Jacksonian Miscellanies, #60

June 9, 1998

JMISC #60: Founding the New England Anti-Slavery Society

Copyright by the editor, Hal Morris, Secaucus, NJ 1997. Permission is granted to copy, but not for sale, nor in multiple copies, except by permission.

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The following is from William Lloyd Garrison 1805-1879, The Story of His Life, Told by His Children, vol I (New York: Century 1885), pp277-290. I'm trying something new here, which is that when you see something like {p278}, it indicates the start of page 278 in the scanned text. Footnotes are, as in the past but with an addition, like so*

((1 Here is a footnote))

I.e. deeply indented and surrounded by double parentheses, but in addition, the footnote number used on the page is given.

All of this is so that you can if you wish give an "as quited in" type citation with exact information about the original source.

I took some time off and skipped several issues in case that wasn't obvious, because of work pressures, my own lack of efficiency and a death in the family (a very dear 90 year old grandfather - not unexpected, but requiring time with family).

THE first step towards the formation of an antislavery society in accordance with the doctrines advocated by the Liberator ­ was taken in Boston on Sunday, November 13, 1831, when fifteen persons assembled in Mr. Sewall's office on State Street, on the understanding "that if the apostolic number of twelve should be found ready to unite upon the principles that should be thought vital, and in a plan of operations deemed wise and expedient," an association should then and there be organized. Among them were Mr. May and Mr. Oliver Johnson, who have both given an account of the proceedings. Mr. Garrison took the initiative, by describing "what the Abolitionists of Great Britain had done, since, under the inspiration of Elizabeth Heyrick, they had put their movement on the ground of immediate, in distinction from gradual, emancipation. He wanted societies formed in America upon the same principle, and could not be satisfied with any scheme of gradualism." For two hours the question was discussed, not whether immediate emancipation was right and safe, but whether on the one hand popular prejudice would not be unduly excited, and on the other the friends of gradual emancipation be repelled from the new society, by its positive committal to immediatism. "Mr. Garrison was firm in the conviction that the vitality of the movement depended upon a frank avowal of fundamental principles, however unpopular they might be; {p278}and the vote upon the question showed that nine were in favor of organizing upon his plan, while six were opposed." Mr. May was consequently obliged to return home without witnessing the completion of the organization.

Nevertheless the attempt was not abandoned. On Friday, December 16, another meeting was held at the same place, with ten present*,

((1 Namely, according to the records, David Lee Child, Ellis Gray Loring, Isaac Child, W. L. Garrison, Robert Bernard Hall, John Cutts Smith, Oliver Johnson, Isaac Knapp, Joshua Coffin, and Samuel E. Sewall.))

and, "after considerable discussion, David Lee Child, Samuel E. Sewall, William Lloyd Garrison, Ellis Gray Loring, and Oliver Johnson were appointed a committee to draft a constitution for an Anti­Slavery Society, to be reported January 1, 1832." Then for the first time Mr. Garrison gave public intimation of the movement, and, in the Liberator of the following day, called for the names of those who were ready to join it. On Sunday evening, the first of January, 1832, the draft of the constitution was reported to a meeting containing some new faces; among them, Alonzo Lewis, William Joseph Snelling, Dr. Gamaliel Bradford*,

((2 Dr. Bradford was a graduate of Harvard College (1814), and from 1833 to the close of his life in 1839 was Superintendent of the Massachusetts General Hospital.))

Dr. Abner Phelps, and the Rev. Abijah Blanchard, editor of an anti­masonic religious paper, who opened the meeting with prayer. The body of the constitution was adopted, "with a few unimportant alterations and additions," as the records read, but also with one highly significant of the conservative influences against which Mr. Garrison had had to contend in committee: "Voted, that 'Philo­African' be struck out [of the first article, denoting the Society's title], and 'New­England Anti-Slavery' be substituted."The choice marked the dominance of the same positive and aggressive spirit that put the Liberator and not the Safety­Lamp at the head of the movement for immediate emancipation. The preamble was referred for revision to another committee*

((3 Consisting of Messrs. Sewall, Garrison, Blanchard, and Snelling.))

to be {p279}reported to an adjourned meeting appointed for the evening of Friday, January 6, in the school­room under the African Baptist Church, in Belknap Street.

