H.B.W. to Frederick Douglass, October 13, 1853
LYNN, Oct. 13, 1853.
FRIEND DOUGLASS:—I noticed, in a late
number of your paper, that certain mem-
bers of the old organization, by their unwar-
rantable abuse and slander, seem bent on car-
rying the war into Africa, against all those
who may differ with them in general, and
yourself in particular. Allow me to say, sir,
that from these attacks I think you have
nothing to fear. Your course of late has
met the hearty approval of the great and
only efficient portion of the anti-slavery par-
ty. They honor your judgment, and admire
the courage which has led you to assume the
position you so proudly occupy. Be assured,
you are daily making to yourself unseen
friends, who, in the hour of trial, will sus-
tain and bear you up.
In reading the account of your recent re-
ception in Boston, I am forcibly reminded of
the conduct of the Essex County Anti-Sla-
very Society, which met in Lynn some two
or three months since; at which time and
place, one of the immortal three made him-
self very conspicuous by his denunciations
of all those who professed to be opposed to
slavery, yet remained out of the Garrisonian
Camp. I am not aware that any report of
this meeting has as yet appeared in the oracle. I trust, therefore, that a brief notice
of its doings may not be unacceptable at the
present time, inasmuch as your political mo-
tives were called in question, and your anti-
slavery character most grossly assailed.
The meeting, if I remember rightly, was
rather thinly attended during the earlier part
of the day, which led Mr. Remond to make
the very chilly comparison between it and a
grave-yard; he also indulged in some very
harsh and unpleasant strictures on the peo-
ple of Lynn, but failed to elicit any discus-
sion at that time. In the afternoon there
was quite a respectable audience. The first
thing in order, was the selection of a board
of officers for the ensuing year. The busi-
ness being properly attended to, Mr. Remond
took the floor, and in his particular manner,
proceeded to arraign the people for their
lack of interest in the abolition movement,
affirming that the true spirit of reform had
died out; that Lynn was living on its past
fame, and should no longer be considered
the Banner Town of the Commonwealth.—
He stated in substance that the Liberator was
the legitimate rule of faith and practice;
that all those who laid any claim to an anti-
slavery character, whether they be Free Soil
or Free Democrat, were base imposters, not
worthy to be trusted with the cause of the
slave. This was the style of his remarks
and the tone of his tirades—not having lost
all faith in you as an abolitionist, I ventured
to inquire of Mr. Remond whether he con-
sidered you as yet sound on this great ques-
tion; he turned to me with much pity, ex-
pressed in his countenance, that I should be
so ignorant of your decline and fall, and
deigned to make in substance the following
answer: "Perhaps my friend thinks he has
now asked a question which is a poser; but I
would say to him, and to all those who may
be ignorant of the present position of Fred-
erick Douglass, that we do not now consider
him an anti-slavery man. When he left the
old organization, his glory left him; he has
ceased to be an abolitionist; his light has de-
parted; his sun has gone down; Frederick
Douglass is no more." This, of course, was
news to the audience, and led them to ask
after the anti-slavery health of other emi-
nent men who have renounced the feeble
and ineffectual faith of the Garrisonians, and
laid their hands on the great lever of politi
cal action. These men, one and all, were, as
you would say, handed over to infamy and
condemnation.
Mr. Remond was succeeded by your friend
Dr. Addison Davis, who rose in defence of
the Free Soil party and the anti-slavery char-
acter of Lynn, which he deemed had been
basely slandered. He reviewed in a masterly
manner the course of the Mass. Anti-Slavery
Society, from its humble birth to its present
position of arrogance and pride. He failed
not to rebut with arguments, strong and
weighty, every assertion made, and every
position claimed against the Free Soil party
and its noble leaders. Mr. Remond had
aroused the wrong passenger this time; for
you are well aware that Dr. Davis has been
for many years an efficient member of the
Mass. Anti-Slavery Society. He gave good
and sufficient reasons why the people were
not interested in this Society; and affirmed
that the abolition movement had been in-
jured by the bringing in of side issues, and
heaping upon it grievous burthens which it
should not bear; that many honest and con-
scientious persons had kept aloof from cer-
tain measures which they deemed immoral
and seditious; and cited the Liberator to
prove that it was as much an anti-Bible as an
anti-slavery paper. He frequently alluded
to Mr. Garrison (who was present) with
marked respect, and closed with an encomi-
um of praise to that gentleman. Something
being said in relation to the Free Soil party
not allowing free discussion, Mr. Putnam
rose and said that free discussion was not al-
lowed on the platform of the old organiza-
tion; and that he had been gagged at the
late N. E. A. S. Convention. Mr. Remond
instantly declared aloud that "Mr. P. did
not tell the truth." Mr. Putnam then gave
an account of the opposition that he met
with at the N. E. Convention. Mr. Remond
admitted that G. W. Putnam had been in-
jured, and that he had received ill treatment
himself from the same source, but objected
bringing the subject up in public. This ad-
mission, as you will see, covers much ground,
and coming from the source it does, is of some
importance.
At the close of the meeting, the grand-
master of ceremonies, Mr. G., arose, and,
with fiery indignation, proceeded to pour out
the vials of his wrath on those who, that day,
had dared to question the conduct of that
par excellent organization, the Mass. Anti-
Slavery Society. It is not for me to pen the
polished epithets, which graced the speech
of this great apostle of universal emancipa-
tion. Suffice it to say, we were all cast out as
vile and degenerate, fit only to associate (to
use his own words) with Capt. Rynders and
bar-room rowdies. Thus did he repay the
words of adulation and praise, with bitter,
vindictive and vile abuse. So malicious was
the feeling, that Mr. Remond, in the evening,
had the daring impudence to offer a resolu-
tion to strike G. W. Putnam's name from the
list of officers, and turn him out of the So-
ciety.
I am well aware, Mr. Editor, that in send-
ing you this communication, I lay myself
open to the tomahawk and scalping-knife;
and in the hands of some, they are
instruments of fearful import. But it mat-
ters not to me. I have sought to give you a
plain, unvarnished sketch of one of the most
disgraceful meetings I ever attended—made
so by the wanton and unprovoked abuse of the
Free Soil party, and its eminent leaders, by
such men as Charles L. Remond, and his
worthy associates. They ought rather to lift
up their hands and thank God that there is a
[free?] and vigorous anti-slavery party in the
country, whose destiny it is to sweep from the
land the blighting curse of human bondage.
If in its mighty and majestic course it has
taken the wind from the sails of their weath-
er-beaten and water-logged hulks, they
would be glad; and instead of firing into us
as we pass their envions and malicious shot,
they should cheer us on and bid us God-speed
to the heaven of our hope.
Yours for the cause,
H. B. W.