Page Image  |  Close

Collection: African American Newspapers
Publication: FREDERICK DOUGLASS' PAPER
Date: October 29, 1852
F. DouglassTitle: JERRY RESCUE CELEBRATION
Location: Rochester, New York
the Pennsylvania Freeman.

From the Pennsylvania Freeman.
JERRY RESCUE CELEBRATION.

.... has been held; and no meeting ever held in this country has ever passed off more grandly, or produced a happier impression. Despite the efforts of the Syracuse Star , a few Hunkers and pro-slaveryites in general, to inflame whatever of base material may hang around the outskirts of Syracuse into a mob, the meeting was one of great quietness, and every one present, save those who hate the good to be there. The day itself was of almost matchless beauty and brightness. The sun never shone more resplendently, and the skies never looked clearer. Scarce a cloud was to be seen; or if, perchance, a stray one floated hither on thither, it was but the precursor of a glorious sunbeam-making all light around it. The heavens smiled and the earth looked glad; - and why should they not? Heaven never looked upon a more glorious day, nor earth held upon its bosom hearts more true, than those which were assembled in Syracuse to lead in the celebration on the first of October, 1852. - There was Garrison with his heart of love, and sympathies which know no sex nor color - only man, with the rights of a common humanity, and with powers and faculties, desires, dispositions and inclinations which link his heart of the Great Jehovah. This man was there, and this, of itself was glory enough for one day, and for one such occasion, though that one occasion was no less than the celebrating of the most remarkable event in the history of American freedom. Yes, William Lloyd Garrison was there; and oh, how in my heart of hearts I love that man! I can never think of the poor printer and his garret, and his crust of bread and cup of water, and only a little negro boy for his assistant; - I say I can never think of all these, and of the greatest wrong which ever saw the sun, and concerning which all was stillness, and in which all was acquiescence, and think now of the concentrated energies of the entire American people directed to the subject of slavery, without thanking God that he has given us such a man. O, there was something sublime, grandly, gloriously, magnificently sublime in the bare conception of the idea, to say nothing of the attempt to actualize it, that with not a friend in the world to whom he could go in confidence, and without a particle of present and personal influence, he could bring the world to truth, to justice, to humanity and to God. Here was the sublimity of faith - faith not in man but in God. - What else than faith in God, in rectitude, could it have been that induced William Lloyd Garrison to launch his bark upon a sea where he could for long years have expected to encounter nothing else than storms, tempests, darkness, the raging of billows, the lightning's flash, and the thunder's roar? Bring the world to God did I say? - That may not be yet; but as Charles Sumner said of the Anti-Slavery spirit - "It may not at present be seen in the high places of the earth, but if you but put your ears to the ground you may hear its tread coming on," so the angels of heaven have been to put their ears to the feet of Jehovah to hear the onward tread of earth as it marches upward to God. Was there ever in these latter days a high priest annointed of God, that priest is William Lloyd Garrison. Faults he may have; so, also, but only with a telescope, may be seen spots on the face of the sun.
But I pass on. Gerrit Smith was there - the noble, the generous, the magnanimous - he who dwells in the region where, it may almost be said,
"Celestial powers alone have sway."

And Douglass, too, was there - the eloquent, the powerful - he who, though

"Born in servitude, and nurtured in scorn,
Yet did cast aside its weary weight,
In that strong majesty of soul.
Which knows no color, tongue or clime."

And Lucy Stone was there - she of angelic eloquence and seraphic whisperings; - and Lucretia Mott was there, the matron lady of dignity, firmness, intellect, the leader of her sex against the wrongs which, from time immemorial - woman has been the recipient: - and R.R. Raymond was there - he whose eloquence thrills the soul, and stirs up the blood till it is fit to leap out of the heart; - and Samuel J. May was there, than whom no purer or more loving spirit lives - Samuel J. May whose gracious heart finds expression not only in beauteous smiles and gentle tones, but in deeds of hourly benevolence - Samuel J. May, whose days are of a truth,

"Bound each to each by a natural piety."

And Lyndon King was there - God bless him! Brave old man! - with the heart of a lion for the right, and a power of prayer which even Jacob might have envied. All these were there; - and why, therefore, should not the day have been a grand and glorious one? And we were in the city of Syracuse, too - which, though "little to look at, is mighty to cope with;" - the city of Syracuse, which, when hundreds of years hence the poet and historian shall sing and write of the greatness of American cities, shall receive their grandest and most glowing eulogies:

"Nations since born have wept o'er thy decay,
Science and arts have flourished and died;
And though thy glory like a dream hath passed away,
Yet thine imperishable fame shall always abide."

