As a suggestion from, if not an offshoot of, the New England organization, came the National Anti-Slavery Society, which was organized in Philadelphia in 1834. It was intended that the meeting of its promoters should be held in New York, but so intense was the feeling against the Abolitionists in that city that no suitable room could there be found, and the "conspirators," as they were called by their enemies, were compelled to seek for accommodation and protection among the Philadelphia Quakers.
In that circumstance there was considerable significance. Two great declarations of independence have issued from Philadelphia. One was for political freedom; the other was for personal freedom. One was for the benefit of its authors as well as of others. The other one was wholly unselfish. Which had the loftier motive7?
Ten States were represented in the Philadelphia meeting, which, considering the difficulties incident to travel at that time, was a very creditable showing. One man rode six hundred miles on horseback to attend it.
The following is the list of those in attendance, who became subscribers to the declaration that was promulgated8:
Maine
David Thurston, Nathan Winslow, Joseph Southwick, James F. Otis, Isaac Winslow.
New Hampshire
David Campbell.
Massachusetts
Daniel Southmayd, Effingham C. Capron, Amos Phelps, John G. Whittier, Horace P. Wakefield, James Barbadoes, David T. Kimball, Jr., Daniel E. Jewitt, John R. Campbell, Nathaniel Southard, Arnold Buffum, William Lloyd Garrison.
Rhode Island
John Prentice, George W. Benson.
Connecticut
Samuel J. May, Alpheus Kingsley, Edwin A. Stillman, Simeon Joselyn, Robert B. Hall.
New York
Beriah Green, Lewis Tappan, John Rankin, William Green, Jr., Abram T. Cox, William Goodell, Elizur Wright, Jr., Charles W. Denison, John Frost.
New Jersey9
Jonathan Parkhurst, Chalkly Gillinghamm, John McCullough, James White.
Pennsylvania
Evan Lewis, Edwin A. Altee, Robert Purviss, James McCrummill, Thomas Shipley, Bartholomew Fussell, David Jones, Enoch Mace10, John McKim, Anson Vickers, Joseph Loughead, Edward P. Altee, Thomas Whitson, John R. Sleeper12, John Sharp, Jr., James Mott.
Ohio
Milton Sutliff, Levi Sutliff, John M. Sterling13.
The writer finds it quite impossible to carry out the idea with which this chapter was begun, which was to furnish a catalogue embracing all active Anti-Slavery workers who were Abolitionists. Space does not permit. He will therefore condense by giving a portion of the list, the selections being dictated14 partly by claims of superior merit, and partly by accident.
As representative men and women of the East—chiefly of New England and New York—he gives the following:
David Lee Child, of Boston, for some time editor of the National Anti-Slavery Advocate. He was the husband of Lydia Maria Child, who wrote the first bound volume published in this country in condemnation15 of the enslavement of "those people called Africans"; Samuel E. Sewell, another Bostonian and a lawyer who volunteered his services in cases of fugitive16 slaves; Ellis Gray Lowell, another Boston lawyer of eminence17; Amos Augustus Phelps, a preacher and lecturer, for whose arrest the slaveholders of New Orleans offered a reward of ten thousand dollars; Parker Pillsbury, another preacher and lecturer, who at twenty years of age was the driver of an express wagon18, and with no literary education, but who, in order that he might better plead the cause of the slave, went to school and became a noted19 orator20; Theodore Weld, who married Angelina Grimke, the South Carolina Abolitionist, and who as an Anti-Slavery advocate was excelled, if he was excelled, only by Henry Ward11 Beecher and Wendell Phillips; Henry Brewster Stanton, a very vigorous Anti-Slavery editor and the husband of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the champion of women's rights; Theodore Parker, the great Boston divine; O.B. Frothingham, another famous preacher; Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the writer; Samuel Johnson, C.L. Redmond, James Monroe, A.T. Foss, William Wells Brown, Henry C. Wright, G.D. Hudson, Sallie Holley, Anna E. Dickinson, Aaron M. Powell, George Brodburn, Lucy Stone, Edwin Thompson, Nathaniel W. Whitney, Sumner Lincoln, James Boyle, Giles B. Stebbins, Thomas T. Stone, George M. Putnam, Joseph A. Howland, Susan B. Anthony, Frances E. Watkins, Loring Moody21, Adin Ballou, W.H. Fish, Daniel Foster, A.J. Conover, James N. Buffum, Charles C. Burleigh, William Goodell, Joshua Leavitt, Charles M. Denison, Isaac Hopper, Abraham L. Cox.
