of one of the oldest colleges in New England. 

Do not these facts amply sustain what the Abolitionists have said of the churches, viz., that they are the strongholds and bulwarks of Satan's kingdom in this land? - what, indeed, the more candid of their own members and ministers admit, that, but for them, slavery could not live a single year?  Who so untrue to God and his own soul as to remain in such a position, in such an alliance?  May a spirit of true repentance come to the churches!

We have time to turn but for a single moment, and reach forth our hands to those in foreign lands,-in our own fatherland, England, Scotland, Ireland,-in

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France and in Germany, -who are so patiently and generously working with us, and doing so much to animate and strengthen us.  Even at their distant post, it is no small cross which many of them take up in wearing the name of Abolitionist, and in working year by year in behalf of our cause.  We give them our right hands, with our warmest greeting, and our most heartfelt thanks.  May we all endure unto the end!

Nor do we need to mention the name of our brotherin arms, our faithful fellow-soldier for near twenty years of this great battle for freedom, PARKER PILLSBURY,-now in England,-in order to assure him of our remembrance and of our best wishes.  Enfeebled in health as he has been, he has done a work in Great Britain of the most effective kind, and, we have reason to believe, in the most acceptable manner.  He needs not to be assured of a most hearty welcome, whenever he shall again set foot upon our shores. 

Since the last annual meeting of the Society, the cause of humanity and freedom,-the great common cause of free and true hearts the world over,-has lost a faithful, devoted, and most intelligent friend, by the death of JOHN BISHOP ESTLIN, of Bristol, England.  Mandy societies, and very many individuals, have borne their testimony to his worth, and not a few have erected a memorial of him in their hearts which shall live till the heart ceases to throb ; nay, whose record shall remain, and teach those who come after us, and who take up the weapons of this warfare when our death stricken hands have dropped them.  No man was ever more justly described than Mr. Estlin has been by those beautiful words-'I was eyes to the blind, and the cause that I new not (that cause from which the proud and the respectable turn away, the cause of the poor and the oppressed) I searched out.'  At the age of nearly sixty, and after an uncommonly useful and laborious life, and with every reason of a prudent and usual kind for resigning himself to rest and quiet for the remainder of his days, he became providentially acquainted with the movement in this country against slavery.  It was not in his heart or conscience to turn a deaf ear to the imploring cry of human suffering and wrong.  He 'searched out' the matter.  He took nothing for granted; nothing on mere hearsay evidence.  He thoroughly acquainted himself with the cause; and when he had done it, he thoroughly identified himself with its friends.  To the end of his life, he stood with them, worked with them, and gave his best counsels, his best efforts and warmest prayers for the success of the cause.  To the last hour of his life, every emotion and thought of his did truly utter itself for freedom.  Thus he made his old age beautiful, full of wise instruction, rich in encouragement.  Seldom can our cause lose a truer friend ; yet, only in a very narrow sense lost ; for to have had such a friend is itself a great and unfading treasure.  With thanks to God for his life, for his memory, for his fellowship, may we be encouraged by them all to a more diligent and entire consecration of ourselves to the holy cause of Human Freedom !

SAMUEL MAY, JR. 
General Agent of the Mass. A.S. Society.
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ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
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FRIDAY EVENING, Jan. 25. 
SPEECH OF J.B.SWASEY, ESQ. 

Mr. President:

In contending on matters not unimportant, but comparatively so, we seem to forget the great and momentous principles which guide and sustain us.  We have been discussing questions here, which, however important, are only secondary to the great leading idea or principle which must move and animate us.  It is no small thing for us to announce to the people of the United States that they have been to this day wrong, sinful, and that instead of living under a government supporting and maintaining liberty, they are supporting and perpetuating a despotism.  I never forget what it is we have undertaken to do ; -to show to the young American who believes his country is indeed the 'home of the free and the brave,' that he is entirely mistaken and that the [[?]] idea of liberty which he has worshipped and reverenced as personified in his county, is in him a mistaken one-that he is worshipping a false God.  That is a great thing to do.
 
