January 3, 1851
“It is impossible to describe the emotion we feel in commencing our third decade as the editor of the Liberator. The contrast in the state of public sentiment on the subject of slavery, as evinced twenty-one years ago and at the present time, is truly overpowering. Then not a whisper against the Slave Power could be heard in any section of the republic; now a million voices are calling in thunder tones for its eternal overthrow. Then, not a paragraph could be found in any of the newspapers, touching this ‘delecate question’; now there is scarcely one journal of the two thousand published in the land, that does not discuss this as the paramount question of the times. Then, we stood single-handed, and alone; now the friends of freedom and emancipation are too multitudinous to be numbered. …Throughout the whole of this long period, the Liberator has had to struggle against wind and tide …. Its circulation is still limited, and we expect will continue to be so until the end of the conflict….we shall strive to make it for the future, as free, independent and fearless as it has been hitherto.”
January 3, 1851
Under the title A Contrast, from the New York Independent, there is an item about a meeting on the evening of Monday, Dec 23, held by the New England Society, at the Astor House. There, while one man spoke, calling upon people to emulate the values of the Pilgrims, at the same hour, “there was lying in the custody of the United States Marshal of this District another man, whose office was not that of making speeches at dinner, but of waiting on the table, who had been arrested as a fugitive slave under a law which would never have become a law but for the influence and efforts of this same descendant of the Puritans …On Tuesday morning, ‘the god-like’ received at the City Hall the adulations of the Union Safety Committee, and dilated upon the benefits and glories of the Union. At the same hour, and in a room of the same building, the mighty power of the Union was remorselessly applied to crush a man made in the image of God.”
January 3, 1851
Recognition of the death of Snowden, October 8, at the age of 85. “Many a colored mariner, who has sailed from the North to southern ports, would have been sold into slavery , had not Father Snowden promptly interposed his wand of Christian benevolence……For many years, his house has been resorted to by the victims of American slavery, on their way to the British dominions. On this day of his death, October 8, 1850, thirteen fugitives arrived, seeking that sympathy for which his name had become so famed, but which could no longer be rendered.”
January 10, 1851
An Appeal and Remonstrance, To the Working Men of America who are invested with the Elective Franchise. A long letter, concluding with, “We call upon you, by action, to make the slave-catching bill a dead letter in your midst.
January 10, 1851
The Vigilance Committee of Boston, issues a call for petitions to go to members of Congress and the State Legislature, asking for immediate repeal of the law.
January 10, 1851
Micajah T. Johnson, from Short Creek, O, calls upon non-resisters not to give in to the temptation to join those who urge violence in response to the fugitive slave law. …..”Our excellent friends Foster and Douglass seem to be almost ready to give their sanction to violence in cases of extreme peril, forgetting that these are the temptations to which reformers are always subject, and are peculiarly calculated to try their nerves. One who can resist every temptation, under all circumstances, will advance the cause of humanity more than a thousand temporizers…..Suppose it were possible to free the slaves at the present time by violence, (which to me is very doubtful), their condition would not be much better, while millions would undergo all the trials, hardships, without a corresponding increase of intelligence, that men would oppress each other upon all occasions…..this war spirit crucified Jesus, stoned the apostles, and burned the martyrs. In fact, it has done most of the mischief that ever was done….”
January 24, 1851
Notice that the Mass. Senate has elected Charles Sumner to the U. S. Senate, with a term beginning on March 4th. He received 23 votes, three more than necessary for election.
January 31, 1851
Gold watch presented to Garrison; the inscription: “Presented by George Thompson, M.P., (On behalf of himself and others,) to William Lloyd Garrison, the intrepid and uncompromising friend of the slave, In commemoration of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Liberator, Boston, January 1st, 1851
January 31, 1851
Depending on a source in the Barnstable Patriot, and from the Journal, here is a brief article about “come-outers”: “Several of these poor deluded beings in Barnstable, whose actions we have before noticed, are now on trial in that town for an assault upon a constable when in the discharge of his duty…the poor creatures are insane, and can hardly be held responsible for their acts. ….the most fitting place for these unfortunate beings is in the Insane Hospital .”
The editor comments: “These ‘poor deluded beings’ are undoubtedly laboring under religious insanity. Though nick-named ‘Come-outers’, they have scouted the anti-slavery movement as a very carnal affair.”
February 7, 1851
Song sung by all at the twentieth anniversary Soiree:
I AM AN ABOLITIONIST
By Wm. Lloyd Garrison
Air – Auld Lang Syne
I am an Abolitionist
I glory in the name;
Though now by Slavery’s minions hissed,
And covered o’er with shame:
It is a spell of light and power -
The watchword of the free;
Who spurns it in the trial-hour,
A craven soul is he!
I am an Abolitionist!
Then urge me not to pause;
For joyfully do I enlist
In freedom’s sacred cause:
A nobler strife the world ne’er saw,
The enslaved to disenthral;
I am a soldier for the war,
Whatever may befall!
I am an Abolitionist!
Oppression’s deadly foe;
In God’s great strength will I resist,
And lay the monster low;
In God’s great name do I demand,
To all be freedom given,
That peace and joy may fill the land,
And songs go up to heaven!
I am an Abolitionist!
No threats shall awe my soul,
No perils cause me to desist,
No bribes my acts control;
A freeman will I live and die,
In sunshine and in shade,
And raise my voice for liberty,
Of naught on earth afraid.
