Letter from James S. Dawes.

Mr. Editor:—Having been an earnest supporter of the Liberty Party from its first organization, and believing it to be the only political party in the country worthy of the confidence and support of just and true men, I feel a deep interest, as you may well suppose, in all that pertains to its prosperity and success. Judging from past experience, and from certain indications more apparent of late, I think I can see danger ahead. The Liberty Party has taken a bold and lofty, but unpopular stand; and the danger consists of receding from this elevated position—this strong hold of truth and righteousness, for the sake of acquiring numerical strength, by compromising the great principles which now distinguish it as a party, and accepting those of a lower grade, because by so doing, it would draw in the great mass of anti-slavery men. Now, the only safe course and true policy for any man, or body of men to take, is to plant their feet firmly on the rock of truth and right; and if any of their fellow-men can be induced to join them, well, if not, stand alone.

The Liberty Party sets up no claim to perfection, but it fearlessly challenges investigation. If it be nearer the right than other political parties, then certainly no intelligent person has any excuse for not supporting it. I belive it claims, and justly too, to be the only abolition party in the United States.—It says to slavery, not, "thus far shalt thou go and no farther," but, "loose your grasp on the last victim of your cruel tyranny, and retire to those infernal regions from whence you proceeded." The Free Soil doctrine, that we have nothing to do with slavery in the States, meets with no sympathy among Liberty Party men, if I understand them aright. Then, why should we look among Free Soilers for our standard-bearers?

I see that your corresponding editor, Mr. Thomas, whose zeal in the cause of freedom is worthy of all praise, has proposed the name of Mr. DurkeeDurkee, Charles

Charles Durkee (1805—70), politician and pacifist, was born in Royalton, Vermont, and educated in the town schools and at the Burlington Academy. A merchant, he emigrated in 1836 to Wisconsin, where he was one of the founders of Southport, later Kenosha. Durkee served in the territorial legislature before being elected as a Free Soiler to two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1849—53). At the World's Peace Conference in Paris in 1849 he was one of twenty-three American delegates. He later became president of the short-lived Wisconsin Peace Society. After joining the Republican party, Durkee served one term in the U.S. Senate (1855—61) and was appointed governor of Utah Territory in 1865. Curti, American Peace Crusade, 172, 217; BDAC, 839. , for the consideration

of the Liberty Party Convention to be held in Buffalo. I would respectfully inquire whether he is the right man? Is he a whole-souled, ultra abolitionist? For aught that I know, he may be a Liberty Party man, but is he a good one? Why have we not heard his voice in our national councils, where he has had an opportunity, raised, time and again, in thunder tones, against the enormous iniquity which it was his duty to rebuke? And more than all this, is he a Christian? This question, some may say, I have no right to ask. But I contend that it is a gross departure from the professed principles of every servant of God, to vote for any man for any responsible office unless he has satisfactory evidence that he is a regenerate person. If religion is anything, it is everything; and I want to see this principle, requiring satisfactory evidence of Christianity in candidates for office, incorporated in the Liberty Party platform. I would not require anyone to belong to any sectarian, man-made church—indeed he has no business or right so to do. If he is a Christian, he belongs to God's church, and this is enough.

I wish that Gerrit SmithSmith, Gerrit

Gerrit Smith (1797– 1874), a New York businessman and land speculator, became best known for his philanthropic work for such reform causes as temperance and abolition. Between 1828 and 1835, he donated large sums of money to the American Colonization Society, but abandoned that movement in 1835 when his sympathies shifted to the immediate abolitionists. In the 1840s, he gave approximately 140,000 acres of land in upstate New York to three thousand black settlers, thus qualifying them to vote. Smith was a founder and frequent candidate of the Liberty party, running for governor of New York on that ticket in 1840 and winning a seat in Congress in 1852. When the Free Soil merger with moderate antislavery Democrats and Whigs lured away many Liberty party supporters, Smith helped bankroll that organization until 1860. Smith befriended Douglass when the latter moved to Rochester, and Smith frequently helped finance Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Like Douglass, Smith supported John Brown, but psychological stress caused by the failure at Harpers Ferry brought on the first of a series of bipolar episodes that greatly reduced his subsequent reform activities. Ralph Volney Harlow, Gerrit Smith: Philanthropist and Reformer (1939; New York, 1972); Gerald Sorin, The New York Abolitionists: A Case Study of Political Radicalism (Westport, Conn., 1971), 269– 87; Lewis Perry, Radical Abolitionism: Anarchy and the Government of God in Antislavery Thought (Ithaca, N.Y., 1973), 170– 80; John R. McKivigan and Madeleine Leveille, “The ‘Black Dream’ of Gerrit Smith, New York Abolitionist,” Syracuse University Library Associates Courier, 20:61– 76 (Fall 1985); NCAB , 2:322– 23; DAB, 17:270– 71. might see it his duty to stand as candidate of the Liberty Party for President. Perhaps some smooth-tongued, unprincipled, half-way abolitionist, might command more votes, but votes are not all we want. I conceive one object of the Liberty to be, to take the lead in reforms, to stand as a model for other political parties, and to invite all true men into its ranks.

If Mr. Smith utterly declines the nomination, could we place a better man at the helm than William Goodell? We have many able, talented, and good men, who would honor the station. Let us shun the rock on which we split in 1848, and not trust the ship, with any such men as Hale, or Clay, or Chase, or even Giddings.

In renewing my subscription for your paper, excuse me if I find a little fault with it. Could not the space occupied by Dickens'Dickens, Charles

Charles Dickens (1812-70), British novelist and writer, authored many of the most enduring pieces of modern literature. The quintessential Victorian writer, Dickens penned dozens of stories and novels beginning with the Monthly Magazine publication of a short story titled "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (1833). Many of his works consider the bleak side of human nature and reflect the darker side of life in Victorian England. Among his best-known works are Pickwick Papers (1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1850), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Grahame Smith, Charles Dickens: A Literary Life (New York, 1996); DNB, 5:925-37. "Bleak House" be better occupied?

Yours,

James S. DawesDawes, James Shaw

This is likely James Shaw Dawes (1812–96), a native of Massachusetts who steadily moved west throughout his life as a farmer. His father, John Dawes, served in the Revolution as a teenager. Dawes received a superior education to most at the time, although he never attended any higher institutions. He first moved to Medina, Michigan, in 1835. In the late 1850s he moved to Earlville, Iowa, moving later to Grinnelle, Iowa, before settling in Blue Rapids, Kansas in 1872. He was known to be active in the fight against slavery and temperance and spoke regularly about these topics in his local church. “Died,” Blue Rapids (Kans.) Times, 17 December 1896; 1850 U. S. Census, Medina, Lenawee, Michigan; 1860 U. S. Census, Oneida Township, Delaware, Iowa; 1880 U.S. Census, Blue Rapids, Marshall, Kansas. .

Medina, Mich., August 2d, 1852.