.0' o 0^ -^\ v-^' ^ A^"V ' // C- ■^c. -^^i^. ,^^ "^^ s "' / ^ -^ "^ ^\ - -^^c;^' .' ■^o. %% ' ' " "" aV „ \- rO^ 't. v^^ • ,^>^' "V '^:'^*^^^5 ':J>^ >i H^ '^^. <>•'' *%/^ '"^^ .A^ -~"" .^^' x^^- .^ X^^^. \^ .^^A^l'^J'^. "^^^ A ' \ ^^,fy^ 1 V AN ■ 3o. •-^" . o 0^ ^\- '■ i, '^c-U^- '^' ^.--^ . ,^^' >Q' r -^^ .r ,^^^^' '^Z^- 1 ::f~ ^. -. ,-0' "^^ v^' ..^^*' f#- -C^^' *",-^i^,' u -§r«#f ■:; n\>' ^n V ^Z^'^"^"^'^" xO^' MEMOIR REV. ELIJAH P. LOVE JOY; WHO AVAS MURDERED IN DEFENCE OF THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS, AT ALTON, ILLINOIS, NOV. 7, 1837, BY JOSEPH C. AND OWEN LOVEJOY. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN aUINCY ADAMS. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. TAYLOR, BRICK CHURCH CHAPEL, Corner of Park Row and Spruce Street. 1838. !i-Ut Entered Accord.ng to an Act of Congress, in the yea • 1838, by JOHN S. TAYLOR, In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY SMITH AXD WRIGHT, 21G WILLIAM STREET NEW YORK. INTRODUCTION TO THE MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY, MURDERED IN THE DEFENCE OF THE LIB- ERTY OF THE PRESS AT ALTON, IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ON THE 7TH NOVEMBER, 1837. In the biographical narratives of the Founder of the Christian religion, and of his primitive disciples, there is an internal evidence of truth, not less conclusive than that of the miracles which they performed. The mira- cles were the evidence necessary to prove the authen- ticity of his mission to his cotemporaries, to whom he was accredited, to whom he revealed the hidden mys- tery of their own immortality, and to whom he proclaimed the' laws of their own nature, the obligations of mutual benevolence and charity -.-love upon earth-and ^^/. here- after, were the everlasting pillars of his system of reli- aion and of morals. So congenial to the nature of man ^re this precept, and this promise, that on presentmg them in their simplicity to the mind, it would seem as i they must meet the universal acquiescence and assent of every intelligent human being. But before the pre- cept of brotherly love, as the universal law of human kind, carried out to its logical conclusions, empires and kin<.doms, principalities and powers. War and Slavery. 4 INTRODUCTION. were destined to fall prostrate, to crumble into dust, and to be extinguished on the surface of the globe. The first extensive operation of the Christian system of religion and morals, was to demolish the religion of Rome, the mistress of the world, and at the same time, to abolish the ritual portion of the Jewish religion — sys- tems of government as well as systems of religion, were to be overthrown, subdued, annihilated by this simple ray of supernatural light, and with those systems were to be overcome and vanquished all the selfish and sordid passions of man's nature, and all the aggregations of physical human power. In the progressive revolutions effected by the Chris- tian system of religion and morals, it was in the order of Providence that its operations should be slow and gradual, embracing a period of many thousand years. Its first converts were among the humble and the lowly — the diseased who had no physician ; and the vicious who had no friend. Its first apostles were fish- ermen, publicans, and tent-makers. The earthly con- dition of the Messiah was to be the son of a carpenter, and the first of his disciples above the rank of a centu- rion, is known only as having oflered a sepulchre for his grave. Tor the propa«,ration of his doctrines he disclaimed once and again, with undeviating perseverance all re- course to an arm of fiesh. He declared that his king- dom was not of this world. He declared that he came not to destroy, but to fulfil. He commanded his disci- INTRODUCTION. 5 pies to render to Caesar the things that were Caesar's, and he paid for his own person the tribute to Rome. Yet no sooner was his system of morals di.sclosed than the Scribes and Pharisees, the Priests and the Rulers of the Synagogue, discovered in it the inevitable down- fall of the Levitical Law. They accordingly seized, condemned, and executed him as a malefactor. That the religion of the Roman empire was also to be exterminated by this kingdomof Heaven, the denomination given by the Saviour to his new system of doctrines, was not so soon discovered, but could not long be con- cealed. The ionominious death of the teacher was in the ways of Providence, the most effective means of spreading abroad his faith. The apostles, to whom he had left the charge of preaching the gospel to all nations, encountered wherever they went, the persecution of the multitude, and of their rulers, and as the Baptist's head had fallen at the mandate of a king to satiate the ven- geance of a rebuked adulteress, his accomplice Stephen became the victim of a lawless rabble, for proclaiming to them the doctrines of universal love and eternal life. In those doctrines, however, there was a principle of vitality, destined to survive all persecution, and to tri- umph over all human power. The moral precepts of the Levitical Law, purified and refined, shone with un- dyinnf lustre in the new dispensation — its rites and cere- monies, its Priests and Levites, its sacrifices of blood, its visions, and its dreams, gave way to a simple and spi- ritual form of worship, the working of miracles, no longer necessary for the authentication of faith, was withdrawn 1* 6 INTRODUCTION. from the disciples of the cross, and the new system of religion and morals was left to make its way in the world by the perpetual miracle of its celestial origin, self-evi- dent by the internal demonstration of its irresistible power, and its superhuman perfection. In the space of three hundred years it accomplished the annihilation of Rome's three hundred thousand gods. The beautiful and stupendous system of the Heathen My- thology, melted before its effulgence into air. The Caesars of imperial Rome bowed the knee to the name of Jesus, and Constantine, the master of the world, was taught by better proof than the visions of the night, that the cross of Christ was the sign by which he was to conquer. It was not only over the false gods of paganism, that the religious and moral system of Christ was to prevail — nor was it only the cumbrous and sanguinary ritual of the Jewish dispensation that it was to supersede. The Christian system, meddles not directly with the organi- zation of human government. It commands obedience to the laws. It enjoins reverence to the powers that be — but it lays down fir^st principles, before which, carried to their unavoidable conclusions, all oppression, tyranny and wrong must vani.sh from the face of the earth. That all mankind are of one blood, and that the rela- tion between them is that of brothers. That the rule of social intercourse between them is that each should do to all, as he would that all should do to him. This is Christianity — and this is the whole duty of man to man. Tlie conflict of Christianity is with all the evil pas- INTRODUCTION. sions, aided by all the physical and all the intellectual powers of man. The physical and intellectual powers are indeed instruments adapted equally to the use of Christianity and of its adversaries. It is by the unaUer- able and eternal truth of its principles, that the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of Christ must be extended throughout the habitable earth. Its first great victory was over false religions. In the progress of ages, its slow, gradual, and progressive ad- vancement has been over tyrannical governments. It has weaned the human mind from the toleration of gov- ernments founded only upon conquests, and acting only bv arbitrary will and physical force. It has prompted the heart, and armed the hand of the Christian man to resist and overthrow them. It has taught him that the duty of obedience to government is founded upon a cove- nant of mutual respect for the unalienable natural rights of man : and that however this covenant may be violated by power, the rights can never be extinguished, and may always hy power be resumed. It is the pride and glory of the confederated North American Republic, that in the instrument of their first association they solemnly declared and proclaimed these truths, derived by clear unequivocal deduction, from the first principles of the Christian faith, to be self-evident — and announced them as the first principles both of their Union and of their Independence. The second great victory of the Christian system of morals was over oppressive governments — and that vic- tory has not yet been consummated. The absolute des- 8 INTRODUCTION. potisms of antiquity, under which the lives, persons, and property of the subject were utterly unprotected from the will of the despot, vanished very early by the adoption of the Christian faith as the religion of the Roman em- pire. But that life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness were inextinguishable rights of all mankind, had never been proclaimed as the only rightful foundation of human association and government, until the Declaration of In- dependence, laid it down, as the corner stone of the North American Union. It was a discovery in the combined science of morals and politics. It was an electrical spark which passed invisibly through the whole chain of the Christian na- tions, seen only at the instant of its emission — felt at once, though unseen by all — and from that day through- out the whole circle of the Christian nations, a simulta- neous struggle has been in constant operation, though in forms infinitely diversified, to new model their govern- ments and political institutions, to approximate the prac- tical realization of those self-evident elementary princi- ples. But Government, whether civil, ecclesiastical, or mili- tary, is not the only nor the most pernicious agent of tyranny and oppression. The laws of war, and the insti- tutions of domestic Slavery, have been far more effective instruments for converting the bounties of the Creator to the race of man into a curso, than all the tyrannies of em- perors and kings that ever existed upon earth. War is a perpetual violation of the riglit of human beings to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and Slavery is no INTRODUCTION. 9 more than the base-born progeny of war. The Chris- tian system of morals, as delivered by its Founder, pro* hibits war not in direct, but in implied, unqualified terms. This prohibition has not yet had its full development, among the nations which profess the Christian fnith. They receive the law, and acknowledge its obligation'?, without yielding obedience to its precepts. But tlie Christian nations, in their practice among themselves, have in many important respects, mitigated, and in others, wholly abolished the most cruel usages and es- tablished laws of ancient war, among which hereditary Slavery was by far the most oppressive. In the wars of Christian nations between themselves, it has long since been totally abolished. The Mahometan and Heathen nations still continue to make slaves of their prisoners of war, and Christians, after discarding forever the practice of enslaving one another, have but recently begun to reflect upon the necessary consequence in the reasoning of moral principle, that the same precept which forbids them from holding as a slave their Christian brother, equally interdicts them from defiling themselves with the pollution of Heathen or Mahometan bondage. The first cries of conscience against the engraftment of African Slavery, upon the Christian communities of the European colonies in America, were heard precisely at the time when the contest of liberty began between Great Britain and her own colonists in North America. They were raised by Anthony Bcnezet, a native of France, who had become an inhabitant of Pennsylvania. From him they passed to Granville Sharpe in England. 10 INTRODUCTION-. The labours of these two humble, obscure, powerless Christian philanthropists, first awakened the civilized world to the atrocious immorality of Slavery and the slave trade. Little less than a century has elapsed since this struggle of right against oppression commenced, and it has resulted in a conventional agreement of all the Christian nations, identifying the African slave trade with the crime of piracy. But if the African Slavery be piracy, human reason cannot resist, nor can human sophistry refute the con- clusion, that the essence of the crime consists not in the trade, but in the Slavery. Trade has nothing in itself criminal by the law of nature, or that can be made so by any law or compact of nations. It is one of the natural rights flowing from the condition of man ; from recipro- cal w^ts and reciprocal good will. Trade, therefore, can be made criminal only by the nature of the article in which it is carried on. It is the Slavery, and not the purchase and sale, or the transportation of the slave, which constitutes the iniquity of the African slave trade. The moral principle then, which dictated the interdict of the African slave trade, pronounced at once the sentence of condemnation upon Slavery. Slavery had from an early period been introduced into the colonies of all the European powers of the western hemisphere. It existed in all the English colonies, though by one of those unaccountable inconsistencies which mark the imperfection of all human institutions, the mother country spurned from hor own soil the Slavery which she established and supported in her INTRODUCTION. 11 colonies. It was even during the progress of the war for American Independence, solemnly settled by the de- cision of England's highest judicial court, that the slave of an English West Indian, if brought by his master to England, no sooner set his foot on English ground than he became a freeman. The same decision was made by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, as a necessary consequence from the principles of the Declaration of Independence, repeated in the Declaration of Rights forming part of her State Consti- tution. The subject of the ensuing memoir, the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, was a native of the Commonwealth of Mas- sachusetts — born in a state where the abjuration of the authority of Great Britain, and of the institution of Slavery, had been universally held to have been con- summated by one and the same act, he had like all the citizens of that State, born since the Declaration of Inde- pendence, been bred and nurtured in the belief that Slavery was an institution, politically incompatible with a free Constitution, and religiously incompatible with the laws of God. Led by his destiny, in the pursuit of hap- piness, and in the fulfilment of his religious and moral duties, to the western region of his country, the funda- mental condition of whose political existence was the exclusion of all Slavery and involuntary servitude, he there fell a victim to the fury of a band of rufhans, stung to madness, and driven to despair, for the fate of their darling Slavery, by the terrors of a printing press. That an American citizen, in a state whose Constitu 12 INTRODUCTIOX. tion repudiates all Slavery, should die a martyr in defence of the freedom of the press, is a phenomenon in the his- tory of this Union. It forms an acra, in the progress of mankind towards universal emancipation. Martyrdom was said by Dr. Johnson to be the only test of sincerity m religious belief. It is also the ordeal through which all great improvements in the condition of men, are doomed to pass. The incidents which preceded and ac- companied, and followed the catastrophe of Mr. Love- joy's death, point it out as an epocha in the annals of human liberty. They have given a shock as of an earthquake throughout this continent, which will be felt in the most distant regions of the earth. They have in- spired an interest in the pubUc mind, which extends already to the life and character of the sufferer, and which it is believed will abide while ages pass away. To re- cord and preserve for posterity the most interesting oc- currences of his life has been considered an obligation of duty, specially incumbent upon the surviving members of his family, and in the effusions of his own mind, and the characteristic features of his familiar correspondence, the reader will find the most effective portraiture of the first American Martyr to the freedom of the press, AND the freedom OF THE SLAVE. MEMOIR. CHAPTER I. When the prophet Elijah was taken up beyond the gaze of his companions, it was but natural that the heir of his mantle should cherish his memory, and record the more important incidents of his life. So would we now trace the history of our brother Elijah Parish Lovejoy, dear indeed in life, but more beloved in death. In the year 1790, our grandfather, Francis Lovejoy, removed from Amherst, N. H., to the town of Albion, Kennebec County, Maine. This region was then an uncultivated, indeed an almost unbroken wilderness. Only here and there, at great intervals, could the eye catch the lonely column of smoke curling up through the thick and rich foliage. With all this extended forest before him, in which to choose a home, our ancestor selected a beautiful eastern slope, terminating by the shore of a small lake, about five miles in circumference. Around its shores he set his traps, and over its surface dragged his lines. For these were favourite amusements, even at that season when desire fails. He died October 11th, 1818, aged eighty-five. In the severe labours incident to an early settlement, among the dense forests of Maine, our father, the late Rev. Daniel Lovejoy, passed his early years. His mo- ther was a truly devout woman, whose memorj' he ever 2 14 MEMOIR OF THE cherished Avith lively and grateful recollections. Guided solely by her instructions, and assisted by her prayers, at the age of seventeen, after a season of deep mental distress, he gave himself to the covenant God of his mother. Two years after this, relying upon his own re- sources, and the never-failing energy of his character, he left the cleared spot of his father's farm, in order to obtain an education preparatory to the work of the ministry. He became a resident in the family of the late Rev. Elijah Parish, of Byfield, Mass. In the academy at that place he received a respectable education, and in the person of his benefactor, acquired a warm friend, faithful unto death. He commenced the work of the ministry in 1805, and continued to labour in this, to him, delightful employment, with zeal and general acceptance until his death, August 11th, 1833, aged fifty-eight. His character is briefly, but correctly given in the following extract from a ser- mon preached at his funeral by the Rev. Thomas Adams, of Waterville, Maine. " It will be interesting to dwell for a moment on the character of our departed friend, though this can hardly be necessary, speaking as I do to those who knew him well. I regret that my memory has not more faithfully retained the circumstances I have heard him relate, con- cerning his early religious history. The impression of deep interest it excited remains, though the detail has escaped me. lie was not brought into the kingdom of Christ, borne, as it were, on the tide of excitement, but it was when all was dark and cold around him, when professing Christians of any denomination were exceed- ingly rare, when there was almost every influence, but that of the word and the spirit of God to oppose, it was in circumstances like these, that he came forth, and took, REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 15 it may almost be said, a solitary stand as a disciple of Christ, and, as is generally the case, with those who, in such circmnstances, espouse the cause of Christ, he iirmly maintained his stand. To this, I cannot doubt, you will all bear witness. Whatever imperfections you may have discovered in his character, and there are none without imperfections, — you never, I will venture to say, you never suspected that he was ashamed of Christ, or that he was unwilling, in any circumstances or in any society, to be known as a follower of Jesus. Never was he moved either by the sneers or frowns of an unbelieving world. His principles he was ever ready to avow with- out palliation or concealment. As he was ardent and decided in his feelings, he did not always, perhaps, exert that conciliating influence which one of a diflerent tem- perament would have done. Peter had not all the soft- ness and tenderness of John, but he was, nevertheless, a disciple, and perhaps the peculiar energy of his character, might render him the more extensively useful. As a minister of Christ he was highly valued. The native vigour of his mind, and the ardor of his feelJVigs, over- came, in a great degree, the want of that early culture, which he ever considered important and desirable, as a preparation for the sacred ofllce, and threw entirely into the shade those minor deficienccs which the more critical hearer might, perhaps, generally discover. The character of his ('evotional services showed that he had much inter- course with heaven. His mind was evidently habitually imbued with the spirit of devotion. As he was sul)ject to an unnatural elevation and depression of spirits, this would of course occasion an inequality in the character of his public performances ; but they were generally such as those of cultivated minds, would listen to with interest and profit, and he often rose to a high degree of excel- 16 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. lence. To his brethren in the ministry he has ever been an interesting, as well as highly valued and proiitable associate. His labours as a minister have been much with our feeble and destitute churches, and to them his services have been uniformly and highly acceptable. To the people of God throughout our land, he has ever been a welcome guest, and the number is great of those to whom his memory will be precious." Our mother, who survives the tragical death of her son, was born at Winslow, Maine, February 1772. Her father, the late Ebenezer Pattee, Esq. of Unity, and her mother, Mary Stinson, were both from Georgetown, Maine. Their ancestors originated in Scotland. And here we cannot forbear to give this pubHc testimony to the faithful instruction, and pious example of both our beloved and honoured parents. They not only dedicated their children to God, but with great diligence labom-ed to train them up in the fear of the Lord. And if any of them have done, or shall do any thing worthy and good, it is but the reflection of that excellence which always shone bright before them, in the example of their parents. CHAPTER II. Our eldest brother, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, was born at Albion, November 9th, 1802, just thirty-five years previ- ous to the day of his burial. Three brothers preceded him to the grave ; three yet live and two sisters. In childhood and youth he manifested the elements of character, which were fully developed in the trials of his last years. He was courageous, firm, and persevering. When he had once taken a stand, he was sure to maintain it to the utmost of his power. Less than four years were numbered, when he began to exhibit his ruling passion, — an ardent desire for knowledge. At this age he read with fluency in his Bible. His letters were all learned, by his own solicitation, from his mo- ther. He would take his book, go to her, and ask the name of a letter, and then retire to his seat, until he had marked its form, and indelibly lixcd it in his memory ; and then again to his mother for the name of a new let- ter. In the same way, he not only learned to read, but acquired much, and varied knowledge. Throughout his youth, the ends of the day saved from the axe, the plough, and the scythe, were all employed in the dili- gent use of books. When the small theological library of his father was exhausted, he had recourse to a public one, of a more varied character, in the vicinity. The stores of this also by weekly visits, were very soon transferred to his own mind. I lis memory was uncom- monly retentive. While at the sabbath school, his teacher one day remarked to the class, that they miglit 18 MEMOIR OF THE increase their lessons for the next Sabbath. In the leisure hours of the following week, he committed the 119th Psalm, and some twenty or more hymns to go with it. Poetry he drank in Uke water. By reading any piece of one or two pages twice, he could accurately rehearse it. The writer has heard him repeat one hun- dred and fifty Hymns from Watts at a single recitation. In all the exercises of the district school of which he was a member, he evinced decided superiority. One of his mates lately remarked, that it was impossible to do more than gain a place next the head, for he that was there could not only spell the words, but also pronounce them in their order without the book. When the school was divided by what is called " choosing sides," his name was always first heard. Nor was he first in the school-room only. He en- gaged with great zest in all the sports of his early com- panions. Swimming was our weekly, and almost daily amusement. A very considerable portion of the bottom of the lake, we have before mentioned was visited, in a competition to see who should dive the greatest number of feet. Mud or clams was the only evidence admitted as proof that the effort had been successful. A depth of twelve or fifteen feet was often reached in this danger- ous, exhilarating sport. Elijah being once bantered by his companions, swam the whole width of the lake, three fourths of a mile, and back again without stopping. Under the forming hand of his assiduous mother, with a few months in each year at the district school, the first eight(!en years of his life were passed. At this time he set his heart strongly upon obtaining a public education. He spent a single quarter in the Academy at Monmouth; during which he read thoroughly Virgil entire, Cicero, and Sallust. He had studied Latin but two or three REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 19 weeks previous to this. His preparatory studies were continued at intervals in China Academy ; and he entered a sophomore, in Waterville College, September, 1823. He was assisted in defraying the expenses of his education by one whose gifts are in every department of benevolence, tlie Rev. Dr. Tappan of Augusta. The writer pursued his studies preparatory to entering college with his elder brother ; and he can truly say, he has not since met with a scholar, to whom the ancient authors appeared so nearly vernacular. Occasionally he employed a leisure hour in the writing of poetry. One specimen is given, written previous to his entering college. With the allowance for youth, and limited advantages, which the indulgent will make, it may be read with some interest. The Poem is entitled " Europe." Having painted some of the revolutions of that continent, he now speaks of one to come still more overwhelming : " But Europe's fields were drunk with blood, Drawn from the martyrs of their God ; The sword of vengeance long had slept, — But justice still its vigils kept : Heaven guarded with a jealous eye, The day of retribution nigh. 'Twas come ! then fell the awful blow, And Europe drank the cup of wo, Till Heaven, appeased, withdrew its hand, And mercy saved the sinkhig land. Back to a state of bondage turned. Yet Freedom in their bosoms burned ; And still Ihey wish, in slavery bound, The prize oft sought but never fomid. An awful calm has filled their sky ; Presage of some convulsion nijh: 20 MEMOIR OF THE Like the low vapours deep, and still, That hang around the sunny liill, — Ere some dread tumult shake the skies. And all the heavens in anger rise. The wild, dark murmurings of despair Are kindling into madness there ; Tyrants combined must try in vain, Its bursting fur>' to restrain ; The spark of Freedom, Nature gives, Oppressive bondage but revives. Taught by the errors of the past. Their arms shall meet success at last. Ah, who can view the fearful sight, When Europe rises in its might ! In frenzied madness flies to arms, And sounds aloud death's deep alarms? O the dread scene that meets the eye, As wistful fancy passes by. Where the vast plain its surface wends, Far as the level sight extends ! Whole nations in collected might, Fierce for the onset join the fight, With beaming hflmcts nodding high. And broad swords flashing to the sky. With vengeful hearts, that scorn to yield, They stain with blood the verdant field. In battle's fiercest, wild array, Rise the dread tumidts of that day, Fresh slaughter bathes th' ensanguined ground, Heaps fall on heaps and groans resound ; Fell Fury wantons o'er the plain ! Death riots on its thousands slain I Nature alarmed, her voice awakes. Earth to her inmost centre shakes. Terror aloft its baimers spreads. Death's angel hovers o'er their heads I From Etna livid flashes fly. And gleam along the blackened sky, REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 21 Heaven from on high its fury pours, And ocean beats its sounding sliores ; — Hell's blackest furies urge the fight, Despair, wild rage, and dread afl'right ; Discord, the worst of all tlie train. Swells tiie red horrors of the plain ! Fierce and more fierce the combat grows, And loud resound the hostile blows ; Like lions rushing for the prey. Thro' heaps of slain they urge their way, Promiscuous mighty chiefs are killed, Rage, death, and carnage load the field J Oh ! tell not half the horrid tale, 'Twould make the firmest spirit quail. Nations inhumed, unhonoured lie. And dim the warrior's flashing eye I Lo ! hovering clouds obscure the sight, And hide the scene in sable night. Turn where the pleasing theme would lead, Where Freedom claims lier dear bought meed ; Fell tyrants from their tlirones are hurled. Justice shall renovate the world ! Its even balance hold secure. And anarchy shall rule no more : No more Oppression's cruel hand Spread devastation o'er the land ; No more beneath a tyrant's frown Virtue shall cast her honours down. But white rob'd peace her arms extend, And millions in her tcmj)!e bend ; From orient beams to western skies, Sweet incense from her shrine arise. O'er Nature's face new beauties spread. And skies their softest influence shed ; No blasting star's malignant breath, Sliall scatter wide contagious death ; The scorching sun its beams restrain, Nor billows toss the unruflied main. 22 MEMOIR OF THE Light playful zephyrs fan the trees, Sweet odours rise on every breeze, Heaven with its gifts descend to men, And Eden blooin on earth again." The following, written while in college, unless we are very partial judges, contains poetic merit. THE LITTLE STAR. " I would I were on yonder little star. That looks so modest in the sUver sky, Removed in boundless space so very far, That scarce its rays can meet the gazer's eye. Yet there it hangs all lonely bright and high. O could I mount where fancy leads the way. How soon would I look down upon the sun, Rest my tired wing upon his upward ray. And go where never yet his beams have shone, Light on that little star and make it all my own. I'm tired of earth, 'tis nought but care and pain. Where misery riots on its helpless prey ; Small joy, at least that I can fnul, therein. But constant grief and gloom — without a single ray, That points the wearied soul to a more genial day. There is no faith on earth, and truth has flod, • Man's heart is steel, unmoved at pity's tear. And justice has on iicr own altar bled — Love dwells not with us, in some happier sphere. It makes its angel heaven to innocence so dear. Oh ! there are moments when the trembling soul Feels its own ruins, scathed, and scarred, and torn, And gazes wildly as the tcmj)est8 howl — Thus have I felt — C)h God ! why was I born, A wretch all friendless, hopeless, and forlorn. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 23 And yet I am, there is a spark within, Time cannot quench, nor yet eternity ; A boundless, countless space to kindle in, — An emanation from tlie Deity, — And while lie shines it cannot cease to be. But how or where — 'tis doubt and darkness all. Or oft times seems so, yet full well I know. There is beyond tiiis sublunary ball, A land of souls, a lieaven of peace and joy, Whose skies are always bright, whose pleasures never cloy And if to souls released from earth 'tis given. To choose their home thro' bright infinity, Then yonder star shall be my happy heaven, And I will hve unknown, for I would be The lonely hermit of Eternity." lie graduated, receiving the first honours of his class, in September, 1826. On that occasion he pronounced a poem, entitled the " Inspirations of the Muse." " Who has not felt, when life's dull stream was low. When hopo had fled, and pleasure waned to wo ; When all within was drear}', dark, and wiid — On feeling's ruins sat despair, and smiled — And like the shadows by the mooni)eams thrown On chilly waters, faint and cold it shone ; Who has not felt the melting charm that stole Like healing virtue o'er the stricken soul. When some fair hand tiic trembling lyre had swept, And waked the Muse, that lingered there and slept ; Her magic charms, her tones so sweetly given. They tell like dreams which Gabriel brings from heaven, And, on the cold, cold regions of the breast, Come warm with life in visions of the blest. The frozen heart which never felt before, Dissolves in grief and smiles its mis'ry o'er, 24 iMEMOIR OF THE And as it weeps the obscuring clouds away, Hope gilds the tears with sunshine's softest ray ; Peace o'er the tempest throws its rainbow charms, Sure pledge of joy, yet timid from alarms : The enchanting- prospect opens wide and clear. When Beauty blushes where the loves appear ! O who that has not proudly counted o'er Such hours enshrined in Mem'ry's choicest store, When, as the dream of life was flitting by, They flashed in brightness on the sufferer's eye ; And left their marks transcribed upon his soul, Unsullied pages in life's gloomy scroll : Gently they spoke in silver notes of bliss, As if heav'n stooped to whisper words of peace. So can the Muse enchant the yielding heart. New hopes, new pleasuros, and new joys impart ; When meek and mild, she comes in tendomcss, To sooth our sorrows, and our comforts bless. And seniles as love smiles o'er the bod of death, Or bonds like hope to catch the parting breath ; But if, with all her gorgeous drap'ry on, She strikes the note that glory rides upon — With hues of grandeur deep around her thrown. And stately mien that Virtue's self might own — 'Tis then she kindles in th' expanding soul Desires immortal, thoughts above control. She chants her deathsong o'er the horo's grave. Each arm is mighty and each coward brave ; And when the untamed victor of the fight. Prepared to use the vengeance of his might, Witness, Euripidos, and Homer, thou. How oft her strains have smoothed the angr}' brow; I/xwed from his hands the pris'ner's slavish chain, And bade tlie captive be a man again. Slie strikes the chords that round her heart cntwinci And wann responses breath on ev'ry line. REV. E. P. L0V£J0Y. 25 The mind, awakened by the burning- strain, Starts in a flight whicli seraph scarce can gain : Bursts from its mortal siiroud and soars away. And basks and revels in unclouded day ; Leaves earth's dull scenes with all its cares and woes, Mounts into light, and kindles as it goes ! Oh ! there are moments when the winged mind, Free and unshackled as the viewless wind, In full poetic pride goes gloriously With cherubim in concert up the sky ; Counts ev'ry planet as it rolls away In bold relief into eternity ! Joins the full choir which sings along the spheres. Among the star-crowned circles of the years ! In strains that e'en the Eternal stoops and hears ! Or vent'rous soars above the thrice-arched sky, And bends exulting through infinity. In that vast space where unknown sunbeams sleep, Or hidden stars their glorious night-watch keep ; Whose light still trav'lUng since time first began, Through the immense, has never shone on man— In those far regions, where no baleful beam Slioots on the soul its dark and vap'ry gleam ; Where sinless angels play along the air, And hymn their loves, or bend in holy pray'r ; Here can the mind expatiate unrestrained O'er beauties such as fancy never feigned ; Or higher still, bow at th' Ktornal shrine. Where seraphim with veiled faces shine ! Nay lift the curtain from before the throne, And gaze with wondering awe upon the Great Unknown ! So once in Eden's ground, that blissful scene, Wliere fear was not, for guilt had not yet been, Man sougiit the temple where his Maker trod, And fearless held communion with his God. Surelv, if heav'nly wisdom e'er designed One peerless gift in mercy to mankind, 3 26 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOT. One noble proof in the creative plan, Which stamps his high original on man ; *Tis that poetic fire which bids him rise, And claim his home, his kindred in the skies ; Which rides in safety o'er life's troublous storms. And smiles on death in all its untried forms. 