Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-10-06
P 4 o G L L DIN G S
OF THE
ZENITH Anniversary
WESTERN ANTI-SLAYERY SOCIETY.
(CoHtinued.)
FIRST SESSION SATURDAY AFTERNOON
REMARKS OF ABBY KELLEY FOSTER.

l id not come here to-day, intending to address
you but when entered this meeting my heart
leaped up, as it never leaped before on entering an
Anti Slavery gathering A few months ago fear
ed-or rather my physician and some of my
friends feared, aud believed, should never meet
my Western friends in an Anti Slavery Conyen-
ton again. l, however, differed from those who
were thus fearful on my account There is too
much work to d. to allow any one to give up the
ship now, The power Of will often sustains u.s.
when otherwise our strength would fail and feel
ing the Importance of the work before me, l am
here and have felt, as 1 said, such gush of sym
pathy and joy, as l never felt before; and .hank
God that am permitted, once more, to be with
you, to battle against oppression.
There have been amongst US some suggestions of
observation-disclosures doubt expressed, as to the
future Of our enterprise. For myself, 1 was never
so enoOuraged-never felt SO strong faith in the
final triumph Of the noble principles for which
we have so long conterded to-day. How well
remember when was with you here, in Ohio for
the first time, fifteen years ago ;-and 50 do many
of YOU for there are many hearts here now, that
were melted. purified and fused together, In the
furnace of persecution of that day, and my heart
can never be severed from theirs. Then l met
you few in number, in the town of New Lis
bon. We all thought then, firmly grounded we
in &nti-slavery faith that the struggle for
freedom would be n short one. In the simplicity
of our childlike hearts, we hoped that the Church
was to extent at least, what she professed to
be. We beleved-such was lack of expert
ence our faith in humanity politicians were
Al. r. ~
tended and only wanted light to prepare them to
lay life, property, and honor on the altar Of free
dom, l thought then, and declared my belieftha!
the trump of freedom would be sounded, the
song Of slaves deverance sung-in ten years
from that time, at the longest.
Aye, Mr., Chairman, we were green at that
time. we lad but the fantest glimmering of the
grand wogk-of the depth aud length and breadth
of the great enterprise which the principles for
which we were contending necessarily involved. |
If we had been made wise by experience. we
have since become and understood, ds we'll as now,
the philosophy of reform. we could never have
anticipated so easy and speedy triumph. Had
we looked into the condition of society as shown in
the religious and political and social relations of
the community, we should have comprehended
something of the extent of our work. Or had
we looked into our own souls, we might, perhaps,
have seen that we, ourselves, from our social, re-
lgous or political connections, were Shareholders,
in position, if not in heart. Everything had been
brought in to the support of Slavery. The hateful
prejudice against color, was every where-often in
the hearts of Abolitionists, as we'll Others One
of early lecturers said in speaking of his own
experience in this particular, Il have sat down
and reasoned out this question of the equality of
the colored man. l see and know that be is an
equal BROTHER | see that it is most wicked in me
not to feel toward him as if be was white pray
to God for strength to overcome this prejudice
then rise up, 60 out, meet a colored man on the
street, and feel in my heart that cannot regard
him, or feel toward him, | feel toward the
white man. How long it will be before l shall, by
fasting and prayer, cast out this evil spirit, the
Lord only knows In our inexperence we did not
realize or conceive how difficult it is to produce an
,ntire change in the feelings of a whole comnuni-
". We were but small number when We COM
neuced our work But we were in earnest, and '
we're determined to convuse the land with agite C
ior. We did so, but the people were in darkness s
heir selfish Interests opposed, and their selfish Q
ceilings aroused. The whole frame of socie ?
y must be broken in upon, before we could sue
,eed. Had we considered all this, could not,as II
hsvo said, have hoped for so speedy triumph.
Never, as history shows US, has great change a
n human character and habits been wrought, in ii
oss than generation. If, as we hoped, we had a
uoceeded in ten years, In breaking the shackles '
rom the slaves limbs, we would have had emane 81
alton in form, merely, not in !act the people hav- y
ng the same principles as now, would have beon d.
aveholders still; il is well that We ddnot sue b.
ped as we expected. But we have done tar more al
ork within fifteen years. than thought we should ei
. able to do, and far more than thought would b,