"Of that adjourned meeting," says Mr. Johnson, "my recollections are very vivid. A fierce northeast storm combining snow, rain and hail in about equal proportions, was raging, and the streets ­ were full of slush. They were dark, too, for the city of Boston in those days was very economical of light on "Nigger Hill."*

((1 The north side of Beacon Hill, and the colored settlement of Boston par excellence.))

It almost seemed as if Nature was frowning upon the new effort to abolish slavery. But the spirits of the little company rose superior to all external circumstances."

Mr. Child presided, and the preamble, as drawn by Mr. Snelling, was read as follows:

"We, the undersigned, hold that every person, of full age and sane mind, has a right to immediate freedom from personal bondage of whatsoever kind, unless imposed by the sentence of the law, for the commission of some crime. We hold that man cannot, consistently with reason, religion, and the eternal and immutable principles of justice, be the property of man. We hold that whoever retains his fellow­man in bondage is guilty of a grievous wrong. We hold that a mere difference of complexion is no reason why any man should be deprived of any of his natural rights, or subjected to any political disability. While we advance these opinions as the principles on which we intend to act, we declare that we will not operate on the existing relations of society by other than peaceful and lawful means, and that we will give no countenance to violence or insurrection."

This declaration manifestly disregarded the point of expediency raised at the first meeting, which was again the cause of much earnest discussion without unanimity being reached; Messrs. Child, Loring and Sewall withholding their signatures from the perfected instrument.*

((2 Their scruples could not long keep them aloof from a work in which their hearts were enlisted. At the monthly meeting in July, Mr. Sewall was appointed one of the Board of Managers to take the place of Mr. John Stimson, in August to succeed Mr. John S. Williams as Treasurer; and at the annual meeting in January, 1833, to succeed Mr. Garrison as Corresponding Secretary, while Messrs. Child and Loring were elected Counsellers. Mr. Sewall, however, only became a life member (by the payment of $15) in November, 1833 (Lib. 3:187).))

{p280}The twelve persons, all white, who accepted the preamble and affixed their names, were William Lloyd Garrison, Oliver Johnson, Robert B. Hall, Arnold Buffum, William J. Snelling, John E. Fuller, Moses Thacher, Joshua Coffin, Stillman B. Newcomb, Benjamin C. Bacon, Isaac Knapp, and Henry K. Stockton*­-

((1 Of these only three were natives of Boston (Lib. 7: 53). Five at least were still living in 1874, namely, Messrs. Garrison, Johnson, Fuller, Thacher, and Bacon (MS. Feb. 1, 1874, W. L. G. to O. Johnson, remarking on the longevity of the " apostles "). All but Mr. Johnson had died when Mr. Garrison passed away. From a later letter, Feb. 24, 1874, the following tributes are extracted. Of Benjamin C. Bacon: "You remember how early, faithfully, yet unobtrusively, he espoused the anti­slavery movement in Boston, and what excellent service he rendered as office agent and secretary of the Anti­Slavery Depository. Ever of a meek and quiet spirit, not all the pro­slavery tumult of those times could disturb his serenity for a moment. He was equally serviceable to our cause after his removal to Philadelphia, and well appreciated by our friends and co­workers in that city." Of Moses Thacher: "He rendered important service and deserves honorable mention." Every one of the twelve was strongly Orthodox while the three dissenters were Unitarians by conviction or affiliation. They were also the only lawyers.))

not more than one or two of whom, says Mr. Johnson, could have put a hundred dollars into the treasury without bankrupting themselves," whereas two at least of those not in perfect accord with them had hitherto been the pecuniary mainstay of the Liberator. What, however, must have seemed most discouraging to Mr. Garrison was his failure, after a year of argument in public and in private, to convince his truest and most necessary friends of the high expediency of immediatism. Nevertheless, "as the little company . . . were stepping out into the storm. and darkness from the African school­house where their work was accomplished, Mr. Garrison impressively remarked: 'We have met to­night in this obscure School­house; our numbers are few and our influence limited; but, mark my prediction, Faneuil Hall shall ere long echo with the principles we have set forth. We shall shake the Nation by their mighty power.'

