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When this proposition was formally presented to the Board by Mr. Garrison, Mr. Phelps chanced to be absent; but Mr. Eayrs, a member with whom Mr. Phelps was on terms of confidence which he did not extend to all the other members, remarked that it would be better to postpone any action of this kind, as there would probably be changes in the Board at the annual meeting. So innocent were some of the members of the Board of any knowledge of what was practising against them, and so repugnant was suspicion to their natures, that those of them whose eyes had not been recently opened by personal experiences, honestly supposed that such a paper might satisfy the alleged demand; and, after a few days' delay, on account of Mr. Phelps's absence, it was decided to issue three thousand copies of a specimen number, Messrs. Garrison, Phillips and Quincy to be an editorial committee. On learning this, Mr. Phelps said, with much agitation, that such a paper would by no means answer the demand. His words and his manner were a sufficient assurance that the plot had gone too far to be arrested by any possible effort of the Massachusetts Board, and all their energies were now bent to the painful task of hastening its complete development.

FOOTNOTES:

A scheme so called, for benefiting the colored race, without giving offence by the mention of Freedom, or Human Rights.

THE WARNING.

Time, which waits for no man, but keeps on, with even foot-fall, whether witness of right or wrong, frankness and openness, or chicanery and intrigue, brought round the year 1839.

Mr. Torrey, who had represented his county as crying out for a new paper, till possibly the echo of his own voice might have led him to think his testimony true, now found a feeling waking up in Old Essex that he had not anticipated. The women there, with whom, in the spirit of a true mussulman, he had, a few months previous, considered it defilement to sit in Convention, had always been most effectual helpers of the financial department of the cause. Some of them had been among the earliest laborers; and, experienced in observing the pertinacity with which the enemy, from the beginning, had striven to possess himself of the fortress, by striking down the warder of the gate, were startled by Mr. Torrey's great zeal for a new paper. They compared it with his hatred of the Liberator, so manifest during the clerical appeal controversy, and took note, from time to time, of the manner in which he argued this new necessity.

They found that, like the Colonization Society, the necessity had two faces; one for the real and the other for the pretended abolitionist. They saw that this "necessity" was founded on prejudice against the Liberator, as the Colonization Society rests upon prejudice against the free man of color.

They decided to strengthen the Liberator for the coming emergency, and raised 0 for its support.

There was a breathless and impatient looking for.

Indications of the exact course that the miners and sappers were pursuing, now came to light. Mr. St. Clair, still an agent of the Massachusetts Board, left in their office a rough draught of resolutions to effect a fatal change in the basis of the Massachusetts Society, making it exclusive and sectarian, by a rejection of all as consistent members, who did not sustain the government of the country at the polls. The establishment of a new paper was also enjoined, in terms the necessary effect of which was destructive of the Liberator. These resolutions were endorsed by Mr. Torrey, thus:

"Good. I think, now, such resolutions should have been presented at the Essex County Meeting at Amesbury Mills. CHARLES T. TORREY."

The plan was, to carry the State by counties and by towns, and then to crowd up to the grand annual meeting in irresistible strength, to give the finishing blow.

The next meeting of consequence was that of the Worcester County Society, at Fitchburg. There, Mr. St. Clair introduced the new ideas, by means of the projected resolutions. At the close of the meeting, after most of the friends had retired, and against the wishes of some who remained, he persisted in presenting them. They were adopted, after speeches from himself and the Rev. Mr. Colver, by the raising of five or six hands; probably without a perception of their design and tendency on the part of that few.

FITCHBURG RESOLUTIONS.

Whereas, slavery is the creature of legislation, upheld and supported by law, and is to be abolished by law, and by law only; and

Whereas, in order to secure its legal overthrow, the legislative bodies having power over the same must be composed of good men and true, who will go for its immediate abolition; and

Whereas, it is impossible to obtain such a legislative body, unless abolitionists carry their principles to the ballot-box, and vote only for men of this character; and

Resolved, 1st, That, in the opinion of this Society, every abolitionist is in duty bound, not to content himself with merely refusing to vote for any man who is opposed to the emancipation of the slave, BUT TO GO TO THE POLLS, AND THROW HIS VOTE FOR SOME MAN KNOWN TO FAVOR IT.

