Of all the women who served the Anti-slavery cause in its darkest days,
there is not one whose labors were more effective, whose character is
nobler, and who is more universally respected and beloved, than Lucretia
Mott. You cannot speak of the slave without remembering her, who did so
much to make Slavery impossible. You cannot speak of freedom, without
recalling that enfranchised spirit, which, free from all control, save
that of conscience and God, labored for absolute liberty for the whole
human race. We cannot think of the partial triumph of freedom in this
country, without rejoicing in the great part she took in the victory.
Lucretia Mott is one of the noblest representatives of ideal womanhood.
Those who know her, need not be told this, but those who only love her
in the spirit, may be sure that they can have no faith too great in the
beauty of her pure and Christian life.
This book would be incomplete without giving some account, however
brief, of Lucretia Mott's character and labors in the great work to
which her life has been devoted. To write it fully would require a
volume. She was born in 1793, in the island of Nantucket, and is
descended from the Coffins and Macys, on the father's side, and from the
Folgers, on the mother's side, and through them is related to Dr.
Benjamin Franklin. Her maiden name was Lucretia Coffin.
During the absence of her father on a long voyage, her mother was
engaged in mercantile business, purchasing goods in Boston, in exchange
for oil and candles, the staples of the island. Mrs. Mott says in
reference to this employment: "The exercise of women's talent in this
line, as well as the general care which devolved upon them in the
absence of their husbands, tended to develop their intellectual powers,
and strengthened them mentally and physically."
The family removed to Boston in 1804. Her parents belonged to the
religious Society of Friends, and carefully cultivated in their
children, the peculiarities as well as the principles of that sect. To
this early training, we may ascribe the rigid adherence of Mrs. Mott, to
the beautiful but sober costume of the Society.
When in London, in 1840, she visited the Zoological Gardens, and a
gentleman of the party, pointing out the splendid plumage of some
tropical birds, remarked: "You see, Mrs. Mott, our heavenly Father
believes in bright colors. How much it would take from our pleasure, if
all the birds were dressed in drab." "Yes;" she replied, "but immortal
beings do not depend upon feathers for their attractions. With the
infinite variety of the human face and form, of thought, feeling and
affection, we do not need gorgeous apparel to distinguish us. Moreover,
if it is fitting that woman should dress in every color of the rainbow,
why not man also? Clergymen, with their black clothes and white cravats,
are quite as monotonous as the Quakers." Whatever may be the abstract
merit of this argument, it is certain that the simplicity of Lucretia
Mott's nature, is beautifully expressed by her habitual costume.
In giving the principal events of Lucretia Mott's life, we prefer to use
her own language whenever possible. In memoranda furnished by her to
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she says: "My father had a desire to make his
daughters useful. At fourteen years of age, I was placed, with a younger
sister, at the Friends' Boarding School, in Dutchess county, State of
New York, and continued there for more than two years, without returning
home. At fifteen, one of the teachers leaving the school, I was chosen
as an assistant in her place. Pleased with the promotion, I strove hard
to give satisfaction, and was gratified, on leaving the school, to have
an offer of a situation as teacher if I was disposed to remain; and
informed that my services should entitle another sister to her
education, without charge. My father was at that time, in successful
business in Boston, but with his views of the importance of training a
woman to usefulness, he and my mother gave their consent to another year
being devoted to that institution." Here is another instance of the
immeasurable value of wise parental influence.
In 1809 Lucretia joined her family in Philadelphia, whither they had
removed. "At the early age of eighteen," she says, "I married James
Mott, of New York--an attachment formed while at the boarding-school."
Mr. Mott entered into business with her father. Then followed commercial
depressions, the war of 1812, the death of her father, and the family
became involved in difficulties. Mrs. Mott was again obliged to resume
teaching. "These trials," she says, "in early life, were not without
their good effect in disciplining the mind, and leading it to set a just
estimate on worldly pleasures."