{p281}The first publication of the Constitution of the New England Anti­ Slavery Society was made in the Liberator of February 18, 1832, together with a list of officers (including Arnold Buffum*,

((1 Arnold Buffum, a member of the Society of Friends, and son of a member of the Providence Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (Lib. 3:138), was a native of Smithfield, R. I. where he was born in 1782. In 1824 he visited England, and there made the acquaintance of Clarkson and the leading abolitionists of his own sect. He made a second anti­slavery visit to England in April, 1843, when a clerical fellow­passenger described him as " an Old Hickory Quaker Abolitionist," a "tall, gray­headed, gold-spectacled patriarch" ('Life of Dr. Wm. A. Muhlenberg,' p. 163). He died March 13, 1859. See p. 94 of 'Proceedings of the American Anti­Slavery Society at its Third Decade, 1863.' Mr. Buffum possessed much mechanical ingenuity, which he applied in the line of his business ­the manufacture of hats ­and otherwise, and had dreams of liberally endowing the cause from his profits (MS. Mar. 27, 1835, Henry E. to Geo. W. Benson).))

President, Joshua Coffin, Secretary, and W. L. Garrison, Corresponding Secretary), and an expository Address from the pen of the Rev. Moses Thacher, one of the Counsellors. The second article of the Constitution was as follows:

"The objects of the Society shall be to endeavor, by all means sanctioned by law, humanity and religion, to effect the abolition of slavery in the United States, to improve the character and condition of the free people of color, to inform and correct public opinion in relation to their situation and rights, and obtain for them equal civil and political rights and privileges with the whites."

Regular meetings were provided for on the last Monday of every month*,

((2 May 28, 1832, 11 Voted, that hereafter meetings of the Society shall be opened by prayer."))

and an annual meeting on the second Wednesday in January; and the Board of Managers were authorized to appoint agents to be employed in any part of the United States, " in obtaining or communicating intelligence, in the publication or distribution of tracts, books or papers, or in the execution of any measure which may be adopted to promote the objects of the Society." Auxiliary societies contributing to its funds, and sending delegates to its meetings, would be recognized in any part of New England. The Address was occupied with a defence {p282}of the doctrine of immediate emancipation, and, as a corollary, with a denunciation of the aims and methods of the Colonization Society; and concluded with a warning to those who would temporize with slavery, of the danger of slave insurrections.

Of the seventy­two names appended, mostly in autograph, to the Constitution in the Society's records, perhaps a quarter were those of colored men, some of whom were barely able to write. The local membership was at the outset considerably smaller than the total just given. Such was the body pitted against the American Colonization Society, against (as events proved) the American Church, against the American Union. Its first action, at a meeting held in the Liberator office, was to instruct the Board of Managers to memorialize Congress for the abolition of slavery "in the District of Columbia and in the Territories of the United States under their jurisdiction," and to begin the work of popular agitation by preparing the Address above cited and procuring the delivery of another by its president, Arnold Buffum. In due course it had standing committees to assist in placing colored lads at trades, and to endeavor to get colored children into the public schools; to improve the existing schools for colored children and to build up others; and to inquire into all cases of inhabitants of New England who might be kidnapped, and take the necessary steps to procure their liberation at the Society's expense*.

((1 See, for an account of the Society's suit for the freedom of Francisco before Judge Shaw, Lib. 2: 194. Mr. Sewall acted as the Society's counsel; and the anti­kidnapping committee, of which he was a member, was doubtless formed on his motion.))

