Title: Report of the Twentieth National Anti-Slavery Bazaar
Author: Weston, A. W.
Language: English
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NATIONAL ANTI-SLAVERY BAZAAR ***



REPORT

OF THE

TWENTIETH NATIONAL

ANTI-SLAVERY BAZAAR.



BOSTON:

J. B. YERRINTON & SON, PRINTERS

1854.



REPORT.


The brightness of the New Year of 1854 did not fall without its
shadows on the community of which we make a part. The storm of the
28th and 29th of December, unprecedented in severity, for many years,
had brought to some homes actual bereavement or severe pecuniary loss,
to many, serious annoyance, inconvenience and anxiety, and to all,
that subduing, saddening influence which is experienced, however
temporarily, when any “great outrages of weather” unsettle the
thoughtless security as to life and safety, that usually pervades the
public mind. For several days, the mails were stopped, and almost all
communication with the environs of Boston cut off. When tidings
_could_ arrive, and nearly every hour brought fresh intelligence of
peril, disaster or shipwreck, and the very aspect of nature herself
seemed redolent of melancholy suggestion, it certainly would not be
unnatural if, in some minds, the whole coloring of thought assumed a
graver and more sober hue. This has been the case with ourselves. The
Bazaar of 1853 has closed with what we are entitled, in our
circumstances, to estimate as _brilliant success_, the receipts being
four thousand two hundred and fifty-six dollars; and yet we feel
impelled to a more thoughtful and serious train of remark than may, at
first view, appear natural or appropriate. To the minds of most
persons, the mention of a Ladies’ Bazaar suggests ideas of a purely
gay and festal character; of an occasion, where it is well if the
gaiety and festivity do not degenerate into mere thoughtlessness and
frivolity. How it may be in Bazaars designed for the support of
popular charities, we are unable to say; but, when we are speaking of
one whose funds are devoted to the sustentation of the American
Anti-Slavery Society, we assure all who are willing to listen, that
ours is grave work, performed in any but a thoughtless and
irresponsible spirit.

Let us recal, for a moment, the written records of thought and feeling
that accompany the exquisite and beautiful donations of which the
Bazaar is made up. These latter suggest only ideas of taste, and
skill, and elegant leisure, and abundant wealth; and the looker-on can
hardly do else than associate such brightness of coloring and harmony
of tint, with the glow of health and happiness. But with these
suggestions, do the facts accord? Far from it. From the homes of
actual poverty, from young girls painfully earning their own bread,
and yet saving something to purchase the material that shall be
fashioned into the gay clothing, never to be worn for their own
decoration, from the chambers of sickness and languor, and hopeless
disease, from Asylums for the Blind, from schools that charity has
established for the help of the wholly indigent,――it is from sources
like these, that very great and valuable assistance is obtained. True,
the gifts of the happy and the prosperous are here also; the
glittering ornament, that has graced many a gay pageant; the exquisite
picture, in which the painter has made real his happiest conception,
or recalled some favorite scene; the admired and successful volume,
fresh from the hands of its author. The minister of religion, the
philosopher, the artist, and the poet, have given us of their best,
have freely contributed that spiritual and ideal wealth, whose price
is above rubies. But all these gifts, however diverse their source,
come to us with words of the most earnest encouragement, with
assurances of exhaustless sympathy, and promises of continued support.
Much of the help thus given, by deed and word, is sent from other
lands. To the moral beauty of the contribution, it adds not a little,
in our eyes, that such is the case. The fact itself furnishes a most
invigorating testimony to the truth of the principle on which the
Anti-Slavery enterprise is based. By a spontaneous conviction,
overmastering nationalities, and usage, and creed, and language, men
differing world-wide in all beside, are laboring together in the
promulgation of the cardinal doctrine of our Anti-Slavery creed, that
_under no conceivable circumstances_, can one man hold another as
goods and chattels.

We have barely indicated the sources and the motives, from, and by
which, the donations to the Bazaar are obtained. Suffer us, on behalf
of the immediate managers and promoters of this effort, to assure
these generous donors, that they are received in a spirit not wholly
unworthy of the great work to which they are consecrated. Our distant
friends cannot know the difficulties and discouragements that, at
every step, beset such an undertaking as ours. It is _the twentieth
Bazaar_ that has just closed. The interest afforded by novelty and a
spirit of adventure has long since died away. The number of
Abolitionists in the city which sent back Thomas Sims is necessarily
small; and, of that small number, only a few are so situated as to
give to the Bazaar much earnest and effective labor. Many of the
Committee do not reside in Boston, and several of its most efficient
members are absent from the country.

Within the last two years, two of those who have been co-workers with
us almost from the beginning of the conflict, have passed onward to a
higher service. The example of a long life, devoted to deeds of
self-sacrificing beneficence, the memory of beauty and genius, and
gifts still more excellent than either beauty or genius,――these are
all that remain to us.

Of the thousand petty toils, and wearying annoyances, and uncongenial
duties that attend the Bazaar, we will not speak. They would be
burdensome under any circumstances; for buying and selling, even when
viewed as a prelude to getting gain, is not in itself an interesting
occupation. Neither do we dwell on the misunderstandings and
misrepresentations, and absence of popular sympathy, to which our
position exposes us.

Why, then, do we refer to all this? Not, certainly, for the purpose of
discouraging or saddening a single heart that has ever bade us God
speed.

There is a practice in the Catholic Church, which, Protestant as we
are, attracts our sympathy. Any suffering, no matter how earthly its
character, any labor, however mundane and common-place, becomes
ennobled and sanctified, if removed from the category of common
duties, and performed as a religious offering. Let it be so with this
annual Bazaar. The prayers and blessings interwoven with so many
memorials of patient toil, the gifts that enrich it, alike of the high
and the low, the happy and the sorrowing, the self-sacrifice that
marks every step of its progress, the weariness, care and anxiety that
are its necessary attendants, let us, as it were, cast them all upon
the altar of our faith, remembering, as we do so, the words, “To do
good and communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased.”

From the following towns and cities in Great Britain, large and
valuable donations were received:――Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle,
Leeds, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dublin and Cork.