To this early training, to the example of a noble father and excellent
mother, to the trials which came so quickly in her life, the rapid
development of Mrs. Mott's intellect is no doubt greatly due. Thus the
foundation was laid, which has enabled her, for more than fifty years,
to be one of the great workers in the cause of suffering humanity. These
are golden words which we quote from her own modest notes: "I, however,
always loved the good, in childhood desired to do the right, and had no
faith in the generally received idea of human depravity." Yes, it was
because she believed in human virtue, that she was enabled to accomplish
such a wonderful work. She had the inspiration of faith, and entered her
life-battle against Slavery with a divine hope, and not with a gloomy
despair.
The next great step in Lucretia Mott's career, was taken at the age of
twenty-five, when, "summoned by a little family and many cares, I felt
called to a more public life of devotion to duty, and engaged in the
ministry in our Society."
In 1827 when the Society was divided Mrs. Mott's convictions led her "to
adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on the truth
as authority, rather than 'taking authority for truth.'" We may find no
better place than this to refer to her relations to Christianity. There
are many people who do not believe in the progress of religion. They are
right in one respect. God's truth cannot be progressive because it is
absolute, immutable and eternal. But the human race is struggling up to
a higher comprehension of its own destiny and of the mysterious purposes
of God so far as they are revealed to our finite intelligence. It is in
this sense that religion is progressive. The Christianity of this age
ought to be more intelligent than the Christianity of Calvin. "The
popular doctrine of human depravity," says Mrs. Mott, "never commended
itself to my reason or conscience. I searched the Scriptures daily,
finding a construction of the text wholly different from that which was
pressed upon our acceptance. The highest evidence of a sound faith being
the practical life of the Christian, I have felt a far greater interest
in the moral movements of our age than in any theological discussion."
Her life is a noble evidence of the sincerity of this belief. She has
translated Christian principles into daily deeds.
That spirit of benevolence which Mrs. Mott possesses in a degree far
above the average, of necessity had countless modes of expression. She
was not so much a champion of any particular cause as of all reforms. It
was said of Charles Lamb that he could not even hear the devil abused
without trying to say something in his favor, and with all Mrs. Mott's
intense hatred of Slavery we do not think she ever had one unkind
feeling toward the slave-holder. Her longest, and probably her noblest
work, was done in the anti-slavery cause. "The millions of down-trodden
slaves in our land," she says, "being the greatest sufferers, the most
oppressed class, I have felt bound to plead their cause, in season and
out of season, to endeavor to put my soul in their soul's stead, and to
aid, all in my power, in every right effort for their immediate
emancipation." When in 1833, Wm. Lloyd Garrison took the ground of
immediate emancipation and urged the duty of unconditional liberty
without expatriation, Mrs. Mott took an active part in the movement. She
was one of the founders of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
in 1834. "Being actively associated in the efforts for the slave's
redemption," she says, "I have traveled thousands of miles in this
country, holding meetings in some of the slave states, have been in the
midst of mobs and violence, and have shared abundantly in the odium
attached to the name of an uncompromising modern abolitionist, as well
as partaken richly of the sweet return of peace attendant on those who
would 'undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free, and break
every yoke.'" In 1840 she attended the World's Anti-Slavery Convention
in London. Because she was a woman she was not admitted as a delegate.
All the female delegates, however, were treated with courtesy, though
not with justice. Mrs. Mott spoke frequently in the liberal churches of
England, and her influence outside of the Convention had great effect on
the Anti-Slavery movement in Great Britain.
But the value of Mrs. Mott's anti-slavery work is not limited to what
she individually did, great as that labor was. Her influence over
others, and especially the young, was extraordinary. She made many
converts, who went forth to spread the great ideas of freedom throughout
the land. No one can of himself accomplish great good. He must labor
through others, he must inspire them, convince the unbelieving, kindle
the fires of faith in doubting souls, and in the unequal fight of Right
with Wrong make Hope take the place of despair. This Lucretia Mott has
done. Her example was an inspiration.
