Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-10-29

ABBY KELLY AND STEPHEN FOSTER

~ SnTlhhihB liOHl iICC "iiu i'h NisN"'oivh'
I Frum the Detroit Free Democrat Of October 18th.
ABBY KELLY AND STEPHEN FOSTER.
Mrs. Foster and her rhushandarc lccturing nt the
City Hall; and having heard that the subject an
nounccd for last night was the special completely of
the American church and clergy in the sin of
Slavery; and knowing their reputation for saying
sharp things upon this subject, curiosity prompted
us to hear them.
Abby opened the meeting. Before entering upon
the subject, she INDUCED us with a very long and
very tedious cxordium, the purpose of which seemed
to he to magnify our (thc audicncc's) impression Of
the strength of the religious sentiment. Perhaps
there was another oljcct the exercise of oratorcal
powers and an exhibition of female pathos Ifthcrc
was any such other purpose it remained unaccom-
plishcd. The excuse for it was that she was about
, to assail the religious sentiment of the American
people; which however, she didn'taude to after the
introduction was over. She said the common
pcoplc''(a iavortc term with her would take hold
of her enterprise if the clergy would encourage
them to do 50. She told story about women
who wouldn't give her money because Mr.. Buck
ingham, the minister, who was a very godly man,
hadn't called his parish to the work; and she pre-
, sumcd the same unfortunate hiatus might exist in
the pastoral relations of the audience to their Mr.
Buckinghams This was the best hit she made
during the evening, and when it was remembered
that she had been saying the same words once
week at least for ten dozen years, it dctractcd
very much from the sparkle the wit.
At length after our patience had been well nigh
exhausted she got round to her subject, and COM
mcnced by quoting some paragraphs from the pro-
/, cccdings of the Methodist Episcopal General Con-
, fcrcncc,to 1888 we think at Cincinnati. The
, resolutions and address from which she quoted
were very pro-slavery, lat least the parts quotcd)
and such as the Methodist Episcopal Church north
' are, no donbt, heartily ashamed ofnow. She made
= some rather effective comments upon the passages
read; which in effect that that church did not
d wish or intend to interfere with Slavery in the
Slave States; and that it would discourage and sup
II press Slavery agitation within its communion She
II then quoted from the Minutes of the Eastern Con-
ference of New York, to show that they supported
and acted upon the recommendations of the General
Y Conference And she made some pretty forciblc
V remarks upon this action. If she had begun and
/ ended with this, we should have said she had made
r pretty effective Though not very honest speech
- and she would have occupied not more than ter
II minutes. We say not very honest because she
c. knew that the Methodist Episcopal Church had
90 since that time, taken very different ground She
II knew that the Michigan Conference had, within d
At few weeks, in this City, taken high ground agains
m Slavery, and declared it duty to labor and pra,
<. for its exterminaton. Itwas disingcnuous, dis
IL honcst-to endcayor oproduco the impression upon
H. her audience that the language she had quoted
IL ,o1 I,.I Il. r.
O. the present sentiment of the Methodist Epscopa
OF Church upon the Slave question. If not in form
#, in substance it was false Witness After some fur
y; thcr discursvc remarks, she apologised for IN,
n tedousness of her discourse; told some marveou,
he stories about her husband in which she made him
" martyr of the first water; and to the great relic
IN of the audience, sat down.
In the early part Of her discourse she greatly ap
plauded the Scotch Convcnantcr Church; the ol,cc
Of which seemed to be to glorify William LoyC
Garrison, who had never been called an infde by
the COyenanters. She spent some time in this in
direct way, in cndeoyoring to prove that Garrison
I'd is true Christian Though she careful not tC
%: say so and she left the impressionnpon the mnd
re those who do not know the contrary that tn,
in charge of infdelty made against Garrison is falls,
~ his bold advocacy of human liberty. We neyei
of listened to cool, deliberate predetermined
w. and cunningly arranged specimen of unrclciveC
lis mendacity in a public speaker, than this. Mrs
he Foster knows perfectly well that Garrison is an
nv pen infdel, and has been for years lie has no
Sc only expressed this on few public occasons bu
Is among his personal friends thas been well know
ed for years There may be something to respect il
he Garrsons manly avowal of his sentiments: but The
en- equiyoca denial Of this wicked and foolish woman
NV is contemptibeN as well as base.
nr In personal appearance Mrs Foster is unintcr
on estingy plain. Her forehead is high, and of me
,e dum breadth. The animal passions seem but fee
ed bly, developed. Her character as expressed in he
all face her motions, tones Of voice, in her remarks
is and in her history is that off cold passioness in
I'LL teectual notorietyhunter. And one needs bu
to see and hear her for hour to understand tha
er she very little whether she wins good or
ed bad nOtOriety she is notorious. Verify, verify
cs; | say unto you, they have their reward. She ha
ex what she most anxiously seeks: what she mos
ad loves. Her past life has been cmncntly successful
mt in procuring tie selfish qualification to which he
en- whole soul souly No. Mind to which he
al whole mind has been and is devoted She is not
wn good speaker by any means, not graceful not clo
nd quent, and not pathetic cyen,-that create t;ife
nd the women orators. Her efforts to cry Of whicl
ed she made several, all signal failures; rcsu
in ulting in the squeezing out Of very itemoistur
NIX which, from the expression of her countenance du
INT ring the operation, we judged to be vinegar; on
- possibly, nitrous acid.
sht Mr.. Fosters speech made much more iayorabl
zen impression upon US. It.was much shorter, rathc
les more pertinent. We have devoted so much time I
cN his mara intnlIorturI hnr Tint 10 ,nust ov.uvc N