New-York tribune., 1880-01-10

Apostle John, was the speaker OF tue occaSlOh' NJ
sooner dad he began his address than mob. led Dy
some of the foremost ctizers Of the place, COM
msndcd him to be silent. and the meeting was
broken up For the state Of public sentiment which
made this and other similar riots possible In that
state no other newspaper was SO much responsible
rs The TcymoHt Chronicle which, from the very be-
ginning of the ant-slaveTy movement, had persist
emily misreDreSentcd Its principles and designs,
and done what it could to make its champions
odous 1t was the organ of the Congregation
alists, the most numerous and influential sect
IN the State, and hence its power for mlschlef was
very great. II was for this reason that Vermont
was so long tolerant of the designs of the Slave
Power. Nothing could be more offensive to
pure conscience than the haiT-spittng, Bible-per-
vertinC metaphysics by means of which tho
brothers Tracy prevented the churches of Vermont
from taking their trne position as the uncom-
promising opponents OF the slave system. The
moral atmosphere of the State is even now not
quite disinfcctcd of the faint derived from that
source
But there was far more formidable riot on the
same day in Utica \. Y, where a convention to
form a State AntI-Slavery Society was to meet.
4 worse than Ephesan uproar ensued. Leading
citizens declared that the convention must be
broken up; Utica must not be disgraced by an
assembly of fanatics and incendarcs" The court
house having been engaged for tho convention.
public meeting of the pro-slayery party was held
in advance and arrangements were made to pre-
occupy the building before the hour at which
the Abolitionists were to assemble, aud by any
means to prevent them from effecting their object.
The whole city was in an uproar, and the disturb
ance was led by eminent citizens. The convention,
composed OF from 600 TO 500 delegates, was driven
from he courthouse to the Second Presbyterian
1aI IN hO
proposed society before 1t was broken up. The
chef of the mob was the Hon. Samuel Beardscy,
then representative of the district in Congress,
who declared that The disgrace OF having an Abo-
Guon Convention held in he city would be a deeper
one than that of twenty mobs" and that II would
be better to have Cca Taz,d to its foundations, or
TO have il destroyed like SodOm and GOmorrab than
to have the convention meet here"
In TO tins time. Gcrt Smith. though an earnest
opponent of slavery, had adhered to the Colonza-
ton Soclcty and kept aloof from The anti-saycry
cause. lie came to the Utica Convention to be
spectator OF proceedings. and 10 inform himself
more fully of the design, and purposes OF the Abol-
touists. lie Was 80 dlsgusted, shocked and alarmed
10y the action of the pro-slaycry parry. and SO I'M
pressed by tlc camesfnc-s. devotion aud patience
Of the members OF the convention that he felt the
hour bad come for hun to take ms stand openly with
all themember3 of The convention to repair TO Peter
boro. his place OF residence, ,hry miles distant
and finish Their proceedings. lar-c portion of thc
members accepted the invitation, and ON the
next dav they assembled M the Presby
tcrinn Church at Ictorboro, where Mr.
Smith made an address OF surprising cloquence and
powor ia which hc ayowcd lis purpose from that
fmc forth 10 act with Tire Abolitoni,ls. The acccs-
sion 10 our rank. of o maa of snch high social and
moral distinction filed us with enc Engagement and
hone and lp.d as 10 bear patiently tie pcrsecu-
t,on that stl remained for us. Ever afterwaid h.H
uanic was tower OF strength tor the cfnsc. Ills
pm h- voice. DIS purse. wrTc ever at IFS service.
Hi. house was ever q r,fuqc for the fugitive slave
ami for the toil-worn lecturer, and Of his great
wealth Dee contributed generously to tho promotion
Of every form Of an,i-shyely effort.
II did not require mob 10 make m Aboltionist
= that eminent advocate. Alyan Stewart. With
his clear head. his warm love Of liberty, and his
keen sense of the wrong of turning a man into
chattcl he could be nothing else. Bat while the
mob was not nccdfu to ms conversion II dd
rouse HIM 10 put forth his great energies in behalf
OF the cause. His commanding eloquence ~
speaker his keen perception Of the ludicrous. his
power of sarcasm and rdiculc, combined with hs
high moral tone. hls indignation at every form Of
Injustice, and his ilapcrurbabe good nature made
Alin powerful champion ot oNt Struggling cutti-
prise He died M The very maturity OF his powers,
rcycred and lamcntcd by all who could appreciate
his stcrling WORTH lie was more especially int L.
c,tcd m the political aspects of the slavery qucs-
tion and il hc had lived he would 10 doubt nave
taken high place IN that eroup of great men
whose services in tho cause of freedom form 50
large part OF the history ol the last twenty-five
year. /, Will be misfortune # a parsonage
so unique, ami whose life exhibited such varied
movers should fail 70 inda b,ographcr
on the l7th of NAY, 1883, Pennsylvania Hall.
commoIous structure erected by the friends of free
dom in Ilnlddc lphm no q cost of $4,000, and con-
-rcr1tcd 90 the Tree discussion of al subjects IN
teicsting 90 American ctl .us. was burned by mob
three dIys only after its dedication. During those
three days tho hall Wa used for meetings 10 pro-
mo.c education and temperance, and to awaken
aympatl y for ihc Indians and the slaves. The pro-
slavery party Was greatly cxcltcd hy The fact that
at last there was q ball ia the city which would be
open to Abolitorists IN common with others, and
mobocratic spifl was roused The anti-slavcry
meetings had hoen addressed by Charles c. Bur
leigh. Arnold Bunum. Alyan Stewart, William
LLOYD Garrison, Angelina GrimkG Weld, Maria
Weston Chapman and Abby Kelley The
building was surrounded and mcnaced by
mob. The city authorities took no efficient steps
to prevent a riot. The Mayor informed the pr0prl-
etors that if they would hold no meeting on the
evening of the 17th. but place the bnildng in his
hands. be would dIspers' the mob. But the rioters
did not prove tractable as he expected. In spite
Of his feeble and inadequate efforts to protect the
building, it was burned 70 the ground under his
very eyes. The conflgration was no doubt re-
garded with pleasure by very large proportion of
the inhabitants of the city, including not n few
men of wealth aud high social standing. In short.
the public sentiment of the city afforded protec-
ton against such outrages. The burning of the
hall was followed during the next two days by
brutal attacks upon the cOlorcd people, their
churches institutions and private dwellings The
:. Shclter for Colored Orphans was set ON fire and