[
367]
That the meaning of all this was--“In the hope of winning back the seceded States, and of retaining the trade, custom, and profits, which we have hitherto derived from the slaveholders, we hereby solemnly pledge ourselves never more to say or do, nor let our neighbors say or do, aught calculated to displease said slaveholders or offend the
Slave Power,” was promptly demonstrated.
Mr. George W. Curtis, one of our most attractive and popular public speakers, had been engaged by “the
People's Literary Institute” of
Philadelphia to lecture on the evening after the great meeting, and had announced as his subject, “The policy of honesty.”
What reflections were suggested by that topic or title to the engineers of the meeting, can only be inferred from the following notification:
Office of the Mayor of the city of
Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1860.
dear Sir :--The appearance of
George W. Curtis,
Esq., as a lecturer before the
People's Literary Institute, on Thursday evening next, will be extremely unwise.
If I possessed the lawful power, I would not permit his presence on that occasion.
Very respectfully, etc.
The following letter from the owner of the
Hall betrays a common impulse, if not a common origin, with the foregoing:
Concert Hall, December 11, 1860.
dear Sir:--I have been
officially informed that, in the event of
G. W. Curtis lecturing in this
Hall on Thursday evening next, a riot is anticipated.
Under these circumstances, I cannot permit the
Hall to be used on that occasion.
Respectfully,
So the
Lincoln city of
Philadelphia, like a good many other Northern cities, made
her bid for slaveholding forbearance and patronage — no one observing, nor even hinting, that the
North had rights and grievances, as well as the
South--that “sectional” aspirations, aggressions, encroachments, were not confined to Free States; and that, in the conciliation so generally and earnestly commended, the
Slave Power might fairly be asked to accord
some consideration, some respect, if not to make some concession, to that generous, loving spirit, which recognizes a brother in the most repulsive form of Humanity, which keenly feels that wrong and degradation to any necessarily involve reproach and peril to all, and will rest content with nothing short of Universal Justice and Impartial Freedom.