Letter from Wm. Lloyd Garrison : read at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society

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LETTER FROM WM. LLOYD GARRISON.

Read at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Pes Slavery Mert ey 4
Pe) 362

(or be SB¥séon, Oct. 4, 1851.

My a Frrmxp,—A sudden cold, attended with con-
siderable inflammation of the lungs (aside from other con-
siderations), must deprive me of the pleasure of attending
the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery So-
ciety, ati West Chester, next week. Whatever may be the
disappointment felt at my absence, it cannot be greater than
the regret I feel at the interposing of any obstacle to prevent
my being with those whom I have known, loved, and ho-
noured, for so many years, as among the earliest, most reli-
able, most devoted friends of a boraly @ afflicted and horribly
outraged: race.

Your Anniversary is to be held at a time of intense excite-
ment, under circumstances peculiarly trying, in a location
not very remote from the Christiana tragedy.* It cannot fail,
therefore, to be an occasion of thrilling interest and deep so-
lemnity. Whatever may transpire, I am confident that you
all will possess your souls in patience, nor think it “ strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing had happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch
as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings ;”. “ committing the
keeping of your souls to God in well-doing, as unto a faithful
Creator.” “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not
be; but the meek shalt inherit the earth. The wicked plot-
teth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
‘The Lord shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is
coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have
bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay
such as be of upright conversation. ‘Their sword shall enter
their own heart,:and their bow shall be broken.” “ God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of

* In which ‘the attempt to capture a Fugitive Slave was resisted by
violence, and the life of the Slaveholder sacriticed.

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troulilé ‘cherefore’ jill: we “not fear, showin the earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea.’

Truly, “ This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the
Lord their God, nor receiveth correction; truth is perished,
and is cut off from their mouth..... Were they ashamed
when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not
at all ashamed, neither could they blush... . From the least
of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given
to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest,
every one dealeth falsely... .. They make a man an offender
for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth: in the
gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught... .. Their
feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood ;
wasting and destruction are in their paths..... They all lie
in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a
‘net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the
prince asketh and the judge asketh for a reward; and the
great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire; so they wrap
it up..... And he that departeth from evil, maketh mae
a prey.”

Nevertheless, “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and contorin
the feeble knees. Say unto them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not..... Hearken unto me, saith the Lord,
ye that know righteousness, the people in wlfose hearts is
my fear; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid
of their revilings ; for the moth shall eat them up likea gar-
ment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. I, even I, am
he that comforteth you. Who art thou, that thou shouldst
be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man that
shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker,
that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the founda-
tions of the earth; and hast feared continually every day
because of the fury of the oppressor, as) if he-was ready to
destroy ? and where is the fury of the oppressor ? The cap-
tive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,and wh he shall —
not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.:. .. . For the
oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the cent now will
I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him

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that puffeth at him.....Say ye not, A confederacy, to all
them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy ; neither
fear ye their fear, nor be afraid..... Sanctify the Lord of
Hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be
your dread.”

My dear friend, I can find no language so apposite, so reli-
able, so descriptive, so consoling, in the present time, as that
which I have quoted from a volume professedly held by this

_ oppressive nation in the highest veneration as the inspired

Word of God, which yet disregards, in the most daring man-
ner, all its admonitions, warnings, expostulations, examples,
threatenings, and judgments,

More than three millions of our fellow-creatures are conti-
nually crying for deliverance froma servitude, “ one hour of

_ which,” in the truthful words of. Tuomas Jerrerson, “ is
_ fraught with more misery than ages of that which our fathers

rose in rebellion to oppose.” Their enslavement demonstrates

"that the guilt of this nation is unparalleled.. Our duty, as

abolitionists, is still to “ cry aloud and spare not,” until every

_ chain is broken. We have nothing to change—no steps to

retrace—no new course to: mark out—no confession to make,
except that we have come short in zeal, self-sacrifice, devoted-

_ ness, jIf the Declaration of Independence is to be cherished,

we are right; if the Gospel:is to be obeyed, we are right; if

_ man is man, we are right. We may safely defy the world to

show wherein we have demanded any thing unreasonable for
the slave, or unjust to the master. What we protest against is
conduct so tremendously wrong, so awfully impious, that no
language can exaggerate it—the reducing of a rational, ac-
countable, immortal being to the condition of a beast. We
deny that man can beirightfully the property of man. It is
the plainest of all propositions, and needs no proof. The
people that reject this are filled with a tyrannical spirit ;
the law that contravenes this is) iniquitous, and to be dis-
obeyed at all hazards; the government that repudiates this
is essentially despotic, and forfeits all claim to respect, all.

right to exist. » Injustice, cruelty, oppression, these are the
works of the devil, not to be.tolerated, but destroyed. Who-

ever undertakes to enforce them, whether called President,

oe fee. te
iy es
ae.

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Judge, or Commissioner, ranks himself.arnong the enemies of
mankind; and must take his place in history by the side of.
such monsters as Caligula, Nero, and Domitian.) A compact
made at the expense of the rights and liberties of any por-
tion of the people is “a covenant with death and an agree-
ment with hell;” and that covenant—so runs the promise of
God—shall be annulled, and that agreement shall not stand;
when judgment is laid to the line, and righteousness to the
plummet; for the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.—* Open ye
the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth
may enter in. Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord —
Jehovah is everlasting strength. For he bringeth down them
that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he lay-
eth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the
dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the foot of the seis .
and the steps of the needy.”

With regard‘ to that most heart-rending and acids |
enactment, the Fugitive Slave Bill, to denounce and disre-—
gard which is the imperative duty of every one who fears
God and regards man; if to put it beneath my feet, and to
hold up those who are for executing it to the execration of
the world, as the most perfidious, inhuman, and lawless of
men, be treason, then I glory in being a traitor, and am ready —
for the dungeon or halter at any moment. All carnal wea-
pons I have long since renounced, but only to put on “ the -
whole armour of God,” that I may “ be able 6 withstand in *
the evil day ; and having done all, To stanp.” 09+ J

“« Glory to those who die in this great cause !
Courts, judges, can inflict no brand of shame, 2 {
Or shape of death, to shroud them from applause ! pty.
No, manglers of the martyr’s earthly frame, Cs ; |
Your hangmen fingers cannot touch his fame !
Still in our guilty land there shall be some
True hearts, the shrine of Freedom’s vestal flame:

Long trains of ill may pass, unheeded—dumb— »
But Vengeance is behind, and Justice is to come!” ..

Yours, for universal liberty,

: : WM. LLOYD GARRISON. -|
J. Mruuer M‘Kim. roy

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