'Tis a mysterious ardour none can tull, And which but few of favoured mortals feel ; An enamation from the Deity, That claims and proves its immortality ; A part of being subtle and refined. The pure and hallowed element of mind ; A flame which burns amidst the darkest gloom, Shines round the grave, and kindles in the tomb. When fainting nature trembles on her throne. And the last spirit to the heav'ns has flown ; In that dread hour, when hushed in deep repose. The prelude of creation's dying throes — The dead lie slumb'ring shrouded in their pall. And wait unconscious for the angel's call ; 'Tis this shall sound the vivifying stram. And wake mortality to life again ; Shall snatch her harp, when circling flames arise, And soar and sing eternal in the skies !" CHAPTER III. For several iiiontlis after leaving college, he was en- gaged in teaching an academy. In May, 1827, he left his friends and native state, with his eye fixed upon the inviting and youthful West. Its valleys and rivers are not graduated upon a broader scale, than were his ambi- tion and his hopes at this period. Yet it was with great reluctance that he left the social circle, of which he was often the enchanting spirit, to make his home among strangers. On his departure, he addressed his native land in the following lines. THE FAREWELL. " Land of my birth ! my natal soil farewell : The winds and waves are bearing me away Fast from thy shores ; and I would offer thee This sincere tribute of a swelling heart. I love thee : witness that I do, my tears, Which gushingly do flow, and will not he restrained At thought of seeing thoc, perchance no more. Yes, I do love thee ; though thy hills are bleak, And piercing cold thy wijuls ; tliough winter blasts Howl long and drear}' o'er thee ; and thy skies Frown oftencr than they smile ; thougli thine is not Tlie rich profusion tliat adorns the year in sunnier cUmes ; Though spicy gales blow not in incense from thy groves : For tliou liELst that, far more than worth them all. Health sits upon thy rugged hills, and blooms in all thy vales ; Thy laws are just, or if tiiey ever lean, 'Tis to sweet mercy's side at pity's call. Thy sons are noble, in whose veins there runs 23 MEMOIR OF THE A richer tide than Europe's kings can boast, The blood of freemen : blood which oft has flowed In freedom's holiest cause ; and ready yet to flow, If need should be ; ere it would curdle down To THE slow sluggish STREAM OF SLAVERY. Thy daughters too are fair, and beauty's mien Looks still the lovelier, graced with purity. For these I love thee ; and if these were all, Good reason were there, that thou shouldst. be loved. But other ties, and dearer far than all. Bind fast my heart to thee. Who can forget the scenes, in which the doubtful ray Of reason, first dawned o'er him ? Can memory e'er Forsake the home where friends, where parents dwell ? Close by the mansion where I first drew breath. There stands a tree, beneath whose branching shade I've sported oft in childhood's sunny hours ; — A lofty elm ; — I've carved my name tliereon ; There let it grow, a still increasing proof, That time cannot efface, nor distance dim -The recollection of those halcyon days. My father too ; I've grieved his manly heart. Full many a time, by heedless waywardness ; While he was labouring with a parent's care, To feed and clothe his thoughtless, thankless boy. And I have trembled as with frown severe He oft has checked me, when perhai)s I meant To do him pleasure, with my childish mirth ; And thought how strange it was, he would not smile. But Oh ! my mother i she whose every look Was love and tenderness, that knew no check ; Who joyed with mo ; whose fond maternal eye Grew dim, when pain or sorrow faded mine. My mother ! thou art thinking now of mo. And tears are thine that I have left thee so : Oh do not grieve, for God will hear those prayers, Which, constantly, are going up to heaven. For blessings on thy lone, and wandering son. REV. E. P. LOVEJOT. 29 But time is speeding ; and the billowy waves Are hurrying me away. Thy misty shores Grow dim in distance ; while yon setting sun Seems hngering fondly on them, as 'twould take Like mc, a last adieu. I go to tread The western vales, whose gloomy cypress tree ShaU haply soon be wreathed upon my bier : Land of my birth ! my natal soil, Farewell." The " Wanderer" was written while on his way to the West, after a season of sickness, followed as it will show by mental depression. (Written on the shore of lake Erie.) " Cam volet ilia dies, qure nil nisi corporis hujus Jus habit, incerti spatium mihi finiat rcvi : Parte tamen meUore mei super alta pcrcnnis Astra fcrar." ^'"'^• ti The sun was set, and that dim twilight hour, Which shrouds in gloom whate'er it looks upon,. Was o'er the world : stern desolation lay In her own ruins : every mark was gone, Save one tall, beetling monumental stone. Amid a sandy waste it reared its head. All scathed and blackened by the lightnmg shock. That many a scar and many a seam had made, E'en to its base ; and there with thundering stroke, Erie's wild waves in ceaseless clamours broke. And on its rifted top the wanderer stood, And bared his head beneath the cold night air. And wistfully he gazed upon the flood : It were a boon to him (so thought he there) Beneath that tide to rest from every care. a* A 30 MEMOIR OF THE And miglit it be, and nol his own rash hand Have done the deed, (for yet he dared not brave, All reckless as he was, the high command. Do thou thyself no harm,) adown the wave And in the tall lake-grass that night had been his grave. Oh ! you may tell of that philosophy, Which steels the heart 'gainst every bitter wo : 'Tis not in nature, and it cannot be ; You cannot rend young hearts, and not a throe Of agony tell how they feel the blow. He was a lone and solitary one. With none to love, and pity he disdained : Hie hopes were wrecked, and all his joys were gone ; But his dark eye blanched not ; his pride remained : And if lie deeply felt, to none had he complained. Of all that knew him few but judged him wrong : He was of silent and unsocial mood : Unloving and unloved he passed along : His chosen path with steadfast aim he trod. Nor asked nor wished applause, save only of his God. Oh ! how preposterous 'tis for man to claim In his own strength to chain the human soul ! Go, first, and learn the elements to tame, Ere you would exercise your vain control O'er that which pants and strives for an immortal goal. Yet oft a young and generous heart has been By cruel keepers trampled on and torn ; And all the worst and wildest passions in The human breast have roused themselves in scorn, That else had dormant slept, or never had been born. Take lieed ye guardians of the youtliful mind, That facile grows beneath ymir klmJIt/ cait) : REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 31 'Tis of elastic mould, and, if confined With too much stress, ' shoots madly from its sphere,' Unswayed by love, and unrestrained by fear. Oh ! 'tis a fearful blasting sight to see The soul in ruiiis, withered, rived, and wrung. And doomed to spend its immortality Darkling and hopeless, where despair has flung Iler curtains o'er the loves to which it fonilly clung. So thought the wanderer: so, perhai>s, \\efeU : (But this is unrevealed) : now had he come To the far woods, and there in silence knelt On the sharp flint-stone in the rayless gloom, And fervently he prayed to find an early tomb. Weep not for him : he asks no sympathy From human hearts or eyes ; aloof, alone. On his own spirit lot him rest, and be By all his kind forgotten and unknown, And wild winds mingle with his dying groan. And in the desert let him lie and sleep. In that sweet rest exhausted natnre gave : Oh ! make his clay-cold mansion dark and deep. While the tall trees their sombre foliage wave. And drop it blighted on the wanderer's grave." CHAPTER IV. Ix the latter part of the year 1827, our brother arrived at St. Loujs, Missouri. He immediately engaged in teach- ing a school. His prospects and feelings at this period are given in a letter to his parents. Saint Louis, February I8th, 1827. Dear Parents : Your letter of the 27th December, has just been received, and with it the most welcome intelligence that the family are all well. I cannot say that I am home-sick, but certainly there is no idea on which I so love to dwell as home, and the honoured parents and the beloved brothers and sisters, whom I have left there. Fortune has, in the main, hitherto looked unfavourably upon me, since I left home ; but, I begin to hope for better things. Still, in all my past distresses one thought has consoled me, — / have learned to appreciate a parcnVs love. I am now in St. Louis, engaged in teaching a school ; and the prospect is, that I shall have a very profitable one. I may be disappointed, and I do not sufier myself to be too sanguine of the future ; for the lessons of the year past have taught me to distrust dame fortune, even when she smiles the sweetest. I wish I could say, I had learned to contemn alike her favours and her frowns. I have entirely recovered my health, it was never bet- ter than at present ; but 1 look upon its continuance in this climate as doubtful. My appetite, after recovering from the ague, was .such as 1 never had before, and in a MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 33 few weeks my weight rose to 180 lbs. ; being at least as much as I could ever claim. I find here many persons from the northern states, and the number is continually increasing. It is natural that I should regard these with an eye of partiality ; but after making due allowances for sectional feelings, I am sure they constitute the most orderly, most intelligent, and most valuable part of the commimity. At the same time, I must confess that there are some most lamentable exceptions, and doubtless many a Yankee has fled here, whose vices forbade him an asylum among the descendants of the Puritans. My dear, dearest Mother, I am sorry I cannot say to you, for the honour of your oracular impressions, any thing which will tend to strengthen their infallibility. I have taxed my memory to tlie utmost ; but, cannot find that on either of the days you mentioned, any thing happened to me, which would warrant my disturbing your slumbers ; and which I am sure I respect too much, to interrupt for any, except the most urgent reasons. At the same time you will allow me to say, that were I as thoroughly con- vinced that your " dreams descend from heaven," as I am that your motherly kindness will never fail, there is nothing for whose fulfilment I would more willingly vouch. My honoured Father will permit the observation, that though 1 have not heretofore always appreciated, as I ought, the motives and the feelings of a father, I hope I have learned wisdom in that respect ; and my highest earthly gratification would be, to make easy the downhill of life of those parents, to whom I owe all that I am, and most that I have. My dear Brothers and Sisters, I often think you assem- bled around the family board, and in my dreams am often seated there with you ; but 1 awake and find myself sepa- rated from you, by a distance of at least two thousand 34 MEMOIR OF THE miles. But though the chain which binds us together is lengthened to such a degree, I do not believe it is weak- ened, and oh, may nothing but death divide it. Again, as one who knows better than you can, I most earnestly advise you, again and again, love, honour, and obey your parents. Friends like them, you need not expect to find in this world. I must conclude by giving love and affec- tion to all. Your most affectionate and dutiful son, ELIJAH P. LOVE JOY. At or about this date the following stanzas appeared in the " Republican," of St. Louis. MY MOTHER. ^Menforget, but all shall not be/orgotteji.' "There is a fire that burns on earth, A pure and holy flame ; It came to men from heavenly birth, And still it is the same, As when it burned the chords along That bore the first born seraph's song — Sweet as the hymn of gratitude That swelled to heaven when ' all was good,' No passion in the choirs above Is purer than a mother's love ! My Mother ! how that name endears, Through Memory's griefs and Sorrow's tears ! I see thee now as I have seen With thy young boy boside thee — Thou didst not know, nor couldst thou deem The ills that would betide me ; For sorrow then liad dimmed that eyo Which beamed with only ecstacy ! REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 35 Ah ! life was then a joyous tiling-, And time bore ploasiire on its wing-. How buoyant did the minutes move, For I was hope and thou wert love. Beneath thy smiles I closed the day And met them at tiie morning' ray ; My infant heart was full of glee And every chord struck liarmony. And often as there would betide Some little g'riefs my lieart to gall, I bore them to my mother's side, And one kind kiss dispelled them all. And I have knelt with thee — when none Were near but thou and I — In trembling awe before the throne Of Mercy in the sky ; And when thy melted heart was poured Before the Being thou adored ; How holy was tiiat prayer of thine, Fit offering for a heavenly shrine — Not for thyself a wish — not one — But smile upon, Lord, bless my son ! And I have risen and gone my way, And seemed to have forgot ; Yet oft my wandering thouglits would stray Back to that hallowed spot — While feelings new and undefined. Would crowd upon my labouring mind. O days of innocence and peace ! O ill exchanged for manhood's years ! When mirth that sprang from j-outhful bliss, Is drowned beneath misfortune's tears. My heart has since been sadly wom. While wave on wave has o'er it borne ; And feelings once all fresh and green, Are now as though they ne'er iiad been. 36 MEMOIR OF THE • And Hope that bright and buoyant thing, E'en hope has lent despair its wing ; And sits despoiled within my breast, A timid, torturing, trembling guest ! I dare not look upon the past, I care not for the future cast. Yet o'er this darkness of the soul There comes one cheering beam Pure, warm, and bright, of rapture full As angel visits seem — ' A Mother's love, a Mother's care. — My aching heart, there's comfort there ! It is as if a lovely rose Should bloom amid the icy waste ; For while the heart's life-streams are froze, Its fragrance o'er it still is cast. Weary and worn my bed I've shared With sickness and with pain, Nor one of all that saw me, cared If e'er I rose again — Heedless and quick they past along, With noisy mirth and ribald song, And not a hand outstretched to give A cordial that should bid me live. And woman, too, that nurse of ease, Made up of love and sympathies, Ay, woman, she — she passed me by, With cold, averted, careless eye ; Nor deigned to ask, nor seemed to care If death and I were struggling there ! Ah ! then I've thought and /W/ it too — My Mother is not such as you ! How would she sit beside my bed, And pillow uj) my aching head. And then, in acroiits true as mild, « Would I wer- siinering for thee, child !' And try to soothe my griefs away, REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 37 And look e'en more than she could say ; And press her cheek to mine, nor fear Though plague or fever wantoned there ; And watch through weary nights and lone, Nor deem fatigue could be her own. And if, perchance, I slept, the last I saw, her eyes, were on me cast ; And when I woke, 'twould be to meet The same kind anxious glance, so sweet. And so endearing that it seemed As from a seraph's eye it beamed. My Mother ! I am far away From home, and love, and thee : And stranger hands may heap the clay That soon may cover me ; Yet we shall meet — perhaps not here^ But in yon shining, azure sphere : And if there's aught assures me more, Ere yet my spirit fly. That Heaven has mercy still in store, For such a wretch as I, 'Tis that a heart so good as thine. Must bleed — must burst along with mine And life is short, at best, and Time Must soon prepare the tomb ; And there is sure a happier clime. Beyond this world of gloom — And should it be my happy lot — After a life of care and pain. In sad!iess spent, or spent in vain — To go where sighs and sin are not ; 'Twill make the half my heaven to be, My Mother, evermore with thee !" In the course of the next year he engaged in editing and publishing a political paper advocating, the claims of 4 38 MEMOIR OF THE Henry Clay to the presidency. His prospects of politi cal elevation "were more and more flattering, until Janu ary, 1832 ; when on account of a change in his religious feelings, Lis future life took an entirely new direction. Of the commencement and progress of that change, he speaks in the two letters here inserted. St. Louis, January 2Ath, 1832. My dear and honoured Parents : Forgive your undutiful son that he has so long neglected writing to you. I hardly know what excuse to make, and I well know there can be none suffi- cient. I hope you have received the " Times" regularly ; this will have kept you informed of my existence, and also of the nature of my employment. I have usually enjoyed good health — much better than I anticipated- Poor brother Daniel ! he is gone, and, as I trust, to a better world. If so, his departure afTords no cause of lamentation. Your letter containing the information of his death was safely received. My dear Father and Mother, amidst all my wanderings, " In all my griefs, and God has given my share," I have never forgotten — it has been the chief source of my consolation, that day and night you have been interceding for me at a Throne of Grace. I have never, for a mo- ment, doubted that paternal affection ceased not to plead for mercy upon the wayward and far distant son. I knew that that love was yours, which neither time nor distance could weaken, and think you, that I should forget the many earnest and agonizing petitions which I have heard ascending from the family altar. Oh, never I I will tell you all. Last spring there was a partial revival of reli- gion in this city. 1 became somewhat seriously impressed, REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 39 I may say considerably so. I attended the inquiry meet- ings, and for some time really felt a delight in religious exercises. But gradually these feelings all left me, and I returned to the world a more hardened sinner than ever. At this time the spirit of God is manifesting itself in our city in a most wonderful manner. Its efiects are such as I have never before witnessed. Meetings are held almost every evening, at which individuals of all ages and characters attend, and where the power of God to salvation is manifested, so that the blindest must see and the hardest feel. I have reason to hope that the good spirit has again visited me, inviting me to for- sake the world and come to Jesus. I own that I hardly dare admit such a belief, it seems to me scarcely possible that one who has so long Uved in sin, who has resisted so much light, and has so often grieved away the Holy Spirit, as 1 have, should be again visited with its heavenly influences. But 1 hope it is so. And now, my dear and honoured Father and Mother, will you not pray for me-if possible, with more earnest- ness than you have ever yet done ? Will you not plead for me the provisions of that covenant into which I have been baptized? Oh, if you knew what value I place upon your prayers, if you knew what your first-bora son would give to be at this moment, kneeling between vou before the altar of mercy, while you made supplica- Uon for him to the Giver of life and death. I am sure you would pray-pray earnestly-pray unceasing y, that the Ion-lost wanderer might be restored to the fold from which he hath strayed. Oh, forget all my ingratitude, my unlhankfulness, and the innumerable instances of my undutiful conduct, and think only of the repentant son. who intreats, who implores your prayers, that he may not perish eternally. Oh, could I this night fall down 40 MEMOIR OF THE at your feet, and ask your forgiveness and beg your blessing ; I should feel that there might yet be hope even for me, vile, sinful, and disobedient as I have been, both to Heaven and to you. But you will not remember aught against me, I know you will not. I know that I have your forgiveness ere I asked it. But will God forgive me, against whom my sins have been infinitely more numerous and aggravated ? Can I hope for pardon from Him — I, who have done despite to the covenant of grace, and have so long counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing ? My Father and my Mother, my dear, dear parents, le; me remind you of the obligations you assumed, when you consecrated me to God in my infancy. By the vows you then made, by the gratitude you felt that God had given you a man-child, by your love for Him who has re- deemed you, by your sense of the worth of an immortal soul, let me adjure you to pray for me, — me, the chief of sinners, — me, whom, perhaps, you will never see more till we meet at the bar of God in judgment. I request, my dear parents, that you will call the fa- mily together, read them this letter, and then unite ia prayer for him, a son and brother who dwells among strangers in a strange land. Adieu, my dear and ho- noured parents, and may Heaven bless you for all your kindness to Your unthankful but still dutiful son, EL1.IAII P. LOVEJOY. St. Louis, February 22, 1832. My dkar and honoured Parents, After reading this letter, you will, I think, be ready to exclaim with me, " God's ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts." When this 41 REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. ^^ letter reaches you, I shall, .f God spares my Ufc and health, be on my way to Princeton, in New Jersey, for the nu pose of entering upon my studies preparatory to ;: work of the ministry. I wrote you four weeks since last Tuesday, and, as you will have learned from tha etter was then in a state of deep distress. Sorrow had talen hold upon me, and a sense of my long career m in and rebellion against God, lay heavy upon my soul But it pleased God, and blessed be his holy name, to grant me, as I humbly hope, that very night, joy and Uce in believing. 1 was, by divine g--, ei.a led to brina all my sins and all my sorrows, and lay them at the feet of Jesus, and to receive the blessed assurance that He had accepted me, all sinful and polluted as I ""My dear parents, I can see you now, after having read thus far, shedding tears of joy over the return of your prodigal son; but oh! forget not to return thank to thafGod of the promises, who, as I humbly hope has at en.r,h heard your prayers in behalf of one, for whom, a il°es, you were ready to say there remaineth no Iger a /hope. And surely, you may well join wi^ me in saying, that nothing but a miracle of sovereign "^rcv colld have arrested and saved me, from eternal perduion. How I could have so long resisted the en- treaties, the prayers, and the tears of my dear parents and the influences of the Holy Spirit, is, to me, a wonder cn.irelv incomprehensible; and still greater is my asto- Ihmeut, and 'my admiration, that God has stil borne with me, still continued unto me ' >^'"«»^■7; ° .^'^ spirit, and at last brought me to submit myself to Him. 1 think I can now have some faint conceptions o bound- less, infinUe mercy. I look back upon my past He, and a,n ost Ml utter amazement at the perfect folly, and mad- 42 MEMOIR OF THE ness of my conduct. Why, my dear parents, it is the easiest thing in the world to become a Christian — ten thousand times easier than it is to hold out unrepenting against the motives which God presents to the mind, to induce it to forsake its evil thoughts and turn unto Him. If I could forget what 1 have been and what I have done, I should certainly say it was impossible that any one could read of a Saviour, and not love him with their •whole heart. The eternal God — the infinite Jehovah — has done all he could do — even to the sacrificing his own Son — to provide a way for man's happiness, and yet they reject him, hate him, and laugh him to scorn ! How God could suffer me to live so long as I have lived, is more than I can understand. Well may He call upoi\ the heavens to be astonished both at His own forbear- ance, and the unnatural rebellion of his creatures. Do Christians ever feel oppressed, as it were, with the debt of gratitude which they owe to their Redeemer. Why, it seems to me, sometimes, as if I could not bear up under the weight of my obligations to God in Christ, as if they would press me to the very earth. And I am only re- lieved by the reflection that I have an eternity in which I may praise and magnify the riches of his grace. And now, my dear and honoured parents, how shall I express my sense of the gratitude I owe to you — how shall I ask pardon for all the undutiful conduct, of which I have been guilty towards you ? I want words to do either ; but I can pray to God to forgive me, and to re- ward you, and this I do daily. Oh, how much do I owe you for your kindness to me in every thing, but chiefly for the rf'ligious instruction you bestowed upon me from my earliest youth ; for your afl*ectionate warnings and continued entreaties that I would attend to the welfare of my own soul ; and for your prayers, without ceasing, to UEV. E. P. LOV^EJOY. 43 God that he would have mercy upon me, while I had no mercy on myself. For all these may Heaven return upon your own heads, a seven-fold hlessing. I made a public profession of religion, and joined the church in this city, on the sabbath before the last, the 12th of the present month. With me joined also thirty- five others by profession, and four by letter. There are, probably, as many more prepared to join as soon as the next communion shall arrive. You will see by these facts that an unusual attention to religion exists in this place. God is doing wonders here. The revival still continues, and day after to-morrow will commence a four days' meeting. How long this state of things will con- tinue is known only to God ; but we know that he can work, and none can hinder. After much prayer and consultation with my pastor, the Rev. William S. Potts, and other Christian friends, I have felt it my duty to turn my immediate attention to the work of the ministry, and shall on the first of the week start for Princeton, with a view of entering upon the necessary studies. If God shall spare my hitherto improfitable life, I hope to be enabled to spend the re- mainder of it in some measure, to his glory. Time now Avith me is precious, and every day seems an age, till I can be at work in the vineyard of the Lord. Oh, my dear parents, are not the ways of Providence inscruta- ble. How long and how often did you pray that your first-born son might succeed his father in preaching the gospel, and after you had doubtless given over all such hopes, then the Lord displays his power in calling in the wanderer. I hope to see you in the course of the summer face to face ; for if practicable, and within the reach of my means, 1 shall take time enough in a vacation to make a 44 MEMOIR OF THE visit to my dear loved home. Oh, how I long to em- brace my parents, and brothers, and sisters, and tell them what God has done for me. But I feel that I ought to say, and I trust lie will enable them to say, " His will be done." Surely after all his goodness unto us, we should no longer indulge in one murmuring thought. Brother Owen and brother John, you are now the only members of the family who have not professed to hope in Christ— to have made your peace with God. Oh, let me entreat you, beseech you, not to put it ofT a moment longer. Tempt not God, as 1 have done. Think of poor brother Daniel, and make your peace with a Saviour before you sleep, after reading this. Your dutiful and grateful son, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY." It may be easily imagined that the above letters gave great joy to his parents and friends. The following is the joint reply of father and mother. Albion, March 19, 1832. Mv DEAR FIRST-nOHN, AND LONG ABSE.NT So.\, You perhaps may better conceive, than I caa express the sensations your two last letters have excited in my mind. Your first, found me in a state of deep mental debility, to which as you know 1 have always been more or less sul)ject. But I am now better— to which your letter has contributrd much. There is no other way, in which you coultl have given us so much joy, as you have done in the full account of your conver- sion, and of the intended change of your pursuits. It is just what we coul'pt, eating up all its fair fruits, and inspiring loathing and abhorrence by their pestilential presence. From the Pope to the sov- ereign, the noble, and thus down to the peasant and the serf. Superstition extended her Sybaritic and brutalizing influences. Beneath her benumbing grasp the palsied wretch sank down unnerved, unmanned ; and worship- ped as his gods and revered as his Saviour, images of wood and stone, which his own hands did, or might make ; or treasured in his bosom as the ' pearl of great price,' relics of ' every name and hue,' a lock of hair, a piece of dried skin, a thumb or a toe nail, palmed upon him by hungry and mendicant piety, were venerated as the means and the pledge of salvation. And — horrcsco refcrens — this diabolical superstition assumed the name and the oihces of the Ciikistia.v Relioio.v. Such was the state of Europe when the star of the ' Reformation' dawned upon it — that star of glorious promise, the harbinger of the Sun of Righteousness, whose beams are to irradiate and purify the whole earth. From that epoch to the present, the conflict between the powers of li«ihl and darkness, has continued without in- terruption. To the mere worldly observer, success on 84 MEMOIR OF THE the part of Truth and Freedom lias at times appear«il more tlian doubtful ; but in all this loii"^ period there ha not been wanting, those whose vision, purihed .i strengthened by their communion wiih the Word of Gi clearly saw, and whose pens have distinctly recordtii, the ultimate triumph that awaited the friends of God aiil man. What they saw through a glass and by faith, \' behold with open vision. To any one who has taken e\ * ■■ the most superficial view of the past history and present condition of Europe, not a doubt can remain of the spe< and utter extinction of the I'apal Authority, both tenij ral and spiritual. The spirit of slavery, the doctrine d passive obedience, which are essential to its existenc « , are becoming more and more circumseril)ed in their in- fluence and operations, and will soon be scouted from the eaflh, back to the regions of darkness, whence ili< v ascended to enslave the world. We have not time nor room in this article, to trace tin ^adual extension and progress of liberal opinions in Europe, from the period of the Reformation to the pn - sent time. Yet a single glance at the history of that er i will satisfy every one, that in proportion as Learning anl Science have made progress in any country, has the in- fluence of Pope and Priest been made to give way. In modern times, the clii«'f ornament and support of the I'apal ihronc has been Prance. This country has long occupied a commanding position in the world, no less from her military prowess and skill, than from ilic literary and scientific acquirements of h<'r scholars. — Though the mass of her inhabitants have been ignorant, yet learning has exercised a most important influence in elevating the srnliments and enlarging and liberalizing the views of many of her nobles, her prelates, and her statesmen. And the coiisecpicnce has been just what REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 85 might have been expected. The Gallican cliurch has been exceedingly restive under the leaden influence of Rome, and his Holiness has found it necessary to be ex- ceedingly wary how he touched the fiery spirit of the Gaul. The Gallican church has enjoyed immunities granted to no other, and which fear alone extorted from the Roman Pontiff. Yet enough was not conceded to satisfy the demands of the rising spirit of freedom ; and chains, forged in the darkness of the pit, were wound so artfully around the giant limbs of France, that she lay a victim at the footstool of tyranny temporal and spiritual, until, at the epoch of the Revolution, with convulsive energy she burst assimder her bands, and in the first mo- ments of her gratified hate, inflicted such vengeance upon her oppressors as made even humanity recoil with horror from the spectacle. Yet when we consider the nature of the long train of events that preceded the French Revolution, the various causes tcndinn; to produce it, and how long a high spirited and generous people had been goaded and oppressed by a sottish, venal priesthood and a debauched monarchy ; it seems to us that that ter- rible catastrophe is rather to be deplored than wonder- ed at. As might have been expected, France, exulting in the first moments of her recovered freedom, went to the other extreme, and from having believed too much, refused to believe any thing. She became a nation of infidels. And such, to a great extent, she remains at the present day. With her, priest is but another name for bigot, and Christianity she confounds with Superstition. The mis- take is a very natural one, yet it is not the less to be dcploroil. Still there is hope for her, and hope which promises fruition a thousand times sooner than if she had remained a vassal of the Pope. If error is lamcnt- e 86 MEMOIR OF THE ably prevalent there, yet truth is, in a good degree, free to combat it. Public Sentiment is free, liberal opinions put forth their claims unchallenged, the universal educa- tion of all classes is becoming an object of paramount at- tention, to accomplish which the Government is direct- ing all its energies. Such is now the state of France. We have been thus particular in our remarks upon this country, because from her commanding position, the his- tory of France is the hisiory of continental Europe. We now proceed to show — and this was indeed the primary object of these remarks — what the condition of Europe, when considered in reference to its great political divi- sions, is. And here we must of necessity be very brief. Looking at Europe with this object in view, we shall find the nations drawing together into two great divisions. In the south the liberalizing inlluences of France are seen at work in Spain and Portugal. In the latter they have driven Miguel, the sanguinary and bigoted favorite of the Pope, from the throne ; and in the former banished the heir by ' divine right,' Don Carlos, and restored the Cortes and the Constitution. In bolli tliey are ferreting out the lazy hionks from their cells of idleness and crime, and teaching them that * they that will not work neither shall they eat.' The natural consequence of all this is, that these two nations should assimilate themselves in their habits of thought and action to France. And as this nation occupies a leadins; position, she may be con- sidered at once as the irradiating and the attractive cen- tre of liberal opinions on the continent. England, since the days of her ' Reform,' is prepared to take ground by her side, and thus there will be seen under the ban- ners of freedom, civil and religious, England, France, Spain, and Portugal, with some or most of the minor I REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 87 States of Germany ; while on the side of despotism there will rally Russia — the head and soul of the confed- eracy — Austria, Prussia, and the Pope in his double character of a temporal and a spiritual prince. We think tlie movements in Europe indicate that tliis union of kin- dred interests — which when it happens will necessa- rily produce hostility — is even now taking place and will soon be consummated. Then will come the war of opinion, predicted by Napoleoim — a war more dread- ful, and more fierce than any which Europe has yet wit- nessed. Yet the final result, though long suspended, cannot be doubtful. Truth will triumph ; Freedom will triumph ; Religion will triumph. Babylon will have fallen, have fallen ; her incantations and her sorceries will no longer delude or destroy the human mind ; and she will no longer present an insurmountable barrier to the progress of religion ' pure and undefiled.' Such, if we read the signs aright, such is the pre- sent condition, such the future prospect of the European nations. If in the future there is much to excite regret, there is alsc much to animate and encourage the friends of God. It is plain that the reign of misrule, and des- potism, and anarchy, and superstitious bigotry are soon to come to an end. True its down-fall will not probably be accomplished, except at the expense of much blood and great su/Tering. But though God permits the earth- quake and the storm to desolate the earth, we know that they are necessary to purify a cornipted atmosphere. And as in the physical so in the moral world, though commotions, war, and carnage are painful in their opera- tions, they may be necessary in their results. And in all events, the Christian is assured that the peaceful reign of the Redeemer is hastening onward, when there 88 MEMOIR OF THE shall be no more war, nor ' rumours of wars,' but when ' Peace like a river from his throne, Shall flow to nations yet unknown.' " May \st, 1834 " After so long a time, we are again permitted, though still with trembling hand, to hold the Editorial pen. The interval during which our labours have been suspended, has indeed been to us one of much pain and suffering. But ' Swoet are the uses of adversity,' when sanctified by the presence and teachings of the Holy Spirit. We return to our work, with accumulated motives, and, as we hope, a strengthened purpose, to be ' diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' And most earnestly and affectionately would we ex- hort our readers, that whatsoever their hand findeth to do, they do with all their might. Especially do we en- treat those who have not yet commenced the work of their salvation, that they delay it no longer. A sick or a dying bed, when the mind is di.stracted with pain, or absorbed in the contemplation of the awful eternity that is opening upon its view, is no time to seek a Saviour. Seek him now then, ' while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.' And remember that whether we make haste, or not, to secure an interest in his salvation, time is surely and swiftly hastening us to the grave and the Judgment. How soon will all who read this para- graph be shaping in tlioir tombs ! Some undoubtedly — perhaps the writer among them — will be carried out in season for the jlowers of the coming summer to bloom REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 89 upon their graves. How solemn the reflection, and yet how little heeded." VAIN PHILOSOPHY. August 2\ St, 1834. " If there ever was a sincere inquirer after truth it was Jonathan Edwards. And how few can hope to possess, in an equal degree, the advantages for pursuing the in- quiry which he possessed ? Learned, pious, acute, and persevering, he was yet humble and docile as a child. In him pride of opinion was never stronger than love for the truth. And yet his great work on the Freedom of the Will is, in one respect, a signal failure. He has indeed abundantly proved that man is a free agent, as also that all his actions are fore- known and fore-determined by his Maker. But there needed no long train of philosophical reasoning to prove these doctrines — the Bible had already done it before him. Yet in his attempt to reconcile these great truths to each other he has entirely failed. And if he failed, who shall succeed ? Nor is this failure to be wondered at ; for this very question David had confessed himself unequal to meet : — ' Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.' Now here lies the great error of too many men. — In- stead of being satisfied with ascertaining the existence of a truth, they must needs determine the mode of its ex- istence. But this is an abuse of their powers of reason- ing, and it is of such very persons that Paul speaks, when he says, ' Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.' The great Apostle was as prompt to rebuke the presumption of those who would have a God too well known, as he was to denounce the superstition of those who built altars to the Unknown God. 8* 90 MEMOIR OF THE The Being and attributes of God may be learned from the Book of Nature, but of his purposes we can know nothing, except by revelation. And it is equally an abuse of this revelation and our own faculties, if we seek to know farther than the simple facts revealed. Here it is that ' Men rush in wlierc Angels fear to tread.' It is not only vain but it is sinful, to attempt prying into the counsels of the Infinite Mind. A few, a very few of the purposes of God have been revealed to us, but beyond these few all is unknown. * Clouds and dark- ness are round about his throne.' We may weary our- selves and oflend God, in the attempt, but we can never penetrate them. It is, therefore, an abuse of reason, to endeavour to look into the counsels of the Most High. But secondly, it is presumption in the highest degree, because we cannot understand the reasons of a revealed truth, therefore to reject it altogether. In very few in- stances, indeed, has God condescended to explain the reasons of his moral enactments, and in none have we a right to require tlwMn. ' Thus saith the Lord,' should at once put to rest the impertinent curiosity of man. Eve could not see why she might not as well eat of the forbidden tree as of others, since it was as fair to look upon as they ; and because (Jod had not explained to her tlie reason of his prohibition, she ventured to pluck the fruit ' whose mortal tasto, BrouKhl dcaUi into tlic world and all oar wo.' That her awful fate has not deterred her descendants from following her example, is proof enough both of their depravity and thrir folly. