23 BRIGHToN STREET, FEB. 18, 1835.
To the Editor of Zion's Herald:
SIR — I have just read in your paper of to-day a letter signed
D. D. Whedon, and headed “Foreign Interference.” I am ignorant of the
profession or station of the writer. If he be a Christian man, and continue one
a few years longer, he will, I believe, deeply lament the publication of the
sentiments which that letter contains. Under what extraordinary circumstances
of excitement it was written I cannot say. I hope it was not a cool closet
composition; for with the belief that it had been written deliberately, I
should be compelled to draw conclusions very unfavorable to the character of
the writer's heart.
He declares it right to denounce the measures of the
Papists in this country as “infamous and impertinent foreign interference;” and
then asks, in reference to myself, “but with what severer epithet [severer than
infamous and impertinent!] shall we characterize the man who comes
to lecture the citizens of these United States upon the most delicate and most
vital of all the PoliTICAL questions
which agitate this distracted nation?” In other words, who comes to “open
his mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” Your
correspondent proceeds — “Did that gentleman come, commissioned from some
foreign clubs, to collect meetings and nominate an American President, it
might be borne with comparative patience; but to come to apply the
principles of the gospel to a system which reduces to the most brutal subjection
one-sixth portion of our home-born population of these United States; — which
puts out the eyes of the soul, defaces the image of the Maker, and leaves the
wretched victim to grope sightless and hopeless to the judgment of an equal
God; — which tears the infant from its mother's bosom, and brands it as a beast
for the shambles; — which converts into solemn mockery the charter of man’s
rights, and all the forms of justice; — which renders null and void the holy bond
of matrimony;—which denies the Book of Life to two millions, who without it are
destitute of that knowledge which begets a hope beyond the grave; — which
punishes with DEATH the second offence of teaching an immortal being the way to
heaven: to apply the principles of eternal righteousness to such a system is a
work which requires “better credentials than a diploma from any foreign
Society, of whatever character or of whichever sex.” Your correspondent is “right,”
and I am thankful that such credentials are at hand. Whenever your
correspondent is disposed, I will, in his presence, spread these credentials
before any impartial American audience he can collect, and allow him all the
space he wishes to question their sufficiency, or invalidate their authority.
There is every evidence that your correspondent deems
himself a staunch patriot, — so staunch that he dare not trust himself
to comment upon the extensive patronage which the Anti-Slavery Association of
this country have extended towards me, lest he should be “betrayed into
language half as strong” as
the “perpetration of such an act deserves.”
From the 57th page of the life of Richard Watson, I make the
following extract. It is the language of that distinguished ornament of the
Methodist body, and will perhaps show that the work in which I am engaged is as
patriotic as writing unkind and violent articles against the friends of the
enslaved :—
“To what, then, ought patriotism to
be directed? It has secured our civil rights; it has organized our armies; it
has rendered our navy invincible; it has extended our commerce, and enlarged
our dominions: but there is yet one object to be accomplished, without which
well appointed armies, an invincible navy, extended commerce and enlarged
dominion, will add little to our dignity, our happiness, or our real strength; —
I mean, the correction of our MoRALs.
Immorality and irreligion as certainly dry up the resources of a nation, and
hasten its downfall, as a worm at the root of the finest plant will cause it to
fade, to wither, and to die. Wickedness arms God against us; and if he ‘speak
concerning a nation, to pluck it up and to destroy,’ no counsels, however wise,
no plans, however judicious, no exertions however vigorous, can avert the
sentence — “Righteousness exalteth a nation ; and every endeavor to
promote it is PATRIOTIC.”
Adopting Mr. Watson's views of “patriotism,” I plead for the
liberation from hateful and unjust bonds of 2,250,000 human, immortal,
blood-ransomed beings. Am I worse than “infamous”
and “impertinent”
for this?
I plead that the hindrances to moral and religious improvement
may be removed, and the colored population, instead of “perishing for lack of
knowledge,” enjoy the blessings of education, grow up in “the nurture and
admonition of the Lord,” and in his fear discharge all the duties of civil,
social, and domestic life. Am I worse than “infamous” and “impertinent” for doing this?
I plead that the BIBLE may be given to millions of
accountable beings who are prohibited from looking into its pages. Am I worse
than “infamous” and “impertinent”
for doing this?
I plead for the abolition of temptations and opportunities
to licentiousness, profligacy, and impurity, and the presentation of motives to
chastity, honor and fidelity. Am I worse than “infamous” and “impertinent” for
doing this?
I plead for the recognition, protection, sanctification and
security of the marriage tie. Am I worse than “infamous” and “impertinent” for
doing this?
I plead for the abolition of a practice that robs the
fathers and mothers of this land of two hundred new born infants a day, and
introduces that number of hapless innocents into all the pollution and
degradation of hopeless thraldom. Am I worse than “infamous” and “impertinent” for doing this?
But enough. Let the Christian world judge between me and my
accuser. I fear not the verdict.
I desire to register my unfeigned gratitude to God for the
success which he has uniformly granted to the fearless publication of the truth
upon the subject of Slavery. Our cause is advancing rapidly. Its advocates may
smile upon all opposition. Any attempt to prevent the spread of abolition
sentiments, or crush the spirit which is now going through the land, is as
vain, (to say nothing of its wickedness,) as to attempt to hurl the Rocky
Mountains from their foundations, or roll back the waters of the Mississippi.
We may adopt the language of the dying Wesley — “The best of all is, God is
with us.”
To D. D. Whedon I would kindly say — Take the letter you
have published to your closet, your knees, and your God. Pray earnestly for
wisdom, truth, and charity. Contemplate the state of things in the Southern
States of the country you profess to love. Let the slave stand before you in
the awful attributes of a deathless and accountable being. Reflect upon your
own responsibility to plead his cause and promote his present and eternal good,
— and then say, whether you have done well to seek to bring down upon the head
of a stranger, and the slave's advocate, a relentless storm of popular
indignation ?
I will offer no reply to your remarks on my country. They
are wholly unworthy the Christian — the patriot – and the man.
In respect to the “fulness of hospitality” which you say you
would “pour upon me” if I were an inactive and indifferent observer of the
wrongs of the slave, — I beg to say that I am quite content to relinquish the
enjoyment, and see it reserved for the “Christian brother” who can “forbear to
deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain.”
Pardon, Mr. Editor, these protracted remarks. I doubt not
you will follow the dictates of justice whether you insert or reject what I
have written. It is not likely I shall soon trouble you again. Heaven bless
your country, and send a speedy and peaceful triumph to the cause of the
oppressed! “The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice!”
— “All is in his hand
whose praise I seek,
Whose frown can
disappoint the proudest work,
Whose approbation
prosper even mine.”
Very respectfully
yours,
GEO. THOMPSON.
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. 41-4
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