Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-06-06

the end of three weeks they opened an Office
for themselves but for nearly two years
their resources were so restricted that they
made the Office their only domclo The Lib
orator attracted general attention, not only at
the North but at the South The mayor of
Boston, Harrison Gray Otis, having been ap-
pcalcd to by a Southern magistrate to sup
press it If possible by law, wrote in reply that
his officers had 'ferreted out the paper and
its editor, whose office was an obscure hole,
his only visible auxiliary negro boy, his
supporters n very few insignificant persons Of
all colors." Almost every mail Mt this period
brought letters threatening Mr.. Garrison with
assassination if he did not discontinue his
journal and in December, 1881, the Lcgis-
lnture Of Georgia passed an act, offering re-
ward Of 5000 to any person who should ar.
rest, bring to trial and prosecute TO convic-
tion, under the laws of that State, the editor
or the Publisher.
On Jan. /, 1882 he secure d the cooperation
of eleven other persons III organizing the
New England (aftorward Massachusetts, Anti
Slavery Society upon the principle Of imme-
diatc emancipation. This was the parent of
those numerous affiliated associations by
which the anti-slayery agitation was for many
years maintained. In the spring of ls32 he
published n work entitled Thoughts on Af
rcan Colonization" etc, in which he set
forth at length the grounds of his opposition
TO that scheme. lie went Immediately after
ward to England, as an agent of the New
England Ant-Slayery Society, to solicit the
cooperation Of the people of that country in
measures designed to promote emancipation
in the United States, and to lay before them
his views of the colonization project. He was
warmly received by Wilberforce, Brougham,
and their associates. In consequence Of state
ments made by Mr. Garrison, WilLerforce
and eleven of his principal coadiutors issued
a protest against the American Colonization
Society, pronouncng its plans dclusive. and
its influence an obstruction to the abolition of
slavery. He also succeeded in inducing Mr.
George Thompson, one of the most promi-
nent champions of the anti-slayery cause in
Great Britain, to come to the United States as
an anti-slavery lecturer. Soon after Mr.. Gar
risUn's return the American Anti-Slavery So
ciety was organized at Philadelphia, upon the
principles of which he was the champion
The Declaration of Sentiments - issued by
the associaton-an elaborate paper setting
forth its principles, aims and Inethods-was
prepared by him. The agitation previously
excited was now greatly intensified, and at
length awakened resistance which mamie ST.
ed itself in a mobocratic spirit, insomuch that
for several years the holding of an ant. slav-
cry meeting almost anywhere in the free
imperilling property and life Mr.. Thomp-
sons arrival from England in 1884 infiamed
the public mind to such a degree that at
length, by the advice of his friends, he was
induced to desist from his labors and return
to his native land.
In October 1852 a meeting of the Female
Anti-Slavery Society Of Boston was riotously
broken up by a collection of persons, dcscrib-
ed in the journals Of the day rs gentlemen
of property and standing" Mr. Garrison,
who went to the meeting 10 deliver an address
after attempting to conceal himself from the
fury of the mob in a carpenters shop in the
rear of the hall, was violently seized, let down
by a rope from the window to the ground
and, partly denuded Of his clothing, dragged
through the streets to the city hall whence
as the only means of saving his life, he was
taken to jail by order of the mayor, upon the
nominal charge that he was "a disturber of
the peace" He was released on the follow
ing day, and, under protection Of the city au-
thorities, escorted to place of safety in the
country. These scenes Of violence were fol-
lowed by discussion of the peace question
in which he took an earnest part As cham
pion of non-rcsistance and in 1888 he led
the way in the organization Of the New Eng
land Non Resistance Society. About this
time the question of the rights of women as
members Of the anti-slavery societies began
to be mooted, Mr.. Garrison contending that
so far rs they wished to do SO, they should be
permitted to vote, serve on committees and
take part in discussion, on equal terms with
men. Upon this question there was diyi-
sion of the American Anti. Slavery Society in
1910; and in the Worlds Anti-Sayery Con
yention, held that year in London, Mr. Gar
rison, being delegate from that society. re-
fused to take a scat because the female dele
gates from the United States were excluded.
In lsi3 he was chosen president Of the socie-
ty, and continued to hold the office till lsGi,
when, slavery having been abolished he re-
signed, dreming the time lad come for the
dissolution Of the society. In 1916 he made
his third visit for anti-slavery purposes to
Great Britain In 1913 a small volume of his
"Sonnets and other Poems" was published in
Boston, and in 1852 appeared volume of
"Solections' from his writings. lie was ever
earnestly opposed TO the formation of n po-
litical party by the Abolitonists, from n con
viction that such a measure would inevitably
corrupt the purity of the movement and post
pone the day when the emancipation might
be secured. He never sought or contemplat-
ed the abolition of slavery in the States by
Congress or any other branch of the National
Government, his views as to the powers of
that Government over the subject being the
same that were generally held by statesmen
Of all parties at the North as well as by many
at the South. His first idea was that slavery
might be abolished by moral influence, with
such incidental aid as the National Govern
ment could constitutionally afford, and with
out disturbing the union of the States but
upon this point he at length changed his
opinions, his observation of the movements
of political parties and his reflections upon
the provisions of the constitution relating to
the subject leading him to the settled conclu-
sion that some of the conditions of compact
between the free and the slave States were
immoral and that dissolution of the Union
was necessary TO the freedom of the North
and the emancipation of the slaves. He con-
tinued 10 urge this opinion until the breaking
out of the civil war in 1861 changed the en-
tire aspect of the slavery question, and he
saw clearly that the system must inevitably
be oyerthrown by the exercise of the war
powers of the National Government. Thence
forth ho bent his energies TO the work of
hastening that consummation, and in April
1865, by invitation of the secretary of war, he
joined the party of Northerners who went to
South Carolina to see the flag of an emanci-
pated Union raised upon the battlements Of
Fort Sumter The first number of the Lib
orator, issued in 1881, found the whole nation
asleep over the wrongs and dangers of slav-
cry the last number, issued on the last of
December, 1865, after thirty-fye years of
conflict with the slave power, recorded the
ratification of an amendment to the constitu-
tion of the United States, forever prohibiting
the existence of slavery, The paper was thus
discontinued at the every moment when the
object for which it was established was fully
consummated. Soon after the close Of the
war a large number of persons, including
some of the most eminent in the land, united
in presenting Mr.. Garrison with the sum of
about $50, 900, in token of their appreciation
of his unremitting labors for the abolition of
slavery. In 1867 he once more visited Great
Britain, where the most distinguished citizens
and statesmen united in honoring him for his
devotion TO the cause of the oppressed.
Tho best armor against temptation is to
keep out of the range of its guns.
1t pays better not to do a wrong than to do
il and then repent.
No man aver lived who had only oua fault