We have peculiar pleasure in the reception of the Liverpool Box, as it
is the first we have ever received from that town. The close
connection, too, that exists between Liverpool and the United States,
renders it doubly valuable. Probably no town in the United Kingdom is
so pro-slavery in its sympathies as Liverpool, and hence, by help from
such a quarter, we are the more encouraged. We are aware how much we
owe to the influence of the Rev. Francis Bishop, whose travels a year
or two since in this country, contrary to the usual experience of
English gentlemen, particularly clergymen, seems but to have deepened
his horror of American Slavery, and called forth his most strenuous
efforts for its extinction.

The Bristol Box included collections from Cheltenham, Gloucester,
Bridgwater, Bath, Frenchay, Chatham, Southampton, Isle of Wight,
Yarmouth and Chudleigh. As usual, almost all the articles were pretty
and well chosen, and some, particularly elegant and valuable. This was
especially the case in respect to the Honiton Lace. A great part of
it, (and several very handsome articles were received besides those
contained in the Bristol box,) was sold on the very first morning the
Bazaar opened. A very beautiful Honiton Lace Pin Cushion, with the
word _Liberty_ formed in the work, the gift of the lace-maker, was
greatly admired, and sold readily. The Basket Work was eagerly sought
for, and, indeed, most of the Bristol articles found a good market.

Our Newcastle friends have again called us to mind. The congregation
of the Rev. George Harris, though occupied with the erection of a new
church, and unusual claims on their charity, in consequence of the
prevalence of cholera in their town, have yet remembered those who are
forbidden, _by law_, to worship God according to their own
consciences, and whose worldly estate is such, that pestilence in
their midst is esteemed a boon instead of a curse.

Leeds and Manchester have made their usual generous response to our
call. All the little objects of taste and art, pictures, books, &c.,
contained in the Leeds box, and the Papier Maché in that from
Manchester, were much valued. We should return our thanks in an
especial manner to Mr. Wilson Armistead, of Leeds, for books and
tracts that actually reached us. We are not the less grateful for a
larger and more valuable collection which it was not our fortune to
receive. The vessel in which they were sent from Glasgow was
shipwrecked, and the packages lost.

In respect to the very costly and elegant collection sent from London,
by Mrs. Massie, we have to regret that it should have arrived so late.
Notwithstanding our utmost exertions, we were unable to obtain the box
from the Custom House till the evening of the 29th, and the Bazaar
closed on the 31st. The very pretty box from Cork was displayed at the
same time, and the effect of their arrival was at once evinced in the
greatly increased receipts; but still, as our first two days are
always the best in respect to sales, we could not but regret that so
many valuable and beautiful articles should have been absent at the
opening. It is almost impossible to do full justice to the boxes
arriving under such circumstances. They must necessarily be unpacked
and examined under great difficulties. Mrs. Massie’s full and ample
lists were a great assistance; but as such beautiful crochet work as
that we received from Cork, is hardly known in this country, we should
have been glad had our Cork friends affixed their own prices. The
magnificent Ottomans in the London box, were the admiration of all
beholders, but we were able to dispose of only one. The other has been
carefully reserved for another sale. The beautiful Silvered Glass also
met with its due appreciation, and sold readily, no specimens so fine
having been offered before in Boston. But the crowning glory of the
London Contribution were the very exquisite engravings presented by
Thomas Agnew, Esq., of Manchester. The subjects are――“The Independents
asserting Liberty of Conscience before the Westminster Assembly,
1644,” and “The Royal Agricultural Society of England.” In the former,
most of the faces are portraits which have been taken at great expense
and trouble from original paintings, and in the latter, the portraits
are those of living individuals. Both of these attracted very great
attention, and the first named was purchased by Mr. Wendell Phillips,
as were also the valuable portraits of Sir Humphrey Davy, John Dalton,
Esq., and Rev. Dr. Massie. “The Royal Agricultural Society” will be
sure to find a ready sale next year, as it would, we think, have done
this, had it been received in sufficient season, as will also the
beautiful “English Lake Scenery.”

To the Rev. Dr. Massie, the Bazaar is much indebted for a little work,
very tastefully got up, entitled, “Slavery, the Crime and Curse of
America.” A large number of copies having been received for gratuitous
distribution, the Committee have circulated them as extensively as was
possible, and, as far as might be in their power, have endeavored to
bring the work before the notice of members of pro-slavery evangelical
churches, (if we may be allowed to depart so far from the original
meaning of words, as to place them in such a collocation.)

Two of our Scotch boxes, those from Edinburgh and Glasgow, arrived in
ample season, and having time for a very careful and thorough
examination, we are prepared to speak of their contents in terms of
high eulogy. The beautiful Embroidered Muslin, Shawls and Scarfs of
different patterns, Dress Pieces, and some very elegant Aprons, are
the articles that occur to us on the Glasgow table as peculiarly
saleable. On the Edinburgh table, one beautiful Prize Plaid Shawl,
with rose, thistle and shamrock worked upon it, and two Scarfs of the
Murray pattern, were greatly admired. Scarfs of this description were
in great request, and we could have sold many more than we did.

May we take the liberty of inserting here, that a handsome Highland
Shawl, in which the colors are simply blue and white, would, at the
next Bazaar, find a ready purchaser? Such an one has been inquired for
with praiseworthy perseverance for several years, and we would gladly,
by-and-by, be able to supply the demand.

We are grateful to our Edinburgh friends for some very good
Autographs. Those written particularly for the occasion, by the
venerable James Montgomery, were received with very great pleasure.

Owing to some unfortunate mistake in Great Britain, the abundant and
beautiful collection of our Perth friends did not reach us till the
second week of the Bazaar. The box was finally sent to New York,
instead of Boston, and it was only by great exertion on the part of
Mr. Gay, that it arrived in season. The missing box had been waited
for with so much anxiety, that its appearance was hailed with the
utmost delight. The abundance, variety and beauty of its contents,
fulfilled our warmest expectations. The Travelling Bags, Tidies,
Affghan Blankets, Crocheted Collars, Book and Flower Stands, were
highly acceptable. Perhaps here is a fitting place to remark, that no
Drawing-Room Cushions, however beautiful, are as saleable with us as
they have been. As we are able to furnish beautiful Tidies to
accompany the Cushions, said Cushions last a most unreasonable time,
and hence our supply this year somewhat exceeded the demand.