It considered a memorial for the repeal of §7 of the Act of 1786, prohibiting the intermarriage of blacks and whites; sought to find support for a free­produce grocery in Boston; and resolved to undertake to raise $50,000 toward establishing a manual­labor school for colored youth, through solicitations "both in England and America." Mr. Garrison's motions, as preserved in the {p283}records, looked to the preparation for the annual meeting in 1833 of reports on the foreign and domestic slave trade, on colonization, on the condition of the free people of color at large, on slavery in the United States and in the District; and to the despatch of an agent through the New England towns to deliver addresses and make collections on behalf of the Society. By his motion, too, Wilberforce and Clarkson were elected honorary members of the Society. On several of the important committees already enumerated, and on others pertaining to practical management and efficient propagandism, his name is to be found; and when the Society, which had begun by declaring the Liberator its official organ, towards the close of the year concluded that a monthly publication would better serve that purpose, he was one of three nominated by the Board to superintend the publication of it. In these and in other ways to be considered presently, he helped justify the Society's declaration in the first number of the Abolitionist, that, "probably, through its instrumentality, more public addresses on the subject of slavery, and appeals in behalf of the contemned free people of color, have been made in New England, during the past year [1832], than were elicited for forty years prior to its organization."

At the monthly meeting in May, Mr. Garrison was appointed a delegate to represent the Society at the second annual Convention of the People of Color, to be held in Philadelphia during the next fortnight; and having accepted an invitation to be the guest of Robert Purvis*

((1 A son­in­law of James Forten.))

during his stay in that city, he set out on the first of June, leaving his paper in the friendly charge of Messrs. Lewis and Coffin. His part in the Convention consisted chiefly in opposition to colonization ; Mr. Gurley, the Secretary of the Colonization Society, having made a speech on the second day, to which Mr. Garrison made an immediate and effective rejoinder. Fragments of an address which the latter delivered at the close of the Convention {p284}were published by request in the Liberator. The strain was singularly solemn, fervent, and hopeful.

His social experience was memorable:

I have had," he writes to Ebenezer Dole, "a most delightful visit to Philadelphia. The delegates were generally men of large, sound sense and quick discernment ­ some of them able debaters, and all animated by a kindling, towering spirit of improvement. The people of color now begin to hope for a better state of things: this hope is filling their breasts with motives to exertion, and the consequence is, they are rising fast in moral and literary improvement. I sincerely wish you had been at the Convention. I wish you had been with me in Philadelphia, to see what I saw, to hear what I heard, and to experience what I felt, in associating with many colored families. There are colored men and women, young men and young ladies, in that city, who have few superiors in refinement, in moral worth, and in all that makes the human character worthy of admiration and praise."

And to Mr. Purvis himself he writes, immediately upon his return home:

"The very generous and unremitted exertions made by yourself and your accomplished lady, to promote my happiness and comfort during my residence in Philadelphia, have left an indelible impression upon my memory, and opened in my breast a fountain of gratitude which only death can close. I know you do not need a profusion of thanks, but when the heart is full, the tongue must speak. . . . Never could I have anticipated such a change as has taken place in my feelings. I have constantly said of Boston, until now, with regard to my affection for it, that every stone in its streets was a magnet of attraction. And now­-will you credit the confession I am ­-yes, sighing to return to the 'city of brotherly love.'"

In the letter to his friend Dole he continues:

"The mockery of mockeries is at hand ­-the Fourth of July! By many, the day will be spent in rioting and intemperate drinking­-by others, in political defamation and partisan heat­by others, in boasting of the freedom of the American people and unhazardous denunciations of the mother country. The waste of money, and health, and morals, will be immense. Another party will seize the occasion (many of {p285}them with the best motives) to extol the merits of the Colonization Society , and increase its funds. Mistaken men! A very small number will spend the day in sadness and supplication, on account of the horrible oppression which is exercised over the bodies and souls of two millions of the rational creatures of God, in this boasted land of liberty.

