[4] aid or approbation. It was an error of judgment, simply; but,1 after what we, who sent him out, have said of that Committee, it looks upon the face of it like an imposition.2 We supposed he would make his appeal to the abolitionists at large and take3 his chance accordingly. I fear, also, that he may not have been so guarded at all times in his language as could have been desirable, respecting the transfer of the Emancipator—a4 transfer that was certainly very dishonorable, and wholly unworthy of the character of those who participated in it.5 Yet I doubt not that the mission of J. A. C. will do much for our persecuted6 enterprise. For what you have done to aid him, we all feel under the deepest obligations. May Heaven reward you a hundred-fold! Fear not that truth shall not triumph over falsehood, right over wrong, and freedom over slavery.7
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1 Lib. 11.26; cf. Free American, 3.2.
2 Miss Pease did not so judge the application (Ms. Dec. 10, 1840, to Collins); and there can be little doubt that it was ultimately of great advantage to the cause. It at once forced the discussion of the merits of the American schism, and the shamefully partisan action of the London Committee determined many to side with the old organization who might else have remained either indifferent or deceived. See Collins's letter to E. Quincy, Mar. 2, 1841 (Ms.). The attempt of the Executive Committee of the Glasgow Emancipation Society, under the influence of Captain Stuart, to follow suit in rebuffing Collins and disavowing the old organization, led to a division and reconstitution by which that important body was saved to the cause in America, at the cost of the resignation of a few members like Dr. Wardlaw (Lib. 11.77, 89, 93, 149; Mss. Feb. 23, 1841, R. Wardlaw to J. A. Collins, and May 2, 1841, Collins to W. L. G.; and Collins's letter to the Glasgow Argus, April 26, 1841). Finally, Harriet Martineau took her stand with Mr. Garrison, Collins, and their associates in the most pronounced manner (Lib. 11: 51; Ms. Feb. 20, 1841, Miss Martineau to Collins). George Thompson's open adhesion came later (Lib. 11.145, 201). The result was in all respects, pecuniary and moral, disastrous to the British and Foreign A. S. Society.
4 Ante, 2.342, 343, 351.
5 ‘Gerrit Smith says the transfer of the Emancipator was a great outrage—told Burleigh so—not publicly’ (Ms. Feb. 10, 1841, J. S. Gibbons to W. L. G.). ‘The transfer of the Emancipator was indefensible’ (Ms. Nov. 26, 1870, Gerrit Smith to W. L. G.).
7 No one can read the private advisory correspondence of Miss Pease with Collins without feeling admiration for her sagacity, sound judgment, practical business talent, and unfailing grasp of principles. She was the Mrs. Chapman of the British agitation. ‘What mistakes people make! They think Victoria Queen of England, when it is Elizabeth Pease; and know not that the Allens and Webbs [of Dublin] are the Lords Spiritual and Temporal’ (Ms. Jan. 30, 1841, E. Quincy to Collins). ‘What more of royalty has England's queen?’ asked Mr. Garrison in his sonnet to Elizabeth Pease (Lib. 12.4).
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