UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

My
T have a few words which I wish to address to
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN. 55
army of abolitionists. The injuryis greatto us
the Court, jury and prosecutors, iu the several who are the immediate sufferers by your verdict ;
suitsthat have"been broughtagainst me duringbut I believethe verdicts you have givenagainst
the sittings of this court, in order to determine us within the last few days will have
the amount of penalty I must pay for doing
a powerful
effectin bringing about the abolitionof slaveryin
what my feelings promptedme to do as a lawful this country, this land of boasted freedom,where
and meritoriousact ; a simple act of humanity and not onlythe slave is fettered at the South by his
justice, as I believed, to eight of that oppressedlordlymaster, but the white man at the North is
race, the people of color,whom I found in the bound as in chains to do the bidding of his Southern
Newcastle jail,in the 12th month, 1845. I will masters.
now endeavor to state the facts of those cases, for
your considerationand reflectionafter you return
home to your families and friends. You will then
have time to ponder on what has transpired here
since the sittingof this court, and I believethat
your verdictwill then be unanimous, that the law
of the United States,as explainedby our venerable
judge, when comparedwith the act committed
by me, was cruel and oppressive,
and needs remodelling.
Here follows a very briefand clearstatement
of the facts in the case, of which the
reader is alreadyapprized.
After showingconclusively that he had
no reason to suppose the family to be slaves,
and that they had all been discharged by
the judge,he nobly adds the following
words :
Had I believed every one of them to be slaves,
I should have done the same thing. I should have it is not
customaryto be ashamed of Christ
done violence to my convictions of duty, had I
not made use of all the lawful means in my
power to liberatethose people, and assistthem to
become men and women, rather than leave them
in the condition of chattels personal.
I am called an Abolitionist ; once a name of re-
but one I have ever been proud*to be considered
worthy of beingcalled. For the last
twenty-five years I have been engagedin the
cause of this despised and much-injured race, and
proach,
consider (their cause worth sufferingfor ; but,
owing to a multiplicity of other engagements, I
could not devote so much of my time and mind to
their cause as I otherwise should have done.
The impositions and persecutions practised on
those unoffending and innocent brethren are extreme
beyond endurance. I am now placed in a
situationin which I have not so much to claim my
attentionas formerly ; and I now pledgemyself,in
In his letterto the writer John Garret
adds țhat afterthisspeech a young
man who
had served as juryman came across the room,
and taking him by the hand,said :
"
Old gentleman, I believe every statement
that you have made. I came from home
prejudiced against you, and I now acknowledge
that I have helpedto do you injustice."
Thus calmly and simply did this Quaker
according as
confess Christ before men,
it is
"
written of them of He esteemed.the
old,"
riches than all
reproach of Christ greater
the treasures of Egypt."
Christ has said, ' '
"Whosoever shall be
ashamed of me and my words,of him shall
the Son of Man be ashamed." In our days
personally, but of his words many
are
ashamed. But when theymeet Him in
judgmen theywill have cause to remember
them ; for heaven and earth shall pass away,
but His word shallnot pass away.
Another case of the same kind is of a
character.
more affecting
Richard Dillinghamwas the son of a
respectableQuaker familyin Morrow
"
"
County,Ohio. His pious mother brought
him up
in the full beliefof the doctrine of
St. John țhat the love of God and the love
of man are inseparable.
taught in such theological notions as are
the presence of this assembly, to use all lawful
implied in such passages as these: " Hereby
and honorable means to lessen the burdens of this
perceive
oppressed people, endeavor,according ability
God, because he
laid down his lifefor us
furnished, to burst their chains asunder,and set
; and we oughtalso
thern free ; not relaxing effortson my their behalf to lay down our lives for the brethren. "
while blessed with health,and a slave remains to But whoso hath this world'sgoodsand seeth
tread the soil of the state of my adoption, his brother have need and shutteth up his
Delaware.
bowels of
After mature reflection, I can assure this compassion him,how dwelleth
assembly
it is my opinion at this time that the theloveof God in him ? little verdicts
children,
you have given the prosecutors against John let us not love in word and in tongue, but
Ilunn and myself,within the past few days, will in deed and in truth."
have a tendency to raise a spiritof inquiry
throughou the In accordancewith
lengthand breadth
theseprecepts,
of the land,
respectingthis monster evil (slavery), in many
Dillingham, in found in
earlymanhood,was
minds that have not heretofore investigated the Cincinnatiteaching people, and
subject.The reports of those trialswill be published
visiting in the prisons doingwhat in him
by editors from Maine to Texas and the far
lay
West ; and what must be the effect produced ? love in deed and in truth."
It will,no doubt,add hundreds,perhaps thousands,
Some unfortunate families among the
to the presentlarge and rapidlyincreasingcolored peoplehad dear friends who were
He was diligently