"I have been appointed, by the New­England Anti­Slavery Society, to deliver an address in this city on the 4th of July, on the subject of slavery. Although the most strenuous exertions have been made by a committee to procure a meeting­house in which to have the address delivered, up to this hour they have not been able to succeed, and probably ­-we must resort to a hall. Tell it not at the South! Publish it not in the capital of Georgia!"

The address was in fact delivered in Boylston Hall, and afterwards on the same day at Lynn. It was remarked that, contrary to the usage of the time, the Rev. Joshua N. Danforth, an agent of the Colonization Society, who officiated on the previous Sunday at the Essex Street Church, refused to read the printed notice of the address. Twelve days later, in the one church sure to open its doors to him, the Baptist Church in Belknap Street, Mr. Garrison delivered another address, on the "Progress of the Abolition Cause," before the African Abolition Freehold Society, in commemoration of the Act of Parliament, in 1807, making the slave trade piracy. In this discourse, afterwards printed by request, occurs a striking apostrophe to Clarkson and Wilberforce, and the following personal passages:

"Last year, I felt as if I were fighting single­handed against the great enemy; now I see around me a host of valiant warriors, armed with weapons of an immortal temper, whom nothing can daunt, and who are pledged to the end of the contest. The number is increasing with singular rapidity. The standard which has been lifted up in Boston is attracting the gaze of the nation, and inspiring the drooping hearts of thousands with hope and courage."

"As for myself, whatever may be my fate ­- whether I fall in the spring­time of manhood by the hand of the assassin, or be immured in a Georgia cell, or be permitted to live to a ripe old age -­ I know that the success of your cause depends {p286}nothing upon my existence. I am but as a drop in the ocean, which, if it be separated, cannot be missed. My own faith is strong ­- my vision, clear ­- my consolation, great. 'Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it."'

Towards the latter part of August the Board of Managers of the New­England Anti­Slavery Society appointed Mr. Garrison an agent "to deliver addresses, etc., for a period not exceeding three months," with compensation at the rate of one hundred dollars for that period, and his expenses. In accordance with this commission he began a tour which embraced the central and eastern parts of Massachusetts, the northern part of Rhode Island, and Maine from Portland to Bangor-­the last a region wholly new to him. In a series of letters to the Liberator he described his experiences from week to week. Explaining at the outset his motives in going about, he placed first justice to himself :

"My enemies have had a long indulgence, until they begin to think they are safe from retribution. What libels have they not put forth, what caricatures have they not drawn, what calumnies have they not industriously propagated, from Maine to Missouri, respecting my motives and principles! . . . Such phrases as these ­'the madman Garrison,' ' the fanatic Garrison,' 'the incendiary Garrison' ­have extensively become as familiar as household words. Nothing amuses me more than to ­witness the unaffected and agreeable surprise which many strangers manifest in their countenances on a personal introduction to myself. They had almost imagined me to be in figure a monster of huge and horrid proportions; but now finding me decently made, without a single horn, they take me cordially by the hand, and acknowledge me 'a marvellous proper man.'"

An instance in point occurred at the house of the venerable Moses Brown, in Providence*,

((1 About June 21. "We had," writes H. E. Benson to S. J. May, June 26, "a short though delightful visit from Mr. Garrison last week. If I had formed a very high opinion of him from what I had heard about him, that opinion was certainly not lessened when I became personally acquainted with him."))

on Mr. Garrison's return from the Philadelphia Convention:

{p287}"During my visit at his dwelling, an individual from New York was introduced, named ___, (a relative of the patriarch, and a member of the Society of Friends,) whose deportment was somewhat pedantic and lofty ­ acquired, no doubt, in the school­room, as he was a teacher*.

((1 This was none other than Goold Brown, the grammarian.))

