New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
p,pTvP pIILSTCEY.

.cyrs OF TIE ANTI-SLAYERY hPOS ILEs: ~ FAR ar
xpR ruIspUgY l2no. PIP Dds (Ooncoru' n H.
Mr. piIlsbury's volume of "reminiscences owes not
;n1eed its beginning but its final shape and char
- 40 the recent appearance of articles from those
1T slavery men whom he calls his old oppon-
80 - or from their children "nOt only dccar ng
.b,+ tbcv or their fathers abolished the eVil, but
that il could have been sooner and more easily
dome had Garrison and his small but motley IOl-
lowing been out Of the way" Those who know
+b veteran orator will not be surprised at the alac
ritv with which he has answered such challenges.
Time has not changed him. His theories are stli
as radical his feelings vehement, ms eplthets rs
strong ms they used to be in the stirring DAYS OF
ooraict when he trayersed New England thunder
inc AGAINST the Shareholders, the Northern
churches. and the New Organization Abolitionist,
os mariners in a common crime. The men to whom
he gives the name of apostles are those who made
lectnripg against slavery regular vocation going
from town to town, often at considerable personal
risk and forcing the subject upon generally unwl-
ling listeners His recollectiOns are confined 10
New-England; and the lecturers with whom they
orc mainly concerned are besides himself, Mr..
Garrison. Nathaniel Peabody Rogers, and stephen
s Foster He does not pretend therefore TO nave
written a comprehensive history of the operations
of the "extreme" reformers; but the chapters
which he presents are fairly illustrative Oh the
whole movement.
The come-outers" as they were called, from
their insisting upon the duty OF Christians 10 aoa
don all churches which admitted the abettors OF
slavery to fellowship, not only demanded lnllne-
6iate and unconditional emancipation, but regarded
slavebolJing rs sin for which there could be no
tolerance under any circumstances whatever, and
hold that the churches were its chief stay. Hence
they became conspicuous for their attacks upon all
The religions bodies at the North, as agents 'Of the
devil; and in the popular mind they were no doupt
often identified rather with hostility to the pulpit
than with the cause that really moved their en-
thusiasm. general arraignment of the churches
and an account of the personal collisions between
the APOSTLES and the preachers fill large share OF
Mr. Psbury's ireful pages. The exhibition OF the
pusillanimity and blindness of Christian denomna-
tions of which the best that can be said Is that
they were not in advance of the sentiment of their
are is disaCreeabe enough even at this distance OF
time dsacreeable principally perhaps because IL
shows how terribly the curse of slavery had scared
and distorted the national conscience. but IL was
hardly possible for the clergy to submit TO MT
Pillsbury's method of prOpagandisn, and nobody
can wonder after reading his narrative, that dis
tnrbance followed his footsteps. That, however,
was just what he wanted.
II was the custom of the apostles when they en-
tered town to ask for the of one OF the churches
for an anti-slavery meeting. The request was
often. perhaps generally, refused, and 1t was dill-
cult to find any other place. Sometimes the people
staid away; more frequently the audiences were
noisy. abusive and violent. Stephen ). Foster
adopted in 1871 plan of action which at least
had the merit of calling attention to the agitation
and keepinp il active He used to enter che meet
ing bouses on Sunday, and at a convenient moment
rise and claim the right to be heard then and there
on the subject of slavery. OF course the usual re-
snlt was his forcibe expulsion, and he was repeat
edly arrested for disturbing divine service When
taken before q magistrate he would refuse 10 plead
or to pay the fine imposed for the disturbance 81
do not acknowledge allegiance to any human
powerr was his declaration in a letter written from
Amherst Jail after one of these experiences. For
i,nprisonment naturally followed the refusal to
nav the fine. @WIthn the last fifteen months" he
wrote TO Rogers in 1912, four times have they
onened their dismal cells for my reception.
Twenty-four times have my countrymen dragged
me from their temples of worship, and twice have
they thrown me with great violence from the
second story of their buildings careless OF conse-
0uences Once in Baptist Westinghouse they gave
me an evangelical kick in the side which left me
for weeks an invalid. Times out of memory have
rbey broken up my meetings with violence, and
hunted me with brick-bats and bad eggs. Once
they indicted me for assault and battery; think it
was on that notorious band Of kidnappeTs, the
Boston police and their abetOrs, the Judges of the
Supreme Court. Once in the name of outraged law
and Justice have they attempted to put Inc In irons
Twice have they punished me with fine for preach
ing the gospel; and once in mob OF two thousand
people have they deliberately attempted to murder
me- and were only foiled in their designs after in
ficting some twenty blows on my head, face, and
neck, by the heroism of brave and noble
woman Foster was in Jail many times after this
alf in NaNp Ham
and Massachusetts; but he persisted in disturbing
the churches, and his example was followed by
Others In some cases the apostles asked before
hand for permission to speak, but generally they
seem to have dispensed with this foTnality. They
knew that permission would be refused, and they
meant TO speak any how. One Sunday morning
in June 1912, Foster went to the South Church
in Concord, N. H., and at sermon time began to
speak The minister having i'll vain ordered him TO
desist he was carried bodily ont of doors without
unnecessary disturbance. In the afternoon he re-
turned and renewed the attempt to speak, and this
time he was expelled with considerable violence.
The next day he was arrested. As he refused to
accompany the sheriff. he lifted into a carriage,
driven to the ROOM aud carried up the stairs
feet foremost masmuch as he declined to sanction
the proceedings by using his legs. When the mags-
trate Judge Badger, asked him to plead, he replied
that he was willing TO talk with him as an equal but
Friend Badger" he said, " do not recognize you
rs my Judge nor shall answer before you as Gull
prit. am not your subject and owe you no allie
glance" As the trial went on, Foster discovered
that the complaint founded upon law that
had been repealed, and to the delight of the au-
dence, and the amusement even of the prosecutor,
he remarked that TO save time he would point out
to the Court where the law actually in force could
be found. There a great deal of sympathy for
Foster among the spectators. and when the justice
imposed fine of five dollars and costs. a number
of people fastened forward with contributions SO
that much more than the required sum was spread
upon the table. The Judge then RENTED the fine
and the sheriff his fees aud in obedience to general