Francis Jackson Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879; the story of his life told by his children: volume 2

The new bull would, in spite of the sermons by which¹ it was immediately enforced, in all probability have fallen flat—such was the anti-slavery leaven in the churches—but for its speedy bolstering by an ‘Appeal of Clerical Abolitionists on Anti-slavery Measures,’ published in the New England Spectator of August 2, and bearing the signatures of five clergymen, viz., Charles Fitch, Boston; David Sanford, Dorchester; Wm. M. Cornell, Quincy; Jonas Perkins, Weymouth; and Joseph H. Towne, Boston. The first and last alone were known for their anti-slavery connection; and, in the discussion to which the Appeal instantly gave rise, they had no² further support from their co-signataries. The authorship of the document was divided between them. Fitch was the pastor of the First Free Congregational Church, whose organization against clerical repression and in the interest of close anti-slavery communion has been³ already mentioned. He was the author of a recent pamphlet, “Slaveholding Weighed in the Balance of⁴ Truth,” and had in his speeches at anti-slavery meetings been remarkable for his ‘hard language,’ ⁵ out-Garrisoning Garrison. Towne was the pastor of the Salem-Street Congregational Church, succeeding the Rev. George W. Blagden, the chief opponent of the Free Church in the⁶ Congregational council which recognized it; and his distinction had been the holding of a brief anti-slavery⁷