CHAP. VII. most powerful oppression of his country and his time, has outlived the Giant Wrong he assailed, and has triumphed over the sophistries by which it was maintained. 1866. In this difficult and perilous work, his labors have been so exclusively directed to the single aim of the overthrow of American Slavery, and so absorbing and severe, that, with abilities capable of winning fortune as well as reputation, he is now, in respect to worldly honors and emoluments, as he was at the commencement of his career. We ask simply to arrest the attention of the American people to the obligations they owe to this American. Although he contended for the rights of human nature — and thus, in a degree, made mankind his constituency- yet here was the field of his enterprise, and ours was the land to be immediately redeemed. He was the advocate of no private interest, he was the representative of no sect or party; with no hope of worldly profit to be reaped from the measures and the principles he urged, he was the conspicuous, the acknowledged, the prophetic leader of the movement in behalf of the American Slave - now consummated by the Edict of Universal Emancipation. It cannot mar the dignity of his position as a man of honest intellectual and moral independence, to receive a substantial testimonial of the good-will and grateful respect of his friends and countrymen; nor can it be more than an honorable recognition on the part of the uncounted multitudes, of all parties and sections, who must confess themselves to have become his debtors, to give to him such a testimonial, and to make it substantial. We, the undersigned, do therefore invite all people who rejoice in the destruction of Slavery, in the reëstablishment of the Union on the basis of Universal Freedom, who appreciate his past service in the cause of Liberty, and the dignity and judgment with which he has accepted and interpreted the more recent events of public history, to unite with us in presenting a national testimonial of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars to our fellow-countryman - WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.1 APRIL 25, 1866. 1 The following letters were appended to the circular: DEAR SIR: WASHINGTON, April 11, 1866. I am glad that you and others have taken in hand the project of a testimonial to Mr. Garrison. His earnest and disinterested labors in the great 1866. Mr. Garrison often said that he prized this document, CHAP. VII. with its signatures, more than all the pecuniary results that might follow from it. As to these he was never sanguine, having seen many an ambitious attempt to reward public benefactors or commemorate popular heroes fail miserably, and knowing well that the career of even a successful reformer does not appeal to the popular fancy like that of a victorious general or an idolized political leader. And in truth, with all its weight of names, the Garrison Testimonial owed its success in a very large measure to the untiring devotion of the Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, Rev. Samuel May, Jr., to the practical work of securing subscriptions. For two years, under many disadvantages, he gave himself unremittingly to the task, until, in the spring of 1868, the result was announced to Mr. Garrison in the following letter: The Testimonial Committee to W. L. Garrison. BOSTON, March 10, 1868. DEAR SIR: The undersigned, a committee appointed to obtain for you a national testimonial in acknowledgment of your preeminent services in forwarding the abolition of American slavery, having brought our labors nearly to a close, think the time has arrived to present you with a statement of the result. We have received in all, after deducting every necessary expense, thirty-one thousand dollars, which we are happy now cause of Emancipation, of which he may almost be said to be the pioneer, may be most fitly so recognized. His best reward is the triumph of the cause, achieved already, though not yet perfected; but let there be added to that most precious sense of grand results from work nobly done, such a recognition by the people as will be equally honorable to them and to him. Yours very truly, S. P. CHASE. Charles Sumner, in a letter to the Committee, said: "Mr. Garrison's sublime dedication of himself all alone to this cause, at a moment when it was disregarded, can never be forgotten in the history of this country. I trust that no effort will be spared to carry out the idea of securing an honorable token of the grateful sentiments which his name must always inspire among the friends of Human Rights." 1 Mr. May also visited Washington and secured the signatures attached to the Address to the Public. Boston Daily 1868. CHAP. VII. to place in your hands; and this sum we have reason to believe will be increased one or two thousand dollars more from sources where we know a subscription has been undertaken, but is not yet finished. 1866. The testimonial is in every sense national. Contributions to it have come from every quarter of the country, from all classes, the rich and the poor, the educated and the unlearned, from persons of both sexes, of every religious and political opinion, and of every race. The sums we have received have been given always cheerfully, often joyfully, the donors declaring it a privilege and an honor to share in the offering. Distinguished philanthropists of other countries have also, unsolicited, added their offerings to this testimonial fund. It gives us the highest gratification to present this national tribute to you as the leader and inspirer of the movement against American slavery, which has resulted in one of the greatest moral triumphs the world has ever witnessed. Having devoted yourself from early manhood wholly to the cause of human freedom, regardless of all personal dangers and sacrifices, you have now the joy of living in a country of which all the inhabitants are free. Whatever trials and sufferings may await the race for which you have labored, they can never again be reduced to slavery. Our pleasure on this occasion is saddened only by the recollection that our chairman, the late Governor Andrew, who entered into the plan of the committee with all the energy of his sympathetic nature, using both his tongue and pen to promote it, cannot place his name with ours here. No one would have rejoiced more than he in the accomplishment of this effort. We trust, Mr. Garrison, the offering we present will cheer you and Mrs. Garrison during the remainder of your lives, be they longer or shorter, not merely by the material resources which it brings, but by the precious recollection that it is the gift of a grateful generation of your countrymen and friends. May you long be spared, a living example, to your country and the world. Your friends, SAMUEL E. SEWALL, J. INGERSOLL BOWDITCH, SAMUEL MAY, JR., EDMUND QUINCY, THOMAS RUSSELL, ROBERT C. WATERSTON. |