We must not omit to make mention of many towns that contributed
generously, through the Scotch boxes. Contributions from Reading,
Bolton, Leigh, Chelmsford, Leeds, Nottingham, Maidstone and Sheffield,
were included in the Edinburgh collection; from Kinross, Milnathorb,
Cumrie and Crieff, in that of Perth; from Auchterarder and Montrose,
in that of Glasgow.

We must not forget Dublin, which, apart from the De La Rue box,
furnished, in the judgment of the Committee, the most attractive table
with which it has ever presented us. Besides the usual supply of
pretty and useful articles for ladies’ and children’s wear, a very
handsome Bronze was greatly admired. Fish Scale Bracelets and
Brooches, very pretty and tasteful, were something entirely new. The
bog oak ornaments, sea weed baskets, and a great variety of toys and
small articles, made this box very saleable. Of the De La Rue
assortment, we need say nothing. The mere name is sufficient to
commend the workmanship to the patronage of our public. The friends
who contribute to the purchase are assured that in no way can they
invest their money more wisely. Speaking of contributions for this
fund, a friend writes, “The most affecting of these is £1 9½ pence
from a young school-mistress in Waterford, made up of shillings,
sixpences and half-pence contributed by her little pupils and
herself.”

The Dublin box also contained handsome donations from Henry
Fearncombe, of Wolverhampton, England, and from various ladies in
Clara, Waterford, Wakefield and Lyons’ Mills.

The Ladies’ A. S. Society of Clogher, County Tyrone, sent a number of
pretty and useful articles, besides a donation in money, which we
shall acknowledge in another place.

In the multiplicity of cares devolving upon the managers and
saleswomen, they hardly find time to suitably advertise some of their
most valuable property. It is owing to this cause, we think, that two
valuable works presented by Mr. R. D. Webb, of Dublin, remain unsold.
We insert his note respecting them, in hope of still finding a
purchaser, as, unlike many of our wares, these lose nothing by delay.

     “PRUDHON, _Revolutions de Paris_, 15 tom. 8vo. Par.
     1789-93.

     This very curious book is in fact a series of papers on the
     events of the day, published from time to time through these
     five eventful years. It is edited throughout in the most
     ultra revolutionary spirit, and justifies all the wildest
     and most shocking acts of the Terrorists. I believe such a
     set as the present to be extremely rare, and that from the
     nature and period of the publication, it must be so.
     Although connected with booksellers for the last thirty
     years, I have never seen another copy. This book would be an
     interesting addition to a public library. The present copy
     belonged to the late Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
     (Ireland,) the Right Hon. John Dogherty.

     I should mention that the volume was illustrated with cuts
     of a very rude kind, representing some of the most terrible
     and ferocious acts of which they treat.”

     “MARTIALIS EPIGRAMMATA. Venet. 1495.

     This edition will be found to be particularly described in
     _Burnet’s Manuel du Libraire_, and the prices which it
     brought at various sales range from sixty francs in the
     earlier to one hundred and five francs for copies more
     recently sold. With the exception of a few of the first
     leaves, which are stained, the present copy is in beautiful
     condition, being almost as fresh and clear as if printed
     last year. It is bound in Russia.”

The other volumes, of a more popular character, included in Mr. Webb’s
donation, sold readily, as did many copies of anti-slavery poetry, for
which we are indebted to the kindness of Miss Ireland, of Belfast. Mr.
Webb will be pleased to learn that the same liberal appreciator of Art
who purchased, last year, two of the Water Colour Drawings by Varley,
completed his own collection, and our content, by the purchase of the
third this year. All were sold at the prices marked by the President
of the Irish Royal Academy.

But among all the encouraging items of which we ought now to take
note, none are more cheering than the tokens of sympathy received from
our friends and associates in France. Not one of the valuable and
beautiful donations received from them, but comes charged with the
earnest prayers and benedictions of the giver, for our cause and its
advocates. We entreat the Pastor Martin and the Pastor Monod, with
their families, to receive the assurance of our deep gratitude for
their valuable contributions.

To Madame and Monsieur Geoffroy, St. Hilaire, to Madame De
Tourgueneff, to Madame Brenier, to Madame De Stael, to Mademoiselle
Lecomte, to Madame Meynieu, to Mademoiselle Wild and Madame
Juillerant, to Mesdames Byrne and Power, to Madame De Chaune, to
Madame Belloc, to the family of the great and good ARAGO, in
particular, and to many others, not less deeply interested in our
cause, we beg leave to express that sense of grateful obligation which
will impel us to constant energy and fidelity in its service. In the
midst of the persecution and violence we are so often obliged to
witness and to meet, how much do we not owe to those friends who give
us, from time to time, to feel the consolation of influences so kindly
and gracious as those which come to us from France!

We will not attempt to enumerate the exquisite articles in China,
Bronze, Buhl, Ivory and Leather; the Drawings, Pictures, Photographs,
Toys, and _petits objets_ of every variety, that made up the Paris
collection. We think the French box, of this year, the most elegant
and attractive that Mrs. Chapman has ever forwarded. A gift from Mrs.
F. G. Shaw, of the wood work of Sorrento, redolent of olive groves and
orange bowers, furnished Christmas and New Year’s presents that were
entirely novel, while Mrs. Follen’s contribution from London was rich
in Pictures, Books, and the prettiest possible Toys.

We have alluded to the donations of the absent members of our
Committee, simply for the purpose of showing that while we are holding
out our hands to the whole world for help, we are performing a
condition essential to securing the aid of others, helping ourselves,
and also, “remembering those in bonds as bound with them,” as well
abroad as at home.

We now come to the detail of an event, at which we are greatly
grieved, and where we are sure all Abolition hearts will sympathize
with us.

