ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY AS A CHRISTIAN MELV1N JAMESON IFitk Appendix as to t/if Lwvejoy Monument Etc., Etc., Etc. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY AS A CHRISTIAN By MEL^IN JAMESON With Appendix as to the Lovejoy Monument Etc., Etc., Etc. SCRANTOM, WETMORE & Co. Publishers ROCHESTER, N. V. E. R. ANDREWS PRINTING CO. ROCHESTER, N. Y. A 4 J& CONTENTS PAGE PREFATORY NOT;-: ....... 7 2 INTRODUCTORY NOTE 13 1. 1 "* ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY AS A CHRISTIAN 15 APPENDIX 66 ILLUSTRATIONS w SILHOUETTE OF LOVEJOY 5 % LOVEJOY MONUMENT, ALTON, ILL. . . 66 HOME OF LOVEJOY, ALTON, ILL. . . 91 d PORTRAIT OF HON. OWEN LOVEJOY, M. C. 97 ^ PORTRAITS OF Two DEFENDERS OF THE FOURTH PRESS 105 uj PORTRAIT OF WENDELL PHILLIPS . . . 106 LATER PORTRAIT OF WENDELL PHILLIPS 109 446298 [ From Dffen!( Citizens of St. Louis. Nov. S. '35.1 " The path of duty lies plain before me, and I must walk there though it lead to the whipping-post, the tar-barrel, or even the stake. bold and dauntless in the service of sin: it is not fitting that I should so in the service of my Redeemer. He sought me out when there was help; when I was fast sinking to eternal ruin, he raised me up. and pl on the Rock of Ages; and now shall I forsake him when he has so few and so many enemies in St. Louis.' I can not, I dare not, and, his gr ced me friends ace sus- Humbly entreating all whom J have injured, whether intentionally or erwise, to forgive me; in charity with all men; freely forgiving my enemies, n those who thirst for my blood, and with the blest assurance, that in life or ith, nothing can separate me from my Redeemer, I subscribe myself. Your fellow citizen, KI.1JAH P. LOVEJOY." E occasion of the address, here pre- sented to the reading public was the proposal to erect at Alton, 111., in 1897, a monument to Love joy, who, as patriot and philanthropist, was generally and cordially acknowledged to be worthy of such a tribute. To the present writer, however, as one ac- quainted with his life story,* it seemed de- *The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebted- ness to Henry Tanner's book, ''The Martyrdom of Lovejoy, By an Eye-Witness," printed by the Fergus Printing Co., Chicago, 1881, for the facts given of Lovejoy's life, as well as for the extracts introduced from the martyr's utterances with tongue or with pen. The "eye-witness* character of Tanner's testimony seems to vouch satisfactorily for its trustworthiness as what modern historical writers call a "source." He gives also the extended, valuable testimony of two other eye-witnesses, Winthrop S. Gilman, of New York, and Dr. Samuel Willard, of Chicago, both formerly residents of Alton. Since making quota- tions from Mr. Tanner's book the writer has been favored by the loan of a rare copy of the original Memoir of Lovejoy, published in 1838, by his brothers Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy, to which Mr. Tanner gives credit for much help in the compilation of his book. 8 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY sirable and important that attention should be called to his rare piety and loyalty to Jesus Christ. This aspect of his character was, therefore, presented to the writer's congrega- tion in Alton, at the Cherry Street Mission Chapel, and soon again to the Y. M. C. A. of Alton, and yet once more to the Faculty and students of Shurtleff College in Upper Alton. It is rare for a city to be so undesirably notorious as Alton was for many years, on account of having had the misfortune to be the scene of the first bloodshed in the conflict with the slave-power in ^America. Having become a resident of the city, as pastor of one of its churches, early in 1860, and soon going to Cin- cinnati on a brief visit, the present writer, being introduced as from Alton, 111., to that war horse of Abolitionism, Dr. Nathaniel Colver, received from the massive man the prompt, emphatic response, "Alton! It is core reef with blood!!" At home, reminders of the sad trag- edy in the city's history, though less pro- nounced, might well have been even more AS A CHRISTIAN. impressive to thoughtful men, familiar with the occurrences of the preceding generation. There, for instance, was the house in which Lovejoy resided ; here was the stone building occupied for his printing office, which the mob broke into at night and totally destroyed press and printing material ; here, of course, was the street on which he was waylaid ; there, between the river and the bluff, was the spot where he fell ; and yonder in the cemetery was his sadly neglected grave. Then came the great excitement of the war brought on by slavery on account of which, more than twenty years before, the peace of Alton had been so fearfully disturbed. Then came Owen Love- joy to speak in our City Hall, on behalf of the cause for which his brother died. To that cause he had dedicated his life by the side of his brother's bullet-riddled body, at the home on Cherry street. Then came many hundreds of Confederate prisoners, landing from Missis- sippi steamers, and passing close by the spot where Lovejoy fell, to be safely guarded by 10 ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOY L . S. soldiers in the old penitentiary, a little way up the bluff, overlooking the same historic spot. Scores of these prisoners, hundreds in all, died from disease, and were laid in the Confederate burying ground, on one side of the city, while on the opposite side, in the city cemetery, was the grave of Lovejoy. How natural, in the retrospect, to connect these suc- sessive local incidents in the progress of the irrepressible conflict, with the local tragedy which had marked the violent beginning of that conflict ! Then came Wendell Phillips to stand at the grave of- Lovejoy, as did also Nathaniel Colver. Let it not be thought that the confessedly heretofore neglected grave was now forgotten. The present writer was member of a Lovejoy Monument Committee, composed of earnest men, who held meetings at intervals in the sixties of the Nineteenth Century. But, though they met and deliberated, and discussed plans, and would have been glad to do something commendable, they really accomplished noth- AS A CHRISTIAN. ' '11 ins;-. One member of the committee, Hon. Thomas Dimmock, on his own account, placed over the grave the scroll of Italian marble, on a base of New England granite, which still marks the spot. But that at the time of Mr. Phillips's visit, another and more conspicuous monument was contemplated, let his eloquent letter, printed in the Appendix to this publica- tion, bear witness. The letter was written in 1867, thirty years after the martyrdom ; but it was not till thirty years later, 1897, that Air. Phillips's prophecy of a suitable "testimony" was fulfilled. Xo one could be more gratified than the surviving members of the unsuccess- ful committee, over what the later efficient Monument Association was able to accomplish, with the endorsement of the Alton Common Council, the generous contributions of citizens of Alton and others, and the noble appropria- tion of $25,000 by the Legislature of Illinois. What they accomplished will be shown in the Appendix. Very few more welcome oppor- tunities have come to the present writer than 12 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY the privilege afforded him at the Dedication, of giving voice in prayer to the gratitude- of the great assembly for the life, character and influence of the Christian Patriot and Philan- thropist, whom the monument commemorated, and to the earnest desire of that assembly for the welfare in all respects of the millions in whose behalf he was willing even to die. Ten years after the delivery of the address suggested by the proposal to erect the monu- ment, as the Seventieth Anniversary of the martyrdom drew near, a paper upon the same subject, by the same writer, was read, with the same purpose, before the Ministerial Alliance of Alton and vicinity. This paper was by them urgently recommended to be printed. It will be found to consist largely of Love joy's own words, with only enough of the story of his consistent life to be a fit setting for the devout utterances of this Stephen of the Nineteenth Century. May many be hereby led to glorify Jesus Christ in him. M. J. rIE earnest, forceful words, which con- cluded the INTRODUCTION BY JOHN QUINCY ADAMS to the "Memoir of Rev. , Elijah P. Love joy," published in 1838, the next year after the martyrdom, by his brothers, Joseph C., and Owen Love joy, may still be fittingly used, though more than seventy years afterwards, to introduce the same story, now briefly told, since its aim is identical with that of the original Memoir. Mr. Adams wrote : "The incidents which preceded, and accom- panied and followed the catastrophe of Mr. Lovejoy's death, point it out as an epocha in the annals of human liberty. They have given a shock as of an earthquake throughout this continent, which will be felt in the most distant regions of the earth. They have inspired an interest in the public mind which extends al- ready to the life and character of the sufferer, and which it is believed will abide while ages 14 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY pass away. To record and preserve for pos- terity the most interesting occurrences of his life has been considered an obligation of duty, especially incumbent upon the surviving mem- bers of his family ; and in the effusions of his own mind, and the characteristic features of his familiar correspondence, the reader will find the most effective portraiture of the first American Martyr to THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, AND THE FREEDOM OF THE SLAVE." J. Q. A. fitjalj as a OUjrtHttatt T is now full seventy years since the memorable summer of 1837, during which the city of Alton, 111., was the scene of great and growing excitement, mani- festing itself frequently and variously, until it culminated, Nov. 7th, in the violent death of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, who fell a martyr in the cause of free speech and a free press. As such a martyr he was immediately lamented and honored throughout the Northern States by thoughtful men who realized how essential was the right of free discussion to the triumph of truth and righteousness, and the permanence of popular government. Inasmuch as the sub- ject which he insisted upon his right to discuss was American slavery, he was regarded, and rightly, as a martyr in the cause of human liberty. He was a lover of his country, willing, 16 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY if need were, to die in the maintenance of rights, absolutely essential to his country's wel- fare. He was a lover of his fellow men, will- ing, if need were, to die in lawful effort to lift the yoke of human bondage. Noble, self- sacrificing patriot and philanthropist ! But ex- alted as these encomiums are, he is worthy of other and even higher commendation, in view of the fact that he was an avowed, fearless servant of God, and a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. In such service and discipleship do we find the fountain head of his patriotism and his philanthropy. It is to set forth, illus- trate and, emphasize the distinctively godly, Christian element in his character that this rapid survey is presented of his consecrated life. Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born in Albion, Me., Nov. 8th, 1802. He was the son of a Congregationalist minister. He was graduated from Waterville College, (now Colby Univer- sity), Waterville, Me., receiving the first honors of his class, and upon coming West, soon be- AS A CHRISTIAN. 17 became editor of a political newspaper, The St. Louis Times, an organ of the Whig party.* Though reared in a Christian home, and edu- cated in a Christian college, he had not yet yielded to the claims of the gospel. But early in the thirtieth year of his age, a glad letter carried the welcome tidings to the New Eng- land parsonage, that the son, long prayed for, had been converted, and was already on his way to Princeton to prepare for the ministry. The following paragraphs from a letter to his parents will show the earnestness of his pur- pose : "My dear and honored parents : I wrote you four weeks since, and as you will have learned from that letter, was then in a state of deep distress. Sorrow had taken hold upon me, and a sense of my long career in sin and rebellion against God lay heavy upon my soul. *The Memoir by his brothers gives September, 1826, as the time of his graduation, and the latter part of 1827, after several months of teaching in an Eastern academy, as the time of his arrival in St. Louis, where he engaged in teaching before becoming editor of a political paper. 18 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY But it pleased God, and blessed be his holy name, to grant me, as I humbly hope, that very night, joy and peace in believing. I was by divine grace enabled to bring all my sins and all my sorrows and lay them at the feet of Jesus, and to receive the blessed assurance that he had accepted me all sinful and polluted as I was. * * * I look back upon my past life and am lost in utter amazement at the per- fect folly and madness of my conduct. * :;: * Do Christians ever feel oppressed, as it were, with the debt of gratitude which they owe to their Redeemer? Why, it seems to me some- times as if I could not bear up under the weight of my obligations to God in Christ, as if they would press me to the very earth, and I am only relieved by the reflection that I have an eternity in which I may praise and magnify the riches of his grace. * * * If God shall spare my hitherto unprofitable life, I x hope to be able to spend the remainder of it in some measure to his glory. Time now with me is AS A CHRISTIAN. 