"You are convened to influence society upon a subject connected with the kindliest feelings of our nature; and being the first assembly met to shake hands with other nations, and employ your combined efforts to annihilate slavery throughout the world, are you to commence by saying you will take away the rights of one-half of creation? This is the principle which you are putting forward.” He was opposed by another clergyman, the Rev. A. Harvey of Glasgow. He claimed that he had certain views in relation to the teaching of the word of God, and of the "particular" sphere in which woman is to act. "I must say," he remarked, "if I were to give a vote in favor of females sitting and deliberating in such an assembly as this, that I should be acting in opposition to the plain teaching of the word of God." The exquisite refinement of this apostle's conscience almost carried the convention and put a stop to debate. After a little delay, however, other speakers took the floor, and talked to a late hour. Then the vote was taken, and by an overwhelming majority the women were excluded as delegates to the convention. - 66 "I hope," said Mr. Thompson, the same George Thompson whom the Boston aristocrats sought to molest, and who, true to the spirit that always governed his acts, was now in favor of the women, hope, as the question is now decided, that Mr. Phillips will give us the assurance that we shall proceed with one heart and one mind." "I have no doubt of it," replied Mr. Phillips. "There is no unpleasant feeling in our minds. I have no doubt the women will sit with as much interest behind the bar as though the original proposition had been carried in the affirmative. All we asked was an expression of an opinion; and, having obtained it, we shall now act with the utmost cordiality." Mr. Phillips has been criticised, even by his most ardent admirers, for supposing, that, after being rejected as delegates, these women would "sit with as much interest behind the bar, as in the convention." Why, they ask, did he not himself refuse longer to take part in the deliberations of the convention? Such criticism is certainly injudicious. To stand in that august assembly, and maintain the unpopular heresy of woman's equality, was a severe ordeal for a young man to pass through; and Wendell Phillips, who accepted the odium of presenting this question to the convention, earned for all time the sincere gratitude of womankind. Every phase of his course at that convention was above criticism. The calm demeanor, mingled with kind regrets, of Mr. Thompson, alone sufficed to disarm resentment. It would have been rash indeed, if, under such circumstances, Mr. Phillips had so far lost sight of the real object of the convention as to have imperilled this object by any action. tending to paralyze its results. APTER VIII. PROGRESS OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY CAUSE. - Phillips arrives Home from Europe. Limited Acquaintanceship. Letter to George Thompson. The "Remond Case." — A Petition to the Legislature, and its Result. - The Address of O'Connell 'and his Fellow-Countrymen. - Arrest of George Latimer. The Action of the Legislature. - A Voice in Congress. —Phillips argues for Disunion. — Discussion. — An Interesting Letter. — Mobs. - "Agitate, and we shall yet see the laws of Massachusetts rule even Boston." "The community that will not protect its most ignorant and unpopular member in the free utterance of his opinions, no matter how false or hateful, is only a gang of slaves." "If our agitation has not been wisely planned and conducted, explain for us the history of the last twenty years! Experience is a safe light to walk by, and he is not a rash man who expects success in future from the same means which have secured it in times past."- PHILLIPS. ΟΝ N the 12th of July, 1841, Mr. Phillips and his wife arrived home in Boston. During their sojourn on the Continent, they visited many places of interest in France, Italy, and Great Britain, but made few acquaintances. In a letter to his friend Davis of Philadelphia, who applied to him, in 1845, for letters of introduction to notables living on the Continent, he says, "As to the second note about foreign parts, let me say I travelled with a sick wife, and made no acquaintances. One or two friends in Paris completed the list, and they have since removed home here. I would add some letters to those you ask for England, but that M. W. C. and W. L. G. are infinitely better names for backers than mine." While Phillips was abroad, he addressed an open letter to George Thompson in support of the effort then making in England to supersede American cotton by stimulating the production of cotton in India. A single extract from this earnest and eloquent document will bear quotation in this place: "How shall we address that large class of men to whom dollars are always a weightier consideration than duties, prices current stronger argument than proofs of holy writ? Our appeal has been entreaty; for the times in America are those 'pursy times' when, 'Virtue itself of Vice must pardon beg, Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.' "But from India a voice comes, clothed with the omnipotence of self-interest; and the wisdom which might have been slighted from the pulpit, will be to such men oracular from the marketplace. Gladly will we make a pilgrimage, and bow with more than Eastern devotion on the banks of the Ganges, if his holy waters shall be able to wear away the fetters of the slave. God speed the progress of your society! May it soon find in its ranks the whole phalanx of scarred and veteran abolitionists, single divided effort, but a united one to grapple with the wealth, influence, and power embattled against you! Is it not Schiller who says, 'Divide the thunder into single tones, and it becomes a lullaby for children; but pour it forth in one quick peal, and the royal sound shall shake the heavens'? So may it be with you! and God grant, that, without waiting for the United States to be no consistent, before we are dust the jubilee of emancipated millions may reach us from Mexico to the Potomac, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains!" One of the most active and energetic workers in the cause of anti-slavery, at this time, was a well-bred and well-educated colored man named Charles Lenox Remond. His home was in Salem, Mass., where his parents also resided. In 1838 he was appointed an agent of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society, in which capacity he rendered abundant and valuable services. He spent the greater part of the year 1841 in Great Britain and Ireland, where he lectured before many large audiences. Mr. Phillips's interest in Charles L. Remond took him to Salem, on Remond's return from a trip to Europe; and a scene in the old low Salem depot, as related by him and Remond before a committee of the Legislature in that year, shows that the struggle for the rights of the colored people was well prompted. They took seats side by side in one of the little old cars of that date. A person in authority came in, and ordered Remond to take his seat in a rear second-class car, a mere box with pine seats. Mr. Phillips accompanied Remond to the inferior car, and seated himself beside him. Mr. Phillips was told that he could not remain there, as it was only for colored persons. Mr. Phillips, deprived of the society of his friend, rode in another car to Boston. |