Students—I shall first speak of the natural and inalienable rights to discuss slavery. It is not a question; you ought to do it; you sin against God and conscience, and are traitors to human nature and truth, if you neglect it. Whoever attempts to stop you from the exercise of this right, snatches the trident from the Almighty, and whoever dares to put manacles upon mind must answer for it to the bar of God. It belongs to God, and to God exclusively. You are not at liberty to give respect to any entreaty or suggestion or to take into consideration the feelings of any man or body of men on the subject. The wicked spirit of expediency is the spirit of hell, the infamous doctrines of the demons of hell; and whoever attempts to preach it to the rising youth of the land, preaches the doctrine of the damned spirits. It is the spirit of the flame and faggot, revealing itself as it dares, and corrupting the atmosphere so as to prevent the free breathing of a free soul. Where are the students of the Lane seminary? Where they ought to be;—from Georgia to Maine, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains—far from a prison-house where fetters are forged and rivetted. They could not stay in a place where a thermometer was hung up to graduate the state of their feelings. It was not till Dr. Beecher consulted the faculty at New-Haven and Andover, to see if they would sustain him, that he ventured to put the screws on. But, perhaps you may say, we must bid farewell to promotion if we do as you desire. The faculty have the power, in a degree, to fix our future settlements by the recommendation, and, therefore, we must desist. What if you do have to leave the seminary? Far better to be away than to breathe the tainted air of tyranny. I proclaim it here, that the only reason why abolition is not countenanced at Andover is, because it is unpopular; when it is popular it will be received. In 1823, the Colonization Society was the pet child of the churches, the seminaries, and the colleges of the land; but now, forsooth, because it is unpopular, it is cast off. Aye, once the eloquent tongues voiced its praise, and the gold and silver were its tributaries—where is it now? Cast off because it is not popular. This is rather hard; in its old age, too. But I forbear, it is a touching theme. I return to the Lane seminary. Never were nobler spirits and finer minds congregated together; never in all time and place a more heroic and generous band. Dr. Beecher himself has pronounced the eulogy. In what condition is the seminary now. Lying in ruins, irretrievably gone! Dr. Beecher then sacrificed honor and reputation.Mr. Thompson read extracts from an article in the Liberator, which went to show that the faculty at Andover advised the students to be uncommitted on the dividing topic of slavery. Yes, added Mr. Thompson, go out uncommitted; wait till you get into a pulpit and have it cushioned and a settee in it, and then you may commit yourself. The speaker observed that very ill effects had resulted from the failure of the students at Andover to form themselves into an Anti-Slavery Society—the evil example had extended to Philip's Academy, Amherst College, &c. He had been twitted about it wherever he had been, but you may recover yourselves, he added, condescendingly; there is some apology for you, only let a Society be formed instantly. Those who attempted to show from the Bible that slavery was justifiable, were paving the slave-holders' paths to hell with texts of Scripture. Mr. Thompson enlarged upon the merits of the refractory students at Lane Seminary, with a most abundant supply of adjectives; and the mean-spirited students of Andover, although not expressly designated as such, were understood by the manner of expression to be placed in contrast. Mr. Thompson remarked that such conduct would not be tolerated by the students of any college in England, Scotland, or Ireland. This abuse, of the faculty at Andover was more personal and pointed than I have described; one of the faculty was called by name, but the severe expressions I have forgotten. He would probably have outrun himself, and exhausted the vocabulary of opprobrious epithets, had he not been interrupted. At the conclusion of the lecture, with the strange inconsistency which belongs to the man, he remarked that he had a high respect for the members of the faculty, and that he would willingly sit at their feet as a learner.
Students—I shall first speak of the natural and inalienable rights to discuss slavery. It is not a question; you ought to do it; you sin against God and conscience, and are traitors to human nature and truth, if you neglect it. Whoever attempts to stop you from the exercise of this right, snatches the trident from the Almighty, and whoever dares to put manacles upon mind must answer for it to the bar of God. It belongs to God, and to God exclusively. You are not at liberty to give respect to any entreaty or suggestion or to take into consideration the feelings of any man or body of men on the subject. The wicked spirit of expediency is the spirit of hell, the infamous doctrines of the demons of hell; and whoever attempts to preach it to the rising youth of the land, preaches the doctrine of the damned spirits. It is the spirit of the flame and faggot, revealing itself as it dares, and corrupting the atmosphere so as to prevent the free breathing of a free soul. Where are the students of the Lane seminary? Where they ought to be;—from Georgia to Maine, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains—far from a prison-house where fetters are forged and rivetted. They could not stay in a place where a thermometer was hung up to graduate the state of their feelings. It was not till Dr. Beecher consulted the faculty at New-Haven and Andover, to see if they would sustain him, that he ventured to put the screws on. But, perhaps you may say, we must bid farewell to promotion if we do as you desire. The faculty have the power, in a degree, to fix our future settlements by the recommendation, and, therefore, we must desist. What if you do have to leave the seminary? Far better to be away than to breathe the tainted air of tyranny. I proclaim it here, that the only reason why abolition is not countenanced at Andover is, because it is unpopular; when it is popular it will be received. In 1823, the Colonization Society was the pet child of the churches, the seminaries, and the colleges of the land; but now, forsooth, because it is unpopular, it is cast off. Aye, once the eloquent tongues voiced its praise, and the gold and silver were its tributaries—where is it now? Cast off because it is not popular. This is rather hard; in its old age, too. But I forbear, it is a touching theme. I return to the Lane seminary. Never were nobler spirits and finer minds congregated together; never in all time and place a more heroic and generous band. Dr. Beecher himself has pronounced the eulogy. In what condition is the seminary now. Lying in ruins, irretrievably gone! Dr. Beecher then sacrificed honor and reputation.
