A letter from Thomas Clarkson, addressed to “Dear Madam”, includes references to his dear friend, General Lafayette:  “.. I was with the General often, and corresponded with him after his coming out of his dungeon at Olmuz…..He was decidedly as uncompromising as any on the subjects of slave-trade and slavery….He freed all of his slaves in French Cayenne, who had come to him by inheritance, in 1758 ……He has said frequently,  ‘I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery.’”

An item calls attention to the 225th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, which was held in Plymouth, ”with the usual empty declamation about their virtues, sufferings and sacrifices. Among those who made speeches at the dinner given on the occasion were Edward Everett and Rufus Choate  — men who have not an atom of moral heroism in their composition and who stand in this evil generation where the time-serving and pusillanimous in all ages have stood…”

Here is notice of the FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE ABOLITION OF CAPTIAL PUUNISHMENT, to be held on the 14th of January in Washington Hall, under the Boston Museum.

An article, in sarcastic tone, tells of the enactment of “new laws against the colored people”, in Ohio. “Driven from the slave States by oppressive laws, under penalty of being sold into slavery, they will, a few of them, make their way into Ohio, notwithstanding our accursed laws against them….This will not do.  They must be utterly shut out from amongst us —- and being driven out from the slave States, they must go to Canada, or perish in the ocean.”

From the Boston Daily Star, is a letter Mrs. Torrey has written to the Governor of Maryland, asking for the release of Torrey on grounds of his ill health. Reference is made to a petition signed by numerous persons of note.

There is also a lengthy unsigned comment on the petition and Mrs. Torrey’s letter,  presenting an argument that the terms for his release suggested in the petition are humiliating and “unworthy of the spirit of a martyr”, and the writer indicates that were he in Torrey’s shoes “we would a thousand times sooner welcome death in the penitentiary” rather than accepting liberation on such terms. It concludes, “A sense of duty compels us thus to enter our dissent.”

With a title Horrors of Slavery, here is a letter from Charles H. Bell, Commander, United States Ship,Yorktown, from Kabinda, Africa, Dec 16, 1845.   The letter, addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, recounts the capture of an American bark, Pons, with eight hundred and ninety-six slaves on board.  “The vessel had no slave deck, and upwards of eight hundred and fifty slaves were piled , almost in bulk, on the water casks below; these were males.  About forty or fifty females were confined in one-half of the round house cabin on deck; the other half of the cabin remaining for the use of the officers……The stench from below was so great that it was impossible to stand more than a few moments near the hatchways.  Our men, who went below from curiosity, were forced up sick in a few minutes….What must have been the sufferings of these poor wretches when the hatches were closed?……”

An item from the Boston Daily Star, an article about Parker, now leading a church and society  worshipping at the Melodeon; it lists his publications to date, describes his speaking style, and his physical appearance.  “But not person can look upon his head without a profound impression of great intellectual and moral superiority…”

Some sample lines from this::

Who was the first Negro?    Cain
How did he become so?   The Lord set a black mark upon him
Did the Southern slaves come from him?   Yes
How did they get through the flood?   O, No! They didn’t come from him; they came from Ham.
How do you know that?      Because, Ham means black.
Upon whom did Noah pronounce a curse?    Upon Ham
Does the Bible say so?     No; it says Canaan, but then it means Ham.
Does the curse make it right that the blacks should be enslaved?    Yes
Why?  Because it says they should be.
……..
Was Paul a good man?    Yes, he was a holy Saint
What did he do?      He sent back a runaway slave.
What was his advice, and that of the other apostles, to the slaves?
To abide in their calling, and to be obedient to their masters.
…….
What does US stand for?     US
Who has a right to say so?    Nobody, but the slaveholders.
What does U.S.A. stand for?    United Slaveholding America

Here is a listing of 303 Ministers Against Slavery

Under Refuge of Oppression is an introduction to a list of thirty-seven reasons for not signing the previously printed Protest Against Slavery, “given by those ministers of that denomination who declined appending their names to it. This department of our paper has never contained an article more decidedly ‘rich’.”    Here is a sample of some of the reasons cited for not signing: 

 ”slavery is a political question , with which we have nothing to do.”
“the condition of the slaves is better here than that of the Africans, or the lower classes in all other nations.”
“because of the example of Jesus, who did not protest against Slavery, that existed in his day.”
“because the evils of Slavery were entailed by the mother country upon the Colonies, against their will, and the inheriting States must bear with the evil, as irremediable.”
“because of the golden rule —If we held slaves in accordance with law, we should not wish others to interfere with the enjoyment of our rights.”
“because the Apostles left no protests against Slavery, but, on the contrary, gave full instructions to slaves to be obedient.”
“because the Slaves cannot be benefited by freedom, but must ever be reduced below the whites, for the two races cannot live in peace on the ground of equality; and while they are in the same country, the one will be the master of the other.”
“because the protest savors too much of modern Abolitionism….”
“because Abolitionism has no piety, but is mere partyism, with selfish aims…
“because it has a tendency to unchristianize my brother at the South – the slaveholder.”