That a heavy pecuniary loss should have been sustained by a Cause so
poor as ours, of course we deeply regret, but that is nothing to our
sorrow that the most unwearied labor and generous devotion of time and
money should be met with entire failure and disappointment.

Madame C. B. Hunt, a most earnest friend of the slave, resident in
Stuttgart, Wurttemberg, not satisfied with her own private
contribution to his cause, but anxious for some public expression of
German sympathy, undertook, almost alone, to procure the presentation
of this subject to the public, in connection with collections for the
Bazaar. Her exertions were very ably seconded by Pralat Kapff, a
clergyman of high standing, who introduced the subject to his
congregation in a very impressive manner. The work was highly
successful. German artisans contributed articles and fabrics unknown
in this country. German ladies of rank sent rare articles from their
family repositories. Authors gave their own volumes, and artists
beautiful views of the Wurttemberg Alps and adjacent scenery. Madame
H. writes as follows:――“It would be gratifying to Mrs. Stowe to know
that ‘Uncle Tom’ had so successfully performed his mission, that
notwithstanding all the disadvantages your agent, as an unknown
foreigner, had for bringing the cause before the public, still, from
many distant places, as soon as the Bazaar was pointed out as a means
of assisting in the emancipation of the oppressed, trifles were
forwarded, some of them evidently from people in very humble life.
Amongst others, I ought perhaps to mention the way in which I received
the portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wurttemberg. They must
have been sent by the donor, Philip Schmabried, of Munclingen, the day
after he saw the advertisement, and I have no doubt they were in his
eyes the greatest ornament of his humble dwelling. ‘Is the sender a
frame-maker, or has he a shop?’ I asked the carrier who brought them.
‘Lord bless you! he is only a peasant, and he took them down from his
walls,’ was the answer. I only hope they may find a purchaser who will
recognise in them the hidden moral worth that they certainly possess,
when one calls to mind the value persons of that class set upon such
ornaments for their dwellings.”

This precious box, the object of so much care and industry, and
obtained under so many disadvantages, was wrecked in the steamer
Humboldt, near Halifax. This fact supplies the apology for the
non-appearance at the Bazaar of several articles mentioned in our
advertisements.

It only remains to us to proffer to Madame Hunt and her coadjutors,
the assurance of a gratitude proportionate to their exertions. Their
labor has been lost to the promotion of the Bazaar, lost to the
treasury of the slave, but the fresh motive to hope and encouragement
it has supplied to our hearts, can never be lost; and as to their own
souls, it shall in no wise lose its reward.

The contributions of the American abolitionists are in amount about
the same as in previous years. Horticultural Hall is so entirely
inadequate in size, that we can hardly allow our country friends any
room for separate tables, and this circumstance is naturally somewhat
discouraging in its tendency. We hope it may be in our power to make
more ample arrangements another year. Several of our most active
Ladies’ Societies have chosen to assist us by contributions of money,
rather than articles,――a mode equally useful and acceptable. Other
towns propose shortly the holding of Fairs at home, the proceeds of
which are to be devoted to the American Society. The greater part of
our goods that remain unsold are forwarded to these sales. Our foreign
friends will perceive that this arrangement prevents the necessity of
any sacrifice of merchandise on our part, and much enlarges the sphere
of our operations.

We have received, in various ways, valuable assistance from the
following places:――Boston, Springfield, Milford, Fitchburg, Leicester,
Duxbury, Blackstone, Concord, Salem, Lynn, Fairhaven, Fall River,
Danvers, Roxbury, Cummington, Weymouth, Cambridge, West Cambridge,
Raynham, Dorchester, Hingham, and Leominster, of Massachusetts;
Rochester, Troy, and Staten Island, New York; Portsmouth, Concord,
Weare, and Amherst, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Randolph, Vermont;
and Brooklyn, Connecticut.

A great proportion of the articles contributed were of a useful
character, and the more necessary on that account, so many of our
foreign importations belonging entirely to the domain of taste and
art. Visitors occasionally say, “It is a pity you have not a larger
variety of useful and cheap articles.” To such we would reply, it is
almost impossible, with our scanty accommodations, to give such goods
due prominence; a good deal of clothing suitable for charitable
purposes was necessarily overlooked on the present occasion. We
propose, another year, if possible, to have tables devoted to the sale
of particular goods, to have the articles so systematically arranged,
that the business of bargain and sale may be greatly facilitated.

We owe special acknowledgments to Rochester, Portsmouth, and Portland,
for the very neat and beautiful ladies’ work sent from those places.
It is very well suited to the Boston demand. To our Troy friend, we
return our best thanks for “needle-work which is needle-work,” and
which proved eminently profitable to the Bazaar. The very tasteful
articles, sent by Mrs. Howe, of Cambridge, sold at once. Among our
American objects of taste, we must instance the beautiful Lamp Shades,
made by Miss Francis, of Cambridge, and Miss Bradford, of Duxbury; the
ingenious and tasteful Leather Work, by Mrs. Bramhall and her friends,
and the magnificent Bronze Vases, presented by Dr. Dix. To Mr. John P.
Jewett, we are greatly obliged for his generous gift of many popular
Anti-Slavery works. A Herbarium, from Miss Wilbur, of Rochester, on
which great time and care had been expended, we regret to say, was
unsold; but we feel not the less obliged by the kindness that prompted
the gift. We find such things are in little demand, people preferring
to make their own collections.

We are indebted to Pictou, Nova Scotia, for a few very nice articles.

Mr. Edmund Jackson’s annual gift of twenty-five boxes of excellent
Soap, found, as usual, an immediate sale, as did much of the
Britannia, Glass and Japaned Ware, so generously presented by Messrs.
Morey & Ober, P. F. Slane, Kanes & Johnson, E. N. Cate, and J. C.
Wyman, to whom we would beg leave to return our very sincere thanks.

We would also proffer them to Messrs. F. A. Sumner & Co., for their
loan of china, and to the friends who so liberally supplied the
refreshment table. The Committee feel, likewise, that they are again
indebted for such kindness and personal assistance as materially
lightened the burden of their labors, to Mr. Daniel T. Curtis.