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 91 Again. If wc cannot reconcile two revealed truths, so as to make tlicm consistent with each other, we have not, in consequence, any right to conclude that their agreement is impossible. Yet how often has this been done, to the shipwreck of faith as of souls. The doc- trines of the Trinity, of Election, &;c. are beyond our reason, but what right have we to say, that they are contrary to it ? Who, of mortal man, or of created be- ings, is authorized to pronounce upon the possible limita- tions of the Uncreated One ? How can we tell that as much Truth is not given as we can bear to know ? Who shull say tliat if God had revealed to us more of his eter- nal purposes and Godhead, the knowledge would not have overwhelmed us ? the light have been too great for our weak nerves to bear, and thus have made us alto- gether blind ? Let these questions be satisfactorily an- swered, before wc venture to complain of obscurity in the revelations of the Divine Mind. Let us cease, there- fore, perplexing ourselves in vain attempts to 'find out the Almighty.' We are finite, and how can we e.xpect to fathom and comprehend the questions of Freedom, Necessity, and the Origin of Evil, which reach through Infinitude, and take hold of the very Throne of God ? How can we construct a problem which shall embrace within its terms all the elements of Eternity ? Truth, as much of it as we need to know, is within us. In our soul of souls, in that consecrated region of the heart never disturbed by Argmnent or invaded by Doubt, lies a deep fountain of Truth, whose waters are continually welling up. Here let us drink and be re- freshed, neither asking how it came there, since it comes from that stream which flows ' fast by the Throne of God,' nor seeking to fathom its depths. It is enouirh that its waters are sweet, and that they are perennial. 92 MEMOIR OF THE Beyond this we cannot know, and we must not seek to know. We were sent into this world not to dispute about the next, but to prepare for it. Of the next world we can know nothing but by revelation from Him who made it. That revelation has been given us, and now let us not seek to be wise above what is written. Let us seek rather to resolve no questions which are not required of us, and whenever apparent difficulties in the Purposes and Providences of God, meet us as we journey towards our heavenly home, let us contentedly, and even cheer- fully, say : ' God is his own interpreter, And lie can make it plain.' " THE VANITY OF MAN. August 28, 1834. ^' It was a beautiful thought of the Greek philosopher, when he compared the life of man to a bubble. Along the stormy ocean of life the diflerent generations of men arise like bubbles on a stream — at best a tear-drop in- flated wilh air. Some of these bubbles sink at once into the mass of waters whence they came ; others Hoat up and down for a turn or two upon the tops of the restless waves, and also disappear ; and even those which re- main the longest are in perpetual agitation and restless- ness, the sport of every breeze and every tide, until they too are swallowed up. It is even so wilh man. Some are l)orn only tliat they may die — like the bul)l)le blown up and destroyed by the same breath of air. Some abide a little longer, to bear the pellings of the storm, but their fragile forms are soon broken l»y the violence of the tempest. And those that REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 03 endure for a season, what are their lives but one con- tinued scene of disquietude, disappointment and doubt ; -while like the bubble tossed upon the unquiet waters, tiiey find no resting place for a moment, until they sink back into the earth from whence they were taken. 'J'he Bible abounds witli the most impressive figures to teach us the vanity of human life. * For what is your life V says James, * It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' ' We spend our years,' says Moses, ' as a tale that is told.' ' Be- hold,' says the plaintive David, ' behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee ; verily every man at his best state is alto- gether vanity.' (,'an any thing be more affecting than this ? It is the language of a king — of one who had passed through many vicissitudes in life, having ascended from the oc- cupation of a shepherd, to the station of king over all Israel. He had reached the summit, the world had no- thing more to give ; yet looking back upon the past, and round upon the present scenes of his life, he sighs at the relh'ction, which is forced upon his mind, that they are * altogether vanity.' Alas ! the man has never lived, whether king or peasant, whose breast has not been heaved by the same sigh, whose heart has not been sad- dened by the same reflection. The causes that conspire to make the life of man on earth a * vanity,' and even a vexation of spirit are many. 1. lie is a stranger here — he is not at home. His company, the scenes around him, every thing he sees, all he hears, are not adapted to his tastes, not fitted for his capacities. Like the caged bird his food is insipid, his vision confined, and he cannot choose but pine in his solitude, as he tliinks of the purer light, the brighter 94 MEMOIR OF THE scenes, and the boundless glory, among which he woulc fain, with unfettered wing, expatiate. But he is bount to earth ; clogged with clay ; and he who is fitted to soar and sing in the heavens, must grovel in the dust. And here feeding on ashes, he lives among the dead till Time can dig his grave also, into which he creeps and is seen no more. 2. The vicissitudes of life are nothing but a series of disappointments. Whether for good or for ill, none of all our ten thousand cherished plans have succeeded ex- actly to our wish. The catastrophe came too soon or too late ; the scheme failed altogether, or its result was different from what we desired or expected. And if no present evils press upon us, we are distressed with the apprehensions of future, or disquieted with the remem- brance of past misfortunes ; and at best our hopes do but struggle with our fears, while we are left desolate. We are always either troubled or dissatisfied ; and if no- thing else makes us uneasy, even the very absence of our accustomed tormentors will make us so. And herein ap- pears the vanity of our state, that nothing restrains us from the madness and rioting of prosperity, but that every cup we put to our lips, is dashed with the bitterness of gall. Thus It has been well said of man that « he is always restless and uneasy, he dwells upon the waters and leans upon thorns, and lays his head upon a sharp stone.' * And what does the experience of every man but echo back the declaration of the prophet, ' Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm?' He who does it leans upon a cracked reed that sooner or ater will break beneath him. Nisus and Kuryalus Pv- lades and Orestes may live in fable and in song, but'they REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 95 have never lived any where else. For so certain as winter succeeds summer, so true is it that * Tlie friends wlio in our sunshine live, In wintr>- days are flown ; And lie who has but tears to give, Must weep those tears alone.' This is poetry, it is true ; but it is not fiction, as many a deserted heart, many a desolate bosom can witness. Like motes in the sunbeams, friends gather around even to an- noyance in the days of prosperity, but at the first cloud that obscures the sky, at the first sound of the distant thunder they flee away, and leave him upon whom they had fattened, to bide alone the fury of the storm. Such is human friendship ; so empty, so valueless. Whuher, then, shall the heart-stricken mourner turn ? In the desolateness of his misery must he die, as he has lived, without hope ? No, he need not. As he flees to the grave, as to a refuge and a rest from ills he can no longer endure, Religion, heaven descended, meets him and bids him no further despair. She tells him of One whose friendship never fails, whose promises are never broken — of One who ' having loved his own loveth them unto the end.' She points him to a world where ingrati- tude and selfishness are unknown ; where the tear of an- guish never flows, the sigh of sorrow is never heaved ; where no vain regrets, no anxious forebodings, intrude upon the heart overflowing with joy; and bids him lie down and rest in hope, for that world is all his own. Who, thfn, would wish to live ? or rather, who would not wish to die ? Who is not ready to say with Job, ' I would not live always ?' Borne down with the weight of sin, oppressed with a sense of his own unwortliiness and the faithlessness of others, while the whole creation is groaning around him, being like him, * made subject to ^^ MEMOIR OF THE vanity,' what would the Christian, what can he, but long to die ?— to close liis eyes and shut his ears upon the scenes and the discords of earth, until he can open them to the beauties and the melodies of heaven ?" SIR ISAAC NEWTON. " We have just been looking through the life of this great man, by Dr. Brewster. It is exceedingly interest- ing as detailing the process and the several steps by which he ascended to the visible heavens, and there walked with God with the stars beneath his feet. Yet though he ascended so high, and stood where the hori- zons of a thousand worlds fell within his vision, though he looked upward and around into heights and depths, where the eye of no other mortal, save that of Laplace has pierced, he had and expressed the humblest views of his own powers and acquisitions. To others, to the great mass of mankind, he seems to have been borne on the wings of thought, even to the ut- most verge of Nature's dominions, to have explored with unerring ken her most secret chambers, and to have un- covered and brought to the light all those secret springs that complicated machinery, by which she enforces and regulates the movements of systems and suns, with aU heir worlds, through the regions of space. And such is the sentiment of the poet respecting him : ' Nature and Nature's laws lay I.id in night, God said, Let Newton bo-and all was iiglit.' But hear his own estimation of all that he had achiev- ed :-. I ,lo not know,' said he, < what I may appear to he world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playingon the seashore, and diverting myself in now REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 97 and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all un- discovered before me.' This is undoubtedly the true estimate, and what a lesson does it teach to the vanity of man ! If Newton thus humbled himself before the Un- created Intelligence, because, with all his efforts, he could learn so little of His ways, what room is left for others to boast 1 This most instructive declaration af- fords another proof, that the studies of the Book of Na- ture and of Revelation lead to the same result, though m different degrees, and that the student of each will, in reference to their Author, be ready to say, in the words of the poet, « The more Thy glories strike my view, The humbler I shall lie.' And who, we may ask, in the pride of human strength and wisdom will venture upon a voyage over that shadowy Ocean, from which Newton shrank back dis- mayed ? Or, if the example of this great man will not deter us, at least let us be warned from the rash enter- prise by the innumerable wrecks which strew its shore, of those who have made the attempt and perished. And yet this Ocean must be passed ere we can be at rest. It rolls between Time and Eternity, between Earth and Heaven ; and it is on its outmost shores, far, far beyond all mortal ken, that the land of promise lies. There, and there only, are those ' sweet fields' that ' stand drest in living green i' there the ' flowery mounts ;' there Jesus, the Forerun- ner, and the assembly of the saints made perfect ; there ihe'uiver of life, and there the Paradise of God. But let us not be dismayed. It was as a Philosopher 9 98 MEMOIR OF THE that Newton feared to venture upon its waves, and not as a Christian. Science could not bear him over in safety ; but Faith could. While even to the eagle eye of Science all was unmitigated darkness, Faith with yet keener vision could pierce the gloom, and, far above the region of the tempest, could discern the Star of Bethle- hem shining mildly and tranquilly down, and guiding to the haven of peace. She, too, and she alone, though the sea and all the waves thereof roar, could hear the voice of Him who walked upon the waters, saying, ' It is I ; be not afraid.' With such a guide the Christian embark- ed in confidence, and, we cannot doubt, landed in safety. And this, after all, was the true glory of Newton. For while he questioned Nature with high and daring resolve, and compelled her to disclose her most hidden secrets, he never questioned Nature's God. All the paths by which he walked through her labyrinths terminated in a Great First Cause, and beyond that he would not move a step. Beyond that he knew and felt was a region of • emptiness' and ' nothingness' where he could not stand, with ' darkness upon the face of the deep' which the Omniscient Eye alone could pierce. Hence to his own mind, his profoundest researches served but to con- firm the truth revealed from heaven, — ' In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.' And thus it was that his highest flights carried him no higher than to the feet of Jesus, where he sat down to learn the simple yet sublime doctrines of the gospel, with all the docility and single-heartedness of a child. The whole history of human learning and sci- ence affords nothing so affectingly instructive in this respect, as the example of Newton. Not that he is the only instance whore profound attainments have been made subservient to the cause of divine truth. Far from REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 99 it. By much the greater number of tliose names, which in modern days have iUustrated the circle of the sciences, are found enrolled among the humble followers of the Lamb. But as of all these names Newton's is the most illustrious, so perhaps was his humility the most sincere and uiifeigned." The Editor of the Observer frequently rode into the countr)^ around St. Louis, preaching and attending meet- ings of the Synod and Presbytery, as also, meetings for various benevolent objects. A sabbath spent at Apple Creek is thus described. Apple Creek, May 22 J, 1835. " The church at Apple Creek, with the exception of the First church in your city, is the largest in the State. Thenumber of members returned to the General Assem- bly of 1834, was 206. I forgot to enquire the present number. The congregation also, worshipping with this church is, I judge, much more numerous, than any other out of St. Louis. Indeed, from what I saw, I should think it would come but little short, in point of numbers, to the first society in that city. To see the congregation assemble, reminded me of the descriptions I have often read, of the gathering of the Highland clans at the muster call of their leaders. An unpractised eye could discern not the least sign that would betoken the vicinage of human beings. But at the first sound of the bugle, every brake, and hollow, the shieling of every hill, would pour forth Us tide of living beings to swell the number of the gathering multitude. Even so it was here. The meeting-house stands deeply embowered in the woods, which shut the prospect in on every side. Arriving there, a short time before the hour of worship, a person 100 MEMOIR OF THE accustomed to live in cities, would conclude that few would be there to disturb his solitary meditations ; but as the appointed hour approaches, an unexpected change passes over the scene. As if by magic, it becomes at once animated with the presence of living beings. From every quarter, and almost from behind every tree, the hardy yeomanry of the country come pouring in, ac- companied by their wives, children, and sweethearts. Generally they come on horseback, the young men glory- ing in their horsemanship, as they caricole from side to side of the narrow pathway, to remove the overhanging limbs and grape vines, lest they annoy the damsels who are riding at their elbows, while the man of middle age, sobered by matrimony, comes jogging up, with his wife behind, and his child before him, on the same ani- mal. I envy not the man his feelings, who can look upon such unsophisticated examples of domestic happiness and youthful hopes, and not find his heart pervaded with sympathizing gladness. These aro the sober enjoyments of every day life, which a benevolent God gives to every one who has not weakly or wickedly thrown them away. Entering the house of God, you look round upon a most interesting assembly. Nearly all but the younger part, have been gathered from distant regions; they have come to die in a land unknown to their fathers, but not so to their fathers' God. Him they still worship, as they worshipped him, in the hours of their infancy— theirs is the same Redeemer, the same promises, the same gospel, and theirs, too, the same assurance of im- mortality. Here, close by the pulpit, is an aged pil<,rrim. He has travelled seven hundred miles ' leaning upon tho top of his stair' but his journies are now over, save the last one that all must take, and from which none return. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 101 His head is like the almond tree, and he goes bowed down alway ; but he cannot fall, for a Saviour's arm upholds him. Let him go in peace ; let no one seek to detain him, when his Redeemer calls him to his presence, that He may clothe that mortal with immortality. Yonder sits a man of middle age, with his family around him, his beloved and affectionate partner and his children, the youngest now verging upon manhood and womanhood. His was a covenant, and, in his case, well has he shown himself, a covenant-keeping, God. Dedi- cated himself in infancy, to the God of Abraham, with a heart overflowing with gratitude for the privilege, as God gave him children, from time to time, he presented them in the arms of faith before the altar, that the name of Israel's God might be named upon them, and they too be embraced in the provisions of the same gracious and ever-abiding covenant. He brought them up in ' the nurture and admonition of the Lord,' and now God has given them all to him again, in a second birth. The world calls these children poor, and this family obscure. But is it so ? Children of the covenant, the Spirit has now sealed them as heirs of God's eternal kingdom — trace their course a few years onward, and they are seen shining in that kingdom, higher and brighter than the stars forever and ever. If this be poverty and obscuri- ty, then what are this world's riches and splendor ? There is a young woman — no father or mother has she to whom she may look for counsel and instruction, no sister into whose sympathizing bosom she might pour her joys and sorrows, no brother on whom to lean for that support, which none but a brother can give. And yet she is not alone. Daily she communes with her Sa- viour, and through him, with heaven and all its delights. On him she leans, from him she receives counsel and 9* 103 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOY- instruction, wliile in obedience to his commands she seeks to fullill as an ' hireling her day,' that when it is over, she may go to rest in His bosom forever. Such are some of the varieties of character to be met with in a congregation in Missouri. Alas ! it is to be feared there are others of a difhrent type. There may be the hoary head, with all its sins resting unforgiven upon it — there may be the apostate from the church and the altar of God, there a young man, who has broken away from the restraints of a pious home, to commence a career of vice and profligacy : and there another, who has renounced the God of his fathers, and having him- self become the head of a family, is founding a new dy- nasty of rebels. Better had that man never been born ! I rejoice to say, that I saw no indications of any such in the congregation at Apple Creek. The assembly was universally and uniformly attentive and devout." CHAPTER VII. In this chapter several articles upon Romanism are introduced, which exhibit the arguments and the spirit, with which the Editor of the Observer combated the de- lusions, errors, and wickedness of the " Infallible Church." TRANSUBSTANTIATION. " There is one plain argument against this doctrine, which can never be set aside : 1. We are required to believe that the consecrated bread and wine are really the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Bible says, or rather the Saviour speaking in the Bible, ' This,' (that is, the bread,) ' is my body,' and ' This,' (that is, the wine,) ' is my blood.' Now supposing I ask how am I to know that the Bible says any such thing ? The priest opens the book, and shows me the very words, ' This is my body.' But now I ask to sec the bread and the wine thus meta- morphosed. The priest gives me the wafer, I taste it, it tastes like bread ; I smell it, it smells like bread, I handle it, lifccls like bread. And so of the wine. 2. I therefore turn to the priest, and say here arc three senses to one, in favour of these elements being bread and wine still ; I am therefore bound to believe them so. I cannot, from the very laws of my being, believe one sense in preference to three. I am, therefore, bound to 104 MEMOIR OF THE seek some other fair interpretalion of the words ' This is my body,' than the one you have given them, or else re- ject them aUogether. And here 1 need be at no loss. Turning to John x. 9, I find Jesus saying, * I am the door;' and in John xv. 1, he says ' 1 am the true vine,' yet you do not pretend to make the Saviour literally say, that he was a door or a vine. Or if he had, when speak- ing to his disciples, intended to be understood literally, and they had so understood his meaning, they could not have believed him. They heard him say so, but they smelled, saw, and felt that he was not so ; and conse- quently must distrust their own hearing, or his veracity. And the case would be the same when sitting with him at the supper of the passover. If he declared to them that they were eating and drinking flesh and blood, they could only know that he did so by the sense of hearing, whereas by three senses, taste, touch, and smell, they would be assured they were doing no such thing. Ac- cording to the very laws of the human mind, therefore, they could not so understand him. 3. The only remark we have to make upon this argu- ment, is, that no man, in his senses, ever believed fully and fairly, the doctrine of transubstantiation. It is im- possible that he should do so. He might as well believe that fire is cold and ice is hot, or that a thing is and is not at the same time. Let us not be misunderstood ; there have, doubtless, been many men wlio honestly thought they believed it ; but owing to the prejudice of education, their minds, in this point, was dark, and saw things that were not as though they were. So often do we see individuals afllicted with mental imbecility on some particular sulijoct, but perfectly sane on ever}' other. In tliis way we can account for the fact that many good men have unquestionably supposed they believed the doc- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 105 trine of iransubstantiation ; a dogma which, if true, makes, as has been well said, every other truth a lie." NUNNERIES. "That these institutions should ever have acquired any favour in a connnunity so shrewd, sagacious, and suspicious as the American people are, is truly a wonder. And that they should have succeeded in obtaining in- mates from the families of Protestants and even members of the Church, is still more astonishing. It is to be ac- counted for on no common principle of human action. In this, as in other things, Romanism has shown itself a ' mystery of iniquity.' What is a Nunnery ? Have the American people ever asked themselves this question ? And if so, have they ever reflected long enough upon it to obtain an an- swer satisfactory to their own minds ? What is a Nun- nery, we ask again? We will tell. It is a dwelling whose inmates consist of unmarried females, of all ages, tempers, dispositions, and habits. These females have entered into voluntary vows of chastity, poverty, and obe- dience to the rules of their order and their spiritual supe- riors. They have been induced to take these vows and exclude themselves from the world, from various motives. Some whose affections were young and ardent, from disap- pointment of the heart; some from love of retirement; some from morbid sensitiveness to the world of society, and some others, from the blandishments of Priests and Lady Superiors. In Europe there is another cause — operating more than any other, perhaps than all others — which peoples the Convents. Unfeeling parents make them the receptacle of those daughters, who may be in the way of the aggrandizement of other members of the 106 MEMOIR OF THE family, or who may be disposed to contract an alliance which they will not approve. This, too, is probably a remote cause of many entering convents in this country. Very well ; now let us take a Convent, whose inmates have been brought together from causes like the above. There are the aged, the middle aged, the young, the ar- dent, the beautiful. Thus much concerning them we all know. But one of these communities issues, through their Superior, to the community in which it is situated, pro- posals for taking young ladies as inmates in their dwell- ing, and educating them there. This is all well enough. But now suppose a Protestant parent, before committing his daughters to their guardianship, visits the Convent to learn something of its character. He finds it situated in a retired place, surrounded with a high wall, embosomed in luxurious groves. All the charms of nature and art are combined to render its retreat inviting, and its bowers alluring. Into one only room can the visitant have ac- cess. Labyrinthian passages, in various directions, lead to apartments never to be profaned by a Protestant eye. All here is seclusion and mystery. These doors are locked ; and neither parent, brother, friend, nor even sister, can turn the key. Yet to this rigid exclusion there is one exception. The Catholic Priest is privileged to come at all hours, and on all occasions as may suit his convenience. He has the ' open sesame,' before which the door of every department flies open, and admits him to familiar, unrestrained intercourse with its inmates. But who is the Catholic Priest ? Is he aged, venerable ? Is he even a married man ? No ; he is (or may be) a young man, and like those whom he visits bound by his vow to a life of celibacy. And whatever his vow may have been, his looks show abundantly that fasting, pen- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 107 ance, and mortifying of the body make no part of his practice. His is not the lean and subdued countenance of the penitent, but the jolly visage of the sensualist rather. Alas! for the ladies of the convent, if his vow of chastity is kept no better than his vow of poverty and penance. And what reason have we to suppose it is ? If he vio- late it in one case, why not in the other ? The tempta- tion is, at least, as great. We will present this subject in a little diflerent light. — Suppose a dozen young ministers from the Theological Seminary of Princeton, having just been ordained, should come out and take up their abode in the city of St. Louis. Supposing some one of our wealthy citizens, or, if you please, citizens of Boston, or New York, should furnish them with the funds requisite to put up a building in some retired place in the outskirts of the town — supposing the building finished — furnished — enclosed with a high wall, evidently intended for exclusion. Suppose now the young gentlemen advertise in the newspapers of the city, that they have brought with them from Boston a dozen young ladies, who have each made a solemn promise that they will never marry, and that these ladies are now in the newly erected building, prepared to open a school, and to receive female pupils as boarders. Suppose they also should make it known that these young ladies had chosen one of their own number — or perhaps the arrange- ment might be that they should take turns in performing this ofiice, but always so that but one at a time should be at the house — to be their father confessor, and that he was to have access to their dwelling at any or all times, coming and going unquestioned, and that he, or certainly his fellows, were to be the only males who should have access to, or authority in, the establishment. All this being perfectly understood, let us, for the last time, sup- 108 MEMOIR OF THE pose that one of these young gentlemen should go round to the respectable families of our city, and solicit that their daughters might become the inmates, as pupils, of their establishment. What reception would he be likely to meet with? How many young ladies would he be hkely to collect for his school ? Yet, gentle reader, suppose all the above conditions fulfilled, and you have a Protestant Convent, or Nun- nery, formed, in all its essential features, on the most approved mod«l of the Romanists. Who would trust a dozen Protestant ministers, under such circumstances as these ? No one. And, mdeed, the very fact, that they asked to be trusted would prove them all unworthy. But do the annals of the Church show that the Popish priest- hood are more worthy of trust, purer, holier than the Protestant clerg}- ? Read ' Scipio de Ricci,' and ' Blan- co White ;' read ' Secreta Monita' of the Jesuits, ' Bow- er's History of the Popes,' and ' Text Book of Popcr}-,' or if these will not convince, read Hume, Gibbon, Rob- ertson, and even Lingard himself— read Roscoe's Leo the Tenth ; nay thiir own approved manuals of faith and practice. Read these and know that corruption, rank and foul, has always steamed and is now steaming from the thousand monasteries, convents, and nunneries, that are spread, like so many plague spots, over the surface of Europe. We do not say, for we do not believe, that they have reached the same degree of pollution in this country. Far from it—and yet we are no advocates of, or believ- ers in, their immaculate purity. But what we say is this, that so long as human nature remains as it is, so long will the tendency, the unavoidable tendency, of such in^ slitutionsbe to iniquity and rorniption. Wc care not in whose hands they are, Popish or Protestant, they tempt REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 109 to sin all who are connected with them. Wc might even admit that they were founded with good intentions — which, in many instances, we have no doubt has been the case — and still our objections to them would be no whit lessened. Talk of vows oi' chastity, in chambers oi' impenetrable seclusion, and amidst bowers of voluptuous- ness and beauty ! Tis a shameful mockery, and especi- ally with the records of history spread out before us. For that informs us that the Nunnery has generally been neither more nor less, than a seraglio for the friars of the monastery." WHY DISCUSS THE SUBJECT OF POPERY? June nth, 1835. '' We need not inform our readers that our columns have been, for some months past, considerably occupied with the discussion of Popery, in ail its bearhigs, civil, and religious ; social and intellectual. We now propose brielly, to state the reasons why we have thought proper to take such a course. 1. It is not to gratify any personal feelings of our own. We can truly say that there is not a single individual, a member of the Romish church, towards whom we have a single feeling of unkindness. Many of them in this city, have been our personal friends, and for aught we know are so still — at any rate we are theirs. With the Romish clergy, we have no personal acquaintance, and towards them, as individuals, have none but the kindest feelings of good will — it being our daily prayer that they may see, and renounce, the dangerous and deadly errors of their religious creed. 2. It is not that we distrust the patriotism of the mem- bers of the Romish church in this city, that we sound the 10 110 MEMOIR OF THE alarm of danger to our institutions from Popery. There is no more respectable or intelligent portion of our citi- zens, than many of those who are of French origin, and who are either nominally or really members of the Ro- mish church. We have known them long, and bear our willing testimony to the high minded and honourable feelings which actuate them as friends, as men of busi- ness, and as American citizens. They are republicans, in the genuine sense of that term, and there is no class of our citizens to whom we would more readily or confi- dently entrust the guardianship of our free institutions. We do not believe they would surrender them to King, Bishop, or Pope. Many of them are among the wealthi- est and nvost influential of our citizens, distinguished for the urbanity of their manners, the hospitality of their houses, and those other social virtues that so favourably characterize the country of their ancestors. It cannot therefore be for the purpose of injuring any of this class, that we denounce the tendencies of the religion, so many of them profess. 