The plot, thus far, has been warily managed,—so as, if possible, to “deceive the very elect.” Many, we know, are already ensnared, and some, at least, who neither intend nor suspect mischief. The guise in which it is presented, is one of deep solicitude for the success of our cause. No attempt is made to lower down the standard—O no!—but simply to change the men to whom has been so long entrusted the management of the enterprize, and put in their place younger men, better men, who will accomplish wonders, and perform their duties more faithfully—that’s all! While, privately, by conversation, letters, circulars, &c. &c. every effort is making to disparage the Liberator, (the paper is too tame for these rampant plotters!) and to calumniate its editor, no hostility to either is to be openly avowed! Far from it; for honesty in this case might not, peradventure, prove to be the best policy.—The shape in which this new project is to be urged, is developed in the resolutions which were adopted at the recent meeting of the Worcester County North Division A. S. Society, at Fitchburgh. Those resolutions were concocted in Essex County, by the joint labors of two clergymen, and passed as above stated,—only four or five hands, we learn, being raised in their favor. The plan is, it seems, to get as many anti-slavery societies committed in favor of these resolutions, before the annual meeting, as possible. The political necessity which is urged for another paper is ridiculous; and we know it is nothing but a hollow pretence.
The trusty friends of our good cause, and all who desire to baffle the machinations of a clerical combination, will need no other notice than this, to induce them to rally at the annual meeting, and watch with jealousy and meet with firmness every attempt, however plausibly made, to effect any material change in the management of the concerns of the State Society. The spirit that would discard such men as Francis Jackson, Ellis Gray Loring, Samuel E. Sewall, Edmund Quincy, and Wendell Phillips, is treacherous to humanity.
As a specimen of the billing and cooing which is going on between gentlemen of the sacerdotal robe, in order to bring about a radical alteration in anti-slavery control, read the following extract from a recent letter of the Rev. Dr. Osgood, of Springfield, to Prof. Emerson, of the Theological Seminary at Andover:
“I do not say these things to palliate the conduct of these writers in the anti-slavery papers who have poured such torrents of abuse upon the non-conformists among the clergy. I have ever spoken freely about many of these communications, both to friends and opposers. I think there has been a bad spirit manifested on the side of the abolitionists toward the opposing clergy; or, if you please, those who stand aloof and do nothing. I do most sincerely hope that my brethren who like you (!) hate slavery, but still remain neuter, (!) will calmly review the whole ground, and sacrifice all minor considerations, and work with us in this cause. I see no insuperable objections. I desire this the more ardently, because the character of the ministry suffers, in the estimation of many good men, by the course they pursue, while the enemies of all righteousness take occasion to thrust a sword into the vitals of religion itself, through the clergy. Mr. Garrison, sir, is not the principal offender in this matter; [very gentle!]—he is made answerable, as a public editor, for the conduct of others. But ☞ our brethren [such men as Moses Stuart and Ralph Emerson!] can easily take the sword out of the hand of these VIOLENT AND PREJUDICED MEN. ☜ ☞ And I trust they will soon do it EFFECTUALLY, by some course of ACTION. The cause would be greatly promoted by their co-operation”!! ☜
Wendell Phillips, the same who took the brunt of the battle at Faneuil Hall, upon the day when men met there to wash their hands of Lovejoy’s murder, was among the foremost to detect the subtler form of danger. His letter to the financial committee of the Liberator, which appeared in the next column to the call of the watchman, stripped the opposition of their disguises, with a firm and dexterous hand. It exhibits, in a condensed form, the mind of one who had knowledge of the cause throughout the State, as a lecturer and a manager of the Society, and throughout the land, as an acute and philosophical observer. In politics, a voter,—in theology, a Calvinist,—in church government, a congregationalist,—looking on these things from the same point of view with those who were laboring for the destruction of Freedom, toleration and fraternal confidence in the cause, he came to diametrically opposite conclusions.—
“The heart’s aye the part aye,
That makes us right or wrong.”
LETTER OF WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Messrs. Jackson, Quincy, and Bassett:
Dear Sirs—I wish to express to you the satisfaction which the new arrangements for the Liberator have given me. They will gain for it a wider circulation and more permanent usefulness. I feel not merely for the paper itself—though it would give me pain, I confess, to see the first banner which was unfurled in our cause, which has braved for so many years the battle and the breeze, having lived down its enemies, sink at last from the coldness of its friends. But, apart from this, I regard the success of the Liberator as identical with that of the abolition cause itself. Though so bitterly opposed, it does more to disseminate, develope and confirm our principles, than any other publication whatever. The spirit which produced, still animates it, and with magnetic influence draws from all parts of society every thing like around it. Other measures may suit different circumstances, and other parts of the country; but here, and now, the spirit of the Liberator is the touchstone of true hearts. Almost all the opposition it has met with, various as it seems, springs from one cause. At starting, some who agreed with its principles denounced it as “foul-mouthed and abusive;” next, the occasional expression of some individual opinions of its editor, gained it the name of “irreligious and Jacobin;”—and now some point to its peace views as infidel in their tendency, and a stumbling-block in our way. Under all these disguises have men concealed their motives, sometimes even from themselves.
The real cause of this opposition, in my opinion, is the fundamental principle upon which the Liberator has been conducted:—that rights are more valuable than forms; that truth is a better guide than prescription; that no matter how much truth a sect embodies, no matter how useful a profession may be, no matter how much benefit any form of government may confer—still they are all but dust in the balance when weighed against the protection of human rights, the discussion and publication of great truths; that all forms of human device are worse than useless, when they stand in Truth’s way. These are its principles;—frank, fearless single-heartedness, the utmost freedom of thought and speech, its characteristics. If we fail to impress these on each abolition heart, our efforts are paralyzed, and our cause is lost. Pride of settled opinion, love of lifeless forms, undue attachments to sect, are its foes.
With the fullest charity for all conscientious scruples, and dissenting, as I do, from the peace-views of the Liberator, I cannot see how their discussion, conducted in a Christian spirit, and with sincere love of truth, can offend the conscience of any man. Limited to a brief space, as it is, it can have no effect on the general character of the paper. I mean to give all my influence, (and, in this crisis, when the paper so much needs its friends, I wish that influence were greater,) to gain it the confidence, and pour its spirit into the mind of every one I can reach. I shall esteem it a privilege to second your efforts. The danger I most dread is, to have our cause fall under the control of any party, sect, or profession. That way ruin lies. The chiefest bulwark against it, I know of, is the Liberator. Success to it. May it have the cordial support of every abolition heart.
Yours, truly,
Wendell Phillips.Boston, Jan. 7th, 1839.
Troubles, however different in their nature, always seem to have fellowship with each other. At this juncture, while the Anti-Slavery community in Massachusetts were laboring under the pain and astonishment of the recent development, came a Sub-Committee, consisting of Mr. Leavitt and Mr. Stanton, from New York, to say that, as the stated payments due to the National Treasury were unpaid, the contract became null and void.[4]
The Massachusetts Board could not, as lawyers, or as men of business, admit this to be the case; but, anxious to discharge the obligation, they came to the following resolution, in the presence of the New York Committee.