. And so for
the most part Garrison could do nothing with communities, which had
eyes, but obstinately refused to see with them upon any subject relating
to the abominations of slavery. In his own town of Newburyport, officers
of Christian churches not only refused to hear his message themselves,
but debarred others from listening to the woes and wrongs of
fellow-creatures in bondage. As Mr. Garrison truly said at the time: "If
I had visited Newburyport to plead the cause of twenty white men in
chains, every hall and every meeting-house would have been thrown open,
and the fervor of my discourses anticipated and exceeded by my
fellow-townsmen. The fact that two millions of colored beings are
groaning in bondage, in this land of liberty, excites no interest nor
pity." If these damning facts are remembered sixty years after their
occurrence to the shame of the trustees of the two churches, viz., the
Presbyterian Church on Harris street and the Second Congregational
Church, it is also remembered to the honor of the two pastors, Rev. Dr.
Daniel Dana, and the Rev. Dr. Luther F. Dimmick, that they had thrown
open to the prophet the doors of their meeting-houses, which the
trustees afterward slammed in his face.

In Boston the same hard luck followed him. In all that city of Christian
churches he could not obtain the use of a single meeting-house, "in
which to vindicate the rights of TWO MILLIONS of American citizens, who
are now groaning in servile chains in this boasted land of liberty; and
also to propose just, benevolent, and constitutional measures for their
relief." So ran an advertisement in the Boston _Courier_ of the sorely
tried soul. For two weeks he had gone up and down the town in search of
a room free of cost, in which to deliver his message. The door of every
sanctuary was locked against his cause. It was then, as a final
recourse, that he turned to the _Courier_, and made his last appeal to
the Christian charity of the city. The prayer of the prophet was
answered from an unexpected quarter. It was that ecclesiastical dragon
of the times, Abner Kneeland, and his society of "blasphemers," who
proved afresh the truth of that scripture which says: "Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." It was they
that gave to liberty a hearing, to the prophet of righteousness a chance
to deliver his message. It was in their