3. It is not for the sake of acquiring popularity. With a great majority of our fellow-citizens, the course we have taken, and which we intend to pursue, with unabated vigour, is a most unpopular one. So far as we know, with some few exceptions, all that class of our citizens who may be called nominal Protestants, are entirely and decidedly opposed to our course. This opposition some- times — when there are immediate selfish purposes to be gained — assumes the character of personal hostility, and an open stand in favour of Popery. In the hearts of the ignorant, and, of course, bigoted adherents of the Romish church, and especially in those of its Priests, it has engen- dered, and still supplies a fountain of the bitterest and most malignant hatred, whicli weekly discharges itself REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. Ill upon our head, in an undiluted stream of vulgarity and abuse. Lastly, there are many of our brethren, who view the matter in a light different from us, and from whom we receive no aid, but discouragement rather, and cold regards. At the East it is different ; but where our paper circulates, not one half of the members of the dif- ferent Protestant churches, are awakened to a sense of the danger that is pressing upon us from the increase of Pope- ry. By many of our fellow-citizens, whom we respect, and whose good opinion we highly value, we are called bigot, fanatic, intolerant, quarrelsome ; and besides have often to encounter the cold regrets of many of our well-mean- ing, but timid brethren. These things have all along been seen and felt by us ; and it will therefore be read- ily acknowledged that in espousing the cause we have chosen, we did it not for the sake of popularity, or of making our position as Editor, an easy one. The question now again returns : why then choose such a position, and w hy maintain it ? Why continue these attacks upon the tenets of Popery, when confess- edly many unpleasant consequences will result ? We are now prepared to give this question a short and de- cisive answer. It is this. We maintain our warfare against the principles and dogmas of Popery, because WE BELIEVE THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY, OF FREEDOM, OF VITAL PIETY, IN A WORD, THE CAUSE OF TRUTH, DE- MANDS IT. Such being our entire and undoubting conviction, we should be false to every sentiment we profess, a recre- ant coward in defence of every principle we hold most dear, should we lay down our weapons and retire, or permit ourselves to be driven from the field. The con- test we admit, is an arduous one ; we have to bear up against a host of opposing influences, that would long 112 MEMOIR OF THE since have crushed us, had we not been upheld by an abiding and controlling sense of duty. Hitherto that has sustained us, and by the grace of God it shall still sus- tain us, in our conllict with the ' Man of Sin,' ' whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders,' until the Lord shall de- stroy him ' with the brightness of his coming.' Then — if it come in our day — will we lay down the ' weapons of our warfare ;' if not we shall contiiuie to ' fight the good fight' until death, assured that others more worthy will finish, what we, in common with others, were hon- oured to begin. One word more. It is often said — and it constitutes the most plausible objection we have heard — that the discussion of this subject tends to introduce unkind feel- ings into society, to create jealousies, ill-will, and dis- trust amonjT neighbours and fellow-citizens: We admit, and regret, but cannot help this consequence. It proves nothing, however, either for good or for evil. ' I came not to send peace on earth,' said the Saviour, ' but a sword.' Wherever Paul went, preaching the gospel, he was accused of turrung society ' upside down ;' and the charge, as to the mere fact, though not in the evil sense intended, was true. Whoever sets himself, firmly, to breast the current of popular sentiment, will find at once, its waves breaking around him ; and in proportion to the strength of the current, will be tlie violence of their on- set and the noise of their roaring. If frightened at the outcry and clamour of those, whose easy onward pro- gress has been interrupted, or at the gathering fury of the waters, let him give way and turn and swim with the stream — he will soon find a perfect calm again. Neither of these is our own case. We took our stand under the firmest convictions of duty, coolly, calmly, deliberately ; REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 113 having counted well what it would cost to maintain it. These same convictions still fix us there — where we ex- pect and intend to remain, until the Master we serve shall call us away, to fill our place with one more de- voted to his interests, and more skilled to contend with his enemies. P. S. We were writing the above article, in our ofTice, on Saturday morning, and had got about two-thirds of the way through it, when a friend stepped in, saying as he entered, ' I come at the request of Mr. , to subscribe, in his name, for the ' Observer.' He says, that while so many of the Protestant Newspapers and Clergymen, are fearful and undetermined, he wishes to give his support and countenance to a paper that has so boldly set itself to resist the tide of Popery, which is now flowing in and threatens to overwhelm us.' Mr. is a Methodist brother, and resides in Michigan Territory. Now this incident is a small one of itself, but we no- tice it because of the eflfect it had upon our leelings, par- ticularly in reference to the time of its occurrence. We could not but regard it as a good omen ; as an indication of Providence, that our course in this matter was ap- proved." St. Louis, Aufr. 21th, 1835. " We recommend to the ' Argus' a perusal of the fol- lowing paragraph copied from the ' National Gazette.' The ' Argus' has taken the Catholics into his special keeping. Why ? Simply because he wants their votes. Now we do not care on which side the Catholic votes, nor to which party he belongs. Nor do we wish to touch any of the rights belonging to any class of citizens, Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Mahometan. But what we say, and maintain, and prove by undeniable facts, is, 10* 114 MEMOIR OF TUT. that Popery and Freedom, whether civil or religious, are incompatible with each other — they cannot co-exist. What we warn our countrymen to be on their guard against, is, the hordes of ignorant, uneducated, vicious foreitnicrs who are now llocking to our shores, and who, under the guidance of Jesuit Priests, are calculated, fit- ted and intended to subvert our liberties. Put the ' Argus' wishes us to hold our peace because it wishes religion to be kept entirely unconnected with politics.' Doubtless, doubtless it does. Its conduct shows that plain enough. But we can tell the ' Ar- gus' that it is for this very reason that we will not hold our peace. It is because we see the ' Argus' and other similar politicians, of all political creeds and complex- ions, endeavouring to separate religion and politics, that we labour to prevent this divorce. We wish every man when he votes, to do it in the fear of God ; and that is what we call a union of religion and politics. And it is the only union we desire. Partisan politics — for why should we not speak out ? — are operating the downfall of our country. Do we accuse one party more than another ? No. We see a mournful dcjstitulion of moral principle among them all. They turn with the veering wind. Look at the New York Courier and Enquirer. Two or three years ago it was the champion of Irishmen ; it would not suffer a word to be said in derogation of them or their priests. And why ? Simply because it was then attached to that party to which most of these ignorant foreigners belonged. But the Courier has since changed its position, and is now as zealously engaged in proclaiming the dangers of Popery, as it once was in defending it from all attacks. And though we believe that it is now on the right side, 80 far as Popery is concerned, yet have we any confi- REV. E. P. LOVE JO V. 115 (lence in such a co-adjutor? None at all. Self-inter- est, real or supposed, placed the Courier where it is, and at its bidding it would go back to its old position. So here, in our own city. Unconnected with any party, but an American citizen, and as such, and especially as an American Christian, deeply interested in the perpetu- ity of our free institutions, our civil and religious freedom, we saw the encroachments of Popery upon both. We saw the stealthy, cat-like step, the hyena grin, with which the ' Mother of Abominations,' was aj)prouching the Fountain of Protestant Liberty, that she might cast into it the poison of her incantations, more accursed than was ever seethed in the Caldron of Hecate. We saw, too, that as it had been with us, so it still was with most of our citizens — they were insensible to the danger awaiting them. We raised the alarm. We have con- tinued to sound it aloud ; and we have the unspeakable gratification to know that it has not been wholly in vain. In the discharge of this sacred duty, owed first to our God, and next to our country, we have had nothing but a good conscience to sustain us. Obloquy and re- proach have been our portion ; and who has ventured to defend us ? Not a single political press of any party. Discordant as might be their voices in other matters, they chimed harmoniously in attacking us, and defend- ing the Papists. Thus the ' Republican' and the * Ar- p\\s.^ And why ? Because each wanted Catholic votes. Well; the * Argus,' it seems, has got them; and the * Republican' now says, through its correspondents at least, the very things against Papists which it abused us for saying ; while the ' Argus' redoubles its zeal and fury in their defence. We rejoice at the stand the ' Republican' has now taken. We hope it will have courage to maintain it, but we greatly fear the contrary. Let history be consult- 116 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LQVEJOY. e(3,let the present stale of the world be inspected, and the * Republican' will find that in no way can it render so ef- leciual a service to its country, as by opposing that tre- mendous tide of foreign emigration which even now threatens to sweep away all that we hold dear. For the ' Argus, ' we hope the lesson it has just re- ceived will not be lost upon it. Let it learn, henceforth, to pay some regard to principle in the selection of its leaders. The great mass of the people are of honest intentions. They may be deceived and deluded, but, in this country, they cannot well be corrupted. If no hurher principle, therefore, restrain the * Argus ' from al- lyhig Itself to Jesuitism, let it at least be restrained by the fear^cven in this, of being thrown into a minority. And even if victorious, depend upon it, Mr. ' Argus,' the only reward which Jesuitism would give you, would be the same which Polyphemus vouchsafed to Ulysses -that of being the last devoured." CHAPTER VIII. We come now to the subject of Slavery. Articles upon this subject were occasionally found in the " Obser- ver" from the beginning. It did not, however, occupy a larfTor proportion of the entire sheet, than two and a half millions bear to ff teen millions. The Editor was, during this period, thorougly convinced of the sin of Slavery, and, at the same time, cherished an ardent desire to see it abolished. But he was seeking a point where these views, and opposition to immediate abolition might be coincident. To discover such a point, he framed all the moral problems, and drew the figures for their illustration, whicli a fertile genius, extensive knowledge, and honest intentions could devise. That point, however, we hardly need say, he never found. Thousands made the same experiments before him, and many are continuing these attempts, destined, we doubt not, to the same disappoint- ment. It is devoutly to be hoped, that with equal frank- ness they will acknowledge their mistake, and como forth and stand upon the immoveable basis of everlasting Truth. One thing always gave us pleasure, while we dilVt'red in opinion from our brother upon this subject, — he ever appeared to act up to the light which shone upon his path. When, therefore, he saw that immediate abolition was the only ground on which to stand, and move the mass of cruelty, injustice, and corruption which the word Slavery imports, he placed himself upon it, and here ' he conquered, though he fell.' 118 MEMOIR OF THE We shall now give such extracts from the editorial pen as will exhibit his sentiments, and the manner in which he treated this subject. SLAVERY. June, 18.34. "This subject is one which has always, since we have known any thing of the Southern and Slave-holding Western States, been regarded as exceedingly delicate and difhcult of management. We feel it to be so at the moment of penning these remarks. Not because — as some of our Abolitionist brethren will charge us — we fear the truth, and are unwilling to perform our duty, but, be- cause there is real dilHcuhy in ascertaining what that duty is. The man who has been reared in the midst of Slavery, and acquainted with the system from his earli- est infancy, who regards the coloured man as part of the estate bequeathed to him by his parents, and his right over him guaranteed by the constitution of his country, becomes excited, when any one denies this right, and lays down ethical principles for his government, that, in their operation, must beggar him. Nor is this all ; he finds himself the subject of bitter invective and unmea- sured denunciation. As a man, stripped of all honourable pretension, and made a participant with the heartless man-stealer, whose crime he abhors. As a Christian, denounced and accounted a profaner of the symbols of his holy religion. Held up to society as a monster in human shape, a tyrant who delights in the pangs inflicted upon his fellow-man. We have never wondered that under such circumstances, it should be an excitins: sub- ject — he must be more than human who would not bo sensible of the recoil in his feelings. U^i may at tho REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 119 same time be wrong. But his early associations — his prejudices, are all upon the side of long established opinions ; and hence it should hardly be expected, that at the first glance, he should see the truth as one ditVer- enlly situated may see it, and instantly espousing the opinion of the opposite party, give an evidence of his sincerity that the other \va.s never called to give, by pass- ing immediately from ailluence to poverty. In all con- troversies there is a strong tendency in the parties to take extreme ground — so in this — and hence he finds himself charged with views and feelings, and base mo- tives for his opposition, which he is at the moment con- scious he does not possess, and which the very man who presses the charge against him, in his cooler moments, would not think of making. Certain it is, that in this controversy, no one will be persuaded by naked denun- ciation or misrepresentations — but cool and temperate argument, supported by facts, must perform the work. It has been with pain that we have seen recently the heated and angry meetings and discussions, which have taken place, amongst our eastern brethren of the Abolition and Colonization parties. Though we have certainly our own preference on this subject, yet, eschewing the papacy, as we do, we are not disposed to set up our claims to infallibility in his stead, and always regret Avhen we see good brethren take such a stand. That the recent movement in Great Britain and the West In- dies, coiild take place and leave us unaffected, we never supposed — that it must work changes in our system, we did then and do still believe, but the danger is in the manner in which that change is to brought about. That Slavery is a curse, politically and morally, to every state where it exists, is a sentiment to whicli the South and West respond. And this response is given by the Slave- 120 MEMOIR OF THE holder, with a deeper and more experimental conviction in the South than in the East. The great desideratum with the reflecting in both sections of the country, is to get rid of the evil. Now, starting upon the same premi- ses, it is to be regretted that such widely diflferent con- clusions should be arrived at, and still more, that angry feelings should be elicited in the contest. We have read the declaration of the Abolition Conven- vention held in Philadelphia, and also of the Lane Semi- nary, and felt prepared to adopt, in the main, the abstract principles set forth by them. With the means by which they declare they will seek the accomplishment of their object — the dissemination of light, thereby creating a correct public opinion — we are satisfied. But the danger is, that the friends of abolition will not strictly adhere to these terms, and thereby excite prejudices and bitterness. We infer this from the overstrained and highly wrought picture that was presented at Lane Seminary by some zealous and heated young men, under the temptation that it would be popular to make a good speech, and which statements have gone the length and breadth of the land. Fromthe examination of Thomas C.Brown, a disappointed emigrant, in New York, in which he was compelled to retract much tbat he had previously detailed to the injury of the Colony at Liberia — and from the heated speeches of some good men at the late anniversaries in that city. When means like these are resorted to, whatever the effect may be in tbe East, in the South and West they are calculated to recoil, and produce a want of confidence in the efforts of good men. Still, we believe that the Abolitionists have done good. They have aroused the country to more reflection on the subject. They have detected defects in thr» managomonl of the Colonization Society — and they have, by showing that society that REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 121 tliey will hereafter be watched with Argus eyes, secured the better conduct of its affairs. But why wage a war of extermination upon a kindred institution ? Will the sending away to the land of their fathers of some hun- dreds of manumitted slaves and free persons of colour, annually, prevent the rise of public opinion in favour of abolition? If it is said that free persons do not wish to leave the soil — it is well — let them remain. The Colo- nization Society compels no one to go. Admit that our laws are unjust in the heavy load of disabilities which they impose upon the colored man — and that those are the compelling power — the Society did not make the laws, but taking the statutes as they were, they provided a home where these disabilities were unknown. If it is said this Society does not provide an effectual remedy for the evil, and hence it is a waste of funds that might be better employed Why not permit it to go as far as it can ? And what prospect is there that if these funds are diverted from their present channel they will flow into another that is better? Surely the Abolitionists can have no hope that their coffers would be supplied by the friends of Colonization in the South and West. But we will not extend our remarks. Our object is peace and concert in action with every good man, in every good work. We are not sensible that we possess any prejudices upon the subject. We do not promi.se by any means, that we shall not become an Abolitionist, strictly, at some future day, and see the necessity of fol- lowing the example of oiu- worthy brother Cox, in for- saking the Colotiization enterprise, but arguments of suf- ficient weight must be laid before us in order to this con- summation." 11 122 MEMOIR OF THE SLAVERY. April I6th, 1835. " We ask from every professor of Christianity — as also from all others — a careful, candid, and praycr/wZ pe- rusal of the article on our first page on this subject. It is from the pen of one* who is entitled to be heard in the case ; inasmuch as having been a slave holder once, he has ceased to be such by emancipating all his slaves. The main principles, facts and inferences stated by the writer, we are so far from questioning that we believe them entirely correct. ' How hardly shall they that have riches be saved,' said One who perfectly well knew the principles by which the human mind operated and was operated upon. For the same reason though found in the opposite extreme, we may say how hardly shall they that are slaves enter into the kingdom of heaven. In either case there is nothing which absolutely forbids heaven to either class, or which renders it of itself more difficult of attainment, yet judging from analogy and from the results of experience, we are enabled confidently to predict that not ' many wise, not many noble,' and not many ignorant slaves, will make their way through the difficulties that surround their positions, to a heaven of disinterestedness and intelligence. While therefore we cordially adopt the main senti- ments of our correspondent, and would afTectionately, yet urgently, press them upon our Christian readers as a reason why they should introduce a thorough change in their manner of treating, or rather neglecting, their slaves, * The article is signed 'N.' presumed to be from Dr. Nelson. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 123 SO far as religious instruction is concerned ; we do not believe that this change ought to be immediate and un- conditional c?nancipation. We are entirely convinced that such a course would be cruel to the slave himself, and injurious to the community at large. But something must be done and done speedily on this all-important subject. While Christians have been slumbering over it, the eye of God has not slumbered, nor has his Justice been an indifferent spectator of the scene. The groans, and sighs, and tears, and blood of the poor slave have gone up as a memorial before the throne of Heaven. In due time they will descend in awful curses upon this land, unless averted by the speedy repentance of us all. Look at the manner in which our sister state, Louisi- ana, is treating her slaves ! Why, as surely as there is a thunderbolt in Heaven and strength in God's right arm to launch it, so surely will it strike the authors of such cruel oppression. Look, too, at the slave-drivers, who go up and down our own streets, lifting their heads and moving among us unshamed, unrebuked — as if they had not forfeited all claim to the name of max. All abhor the traffic, and detest the wretch who pursues it ; why then is he not driven from the face of day, and made to hide himself in some dark corner, whose murky gloom might faintly emblem the savage darkness of his own heart ? Why ? simply because public sentiment has never been aroused to think on the subject. If the laws protect the miscreant who coins his wealth out of the heart's blood of his fellow creatures, he can at least be crushed beneath the odium of public opinion. There is another fact we wish to introduce in this place. It is this. Congress, acting only as the organ of public opinion, has pronounced the slave trade from the coast of Africa piracy. Those engaged in it are punish- 124 MEMOIR OF THE able with death. From a statement given in the Journal of Commerce, it appears, that last November there were no less than forty eight slave vessels on the African coast engaged in this nefarious traffic. It was supposed these vessels would carry off at least 20,000 victims — victims in every sense of the term, to tyranny, brutality, and lust. It also appears that many of these poor wretches eventually land in the United States, by way of Cuba, and other Spanish Islands. Particularly is it to be feared and supposed that many of them are smuggled into Louisiana. Now, although the system of domestic Slavery is not necessarily connected with this foreign piratical trade, yet no one can deny that it tends greatly to encourage it. And no one can deny, that if domestic Slavery should cease throughout Christendom, the slave trade from Africa would cease of course. We mention these things as affording strong incidental reasons for action among ourselves at home. Above all the rest, the same paper states that there is no doubt a slave vessel left New York a few days since. In this connexion it gives us heart-felt pleasure to in- troduce the following extract from the ' Republican' of Friday last. The Editors are referring to the Conven- tion about to be called for the purpose of amending our Constitution. With the sentiments of the extract we most cordially concur, and hope the Editors will not fail to keep the subject before their readers till the time for action shall arrive. And who are the individuals or in- dividual, who will make it their business between the present time and the time for voting, to arouse and en- lighten public sentiment on this great subject ? What a glorious opportunity is now offered to such a one — an opportunity such as will not be likely again to arise for centuries to come — to confer a lasting, an unspeakable REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 125 benefit upon the citizens of this state, of this republic, and upon the cause of universal humanity ! Is it too much to ask of Christians, that they will ask the Lord, in fervent, importunate prayer, to send such a labourer into the field of this state ? We do not want a man from the northern or middle states ; we want one who has him- self been educated in the midst of Slavery, who has al- ways lived in contact with it, who knows, experimental- ly, all its evils, and all its diflicullies — one who will not lift his head up into the region of abstract speculation, and in the loftiness of his pride, in a beautiful theory, dis- dain alike to make acquaintance with facts and with com- mon sense. To such a man a golden opportunity of doing good is offered. We believe the minds of the good people of this state are fully prepared to listen to him — to give a dispassionate consideration to the facts and reasonings he might present connected with the subject of Slavery. Public sentiment, amongst us, is already moving in this great matter — it now wants to be directed in some defined channel, to some definite end. Taken all in all, there is not a state in this Union pos- sessing superior natural advantages to our own. At pre- sent, Slavery, like an incubus, is paralyzing our energies, and like a cloud of evil portent, darkening all our pros- pects. Let this be removed, and Missouri would at once start forward in the race of improvement, with an energy and rapidity of movement, that would soon place her in the front rank along with the most favoured of her sister stales. But we stay too long from the extract from the ' Re- publican.' * We look to the Convention as a happy means of re- lieving the state, at some future day, of an evil which is destroying all our wholesome energies, and leaving us, 11* 126 MEMOIR OF THE in morals, in enterprise, and in wealth, behind the neigh- bouring states. We mean, of course, the curse of Slavery. We are not about to make any attack upon the rights of those who at present hold this description of property. They ought to be respected to the letter. We only pro- pose, that measures shall now be taken for the abolition OF SLAVERY, at such distant period of time as may be thought expedient, and eventually for ridding the country altogether of a coloured population. The plan has been adopted in other states, and they hare been effectually relieved from the incubus which, even now, is weighing us down. With no decided advantage in soil, climate, productions, or facilities, the free states have shot far ahead of those in which Slavery is tolerated. We need go no further than Ohio and Kentucky for an illustration of this assertion. For ourselves, if this one principle shall be adopted, whatever may be the errors of the Con- vention — no matter with how many absurdities the Con- stitution may abound, we shall gladly overlook them all. To secure so important a benefit, we must set about it at once. Now is the time for action. The evil of which we are speaking, may be arrested in its incipient stage. It is perhaps the last time we shall have an opportunity of attempting it. And we call upon all citizens, of what- ever rank, sect, or party, to aid in this good and glorious work. It is one in which all, laying aside minor contro- versies and considerations, may unite, and all may exert a favoural)le influence. Let us to the work, then, firmly and heartily !' " REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 127 SLAVERY. April 30th, 1835. " There can be no doubt that this subject in its various bearings will occupy much of the attention of the good people of this state, the ensuing season. We take it for granted there will be a convention of the people, at the time designated by our Legishiiure, (next December,) for the purpose of amending our constitution. This Con- vention will aflbrd an opportunity for again deciding the question whether Missouri shall hereafter be a free, or continue a slave state. We look upon this question as one of more importance than we have words to express. And in its discussion and tinal decision by the Conven- tion, we feel how much need there is of mutual forbear- ance among all those who shall have a word to say on the subject — as well as the exercise of that calm, saga- cious, patriotic foresight which looks to the good of the whole community, and consults for the good of future as of present generations. Let an unbiased, intelligent decision of our fellow- citizens in the matter be had, and we have no fears of the result. We know, very well, that a right decision of the case, will, in many instances, have to be made in the face of immediate personal interest ; but we look with confidence to the intelligence, the good sense, and moral justice of our citizens, as fully adequate to the crisis. Slavery, as it exists among us, admits of being con- sidered in a three-fold view — in a civil, a religious, and a moral view. Considered in any of these lights, it is demonstrably an evil. In every community where it ex- ists, it presses like a night-mare on the body politic. Or, 128 MEMOIR OF THE like the vampyre, it slowly and imperceptibly sucks away the life-blood of society, leaving it faint and dis- heartened to stagger along the road of improvement. Look at Virginia — that noble commonweaUh, the mother of states and great men — how strikingly docs her pre- sent condition illustrate the truth of this sentiment I The evils of Slavery in a moral and religious point of view, need not be told ; they are seen, and palpable, by all. It becomes us as a Christian people, as those who believe in the future retribution of a righteous Providence, to remove from our midst an institution, no less the cause of moral corruption to the master than to the slave. It surely cannot be thought wrong, to press such a notion as this upon the consideration of our fellow-citizens. Gradual emancipation is the remedy we propose. This we look upon as the only feasible, and indeed, the only desirable way of effecting our release from the thraldom in which we are held. In the mean time, the rights of all classes of our citizens should be respected, and the work be proposed, carried on, and finished, as one in which all classes of our citizens are alike interested, and in which all may alike be called upon to make sacrifices of individual interests to the general welfare of the com- munity. There is, however, another matter — and we mention it here, lest our silence may be misinterpreted — con- nected with this subject, which admits, nay, demands a very different mode of treatment. We mean the man- ner in which the relations subsisting between Christians and their slaves are fulfilled. Here the reform ought to be thorough and immediate. There is no possible plea which can aflbrd excuse for a moment's delay. On this point, we expect to have much to say ; and we hope our readers will bear in mind — and ilius save themselves REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 129 from confounding our arguments on the two points — that while on the general subject of Slavery we are decidedly gradual, on this part of it we are as decidedly immediate Abolitionists. It is fearfully true that many professed Christians habitually treat their slaves as though they had no immortal souls, and it is high time such a prac- tice as this were abolished.''^ LETTER FROM THE EDITOR. Mississippi Ricrr, May, 2\st, 1835. " We have just swung from our moorings, and are going up to the upper part of the town, to take in some passen- gers. What glorious prospects are opening before the city of St. Louis ! The time cannot be far distant when it will be enthroned, without a rival, the Queen of the West. Already, Front Street is, I should think, more- than a mile in length. Seventeen Steamboats, among which were the mammouth Mogul, and the unfortunate Majestic, line its shores this morning. The whole quay is covered with merchandize and alive with the bustle of business. One boat was discharging freight, another was receiving it ; here was one with her flag floating in the wind, indicating that she was soon to depart, and there another whose bell was calling all on board, who did not choose to be left behind — here was one blowing ofl', and there another raising her steam. Altogether, the scene was a most animated and animating one. One thing depressed my spirits. It was the moral con- dition of a large portion of those whom I saw. As I passed up and down the quay, among the busy, hurr\'- ing m\dtitude, the drunkeries and drinking I witnessed, the oaths and the obscene blasphemies 1 heard, caused 130 MEMOIR OF THE my spirits to sink within me. I felt assured, too, that Christians in St. Louis, were not doing enough — are they doing any thing?— for the boatmen in our harbour. I fear these last may truly say, ' No man careth for our souls.' As we rounded to, and approached the shore of our sister state, a little below the city, we saw several little children at play upon the river's bank. Some one in the company remarked, ' That is a land of liberty !' Now the subject of slavery had not been mentioned, and the fact that such a thought was suggested by the very sight of the soil of Illinois, shows that the atmosphere of sla- very is an unnatural one for Americans to live in. The institution is repugnant to the very first principles of lib- erty. The remark was the more worthy of notice as coming from one who has for many years, even from infancy, resided in a slave state, and who is the owner of slaves ? I envy not the prosperity of our sister state, Illinois : I rejoice in it the rather, and look forward with delight to the period, and that not far distant, when the busy hum of industry shall be heard over all her prai- ries, while schools, colleges, and religious temples, shall adorn and strengthen the institutions of two millions of freemen. Yet when contemplating this glorious and exciting spectacle, I cannot help saying, with a half sup- pressed sigh of despondency, ' Oh ! that Missouri, my own beloved state, were in a condition to compete for the prize of such renown ?' And why may she not ? What nobler race of men exists in this wide world, than those who have followed Daniel Boone from the blood-bought fields of Kentucky, and pitched their tabernacles in Missouri ? Alas ! the single word SLAVERY, tells us why. So long as that remains amongst us, we may long for those improvements in art, science, and the habits of REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 131 social life, which mark a rapidly advancing community, but they can never be ours. These are the rewards of well-directed industry alone. I look forward to the approaching Convention in our state with more solicitude than I have words to express. It does seem to me a crisis that calls for the exercise of all the candor, enlarged patriotism, and sound judgment of all our citizens. We have it in our power to bequeath to posterity a benefit, for which all future generations shall bless us, or we may put back the hopes of human- ity, and, instrumentally, the benign purposes of Heaven, a whole generation. Fearful responsibility ! And will not all those who believe in the efficacy of prayer, and who know that God hath in his hands the hearts of all men, will ihey not cry day and night to Him, that he would graciously be pleased, by his Spirit to move upon the mindsof our fellow citizens, inspiring them with right sentiments on this infinitely important subject. There is power sufficient in the church to accomplish this mat- ter, if that power can only be brought to bear. The more I think on this subject, the more am I pene- trated with a sense of its magnitude. God and man are calling to us to be up and doing. Hayti and Southamp- ton have written their lesson of warning in lines of blood. Virginia has traced hers upon many a ruined and desert- ed spot, once the most fertile of all her wide domains, but which has long since become as the ' plains of Sodom,' beneath tlie withering blight of slavery. The example of England is showing us that gradual abolition is safe, practicable and expedient. God from on high, and by his providence in making slave labour unprofitable, is com- manding us to ' break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free.' It may not be, that we can slight all these warnings, exhortations, and commands, and yet prosper. 