What is it which has animated the American mind, and makes them reverence the idea of the Constitution of the Union, and worship the great names of our history?  Simply this: that, in their inmost souls, they believe this is indeed a land of liberty,  They do believe that the great idea of liberty, which has been struggled for through so many generations, has found form and expression in the government established by their fathers.  Their reverence for their country, then, has been based on the right idea ; that is to say, if it were a country in which livery had a true expression and existence, they were right in loving it.  We undertake to prove to them that their government, their country, their Constitution, is not worthy of their support, that their ove is misplaced, that their affections should be turned off from their government, that that government should be pulled down, and a better one constructed.  Our work is a mighty one ; and when our friends speak of discouragements and difficulties, it seems to me that the great difficulty is in this fact, that the American mind is slow to perceive that, in point of fact, they are not worshipping a free, constitutional government.  I find in my experience here in Massachusetts, that that is the great obstacle.  Among my friends, I can find any amount of a general sort of sympathy for the slave, and a feeling that really deplores the compromises of the Constitution, and they are ready to do any thing, constitutionally, to abolish slavery ; but the moment I undertake to explain that those compromises ought not to be regarded, and that we should have a dissolution of the Union, I always find this answer-'You would plunge us into untold difficulties in getting rid of the Union ; into unheard of horrors, the end of which no man can see; and so they justify themselves in remaining in a government which they confess to be ruinous on principle, and for which they find no excuse.  They justify themselves by saying we must

-'Rather bear the ills we have, 
Thank fly to others that we know not of'

It is a specious kind of reasoning.  I believe, therefore, that those who go with us are not so wholly selfish as many believe.  It is not because they are wholly devoted to money, but because they believe that our government, after all, is about as good as can be expected.  They say-'Admit all you claim ; but them, revolution is a dangerous remedy to be applied to the disease.'

Now, I believe there is a great deal in that.  It is a sort of reasoning that satisfies great numbers of very intelligent and honest men.  And that is one reason why, while I condemn the Free Soil movement, as such, yet, on the whole, I see it is about all we can expect ; it is, perhaps, as high a degree of development of public sentiment as we can expect.  It is, perhaps, as Mr. Garrison said to-da, as much as can be looked for at present ; and I conceive it to be a great deal, for this reason : there are many men, who having strong convictions on this subject, and perceiving that revolution must be the end of it, say, 'We must try every other means first.'  They say, 'Let us agitate every thing, and see if we cannot prevent the extension of slavery; and if, in the good providence of God, within fifty or even one hundred years, slavery should die out, and the Union be preserved, ought we not to do it?'  The argument has some force.  Therefore, I can find something which looks to me worthy of support in that movement.  While they do not intend disunion, yet, unquestionably, if they be sincere and honest, and really adhere to their declarations, they are marching directly to revolution and dissolution.  The South has told us again and again, that if the North undertakes the abolition of the slave-trade between the States or in the District of Columbia, or to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act, she will leave the Union.  That is proclaimed to be the settled policy of the entire South. Now mind you ! the idea of the Republican party is, that 

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there should be no more slave States. Now, if this party really is honest, and means to stand up to its declarations, then most assuredly it is working directly for disunion. It must come to that, and the instinct of the South is in this regard correct. They perceive that this sort of what they call sectional conflict, this raising of the issue between the North and South, does directly divide the Union ; therefore, I say, while I regard the Republican party as especially mean in many of their acts, still, I believe there is really a great deal of anti-slavery sentiment in the Republican party, and they are working out a grand result. They wili make so many declarations, and take their ground so strongly, that by and by, when some State knocks for admission with a slave Constitution, they will be forced, for consistency's sake, to stand to it. So I cannot but regard that movement as one certain to lead to great and decisive results, and that before long.

There is often a feeling of discouragement in talking on this subject, because we do not find that sympathy, that response to our own feelings from the hearts of the multitude, we feel we have a right to expect. I have often talked to my friends, and convinced their understanding, and they have been forced to admit I was logically correct ; yet they almost invariably turn away with this reply- 'What do you expect to do? Why don't you attend to your business, and allow us to make our money in peace and quietness? We have our trade and business to attend to.' You may satisfy religious men that they are responsible as Christians for the the perpetuity of this system, and yet they will always fall back on the remark- 'What are we to do with slavery in South Carolina' There is the greatest indifference in the minds of the majority of the people ; but, nevertheless, we ought not to despond. I ha[[ve]] sometimes felt despondency when our friend FOSTER who knows so much of the popular sentiment, seemed himself despondent ; but when I have reflected how few years we have been at work, and how mighty was the despotism we were attacking, and how seated in the public mind is the idea that this is a liberty-loving country, it has seemed to me that it must be conceded that much has been done. A few years ago, to utter the word disunion was to mark a person as a madman, a fanatic ; but now the whole subject is discussed every where ; and though few men are ready to come on our platform, there is no longer such a horror of talking of this matter of disunion as there was before, and the question of disunion is being discussed every where. Let us never despair of the right!
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REPLY OF STEPHEN S. FOSTER