Mr. Thompson read extracts from an article in the Liberator, which went to show that the faculty at Andover advised the students to be uncommitted on the dividing topic of slavery. Yes, added Mr. Thompson, go out uncommitted; wait till you get into a pulpit and have it cushioned and a settee in it, and then you may commit yourself. The speaker observed that very ill effects had resulted from the failure of the students at Andover to form themselves into an Anti-Slavery Society—the evil example had extended to Philip's Academy, Amherst College, &c. He had been twitted about it wherever he had been, but you may recover yourselves, he added, condescendingly; there is some apology for you, only let a Society be formed instantly. Those who attempted to show from the Bible that slavery was justifiable, were paving the slave-holders' paths to hell with texts of Scripture. Mr. Thompson enlarged upon the merits of the refractory students at Lane Seminary, with a most abundant supply of adjectives; and the mean-spirited students of Andover, although not expressly designated as such, were understood by the manner of expression to be placed in contrast. Mr. Thompson remarked that such conduct would not be tolerated by the students of any college in England, Scotland, or Ireland. This abuse, of the faculty at Andover was more personal and pointed than I have described; one of the faculty was called by name, but the severe expressions I have forgotten. He would probably have outrun himself, and exhausted the vocabulary of opprobrious epithets, had he not been interrupted. At the conclusion of the lecture, with the strange inconsistency which belongs to the man, he remarked that he had a high respect for the members of the faculty, and that he would willingly sit at their feet as a learner.
He had only one remark before he sat down. It had beenpublicly stated by a student of this seminary, that Mr. Thompson, in a conversation with him, had said, thatevery slave-holder deserved to have his throat cut, and that his slaves ought to do it. He could not, of course, vouch for the truth of this; but Mr. Thompson was there to explain. One thing, however, he could state as an indisputable fact, namely, that the professors of the seminaries had signed a document in which it was asserted that the young man had been in the college for three years, and that his veracity was unimpeached and unimpeachable. If the story were true—it was well that it was timely made public. If the young man misunderstood Mr. Thompson, he (Mr. B.) believed he formed one of a very large class in America, who had fallen into similar mistakes, and drawn similar conclusions from the general drift of his doings and sayings in that country.
Mr. THOMPSON, on rising, observed that no one could be more ready than himself to commend the gentleman who had just resumed his seat for the courage which he had shewn in dealing so frankly and faithfully with him, (Mr. T.) in the presence of those to whom he (Mr. B.) was comparatively a stranger, and whose favorable opinion he (Mr. T.) had had many opportunities of conciliating. He rejoiced that his opponent had, towards the end of his speech, attempted to state facts and specify charges, and had thus afforded him an opportunity of showing how completely and triumphantly he could meet the charges brought against himself personally, and support the statements he had made in reference to America. He would commence with the Andover story about cutting throats. The truth of the matter was this. A student in the Theological Seminary of the name of A. F. Kaufman, Jr., charged him, George Thompson, with having said, in a private conversation, that every slave-holder ought to have his throat cut, and that if the abolitionists preached what they ought to preach, they would tell every slave to cut his master's throat. Mr. Kaufman was from Virginia, the son of a slave-holder, and heir to slave property. The story was first circulated in Andover, and was afterwards published in the New-York Commercial Advertiser, in a communication dated from the Saratoga Springs. In reply to the printed version, I (said Mr. T.) printed a letter denying the charge in the most solemn manner, and referring to my numerous public addresses, and innumerable private conversations, in proof of the perfectly pacific character of my views. Then came forth a long statement from Mr. Kaufman, with a certificate to his veracity and general good character, signed by professors Woods, Stuart, and Emerson, of Andover. Here the matter must have rested—Mr. Kaufman's charge on one side, and my denial on the other—had the conversation been strictlyprivate; but, fortunately for me, there were witnesses of every word; and this brings me to notice other circumstances connected with the affair, constituting a most complete contradiction of the charge. I was staying at the time under the roof of the Rev. Shipley W. Willson, the minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Andover, and when I had the conversation with Mr. Kaufman, in which the language imputed to me is alleged to have been uttered, there were present, besides ourselves, my host the Rev. S. W. Willson; the Rev. Amos A. Phelps, congregational clergyman, and one of the agents of the American Anti-Slavery Society; the Rev. La Roy Sunderland Methodist Episcopal clergyman, and at present the editor of Zion's Watchman, New-York; and the Rev. Jarvis Gregg, now a Professor in Western Reserve College, Ohio. In consequence of the use made of the statement put forth by Mr. Kaufman, I wrote to Professor Gregg, and Mr. Phelps, requesting them to give their version of the conversation in writing; and their letters in reply, which, together with one written without solicitation by Mr. Sunderland, have been published. They not only flatly contradict the account given by Mr. Kaufman, but prove that I advocated in the strongest language the doctrine of non-resistance on the part of the slaves. These letters, however, never appeared in the columns of the papers which brought the charge and defied me to the proof of my innocence.
It may be well to give some idea of the conversation out of which the charge grew. Mr. Kaufman complained of the harsh language of the abolitionists, and challenged me to quote a passage of scripture justifying our conduct in that respect. I quoted the passage "Whoso stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death;" and observed, that in this text we had a proof of the awful demerit of the slaveholder; that he was considered worthy of death; and that the modern slaveholder, under the Christian dispensation, was not less guilty than the slaveholder under the Jewish law. I then reminded him of the political principles of the Americans, and cited the words of the declaration of Independence, "RESISTANCEto tyrants is obedience to God." I then contrasted the injuries inflicted on the slave with the grievances complained of in the Declaration of Independence, and argued, that, if the Americans deemed themselves justified in resisting to blood the payment of a threepenny tea tax and a stamp duty, how much more, upon the same principles, would the slave be justified in cutting his masters' throat, to obtain deliverance from personal thraldom. Nay more, that every American, true to the principles of the revolution, ought to teach the slaves to cut their master's throats—but that while these were fair deductions from their own revolutionary principles, I held the doctrine that it was invariably wrong to do evil that good might come, and that I dared not purchase the freedom of the slaves by consenting to the death of one master.
