.Y-' 
 
 
 ^. 
 
 ^: ^f 
 
 ^ /^^^'v.. ^... j'^ y. 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 SLAVERY AND ABOLITIONISM, 
 
 WITH REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 DUTY OF AMERICAN FEMALES. 
 
 BY CATHARINE E. t^EECHEE. 
 
 HENRY PERKINS, 134 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 PERKINS & MARVIN, BOSTON. 
 
 1837. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congresa, in the year 1837, by 
 Henry Perkins, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the 
 Eastern District of Pettnsylyania. 
 
 IN EXCHANGK 
 Ooiueli Uaiv. 
 
 r. ASHMEAD AND CO. PRINTERS. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following are the circumstances which 
 occasioned the succeeding pages. A gentle- 
 man and a friend, requested the writer to 
 assign reasons why he should not join the 
 Abolition Society. While preparing a reply 
 to this request, Miss Grimke's Address was 
 presented, and the information communi- 
 cated, of her intention to visit the North, for 
 the purpose of using her influence among 
 northern ladies to induce them to unite with 
 Abolition Societies. The writer then began 
 a private letter to Miss Grimke as a personal 
 friend. But by the wishes and advice of 
 others, these two efforts were finally com- 
 bined in the following Essay, to be presented 
 to the public. 
 
The honoured and beloved name which 
 that lady bears, so associated as it is at the 
 South, North, and West, with all that is ele- 
 gant in a scholar, refined in a gentleman, 
 and elevated in a Christian, — the respectable 
 sect with which she is connected, — the in- 
 teresting effusions of her pen, — and her own 
 intellectual and moral worth, must secure 
 respect for her opinions and much personal 
 influence. This seems to be a sufficient 
 apology for presenting to the public some 
 considerations in connexion with her name ; 
 considerations which may exhibit in another 
 aspect the cause she advocates, and which it 
 may be appropriate to consider. As such, 
 they are respectfully commended to the pub- 
 lic, and especially to that portion of it for 
 which they are particularly designed. 
 
ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 SLAVERY AND ABOLITIONISM. 
 
 Addressed to Miss A. D. Grimke. 
 
 My dear Friend, 
 
 Your public address to Christian females 
 at the South has reached me, and I have 
 been urged to aid in circulating it at the 
 North. I have also been informed, that you 
 contemplate a tour, during the ensuing year, 
 for the purpose of exerting your influence to 
 form Abolition Societies among ladies of the 
 non-slave-holding States. 
 
 Our acquaintance and friendship give me 
 a claim to your private ear; but there are 
 reasons why it seems more desirable to ad- 
 dress you, who now stand before the public 
 a2 
 
6 
 
 as an advocate of Abolition measures, in a 
 more public manner. 
 
 The object I have in View, is to present 
 some reasons why it seems unwise and inex- 
 pedient for ladies of the non-slave-holding 
 States to unite themselves in Abolition Socie- 
 ties ; and thus, at the same time, to exhibit 
 the inexpediency of the course you propose 
 to adopt. 
 
 I would first remark, that your public ad- 
 dress leads me to infer, that you are not suf- 
 ficiently informed in regard to the feelings 
 and opinions of Christian females at the 
 North. Your remarks seem to assume, that 
 the principles held by Abolitionists on the 
 subject of slavery, are peculiar to them, and 
 are not generally adopted by those at the 
 North who oppose their measures. In this 
 you are not correctly informed. In the sense 
 in which Abolitionists explain the terms they 
 employ, there is little, if any, difference be- 
 tween them and most northern persons. 
 Especially is this true of northern persons of 
 religious principles. I know not where to 
 look for northern Christians, who would deny 
 
that every slave-holder is bound to treat his 
 slaves exactly as he w^OLild claim that his own 
 children ought to be treated in similar circum- 
 stances ; that the holding of our fellow men 
 as property, or the withholding any of the 
 rights of freedom, for mere purposes of gain, 
 is a sin, and ought to be immediately aban- 
 doned ; and that where the laws are such, 
 that a slave-holder cannot /eg«//?/ emancipate 
 his slaves, without throwing them into worse 
 bondage, he is bound to use all his influence 
 to alter those laws, and, in the meantime, to 
 treat his slaves, as nearly as he can, as if 
 they were free. 
 
 I do not suppose there is one person in a 
 thousand, at the North, who would dissent 
 from these principles. They would only dif- 
 fer in the use of terms, and call this the doc- 
 trine of gradual emancipation, while Aboli- 
 tionists would call it the doctrine of immediate 
 emancipation. 
 
 As this is the state of pubhc opinion at the 
 North, there is no necessity for using any 
 influence with northern ladies, in order that 
 they may adopt your principles on the sub- 
 
ject of slavery ; for they hold them in com- 
 mon with yourself, and it would seem unwise, 
 and might prove irritating, to approach them 
 as if they held opposite sentiments. 
 
 In regard to the duty of making efforts to 
 bring the people of the Southern States to 
 adopt these principles, and act on them, it is 
 entirely another matter. On this point you 
 would find a large majority opposed to your 
 views. Most persons in the non-slave-hold- 
 ing States have considered the matter of 
 Southern slavery, as one in which they were 
 no more called to interfere, than in the aboli- 
 tion of the press-gang system in England, or 
 the tythe system of Ireland. Public opinion 
 may have been wrong on this point, and yet 
 have been right on all those great principles 
 of rectitude and justice relating to slavery, 
 which Abolitionists claim as their distinctive 
 peculiarities. 
 
 The distinctive peculiarity of the Abolition 
 Society is this: it is a voluntary association 
 in one section of the country, designed to 
 awaken public sentiment against a moral evil 
 existing in another section of the country, 
 
9 
 
 and the principa] point of effort seems to be, 
 to enlarge the numbers of this association as 
 a means of influencing public sentiment. 
 The principal object of your proposed tour, 
 I suppose, is to present facts, arguments, and 
 persuasions to influence northern ladies to 
 enrol themselves as members of this associa- 
 tion. 
 
 I will therefore proceed to present some of 
 the reasons which may be brought against 
 such a measure as the one you w^ould urge. 
 
 In the first place, the main principle of ac- 
 tion in that society rests wholly on a false 
 deduction from past experience. Experience 
 has shown, that when certain moral evils 
 exist in a community, efforts to awaken pub- 
 lic sentiment against such practices, and 
 combinations for the exercise of personal in- 
 fluence and example, have in various cases 
 tended to rectify these evils. Thus in respect 
 to intemperance ; — the collecting of facts, the 
 labours of public lecturers and the distribution 
 of publications, have had much effect in 
 diminishing the evil. So in reference to the 
 slave-trade and slavery in England. The 
 
10 
 
 English nation possessed the power of regu- 
 lating their own trade, and of giving Hberty 
 to every slave in their dominions ; and yet 
 they were entirely unmindful of their duty 
 on this subject. Clarkson, Wilberforce, and 
 their coadjutors, commenced a system of 
 operations to arouse and influence pubHc 
 sentiment, and they succeeded in securing 
 the suppression of the slave trade, and the 
 gradual abolition of slavery in the English 
 colonies. In both these cases, the effort was 
 to enlighten and direct public sentiment in a 
 community, of which the actors were a por- 
 tion, in order to lead them to rectify an evil 
 existing among themselves, which was en- 
 tirely under their control. 
 
 From the success of such efforts, the Abo- 
 litionists of this country have drawn in- 
 ferences, which appear to be not only illogi- 
 cal, but false. Because individuals in their 
 OHM community have aroused their fellow 
 citizens to correct their own evils, therefore 
 they infer that attempts to convince their 
 fellow-citizens of the faults of another com- 
 munity will lead that community to forsake 
 
11 
 
 their evil practices. An example will more 
 clearly illustrate the case. Suppose two rival 
 cities, which have always been in competi- 
 tion, and always jealous of each other's re- 
 putation and prosperity. Certain individuals 
 in one of these cities become convinced, that 
 the sin of intemperance is destroying their 
 prosperity and domestic happiness. They 
 proceed to collect facts, they arrange statis- 
 tics, they call pubhc meetings, they form 
 voluntary associations, they use arguments, 
 entreaties and personal example, and by 
 these means they arrest the evil. 
 
 Suppose another set of men, in this same 
 community, become convinced that certain 
 practices in trade and business in the rival 
 city, are dishonest, and have an oppressive 
 bearing on certain classes in that city, and 
 are injurious to the interests of general com- 
 merce. Suppose also, that these are prac- 
 tices, which, by those who allow them, are 
 considered as honourable and right. Those 
 who are convinced of their immorality, wish 
 to alter the opinions and the practices of the 
 citizens of their rival city, and to do this. 
 
12 
 
 they commence the collection of facts, that 
 exhibit the tendencies of these practices and 
 the evils they have engendered. But instead 
 of going among the community in v^hich the 
 evils exist, and endeavouring to convince and 
 persuade them, they proceed to form volun- 
 tary associations among their neighbours at 
 home, and spend their time, money and ef- 
 forts to convince their fellow citizens that the 
 inhabitants of their rival city are guilty of a 
 great sin. They also publish papers and 
 tracts and send out agents, not to the guilty 
 city, but to all the neighbouring tov^ns and 
 villages, to convince them of the sins of the 
 city in their vicinity. And they claim that 
 they shall succeed in making that city break 
 off its sins, by these measures, because other 
 men succeeded in banishing intemperance by 
 labouring among their own friends and fel- 
 low citizens. Is not this example exactly 
 parallel with the exertions of the Abolition- 
 ists ? Are not the northern and southern sec- 
 tions of our country distinct communities, 
 with different feelings and interests? Are 
 they not rival, and jealous in feeling ? Have 
 the northern States the power to rectify evils 
 
13 
 
 at the South, as they have to remove their 
 own moral deformities; or have they any 
 such power over the southern States as the 
 British people had over their own trade 
 and their dependent colonies in the West In- 
 dies 1 Have not Abolitionists been sending 
 out papers, tracts, and agents to convince 
 the people of the North of the sins of the 
 South? Have they not refrained from going 
 to the South with their facts, arguments, and 
 appeals, because they feared personal evils 
 to themselves? And do not Abolitionists 
 found their hopes of success in their project, 
 on the success which crowned the efforts of 
 British philanthropists in the case of slavery, 
 and on the success that has attended efforts to 
 banish intemperance ? And do not these two 
 cases differ entirely from the Abolition move- 
 ment in this main point, that one is an effort 
 to convince men of thew own sins, and the 
 other is an effort to convince men of the sins 
 of other persons ? 
 
 The second reason I would urge against 
 joining the Abolition Society is, that its cha- 
 racter and measures are not either peaceful 
 
 B 
 
14 
 
 or Christian in tendency, but they rather are 
 those which tend to generate party spirit, 
 denunciation, recrimination, and angry pas- 
 sions. 
 
 But before bringing evidence to sustain 
 this position, I wish to make a distinction 
 between the men who constitute an associa- 
 tion, and the measures which are advocated 
 and adopted. 
 
 I beheve, that as a body. Abolitionists are 
 men of pure morals, of great honesty of pur- 
 pose, of real benevolence and piety, and of 
 great activity in efforts to promote what they 
 consider the best interests of their fellow 
 men. I believe, that, in making efforts to 
 abolish slavery, they have taken measures, 
 which they supposed w^ere best calculated to 
 bring this evil to an end, with the greatest 
 speed, and with the least danger and suffer- 
 ing to the South. I do not believe they ever 
 designed to promote disunion, or insurrec- 
 tion, or to stir up strife, or that they suppose 
 that their measures can be justly character- 
 ized by the peculiarities I have specified. I 
 believe they have been urged forward by a 
 
15 
 
 strong feeling of patriotism, as well as of re- 
 ligious duty, and that they have naade great 
 sacrifices of feeling, character, time, and 
 money to promote what they believed to be 
 the cause of humanity and the service of 
 God. I regard individuals among them, as 
 having taken a bold and courageous stand, 
 in maintaining the liberty of free discussion, 
 the liberty of speech and of the press ; though 
 this however is somewhat abated by the 
 needless provocations by which they caused 
 those difficulties and hazards they so cou- 
 rageously sustained. In speaking thus of 
 Abolitionists as a body, it is not assumed that 
 there are not bad men found in this party as 
 well as in every other ; nor that among those 
 who are good men, there are not those who 
 may have allowed party spirit to take the 
 place of Christian principle ; men who have 
 exhibited a mournful destitution of Christian 
 charity ; who have indulged in an overbear- 
 ing, denouncing, and self-willed pertinacity! 
 as to measures. Yet with these reservations, 
 I believe that the above is no more than a 
 fair and just exhibition of that class of men 
 
16 
 
 who are embraced in the party of AboUtion- 
 ists. And all this can be allowed, and yet 
 the objection I am to urge against joining 
 their ranks may stand in its full force. 
 
 To make the position clearer, an illustra- 
 tion may be allowed. Suppose a body of 
 good men become convinced that the in- 
 spired direction, " them that sin, rebuke be- 
 fore all, that others may fear," imposes upon 
 them the duty of openly rebuking every body 
 whom they discover in the practice of any 
 sin. Suppose these men are daily in the 
 habit of going into the streets, and calling all 
 by-standers around them, pointing out cer- 
 tain men, some as liars, some as dishonest, 
 some as licentious, and then bringing proofs 
 of their guilt and rebuking them before all ; at 
 the same time exhorting all around to point 
 at them the finger of scorn. 
 
 They persevere in this course till the whole 
 community is thrown into an uproar; and 
 assaults, and even bloodshed ensue. They 
 then call on all good citizens to protect their 
 persons from abuse, and to maintain the 
 hberty of speech and of free opinion. 
 
17 
 
 Now the men may be as pure in morals, 
 as conscientious and upright in intention, as 
 any Abolitionist, and yet every one would 
 say, that their measures were unwise and 
 unchristian. 
 
 In like manner, although Abolitionists may 
 be lauded for many virtues, still much evi- 
 dence can be presented, that the character 
 and measures of the Abolition Society are 
 not either peaceful or christian in tendency, 
 but that they are in their nature calculated 
 to generate party spirit, denunciation, re- 
 crimination, and angry passions. 
 
 The first thing I would present to establish 
 this, is the character of the leaders of this 
 association. Every combined effort is ne- 
 cessarily directed by leaders ; and the spirit 
 of the leaders will inevitably be communi- 
 cated to their coadjutors, and appear in the 
 measures of the whole body. 
 
 In attempting to characterize these leaders, 
 I would first present another leader of a simi- 
 lar enterprise, the beloved and venerated 
 WiLBERFORCE. It is thus that his prominent 
 traits are delineated by an intimate friend. 
 b2 
 
18 
 
 " His extreme benevolence contributed 
 largely to his success. I have heard him 
 say, that it was one of his constant rules, 
 and on the question of slavery especially, 
 never to provoke an adversary — to allow 
 him credit fully for sincerity and purity of 
 motive — to abstain from all irritating expres- 
 sions — to avoid even such political attacks 
 as would indispose his opponents for his 
 great cause. In fact, the benignity, the gen- 
 tleness, the kind-heartedness of the man, dis- 
 armed the bitterest foes. Not only on this 
 question did he restrain himself, but general- 
 ly. Once he had been called during a whole 
 debate ' the religious member,' in a kind of 
 scorn. He remarked afterwards, that he was 
 much inclined to have retorted, by calling 
 his opponent the irreligious member, but that 
 he refrained, as it would have been a return- 
 ing of evil for evil. Next to his general con- 
 sistency, and love of the Scriptures, the 
 humility of his character always appeared 
 remarkable. The modest, shrinking, simple 
 Christian statesman and friend always ap- 
 peared in him. And the nearer you ap- 
 
19 
 
 proached him, the more his habit of mind 
 obviously appeared to be modest and lowly. 
 His charity in judging of others, is a farther 
 trait of his Christian character. Of his bene- 
 volence I need not speak, but his kind con- 
 struction of doubtful actions, his charitable 
 language toward those with whom he most 
 "widely differed, his thorough forgetfulness of 
 little affronts, were fruits of that general 
 benevolence which continually appeared." 
 
 This was the leader, both in and out of 
 Parliament, of that body of men who com- 
 bined to bring to an end slavery and the 
 slave trade, in the dominions of Great Bri- 
 tain. With him, as principal leaders, were 
 associated Clarkson, Sharpe, Macauley, and 
 others of a similar spirit. These men were 
 all of them characterized by that mild, bene- 
 volent, peaceful, gentlemanly and forbearing 
 spirit, which has been described as so con- 
 spicuous in Wilberforce. And when their 
 measures are examined, it will be found that 
 they were eminently mild, peaceful, and for- 
 bearing. Though no effort that is to encoun- 
 ter the selfish interests of men, can escape 
 
20 
 
 without odium and opposition, from those 
 who are thwarted, and from all whom they 
 can influence, these men carefully took those 
 measures that were calculated to bring about 
 their end with the least opposition and evil 
 possible. They avoided prejudices, strove 
 to conciliate opposers, shunned every thing 
 that would give needless offence and exas- 
 peration, began slowly and cautiously, with 
 points which could be the most easily car- 
 ried, and advanced toward others only as 
 public sentiment became more and more 
 enlightened. They did not beard the lion in 
 full face, by coming out as the first thing with 
 the maxim, that all slavery ought and must 
 be abandoned immediately. They began 
 with " inquiries as to the impolicy of the slave 
 trade,^^ and it was years before they came to 
 the point of the abolition of slavery. And 
 they carried their measures through, without 
 producing warring parties among good men^ 
 who held common principles with themselves. 
 As a general fact, the pious men of Great 
 Britain acted harmoniously in this great 
 effort. 
 
21 
 
 Let us now look at the leaders of the Abo- 
 lition movement in America. The man who 
 first took the lead was William L. Garri- 
 son, who, though he professes a belief in 
 the Christian religion, is an avowed opponent 
 of most of its institutions. The character 
 and spirit of this man have for years been 
 exhibited in " the Liberator," of which he is 
 the editor. That there is to be found in that 
 paper, or in any thing else, any evidence of 
 his possessing the peculiar traits of Wilber- 
 force, not even his warmest admirers will 
 maintain. How many of the opposite traits 
 can be found, those can best judge who have 
 read his paper. Gradually others joined 
 themselves in the effort commenced by Gar- 
 rison ; but for a long time they consisted 
 chiefly of men who would fall into one of 
 these three classes ; either good men who 
 were so excited by a knowledge of the enor- 
 mous evils of slavery, that any thing was 
 considered better than entire inactivity, or 
 else men accustomed to a contracted field of 
 observation, and more qualified to judge of 
 immediate results than of general tendencies, 
 
22 
 
 or else men of ardent and impulsive tem- 
 perament, whose feelings are likely to take 
 the lead, rather than their judgment. 
 