MR. CHAIRMAN:

My positions have been so repeatedly misrepresented, that I feel I ought to correct a wrong impression into which my friend who has just taken his seat seems to have fallen. I am represented as having spoken discouragingly here. It seems to me that if there is a man in this house more full of encouragement and hope than others, it is myself. There is no necessity for waiting a century or half a century for the liberation of the slaves. We may just as well break this accursed government in pieces in five years as in twenty-five. I am not willing to 'wait on and hope on' as men tell us to. It may be very well for some persons, but I am not of that class. I am for meeting the Slave Power wherever it shows itself, and I will make war upon it and its defenders with all the vigor that God has given me. I only want to know who it is that protects the flogging of men and the ravishing of women at the South, and I know the work I have to do. The higher he stands in society, the greater is his accountability. The nearer he comes to being an abolitionist, if he does not actually cross the threshold, the more dangerous is that man. I do not say the more guilty, but the more dangerous ; because the more likely he is to win our people over to his side, or keep others on his side. The most dangerous men are those who come the nearest to the anti-slavery line, but do not cross it.

This is my rule : There are slaves in their chains, held by the government. I ask a man- 'With which party will you stand, the masters, in the Union, or the slaves, outside of it? Answer me that question, and I know your character. If you stand with the slaves, outside this Union, then here are my heart and hand ; but if you stand with the masters, under the Union, you are my enemy, and the slave's deadly foe, practically.' I say to every Free Soiler- 'You are the ally of the Southern slaveholder. You insist on voting money to pay Marshal Freeman, and B. F. Hallet, and George T. Curtis, for kidnapping Anthony Burns ; and you are no friend of mine, nor of the slave.'

I say, the higher a man stands, the more dangerous he is. Free Soil is sucking out the heart's blood of our movement. My proposition is to adopt a kind of machinery that shall save the converts we make, and multiply them. I am the last many to think of giving up the ship. I have not despaired of the cause ; I have not spoken one desponding word. All I have tried to do is show that our machinery is not adequate to carry out or principles. Mr. GARRISON read the Journal's  notice of this meeting. We ought to judge of our position by what our enemies say of us. In what does the  Journal triumph? Not in my making those statements, but in the fact that I had cause to make them. If I made them, and they were true, as the Journal believes, then the Journal rejoices in our weakness. Am I the cause of it? How could I prevent the fact in which the Journal rejoices? Let us adopt the machinery that shall put the masses into our power, instead of into the power of these miserable politicians ; and then, instead of this chuckling of our enemies, they will come to us, and ask to be taken.

Perhaps we shall do not better by the new method I propose that we have hitherto, but I for one, wish to try ; and if I fail, I shall have the consciousness of knowing I did not fail without an effort. I am not willing to stand before this community without a larger number of men around me. I see these twenty millions of people standing with their feet on the necks of the slaves. They must take them off. We have got to get this nation on our side. When I go out to lecture or make any effort, I feel I labor in vain, so long as I cannot bring the people over to my side. The object of lecturing is the conversion of the people, and if I fail to accomplish that purpose, I am convinced my labors are not producing such results as they ought.

I say to my friends, if you are satisfied with the machinery, go on! But, for one, I am not satisfied with our results, and do not like to hear our enemies triumph over us ; but, instead of disbanding and sitting down in despair, I mean to go on with renewed vigor, and I hope and trust and expect, that in the coming twelve months, I shall be able to show at least as many or more converts than during the past year. And I want no one to misunderstand me ; I am full of hope.
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SPEECH OF WILLIAM W. BROWN

MR. PRESIDENT:

