The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-26

matters on war and peace, on all those great
themes in which have had zeal in all my
public life, in the most explicit manner.
l declared to them that if they continued
to attend, or any of them wished to attend
my church on the supposition that
was going to be silent or prudentlally
dumb | wished to remove that impression
at once for | intended to be positive, active
and energetic on all these subjects, In
1S47-48-49 had become well known. My
anti-slavery sentiments began to be well
known in New York. Upon the establish
ment of the Independent was invited by
Mr.. Bowen to furnish Star Papers for the
paper, and in those l avowed such anti
slavery sentiments as made ii little uncer-
tain whether the three adjunct editors of the
paper-Dr. Leonard Bacon. DR.. Richard s.
Storrs and DR.. Joseph Thompson, of the
Broadway Tabernacle-could sustain me. 1t
was q time of very great caution and pru-
dence, but | stuck right at it.
'1n 1850, when the controversy came mp
about Ciay's omnibus bill including the
fugitive slave laws was thorou ghly reused,
and in the pulpit and with my pen attacked,
with the utmost earnestness, the infamous
fugitive slave bill. 1t was then that | wrote
that article, Shall we compromise" If any
one will compare that article with Mr.. Sew
ards subsequent speech he will find that 1t
was reducing to a mere minimum the article
on Shall we COMPROMISED This article was
-.
his clerk and he raised himself up and said,
Read that article again The article was
read. The man who says that Is
right. Slavery has got to go to the
wall. There is no alternative. 1t is
liberty or slavery And, then, when Webster
made his fatal apostasy on the 7th of March,
1850, l Joined with all Northern men OF any
freedom-loving spirit in denouncing it and
in denouncing him. Forthwith, after par
alysis of few weeks, his friends deter
mined to save him by getting all the old cler-
gymen-such men as DIR, Spring DR.. Lord
of Dartmouth, and the Andover professors.
The effort was to get every great and intlu-
entail man in the North to stand up for
Webster, and then it was that famed. They
failed utterly Professor Woolsey, OF New
Haven, DR. Bacon, president of the Will
iamstew IL College, in Massachusetts, and xar-
Gus other most influential men absolutely
refused to sustain Webster"
THE FAMOUS BLACK list.
What was the black list of those days."
at was about this time-1S50-that the
black list was made in that Castle Garden
Union Safety committee, and connected with
that was black list that was gotten up of
all the merchants that were arti-slavery. 1t
was to be sent all over the South to destroy
their custom. Mr.. Bowen was, of course, in
the loss of his Southern custom. He came
to me and asked if | would not write card
for him, and | undertook to do 1t, but my
head not running very clear, the only thing
got at after making three or four different
attempts, was; My goods are for sale,
not hex it into shape and l gave
the paper to him and said You
must fix it to suit yourself He took it TO
Hiram Barney, and he drew up the card in
the shape in which it appeared, including
that sentence which was the snap of the
whole thing. About that time came on the
Edmeson sisters. Going home one day,
saw an old negro sitting on my outside stone
steps. l asked him what he wanted. He
sail he wanted to see Mr.. Beecher. / asked
him into the house and then he told me that
his two daughters has been sold to the slave
pen to be carried to New Orleans. They
were very beautiful girls, and their destiny
was very apparent. He had gone all around
among the Methodists, think, to whom he
belonged, and he got sympathy, but no sue
cor, and he called to see if l could not do
something for him A meeting was called
in the Broadway Tabernacle. | agreed to be
there and make aspeeeh. | think that of all
the meetings that have attended in my life,
for panic of sympathy. | never saw one
that surpassed that. have seen a great
many in my day. An amount of money WAS
subscribed, and they were bought and set
free. The mother was q very old woman,
She had been a nurse of that great Richmond
lawyer whose name has died out of my men,
ory He owed his conversion to her, He
was famous in the days of Webster.
'This takes down to 1853 Then came the
bolt of the elder Van Buren, and the Buffalo
meeting and platform, which was anti-slay-
cry. and that was really the originating cause
of the Republican party. The materials we're
beginning to coalesce which constituted the
~ 1ANf nfaAi aQaf
was nominated as against Buchanan Well
of course, we felt all afame. Ny church
voted me all the time that thought to be re-
ouired to 20 out into the community and
speak and canvass the State of New York. /
went into that canvass, spoke twice and three
times sometimes a week, having the whole
day to myself; thatis making all the speeches
that were made. | was sent principally to
what we called the silver-gray districts or
connties-the old-time Wings that were at
tempting TO run candidate between FIRE.
mont and Buchanan, l generally made a
three-hours' speech day in the open air, to
audiences of from eight to ten thousand peo-
pie. felt at that time that it was very likely
that should sacrifice my life, or my voice at
any rate, but | was willing to lay down
either or both OF them for that cause"
SEWARD AND GREELEY.
Whom do you regard as being in those
days the most Influential leaders of public
sentiment, leading the Abolitionists on the
one hand and the better grade of Wings on
the other, toward the point of focus as Re-
publcans?"
well think Seward, on the whole
Greeley was off and on. Horace Greeley was
one of the ,ablest advocates in public affairs
When wise counsel had laid down a good
line, good platform, and Mr. Greeley
mounted it in defense, there was no man so
able as he; but when the work was not the
defense of an agreed-upon platform, but the
formation of it, he was a very unwise and
uncertain counsellor. do not know whether
it is worth my while to tell the history of
one thing that occurred about the time of