They are also very sensible of the courtesy of the gentlemen of the
Horticultural Society’s Committee. It is as a simple act of justice,
that we would refer to the services Rev. Samuel May, General Agent of
the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Not ourselves, only, but the
whole American Society, are his debtors. It would have been with
extreme difficulty that the Bazaars of the last two or three years
could have been held at all, had it not been for the most generous
devotion of time and strength on his part.

We feel that we have given a very imperfect record of the gifts and
labor which have secured to the Bazaar so gratifying a measure of
success; but, in view of the difficulty of recalling such a
multiplicity of details, we know that our omissions will be pardoned.

An unusually large number of visitors and purchasers were in
attendance, during the first week; but on the second, the very
terrible storm to which we have referred, proved most seriously
detrimental. Commencing on the night of the 28th, it continued, with
unabated violence, through the next day and night, leaving the streets
almost impassable, and completely precluding all access to numbers of
the country friends, who had postponed their visits till the Bazaar’s
second week. In the opinion of excellent judges, our receipts were
diminished not less than $500, by this cause. As the Hall had been
engaged, and all arrangements made, in prospect of closing on the
31st, it was not thought best to depart from the original intention.

When we take into account the storm, disappointments and hindrances,
in respect to the arrival of boxes, and the absence of the Liberty
Bell, which circumstances rendered it inconvenient to issue, and then
remember that our receipts have exceeded those of last year by $200,
we have occasion to feel that we have great reason for hope and
encouragement.

While money-making is our primary object, we yet manage to secure
collateral results of a very agreeable, as well as useful character.
The Bazaar furnishes an occasion, on which Anti-Slavery people of all
shades of opinion, the pro-slavery world and the _Poco curante_, all
meet together, and from the conflict of sentiment and exchange of
ideas that ensue, it cannot be but that good is evolved. Much social
enjoyment and much serious business are compressed into the ten days
through which the Bazaar continues, and many friends from a distance
make their annual visit to Boston at this season. Opportunities are
also given for the direct inculcation of Anti-Slavery truth. On
various evenings, addresses of a most earnest and argumentative
character were given by Messrs. GARRISON, QUINCY, FOSS, and PILLSBURY.

After so long an absence from the scene of her early labors, as Mrs.
Child’s residence in New York has occasioned, we hailed her presence
as a helper with the liveliest satisfaction. We participated in the
great pleasure she must have experienced in comparing our present
Bazaar with the first Anti-Slavery Fair, held in the December of 1834,
owing its origin entirely to the personal labors and contributions of
herself and Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring. In every point of view, the
reminiscence is full of encouragement.

With very earnest and peculiar emotions of interest, the Committee
welcomed the presence and sympathy of Mrs. Stowe. We are very grateful
for the kindness with which she placed at our disposal the very
beautiful plate, presented her by friends of the slave in Great
Britain. Placed in the centre of the Hall, it attracted much
attention, and, of course, admiration. The Letter of the Women of
England, with its 576,000 signatures, was placed close by, bearing
ample testimony to the universality of the Anti-Slavery spirit in that
Kingdom. We trust its gentle and persuasive words may yet fulfil their
holy mission.

One of Cumberworth’s exquisite statuettes in bronze, was included in
the French collection. It represented a woman of color, with two white
children on her lap. Nothing could be more striking and effective than
the expression of the whole group. Its price was one hundred dollars.
Various friends, visiting the Bazaar, combined in its purchase, and
presented it, as “a mark of their respect and esteem,” to Wendell
Phillips, Esq.,――some of them not uniting in all his Anti-Slavery
opinions, but highly appreciating his personal character and entire
devotion to the service of that race, which Cumberworth has so
charmingly idealized.

Here, with thanks and blessings for all who have lent us the help of
their word, or deed, or silent sympathy, we would gladly stop. We know
that any words of counsel or encouragement from us, are, on this side
the Atlantic, not needed. The field of conflict and duty lies clearly
before all other eyes as before ours, and on its perplexities or
involvements, we have no light that may not be equally shared by all.

It is not exactly thus with our coadjutors in Great Britain. Private
correspondence assures us that there, the position of the Society with
which the Bazaar stands identified, is not wholly apprehended, or even
when apprehended, accepted without much reservation and distrust. By
incessant pains and promulgation, we have at length made men
understand, partially, at least, the catholicity and breadth of our
platform; that on it, men and women of all nations, and conditions,
and creeds, and politics, can meet in harmonious action, ignoring, for
the time, all other differences of opinion, and united, so far as
their Anti-Slavery life is concerned, by the recognition of the sin of
Slavery, _under all circumstances_, and the duty, consequently, of its
immediate abolition. Charges, grossly injurious and untrue, have been
alleged against us. It has been said that, on this platform, we have
brought irrelevant and extraneous topics, and have endeavored to make
use of the time and instrumentalities of the Society, for the
inculcation of opinions foreign to the objects of our association.
These charges have their foundation either in enmity to the great
principles that we represent, or in the strangest misapprehension. The
dominant sects of the country can hardly understand that certain
great, and, in their eyes, all-important doctrines, are no more to be
asserted as truths on our platform, except incidentally, than are the
converse propositions. Their members can enforce and illustrate
Anti-Slavery truth in whatever way they please; but if smaller and
more heretical bodies, represented in our councils, choose to use the
same liberty, by speaking in their own theological tongue, the Society
holds itself responsible for neither. It does not forbid the believer
in endless punishment to urge repentance on slaveholders and
pro-slavery men, by all the motives drawn from his own tremendous
creed; neither has it aught to object when the preacher of a universal
salvation enforces the same repentance, by alluding to the mercies
that will, as he thinks, be extended to all. It is vulgarly said, “It
takes all sorts of people to make a world.” It takes all sorts of
sects, and creeds, and parties, to make up a _pro-slavery_ world; and
hence, when we rally for the slave’s liberation, common sense calls on
us to unite all sects, and creeds, and parties in an Anti-Slavery
fellowship. To make their arguments and appeals effective, people must
necessarily use such as are real and influential to their own
convictions; but if the slave’s redemption be not their end, but
simply the inculcation of their own theories on other subjects, be
such theories right or wrong, then are the parties thus offending
guilty of great and highly blameable dishonesty. Against such, the
Society guards itself as effectually as a liberal interpretation of
parliamentary rules will admit. We believe no Society, of so entirely
popular a character, ever sinned less in respect to extraneous topics.