He (Mr. T.) had thus disposed of one of the most tangible portions of his opponent's speech. He regretted there had not been more of matter-of-fact statement in the speech of one hour in length, to which they had just listened; a speech, which, however creditable to the intellect of his opponent on account of its ingenuity, was by no means creditable to his heart. Instead of dealing fairly with the documents he (Mr. T.) had produced, and which contained a true and ample statement of the views, feelings, principles, purposes and plans of the abolitionists, Mr. Breckinridge had manufactured a series of dextrous sophisms, calculated to keep out of sight the real merits of the question. Was it not strange, that, covered as that platform was with the documents of the abolitionists, his opponent had not quoted one word from their writings, but had based all he had said upon a statement of their principles made out by himself; and had then given to that statement an interpretation of his own, utterly at variance with all the views and doctrines entertained by the abolitionists. The gentleman had most ably played the part of Tom Thumb, who made the giants he so valiantly demolished. He would not attempt to grapple with that which rested altogether upon a gross misstatement of the principles and views of the Abolitionists. He had a right to expect that Mr. B. would go to the many sources of official information touching the principles he professed to denounce; but instead, he had put forth a creed, as the creed of the Abolitionists of America, which was nowhere to be found in their writings, and he (Mr. T.) should therefore wait until an objection had been taken to something they (the abolitionists) had really said or done.
Mr. Breckinridge had amused them with another Andover story. He had read an extract from a speech said to have been delivered by him (Mr. T.) during the protracted meeting he had held there. He would just take the liberty of assuring the audience that he had never uttered the speech which had that night been put into his mouth. It had been said that the speech was reported by a student. Had Mr. B. given the name of the student?—No. He (Mr. B.) knew that it was an anonymous communication, written by a vile enemy of a righteous cause, who was too much ashamed of his own productions to sign his name, but put the initial C. at the end of his libellous productions, which were greedily copied into the pro-slavery papers of the United States. The reports furnished by that scribbler were known in Andover to be false, and laughed at by the students as monstrous and ludicrous perversions of the truth.Upon this point also, he (Mr. T.) had ample documentary evidence. He did not wonder that Mr. Breckinridge had so frequently twitted him respecting the multitude of documents which he (Mr. T.) was in the habit of producing. It must be peculiarly unpleasant to find that he (Mr. T.) had always the document at hand necessary to annihilate the pretended proof of his opponent. He would now read from a report of the proceedings at Andover—but a very different report compared with that they had just heard—not an anonymous one, but signed by a respectable and pious student in the Theological Seminary, R. Reed, Corresponding Secretary of the Andover Anti-Slavery Society. As reference was made, in the extract he was going to read, to a former visit, he would just state, that about three months after his arrival in the United States, he visited Andover, and delivered three lectures, besides undergoing a long examination into his principles in the College Chapel; and that on his return to Boston, where he was then residing, he received from the Institution a series of resolutions signed by upwards of fifty of the students, expressive of their entire concurrence in the sentiments he had advanced, and their high approbation of the temper in which he had advocated those sentiments, and commending him to the blessing and protection of Heaven. He (Mr. T.) need not say that such a testimonial from theological students, unasked and unexpected, was peculiarly gratifying.
The account of his second visit in July, 1835, was thus given in a letter addressed to the editor of the Liberator.
"It had been previously announced that Mr. Thompson would address us on Tuesday evening. The hour arrived, and a large and respectable audience were convened in the expectation of again listening to the—(Mr. Thompson here omitted some complimentary expressions.) After the introductory prayer, Mr. Phelps arose, and said he regretted that he was obliged to state that Mr. Thompson had not yet arrived in town, but he thought it probable he would soon be with us. He then resumed the subject of American Slavery. He had, however, uttered but a few sentences before Mr. T. came in. His arrival was immediately announced from the desk, and the expression of satisfaction, manifested by the audience, told, more eloquently than words, the estimation in which they held this beloved brother, and the pleasure they felt on again enjoying the opportunity of listening to his appeals. Mr. Thompson took his seat in the desk, and Mr. Phelps then proceeded at some length. When he closed his remarks, Mr. Thompson arose, and after some introductory remarks, answered, in a powerful and eloquent manner, the inquiry, 'Why don't you go to the South.'"The first part of the three succeeding evenings was occupied by Mr. Phelps, in exposing the janus-faced monster, the American Colonization Society, which he did in so masterly a manner, that we are quite sure none of his auditors, save those who are willfully blinded, will hereafter doubt of its being 'a fraud upon the ignorance, and an outrage upon the intelligence of the community.'""Thursday evening Mr. Thompson vindicated himself against the aspersions heaped upon him for denouncing Dr. Cox. I would that all Mr. Thompson's friends had been present, and his enemies too, for I am sure that unless encased in a shield of prejudice more impenetrable than steel, they would have been compelled to acknowledge that his denunciation of Dr. Cox was just, and not such aninstance of tiger-like malice as some have represented it to be." "Friday evening (the evening to which the extract read by Mr. Breckinridge referred) he spoke of the 'armed neutrality' of the seminary and the course which had been taken in the Academical Institutions of Andover. He is accused of wantonly abusing our Professors and Teachers—of making personal attacks upon them. No personal attacks however were made; no man's motives were impeached. He attacked PRINCIPLES and not MEN for while he would render to the guardians of the seminary and academies all that respect which their station and learning and piety demands, he would at the same time condemn the course that had been pursued, as having a tendency to retard the progress of emancipation. Let the public judge as to the propriety of his remarks.
"It had been previously announced that Mr. Thompson would address us on Tuesday evening. The hour arrived, and a large and respectable audience were convened in the expectation of again listening to the—(Mr. Thompson here omitted some complimentary expressions.) After the introductory prayer, Mr. Phelps arose, and said he regretted that he was obliged to state that Mr. Thompson had not yet arrived in town, but he thought it probable he would soon be with us. He then resumed the subject of American Slavery. He had, however, uttered but a few sentences before Mr. T. came in. His arrival was immediately announced from the desk, and the expression of satisfaction, manifested by the audience, told, more eloquently than words, the estimation in which they held this beloved brother, and the pleasure they felt on again enjoying the opportunity of listening to his appeals. Mr. Thompson took his seat in the desk, and Mr. Phelps then proceeded at some length. When he closed his remarks, Mr. Thompson arose, and after some introductory remarks, answered, in a powerful and eloquent manner, the inquiry, 'Why don't you go to the South.'
"The first part of the three succeeding evenings was occupied by Mr. Phelps, in exposing the janus-faced monster, the American Colonization Society, which he did in so masterly a manner, that we are quite sure none of his auditors, save those who are willfully blinded, will hereafter doubt of its being 'a fraud upon the ignorance, and an outrage upon the intelligence of the community.'"
