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of the anti-slavery movement, that I may well say I have never uttered an anti-slavery word which I did not owe to his inspiration; I have never done an anti-slavery act of which the primary merit was not his. More than that: in my experience of nigh thirty years, I have never met the anti-slavery man or woman, who had struck any effectual blow at the slave system in this country, whose action was not born out of the heart and conscience of Wm. Lloyd Garrison.
I do not forget the halfdozen anti-slavery sermons which sparkle along our history,— the quiet scruples of some tender consciences,—the passive disapprobation of Friends, their protection of individual fugitives, or the devoted life of Lundy,—still, the anti-slavery movement is Garrison's work, and, as agitators, we all owe to him the breath of our nostrils; and I do not see to-day, that, in regard to the great principles of the cause, there is any difference between him and myself. . . . Whatever, therefore, may be the conclusion of this debate, I recognize the same leading mind at the head of the anti-slavery struggle.
In times past, none but his own modest lips ever dreamed of denying him that title; in time to come, we shall need, find, and welcome the same leader.
The question whether the American Anti-Slavery Society should dissolve or continue its operations caused an unusually large attendance at the annual meeting in May, in New York, not only of the old and long-tried members, but of others, hitherto seldom seen at these meetings, whose attitude towards the Society had suddenly changed from indifference or hostility to a professed conviction that its dissolution would now be an alarming peril to the freedom and enfranchisement of the blacks.
Mr. Garrison at once introduced the subject in these resolutions:
Whereas, . . . it is decreed by the nation that all1 fetters shall be broken, every bondman set free; and
Whereas, it is not for Abolitionists to affect exclusiveness, or to seek isolation from the great mass of the people, when the reasons which compelled them to take such a position no longer exist; therefore,
Resolved, That, uniting our thanksgivings to God with those of the emancipated millions at the South for the wonders he has wrought, and rejoicing with joy unspeakable that “the year of ”