132 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. The physical and moral laws of God must both be in- verted first. I could write forever on this subject but must close. Our boat is walking the water like a ' thing of life.' We are just opposite Herculaneum." CHAPTER IX. Perhaps no other place is more appropriate in the order of events than this, to state that at the age of thirty-two he found the Scripture verified — " It is not good for man to be alone." On this subject, although so important in its consequences, there is every where license given to a playful mood in speaking of it. We therefore insert his own letter announcing this event to his friends. The reader will, of course, make some al- lowance for the partiality of a husband — his veto to the contrary notwithstanding. St. Louis, March 10///, 1835. My dearest Mother, / am married. So much for the first sentence, Avhich contains the substance of the whole matter. But as I suppose you would like to have a few particulars, they follow. I was married on Wednesday last, the 4th inst. at St. Charles, a village about twenty miles distant from this place. My wife's maiden name was Celia Ann French I thought we made a very respectable couple at the time. As for my own personal appearance, you know enough of that already. For the lady, I can tell you (she sits at my right hand while 1 write,) that she was twenty-one years of age last August, is tall, well-shaped, of a light, fair complexion, dark flaxen hair, large blue eyes, with 12 134 MEMOIR OF THE features of a perfect Grecian contour. In short, she is very beautiful. This is not a mere expression of a fond husband, but just the simple truth. John will tell you if you ask him. But the best is yet to come. I need not tell you she is pious, for I hope you knew I would marry no one who was not. She is, I know, intelligent, refined, and of agreeal)le manners ; and unless I have entirely mistaken her character, she is also sweet-tempered, obliging, kind- hearted, industrious, good-humoured, and possessed alike of a sound judgment and correct taste. I am sure you will not think it the least evidence of these last — at any rate, I do not — that she has chosen your son for a hus- band. In addition to all this, she loves me, I think, about as much as I deserve. I shall now leave you to measure that love. With such a wife I think I ought to be happy — I am sure I am thankful to the Lord who gave her to me. Celia sends love to you, and to all her new sisters and brothers in Maine. She will expect a letter from sisters Sarah, Sibyl, and Elizabeth. Pray tell me what is the reason of your long silence in Maine ? I have heard nothing for a long time from a living soul in all that region. John is well, and so am I, and so is my dear wife. I have my hands full of business, but the Lord has hitherto sustained me. Your most affectionate son, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. Sun and clouds alternate in the horizon whicli sur- rounds the earth. We now pass to that period of our brother's history, when his trials and persecution com- menced, and which terminated only with his death. The causes of these will be unfolded in the progress of the REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 135 narration. In October, 1835, he was absent from St. Louis for several weeks. During this time, a great ex- citement commenced in that city upon the subject of Slavery. The proprietors of the " Observer" became alarmed at the threats of a mob, and caused the following notice to appear in that paper. St. Louis, October 8th, 1835. JJj^ " The Editor will be absent two or three weeks, in attendance on Presbytery and Synod." " Since the Editor left, the Publishers of the Observer have received a communication from the Patrons and Owners of the property of this paper, advising an entire suspension of all controversy upon the exciting subject of Slavery. As this course is entirely agreeable to the feelings and views of the publishers, nothing upon the subject will appear in its columns, during the absence of the Editor. Upon his return the communication will bo submitted to him, and the future course of the paper finally arranged in such a manner, as, we doubt not, will be consonant with the wishes of the proprietors. The articles upon the subject of Slavery in our paper to-day, were prepared by the Editor before his departure, and could not have been omitted without great incon- venience." The mob not being satisfied, and still threatening the destruction of the ofTice of the ** Observer," another con- cession to the " new code" " of our most respectable citizens" soon followed. 136 MEMOIR OF THE ,S7. Louis, October 22d, 1835. ljj=* " The EJiiur being still absent, wc again issue our paper wiiliout much editorial matter. ^Ve hope it will not be the case another week." TO THE PUBLIC. "The Proprietors of the St. Louis 'Observer' having heretofore expressed their determination that nothing should be advanced in the columns of that paper, calcu- lated to keep up the excitement on the Slavery question ; and being one and all opposed to the mad schemes of the Abolitionists, have heard with astonishment and regret, that certain evil disposed persons have threatened vio- lence to the ' Observer OfTice.' We call upon all prudent men to pause and reflect upon the probable consequences of such a step — there is nothing to justify it. And it is asking too much of any set of men to stand patiently by and see their property destroyed. We believe this to be a momentary excitement, arising out of the apprehension of the white men who stole Major Dougherty's negroes, and who having been dealt with according to the new code by several of our most respectable citizens, and that they will see that no evil arises out of that excitement. i The Proprietors of the ( St. Louis Observer." October '2\ St, 1835. Wht'lher the last sentence of the above paper, does not give full sanction to the " new code,^' which means nothing less than mob law, the reader will judge. The acts done by this *' new code" " of most respectable citi- zens," were, •* two men had been taken up on suspicion of REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 137 Jiaving decoyed away some negroes, had been brought by illegal violence from Illinois ; taken about two miles back of the city, and there whipped between one and two two hundred lashes, by about sixty of our most wealthy and inlhiential citizens. They whipped by taking turns, so many lashes a piece. Before whipping, it was put to the vote, whether they should whip or hang them, and about twenty out of the sixty were given for hanging, and among them were some members of the Church." *S^ Louis, October 5th, 1835, To THE Rev. E. p. Lovejov, Editor of the Ouskrver. Sir : The undersigned, friends and supporters of the " Observer," beg leave to suggest, that the present temper of the times require a change in the manner of conducting that print in relation to the subject of domes- tic Slavery. The public mind is greatly excited, and owing to the unjustifiable interference of our northern brethren with our social relations, the community are, perhaps, not in a situation to endure sound doctrine in relation to this subject. Indeed, we have reason to believe, that violence is even now meditated against the "Observer Office," and we do believe that true policy and the interests of reli- gion, require that the discussion of this exciting question aliould be at least postponed in this state. Although we do not claim the right to prescribe your course as an Editor, we hope that the concurring opinions of so many persons, having the interests of your paper, and of r«"ligion both at heart, may induce you to distrust your own judgment, and so far change the character of the "Observer," as to pass over in silence every thing con- nected with the subject of Slavery ; we would like that you announce in your paper, your intention so to do. 12* 138 ME310IR OF THE We shall be glad to be informed of your determination in relation to this matter. Respectfullv, your obedient servants, ARCHIBALD GAMBLE, NATHAN RANNEY, WILLIAM S. POTTS, JNO. KERR, G. W. CALL, H. R. GAMBLE, - HEZEKIAH KING. I concur in the object intended by this communication BEVERLY ALLEN. I concur in the foregoing. J. B. BRANT.* The manner in which this communication was disposed of, will appear in his address to the public. That some parts of that appeal may be understood, it will be proper to insert two or three resolutions passed at a meeting of the citizens of St. Louis. The first deprecates the inter- ference of foreign emissaries on the subject of Slavery. 2. Resolved, That the right of free discussion and freedom of speech exists under the constitution, but that being a conventional reservation made by the people in their sovereign capacity, does not imply a moral right, on the part of the Abolitionists, to freely discuss the • Wr find this document endorsed as follows : "I did not yirld to the wishes here expressrd, anrs, founded on any promise of mine, that I would rc- love the " Observer" from St. Louis. Your Christian brother, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. On the back of this letter is found the following en- orsement. The within letter was addressed to Mr. G. that to- ;ethcr with his answer, it might be published. He re- used to answer it, though l)y so doing, he might have reed me from every unkind imputation under which I vas then labouring. In the end, however, all proved or the best, and I received from a covenant Cod, that 168 MEMOIR OF THE protection which I vainly sought from some of my breth- ren. I have forgiven brother G. from my heart, and I doubt not he has, ere this, sincerely repented of his whole course on that eventful occasion. ELIJAH P. LOVE JOY. February 13///, 1836. In July, 1836, as the prospect was, that the paper would be better supported at Alton he determined to re- move it there. The same paper that announced this de- termination, contained also his remarks upon the famous charge of Judge Lawless to the Grand Jury. The crime of which the Judge speaks in his charge, was thus recorded and noticed in the " Observer." AWFUL MURDER AND SAVAGE BARBARITY. 67. Louis, May 5th, 1835. The transactions we are about to relate, took place on Thursday, a week ago, and even yet we have not re- covered from the shock they gave us. Our hand trembles as we record the story. The following are the particu- lars, as nearly as we have been able to ascertain them from the city papers, and from the relation of those, who were eye and ear witnesses of the termination of the awful scene. On the afternoon of Thursday, the 28th ult., an affray be- tween two sailors or boatmen took place on the steamboat landing. Mr. George Hammond, Deputy Sheriff, and Mr. William Mull, Deputy C'onstable, in the discharge of their official duty, attempted to arrest the boatmen, for a breach of the peace. In so doing they were set upon REV. E. P. LOVE JO V. 169 by a mulatto fellow, by the name of Francis J. M'Intosh, who had just arrived in the city, as cook, on board the steamboat Flora, from Pittsburgh. In consequence the boatmen escaped, and M'Intosh was arrested for his in- terfer^ce with the officers. He was carried before Patrick Walsh, Esq., a Justice of the Peace, for this county, and by him committed to jail, and delivered to the same officers to be taken thither. On his way he inquired what his punishment would be, and being told that it would not be less than five years' imprisonment in the State Prison, he immediately broke loose from the officers, drew a long knife and made a desperate blow at Mr. Mull, but fortunately missed him. Unfortunately, however, a second blow, aimed with the same savage violence, had better success, and struck Mr. Mull in the right side, and wounded him severely. He was then seized, by the shoulder, by Mr. Hammond, whereat he turned and stabbed him in the neck. The knife struck the lower part of the chin and passed deeply into the neck, cutting the jugular vein and the larger arteries. Mr. H. turned from his murderer, walked about sixty steps, fell and expired ! Mr. M. although dangerously wounded, was able to pursue the murderer who had fled, until his cries alarmed the people in the vicinity. They turned out, and without much difficulty secured the blood- thirsty wretch and lodged him in jail. The bloody deeds of which M'Intosh had been guilty soon became known through the city ; and crowds col- lected at the spot, where the body of Mr. Hammond lay weltering in its blood. The excitement was intense, and soon might be heard above the tumult, the voices of a few, exhorting the multitude to take summary vengeance. The plan and process of proceeding were soon resolved on. A mob was immediately organized and went for- 15 170 MEMOIR OF THE Avard to the jail in search of their victim. The SheriflT, Mr. Brotherion, made some attempts to oppose their illegal violence. Apprehensive for the fate of his family, who occupied a portion of the jail building, he then re- tired taking them along with him to a place of safety. Another of our fellow-citizens courageously attempted lo reason with the angry mob, and to slay them from their fearful proceedings. When, however, ' he saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made,' being himself threatened with violence, he was compel- led to retire from the place and leave the enraged multi- tude to do tlieir work. All was done with the utmost deliberation and system, and an awful stillness pervaded the scene, broken only by the sound of the implements employed in demolishing the prison doors. Those who have read Scott's description of the Porteus' mob, as ffiven in the Iloart of Mid Lothian, will have an accurate idea of the manner of proceeding at the jail, on Thursday night. All was still ; men spoke to each other in whis- pers, but it was a whisper which made the blood curdle to hear it, and indicated the awful energy of purpose, with which they were bent upon sacrificing the life of their intended victim. Armed persons were stationed as guards to protect those engaged in breaking down the doors. At length between eight and nine o'clock at night, the cell of the wretch was reached. Loud shouts of exe- cration and triumph rent the air, as he was dragged forth, and hurried away to the scene of the burnt-sacrifice ! Some seized him by the hair, some by the arms and legs, and in this way he was carried to a larjie locust tree, in the rear of the town, not far from the jail. lie was then chained to the tree with his back against its trunk, and facing to the south. The wood, consisting of rails, plank, - bosom pineth, Wearily oh ! wearily oh ! Where the chain of Slaver}- twineth, Wearily oh I wearily oh I Tiiere the warrior's dart : Hath no fleetness, There the maiden's heart Hath no sweetness. Every flower of life declineth, Wearily oh I wearily oh ! Wearily — wearily — wearily — Wearily— wearil)' — wearily oh ! Wearily oh ! wearily oh !' " As far as is known, these were the most obnoxious articles which appeared in the " Observer," and which by its enemies were thought worthy of special notice. On Monday morning, the 8th of July, appeared an anonymous handbill, requesting those friends of the "Ob- server" dissatisfied with its course, together with the com- munity generally, to meet at the Market House on the next Thursday. The doings of this meeting, as far as is necessary, are here given as reported by the secretary and published at the time. It #as declared by the per- son stating the o])ject of the meeting, that it was " to sup- press Abolitionism in our town." ANTI-ABOLITION MEETING. " Pursuant to public notice, a large and respectable concourse of the citizens of Alton, assembled at the Market House, early yesterday evening, in order to take into consideration the course pursued by the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, in the publication and dissemination of the REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 217 highly odious doctrines of modern Abolitionism, and the more to allay the spirit of an insulted people, which seemed brewing like a cloud, and darkening our social atmosphere. Although the combination of wealth, inter- est, and moral power were assiduously brought to bear upon the community in order to deter them from such a course ; in boldly expressing their free and unbiased opinions on a subject of so delicate a nature, yet like men born to live and die, untrammeled by party, unseduced by mercenary motives, they met as freemen, determined io oppose, in a manly manner, and by a spirited resist- ance, the odious doctrine of modern misrule, which has stole on this community in direct violation of a sacred pledge. The meeting was organized by calling to the chair, Dr. Halderman, and appointing J. P. Jordan, secretary. The object of the meeting then being stated, on motion a committee of three was appointed to draw up resolutions — Wliereupon J. A. Townsend, Dr. H. Beall, and S. L. Miller, were appointed. The committee, after retiring for a short time, returned and recommended to the meeting the following preamble, &c., which were unanimously adopted : — Whereas, The citizens of Alton are called upon a second time to express their disapprobation of the course pursued by the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, Editor of the ' Al- ton Observer,' in publishing and promulgating the doc- trines of x\bolitionism, and that, too, in violation of a solemn pledge, voluntarily given by him at a former meeting of the citizens of Alton, when an exile he sought their protection, that he would not interfere with the question of Abolitionism, in any way whatever, and that his intention alone was to publish a religious journal : And whereas J On the strength of that pledge, and in 19 218 MEMOIR OF THE full confidence that he would, as a clergyman of his pro- fession, hold it sacred, we welcomed him as an acquisi- tion to our place. But now finding, much to our mortiti- cation, that he has wantonly violated his pledge, and in- troduced into the columns of his paper. Abolition doctrines of a most inflammatory character, and continued without regard to his solemn assertion to do so, which we as citi- zens of a state imtrammeled with Slavery, deem it to be improper as well as impolitic, to agitate among us as we can have no benefit from it whatever, but on the con- trary, much injury and damage, by eliciting from our sister states, a feeling towards us highly injurious to our community. 1. Resolved, That the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy has again taken up and advocated the principles of Abolitionism through his paper, the ' Observer,' contrary to the dispo- sition and will of a majority of the citizens of Alton, and in direct violation of a sacred pledge and assurance, that this paper when established in Alton should not be de- voted to Abolitionism. 2. Resolved, That we disapprove of the course of the * Observer,' in publishing any articles favourable to Abo- litionism, and that we censure Mr. Lovejoy in permitting such publications to appear in his paper, when a pledge or assurance has been given to this community, by him, that such doctrines should not be advocated. 3. Resolved, That a committee of five citizens be ap- pointed by this meeting to wait upon and confer with Mr. Lovejoy, and ascertain from him, whether he in- tends in future to disseminate through the columns of the • Observer,' the doctrines of Abolitionism, and report the result of their conference to the public. After the committee had read the preparatory preamble REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 219 and resolutions, they were submitted to the meeting, and warmly welcomed — upon which It was moved that the President appoint the committee — when the following persons were designated : B. K. Hart, L. J. Clawson, Col. N. Buckmaster, B. I. Oilman, Col. A. Olney, and Dr. J. A. Ilalderman, by re- quest. After which Col. A. Botkin arose, and making some pertinent preliminary remarks, oflered the following reso- lution, which was cordially adopted : Resolved, That we, as citizens of Alton, are aware that the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy still persists to publish an Abolition paper, to the injury of the community at large, and as we deprecate all violence of mobs, we now call on him, by our committee, and politely request a discon- tinuance of the publication of his incendiary doctrines, which alone have a tendency to disturb the quiet of our citizens and neighbours. Dr. Ilalderman ofiering the four following resolutions, said brietly, he was glad to see such a spirit of inde- pendence in Alton — he was cheered to know he was not alone on this question — that the slaveholding states yet had friends even in a non-slaveholding state, to feel the wrongs and avenge the cause — he was moved to say, the liberty of our forefathers had given us the liberty of speech — and continuing, he added, it was our duty and our high privilege to act and speak on all questions touching this great commonwealth. Whereupon, the resolutions being read, after some amendments by Messrs. Howard and Clifibrd, were unanimously adopted. Re.solveil, That the Recommendation in an editorial ar- ticle of the ' Observer,' of a division in all the religious denominations on the sole ground of Slavery, is in our 220 MEMOIR OF THE opinion destructive of the best interests of Christianity, and an unwarrantable assumption of arbitrary preroga- tive. Resolved, That the immediate emancipation of the en- tire slave population, with their admittance to all the privileges, suffrages, offices, immunities, and preferments, civil, political, and religious, in common with ourselves, constitutes the doctrine of modern Abolitionism. Resolved, That while we disapprove the doctrine of modern Abolitionism, we abhor and deprecate the evil of Slavery, and are ready and willing at any time, to give our inlluence and our money, to promote any system of emancipation, that will better the condition of that op- pressed race of the human family, that is agreeable to tli$ slaveholding states. Resolved, That all the presses in the West and South, North and East, friendly to the cause of colonization or gradual emancipation, in order to ameliorate the condition and freedom of the African race, are hereby requested to publish the foregoing protest and resolutions against the misrule of modern Abolitionism. (Signed,) J. A. HALDERMAN, Chairman. J. P. JoRDON, Secretary.'' July Uth, 1837. This meeting, though any thing but respectable, either as it regards the number, or character of those who com- posed it, had an important influence in bringing about the bloody tragedy of the 7th of November. The Editor thought of denying ever having given a pledge ; but be- ing otherwise advised by his frienc^s, did not do so. This was probably unwise, inasmuch as his silence, was, by many, construed into a tacit acknowledgment of the REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 221 truth of the char^^e, and in consequence it was believed, to some extent both in Alton and abroad. As to the facts about this pledge we would give the following document, merely premising that only four of the individuals whose names are attached to it are Abo- litionists, several of them being opposed, and one de- cidedly hostile to the discussion of Slavery. And it is proper also to state that the paper was got up by one not an Abolitionist, and that it was signed, as far as is known, by all the individuals at the meeting, who were requested so to do. " Whereas it has been frequently represented that the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, late Editor of the ' Alton Ob- server,' solemnly pledged himself at a public meeting called for the purpose of taking measures to bring to justice, the persons engaged in the destruction of the first press, brought to Alton by said Lovejoy, not to discuss the subject of Slavery ; We the undersigned declare the following to be his language in substance. * My prin- cipal object in coming to this place, is to establish a re- ligious paper. When I was in St. Louis I felt myself called upon to treat at large upon the subject of Slavery, as I was in a state where the evil existed, and as a citi- zen of that state I felt it my duty to devote a part of my columns to that subject ; but gentlemen, I am not, and never was in full fellowship with the Abolitionists, but on the contrary, have had some spirited discussions with some of the leading Abolitionists of the East, and am not now considered by them as one of them. And now having come into a free state where the evil does not exist, I feel myself less called upon to discuss the sub- ject than when I was in St. Louis.' The above, as wo have stated, was his language in substance ; the follow- 19* 222 MEMOIR OF THE ing we are willing to testify to be his words, in conclu- sion. * But gentlemen, as long as I am an American citi- zen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, and to publish whatever I please on any subject, being amena- ble to the laws of my country for the same.' GEO. II. WALWORTH, A. B. ROFF, SOLOMON E. MOORE, EFFINGHAM COCK, JOHN W. CHICKERING,* JAMES MORSS, Jr.,* F. W. GRAVES, W. L. CHAPPELL, A. ALEXANDER, CHAS. W. HUNTER." In addition to the testimony of these gentlemen, we have the following editorial remarks in the first number of the " Alton Observer." September 8th, 1837. " When the opposition to the * Observer' commenced, nearly a year ago, in St. Louis, it was openly declared by the leader of that opposition, himself an infidel, that no religious paper should be permitted to be published in that city. During the absence of the Editor last spring, in attendance on the General Assembly, a lead- ing grog-shop keeper in St. Louis was indicted for keep- ing open his shop on the Sabbath. Soon after his in- dictment a friend of ours happened into the house, and ♦ Messrs. C- and M. recollect ihe substance to be as above. REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 223 while there two of the grocery man's cronies came in, when all of them fell to cursing and swearing on the sub- ject of the indictment. ' It was,' said they, ' all the work of the d d Sunday School Union, and the Editor of this paper was at the bottom of the whole of it, and as soon as he returned they swore, with many oaths, that he should be mobbed.' And they fait h fully kept their word. Of course we had nothing to do with the indictment, be- ing at the time more than a thousand miles distant, and did not even know of it until after they had executed their threat. When the Popish Cathedral in St. Louis was conse- crated on the Sabbath day, amidst the pomp of military array, the roaring of artillery, the trampling of cavalry, and the sound of life and drum, we published, from a cor- respondent, an account of this shameful desecration of the Lord's day. And scarcely had our paper containing the article, time to circulate through the city, before we heard from various quarters that our office was to be mobbed down for the olTence we had given. Because we have declared — an opinion which we conscientiously and solemnly believe, as we shall answer it at the bar of God — that the system of American negro Slavery is an awful evil and sin, that God has expressly forbidden us to separate husband and wife, parent and child, that no man has a right to tralllc in his fellow-man, that it is the duty of every master to impart religious instruction to his slaves, and that it is the duty of us all to unite our hearty and zealous elTorls, to elVect the speedy and entire emanci- pation of that portion of our folio w-men in bondage amongst us ; because we expressed our deep abhorrence of the act of a mob, by which a human being was sacrificed un- der circumstances of the most horrid cruelty, and because we would not submit to the imputation of Judge Lawless, 224 MEMOIR OF THE that we had, with others, incited MIntosh to commit the crime for which he sutfered — for these things, and for no other, has the mob been let loose upon us, and our printing office, together with considerable of our private property, been destroyed. Now we ask every candid man, and especially every Christian, what sentiment of all those avowed above, ought to subject the individual advancing it, to the popu- lar vengeance ? There may be many who differ from us in some of the opinions here avowed — and they have a right to differ — but are there not enough who hold them, to make them, at least, respectable ? And is it in this country, and this age of the world, that a man is to be persecuted, and crucified, for opinion's sake ? And especially for ^ucA opinions? Is the Inquisition, ban- ished even from Spain and Portugal, to be set up on the prairies of the West ? Are the American people, with the Declaration of Independence in their hands, prepared to engage in a general crusade in favour of the perpetual Slavery of a portion of the human family ? . — ■ ' Can these things be, And not o'ercome us like a s\immer cloud, Witli special wonder?' For one we distinctly avow it as our settled purpose, never, while life lasts, to yield to this new system of at- tempting to destroy, by means of mob-violence, the rights of conscience, the freedom of opinion, and of the press. We intend not to deal in harsh denunciation, we wish to bring about or promote no disorder or disor- ganization in society, we would provoke no violence from any portion of the community ; the only weapon we would use is the Truth, the only sentiment we would aj)peal to, the moral sense of the community^ If we cannot be permitted to do this, except at the risk of pro- REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 225 perty, reputation, and life, we must even take the risk. And the point now to be ascertained is, whether with these sentiments and this determination, we may rely upon being supported, in our present position, by the friends of morals and Christianity in the West. And it is precisely to ascertain this question, that the present article is written and sent forth to the public. With the friends of Truth, of Order, of the Rights of Conscience, and of God, we leave the decision." We now return to the " Market House Meeting," as that held on the 11 th of July is usually called. And here it is proper to remark, that although the invitation was principally given to the " friends of the ' Observer' who were dissatisfied with its course," yet not one of those appointed a committee to prepare resolutions for the ac- tion of the meeting, was a subscriber to the paper. To give their character does not consist with the design, nor comport with the dignity of this work. It will be seen by the third resolution that a committee was appointed to " wait on Mr. Lovejoy and confer with him" as to his future course. And here it will be doing but justice to Mr. B. I. Oilman to say, that his name was used without his consent — he not being at the meeting — and that he refused to act, as will be seen by his name not being attached to the correspondence. No interview ever took place between this committee and the Editor of the " Observer." Their letter, together with the reply is given. CORRESPONDENCE. " The correspondence below would have been laid be- fore the public sooner, but for the difficulty of getting a meeting of the committee." — Alton Telegraph. 226 MEMOIR OF THE Alto7i, July 24th, 1837. To THE Rev. E. p. Lovejoy : Dear Sir — In the proceedings of a public meeting of the citizens of Alton, a copy of which is herewith transmitted to you, you will find the following resolution : Resolved, That a committee of five citizens be ap- pointed by this meeting, to wait upon and confer with Mr. Lovejoy, and ascertain whether .he intends to dis- seminate through the columns of the * Observer,' the doc- trine of Abolitionism, and report the result of their con- ference to the public. Whereupon, on motion, B. K. Hart, L. J. Clawson, Col. N. Buckmaster, B. I. Oilman, Col. A. Olney, and Dr. J. A. Halderman, were appointed said committee- The committee have thought it most advisable, to ad- dress to you the proceedings themselves, instead of any written statement of their own. The views and feelings By which the -citizens were actuated, and their wishes and expectations, are set forth with sufHcient clearness in their reported proceedings, to which we respectfully invite your attention, with the utmost deference to your feelings as a man, and your rights as a citizen. We re- spectfully request that you will at your earliest conve- nience, answer the inquiries embodied in the above reso- lution, so that we may report the same to the public, in the discharge of our duty. Nothing but the importance of the question which the meeting was called to con- sider, and the dangers which its unwise agitation threat- ens, not only to the community, but to the whole coun- try, could have induced us to take the step we have. With the wish that your answer may be dictated in wis- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 227 (lorn, and prove such as will be satisfactory to the com- munity, we subscribe ourselves with respect, Your obedient servants, B. K. HART, L. J. CLAWSON, N. BUCKMASTER, A. OLNEY, JOHN A. HALDERMAN." Alton, July 26th, 1837. Messrs. B. K. Hart, L. J. Clawson, N. Buckmas- TER, A. Olney, and John A. Halderman. *' Gentlemen — I have this day received through the Post Office, a communication signed by yourselves and addressed to me, enclosing a printed copy of the pro- ceedings had at a public meeting held in this place on the 10th inst., to which proceedings you invite my atten- tion. Before replying more immediately to your communi- cation, permit me to express my gratification at the kind and courteous terms in which it is made. In this respect it gives me pleasure to say, your letter is all 1 could de- sire. Be pleased, gentlemen, to accept my thanks. If therefore, my answer be not such, in some respects, as you might perhaps wish, I beg you will not attribute it to any want of respect to yourselves as individuals or to your opinions on the principal subject of your communi- cation. You will, therefore, permit me to say, that with the most respectful feelings towards you individually, I can- not consent, in this answer, to recognize you as the offi- cial organ of a public meeting convened to discuss the question, whether certain sentiments should, or should not be discussed in the public newspaper of which I am 228 MEMOIR OF THE the Editor. By doing so, I should virtually admit that the liberty of the press and freedom of speech, were rightfully subject to other supervision and control, than those of the land. But this I cannot admit. On the contrary, in the language of one of the speakers at the meeting, 1 believe that * the liberty of our forefathers has given us the liberty of speech,' and that it is ' our duly and our high privilege, to act and speak on all ques- tions touching this great commonwealth.' 1 am happy, gentlemen, in being able heartily to concur in the above sentiments, which I perceive were uttered by one of your own members, and in which I cannot doubt, you all agree. I would only add, that I consider this ' liberty' was ascertained, but never originated by our forefathers. It comes to us, as I conceive, from our Maker, and is in its nature inalienable, belonging to man as man. Believing, therefore, that every thing having a tenden- cy to bring this right into jeopardy, is eminently danger- ous as a precedent, I cannot admit that it can be called in question by any man or body of men, or that they can with any j)ropricty, question me as to my exercise of it. Gentlemen, I have confidence that you will, upon reflec- tion, agree with me in this view of the case, and will consequently appreciate, with justice, my motives in de- clining to receive your communication, as from the oHl- cial organ of the meeting to which you refer. But as individuals whom I highly respect, permit mo to say to you, that it is very far from my intention to do any thing calculated to bring on an ' unwise agitation,' of the subject of Slavery, in this community. It is a subject that, as I apprehend, must be discussed, must be agitated. All virulence and intemperance of language, I should conceive to be ' unwise agitation.' It shall be my aim to resort and provoke to neither, i hope to discuss REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 229 the overwhelmingly important subject of Slavery, with the freedom of a republican and the meekness of a Christian. If I fail in either respect, I beg that you will attribute it, gentlemen, to that imperfection which attends us all in the performance of our best purposes. Permit me, respectfully, to refer you to an editorial article in the ' Alton Observer' of the 20ih instant, head- ed, * What are the sentiments of Anti-Slavery men ?' for the full expression of my views and principles on the subject of Slavery. If these views can be shown to be erroneous, I hold myself ready to reject them, and if you, or either of you, or any of my fellow-citizens, deem them, and feel able to demonstrate them to be unsound, or of dangerous tendency, you and they are cordially in- vited to make use of the columns of the ' Observer' for that purpose. With much respect. Your friend and fellow-citizen, ELIJ.VII P. LOVEJOY." From this time, threats of destroying the office of the " Observer" by violence, were openly and frequently heard. The Missouri Republican, a paper printed at St. Louis, did what it oould, and that was not a little, to fos- ter this spirit of lawlessness and outrage. Of this, how- ever, the reader can judge from the following editorial ex- tracts from that paper. The first was in the number con- taining the doings of the Market House meeting. THE ALTON MEETING. " We give to-day all of the proceedings of the meeting held in Alton, on Thursday last, that our space will per- mit. We rejoice to see our neighbours taking this sub- 20 230 JIEMOIIl OF THE ject into hand. The proceedings of the meeting speak for themselves. They are not the intemperate ebulhtions of excitement, or the temporary expression of a high wrought feehng ; on the contrary, the proceedings through- out, manifest to us, the deep and settled purpose of men whose hospitalities have been slighted, and whose friend- ships have been abused, by one, who was bound by every moral and political obligation to have acted otherwise. The Editor of the ' Observer' has merited the full mea- sure of the community's indignation ; and if he will not learn from experience, they are very likely (o teach him by practice, something of the light in which the honour- able and respectable portion of the community view his conduct. He has, by his adhesion to the odious doc- trines of Abolitionism, of which faction he now avows himself a member, and by his continued eflbrts to dis- seminate tliese odious doctrines, forfeited all claims to the protection of that or any other community." The second was in the paper of the 17th of August, a few days, as will be seen, before the mob, and headed. Abolition. *' We perceive that an Anti-Slavery Society has been formed at Upper Alton, and many others, doubtless, will shortly spring up in dilTerent parts of the state. Wc had hoped, that our neighbours would have ejected from amongst them, that minister of mischief, the * Observer,' or at least corrected its course. Something must be done in this matter, and that speedily ! The good people of Illinois must either put a stop to the ellorts of these fanatics, or expel them from their conmiunity. If this is not done, the travel of emigrants through their slate, and the trade of tin; slaveholding states, and particularly Mis- souri, must stop. Every one who desires the harmony REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 231 of tlie country, and the peace and prosperity of all, should unite to put tliem down. They can do no positive got)d, and may do nuich irreparahlc harm. We would not desire to see this done at the expense of public or- der or legal restraint ; but there is a moral indignation which the virtuous portion of a community may exert, which is suflicient to crush this faction and forever dis- grace its fanatic instigators. It is to this we appeal, and hope that the appeal will not be unheeded." / On the 21st of August, he was taught by " experience I the full measure of the community's indignation which he had merited," and began to learn by " practice" that he had not only " lost all claims to the protection of the community," but that, that protection was actually with- drawn. On this night, — two unsuccessful attempts hav- ing been made before — between the hours of ten and eleven, the olhce was entered by a band of fifteen or twenty citizens of that place, and press, type, and every thing destroyed. Several of the hands were in the ofTice at the time, together with a few other individuals. The mob commenced, as usual, with throwing stones into the building. One man was hit on the head and severely wounded ; soon after which, the olhce was left, and tlie ruffians entered unopposed, and effected their work of de- struction. As it was early, a large concourse of citizens were collected, and witnessed the doings of the mob. Yet the strongest argument used to dissuade them from their ftlonious work, was, that if they would wait till morning he, the individual tliat addressed them, a wholesale mer- chant, would go in with them, help pack up the materials of the oflice, place them on some boat, put the p]ditor on top. ami st'iid tluni all down the river together ! The 232 MEMOIR OF THE civil authorities did nothing. The mayor did not even gain a " respectful" audience by words of persuasion. Had you on the next morning passed round from store to store, and from house to house, through the length and breadth of Alton, the expressions "good enough for him," " served him just right," " glad of it," would oftener have been heard, than any words of reprobation or regret, aye, ten to one. The very narrow and providential escape of the Edi- tor from the hands of the same ruthless miscreants that demolished his office, will best be given in his own words. Alton, September 5ih, 1837. Dearest Mother, My press has again been mobbed down. I be- lieve brother Owen has written to you about it. It was done the 21st of August, Monday night, about 11 o'clock. But I have thought perhaps you would like to hear from me, and I would have written sooner, but that I have been so hurried and icorricd, and so busy, that I could not snatch the time. Do not think, mother, that I am disheartened or dis- couraged. Neither is true. I never was more convinced of the righteousness of the cause, and the certainty of its ultimate triumph. "As thy day is, so shall thy strength be." The truth of this promise, I have abundantly ex- perienced. I have been enabled to bear things, easily to bear them, that I should once have thought would have cru.shed me to the earth. The Lord has indeed been to me a present, a vert/ present help, in time of trouble. The Sabbath succeeding the mob, I preached from the text, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trustethin thee." 1 understood that text as I never had before. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 233 Perhaps you would like to have a brief description of the proceedings of the mob. About 9 o'clock I was re- turning from a friend's where I had been to marry a couple. I stepped into the apothecary's as I came through town, and got some medicine to bring home to my wife, she being very sick, as were also several other members of my family. We reside more than half a mile from town. And just as T was leaving the principal street I met the mob. Thoy did not at first recognize me, and I parted their columns for some distance, and had just reached the rear, when some of them began to suspect who it was. They immediately wheeled their column and came after me ; I did not hurry at all, believing it was not for such a man as I am to flee. They seemed a little loath to come on me, and I could hear their leaders swearing at them, and telling them to "push on," &c. By this time they began to throw clods of dirt at me, and several hit, without hurting me. And now a fellow pushed up to my side armed with a club, to ascertain certainly who it was. He then yelled out, " It's the d d Abolitionist, give him hell ;" whereat there was another rush upon me. But when they got close up, they seemed again to fall back. At length a number of them, linked arm in arm, pushed by me and wheeled in the road before me, thus stopping mc completely. I then spoke to them, asking them why 'they stopped me. By this time the cry was all around me, " d n him," " rail him," " rail him," " tar and feather him," " tar and feather him." 1 had no doubt that such was to be my fate. I then said to them, I have one request to make of you, and then you may do with me what you please, — I then asked them to send one of their number to take the medicine to my wife, which I begged they would do without alarming her. This they promised, and sent one 20* 234 MEMOIR OF THE of their number to do it, who did it according to their promise. I then said to them, " You had better let me go home, you have no right to detain me ; I have never injured you." They began to curse and swear, when I added, " I am in your hands, and you must do with me whatever God permits you to do." They consulted a few moments, and then told me I might go home. Thus you see how the Lord delivered me from those who rose up to do me hurt. Blessed be his name. During the whole of this trying scene my mind was as calm as it is now. I had lime when I heard the mob coming, to lift up my heart to God, and he kept it in perfect peace. Do write soon. My sheet is full. I am well, and so are we all but wife and child, and they are better. Love to all our brothers and sisters. May God bless them and you, my dearest mother. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOy. That the world may know what were the principles, for believing which he " forfeited all claims to the pro- tection of that or any other community," we give here his sentiments on the subject of Slavery, as contained in the " Alton Observer" of July 20th, 1837, alluded to in his answer to the Market House Committee. WHAT ARE THE DOCTRINES OF ANTI- SLAVERY MEN ? ** A vouNo man had become exceedingly angry with an ancient philosopher, and had raised his cane to strike him. ' Strike,' said the philosopher — ' strike, but hear me.' He listened, and was convinced. There is not, probably, an individual, who reads tliis, that cannot re- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 235 collect some instance in his life, in which his strong op- position to certain measures and principles, he now sees, was entirely owing lo groundless and unreasonable pre- judices ; and he is a fortunate man who can recollect but one such instance. In respect to the subject now to be discussed, the writer frankly confesses no one of his readers can pos- sibly be more prejudiced, or more hostile to anti-slavery measures or men, than he once was. And his, too, were honest, though, alas ! how mistaken, prejudices. They arose partly from the fact that the ' new measures' came directly in contact with his former habits of thought and action, and partly, and chiefly, from the strange and as- tonishingly perverted representations given of leading men and their principles, in this new movement. We recollect no instance of parallel misrepresentation, except the charge brought against Cl^ist of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince oi, jdevils. These misrepre- sentations were started by ai'ew, and honestly believed by the many. They still prevail to a very great extent. Very probably some of out readers may be under their influence more or less. W^ ask them to be candid with themselves, and if they find this to be the case, to make an effort to throw then\off, and come to the perusal of what follows, ready to embrace . the truth wherever it is found. For truth is eternal, unchanging, though circum- stances may, and do operate to give a different colour to it, in our view, at different times. And truth will pre- vail, and those who do not yield to it must be destroyed by it. What then arc the doctrines of Anti-Slavery men ? FIRST PRINCIPLES. 1. Abolitionists hold that 'all men arc born free and equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable 236 MEMOIR OF THE riglits, among which are life, LinERTV, and the pursuit of happiness.' They do not beUeve that these rights are abrogated, or at all modified by the colour of the skin, but that they extend alike to every individual of the hu- man family. 2. As the above-mentioned rights are in their nature inalienable, it is not possible that one man can convert another into a piece of property, thus at once annihi- lating all his personal rights, without the most flagrant injustice and usurpation. But American Slavery does this — it declares a slave to be a 'thing,' a 'chat- tel,' an article of personal ' property,' a piece of ' mer- chandise,' and now actually holds two and a half MILLIONS of our fellow-men in this precise condition. 3. Abolitionists, therefore, hold American Slavery to be a icrong, a legalized system of inconceivable injus- tice, and a six. That it is a sin against God, whose prerogative as the rightful owner of all human beings is usurped, and against the slave himself, who is deprived of the power to dispose of his services as conscience may dictate, or his Maker require. And as whatever is mo- rally wrong can never be politically right, and as the Bible teaches, and as Abolitionists believe, that ' right- eousness exaltoth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people,' they also hold that Slavery is a political evil of unspeakable magnitude, and one which, if not removed, will speedily work the downfall of our free institutions, both civil and reliufious. 4. As the Bible inculcates upon man but one duty in respect to sin, and that is, immediate repentance ; Aboli- tionists believe that all who hold slaves, or who approve the practice in others, should imrnrdidtdi/ cease to do so. 5. Lastly, Abolitionists helicvo, that as all men arc born free, no all who are now held as slaves in this REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 237 country were born free, and that they are slaves now is the sin, not of those who introduced the race into this country, but of those, and those alone, who now hold them, and have held them in Slavery from their birth. Let it be admitted, for argument's sake, that A or B has justly forfeited his title to freedom, and that he is now the rightful slave of C, bought with his money, how does this give C a claim to the posterity of A down to the latest generation ? And does not the guilt of enslaving the successive generations of A's posterity belong to their respective masters, whoever they be ? No where arc the true principles of freedom ^nd personal rights better understood than at the South, though their prac- tice corresponds so wretchedly with their theory. Abo- litionists adopt, as their own, the following sentiments, expressed by Mr. Calhoun in a speech on the tariff ques- tion, delivered in the Senate of the United States, in 1833 : — ' lie who earns the money — icho digs it out of the earth with the sweat of his brow, has ?i just title to it against the Universe. No one has a right to touch it, uithout his consent, except his government, and it only to the extent of its legitimate wants : to take more is rohberyi' Now, this is precisely what slaveholders do, and Abolitionists do but echo back their own language, when they pronounce it ' robbery.'' EMANCIPATION WHAT IS MEANT BY IT ? Simply, that the slaves shall cease to be held as pro- perty, and shall henceforth be held and treated as hu- man beings. Simply, that we should take our feet from ofl' their necks. Perhaps we cannot express ourselves better than to quote the language of another southerner. In reply to the question what is meant by emancipation, the answer is : 238 MEMOIR OF THE 1. ' It is to reject with indi«,malion the wild and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in man. 2. To pay the labourer his hire, for he is worthy of it. 3. No longer to deny him the right of marriage, but to ' let every man have his own wife,' as saith the apostle. 4. To let parents have their own children, for they are the gift of the Lord to them, and no one else has any right to them. 5. No longer to withhold the advantages of education, and the privilege of reading the Bible. 6. To put the slave under the protection of law, instead of throwing him beyond its salutary influence.' Now, who is there that is opposed to Slavery at all, and believes it to be wrong and a sin, but will agree to all this ? HOW AND BY WHOM IS EMANCIPATION TO BE EFFECTED ? To this question the answer is, by the masters them- selves, and by no others. No others can eflect it, nor is it desirable that they should, even if they could. Eman- cipation, to be of any value to the slave, must be the free, voluntary act of the master, performed from a conviction of its propriety. This avowal may sound very strange to those who have been in the habit of taking the prin- ciples of the Abolitionists from the misrepresentations of their opponents. Yet this is, and always has been, the cardinal principle of Abolitionists. If it be asked, then, why they intermeddle in a matter where they can confessedly do nothing themselves, in achieving the de- sired result? their reply is, that this is the very reason why they do and ought to intermeddle. It is because they cannot emancipate the slaves, that they call upon those who can to do it. Could they themselves do it, there would be no need of discussion — instead of dis- I REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 239 cussing they would act, and wiili tlicir present views, the work would soon be accomplished. Who are they that hold Temperance meetings, form Temperance Societies, sustain and edit, and circulate Temperance 'Intelligencers' and 'Heralds'? Are they the men who own distilleries, or who sell or drink ardent spirits by the wholesale or retail ? Directly the reverse. They are men who have been convinced of the evil and the sin of such practices, and having quit them, them- selves, are now endeavouring to persuade their neigh- bours to do the same thing. For what purpose are the very efficient Executive Committee of the Illinois State Temperance Society now publishing their ' Herald,' and endeavouring to send it into every family of the state I Avowedly for the purpose of shutting up every distillery and dram shop in the state. The object is a noble one, and we bid them God speed ; but how do they purpose to accomplish it ? By doing violence, or exciting an angry conununity to do violence, to the persons or pro- perty of their fellow citizens ? By no manner of means. They would not, if they could, shut up a single grog- shop belonging to their neighbours — and in this thing, all the inhabitants of the state, yea, of the world, are their neighbours — but they wish, and are determined, if light, and love, and argument, and fact, and demonstration can edect it, to persuade all to abandon a business so detri- mental to all concerned in it, and to the community at large. Now this is precisely the ground occupied by Abolitionists in relation to Slavery. And let it be re- membered that the objection of interfering in the busi- ness of others applies with equal force to the one as to the other. Should the friends of Temperance succeed, they will deprive many a man of what is now a very profitable business, and so will the Aboliliouisls. But in 240 MEMOIR OF THE both cases the result will be achieved with the hearty and glad acquiescence of those more immediately con- cerned, and a great common good will be effected, infi- nitely over-balancing the partial evil, if evil it may be called, to deprive a man of the profits arising from rum selling or slave trading. But, in the second place, as to the particular fnoJe of effecting emancipation. This, too, belongs to the master to decide. When we tell a distiller or a vender of ar- dent spirits, that duty requires him to forsake his present business, we go no further. It belongs not to the preacher of Temperance to dictate to them, what particular use they shall make of those materials now so improperly employed. He may do any thing, convert his buildings and appurtenances to any use, so that it be a lawful one. Yet advice might, perhaps, be kindly given and profitably listened to. AVe can tell the slaveholder what he may do with his slaves after emancipation, so as to do them justice, and at the same time, lose nothing himself. Employ them as free labourers, pay them their stipulated wages, and the results of the West India emancipation have afforded to us the means of assuring him that he will derive more clear profit from their labour as freemen than as slaves. Did the Abolitionists propose to remove the slave population from the country, the free inhabi- tants of the iSouth might justly complain ; for that would soon render their country a barren and uncultivated waste. But they aim at no such thing ; nor yet would they encourage or allow the emancipated slaves to roam about the country as idle vagabonds ; they would say to them, as to others, " They that will not work, neither shall they eat," and let the regulation be enforced with all proper sanctions. Only, when they work let thorn be paid for it. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 241 AMALGAMATION EQUAL PRIVILEGES, ttc. No charge has been more perseveringly made, or con- tribule J more to render the cause of emancipation odious, than that its friends were also advocates of the amalga- mation of the two races. Now, in answer to this, we reply : 1. The charge comes with an exceedingly bad grace from those who are loudest in making it ; since they, that is many of them — (we speak within bounds when we say more than half of them) — do not only advocate, but ac- tually practice amalgamation. The evidence of this is written in the bleached countenances of the slaves throughout all the slaveliolding region. The law of slave descent is, that the children follow the condition of the mother ; and the consequence is, that thousands hold as slaves their own sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters, and nephews and neices. We know several cases of this sort. The Vice President of the United States has been, if he is not now, the father of slaves. And thousands have voted to elevate him to his present condition, who would crucify an Abolitionist on the bare suspicion of favouring, though only in theory, such an amalgamation. How shall we account for such incon- sistency '^ 2. But, secondly, the charge is untrue — completely, and absolutely, and in every sense untrue. Abolitionists do NOT advocate the doctrine of amalgamation, but the reverse. And nothing can be more unjust than thus to charge them, without the least shadow of truth to sustain the charge. On the contrary, one reason why Abolition- itsts urge the Abolition of Slavery is, that they fully be- lieve it will put a stop, in a great, and almost entire mea- sure, to that wretched, and shameful, and polluted inter- course between the whites and blacks, now so common, 21 242 iMEMOIR OF THE it may be said so universal, in the slave states. As to equality of privileges, immunities, &;c., the question of emancipation has nothing to do with these questions at all. Abolitionists are not so silly as to suppose that merely setting the slaves free will at once make learned, virtuous, and influential individuals out of the degraded mass of slaves. They know better, though at the same time, they believe a process of purification and elevation would commence, which would gradually be productive of the most beneficial consequences. The question of civil rights is one entirely distinct from that of personal rights. Let the latter be restored and guar- anteed, and the whole object of the Abolitionists, as such, is accomplished. Political rights are alienable, per- sonal rights are not. Personal rights are often as se- cure under the government of a despot — Frederick the Great, of Prussia, for instance, as they possibly can be any where ; while at the same time the subject has no political rights, give him these and you allow him to pursue his own happiness in his own way, provided he seeks it not at the expense of others. If in this pursuit he be- comes the most virtuous, the most learned, the most elo- quent, the most influential man in the United States, we see not how it is to be helped, nor who has a right to ob- struct his course. The above exposition of anti-slavery principles has been made at the request of a number of our re- spectable citizens. In preparing it, w^e have felt deeply our responsibility, and have trembled lest through any in- advertence of language we should make ourselves liable to be misunderstood, and thus repel the minds of those whom we wish to gain. In the correctness of these principles wc have the most unshaken confidence, and that they finally will be properly understood and most REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 243 universally adopted by our countrymen, we have no more doubt than we have, that Washington lived and Warren died to secure the blessings of civil and religious liberty. That they have met with such determined opposition, and brought upon their prominent supporters such ex- treme manifestations of popular hatred, is partly and chiefly owing to the fact that they have been strangely misapprehended, and partly that in their practical appli- cation in this country, they strike, or are supposed to srike, at self-interests of great magnitude. Until the sentiments and principles set forth above shall prevail over the earth, the world can never be deliv- ered from the bondage under which it has so long groaned. They are the sentiments which, though oftentimes dimly and feebly apprehended, have actuated the minds of the great and good of every age, who have mourned over the degradation of human nature, and have sought to elevate it, by ascertaining and securing those rights of man with which his Maker has endowed him. They are the prin- ciples which actuated a Thrasybulus, an Epaminondas, a Spartacus and a Brutus, of antiquity ; a Doria, a Tell, a Hampden, a Sidney, a Russell, a Hancock, an Adams, a Washington, of later days. They brought our pilgrim fathers from the homes and fire-sides of old England to tliis country, then an unknown land, and a waste, howl- ing wilderness. They sustained them to endure roils, and hardships, and privations, until they made the ' wilder- ness to rejoice and blossom as the rose.' And now shall their children forsake these principles, and attempt to roll back the wheels of that reformation on whose banner is inscribed the liberty and equality of the human RACE, and which dispenses in its train, alike to all, the blessings of peace, of harmony, and the unmolested rights of conscience ? No, they will not, they dare not. 24.4 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. We do not mean to be understood than in the oases referred to above, the manifestations of these principles were always proper. Enough, however, appeared to show that the minds of these patriots and sages were communing with their Maker, and were receiving from Him — though owing to the darkness of their minds, im- perfectly understood and often misapprehended — revela- tions of the rights, duties, and privileges which he de- signed for the race. Did the forms Of servile custom cramp thoir gen'rous powers T Would sordid policies, the barb'rous growth Of ignorance and rapine, bow them down To tame pursuits, to indolence and fear ? Lo : they appeal to nature, to the winds And rolling waves, the sun's unwearied course, The elements and seasons ; all declare For what the eternal Maker has ordain'd The powers of man , they fell within themselves His energy divine. These principles, then, are eternal and immutable, for they are established by, God himself, and whoever would destroy them, must first reach up to heaven and dethrone the Almighty. Sin had well nigh banished them from the earth, when the Son of God came down to re-assert them, and died to sanction them. They are summed up, perfectly, in the language by which the angels an- nounced the object of the Redeemer's mission — ' Glory TO God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.' " CHAPTER XIII. Immediately after the destruction of the materials of the office, the friends in Alton had a meeting, at which there was but one voice, and that was, that the " Obser- ver" must be re-established and go on. A gentleman, one of the most wealthy in the place, said, that although he could not at that time advance the money to purchase new materials, yet rather than that the paper should not be again started he would mortgage every cent of his private property. Thus encouraged, the Editor sent forth the following appeal on an extra sheet of the " Observer." TO THE FRIENDS AND SUBSCRIBERS OF THE ALTON OBSERVER. August 2ith, 1837. After mentioning the demolition of his office, he continues : I now appeal to you, and all the friends of law and order, to come up to the rescue. If you will sustain me, by the help of God, the press shall be again established at this place, and shall be sustained, come what will. Let the experiment be fairly tried, whether the liberty of speech and of the press is to be enjoyed in Illinois or not. We need your help, and we must have it or sink. Let every man who ever means to do any thing in the cause 21* 246 MEMOIR OF THE of civil and religious liberty, do it now. Let new sub- scribers send in their names, let former subscribers pay- up their dues, and let every one send in their contribu- tions, as it will require not less than fifteen hundred dol- lars to re-establish the " Observer." Every thing depends on you. If you take hold like men, like freemen, like Christians, all will be well ; if you do not, mobism will triumph, but I shall be guiltless. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. P. S. Let every man disposed to help, write me im- mediately, and let me know definitely, what he can do and what he will do. E. P. L. The response to this appeal was full, prompt, decided and encouraging ; and from almost all classes. Espe- cially was this the case from his ministerial brethren. The letters before us, and there are many, from every part of the state, and not a few from other states, are uniformly expressive of sympathy and condolence to- wards the Editor, and approval of his course — assurance of assistance — and an earnest wish and confident expec- tation that his paper should go on. It is difhcult to de- cide which is greatest, the surprise or indignation ex- pressed in these letters. Surprise, because Alton had a name for morality and religion above every other place in the state ; and indignation that any attempt should be made to destroy the freedom of the press, and that eight or ten thousand people should be deprived the opportu- nity of reading the paper of their choice. Having, in Alton and Quincy, obtained by subscription a sufficient sum, he sent to Cincinnati to purchase the requisite materials for a new ofiico. Although his hands were thus made strong, and his heart REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 2 17 encouraged, still the latter part of September, and the first of the next month, was perhaps the gloomiest season of the year: notfromthe deadly hatred of his enemies, though that was continually increasing, but from the waning ardour, and wavering resolution of many of his friends in Alton. There were some, however, who never swerved nor hesi- tated. And it must be acknowledged that there were many things to discourage them. The pecuniary burden had to a considerable extent fallen on them, and money matters were hard. But what contributed principally to this abatement of zeal, and partial desertion among his friends, was the pernicious influence of a certain pam- phlet,* full of gross perversions, gilded over with a smirk- ing cant of Christian sincerity. This tract with a spe- cious sophistry well calculated to deceive, endeavours to prove that the Holy Bible sanctions the system of Ameri- can Slavery ; and exhorts the conscientious slaveholder no longer to go with his head bowed down like a bulrush, oppressed with the feeling that God's " hot displeasure," is out against him for his oppression and injustice, but to go cheerily on in the good old time-honoured path press- ed by patriarchal feet, and guarded by apostolic injunc- tions ! Such was the influence of this pamphlet, seconded as it was by the eflbrts of a kindred spirit — the Rev. Joel Parker of New Orleans, that some were deceived and *' went back," others disheartened; and all who were opposed, confirmed and strengthened in their hostility. In consequence there was a want of union among those who had been supporters of the "Observer." Some wanted it to be a religious paper — which indeed it al- ways had been — in other words that it should not med- * By Rev. Mr. Smylie of Mississippi. 248 MEMOIR OF THE die with the subject of Slavery. We speak now of those in Alton, with whom it was to decide whether the paper should start there again or not. Owing to this state of things, the following letter was written. TO THE FRIENDS OF THE REDEExMER IN ALTON. Alton, September Uth, 1837. Dear Brethren, It is at all times important that the friends of truth should be united. It is especially so at the pre- sent time, when iniquity is coming in like a flood. I should be false to my covenant vows, and false to every feeling of my heart, were I to refuse making any per- sonal sacrifice to eflfect so desirable an object. Having learned that there is a division of sentiments among the brethren, as it regards the propriety of my continuing longer to fill the office of Editor of the " Alton Observer," I do not hesitate a moment to submit the question to your decision. Most cheerfully will I resign my post, if in your collective wisdom you think the cause we all pro- fess to love will thereby be promoted. And in coming to a decision on this question, I beseech you as a favour — may 1 not enjoin it as a duty ? — that you act without any regard to my personal feelings. I should be false to the Master I serve, and of whose gospel I am a minis- ter, should I allow my own interests, (real or supposed,) to be placed in competition with his. Indeed, I have no interest, no wish, at least I think I have none ; I know I ought to have none other than such as are subordinate to his will. Be it yours, brethren, to decide what is best for the cause of truth, most for the glory of God, and REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 249 the salvation of souls, and rest assured — whatever my own private judgment may be — of my cordial acquies- cence in your decision. I had, at first, intended to make an unconditional sur- render of the editorship into your hands. But as such a course might be liable to misconstructions, I have, by the advice of a beloved brother, detcrniincd to leave the Mhole matter with you. I am ready (o go forward if you say so, and ecjually ready to yield to a successor, if such be your o])inion. Yet let me say, promptly, that in looking back over my past labours as Editor of the " Ob- server," while I see many imperfections, and many er- rors and mistakes, I have, nevertheless, done the best I could. This I say in the fear of God ; so that if I am to continue the Editor, you must not, on the whole, ex- pect a much better paper than you have had. Should you decide that I ought to give place to a suc- cessor, I shall expect the two following conditions to be fulfdled. 1. That you will assume in its behalf, all my obliga- tions contracted in consequence of my connection with the " Observer." Some of them were contracted imme- diately on behalf of the " Observer," and some in sup- porting my family while its Editor. 2. As I have now spent four among the best years of my life in struggling to establish the " Observer," and place it on its present footing, I shall expect you will furnish me with a sum sufficient to enable me to re- move myself and family to another field of labour. More I do not ask, and I trust this will not be thought unrea- sonable. I would not ask even this had I the means myself, but I have not. 3. On tliese conditions I surrender into your hands the " Observer's" subscription list, now amounting to 250 MEMOIR OF THE more than two thousand one hundred names, and con- stantly increasing, together with all the dues coming to the establishment. A list both of the debts and credits accompanies this communication. iMay the spirit of wisdom, dear brethren, guide you to a wise and unanimous decision — to a decision which God will approve and ratify, and which shall redound to the glory of his name. Yours affectionately, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. This paper we introduce for two reasons ; first, as it is a part of his history ; and secondly, that the reader may have the means of judging as it regards those charges of obstinacy and self-will which have so often been preferred against him. At a meeting for the consideration of this resignation, the two following resolutions were introduced, for the sake of some definite action : 1. Resolved, That the " Alton Observer" ought to be established. 2. Resolved, That the Rev. Elijah P. Lovcjoy ought to continue its Editor. The first of these was passed, as far as is known, without debate, or a dissenting voice. The second, after being discussed through two or three successive meet- in f=fs, was left without any definite action whatever. A gentleman playfully remarked one evening, on coming from one of these discussions, " we have been trying to kill your brother all the afternoon, but we cannot suc- ceed." Thus the thing remained. Meanwhile, on the 21st of September, while tlie Editor was absent attcnd- I ing a meeting of the Presbytery, the press — the third I Vhich he had brought to Alton in little more than a year, REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 251 arrived. It was landed about sunset, or a little after, and, surrounded by quite a number of friends, who had been apprised of its coming ; was conveyed to the ware- house of Gerry and Weller. As it passed along the streets cries were heard, " there goes the Abolition press, stop it, stop it ;" but no actual violence was offered. The mayor, apprised of its arrival, and also of the threats of its destruction, gave positive assurance that it should be protected ; and expressed a wish that its friends should leave it in his hands. They did so. He posted a con- stable at the door, with orders to remain till a certain hour. As soon as he left, ten or twelve " respectable' ruffians, disguised with handkerchiefs over their faces, broke open the store, rolled the press across the street to the side of the river, broke it to pieces, and threw it in. While thus engaged, and before they had proceeded far in this work of robbery, the mayor arrived. He told them to disperse. They replied, that they would " as soon as they got through," and went on. This is lite- rally true. The mayor returned, saying, that he never witnessed a more quiet and gentlemanly mob. The fol- lowing letter will show that his enemies were not satis- fied with merely destroying his press. Alton, October 3(1, 18.37. Mv DEAR BROTHER LfAVITT, 1 have just passed through a scene which I will try to describe to your readers. On Sabbath, I preached for the Rev, Mr. Campbell, the Presbyterian minister of St. Charles, with whom I had formerly been acquainted, and who had lately ar- rived in this place from Wilmington Presbytery, Delu- war<\ I preached in the morning, and at night. After the audience was dismissed at night, and when all had 252 MEMOIR OF THE left the house but Mr. Campbell, his brother-in-law, Mr.