In the month of August, I issued proposals for publishing ‘THE
LIBERATOR’ in Washington city; but the enterprise, though hailed in different
sections of the country, was palsied by public indifference. Since that time, the removal of the Genius of
Universal Emancipation to the Seat of Government has rendered less imperious
the establishment of a similar periodical in that quarter.
During my recent tour for the purpose of exciting the minds
of the people by a series of discourses on the subject of slavery, every place
that I visited gave fresh evidence of the fact, that a greater revolution in
public sentiment was to be effected in the free states – and particularly in New England – than at the south. I found contempt more bitter, opposition more
active, detraction more relentless, prejudice more stubborn, and apathy more
frozen, than among slave owners themselves.
Of course, there were individual exceptions to the contrary. This state of things afflicted, but did not
dishearten me. I determined, at every
hazard, to lift up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation, within sight of Bunker Hill and in the birth
place of liberty. That standard is
now unfurled; and long may it float, unhurt by the spoliations of time or the
missiles of a desperate foe – yea, till every chain be broken, and every bondman
set free! Let southern oppressors
tremble – let their secret abettors tremble – let their northern apologist
tremble – let all the enemies of the persecuted blacks tremble.
I deem the publication of my original Prospectus*
unnecessary, as it has obtained a wide circulation. The principles therein inculcated will be
steadily pursued in this paper, excepting that I shall not array myself as the
political partisan of any man. In
defending the great cause of human rights, I wish to derive the assistance of
all religions and of all parties.
Assenting to the ‘self-evident truth’ maintained in the
American Declaration
of Independence, ‘that all men are created equal, and endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights – among which are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness,’ I shall strenuously contend for the immediate
enfranchisement of our slave population.
In Park-street Church, on the Fourth of July, 1829, in an address on
slavery, I unreflectingly assented to the popular but pernicious doctrine of gradual abolition. I seize this opportunity to make a full and
unequivocal recantation, and thus publicly to ask pardon of my God, of my
country, and of my brethren the poor slaves for having uttered a sentiment so
full of timidity, injustice and absurdity.
A similar recantation, from my pen, was published in the Genius of
Universal Emancipation at Baltimore, in September 1829. My conscience is now satisfied.
I am aware, that many object to the severity of my language;
but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as
uncompromising as justice. On this
subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no!
Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to
moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to
gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; – but urge
me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will
not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make
every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the
dead.
It is pretended, that I am retarding the cause of
emancipation by the coarseness of my invective, and the precipitancy of my
measures. The charge is not true. On
this question my influence, --- humble as it is, --- is felt at this moment to
a considerable extent, and shall be felt in the coming years --- not
perniciously, but beneficially – not as a curse, but as a blessing; and
posterity will bear testimony that I was right.
I desire to thank God, that he enables me to disregard ‘the fear of man
which bringeth a snare,’ and to speak this truth in its simplicity and
power. And here I close with this fresh
dedication:
‘Oppression! I have
seen thee, face to face,
And met thy cruel eye and cloudy brow;
But thy soul-withering glance I fear not now–
For dread to prouder feelings doth give place
Of deep abhorrence!
Scorning the disgrace
Of slavish knees that at thy footstool bow,
I also kneel – but with far other vow
Do hail thee and thy herd of hirelings base:–
I swear, while life-blood warms my throbbing veins,
Still to oppose and thwart, with heart and hand,
Thy brutalising sway – till Afric's chains
Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land,–
Trampling Oppression and his iron rod:
Such is the vow I take
– SO HELP ME GOD!’
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
BOSTON, January 1,
1831.
__________
* I would here offer my grateful acknowledgments to those
editors who so promptly and generously inserted my Proposals. They must give me an available opportunity to
repay their liberality.
– Published in The
Liberator, Boston Massachusetts, Saturday, January 1, 1831, p. 1
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