The following is a sketch of Mr. Thompson's remarks,
delivered at the adjourned meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society,
held in Boston, October 9, 1834.
I have always found it a peculiarly difficult task to
address an assembly like the present. Strange as it may appear, I am generally
tongue-tied when in the midst of friends. During my short career, I have had to
deal with much opposition. I have had to contend with the foes of human freedom
— the upholders and abettors of slavery: but thanks to the goodness of my
cause, and the strength and number of those arguments which are always at hand to
maintain it, I have seldom failed to find something to say. But I confess that
now, when I find myself amongst the earliest friends and foremost champions of
this righteous cause — amongst those who have been the pioneers in this
glorious campaign, and are, therefore, more intimately acquainted than I can
be, with the trials and the tactics of the war, I feel myself reduced to almost
dwarfish dimensions, and would gladly take the lowly seat my humble merits
assign me. As the representative, however, of a kindred host who have fought
and conquered in another department of the same field, I consider myself
warranted to address to you a few words; and, speaking of them, I shall be
freed from the embarrassment I should experience, if obliged to refer exclusively
to myself.
In the name of the abolitionists of Great Britain, then, let
me congratulate you upon the noble, the unexampled stand you have made in the
cause of freedom. Multitudes on the other side of the Atlantic have watched,
with thrilling interest, your progress hitherto. A few years ago, and slavery
in this Union rioted in unchecked dominion, unassailed by one bold, vigorous
and uncompromising antagonist. I say not that all were then the friends of
slavery. No; thousands hated it, and in secret mourned over its multiplied
abominations; but there was found no one undaunted enough to proclaim aloud
upon the house-top, and in the highways of this people, that it was the duty of
America to open the prison doors and let the oppressed go free — in a word, to denounce
slaveholding as a foul and heinous crime, and call for immediate, entire, and
unconditional emancipation. In the meantime, a plan had been devised to
gather up and appropriate the wide-spread sympathies of the nation. In an evil
hour, the hand of prejudice opened a channel wide enough to allow the
sentiments, feelings and energies of all classes to flow onwards together. This
channel was the American Colonization Society, through which flowed, for many
years, the mingled waters of oppression, prejudice, philanthrophy, and
religion. It passed through the New England States, and many were the tributary
streams which helped to swell its tide. It deepened and widened as it went,
until at last it had secured the smile of the slave holder — the zealous cooperation
of the prejudiced — the warmest wishes of the benevolent — the prayers of the
pious — and the contributions of all; — and the high and the mighty, the
senator and the clergyman, the infidel and the christian, the slave-oppressor
and the slave-defender, the tradesman and the mechanic floated proudly and
self-complacently upon its bosom, upborne and wafted onwards by elements as
heterogeneous and delusive as any ever assembled together. What, however,
appeared a sea of glory and a gale of prosperity to the white man, was viewed
by the colored man as the whirlwind of oppression, and the vortex of
destruction. During this reign of prejudice and oppression, there arose a man
bold enough to undertake the perilous work of contending with the insidious
foes and mistaken friends of the colored race. The work was gigantic, and all
but hopeless; but he was not appalled. Much was to be undone, and much
to be done, ere the public mind could be disabused of error, and brought
to view the great question in the light of Truth. The scheme of Colonization pleased
all. It gratified prejudice — soothed the conscience — left slavery
uncondemned and unmolested — while it professed to promote the freedom and
happiness of the free colored population, and at the same time advance the
interests of Africa, by preventing the slave-trade along her coast, and
diffusing the blessings of the gospel amongst her benighted tribes. On the
contrary, the doctrines of immediate emancipation, without expatriation, and
the admission of the colored man into the unabridged privileges of the
constitution, were calculated to offend all — and raise the outcry of “ROBBERY!”