"Thursday evening Mr. Thompson vindicated himself against the aspersions heaped upon him for denouncing Dr. Cox. I would that all Mr. Thompson's friends had been present, and his enemies too, for I am sure that unless encased in a shield of prejudice more impenetrable than steel, they would have been compelled to acknowledge that his denunciation of Dr. Cox was just, and not such aninstance of tiger-like malice as some have represented it to be." "Friday evening (the evening to which the extract read by Mr. Breckinridge referred) he spoke of the 'armed neutrality' of the seminary and the course which had been taken in the Academical Institutions of Andover. He is accused of wantonly abusing our Professors and Teachers—of making personal attacks upon them. No personal attacks however were made; no man's motives were impeached. He attacked PRINCIPLES and not MEN for while he would render to the guardians of the seminary and academies all that respect which their station and learning and piety demands, he would at the same time condemn the course that had been pursued, as having a tendency to retard the progress of emancipation. Let the public judge as to the propriety of his remarks.
It would be recollected that the same question had been put to him here in Glasgow, as that which he had answered at Andover. "Why don't you go to the South?" He would tell his opponent on the present occasion, that even he could not advocate abolition sentiments in the South, purely and openly, without endangering his life. The reason he was able to express his views on slavery and remain unmolested, was because it was known that he denounced the abolitionists, and advocated colonization. The experience of Mr. Birney was in point. That gentleman hated slavery before he joined the abolitionists, and was in the habit of speaking against it, in connection with the colonization cause, and was permitted to do so without hindrance; but when he emancipated his slaves, and called upon others to do likewise, upon true anti-slavery principles, he was forced to fly from his residence and family, and was now in the city of Cincinnati.
It had been tauntingly Said, "show us the fruits of your principles." "Where are the slaves you have liberated?" He would reply, that in Kentucky, very recently, nineteen slaves had been liberated upon anti-slavery principles:—enough to answer Mr. B's demand, "point us tooneslave your Society has been the means of liberating." But the question was not to be so tested. The abolitionists of Britain were often called upon in the same way; and their answer was, our principles are extending, and when they are sufficiently impressed upon the public mind, there will be ageneralemancipation of the slaves. On the 31st of July, 1834, they could not point to any actually free in consequence of their efforts; but the night came and passed away, and the morrow dawned upon 800,000 human beings, lifted by the power of anti-slavery principles, out of the legal condition of chattels, into the position of free British subjects. So in the United States. The principles of abolition would necessarily be some time extending, but ultimately they would effect a change in public opinion, and a corresponding change in the treatment of the black man.
Mr. Breckinridge had disputed the truth of the fact he (Mr. T.) had stated relative to the imprisonment and sale into bondage for life, in the city of Washington, of a black man, justlyentitled to his freedom. He (Mr. T.) trusted that in this matter also he should be able most satisfactorily to establish his own veracity. The evidence he would produce to support the statement he had made, was, "A memorial of the inhabitants of the District of Columbia, U. S., signed by one thousand of the most respectable citizens of the District, and presented to Congress, March 24, 1828, then referred to the Committee on the District, and on the motion of Mr. Hubbard, of New-Hampshire, Feb. 9, 1835, ordered to be printed." He (Mr. T.) held in his hand the genuine document printed by Congress, "22d Congress, 2d Session, House of Representatives, Doc. No. 140." The following was the part containing the fact he had mentioned.
"A colored man, who stated that he was entitled to freedom was taken up as a runaway slave, and lodged in the jail of Washington City. He was advertised, but no one appearing to claim him, he was according to law, put up at public auction for the payment of his jail fees, and SOLD as a SLAVE for LIFE. He was purchased by a slave trader, who was not required to give security for his remaining in the District and he was soon shipped at Alexandria for one of the southern States. An attempt was made by some benevolent individual to have the sale postponed until his claim to freedom could be investigated; but their efforts were unavailing; and thus was a human being SOLD into PERPETUAL BONDAGE at the capital of the freest government on earth, without even a pretence of trial, or an allegation of crime."
"A colored man, who stated that he was entitled to freedom was taken up as a runaway slave, and lodged in the jail of Washington City. He was advertised, but no one appearing to claim him, he was according to law, put up at public auction for the payment of his jail fees, and SOLD as a SLAVE for LIFE. He was purchased by a slave trader, who was not required to give security for his remaining in the District and he was soon shipped at Alexandria for one of the southern States. An attempt was made by some benevolent individual to have the sale postponed until his claim to freedom could be investigated; but their efforts were unavailing; and thus was a human being SOLD into PERPETUAL BONDAGE at the capital of the freest government on earth, without even a pretence of trial, or an allegation of crime."
He should be glad to find that Mr. B. had a satisfactory explanation of this most revolting case. Such things were enough to make any man speak hardly of America. If he (Mr. T.) said severe things of that country, it was not, Heaven knew, because he did not love that country, for his heart's desire and prayer was, that she might soon be free from every drawback upon her prosperity and usefulness. He told these things because they ought to be known and branded as they deserved, that the nation guilty of them might repent and abandon them.Hewas not the enemy of America that faithfully pointed out her follies and crimes. No. He was the man that loved America, that seeing her, like some lofty tree, spreading abroad her branches, and furnishing at once shelter and sustenance to all who sought refuge under her shade, observed with sorrow and dismay, a canker-worm at the root, threatening to consume her beauty and her strength, and could not rest day or night in his efforts to bring so great and glorious a nation to a sense of her danger, and an apprehension of her duty. Let others do the pleasant work of flattery and panegyric, and be it his more ungracious, but not less salutary work, of proclaiming her errors, and denouncing her sins, until she learns to do justice and love mercy.
(He (Mr. T.) thought he might with some justice complain of the manner in which he had been treated by his opponent. He (Mr. T.) had made every concession which truth and justicewould warrant to Mr. B.; had honored his motives, and studiously separated him from those upon whom his heaviest censures had fallen—the lovers and abettors of the slave system. But a similar course had not been pursued towards him. In many ways his motives had been impeached and his statements so denied as to throw discredit upon his intentions in making them. In a word, Mr. B's. whole course had been wanting in that courtesy which he had a right to expect would be exhibited by one disputant towards another. At the same time, he earnestly desired Mr. B. to state freely all he thought of his motives and conduct.