I have watched with a good deal of interest the discussion between my friend FOSTER and those who have undertaken to correct him, but my own opinion is, that we have something to do aside from preparing a party or anything else in which to catch or place those who have become Abolitionists, or that may make Abolitionists hereafter. Now, Mr. Chairman, I think the first thing is, the creation of public opinion,-the very thing we have been laboring for year after year ; and I was never more impressed with the idea that we needed to labor for the creation of public opinion than last night, when attending a meeting in the Tremont Temple. We know that, for the last two years, the public press and the speakers favorable to freedom, have been condemning those who have taken part in favor of slavery. We know what an outcry was made when John Mitchel declared he wanted a plantation in Alabama, well stocked with healthy slaves. The whole press of Boston was out upon him ; in anti-slavery meetings he was condemned, and all the Free Soilers condemned him. Well, last week John Mitchel comes to Boston, and he is welcomed in certain quarters ; he is heard patiently,

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respectfully, and applauded at the conclusion of his address. We know what has been said hitherto respecting Judge Kane. The Legislatures of different States have had before them resolutions condemnatory of Judge Kane, and the public press propose his impeachment by Congress. Now, it is all nonsense to talk about impeaching Judge Kane for his high-banded outrage against freedom, or condemning John Mitchel for his atrocious conduct, as long as we have not a public opinion that will do it. We have not yet created that public opinion in Massachusetts. If Judge Kane should come to this city to-morrow, he would be welcomed. Let any body else come here who has been false to freedom and true to slavery, and he would be welcomed. We want all our agents to concentrate their power upon Massachusetts alone ; and I was glad to hear you say, Mr. Chairman, that the work of this Society was in Massachusetts, and not out of Massachusetts.

Last evening I went, with many other blockheads, (laughter,) to hear Mr. Toombs. I went determined to receive him without hissing, for I was foolish enough to hope the audience would receive him in perfect silence ; but when the audience applauded him, I felt I was called upon to his the audience. I gave my hisses to the audience, and not to Mr. Toombs. I felt last night the want of that public opinion in Massachusetts which shall sustain anti-slavery, and condemn slavery in every form. The remarks of the speaker in favor of slavery, although they were not received with that enthusiasm they would have been five or ten years ago, were yet listened to with manifest respect. I was in that hall the night before, when my distinguished friend on my right (Mr. PHILLIPS) gave a lecture, and that platform was forsaken ; but last night, it was crowded by the wealth and aristocracy and respectability of the city, anxious to welcome this man from the South; and the Atlas, the organ of the Republican party of Boston, announced his arrival yesterday morning, and that he was the guest of an honored gentleman of Boston ; spoke of him as being one of the most distinguished of Southern gentlemen representing the rising State of Georgia,- (it is not a rising state, it is a slave-consuming state) ;- he was recommended as a good speaker and one who would entertain an audience, and the readers were left to infer that they were advised to go there, and give him a respectful hearing, and I gave him as respectful a hearing as any body all through the hour and a half that he occupied. What was his aim? To prove that slavery was compatible with Republicanism, with the interest of America, and with the interest of the African ; and during his discourse, he said that it was the duty o the Caucasian to look after and rule the African, and the God of justice would protect the Southern people in so doing ; (!!) and the people sat there as quietly as could be! Why, Simply because the slaves of this country are poor and degraded and ignorant ; and history, and usage, and every thing, so far as this country is concerned, have placed the African, the slave, in a very poor position. Now, it seems to me that when we shall go to work and labor as I think we can, as I think we ought, and as I hope we shall, to create that public opinion that shall do the cause of liberty justice, shall prepare the people of Massachusetts to treat the slaveholder who shall come here to lecture as he ought to be treated, and as any one who goes into any community for the purpose of vindicating an atrocity equal to that of enslaving men ought to be treated,- I say, that when we shall have created that public opinion, then it will be time enough to talk about forming a party that shall receive these people as they deserve to be receive.

What would Mr. FOSTER's party have done with the people at the Tremont Temple last night? No political party, or church, or creed, could have kept them from the Tremont Temple, - nothing but a conviction of the heart, that it was wrong to hear any many who should make a labored speech in favor of supporting a system like slavery, could have done it. Last evening, in Boston, a refined audience was addressed by a man not a [[?]] better than the Legrees and Haleys, and the slave-holders who we read of in books, in newspapers, and who are brought before us by the journals of the South, a man no better than any one who might drive or whip a slave to death on the banks of the Mississippi, - a man enslaving more than two hundred human beings, - and this man told his audience that slavery is compatible with Christianity, and, to prove that he is not alone in this opinion, said that a 'respectable clergyman' of Boston had come to the same conclusion! I was there time enough to cry out, 'Doctor Adams,' so that the audience might know that, after all, he was not so 'respectable' as the Hon. Mr. Toombs supposed.