The subjects of slavery and colonization being introduced, he instantly avowed himself hostile to immediate abolition, and (of course) friendly to the Colonization Society. He then began, (ignorant all the while of my name,) in unmeasured terms to denounce 'one Garrigus, or Garrison, or some such name ­a madman a fanatic, and a radical, who was calling for the immediate liberation of all the slaves in this country,' etc., etc. This personal assault was exceedingly diverting to all the company, nor could I refrain from laughter. Assuming as much gravity as possible, I asked him whether he knew Mr. Garrison personally? He replied, No. Are you familiar with his sentiments? I again inquired. Yes­he had seen two or three numbers of a paper which he published, called the Liberator. Did you ever see any principles advocated in it by him which are not held in common by the Society of Friends? Oh, his memory was not sufficiently tenacious to enable him to cite particular passages. I then inquired whether he understood the doctrines and principles of the Colonization Society? Yes, he did. Taking up a copy of my 'Thoughts,' which happened to lie on the table, I read a few passages from the Reports of the Society, for his edification. These seemed to stagger him, till, taking the book from my hands, he discovered on the title­page that I was its author, on which he sneeringly remarked, 'Oh, this is by that radical Garrison! I don't believe his statements! and he was again commencing a tirade against me when he was checked by Friend Brown (who could no longer suppress his pleasant humor) in the following quaint and pithy manner: 'Thee does not know to whom thee has been talking­this is William Lloyd Garrison!'

"The effect of this annunciation upon the gentleman was ludicrous in the extreme: he apologized for his plainness of speech, confessed that he had read very few of my writings, and that he had heard many allegations against me which he supposed were true, etc., etc. I told him. that I hoped he would continue to speak as frankly as he had spoken before the disclosure of my name; that I had taken offence at nothing which he had advanced except his impeachment of my veracity; and {p288}I could easily forgive that, on the supposition that it was hastily made to avoid a defeat. A long and spirited conversation ensued, in which nearly all the company participated; and on parting, I gave him a copy of my 'Thoughts,' for his harmless traducement,­-persuaded that our interview had not been altogether unprofitable, and that henceforth the 'madman Garrigus, or Garrison, or some such name,'*

((1 Goold Brown's blundering was not so far out of the way. In the south of France (Tarn­et­Garonne) Garrigues and Garrison (or Garrisson) are regarded as variations of the same name. The latter signifies "little oak."))

would not rank quite so low in his estimation."

Worcester was the first place visited by Mr. Garrison, his choice being influenced by the fact that an Anti-Masonic Convention was to be held there, on September 5, to which he had been appointed delegate for Suffolk County.*

((2 A pamphlet report of the "Proceedings of the Third Anti­Masonic Convention at Worcester," in the Mass. Historical Society's Library, contains, an address to the people of Massachusetts, signed by the delegates, Mr. Garrison's name figures among the sixty­one from Suffolk Co.))

Though heartily in sympathy with its objects,*

((3 "I go for the immediate, unconditional, and total abolition of Freemasonry" (Lib. 2:158).))

he appears to have taken no active part in its proceedings; and having spoken on slavery in the Town Hall, after a church had been refused him, be drove through the beautiful scenery of the Blackstone Valley to Providence. The sight of the numerous factory villages on the way confirmed his traditional views on the tariff : "Although I have long since withdrawn from the field of politics, I feel a strong interest in the perpetuity of that system which fosters and protects the industry of the American people." So, later, at Hallowell, Maine, he found "an intelligent, clear­headed, and industrious population, whom it is not easy to mislead by any political impostures, and who are fully aware that the protection of American industry is the life­blood of the nation." In Providence he renewed his visit to Moses Brown, enjoyed the companionship of Henry Benson, and made several addresses to the colored people, whom he helped form a temperance society.