To the above should be added the names of Alvin Stewart of New York, who issued the call for the convention that projected the Liberty party, and of John Kendrick, who executed the first will including a bequest22 in aid of the Abolition1 cause.
And here must not be omitted the name of John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, who was a candidate for the Presidency23 on the Liberty party ticket, and also a conspicuous24 member of the U.S. Senate.
Going westward25, we come to Ohio, which became, early in the movement, the dominating center of Abolitionist influence. Salmon26 P. Chase was there. James G. Birney, after being forced out of Kentucky, was there. Ex-United States Senator Thomas Morris, a candidate for the Vice-Presidency on the Liberty party ticket, was there. Leicester King and Samuel Lewis, Abolition candidates for the governorship of the State, were there. Joshua R. Giddings and United States Senator Ben. Wade27 were there.
One great advantage the Ohio Abolitionists enjoyed was that they were harmonious28 and united. In the East that was not the case. There was a bitter feud29 between the Garrisonians, who relied on moral suasion, and the advocates of political action. All Ohio Abolitionists were ready and eager to employ the ballot30.
There is another name, in speaking of Ohio, that must not be omitted. Dr. Townsend was the man who made Salmon P. Chase a United States Senator, and at a time when the Abolition voting strength in Ohio was a meager31 fraction in comparison with that of the old parties—numbering not over one in twenty. It happened to be a time when the old parties—the Whigs and the Democrats32—had so nearly an equal representation in the State Legislature that Townsend, who was a State Senator, and two co-operating members, held a balance of power. Both parties were exceedingly anxious to control the Legislature, as that body, under the State constitution then in force, had the distribution of a great deal of patronage33. The consideration for the deciding vote demanded by Townsend and his associates was the election of Chase to the Senate. They and the Democrats made the deal. Naturally enough, the Whigs expressed great indignation until it was shown that they had offered to enter into very much the same arrangement.
Some years before the events just spoken of, Townsend had been a medical student in Cincinnati. One day he stepped into the courthouse, where a fugitive-slave case was being tried. There he listened to an argument from Salmon P. Chase, the negro's defender34, that made an Abolitionist of him. The senatorial incident naturally followed.
There was another Ohioan—not an individual this time, but an institution—that will always hold a high place in the annals of Abolitionism. Oberlin College was a power in the land. It had a corps35 of very able professors who were, without exception, active Anti-Slavery workers. They regarded themselves as public instructors36 as well as private teachers. There was scarcely a township in Ohio that they did not visit, either personally or through their disciples37. They were as ready to talk in country schoolhouses as in their own college halls. Of course, they were violently opposed. Mobs broke up their meetings very frequently, but that only made them more persistent38. Their teachings were viciously misrepresented. They were accused of favoring the intermarriage of the races, and parents were warned, if they sent their children to Oberlin, to look out for colored sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. For such slanders39, however, the men and women of Oberlin—for both sexes were admitted to faculty40 and classes—seemed to care no more than they did for pro-slavery mobs.
There is another name which, although it belongs exclusively neither to the East nor to the West, to the North nor to the South, should not be omitted from a record like this. Doctor Gamaliel Bailey resided in the District of Columbia, and issued the National Era from Washington city.
Although a journal of small folio measurement and issued but once a week, it was for a considerable time the most influential41 organ of the Abolitionists. Its circulation was large and its management very able. Of course, it took no little courage and judgment42 to conduct such a publication in the very center of slaveholding influence, and more than once it barely escaped destruction by mobs.
If there was nothing else to his credit there was one thing accomplished43 by the Era's owner that entitles him to lasting44 remembrance. He was the introducer, if not the real producer, of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It first appeared in the Era in serial45 numbers. It is perfectly46 safe to say that no other newspaper in the country, of any standing47, would have touched it. Without Dr. Bailey's encouragement the work would not have been written. This was admitted by Mrs. Stowe.
Up to this point the people whose names have been mentioned in these pages have, to a certain extent, been public characters and leaders. They were generals, and colonels, and captains, and orderly sergeants48, in the army of emancipation49. There were, also, privates in the ranks whose services richly deserve to be commemorated50, showing, as they do, the character of the works they performed. The writer cannot resist the temptation to refer to two of them in particular, although, doubtless, there were many others of equal merit. A reason for the preference he shows in this case, that will not be misunderstood, is the fact that one of the men was his uncle and the other his father.