 There are no men who act more efficiently 
 as the leaders of an enterprise than the edi- 
 tors of the periodicals that advocate and de- 
 fend it. The editors of the Emancipator, the 
 Friend of Man, the New York Evangelist, 
 and the other abolition periodicals, may 
 therefore be considered as among the chief 
 leaders of the enterprise, and their papers 
 are the mirror from which their spirit and 
 character are reflected. 
 
 I wish the friends of these editors would 
 cull from their papers all the indications they 
 can find of the peculiarities that distinguished 
 Wilberforce and his associates ; all the evi- 
 dence of " a modest and lowly spirit," — all 
 the exhibitions of " charity in judging of the 
 motives of those who oppose their measures," 
 — all the " indications of benignity, gentle- 
 ness, and kind-heartedness," — all the " kind 
 constructions of doubtful actions," — all the 
 " charitable lanci^uaffe used toward those 
 who difl^er in opinion or measures," — all the 
 
23 
 
 *' thorough forgetfulness of little atfronts,'^-^ 
 all the cases where " opponents are allowed 
 full credit for purity and sincerity of motive," 
 — -all cases where they have been careful 
 " never to provoke an adversary," — all cases 
 where they have " refrained from all irritat- 
 ing expressions,"— all cases where they have 
 avoided every thing that would " indispose 
 their opponents for their great cause," and 
 then compare the result with what may be 
 found of an opposite character, and I think it 
 would not be unsafe to infer that an associa- 
 tion whose measures, on an exciting subject, 
 were guided by such men, would be more 
 likely to be aggressive than peaceful. The 
 position I would establish will appear more 
 clearly, by examining in detail some of the 
 prominent measures which have been adopt- 
 ed by this association. 
 
 One of the first measures of Abohtionists 
 was an attack on a benevolent society, origi- 
 nated and sustained by some of the most pious 
 and devoted men of the age. It was imagined 
 by Abolitionists, that the influence and mea- 
 sures of the Colonization Society tended to 
 
24 
 
 retard the abolition of slavery, and to perpe- 
 tuate injurious prejudices against the coloured 
 race. The peaceful and christian method of 
 meeting this difficulty would have been, to 
 collect all the evidence of this supposed hurt- 
 ful tendency, and privately, and in a respect- 
 ful and conciliating way, to have presented it 
 to the attention of the wise and benevolent 
 men, who were most interested in sustaining 
 this institution. If this measure did not avail 
 to convince them, then it would have been 
 safe and justifiable to present to the public a 
 temperate statement of facts, and of the de- 
 ductions based on them, drawn up in a re- 
 spectful and candid manner, with every cha- 
 ritable allowance which truth could warrant. 
 Instead of this, when the attempt was first 
 made to turn public opinion against the Colo- 
 nization Society, I met one of the most influ- 
 ential supporters of that institution, just after 
 he had had an interview with a leading Abo- 
 litionist. This gentleman was most remark- 
 able for his urbanity, meekness, and benevo- 
 lence, and his remark to me in reference to 
 this interview, shows what was it.-^ nature. 
 
25 
 
 "I love truth and sound argument," said he,- 
 "but when a man comes at me with a sledge 
 hammer, I cannot help dodging." This is a 
 specimen of their private manner of dealing. 
 In public, the enterprise was attacked as a 
 plan for promoting the selfish interests and 
 prejudices of the whites, at the expense of the 
 coloured population; and in many cases, it 
 was assumed that the conductors of this asso- 
 ciation were aware of this, and accessory to 
 it. And the style in which the thing was 
 done was at once offensive, inflammatory, and 
 exasperating. Denunciation, sneers, and pub- 
 lic rebuke, were bestowed indiscriminately 
 upon the conductors of the enterprise, and of 
 course they fell upon many sincere, upright, 
 and conscientious men, whose feehngs were 
 harrowed by a sense of the injustice, the in- 
 decorum, and the unchristian treatment, they 
 received. And when a temporary impression 
 was made on the public mind, and its oppo- 
 nents supposed they had succeeded in crush- 
 ing this society, the most public and triumph- 
 ant exultation was not repressed. Compare 
 this method of carrying a point, with that 
 c 
 
26 
 
 adopted by Wilberforce and his compeers^ 
 and I think you will allow that there was a 
 way that was peaceful and christian, and 
 that this was not the way which was chosen. 
 
 The next measure of Abolitionism was an 
 attempt to remove the prejudices of the w^hites 
 against the blacks, on account of natural pe- 
 culiarities. Now, prejudice is an unreasona- 
 hie and groundless dislike of persons or things. 
 Of course, as it is unreasonable, it is the most 
 difficult of all things to conquer, and the worst 
 and most irritating method that could be at- 
 tempted would be, to attack a man as guilty 
 of sin, as unreasonable, as ungenerous, or as 
 proud, for allowing a certain prejudice. 
 
 This is the sure way to produce anger, self- 
 justification, and an increase of the strength 
 of prejudice, against that which has caused 
 him this rebuke and irritation. 
 
 The best way to make a person like a thing 
 which is disagreeable, is to try in some w^ay 
 to make it agreeable; and if a certain class 
 of persons is the subject of unreasonable pre- 
 judice, the peaceful and christian way of re- 
 moving it would be to endeavour to render 
 
27 
 
 the unfortunate persons who compose this 
 class, so useful, so humble and unassuming, 
 so kind in their feelings, and so full of love 
 and good works, that prejudice would be sup- 
 planted by complacency in their goodness, 
 and pity and sympathy for their disabilities. 
 If the friends of the blacks had quietly set 
 themselves to work to increase their intelli- 
 gence, their usefulness, their respectability, 
 their meekness, gentleness, and benevolence, 
 and then had appealed to the pity, generosity, 
 and christian feelings of their fellow citizens, 
 a very different result would have appeared. 
 Instead of this, reproaches, rebukes, and 
 sneers, were employed to convince the whites 
 that their prejudices were sinful, and without 
 any just cause. They were accused of pride, 
 of selfish indifference, of unchristian neglect. 
 This tended to irritate the whites, and to in- 
 crease their prejudice against the blacks, who 
 thus were made the causes of rebuke and 
 exasperation. Then, on the other hand, the 
 blacks extensively received the Liberator, 
 and learned to imbibe the spirit of its con- 
 ductor. 
 
28 
 
 They were taught to feel that they were 
 injured and abused, the objects of a guiUy and 
 unreasonable prejudice — that they occupied 
 a lower place in society than was right — 
 that they ought to be treated as if they 
 were whites; and in repeated instances, at- 
 tempts were made by their friends to mingle 
 them with whites, so as to break down the 
 existing distinctions of society. Now, the 
 question is not, w^hether these things, that 
 were urged by Abolitionists, were true. The 
 thing maintained is, that the method taken by 
 them to remove this prejudice was neither 
 peaceful nor christian in its tendency, but, on 
 the contrary, was calculated to increase the 
 evil, and to generate anger, pride, and recri- 
 mination, on one side, and envy, discontent, 
 and revengeful feelings, on the other. 
 
 These are some of the general measures 
 which have been exhibited in the Abolition 
 movement. The same peculiarities may be as 
 distinctly seen in specific cases, where the 
 peaceful and quiet way of accomplishing the 
 good was neglected, and the one most calcu- 
 lated to excite wrath and strife was chosen. 
 
29 
 
 Take, for example, the effort to establish a 
 college for coloured persons. The quiet, 
 peaceful, and christian way of doing such a 
 thing, would have been, for those who were 
 interested in the plan, to furnish the money 
 necessary, and then to have selected a retired 
 place, where there would be the least preju- 
 dice and opposition to be met, and there, in an 
 unostentatious way, commenced the educa- 
 tion of the youth to be thus sustained. In- 
 stead of this, at a time when the public mind 
 was excited on the subject, it was noised 
 abroad that a college for blacks was to be 
 founded. Then a city was selected for its 
 location, where was another college, so large 
 as to demand constant effort and vigilance to 
 preserve quiet subordination; where contests 
 with " sailors and town boys" were barely 
 kept at bay; a college embracing a large 
 proportion of southern students, who were 
 highly excited on the subject of slavery and 
 emancipation; a college where half the shoe- 
 blacks and waiters were coloured men. Be- 
 side the very walls of this college, it was pro- 
 posed to found a college for coloured young 
 c 2 
 
30 
 
 men. Could it be otherwise than that oppo- 
 sition, and that for the best of reasons, would 
 arise against such an attempt, both from the 
 faculty of the college and the citizens of the 
 place? Could it be reasonably expected that 
 they would not oppose a measure so calcu- 
 lated to increase their own difficulties and 
 liabilities, and at the same time so certain to 
 place the proposed institution in the most un- 
 favourable of all circumstances? But when 
 the measure was opposed, instead of yielding 
 meekly and peaceably to such reasonable ob- 
 jections, and soothing the feelings and appre- 
 hensions that had been excited, by putting the 
 best construction on the matter, and seeking 
 another place, it was claimed as an evidence 
 of opposition to the interests of the blacks, 
 and as a mark of the force of sinful prejudice. 
 The worst, rather than the best, motives were 
 ascribed to some of the most respectable, and 
 venerated, and pious men, who opposed the 
 measure ; and a great deal was said and done 
 that was calculated to throw the community 
 into an angry ferment. 
 
 Take another example. If a prudent and 
 
31. 
 
 benevolent female had selected almost any 
 village in New England, and commenced a 
 school for coloured females, in a quiet, appro- 
 priate, and unostentatious way, the world 
 would never have heard of the case, except 
 to applaud her benevolence, and the kindness 
 of the villagers, who aided her in the effort. 
 But instead of this, there appeared public ad- 
 vertisements, (which I saw at the time,) stat- 
 ing that a seminary for the education of 
 young ladies of colour was to be opened in 
 Canterbury, in the state of Connecticut, where 
 would be taught music on the piano forte, 
 drawing, &c., together with a course of Eng- 
 lish education. Now, there are not a dozen 
 coloured families in New England, in such 
 pecuniary circumstances, that if they were 
 whites it would not be thought ridiculous to 
 attempt to give their daughters such a course 
 of education, and Canterbury was a place 
 where but few of the wealthiest families ever 
 thought of furnishing such accomplishments 
 for their children. Several other particulars 
 might be added that were exceedingly irri- 
 tating, but this may serve as a specimen of 
 
the method in which the whole affair was 
 conducted. It was an entire disregard of the 
 prejudices and the proprieties of society, and 
 calculated to stimulate pride, anger, ill-will, 
 contention, and all the bitter feehngs that 
 spring from such collisions. Then, instead 
 of adopting measures to soothe and conciliate, 
 rebukes, sneers and denunciations, were em- 
 ployed, and Canterbury and Connecticut were 
 held up to public scorn and rebuke for doing 
 what most other communities would proba- 
 bly have done, if similarly tempted and pro- 
 voked. 
 
 Take another case. It was deemed expe- 
 dient by Abolitionists to establish an Abolition 
 paper, first in Kentucky, a slave State. It 
 was driven from that State, either by violence 
 or by threats. It retreated to Ohio, one of 
 the free States. In selecting a place for its 
 location, it might have been established in a 
 small place, where the people were of similar 
 views, or were not exposed to dangerous po- 
 pular excitements. But Cincinnati was se- 
 lected; and when the most intelligent, the 
 most reasonable, and the most patriotic of 
 
33 
 
 the citizens remonstrated, — when tliey repre- 
 sented that there were peculiar and unusual 
 liabilities to popular excitement on this sub- 
 ject, — that the organization and powder of the 
 police made it extremely dangerous to excite 
 a mob, and almost impossible to control it, — 
 that all the good aimed at could be accom- 
 plished by locating the press in another place, 
 •where there were not such dangerous liabi- 
 lities, — when they kindly and respectfully 
 urged these considerations, they were disre- 
 garded. I myself w^as present when a sincere 
 friend urged upon the one who controlled that 
 paper, the obligations of good men, not merely 
 to avoid breaking wholesome laws them- 
 selves, but the duty of regarding the liabilities 
 of others to temptation; and that where Chris- 
 tians could foresee that by placing certain 
 temptations in the way of their fellows-men, 
 all the probabilities were, that they would 
 yield, and yet persisted in doing it, the tempt- 
 ers became partakers in the guilt of those who 
 yielded to the temptation. But these remon- 
 strances were ineffectual. The paper must 
 not only be printed and circulated, but it must 
 
34 
 
 be stationed where were the greatest proba- 
 bilities that measures of illegal violence would 
 ensue. And when the evil was perpetrated, 
 and a mob destroyed the press, then those 
 who had urged on these measures of tempta- 
 tion, turned upon those who had advised and 
 remonstrated, as the guilty authors of the 
 violence, because, in a season of excitement, 
 the measures adopted to restrain and control 
 the mob, were not such as were deemed suit-' 
 able and right. 
 
 Now, in all the above cases, I would by no 
 means justify the wrong or the injudicious 
 measures that may have been pursued, un- 
 der this course of provocation. The great- 
 ness of temptation does by no means release 
 men from obligation; but Christians are 
 bound to I'cmember that it is a certain 
 consequence of throwing men into strong 
 excitement, that they will act unwisely and 
 wrong, and that the tempter as well as the 
 tempted are held responsible, both by God 
 and man. In all these cases, it cannot but 
 appear that the good aimed at might have 
 been accomplished in a quiet, peaceable, and 
 
35 
 
 christian way, and that this was not the way 
 which was chosen. 
 
 The whole system of Abolition measures 
 seems to leave entirely out of view, the obli- 
 gation of Christians to save their fellow men 
 from all needless temptations. If the thing to 
 be done is only lawful and right, it does not 
 appear to have been a matter of effort to do 
 it in such a way as would not provoke and 
 irritate; but often, if the chief aim had been 
 to do the good in the most injurious and of- 
 fensive way, no more certain and appropriate 
 methods could have been devised. 
 
 So much has this been the character of 
 Abolition movements, that many have sup- 
 posed it to be a deliberate and systematized 
 plan of the leaders to do nothing but what w^as 
 strictly a right guaranteed by law, and yet, 
 in such a manner, as to provoke nren to anger, 
 so that unjust and illegal acts might, ensue, 
 knowing, that as a consequence, the opposers 
 of Abolition would be thrown into the wrong, 
 and sympathy be aroused for Abolitionists as 
 injured and persecuted men. It is a fact, 
 that Abolitionists have taken the course most 
 
36 
 
 calculated to awaken illegal acts of violence, 
 and that when they have ensued, they have 
 seemed to rejoice in them, as calculated to ad- 
 vance and strengthen their cause. The vio- 
 lence of mobs, the denunciations and unrea- 
 sonable requirements of the South, the denial 
 of the right of petition, the restrictions attempt- 
 ed to be laid upon freedom of speech, and free- 
 dom of tlie press, are generally spoken of with 
 exultation by Abolitionists, as what are among 
 the chief means of promoting their cause. It 
 is not so much by exciting feeUn^s of pity and 
 humanity, and Christian love, towards the op- 
 pressed, as it is by awakening indignation at 
 the treatment of Abolitionists themselves, that 
 their cause has prospered. How many men 
 have declared or implied, that in joining the 
 ranks of Abolition, they were influenced, not 
 by their arguments, or by the wisdom of their 
 course, but because the violence of opposers 
 had identified that cause with the question of 
 freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and 
 civil liberty. 
 
 But when I say that many have supposed 
 that it was the deliberate intention of the Abo- 
 
37 
 
 litionists to foment illegal acts and violence, 
 I would by no means justify a supposition, 
 which is contrary to the dictates of justice and 
 charity. The leaders of the Abolition Society 
 disclaim all such wishes or intentions ; they 
 only act apparently on the assumption that 
 they are exercising just rights, which they are 
 not bound to give up, because other men will 
 act unreasonably and wickedly. 
 
 Another measure of Abolitionists, calculat- 
 ed to awaken evil feelings, has been the treat- 
 ment of those who objected to their proceed- 
 ings. 
 
 A large majority of the philanthropic and 
 pious, who hold common views with the Abo- 
 litionists, as to the sin and evils of slavery, 
 and the duty of using all appropriate means 
 to bring it to an end, have opposed their mea- 
 sures, because they have believed them not 
 calculated to promote, but rather to retard 
 the end proposed to be accomplished by them. 
 The peaceful and Christian method of en- 
 countering such opposition, would have been 
 to allow the opponents full credit for purity 
 and integrity of motive, to have avoided all 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 harsh and censorious language, and to have 
 employed facts, arguments and persuasionSy 
 in a kind and respectful way with the hope 
 of modifying their views and allaying their 
 fears. Instead of this, the wise and good who 
 opposed Abolition measures, have been treated 
 as though they were the friends and defend- 
 ers of slavery, or as those who, from a guilty, 
 timid, time-serving policy, refused to take the 
 course which duty demanded. They have 
 been addressed either as if it were necessary 
 to convince them that slavery is wrong and 
 ought to be abandoned, or else, as if they 
 needed to be exhorted to give up their timi- 
 dity and selfish interest, and to perform a 
 manifest duty, which they were knowingly 
 neglecting. 
 
 Now there is nothing more irritating, when 
 a man is conscientious and acting according 
 to his own views of right, than to be dealt 
 with in this manner. The more men are 
 treated as if they w^ere honest and sincere — 
 the more they are treated with respect, fair- 
 ness, and benevolence, the more likely they 
 are to be moved by evidence and arguments. 
 
39 
 
 On the contrary, harshness, iincharitableness, 
 and rebuke, for opinions and conduct that are 
 in agreement with a man's own views of duty 
 and rectitude, tend to awaken evil feehngs, 
 and indispose the mind properly to regard 
 evidence. Abolitionists have not only taken 
 this course, but in many cases, have seemed to 
 act on the principle, that the abolition of 
 Slavery, in the particular mode in which they 
 were aiming to accomplish it, was of such 
 paramount importance, that every thing must 
 be overthrown that stood in the way. 
 
 No matter what respect a man had gained 
 for talents, virtue, and piety, if he stood in the 
 way of Abolitionism, he must be attacked as 
 to character and motives. No matter how 
 important an institution might be, if its in- 
 fluence wa^ against the measures of Abolition- 
 ism, it must be attacked openly, or sapped 
 privately, till its influence was destroyed. By 
 such measures, the most direct means have 
 been taken to awaken anger at injury, and re- 
 sentment at injustice, and to provoke retalia- 
 tion on those who inflict the wrong. All the 
 partialities of personal friendship; all the feel- 
 
40 
 
 ings of respect accorded to good and useful 
 men; all the interests that cluster around pub- 
 lic institutions, entrenched in the hearts of 
 the multitudes who sustain them, were out- 
 raged by such a course. 
 
 Another measure of Abolitionists, which 
 has greatly tended to promote wrath and 
 strife, is their indiscreet and incorrect use of 
 terms. 
 
 To make this apparent, it must be premised, 
 that words have no inherent meaning, but 
 always signify that which they are common- 
 ly understood to mean. The question never 
 should be asked, whdX ought a word to mean? 
 but simply, what is the meaning generally 
 attached to this word by those who use it 1 
 Vocabularies and standard writers are the 
 proper umpires to decide this question. Now 
 if men take words and give them a new and 
 peculiar use, and are consequently misunder- 
 stood, they are guilty of a species of decep- 
 tion, and are accountable for all the evils that 
 
 may ensue as a consequence. 
 