But another objection is presented, where the difficulty, intrinsic in
the nature of the case, is, of course, more perplexing, and far less
easy of solution. The enemies of the American Anti-Slavery Society
have changed their ground. “It is not an Infidel Society, but a
Society that has a great many Infidels in it.” To look at this matter
fairly, requires a wider view than many of our British friends are
able to take. Their own agitation for the abolition of West India
Slavery offers nothing analogous to the state of things that has
obtained for the last twenty years in this country. No institutions,
either civil or ecclesiastical, were the least affected in Great
Britain by the abolition of West India Slavery. Half a dozen other
questions――questions, too, religious rather than political――have
involved important modifications of what may be called the
institutions of the country. The Tractarian controversy, the Papal
aggression, (so called,) the disruption of the National Church of
Scotland, afford instances of our meaning. But West India emancipation
did not go down to the very marrow of things, as do these questions.
It was a noble struggle with a mighty moneyed interest, and too great
credit cannot be awarded to British Abolitionists. But, we repeat,
their situation differed very widely from ours. The Constitution of
our country, as expounded by its authorized interpreters, has
provided, by the most careful and astute arrangements, for the
continuance and perpetuity of Slavery. All our civil institutions are,
therefore, in some sense, based upon it. Having no national
ecclesiastical establishment, we cannot affirm the same of the
American Church, in the same absolute and positive sense, that we do
of the State; and yet it is virtually and actually so. The voters and
the church members are the same persons. The men who vote for the
Fugitive Slave Bill on a week day, and avow themselves ready to carry
out its requirements, are the same men who sit down at the Lord’s
table on Sunday.

To abolish Slavery, under such circumstances, is tantamount to a
revolution. True, the Abolitionists pray and labor that it may be a
bloodless one; but just so far as their weapons are spiritual, just in
proportion as their warfare lies in the realm of ideas, will be the
amount of the evil with which our foreign friends find fault, and
which we are called upon to correct. This, it is out of our power, in
any direct way, to accomplish. Inwoven as Slavery is with every
institution of the country, the earnest discussion of its abolition
must almost of necessity connect itself with a parallel discussion of
the great doctrines underlying the whole civil and ecclesiastical
fabric. We repeat, that this is not the fault of the Anti-Slavery
Society, but something inherent in the nature of the case. Hence it is
that the Abolitionists have looked so carefully to their foundation
principles, _the sinfulness of Slavery under all circumstances, the
duty of its abolition at all hazards_. It is in no rash or thoughtless
spirit that they have initiated opinions that have convulsed, and are
destined still more mightily to shake this whole nation. True, they
began in ignorance whither their path might lead, ignorant of almost
every thing but that it is _safe to do right_,――safe for the State,
safe for the Church, safe for one’s own soul.

We apprehend that now is the very time to have faith in God; to say
that, having him for our refuge, “we will not fear, though the earth
be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”

It has been the every-day prayer of the churches of Puritan
Christendom, that the Lord “would overturn, and overturn, and
overturn,” preparatory to the coming of His kingdom. To such of their
members as offered this prayer in sincerity and truth, and not as mere
idle words, it should not come with an overwhelming terror and
astonishment, when the salt that has lost its savour is being cast out
and trodden under foot. If, with a few insignificant exceptions, the
churches of America are the strongholds of oppression, slaveholding
and slave-hunting forming no bar to communion with any sect, the
revelation of such facts, and the recognition of the real character
that they imply, must almost of necessity involve a parallel
theological warfare.

If any evils pertain to such discussion, wo be to them by whom the
offence cometh! Read the earlier remonstrances of the Abolitionists
with the American Church. They contained no denial that she was “the
very pillar and ground of the truth,” till her own inhuman and
profligate declarations made it a duty to Christianity for us to
declare her no longer in our eyes its exponent. This naturally leads
to wider discussions, with which we, _as Abolitionists_, have nothing
to do.

Of one thing we can most sincerely assure our British friends: they
incur no shadow of responsibility for any belief or unbelief that may
prevail in this country. The sole results of the National Bazaar, with
exceptions too trifling to be enumerated, go to the support of the
_National Anti-Slavery Standard_, and the maintenance of the
Anti-Slavery Office in the city of New York. The Editors of the
_Anti-Slavery Standard_ are Messrs. Sydney H. Gay and Oliver Johnson;
Mr. Edmund Quincy, Corresponding Editor. Both as an Anti-Slavery and a
literary paper, it sustains a deservedly high character, and cannot,
we believe, be justly censured for any important departure from the
great principles of mutual respect and toleration on which the members
of the Society have bound themselves, in their associated capacity, to
proceed. We challenge investigation on this point, and we beg all
parties feeling themselves aggrieved, to state in the columns of the
paper the very words and phrases at which they take umbrage, and not
to dwell in generals.

Let us hurriedly present one other consideration. The religious tenets
professed by an overwhelming majority of the churches of the United
States, almost without an exception by the churches in the
slaveholding States, (leaving the Catholics entirely out of the
question,) are those denominated evangelical. Hence the increased
temptation to support Slavery under which members of those sects
labor. The liberal sects (to use popular phraseology) are small, and
comparatively insignificant bodies. There are not more than half a
dozen Unitarian congregations, to our knowledge, south of Mason and
Dixon’s line. When we take into account the difference of belief in
respect to church fellowship that exists between Orthodox and liberal
churches, it is very easy to see why the latter should find it much
easier than the former to coöperate with the Anti-Slavery Society. The
theory of the one sect is, that the church is a society of good men,
(of the regenerate,)――of the other, that it is a society of men
seeking to become such. With the one party, the sacrament is a seal of
their acceptance; with the other, only a means of grace. One is bound
to defend the personal Christianity of its communicants, the other not
at all. Hence the difficulty that an Orthodox man finds in acting with
us, unless he be prepared to take the great step of coming out, and
being separate from churches which we denounce as apostate. The
Unitarians and Universalists, holding very different views in regard
to church fellowship, have very little temptation, _religiously_, to
be untrue to the slave. It is from fashion, and commerce, and worldly
considerations, that their temptations arise.