“AMALGAMATION!” “THE UNION Is IN DANGER!” &c. &c. And it was so. It was
soon seen that if these doctrines obtained, not only was the “craft” of the
slaveholder “in danger,” but also the temple of the great goddess Diana (alias
the American Colonization Society) would “be despised, and her magnificence
destroyed, whom all America” and “the world worshipped.” “When they heard the
sayings of this man, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, ‘Great is
Diana of the Ephesians!’” “And the whole city was filled with confusion.” And “they
rushed with one accord into the theatre.”* “Some cried one thing, and some
another; for the assembly was confused: and the more part knew not wherefore
they came together.” But they all agreed in shouting for “about the space of
two hours, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Notwithstanding all this fury, the
cause of Truth and Justice went foward gloriously, and we are witnesses this
day of the marvellous revolution which has been effected in public opinion. The
“craft” is indeed, “in danger.” the great “goddess is already “despised,” “and
her magnificence destroyed.” The subject of immediate emancipation which
once might not be discussed — no, not even in a whisper, is now the topic of
conversation and debate from one extremity of your Union to the other. A spirit
of enquiry is abroad, and vain as well as wicked are the attempts to extinguish
it. It will increase and continue until the whole truth is investigated, and
the investigation will infallibly lead to a conviction of the practicability,
safety and necessity of Immediate Emancipation. Your present position is a
splendid and encouraging proof of what may be done by one man, when he boldly
asserts the principles of eternal rectitude.
The events which have transpired in this country during the
last four years, have been regarded in Great Britain with the deepest interest.
At first, many were dazzled and beguiled by the specious representations given
of the principles and operations of the Colonization Society, but the exposures
of that Society by Capt. Stuart, and Mr. Cropper, and lastly, by our devoted
brother Mr. Garrison, during his visit to our country, have caused its
doctrines to be almost universally repudiated. There is every disposition among
British abolitionists to extend to you their sympathy, their counsel, and their
contributions. My presence amongst you to-day is a proof and a pledge of their
desire and determination to be associated with you, in your hallowed
enterprize. In thus tendering you our help, we disclaim the remotest intention
of interfering to an unwarrantable extent in the political questions of your
country. Ours is a question of morals, humanity, and religion. . We are the
friends of mankind universally, and have made an appeal to christians
throughout all the world, to join with us in abolishing slavery and the
slave-trade, wherever they exist. In doing so, we believe we have a sanction
and commission from Heaven, and we long for the day, when in this country there
shall no longer be heard the clank of fetters and the moan of the oppressed;
but freed from the guilt of slavery and prejudice, you will be united with us
in the blessed work of carrying the tidings of redemption to the ends of the
earth.
Mr. Thompson proceeded to give an account of the formation
in London of a “British and Foreign Society for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery and the Slave Trade throughout the world,” and read several extracts,
explanatory of its principles and proposed plans of operation. “I have thus
(said Mr. T.) very briefly glanced at what has been done, and is still doing,
both here and in Great Britain. We stand, however, but upon the threshold of
the great work of universal freedom. In this country, you have but barely
commenced. Take courage, however, and go forward. The hottest part of the
battle is to come. Colonizationism is not yet dead. Follow up your blows until
it gives up the ghost, and its mis-shapen trunk is buried from your sight. You
have yet to contend with slaveholders, their kindred, friends, agents and
mercenaries; with those who supply the south; with the haters of the colored population;
with a fierce and malignant press; with mistaken philanthropists; with fearful
abolitionists; with thousands of christians who apologize for slavery; and with
ignorance and apathy, in every direction. Let none of these things dismay you.
Let your measures be bold and uncompromising, yet governed by wisdom and
charity. The struggle will be hard, but victory is certain. A few short years
will sweep away the frail fabrics which ignorance, prejudice, and dim-sighted
expediency have reared upon this blood-bought soil; but your principles, like a
foundation of adamant, will remain unsullied and unmoved, and the lapse of ages
will only reveal to the world, in the light of a clearer demonstration, the
divinity of their origin, and the immutability of their duration.”
_______________
* The appositeness of Mr. Thompson's quotation from Acts,
19th chapter, will be seen in reference to the published accounts of the
disturbances in New York in December last, when Chatham-street Chapel (once a
theatre) was attacked and broken into by the mob.
SOURCE: Isaac Knapp, Publisher, Letters and
Addresses by G. Thompson [on American Negro Slavery] During His Mission in the
United States, From Oct. 1st, 1834, to Nov. 27, 1835, p. 6-10
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