New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-06-28
THE FALL CIR SLAVERY.
prCoILECTIoNs OF AN ABoLITIoNIsT'
III.
by OLIVER JOHNSON.

- - Fermentation which was enlarged, and
from that time issued weekly. Mr.. Lundy, II was
understood. would contribute TO the editora cor
umns so far as he could while spending most oil MS
zine in lecturing and soliciting suoscrlp''on''
Never was partnership entered upon lot ho'''i
purpose OF in a more fratenal spirit And yet ron
fbe op,set there was between the two men VIDE
difference of opinion upon one fundamental po'"'
Mr. Lundy's conviction Of the wrong ana siniu'n.SS
NJ slavery was rs deep and earnest as that OF MI
Garrison. lint he was an advocate of gradual emah-
eipation while his mind was preoccupIeu WIN
schemes for colonizng the slaves as last as theN
borld he set free Mr. Garrison, on the other hand'
en- Tho moment Of setting himself To the serious
,reiderarion Of the subject clearly that grad
ualism was a deluSon and snare. slavery was
either right or wrong IN principle as well as prac
tice: II IL right even for an hour II mlen' oo
40 for year. for a century, or TO the end OF Tune;
"a therefore, any effort for its abolition would be
war mon Divine Providence II il was wrong II
WIS 90 upon the instant and In the nature OF thlngsi
and therefore there could be excuse for ITS con-
FINANCE for a day even an hour. All tins seemed
As clear to him any mathematical axiom ana as
Fundamental as the law Of Divine justice. Ills
experience in the temperance cause had taught
him that any movement against wrong custom OF
an uurighteous institution, if It was TO be OF much
avail must rest upon some clearly defined moral
uTiUCplC WIllGu WOgll COllliANiu iNoDAl ''''''''
tho popuIar apprehension a. a sef-evident truth.
II was this clear moral perception of Mr.. Garrison
which penetrating through all the subterfuges In
which slavery had become intrenched, qualified
him 10 lead the great movement TO which he was
benceforth TO be devoted. 1t was only In being
himself lifted up to this high plane OF moral prlncl-
ME that he could hope to draw his fellow-country
men into sympathy with the movement. or even to
arrest their attention for more than tectiug hour
To spend his time in depicting the cructies of the
slave system while tacitly consontiug TO the casu-
istrv by which its existence for the time was eX-
rused would be such process of disqualification
a, iueyitably 10 defeat the object he had in view
MIR Gan7sou explained his views TO Mr. Lundy
with the utmost frankuess, and they talked the
matter over without coming 10 an agreement. How
were the two meu in the face of this difference 10
walk topctheri Mr.. Lundy, in his sweet Quaker
,rav solved theditfculty. He said TO Mr.. Garrison:
"We thee may put thy initials TO thy articles, and
will put my initials to mino and each will bear
his own burden" And so the two men struck hands,
and The Genius Of Universal Emancipation was a
paper with two voices but one was voice OF thun-
. der while the other sunk almost to a whisper. Up
10 this time the paper had made little impression
upon public sentiment. Its readers wept over the
wrongs and cruelties of slavery, but they thought
that sudden emancipation would he at
tended with stll worse evils aud so while
they wept for the slave they excused the
masters. and made no intelligent and wel-directed
assault upon the system. The chief SID of slavery
they assigned to its guilty originatoTs the duty OF
repentance and emancipation was postponed TO an
Indefinite future In the nature of things the
holders of slaves could little ground for alarm
In an apti-slavery sentiment so uninteigeDt and
blind as this. But when Mr.. Garrison lifted up the
standard of Immediate Emancipation the ears of
81 land aud virginia began TO
Jingle. Under Mr. Lundy's exposures of the cruel
lies of the system they had indeed been annoyed
and angry but the sight of that banner ut lmme-
liate Emancipation filled them with ALARM for the
safety Of their system. For the first time they heard
THAR right t. keep one slave in bondage Tor
single hour disputed. They were told that by every
principlc of Justice and by the law OF God II was
their duty 10 break every yoke and let the OPP
messed 20 free" All the excuses i subtertuges
by which they had stuffed the voce of conscience
were swept away by an invincible logic, and they
,aw themselves aITaigned before the Nation as
body of oppre .ors. Baltimore was not only slave
holding city, bu, one of the chicf marts OF the 40
nestle traffic in slaves slave-pens Haunted then
urns in open day upon the principal streets ana
their wealthy owners moved III the best society ana
occupied pews in Christian churches. vessels
loaded with slaves, torn from their kindred auu
triendsin Maryland and Virginia, were constantly
departing for Mobile, Savannah New-Orleans ana
otbern southern ports and cotileS of slaves,
chained together. often moved IN sad procession
sometimes TO hooking strains of music, through
the streets out into the open country,
ON their way 10 the National Capitol The state OF
society in which scenes like these were tolerated
need not be described. And yet II was In this seat
of the domestic slave-trade that Lundy and Gar
rson set up their anti-savery banner Their friends,
of course. we're few and very timd, and ready to
run under cover at the first alarm Slavery was
indeed admitted T. he a bad system, leading TO
many gross wrongs and cruclties. Even the slave
holders generally admitted as much as this. But
emancipation was held even by the sincere oppO-
ncnts of slavery 10 be lmpracticable. The holder
Of slaves was declared to be In the position of man
having wolf by the eaTs-he must hold on 10 save
his own life The slaves if emancipated, would
take revenge for past wrongs by cutting the Threats
Of the masters, burning their houses and ravaging
the land They could not take care Of themselves
u, state Of freedom and in fact did not desire TO
be free In this sort Of sOphistry and falsehOod the
common sense and the conscience of the whole com
munity were enmeshed. Emancipation in any
shane. however gradual was held to be an impOssi-
bltyi the very thought Of immediate emancipa-
tion the widest fanatical dream and even the dis
cussion of the subject was dreaded as a knell OF
doom TO the Republic itself,
Weneed not wonder, therefore If The Genius Of
Jnirersal Emancipation, which as small monthly
under Mr. Lundy's mild management had been
barely tolerated was now, in its enlarged form and
issued every week, absolutely intolerable TO the
people Of Baltimore and the surrounding region.
The slave power, intrenched in church and state
began 70 growl like a wild beast at bay, The air
was thick with fierce denunciaton OF
that madcap Garrison" and men in places