- Copes, and myself, a young man came in, and passing by me, slipped the following note into my hand : " Mr. Lovejoy, " Be watchful as you come from church to-night. A Friend." I showed the note to the two brethren present ; and Mr. Campbell invited me to go home with him in con- sequence. I declined, however, and in company with him and Mr. Copes walked home, but a short distance, to my mother-in-law's. Brother Campbell went in with me, and Mr. C. passed on. This was about nine o'clock, and a very dark night. We received no molestation on our way, and the whole matter had passed my mind. Brother C. and I had sat conversing for nearly an hour ; Mrs. L. had gone to another room and lain down ; her mother was with her, having our sick child, while an unmarried sister of Mrs. L. was in the room with Mr. C. and myself. The rooms thus occupied were on the second floor, the first story of the house being tenanted as a store. The access to the rooms is by a flight of stairs leading up to a portico, on which the doors of the several rooms open. About ten o'clock, as Mr. Campbell and myself were conversing, 1 heard a knocking at the foot of the stairs. I took a candle, and opening the door of the room in which I sat, to learn the cause, I found that the knock- ing had called up Mrs. Lovejoy and her mother, who had enquired what was wanted. The answer was, " We wanl to see Mr. Lovejoy, is he in." To this I answered myself, " Yes, I am here." They immediately rushed up to the portico, and two of them coming into the room laid hold of me. These two individuals, the name of one REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 253 was Littler, formerly from Virginia, the other called himself a Mississippian, but his name I have not learned, though it is known in St. Charles. I asked them what they wanted of me. " We want you down stairs, d n you," was the reply. They accordingly commenced attempting to pull me out of the house. And not suc- ceeding immediately, one of them. Littler, began to beat me Avith his fists. By this time, Mrs. L. had come into the room. In doing so she had to make her way through the mob on the portico, who attempted to hinder her from coming, by rudely pushing her back, and one " chi- valrous" southerner actually drew his dirk upon her. Her only reply was to strike him in the face with her hand, and then rushing past him, she flew to where I was, and throwing her arms around me, boldly faced the mobites, with a fortitude and self-devotion which none but a woman and a wife ever displayed. While they were attempting with oaths and curses to drag me from the room, she was smiting them in the face with her hands, or clinging to me to aid in resisting their eflbrts, and telling them that they must first take her before they should have her husband. Her energetic measures, seconded by those of her mother and sister, induced the assailants to let me go and leave the room. As soon as they were gone, Mrs. L.'s powers of en- durance failed her, and she fainted. I carried her into another room and laid her on the bed. So soon as she recovered from her fainting, she relapsed into hysterical fits, moaning and shrieking, and calling upon my name, alternately. Mrs. L.'s health is at all times extremely delicate, and at present peculiarly so, she being some months advanced in pregnancy. Her situation at this time was truly alarming and distressing. To add to the perplexities of the moment, 1 had our sick child in my 22 254 MEMOIR OF THE arms, taken up from the floor where it had been left by- its grandmother, in the hurry and alarm of the first onset of the mob. The poor little sufferer, as if conscious of danger from the cries of its mother, clung to me in silence. In this condition, and white I was endeavour- ing to calm Mrs. L.'s dreadfully excited mind, the mob returned to the charge, breaking into the room, and rush- ing up to the bed-side, again attempting to force me from the house. The brutal wretches were totally indifferent to her heart-rending cries and shrieks — she was too far exhausted to move ; and I suppose they would have suc- ceeded in forcing me out, had not my friend William M. Campbell, Esq. at this juncture come in, and with un- daunted boldness, assisted me in freeing myself from their clutches. Mr. Campbell is a southerner, and a slaveholder ; but he is a man, and he will please accept my grateful thanks for his aid so promptly and so oppor- tunely rendered ; others aided in forcing the mob from the room, so that the house was now clear a second time. They did not, however, leave the yard of the house, which was full of drunken wretches, uttering the most awful and soul-chilling oaths and imprecations, and swearing they would have me at all hazards. I could hear the epithets, " The infernal scoundrel, the d d amal- gamating Abolitionist, we'll have his heart out yet," &c. &c. They were armed with pistols and dirks, and one pistol was discharged, whether at any person or not, I did not know. The fellow from Mississippi seemed the most bent on my destruction. He did not appear at all drunken, but both in words and actions manifested the most fiendish malignity of feeling and purpose. He was telling a story to tlic mobiles, which, whether true or false, (I know not,) was just calcidaled to madden them. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 255 His story was, that his wife had lately been violated by a negro. And this he said was all owing to me, who had instigated the negro to do the deed. He was a ruined man, he said, had just as lief die as not ; but be- fore he died he " would have my blood." The mob now ruslied up the stairs a third time, and one of them, a David Knott, of St. Charles, came in with a note signed " A citizen of St. Charles." I regret that I have mislaid it. It was short, however, requiring me to leave the town the next day at ten o'clock, in the morning. 1 told Mr. K. I presumed he expected no an- swer to such a note. He said he did not, and immedi- ately left the room. As soon as he got out, they set up a yrll, as if so many demons had just broken loose from hell. I had insulted them, it seems, by not returning an answer to their note. My friends now came round me, entreating me to send them a written answer. This I at tirst declined, but yielding to their urgent advice, I took my pencil and wrote as follows : " I have already taken my passage in the stage, to leave to-morrow morning, at least by nine o'clock. Elijah P. Lovejoy." This was carried out and read to them, and at first, after some pretty violent altercation among themselves, seemed to pacify them. They went away, as I supposed Ihially. But after having visited the grog-shop, they returned with augmented fury and violence. My friends in the house, of whom by the way, there were not many, now became thoroughly alarmed. They joined in advising me to leave the house, and make my escape, should an opportunity occur. This I at first absolutely declined doing. 1 did so on the principle I had adopted, 256 MEMOIR OF THE of never either seeking or avoiding danger in the way of duty. " Should such a man as I flee," has been my sen- timent, whether right or wrong. I was at length, how- ever, compelled by the united entreaties of them all, and especially of my wife, to consent to do so, should oppor- tunity olTer. Accordingly, when the efforts of those below had diverted the attention of the mob for a few moments. 1 left the house and went away unperceived. I went up the street a few rods, and finding all still, 1 came back to reconnoitre, and after looking round awhile, and seeing or hearing no enemy, I went back into the house. Here, however, so far from being welcomed, I was greeted with reproaches in abundance for my temerity, as they called it, in venturing back. And sure enough, scarcely had I seated myself before the mob returned again, as though they scented their prey. One man now went down to them, and by il>e promise of a dram, led them all away, and I was fain to escape, not so much from the mob, as from the reproaches of my wife and friends, by leaving the house a second time. It was now about midnight. Through the good hand of my God upon me, I got away unperceived. I walked about a mile to my friend, Maj. Sibley's resi- dence. Having called him up and informed him of my condition, he kindly furnished me with a horse ; and hav- ing rested myself on the sofa an hour or two, for I was much exhausted, I rode to Mr. Watson's, anoil)cr friend, where I arrived about day-break, four miles from town. Here Mrs. L., though exhausted and utterly unfit to leave her bed, joined me in the morning, and we came home, reaching Alton about noon, meeting with no let or hindrance, though Mrs. L. was constantly alarmed with apprehensions of pursuit from St. Charles. On our arrival in Alton, as we were going to our REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 257 house, almost the first person we met in the street, was one of the very individuals who had first broken into the house at St. Charles. Mrs. L. instantly recognized him, and at once became greatly alarmed. There was tlic more reason for fear, inasmuch as the mob in St. Charles had repeatedly declared their determination to pursue me, and to have my life, and one of them, the fellow from Mississippi, boasted that he was chasing me about, and tliat he had assisted to destroy my press in Alton. This was the more readily believed, inasmuch as it was known that individuals from St. Louis, where this Mississippian now temporarily resides, were aiding in that work. The mobite from St. Charles also openly boasted here of their assault upon me in that place. Upon these facts being made known to my friends, ihey deemed it advisable that our house should be guarded on Monday night. Indeed, this was necessary to quiet Mrs. L.'s fears. Though completely exhausted, as may well be supposed, from the scenes of the night before, she could not rest. The mob haunted her excited imagi- nation, causing her continually to start from her moments of fitful slumber, with cries of alarm. This continued all the afternoon and evening of Monday, and I began to entertain serious apprehensions of the consequences. As soon, however, as our friends, to the number of ten arrived with arms in their hands, her fears subsided, and she sank into a comparatively silent sleep, which contin- ued through most of the night. It is now Tuesday night. I am writing by the bedside of Mrs. L., whose excitement and fears have measurably returned with the darkness. She is constantly starting at every sound, while her mind is full of the horrible scenes through which she has so lately passed. What the final result will be for her I know not, but hope for the best. We have no 22» 25S MEMOIR OF THE one with us lo-night, except the members of our own family. A loaded musket is standing at my bed-side, while my two brothers, in an adjoining room, have three others, together with pistols, cartridges, &c. And this is the way we live in the city of Alton ! I have had in- expressible reluctance to resort to this method of defence. But dear-bought experience has taught me that there is at present no safety for me, and no defence in this place, either in the laws or the protecting cegis of public senti- ment. I feel that I do not walk the streets in safety, and every night when I lie down, it is with the deep settled conviction, that there are those near me and around me, who seek my life. I have resisted this conviction as long as I could, but it has been forced upon me. Even were I safe from my enemies in Alton, my proximity to Missouri exposes me to attack from that state. And now that it is known that I am to receive no protection here, the way is open for them to do with me what they please. Accordingly a party of them from St. Louis came up and assisted in destroying my press, the first time. This was well known. They came armed and stationed themselves behind a wall for the purpose of firing upon any one who might attempt to defend the office. Yet who of this city has rebuked this daring outrage on the part of citizens of our state and city, upon the rights and person of the citizens of another state and city ? No one. I mean there has been no public expression of opinion on the subject. Our two political papers have been silent, or if speaking at all, have thrown the blame on me rather than on any one else. And if you go through the streets of Alton, or into stores and shops, where you hear one condemning these outrages upon me, you will find live approving them. This is true, both of professor and non -professor. 1 have no doubts that four- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 259 fifths of the inhabitants of this city are glad tliat my press has been destroyed by a mob, both once and again. They hate mobs, it is true, but they hate Aboli- tionism a great deal more. Whether creditable to them or not, this is the state of public sentiment among oiir citizens. A leading member of the Presbyterian church here, disclosed to me, in the presence of fifteen or twenty persons, that if tlie " Observer" were re-established here, he would do nothing to protect it from a mob again. A leading merchant here, and a Methodist minister, said the same thing, at the same time. Most of our leading men, whether in church or state, lay the blame all on me. So far from calling the acts of the mob outrages, they go about the streets, saying in the hearing of every body, " Mr. Lovejoy has no one to thank but himself." Of course the mob desire no better license than this. The pulpit, with but one exception, is silent. Brother Graves was absent at the time of the first outrage. But since his return he has taken hold of the work with characteristic boldness and zeal. There is no cowardice in him, no shrinking from duty through fear of man. I wish I could say as much of our other pastors. Brother G. has told his people their duty faithfully and fearlessly. Whether they will hear him I know not, but he has cleared his skirts. And now, my dear brother, if you ask what are my own feelings at a time like this, I answer, perfectly calm, perfectly resigned. Though in the midst of danger, I have a constant sense of security that keeps me alike from fear or anxiety. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trust- eth in thee." This promise I feel has been literally fulfilled unto me. I read the promises of the Bible, and especially the Psalms, with a delight, a refreshing of soul 260 MEMOIR OF THE REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. I never knew before. Some persons here call me cou- rageous, and others pronounce me stubborn ; but I feci and know I am neither one nor the other. That I am enabled to continue firm in the midst of all my trials, is all of God. Let no one give me any credit, for it. I disclaim it. 1 should feel that I were robbing Him, if even in thought, I should claim the least share to myself. He has said, " As thy day is, so shall thy stength be," and he has made his promise good. To him be all the praise. Pray for me. We have a few excellent brethren here in Alton. They are sincerely desirous to know their duty in this crisis, and to do it. But as yet they cannot see that duty requires them to maintain their cause here at all hazards. Our Convention meets the last Thursday of this month. And of this be assured, the cause of truth still lives in Il- linois, and will not want defenders. Whether our paper starts again will depend on our friends, East, West, North, and South. So far as depends on me it shall go. By the blessing of God, I will never abandon the enter- prise so long as I live, and until success has crowned it. And there are those in Illinois who join me in this sen- timent. And if I am to die it cannot be in a better cause. Yours in the cause of truth and holiness, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. CHAPTER XIV. Though cast down our brother was not destroyed. And notwithstanding the many discouragements which surrounded him, about the middle of October he sent for another press. Three, as will be recollected, had already been destroyed. One on his arrival, on the 21st of July, 1836, one on the 21st of August, 1837, and one on the 21st of September following. This last press he sent for on his own account, and at that time had not deter- mined where it should be established. And here it will be proper to say a word in explanation of his " wish and determination" to leave Alton, as there has been some misapprehension on this point. His own judgment of the matter was always, that the press ought to remain at Alton, and be maintained there at all hazards. At the same time he thought it a sinful waste of property, to bring presses there to be thrown into the Mississippi, and consequently if friends remained idle and indifferent, and foes vigilant and active, it must of course be removed to some other place. His friends in Quincy were waiting to welcome and protect his press, and he felt disposed to go there, provided a sufficient number of friends could not be found in Alton to sustain it. We speak confi- dently on this subject, as one of us was with our brother at this time, and remember to have had a full and free conversation on this very point, viz., the unpleasant atti- tude of an individual placed in direct opposition to a larL'e portion of his fellow-citizens, and the duty of maintaining it. And the conclusion was, that a fair ex- 262 MEMOIR OF THE periment had been made as to the protection to be ex- pected from the civil auiliorities, and that unless volun- teers appeared in the defence of the laws, it would be a hopeless contest. These conversations always ended by our brother's remarking, " Well we shall see when the Convention meets." On the third week of this month, October, the Synod of Illinois held its annual session at Springfield. Here the Editor of the Observer had an opportunity of seeing his brethren from all parts of the state, and was greatly inspirited, and refreshed by the words of encouragement, and approbation which they spake unto him. In mentioning the adverse induences which were at this time operating against the Anti-Slavery cause, and more or less directly against the Editor of the " Obser- ver" as the organ or representative of that cause, it will be proper to mention a meeting of the Colonization So- ciety of Upper Alton, on Tuesday before the Anti-Slave- ry Convention, which was to meet on the Thursday fol- lowing at the same place. The history of this meeting is as follows : A few days previous, one of the most active members of this Society — wliich by the way had been dead for several years, accosted a very respectable lawyer of that town, and asked him if he would attend an anti-convention meeting and make a speech. The lawyer replied with some warmth and indignation, that if they would get up an anti-mob meeting, he would at- tend, and make a speech. In consequence of -this an- swer, as it is supposed, they concluded to have a Colo- nization meeting. Mutato nomine^ idem manct. The Speakers were Hon. Cyrus Edwards, and J. M. Peck of .\lton, and the Rev. Joel Parker of Now Orleans. Mr. Parker represented the Abolitionists as bustling round with a great deal of ardour but with little discre- REV. E. P. LOVEJOy. 2G3 tion, and less wisdom, trying willi all their might to get a lever under what they considered a great mass of cor- ruption, in order to remove it at once. But like the Gre- cian philosopher they could find no stand point. Con- sequently their ellbrts were vain. lie said, moreover, that owing to our associations, we could not respect the black man in this country. As an illustration he said, an Irish nobleman, might have a servant who should pay him almost as much reverence as a slave does his mas- ter. She might be amiable, alFectionate, and faithful, and secure the love of her master, but he would not respect her. " Now," adds Mr. P. " by some unexpected turn of fortune, let this same servant become possessed of wealth, and let her marry a peer of the land, and be on terms of social intercourse and equality with her former master, and then he will begin to respect her." So, he con- tinued, it is with the black man. Let him go to Africa, and let us think of him as associated with that country, and we shall begin to respect him. And he said he once actually knew a slave, who went to Africa with the name of Dick, — breathed the salubrious air of that climate, cast his slough, and cnmc back Mr. Jones. " Now," says Mr. P., "this prejudice may be wrong, but so it is, and we must act on it." He was followed by Mr. Peck, wlio charged the Abolitionists as being amalgamators, and of using abusive and unwarrantable epithets in regard to slaveholders, together with all those other cluirges so frequently preferred against them. On Thursday the 2Gth of October the state Conven- tion met. Att(>ntion to this subject had been invited in an editorial article in the " Observer" of the 29th of June, which has already boon inserted. The Editor of the " Observer" was not the first mover in this matter. He had received several letters 264 MEMOIR OF THE from aged and judicious friends, suggesting the propriety of such a movement, and asking whether it was not time to make it. Some of these letters were received as early as the preceding spring. The first call, as has been seen, was definite and specific. Subsequently, in order to unite all good men, among whom there was some difference of opinion as to measures, a somewhat modified call was sent forth on an extra sheet of the " Obsener." This call spoke of the importance of the subject of Slavery, the impossibility of remaining idle spectators in a moral contest which was agitating our country, and requesting those who " earnestly longed, and prayed for the immediate abolition of Slavery" to meet in Convention, for the benefit of mutual discussion and deliberation ; not feeling themselves pledged there- by, to any definite mode of action. This was the sub- stance of the call. It was signed by about two hundred and fifty persons from different parts of the state. The delegates having convened in the Presbyterian Church in Upper Alton, were called to order, and the venerable Dr. Blackburn chosen Chairman. When the motion for Rev. Mr. Graves to be temporary clerk, was put, several voices cried out " no." These were from individuals who came in to disturb, and if possible to in- terrupt the doings of the Convention. Althonph the regular members of the Convention, at this time, out- numbered the others, the Chair not knowing the exact slate of tilings, did not declare the vole in the afiirma- tive. After this a desultory, and to some extent an an- gry and disorderly debate took place, which continued all the afternoon. At the commencement of the disturb- ance, the Editor of the " Observer" arose, stating the object for which they had met; that individuals from various parts of the state had come there, having been REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 265 invited so to do, to discuss the subject of Slaver}', and declaring that none, save those who entertained similar views to those embodied in the call, had any right to a seat in the Convcnliou ; asking them whether they could as gentlemen, come in and interrupt a meeting called for a specific purpose. Upon this, the reading of the call sent forth by himself, and also a subsequent one publish- ed by president Beecher, over his own name in one of the papers of that place, was called for.* When these calls had been read, the mob, through their chief speaker, declared that they responded to them, that they were friends of free discussion, nay courted it, — that they wished to meet the Abolitionists in fair and open tield, argument with argument, fact with fact, reason with reason. All this seemed very fair : but mark the sequel. The afternoon of that day, Thurs- day, having been spent in this manner, they adjourned, without even organizing the meeting, to nine o'clock next morning. They met according to adjournment. The chairman then declared the doings of the meeting on the previous day as out of order, read the call to which two hundred and fifty names were attached, and de- clared that the test of membership, and that all who wo*ild subscribe to it should be considered as members of the Convention. Individuals present who wished, then signed their names, including not a few who were known to be opposed to immediate abolition. The Con- * It will be proper to mention here, that Mr. B.'s name was attached to the first cull, but that, as he stated in his note alluded to, it did not combine all the points which he expected it would, and especially as to the invitation, which he wished extended to all friends of the free discussion of the siibjoct of Slavery ; to this there was no ob- jrrlion, save that it was feared that the mob taking advantage of this invitation would come in and claim seats. 23 266 MEMOIR OF THE vention was then organized by the election of Dr. Black- burn for president, together with two secretaries. The forenoon was spent in organizing and adopting rules of debate, and appointing a committee of three to prepare resolutions for discussion. This committee consisted of Rev. Mr. Beecher, Rev. Mr. Turner, and Mr. Linder, who were to report in the afternoon. It was acreed in the committee room that there should o be but one report, although they were not agreed on all the resolutions ; and that the chairman of the committee should state to the Convention, the resolutions on which they all agreed, and those which the majority and minor- ity severally reported. This he did, and tlie report was accepted. The question was on its adoption. A motion was then made, which in reality divided the reports, namely, that the report of the minority, Mr. Linder, re- presenting the Anti-Abolition part of the house, should be adopted. This vote was carried. A motion was then made that the report of the majority be also adopted. On this motion, the Rev. Mr. Ilogan contended, that, by adopting the minority's report, they had virtually re- jected that of the majority, and it was so decided. One of the resolutions was then discussed through the re- mainder of the day, and carried. It should be men- tioned that throughout the whole day, runners had been on the alert to obtain signers to the call. A great many had thus become npembers of the Convenlion, who had no definite notion what they were about. In fact, as their conduct imported, they were "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, men of Belial." With these the open space around the door, and a part of the aisles were crowded. So that after the adoption of the one resolu- tion which had been discussed, a motion was made to REV, E. P. LOVEJOY. 267 adjourn without day, which was carried by acclamation ! This was the free discussion which they desired ! Thus ballled, those who had come there in good faith, agreed to meet the next day at a private house, to form a State Anti-Slavery Society, no doubt now existing as to the propriety of such a measure. This they did. This meeting was composed of some of the most piousTlind respected, and judicious men, ministers and laymen, in the state. And here the question whether the " Obser- ver" should be re-established at Alton or not, was fully discussed. Dr. Miles, a gentleman from Cincinnati, said that it was all important that it should maintain its stand there ; otherwise, he feared that the tide of vio- lence and outrage, which had flowed from the East, would again How back ; and it was decided that it ought to remain at that place. This vote was unanimous, with the exception of one or two from Alton, who thought that it could not be maintained there. The Editor voted for its continuance ; and it is proper to state that he was chosen Corresponding Secretary of the State Society. The next week another colonization meeting was held, in the Lower Town, at which much the same doctrines were advanced as at the previous one, and by the same speakers. The Rev. Mr. Parker declared it an un- christian thing to go into a community and promulgate doctrines which were calculated to excite that commu- nity, and that he should consider it his duty to refrain from speaking on any subject calculated to disturb, and agitate a people. (^This was on the last day of October. During this week several meetings of friends were held, at one of which President Beecher discussed, with much ability the propriety and duty of defending the press, which was now daily expected, by physical force. This is not the place for his arq-uments. He declared, how 268 BIEMOIR OF THE ever, that he would enlist as a common soldier in de- fence of the luw, and in protection of the press : and some who had been inclnied toward the extreme " peace principles," as they are called, were convinced that there is, and of right ought to be, such a thing as civil govern- ment ; and that the " powers that be are ordained of God," and consequently they became willing to maintain them. On the 2d and 3d of November, meetings were ludd, which in their results and influence assume an import- ance and interest which otherwise would not belong to them. They may with propriety be considered the star chamber, where the death warrant of our brother was signed, and put into the hands of the mob for its execution. It was not a meeting of the rabble. Christians, and Chris- tian ministers were there. Men who stand high in the es- timation of their fellow-citizens, and in many respects de- servedly so. Had they planted themselves on the law and the right, the " damned spots" which now stain their hands, and will not " out" had not been there. But we give the proceedings, merely premising that the meeting originated with the enemies of the " Obser- ver," though some of its friends were invited to attend. PUBLIC MEETING. '• At a large and respectable meeting of the citizens of the city of Alton, held at the counting-room of Messrs. John Hogan tt Co., on Thur»ration the present excited state of public sentiment in thi^ city, growing out of the REV. E. P. LOVEJOy. 269 discussion of the Abolition question ; and to endeavour to (ind some common ground, on wliich botli parlies miglit meet for the restoration of liarmony and good fel- lowship by mutual concession — expressing a fervent wish that so desirable an object might be carried into effect. He was followed by the Rev. Edward Beecher, of Jacksonville, who stated that the proposal of such a meeting h:ul originated from Mr. Ilogan, and that it had been deemed advisable by him and by Mr. Gilman, that the following resolutions, should be laid before the meet- ing for their consideration. 1. Rcsulvcd, That the free communication of thoughts and opinions, is one of the invaluable rights of man ; and that every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. 2. Resolved, That the abuse of this right is the only legal ground for restraining its use. 3. Resolved, That the question of abuse must be de- cided solely by a regular civil court, and in accordance with the law ; and not by an irresponsible and unorgani- zed portion of the community, be it great or small. 4. Resolved J For restraining what the law will not reach, we are to depend solely on argument and moral means, aided by the controling influences of the spirit of God ; and that these means, appropriately used, furnish an amj)le defence against all ultimate prcvalmce of false principles and unhealthy excitement. 5. Resolved, That where discussion is tree and unre- strained, and proper me:(ns are used, the triumph of the truth is certain ; and that with the triumph of truth th*^ return of peace is sure ; but that all attempts to check or prohibit discussion, will cause a daily increase of excite- ment, until such checks or prohibitions are removed. 6. Resolved, That our maintenance of these principles 23» 270 MEMOIR OF THE should be independent of all regard to persons or senti- ments. 7. Resolved, That we are more especially called on to maintain them in case of unpopular sentiments or per- sons ; as in no other cases will any effort to maintain them be needed. 8. Resolved, That these principles demand the pro- tection of the Editor and of the press of the ' Alton Ob- server,' on grounds of principle solely, and altogether disconnected with approbation of his sentiments, personal character, or course, as Editor of the paper. 9. Resolved, That on these grounds alone, and irres- pective of all political, moral, or religious differences, but solely as American citizens, from a sacred regard to the great principles of civil society, to the welfare of our country, to the reputation and honour of our city, to our own dearest rights and privileges, and those of our children, we will protect the press, the property, and the Editor of the * Alton Observer,' and maintain him in the free exercise of his rights, to print and publish whatever he pleases, in obedience to the supreme laws of the land, and under the guidance and direction of the consti- tuted civil authorities, he being responsible for the abuse of this liberty only to the laws of the land. " The meeting was then addressed at some length by Mr. Linder, in opposition to the resolutions ; after which Mr. llayden moved that the resolutions be laid on the table. At the sugj^estion of Mr. Ilogan and Col. IJotkin, this motion was subsequently withdrawn by the mover ; when Mr. llogan moved that the resolutions be referred to a committee, with instructions to report at an adjourned meeting. This motion was agreed to ; and, it being or- dered that said committee should consist of seven gentle- men, to be nominated by the chair, the Hon. Cyrus REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 271 Edwards, and Messrs. John Hogan, Stephen Griggs, U. F. Linder, H. G. V^an Wagcnen, Thos. G. Ilawley, and Winthrop S. Gilinan, were appointed. Mr. Linder then ollered the following resolution, which was agreed to : Rcsolccil, u/t(inimoit.slt/, hy this meeting, That in the interim between the adjournment and re-assembling hereof, if any infraction of the peace be attempted by any party or set of men in this community, we will aid to the utmost of our power in the maintenance of the laws." The meeting then adjourned to meet at the court room, on Friday the 3d inst., at two o'clock, P. M. Frnlaij, Nov. 3d,— 2 o'clock, P. M. " The citizens met, pursuant to adjournment : and the meeting being called td order by the chairman, Mr. Linder offered the following resolution, which was unan- imously agreed to without debate : — Resolved, That this meeting shall be composed exclu- sively of the citizens of Madison County ; and that it is requested that none others shall vote or take part in the discussion of any subject that may be offered for their consideration ; but all persons in attendance, other than citizens, will consider themselves as welcome specta- tors.* The Hon. Cyrus Edwards, from the committee ap- pointed at the previous meeting, then made the following report ; which was read : * The committee appointed to take under consideration certain resolutions submitted at our last meeting, beg leave to report : that they have given to those resolu- tions a deliberate and candid examination, and are con- •Mr. Beecher resides in Morgan County. Hence the resolution. — Eds. 272 MEMOIR OF THE Strained to say that, however they may approve their general spirit, they do not consider them, as a whole, suited to the exigency which has called together the citizens of Alton. It is notorious, that fearful excite- ments have grown out of collisions of sentiment between two great parties on the subject, and that these excite- ments have led to excesses on both sides deeply to be deplored. Too much of crimination and recrimination have been indulged. On the one hand, the Anti-Aboli- tionists have been charged with a heartless cruelty, a reckless disregard of the rights of man, and an insidious design, under deceptive pretexts, to perpetuate the foul stain of Slavery. They have been loaded with many and most opprobrious epithets, such as pirates, man- stealers, &c. &c. On the other hand, the Abolitionists have been too indiscriminatelv* denounced as violent dis- turbers of the good order of society, willfully incendiary and disorganizing in their spirit, wickedly prompting servile insurrections, and traitorously encouraging in- fractions of the constitution, tending to disunion, violence and bloodshed. These uncharitable impeachments of motives have led to an appalling crisis, demanding of every good citizen the exertion of his utmost inlluence to arrest all acts of violence, and to restore harmony to our once peaceful and prosperous, but now distracted city. It is not to be disguised, that parties are now or- ganizing and arming for a conflict, which may terminate in a train of mournful consequences. Under such cir- cumstances, have we been convened. And your com- mittee are satisfied that nothing short of a generous for- bearance, a mild spirit of conciliation, and a yielding compromise of conflicting claims, can compose the ele- ments of discord, and restore quiet to this agitated com- munity. They are, therefore, forced to regard the reso- REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 273 lutions under consideration as falling short of the great end in view ; as demanding too much of concession on the one side, without equivalent concession on the other. Neither party can be expected to yield every thing, and to acknowledge themselves exclusively in the wrong. In this there is no compromise. There must be a mutual sacrifice of prejudices, opinions, and interests, to ac- complish the desired reconciliation — such a sacrifice as led to the adoption of the great charier of Ameri- can freedom ; which has secured to ourselves, and which promises a continuance to our posterity, of the blessed fruits of peace, prosperity and union. Whilst, therefore, we fully amj freely recognize the justness of the principles engrafted upon our constitutions, that the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and that every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being re- sponsible for the abuse of that liberty ; that the abuse of this right is the only legal ground for restraining its use ; that the question of abuse must be decided solely by a regular civil court, and in accordance with the law, and not by an irresponsible and unorganized portion of the community, be it great or small — your committee would, with earnest importunity, urge as a means of allaying the acrimony of parly strife, the unanimous adoption of the following preamble and resolutions : Whereas, it is of the utmost importance that peace, harmony, order, and a due regard to law, should be re- stored to our distracted community ; and whereas, in all cases of conflicting opinions about rights and privilojros. each party should yield something in tlie spirit and form of compromise : Therefore, 1- Resolved, That a strong confidence is entertamed that our citizens will abstain from all undue excitements, 274 MEMOIR OF THE discountenance every act of violence to person or pro- perty, and cherish a sacred regard for the great principles contained in our Bill of Rights. 2. Resulvi'd, That it is apparent to all good citizens, that the exigencies of the place require a course of mode- ration in relation to the discussion of principles in them- selves deemed right, and of the highest importance ; and that it is no less a dictate of duty than expediency to adopt such a course in the present crisis. 3. Resolved, That so far as your committee have possessed the means of ascertaining the sense of the community, in relation to the establishment of a religious newspaper, such a course would, at a suitable time, and under the influence of judicious proprietors and editors, contribute to the cause of religion and good citizenship, and promote the prosperity of the city and country. 