Now, if that estimate be not altogether inaccurate5, what place in the scale of renown6 must be assigned to those pioneers in the successful movement against African slavery in this country who have commonly been known as "Abolitionists"—a name first given in derision by their enemies? It should, in the opinion of the writer hereof, be the very highest. He is not afraid to challenge the whole record of human achievements by great and good men (always save and except that which is credited to the Saviour8 of mankind) for exhibitions of heroism9 superior to theirs. Nay10, when it is remembered that mainly through their efforts and sacrifices was accomplished11 a revolution by which four million human beings (but for the Abolitionists the number to-day in bondage12 would be eight millions) were lifted from the condition in which American slaves existed but a few years ago, to freedom and political equality with their former masters; and, at the same time when it is considered what qualities of heart and brain were needed for such a task, he does not believe that history, from its earliest chapters, furnishes examples of gods or men, except in very rare and isolated13 cases, who have shown themselves to be their equals.
In the matter of physical courage they were unsurpassed, unsurpassable. A good many of them were Quakers and non-resistants, and a good many of them were women, but they never shrank from danger to life and limb, when employed in their humanitarian14 work. Some of them achieved the martyr's crown.
In the matter of conscience they were indomitable. Life to them was worth less than principle.
In the matter of money they were absolutely unselfish. Those of them who were poor, as the most of them were, toiled15 on without the hope of financial recompense. They did their work not only without the promise or prospect16 of material reward of any kind, but with the certainty of pains and penalties that included the ostracism17 and contempt of their fellows, and even serious risks to property and life.
All these sacrifices were in the cause of human liberty; but of liberty for whom? That is the crucial point. In all ages there have been plenty of men who have honorably striven for liberty for themselves. Some there have been who have risen to higher planes. We have an example in Lafayette. He fought to liberate18 a people who were foreign in language and blood; but they were of his own color and the peers of his compatriots.
The Abolitionists, however, espoused19 the cause, and it was for that that they endured so much, of creatures that were infinitely20 below them; of beings who had ceased to be recognized as belonging to humanity, and were classed with the cattle of the field and other species of "property." So low were they that they could neither appreciate nor return the services rendered in their behalf. For their condition, the Abolitionists were in no sense responsible. They had no necessary fellowship with the unfortunates. They were under no especial obligation to them. They were not of the same family. It was even doubted whether the races had a common origin. And yet, to the end of securing release for these wretched victims of an intolerable oppression, not a few of them dedicated21 all they possessed—life not excepted.
True it is that they had no monopoly of benevolence22. Many noble men and women have gone as missionaries23 to the poor and benighted24, and have sought through numerous hardships and perils25 to raise up those who have been trodden in the dust. But, as a rule, their services have been rendered pursuant to a secular26 employment that carried financial compensation, and behind their devotion to the poor and oppressed has been the expectation of personal reward in another world, if not in this. But such motives27 barely, if at all, influenced the Abolitionists. No element of professionalism entered into their work. They were not particularly religious. They neither very greatly reverenced28 nor feared the Church, whose leaders they often accused of a hankering for the "flesh-pots" that induced them to lead their followers29 into Egypt, rather than out of it. They were partly moved by a hatred30 of slavery and its long train of abuses that was irrepressible, and which to most persons was incomprehensible, and partly by a love for their fellows in distress31 that was so insistent32 as to make them forget themselves. Their impulses seemed to be largely intuitive, if not instinctive33, and if called upon for a philosophical34 explanation they could not have given it.
In such a struggle for freedom and natural human rights as was carried on by the Abolitionists against tremendous odds35 and through a term covering many long years, it does seem to the writer of this essay that mortal heroism reached its height.
Nor am I by any means alone in the opinion just expressed. As far back as 1844, when the Abolitionists were few in number and the objects of almost savage36 persecution37 in every part of our country, the Earl of Carlisle, who, in his day was one of the most capable leaders of British public opinion, declared that they were engaged "in fighting a battle without a parallel in the history of ancient or modern heroism."
