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Show Mrs. Mafon & Mrs. Child. henceforth to reacl a line of my composition," I reply, that I have great sn ti~fitc t ion in the consc iou :'n<'~. of' having nothing to lo e in that quart ' I'. Tw ·nty-~ vrn year,:; ago, I publi:-hed a book, called ''An Appeal in behalf of that Cia~s of Americans called Afrieans.'~ It influ enced the mind!:! of' :'!'YC'ral young men, aftcr\\'ards con~picuous in pnhlic Jif(·, through who e agency the cause ,.,.a' better . crv •d than it could have been by mr. From that time to this, I have labored too carne tly for the : lave to be agreeable to . 1a vcholder . Literary popularity wa.. never a parnmount obj •rt with mr, even in my youth; and, now that I ~m old, I am utterly in <lifli~ rent to it. But, if I cared for the rxC' lu ~ ion you threaten, I :-;hould at lea t h::n-c the con olation of being exiled with honoraule company. Dr. Channing's writings, mild and <.'andid as they arc, breathe what you would call arrant treason. 'Villiam C. Bryant, in his capnr.ity of editor, is openly 011 our ~ille. The inspir ·d muse of' )Vhittier has incc . .:;antly ~ounued the trumpet for moral warfare with you r initltlitou ' iu:titution; and his st irring tones have been an ~we r c<l, more Ol' Jes Jondly, by }>icrpont, Lowell, and Longf,Jlow. l~m c r;-;on, the }>Jato of Ameri a, ]raves the .cho}ac;tic seclusion he lo\· :so well, and, di ~ Iikin g noi::-;c, with all hi~ poetic s01d, l>ravely take ' hi · ... land mnong the trumpeters. George ,V. Curti~, the brillinnt \'rTiler, the eloquent 1eelurer, the elegant man of' tile worl(l, lay · the wealth of hi talent on the altar of Freedom, and makes common cause with rough-:;hod reformers. The gct1ius of 1\Ir, . Stowe carried the outwork of your institution at one dash, nnd left the citadel open to besiegers, who arc pouring in amain. In the ch urch, on the ultraliberal ide, it i ' as i. ted by the powerful battering-ram of Theodore rarker's eloquence. On the extreme orthodox side is set a huge fire, kindled by the Lurning word:o' of Dr. Cheever. Between them, is Henry 'Vard Beecher, s<·nding a shower of keen arrows into your entrenchments; and with him ride a troop of sharp-slwoters from all sects. If you turn to the Mrs. Mafon & Mrs. Child. 347 literature of Euglnnd or France, you will find your institution treated with as little fa vor. Tl1C f:1ct i ', the whole civilized world proelaim · RJavery an outlaw, and the best intellect of the age is active in hunting it down. To 1\fns. M. J. C. MMoN. |