James Kedzie and John Hume were plain country farmers residing in southwestern Ohio, neither very rich nor very poor. They were natives of Scotland, and stating that fact is almost equivalent to saying they were Abolitionists. None of the Scotch51 of the writer's personal knowledge, at the period referred to, were otherwise than strongly Anti-Slavery. There are said to be exceptions to all rules, and there was one in this instance. He was a kinsman52 of the author, and a "braw" young Scotchman who came over to this country with the expectation of picking up a fortune in short order. Finding the North too slow, he went South. There he met a lady who owned a valuable plantation53 well stocked with healthy negroes. He married the woman, and became something of a local nabob, with the reputation of great severity as a master. One day, with his own hand, he inflicted54 a cruel flogging on a slave who had the name of a "bad nigger." That night, when the master was playing chess with a neighbor by candlelight on the ground floor of his dwelling55, all the windows being open, the negro crept up with a loaded gun and shot him dead.
The sad affair was regretfully commented on by the dead man's relatives, who, I remember, referred to his untimely ending as "his judgment," and as a punishment he had brought upon "himself."
My uncle and father did not conceal56 their unpopular views. They openly voted the Abolition ticket. In eight years, beginning with their two ballots57, they raised the third party vote in their immediate58 vicinity to eight, and they boasted of the progress they had made.
They did not make public addresses, but they faithfully listened to those made by others in support of the cause. They attended all Abolition meetings that were within reach. They took the National Era. Not only that, but they got up clubs for it. The first club I recollect59 my father's securing consisted of half a dozen subscribers, for one half of which he paid. The next year's was double in size, and so was my father's contribution. There was no fund for the promotion of the Abolitionist cause, for which they were called upon, to which they did not cheerfully pay according to their means.
All Abolition lecturers and colporteurs were gratuitously60 entertained, although their presence was sometimes a cause of abuse, and even of danger. There were other travelers who sometimes applied61 for help. Their faces were of dusky hue62, and their great whitish eyes were like those of hunted beasts of the forest. They went on their way strengthened and rejoicing—always in the direction of the North Star.
The men are dead, but Slavery is dead also, partly through their labors63 and sacrifices. Their unpretentious, patient, earnest lives were not in vain. They contributed to the final triumph of Freedom's holy cause.
点击收听单词发音
1 abolition | |
n.废除,取消 | |
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2 promotion | |
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传 | |
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3 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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4 forerunner | |
n.前身,先驱(者),预兆,祖先 | |
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5 thatcher | |
n.茅屋匠 | |
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6 coffin | |
n.棺材,灵柩 | |
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7 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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8 promulgated | |
v.宣扬(某事物)( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 );传播;公布;颁布(法令、新法律等) | |
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9 jersey | |
n.运动衫 | |
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10 mace | |
n.狼牙棒,豆蔻干皮 | |
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11 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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12 sleeper | |
n.睡眠者,卧车,卧铺 | |
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13 sterling | |
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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14 dictated | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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15 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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16 fugitive | |
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者 | |
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17 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
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18 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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19 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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20 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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21 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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22 bequest | |
n.遗赠;遗产,遗物 | |
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23 presidency | |
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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24 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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25 westward | |
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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26 salmon | |
n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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27 wade | |
v.跋涉,涉水;n.跋涉 | |
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28 harmonious | |
adj.和睦的,调和的,和谐的,协调的 | |
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29 feud | |
n.长期不和;世仇;v.长期争斗;世代结仇 | |
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30 ballot | |
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票 | |
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31 meager | |
adj.缺乏的,不足的,瘦的 | |
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32 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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33 patronage | |
n.赞助,支援,援助;光顾,捧场 | |
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34 defender | |
n.保卫者,拥护者,辩护人 | |
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35 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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36 instructors | |
指导者,教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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37 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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38 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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39 slanders | |
诽谤,诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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40 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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41 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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42 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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43 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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44 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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45 serial | |
n.连本影片,连本电视节目;adj.连续的 | |
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46 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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47 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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48 sergeants | |
警官( sergeant的名词复数 ); (美国警察)警佐; (英国警察)巡佐; 陆军(或空军)中士 | |
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49 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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50 commemorated | |
v.纪念,庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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52 kinsman | |
n.男亲属 | |
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53 plantation | |
n.种植园,大农场 | |
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54 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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56 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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57 ballots | |
n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 );选举;选票;投票总数v.(使)投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 ) | |
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58 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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59 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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60 gratuitously | |
平白 | |
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61 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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62 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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63 labors | |
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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