History of Pennsylvania Hall, Which was destroyed by a mob, on the 17th of May, 1838

Page 54

96 'IJIIRD DA\'-MOHNlr\'G St:S!:>toN. EXERCISES OF THE THIRD DAY. THIS morning was devoted to discussion, as announced on the morni?g of the receding day. The 1mbj ect was the broad on.e of. Slavery and &ls RemectP, and as an evidence of the deep interest ~vhtch tt awakened, the Hall wfs crowded earlier and with even a larger audtendce~h~ .at ~h~t f~~er f The speakers were Alvan Stewart, Ed war . ntc ~ , er ~f':e ~~;fcsk Plummer, 'Villiam 1-1. Burleigh, at~d A.lans?n St. Cla1r. Onl.y Fred f them however have been able to furntsh us wtth a sketch of their two o k P~eviou!'l td the discussion, the following letter from \V ALTER ~:~~A:~, of Pittsb~~rgh, was read, and also the lcller from Dr. Su::wu, pub· lished on page 73:• PITTSBURGH, May 10, 1838. Res ected Friends,-I find it impossible to be _with you at the P ennsyl­vania ~Iall 011 Tuesday next-a circum.!:llan~e wluch I very ~nuc_h regr~t. It would have afforded me the highest gratification to co~ ply \~lth your wts~es, had it been practicable so to do. The right of free dJscussJon, and _the nght of etitioning those who may be in a~1thority for the redress of gn~vances, rep among the most sacred of all nghts, and. any atlempt_ to cnpple or :brid e them must be met by a determined an~ tn~agnant resistance. Ho~v­ever g artial I may be to the scheme of <?olontzatlon, I am none the leas tn­tlexitte in the resolution, never to submtt to any atte_mpt, under whatever plausible pretext, to subdue the spirit of _free disc_ussJOn, or to render the servants of the people inaccessible to the1r complamts. . I am with much respect, your fn end, 'VALTER FoawARD. 1\:lesars. Samuel 'Vebb, nnd 'Vm. II. Scott.-Commilt~e. SPEECH OF E. C. PRITCHETT. E. c. PRncnETT said, that the subject of ~i.scuasion was certainly wide enou h-Slavery, Liberty, Colonization, AbolitiOn; on ~ach head, so. much mi h~ be said, that it was difficult to select me rely what nught serve for ~mme­dia~ e use. H e would proceed, however, at hap-hazard, to ~t~e.r somethmg on each point, not by way of instruction, but in the hope of elic1tmg some of that s m athy which at once refreshes and strengthens _the utterer and the hearer 0~ f!ee thought. It was needless to say any thtng about freedom, after • It may not be impt'O('ICI' hct·e to state that t~te FORl!lll ~vas :~ppt'O)Jri::ate~ to ~~=n~~~~f; '!11j ~fanagel·a, the Ora/ora, and atran$era from a rlistanc~ mvll~d ll(~~ tl byh t~et as th:y might the t-eat of the saloon was ft-eely gwen u\J to the p~bllc, .to oceup) _m sue ~a . e them· think pt·oper without any direction as tot 1e mannet• m wlu1.1h the aud1ence shouJ ~rH15t three sch es Ft'O:n 11 mistaken moti\·c, howe\·er, and before the Manngcrs entet-e t · a lo take colored men wea·e in,•ited, by a 1-,ca·son ft'Om the countt·y who was not e~cn a .stockholdt~l~ man; their seals 011 the forum. One of these was well known to us as an mtelhgent, wo Yneither the other two were stt·angers. All three were requested to leave the fot·um, as the{ ('et-e in their Mnnagers, Oratot·s, nor iMitcd by the 1\hnagers, nnd we could not ":at•y our reg~ ~1 10~5 pt-ocut-. faxor e1pecially while a number of our slockholden were then standt~g below una e 0 seau.' The same course would h:we Lec11 pursued had thry been whtlc men. sn: Et.:ll OF E. C. I'RITCIJETT. what had been proclaimed by him who so appropriately commenced the dedication of th is T emple of Free Discussion and Pennsylvania Principles, by an oration on I.iberty. i\lost splendid was that eulogium , or rather that exposition of liberty--and the mwdorncd exposition of hcl' eharactcr is her own best praise ; for" of all things that have beauty, liberty is most comely to man," as says Milton, and as the Most High taught the apostle to believe when he announced, as the chosen type of J esus' Religion, Liberty, " the glorious Liberty of the sons of God." But, sir, I was disappointed, when the orator, after so skilful an e xhibition of the blessings of Libe rty , said he might hesitate to turn over hi~ hand, to secure hi.:i freedom immediately to the slave, for fear of the blessing being an injury to the recipient. Sir, I am so fully convinced of the truth of the former part of the honorable gen­tleman's oration, that 1 should, or ought to be willing, for the attainment of so blesscU a consummation, to turn over my hand, though, as a penalty for the deed, my arm should forthwith be burnt to the shoulder-socke t. As dearly as I love liberty, impartial liberty, for others as fo r myself, so cor­dially do I hate slavery-and is such hatred, perfect, determined, deadly hate, unchri stian ? No,-and the pulses of this audience throb the echo" no!" For I am not speak ing to fools-:wd the Scriptures announce as the climac­teric folly of the fool, that" hP- abhorrelh not evil." A11d is not slavery, to quote its self-contradicting :~pologist, Hev. President Fisk," evil, evil only, and evil continually?" It is the general contradiction of all truth and right and love. It scorns the maxims of political economy, nms counter to every fact and doctrine of ethics or intellectual philosophy, works havoc with every arrangement of soC'ial order ami charity, spurns the commandments which we re uttered amid the thunders of S inai, rushes madly on the thick bosses of Jehovah'~ buckler, belies prophecy, and gnashes its teeth at the promises of the gospel. From the utte rmost vastness of infin ity to the most trivial truisms of every day life, it is ever more a wrong and a lie. While its portentous shadow blackens eternity with gloom, the common rules of grammar cry out against it. Every child, who cons his Murray or Gould at school, has learnt that a personal ami compound pnsonal pronoun m u~t agree in pcrson-thM good grammar requires me to say " I myself " and " you yourself"-but slavery is an interminably reiterated fracture of Priscia n's head. Its first princi ple is, that thesla,·e.shall not say" I myself," but " I yourself, massa." If we may parody the old song, ' ' \Vhcn ilkn mon ~!mil hne lais ain, ' l'l1c sla\·c ;;I tall lt:t\'C himself 112,~1i11, ' ' Now, s ir, I would tlnn over my hanU to have good grammar allowed throtlghout the Union. Here some of our friends, whose regcud for freedom is more curious than useful, may tell us that they a re as much opposed to slavery as any onc,­but the s laves should be sent home to Africa, the land of their fathers. In other words, they think the colored Ame ricans s hould not be allowed to speak English grammatically outside of Africa. T here are sundry objec· tions to this plan of coloniz:ltion. In the first place, it is impossible-in twenty years the Colonization Society has transported but one-twentieth of one year's increase of the :slave population. This first objection, one would think, were enough-but, perchance, the friends of this plan may say that though " ' tis not in mortals to command success, they will do more, they will deserve it." 'V illthey aliow us to hint that they will no more deserve, than they will · eommand succP.ss. Their most sweet ,·oices are freque ntly heard proclaiming as a collateral good to be atlai ned, second ouly in import .. 13