We want to make Massachusetts so hot that not Senator Toombs, or any body else, will come into the State to lecture in favor of slavery. We want to create that public opinion that will make Boston so hot that even Dr. Adams shall not be able to remain in any church in this city ; but until we do that, it is useless to talk about a political party. Look at those we have now! The more we have, the worse the people get, for they seem to run into these new parties for the purpose of doing even worse than they have been allowed to do in the parties they belonged to. WE want to create a public opinion that will condemn men for their misdeeds. That is what we must look to to get up a good feeling in the Legislature, in the State, and throughout the country, too. We must make Massachusetts so that a fugitive slave need not to be afraid to stay in Boston. Let us cease talking about parties and go to work to create this public opinion. If we cannot do this in Massachusetts, we cannot do it in other States. If we cannot change public opinion, it is useless to do any thing in the way of anti-slavery. But I believe we can do it ; and I am satisfied that all we can do is labor to change public opinion ; do that work, and do it well.
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CASE OF DELIA A. WEBSTER.

MR. GARRISON:

A letter dated 'Worcester, Oct. 19, 1855,' and signed 'Delia A. Webster,' the statements of which were endorsed by 'H. B. Stowe,' appeared in the New York Independent a short time since, and was thence copied into the  Liberator, and Standard, without note or comment, and it was also copied into many other papers. Recollecting somewhat the past history of this woman, the question naturally arises, Is she entitled to the aid and confidence of the anti-slavery public, and to the benefit of this unquestioned advertisement of her claims for sympathy, in the leading anti-slavery presses of the country?

In consequence of this narration of her recent sufferings and woes, she has been enabled to collect quite large sums of money, as well as other aid, from persons in the vicinity of Worcester, who either never knew or have forgotten her past history. Surely this is not right. If her past history shows her to be unworthy of the confidence and support of the friends of the slave, she ought not now to receive it, unless she can show a change, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

What is the record of this history? In a letter published in the Green Mountain Freeman, and thence copied into the Liberator of Jan. 10, 1845, addressed to 'Rev. Harvey F. Leavitt,' her other pastor, dated, 'Lexington, (Ky.) Oct. 12, 1844,' she says:-

'Ah! my Rev. Sir, I am cruelly suspected of being tinctured with the foul blot of abolitionism. Do you ask if I have changed my sentiments? No, sir, I have not ; and I thought my reputation too well established, my character too well known, to admit of such a suspicion. I have often frankly declared my sentiments in this community. It is well known that I favor colonization. It has been known ever since I came here. I have had no disposition to conceal it.' ... 'On one occasion, (perhaps when over-excited,) I remarked in company, that if all the black population could be banished from our loved country, I would cheerfully go myself to the wild and desert shores of Africa, to teach them that they have immortal souls. This was, perhaps, an imprudent remark. If so, pardon ; it is the only one I am guilty of.' ... 'I tell my accusers that I defy them, "all powerful as they are," to find

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one individual in the State, old or young, black or white, bond or free, that will prove that he [[italics]] has, or ever had, the remotest grounds for even suspecting me to be anabolitionist' ... ' Tell my beloved father, it seems to have a very happy influence on the minds of the people, when I tell them that I was not brought up to be an abolitionist ; when I tell them that all such principles are entirely contrary to my training. If they full believed me in this, if they could know to a certainty that [[italics]] my father is pro-slavery, and had ever been a enemy and strenuous opposer to the abolition cause [[/italics]], I have no doubt IT WOULD OPERATE GREATLY TO MY ADVANTAGE ; but they seem to think, as a matter of course, that all Northern, and Eastern persons are anti-slavery. How vastly they mistake the reality!'

Now please compare this clear pro-slavery record with the following sentence that occurs in her last letter of Oct. 19, 1855. Speaking of this same time, she says - 'I had the entire confidence of the people, notwithstanding it had been understood from the beginning that I was thoroughly anti-slavery.'  What confidence can be placed in one who tells such opposite stories?

