Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-01-15
From the albany Patriot.
GERRIT SMITHS REPLY TO Ed
MUND QUINCY.
PETERBoRo', Nov. 90, 1916.

letter to me in the last Liberator. | am so
busy In making preparations to leave home
for a month or two, that my reply must be
brief. A reply | must make-fUr you might
construe my silence into discourtesy and UNI
friendliness.
From your remark, that you have not seen
my "recent writings or speeches." | infer
that you do not deign to cast a look upon the
newspapers of the Liberty party. Your proud
and disdainful state of mind toward this party
accounts for some of the mistakes in your let
ter. For instance, were you a reader of its
newspapers, you would not charge me with
'irreverently' using the term Bible politics.
You evidently suppose that | identify the
Federal Constitution and the Liberty party
with the politics of the Bible. But, in my
discourses on Bible politics." which, to no
small extent, are made up directly from the
pages of the Bible, | seek but to show what
are the Heaven-intended uses of civil govern
ment, and what the necessary qualifications
of those who administer it,. So far are these
discourses from commencing the Constitu-
ton, or the Liberty party, that they not so
much as am.!"da, either to the one or The other.
Again, were YOU a reader OF the newspapers
of this party, you world know its name
You would, in that case, know that 'Llber-
ty partv' is the name which, from the first,
it has chosen for itself: and that "Third par
~" is only a nickname, which low-mlnded
persons have given to it. You well know
that there are low-minded persons, who, see
ing nothing in the good man, who is the OBJ
iect of their hatred, for that hatred 10 seize
upon, will try to harm him by nicknaming
him. 1t is such as these whose malice toward
the Liberty party has, for want of argument
against that truth-espOusing and selt-sacrlic-
ing marty, vented itself in a nickname. BE
assured, my dear sir, that | have no hard feel
ings toward you for misnamlng my parity
You are a gentleman; aud your error is, there
fore, purely uninteniional. Upon your inno-
cent ignorance-to0 easy and credulous. IN
this instance, | admii-the base creatures
who coined this nickname have palmed it, as
the real name of the Liberty party. You are
q gentleman; and hence, as certainly, your
good breeding accords to every party, how
ever little and d~espised, the privilege OF nam
ing itself, SO certainly, when you are awake
to this deception, which has been p~ractised
upon your credulity, you will be deeply in
dignant at it,. | see, from his late speech in
Faneuil Hall, that even Mr.. Webster has
fallen into the mistake of taking Third par
~" to be the name Of the Liberty party. The
columns of the Liherator have most probably
led him into it. Being set right on This point
yourself, YOU will, of course, take pleasure
in setting him right. He will thank you Tor
doing so, for when he comes to know that
Third party is but a nickname and the in
vention of b~lackguards, he will shrink from
the VI lgarity and meanness OF repeating II.
Again. were you a reader Of the newspapers
OF the Liberty party, you would not feel your
self authorized to take il fer granted that to
hold an office under the Constitution is to be
guilty of swearing TO uphold slavery. On
Il. oa,trary 20 Nrrtlh hn continual that
nine-tenths of The AboIitionists Of the coun-
try-nire-tenlhs too, of the wisest and wor-
thiest of them-beIieve that an oath to abide
by the Constitution, is an oath 10 labor for
the overthrow of slavery. Were you a reader
of the newspapers of the Liberty party, you
would know that this position Of these nine
tenths of the Abolllionists of the country is
fortified by arguments of William Goodeil
and Lysander Spooner, which there has been
no attempt to answer, and that too for the
most probable reason that they are unanswer-
able. | am not sure that you have ever heard
of these gentlemen. Theirs are, perhaps, UNI
mentioned names in the line Of your reading
and associations. Nevertheless, | strongly
desire that You may read their Arguments
Your reading Of them will, | hope, moderate
the superLatirey arrogant and ~dogmatic style,
in which you, in common with the Abolition
loko VI 1Ohi HdA oNAOOiS NNih uAN W
on this subject. If this or aught else, shall
have the effect to relax that extreme turkey
cock tension Of pride, with which you and your
fellows strut up and down tho arena Of this
controversy, the friends OF mOdesiy and good
manners will have occasion to rejoice.
| have not taken up my pen TO write an
other argument on the Constitution. Two
or three years ago, ] presumed to write one
and the way in which it was treated, is a eau
ton to ne not to repeat the presumption. |
shall not soon forget the fury with which Mr..
Wendell Phillips, whom you so highly praise
in the letter before me-, p%ounced upon it,
Nothing short of declaring me 10 be a thief
and a liar could relieve his swollen spirit, OF
give adequate vent to his foaming wrath. He
would probably have come TO me ashamed OF
himself, had not his review of me been en-
dorsed by Mr.. Garrison, and also by one,
who it is said, is even greater than Mr.. Gar
rison-"the power behind the throne"
do not doubt, my dear sir, that you and
your associates have sincerely adopted your
conclusions respecting the CONSTITUTIONS
That YOU should be thoroughly convinced by
your own arguments is a natural and almost
necessary consequence of self-complacency,
which uniformly chaTacterizes persons who
regard themselves as ne plus ultra reformers.
/ wish YOU could find it in your hearts to re-
c~iprocate our liberality IN acknowledging your
sincerity, and to admit that We. who differ
from you, are also sincere. No longer, then,
would you SUI pose us, as you do in your pre-
sent letter, to be guilty of "jesuitical eva'
%sions,r or to be capable Of being, to use your
own capitals, "PERJURED LIARS" No
longer then would you and the gentlemen OF
your school. speak of US as a pack Of office
seekers, hypocrites and scoundrels. but you