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Page 57
At the close of this address, the Rev. Edward Matthews, last from
Bristol, but who had recently returned from the United States, where he
had been maltreated on account of his fidelity to the cause of freedom,
was introduced, and made a most interesting speech. The next speaker was
George Thompson, Esq., M.P.; and we need only say that his eloquence,
which has seldom or ever been equalled, and never surpassed, exceeded,
on this occasion, the most sanguine expectations of his friends. All who
sat under the thundering anathemas which he hurled against slavery,
seemed instructed, delighted, and animated. No one could scarcely have
remained unmoved by the pensive sympathies that pervaded the entire
assembly. There were many in the meeting who had never seen a fugitive
slave before, and when any of the speakers would refer to those on the
platform, the whole audience seemed moved to tears. No meeting of the
kind held in London for years created a greater sensation than this
gathering of refugees from the "Land of the free, and the home of the
brave." The following appeal, which I had written for the occasion, was
unanimously adopted at the close of the meeting, and thus ended the
great Anti-Slavery demonstration of 1851.
AN APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE WORLD.
We consider it just, both to the people of the United States and to
ourselves, in making an appeal to the inhabitants of other countries,
against the laws which have exiled us from our native land, to state the
ground upon which we make our appeal, and the causes which impel us to
do so. There are in the United States of America, at the present time,
between three and four millions of persons, who are held in a state of
slavery which has no parallel in any other part of the world; and whose
numbers have, within the last fifty years, increased to a fearful
extent. These people are not only deprived of the rights to which the
laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, but every avenue to
knowledge is closed against them. The laws do not recognise the family
relation of a slave, and extend to him protection in the enjoyment of
domestic endearments. Brothers and sisters, parents and children,
husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to see each other
no more. The shrieks and agonies of the slave are heard in the markets
at the seat of government, and within hearing of the American Congress,
as well as on the cotton, sugar and rice plantations of the far South.
The history of the negroes in America is but a history of repeated
injuries and acts of oppression committed upon them by the whites. It is
not for ourselves that we make this appeal, but for those whom we have
left behind.
In their Declaration of Independence, the Americans declare that "all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness." Yet one-sixth of the inhabitants of the great
Republic are slaves. Thus they give the lie to their own professions. No
one forfeits his or her character or standing in society by being
engaged in holding, buying or selling a slave; the details of which, in
all their horror, can scarcely be told.
Although the holding of slaves is confined to fifteen of the thirty-one
States, yet we hold that the non-slave-holding States are equally guilty
with the slave-holding. If any proof is needed on this point, it will be
found in the passage of the inhuman Fugitive Slave Law, by Congress; a
law which could never have been enacted without the votes of a portion
of the representatives from the free States, and which is now being
enforced, in many of the States, with the utmost alacrity. It was the
passing of this law that exiled us from our native land, and it has
driven thousands of our brothers and sisters from the free States, and
compelled them to seek a refuge in the British possessions in North
America. The Fugitive Slave Law has converted the entire country, North
and South, into one vast hunting-ground. We would respectfully ask you
to expostulate with the Americans, and let them know that you regard
their treatment of the coloured people of that country as a violation of
every principle of human brotherhood, of natural right, of justice, of
humanity, of Christianity, of love to God and love to man.
It is needless that we should remind you that the religious sects of
America, with but few exceptions, are connected with the sin of
slavery--the churches North as well as South. We would have you tell the
professed Christians of that land, that if they would be respected by
you, they must separate themselves from the unholy alliance with men who
are daily committing deeds which, if done in England, would cause the
perpetrator to be sent to a felon's doom; that they must refuse the
right hand of Christian fellowship, whether individually or
collectively, to those implicated, in any way, in the guilt of slavery.
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