Francis Jackson Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879; the story of his life told by his children: volume 3

[329] Kelley Foster wrote on March 16, from Rochester,¹ begging Mr. Garrison to join Thompson on his return from Canada, and lecture with him en route to the American anniversary meeting. Central New York was ripe for the harvest. She thought a State Anti-Slavery Society might be recreated. Her husband likewise wrote from Lockport to Mr. Garrison on March 31, telling of the² great disappointment caused by the latter's failure to accompany Thompson. The desire to hear him was strong in places where he could have done more good than the greater orator. ‘Your mere presence in a meeting,’ continued Mr. Foster, ‘though you were as speechless as an Egyptian mummy, would often do more to remove prejudice against our cause, and secure the cooperation of the well-disposed, than hours of the best speaking from any other person.’ New York State offered a most important field of labor, and all circumstances pointed to Syracuse as the place for holding the next American anniversary. Driven out of New York city, it could not safely be held in Brooklyn. Moreover, said Mr. Foster: ‘I am willing to encounter mobs if necessary; but if we can accomplish the same object without it, as I think we can in this case, I prefer it rather.’

Syracuse was, in fine, selected by the Executive Committee when no hall was found to be obtainable in New³ York or Brooklyn; and Mr. Garrison, accompanied by his⁴ wife, rejoined Mr. Thompson under the hallowed roof of Samuel J. May. The meetings, which began on May 7, seemed like a revival of the old anti-slavery harmony and enthusiasm. Mr. Garrison, in order to introduce the⁵ newcomers to the citizens of Syracuse, asked Mr. May to read the Declaration of Sentiments adopted at Philadelphia in 1833—proof that the abolitionists were a law-abiding and not a mob-producing class. Gerrit Smith gave greeting —‘Joy, then, to you, William Lloyd Garrison; to you, George Thompson!’ Mr. May answered for the antislavery sentiment of the town, by reference to the early mass meetings in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Law, over