 For example; if physicians should come out 
 and declare, that it was their opinion that they 
 
41 
 
 ought to poison all their patients, and they had 
 determined to do it, and then all the community 
 should be thrown into terror and excitement, 
 it would be no justification for them to say, 
 that all they intended by that language was, 
 that they should administer as medicines, arti- 
 cles which are usually called poisons. 
 
 Now Abolitionists are before the commu- 
 nity, and declare that all slavery is sin, which 
 ought to be immediately forsaken; and that it 
 is their object and intention to promote the 
 immediate emancipation of all the slaves in 
 this nation. 
 
 Now what is it that makes a man cease 
 to be a slave and become free? It is not kind 
 treatment from a master; it is not paying 
 wages to the slave ; it is not the intention to 
 bestow freedom at a future time; it is not treat- 
 ing a slave as if he w^ere free; it is not feehng 
 toward a slave as if he were free. No in- 
 stance can be found of any dictionary, or any 
 standard writer, nor any case in common 
 discourse, where any of these significations 
 are attached to the word as constituting its 
 peculiar and appropriate meaning. It always 
 d2 
 
42 
 
 signifies that legal act, which, by the laws of 
 the land, changes a slave to a freeman. 
 
 What then is the 'proper meaning of the lan- 
 guage used by AboUtionists, when they say 
 that all slavery is a sin which ought to be im- 
 mediately abandoned, and that it is their ob- 
 ject to secure the immediate emancipation of 
 all slaves ? 
 
 The true and only proper meaning of such 
 language is, that it is the duty of every slave- 
 holder in this nation, to go immediately and 
 make out the legal instruments, that, by the 
 laws of the land, change all his slaves to free- 
 men. If their maxim is true, no exception 
 can be made for those who live in States 
 where the act of emancipation, by a master, 
 makes a slave the property of the State, to 
 be sold for the benefit of the State ; and no 
 exception can be made for those, who, by 
 the will of testators, and by the law of the 
 land, have no power to perform the legal act, 
 which alone can emancipate their slaves. 
 
 To meet this difiiculty. Abolitionists affirm, 
 that, in such cases, men are physically unable 
 to emancipate their slaves, and of course are 
 
43 
 
 not bound to do it ; and to save their great 
 maxim, maintain that, in such cases, the slaves 
 are not slaves, and the slave-holders are not 
 slave-holders, although all their legal relations 
 remain unchanged. 
 
 The meaning vi^hich the Abolitionist at- 
 taches to his language is this, that every man 
 is bound to treat his slaves, as nearly as he 
 can,|like freemen ; and to use all his influence 
 to bring the system of slavery to an end as 
 soon as possible. And they allow that when 
 men do this they are free from guilt, in the 
 matter of slavery, and undeserving of cen- 
 sure. 
 
 But men at the North, and men at the South, 
 understand the language used in its true and 
 proper sense; and Abolitionists have been 
 using these terms in a new and pecuhar sense, 
 which is inevitably and universally misunder- 
 stood, and this is an occasion of much of the 
 strife and alarm which has prevailed both at 
 the South and at the North. There are none 
 but these defenders of slavery who maintain 
 that it is a relation justifiable by the laws of 
 the Gospel, who difl^er from Abolitionists in 
 
44 
 
 vr'gard to the real thing which is meant. 
 The great mistake of Abolitionists is in using 
 terms which inculcate the immediate annihi- 
 lation of the relation, when they only intend 
 to urge the Christian duty of treating slaves 
 according to the gospel rules of justice and 
 benevolence, and using all lawful and appro- 
 priate means for bringing a most pernicious 
 system to a speedy end. 
 
 If Abolitionists will only cease to teach that 
 all slave-holding is a sin which ought to be 
 immediately aholished ; if they will cease to 
 urge their plan as one of immediate emancipa- 
 tion, and teach simply and exactly that which 
 they do mean, much strife and misunderstand- 
 ing will cease. But so long as they perse- 
 vere in using these terms in a new and pe- 
 culiar sense, which will always be misunder- 
 stood, they are guilty of a species of decep- 
 tion and accountable for the evils that follow. 
 
 One other instance of a similar misuse of 
 terms may be mentioned. The word " man- 
 stealer" has one peculiar signification, and it 
 is no more synonymous with " slave-holder" 
 than it is with " sheep-stealer." But Aboli- 
 
45 
 
 tionists show that a slave-holder, in fact, does 
 very many of the evils that are perpetrated 
 by a man-stealer, and that the crime is quite 
 as evil in its nature, and very similar in cha- 
 racter, and, therefore, he calls a slave-holder 
 a man-stealer. 
 
 On this principle there is no abusive lan- 
 guage that may not be employed to render any 
 man odious — for every man commits sin of 
 some kind, and every sin is like some other sin, 
 in many respects, and in certain aggravated 
 cases, may be bad, or even w^orse, than an- 
 other sin with a much more odious name. It 
 is easy to show that a man who neglects all 
 religious duty is very much hke an atheist, 
 and if he has had great advantages, and the 
 atheist very few, he may be much more guilty 
 than an atheist. And so, half the respecta- 
 ble men in our religious communities, may be 
 called atheists, with as much propriety as a 
 slave-holder can be called a man-stealer. 
 Abolitionists have proceeded on this princi- 
 ple, in their various publications, until the 
 terms of odium that have been showered 
 upon slave-holders, would form a large page 
 
4C} 
 
 in the vocabulary of Billingsgate. This method 
 of dealing with those whom we wish to con- 
 vince and persuade, is as contrary to the dic- 
 tates of common sense, as it is to the rules of 
 good breeding and the laws of the gospel. 
 
 The preceding particulars are selected, as 
 the evidence to be presented, that the cha- 
 racter and measures of the Abolition Society 
 are neither peaceful nor Christian in their 
 tendency ; but that in their nature they are 
 calculated to generate party-spirit, denuncia- 
 tion, recrimination, and angry passions. If 
 such be the tendency of this institution, it fol- 
 lows, that it is wrong for a Christian, or any 
 lover of peace, to be connected with it. 
 
 The assertion that Christianity itself has 
 led to strife and contention, is not a safe me- 
 thod of evading this argument. Christianity 
 is a system oi persuasion, tending, by kind and 
 gentle influences, to make men willing to leave 
 oft' their sins — and it comes, not to convince 
 those who are not sinners, but to sinners them- 
 selves. 
 
 Abolitionism, on the contrary, is a system 
 of coercion by public opinion; and in its pre- 
 
47 
 
 sent operation, its influence is not to convince 
 the erring, but to convince those who are not 
 guilty, of the sins of those who are. 
 
 Another prominent pecuHarity of the Abo- 
 htionists, (which is an objection to joining this 
 association,) is their advocacy of a principle, 
 which is wrong and very pernicious in its 
 tendency. I refer to their views in regard to 
 what is called " the doctrine of expediency." 
 Their difiiculty on this subject seems to have 
 arisen from want of a clear distinction be- 
 tween the duty of those who are guilty of 
 sin, and the duty of those who are aiming to 
 turn men from their sins. The principle is 
 assumed, that because certain men ought to 
 abandon every sin immediately, therefore, 
 certain other men are bound immediately to 
 try and make them do it. Now the question 
 of expediency does not relate to w^hat men 
 are bound to do, who are in the practice of 
 sin themselves — for the immediate relinquish- 
 ment of sin is the duty of all; but it relates to 
 the duty of those who are to make efforts to 
 induce others to break off their wickedness. 
 
 Here, the wisdom and rectitude of a given 
 
48 
 
 course, depend entirely on the 'prohahilities of 
 success. If a father has a son of a ^^ery pe- 
 culiar temperament, and he knows by obser- 
 vation, that the use of the rod will make him 
 more irritable and more liable to a certain 
 fault, and that kind arguments, and tender 
 measures will more probably accomplish the 
 desired object, it is a rule of expediency to 
 try the most probable course. If a compan- 
 ion sees a friend committing a sin, and has, 
 from past experience, learned that remon- 
 strances excite anger and obstinacy, while a 
 look of silent sorrow and disapprobation tends 
 far more to prevent the evil, expediency and 
 duty demand silence rather than remon- 
 strance. 
 
 There are cases also, where differences in 
 age, and station, and character, forbid all in- 
 terference to modify the conduct and cha- 
 racter of others. 
 
 A nursery maid may see that a father mis- 
 governs his children, and ill-treats his wife. 
 But her station makes it inexpedient for 
 her to turn reprover. It is a case where re- 
 proof would do no good, but only evil. 
 
49 
 
 So in communities, the propriety and rec- 
 titude of measures can be decided, not by 
 the rules of duty that should govern those 
 who are to renounce sin, but by the proba- 
 bilities of good or evil consequence. 
 
 The Abolitionists seem to lose sight of 
 this distinction. They form voluntary asso- 
 ciations in free States, to convince their fel- 
 low citizens of the sins of other men in 
 other communities. They are blamed and 
 opposed, because their measures are deemed 
 inexpedient, and calculated to increase, rath- 
 er than diminish the evils to be cured. 
 
 In return, they show that slavery is a sin 
 which ought to be abandoned immediately, 
 and seem to suppose that it follows as a cor- 
 rect inference, that they themselves ought to 
 engage in a system of agitation against it, 
 and that it is needless for them to inquire 
 whether preaching the truth in the manner 
 they propose, will increase or diminish the 
 evil. They assume that whenever sin is com- 
 mitted, not only ought the sinner imme- 
 diately to cease, but all his fellow-sinners are 
 bound to take measures to make him cease, 
 
50 
 
 and to take measures, without any reference 
 to the probabiUties of success. 
 
 That this is a correct representation of the 
 views of AboHtionists generally, is evident 
 from their periodicals and conversation. All 
 their remarks about preaching the truth 
 and leaving consequences to God — all their 
 depreciation of the doctrine of expediency, 
 are rendered relevant only by this suppo- 
 sition. 
 
 The impression made by their writings is, 
 that God has made rules of duty; that all 
 men are in all cases to remonstrate against 
 the violation of those rules; and that God will 
 take the responsibility of bringing good out 
 of this course; so that we ourselves are re- 
 lieved from any necessity of inquiring as to 
 probable results. 
 
 If this be not the theory of duty adopted 
 by this association, then they stand on com- 
 mon ground with those who oppose their 
 measures, viz: that the propriety and duty 
 of a given course is to be decided by proba- 
 bilities as to its results ; and these probabili- 
 
51 
 
 lies are to be determined by the knoicn laivs 
 of mind, and the records of past experience. 
 
 For only one of two positions can be held. 
 Either that it is the duty of all men to re- 
 monstrate at all times a<Tainst all violations 
 of duty, and leave the consequences with 
 God ; or else that men are to use their judg- 
 ment, and take the part of remonstrance only 
 at such a time and place, and in such a man- 
 ner, as promise the best results. 
 
 That the Abolitionists have not held the 
 second of these positions, must be obvious to 
 all who have read their documents. It would 
 therefore be unwise and wrong to join an as- 
 sociation which sustains a principle false in 
 itself, and one which, if acted out, would 
 tend to wrath and strife and every evil 
 word and work. • 
 
 Another reason, and the most important of 
 all, against promoting the plans of the Abo- 
 litionists, is involved in the main question — 
 what are the probahilities as to the results of 
 their mommentsl The only way to judge of 
 the future results of certain measures is, by 
 
52 
 
 the known laws of mind, and the recorded 
 experience of the past. 
 
 JNow what is the evil to be cured ? 
 
 Slavery in this nation. 
 
 That this evil is at no distant period to 
 come to an end, is the unanimous opinion 
 of all who either notice the tendencies of the 
 age, or believe in the prophecies of the 
 Bible. All who act on Christian principles 
 in regard to slavery, believe that in a given 
 period (variously estimated) it will end. 
 The only question then, in regard to the 
 benefits to be gained, or the evils to be dread- 
 ed in the present agitation of the subject, re- 
 lates to the time and the manner of its extinc- 
 tion. The Abolitionists claim that their me- 
 thod will bring it to an end in the shortest 
 time, and in the safest and best way. Their 
 opponents believe, that it will tend to bring it 
 to an end, if at all, at the most distant period, 
 and in the most dangerous way. 
 
 As neither party are gifted with pres- 
 cience, and as the Deity has made no revela- 
 tions as to the future results of any given 
 measures, all the means of judging that re- 
 
53 
 
 main to us, as before stated, are the laws of 
 mind, and the records of the past. 
 
 The position then I would aim to establish 
 is, that the method taken by the Abohtionists 
 is the one that, according to the laws of mind 
 and past experience, is least likely to bring 
 about the results they aim to accomplish. 
 The general statement is this. 
 
 The object to be accompUshed is : 
 
 First. To convince a certain community, 
 that they are in the practice of a great sin, 
 and 
 
 Secondly, To make them willing to relin- 
 quish it. 
 
 The method taken to accomplish this is, 
 by voluntary associations in a foreign com- 
 munity, seeking to excite public sentiment 
 against the perpetrators of the evil; exhibit- 
 ing the enormity of the crime in full measure, 
 without palliation, excuse or sympathy, by 
 means of periodicals and agents circulating, 
 not in the community committing the sin, 
 but in that which does not practise it. 
 
 Now that this method may, in conjunction 
 with other causes, have an influence to bring 
 e2 
 
54 
 
 slavery to an end, is not denied. But it is 
 believed, and from the following considera- 
 tions, that it is the least calculated to do the 
 good, and that it involves the greatest evils. 
 
 It is a known law of mind first seen in the 
 nursery and school, afterwards developed in 
 society, that a person is least likely to judge 
 correctly of truth, and least likely to yield to 
 duty, when excited by passion. 
 
 It is a law of experience, that when wrong 
 is done, if repentance and reformation are 
 sought, then love and kindness, mingled with 
 remonstrance, coming from one who has a 
 right to speak, are more successful than re- 
 buke and scorn from others who are not be- 
 loved, and who are regarded as impertinent 
 intruders. 
 
 In the nursery, if the child does wrong, 
 the finger of scorn, the taunting rebuke, or 
 even the fair and deserved reproof of equals, 
 will make the young culprit only frown with 
 rage, and perhaps repeat and increase the 
 injury. But the voice of maternal love, or 
 even the gentle remonstrances of an elder 
 
55 
 
 sister, may bring tears of sorrow and con- 
 trition. 
 
 So in society. Let a man's enemies, or 
 those who have no interest in his welfare, 
 join to rebuke and rail at his offences, and no 
 signs of penitence will be seen. But let the 
 clergyman whom he respects and loves, or 
 his bosom friend approach him, with kind- 
 ness, forbearance and true sincerity, and all 
 that is possible to human agency will be ef- 
 fected. 
 
 It is the maxim then of experience, that 
 when men are to be turned from evils, and 
 brought to repent and reform, those only 
 should interfere who are most loved and re- 
 spected, and who have the best right to ap- 
 proach the offender. While on the other 
 hand, rebuke from those who are deemed 
 obtrusive and inimical, or even indifferent, 
 will do more harm than good. 
 
 It is another maxim of experience, that 
 such dealings with the erring should be in 
 private, not in pubhc. The moment a man 
 is publicly rebuked, shame, anger, and pride 
 
50 
 
 of opinion, all connbine to make him defend 
 his practice, and refuse either to own him- 
 self v/rong, or to cease from his evil ways. 
 
 The Abolitionists have violated all these 
 law^s of mind and of experience, in dealing 
 with their southern brethren. 
 
 Their course has been most calculated to 
 awaken anger, fear, pride, hatred, and all 
 the passions most likely to blind the mind to 
 truth, and make it averse to duty. 
 
 They have not approached them with the 
 spirit of love, courtesy, and forbearance. 
 
 They are not the persons who would be 
 regarded by the South, as having any right 
 to interfere; and therefore, whether they 
 have such right or not, the probabilities of 
 good are removed. For it is not only demand- 
 ed for the benefit of the offender, that there 
 should really be a right, but it is necessary 
 that he should feel that there is such a right. 
 
 In dealing w^ith their brethren, too, they 
 have not tried silent, retired, private mea- 
 sures. It has been public denunciation of 
 crime and shame in newspapers, addressed 
 
57 
 
 as it were to by-standers, in order to arouse 
 the guilty. 
 
 In reply to this, it has been urged, that 
 men could not go to the South — that they 
 would be murdered there — that the only way 
 was, to convince the North, and excite pub- 
 lic odium against the sins of the South, and 
 thus gradually conviction, repentance, and 
 reformation would ensue. 
 
 Here is another case where men are to 
 judge of their duty, by estimating probabili- 
 ties of future results ; and it may first be ob- 
 served, that it involves the principle of ex- 
 pediency, in just that form to which Aboli- 
 tionists object. 
 
 It is allowed that the immediate aboUtion 
 of slavery is to be produced by means of 
 " light and love," and yet it is maintained as 
 right to withdraw personally from the field of 
 operation, because of consequences; because 
 of the probable danger of approaching. " If 
 we go to the South, and present truth, argu- 
 ment, and entreaty, we shall he slain, and 
 therefore we are not under obligation to go." 
 If this justifies Abolitionists in their neglect 
 
58 
 
 of their offendins; brethren, because they 
 fear ev^il results to themselves, it also justifies 
 those who refuse to act with AboHtionists in 
 their measures, because they fear other evil 
 results. 
 
 But what proof is there, that if the Aboli- 
 tionists had taken another method, the one 
 more in accordance with the laws of mind 
 and the dictates of experience, that there 
 would have been at the South all this vio- 
 lence? Before the abohtion movement com- 
 menced, both northern and southern men, 
 expressed their views freely at the South. 
 The dangers, evils, and mischiefs of slavery 
 were exhibited and discussed even in the 
 legislative halls of more than one of the 
 Southern States, and many minds were anx- 
 iously devising measures, to bring this evil to 
 an end. 
 
 Now let us look at some of the records of 
 past experience. Clarkson was the first per- 
 son who devoted himself to the cause of 
 Abolition in England. His object was to 
 convince the people of England that they 
 were guilty of a great impolicy, and great 
 
69 
 
 sin, in permitting the slave-trade. He was 
 to meet the force of public sentiment, and 
 power, and selfishness, and wealth, which 
 sustained this trafic, in that nation. What 
 were his measures? He did not go to Swe- 
 den, or Russia, or France, to awaken pubHc 
 sentiment against the sins of the Enghsh. — - 
 He began by first publishing an inquiry in 
 England whether it was right to seize men, 
 and make them slaves. He went unostenta- 
 tiously to some of the best and most pious 
 men there, and endeavoured to interest them 
 in the inquiry. 
 
