Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1852-03-11
For the Freeman.
A History of the Anti-Slavery
Movement.

beginning, w. L. Garrison of Boston, recon-
mended voting for any wing or democrat who
favored the cause of freedom most, and as the
wings were at the bottom of the Wheel they pre-.
tended to be the more favorable party, and as
they had nothing to lose, they hoped to gain pO-
litical capital by it, and knew one man who
said he took 80 copies of the Liberator for his
townsmen. He was a leading whig politician,
but as soon as the Liberty party was started, all
the fat was in the fire; he got mad, and all his
whig abolitionism vanished like smoke and prov
ed him to be hypocrte. This is fair sam
pie of whig abolitonists generally. They are
abolitionists, but-and the but is the biggest.
The meaning is, bull they are more party men,
than Antt Slavery men, and there are some dem.
ocrats of the same stamp. Both are abolition
lists just SO far as will promote their political
interests and no farther In Aug, 1899, a large
body of abolitonists met at Albany to see if
they would organize a new political party. But
though Samuel Webb, and many others, were
in favor of it, Mr.. Garrison and others opposed
it, and majority went against it. In 1910, an
other meeting was called SA the same place, by
Myron Holly and others, Who had been appoint
ed committee at previous convention in
New York. Mr. Garrison advised all abolition
lists to stay away, but felt it my duty to 60.
had only few cents of money, and was UNI
well, but started, trusting in God, walked in
the melting snow of the Green Mountains, and
the mud of the valley west Of them, then over
limb of the mountain, to West Dorset, lectured
Sunday evening, and got little more money,
and on Monday, walked about 80 miles in mud
in the peting of the pitess rain, and arrived at
Albany Wednesday morning, near 90 miles from
home. This was the LIST of April all fools
day, and none but foolish men called us April
fools on account of it A young man from Vt.
was there at school, and he and | were the only
representatives of the State, a greater honor
than to represent the two parties from whence
we came, even in Congress- We probably had
belonged, about half of us to each party, and
after discussing about two days and one evening,
we set up our banner in the name of the Lord
and planted our standard on moral principle, as
we'll as the principle of Liberty.
The immortal "a that voted against %, Ia
were Christians / believe, and many of them
were ministers of different orders, who could not
conscienciously vote with their old PARTIES
Our candidate for the Presidency had been a
wing, and for the Vice Presidency, democrat,
and we resolved to sustain the good men and
true, who left their proslavely parties, without
reference to what they had been, for this was
evidence that they made liberty paramount to
party. There were three reasons why they de-
clared independence:
LIST. Suppose you are of one party and Of
another, and we both are abolltonists in princi-
pie, and you vote for man of my party because
he is more favorable to the slave he goes Ia
Congress, scolds about slavery, but when thu
pinch comes between liberty and parcy, he goes
for party instead of the slave. So you lose your
vote as an aboitionist and as politician, and
therefore you are cheated and it is unjust.
I'd. 1t would be natural for me to think,
guess my man is about as good as your mai
and for you to think, guess my man is as goo'
as yours, and on that account, about one ihir
voted one way, and another third the other, an
another third, whose conscience would not lie
them vote with either pro-savery party, vote
with an everlasting scatteraion. And hence
though we had the balance Of power, we coul
not hold it, but balanced our own power, Jus
like pot on three legs.
Sd. We saw what the Freesoers saw in tn
nomination of Cass and Taylor, that the SlaV
power controls both parties, and if either
them should go against slavery, they would leav
them. and therefore we have nothing to hop
from them, so long as they vote with and IL
Shareholders.
On account of my zeal for the cause, the
appointed me first Vice President of the Llbe
tv meeting,-a higher honor than to be VIC
President of the United States They also al
NOTED me chairman of the State Commute
and at great sacrifice, faced the worshiper
Of the log cabin Juggernaut party, who WEI
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom the
might devour, and some of them half drunk wi
hard cider or something harder, more fit for II
company of coons, whose skins were enslgns
their degraded condition. Mr.. s. had made
fine speech in Congress, in which he bsttere
Slavery in pieces with sharp threshing instr
ment having teeth. viewed him like haV
with snake in his talons soaring higher al
higher, till all at once he let himself down al
laid the serpent on the ground, and said, II
there till after election, for am going to vo
: for Tippecanoe g. Tyler too. The sIavehOde
l. knew beforehand that he was going to vote wi
. them for slavery, and SO they patiently hea
Y him talk against it. He tied on the dragon
/. tail to the sleeps clothing, and this foolish q
! knocked wing abolitionism on the head, a
+. did more TO kill the spirit Of liberty in Verne
Y than all its open enemies ever before had dol
# But with great effort, and by the help of #
others we had three Liberty State Conventio
i organized our party, and obtained 3l9 votes
It liberty-I9 more than Gideon's army-in v
Q mont, and about as many in the nation as
Y fused to bow the knee to the image of Ba
10 The next year we nearly doubled our vote;
the next year, more than doubled that, and W
on, conquering, and to conquer. But prevl'
to this in May, 1910, we met as an abolit
in society at N. Y. city, and the liberty men ash
I'd the society to pass resolution to let the lbe
X men alone, and neither condemn nor justify th'
a, spoke against condemning, but in favor
a. justifying them, and by all the claims of BILE