I am moved to write the story of the Abolitionists, partly because it is full of romantic interest, and partly because justice demands it. Those doughty38 file leaders in the Anti-Slavery fight do not to-day have an adequate acknowledgment of the obligations that the country and humanity should recognize as belonging to them, and they never have had it. Much of the credit that is fairly theirs has been mis-applied. Writers of history—so called, although much of it is simple eulogy—have been more and more inclined to attribute the overthrow39 of slavery to the efforts of a few men, and particularly one man, who, after long opposition40 to, or neglect of, the freedom movement, came to its help in the closing scenes of a great conflict, while the earlier, and certainly equally meritorious41, workers and fighters have been quite left out of the account. The writer does not object to laborers42 who entered the field at the eleventh hour, sharing with those who bore the heat and burden of the day; but when there is a disposition43 to give to them all the earnings44 he does feel like protesting.
The case of the Abolitionists is not overstated when it is said that, but for their labors45 and struggles, this country, instead of being all free, would to-day be all slaveholding. The relative importance of their work in creating, by means of a persistent46 agitation47, an opposition to human slavery that was powerful enough to compel the attention of the public and force the machine politicians, after long opposition, to admit the question into practical politics, cannot well be overestimated48.
They alone and single-handed fought the opening battles of a great war, which, although overshadowed and obscured by later and more dramatic events, were none the less gallantly49 waged and nobly won. It is customary to speak of our Civil War as a four years' conflict. It was really a thirty years' war, beginning when the pioneer Abolitionists entered the field and declared for a life-and-death struggle. It was then that the hardest battles were fought.
I write the more willingly because comparatively few now living remember the mad excitement of the slavery controversy50 in ante-bellum days. The majority—the living and the working masses of to-day—will, doubtless, be gratified to have accurate pictures of scenes and events of which they have heard their seniors speak, that distinguished51 the most tempestuous52 period in our national history—the one in which the wildest passions were aroused and indulged. Then it was that the fiercest and bitterest agitation prevailed. The war that followed did not increase this. It rather modified it—sobered it in view of the crisis at hand—and served as a safety-valve for its escape.
For the same reason, the general public has now but slight comprehension of the trials endured by the Abolitionists for principle's sake. In many ways were they persecuted53. In society they were tabooed; in business shunned54. By the rabble55 they were hooted56 and pelted57. Clowns in the circus made them the subjects of their jokes. Newspaper scribblers lampooned58 and libelled them. Politicians denounced them. By the Church they were regarded as very black sheep, and sometimes excluded from the fold. And this state of things lasted for years, during which they kept up a steady agitation with the help of platform lecturers, and regularly threw away their votes—so it was charged—in a "third party" movement that seemed to be a hopeless venture.
Another inducement to the writer to take up the cause of the Abolitionists is the fact that he has always been proud to class himself as one of them. He came into the world before Abolitionism, by that name, had been heard of; before the first Abolition7 Society was organized; before William Lloyd Garrison59 founded his Liberator60, and before (not the least important circumstance) John Quincy Adams entered Congress. He cannot remember when the slavery question was not discussed. His sympathies at an early day went out to the slave. He informed himself on the subject as well as a farmer boy might be expected to do in a household that received the most of its knowledge of current events from the columns of one weekly newspaper. He cast his first vote for the ticket of the Abolitionists while they were yet a "third party."
The community in which he then lived, although in the free State of Ohio, was strongly pro-slavery, being not far from the Southern border. The population was principally from Virginia and Kentucky. There were a few Abolitionists, and they occasionally tried to hold public meetings, but the gatherings61 were always broken up by mobs.
The writer very well remembers the satisfaction with which he, as a schoolboy, was accustomed to hear that there was to be another Abolition "turn-out." The occasion was certain to afford considerable excitement that was dear to the heart of a boy, and it had another recommendation. The only room in the village—"town" we called it—for such affairs, except the churches, which were barred against "fanatics," was the district schoolhouse, which, by common consent, was open to all comers, and as the windows and doors, through which missiles were hurled62 during Anti-Slavery gatherings, were always more or less damaged, "we boys" usually got a holiday or two while the building was undergoing necessary repairs.