A few moments yet remaining, he would say a word or two in reference to the designs attributed to the abolitionists, in respect of the privileges to which the colored people were entitled. He denied that the abolitionists had ever asked for the blacks, either in regard to political rights or social privileges, anything unreasonable. They asked for their immediate release from personal bondage, and a subsequent participation of civil rights; according to the amount in which they possessed the qualifications demanded of others. Where, in the documents of abolitionists, was the doctrine of instant and universal enfranchisement, of which so much had been heard? He knew not the abolitionist who had contended for such a thing. He asked nothing for him over and above what would be freely bestowed on him if he were white. Oh! it was an awful crime to have a black skin! There lay all the disqualification.
The great fault which Mr. B. seemed to find with the principles of the abolitionists was that they were too lofty; too grand; too little accommodated to the spirit of the age; that, in the adoption of their views and principles, they had not consulted the manners and habits and prejudices of their country; and the whole of his (Mr. Breckinridge's) argument had been in favor of expediency. He hated that word "expediency," as ordinarily used. It contained, as he had often said, the doctrine of devils. It was so congenial with our depraved nature to make ourselves a little wiser than God—to believe that we understood better than God's servants of old the best way of reforming mankind. Oh! that men would take the Almighty at his word, and simply doing their duty, leaving him to take care of consequences. Doubtless, the dauntless Hebrew, Daniel, was deemed, in his day, a rash man. He might so very easily have escaped the snare laid for him. Why did he not go to the back of the house? Why not shut the window? Why could he not pray silently to the searcher of hearts? Daniel scorned compromise. He prayed as he had ever prayed—aloud—with his window open, and his face to Jerusalem. He boldly met the consequences. He walked to the lion's den—he entered,he remained: but lo! on the third day he came forth unhurt, to tell mankind to the end of time that, if they will do their duty and trust in Daniel's God, no weapon formed against them shall prosper, but they shall in His strength stop the mouths of lions, and put to flight the armies of the aliens.
Mr. BRECKINRIDGE said that, so far as the present respectable audience was concerned, he would make but a single remark. Mr. Thompson and he had already trespassed on their patience, but they would probably do so no longer than to-morrow night; at least so far as he was concerned, he thought it unnecessary, if not improper. The chief reason of his (Mr. B's.) coming here was to defend the churches, ministers and Christians of America, from the false and dreadful charges which had been proclaimed over Britain against them by Mr. Thompson, and which he had challenged all the world to give him an opportunity to prove. Upon this topic that gentleman had, as yet, fought shy. He could wait on him no longer. They might expect, therefore, that next evening he would take up that subject, whether Mr. Thompson should follow him or not. If the audience considered that the general subject had been sufficiently discussed already—as from some manifestations he was inclined to suppose—he would at once retire. (Slight hissing.) Was he to consider that as an answer in the affirmative? (Renewed hissing.) Why, then, he had erred in laying any of the blame of trying their patience on Mr. Thompson, and it was his duty to take it all to himself; and, when he returned home, to tell his countrymen that no charges were too gross or caluminous to be entertained against them—nor any length of time, a weariness in hearing them—but that the hearing of defence and proof of innocence was an insupportable weariness. (Increased hissing, with cries of 'no'.) The only remaining supposition was, that Mr. T's. partizans had become convinced he needed succor, and therefore gave it most naturally in the form of organized violence. (The hissing was again attempted, but was put down by the general voice of the meeting.) Mr. T., he said, had at length brought accusations against him, and had complained that although he (Mr. T.) had repeatedly and cordially expressed good feelings towards him, (Mr. B.) he had in no instance returned this kindness or justice; nor said a word favorable to him throughout the debate. He would appeal to the Chairman, to know distinctly, if Mr. Thompson had any right to demand, or if he (Mr. B.) were bound to express his opinion of that individual. Because, continued Mr. B., as I have in the beginning said that Mr. T. as an individual could be nothing to me or my countrymen, I have preferred to be silent as to him individually. If he is right, however, in bringing such things as charges against me, and continues to demand my opinion, I will give it fearlessly. But let him beware—for I will call no man friend who gains his bread by calumniating my country. Nor can he who traduces my bretheren—my kindred—my home—all that I most venerate and revere—honor me so much as by traducing me. They had been told that Mr. J. G. Birney had fled from Kentucky, and left his wife and children behind him in great danger, he being obliged to flee for his life. It was true, he believed, that Mr. Birney, excellent and beloved as he was, had found it best to emigrate from that State. But that he hadfled, rested, he believed, on Mr. T's. naked assertion. That he had left his wife and children behind, believing them to be in personal danger, was a thing which it would require amazingly clear proof to establish against the gentleman in question. But he would show to the meeting that there was one individual who could do such an act. (Mr. B. then read the following extract from a speech, delivered at a meeting in Edinburgh, on the 28th of January, 1836:)
"He stood there not to defame America. It was true they had persecuted him; but that was a small matter. It was true they had hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; that he had to lecture with the assassin's knife glancing before his eyes; AND HIS WIFE AND HIS LITTLE ONES WERE IN DANGER OF FALLING BY THE RUTHLESS HANDS OF MURDERERS."
"He stood there not to defame America. It was true they had persecuted him; but that was a small matter. It was true they had hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; that he had to lecture with the assassin's knife glancing before his eyes; AND HIS WIFE AND HIS LITTLE ONES WERE IN DANGER OF FALLING BY THE RUTHLESS HANDS OF MURDERERS."
And again, from the preface to the same pamphlet in which the above cited speech is found, a pamphlet intended perhaps for America, and called, "A Voice to her from the Metropolis of Scotland," the following paragraph occurs:——
"Mr. Thompson having proceeded by way of St. John's, New Brunswick, embarked on board of a British vessel for Liverpool, where he arrived on the 4th of January, and on the 12th was happily joined by his family who had left New-York on the 16th December.