4. Resolved, That while there appears to be no dis- position to prevent the liberty of free discussion, through the medium of the press or otherwise, as a general thing ; it is deemed a matter indispensable to the peace and harmony of this community that the labours and influence of the late Editor of the ' Observer' be no longer iden- tified with any newspaper establishment in this city. 5. Resolved, That whereas it has come to the know- ledge of your committee that the late Editor of the ' Ob- server' has voluntarily proposed to the proprietors and stockholders of the ' Alton Observer,' to relinquish his interest and connection with that paper, if, in the opinion of his friends, that course were expedient ; your com- mittee consider that such a course would highly con- tribute to the peace and harmony of the place, and indi- cate on the part of the friends of the * Observer,' a dis- position to do all in their power to restore the city to its accustomed harmony and quiet. REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 275 6. Resolved, That we would not be understood as reflecting in the slightest degree upon the private charac- ter or motives of the late Editor of the ' Alton Obser- ver,' by any thing contained in the foregoing resolutions." Mr. Linder then look the floor, in support and expla- nation of the views taken by the committee, and urged the adoption of the resolutions reported by them Mith much earnestness. When he closed his remarks, Win- throp S. Gilman, Esq., one of the committee, handed the following protest against some of the sentiments express- ed in the report ; which he desired should be made a part of the record of the meeting. W. S. Gilman, from the committee, protested against so much of the report as is contained in the resolutions ; allcdging it as his opinion, that the rigid enforcement of the law would prove the only sure protection of the rights of citizens, and the only safe remedy for similar excite- ments in future. ^ The Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, Editor of the ' Observer,' here addressed the meeting at some length, in a speech declaratory of his right, under the Constitution of this state, to print and publish his opinions, and of his deter- mination to stand on this right, and abide the conse- quences, under a solemn sense of duty. He was followed by Mr. Hogan, who took a wholly diflerent view of the subject ; and contended that it was the duty of Mr. Lovejoy, as a Christian and patriot, to abstain from the exercise of some of his abstract rights under existing circumstances. In the course of his re- marks, the former referred to the pledge said to have been publicly given by the latter, when he first came to Alton ; and observed, that at that time he most certainly did understand Mr. Ij. to say, that, inasmuch as he had left a slaveholding state, and had come to reside in a free 276 MEMOIR OF THE State, he did not conceive it his duty to advocate the cause of emancipation, and did not intend doing so. The Rev. F. VV. Graves then rose in explanation ; and asked Mr. Hogan whether Mr. Lovejoy did not, at the time referred to, distinctly state that he yielded none of his rights, to discuss any subject which he saw fit. Mr. Hogan replying in the affirmative, Mr. G. proceeded to remark, that when Mr. L. arrived in this city, he en- tertained the views attributed to him by the gentleman who had just taken his seat ; that a change had subse- quently taken place in his opinions ; and that, at a cer- tain meeting of the friends of the * Observer,' he (Mr. L.) had made known this alteration in his sentiments, and asked advice whether it was best to come out in public on the subject. That, under the circumstances of the case, it was deemed most proper to let the paper go on — there then being no excitement in the public mind. Mr. G. next alluded to the present excited state of the popular feeling ; and said that the friends of the ' Ob- server' had lately received communications from all parts of the country, and even from Kentucky, Missouri, and Mississippi, urging the necessity of re-establishing the press. Mr. Linder followed in reply ; and said he now un- derstood the whole matter. It was a question, whether the interest and feelings of the citizens of Alton should be consulted ; or whether we were to be dictated to by foreigners, who cared nothing but for the gratification of their own inclinations, and the establishment of certain abstract principles, which no one, as a general thing, ever thought of questioning. He concluded his remarks by oflering the following resolution. Resolved, That the discussion of the doctrines of im- mediate Abolitionism, as they have been discussed in the REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 277 columns of the * Alton Observer,' would be destructive of the peace and harmony of the citizens of Alton, and that, therefore, we cannot recommend the re-establish- ment of that paper, or any other of a similar character, and conducted with a like spirit. The resolution having been read, Mr. Edwards rose, and expressed the hope that its adoption would not be pressed at this moment. lie dwelt with great earnest- ness and elVect on the importance of calmness in our de- liberations ; and trusted that the present meeting would be productive of good to the community. The resolution was then laid on the table. Judge Hawley then made a few very eloquent and ap- propriate remarks, on the subject for which this meeting had been called : and concluded by offering the follow- ing preamble and resolution ; which were read, and laid on the table for the present. Whereas, great and general excitement has for some time past prevailed witli the people of the city of Alton, in relation to the publication of the doctrines of Aboli- tion, as promulgated by Mr. E. P. Lovejoy, in a paper called the ' Alton Observer ;' and whereas, as a conse- quence of tliat excitement, personal violence has been resorted to in the destruction of said press : Therefore, Resolved, That whilst we decidedly disapprove of the doctrines, as put forth by the said Lovejoy, as subversive of the great principles of our union, and of the prosperity of our young and growing city, we at the same time as decidedly disapprove of all unlawful violence. The question on agreeing to the report of the com- mittee was then called for ; and, on motion of Mr. Ho- gan, the resolutions being taken up separately, were seve- rally disposed of as follows : resolutions 1, 2, and 4, were agreed to unanimously ; and resolutions 3, 5, and 6, were 21 278 MEMOIR OF THE Stricken out. The report, as amended, was then agreed to. The rcsohition oflered by Mr. Linder, and laid on the table, was then taken np, and agreed to ; as was also that subsequently introduced by Judge Hawley, after striking out the preamble from the latter. Mr. Krum then offered the following resolution ; which was also agreed to. Resolved, That as citizens of Alton, and the friends of order, peace, and constitutional law, we regret that per- sons and editors from abroad have seen proper to interest themselves so conspicuously in the discussion and agita- tion of a question, in which our city is made the princi- pal theatre." The meeting then adjourned, sine dir. SAM'L G. BAILEY, Chairman. W. F. D'WoLF, Secretary. These proceedings speak for themselves. Some of the speeches were of a most violent kind, attacking not only Abolition, but religion and its ministers. It will be seen that by rejecting the third resolution, they virtually declared that no religious paper would l)e tolerated, al- though under the management of "judicious proprietors and editors," and started at a " proper time." The remarks of our brother referred to in the doings of the meeting, were as follows, Having obtained the floor, he went to the desk in front of the assembly, and said : " Mr. Chairman — it is not true, as has been charged upon nic, that 1 hold in contempt the feelings and senti- ments of this community, in reference to the question which is now acitating it. I respect and appreciate the feelings and opinions of my fellow-citizens, and it is one REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 279 of the most painful and unpleasant duties of my life, that 1 am called upon to act in opposition to them. If you suppose, sir, that 1 have published sentiments contrary to those gcneraliy held in this community, because I de- lighted in diil'ering from them, or in occasioning a dis- turbance, you have entirely misapprehended me. But, sir, while I value the good opinion of my fellow-citizens, as highly as any one, I may be permitted to say. that I am governed by higher considerations than either the favour or the fear of man. I am impelled to the course I have taken, because I fear God. As I shall answer it to my God in the great day, I dare not abandon my sen- timents, or cease in all proper ways to propagate them. " I, Mr. Chairman, have not desired, or asked any compromise. I Ivive asked for nothing but to be pro- tected in my rights as a citizen — rights which God has given me, and which are guaranteed to me by the con- stitution of my country. Have I, sir, been guilty of any infraction of the laws ? Whose good name have I in- jured? When and where have I published any thing injurious to the reputation of Alton 1 Have I not, on the other hand, laboured, in common, with the rest of my fellow-citizens, to promote the reputation and interests of this city ? What, sir, I ask, has been my oftencc ? Put your finger upon it — define it — and I stand ready to an- swer for it. If I have committed any crime, you can easily convict me. You have public sentiment in your favour. You have your juries, and you have your attorney, (look- ins? at the Attorney-General,) anJ I have no doubt you can convict me. But if I have been guilty of no viola- lion of law^ why am I hunted up and down continually like a partridoe upon the mountains ? Why am I threat- ened with the tar-barrel? Why am I waylaid every 280 MEMOIR OF THE day, and from night to night, and my life in jeopardy every hour ? " You have, sir, made up, as the lawyers say, a false issue ; there are not two parties between whom there can be a compromise. 1 plant myself, sir, down on my unquestionable rights, and the question to be decided is, whether I shall be protected in the exercise, and enjoy- ment of those rights — that is the question, sir ; — whether my property shall be protected, whether I shall be suf- fered to go home to my family at night without being assailed, and threatened with tar and feathers, and as- sassination ; whether my afllicted wife, whose life has been in jeopardy, from continued alarm and excitement, shall night after night be driven from a sick bed into the garret to save her life from the brickbats and violence of the mobs ; that sir, is the question." Here, much af- fected and overcome by his feelings, he burst into tears. Many, not excepting even his enemies, wept — several sobbed aloud, and the sympathies of the whole meeting were deeply excited. He continued. "Forgive me, sir, that I have thus betrayed my weakness. It was the allusion to my family that overcame my feelings. Not, sir, I assure you, from any fears on my part. I have no personal fears. Not that I feel able to contest the mat- ter with the whole community, I know perfectly well I am not. I know, sir, that you can tar and feather me, hang me up, or put me into the Mississippi, without the least dilliculty. Hut what then ? Where shall I go ? I have been made to feel tlial if I am not safe at Alton, I sIihII not be safe any wher«\ I recently visited St. Charles to bring home my family, and was torn from their frantic embrace by a mob. I have been beset night and day at Alton. And now if I leave here and go else- where, violence may overtake me in my retreat, and I REV. E. P. LOVEJOY- 281 have no more claim upon the protection of any other com- munity than I have upon this ; and I have concluded, after consultation with my friends, and earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain at Alton, and here to insist on protection in the exercise of my rights. If the civil au- thorities refuse to protect me, I must look to God ; and if 1 die, I have determined to make my grave in Alton." A writer who was present, after giving the substance of these remarks, observes : " His manner — but I cannot attempt to describe it. He was calm and serious, but firm and decided. Not an epi- thet or unkind allusion escaped his lips, notwithstanding he knew he was in the midst of those who were seeking his blood, and notwithstanding he was well aware of the influence that that meeting, if it should not take the right turn, would have in infuriating the mob to do their work. He and his friends had prayed earnestly that God would overrule the deliberations of that meeting for good. He had been all day communing with God. His counte- nance, the subdued tones of his voice, and whole ap- pearance indicated a mind in a peculiarly heavenly frame, and ready to acquiesce in the will of God, whatever that might be. I confess to you, sir, that I regarded him at the time, in view of all the circumstances, as presenting a spectacle of moral sublimity, such as I had never be- fore witnessed, and such as the world seldom aflbrds. It reminded me of Paul before Festus, and of Luther at Worms." The press was now daily expected. Consequently there was no little excitement and anxiety. As soon as the purt'of a boat was heard, tlie friends started for the landing-place to receive and protect it. The mob were no less vigilant, and had declared that it should be de- stroyed at the landing. One of their number was sta- 282 MEMOIR OF THE tioned at St. Louis — where all the boats touch on their way up the river, to ascertain when it arrived. A friend also remained there for about a week waiting its arrival, and prepared to act in concert with those at Alton. An arrangement was at one lime made, to have it landed at a place called Chippewa, about five miles down the river, and conveyed secretly to Upper Alton. But not coming the day that it was expected, and the roads be- coming bad in consequence of heavy rains, that plan was abandoned. At length it came into St. Louis on Sunday night the 5th, and by expresses, an arrangement was made with the Captain to land it at three o'clock Monday night, or rather Tuesday morning. The exact lime of its arrival was known to a few only, though that a press was expected, was known throughout the city. On Monday Mr. W. S. Oilman and our brother went to the Mayor, told him of the expected arrival of the press, and of the threats made of destroying it, which indeed were notorious ; and requested that special constables might be appointed to keep the peace. This request the Mayor communicated to the Common Council, stating at the same time, that from the confidence placed in the persons making these representations, as well as from what he himself knew, he had good reason to believe that there would be some infraction of the laws, and sub- initted to tliem whether some action would not be neces- sary. After a few moments silence, Mr. Kinjr, one o\ the aldermen, moved " that a note be addressed to Mr. Lovejoy and his friends, requesting them not to persist in establishing an Abolition press in Alton, and setting forth tlic reasons for the same." We have a paper siijned by the Clerk of the Common Council containing the above, as an extract from the records of the said Coun- cil. The phrase " setting forth the reasons for the same," RT.V. E. P. LOVEJOY. 283 is obscure. Probably it means selling forth the reasons to " i\Ir. Lovejoy and bis friends why tliey should not establish an Abolition press.'' The Mayor told tliem that that vote was not answering the proposition which ho made to them, and that consequently he sliould not sign it if passed. It was laid on the tabic, and the Council adjourned, and nothing more was done about it. On Monday evening between forty and fifty citizens met in the warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman &, Co., where the j)ress was to be stored, in order to form themselves into a volunteer comi)any, to act under the direction of the Mayor, in defence of the law. About ten o'clock several Iclt ; not far from thirty remaining in the building, with one of the city constables to command lliem. They were armed with rifles and muskets, mostly the former, loaded with buckshot or small balls. The Editor of the '' Observer" was not there. His dwelling bad been at- tacked but a few nights before, and himself and sister narrowly escaped being hit witJi a lieavy brickbat, sufli- cient to take life. In consequence of the nightly ex- pectation of an assault, he • made arrangements with a brother then with him, to watch alternately every other nififht, at liome and at tlic store. At three o'clock the boat arrived containing the long looked for press. It was a light night, and the sentinel of the mob had been seen, at intervals all night on the shore, who immedi- ately gave the alarm, and horns were blown throughout the ciiv. As soon as the boat was heard, the Mayor was called, and came into tlie building. lie requested tliose within to remain there, and keep quiet, till called upon. He said he should go out and attend the storing of the press, and if any mob collected should command them to disperse — if they refused, and olfered any vio- lence, he should command those in the building to fire. 284 MK.MOIR OF THE Owing, however, to the lateness of the hour, the mob were unable to muster their forces, to any considerable number, and the press was stored without molestation, except the firing of a few stones. The press thus safely- deposited in the garret of a firm stone warehouse, was thought to be secure. The great contest was expected at the landing, as it would be more difficult to protect it there, and of course additional advantages would be af- forded the mob for its destruction. No very unusual excitement prevailed on Tuesday, though it was noised through the city that " the Abolition press" had arrived. On Tuesday night the volunteers already spoken of again met at the same place. At nine, all but twelve (one or two dropped in afterwards) went away. Our brother remained, who with one or two others, was the only Abolitionist there. They were there not as Abolitionists but as citizens. And here it will be proper to describe the building, so that the reader may have a clear conception of the scene. The Mississippi river, whose general course, as is known, is southerly, at this point runs nearly east. The building is composed of two stores, with two separate roofs, communicating with each other within. The gable ends are north and south — one of them of course, next the river. All the windows, and also ail the doors, with the exception of one which opens into the basement story on the east side, are in the two gable ends. It is three stories high on the north end, and four on the south, the one next the river. It stands alone ; a street being on the north end, the river on the south, and several rods open space oa the two sides, so tliat it is accessible on all points. About ten o'clock, the drunkeries and collVc-houses began to belch forth their inmates, and a mob of about REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 285 thirty individuals, armed, some with stones, and some with guns and pistols,* formed themselves into a line on From the Alton Telegraph, January 2Uh, 1838. *RIOT TRIALS. Contrary to grneral expectation, the persons recently indicted for having participated in the fatal riot of the 7th of November, were brought to trial on Wednesday and Fiiday of last week, and severally acquitted — the assailants and defendants being tried on different days. Our busi- ness engagements having put it out of our power to attend in either case, wc are indebted for the following brief notes of both trials to the polite- ness of two gentlemen present, who have kindly furnished them at our re- quest. " On Wednesday last, our City Court was occupied from half-past nine in the morning until ten at night, in the trial of the cause of the People vs. Enoch Long, T. B. Hurlbut, Wm. Harned, Geo. A. Walworth, A. B. Iloff, Winthrop S. Oilman, James Morss, Jr., George H. Whitney, John S. Noble, Henry Tanner, Royal Welter, and Reuben Gerry, upon an indict- ment for a riot on the memorable night of the Tlh Novemtier last, in defend- inga printingpress then in thepo.ssession of Godfrey, Oilman & Co. The indictment contained two counts; one of which charged the defendants with resisting an attack made by certain person.s unknown, to destroy a printing press, the property of Godfrey and Oilman, and then being in their possession ; the other count charged the defendants with unlawfully defending a certain warehouse — being the property of Godfrey and Oil- man, — against an attempt by certain persons to force open and enter the same. Mr. Davis, one of the counsel for Mr. Oilman, moved for a sepa- rate trial as to Mr. Oilman ; which, after much argument, was granted, upon the condition that the other eleven defendants should stipulate to be tried jointly. .\t this stage of the cause, a petition signed l)y some si.xty citizens was presented to the court, praying that the Hon. U. F. Lindor, Attorney General of the State, might be permitted to assist the City At- torney in the prosecution of the indictment. The court, in answer to the petition, remarked, that it was wholly without its province to interfere with the subject matter of the petition ; inasmuch as the City Attorney alone, could say who should and who should not assist him ; and conse- quently, the court, in discharge of its duty, and with all respect for the petitioners, would be compelled to deny the request ; but that the Attorney General could appear in the cause, if the coimsel for the people and the defendant should so consent. Mr. Davis then arose, and stated to the court, that neither Mr. Oilman nor his counsel had any objection 286 MEMOIR OF THE the south end of the store next the river, knocked and hailed the store. Those within were stationed in difle- whatever to the Attorney General's appearing on behalf of the People. The City Attorney consenting, Mr. Linder appeared in aid of tlie prose- cution. A jury was without much difficulty impanneled ; and the prosecution proceeded in the examination of the testimony, which developed most clearly this whole transaction from its origin down to its lamentable ter- mination. One of the witnesses on the part of the prosecution, H. H. West, Esq. stated, that early in the evening, about dark, a person called upon him, and informed him that, a mob was to be gotten up that nighty with a view of destroying the press then in the warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman & Co., and that the assailants had determined to obtain the press, and destroy it, cither by burning the warehouse, or blowing it up ; that the person giving him the information urged him to go and see Mr. Gilman, and inform him of the fact ; that he, in company with E. Keating, Esq. did repair to the warehouse of Mr. Gilman, where he found a num- ber of individuals assembled, all of whom were armed with muskets ; and that he there stated to Mr. Gilman what he had been told, and the rumour that was current through the town; that Mr. Gilman expressed great astonishment at the information, and could not credit it ; and said he did not expect any attack would be made that evening. Mr. West also stated that the attack commenced on the outside, by throwing a volley of stones at the windows .and doors, and that two gTins were fired from the outside previous to any guns being fired from within. Mr. Keating corroborated in every respect the testimony ot Mr. West, and also testified that the firing of guns commenced on the outside, and at the lime (he first attack was made upon the building. All the w itnesses agreed in this particular ; and the Mayor of the city, in his testimony stated that he saw the assail- ants, when they first went to the warehouse, many of whom were picking up stones as they proceeded towards it, and that one man had a gun. There was one other witness, besides the Mayor, called on behalf of the defendant, who corroborated the statement of the witnesses on tlir part of the prosecution, as lo the attack first being made on the outside with stones and fire-arms, and who stated further, that he was one of the in- dividuals m the building, who had repaired there with a view of dcfoiid- ing it ; that it was well understood and agreed among them, that thoy were in no case to act except upon the defensive ; and that a resort to firearms wa.snot to bn had unless driven to it in the preservation of their lives. He further stated that they all supposed they were acting under the authority of the Mayor. The above i.m ihr substaiuM; of llio tcslinioiiv, both on t]\r part of the REV. E. P. LOVEJOV. 287 rent parts of the building. Mr. Gilman, one of the own- ers of the store, asked them from the garret door, what prosecution and the defence, and which will servo to give the public some idea of the facts developed in the cause, until they shall l)e enahled to see a minute statement of the whole trial, which, we are informed, is now pre- paring — a gentlemen having taken full notes for that purpose— and which will he published in pamphlet form as soon as the circumstances wjll admit of if. The counsel for the defendant then proposed to submit the case without an^umenl to the jury ; which being objected to on tlic part of the prosecution, it was summed up by F. B. Murdoch, City Attorney, Samuel G. Bailey, and U. K. Linder, Attorney General, Esq'rs., on the part of the prosecution, and Geo. T. M. Davis and Alfred Cowles, Esq'rs. on the part of the defendant. No instriiclions being asked for by either .side, the cause was submitted after the argument of counsel without any instructions from his honour the Judge to the jury ; who, after an absence of ten minutes, returned into court the verdict of Not Guilty. The next morning the City Attorney entered a. nolle prosequi as to the other eleven defendants. On Friday, the 19th of January, there came on for trial in the Munici- pal Court of this city, the case of the People against Frederick Bruchey, William Carr, James M. Rock, David Butler, Horace Beall, Levi Palmer, Nutter, Jennings, and others. Two of the defendants had left the cily : the others came in voluntarily, and entered the plea of Not Guilty. The indictment was for riot, and charged that the defend- ants, on the 7th of November, with force and arms, riotously and rout- onsly entered the warehonse of Benjamin Godfrey and Winlhrop .S. Gil- man, and forcibly broke and destroyed a printing press, then and there being, the proper goods and chattels of the said Godfrey and Gilman, contrary to the statute in such case made and provided. An indictment had been found against W'inthrop S. Gilman and others, who had entered the said warehouse to defend the press from threatened destruction by the mob without. That indictment was tried on Wednesday, the 17th day of January, which trial resulted in the acquittance of Mr. Gilman, who was tried separately; after which the City Attorney dismissed the prosecution as to the other defendants, jointly indicted with him. This trial having led to an examination of the whole case, as well of those as- saulting the warehouse, as of those defending it, the members of the jury of the regular pannel had formed opinions in relation to the matter, so as to disqualit'y themselves. It therefore became necessary to select a new jury from the by-standers, for the purpose of trying the last case. On the part of the People, it was proved, that the press had arrived by 288 MEMOIR OF THE they wanted. Their leader, Wilham Carr, replied, "the press." Mr. (lilman then told them that it would steamlKjat a day or two previous to the 7ih of November, consigned to Mr. A. B. Roff; but was landed at Messrs. Godfrey and Oilman's ware- house, where it was stored ; thai said warehouse was built by those gen- tlemen in 1832, and has been since thai time owned and occupied by them, as forwarding and commission merchants ; that on the afternoon of November 7lh, one of the defendants had told the witness, (H. H. We.st, Esq.) that the boys were going to attack the warehouse, and that it would be either blown up or burned, unless the press w.os given up ; and that some of the defendants were in a company of a!)out twenty -five, that formed a line from a certain grocery, swearing that they would have the press at all hazards. It was also proved that two guns or pistols were fired from the outside of the warehouse at those within ; that showers of stones were discharged against the front of the buildmg, bj' which the windows were demolished ; that during the attack a man named Bishop was shot from the inside of the warehouse; that some of the defendants were seen carrying away Jiis body, observing that one of their men had been wounded ; that Mr. Oilman addressed the crowd from the third story of the building, requesting them to desist, and stating that he was defend- ing his property, which he felt il his duty to do at the risk of his life ; that he was replied to by one of tlie defendants, as spokesman for the rest, who observed that they were determined to deslro> the press, if it cost them their lives. Il was also proved by the Mayor, and S. W. Robbins, a Justice of the Peace, that they identified sever.il of the defendants, with arms in their hands, declaring that they would have the press ; that a man was seen going towards the warehouse, with fire in his hands, swearing that he wouhl burn down the buihiing ; that a ladder was set up against the side, and the fire actually communicated to the roof; that at this timr, Mr. West went in with the Mayor, to propose a capitulation, by which it was 8ti()uliited that if those inside would leave the warehouse, and give up the press, they should not be injured, and no other property, except the press, molested ; that the building was accordingly abandoned by Mr. Oilman, and its other defenders, as the only means left them to prevent its destruction, and that of their own lives; that they were fired upon by some of the crowd as they retreated; that upon their leaving the warehouse, it was immediately entered by some of the defendants and others; that the prew was thrown out, and demolished with u sledge hammer, &ic. Thi.i constitutes the sum of the evidence on the part of the prosecu- lion. On the part of the defendants, it was proved bv Mr. tiilman tl.it REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. 289 not be given up, and arlded, " we have no ill feelings to- wards any of you, and should much regret to do you any injury ; but we are authorized by the Mayor to defend our property, and shall do so with our lives." Carr again replied that they had determined to have it even at the sacrifice of their lives, and presented a pistol towards Mr. G., who then retired into the building. The mob then went round to the opposite end of the ware- house, and commenced throwing stones, which soon de- molished several windows. Those in the building had agreed not to fire unless their lives were endangered. After throwing stones for some time, the mob fired two or three guns into the building, without however wound- ing any one. The fire was then returned from within, two or three guns discharged upon the rioters, several of their number wounded, and one by the name of Bishop, mortally. This checked the efforts of the mob and they departed, carrying away those that were wounded. The number is not known as they were concealed by their friends. After a visit to the rum-shops, they returned with ladders and other materials to set fire to the roof of the warehouse, shouting with fearful imprecations and curses, " Burn them out, burn them out " They now kept themselves on the side of the building where there were no windows, so that they could not be annoyed or driven away by those within the building, unless they came out. This of course would be extremely danger- ous, as the night was perfectly clear, and the moon at its he was not the owner of the press, and ha«l no further interest in it, than the liability of himself and partner for its safe-keeping. After argiiment bj- counsel, the case was suhmittod to the jury, who" returned a ver I told him what tlie provisions of the law, in regard to the formation of such companies, were : explained to him tlie mode of proceeding, necessary to be followed in the organization of their company. NOTE. 373 Subsequently to this, I loaned my law books to some one who I understood was to join the company. Mr. Giluian, in an interview shortly after, told me that they iiad organized a company, and had put themselves under the command of Wm. Ilarned : he tendered me the services of the company, and said, that they would at all times hold themselves in readiness to obey any command I might issue. I replied, again thanking him for his readiness to act, so often expressed, and told him whenever the time should come, in which lijhould think the occasion would warrant me to call for their services, I should unhesitatingly do it. On the night of the sixth, or rather on the morning of the seventh of November last, at about three o'clock, Mr. Oilman and Mr. Roff came to my room and called me up. They stated that the press was coming — that the boat was in sight, coming up the river, and that Mr. Moore was upon the boat and had charge of the press ; that arrangements had been made to have it safely landed and stored that night, and they requested me to go down, and be present at its landing ; so that, in case of difficulty or distur])ance, I might be there to suppress it. I got up, dressed as (juickly as I could, and wont down to the river. I stood at Mr. Gilman's warehouse while the boat was Rearing, and till she landed. I did not go on board, I think. The hands of the boat put the press on shore, and removed it into the warehouse. I think I did not have conversation with any one but Mr. Oilman at this time. After the press was stored, I went up into the warehouse. I found some twenty or thirty people assembled : they were all armed, and again offer- ed me their services in aid of the laws. I told them, as I had repeatedly before, that at the time I did not see any occasion for their services, but that if occasion should arise, when their services should be needed by me, I should not only call for but should expect to receive their assistance. On the sixth, Mr. Oilman called upon me at my oflice, he introduced, as matter of consideration, the subject of the rights of citizens to defend their property. We had a long conversation, I gave him my opinion upon the subject, I think I read the law, and explained to hira its principles, I do not know whether he asked my ad- 32 374 NOTE. vice as mayor, as lawyer, or as a friend and citizen. I did not consider that I was then advising him as Mayor. In the course of our conversation we spoke of our nmnicipal regulations, I told him I thought they were exceedingly deficient, and I be- lieve I mentioned in what particulars. He a^kcd nje if I would appoint special constables, said he apprehended danger to his property. I told iiim that I had no authority to make any such appointment, that I would cheerfully do all I could, — that the Council would meet that day, and that at their meeting I would lay the whole matter before them. When the Council met, I did make the application, but I did not recommend in terms the appointment of such officers. I left the whole matter to the action of the Board. I was absent at the next meeting of the Council, when the records were read or I should have no- ticed the mistake in the record, and had it corrected. On the evening of the 7th of November last, Mr. Gihnan and Mr. Chappell called at my office. They told me they ap- prehended an attack would be made upon the warehouse, as they had understood the mob were determined to destroy the press ; that a number of armed men had assembled and were then in the building for the purpose of defending it ; and that they had come to the resolution of remaining there, and de- fending it at all hazards. They asked me what I thought of their determination. They spoke of the rumors they had heard in regard to the determination of the mob to destroy the press. At that time, all was quiet in the city, so fur as I know, and I had but a little while before been hi the streets, and ob- served nothing which led me to suppose an attack was in<'dita- ted. I did not believe an attack would be made. I had exerted myself tliat day, as much as I was able, and luul endouvoured to get all the information which was possible. People seemed to shun me, and were very reluctant to communicate with me at all, and I could succeed in getting no information, which should have induced me to believe any design to destroy the press was meditated. Mr. Oilman asked me what I thought of the armed men who were in the building, remaining there for the purpose of defending their proix;rty. I told him, in my opinion they had an undoubted right to be there ; that they might rightfully remain there, and that they would be justified NOTE. 375 in defending" their property. 1 did not understand them as making- this application for advice to me, as Mayor. Mr. Gil- man stated to me that they were well prepared with arms, — that they should remain there during the night, — that they were fully determined to defend the press, and the building, — and that if the attack, which they apprehended, was made, they wished it to be understood that their services would be ready to execute any order they might receive from any civil orticer. 1 replied to them, that, if the emergency should re- fjuire the aid of armed men, I should not hesitate a moment in coinmauding the men who were assembled there to suppress the riot, hut that 1 should be the sole judge of such an emer- gency. He repeatedly asked me what I thi)Uom»on Kam Llov« CrantMny TotmaNp. PA teOM (/24)77»-2111