'But,' say her friends, 'the first letter was written when she was in the hands of the slaveholders, and it was a policy essential to her safety for her to deceive them into the belief that they had wrongly suspected her.' This view may satisfy those who think it is right to tell a barefaced lie for any purpose, but others cannot be thus satisfied. And then, if the last statement of hers is true, that they understood from the beginning that she was anti-slavery, could she hope to change that understanding by such a letter as that, blankly denying the full understanding of the people?

But let us look a little further and see if, after all, it is not the last statement that is false, and the first true. The editor of the Cincinnati Atlas, in his paper of March 1st, 1846, says that he has had an interview with Miss Webster and he father, at their request. She having been pardoned out of the State's Prison, and being in a free State, had no need to continue her falsehoods further as a measure of policy or safety; and this editor says, on her authority, that 'she is not, and never was, an abolitionist, and never had any sympathy with their principles.' . . . 'On her return to Vermont, she intend to publish a full account of the whole transaction, and at the same time to express her views upon slavery, and point out the folly and injurious course of the abolitionists.'

This intention she fulfilled, and in the ensuing summer she published her narrative, which is not now at hand; but from the severe criticisms that appeared upon it in the Liberator, Standard, Anti-Slavery Reporter, and other anti-slavery papers, of both old and new organizations, it appears to have been true to her intentions, and as thoroughly pro-slavery as her 'gallant,' 'chivalric' Kentucky friends could desire. With these facts, is it not clear that her recent statement of anti-slavery character is false? and if she can be false there, where can she be trusted?

Again,-she says, in her letter of Oct. 12, 1844, in relation to her friend Fairbank, "Whether he said or did any thing that gave them just ground for suspicion, I cannot say, but have a good reason to believe he did not." And as to her own connection with the matter, she says, through the editor of the Cincinnati Atlas, "that she saw no slaves, and had no knowledge of any abduction". But now it is well known here, and she makes no concealment of the fact, that herself and Fairbank did not actually assist off the persons charged.

Other quotations could be made to show her duplicity; that she not only lied when it seemed to be policy, but also when no policy or safety required it; but let this suffice.

But what is the object of her present appeal to the public, and of her collections of money? By her own account, she is a woman of fortune. Her plantation she represents as having cost only some 20 or $30,000, and that she has been offered $60,000 for it; while she estimates it to be worth $100,000. Why would she be begging money of abolitionists that are not worth fifty dollars? Does she propose with these means to return again to her Kentucky friends, having made her "fifth escape" from their tender mercies? Has she not yet worn off her love of them expressed in her first letter of Oct. 12, 1844, when, after characterizing them as being willing to "butcher her in the streets without judge or jury", as being ready to testify any thing against her, no matter what, that would ensure her conviction, she goes on to say, in the next paragraph, "But whatever they do, I am still their friend."..."Long after these lips are cold in death, and after this hand has ceased to move, may this testify to the manly bravery, the noble generosity, the zealous patriotism and chivalry of pround Kentucky." (!!!) This fulsome laudation of Kentuckians appears in her narrative published the same year, and in her letters that have been published as late as 1952, but do not appear in this last one. Verily, what can be made of this woman?

In conclusion: it appears that her short residence and acquaintance here have not tented to inspire confidence and respect on the part of many who have been most intimately associated with her in sympathetic endeavors to assist and relieve her in her professed distress and persecution. Let people in other places be on their guard, and if they are satisfied, as many here are, that she is a mere adventurer, a specular in real estate and the sympathies of a generous public, let them withhold their aid and assistance.

X.
Worcester, Feb. 1, 1856.
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[[image: small drawing of hand pointing to the beginning of the paragraph]]

The nature of the letter of our Worcester correspondent is such as to require some clear and explicit statements from Miss WEBSTER, in regard to her present sentiments and purposes; for, though she has undoubtedly been savagely treated by the 'chivalric' alias demoniacal spirit of Kentucky, her antecedents have not been such as to commend her specially to the confidence or aid of the self-sacrificing friends of the anti-slavery cause. As she is now seeking and obtaining liberal donations, on account of what she voluntarily (and we think most rashly) exposed herself to in Kentucky, it is due to all who have given, or who may yet be called upon to contribute, that a satisfactory reply should be made by her to our correspondent

X.
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REV. MR. HASSALL'S FAREWELL.

FRIEND GARRISON - I have just listened to a bold and faithful discourse, preached by our excellent Bro. HASSALL, to his late church and congregation at Mendon. In his own eloquent and earnest manner he reviewed his brief ministry of four years–a ministry marked by the utterance of bold thoughts theologically, but more especially in behalf of the Anti-Slavery warfare. We shall miss him as a rare specimen of a true man in the pulpit. We shall miss him in our efforts to advance the cause of truth, righteousness and liberty in Worcester county.

