Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, vol 1 | Page 7

captain; and I found my way to the Court of
Queen's Bench, where I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing
England's great judge. But how unexpected was all this to us! When
that book was written, in sorrow, and in sadness, and obscurity, and
with the heart almost broken in the view of the sufferings which it
described, and the still greater sufferings which it dared not describe,
there was no expectation of any thing but the prayers of the sufferers
and the blessing of God, who has said that the seed which is buried in
the earth shall spring up in his own good time; and though it may be
long buried, it will still at length come forth and bear fruit. We never
could believe that slavery in our land would be a perpetual curse; but
we felt, and felt deeply, that there must be a terrible struggle before we
could be delivered from it, and that there must be suffering and
martyrdom in this cause, as in every other great cause; for a struggle of
eighteen years had taught us its strength. And, under God, we rely very
much on the Christian public of Great Britain; for every expression of
feeling from the wise and good of this land, with whatever petulance it

may be met by some, goes to the heart of the American people. [Hear,
hear!] You must not judge of the American people by the expressions
which have come across the Atlantic in reference to the subject. Nine
tenths of the American people, I think, are, in opinion at least, with you
on this great subject; [Hear, hear!] but there is a tremendous pressure
brought to bear upon all who are in favor of emancipation. The whole
political power, the whole money power, almost the whole
ecclesiastical power is wielded in defence of slavery, protecting it from
all aggression; and it is as much as a man's reputation is worth to utter a
syllable boldly and openly on the other side. Let me say to the ladies
who have been active in getting up the address on the subject of slavery,
that you have been doing a great and glorious work, and a work most
appropriate for you to do; for in slavery it is woman that suffers most
intensely, and the suffering woman has a claim upon the sympathy of
her sisters in other lands. This address will produce a powerful
impression throughout the country. There are ladies already of the
highest character in the nation pondering how they shall make a
suitable response, and what they shall do in reference to it that will be
acceptable to the ladies of the United Kingdom, or will be profitable to
the slave; and in due season you will see that the hearts of American
women are alive to this matter, as well as the hearts of the women of
this country. [Hear, hear!] Such was the mighty influence brought to
bear upon every thing that threatened slavery, that had it not been for
the decided expression on this side of the Atlantic in reference to the
work which has exerted, under God, so much influence, there is every
reason to fear that it would have been crushed and put under foot, as
many other efforts for the overthrow of slavery have been in the United
States. But it is impossible; the unanimous voice of Christendom
prohibits it; and it shows that God has a work to accomplish, and that
he has just commenced it. There are social evils in England.
Undoubtedly there are; but the difference between the social evils in
England and this great evil of slavery in the United States is just here:
In England, the power of the government and the power of Christian
sympathy are exerted for the removal of those evils. Look at the
committees of inquiry in Parliament, look at the amount of information
collected with regard to the suffering poor in their reports, and see how
ready the government of Great Britain is to enter into those inquiries,

and to remove those evils. Look at the benevolent institutions of the
United Kingdom, and see how active all these are in administering
relief; and then see the condition of slavery in the United States, where
the whole power of the government is used in the contrary direction,
where every influence is brought to bear to prevent any mitigation of
the evil, and where every voice that is lifted to plead for a mitigation is
drowned in vituperation and abuse from those who are determined that
the evil shall not be mitigated. This is the difference: England repents
and reforms. America refuses to repent and reform. It is said, 'Let each
country take care of itself, and let the ladies