19 precious, and every day seems an age, till I can be at work in the vineyard of the Lord." This letter was dated Feb. 22d, 1832. Doubt- less owing to previous attainments, and to dili- gent application, Mr. Love joy completed his studies the following year, was licensed to preach, and returning to St. Louis, became editor, Xov. llth, 1833. of The St. Louis Ob- server, the organ of the Presbyterians in Mis- souri and Illinois. In this paper he was very outspoken in the exposure and denunciation of wrong doing, and in opposition to errors of faith as well as of practice. Inasmuch as a convention had been called for revising the Constitution of the State of Missouri, he ar- gued and pleaded for an amendment abolishing slavery. The Missouri Republican also, the leading secular journal in this section of the country, strongly advocated the same amend- ment on economic grounds. The Observer called upon Christians to pray the Lord to send a laborer into the state to enlighten public sentiment on this important subject. As to 20 ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOV this laborer the editor says : "We do not want a man from the northern or middle states : \ve want one who has himself been educated in the midst of slavery, who has always lived in con- tact with it, who knows experimentally all its evils, and all its difficulties." He was at this earlier period in favor of gradual emancipation and colonization, and was quite moderate in his utterances. But the slaveholding community were not to be satis- fied with moderation in the discussion of the subject. They demanded silence. In the fall of 1835 the local excitement had become so intense, with some rumors of a pur- pose to destroy the office of The Observer, that a card was published by the proprietors of the paper and some of the city subscribers, advising the publishers to exclude from their columns all discussions of slavery. This was during Mr. Lovejoy's absence from the city of about three weeks in attendance upon Pres- bytery and Synod. An earnestly persuasive letter was also sent to him personally, to the AS A CHRISTIAN. 21 same effect as the published card, by nine prominent citizens, including the pastor and two elders of the Second Presbyterian church. This letter, carefully preserved, was found among Mr. Lovejoy's papers after his death, with an endorsement made just two weeks previously, which gives impressive evidence that in deciding what to do, he was altogether independent of eVen trusted Christian friends ; for one of the names signed to the letter was that of his esteemed pastor, who had encour- aged him to enter the ministry. The endorse- ment is as follows : "I did not yield to the wishes here expressed, and in consequence, have been persecuted ever since. But I have kept a good conscience in the matter, and that repays me for all I have suffered or can suffer. I have sworn eternal opposition to slavery, and by the blessing of God I will never go back." E. P. L., October 24, 1837. About the time the card was published and the letter sent, (Oct. 1835), a public meeting 22 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY was held in St. Louis to denounce the course pursued by the opponents of slavery. Strong resolutions were passed approving American slavery as Scriptural, denying the right to dis- cuss the subject, and denouncing such discus- sion as seditious. Mr. Lovejoy's friends besought him not to return to the city, because he would be in danger. But his wife, though young and an invalid, said, "Go, if you think duty calls you." He did go, and he suffered no personal harm. He soon published a reply to the resolutions passed at the meeting, and an appeal to his fellow citizens, a few sentences from which will show what was the foundation of his firmness and persistence. He wrote : "I hope to write in that spirit of meekness and humility that becomes a follower of the Lamb, and at the same time with all the bold- ness and sincerity of speech which should mark the language of a freeman and a Christian minister." He quoted an article of the Constitution of AS A CHRISTIAN*. the State of Missouri, which guaranteed to every person the right "to speak, write and print freely on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that, liberty." After indicating the evils liable to result from the subversion of this right, he wrote : "I deem it therefore my duty to take my stand upon the Constitution. Here is firm ground. I feel it to be such, and I do most re- spectfully, yet decidedly, declare to you my fixed determination to maintain this ground. We have slaves, it is true, but / am not one. I am a citizen of the United States, a citizen of Missouri freeborn, and having never for- feited the inestimable privileges attached to such a condition, I cannot consent to surrender them. But while I maintain them, I hope to do it with all that meekness and humility that become a Christian, and especially a Christian minister. I am ready, not to fight, but to suf- fer, and, if need be, to die for them. Kindred blood to that which flows in my veins flowed freely to water the tree of . Christian liberty, 24 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY planted by the Puritans on the rugged soil of New England. It flowed as freely on the plains of Lexington, the heights of Bunker Hill, and fields of Saratoga. And freely, too, shall mine flow, yea, as freely as if it \vere so much water, ere I surrender my right to plead the cause of truth and righteousness before my fellow citizens, and in the face of all their op- posers. * * * The path of duty lies plain before one, and I must walk therein, even though it lead to the whipping post, the tar barrel or even the stake. I was bold and dauntless in the service of sin ; it is not fit that I should be less so in the service of my Re- deemer. He sought me out when there was none to help; when I was fast sinking to eternal ruin, he raised me up and placed me on the Rock of Ages ; and now shall I forsake him, when he has so few friends, and so many enemies in St. Louis? I cannot, I dare not, and his grace sustaining me, / will not. * * * "Fellow citizens, they told me that if I re- turned to the city from my late absence, you AS A CHRISTIAN. ZO would surely lay violent hands upon me, and many of my friends besought me not to come. I disregarded their advice, because I plainly saw, or thought I saw, that the Lord would have me come. And up to this moment that conviction of duty has continued to strengthen, until now I have not the shadow of a doubt that I did right. I have appeared openly among you, in your streets and market places, and now I openly and publicly throw myself into your hands. I can die at my post, but I cannot desert it." This long defense and appeal closes with these words : "Humbly entreating all whom I have injured, whether intentionally or other- wise, to forgive me ; in charity with all men, freely forgiving my enemies, even those who thirst for my blood, and with the blest assur- ance that in life or death, nothing can separate me from my Redeemer, I subscribe myself. Your fellow citizen, ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY." 26 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY As to his situation in St. Louis, upon his return at this time, he afterwards wrote : "I was alone in St. Louis with none but God of whom to ask counsel. But thrice blessed be his holy name. He did not forsake me. I was enabled deliberately and unreserved- ly to surrender myself to Him. I thought of mother, of brothers and sisters, and above all of my dearest wife, and felt that I could give them all up for Jesus' sake. I think I could have gone to the stake, and not a nerve have trembled, or a lip quivered. Under the in- fluence of these feelings, I wrote and sent forth my appeal." This Appeal was dated Nov. 5th. 1835. My quotations have, by my purpose, been limited to a single class of passages. . But I must not fail to refer to the great cogency of his arguments, and the aptness of his illustrations in maintain- ing his positions. But forcible argument and telling illustration served rather to exasperate than to convince his adversaries. However, the current of public opposition was somewhat AS A CHRISTIAN. 27 stayed. Some men who cared little for the re- ligious views of the editor as expressed in his paper, said, "The Observer must be sustained, or our liberties are gone." A few sentences from a letter to his brother will tell of the relief that came to the man of God at this critical time : "The pressure which seemed as though it would crush me to the earth began to lighten. Light began to break in upon the gloomiest day I have ever seen. I cannot think or write about it without my eyes filling with tears to think of the deliverance which God wrought by so weak and unworthy an instrument as I am." Notwithstanding', however, the diminution of public opposition, the original proprietors of The Observer insisted that Mr. Lovejoy should not continue to be its editor, and he cheerfully consented to comply with their re- quest. But the paper was in debt, and press and material passed into the hands of an en- dorser of a note soon to fall due. This new 28 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY owner, to avoid loss, insisted that Mr. Love- joy should continue to be editor, with the understanding that the paper should be re- moved to Alton, 111., on the opposite side of the river, about twenty-five miles distant. This change of ownership seems to have oc- curred late in 1835, but the removal was de- ferred until the following June. Meanwhile there occurred in St. Louis, startling events which could not be passed over in silence by a religious newspaper. The lynching of a negro, who had murdered a white man, including the public burning of the negro alive at the stake, was denounced as atrocious, and the charge of the judge to the Grand Jury, practically justifying the mob, was severely condemned in the editorial col- umns of The Observer. Very promptly there- upon, just as the removal to Alton was about to be made, it was well nigh prevented by an attack on the office, resulting in the destruc- tion of much of the printing outfit, Mr. Love- joy's furniture, even, not altogether escaping AS A CHRISTIAN. 29 the rage of his enemies. It was only what escaped this destruction that was shipped to Alton, and left on the levee, where before day- light of the day after its arrival, this remnant of the first press was destroyed and thrown into the river. This occurred in June, 1836. At a public meeting of the citizens of Alton, held immediately, this act of violence was dis- claimed, and provision was made for the pur- chase of a new press. It was at this meeting that Mr. Lovejoy in closing his address ut- tered these memorable words : "But, gentlemen, as long as I am an Ameri- can citizen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write and to publish whatever I please on any subject, being amenable to the laws of my country for the same." There is abundant evidence of the utterance of these words by Mr. Lovejoy at this time, even the testimony of ten men, whose names Mr. Tanner gives, describing them as "ten of the most respectable citizens of Alton." The 30 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY fact is of great importance, because his enemies afterwards contended that in coming to Alton Mr. Lovejoy agreed to abstain from the dis- cussion of slavery. The summer of 1836, now just at an end, had been a season of much sickness in Alton, which the Love joys had not escaped. How ill prepared physically the editor was to make vigorous use of the new press, expected soon to' arrive, is indicated by the following letter to his mother, dated Aug. 31st, which shows also the Christian spirit of the man. He wrote : "Why, when my services are so much need- ed, I should be laid on a bed of sickness, I cannot tell; why, when God has in his wise and holy providence, let loose upon me angry and wicked men, he should also so heavily lay his own hand upon me, I cannot see, but he can, and I desire to submit without a murmur. I can now fed as I never felt before, the wis- dom of Paul's advice not to marry, and yet I would not be without the consolations which AS A CHRISTIAN. 31 my clear wife and child afford me for all the world. Still I cannot but feel that it is harder to fight valiantly for the truth, when I risk not only my own comfort, ease and reputation, and even life, but also that of another beloved one. But in this I am greatly favored. My dear wife is a perfect heroine. Though of del- icate health she endures affliction more calmly than I had supposed possible for a woman to do. Xever has she by a single word attempted to turn me from the scene of warfare and danger; never has she whispered a feeling of discontent at the hardships to which she has been subjected in consequence of her marriage to me, and these have been neither few nor small, and some of them peculiarly calculated to wound the sensibility of a woman. She has seen me shunned, hated and reviled by those who were once my dearest friends ; she has heard the execrations wide and deep upon my head, and she has only clung to me the more closely, and more devotedly. When I told her that the mob had destroyed a considerable 32 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY portion of our furniture, along with their other depredations, 'No matter,' said she, 'what they have destroyed, since they have not hurt you.' Such is woman, and such is the woman -whom God has given me. "And now do you ask, Are you discouraged ? I answer promptly, Xo. I have opened my mouth for the dumb. I have pleaded the cause of the oppressed. I have maintained the rights of humanity, and of nature outraged in the person of my fellow men around me, and I have done it, as is my nature, openly, boldly, and in the light of day, and for these things I am brought into these straits. For these things I have seen my family scattered, my office broken up, my furniture as I was mov- ing to this place destroyed ; have been loaded with execrations, have had all manner of evil spoken of me falsely, and finally have had my life threatened, and have lain down at night, weary and sick, with the expectation that I might be aroused by the stealthy step of the assassin. This was the case the last night I AS A CHRISTIAN. 33 spent in St. Louis. Yet none of these things move me from my purpose. By the grace of God I will not, I will not forsake my prin- ciples ; and I will maintain and propagate them with all the means he puts into my hands. The cry of the oppressed has entered not only into my ears, but into my soul, so that while I live I cannot hold my peace." A week and and a day later than the date of this letter, the first number of The Alton Obscri'cr was issued, September 8th, 1836, and the paper continued to be published regularly for eleven months. The removal to Alton proved to be a success financially. The cir- culation of the paper was greatly increased. As occasion required, the editor did not fail to express his convictions as to the evils of slavery, which had now become an exciting subject over the whole country. It was espe- cially so in the halls of Congress, where John Quincy Adams, late President of the United States, persisted in presenting petitions from his constituents for the abolition of slavery in 34 ELIJAH PARISH LOVE JOY the District of Columbia. This aim was ap- proved by The Alton Observer, which called for names of those who were willing to cir- culate petitions for this object in different counties. A still more obnoxious proposition, however, was a call for the formation of an Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. It was written on July 4th, 1837, and immediately published. Alton was now a city of some four thousand inhabitants, about as large as Chicago. Its prosperity and prospects had attracted men from the South as well as from other parts of the country. It is not strange therefore that there was a response to an anonymous call, made at this time by means of a handbill, summoning all who were opposed to the course taken by The Alton Observer, to meet at the public market, July llth, 1837. At this meet- ing its object was stated to be, "The suppres- sion of Abolitionism." A committee was ap- pointed to wait on Mr. Lovejoy, "to ascertain whether he intends to disseminate through the columns of The Observer the doctrines of AS A CHRISTIAN. ' 35 Abolitionism." But they were so dilatory in doing their work, that when at length they did communicate with him, he had already, four days before, published an article entitled, "What are the doctrines of Anti-Slavery men ?'' to which he referred them, with a kindly ex- pressed denial of their right to question his liberty of free speech. In this article he frankly admits that he now holds views different from those which he formerly held. He then proceeds to de- fine and defend the views of Abolitionists, using the term repeatedly, as, "Abolitionists hold," "Abolitionists believe," etc., in describ- ing and defending their views. He protests against frequent misrepresentations of those views by their enemies. The article clearly, indisputably involves an admission that he has himself become an Abolitionist of the kind he describes and defends. In reading his state- ment of principles, it is difficult to conceive why they did not commend themselves to every reasonable mind. For example, to the ques- 36 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY tion, "How and by whom is emancipation to be effected?" he answers, ''By the masters themselves, and by no others." This able article was very extended, and \\ as written under a deep sense of responsibility. He thus concludes : "These principles are eternal and immutable, for they are established by God himself,- and whoever would destroy them must first reach up to heaven and de- throne the Almighty. Sin had well nigh ban- ished them from the earth, when the Son of God came down to reassert them, and died to sanction them. They are summed up perfectly in the language by which the angels announced the object of the Redeemer's mission : 'Glory to God in the highest. On earth, peace, good will toward men.' " One or two sentences from The Missouri Republican of this time may serve to indicate the feeling and purpose of pro-slavery men. "The editor of The Observer has merited the full measure of the community's indignation, and if he will not learn by experience, they are AS A CHRISTIAN. 37 very likely to teach him by practice, something of the light in which the honorable and re- spectable portion of the community view his conduct. He has forfeited all claim to the protection of that or any other community." Again, a few days later : "We had hoped that our neighbors would have ejected from amongst them that minister "of mischief, The Observer, or at least, corrected its course. Something must be done in this matter, and that speedily." Four days later something was done, as to method and extent quite enough to satisfy even The Missouri Republican, for a mob en- tered the office of The Observer at night, and totally destroyed all that pertained to the pub- lication of the paper. But earlier in the even- ing of the same night, an attack was made upon the editor himself, characteristically planned. The plan was nothing less than to tar and feather him, and then set him adrift on the Mississippi in a canoe secured for the pur- pose. A crowd of men came upon him at about 446298 38 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY 9 o'clock, as he was returning home from a drug store in the city, with some medicine for his sick wife. His own account is as follows : "We reside more than half a mile from town. Just as I was leaving the principal street I met the mob. They did not at first recognize me, and I parted their columns for some dis- tance, and had just reached the rear, when some of them began to suspect who it was. They immediately wheeled their column, and came after me. I did not hurry at all, believing that it was not for such a man as I am to flee. They seemed a little loth to come on me, and I could hear their leaders swearing at them, and telling them to push on, etc. By this time they began to throw clods of dirt at me. and several hit me, without hurting me. And now a fellow pushed up to my side, armed with a club, to ascertain certainly who I was. He then yelled out, 'It's the d d Abolitionist, give him hell,' whereat there was another rush upon me. But when they got close up they seemed again to fall back. At length, a number of AS A CHRISTIAN. 39 them, linked arm in arm, pushed by me and wheeled in the road before me, thus stopping me completely. I then spoke to them, asking them why they stopped me. By this time the cry was all around me, 'd n him, rail him, rail him, tar and feather him, tar and feather him.' I had no doubt that such was to be my fate. I then said to them, 'I have one request to make of you, and then you may do with me what you please.' I then asked them to send one of their number, to take the medicine to my wife, which I begged they would do with- out alarming her. This they promised, and sent one of their, number to do it, who did it according to the promise. I then said to them, 'You had better let me go. You have no right to detain me. I have never injured you.' They began to curse and to swear, when I added, 'I am in your hands, and you must do with me whatever God permits you to do.' " I complete the account in the words of Col. Geo. T. M. Davis, a prominent lawyer of Alton, on whom some of the mob called the same 40 ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOY night to secure his services in their defense should they be arrested. Col. Davis writes: "For a few moments entire silence reigned. At last it was broken by one of the medical men, who made up in part the disguised party. exclaiming, 'Boys, I can't lay hands upon as brave a man as this is,' and turning away was followed by the rest." Mr. Love joy was al- lowed to go quietly home. Where Col. Davis obtained his information as to the conclusion of the assault may be in- ferred from the following record in his auto- biography, page 62. "About 11 o'clock that night. I was awakened from sleep by a violent knocking at the door of my residence. Upon my opening it, there stood the two physicians and a third member of their tar and feathering party, impatiently awaiting my appearance. The whole three at one time or another had been clients of mine, and as" soon as I admitted them to my house. Dr. - - related the particulars of their escapade, and at the conclu- sion told me the sole object of their visit at AS A CHRISTIAN. 41 so unseemly an hour of the' night was to retain me in advance, should any friends of Mr. Love- joy institute legal proceedings against them or any others of their associates, for an unlawful attempt to do bodily injury to Mr. Love joy/' The date of this memorable event was Aug. 31st, 1837, and at a later hour the same night, as already stated, the press was destroyed the second press to fall a victim before the violence of the enemies of free discussion and human liberty. Immediately offers of a new press were made to the editor, some of them from distant states. The friends of the cause held a meeting at Alton to favor the continued publication of the paper. Money was furnished and a new press was at once ordered. But inasmuch as there was a difference of opinion among his friends, Mr. Lovejoy at first decided to surrender the editorship unconditionally. Afterwards, how- ever, he concluded to leave the decision to all his friends, and if they so advised, to yield his position to a successor. In leaving the question 42 ELIJAH I'ARISH LOVEJOY with them he earnestly urged that they act without reference to his personal feelings. He \vrote : "I should be false to the Master 1 serve, and of whose gospel I am a minister, should I allow my own interests (real or sup- posed), to be placed in competition with His. Indeed, I have no interest, no wish, at least I think I have none; I know I ought to have none other than such as are subordinate to His will. Be it yours, brethren, to decide what is best for the cause of truth, most for the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, and rest assured whatever my own private judgment may be of my cordial acquiescence in your decision. * * * I am ready to go forward if you say so, and equally ready to yield to a successor, if such be your opinion. Yet let me say, promptly, that in looking back over my past labors as editor of The Observer, while I see many imperfections, and many errors and mistakes, I have nevertheless done the best I could. This I say in the fear of God; so that if I am to continue the editor, you must AS A CHRISTIAN. 43 not on the whole expect a much better paper than you have had." As to the esteem in which Mr. Love joy was held, it may be said that he was Moderator of the Alton Presbytery. His friends having been appealed to by him, held a meeting, and after much deliberation expressed their judgment "that The Observer should be re-established, and that Elijah P. Lovejoy ought to continue to be its editor." The new press arrived Sept. 21st, an exact month after the destruction of its predecessor. As it was being conveyed to the warehouse, though no one interfered, unfriendly remarks were made by some of the bystanders, showing that the newly arrived packages were recog- nized by them as parts of an "abolition press." Their words of ridicule were that night suc- ceeded by deeds of violence, for before another day dawned, this third press was broken in pieces and thrown into the river. An experience of Mr. Lovejoy, about ten days later, at St. Charles, a city across the 44 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY Mississippi, in Missouri, only a few miles from Alton, will show how much more violent his treatment would have been, if he had tried to reside in a slave state. This city was Mrs. Lovejoy's home, and they were visiting 1 her mother, having with them their sick child. Mr. Lovejoy had preached twice on Sunday for his friend, Rev. Wm. M. Campbell, the pastor of the church, who had gone with him to the home of his mother-in-law. While they were conversing Mr. Lovejoy was called for from outside the house. Upon his responding, a~- he wrote, "They immediately rushed up the portico, and two of them, coming into the room, laid hold of me. One of them was formerly a Virginian, the other called himself a Missis- sippian. I asked them what they wanted of me. 'We want you down stairs, d n you/ was the reply. They accordingly commenced attempting to pull me out of the house. And not succeeding immediately, one of them began to beat me with his fists. By this time Mrs. Lovejoy had come into the room. In doing AS A CHRISTIAN. 45 so she had to make her way through the mob on the portico, who attempted to hinder her from coming by rudely pushing her back. She flew to where I was, and throw- ing her arms around me, boldly faced the mobites, with a fortitude and self-devotion, which none but a woman and a wife ever dis- played. While they were attempting, with oaths and curses, to drag me from the room, she was smiting them in the face with her hands, or clinging to me to aid in resisting their efforts, and telling them that they must first take her before they should have her hus- band. Her energetic measures, seconded by those of her mother and sister, induced the assailants to let me go, and leave the room." TUit they soon returned, and although Mrs. Lovejoy was lying upon the bed in a hysterical condition, and Mr. Lovejoy was holding the sick child in his arms, they broke into the room, rushed up to the bedside, and attempted to force him from the house. He adds : "I sup- pose they would have succeeded, had not my 46 ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOY friend, \\'m. A!. Campbell, at this juncture, come in, and with undaunted boldness, assisted me in freeing myself from their clutches. They did not, however, leave the yard of the house, which was full of drunken wretches, uttering the most awful and soul-chilling oaths and imprecations, and swearing they would have me at all hazards. * * * They were armed with pistols and dirks, and one pistol was dis- charged, whether at any one, I do not know. The fellow from Mississippi seemed the most bent on my destruction. He did not appear at all drunken, but both in words and actions manifested the most fiendish malignity of feel- ing and purpose." \Yhat these infuriated men would have done if he had fallen into their hands it is easy to conjecture. The only safe course seemed to be to escape beyond their reach. Finding an opportunity of doing this, he slipped away in the darkness, and after going about a mile, secured a horse and was able to reach Alton in safety. AS A CHRISTIAN. 47 Over against the strong and violent pro- slavery sentiment of the South, as indicated by the incident just narrated, there was at the North a correspondingly intense anti-slavery sentiment, nowhere more marked than in Ohio. It is not surprising, therefore, that from that section of the country, as was understood, came the funds for the purchase of a new press, but where it was to be set up was uncer- tain, since a request had been received from Quincy, 111., to make that city the future loca- tion of The Observer, and there were strong reasons for complying with the request. But now the time approached for the pro- posed meeting of anti-slavery men at Upper Alton, to form an Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. About two hundred and fifty persons from dif- ferent parts of the state, all north of Alton, had signed the call for this convention. Some of them were aged clergymen, highly esteemed by Mr. Love joy, and he looked to this repre- sentative meeting to decide as to the future lo- cation of the paper. The convention met Oct. 48 ELIJAH PARISH LOYKJOY 26th, 1837, in the Presbyterian church of Upper Alton. The venerable Dr. Gideon Blackburn was, by general consent, called to the chair. I cannot dwell upon the events of that mockery of a convention. Suffice to say that it was actually captured by pro-slavery men, one of whom, the Attorney General of the state, who in this meeting went so far in the expression of his. anger as to shake his fist in Mr. Love- joy's face, succeeded in having himself put on the Business Committee, with two good men, one of them Dr. Edward Beecher, President of Illinois College. When this committee brought in their report, the Attorney General presented a minority report, which the cap- tured convention adopted, and then, at the end of the second session, adjourned sine die! Immediately the real friends of the cause, for which the convention had been called, met at the private residence of Rev. T. B. Hurlbut, formed a State Anti-Slavery Society, and chose Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, Corresponding Secretary. After a full discussion of the question of The AS A CHRISTIAN. 49 Observer, they recommended Mr. Lovejoy to continue its publication in Alton. It is proper to add, however, that many were opposed to this decision without some assurrance from the city of Alton of the maintenance of law and order instead of mob rule. It was therefore not absolutely certain that Air. Lovejoy might not take the paper to Quincy, 111. On the 30th of October, in the Presbyterian church at Alton, Dr. Edward Beecher made an address to the friends of free speech, in which he favored defending Mr. Lovejoy against all opposition. He was interrupted by a stone thrown through a window. Immedi- ately the order was given from the gallery, "To Arms," and the church door was at once guarded by armed men. This prevented any further disturbance, and Dr. Beecher finished his address. Such prompt show of readiness to resist violence was the result of a conference between Mr. Lovejoy in company with some of his friends and the Mayor, which had been followed by the organization of a company of 50 ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOY about fifty men. It was some of this company who responded to the order of their captain, and some of the same men defended the fourth press in the warehouse a few days later. They understood that they were acting with the au- thority of the Mayor. Only one other meeting remains to be con- sidered a meeting of two sessions. It was held Xov. 2d and 3d, three days after the meet- ing in the Presbyterian church at which Dr. Beecher had been interrupted in his address. At the first session of this last meeting Dr. Beecher presented resolutions, which set forth in positive language the invaluable right of free discussion, and called for the maintenance of this right in behalf of Mr. Love joy and The Observer. These resolutions were re- ferred to a committee of which the aforesaid Attorney General was a member, to report on the following day. At the second session, the following day, a resolution, introduced by the Attorney General, was promptly and unani- mously adopted, limiting participation in the AS A CHRISTIAN. 51 meeting to citizens of Madison county. Others were to consider themselves as only "welcome spectators." Among these Dr. Beecher, of Jacksonville, Morgan County, was of course included. The committee then reported a series of resolutions as a substitute for those referred to them. As finally adopted, the new resolu- tions recommended abstinence from violence, and moderation in discussion, but demanded that the editor of The Observer be no longer identified with any newspaper established in Alton. One member of the committee, how- ever, Winthrop S. Oilman, protested against the substitution of the new resolutions, and expressed .the opinion that "the rigid enforce- ment of the law would prove the only sure protection of the rights of citizens, and the only safe remedy for similar excitements in the future." At the close of Mr. Oilman's earnest words of protest, Mr. Lovejoy made his last recorded public address as follows : "Mr. Chairman, it is not true, as has been charged upon me, that 52 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY I hold in contempt the feelings and sentiments of this community with reference to the ques- tion which is now agitating it. I respect and appreciate the feelings and opinions of my fel- low citizens, and it is one of the most painful and unpleasant duties of my life that I am called upon to act in opposition to them. If you suppose, sir, that I have published senti- ments contrary to those generally held in this community, because I delighted in differing from them, or in occasioning a disturbance, you have entirely misapprehended me. But, sir, while I value the good opinion of my fel- low citizens as highly as any one, I may be permitted to say that I am governed by higher considerations than either the favor or the fear of man. I am impelled to the course I have taken because I fear God. As I shall answer to my God in the great day, I dare not aban- don my sentiments, or cease in all proper ways to propagate them. "I, Mr. Chairman, have not desired or asked any compromise. I have asked for nothing AS A CHRISTIAN*. 53 but to be protected in my rights as a citizen rights which God has given me, and which are guaranteed to me by the Constitution of my country. Have I, sir, been guilty of any infraction of the laws? Whose good name have I injured? When and where have I published anything injurious to the reputation of Alton? Have I not on the other hand, labored, in common with the rest of my fellow citizens, to promote the reputation and inter- ests of this city? What, sir, I ask, has been my offense? Put your finger upon it define it and I stand ready to answer for it. If I have committed any crime, you can easily con- vict me. You have (your) juries, and you have your attorney (looking at the Attorney General), and I have no doubt you can convict me. But if I have been guilty of no violation of law, why am I hunted up and down con- tinually like a partridge upon the mountains? Why am I threatened with the tar barrel? W T hy am I waylaid every day, and from night to night, and my life in jeopardy every hour? 54 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY "You have, sir, as the lawyers say. made up a false issue; there are not two parties between whom there can be a compromise. I plant myself, sir, down on my unquestionable rights. and the question to be decided is, whether I shall be protected in the exercise and enjoy- ment of those rights. that is the question, sir: whether my property shall be protected ; whether I shall be suffered to go home to my family at night without being assailed, and threatened with tar and feathers, and assas- sination ; whether my afflicted wife, whose life has been in jeopardy, from continued alarm and excitement, shall night after night be driven from a sick bed into the garret, to save her life from the brick bats and violence of the mobs; that, sir. is the question." This reference to the sufferings of his de- voted wife, on his account, so affected the speaker that he lost his self control, and gave way to grief. A wave of sympathy swept over his hearers, some of whom wept. Even his enemies wete affected. Regaining self control AS A CHRISTIAN. 55 he proceeded : "Forgive me, sir, that I have thus betrayed my weakness. It was the allu- sion to my family that overcame my feelings. Not, sir, I assure you, from any fears on my part. I have no personal fears. Not that I feel able to contest the matter with the whole community. I know perfectly well I am not. I know, sir, you can tar and feather me, hang me up. or put me into the Mississippi without the least difficulty. But what then? Where shall I go? I have been made to feel that if I am not safe in Alton, I shall not be safe anywhere. I recently visited St. Charles to bring home my family, and was torn from their frantic embrace by a mob. I have been beset night and day at Alton. And now if I leave here and go elsewhere, violence may overtake me in my retreat, and I have no more claim upon the protection of any other community than I have upon this ; and I have concluded after consultation with my friends, and ear- nestly seeking counsel of God, to remain at Alton, and here to insist on protection in the 56 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY exercise of my rights. If the civil authorities refuse to protect me, I must look to God ; and if I die, I have determined to make my grave in Alton.". One who was present at the meeting bears this impressive testimony : "I cannot attempt to describe his manner. He was calm and serious, but firm and decided. Not an epithet or unkind allusion escaped his lips, notwith- standing he knew he was in the midst of those who were seeking his blood, and notwithstand- ing he was well aware of the influence that that meeting, if it should not take the right turn, would have in infuriating the mob to do their work. He and his friends had prayed earnestly that God would overrule the delibera- tions of that meeting for good. He had been all day communing with God. His counte- nance, the subdued tones of his voice, and his whole appearance indicated a mind in a pecu- liarly heavenly frame, and ready to acquiesce in the will of God, whatever that might be. I confess that I regarded him at the time, in AS A CHRISTIAN. 57 view of all the circumstances, as presenting a spectacle of moral sublimity, such as I had never before witnessed, and such as the world seldom affords." Only three days later, Nov. 6th, the fourth press arrived, and was stored in the warehouse of Godfrey and Oilman, being "snugly packed away in our third story, guarded by volunteer citizens with their guns," to use the language of Mr. Oilman, a member of the firm. It was he who had insisted, at the late meeting, that Air. Lovejoy should be protected in his rights of free speech. His conduct corresponded with his expressed opinion. He afterwards wrote : "The Mayor had been consulted by me, and was present when the press was landed, and all arrangements were made, I believe, with his sanction. He told us he would make us all special constables, and would order us to fire on the mob, if we were assailed." The number of well-armed citizens the night the press was received, was about sixty, all ready to defend it by force of arms against all assailants. Mr. TO ELIJAH PARISH LOVKJOY Tanner gives a fac-simile of the order to the party of defenders on the ground floor of the warehouse, as follows : "You will hold your fire until the second and third stories have fired, and don't waste a single charge. Have a light and other preparations to reload." It is well to remember these preparations to resist the slave- power, and their significance, to the credit of much stigmatized Alton, which had the misfortune to be the scene of the first bloodshed in the inevitable conflict, that, before it ended, deluged the land with blood. It is a question impossible to be answered with cor- rectness, but for its suggestiveness well worth asking, What town of the size of Alton, on the border of a slave state, would have fur- nished as many volunteers from among its' citizens to arm themselves for the protection of an anti-slavery press at that period of the conflict? Judging from Mr. Lovejoy's own words, such was the spirit of the times, that he did not know a place where he would be safer than in Alton ! It AS A CHRISTIAN. 59 During' the day following the arrival of the fourth press the city was quiet, and in the evening', although the defenders of the previous night assembled, it was with expressions of mutual congratulation rather than of appre- hension. Mr. Oilman, however, intending him- self to stand guard in his warehouse all night, asked some of his friends to remain with him and nineteen remained. About 10 o'clock they became aware that a crowd had gathered. Soon the demand was made for the surrender of the press. Shots were fired on both sides. A man in the mob was killed. Threats were made to set the warehouse on fire. A ladder was placed against the building and a man be- gan to ascend it to carry out the threat. Vol- unteers were called for from the defenders inside the warehouse to go out and fire upon this man. Mr. Lovejby was one of three who responded. Two of the three were hit by shots from the mob. Mr. Lovejoy, shot fatally, five balls being lodged in his body, had strength enough to run up stairs into the counting room. 60 ELIJAH PARISH L-OVEJOY where he immediately expired. This was Xov. 7th, 1837. The next day he would have been thirty-five years old. It is impossible to overestimate the influence of this tragic death, in view of all its aggra- vating circumstances, upon the cause in which the precious life was laid down. Of that in- fluence, Dr. Samuel \Yillard, of Chicago, at the time of the tragedy a resident of Upper Alton, and an intimate friend of Mr. Lovejoy, wrote more than forty years after the event : "The wide-spread and deep indignation that stirred myriads of hearts throughout the land did more to drive nails in the coffin of slavery than Mr. Lovejoy could have done in a long life." Xo better evidence of the impression made by the event upon the minds of thought- ful men could be possible than that afforded by the words of ex-president John Quincy Adams, who wrote so soon afterwards, of its having given "a shock as of an earthquake throughout this continent, which will be felt in the most distant regions of the earth." AS A CHRISTIAN. 61 I will here mention but one instance of this influence the occasion it afforded for the en- trance of Wendell Phillips upon his life-long career of opposition to American slavery. After the news of the Alton riots and the mur- der of Lovejoy reached the city of Boston, an indignation meeting, called by Win. Ellery Channing and kindred spirits, was held in Faneuil Hall., Dec. 8th, 1837. Strong resolu- tions, prepared by Dr. Channing, were pre- sented. These resolutions were opposed by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in an extended speech, in which he likened the rioters of Alton to the "orderly mob," which threw the tea overboard in Boston harbor. He charged Lovejoy with presump- tion, and declared that he "died as the fool dieth." Wendell Phillips, then a young man, was in the audience. Though a lawyer, his voice had never been heard in Faneuil Hall. But he came forward, and answered the Attor- ney General in an impromptu speech, which took the audience bv storm. As to the merits 62 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY of this speech, George \Yilliam Curtis, in his eulogy pronounced at the funeral of Mr. Phil- lips, said that there had been three great speeches in the history of our country one, the speech of Patrick Henry, which closes with the familiar words, "Give me liberty or give me death;" one, (though not in this order of time), the brief address of Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery ; one, the speech of Wendell Phillips, at the meeting held in Faneuil Hall, to denounce the murder of Lovejoy. "These three," said Mr. Curtis, "and there is no fourth." Any one who will read the speech, being familiar with the circumstances of its delivery, will not be dis- posed to dispute this claim for it of surpassing- excellence. We know how determinedly Wen- dell Phillips sprang into the arena, and en- gaged in a life-long conflict with American slavery; what merciless blows he dealt; how he never slacked his hand till the monster lay lifeles? in the dust. Two vears after the close of the Civil War. AS A CHRISTIAN. 63 Air. Phillips came to Alton and delivered one of his lectures in the City Hall. The next day he went to the cemetery and stood beside the gra've of Lovejoy. He visited also other mem- orable spots. Before he left the city, he wrote a letter to the Anti-Slavery Standard. The letter is dated Alton. 111.. April 14th, 1867, and is in part as follows : "I lectured here last night, and to-day have been visiting the places made historical and sacred by the labors and martyrdom of Lovejoy. Hitherto the name of the city brought always but one idea to my mind, and I could never hear it or see it in print, without a shudder. A cordial welcome here, and by men who have done good service in the valley of the Mississippi, where the bat- tle was for a time so hot, has broken that spell, and I trust hereafter to think of it as the home of brave and true men. I can never forget the quick, sharp agony of that hour which brought us news of Lovejoy's death. We had not fully learned the blood-thirstiness of the slave power. When John Brown con- 64 ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY fronted it at Harper's Ferry, we had long known the risk that any man ran who defied the fiend. But twenty years before, Garrison had just waked up to its horrors, and we saw it but blindly. The gun fired at Lovejoy was like that of Sumter it -scattered a world of dreams ! Looking back, how wise as well as noble his course seems ! Incredible, almost, that we should ever have been obliged to de- fend his 'prudence' ! What world-wide bene- factors these imprudent men are the Love- joys, the Browns, the Garrisons, the saints and martyrs ! How prudently most men creep into nameless graves, zvhile noiv and then one or two forget themselves into immortality!" Is not exactly this the secret of Lovejoy's consecrated life? He forgot himself in 'his devotion to the welfare of his fellow men. He Io9ked not on his own things but on the things of others, and so this mind was in him, which was also in Christ Jesus. As we of Alton, and those who come after us, lift our eyes to the familiar winged figure AS A CHRISTIAN. 65 of victory, poised so lightly on the summit of the Love joy monument, as if about to fly abroad, and proclaim in trumpet tones, to all the world, the triumph of free speech and human liberty, let our ears be quick to catch the announcement, in gentler tones, of another triumplv even the triumph of the grace of God in the heart of our now honored fellow citizen, delivering him from all fear of man, and filling him with a great love so akin to love divine, that he counted not his life dear unto himself in his service of his fellow men, but cheerfully resisted evil even unto blood, striving against sin. So shall he, though dead, yet speak to us, and to all who know the story of his life, of a power able and ever ready to help us in our conflict with evil, that we also may serve our generations by the will of God as he served his. LOVEJOY MONUMENT. COST, $30,000. DEDICATED AT ALTON, ILL., Nov. 8, 1897. Nat? The story of ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY, AS A CHRISTIAN, when first told in the preced- ing address, was intended for the information of the people of Alton and vicinity, who were anticipating the erection of a monument in honor of the martyr. These, af course, do not need to be informed as to the Lovejoy monument, for more than ten years past so prominent an object in. the "Bluff City." But it is now hoped that the story, as published in the present form, will have many besides local readers, who cannot but be interested in know- ing how the city of Alton, and the state of Illinois, at length, honored the now famous martyr. A view of the monument is, there- fore, herewith presented, as given in the Sou- venir Booklet distributed by the Monument Association, with a description in detail of the noble structure, and a full report of the im- 68 APPENDIX. pressive exercises, and eloquent addresses of the Dedication. The Booklet was admirably prepared by Secretary W. T. Norton of the Monument Association, who has cordially con- sented to the free use of its contents for the information of readers of this publication. While the extracts introduced will necessarily be limited, they will leave no room for doubt that the celebration was altogether worthy of the occasion. The additional information given in the Appendix, and the illustrations presented are pertinent to the subject of the address, and as not otherwise easily, if at all, accessible, will be prized by local as well as other readers. The following statement will show the features of the information now appended : VlEW OF THE LOVEJOY Moxr.MEXT, WITH DESCRIP- TION IN DETAIL. EXERCISES OF DEDICATION. PRESIDENT'S ACCOUNT OF THE RISE OF THE MONU- MENT. THE LOVEJOY MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES OF Hox. THOMAS DIM- MOCK, REV. J. M. WlLKERSOX, AXD I.IF.UT. GOVERNOR NORTHCOTT. , NAMES OF HONORED Gri.srs. APPENDIX. 69 ViEW OF THE LOVEJOY HOME IN ALTON, WITH SOME INCIDENTS OF ITS HISTORY, ETC. PORTRAIT OF HON. OWEN LOVEJOY, M. C, AND BRIEF STORY OF HIS LIFE. THE BRAVE DEFENDERS OF THE FOURTH PRESS. PORTRAIT OF WINTHROP S. OILMAN, LOVEJOY'S RESOLUTE CHAMPION. PORTRAIT OF HENRY TANNER, ONE OF THE DEFEND- ERS OF THE FOURTH PRESS. EARLIER PORTRAIT OF WENDELL PHILLIPS. His TRIBUTE TO THE DEFENDERS OF THE PRESS, AND THE CLOSING PARAGRAP-HS OF HIS FANEUIL HALL SPEECH IN 1837. LATER PORTRAIT OF WENDELL PHILLIPS. His LETTER FROM ALTON IN 1867. DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT "The Monument is emblematic of 'the tri- umph of the cause for which the hero died. The sculptor's ideal was Victory, and that conception has been expressed throughout the entire work. The winged statue of Victory which crowns the main shaft and the exultant eagles with outstretched wings surmounting the sentinel columns, alike express the idea of triumph and consummation. The monument was designed by Mr. R. P. BRINGHURST, of St. Louis, who associated with him Mr. Louis MULLGARDT, of the same place, to arrange the architectural features. The contract was let to the Culver Stone Co., of Springfield, 111., and Hon. L. PFEIFFENP.ERGER supervised the work for the association. The Building com- mittee consisted of Directors L. PFEIFFEN- 70 APPENDIX. BERGER, JOHN E. HAYXER and EDWARD LEVIS. with Hon. THOMAS DIM MOCK, advisory mem- ber. "The monument, described technically, is a massive granite column some 93 feet high, surmounted by a bronze statue of Victory. 17 feet high, weighing 8,700 pounds. This shaft in three sections, weighing respectively 16, 18 and 22 tons each, is one of the largest columns in this country. The base consists of a round plinth, square cap, die and base in form of a seat. It stands in the center of a terrace 40 feet in diameter, surrounded on three sides by a granite exedra wall 8 feet high on outside. having a seat on the inside. The terrace is floored with 6 inch granite flagging and is reached by seven granite steps. Two large granite pedestals, surmounted by ornate stand- ard bronze tripods, finish the exedra walls. By the steps are two granite sentinel columns 30 feet high, surmounted by bronze eagles 8 feet over the wings. On each of ,the four sides of the die is a bronze panel with an in- scription. The name of ELIJAH PARISH Lov K.JOY is placed in the back of the seat on the inside of exedra in granite letters about 15 inches high. With the exception of the bronze the monument is built entirely of light Barre granite. "It is a magnificent piece of work from an artistic standpoint, and as massive and firm as the everlasting hills. Its cost was $30,000. APPENDIX. 71 It is worthy of the man and of the cause for which he died. THE MONUMENT INSCRIPTIONS "The idea of the monument association in preparing the inscriptions was to let LOVEJOY speak for himself in the three-fold capacity of editor, minister of the gospel and opponent of slavery, and a quotation from his writings was placed under each of these heads. The fourth inscription is in honor of the men who stood by him in defense of his rights and risked their lives and property for the same cause. The inscriptions and historical data are : (SOUTH FRONT.) (Medallion of Love joy.} ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY, EDITOR OF ALTON OBSERVER, Albion, Maine, Nov. 8, 1802, Alton, 111. Nov. 7, 1837. A MARTYR TO LIBERTY. 'I have sworn eternal opposition to slavery, and by the blessing of God, I will never go back.' (NORTH FRONT.) CHAMPION OF FREE SPEECH. (Cut of Love joy Press.} 'But, gentlemen, as long as I am an Ameri- can citizen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, to publish whatever 72 APPENDIX. I please on any subject being amenable to the laws of my country for the same.' (EAST PANEL.) MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. MODERATOR OF THE ALTON PRESBYTERY. 'If the laws of my country fail to protect me I appeal to God, and with him I cheerfully rest my cause. I can die at my post but I can- not desert it.' (WEST PANEL. ) SALVE VICTORES ! This monument commemorates the valor, devotion and sacrifice of the noble Defenders of the Press, who, in this city, on Nov. 7, 1837, made the first armed resistance to the aggres- sions of the slave power in America. In addition to these epitaphs in bronze the following explanatory inscriptions are placed on the granite bases below the urns : Erected, by the State of Illinois, and citizens of Alton, 1896-97. Dedicated, in gratitude to ( lod. and in the love of Liberty, November 8th, 1897." EXERCISES OF DEDICATION DAY "On Monday afternoon, November 8th, 1897, amid "booming of cannon, the cadence of APPENDIX. 73 victorious music and the thrill of oratory, the Lovejoy monument was dedicated to the mem- ory of that great man who, as the fearless fore- runner of Emancipation and the champion of the right of free speech will be honored as long as this republic stands. For a generation de- spised by all but the few who stood with him in defense of his rights, for another generation almost forgotten, the work of ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY is at last fully vindicated, and the people of the State of Illinois and the citizens of Alton have redeemed the debt of gratitude, so long ignored, by the consecration in his' honor of one of the grandest memorials ever dedicated to any man or any cause. "The first feature of the program was the firing of the Governor's salute by the gun crew of the local division of the Naval Militia. This took place at 2 o'clock in Seminary Park, Lieut. Governor NORTH COTT being present with members of the Association, and Lieutenant E. Y. GROSSMAN commanding the gun. "The scene was then changed to the Temple, where was gathered one of the largest audi- ences ever brought together in Alton on any oc- casion. All the Altons were represented, the students of Shurtleff College and cadets of the 74 APPENDIX. Western Military Academy, together with the Naval Militia, being there in full force. There were also many strangers present, who had come from other states to be here on this oc- casion, and occupying a box on the east side of the house were several members of the Love- joy family, relatives of the martyr, who were come to see this glorious vindication of his life and work. On the stage were the mem- bers of the Association, the speakers, other guests of honor, the White Hussar band and chorus, the latter composed of over fifty voices, and under the leadership of Prof. W. D. ARMSTRONG. Mr. E. P. WADE, President of the Association, had charge of the exercises. "The program opened with music by the band, a stirring overture superbly rendered. The invocation was offered by Rev. M. JAME- SON, D. D., one of the members of the Associa- tion of 1867. Then came the song 'America' beautifully rendered by the chorus." PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. President E. P. Wade, of the Monument Association, then told of the rise of the monu- ment, referring to desultory intentions in ear- APPENDIX. 75 Her years of members of the press and other citizens, the existence in 1867 of a Monument Association which collected a small sum of money, the individual act of Hon. Thomas Dimmock in placing over the grave a marble scroll on a granite base, and securing the means to build a protecting wall around the lot. He then referred to the incorporation of the Lovejoy Monument Association, Jan. 2, 1886, which however, did not really set to work until some eight years later, when with the endorsement of the Common Council of Alton, and the earnest advocacy of the late Hon. Chas. A. Herb, State Senator, an ap- propriation of $25,000 was secured from the Legislature, the bill passing unanimously in the Senate, and with only three dissenting votes in the House. This result was doubtless largely due to the general support of the press of the State. The $5,000 needed additionally was contributed by citizens of Alton and sev- eral others interested in the object. 76 CoXTRIIJUTORS OF THE $5.000 An analysis of the receipts acknowledged in the published Treasurer's Report, shows 99 separate contributions from Alton ; from other places in Illinois, 28; Missouri, 10; Kansas. 3; Nebraska, 1 ; Indiana, 3 ; Ohio, 1 ; Xew York, 4 ; Xew Jersey. 2 ; Massachusetts, 4 ; Connec- ticut, 2; Vermont, 2. Though the contribu- tions from the ten states besides Illinois amounted to but $165.18, they showed a wide- spread interest. LOVEJOY MoXf.MKXT ASSOCIATIOX The -erection -of the monument was due to the persistent efforts of the members of the Monument Association, and to the \vork of those whom they were able to call to their assistance. It is well to give these names as part of this account of the Monument. EDWARD P. WADE, President. WM. AKMSTKONT,, / 'icc-I'rcsidcnt. Jmix E. HAYXKR. Treasurer. W. T. XORTOX, Secretary. ("HAS. lIoi.MHx. As^t Secretary. APPENDIX. 77. BOARD OF DIRECTORS I EDWARD P. WADK L. PFEIFFENBERGER WILLIAM ARMSTRONG GEORGE D. HAVDKN JOHN E. HAYNER YV. A. HASKELL W. T. NORTON DAVID R. SPARKS CHAS. HOLDEN HENRY WATSON HENRY C. PRIEST ISAAC E. KELLEY EDWARD LEV is H. G. M'PiKE JOHN A. COUSLEY. DEDICATORY ADDRESSES Only extracts can be given from the elo- quent addresses heard with great interest at the Dedication. The first was by Hon. THOS. DIM MOCK, of St. Eouis, who had done more than anyone else to perpetuate the memory of Love joy. ADDRESS OF HON. THOS. DIM MOCK "There is not, so far as I know, in any country such a monument as this to one not distinguished either in war or statesmanship. Yet not one of those thus distinguished has deserved monumental honors better than the man who was neither soldier nor statesman, and whose onlv and all-sufficient claim to pub- 78 APPENDIX. lie gratitude is his sublime devotion to great and precious principles, and his willingness to die- for them. "For a few choice souls there is immortality here as well as hereafter. In yonder grave a little handful of dust is all that is left of the mortal part of Lovejoy. But his spirit, 'the vital spark of heavenly flame/ that made him what he was, still lives and breathes and burns not only here among us to-day, but wherever his story has been told the wide world over. And so it must always be as long as unselfish and heroic manhood is recognized and appre- ciated on this earth. Such immortality as Lo.vejoy unconsciously achieved is worth living for aye, and worth dying for. The granite and the bronze raised to perpetuate his mem- ory, must sooner or later yield to the inexora- ble assaults of time, and mingle again with the original elements from whence they came. But that memory, vivified by the deathless spirit, can never perish it is eternal. He does not need this monument. It is we who need to give it him. We cannot afford to longer withhold such-grateful memorial from one who has taught us, at such cost, the priceless lesson that 'It is necessary^ that a man be true not that he live.' "Lovejey's name and fame have long since gone far beyond the narrow circle in which he moved while living, a comparatively unknown man. He has passed into history; he is an APPENDIX. 79 historical personage and no history of any value of the period to which he belongs can ever be written without doing full justice to " his character and to his work. He was a fore- most figure in that long and desperate strug- gle beginning in peace and ending in war which swept human slavery, from American soil forever. In that struggle he occupied a unique position which, I think, has not re- ceived the attention its peculiar features de- serve. He was the first man to publish an anti-slavery paper in a slave state; and, as we know, continued the publication until it was made impossible by the destruction of printing material and threats of worse things to come. He was certainly the first man and thank God, the last ! to lose his life for publishing an anti-slavery journal in a free state. ###*.#**# -.;< " 'God buries his workmen, but carries on His work' said John Wesley, one of the greatest of the world's great men. To the few faithful friends, who, sixty years ago, followed Love joy's coffin to this then neglected spot, it must have seemed, as they stood around that lonely grave, as if the work God had given him to do ended in dismal failure, and that his sun had gone down in the darkness of hopeless defeat. But we see now that the work was carried on to triumphant and enduring success, and that temporary defeat was only the gateway to glorious victory. 80 APPENDIX. "The column we dedicate to-day is a Column of Victory. The sentinel eagles at its base are the Eagles of Victory. The colossal figure that crowns its summit is the Angel of Victory. "All hail ! All hail ! All hail ! to this victor. whose laurels are stained with no blood but his own ! "Long may this column stand, a consecrated monument to faith and courage in a righteous cause! Long may this column stand, a noble reminder of Milton's noblest line 'Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war !' Long may this column stand, to tell in mute yet most eloquent language that " 'Whether on scaffold high, Or in the battle's van, The fittest place for man to die. Is WHERE HE DIES FOR MAN.' " The next speaker was Rev. J. M. WILKER- SON, pastor of the A. M. E. Church, who spoke as the representative of the colored people. His remarks were most happily received. ADDRESS OF REV. MR. WILKERSOX "The exercises of to-day would not be com- plete without some one of the race, whose right he, Lovejoy, so bravely defended, speak- AIM'KNDIX. 81 ing words in favor of his noble actions. He dared to speak for the negro, at a time when the negro was not permitted to speak for him- self. "Monuments reflect and perpetuate the prin- ciples and actions of those in whose honor thev are erected, and should alike represent the principles maintained by those erecting them. The monument that we dedicate to-day represents the ideal American citizen, Elijah P. Love joy, who laid down his life for the rights that belonged to him ; not him only, but the rights of every American citizen, be he rich or poor, white or black, the right to think, write or print that thought, subject to the law of the land. Thank God the day has come when we, as American citizens, have but one master, and that master is the law, and to its behest every true American citizen will bow. The unwilling should be made to bow by the mandates of its power. I am here as the rep- resentative of the 8,000,000 negroes, who, for the principles spoken and printed by Lovejoy, and the fortunes of war, have become citizens. We love the name of Lovejoy for his manly courage in standing up for the rights of men and attesting that principle with his life. The keeping of his grave being submitted to the negroes, I would just say that the interest manifested by us in the past may reflect our action in the future. Every position of honor 82 APPENDIX. and trust placed in the hands of the negroes by city, county, state or nation, has been filled with such fidelity as reflects honor on the race. Give us the blessings and punishments of the law. We ask nothing more and will not quiet- ly submit to anything less. "In conclusion I would just say that I am unlike many of my race, who are continually trying to apologize for being black. I have never felt it to be necessary for me to apologize for God Almighty. If he, in his great wisdom, saw fit to make me a black man, and another a white man, that is none of my business, neither is it yours. Those who think that God made some mistake about the matter, I refer them to Him for settlement of the matter and not me. The manhood of the negro has been sufficiently tried and he is not found wanting. When a dark cloud hung over this nation and her destiny was trembling in the balance, the negro rushed to the front and helped to save her flag from the impending danger ; he fought to save the flag of this country, when he had no country of his own. Let me say to you to-day, you may safely rely on the 8,000,000 negroes in any impending danger of this country. We have some little clouds that trouble us on ac- count of wicked prejudices, but I like that little song that we sometimes sing, 'We shall know each other better, when the mists have rolled awav.' ' APPENDIX. 83 The final address was delivered by Lieut. Governor W. A. XORTHCOTT, who had come to represent the Governor of the State. ADDRESS OF LIEUT. GOVERNOR NORTHCOTT ****^:**** "Here in Alton, sixty years ago, appeared the first cloud of the impending storm. A man, persecuted and driven from a sister state, came here to make his home and exercise the rights guaranteed him by the laws of his country, 'the right to speak, to write, and to publish whatever he pleased upon any subject.' He brought with him his wife and little child, and he felt that he ought to be protected by the laws and the flag of his country, the country his fathers had fought to establish. He be- lieved in the great principle of human liberty and his right to advocate it. He met opposi- tion, as he would have met it at that time any- where within the confines of this Republic bitter, stern, unrelenting opposition. Why should this man place himself in antagonism to his fellow man ? Why should he seek to disturb the existing order of things ? He had his home and his family, and by abandoning this' contest he could have lived in comfort and in harmony with his fellow men. Why should he have brought upon himself and family, so- cial ostracism, and why should he have en- 84 APPENDIX. gaged in a contest that brought to his sick and feeble wife daily anxiety, terror and even mob violence? How could he have had the heart and courage to expose her, whom he loved, to these terrors and dangers ? He was not re- sponsible for human 'slavery he was but one man among many. It would have been easier for him to have drifted with the tide and ac- quiesced in all these things. "But this was not to be. He 'rather held it better men should perish one by one, than that earth should stand at gaze like Joshua's moon in Ajalon.' He put behind him his love for his wife and child, and his tender care for their welfare, and with no thought for the pre- servation of his own life, walked through this garden of Gethsemane. even as One before him had walked because of his great love for humanity. In his heart burned the fires of liberty that could not be quenched. This in- spiration drove him with relentless force on its course. It was with him when he appealed to his fellow citizens and said 'if the civil authori- ties refuse to protect me I must look to God, and if I die, I am determined to make my grave in Alton.' "The death of Lovejoy inspired the oratory of Wendell Phillips, whose words rang out in favor of liberty like a call to battle. It lent strength to the noble Garrison in Massachu- APPENDIX. 85 setts ; it was with John Brown when he died at Harper's Ferry. It inspired Lincoln in his great debates with Douglas, here upon the prairies of Illinois so open that truth could find no hiding place. "Then the storm which had been gathering for more than a half century broke with all its fury and violence. And upon its winds rode the spirit of Lovejoy. It heard the thunders of the guns at Sumter, as they challenged this young republic to do battle for its existence. It stood with the legions of Illinois before the fiery mouths of the cannon at Fort Donelson, when was given to a faltering cause the cour- age of a first great victory gained. It waited with Grant in front of Yicksburg until that place gave way before his grim determination. It was with Meade when his cannon from the heights of Gettysburg threw shrapnel into the ranks of Lee's defeated army. It fought with the boys in blue above the clouds at Missionary Ridge, and when they met the storm of leaden hail and de?.th at Chickamaugua. It marched with Sherman to the sea, and rode with Logan in front of his victorious troops at Atlanta. It heard the glad acclaim of the people when the bottom dropped out of armed rebellion upon the field of Appomattox. It witnessed the grand review at Washington, when no braver and better soldiers ever formed the pha- lanx of Csesar or followed the eagles of Napo- leon, than those battle-scarred veterans, who 86 APPENDIX. marched down the streets of the national capi- tal, cheered by all Christendom. "Then it saw 'lifted into the forum of the constitution to shine forever and ever like a star, the great principle of the equality of all men before the law.' It saw the shackles fall from four million slaves and saw them lifted from chattels to the rights of American citi- zenship. And then this river, whose waters once mingled with the blood of Love joy, in its joyous march to the gulf and from the gulf to the sea, told no story of Illinois, sang no song of Missouri. In it was hot heard the name of any state, but in that ceaseless mur- mur between two great oceans was heard a grand anthem to the American Republic. In it was heard the voice of a nation, proclaiming the will of the people. It now flows by the home of no slave and no bondman. "Through the death of Lovejoy, through the blood and tears of a great war, there was breathed into this nation the breath of a broader national life. Human slavery was abolished, state sovereignty was dead ; liberty of thought, of speech and of publication was established. And if such things be, then the spirit of Love- joy hovers around the poor black man, once a slave, now a freeman, hearing the tinkling of the school bell as it calls on the children of his people to advance. "At the request of Governor Tanner, whose representative I have the honor of being, and APPENDIX. 87 upon the invitation of your committee, I feel it a proud honor to accept from your hands, in behalf of the State of Illinois this beautiful monument. Here in historic old Alton Alton that slew him, and Alton that defended him ! Alton whose people to-day with one heart and one mind, pluck from oblivion this wreath of immortality and place it around the memory of Lovejoy. Love joy and Alton ! Names as in- separable and as dear to the people of Illinois as those of Lincoln and Springfield, Grant and Galena." CONCLUSION OF THE EXERCISES "Following Lieut. Gov. NORTHCOTT'S ad- dress the chorus sang: Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise him above ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. "The audience then dispersed after benedic- tion by Rev. H. K. SANBORNE, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, and member of the Pres- bytery of which Mr. LOVEJOY was Moderator at the time of his death." 88 APPENDIX. AT THE CEMETERY "After the close of the exercises at the Tem- ple several carriage loads of visitors, escorted by members of the Association, were driven to the cemetery to inspect the memorial. The monument looked very imposing, and its beau- ty, and suggestiveness were much admired, while its solidity and massiveness attracted uni- versal comment. The great bronze urns on the pedestals had been filled with beautiful flowers and trailing vines, while the space be- tween the base of the monument and granitoid pavement was covered with evergreens. The grave of LOVEJOY, [a little distance from the monument, and still marked as described in Mr. Phillips's letter], was decorated with an immense floral wreath of beautiful design which entirely encircled the tablet, and over it drooped the stars and stripes, the beautiful banner of Alton Post, No. 441, Grand Army of the Republic, which was loaned by the veter- ans for the occasion." HONOKKI) ( i TESTS Among the notable persons present from abroad were four members of the Lovejoy APPENDIX. 89 family connection, viz. : Mrs. John A. An- drews, of Boston, Mass., niece of the martyr, being daughter of Rev. Jos. C. Love joy, of Cambridge, Mass.; two nephews of Lovejoy, Messrs. E. P. and C. P. Lovejoy, of Princeton, 111., they being sons of the late Congressman, Hon. Owen Lovejoy, and Hon. W. O. Love- joy, of Galesburg, 111. ulhe Untieing ifflttt* in Alton, tuttlt sntu? tnribrnis tn tta iftatnrg, rtr. ^nmp nf E. $1. Hntir;og, Alton, 3111. CHERRY STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD In this humble home Mr. Lovejoy lived with the wife and child of whom he wrote : "I 92 Al'l'KXDIX. would not be without the consolations which my clear wife and child afford me, for all the world." To this home he came alone, when the mob in St. Charles, Mo., had prevented his bringing his family with him. To this home, where his wife was lying seriously ill, he came quietly and unharmed on the night of Aug. 21st, 1837, when he had been waylaid on Second street by a mob, which intended to tar and feather him, but overawed by his fear- less trust in God, had dispersed without laying a violent hand upon him ! There is no better place than this for a brief reference to the personality of the man whose residence in this house made it a sacred spot. Mr. Tanner writes: "Mr. Lovejoy was of medium height, broadly built, muscular, of dark complexion, black eyes, with a certain twinkle betraying his sense of the humorous, and with a countenance expressing great kind- ness and sympathy. His demeanor among friends manifested meekness and patience, which nothing short of the controlling power APPENDIX. 93 of the Christian religion could have produced in ope possessed of a will so strong and a nature so energetic. There probably had not lived in this century a man of greater single- ness of purpose in bearing witness to the truth, or one who was more meek and peaceful ; or more courageous in maintaining principle in the face of passionate opposition." Dr. Sam- uel \Yillard endorses this estimate of Air. Love- joy. He writes : "As I recall him, there comes up such a man as Mr. Tanner describes, and a round pleasant face, full of good humor, and beaming with kindness and gentleness. I saw him in the midst of the excitement of the at- tempted anti-slavery convention, and witnessed the wonderful calmness and mildness of his demeanor when all about him were excited, and the Attorney General shook his fist in Mr. Love joy's face, so near that he lacked not much of striking him. He was not in the least a Boanerges or 'son of thunder,' but a gentle man, always. His firmness was not that of passion or obstinacy, but the gentle 94 APPENDIX. persistence of one who felt that he was right, and that he must prevail as the sun prevails against winter, by mild shining and not by storm. There was no bitterness in his heart, no venom on his tongue, no sound of fury in his voice. He is entitled to be ranked with the St. John of tradition, or the sweet St. Francis di Assissi of the Catholic Church. Xo man seemed less fitted to stand foremost in a great struggle ; and yet that dreadful lot befell him ; and we see that it was best that he should be such a man, so that, to use the words of the poet, 'his virtues might plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking off.' " Mr. Tanner makes the following interesting but pathetic statements as to Mrs. Love joy : "Her maiden name was Celia Ann French, and her former residence was St. Charles. Mn. She was a fragile and beautiful girl of 21. when he married her in 1835. She died some years since (that is, some years before 1881), with- out ever having entirely recovered from the APPENDIX. 95 trials of 1837. Before her death, she became quite poor, passed several days at my house, a broken-down, prematurely old person, pos- sessed of scarce a trace of her early beauty. The prophecy regarding her, made in 1837, that 'her strong heart would break down her physical frame,' was indeed most sadly veri- fied." Mrs. Lovejoy was not at home at the time of her husband's death. From the house on Cherry St. the martyr was buried, but not till after Owen Lovejoy, as he has himself left on record, "went into a room where the dead body was lying, and there alone with the dead and with God, vowed on his knees, never to forsake the cause that had been sprinkled with his brother's blood." The house remained standing more than fifty years after the martyrdom, when it was taken down to make room for another edifice. A few citizens familiar with its history, availed themselves of the opportunity to secure me- mentos from the ruins. Chief among these were two old fashioned wooden mantels, be- 96 Ai' fore which, without a doubt, the man of God, at his family altar and in secret prayer, had often strengthened himself for the great con- flict from which no opposition could compel him to withdraw. APPENDIX. 97 "It is as preposterous to think of taking slavery down through the civilisation of the ages, as to think of floating an iceburg throngli the tropics." Speech in Congress, 1860. Irof lOtfr teg of !?r H. dL It were easier to write a long story of the life of this remarkable man, whose influence was so great in the halls of 'Congress, and when he stood' before the people. After his death, Mr. Lincoln wrote of him, "It would scarcely wrong any other to say, he "^'as my most gcn- crous friend." This valued friendship began long before Mr. Lincoln became President, and continued "with increasing respect and esteem, no less than affection" on Mr. Lincoln's part, as he himself testified, until Mr. Love- joy's death in 1864. During nearly all the time of his brother's residence in Alton, Owen Lovejoy was intimately associated with him, and being more than eight years younger, he pursued under his instruction theological studies, with the intention of entering the min- istry. Reference has already been made to the APPENDIX. 99 influence of his brother's martyrdom in making him a life-long antagonist of slavery. The year after the tragedy, 1838, he removed to Princeton, 111., and became pastor of a small Congregationalist church, said to have been the earliest of that denomination in the state. Here he labored effectively as pastor for sev- enteen years. His preaching was attractive, and his congregations often rilled the house, some of his hearers having driven eight or ten miles from the surrounding country. He was always outspoken as to the evils of the liquor traffic and American slavery. His opposition to these evils was part of his religion. He became a recognized leader of Reform in his section of the state; and was at length sent to Congress, where he was also an acknowledged leader of great ability and alertness. A brief booklet prepared by Rev. D. Heagle, a brother minister, gives the only published account of a life of great influence, which deserved a more extended record. From that account the facts already given are obtained, as is also the fol- 100 APPENDIX. lowing specimen of readiness in Congression- al debate. "When Abraham Lincoln was meditating the issuing of his Emancipation Proclamation, John J. Crittenden of Kentucky attempted in the House of Representatives to dissuade him from the purpose, saying among other eloquent things, that if Lincoln could save the country without disturbing slavery, there was a 'niche awaiting him near to that of Washington ; so that the founder and preserver of the Republic should stand side by side.' To this Mr. Lovejoy replied : 'The gentleman from Kentucky says he has a niche for Abraham Lincoln. Where is it?' Crittenden pointed to- ward heaven. Then said Lovejoy : 'He points upward. But, sir, if the President follows the counsel of that gentleman, and becomes the perpetuator of slavery, he should point down- ward, to some dungeon in the temple of Mo- loch, who feeds on human blood, and where are forged chains for human limbs ; in the recesses of whose temple woman is scourged APPENDIX. 101 and man tortured. * * * That is a suit- able place for the statue of him who would perpetuate slavery. But I, too, have a niche for Abraham Lincoln. It is in Freedom's holy fane ; not surrounded by slave fetters and chains, but with the symbols of freedom ; not dark with bondage, but radiant with the light of liberty. In that niche he shall stand proud- ly, nobly, gloriously, with broken chains and slaves' whips beneath his feet. Let Lincoln make himself the Liberator, and his name shall be enrolled, not only in this earthly temple, but it shall be traced on the living stones of that temple which is reared amid the thrones of heaven.' " During the first Lincoln campaign in -I860, Owen Lovejoy came to Alton and made a political speech in the City Hall, to a great throng of spellbound hearers of whom the writer was one. During his speech he made no allusion to the tragedy which had so in- fluenced his life. But in conclusion he uttered the following words, as recalled by Hon. 102 APPENDIX. Thomas Dimmock, who describes them as "words which I shall never forget :" "This is not the time nor the place to speak of my brother, or of the cause for which he died. Enough that he lives a dear and pre- cious memory, in the hearts of those he left behind. As for his cause, time will vindicate that as surely as God lives and reigns. Twenty three years ago the blood of my brother, slain in these streets, ran down and mingled with the waters of the mighty river which sweeps past your city to the sea. "The Avon to the Severn runs, The Severn to the sea, And Wickliffe's dust shall spread abroad Wide as the waters be." t? Iran? lefrntora of lit? Jfawrtlt It may be well to say a few words as to the bad repute of the name of Alton for many years, owing to the city's misfortune, and to some extent its fault, in having been the scene of so blameworthy a tragedy. The instanta- neous condemnatory thought of Nathaniel Col- ver, on hearing the name of Alton has been referred to, and Wendell Phillips tells of a similar effect upon his mind of the name heard in speech or seen in print. So wide spread and deep was the indignation over the deed of blood, heralded everywhere throughout the land, that little thought w y as given abroad to the facts of the brave defense of the press made by scores of armed citizens, some of whom did not share in the editor's views. At- tention has already been sufficiently called to these facts, and the suggestive question has been asked, What other place of the size of Alton ; on the border of a slave state, would have furnished an equally numerous party of 104 APPENDIX. armed men at that time, to defend an anti- slavery press ? It was a happy thought of the Monument Association to let one of the panels of the monument commemorate these brave defenders, that they might be honored together with the man whom they faithfully, though unsuccessfully defended. Readers will be gratified to see the portraits of two of these men. Winthrop S. Oilman has been already several times referred to as Mr. Love joy's res- olute advocate in the last public meeting, as well as his defender against the violence of the mob. The day preceding the eventful night, he sent his young wife with their child, to her father's in Upper Alton, while he remained to be one of those who guarded the press in the warehouse. His name has ever been an hon- orable one in Alton. Mr. Henry Tanner was another of the defenders. He claims to have had for effective use an unusually good rifle. To him we are indebted for the account of thrilling events, of which he was an eye wit- ness, given to the public in 1881. APPENDIX. 106 APPENDIX. WENDELL Pn ILLIPS'S TRIBUTE TO THE DE- FENDERS OF THE PRESS, AND THE CLOSING PARAGRAPHS OF His SPEECH IN FANETIL HALL, 1837. "Mr. Chairman, from the bottom of my heart I thank that brave little band at Alton for resisting. \\'c must remember that Lovejoy APPENDIX. 107 had fled from city to city, suffered the de- struction of three presses, patiently. At length he took counsel with friends, men of character, of tried integrity, of wide views, of Christian principle. They thought the crisis had come : it was full time to assert the laws. They saw around them not a community like our own, of fixed habits, of character moulded and settled, but one "in the gristle, not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." The people there, children of our older states, seem to have for- gotten the blood-tried principles of their fath- ers the moment they lost sight of our New England hills. Something was to be done to show them the priceless value of the freedom of the press, to bring back and set right their wandering and confused ideas. He and his advisers looked out on a community, stagger- ing like a drunken man, indifferent to their rights and confused in their feelings. Deaf to argument, haply they might be stunned into sobriety. They saw that of which we cannot judge, the necessity of resistance. Insulted 108 APPENDIX. law called for it. Public opinion, fast hasten- ing on the downward course, must be arrested. "Does not the event show they judged right- ly? Absorbed in a thousand trifles, how has the nation all at once come to a stand? Men begin, as in 1776, and 1640, to discuss princi- ples, to weigh characters, to find out where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the precipice. "I am glad, sir, to see this crowded house. It is good, for us to be here. When Liberty is in danger, Faneuil Hall has the right, it is her duty, to strike the key-note for these United States. I am glad, for one reason, that remarks such as those to which I have alluded have been uttered here. The passage of these resolutions, in spite of this opposition, led by the Attorney-General of the Common- wealth, will show more clearly, more decisively, the deep indignation with which Boston re- gards this outrage." APPENDIX. 109 LATER PORTRAIT OF WENDELL PHILLIPS. "/ can never forget the quick, sharp agony of that hour which brought us news of Love- joy's death. * * * Incredible, almost, that zue should ever have been obliged to defend his 'prudence.' Hozv 'prudently' most men creep into nameless graves, while nozv and then one or tz(.'o forget themselves into immortality." Letter from Alton, 1867. Wt ttto II Iphtlltji'H letter fnmt Alton in Republished Nov., 1897, in the Alton Even- ing Telegraph, with editorial comments. "On April 13, 1867, Wendell Phillips lec- tured in Alton, in the City Hall, as one of a course under the auspices of the Ladies' Li- brary Association. After going to the site of Love joy's office and that of the warehouse where he was killed, he went to the city ceme- tery where Lovejoy was buried. He wrote a letter from this city to the Anti-Slavery Stand- ard, which appeared in that journal April 27. It was copied into the TELEGRAPH at a later date. The reprint in the TELEGRAPH Rev. Dr. Jameson placed in his scrap book, to which we are now indebted for a copy for publication at this time. ALTON, ILL., APRIL 14, '67. "Dear Standard: I lectured here last night. and today have been visiting the places made historical and sacred by the labors and martyr- APPENDIX. Ill clom of Love joy. Hitherto the name of this city brought always but one idea to my mind, and I never heard or saw it printed without an involuntary shudder. A cordial welcome here, and by men who have done good service in this valley of the Mississippi where the battle was for a time so hot, has broken that spell, and I trust hereafter to think of it as the home of brave and true men. "The plain stone store, from which his first press was flung into a creek, (now covered by a business street under which .it runs) still stands. Its walls brown and dingy with what in this young country is age are to me the most interesting relic in the place. Here a brave man and the slave power began their death-grapple. How proudly the seeming con- querors left those walls that night ! How little aware that the seemingly humbled roof covered a courage and patience that 'slowly would out- weigh their solid globe !' The building where he was shot has been taken down and a large mill built there ; but the same long, gray stone wall stands on one side, and the same river runs on the other side, the last objects on which his eyes rested ; these mute, unchanging witnesses saw the first bloodshed in defense of the right to discuss American slavery. That death stunned a drunken people into sobriety. Slowly at first, but afterward with what a mar- velous promptness the people rallied to the struggle, determined that if there was anything 112 APPENDIX. in the land which would not bear free speech, it was not free speech they would surrender. "Lovejoy lies buried now in the city ceme- tery on a beautiful knoll. Near by rolls the great river. His resting place is marked by an oblong stone, perhaps thirty inches by twen- ty, and rising a foot above the ground ; on this rests a marble scroll bearing the inscription Hie Jacct LOVEJOY Jam Parce Scpulto. "(Here lies Lovejoy; spare him, now in his grave.) "A more marked testimonial would not, probably, have been safe from insult and dis- figurement previous to 1864. He fought his fight so far in the van, so much in the hottest of the battle, that not till nigh after thirty years and the final victory, could even his dust be sure of quiet. Myrtles and some flowers grow over his resting place, fresh and green, this beautiful spring day. Other graves are guarded by tasteful and costly architecture, but this one lies close to the path, unfenced. fitly holding up its record and appeal to the eye of every passer. [Mr. Phillips' letter was written previous to the stone wall being placed around the Lovejoy lot by Mr. Thomas Dimmock, of St. Louis, ED. TEL.] "Soon the gratitude and penitence of his APPENDIX. 113 friends and neighbors will build, not for him a monument, but a testimony on their part that he died not in vain. It should be placed nearer the river, on the bluff that looks down directly on the Mississippi, so that every boat in passing up and down shall be able to show to the mil- lions of busy and prosperous men the name of him who consecrated this grand valley to liber- ty. Grandly the valley spreads north, south and west, miles and miles away, holding great States bound together by the golden ribbon of the Mississippi, a valley made historical by many a hard fought fight. But it will soon know that it holds no prouder spot than that which saw the first defeat like Bunker Hill and Bull Run better and more fruitful than a hundred victories in this war for free speech and justice. "I can never forget the quick, sharp agony of that hour which brought us news of Love- joy's death. We had not then fully learned the bloodthirstiness of the slave power. When John Brown confronted it at Harper's Ferry, .we knew and had long known the risk any man ran who defied the fiend. But twenty years before, Garrison had just waked up to its horrors, and we saw it but blindly. The gun fired at Love joy was like that of Sumter it scattered a world of dreams. Looking back, how wise, as well as noble, his course seems ! Incredible almost that we should ever have been obliged to defend his 'prudence.' What 114 APPENDIX. world-wide benefactors these 'imprudent' men are the Love joys, the Browns, the Garrisons, ' the saints and martyrs ! How 'prudently' most .men creep into nameless graves ; while now and then one or two forget themselves into immor- tality ! WENDELL PHILLIPS." "When Mr. Phillips was in Alton in '67 an effort was being made to erect a monument to the memory of Lovejoy, and this will explain his reference to a 'testimony' which was to be erected by neighbors and friends. But thir- ty years and more elapsed between Mr. Phil- lips' visit and the erection of the memorial shaft that was dedicated last Monday. And not alone by the citizens of Alton, but by the great State of Illinois. It was right that it should be more than a local matter. It was a national affair, and Alton was only the battle ground of the first fight in the cause of human liberty on this continent. Mr. Phillips, while in Alton, promised the then monument asso- ciation, or persons who were aiming to build a monument, that if it was completed during APPENDIX. 115 his lifetime he would make the dedication ad- dress." The foregoing letter, although presumably only an ephemeral though eloquent communi- cation to a newspaper, having been providen- tially preserved for thirty years, became the means whereby its lamented author could appropriately express himself in connection with the Dedication of the Monument to the martyr whose champion he had been sixty years before. THE END. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below REC'P LD-URD AUG 3 1949 W 25 1949 JAN 2 7 1958 JUN 2 APR 3 1975 ot CAUFttftlU* AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY I PLEAi5: DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARDZl j University Research Library