Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Charles Sumner and William Lloyd Garrison

"It is pretended, that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of my invective and the precipitancy of my measures. The charge is not true. On this question my influence--humble as it is--is felt at this moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years--not perniciously, but beneficially--not as a curse, but as a blessing; and posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire to thank God, that he enables me to disregard "the fear of man which bringetha snare," and to speak his truth in its simplicity and power."
(William Lloyd Garrison 1805-1879)
Garrison was publisher of The Liberator, founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. He had hundredsof death threats made against him for his politically incorrect views that went against the cultural and economic interests of his day.

Charles Sumner,
"Familiarity with that great story of redemption, when God raised up the slave-born Moses to deliver His chosen people from bondage, and with that sublimer story where our Saviour died a cruel death that all men, without distinction of race, might be saved, makes slavery impossible. Because Christians are in the minority there is no reasonfor renouncing Christianity, or for surrendering to the false religions...."
Charles Sumner was a staunch abolitionist and one of the founders of the Republican Party