These resolutions were lithographed and sent to the officers of Societies, by Mr. Phelps, Mr. St. Clair, and Mr. Torrey, accompanied by earnest injunctions to county meetings to send up great delegations to the annual meeting, instructed to carry them through, with assurances to such as they could not fully trust, that "they were opposed to nothing but dough-face-ism."

In the same number of the Liberator in which the resolutions appeared, an unanticipated obstacle to their design was also announced. The President of the Massachusetts Society, though neither peace man nor perfectionist, but one who, individually, considered it his duty to use his elective franchise, took charge of the financial concerns of the Liberator, in conjunction with two of his colleagues of the Board; and in their individual capacity they gave notice to the public of their reasons for so doing. That paper was, in their view identified with the anti-slavery cause in a manner that could be affirmed of no other print, not only from the circumstance of its having been the first, but more strongly, because of the faithfulness, constancy, and disregard of peril and persecution; the excellence of character editorial talent, and intuitive sagacity, of its conductor. And because they thought those qualities never more needed than at that moment, they called upon all who loved the cause to stand by the Liberator. It was signed by Francis Jackson, William Bassett, and Edmund Quincy.

Here was an unexpected blow:--A contradiction of calumnies, a financial security, a politician's attestation to the value of the Liberator, combined in one view, before the eyes of the anti-slavery community. It was done, too, without any claim on the part of the doers, that the Liberator should sink from being the organ of all in the cause who chose to use it, into the mere instrument of a few. This was prophetic of stout resistance to the narrow, exclusive, and enslaving spirit which had so long wrought in secret, to undermine the broad foundations of the anti-slavery cause.

The shrewd proverb of the lookers-on during revolutions, says that

It is interesting to observe the course of men in peculiar and trying times, and to notice the strong contrasts of character and conduct that such times present.

Mr. Garrison stood calmly watching the aspect of the times, and when the signs were full, he raised the note of warning--

"WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?"

The annual meeting of the State Anti-Slavery Society will be held in this city on the 23d inst. There are many indications which lead us to regard it as pregnant with momentous consequences to the abolition cause in this section of the country. Perhaps at no period has there been so much cause for just alarm as at the present. Strong foes are without, insidious plotters are within the camp. A conflict is at hand,--if the signs of the times do not deceive us,--which is to be more hotly contested, and which will require more firmness of nerve and greater singleness of purpose, than any through which we have passed to victory. Once more, therefore, we would speak trumpet-tongued--sound an alarm-bell--light up a beacon-fire--give out a new watch-word--so that there may be a general rallying of our early, intrepid, storm-proof, scarred and veteran coadjutors, at the coming anniversary,--all panoplied as of yore, and prepared to give battle to internal contrivers of mischief, as readily as to external and avowed enemies.

The danger which now threatens all that is pure and vital in our cause, is two-fold and complex. From the commencement of our sacred struggle, we have been resisted by every religious sect, and made by turns the foot-ball of every political party. As among all sects and all parties, there are some who will never bow the knee to Baal, but are resolved to follow RIGHT and TRUTH through flood and fire, come what may--these, by the irresistible affinity of principle, have come into our ranks, repudiating every sectarian distinction, every party badge, and refusing to march under any other banner than that of HUMANITY. Bravely have they contended, cheerfully have they suffered, in the cause of their enslaved countrymen; and nobly have they withstood a thousand wily artifices to seduce them from their post. And they will persevere unto the end.

"Tempt them with bribes, 'twill be in vain; Try them with fire, you'll find them true."

The trusty friends of our good cause, and all who desire to baffle the machinations of a clerical combination, will need no other notice than this, to induce them to rally at the annual meeting, and watch with jealousy and meet with firmness every attempt, however plausibly made, to effect any material change in the management of the concerns of the State Society. The spirit that would discard such men as Francis Jackson, Ellis Gray Loring, Samuel E. Sewall, Edmund Quincy, and Wendell Phillips, is treacherous to humanity.

