William Lloyd Garrison, the AbolitionistGrimké, Archibald Henry
History
William Lloyd Garrison, the Abolitionist
Grimké, Archibald Henry
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
collision with the church of the forlorn hope of the Abolition movement.
Trained as Garrison was in the orthodox creed and sound in that creed
almost to bigotry, this behavior of a standard-bearer of the church,
together with the apathy displayed by the clergy on a former occasion,
caused probably the first "little rift within the lute" of his creed,
"that by and by will make the music mute, and, ever widening, slowly
silence all." For in religion as in love, "Unfaith in aught is want of
faith in all." The Rev. Howard Malcolm's arbitrary proceeding had
prevented the organization of an anti-slavery committee. But this was
affected at a second meeting of the friends of the slave. Garrison was
one of the twenty gentlemen who were appointed such a committee. His
zeal and energy far exceeded the zeal and energy of the remaining
nineteen. He did not need the earnest exhortation of Lundy to impress
upon his memory the importance of "activity and steady perseverance." He
perceived almost at once that everything depended on them. And so he had
formed plans for a vigorous campaign against the existence of slavery in
the District of Columbia. But before he was ready to set out along the
line of work, which he had laid down for Massachusetts, the scene of his
labors shifted to Bennington, Vermont. Before he left Boston, Lundy had
recognized him as "a valuable coadjutor." The relationship between the
two men was becoming beautifully close. The more Lundy saw of Garrison,
the more he must have seemed to him a man after his own heart. And so no
wonder that he was solicitous of fastening him to his cause with hooks
of steel. The older had written the younger reformer a letter almost
paternal in tone--he must do thus and thus, he must not be disappointed
if he finds the heavy end of the burthen borne by himself, while those
associated with him do little to keep the wheels moving, he must
remember that "a few will have the labor to perform and the honor to
share." Then there creeps into his words a grain of doubt, a vague fear
lest his young ally should take his hands from the plough and go the way
of all men, and here are the words which Paul might have written to
Timothy: "I hope you will persevere in your work, steadily, but not make
too large calculations on what may be accomplished in a particularly
stated time. You have now girded on a holy warfare. Lay not down your
weapons until honorable terms are obtained. _The God of hosts is on your
side._ Steadiness and faithfulness will most assuredly overcome every
obstacle." The older apostle had yet to learn that the younger always
did what he undertook in the field of morals and philanthropy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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