As might be surmised63, the lessons I learned at school were not all such as are usually acquired at such institutions. My companions were like other children, full of spirit and mischief64, and not without their prejudices. They hated Abolitionists because they—the Abolitionists—wanted to compel all white people to marry "niggers." Although not naturally unkind, they did not always spare the feelings of "the son of an old Abolitionist." We had our arguments. Some of them were of the knock-down kind. In more than one shindy, growing out of the discussion of the great question of the day, I suffered the penalty of a bloody65 nose or a blackened eye for standing66 up for my side.
The feeling against the negroes' friends—the Abolitionists—was not confined to children in years. It was present in all classes. It entered State and Church alike, and dominated both of them. The Congressional Representative from the district in which I lived in those days was an able man and generally held in high esteem67. He made a speech in our village when a candidate for re-election. In discussing the slavery question—everybody discussed it then—he spoke68 of the negroes as being "on the same footing with other cattle." I remember the expression very well because it shocked me, boy that I was. It did not disturb the great majority of those present, however. They cheered the sentiment and gave their votes for the speaker, who was re-elected by a large majority.
About the same time I happened to be present where a General Assembly of one of our largest religious denominations69 was in session, and listened to part of an address by a noted70 divine—the most distinguished man in the body—which was intended to prove that slavery was an institution existing by biblical authority. He spent two days in a talk that was mostly made up of scriptural texts and his commentaries upon them. This was in Ohio, and there was not a slave-owner in the assembly, and yet a resolution commendatory of the views that had just been declared by the learned doctor, was adopted by an almost unanimous vote.
In the neighborhood in which I lived was an old and much respected clergyman who was called upon to preach a sermon on a day of some national significance. He made it the occasion for a florid panegyric71 upon American institutions, which, he declared, assured freedom to all men. Here he paused, "When I spoke of all men enjoying freedom under our flag," he resumed, "I did not, of course, include the Ethiopians whom Providence72 has brought to our shores for their own good as well as ours. They are slaves by a divine decree. As descendants of Ham, they are under a curse that makes them the servants of their more fortunate white brethren." Having thus put himself right on the record, he proceeded with his sermon. No one seemed to take exception to what he said.
In the same neighborhood was a young preacher who had shortly before come into it from somewhere farther North. In the course of one of his regular services he offered up a prayer in which he expressed the hope that the good Lord would find a way to break the bands of all who were in bondage. That smacked73 of Abolitionism and at once there was a commotion74. The minister was asked to explain. This he declined to do, saying that his petition was a matter between him and his God, and he denied the right of others to question him. That only increased the opposition, and in a short time the spunky young man was compelled to resign his charge.
About that time there appeared a lecturer on slavery—which meant against slavery—who carried credentials75 showing that he was a clergyman in good standing in one of the leading Protestant denominations. In our village was a church of that persuasion76, whose pastor77 was not an Abolitionist. As in duty bound, the visiting brother called on his local fellow-laborer, and informed him that on the following day, which happened to be Sunday, he would be pleased to attend service at his church. On the morrow he was on hand and occupied a seat directly in front of the pulpit; but, notwithstanding his conspicuousness78, the home minister, who should, out of courtesy, have invited him to a seat in the pulpit, if to no other part in the services, never saw him. He looked completely over his head, keeping his eyes, all through the exercises, fixed79 upon the back pews, which happened, on that occasion, to be chiefly unoccupied.
Such incidents, of themselves, were of no great importance. Their significance was in the fact that they all occurred on the soil of a free State. They showed the state of feeling that then and there existed.
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1
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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acclaims
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| 向…欢呼( acclaim的第三人称单数 )； 向…喝彩； 称赞…； 欢呼或拥戴（某人）为… | |
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inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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ostracism
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| n.放逐；排斥 | |
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liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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reverenced
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 )；敬礼 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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30
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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doughty
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| adj.勇猛的，坚强的 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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46
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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47
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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48
overestimated
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| 对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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50
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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51
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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52
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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53
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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54
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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56
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
pelted
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| （连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮 | |
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lampooned
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| v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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60
liberator
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| 解放者 | |
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61
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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63
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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64
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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68
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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69
denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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70
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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72
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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73
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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75
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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77
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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78
conspicuousness
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| 显著，卓越，突出； 显著性 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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