We have said this, to show that it is not from any sympathy existing
between the Anti-Slavery Society and any one sect more than another,
that so many of its prominent members and agents are either members of
the liberal sects, or belong to none at all.

To remedy this evil in the eyes of the evangelical Anti-Slavery
churches of Great Britain, we would respectfully urge it upon them to
care not for the heresies of a portion of the Abolitionists of this
country, but to concern themselves energetically, and at once, with
that Practical Infidelity which is sapping the foundation of every
Orthodox sect in this country. _Christianity and slaveholding cannot
exist together._ Anti-Slavery as is the public sentiment of Great
Britain, it must rise infinitely higher, before it can tell upon the
churches of this country. An apostate Abolitionist from the pulpits of
Boston, fresh from the defence of the Fugitive Slave Law, is welcome
to the Anti-Slavery pulpits _par excellence_ of Great Britain. Such
Anti-Slavery as this can never accomplish the work.

The exclusion of Dr. Prime from the platform of the British Bible
Society was a triumph of Anti-Slavery principle; but the rarity of
such an event was shown by the strong feeling with which it was
received by the religious public of this country, who really seemed to
think it a cause for war between the two nations. We again repeat, it
is for the churches of Great Britain to take strong and effective
action on this subject, and that speedily. It is necessary to their
own vitality, which must speedily perish before the blighting
influence of pro-slavery fellowship. “What communion hath light with
darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?”

We will add a few words more on the general question, and close a
paper already too long.

The _intellect_ of the civilized world is convinced as to the enormity
of the system we are attacking. A new and unique mode of defence is
beginning to obtain in some quarters. The sins and sufferings of
Slavery are conceded, but Abolitionists are urged to patience――by what
consideration, think you? Because God is patient with the sins and
sufferings He witnesses! “He is patient, because he is eternal,” says
St. Augustine.

We must confess that, to speak of the Maker and Governor of all
things, the self-existent and Omniscient, “whose kingdom is where time
and space are not,” whose methods and sovereignty are in so many
instances inscrutable, as waiting patiently for the evolution of His
own all-perfect purposes, and thence inferring that it is the duty of
His creatures to look with patience on scenes of wrong and outrage
which they could not contemplate patiently as borne for one day by
themselves, is a species of cant, the impiety of which is equalled
only by its inhumanity.

With the heart of the nation, colder and harder than marble, and a
mere handful of men awake to the Slave’s terrible wrongs, and striving
to create some sympathy for them, this miserable talk of patience, and
of judicial calmness in summing up the arguments on all sides of the
question, and of scientific surveys of the whole field of conflict,
appears to us extremely out of place.

“It is good to be always zealously affected in a good thing,” is a
maxim eminently safe to follow. The best stand-point from which to
consider this question is that which the Slave occupies. We can but
imperfectly approach to that, but perplexities become easy of solution
in proportion as we do so. If we will but remember how much education,
and temperament, and the providential arrangements of life, have had
to do with the formation of our own most cherished opinions, we shall
be better able to exercise the virtue of a perfect toleration. We mean
by this, the allowance of the same rights to others, in matters of
religion, that we claim for ourselves. This sentiment is easily
assented to, but it covers a great deal of ground. It implies that an
individual has a perfect right, not only to believe, but to teach and
promulgate as earnestly as he pleases, whatever he thinks true. It
does not bind us to read or to hear, to give him one sixpence of our
money nor one hour of our time, or to do otherwise than regret that he
holds opinions we consider untrue. Further than this, an enlightened
toleration forbids us to go. Earnest rebuke and moral indignation
belong to wrong-doing, and not to erroneous opinion. It is a confusion
of mind on these points that has led to all the persecution and
religious hatred that the world has ever witnessed. A life devoted to
the service of God and man, is the best testimony we can bring to the
truth of our own creed, and the best rebuke to the errors of that of
another.

That the people living in the nineteeth, and not in the sixteenth
century, may attain to this knowledge, is our earnest prayer; that the
Abolitionists have already done so, is our hope.

                                                   A. W. WESTON.
     WEYMOUTH, January 16, 1854.



  DONATIONS AND RECEIPTS.


  DONATIONS TO THE TWENTIETH NATIONAL ANTI-SLAVERY BAZAAR.

  Misses E. and M. Cushing, Hingham                        $ 6 00
  Francis Jackson, Boston                                   20 00
  Concord Ladies’ A. S. Society, Mass.                      30 00
  Friends of the Cause in Lynn, Mass., by Miriam Johnson,   30 00
  Weare Ladies’ A. S. Society, N. H.                         7 65
  Mrs. Olds, Unionville, Ohio                                3 00
  Miss Bradford, Duxbury, Mass.                              2 00
  Richard Clap, Dorchester, ”                                5 00
  Mrs. Sprague, Hanson,      ”                               2 00
  Mrs. Caroline Williams, Boston                             2 00
  Nathaniel Barney, Nantucket                               20 00
  Blackstone Female A. S. Society, Mass.                    20 00
  Portsmouth Female A. S. Society, N. H.                     5 00
  Thomas Brown, Boston                                       2 00
  Warren Delano, Fairhaven, Mass.                           15 00
  Nathan Mayo, Leicester,     ”                              1 00
  Misses Andrews, Newburyport, Mass.                         6 00
  J. S. Stafford, Cummington     ”                           5 00
  Enoch Hebard, Randolph, Vt.                               10 00
  “North” and a subscriber to the _Liberator_               10 00
  Fall River F. A. S. Society                               45 00
  Mrs. H. B. Stowe, Andover                               £10 0 0



  MONEY RECEIVED BY MRS. CHAPMAN, IN PARIS,

  AND EXPENDED THERE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BAZAAR.