As a specimen of the billing and cooing which is going on between gentlemen of the sacerdotal robe, in order to bring about a radical alteration in anti-slavery control, read the following extract from a recent letter of the Rev. Dr. Osgood, of Springfield, to Prof. Emerson, of the Theological Seminary at Andover:

Wendell Phillips, the same who took the brunt of the battle at Faneuil Hall, upon the day when men met there to wash their hands of Lovejoy's murder, was among the foremost to detect the subtler form of danger. His letter to the financial committee of the Liberator, which appeared in the next column to the call of the watchman, stripped the opposition of their disguises, with a firm and dexterous hand. It exhibits, in a condensed form, the mind of one who had knowledge of the cause throughout the State, as a lecturer and a manager of the Society, and throughout the land, as an acute and philosophical observer. In politics, a voter,--in theology, a Calvinist,--in church government, a congregationalist,--looking on these things from the same point of view with those who were laboring for the destruction of Freedom, toleration and fraternal confidence in the cause, he came to diametrically opposite conclusions.--

LETTER OF WENDELL PHILLIPS.

DEAR SIRS--I wish to express to you the satisfaction which the new arrangements for the Liberator have given me. They will gain for it a wider circulation and more permanent usefulness. I feel not merely for the paper itself--though it would give me pain, I confess, to see the first banner which was unfurled in our cause, which has braved for so many years the battle and the breeze, having lived down its enemies, sink at last from the coldness of its friends. But, apart from this, I regard the success of the Liberator as identical with that of the abolition cause itself. Though so bitterly opposed, it does more to disseminate, develope and confirm our principles, than any other publication whatever. The spirit which produced, still animates it, and with magnetic influence draws from all parts of society every thing like around it. Other measures may suit different circumstances, and other parts of the country; but here, and now, the spirit of the Liberator is the touchstone of true hearts. Almost all the opposition it has met with, various as it seems, springs from one cause. At starting, some who agreed with its principles denounced it as "foul-mouthed and abusive;" next, the occasional expression of some individual opinions of its editor, gained it the name of "irreligious and Jacobin;"--and now some point to its peace views as infidel in their tendency, and a stumbling-block in our way. Under all these disguises have men concealed their motives, sometimes even from themselves.

The real cause of this opposition, in my opinion, is the fundamental principle upon which the Liberator has been conducted:--that rights are more valuable than forms; that truth is a better guide than prescription; that no matter how much truth a sect embodies, no matter how useful a profession may be, no matter how much benefit any form of government may confer--still they are all but dust in the balance when weighed against the protection of human rights, the discussion and publication of great truths; that all forms of human device are worse than useless, when they stand in Truth's way. These are its principles;--frank, fearless single-heartedness, the utmost freedom of thought and speech, its characteristics. If we fail to impress these on each abolition heart, our efforts are paralyzed, and our cause is lost. Pride of settled opinion, love of lifeless forms, undue attachments to sect, are its foes.

With the fullest charity for all conscientious scruples, and dissenting, as I do, from the peace-views of the Liberator, I cannot see how their discussion, conducted in a Christian spirit, and with sincere love of truth, can offend the conscience of any man. Limited to a brief space, as it is, it can have no effect on the general character of the paper. I mean to give all my influence, to gain it the confidence, and pour its spirit into the mind of every one I can reach. I shall esteem it a privilege to second your efforts. The danger I most dread is, to have our cause fall under the control of any party, sect, or profession. That way ruin lies. The chiefest bulwark against it, I know of, is the Liberator. Success to it. May it have the cordial support of every abolition heart.

Yours, truly, WENDELL PHILLIPS.

Boston, Jan. 7th, 1839.

Troubles, however different in their nature, always seem to have fellowship with each other. At this juncture, while the Anti-Slavery community in Massachusetts were laboring under the pain and astonishment of the recent development, came a Sub-Committee, consisting of Mr. Leavitt and Mr. Stanton, from New York, to say that, as the stated payments due to the National Treasury were unpaid, the contract became null and void.

The Massachusetts Board could not, as lawyers, or as men of business, admit this to be the case; but, anxious to discharge the obligation, they came to the following resolution, in the presence of the New York Committee.

They hoped, by this, to open a way for the instant redemption of the pledge, through the means of the friendly co-operation of the New York Committee, and trusted that the rash, unbusiness-like and unbrotherly nullification of so necessary an arrangement, would be avoided.

FOOTNOTE:

For the terms of this contract and the occasion of its necessity, see pages 10 and 47.

THE DENOUEMENT.

The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Society was the time proposed by the confederated agents and secretaries of the National and Massachusetts Societies, for the full development of their plans. Like children playing at draughts, they had calculated their own game, but not the counteracting moves of their antagonists. Mr. Garrison's unexpected trumpet-blast, threw them into confusion. They were ignorant of the extent of his knowledge, and, in their consternation, did the exact thing, that innocence would by its nature have necessarily avoided--denied the existence of any plot.

Mr. Garrison had spoken of two clergymen in Essex County. Mr. Torrey and Mr. St. Clair, like Scrub in the comedy, were "sure he was talking of them," and went into a labored denial and explanation; all of which, when examined and condensed, demonstrated that a great amount of time and labor, and by means of the agents and the funds of the Massachusetts and National Societies, had been privately expended in sowing the seed of the new paper.

Mr. Phelps, to whom Mr. Garrison had not alluded, identified himself with the plot, in a series of letters, whose remarkable bitterness was charitably imputed by some to the peevishness of recent illness. Others there were, who received these letters as a proclamation to all concerned, that the writer was no longer "Mr. Garrison's Brother Phelps;" and as an evidence that the threat of the Recorder had effected its purpose.

The Anti-Slavery Office became a scene of deep interest, both to the devoted friend of the cause, and to the close observer of human nature, while the tide of inquiring comers was on the flood. The innocent regularly brought confirmation that the alarm-note of Mr. Garrison was most fortunately timed. They all recollected some incomprehensible circumstance on which the recent developments had shed a flood of light. Some recalled a conversation with "your agent," some, a remark of "our secretary," hinting at a change in the Board, or a way by which clerical opponents might be gained over to the cause; "for we must have all these men." Abundance of sayings came to mind, by which, when first uttered, they had been exceedingly puzzled, and had finally laid aside as jests or incomprehensible:--having the master-key, they could now unlock them all. Notes and letters by the dozen were forth-coming, from Mr. Torrey and others, marked "confidential." His correspondents now began to feel that silence was crime. An eagerness to give and receive information, marked the innocent. Not so the guilty. They vehemently denied the existence of any plot,--said that Mr. Garrison was unfit to be entrusted with any important post in the cause, that Non-Resistants were not properly abolitionists,--that slavery was the creature of law--that votes made it, and votes only could unmake it--that though the Liberator did in its columns advocate political action, it was inconsistent in so doing, and that they thought a new paper absolutely necessary.

In this position, the day of the annual meeting found the conflicting principles and men. Bigotry and sectarism were pitted against religious liberty and Christian love,--openness and candor against craft and concealment,--treachery against fidelity,--falsehood against truth, and, freedom against bondage.

It was the largest anti-slavery gathering ever witnessed in Massachusetts, and a noble sight it was to look upon. It preserved its original heterogeneous character, being composed of old and young, men and women; of every sect, party, condition and color, all filled with the most absorbing interest. Well might every eye be rivetted, and every heart wrapped in earnest attention. It was a turning point in the cause. A strong and mighty wind had come to winnow the wheat from the chaff; the crooked was to be made straight--the hidden was to be revealed:--expectation was wrought up to the top of its bent. The report of the Board of Managers, written by Mr. Garrison, was first read. Men looked wonderingly at one another. "Is this the report that we received such earnest entreaties to come and vote down? we find no fault in it. Are these the opinions of our board of officers, which it is represented to us as so desirable, for opinion's sake, to change? perhaps we might look farther, and find worse."

The report was laid aside to afford opportunity for the utterance of the thoughts which were swelling up, to find vent in every mind. The business committee, desirous of affording every facility to debate, opened the way by the introductions of the following resolutions.

Resolved, That the state of the Anti-Slavery cause in this Commonwealth demands the establishment of an ably-conducted, cheap, official organ, to be under the control of the Board of Managers of the State Society, issued weekly to subscribers; to advocate political as well as moral and religious action; to be exclusively confined to the object of the Anti-Slavery cause, and edited by a man or men, who can conscientiously, heartily and consistently advocate all the anti-slavery measures, political as well as moral action; and that the salary of the editor or editors, together with all other necessary expenses thereof, be paid out of the funds of the Society.

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