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January, 1863      DOUGLASS MONTHLY      773
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sustained slavery, rum selling or dram drinking, he treated as the meanest of shams.

His deserving, and earnest mind often led him to tare off the veil of religious bigotry, can't and catch phrazes, and expose the hypocracy of such profession, where no heart was found or ear could be gained for suffering humanity.  Although he was at times terribly severe on such, and to many seemed not only bold, but overbaring, yet I never knew a man more modest, kind and unassuming.

The cause of temperance, as well as freedom, found in our dear brother an early and able advocate.  Here to the broad benevolence of christianity guided him.  Humanity in the ditch, broken harted wives, wretched families, implored help and against all the selfish interests of rumsellers and their abetors, he rushed to their rescue.  He saw not only families real, and stager in poverty, loaded with disgrace, but a nation realing and stagering on to ruin, as the drunkard realed, and stagered under the influence of the madning cup.  Few men could or did labor more efficiently in this cause.  No wonder that those who are in love with free rum and eternal slavery set up a fiendish howl when they learned he was dead, and uttered their disgusting lies in relation to the causes that led to his death.

His earnest application of the principles of Christianity to politics, and to the correcting of civil government, gave corrupt politicions great trouble.  This world will one day appreciate, I trust the labors of such men as Abram Pryne for so abley defining the nature and province of civil government, and applying the principles of christianity to that department.  Wm. Goodell, Geritt Smith, Abram Pryne and others like them deserve the lasting gratitude of mankind for their self-sacrificing and manly efforts in this field of reform.

Our brother was truly the ajax of the battlefield of Church Reform that the greatest and most needed of all reforms.  Alas! what a loss was the death of our beloved brother to this movement!  Where shall his like be found!  Clad in garments of light and love, he pointed out with grear ability and simplicity the true ground on which the moral forces of each community can be gathered in unity, and christian freedom as one church walking together in love thus learning to "increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men," thus presenting a christian democracy with which to war on aristocracy and sin of every name.

For five or six years he gave his thoughts to the public on the above and kindred subjects through the Press, he has left his footprints in these papers and in his published debates, for the benefit of those who may come after him.  It is useless to attempt to discribe the great sacrifice my brother made in maintaining his paper and advocating so many unpopular reforms.  His poverty was as deep as his utterance, was rich and his life self sacrificing.

I have visited his deeply afflicted companion and seen most of those who were with him in his severe sickness, from them I learned that it was as has been stated, typhus fever that wasted his frail body and distracted his overworked brain, and in a state of insanity, his hand took and used the fatal razor.  Thus innocently yet unfortunately ended the life of
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this great and good man.  None but friends would or could call this act criminal.  There was no character either good or bad in this act.

Abram Pryne was a broad minded well cultivated christian.  From my long and intimate acquaintance with him, I know that he was incapable of commiting the horrid deed of inteligently taking his own lift.  Precious, honest, great hearted, man of God, his love to God, and man, his large, and active brain, combined to make him feel keenly the interests of humanity, and thus led him to overwork his frail body, he thus became an easy prey to a fever that has overthrown the reason of thousands.  Not one jot, or title, of all his useful life, so full of bright thoughts, and earnest deeds, should be dimed by this innocent, but unfortunate act.  The false representations of the causes of his death by the enemies of the truths he advocated, in order to damage such truths not only exhibits the selfish, and wicked state of their hearts, but is also a full, although unviting confession of the weakness of their views, and positions and the strength of his.

He rests from his labors, let the friends of reform take courage, our dear brother has already lived more than fifty ordinary lives; the truths he has uttered will in various ways add lasting intellectual and moral wealth to the world for ages yet to come, they will help to gild with devine duty the eternal future

    He "being dead yet speaketh."

Friends of humanity, with only a faint appreciation of his labors, will see, and feel the just claims of his family, to their sympathy and aid.

I trust that the writing of this article, at this time, so long after his death, will have the good effect of awakening the fresh interest, on behalf this afflicted family.

JAMES GREGG.
Philadelphia, N. Y. Dec. 15.
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AN APPEAL.
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To the friends of the African Race in Great Britain and Ireland, the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, would again make an appeal.  Deeply grateful for the aid hitherto extended to this Society in its labors to promote the Anti-Slavery Cause, it would call attention to the new state of things that exists in our country.

The fortunes of war have brought within the lines of the Union Army great numbers of men, women, and children who have never until now called their bones, and sinews their own.  Whenever government has obtained a foothold in the rebellious state, these refugees from Slavery have flocked in great numbers.  But it is to those in Alexandria Virginia, that we as a Society, would call particular attention.  Many of the "Contrabands" came to Alexandria with the Union Army, when it retreated a few months since from central and western Virginia.  On their arrival here some of the most capable ones obtained houses to live in, found work and now take care of themselves.  But they keep coming from farther south all the time.  Of the 1200 to whom rations are now issued about one half are men and boys at work for the government, whose rations will be deducted from their pay.  The rest are the old, the decrepid, and women with small children, and young women, but all who are able to work 
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find employment in hospitals and other places.  A great proportion of them are sick.  There is but one good house that they are allowed to occupy.  There are about 150 in an old School house, and about the same number in the Slave Pen where they are crowded together men, women, children, the well, the sick, the dying, the dead.  A woman was buried a few days since whose five children have died since they came here, in a low place by the river, many of these people have found shelter in old tenements and sheds, not fit for human beings to stay in and here a great share of the children have died.  But in none of these wretched places can we find any who say they are sorry they come.  Some of those who have been house servants and some have lived in comfortable cabins, but many of them have endured the extremist hardships, and their tales of sorrow would soften the heart of any save barbarians.

Government is now having barracks erected for these people, and they will soon be made more comfortable and good influences will have more power over them.  The feeling in Alexandria is against them, the citizens being mostly "Secesh" and they say "these contrabands need not have left their comfortable homes where they were taken care of, and those who brought them here may take care of them" when asked to give to them.

These men and women in their efforts to get within the lines of the Union Army, many of them endured great hardships.  Little children were dragged along in the night for miles.  One woman brought away six little ones, three of her own and three belonging to her sister who was dead.  She fell down several times with one in her arms and it was so injured as to die shortly after.  When they reached our army they say "The Union was good to us, and said come along" but they walked very fast on the march and many of them were ill from fatigue, and over exertion when they arrived here.  They left all their little comforts behind, and brough nothing but a little clothing, and are now many of them ragged and half naked.

They want every thing but food that is provided for them bountifully by the government, and a very little fuel is provided for then now, but fuel is very scarce and the army consumes a great deal, and it is likely these poor people will suffer very much this winter for want of fuel.

There are benevolent and christian people in the Northern States who are doing a great deal for them in various places, but there are so many of these destitute creatures that it needs a large amount of benevolence to relieve their most pressing wants.

Slavery s not favorable to the development of the Christian graces, or the social virtues and these people are precisely what Slavery has made them.  The women need advice and instruction, such as only intelligent and Christian women can give.  They need to be taught self respect and womanly virtue, and to improve them and enable them to form desirable habits it is necessary to bring them in contact with the wise and good of their own sex.

We have sent an agent to Alexandria to labor among them and to ascertain their wants, so that our efforts may be immediately effective.  This Agent Julia A. Wilbur, is the only white woman in Alexandria, who goes among the contrabands there.  The Provost
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