"Mr. Thompson having proceeded by way of St. John's, New Brunswick, embarked on board of a British vessel for Liverpool, where he arrived on the 4th of January, and on the 12th was happily joined by his family who had left New-York on the 16th December.
So that it appeared from these statements that Mr. Thompson, believing that the Americans meant to take away the lives of his wife and children, left them to their fate while he prudently consulted his own safety by flight. In regard to the alleged case of the sale of a free man of color, at Washington city, the proof stood thus: Mr. T. broadly asserted, again and again, that a free man had been sold, without trial, into eternal slavery. He, (Mr. B.) without knowing the especial facts relied on, but knowing America, and knowing abolitionism, had flatly and emphatically denied that such a thing ever did or could happen in the District of Columbia. Mr. Thompson re-asserts, and triumphantly proves it, as he says. His first step in the proof is, a printed scrap, which, he says, is the identical memorial laid on the table of the Senate of the United States, who, as they received and printed it, he insinuates, thereby avouched its truth. Upon which principle I also avouch all Mr. T.'s charges,as I hear them and consent to their publication. But, he adds, there were once one thousand signatures to this document, all witnesses of the truth of its contents. To which I reply—I see no name to it at all now; and secondly, if there were a million, the paper does not assert, much less prove, what Mr. T. produces it to sustain. It merely declaresthat the man said he was free; without even expressing the opinion of the writer or any signer of the paper. Now, upon this case, and this proof, it is nearly certain that the man was not free, and extremely probable that the whole case is fictitious. For the glorious writ of habeas corpus, one of the main pillars of your liberty—a privileged writ which no English judge, for his right hand, would dare illegally refuse; that writ is one of the great heirlooms we got with our Anglo-Saxon blood, and is dearer to us than that blood itself. Here, by act of Parliament, you do sometimes suspend this writ; with us the tyrant does not breathe who would dare to whisper a wish for its suspension. Now, if this man was, or believed himself to be free, what hindered him, from the moment of his arrest to that of his sale, from demanding and receiving a fair trial? Will it be said he did not know his rights? But will it be pretended that the one thousand signers of the memorial, the many abolitionists at Washington of whom Mr. T. boasts, did not know his rights—in a land where every man knows and is ready to defend his rights? If they did not, they were thrice sodden asses, fit only to be tools in gulling mankind into the belief of a tale that had not feasibility enough to gull a child. Upon the face of his own proof Mr. Thompson had shown that he had not the slightest authority for the assertions he had so often made in arguing this case; by all of which he intended to make men believe that in America it was not uncommon to sell free men into slavery! Mr. Breckinridge then resumed the consideration of abolition principles; thethird of whichwas, that all prejudice against color is sinful, and that everything which induces us to refuse any social, personal, religious, civil, or political right to a black man, which is allowed to a white one, not superior to him in moral or intellectual qualifications, is a prejudice, and therefore sinful. He believed this to be a fair statement of their principles on that head. And he would, in the first place, remark concerning them, that even if they were true, which he denied, the discussion of them was worse than useless. It could not advance the cause of emancipation, nor improve the condition of the free blacks. And whatever the abolitionists might say, the slaves when freed would follow their own course and inclinations; nor could the declaration of an abstract principle alter either their conduct or that of the whites, in any material degree. If, as Mr. Thompson asserted,prejudice against color was the national sin of America, the plague-spot of the nation, it had just as often been asserted by others that the prejudice itself originated at first out of the relation of slavery. The latter was the disease, the former a mere symptom. If there were no black slaves on earth there would no longer be any aversion against that color, which went beyond the invariable and mutual restraints of nature, or was tolerated by a proper Christian liberty. They know little of human prejudices who do not know that they are more invincible in the bulk of mankind than the dictates of reason, or the impulses of virtue itself. The case of the abolitionists must therefore be pronounced foolish on their own showing. For they undertook to break down the strongest of all prejudices, as they themselves say, as a condition precedent to the doing of acts which, to do at all, required great pecuniary sacrifices and a high tone of moral feeling. But if, as I shall try to show, their doctrines are contrary to all the course of nature and all the teachings of Providence—their behavior is to be considered little else than sheer madness. Again: even if it did not prejudice the case of the slave—as none can deny it did—to agitate this question of color, and mix it up inseparably with the question of freedom, of what use was it to him? If the whites treat him with scorn, give him his liberty—and he may pity, forgive, or return the scorn. What advantage was he to gain as a slave, by the discussion, even if no harm came from it? What advantage was he to obtain as a freeman even if its agitation did not forever prevent him from being free? It is, in all its aspects, the most remarkable illustration of a weak, heady, and ignorant fanaticism which this age has produced, and has been, of them all, the most fruitful of evil. The truth was, that many of the rights and privileges of free persons of color were better secured to them in America than corresponding rights and privileges were to the white peasantry of any other country on the globe. With regard to the religious rights of colored persons, he could only say that he had sat in Presbyteries with them, that he had dispensed the Sacrament to them together with white persons; and that he and multitudes of others had sat in the same class with them at our Theological Seminaries. As for all the stories which Mr. T. was accustomed to tell about Dr. Sprague having part of his church curtained round for persons of color, he knew personally nothing, and noticed it only because it was told as aspecimenstory. He merely knew that Dr. Sprague was accounted a benevolent man, and common charity required him not readily to believe anything of him in a bad sense which could be justified in a good one. But if there was anything so very exclusive and revolting in these marks of superiority or inferiority in a church,let them not look to America alone; nor limit their sympathies exclusively to the blacks. In almost every church in England in which he had been, from the cathedral of St. Paul's at London, to the curate's village church, he had seen seats railed off, or curtained, or cushioned, or elevated, and some how distinguished from the rest. And when he inquired why these things were so, and for whose accommodation, the answer was ready. "O, that is for My Lord this; or Sir Harry that; or Mr. Prebend so and so; or the Lord Bishop of what not." And very often, even in dissenting chapels, he had seen part of the seats of an inferior description in particular parts of the house, which he had as often been told were free seats for the poor; an arrangement which has struck him as favorably as the similar one in Dr. Sprague's church did Mr. T. the reverse. This preparation of free and separate seats for the poor is, if he is rightly informed, nearly universal, in both the Scotch and English establishments, whenever the poor have seats in their churches. Now, if Mr. Thompson wished to begin a system of levelling—if he meant to preach universal equality, why did he not begin here? Why did he not try to