  Mlle Wild,              65 frcs.
  Madame Duval,           20
  Mlle De Montgolfier,     5
  Madame Meynieu,         50
  Charles F. Hovey,      100
  Madame Mohl,            10
  Marcus Spring,          60
  Miss Mary G. Chapman,   50



  BY A. W. WESTON.

  Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring,  $10 00
  Mrs. G. R. Russell,       10 00
  Mrs. Wendell Phillips,    10 00
  Miss Henrietta Sargent,   10 00



  MONEY CONTRIBUTED IN PARIS

  FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE BRONZE GROUP OF THE “PETITS BLANCS.”

  Madame Brenier,            5 frs.
  Monsieur E. De Beaumont,   5
  Madame Belloc,             5
  Captain Courtenay Boyle,   5
  Major Byrne,               5
  Madame Byrne,              5
  Monsieur Charpentier,      5
  Madame Champy,             5
  Mrs. Corkran,              5
  Mrs. Mary Warren Dwight,   5
  Madame Gauja,              5
  Monsieur Guépin,           5
  Madame Garnaut,           20
  Mrs. Anna Shaw Greene,     5
  Miss Lynn,                 5
  Mlle Lecomte,              5
  Madame Mohl,               5
  Monsieur Meynieu,          5
  Madame Power,              5
  Mrs. J. V. C. Smith,       5
  Miss Sutton,               5



  DONATIONS IN MONEY TO THE BAZAAR,

  RECEIVED THROUGH THE LEEDS AND DUBLIN BOXES.

  Miss Parkes, London               £0 10  0
  Miss Williams, Bridgend            0 10  0
  Miss K. Williams, ”                0 10  0
  Mr. Backton, Leeds                 0 10  0
  Collected by Mrs. Dewsnap, Leeds   0  6  0
  Collection in Leeds                1 14 10
  Olive Leaf Circle, Selby           0  2  6
  Clogher, Tyrone Co., Ireland       1  4  6



  MERCHANDIZE RECEIVED FOR THE BAZAAR.

  2 boxes from Glasgow, by Andrew Paton.
  1 box from Perth, by Mrs. David Morton.
  1 box from Edinburgh, by Mrs. Jane Wigham.
  2 boxes from London, by Mrs. Massie.
  1 box    ”     ”     by Mrs. Follen.
  1 box from Bristol, by Mrs. H. Thomas.
  1 box from Leeds, by Joseph Lupton.
  1 box from Newcastle, by Rev. George Harris.
  1 box from Liverpool, by Rev. Francis Bishop.
  1 box from Manchester, by Miss Whitelegge.
  2 boxes from Dublin, by R. D. Webb.
  1 box from Cork, by Miss Jennings.
  1 box from Paris, by Mrs. Chapman.
  1 box from Italy, by Mrs. F. G. Shaw.



  PARCELS RECEIVED IN THE BAZAAR BOXES.


  _Liverpool._

  Miss Pugh.
  Mr. May.
  Miss Weston.
  Rev. S. H. Winkley.


  _Bristol._

  Rev. R. C. Waterston.
  Rev. Theodore Parker.
  Miss Weston.


  _London._

  Wendell Phillips.
  A. W. Weston.
  Mr. Massie, Fall River.
  Package for Montreal.


  _Leeds._

  5 pks. Miss Grew.
  4 F. Douglass.
  1 W. L. Garrison.
  1 Mrs. Stowe.


  _Glasgow._

  3 W. L. Garrison.
  1 Mrs. C. Bramhall.
  1 H. C. Wright.
  Letter for Mrs. Stowe.
  1 J. M. McKim.
  1 Miss Pugh.
  1 S. May, Jr.



  COMMITTEE

  of the

  National Anti-Slavery Bazaar,

  FOR 1854.


  ANNE WARREN WESTON,
  MARY MAY,
  LOUISA LORING,
  ANN GREENE PHILLIPS,
  HELEN E. GARRISON,
  SARAH RUSSELL MAY,
  MARIA WESTON CHAPMAN,
  CAROLINE WESTON,
  MARY GRAY CHAPMAN,
  HENRIETTA SARGENT,
  FRANCES MARY ROBBINS,
  ELIZA LEE FOLLEN,
  SUSAN C. CABOT,
  SARAH H. SOUTHWICK,
  CAROLINE F. WILLIAMS,
  THANKFUL SOUTHWICK,
  SARAH SHAW RUSSELL,
  ELIZABETH GAY,
  CHARLOTTE S. SARGENT,
  ELIZA F. EDDY,
  SARAH BLAKE SHAW,
  MARY WILLEY,
  LYDIA D. PARKER,
  EVELINA A. S. SMITH,
  ANN REBECCA BRAMHALL,
  ABBY FRANCIS,
  MARY H. JACKSON,
  E. C. VON ARNIM.


The ANTI-SLAVERY BAZAAR, for 1854, will be held Christmas Week, in
BOSTON, MASS.

Its receipts are devoted to the Abolition of Slavery in the United
States, through the instrumentality of the American A. S. Society.

To this end, they are chiefly expended in the maintenance of “_The
National Anti-Slavery Standard_,” a weekly newspaper, and the support
of an Anti-Slavery Office in the city of New York.

From all friends of this cause, superior to all others in magnitude
and importance, the Committee would respectfully and earnestly solicit
assistance.

Donations of money or merchandize are alike acceptable.

Pictures, Books, Needlework, Toys, in fine, almost all articles of
taste or utility, are suitable contributions.

All merchandize intended for the Bazaar should be forwarded so as to
reach Boston by the 1st of December.

It should be sent direct to Boston, _and not to New York_, unless in
case of emergency.

The Committee would take this opportunity to return their thanks to
Mr. WILLIAM P. POWELL, of Liverpool, for his kindness in forwarding
the Boxes of the Bazaar that has just closed.



Transcriber’s Note

Misspelled words were not corrected. A missing comma in a table and a
missing end quotation mark in the text were added. Words and phrases
in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_.



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