Thus sang the poet of ancient Thebes, because of her hundred gates, and stately domes and palaces; so also will the poet sing of Syracuse, but not because of her gates and palaces. There is a greatness higher than mere intellectual force, expanding itself in costly and ingenius structures of earth - it is the greatness finding its base in the moral nature of man, and its apex in virtue and humanity, which shall live when the

"Earth shall be removed,
And the mountains be dragged into the middle of the sea."

It is the greatness which recognizes all mankind as equal brethren, and God as our equal Father; - it is the greatness which acknowledges and acts upon the sublimest doctrine of Christian faith - "Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you." It is for this greatness that Syracuse shall be among the cities that were, that the poet shall sing as he looks back through the dim vista of ages -

"What glory on thy temples safe,
When truth and humanity were thine;
And though darkness and mystery enshrouded thy fate,
The glimpse imagination gives us is divine."

But to be specific in the details of the meeting. The Mayor and Common Council had decided that the City Hall should not be had. Poor cowards! They were not opposed to human freedom - what human being is? Be there one such; then, as Theodore D. Wells bids us, clank the chains in his face, and tell him they are for him, and straightway he is cured. No, the Mayor and Common Council were not opposed to liberty, nor to the Jerry Rescue Meeting, only as it might be to them a political disaster. So, in effect, the Mayor told me the following day, face to face. His manifesto, he said, was insued simply in deference to his position, while his desires were that the meeting might be a pleasant one. His real desires were, doubtless, that the meeting should not be held at all, lest his "base-born" Democracy should receive a stunning blow. But the meeting was held; and the results will be felt in hastening four-fold the day when not a slave shall clank his chains in all this wide America. The two previous meetings - the one of the Free Democracy held on Wednesday, and the other of the Liberty Party held on Thursday - had already assembled quite a number of strangers and dignitaries in the city; and on Friday morning the cars, stages and omnibusses came well loaded, so that at the time of meeting some three thousand persons were on the ground. Old gray, little and rall, great and small, rich and poor, high and low, were there. There were those who loved truth, and a few who loved lies; but there were none there to create a disturbance, or, in the least degree to mar the pleasure of the day. The meeting was held in the unfinished Engine House on Fayette street - an immense structure, capable of holding at least its ten thousand people.
About ten o'clock, Gerrit Smith was appointed Chairman by acclamation. Lyndon King then opened with prayer; after which Mr. Smith made some appropriate remarks, describing the celebration as one of the most remarkable of events, and the day as one of the most cheering of his life. As his deep-toned and powerful voice filled the building, every word he uttered, owing to the peculiar structure of the house, was echoed back, thereby producing an effect not less remarkable for its magical qualities than its grandeur. I cannot exactly describe it, - it may be understood, however, when I say that those who were at the farthest point form the speaker could hear, with most distinctness. A Business Committee was then appointed, of which Samuel J. May was Chairman, who reported in due season a series of resolutions, the pith of the whole of which was, that " that is no law which is contrary to Justice and Humanity; and consequently those who rescued Jerry on the first of October, 1851, were not a mob, but on the contrary were law-abiding citizens rescuing Jerry from a mob. " This was high ground, but true ground, and the only ground on which to stand to wield effective blows against slavery. And I am happy to say that the resolutions were responded to with a zest and vigor which indicated a people who understood the reality of their cause, and the earnestness which should mark those who are its advocates. Rev. R.R. Raymond, while the Committee were out, made one of the most impressive speeches to which I have ever listened. It was a vivid and thrilling description of the rescue of Jerry. This gentleman deserves a passing notice. Until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, he was a quiet Baptist minister in the city of Syracuse, going on in the old way. The passage of that bill stirred his heart - drew out his sympathies toward the oppressed, brought him into contact with the abolitionists, compelled him to throw off his shackles, and to stand forth a bold and unflinching advocate of the cause of the down-trodden and the oppressed. And in the advocacy of that cause, let me say, he is a workman of whom his Master will not be ashamed. He is now the Editor of the True Democrat , in the city of Syracuse, Mr. Johonnot of Syracuse ten read a Poem, entitled the "Rescue of Jerry," by George W. Putnam, of Lynn, Mass. It was a beautiful production, and some portions of it were delivered with admirable effect. The effect produced upon the audience was decided.