convert Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne, instead of going across the Atlantic in order to try his experiments on the despised Americans? As to the civil rights of the free blacks in America, the most erroneous notions were entertained in both countries, but especially here. The truth was, they enjoyed greatercivilrights than the peasantry of Britain herself; and those rights were fully as well protected in their exercise. Their right to acquire property of any kind, anywhere, without being hedged about with exclusive privileges and ancient corporations; their right to enjoy that property, unencumbered with poor rates, and church rates, and tithes and tiends, and untold taxes and vexations; their right to pursue trades, callings, or business, without regard to monopolies, and innumerable vexatious and worrying preliminaries; their right to be free in person—subject neither to forcible impressment, nor to the serveilance of an innumerable police: their right to be cared for in sickness and destitution, without questions of domicile previously settled; their right to the speedy and cheap administration of justice without "sale, denial or delay"—and unattended with ruinous expenses; these, with whatever may truly be considered civil rights, are enjoyed by the free colored people in nearly every part of America, to a degree utterly unknown by millions of British subjects, not only in the East and West-Indies, but in Ireland, and even in England itself. If any rights had been denied them, as the following of certain professions, as that of a minister of the gospel, for example, as Virginia had lately done, he could point their attention to the time when these laws were passed, and show that it was nottill after the era of abolition; and that would never have been, but for its fury. It was not till after they had learned with bell book and candle to curse the white man, and teach sedition and murder to the slaves. The nature ofpoliticalrights claimed by Mr. Thompson for the blacks, in his sweeping claim to have them put on a footing of perfect equality with the whites, seemed to be utterly unknown to him, both as to their origin and character. Whilst he advocated a scheme in America which demanded the most extensive political changes, and claimed political rights as the birthright of certain parties, he still persisted in assuring the British nation that he had never touched the subject in a political aspect! Now what political rights does he claim for the free blacks—and denounce all America for refusing, on account of this prejudice against color? Is it right of suffrage? is it right of office? is it perfect, personal, and political equality? If not, what does he mean? But if he means that it already exists in all the free States and in several of the slave States, in behalf of the free blacks, to a far greater extent than the same exists in England, as between the privileged classes and the bulk of the nation, though all are white,—I boldly assert, that a greater part of the free men of color in America did enjoy perfect political privileges at the rise of abolitionism, than of the white men of Britain at this day. There were more free black voters in North America, in proportion to the free black race, than there are white voters in all Britain, in proportion to the white inhabitants of the British empire. And this, even leaving out the red millions of the East, and the black thousands of the West-Indies; and making the Reform Bill the basis of calculation! If some have been deprived of these privileges, let abolitionists blame themselves. If in most places these privileges have been dormant, it only proves that their exercise was a very secondary advantage—that the present outcry is but the more wicked and absurd. As to the social rights which were demanded for the slaves and free blacks both, there seemed to be a complete confusion of ideas in the minds of the abolitionists. Did they mean to say that all distinctions and gradations of rank were iniquitous, or did they mean that men ought to enjoy rights because they were black, which were justly denied to the whites? Who had ever heard of a nobleman marrying a gipsy? or, of a king of England marrying a laborer's daughter? But the fact was, everything tended to prove that in preaching against the alleged prejudice against color, the abolitionists were really advocating general amalgamation. There were three opinions on the the subject: 1st. That in a State situated like most of those in America, public policy required the mixture of the races to be prohibited; so that, in nearly all the States, intermarriages were prohibited, and in many Statesthey were punishable as a felony with fine or imprisonment. 2d. That the practice was inexpedient, but so far innocent as to be left to the discretion of the parties, which he believed was the opinion of sober-minded people generally in this country. 3d. That, as the chief practical objection to it is a sinful prejudice against color, that prejudice is to be broken down, and the contrary right upheld, as neither improper nor inexpedient, when voluntarily exercised. This last, or even a much stronger advocacy of amalgamation, is the doctrine of abolitionism; facts deducible from their declaration of independence, and found in the whole scope of their writings and speeches. Mr. Breckinridge then went on to show the utter folly, and, as he believed, wickedness of advocating amalgamation; or so acting or talking as to create the universal impression that was what was meant. In the first place, the result after which the abolitionists seemed to strive, was impossible; in the most strict sense of the terms, naturally or physically impossible. He by no means meant to contend with some freethinkers, who, to upset the Mosaic cosmogony, asserted that the different races of men were not fruitful if intermixed beyond a given and very near point. But what he meant was this: all who believe the Mosaic account of the origin of the human race, must, of course, believe that they were once all of one complexion. Now, if they could all be amalgamated and made of one complexion again, those causes, whatever they are, which have produced so great diversities, would, after a time, reproduce them. And having gratified Mr. Thompson and his friends, by universal levelling and mixing the world, would soon find that they had done a work which nature did not permit to stand; and would again behold, in one belt upon the earth's surface, the black, in another the red, and in a third the white man. And to whatever degree they carried their principles into practice, they would find proportionately great counteracting causes—continually fighting against them, and continually requiring the reproduction of their amalgamated breed, from the original stocks. This, then, is a fatal objection to their scheme; the course of nature is against it. But again, he would say, as a second fundamental objection against all such schemes, that wherever, in the past history of the world, the various races of men had been allowed freely to amalgamate, one of two concomitants had universally attended the process, namely, polygamy or prostitution. If either of these be permitted, as innocent, amalgamation can easily be pushed through its first stage; without one at least of these two engines, no progress has ever yet been made in this work of fighting against the overwhelming course of events. He regretted he had not time to go over these branches of the argument with that pains which he could wish. If he had, he believed, notwithstandingall that Mr. Thompson had said, or might say, about sophistry, they could each of them be demonstrated as clearly as that gentleman could demonstrate any proposition in geometry. Again, in the third place, he believed, from what was contained in the Bible, that in preserving distinct from each other the three families of mankind, as descended from the three sons of Noah, God had great and yet undeveloped purposes to accomplish. How far the whole history of his providence led to the same conclusion, he must leave to their own reflections to determine. But on the admission of such a truth as even possible—it was surely natural to look for