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Editorial
February 19, 1841
The Liberator
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
What is this article about?
An editorial from the Greenfield Gazette criticizes William Lloyd Garrison for integrating radical ideas on women's rights, no-government, anti-Sabbath, and anti-church views into the anti-slavery movement, arguing it dilutes the cause and prompts calls to separate him from it. It references Rev. Nathaniel Colver's letter on Garrison's waning influence after a Boston convention.
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Garrison.
This disorganizer has a wonderful tact at splitting hairs, when it suits his purpose. He forced the woman and no-government fantasies into the anti-slavery ranks, and then gravely strokes his face, puts on a sober visage, and says it was none of his doings; wonders, in feigned astonishment, that any body can think so, and undertakes by argument as strong as cob-webs, to prove that the question got into the society without his aid! So in other things. He mixes all his whims together, puts abolition in the centre, so that no body can get at that without taking the whole, and then, if any body complains of his conduct, he wheels round, throws out a volley of abuse, a lash of malignity equal to the lash to the slave's back,' and protests his own innocence.
Recently, Rev. Nathaniel Colver wrote to some English correspondents respecting Garrison's connections with the anti-sabbath, anti-church Convention held in Boston last November, and remarked that his influence was waning in consequence of it. Garrison, at this, lets out a full flood of denunciations against Mr. Colver, declaring that he is a hypocrite and a villain. He protests that his views on the Sabbath, the Church and the Ministry, had nothing to do with abolition. Well, abstractly they are not abolition, but practically they have a great influence over certain minds, in whose conceptions there is nothing perfect but Garrison; and this he knows. To say, therefore, that his views on these subjects have no connection with abolition, when he makes that subject the medium through which he tinctures others with his most extravagant nonsense, is altogether too fanciful for truth—he asserts his anti-slavery sympathies, a pestiferous influence on other things, and is it not wonderful that staid, discreet, sober, anti-slavery men should wish to shake him off from the cause? They think that the freedom of the slave purchased at the expense of the overthrow of the Sabbath, and of the sacred institutions of our holy religion, would be at too dear a price.—Greenfield Gazette.
This disorganizer has a wonderful tact at splitting hairs, when it suits his purpose. He forced the woman and no-government fantasies into the anti-slavery ranks, and then gravely strokes his face, puts on a sober visage, and says it was none of his doings; wonders, in feigned astonishment, that any body can think so, and undertakes by argument as strong as cob-webs, to prove that the question got into the society without his aid! So in other things. He mixes all his whims together, puts abolition in the centre, so that no body can get at that without taking the whole, and then, if any body complains of his conduct, he wheels round, throws out a volley of abuse, a lash of malignity equal to the lash to the slave's back,' and protests his own innocence.
Recently, Rev. Nathaniel Colver wrote to some English correspondents respecting Garrison's connections with the anti-sabbath, anti-church Convention held in Boston last November, and remarked that his influence was waning in consequence of it. Garrison, at this, lets out a full flood of denunciations against Mr. Colver, declaring that he is a hypocrite and a villain. He protests that his views on the Sabbath, the Church and the Ministry, had nothing to do with abolition. Well, abstractly they are not abolition, but practically they have a great influence over certain minds, in whose conceptions there is nothing perfect but Garrison; and this he knows. To say, therefore, that his views on these subjects have no connection with abolition, when he makes that subject the medium through which he tinctures others with his most extravagant nonsense, is altogether too fanciful for truth—he asserts his anti-slavery sympathies, a pestiferous influence on other things, and is it not wonderful that staid, discreet, sober, anti-slavery men should wish to shake him off from the cause? They think that the freedom of the slave purchased at the expense of the overthrow of the Sabbath, and of the sacred institutions of our holy religion, would be at too dear a price.—Greenfield Gazette.
What sub-type of article is it?
Slavery Abolition
Moral Or Religious
Social Reform
What keywords are associated?
Garrison Criticism
Anti Slavery Radicals
Sabbath Views
Church Convention
Abolition Purity
What entities or persons were involved?
Garrison
Rev. Nathaniel Colver
Anti Slavery Society
English Correspondents
Boston Convention
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Criticism Of Garrison's Radical Influences In Anti Slavery Movement
Stance / Tone
Strongly Critical Of Garrison's Tactics And Radicalism
Key Figures
Garrison
Rev. Nathaniel Colver
Anti Slavery Society
English Correspondents
Boston Convention
Key Arguments
Garrison Introduces Woman And No Government Ideas Into Anti Slavery Without Taking Responsibility
He Mixes Abolition With His Whims, Forcing Acceptance Of All
Responds To Criticism With Abuse While Claiming Innocence
His Anti Sabbath And Anti Church Views Influence Abolitionists Despite Denials
Traditional Abolitionists Seek To Separate From Him To Preserve Religious Institutions