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Show 70 SECOND DA\'-MORNINO SESSIOI"i. REMARKS OF W. L. GARRISON. I have, then, Mr. Chairman, but a very f~w words to offer. Happily, there are many individuals present, comp::~ratl\'ely ~1ew v~lunteers Ill our sacred cause, who JUe far better qualified to at.Jdre~Ss th1s meeting ~han myself. It is a homely adage, that a new broom sweeps cle~n. Havmg been so long in use, I am little better than an old scrub. Bnng your new brooms on the platform, and the. work will ~e much bette~ done .. Sir, 1 have observed w1th regret, s1nce the opemngof th1s Hall, that not a single colored brother has occupied a scat upon your platform. Why is this 1 It cannot be because there is no one present, who, on the score of intellectual and moral worth, is entitled to such respectful treatment. Is it, then, the result of accident or design? I fear this exclusion may be traced to a wicked prejudice, or to a fear of giving public offence. It ill becomes us to rebuke others for cherishing the hateful spirit of caste, if we are dis· posed to give it any quarter. Another remark I may be permitted to make. It has appeared to me, as well as to others, that there is a squeamishness with regard to coming out boldly in favor of the doctrine of immediate emancipation, and letting the public understand, distinctly, the object of our assembling together. The advertisements of the meetings which I have seen in the newspapers, are very indefinite on this point. As the name of Orange Scott has been announced in the papers, and from this platform, as one of the speakers for this evening, and as the subject of his address has not been announced, and as I think it no more than right that we should know what it is, I take the liberty of inquiring, whether it relates to agriculture, to astronomy, to temperance, or to slavery? [OnANGE ScoTT hereupon rose, and said, 11 he did not know, in vie_w of all the circumstances of the case, that he should speak at all that evenmg i the probability was, that he should not. But if he did, it should be upon American Slavery-its sinfulness and pernicious tendency. He thought this was known to the Managers, and he wondered that the subject had not been announced. " A female here rose, (a member of the society of Friends,) under one of the galleries, and stated that it was " the request of the ladies, that " ' illiam IJloyd Garrison should come on the platform, and there deliver what he might have to sa.y, as many felt anxious to see the man for whose head the South had olfered thousands of dollars." \Vith this request he complied, amid the loud applause of the audience, and spoke as follows:] Mr. Chairman, it is certainly true, that I am an object of public curiosity, scarcely rivalled by any show extant-an object full of appreh~nsion to many, and of inquisitiveness to more. Indeed, some of my anta·slavery friends have gravely suggested the "expediency" of putting me into a strong cage-" with my own consent," of course, and ca~rying me about the country as a rare monster, to be seen at certain hours, at so ~uch a sight for adults-children half price; the proceeds, after deductmg the expense of k.eepers, and of furnishing food and straw for me, to be thrown into the treasury of the American Anti·Slavery Society! [Much laughter.] I desire, sir, to be as serviceable to the cause in which we are engaged as possible ; but there are two or three good reasons, why I cannot accept of the novel and productive proposition of my friends. The fi~st is, tha~, as an abolitioni3t, I can have nothing to do with modern "exped1ency." fhe RE!'tiAIIKS Ot' W. L. OARniSOS, 71 second is, that my grand design is to deliver the millions who are now encaged in our land, and I am not willing, therefore, to get into a cage myself. My last reason is, that as I am in favor of immediate, uncondi· li~n~l, and univers.1l emancipation, it is not to be supposed that I arn wd_hng to be made an exception, ami to lose my own liberty. Dut, to be 5eriOtiS. [The speaker then referred to the affecting and eloquent detail of Indian wrongs to which the audience had just listened, from the lips of C. C. Burleigh, and asked : J \Vhy are the Cherokees to be banished from their homes? Our brother has omitted the why and wherefore. Alas, sir, his thrilling appeals in their behalf come too late-not too late, however, to sorten our hearts, to mantle our cheeks with the blushes of shame as Americans, or to fire our souls with holy indignation as Christians and philanthropists-but too late to save them from banishment, perhaps from utter extermination. The demon of slavery is the author of this forceful expulsion, because he demands their lands upon which to erect new shambles for the sale of human flesh and immortal souls, and to ply the lash 11pon the back of unrequited toil, and to extend his bloody dominions. There can be no protection given to the Indians, until slavery is abolished; and its abolition can alone preserve them, even as a remnant. To the work, then, before us, with new zeal and spirit! This hall, Mr. Chairman, needs a new dedication. The eloquent gentleman who yesterday stood a~ the priest at the altar, and performed solemn dedicatory services, exhibited the goddess of Liberty in all her beauty and attraction; but just as every eye was kindling with a radiant flame, and everr: hea~t was l~aping ex~ltingly, and every knee bent in homage, he then-amazmg mfatuat10n !-se1zed the dagger of expediency, and plunged it to her heart! For one, I wondered and shuddered at the unna· t~ral deed. The orator considered it blasphemy to say that slavery was nght, and in accordance with the scriptures; and yet in the very next breath, he talked about legislating for its futw·e overthrow, and declared that he was opposerl to its immediate abolition! Sir, if there be a neck to that discourse, I would say, let a stone be tied around it, and let it be sunk in the depths of the sea. It gives me pain, sir, to make these remarks; the speech was, at least the greater part of it, an admirable speech. It handled the subject in a masterly and eloquent manner. But the latter part of it neutralized all the good that had been said; it contained poison enough to kill all the colored men on earth. All that the slave-holders require to enable them to hold their slaves in interminable bondage, was to be found in that speech. F'or what more do they want, than an admission that immediate and unr.ondi· lional emancipation is not due to every one of their slaves, and that the withholding of liberty ~rom them~ for a moment, is not robbery? Sir, that gent_leman talked of f~eemg the ch1ldren as they arrived at a certain age, and leavtng the parents m slavery-at least, until they can be educated and p_repared for freedom! I~ this the dirtate of humanity or religion? No, s1r. It deserves our unmmgled abhorrence. as unnatural and monstrous. Sir, this hall must surely be rebaptized. Let us, during the meetings of this week, wash out this stain of reproach. I know, indeed, that ~orne will con_sider the remarks of that gentleman as ad~pted ~o please all part1es-to allay, 111 some measure, the prejudice that pre· vatls agamstus and our holy cause. These are your men of 'caution' and 'prudence,' and' judiciousness.' Sir, I have learned to hate tho8e words. When· ever we attempt to imitate our great Exemplar, and press the truth of God, in |