something in the structure of nature that would effectually prevent the obliteration of either race. One may find this in those general considerations which make intermarriages, in his view, inexpedient; or another in the innate and absolute instincts of the creature. But both will receive with suspicion, as an undoubted and fundamental rule of Christian morals, a dogma which requires us to contend against the clear leadings of providence, and the good and merciful intentions of our Creator. We tax our faith but slightly when we believe that as soon as these purposes of mercy and glory are accomplished, and the signal revolution in the social condition of man now contended for shall be required by the Almighty, we may look for a channel of communication between him and the world more in accordance with the Spirit of his Son than any which has yet brought us messages on the subject. Thefourthobjection which struck him against this whole procedure was, that in point of fact the world has need of every race that now exists on its surface. It has taken forty centuries to adjust the nicely-balanced and adapted relations and proportions of a vast and complicated structure,—which the finger of all-pervading wisdom has itself guided in all the steps of its development. And now, a stroke of the pen is to subvert it all, and one dictum, of the world knows not whom, accomplish the most stupendous revolution which all these forty centuries have witnessed. Suppose the end gained. If any one race now existing was obliterated, or very materially altered in its physical condition, how large a proportion of the world's surface would become speedily depopulated, and so remain until the present condition of things were restored! If this could happen as to every racebut one, what a wreck would the earth exhibit! He who will look with a Christian's eye abroad upon the families of men, must feel that to accomplish the great hopes that his heart has conceived for this ruined world, he needs every race that now peoples it; and must see the hand of God in arresting so speedily and so signally this pernicious heresy. In the fifth place, he suggested an argument against amalgamation, which at once showed the injustice of the outcry against America, andthe total inconsiderateness of Mr. Thompson and his party. The fact was that this prejudice of color, as it was called, was in all respects mutual; and so far from being the peculiar sin of America, was the common instinct of the human race, and existed as really, if not as strongly on the side of the colored population as on that of the whites. In proof of this, Mr. Breckinridge cited the case of Hayti, where no man is allowed the rights of citizenship, unless a certain portion of black blood runs in his veins; and that of Richard Lander, who, while travelling in the interior of Africa, as the servant of Park, was looked upon with comparative favor by the natives on account of his dark complexion, while his master, who was of a very fair complexion, was far less a favorite on that account. The North American Indians and the blacks more readily intermixed than the Indians and the whites, while the latter connexion, which is not indeed uncommon, is formed by the marriage of a white man with a squaw; never, or most rarely, of an Indian and a white woman, the slight, and most exaggerated number of mulattoes, are nearly without exception, the offspring of white men and colored women. These facts seemed to show the reality and nature or the mutual aversion of which I have spoken; an aversion never overcome but in gross minds. And the whole current of remark proves that those who attempted to promote amalgamation are fighting equally against the purposes of providence, the convictions of reason, and the best impulses of nature. He had much to say, which time failed him to say, on the spirit in which the abolition had been advocated in America. He would therefore merely remark whether it might be taken as a compliment, or the reverse, that the spirit of all Mr. Thomson's speeches, which he had heard or read—might give them a tolerable idea of the spirit of abolitionism everywhere: a spirit which many seemed to consider as from above, but for himself he prayed to be preserved from any such spirit. He had much also to say upon the malignant feeling and spirit of insubordination which had been produced by the discussion of these questions in the breasts of multitudes of free colored people. The riots, of which so much had been said in this country, were as often produced by the imprudence and insolence of these deluded people, as by the wanton violence and prejudices of the lowest classes of the whites. In consequence of the influence of the Jacobinical principles of the abolitionists, many free colored servants left employments they had held for years; because the claim then first set up, of perfect domestic equality with their masters, was refused; while many cases of insult to females, in the streets of our cities, signalized the same season and spirit. He had also much to say of the wide-spread feeling, lookingtowards immediate deliverance, from a distance, and by force, which suddenly, and, if the abolitionists are innocent as they pretend, miraculously got possession of the minds of the slaves over all the southern country; and which led to such stern, and but the more unhappy, if necessary, consequences. It had been said, in justification of his conduct by Mr. Thompson, that persuasion had never yet induced any one to relax his hold on slaves—and that as for America, in particular, she would never be made to feel ought on the subject, till her pride and fears were awakened. To that he would reply that, as regarded pride, perhaps America had her share of it; but if abolition was not to be looked for till her fears granted it, he apprehended they would have sufficient time yet left to send Mr. Thompson on several new voyages before the whole country was frightened into his terms.
Mr. BRECKINRIDGEsaid that the order of the exercises of this evening had, without the fault of any one, placed him in a position which was not the most natural. Considering that it was his duty to support the negative of the point for this evening's discussion, it would have been most natural had the affirmation been first brought out. He said this arrangement was not the fault of any one, because it was not known that the point would fall to be discussed on this particular evening; for had it fallen on last night or to-morrow night, the order would have been as it ought to be. His position was, however, made somewhat better by the fact, that nothing that Mr. Thompson could say this evening, in an hour or two, could alter the assertions which he had already repeatedly made and published in Britain. Since the notice of this discussion had been published, he had, through the providence of God, been put in possession of six or seven papers and pamphlets containing the substance of what had been said by Mr. Thompson throughout the country, and reiterated by associated bodies of his friends under his eye. After reading these carefully, he found himself pretty fully possessed of that individual's charges and testimony against the ministers, private Christians, and churches of America; he would, therefore, take them as he found them in those publications, while Mr. Thompson's presence would enable him to explain, correct, or deny anything that might be erroneously stated. The first thing he should attempt to do, was to impeach the competency of Mr. Thompson as a witness in this or any similar case. Mr. Thompson had shown that he was utterly incompetent, wisely to gather and faithfully to report testimony on any subject involving great and complicated principles. He did not wish to say anything personally offensive to Mr. Thompson; but he must be plain, and he would first produce proof of what he said, which was as it regarded this whole nation perfectlyad hominem. He would show the audience what Mr. Thompson had said of them, and then they would better judge what was his competency to be a witness against the Americans. At a meeting inthe Hopeton Rooms at Edinburgh, since his return from the United States, Mr. Thompson said: