g
as a good Providence gives me strength and intellect, I will not cease
to declare that the existence of slavery in this country is a foul
reproach to the American name; nor will I hesitate to proclaim the guilt
of kidnappers, slave abettors, or slaveowners, wheresoever they may
reside, or however high they may be exalted. I am only in the _alphabet_
of my task; time shall perfect a useful work. It is my shame that I have
done so little for the people of color; yea, before God, I feel humbled
that my feelings are so cold, and my language so weak. A few white
victims must be sacrificed to open the eyes of this nation, and to show
the tyranny of our laws. I expect and am willing to be persecuted,
imprisoned, and bound for advocating African rights; and I should
deserve to be a slave myself if I shrunk from that duty or danger." The
story of the trial of William Lloyd Garrison, from which the above brave
words are taken, fell into the hands of that noble man and munificent
merchant, Arthur Tappan, of New York. From the reading of it he rose
"with that deep feeling of abhorrence of slavery and its abettors which
every one must feel who is capable of appreciating the blessings of
liberty," and thereupon notified Lundy to draw upon him for one hundred
dollars if that amount would give the young editor his liberty. The fine
and costs of court were accordingly paid and just forty-nine days after
entering Baltimore jail a prisoner, Garrison recovered his freedom. The
civil action of Todd against him was still pending. Nothing daunted
Garrison went North two days after his discharge to obtain certain
evidence deemed important by his counsel to his defence. He took with
him an open letter from Lundy looking to the renewal of the weekly
_Genius_ under their joint control. Prior to Garrison's trial the paper
had fallen into great stress for want of money. Lundy and he had made a
division of their labors, the latter doing the editorial and office
work, while the former traveled from place to place soliciting
subscriptions and collecting generally the sinews of war. But the
experiment was not successful from a business standpoint. For as
Garrison playfully observed subsequently: "Where friend Lundy could get
one new subscriber, I could knock a _dozen_ off, and I did so. It was
the old experiment of the frog in the well, that went two feet up and
fell three feet back, at every jump." Where the income of the paper did
not exceed fifty d