Mr. Hassall goes to Haverhill, a promising field. We congratulate the Unitarian Society of that place on receiving so good and faithful a servant of Christ, and feel assured the the cause of humanity in Essex county will feel, in a sensible manner, the aid he will render, 'in season and out of season.' All who love truth, progress, and universal justice, outside of sect and party, will give him the right hand of fellowship. God speed him in his labors in the new field that awaits him!

I wish we could have a copy of his farewell discourse for the press. It contains some passages too bold and striking to be lost. He placed man, as an individual, in his rights and conscience, above all written books; accepted truth as willingly from Theodore Parker, Emerson and others, as from any source, and manfully defended the position of a true minister. 'God (he said) had given us not only one book, but millions of books. Every star was a book, every blade of grass was a book, every living soul a book.' And when men thus lived and felt, slavery would not be defended by Doctors of Divinity from the Bible.

Oh, that we were blessed with more such ministers! Religion would not then be the meaningless thing it now is, but 'the power and the wisdom of God unto salvation.'
GEO. W. STACY.
Milford, Jan. 27, 1856

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'GARRISON AND ROBERT OWEN.'

The following, from the Independent Of Jan. 3d, occurs in the book notice in that paper of Prof. Hare's work on Spiritualism:–

'Of the converts to Spiritualism, whose previous belief is mentioned in this book, almost all of them were Infidels, and some of them, like Garrison and Robert Owen, of a most degraded class.'

The above I deem both slanderous and libellous, and as such, deserving a just and merited rebuke from every defender of an honest and faithful man. And for the Independent to permit such a foul aspersion of the character of Mr. Garrison into its columns, when itself truckles to the jesuitry of the American Tract Society, is base; and I am glad one man has taken up the subject. I will therefore request Mr. Stickney's letter to be published in connection with the few words I have said, believing that every lover of justice will read it with pleasure, and especially as it comes from one who disagrees with Mr. Garrison on the means of abolishing American slavery. Honor to whom honor is due.

S.S.G.

P.S. The letter from Mr. Stickney I cut from the Reformer and Independent Press. 
Greenmanville, Jan. 8, 1856.
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MR. GARRISON AND THE INDEPENDENT. 

It is with great regret and surprise that we notice the use made of  Mr. Garrison's name in a recent criticism of Prof. Hare's work, in the Independent. Of Mr Hare we know nothing, save his reputation as a chemist of considerable distinction, in one of our most prominent schools of science. If his character would justify the description given by the Independent, we can only say, we are sorry for it. But Mr. Garrison we do know, and scarcely any man has filled a wider space or more conspicuous in the public eye for the past twenty-five years. He is known on both sides of the Atlantic, and his fame belongs to the world, as springing from an earnest consecration of his life to the most sacred cause of philanthropy on earth.

If linking one's self to interests dearest to God and humanity–if suffering reproach and meeting the most bitter opposition, even to the peril of life itself, when the cowardly adn selfish and conservative stood afar off, and saw 'truth fallen in the streets,' and justice and mercy crying in vain for help, be any evidence of Christian fidelity, and integrity before God–then we pronounce the criticism of the Independent most grossly untrue, and a most unwarrantable attempt to strike down a true man.

To what has Mr. Garrison proved himself infidel, that he should be associated with names that awake a sense of public horror? Has he been guilty of blaspheming? Has he in private life violated the laws of domestic virtue, or in public dshonored the claims of public morals, or stricken at the foundations of social order and natural justice?

Of none of these crimes will it be pretended by the Independent, has Mr. Garrison been guilty. Does our defence of the rights of humanity, does our sacrifice for the good of others, afford any proof of our love to God, and an unfaltering faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ, entitle a man to any claim of love to God, we think Mr. G. has made good his title.