"Up! up! to the rescue! O stalwart of limb!
From the salt-spring and cornfield, and workshop so dim,
Pass on the bright summons! and marshalled in might,
Come forth, O ye people, for Freedom and Right!
Hark! the uproar of voices! the trampling of feet!
As they throng in their thousands the bridges and street;
And their words like the voice of the ocean arouse,
As they murmured defiance and wrath to their foes.

* * * * * * * * *

It was evening - the stars kept their watch in the sky,
When through the still Heaven rang glorious and high
The cry of the PEOPLE - "Ho! down with the wall!
Bring him out! bring him forth! set him free from his thrall!"
Hark the crash! it was done! with the quickness of thought
'Mid the fire of the foe, in the path of the shot!
And the bright throng of Heaven bent downward to see,
When they brought forth the man, still in fetters, but FREE!"

Lucy Stone then followed in a speech remarkable for its quiet beauty, and not less remarkable certainly for its inflexible adherence to the right. No cause can suffer with Lucy Stone for its advocate. With her countenance radiant and beaming with intelligence, purity and truth, she can chase a hundred of her enemies, and it does not need two in her case to put ten thousand to flight. Frederick Douglass followed next, who gave us some of the thunder of the Gods. Some say that his was the speech of the morning; but I must confess that my heart palpitated toward Lucy. After the speech of Douglass, the meeting adjourned till 2 o'clock, P.M. L.P. Noble of Fayetteville took the chair, when Gerrit Smith arose and addressed the audience for about an hour. The speech was one of his grandest efforts. It is almost useless to say, for all we know that it could not have been otherwise, that he was interrupted by frequent applause; and when he put that question " will you engage in another rescue? " - the response was an aye , and that aye given instantaneously, and in tones sufficiently powerful to tumble, for the next four years, all the planks from one or the other of the famous Baltimore platforms.
William Lloyd Garrison next spoke in an elaborate speech of great length. Garrison is no compromiser, and it is simple truth to say, that the great principles of human progress were dealt with in a manner worthy of the speaker.
The next and last speaker was Lucretia Mott. She took a wide field, and allowed herself the largest latitude - touching on Quakerism, Non Resistance, Women's Rights, &c. While she was speaking, the audience were rapidly dispersing, and I could have wished that for her sake Mr. Garrison had been briefer. After the singing of Old Hundred, the meeting was dismissed by Professor Grosvenor; and every true heart went away rejoicing in what his eyes had seen, and his ears had heard. I had almost forgotten to say that the exercises were interspersed thro'out with music - the divine art, indeed - the fitting hand-maid of whatsoever are lovely and of good report.
And now, Mr. Editor, what think you the Syracuse Star said? Completely non-plussed, it uttered in faint tones the next morning its gratification that no meeting had been held in the evening lest a mob might have been excited and the city disgraced! - Was there ever such pusillanimity! The wretch would lick up the spittle of the dirtiest slave-driver in Christendom, and turn around, and say "thankee, massa." Well did the Syracuse papers congratulate the Star upon its success in getting up such a quiet mob?
I have not time to enlarge with regard to the celebration; and may be already I have taken up too many of your valuable columns; but this I know, that in that meeting the majesty of law was vindicated, and slavery receiving a stunning blow. The cause is onward - let us be encouraged -

"Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait."

Our patriotism may be questioned, but not by the discriminating and just. Indeed, patriotism is not the highest virtue that should be known among men. Truth and Christianity are higher. Patriotism may be a virtue; - it also may not. It is a virtue when it is circumscribed by the law of rectitude; it is a vice when it transcends it. No circumstances can ever arise in the relations which human beings sustain to each other which can justify the abrogation of the law of an equal brotherhood; and nations, therefore, should never be regarded as anything more than mere conveniences, Patriotism transcending the law of rectitude begets vanity, pride, bigotry, selfishness, the desire of national aggrandizement, and, as a matter of course, the desire to domineer over, and subjugate the weak. It is this sort of patriotism which has added so many Slave States to this Union; and, in fact, which allowed them. IT is this sort of patriotism which would, if it could, circumvent Jehovah in all his purposes and plans. Let us away with it. God is mightier than man. We cannot outdo the Everlasting Jehovah. We may prosper for a while, but

"Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again."

Come thou, sweet Freedom, best gift of God to man! Not in a storm of fire and blood I ask it, but still, at all events, and all hazard, come. Yours,
WM. G. ALLEN.
McGRAWVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 6, 1852.