Men of Our Times; Or, Leading Patriots of the Day: Being narratives of the lives and deeds of statesmen, generals, and orators. Including biographical sketches and anecdotes of Lincoln, Grant, Garrison, Sumner, Chase, Wilson, Greeley, Farragut, Andrew, Colfax, Stanton, Douglass, Buckingham, Sherman, Sheridan, Howard, Phillips and Beecher.Stowe, Harriet Beecher
History
Men of Our Times; Or, Leading Patriots of the Day: Being narratives of the lives and deeds of statesmen, generals, and orators. Including biographical sketches and anecdotes of Lincoln, Grant, Garrison, Sumner, Chase, Wilson, Greeley, Farragut, Andrew, Colfax, Stanton, Douglass, Buckingham, Sherman, Sheridan, Howard, Phillips and Beecher.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
United States -- Biography; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Biography
"As the meeting was to commence at 3 o'clock, P. M., I went to the hall
about twenty minutes before that time. Perhaps a hundred individuals
had already gathered around the street door and opposite to the
building, and their number was rapidly augmenting. On ascending into
the hall, I found about fifteen or twenty ladies assembled, sitting
with serene countenances, and a crowd of noisy intruders (mostly young
men) gazing upon them, through whom I urged my way with considerable
difficulty. 'That's Garrison,' was the exclamation of some of their
number, as I quietly took my seat. Perceiving that they had no
intention of retiring, I went to them and calmly said--'Gentlemen,
perhaps you are not aware that this is a meeting of the Boston _Female_
Anti-Slavery Society, called and intended exclusively for _ladies_,
and those only who have been invited to address them. Understanding
this fact, you will not be so rude or indecorous as to thrust your
presence upon this meeting. If, _gentlemen_,' I pleasantly continued,
'any of you are _ladies_--in disguise--why, only apprise me of the
fact, give me your names, and I will introduce you to the rest of
your sex, and you can take seats among them accordingly.' I then
sat down, and, for a few moments, their conduct was more orderly.
However, the stair-way and upper door of the hall were soon densely
filled with a brazen-faced crew, whose behavior grew more and more
indecent and outrageous. Perceiving that it would be impracticable
for me, or any other person, to address the ladies; and believing, as
I was the only male abolitionist in the hall, that my presence would
serve as a pretext for the mob to annoy the meeting, I held a short
colloquy with the excellent President of the Society, telling her that
I would withdraw, unless she particularly desired me to stay. It was
her earnest wish that I would retire, as well for my own safety as
for the peace of the meeting. She assured me that the Society would
resolutely but calmly proceed to the transaction of its business, and
leave the issue with God. I left the hall accordingly, and would have
left the building, if the stair-case had not been crowded to excess.
This being impracticable, I retired into the Anti-Slavery Office,
(which is separated from the hall by a board partition,) accompanied
by my friend, Mr. Charles C. Burleigh. It was deemed prudent to lock
the door, to prevent the mob from rushing in and destroying our
publications.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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