 Then he published an article on the im- 
 policy of the slave-trade, showing its disad- 
 vantages. Then he collected information of 
 the evils and enormities involved in the traflic, 
 and went quietly around among those most 
 likely to be moved by motives of humanity 
 and Christianity. In this manner he toiled 
 for more than fourteen years, slowly im- 
 planting the leaven among the good men, 
 until he gained a noble band of patriots and 
 Christians, with Wilberforce at their head. 
 
 The following extract from a memoir of 
 
60 
 
 Clarkson discloses the manner and spirit in 
 which he commenced his enterprise, and 
 toiled through to its accomplishment. 
 
 " In 1785 Dr. Peckhard, Vice-Chancellor 
 of the University, deeply impressed with the 
 iniquity of the slave-trade, announced as a 
 subject for a Latin Dissertation to the Senior 
 Bachelors of Arts : * Anne liceat invitos in 
 servitutem dare ?' ' Is it right to make slaves 
 of others against their will V However bene- 
 volent the feehngs of the Vice-Chancellor, 
 and however strong and clear the opinions 
 he held on the inhuman traffic, it is probable 
 that he httle thought that this discussion 
 would secure for the object so dear to his 
 own heart, efforts and advocacy equally en- 
 lightened and efficient, that should be con- 
 tinued, until his country had declared, not 
 that the slave-trade onl}^, but that slavery 
 itself should cease. 
 
 " Mr. Clarkson, having in the preceding 
 year gained the first prize for the Latin Dis- 
 sertation, was naturally anxious to maintain 
 his honourable position ; and no efforts were 
 spared, during the few intervening weeks, in 
 
61 
 
 collecting information and evidence. Im- 
 portant facts were gained from Anthony 
 Benezet's Historical Account of Guinea, 
 which Mr. Clarkson hastened to London to 
 purchase. Furnished with these and other 
 valuable information, he commenced his dif- 
 ficult task. How it was accomphshed, he 
 thus informs us. 
 
 "'No person,' he states,* *can tell the 
 severe trial which the writing of it proved to 
 me. I had expected pleasure from the in- 
 vention of the arguments, from the arrange- 
 ment of them, from the putting of them 
 together, and from the thought, in the inte- 
 rim, that I was engaged in an innocent con- 
 test for literary honour. But all my pleasure 
 was damped by the facts which were now 
 continually before me. It was but one 
 gloomy subject from morning to night. In 
 the day-time I was uneasy ; in the night I 
 had little rest. I sometimes never closed my 
 eyelids for grief It became now not so 
 much a trial for academical reputation, as for 
 
 * History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade. 
 
 F 
 
62 
 
 the production of a work which might be 
 useful to injured Africa. And keeping this 
 idea in my mind ever after the perusal of 
 Benezet, I always slept with a candle in my 
 room, that I might rise out of bed, and put 
 down such thoughts as might occur to me in 
 the night, if I judged them valuable, conceiv- 
 ing that no arguments of any moment should 
 be lost in so great a cause. Having at length 
 finished this painful task, I sent my Essay to 
 the Vice-Chancellor, and soon afterwards 
 found myself honoured, as before, with the 
 first prize. 
 
 " ' As it is usual to read these essays pub- 
 licly in the senate-house soon after the prize 
 is adjudged, I was called to Cambridge for 
 this purpose. I went, and performed my 
 office. On returning, however, to London, 
 the subject of it almost wholly engrossed my 
 thoughts. I became at times very seriously 
 affected while upon the road. I stopped my 
 horse occasionally, and dismounted, and 
 walked. I frequently tried to })ersuade my- 
 self in these intervals that the contents of 
 my Essay could not be true. The more. 
 
63 
 
 however, I reflected upon them, or rather 
 upon the authorities on which they were 
 founded, the more I gave them credit. Com- 
 ing in sight of Wade's Mill, in Hertfordshire, 
 I sat down disconsolate on the turf by the 
 road-side, and held my horse. Here a 
 thought came into my mind, that if the con- 
 tents of the Essay were true, it was time 
 some person should see these calamities to 
 their end. Agitated in this manner, I reach- 
 ed home. This was in the summer of 1785. 
 " * In the course of the autumn of the same 
 year I experienced similar impressions. I 
 walked frequently into the woods, that I 
 might think on the subject in soUtude, and 
 find relief to my mind there. But there the 
 question still recurred, ' Are these things 
 true?' Still the answer followed as instan- 
 taneously, — ' They are.' Still the result ac- 
 companied it; 'Then, surely, some person 
 should interfere.' I then began to envy those 
 who had seats in parliament, and who had 
 great riches, and widely extended connexions, 
 which would enable them to take up this 
 cause. Finding scarcely any one at that 
 
64 
 
 time who thought of it, I was turned fre- 
 quently to myself. But here many difficulties 
 arose. It struck me, among others, that a 
 young man of only twenty-four years of age 
 could not have that solid judgment, or know- 
 ledge of men, manners, and things, which 
 were requisite to quahfy him to undertake 
 a task of such magnitude and import- 
 ance : and with whom was I to unite ? I 
 beheved also, that it looked so much like one 
 of the feigned labours of Hercules, that my 
 understanding would be suspected if I pro- 
 posed it. On ruminating, however, on the 
 subject, I found one thing at least practica- 
 ble, and that this was also in my power. 
 I could translate my Latin Dissertation. I 
 could enlarge it usefully. I could see how 
 the public received it, or how far they were 
 likely to favour any serious measures, which 
 should have a tendency to produce the aboli- 
 tion of the slave-trade. Upon this, then, I 
 determined ; and in the middle of the month 
 of November, 1785, I began my work.' 
 
 " Such is the characteristic and ingenuous 
 account given by Clarkson of his introduc- 
 
65 
 
 tion to that work to which the energies of 
 his life were devoted, and in reference to 
 which, and to the account whence the fore- 
 going extract has been made, one of the most 
 benevolent and gifted writers of our country* 
 has justly observed,— 
 
 " * This interesting tale is related, not by a 
 descendant, but a cotemporary; not by a 
 distant spectator, but by a participator of the 
 contest ; and of all the many participators, 
 by the man confessedly the most efficient; 
 the man whose unparalleled labours in this 
 work of love and peril, leave on the mind of 
 a reflecting reader the sublime doubt, which 
 of the two will have been the greater final 
 gain to the moral world, — the removal of the 
 evil, or the proof, thereby given, what mighty 
 effects single good men may realize by self- 
 devotion and perseverance.' 
 
 " When Mr. Clarkson went to London to 
 publish his book, he was introduced to many 
 friends of the cause of Abolition, who aided 
 in giving it extensive circulation. Whilst 
 
 * Coleridge. 
 
66 
 
 thus employed, he received an invitation, 
 which he accepted, to visit the Rev. James 
 Ramsay, vicar of Teston, in Kent, who had 
 resided nineteen years in the island of St. 
 Christopher. 
 
 " Shortly afterwards, dining one day at 
 Sir Charles Middleton's, (afterwards Lord 
 Barham,) the conversation turned upon the 
 subject, and Mr. Clarkson declared that he 
 was ready to devote himself to the cause. This 
 avowal met with great encouragement from 
 the company, and Sir C. Middleton, then 
 Comptroller to the Navy, offered every pos- 
 sible assistance. The friends of Mr. Clarkson 
 increased, and this encouraged him to pro- 
 ceed. Dr. Porteus, then Bishop of Chester, 
 and Lord Scarsdale, were secured in the 
 House of Lords. Mr. Bennet I^angton, and 
 Dr. Baker, who were acquainted with many 
 members of both houses of parliament ; the 
 honoured Granville Sharpe, James and Rich- 
 ard Phillips, could be depended upon, as well 
 as the entire body of the Society of Friends, 
 to many of whom he had been introduced 
 by Mr. Joseph Hancock, his fellow-townsman. 
 
67 
 
 Seeking information in every direction, Mr. 
 Clarkson boarded a number of vessels en- 
 gaged in tiie African trade, and obtained 
 specimens of the natural productions of the 
 country. The beauty of the cloth made from 
 African cotton, &c. enhanced his estimate of 
 the skill and ingenuity of the people, and 
 gave a fresh stimulus to his exertions on their 
 behalf. He next visited a slave-ship ; the 
 rooms below^, the gratings above, and the 
 barricade across the deck, with the explana- 
 tion of their uses, though the sight of them 
 filled him with sadness and horror, gave new 
 energy to all his movements. In his inde- 
 fatigable endeavours to collect evidence and 
 facts, he visited most of the sea-ports in the 
 kingdom, pursuing his great object with in- 
 vincible ardour, although sometimes at the 
 peril of his life. The following circumstance, 
 among others, evinces the eminent degree in 
 which he possessed that untiring perseve- 
 rance, on which the success of a great enter- 
 prise often depends. 
 
 " Clarkson and his friends had reason to 
 fear that slaves brought from the interior of 
 
68 
 
 Africa by certain rivers, had been kidnapped; 
 and it was deemed of great importance to 
 ascertain the fact. A friend one day men- 
 tioned to Mr. Clarkson, that he had, above 
 tw^elve months before, seen a sailor who had 
 been up these rivers. The name of the sailor 
 was unknown, and all the friend could say | 
 was, that he was going to, or belonged to, 
 some man-of-war in ordinary. The evidence 
 of this individual was important, and, aided 
 by his friend Sir Charles Middleton, who 
 gave him permission to board all the ships of 
 war in ordinary, Mr. Clarkson commenced 
 his search : — beginning at Deptford, he visit- 
 ed successfully Woolwich, Chatham, Sheer- 
 ness, and Portsmouth ; examining in his pro- 
 gross the different persons on board upwards 
 of two hundred and sixty vessels, without 
 discovering the object of his search. The 
 feelings under which the search was con- 
 tinued, and the success with which it was 
 crowned, he has himself thus described: — 
 
 " ' Matters now began to look rather dis- 
 heartening, — I mean as far as my grand ob- 
 ject was concerned. There was but one 
 
69 
 
 other port left, and this was between two and 
 three hundred miles distant. I determined, 
 however, to go to Plymouth. I had already- 
 been more successful in this tour, with re- 
 spect to obtaining general evidence, than in 
 any other of the same length ; and the pro- 
 bability was, that as I should continue to 
 move among the same kind of people, my 
 success would be in a similar proportion, ac- 
 cording to the number visited. These were 
 great encouragements to me to proceed. At 
 length I arrived at the place of my last hope. 
 On my first day's expedition I boarded forty 
 vessels, but found no one in these who had 
 been on the coast of Africa in the slave-trade. 
 One or two had been there in king's ships; 
 but they never had been on shore. Things 
 were now drawing near to a close; and not- 
 withstanding my success, as to general evi- 
 dence, in this journey, my heart began to 
 beat. I was restless and uneasy during the 
 night. The next morning I felt agitated 
 again between the alternate pressure of hope 
 and fear; and in this state I entered my boat. 
 The fifty-seventh vessel I boarded was the 
 
70 
 
 Melampus I'rigate. — One person belonging to 
 it, on examining him in the captain's cabin, 
 said he had been two voyages to Africa; and 
 I had not long discoursed with him, before I 
 found, to my inexpressible joy, that he was 
 the man. I found, too, that he unravelled the 
 question in dispute precisely as our inferences 
 had determined it. He had been two expe- 
 ditions up the river Calabar, in the canoes of 
 the natives. In the first of these they came 
 within a certain distance of a village: they 
 then concealed themselves under the bushes, 
 which hung over the w^ater from the banks. 
 In this position they remained during the 
 day-light ; but at night they went up to it 
 armed, and seized all the inhabitants who 
 had not time to make their escape. They 
 obtained forty-five persons in this manner. 
 In the second, they were out eight or nine 
 days, when they made a similar attempt, and 
 with nearly similar success. They seized 
 men, women, and children, as they could find 
 them in the huts. They then bound their 
 arms, and drove them before them to the 
 canoes. The name of the person thus dis- 
 
71 
 
 covered on board of the Melampus was Isaac 
 Parker. On inquiring into his character, 
 from the master of the division, I found it 
 highly respectable. I found also afterv^^ard 
 that he had sailed with Captain Cook, with 
 great credit to himself, round the world. It 
 was also remarkable, that my brother, on 
 seeing him in London, when he went to de- 
 liver his evidence, recognized him as having 
 served on board the Monarch, man-of-war, 
 and as one of the most exemplary men in 
 that ship.' 
 
 "Mr. Clarkson became, early in his career, 
 acquainted with Mr. Wilberforce. At their 
 first interview, the latter frankly stated, ' that 
 the subject had often employed his thoughts, 
 and was near his heart,' and learning his 
 visiter's intention to devote himself to this 
 benevolent object, congratulated him on his 
 decision; desired to be made acquainted with 
 his progress, expressing his willingness, in 
 return, to afford every assistance in his 
 power. In his intercourse with members of 
 parliament, Mr. Clarkson was now frequently 
 associated with Mr. Wilberforce, who dail^ 
 
72 
 
 became more interested in the fate of Africa. 
 The intercourse of the two philanthropists 
 was mutually cordial and encouraging ; Mr. 
 Clarkson imparting his discoveries in the 
 custom-houses of London, Liverpool, and 
 other places ; and Mr. Wilberforce commu- 
 nicating the information he had gained from 
 those with whom he associated. 
 
 " In 1788, Mr. Clarkson published his im- 
 portant work on the Impolicy of the Slave- 
 Trade. 
 
 " In 1789, this indefatigable man went to 
 Prance, by the advice of the Committee 
 which he had been instrumental in forming 
 two years before ; Mr. Wilberforce, always 
 solicitous for the good of the oppressed Afri- 
 cans, being of opinion that advantage might 
 be taken of the commotions in that country, 
 to induce the leading persons there to take 
 the slave-trade into their consideration, and 
 incorporate it among the abuses to be re- 
 moved. Several of Mr. Clarkson's friends 
 advised him to travel by another name, as 
 accounts had arrived in England of the ex- 
 cesses which had taken place in Paris ; but 
 
73 
 
 to this he could not consent. On his arrival 
 in that city he was speedily introduced to 
 those who were favourable to the great ob- 
 ject of his Hfe ; and at the house of M. Necker 
 dined with the six deputies of colour from St. 
 Domingo, — who had been sent to France at 
 this juncture, to demand that the free people 
 of colour in their country might be placed 
 upon an equality with the whites. Their com- 
 munications to the English philanthropist 
 were important and interesting ; they hailed 
 him as their friend, and were abundant in 
 their commendations of his conduct. 
 
 " Copies of the Essay on the ImpoHcy of 
 the Slave-Trade, translated into French, with 
 engravings of the plan and section of a slave 
 ship, were distributed with apparent good 
 effect. The virtuous Abbe Gregoire, and 
 several members of the National Assembly, 
 called upon Mr. Clarkson. The Archbishop 
 of Aix was so struck with horror, when the 
 plan of the slave ship was shown to him, 
 that he could scarcely speak ; and Mirabeau 
 ordered a model of it in wood to be placed 
 in his dining-room. 
 
74 
 
 " The circulation of intelligence, although 
 contributing to make many friends, called 
 forth the extraordinary exertions of enemies. 
 Merchants, and others interested in the con- 
 tinuance of the slave-trade, wrote letters to 
 the Archbishop of Aix, beseeching him not 
 to ruin France ; which they said he would 
 inevitably do, if, as the president, he were to 
 grant a day for hearing the question of the 
 abolition. Offers of money were made to 
 Mirabeau, if he would totally abandon his 
 intended motion. Books were circulated in 
 opposition to Mr. Clarkson's ; resort was had 
 to the public papers, and he was denounced 
 as a spy. The clamour raised by these ef- 
 forts pervaded all Paris, and reached the 
 ears of the king. M. Necker had a long 
 conversation with his royal master upon it, 
 who requested to see the Essay, and the spe- 
 cimens of African manufactures, and be- 
 stowed considerable time upon them, being 
 surprised at the state of the arts there. M. 
 Necker did not exhibit the section of the 
 slave ship, thinking that as the king was in- 
 disposed, he might be too much affected by 
 
75 
 
 it. Louis returned the specimens, commis- 
 sioning M. Necker to convey his thanks to 
 Mr. Clarkson, and express his gratification 
 at what he had seen. 
 
 " No decided benefit appears at this time to 
 haye followed the visit: but though much 
 depressed by his ill success in France, Mr. 
 Clarkson continued his labours, till excess of 
 exertion, joined to repeated and bitter disap- 
 pointments, impaired his health, and, after a 
 hard struggle, subdued a constitution, natu- 
 rally strong and vigorous beyond the lot of 
 men in general, but shattered by anxiety and 
 fatigue, and the sad probability, often forced 
 upon his understanding, that all might at last 
 have been in vain. Under these feelings, he 
 retired in 1794 to the beautiful banks of 
 Ulleswater; there to seek that rest which, 
 without peril to his life, could no longer be 
 delayed. 
 
 " For seven years he had maintained a cor- 
 respondence with four hundred persons; he 
 annually wrote a book upon the subject of 
 the abolition, and travelled more than thirty- 
 five thousand miles in search of evidence, 
 
76 
 
 making a great part of these journe3'S in the 
 night. * All this time,' Mr. Clarkson writes, 
 *my mind had been on the stretch ; it had been 
 bent too to this one subject ; for I had not 
 even leisure to attend to my own concerns. 
 The various instances of barbarity, which 
 had come successively to my knowledge 
 within this period, had vexed, harassed, and 
 afflicted it. The wound which these had 
 produced w^as rendered still deeper by the 
 reiterated refusal of persons to give their tes- 
 timony, after I had travelled hundreds of 
 miles in quest of them. But the severest 
 stroke was that inflicted by the persecution 
 begun and pursued by persons interested in 
 the continuance of the trade, of such wit- 
 nesses as had been examined against them ; 
 and whom, on account of their dependent 
 situation in life, it was most easy to oppress. 
 As I had been the means of bringing them 
 forward on these occasions, they naturally 
 came to me, as the author of their miseries 
 and their ruin.* These different circum- 
 
 * The father of the late Samuel Whitbread, Esq., 
 generously undertook, in order to make Mr. Clarkson's 
 
77 
 
 stances, by acting together, had at length 
 brought me into the situation just mention- 
 ed; and I was, therefore, obliged, though 
 very reluctantly, to be borne out of the field 
 where I had placed the great honour and 
 glory of my life.' " 
 
 It was while thus recruiting the energies 
 exhausted in the conflict, that Clarkson, and 
 the compatriot band with which he had been 
 associated in the long and arduous struggle, 
 were crowned with victory, and received the 
 grateful reward of their honourable toil in 
 the final abolition of the slave-trade by the 
 British nation, in 1807, the last but most glo- 
 rious act of the Grenville administration. 
 
 The preceding shows something of the ca- 
 reer of Clarkson while labouring to convince 
 the people of Great Britain of the iniquity of 
 their own trade, a trade which they had the 
 powder to abolish. During all this time, 
 Clarkson, Wilberforce, and their associates 
 
 mind easy upon the subject, " to make good all injuries 
 which any individuals might suffer from such persecu- 
 tion 5 and he honourably and nobly fulfilled his engage- 
 ment. 
 
 g2 
 
78 
 
 avoided touching the matter of slavery. They 
 knew that one thing must be gained at a 
 time, and they as a matter of expediency, 
 avoided discussing the duty of the British 
 nation in regard to the system of slavery in 
 their colonies which was entirely under their 
 own control. During all the time that was 
 employed in efforts to end the slave-trade, 
 slavery was existing in the control of the 
 British people, and yet Clarkson and Wil- 
 berforce decided that it was right to let that 
 matter entirely alone. 
 
 The following shows Clarkson's proceed- 
 ings after the British nation had abolished 
 the slave-trade. 
 
 " By the publication of his Thoughts on 
 the Abolition of Slavery, Mr. Clarkson show- 
 ed that neither he nor those connected with 
 him, considered their work as accomplished, 
 when the laws of his country clasped with 
 its felons those engaged in the nefarious traf- 
 fic of slaves. But the efforts of Mr. Clark- 
 son were not confined to his pen. In 1818, 
 he proceeded to Aix la Chapelle, at the time 
 when the sovereigns of Europe met in con- 
 
79 
 
 gress. He was received with marked at- 
 tention by the Emperor of Russia, who Ust- 
 ened to his statements (respecting the slave- 
 trade,) and promised to use his influence with 
 the assembled monarch?, to secure the entire 
 suppression of the trade in human beings, 
 as speedily as possible. Describing his in- 
 terview with this amiable monarch, in which 
 the subject of peace societies, as well as the 
 abolition of the slave-trade was discussed, 
 Mr. Clarkson, in a letter to a friend, thus 
 writes : 
 
 "' It w^as about nine at night, when I was 
 shown into the emperor's apartment. I found 
 him alone. He met me at the door, and 
 shaking me by the hand, said, 'I had the 
 pleasure of making your acquaintance at 
 Paris.' He then led me some little way into 
 the room, and leaving me there, went for- 
 ward and brought me a chair with his own 
 hand, and desired me to sit down. This 
 being done, he went for another chair, and 
 bringing it very near to mine, placed him- 
 self close to me, so that we sat opposite to 
 each other. 
 
80 
 
 " ' I began the conversation by informing 
 the emperor that as I supposed the congress 
 of Aix la Chapelle might possibly be the last 
 congress of sovereigns for setthng the af- 
 fairs of Europe, its connexions and depen- 
 dencies, I had availed myself of the kind 
 permission he gave me at Paris, of applying 
 to him in behalf of the oppressed Africans, 
 being unv^illing to lose the last opportunity 
 of rendering him serviceable to the cause. 
 
 " ' The emperor rephed, that he had read 
 both my letter and my address to the sove- 
 reigns, and that what I asked him and the 
 other sovereigns to do, was only reasonable. 
 
 " * Here I repeated the two great proposi- 
 tions in the address — the necessity of bring- 
 ing the Portuguese time for continuing the 
 trade (which did not expire till 1825, and 
 then only with a condition,) down to the Spa- 
 nish time, which expired in 1820; and se- 
 condly, when the two times should legally 
 have expired, (that is, both of them in 1820,) 
 then to make any farther continuance piracy. 
 I entreated him not to be deceived by any 
 other propositions ; for that Mr. Wilberforce, 
 
81 
 
 myself, and others, who had devoted our 
 time to this subject, were sure that no other 
 measure would be effectual. 
 
 " * He then said very feelingly in these 
 words, * By the providence of God, I and my 
 kingdom have been saved from a merciless 
 tyranny, (alluding to the invasion of Napo- 
 leon,) and I should but ill repay the blessing, 
 if I were not to do every thing in my power 
 to protect the poor Africans against their 
 oppression also.' 
 
 " ' The emperor then asked if he could do 
 any thing else for our cause. I told him he 
 could ; and that I should be greatly obliged 
 to him if he would present one of the ad- 
 dresses to the Emperor of Austria, and ano- 
 ther to the King of Prussia, with his own 
 hand. I had brought two of them in my 
 pocket for the purpose. He asked me why 
 I had not presented them before. I replied 
 that 1 had not the honour of knowing either 
 of those sovereigns as I knew him ; nor any 
 of their ministers ; and that I was not only 
 fearful lest these addresses would not be pre- 
 sented to them, but even if they were, that 
 
82 
 
 coming into their hands without any recom- 
 mendation, they would be laid aside and not 
 read ; on the other hand, if he (the empe- 
 ror,) would condescend to present them, I 
 was sure they would be read, and that com- 
 ing from him, they would come with a weight 
 of influence, which would secure an atten- 
 tion to their contents. Upon this, the empe- 
 ror promised, in the most kind and affable 
 manner, that he would perform the task I 
 had assigned to him. 
 
 " ' We then rose from our seats to inspect 
 some articles of manufacture, which I had 
 brought with me as a present to him, and 
 which had been laid upon the table. We 
 examined the articles in leather first, one by 
 one, with which he was uncommonly grati- 
 fied. He said they exhibited not only ge- 
 nius but taste. He inquired if they tanned 
 their own leather, and how : I replied to his 
 question. He said he had never seen neater 
 work, either in Petersburg or in London. He 
 then looked at a dagger and its scabbard or 
 sheath. I said the sheath was intended as a 
 further, but more beautiful specimen of the 
 
83 
 
 work of the poor Africans in leather ; and 
 the blade of their dagger as a specimen of 
 their work in iron. Their works in cotton 
 next came under our notice. There was 
 one piece which attracted his particular no- 
 tice, and which was undoubtedly very beau- 
 tiful. It called from him this observation, 
 ' Manchester,' said he, * I think is your great 
 place for manufactures of this sort — do you 
 think they could make a better piece of cot- 
 ton there V I told him I had never seen a 
 better piece of workmanship of the kind 
 any where. Having gone over all the arti- 
 cles, the emperor desired me to inform him 
 whether he was to understand that these ar- 
 ticles were made by the Africans in their 
 own country, that is, in their native villages, 
 or after they had arrived in America, where 
 they would have an opportunity of seeing 
 European manufactures, and experienced 
 workmen in the arts? I repHed that such 
 articles might be found in every African vil- 
 lage, both on the coast and in the interior, 
 and that they were samples of their own in- 
 genuity, without any connexion with Euro- 
 
84 
 
 peans. ' Then,' said the emperor, * you as- 
 tonish me — you have given me a new idea 
 of the state of these poor people. I was not 
 aware that they were so advanced in society. 
 The works you have shown me are not the 
 works of brutes — but of men, endued with 
 rational and intellectual powers, and capable 
 of being brought to as high a degree of pro- 
 ficiency as any other men. Africa ought to 
 have a fair chance of raising her character 
 in the scale of the civilized world.^ I replied 
 that it was this cruel traffic alone, which had 
 prevented Africa from rising to a level with 
 other nations ; and that it was only astonish- 
 ing to me that the natives there had, under 
 its impeding influence, arrived at the perfec- 
 tion which had displayed itself in the speci- 
 mens of workmanship he had just seen.' " 
 
 Animated by a growing conviction of the 
 righteousness of the cause in which he was 
 engaged, and encouraged by the success with 
 which past endeavours had been crowned, 
 Mr. Clarkson continued his efficient co-ope- 
 tion with the friends of Abolition, advocating 
 its claims on all suitable occasions. 
 
85 
 
 It would be superfluous to recount the steps 
 by which, even before the venerated Wilber- 
 force was called to his rest, this glorious 
 event was realized, and Clarkson beheld the 
 great object of his own life, and those with 
 whom he had acted, triuaiphantly achieved. 
 The gratitude cherished towards the Su- 
 preme Ruler for the boon thus secured to 
 the oppressed — the satisfaction which a re- 
 view of past exertions afforded, were height- 
 ened by the joyous sympathy of a large por- 
 tion of his countrymen,* 
 
 The History of the Abolition of the Slave- 
 trade, by Clarkson himself, presents a more 
 detailed account of his own labours and of 
 the labours of others, and whoever will read 
 it, will observe the following particulars in 
 which this effort differed from the Abolition 
 movement in America. 
 
 In the first place, it was conducted by some 
 of the wisest and most talented statesmen, as 
 well as the most pious men, in the British na- 
 
 * This account of Clarkson, and the preceding' one of 
 Wilberforce, are taken from the Christian Keepsake 
 of 1836 and 1837. 
 
 u 
 
86 
 
 tion. Pitt, Fox, and some of the highest of the 
 nobility and bishops in England, were the 
 firmest friends of the enterprise from the first. 
 It was conducted by men who had the in- 
 tellect, knowledge, discretion, and wisdom 
 demanded for so great an enterprise. 
 
 Secondly. It was conducted slowly, peace- 
 ably, and by eminently judicious influences. 
 
 Thirdly. It included, to the full extent, the 
 doctrine of expediency denounced by Aboli- 
 tionists. 
 
 One of the first decisions of the " Committee 
 for the Abolition of the Slave-trade," which 
 conducted all Abolition movements, was that 
 slavery should not be attacked, but only the 
 slave-trade; and Clarkson expressly says, that 
 it was owing to this, more than to any other 
 measure, that success was gained. 
 
 Fourthly. Good men were not divided, 
 and thrown into contending parties. — The 
 opponents to the measure, were only those 
 who were personally interested in the per- 
 petuation of slavery or the slave-trade. 
 
 Fifthly. This effort was one to convince 
 men of their own obligations, and not an effort 
 
87 
 
 to arouse public sentiment against the sinful 
 practices of another community over which 
 they had no control. 
 
 I would now ask, why could not some 
 southern gentleman, such for example as Mr. 
 Birney, whose manners, education, character, 
 and habits give him abundant facilities, have 
 acted the part of Clarkson, and quietly have 
 gone to work at the South, collecting facts, 
 exhibiting the impolicy and the evils, to good 
 men at the South, by the fire-side of the plan- 
 ter, the known home of hospitality and 
 chivalry. Why could he not have com- 
 menced with the most vulnerable point, the 
 domestic slam-trade, leaving emancipation for 
 a future and more favourable period? What 
 right has any one to say that there was no 
 southern Wilberforce that would have arisen, 
 no southern Grant, Macaulayor Sharpe,who, 
 like the English philanthropists, would have 
 stood the fierce beating of angry billows, and 
 by patience, kindness, arguments, facts, elo- 
 quence, and Christian love, convinced the 
 skeptical, enlightened the ignorant, excited 
 the benevolent, and finally have carried the 
 
88 
 
 day at the South, by the same means and 
 measures, as secured the event in England? 
 All experience is in favour of the method 
 which the Abolitionists have rejected, because 
 it involves danger to themselves. The cause 
 they have selected is one that stands alone. — 
 No case parallel on earth can be brought to 
 sustain it, with probabilities of good results. 
 No instance can be found, where exciting the 
 public sentiment of one community against 
 evil practices in another, was ever made the 
 means of eradicating those evils. All the 
 laws of mind, all the records of experience, 
 go against the measures that Abolitionists 
 have taken, and in favour of the one they 
 have rejected. And when we look still far- 
 ther ahead, at results which time is to devel- 
 ope, how stand the probabilities, when we, in 
 judging, again take, as data, the laws of mind 
 and the records of experience? 
 
 What are the plans, hopes, and expecta- 
 tions of Abolitionists, in reference to their 
 measures? They are now labouring to make 
 the North a great Abolition Society, — to con- 
 vince every northern man that slavery at the 
 
89 
 
 South is a great sin, and that it ought imme- 
 diately to cease. Suppose they accomplish 
 this to the extent they hope, — so far as we 
 have seen, the more the North is convinced, 
 the more firmly the South rejects the light, 
 and turns from the truth. 
 
 While Abolition Societies did not exist, 
 men could talk and write, at the South, 
 against the evils of slavery, and northern 
 men had free access and liberty of speech, 
 both at the South and at the North. But 
 now all is changed. Every avenue of ap- 
 proach to the South is shut. No paper, 
 pamphlet, or preacher, that touches on that 
 topic, is admitted in their bounds. Their own 
 citizens, that once laboured and remonstrated, 
 are silenced ; their own clergy, under the in- 
 fluence of the exasperated feelings of their 
 people, and their own sympathy and sense of 
 wrong, either entirely hold their peace, or 
 become the defenders of a system they once 
 lamented, and attempted to bring to an end. 
 This is the record of experience as to the 
 tendencies of Abolitionism, as thus far deve- 
 loped. The South are now in just that state 
 H 2 
 
9(1 
 
 of high exasperation, at the sease of wanton 
 injury and impertinent interference, which 
 makes the influence of truth and reason most 
 useless and powerless. 
 
 But suppose the Abolitionists succeed, not on- 
 ly in making northern men Abolitionists,but also 
 in sending a portion of light into the South, such 
 as to form a body of Abolitionists there also. 
 What is the thingthat is to be done to end slav- 
 ery at the South? It is to alter the laws, and to 
 do this, a small minority must begin a longj 
 bitter, terrible conflict with a powerful and 
 exasperated majority. Now if, as the Abo^ 
 litionists hope, there will arise at the South 
 such a minority, it will doubtless consist of 
 men of rehgious and benevolent feelings, — 
 men of that humane, and generous, and up- 
 right spirit, that most keenly feel the injuries 
 inflicted on their fellow men. Suppose such 
 a band of men begin their efforts, sustained 
 by the northern Abolitionists, already so 
 odious. How will the exasperated majority 
 act, according to the known laws of mind 
 and of experience? Instead of lessening the 
 evils of slavery, they will increase them. The 
 
91 
 
 more they are goaded by a sense of aggres<* 
 sive wrong without, or by fears of dangers 
 within, the more they will restrain their 
 slaves, and diminish their liberty, and in- 
 crease their disabilities. They will make 
 laws so unjust and oppressive, not only to 
 slaves, but to their Abolitionist advocates, 
 that by degrees such men will withdraw from 
 their bounds. Laws will be made expressly 
 to harass them, and to render them so uncom- 
 fortable that they must withdraw. Then gra- 
 dually the righteous will flee from the devoted 
 city. Then the numerical proportion of whites 
 will decrease, and the cruelty and unrestrain- 
 ed wickedness of the system will increase, till 
 a period will come when the physical power 
 will be so much with the blacks, their sense 
 of suffering so increased, that the volcano 
 will burst, — insurrection and servile wars will 
 begin. Oh, the countless horrors of such a 
 day! And will the South stand alone in that 
 burning hour? When she sends forth the 
 wailing of her agonies, shall not the North 
 and the West hear, and lift up together the 
 voice of wo? Will not fathers hear the cries 
 
92 
 
 of children, and brothers the cries of sisters'? 
 Will the terrors of insurrection sweep over 
 the South, and no Northern and Western 
 blood be shed? Will the slaves be cut dow^n, 
 in such a strife, when they raise the same 
 pagan song of liberty and human rights, that 
 was the watchword of our redemption from 
 far less dreadful tyranny, and which is now 
 thrilling the nations and shaking monarchs 
 on their thrones — will this be heard, and none 
 of the sons of liberty be found to appear on 
 their side? This is no picture of fancied 
 dangers, which are not near. The day has 
 come, when already the feelings are so ex- 
 cited on both sides, that I have heard intelli- 
 gent men, good men, benevolent and pious 
 men, in moments of excitement, declare them- 
 selves ready to take up the sword — some for 
 the defence of the master, some for the pro- 
 tection and right of the slave. It is my full 
 conviction, that if insurrection does burst 
 forth, and there be the least prospect of suc- 
 cess to the cause of the slave, there will be 
 men from the North and West, standing 
 
93 
 
 breast to breast, with murderous weapons, in 
 opposing ranks. 
 
 Such apprehensions many would regard as 
 needless, and exclaim against such melan- 
 choly predictions. But in a case where the 
 whole point of duty and expediency turns 
 upon the probabilities as to results, those 
 probabilities ought to be the chief subjects of 
 inquiry. True, no one has a right to say 
 with confidence what will or what will not 
 be; and it has often amazed and disturbed 
 my mind to perceive how men, with so small 
 a field of vision, — with so little data for judg- 
 ing, — with so few years, and so little expe- 
 rience, can pronounce concerning the results 
 of measures bearing upon the complicated 
 relations and duties of millions, and in a case 
 where the wisest and best are dismayed and 
 bafl^ed. It sometimes has seemed to me that 
 the prescience of Deity alone should dare to 
 take such positions as are both carelessly as- 
 sumed, and pertinaciously defended, by the 
 advocates of Abolitionism. 
 
 But if we are to judge of the wisdom or 
 folly of any measures on this subject, it must 
 
94 
 
 be with reference to future results. One 
 course of measures, it is claimed, tends to 
 perpetuate slavery, or to end it by scenes of 
 terror and bloodshed. Another course tends 
 to bring it to an end sooner, and by safe and 
 peaceful influences. And the whole discus- 
 sion of duty rests on these probabilities. But 
 where do the laws of mind and experience 
 oppose the terrific tendencies of Abolitionism 
 that have been portrayed ? Are not the minds 
 of men thrown into a ferment, and excited by 
 those passions which blind the reason, and 
 warp the moral sense? Is not the South in 
 a state of high exasperation against Aboli- 
 tionists ? Does she not regard them as ene- 
 mies, as reckless madmen, as impertinent 
 intermeddlers? Will the increase of their 
 numbers tend to allay this exasperation? 
 Will the appearance of a similar body in 
 their own boundaries have any tendency to 
 soothe? Will it not still more alarm and ex- 
 asperate? If a movement of a minority of 
 such men attempt to alter the laws, are not 
 the probabilities strong that still more unjust 
 and oppressive measures will be adopted?—- 
 
95 
 
 measures that will tend to increase the hard- 
 ships of the slave, and to drive out of the com- 
 munity all humane, conscientious and pious 
 men? As the evils and dangers increase, will 
 not the alarm constantly diminish the propor- 
 tion of whites, and make it more and more need- 
 ful to increase such disabilities and restraints 
 as will chafe and inflame the blacks? When 
 this point is reached, will the blacks, knowing, 
 as they will know, the sympathies of their 
 Abohtion friends, refrain from exerting their 
 physical power? The Southampton insurrec- 
 tion occurred ivith far less chance of sympathy 
 and success. 
 
 If that most horrible of all scourges, a ser- 
 vile war, breaks forth, will the slaughter of 
 fathers, sons, infants, and of aged, — will the 
 cries of wives, daughters, sisters, and kindred, 
 sufl^ering barbarities worse than death, bring 
 no fathers, brothers, and friends to their aid, 
 from the North and West? 
 
 And if the sympathies and indignation of 
 freemen can already look such an event in 
 the face, and feel that it would be the slave, 
 rather than the master^ whom they would 
 
96 
 
 defend, what will be the probability, after a 
 few years' chafing shall have driven away 
 the most christian and humane from scenes 
 of cruelty and inhumanity, which they could 
 neither alleviate nor redress? 1 should like 
 to see any data of past experience, that will 
 show that these results are not more probable 
 than that the South will, by the system of 
 means now urged upon her, finally be con- 
 vinced of her sins, and voluntarily bring the 
 system of slavery to an end. I claim not 
 that the predictions I present will be fulfilled. 
 I only say, that if Abolitionists go on as they 
 propose, such results are more probable than 
 those they hope to attain. 
 
 I have not here alluded to the probabilities 
 of the severing of the Union by the present 
 mode of agitating the question. This may be 
 one of the results, and, if so, what are the 
 probabilities for a Southern republic, that has 
 torn itself off' for the purpose of excluding 
 foreign interference, and for the purpose of 
 perpetuating slavery? Can any Abolitionist 
 suppose that, in such a state of things, the 
 great cause of emancipation is as hkely to 
 
97 
 
 progress favourably, as it was when we were 
 one nation, and mingling on those fraternal 
 terms that existed before the Abolition move- 
 ment began? 
 
 The preceding are some of the reasons 
 which, on the general view, I would present 
 as opposed to the proposal of forming Aboli- 
 tion Societies; and they apply equally to 
 either sex. There are some others which 
 seem to oppose peculiar objections to the ac- 
 tion of females in the way you would urge. 
 
 To appreciate more fully these objections, 
 it will be necessary to recur to some general 
 views in relation to the place woman is ap- 
 pointed to fill by the dispensations of heaven.' 
 
 It has of late become quite fashionable in 
 all benevolent efforts, to shower upon our sex 
 an abundance of compliments, not only for 
 what they have done, but also for what they 
 can do; and so injudicious and so frequent, 
 are these oblations, that while I feel an in- 
 creasing respect for my countrywomen, that 
 their good sense has not been decoyed by 
 these appeals to their vanity and ambition, I 
 cannot but apprehend that there is some need 
 1 
 
98 
 
 of inquiry as to the just bounds of female in- 
 fluence, and the times, places, and manner in 
 which it can be appropriately exerted. 
 
 It is the grand feature of the Divine 
 economy, that there should be different sta- 
 tions of superiority and subordination, and it 
 is impossible to annihilate this beneficent and 
 immutable law. On its first entrance into 
 life, the child is a dependent on parental love, 
 and of necessity takes a place of subordina- 
 tion and obedience. As he advances in life 
 these new relations of superiority and subor- 
 dination multiply. The teacher must be the 
 superior in station, the pupil a subordinate. 
 The master of a family the superior, the do- 
 mestic a subordinate — the ruler a superior, 
 the subject a subordinate. Nor do these re- 
 lations at all depend upon superiority either 
 in intellectual or moral worth. However 
 weak the parents, or intelligent the child, 
 there is no reference to this, in the immutable 
 law. However incompetent the teacher, or 
 superior the pupil, no alteration of station can 
 be allowed. However unworthy the master 
 or worthy the servant, while their mutual re- 
 
99 
 
 lations continue, no change in station as to 
 subordination can be allowed. In fulfilling 
 the duties of these relations, true dignity con- 
 sists in conforming to all those relations that 
 demand subordination, with propriety and 
 cheerfulness. When does a man, however 
 high his character or station, appear more 
 interesting or dignified than when yielding 
 reverence and deferential attentions to an 
 aged parent, however weak and infirm? 
 And the pupil, the servant, or the subject, all 
 equally sustain their own claims to self-re- 
 spect, and to the esteem of others, by equally 
 sustaining the appropriate relations and duties 
 of subordination. In this arrangement of the 
 duties of life. Heaven has appointed to one 
 sex the superior, and to the other the subor- 
 dinate station, and this without any reference 
 to the character or conduct of either. It 
 is therefore as much for the dignity as it is for 
 the interest of females, in all respects to con- 
 form to the duties of this relation. And it is 
 as much a duty as it is for the child to fulfil 
 similar relations to parents, or subjects to 
 rulers. But while woman holds a subordi- 
 
 l r,fr.. 
 
100 
 
 nate relation in society to the other sex, it is 
 not because it was designed that her duties 
 or her influence should be any the less im- 
 portant, or all-pervading. But it was design- 
 'ed that the mode of gaining influence and of 
 exercising power should be altogether dif- 
 ferent and peculiar. 
 
 It is Christianity that has given to woman 
 her true place in society. And it is the pe- 
 culiar trait of Christianity alone that can 
 sustain her therein. " Peace on earth and 
 a;ood will to men" is the character of all the 
 rights and privileges, the influence, and the 
 power of woman. A man may act on society 
 by the colhsion of intellect, in public debate ; 
 he may urge his measures by a sense of 
 shame, by fear and by personal interest; he 
 may coerce by the combination of public 
 sentiment; he may drive by physical force, 
 and he does not outstep the boundaries of his 
 sphere. But all the power, and all the con- 
 quests that are lawful to woman, are those 
 only which appeal to the kindly, generous, 
 peaceful and benevolent principles. 
 
 Woman is to win every thing by peace 
 
101 
 
 and love; by making herself so much respect- 
 ed, esteemed and loved, that to yield to her 
 opinions and to gratify her wishes, will be the 
 free-will offering of the heart. But this is to 
 be all accomplished in the domestic and 
 social circle. There let every woman be- 
 come so cultivated and refined in intellect, 
 that her taste and judgment will be respected ; 
 so benevolent in feeling and action ; that her 
 motives will be reverenced; — so unassuming 
 and unambitious, that colhsion and compe- 
 tition will be banished ; — so " gentle and easy 
 to be entreated," as that every heart will re- 
 pose in her presence; then, the fathers, the 
 husbands, and the sons, will find an influence 
 thrown around them, to which they will yield 
 not only willingly but proudly. A man is 
 never ashamed to own such influences, but 
 feels dignified and ennobled in acknowledging 
 them. But the moment woman begins to feel 
 the promptings of ambition, or the thirst for 
 power, her asgis of defence is gone. All the 
 sacred protection of religion, all the genei-ous 
 promptings of chivalry, all the poetry of ro- 
 mantic gallantry, depend upon woman's re-| 
 i2 
 
102 
 
 taining her place as dependent and defence- 
 less^ and making no claims, and maintaining 
 no right but what are the gifts of honour, rec- 
 titude and love. 
 
 A woman may seek the aid of co-opera- 
 tion and combination among her own sex, to 
 assist her in her appropriate offices of piety, 
 charity, maternal and domestic duty; but 
 whatever, in any measure, throws a woman 
 into the attitude of a combatant, either for 
 herself or others — whatever binds her in a 
 party conflict — whatever obliges her in any 
 way to exert coercive influences, throws 
 her out of her appropriate sphere. If these 
 general principles are correct, they are 
 entirely opposed to the plan of arraying 
 females in any Abolition movement; be- 
 cause it enlists them in an eflx>rt to coerce 
 the South by the public sentiment of the 
 North; because it brings them forward as 
 partisans in a conflict that has been begun 
 and carried forward by measures that are 
 any thing rather than peaceful in their ten- 
 dencies; because it draws them forth from 
 their appropriate retirement, to expose them- 
 
103 
 
 selves to the ungoverned violence of mobs, 
 and to sneers and ridicule in public places ; 
 because it leads them into the arena of poli- 
 tical collision, not as peaceful mediators to 
 hush the opposing elements, but as combat- 
 ants to cheer up and carry forward the mea- 
 sures of strife. 
 
 If it is asked, " May not woman appropriate- 
 ly come forward as a suppliant for a portion 
 of her sex who are bound in cruel bondage ?' 
 It is replied, that, the rectitude and propri- 
 ety of any such measure, depend entirely on 
 its probable results. If petitions from females 
 will operate to exasperate ; if they will be . 
 deemed obtrusive, indecorous, and unwise, 
 by those to whom they are addressed; if 
 they will increase, rather than diminish the 
 evil which it is wished to remove ; if they 
 will be the opening wedge, that will tend 
 eventually to bring females as petitioners and 
 partisans into every political measure that 
 may tend to injure and oppress their sex, in 
 various parts of the nation, and under the 
 various public measures that may hereafter 
 
104 
 
 be enforced, then it is neither appropriate 
 nor wise, nor right, for a woman to petition 
 for the relief of oppressed females. 
 
 The case of Queen Esther is one often ap- 
 pealed to as a precedent. When a woman 
 is placed in similar circumstances, where 
 death to herself and all her nation is one al- 
 ternative, and there is nothing worse to fear, 
 but something to hope as the other alterna- 
 tive, then she may safely follow such an ex- 
 ample. But when a woman is asked to join 
 an Abolition Society, or to put her name to 
 a petition to congress, for the purpose of con- 
 tributing her measure of influence to keep 
 up agitation in congress, to promote the ex- 
 citement of the North against the iniquities 
 of the South, to coerce the South by fear, 
 shame, anger, and a sense of odium to do 
 what she has determined not to do, the case 
 of Queen Esther is not at all to be regarded 
 as a suitable example for imitation. 
 
 In this country, petitions to congress, in 
 reference to the official duties of legislators, 
 seem, in all cases, to fall entirely without 
 the sphere of female duty. Men are the 
 
105 
 
 proper persons to make appeals to the rulers 
 whom they appoint, and if their female 
 friends, by arguments and persuasions, can 
 induce them to petition, all the good that 
 can be done by such measures will be sour- 
 ed. But if females cannot influence their 
 nearest friends, to urge forward a public 
 measure in this way, they surely are out of 
 their place, in attempting to do it them- 
 selves. 
 
 There are some other considerations, 
 which should make the American females 
 peculiarly sensitive in reference to any mea- 
 sure, which should even seem to draw them 
 from their appropriate relations in society. 
 
 It is allowed by all reflecting minds, that 
 the safety and happiness of this nation de- 
 pends upon having the children educated, 
 and not only intellectually, but morally and 
 religiously. There are now nearly two mil- 
 lions of children and adults in this country 
 who cannot read, and who have no schools 
 of any kind. To give only a small supply of 
 teachers to these destitute children, who are 
 generally where the population is sparse, will 
 
lOG 
 
 demand thirty thousand teachers; and six 
 thousand more will be needed every year, 
 barely to meet the increase of juvenile popu- 
 lation. But if we allow that we need not 
 reach this point, in order to save ourselves 
 from that destruction which awaits a people, 
 when governed by an ignorant and unprin- 
 cipled democracy; if we can weather the 
 storms of democratic liberty with only one- 
 third of our ignorant children properly edu- 
 cated, still we need ten thousand teachers at 
 this moment, and an addition of two thou- 
 sand every year. Where is this army of 
 teachers to be found ? Is it at all probable 
 that the other sex will afford even a mode- 
 rate portion of this supply ? The field for 
 enterprise and excitement in the political 
 arena, in the arts, the sciences, the Hberal 
 professions, in agriculture, manufactures, and 
 commerce, is opening with such temptations, 
 as never yet bore upon the mind of any na- 
 tion. Will men turn aside from these high 
 and exciting objects to become the patient 
 labourers in the school-room, and for only 
 the small pittance that rewards such toil ? 
 
107 
 
 No, they will not do it. Men will be educa- 
 tors in the college, in the high school, in 
 some of the most honourable and lucrative 
 common schools, but the children, the little 
 cidlclren of this nation must, to a wide ex. 
 tent, be taught by females, or remain un- 
 taught. The drudgery of education, as it is 
 now too generally regarded, in this country, 
 will be given to the female hand. And as 
 the value of education rises in the public 
 mind, and the importance of a teacher's of- 
 fice is more highly estimated, women will 
 more and more be furnished with those in- 
 tellectual advantages which they need to fit 
 them for such duties. 
 
 The result will be, that America will be 
 distinguished above all other nations, for well- 
 educated females, and for the influence they 
 will exert on the general interests of society. 
 But if females, as they approach the other \ 
 sex, in intellectual elevation, begin to claim, 
 or to exercise in any manner, the pecuHar I 
 prerogatives of that sex, education will prove/ 
 a doubtful and dangerous blessing. But this( 
 will never be the result. For the more in- 
 
108 
 
 telligent a woman becomes, the more she can 
 appreciate the wisdom of that ordinance that 
 appointed her subordinate station, and the 
 more her taste will conform to the graceful 
 and dignified retirement and submission it 
 involves. 
 
 An ignorant, a narrow-minded, or a stupid 
 woman, cannot feel nor understand the ra- 
 tionality, the propriety, or the beauty of this 
 relation ; and she it is, that will be most 
 likely to carry her measures by tormenting, 
 when she cannot please, or by petulent com- 
 plaints or obtrusive interference, in matters 
 which are out of her sphere, and which she 
 cannot comprehend. 
 
 And experience testifies to this result. By 
 the concession of all travellers, American fe- 
 males are distinguished above all others for 
 their general intelligence, and yet they are 
 complimented for their retiring modesty, vir- 
 tue, and domestic faithfulness, while the other 
 sex is as much distinguished for their respectful 
 kindness and attentive gallantry. There is no 
 other country where females have so much 
 public respect and kindness accorded to them 
 
109 
 
 as in America, by the concession of all tra- 
 vellers. And it will ever be so, while intel- 
 lectual culture in the female mind, is combin- 
 ed with the spirit of that religion which so 
 strongly enforces the appropriate duties of a 
 woman's sphere. 
 
 But it may be asked, is there nothing to be 
 done to bring this national sin of slavery to 
 an end? Must the internal slave-trade, a 
 trade now ranked as piracy among all civil- 
 ized nations, still prosper in our bounds? 
 Must the very seat of our government stand 
 as one of the chief slave-markets of the 
 land ; and must not Christian females open 
 their lips, nor lift a finger, to bring such a 
 shame and sin to an end ? 
 
 To this it may be rephed, that Christian 
 females may, and can say and do much to 
 bring these evils to an end ; and the present 
 is a time and an occasion when it seems most 
 desirable that they should know, and appre- 
 ciate, and exercise the power which they do 
 possess for so desirable an end. 
 
 And in pointing out the methods of ex- 
 erting female influence for this object, I am 
 
 K 
 
110 
 
 inspired with great confidence, from the con- 
 viction that what will be suggested, is that 
 which none will oppose, but all will allow to 
 be not only practicable, but safe, suitable, 
 and Christian. 
 
 To appreciate these suggestions, however, 
 it is needful previously to consider some par- 
 ticulars that exhibit the spirit of the age and 
 the tendencies of our peculiar form of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The prominent principle, now in develop- 
 ment, as indicating the spirit of the age, is 
 the perfect right of all men to entire free- 
 dom of opinion. By this I do not mean 
 that men are coming to think that " it is no 
 matter what a man believes, if he is only 
 honest and sincere," or that they are grow- 
 ing any more lenient towards their fellow- 
 men, for the evil consequences they bring 
 on themselves or on others for believing 
 wrong. 
 
 But they are coming to adopt the maxim, 
 that no man shall be forced by pains and 
 penalties to adopt the opinions of other minds, 
 but that every man shall be free to form his 
 
HI 
 
 own opinions, and to propagate them by all 
 lawful nneans. 
 
 At the same time another right is claimed, 
 which is of necessity involved in the pre- 
 ceding, — the right to oppose, by all lawful 
 means, the opinions and the practices of 
 others, when they are deemed pernicious 
 either to individuals or to the community, 
 Facts, arguments and 'persuasions are, by all, 
 conceded to be lawful means to employ in 
 propagating our own views, and in opposing 
 the opinions and practices of others. 
 
 These fundamental principles of liberty 
 have in all past ages been restrained by co- 
 ercive influences, either of civil or of eccle- 
 siastical power. But in this nation, all such 
 coercive influences, both of church and state, 
 have ceased. Every man may think what 
 he pleases about government, or religion, or 
 any thing else ; he may propagate his opinions, 
 he may controvert opposite opinions, and no 
 magistrate or ecclesiastic can in any legal 
 way restrain or punish. 
 
 But the form of our government is such, 
 that every measure that bears upon the public 
 
112 
 
 or private interest of every citizen, is decided 
 by public sentiment. All lavv^s and regula- 
 tions in civil, or religious, or social concerns, 
 are decided by the majority of votes. And the 
 present is a time when every doctrine, every 
 principle, and every practice which influ- 
 ences the happiness of man, either in this, or 
 in a future life, is under discussion. The 
 whole nation is thrown into parties about 
 almost every possible question, and every 
 naan is stimulated in his efforts to promote 
 his own plans by the conviction that success 
 depends entirely upon bringing his fellow 
 citizens to think as he does. Hence every 
 man is fierce in maintaining his own right of 
 free discussion, his own right to propagate 
 his opinions, and his own right to oppose, by 
 all lawful means, the opinions that conflict 
 with his own. 
 
 But the difficulty is, that a right which all 
 men claim for themselves, with the most sen- 
 sitive and pertinacious inflexibility, they have 
 not yet learned to accord to their fellow men, 
 in cases where their own interests are in- 
 volved. Every man is saying, " let me hnve 
 
113 
 
 full liberty to propagate my opinions, and to 
 oppose all that I deem wrong and injurious, 
 but let no man take this liberty with my 
 opinions and practices. Every man may be- 
 lieve what he pleases, and propagate what 
 he pleases, provided he takes care not to 
 attack any thing which belongs to me." 
 
 And how do men exert themselves to 
 restrain this corresponding right of their 
 fellow men? Not by going to the magistrate 
 to inform, or to the spiritual despot to obtain 
 ecclesiastical penalties, but he resorts to 
 methods, which, if successful, are in effect the 
 most severe pains and penalties that can 
 restrain freedom of opinion. 
 
 What is dearer to a man than his charac- 
 ter, involving as it does, the esteem, respect 
 and affection of friends, neighbours and so- 
 ciety, with all the confidence, honour, trust 
 and emolument that flow from general es- 
 teem ? How sensitive is every man to any 
 thing that depreciates his intellectual charac- 
 ter! What torture, to be ridiculed or pitied 
 for such deficiencies! How cruel the suffer- 
 ing, when his moral delinquencies are held up 
 k2 
 
114 
 
 to public scorn and reprehension ! Confisca- 
 tion, stripes, chains, and even death itself, are 
 often less dreaded. 
 
 It is this method of punishment to which 
 men resort, to deter their fellow-men from 
 exercising those rights of liberty which they 
 so tenaciously claim for themselves. Examine 
 now the methods adopted by almost all who 
 are engaged in the various conflicts of opinion 
 in this nation, and you will find that there are 
 certain measures which combatants almost 
 invariably employ. 
 
 They either attack the intellectual charac- 
 ter of opponents, or they labour to make them 
 appear narrow-minded, illiberal and bigoted, 
 or they impeach their honesty and veracity, 
 or they stigmatize their motives as mean, 
 selfish, ambitious, or in some other respect 
 unworthy and degrading. Instead of truth, 
 and evidence, and argument, personal depre- 
 ciation, sneers, insinuations, or open abuse, 
 are the weapons employed. This method of 
 resisting freedom of opinions, by pains and 
 penalties, arises in part from the natural sel- 
 fishness of man. and in part from want of clear 
 
115 
 
 distinctions as to the rights and duties in- 
 volved in freedom of opinion and freedom of 
 speech. 
 
 The great fundamental principle that makes 
 this matter clear, is this, that a broad and in- 
 variable distinction should ever be preserved 
 between the opinions and practices that are 
 discussed, and the advocates of these opinions 
 and practices. 
 
 It is a sacred and imperious duty, that rests 
 on every human being, to exert all his in* 
 fluence in opposing every thing that he be- 
 lieves is dangerous and w^rong, and in sus- 
 taining all that he believes is safe and right. 
 And in doing this, no compromise is to be 
 made, in order to shield country, party, friends, 
 or even self, from any just censure. Every 
 man is bound by duty to God and to his 
 country, to lay his finger on every false prin- 
 ciple, or injurious practice, and boldly say, 
 " this is v^^rong — this is dangerous — -this I will 
 oppose with all my influence, whoever it may 
 be that advocates or practises it." And 
 every man is bound to use his efforts to turn 
 public sentiment against all that he believes 
 
116 
 
 to be wrong and injurious, either in regard to 
 this life, or to the future world. And every 
 man deserves to be respected and applauded, 
 just in proportion as he fearlessly and impar- 
 tially, and in a 'proper spirit^ time and manner, 
 fulfils this duty. 
 
 The doctrine, just now alluded to, that it is 
 " no matter what a man believes, if he is only 
 honest and sincere," is as pernicious, as it is 
 contrary to religion and to common sense. It 
 is as absurd, and as impracticable, as it would 
 be to urge on the mariner the maxim, " no 
 matter which way you believe to be north, if 
 you only steer aright." A man's character, 
 feelings, and conduct, all depend upon his opin- 
 ions. If a man can reason himself into the belief 
 that it is right to take the property of others 
 and to deceive by false statements, he will pro- 
 bably prove a thief and a liar. It is of the great- 
 est concern, therefore, to every man, that his 
 fellow-men should believe right, and one of 
 his most sacred duties is to use all his in- 
 fluence to promote correct opinions. 
 
 But the performance of this duty, does by 
 no means involve the necessity of attacking 
 
117 
 
 the character or motives of the advocates of 
 false opinions, or of holding them up, indivi- 
 dually, to public odium. 
 
 Erroneous opinions are sometimes the con- 
 sequence of unavoidable ignorance, or of 
 mental imbecihty, or of a weak and erring 
 judgment, or of false testimony from others, 
 which cannot be rectified. In such cases, 
 the advocates of false opinions are to be 
 pitied rather than blamed; and while the 
 opinions and their tendencies may be publicly 
 exposed, the men may be objects of affection 
 and kindness. 
 
 In other cases, erroneous opinions spring 
 from criminal indifference, from prejudice, 
 from indolence, from pride, from evil passions, 
 or from selfish interest. In all such cases, 
 men deserve blame for their pernicious opin- 
 ions, and the evils which flow from them. 
 
 But, it maybe asked, how are men to decide, 
 when their fellow-men are guilty for holding 
 wrong opinions ; when they deserve blame, 
 and when they are to be regarded only with 
 pity and commiseration by those who be- 
 lieve them to be in the wrong? Here, surely, 
 
118 
 
 is a place where some correct principle is 
 greatly needed. 
 
 Is every man to sit in judgment upon his 
 fellow-man, and decide what are his intel- 
 lectual capacities, and what the measure of 
 his judgment? Is every man to take the office 
 of the Searcher of Hearts, to try the feelings 
 and motives of his fellow-man? Is that most 
 difficult of all analysis, the estimating of the 
 feelings, purposes, and motives, which every 
 man, who examines his own secret thoughts, 
 finds to be so complex, so recondite, so in- 
 tricate ; is this to be the basis, not only of in- 
 dividual opinion, but of pubHc reward and 
 censure? Is every man to constitute himself 
 a judge of the amount of time and interest 
 given to the proper investigation of truth 
 by his fellow-man ? Surely, this cannot be a 
 correct principle. 
 
 Though there may be single cases in which 
 we can know that our fellow-men are weak 
 in intellect, or erring in judgment, or per- 
 verse in feeling, or misled by passion, or 
 biased by selfish interest, as a general fact we 
 
119 
 
 are not competent to decide these matters, in 
 regard to those who differ from us in opinion. 
 
 For this reason it is manifestly wrong and 
 irrelevant, when discussing questions of duty 
 or expediency, to bring before the public the 
 character or the motives of the individual ad- 
 vocates of opinions. 
 
 But, it may be urged, how can the evil 
 tendencies of opinions or of practices be in- 
 vestigated, without involving a consideration 
 of the character and conduct of those who 
 advocate them ? To this it may be replied, 
 that the tendencies of opinions and practices 
 can never be ascertained by discussing indivi- 
 dual character. It is c/a55e5of persons, or large 
 communities, embracing persons of all va- 
 rieties of character and circumstances, that 
 are the only proper subjects of investigation 
 for this object. For example, a community 
 of Catholics, and a community of Protestants, 
 may be compared, for the purpose of learning 
 the moral tendencies of their different opin- 
 ions. Scotland and New England, where the 
 principles opposite to Catholicism have most 
 prevailed, may properly be compared with 
 
120 
 
 Spain and Italy, where the Catholic system 
 has been most fairly tried. But to select cer- 
 tain individuals who are defenders of these 
 two different systems, as examples to illus- 
 trate their tendencies, would be as improper 
 as it would be to select a kernel of grain to 
 prove the good or bad character of a whole 
 crop. 
 
 To illustrate by a more particular exarnple. 
 The doctrines of the Atheist school are now 
 under discussion, and Robert Owen and 
 Fanny Wright have been their prominent ad- 
 vocates. 
 
 In agreement with the above principles, it 
 is a right, and the duty of every man who 
 has any influence and opportunity, to show 
 the absurdity of their doctrines, the weakness 
 of their arguments, and the fatal tendencies 
 of their opinions. It is right to show that the 
 practical adoption of their principles indicates 
 a want of common sense, just as sowing the 
 ocean with grain and expecting a crop would 
 indicate the same deficiency. If the advo- 
 cates of these doctrines carry out their prin- 
 ciples into practice, in any such way as to 
 
121 
 
 offend the taste, or infringe on the rights of 
 others, it is proper to express disgust and dis- 
 approbation. If the female advocate chooses 
 to come upon a stage, and expose her person, 
 dress, and elocution to public criticism, it is 
 right to express disgust at whatever is of- 
 fensive and indecorous, as it is to criti- 
 cise the book of an author, or the dancing 
 of an actress, or any thing else that is pre- 
 sented to public observation. And it is right 
 to make all these things appear as odious and 
 reprehensible to others as they do to our- 
 selves. 
 
 But what is the private character of Robert 
 Owen or Fanny Wright? Whether they are 
 ignorant or weak in intellect; whether they 
 have properly examined the sources of truth; 
 how much they have been biased by pride, 
 passion, or vice, in adopting their opinions; 
 whether they are honest and sincere in their 
 belief; whether they are selfish or benevolent 
 in their aims, are not matters which in any 
 way pertain to the discussion. They are 
 questions about which none are quahfied to 
 judge, except those in close and intimatg com- 
 
122 
 
 munion with them. We may inquire with 
 propriety as to the character of a community 
 of Atheists, or of a community where such 
 sentiments extensively prevail, as compared 
 with a community of opposite sentiments. 
 But the private character, feelings, and mo- 
 tives of the individual advocates of these doc- 
 trines, are not proper subjects of investiga- 
 tion in any public discussion. 
 
 If, then, it be true, that attacks on the cha- 
 racter and motives of the advocates of opin- 
 ions are entirely irrelevant and not at all ne- 
 cessary for the discovery of truth ; if injury 
 inflicted on character is the most severe pe- 
 nalty that can be employed to restrain free- 
 dom of opinions and freedom of speech, what 
 are we to say of the state of things in this 
 nation? 
 
 Where is there a party which does not in 
 effect say to every man, " if you dare to op- 
 pose the principles or practices we sustain, 
 you shall be punished with personal odium?" 
 which does not say to every member of the 
 party, " uphold your party, right or wrong ; 
 oppose all that is adverse to your party, right 
 or wrong, or else suffer the penalty of having 
 
123 
 
 your motives, character, and conduct, im- 
 peached?" 
 
 Look first at the poHtical arena. Where 
 is the advocate of any measure that does not 
 suffer sneers, ridicule, contempt, and all that 
 tends to depreciate character in public esti- 
 mation? Where is the partisan that is not at- 
 tacked, as either weak in intellect, or dis- 
 honest in principle, or selfish in motives ? And 
 where is the man who is linked with any po- 
 litical party, that dares to stand up fearlessly 
 and defend what is good in opposers, and re- 
 prove what is wrong in his own party ? 
 
 Look into the religious world. There, 
 even those who take their party name from 
 their professed liberality, are saying, " who- 
 ever shall adopt principles that exclude us 
 from the Christian church, and our clergy 
 from the pulpit, shall be held up either as in- 
 tellectually degraded, or as narrow-minded 
 and bigoted, or as ambitious, partisan and 
 persecuting in spirit. No man shall believe 
 a creed that excludes us from the pale of 
 Christianity, under penalty of all the odium 
 we can inflict." 
 
124 
 
 So in the Calholic controversy. Catholics 
 and their friends practically declare war 
 against all free discussion on this point. The 
 decree has gone forth, that " no man shall ap- 
 pear for the purpose of proving that Catho- 
 licism is contrary to Scripture, or immoral 
 and anti-republican in tendency, under penalty 
 of being denounced as a dupe, or a hypo- 
 crite, or a persecutor, or a narrow-minded 
 and prejudiced bigot. 
 
 On the contrary, those who attack what is 
 called Hberal Christianity, or who aim to op- 
 pose the progress of Cathohcism, how often 
 do they exhibit a severe and uncharitable 
 spirit towards the individuals whose opinions 
 they controvert. Instead of loving the men, 
 and rendering to them all the offices of Chris- 
 tian kindness, and according to them all due 
 credit for whatever is desirable in character 
 and conduct, how often do opposers seem to 
 feel, that it will not answer to allow that there 
 is any thing good, either in the system or in 
 those who have adopted it. " Every thing 
 about my party is right, and every thing 
 in the opposing party is wrong," seems to be 
 
125 
 
 the universal maxim of the times. And it is 
 the remark of some of the most intelligent 
 foreign travellers among us, and of our own 
 citizens w^ho go abroad, that there is no coun- 
 try to be found, where freedom of opinion, 
 and freedom of speech is more really influ- 
 enced and controlled by the fear of pains and 
 penalties, than in this land of boasted freedom. 
 In other nations, the control is exercised by 
 government, in respect to a very few matters ; 
 in this country it is party-spirit that rules with 
 an iron rod, and shakes its scorpion whips 
 over every interest and every employment 
 of man. 
 
 From this mighty source spring constant 
 detraction, gossiping, tale-bearing, falsehood, 
 anger, pride, malice, revenge, and every 
 evil word and work. 
 
 Every man sets himself up as the judge of 
 the intellectual character, the honesty, the 
 sincerity, the feelings, opportunities, motives, 
 and intentions, of his fellow-man. And so 
 they fall upon each other, not with swords 
 and spears, but with the tongue, "that unruly 
 l2 
 
12G 
 
 tnember, that setteth on fire the course of na- 
 ture, and is set on fire of hell." 
 
 Can any person who seeks to maintain the 
 peaceful, loving, and gentle spirit of Chris- 
 tianity, go out into the world at this day, 
 without being bewildered at the endless con- 
 jflicts, and grieved and dismayed at the bitter 
 and unhallowed passions they engender ? Can 
 an honest, upright and Christian man, go into 
 these conflicts, and with unflinching firmness 
 stand up for all that is good, and oppose all 
 that is evil, in whatever party it may be found, 
 without a measure of moral courage such as 
 few can command? And if he carries him- 
 self through with an unyielding integrity, and 
 maintains his consistency, is he not exposed 
 to storms of bitter revilings, and to peltings 
 from both parties between which he may 
 stand? 
 
 What is the end of these things to bet 
 Must we give up free discussion, and again 
 chain up the human mind under the despotism 
 of past ages? No, this will never be. God 
 designs that every intelligent mind shall be 
 governed, not by coercion, but by reason, and 
 
127 
 
 conscience, and truth, Man must reason, and 
 experiment, and compare past and present 
 results, and hear and know all that can be 
 said on both sides of every question which 
 influences either private or public happiness, 
 either for this life or for the life to come. 
 
 But while this process is going on, must we 
 be distracted and tortured by the baleful pas- 
 sions and wicked works that unrestrained 
 party-spirit and ungoverned factions will 
 bring upon us, under such a government as 
 ours? Must we rush on to disunion, and 
 civil wars, and servile wars, till all their train 
 of horrors pass over us hke devouring fire? 
 
 There is an influence that can avert these 
 dangers — a spirit that can allay the storm- 
 that can say to the troubled winds and wa- 
 ters, "peace, be still." 
 
 It is that spirit which is gentle and easy to 
 be entreated, which thinketh no evil, which 
 rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
 truth, which is not easily provoked, which 
 hopeth all things, which beareth all things. 
 Let this spirit be infused into the mass of the 
 nation, and then truth maybe sought, defend- 
 
128 
 
 ed, and propagated, and error detected, and 
 its evils exposed ; and yet we may escape the 
 evils that now^ rage through this nation, and 
 threaten us with such fiery plagues. 
 
 And is there not a peculiar propriety in 
 such an emergency, in looking for the espe- 
 cial agency and assistance of females, who 
 are shut out from the many temptations that 
 assail the other sex, — who are the appointed 
 ministers of all the gentler charities of life, — 
 who are mingled throughout the whole mass 
 of the community, — who dwell in those re- 
 tirements where only peace and love ought 
 ever to enter, — whose comfort, influence, and 
 dearest blessings, all depend on preserving 
 peace and good will among men'? 
 
 In the present aspect of affairs among 
 us, when everything seems to be tending to 
 disunion and distraction, it surely has become 
 the duty of every female instantly to relin- 
 quish the attitude of a partisan, in every mat- 
 ter of clashing interests, and to assume the 
 office of a mediator, and an advocate of 
 peace. And to do this, it is not necessary 
 that a woman should in any manner relinquish 
 
129 
 
 her opinion as to the evils or the benefits, the 
 right or the wrong, of any principle or prac- 
 tice. But, while quietly holding her own 
 opinions, and calmly avowing them, when 
 conscience and integrity make the duty im- 
 perative, every female can employ her influ- 
 ence, not for the purpose of exciting or regu- 
 lating public sentiment, but rather for the 
 purpose of promoting a spirit of candour, for- 
 bearance, charity, and peace. 
 
 And there are certain prominent maxims 
 w^hich every woman can adopt as peculiarly 
 belonging to her, as the advocate of charity 
 and peace, and which it should be her especial 
 office to illustrate, enforce, and sustain, by 
 every method in her power. 
 
 The first is, that every person ought to be 
 sustained, not only in the right of propagating 
 his own opinions and practices, but in oppos- 
 ing all those principles and practices which 
 he deems erroneous. For there is no opinion 
 which a man can propagate, that does not 
 oppose some adverse interest; and if a man 
 must cease to advocate his own views of 
 truth and rectitude, because he opposes the 
 
130 
 
 interest or prejudices of some other man or 
 party, all freedom of opinion, of speech, and 
 of action, is gone. All that can be demanded 
 is, that a man shall not resort to falsehood, 
 false reasoning, or to attacks on character, in 
 maintaining his own rights. If he states things 
 which are false, it is right to show the false- 
 hood, — if he reasons falsely, it is right to 
 point out his sophistry, — if he impeaches the 
 character or motives of opponents, it is right 
 to express disapprobation and disgust; but if 
 he uses only facts, arguments, and persua- 
 sions, he is to be honoured and sustained for 
 all the efforts he makes to uphold what he 
 deems to be right, and to put down what he 
 believes to be wrong. 
 
 Another maxim, which is partially involved 
 in the first, is, that every man ought to allow 
 his own principles and practices to be freely 
 discussed, with patience and magnanimity, 
 and not to complain of persecution, or to at- 
 tack the character or motives of those who 
 claim that he is in the wrong. If he is belied, 
 if his character is impeached, if his motives 
 are assailed, if his intellectual capabilities are 
 
131 
 
 made the objects of sneers or commiseration, 
 he has a right to complain, and to seek sym- 
 pathy as an injured man; but no man is a 
 consistent friend and defender of liberty of 
 speech, who cannot bear to have his own 
 principles and practices subjected to the 
 same ordeal as he demands should be im- 
 posed on others. 
 
 Another maxim of peace and charity is, 
 that every man's own testimony is to be 
 taken in regard to his motives, feelings, and 
 intentions. Though we may fear that a fellow- 
 man is mistaken in his views of his own feel- 
 ings, or that he does not speak the truth, it is 
 as contrary to the rules of good breeding as 
 it is to the laws of Christianity, to assume or 
 even insinuate that this is the case. If a 
 man's word cannot be taken in regard to his 
 own motives, feelings, and intentions, he can 
 find no redress for the wrong that may be 
 done to him. It is unjust and unreasonable 
 in the extreme to take any other course than 
 the one here urged. 
 
 Another most important maxim of candour 
 and charity is, that when we are to assign mo- 
 
132 
 
 lives for the conduct of our fellow-men, espe- 
 cially of those who oppose our interests, we 
 are obligated to put the best, rather than the 
 worst construction, on all they say and do. 
 Instead of assigning the worst as the probable 
 motive, it is always a duty to hope that it is 
 the best, until evidence is so unequivocal that 
 there is no place for such a hope. 
 
 Another maxim of peace and charity re- 
 spects the subject of retaliation. Whatever 
 may be said respecting the literal construc- 
 tion of some of the rules of the gospel, no one 
 can deny that they do, whether figurative or 
 not, forbid retaliation and revenge; that they 
 do assume that men are not to be judges and 
 executioners of their own wrongs; but that 
 injuries are to be borne with meekness, and 
 that retributive justice must be left to God, 
 and to the laws. If a man strikes, we are 
 not to return the blow, but appeal to the laws^ 
 If a man uses abusive or invidious language,, 
 we are not to return railing for railing. If a 
 man impeaches our motives and attacks our 
 character, we are not to return the evil. If 
 a man sneers and ridicules, we are not to re^ 
 
133 
 
 taliate with ridicule and sneers. If a man 
 reports our weaknesses and failings, we are 
 not to revenge ourselves by reporting his. 
 No man has a right to report evil of others, 
 except when the justification of the innocent, 
 or a regard for public or individual safety, 
 demands it. This is the strict law of the 
 gospel, inscribed in all its pages, and meeting 
 in the face all those unchristian and indecent 
 violations that now are so common, in almost 
 every conflict of intellect or of interest. 
 