We know not what Mr. Garrison's peculiar views may be, in regard to religious formulas of doctrine; one thing we do know, that while the religious world were busy in subscribing to, and defending conflicting creed; that wile they were pursuing useless dogmas, and battering out the brains of one another, because they would not subscribe to them; that while they were 'tithing mint and cummin,' and crucifying the slave between thievish Christians and plundering politicians, Wm. Lloyd Garrison was led through the streets of Boston with a halter bout his neck, for crying out against the guilt and enormity of the the crime this is infidelity, then is Mr. Garrison an infidel.

This charge comes with a poor grace from men that, even now, with the monstrous crime staring them in the face, are hand in hand with men who breed human beings for the market, and sell women for prostitution!

As much as we differ from Mr. Garrison, on the modes of our operation, we must ever honor him for his fidelity to the cause of God and humanity; and I feel it a duty thus to protest against this repeated attempt to raise against him this 'mad dog' cry of 'infedelity,' by men who do not even demant that the Tract Society shall proclaim the relation 'between master and slave a sinful one, or sinful per se.'
W. STICKNEY.
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SALLIE HOLLEY IN CONNECTICUT.

PUTNAM, Ct., Jan. 22, 1856.

FRIEND GARRISON:

Sallie Holley and her friend, Miss Putnam, have made us a visit, and they have done us much good. We feel truly grateful for the favor.

Miss Holley addressed the people four times. Once (the first time) in the upper hall of the Quinebaug Block, and three times in the Congretional meetinghouse. One of those three addresses was given on the afternoon of the 'First Day of the week, (Jan. 6th,) and it abounded in gospel truth, rich and glowing. Her closing speech was on Monday, 14th inst., and was a fit climax.

Her mode of discussing the great theme, American Slavery, is well adapted to unite all those who obey Psalm 97:10–'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.' Her sentiments meet a hearty 'Amen' from each one who can honestly say (as in Ps. 119:104)–'Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way.' It strengthened every earnest soul to hear her speak of the 'heroic Paul' as deriving his courage and zeal from his faith in Jesus of Nazareth, the holy messenger of God–'The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.'

Miss Putnam has a mission to visit families, as clearly as Miss Holley to address public assemblies. On the subject of 'Woman's Rights,' both of them are doing a noble work; for, instead of spending time and strength in the nice discussion of delightful theories, by their deeds they unfurl the cheering banner–'Let woman do what she CAN DO for the good of the human race!'

I am highly gratified that they circulate among the churches of Connecticut the 'Appeal of the North Congregational Church of Hartford to the American Tract Society.' That seed will bring forth a glorious harvest.

Yours for freedom,
J. R. JOHNOSON.
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GEORGE THOMPSON GONE TO INDIA
LONDON, (Eng.) Jan. 16, 1856.

WM. LLOYD GARRISON:

MY DEAR SIR, – One of the last injunctions I received from Mr. Thompson, on parting with him on the shores of France, was to communicate to you the intelligence of his departure for India. He had not time to write you, even in acknowledgment of the receipt of your last fraternal letter. As you will have perceived, he sought to do justice to himself and to the cause, by the insertion in The Empire of an article clearing up the points referred to in your letter.

He wished me to tell you, that you, and the Cause, were in his thoughts when he left England; and more, that wherever Providence may lead him, and however long he may remain in the mysterious land of the Hindoo, the affectionate remembrance of WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON and his coadjutors will never forsake him, and true love for the slave will never cease to posses the foremost place in his heart. It is impossible to say how long he will be absent. Probably years will elapse before his voice is again raised for freedom and humanity on English soil. But it is a consolation to him, as it is a source of satisfaction to his friends, to know, that although he goes to India chiefly on business of a non-political character, he yet will have it in his power to promote, by his visit, the well-being of the natives of that country. India presents a field of philanthropic labor second to none in the world; for injustice and misrule, avarive and ambition, exercise their unrighteous sway in that empire no less than in Europe and America.

Very truly yours,
FRED. W. CHESSON

Transcription Notes:
[rev note: transcription was not complete, probably closed in error. reopened. - katie] [rev note: review and continuance begun by volunteer JackBNimble 0923EST 10AUG. -JBN] [rev note: review completed through 1st Column "the case of the Rev. Doctor Nehemiah Adams", and will be resumed later. 0947EST 10AUG. -JBN] I was able to decipher these words in the fold in column 2, page 2: <mistaken and that the [[?]] idea of liberty which he> 2047MST 12AUG-Perry Wilson Completed Pg.4 0045MST 13 AUG