{p289}In Portland, which he reached by boat from Boston, he was the guest of Nathan Winslow, "one of the most thoroughgoing friends of the abolition cause in our land,"*

((1 The same might have been said of his brother Isaac Winslow, who shortly afterwards lent timely and generous assistance to the struggling firm of Garrison & Knapp. Nathan had subscribed to the Liberator from its first number, and took it to the day of his death in 1861 ­ "more than once preventing its suspension by his liberal assistance, and authorizing us to draw upon him at any time, in case of emergency, for the means to continue it" (Lib. 31:151). Both of these excellent men, who were members of the Society of Friends, took part in the formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society (Lib. 3:202). Nathan Winslow subsequently made his home in Massachusetts, and became the father­ in­law of Samuel E. Sewall.))

and was also the object of marked attentions from the colored citizens. His public addresses were well attended and respectfully listened to. Among his converts was General Samuel Fessenden, a man of fine presence, a lawyer of the highest standing, and one of the pillars of the Colonization Society in Maine. He had been induced to listen to Mr. Garrison's discourse on the subject from the Rev. Dr. Nichols's*

((2 Ichabod Nichols, a prominent member of the Unitarian denomination.))

pulpit, and was so much affected as to be moved to tears by it. With eyes still suffused, he awaited the speaker on his exit from the church, and accompanied him to Mr. Winslow's where conversation lasted till past midnight.*

((3 Related by Mr. Garrison to his son F. J. G. General Fessenden presided at the formation of a State anti­slavery society in the spring of the following year (Lib. 3:75,79). He was father of the distinguished Senator, Wm. Pitt Fessenden.))

In Hallowell, writes Mr. Garrison, "the first individual upon whom, as in duty bound, I called, was Mr. Ebenezer Dole, a philanthropist whose name is familiar to the readers of the Liberator­-the first life­member of the New­England Anti­Slavery Society­-the friend of the poor and needy, and supporter of the various benevolent operations of the times ­- whose interest in the abolition cause is unsurpassed -­ and to whom I labor under very onerous obligations. Our meeting was a cordial one." On his return from Bangor, he stopped at Waterville, where he was entertained by the President of the College, {p290}the Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin,*

((1 Formerly of Danvers, Mass. (See vol. viii. Coll. Maine Hist. Soc., p. 178.) Mr. Chaplin's wife, Eunice Stickney, was a distant relative of Mr. Garrison's, though neither host nor guest was aware of the fact. (See the Stickney Genealogy, pp. 87, 146, 458.)))

and spoke to the students on colonization. At Augusta he attended a meeting called by the Rev. Cyril Pearl, in aid of the Colonization Society, and so embarrassed the agent by his questions and impressed the audience by his appeal in opposition, that the vote was emphatically in the negative.*

((2 The refutation was effectual, for a second attempt the next year in the same place by Pearl, during Mr. Garrison's absence in England, proved an even worse failure. The latter's tour at this time also embraced the towns of Newburyport, Lowell, and Salem (Lib. 2:167, 183, and MS. letters of Arnold Buffum, Oct. 23, 24, 1832).))

In the Liberator announcing the editor's departure for Philadelphia appeared the first advertisement of an octavo pamphlet of 240 pages, of which the full title read: 'Thoughts on African Colonization: or an impartial exhibition of the doctrines, principles and purposes of the American Colonization Society. Together with the resolutions, addresses and remonstrances of the free people of color. By Wm. Lloyd Garrison.' For a motto it bore these two texts : "Out of thine own mouth will I Condemn thee." "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good." The preface opened with these words:

"I dedicate this work to my countrymen, in whose intelligence, magnanimity and humanity I place the utmost reliance. Although they have long suffered themselves to be swayed by a prejudice as unmanly as it is wicked, and have departed widely from the golden rule of the gospel, in their treatment of the people of color, to suppose that they will always be the despisers and persecutors of this unfortunate class is, in my opinion, to libel their character. A change in their feelings and sentiments is already visible ­ a change which promises, ere long, to redeem their character from the bloody stains which slavery has cast upon it, and to release the prisoner from his chains....

"To impair the force of this exposition, the ardent advocates of the Colonization Society will undoubtedly attempt to evade the ground of controversy, and lead incautious minds astray in a labyrinth of sophistry. But the question is not, whether the ...{p291ff}