 Another most important maxim of peace 
 and charity imposes the obligation to guard 
 our fellow-men from all unnecessary tempta- 
 tion. We are taught daily to pray, "lead us 
 not into temptation;" and thus are admonish- 
 ed not only to avoid all unnecessary tempta- 
 tion ourselves, but to save our fellow-men 
 from the danger. Can we ask our Heavenly 
 Parent to protect us from temptation, while 
 we recklessly spread baits and snares for our 
 fellow-men? No, we are bound in every 
 measure to have a tender regard for the 
 weaknesses and Habilities of all around, and 
 ever to be ready to yield even our just rights. 
 
134 
 
 when we can lawfully do it, rather than to 
 tempt others to sin. The generous and high- 
 minded Apostle declares, "if meat make my 
 brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the 
 world standeth ;" and it is the spirit of this 
 maxim that every Christian ought to culti- 
 vate. There are no occasions when this 
 maxim is more needed, than when we wish 
 to modify the opinions, or alter the practices 
 of our fellow-men. If, in such cases, we find 
 that the probabilities are, that any interfer- 
 ence of ours will increase the power of 
 tempation, and lead to greater evils than 
 those we wish to remedy, we are bound to 
 forbear. If we find that one mode of at- 
 tempting a measure will increase the power 
 of temptation, and another will not involve 
 this danger, we are bound to take the safest 
 course. In all cases we are obligated to be 
 as careful to protect our fellow-men from 
 temptation, as we are to watch and pray 
 against it in regard to ourselves. 
 
 Another maxim of peace and charity re- 
 quires a most scrupulous regard to the repu- 
 tation, character, and feelings of our fellow- 
 
135 
 
 men, and especially of those who are opposed 
 in any way to our wishes and interests. Every 
 man and every woman feels that it is wrong 
 for others to propagate their faults and weak- 
 ness through the community. Every one 
 feels wounded and injured to find that others 
 are making his defects and infirmities the 
 subject of sneers and ridicule. And what, 
 then, is the rule of duty? "As ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 With this rule before his eyes and in his mind, 
 can a man retail his neighbour's faults, or 
 sneer at his deficiencies, or ridicule his in- 
 firmities, with a clear conscience? There 
 are cases when the safety of individuals, or 
 public justice, demands that a man's defects 
 of character, or crimes, be made public; but 
 no man is justified in communicating to others 
 any evil respecting any of his fellow-men, 
 when he cannot appeal to God as his witness 
 that he does it from benevolent interest in the 
 welfare of his fellow-men — from a desire to 
 save individuals or the public from some evil 
 — and not from a malevolent or gossiping 
 propensity. Oh, that this law of love and 
 
136 
 
 charity could find an illustration and an ad- 
 vocate in every female of this nation ! Oh, 
 that every current slander, and every inju- 
 rious report, naight stand abashed, whenever 
 it meets the notice of a woman ! 
 
 These are the maxims of peace and chari- 
 ty, which it is in the power of the females of 
 our country to advocate, both by example 
 and by entreaties. These are the principles 
 which alone can protect and preserve the 
 right of free discussion, the freedom of speech, 
 and liberty of the press. And with our form 
 of government, and our liabilities to faction 
 and party-spirit, the country will be safe and 
 happy only in proportion to the prevalence of 
 these maxims among the mass of the com- 
 nn unity. There probably will never arrive a 
 period in the history of this nation, when the 
 influence of these principles will be more 
 needed, than the present. The question of 
 slavery invoh^es more pecuniary interests, 
 touches more private relations, involves more 
 prejudices, is entwined with more sectional, 
 party, and pohtical interests, than any other 
 which can ever again arise. It is a matter 
 
137 
 
 which, if discussed and controlled without the 
 influence of these principles of charity and 
 peace, will shake this nation hke an earth- 
 quake, and pour over us the volcanic waves 
 of every terrific passion. The trembling 
 earth, the low murmuring thunders, already 
 admonish us of our danger; and if females 
 can exert any saving influence in this emer- 
 gency, it is time for them to awake. 
 
 And there are topics that they may urge 
 upon the attention of their friends, at least as 
 matters worthy of serious consideration and 
 inquiry. 
 
 Is a w-oman surrounded by those who fa- 
 vour the Abolition measures ? Can she not 
 with propriety urge such inquiries as these? 
 
 Is not slavery to be brought to an end by 
 free discussion, and is it not a war upon the 
 right of free discussion to impeach the mo- 
 tives and depreciate the character of the op- 
 posers of Abolition measures? When the op- 
 posers of Abolition movements claim that 
 they honestly and sincerely believe that these 
 measures tend to perpetuate slavery, or to 
 bring it to an end by servile wars, and civil 
 M 2 
 
138 
 
 disunion, and tiie most terrific miseries— 
 when they object to the use of their pulpits, 
 to the embodying of literary students, to the 
 agitation of the community, by Abolition 
 agents— when they object to the circulation 
 of such papers and tracts as Abolitionists pre- 
 pare, because they believe them most perni- 
 cious in their influence and tendencies, is it 
 not as much persecution to use invidious in- 
 sinuations, depreciating accusation and im- 
 peachment of motive, in order to intimidate, 
 as it is for the opposers of Abolitionism to 
 use physical force ? Is not the only method by 
 which the South can be brought to relinquish 
 slavery, a conviction that not only her duty, hut 
 her highest interest, requires her to do it? And 
 is not calm, rational Christian discussion the 
 only proper method of securing this end? 
 Can a community that are thrown into such 
 a state of high exasperation as now exists at 
 the South, ever engage in such discussions, 
 till the storm of excitement and passion is 
 allayed ? Ought not every friend of liberty 
 and of free discussion, to take every possible 
 means to soothe exasperated feelings, and to 
 
139 
 
 avoid all those offensive peculiarities that in 
 their nature tend to inflame and offend ? 
 
 Is a woman among those who oppose 
 Abolition movements? She can urge such 
 inquiries as these: Ought not Abolitionists 
 to be treated as if they were actuated by the 
 motives of benevolence which they profess ? 
 Ought not every patriot and every Christian 
 to throw all his influence against the im- 
 peachment of motives, the personal detrac- 
 tion, and the violent measures that are turned 
 upon this body of men, who, however they 
 may err in judgment or in spirit, are among 
 the most exemplary and benevolent in the 
 land? If Abolitionists are censurable for 
 taking measures that exasperate rather than 
 convince and persuade, are not their oppo- 
 nents, who take exactly the same measures 
 to exasperate Abolitionists and their friends, 
 as much to blame ? If Abolitionism prospers 
 by the abuse of its advocates, are not the 
 authors of this abuse accountable for the in- 
 crease of the very evils they deprecate? 
 
 It is the opinion of intelligent and well in- 
 formed men, that a very large proportion of 
 
140 
 
 the best members of the AboHtion party were 
 placed there, not by the arguments of Abo- 
 litionists, but by the abuse of their opposers. 
 And I know some of the noblest minds that 
 stand there, chiefly from the influence of 
 those generous impulses that defend the in- 
 jured and sustain the persecuted, while many 
 others have joined these ranks from the im- 
 pression that Abolitionism and the right of 
 free discussion have become identical in- 
 terests. Although I cannot perceive why the 
 right of free discussion, the right of petition, 
 and other ricrhts that have become involved 
 in this matter, cannot be sustained without 
 joining an association that has sustained such 
 injurious action and such erroneous principles, 
 yet other minds, and those which are worthy 
 of esteem, have been led to an opposite con- 
 clusion. 
 
 The South, in the moments of angry ex- 
 citement, have made unreasonable demands 
 upon the non-slave-holding States, and have 
 employed overbearing and provoking lan- 
 guage. This has provoked re-action again 
 at the North, and men, who heretofore were 
 
141 
 
 unexcited, are beginning to feel indignant, 
 and to say, " Let the Union be sundered." 
 Thus anger begets anger, and unreasonable 
 measures provoke equally unreasonable re- 
 turns. 
 
 But when men, in moments of excitement 
 rush on to such results, little do they think of 
 the momentous consequences that may fol- 
 low. Suppose the South in her anger unite? 
 with Texas, and forms a Southern slave- 
 holding republic, under all the exasperating 
 influences that such an avulsion will excite? 
 What will be the prospects of the slave then, 
 compared with what they are while we 
 dwell together, united by all the ties of bro- 
 therhood, and having free access to those 
 whom we wish to convince and persuade ? 
 
 But who can estimate the mischiefs that 
 we must encounter while this dismember- 
 ment, this tearing asunder of the joints and 
 members of the body politic, is going on ? 
 What will be the commotion and dismay, 
 when all our sources of wealth, prosperity, 
 and comfort, are turned to occasions for an- 
 gry and selfish strife ? 
 
142 
 
 What agitation will ensue in individual 
 States, when it is to be decided by majorities 
 which State shall go to the North and which 
 to the South, and when the discontented mi- 
 nority must either give up or fight ! Who 
 shall divide our public lands between con- 
 tending factions ? What shall be done with 
 our navy and all the various items of the na- 
 tion's property ? What shall be done when 
 the post-office stops its steady movement to 
 divide its efforts among contending parties'? 
 What shall be done when public credit stag- 
 gers, when commerce furls her slackened 
 sail, when property all over the nation 
 changes its owners and relations? What 
 shall be done with our canals and railways, 
 now the bands of love to bind us, then the 
 causes of contention and jealousy? What 
 umpire will appear to settle all these ques- 
 tions of interest and strife, between commu- 
 nities thrown asunder by passion, pride, and 
 mutual injury? 
 
 It is said that the American people, though 
 heedless and sometimes reckless at the ap- 
 proach of danger, are endowed with a strong 
 
143 
 
 and latent principle of common sense, which, 
 when they fairly approach the precipice, 
 always brings them to a stand, and makes 
 them as wise to devise a remedy as they 
 were rash in hastening to the danger. Are 
 we not approaching the very verge of the 
 precipice ? Can we not already hear the 
 roar of the waters below? Is not now 
 the time, if ever, when our stern principles 
 and sound common sense must wake to the 
 rescue 1 
 
 Cannot the South be a little more patient 
 under the injurious action that she feels she 
 has suffered, and cease demanding those con- 
 cessions from the North, that never will 
 be made ? For the North, though slower to 
 manifest feeling, is as sensitive to her right 
 of freedom of speech, as the South can be to 
 her rights of property. 
 
 Cannot the North bear with some unrea- 
 sonable action from the South, when it is re- 
 membered that, as the provocation came 
 from the North, it is wise and Christian that 
 the aggressive party should not so strictly 
 
144 
 
 hold their tempted brethren to the rules of 
 right and reason ? 
 
 Cannot the South bear in mind that at the 
 North the colour of the skin does not take 
 away the feeUng of brotherhood, and though 
 it is a badge of degradation in station and 
 intellect, yet it is oftener regarded with pity 
 and sympathy than with contempt? Can- 
 not the South remember their generous feel- 
 ings for the Greeks and Poles, and imagine 
 that some such feelings may be awakened 
 for the African race, among a people who 
 do not believe either in the policy or the 
 right of slavery? 
 
 Cannot the North remember how jealous 
 every man feels of his domestic relations and 
 rights, and how sorely their Southern breth- 
 ren are tried in these respects ? How would 
 the husbands and fathers at the North endure 
 it, if Southern associations should be formed 
 to bring forth to the world the sins of North- 
 ern men, as husbands and fathers? What if 
 the South should send to the North to collect 
 all the sins and neglects of Northern husbands 
 and fathers, to retail them at the South in 
 
145 
 
 tracts and periodicals ? What if the English 
 nation should join in the outcry, and English 
 fenoales should send forth an agent, not in- 
 deed to visit the offending North, but to cir- 
 culate at the South, denouncing all who did 
 not join in this crusade, as the defenders of 
 bad husbands and bad fathers ? How would 
 Northern men conduct under such provoca- 
 tions? There is indeed a difference in the 
 two cases, but it is not in the nature and 
 amount of irritating influence, for the South- 
 erner feels the interference of strangers to re- 
 gulate his domestic duty to his servants, as 
 much as the Northern man would feel the 
 same interference in regard to his wife and 
 children. Do not Northern men owe a debt 
 of forbearance and sympathy toward their 
 Southern brethren, who have been so sorely 
 tried? 
 
 It is by urgmg these considerations, and by 
 exhibiting and advocating the principles of 
 charity and peace, that females may exert a 
 wise and appropriate influence, and one which 
 will most certainly tend to bring to an end, 
 not only slavery, but unnumbered other evils 
 
146 
 
 and wrongs. No one can object to such an 
 influence, but all parties will bid God speed 
 to every w^oman who modestl}^ wisely and 
 benevolently attempts it. 
 
 I do not suppose that any Abolitionists are 
 to be deterred by any thing 1 can offer, from 
 prosecuting the course of measures they have 
 adopted. They doubtless will continue to agi- 
 tate the subject, and to form voluntary asso- 
 ciations all over the land, in order to excite 
 public sentiment at the North against the mo- 
 ral evils existing at the South. Yet 1 can- 
 not but hope that some considerations may 
 have influence to modify in a degree the spirit 
 and measures of some who are included in 
 that party. 
 
 Abolitionists are men who come before the 
 public in the character of reprovers. That 
 the gospel requires Christians sometimes to 
 assume this office, cannot be denied; but it 
 does as unequivocally point out those qualifi- 
 cations which alone can entitle a man to do 
 it. And no man acts wisely or consistently, 
 unless he can satisfy himself that he possesses 
 
147 
 
 the qualifications for this duty, before he 
 assumes it. 
 
 The first of these quahfications is more 
 than common exemption from the faults that 
 are reproved. The inspired interrogatory, 
 "thou therefore which teachest another, 
 teachest thou not thyself?" enforces this 
 principle; and the maxim of common sense, 
 that "reprovers must have clean hands," is 
 no less unequivocal. Abolitionists are re- 
 provers for the violation of duties in the 
 domestic relations. Of course they are men 
 who are especially bound to be exemplary in 
 the discharge of all their domestic duties. 
 If a man cannot govern his temper and 
 his tongue; if he inflicts that moral castiga- 
 tion on those who cross his will, which is 
 more severe than physical stripes; if he is 
 overbearing or exacting with those under 
 his control ; if he cannot secure respect for a 
 kind and faithful discharge of all his social 
 and relative duties, it is as unwise and im- 
 proper for him to join an Abolition Society, 
 as it would be for a drunkard to preach 
 temperance, or a slave-holder Abolitionism. 
 
148 
 
 Another indispensable requisite for the 
 office of reprover is a character distinguished 
 for humility and meekness. There is nothing 
 more difficult than to approach men for the 
 purpose of convincing them of their own de- 
 ficiencies and faults; and whoever attempts 
 it in a self-complacent and dictatorial spirit, 
 always does more evil than good. However 
 exemplary a man may be in the sight of 
 men, there is abundant cause for the exer- 
 cise of humility. For a man is to judge of 
 himself, not by a comparison with other 
 men, but as he stands before God, when com- 
 pared with a perfect law, and in reference 
 to all his peculiar opportunities and restraints. 
 Who is there that in this comparison, cannot 
 find cause for the deepest humihation? Who 
 can go from the presence of Infinite Purity 
 after such an investigation, to "take his 
 brother by the throat?" Who rather, should 
 not go to a brother, who may have sinned, 
 with the deepest sympathy and love, as one 
 who, amid greater temptations and with fewer 
 advantages, may be the least offender of the 
 
149 
 
 two? A man who goes with this spirit, has 
 the best hope of doing good to those who may 
 offend. And yet even this spirit will not 
 always save a man from angry retort, vexa- 
 tious insinuation, jealous suspicion, and the 
 misconstruction of his motives. A reprover, 
 therefore, if he would avoid a quarrel and do 
 the good he aims to secure, must be possess- 
 ed of that meekness which can receive evil 
 for good, with patient benevolence. And a 
 man is not fitted for the duties of a reprover, 
 until he can bring his feelings under this 
 control. 
 
 The last, and not the least important re- 
 quisite for a reprover, is discretion. This is 
 no where so much needed as in cases where 
 the domestic relations are concerned, for 
 here is the place above all others, where men 
 are most sensitive and unreasonable. There 
 are none who have more opportunities for 
 learning this, than those who act as teachers, 
 especially if they feel the responsibility of a 
 Christian and a friend, in regard to the moral 
 interests of pupils, A teacher who shares 
 
150 
 
 with parents the responsibiUties of educating 
 their children, whose efforts may all be ren- 
 dered useless by parental influences at home; 
 who feels an affectionate interest in both pa- 
 rent and child, is surely the one who might 
 seem to have a right to seek, and a chance 
 of success in seeking, some modifications of 
 domestic influences. And yet teachers will 
 probably testify, that it is a most discouraging 
 task, and often as Hkely to result in jealous 
 alienation and the loss of influence over both 
 parent and child, as in any good. It is one of 
 the greatest compliments that can be paid to 
 the good sense and the good feeling of a pa- 
 rent to dare to attempt any such measure. 
 This may show how much discretion, and 
 tact, and delicacy, are needed by those who 
 aim to rectify evils in the domestic relations 
 of mankind. 
 
 The peculiar qualifications, then, which 
 make it suitable for a man to be an Aboli- 
 tionist are, an exemplary discharge of all the 
 <lomestic(hities; humility, meekness, delicacy,' 
 tact, and discretion, and these should especi- 
 
151 
 
 ally be the distinctive traits of those who take 
 the place of leaders in devising measures. 
 
 And in performing these difficult and self- 
 denying duties, there are no men who need 
 more carefully to study the character and 
 imitate the example of the Redeemer of man- 
 kind. He, indeed, was the searcher of hearts, 
 and those reproofs which were based on the 
 perfect knowledge of "all that is in man," 
 we may not imitate. But we may imitate 
 him, where he with so much gentleness, pa- 
 tience, and pitying love, encountered the 
 weakness, the rashness, the selfishness, the 
 worldliness of men. When the young man 
 came with such self-complacency to ask 
 what more he could do, how kindly he was 
 received, how gently convinced of his great 
 deficiency! When fire would have been 
 called from heaven by his angry followers^ 
 how forbearing "'.e rebuke! When denied 
 and forsaken with laths and curses by one 
 of his nearest friends, what was it but a look 
 of pitying love that sent the disciple out so 
 bitterly to weep ? When, in his last extre- 
 
152 
 
 mity of sorrow, his friends all fell asleep, how 
 gently he drew over them the nnantle of love! 
 Oh blessed Saviour, impart more of thy own 
 spirit to those who profess to follow thee ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
;^ 
 
 ^ 
 
^ 
 
 V' 
 
 o V 
 
 ^C^;; ^.^^ 
 
 ,j^.^ 
 
 A 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 <" 
 
 ^^. 
 
 y^... 
 
 f°' . . . V 
 
 '^' 
 
 
 ^o 
 
 
 :.% 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^. .X 
 
 
 .^ 
 
 
 ^ y-^0^^ -o ^^ 
 
 ,^^ ,o«c, ^ 
 
 
 
 x^-''/^ 
 
 
 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011898 962 4 ^