In the Temperance reform Mrs. Mott took an early interest, and for many
years she has practiced total abstinence from intoxicating drinks. In
the cause of Peace she has been ever active, believing in the "ultra
non-resistance ground, that no Christian can consistently uphold and
actively engage in and support a government based on the sword." Yet
this, we believe, did not prevent her from taking a profound interest in
the great war for the Union; though she deplored the means, her soul
must have exulted in the result. Through anguish and tears, blood and
death America wrought out her salvation. Do we not believe that the
United States leads the cause of human freedom? It follows then that the
abolition of the gigantic system of human slavery in this country is the
grandest event in modern history. Mrs. Mott has also been earnestly
engaged in aid of the working classes, and has labored effectively for
"a radical change in the system which makes the rich richer, and the
poor poorer." In the Woman's Rights question she was early interested,
and with Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she organized, in 1848, a Woman's
Rights' Convention at Seneca Falls, New York. At the proceedings of this
meeting, "the nation was convulsed with laughter." But who laughs now at
this irresistible reform?
The public career of Lucretia Mott is in perfect harmony with her
private life. "My life in the domestic sphere," she says, "has passed
much as that of other wives and mothers of this country. I have had six
children. Not accustomed to resigning them to the care of a nurse, I was
much confined to them during their infancy and childhood."
Notwithstanding her devotion to public matters her private duties were
never neglected. Many of our readers will no doubt remember Mrs. Mott at
Anti-slavery meetings, her mind intently fixed upon the proceedings,
while her hands were as busily engaged in useful sewing or knitting. It
is not our place to inquire too closely into this social circle, but we
may say that Mrs. Mott's history is a living proof that the highest
public duties may be reconciled with perfect fidelity to private
responsibilities. It is so with men, why should it be different with
women?
In her marriage, Mrs. Mott was fortunate. James Mott was a worthy
partner for such a woman. He was born in June, 1788, in Long Island. He
was an anti-slavery man, almost before such a thing as anti-slavery was
known. In 1812 he refused to use any article which was produced by slave
labor. The directors of that greatest of all railway corporations, the
Underground Rail Road, will never forget his services. He died, January
26, 1868, having nearly completed his 80th year. "Not only in regard to
Slavery," said the "Philadelphia Morning Post," at the time, "but in all
things was Mr. Mott a reformer, and a radical, and while his principles
were absolute, and his opinions uncompromising, his nature was
singularly generous and humane. Charity was not to him a duty, but a
delight; and the benevolence, which, in most good men, has some touch of
vanity or selfishness, always seemed in him pure, unconscious and
disinterested. His life was long and happy, and useful to his
fellow-men. He had been married for fifty-seven years, and none of the
many friends of James and Lucretia Mott, need be told how much that
union meant, nor what sorrow comes with its end in this world." Mary
Grew pronounced his fitting epitaph when she said: "He was ever calm,
steadfast, and strong in the fore front of the conflict."
In her seventy-ninth year, the energy of Lucretia Mott is undiminished,
and her soul is as ardent in the cause to which her life has been
devoted, as when in her youth she placed the will of a true woman
against the impotence of prejudiced millions. With the abolition of
Slavery, and the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, her greatest
life-work ended. Since then, she has given much of her time to the
Female Suffrage movement, and so late as November, 1871, she took an
active part in the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Peace Society.
Since the great law was enacted, which made all men, black or white,
equal in political rights--as they were always equal in the sight of
God--Mrs. Mott has made it her business to visit every colored church in
Philadelphia. This we may regard as the formal closing of fifty years of
work in behalf of a race which she has seen raised from a position of
abject servitude, to one higher than that of a monarch's throne. But
though she may have ended this Anti-slavery work, which is but the
foundation of the destiny of the colored race in America, her influence
is not ended--_that_ cannot die; it must live and grow and deepen, and
generations hence the world will be happier and better that Lucretia
Mott lived and labored for the good of all mankind.
JAMES MILLER McKIM.
More vividly than it is possible for the pen to portray, the subject of
this sketch recalls the struggles of the worst years of Slavery, when
the conflict was most exciting and interesting, when more minds were
aroused, and more laborers were hard at work in the field; when more
anti-slavery speeches were made, tracts, papers, and books, were
written, printed and distributed; when more petitions were signed for
the abolition of Slavery; in a word, when the barbarism of Slavery was
more exposed and condemned than ever before, in the same length of time.
Abolitionists were then intensely in earnest, and determined never to
hold their peace or cease their warfare, until _immediate_ and
_unconditional_ emancipation was achieved.
On the other hand, during this same period, it is not venturing too much
to assert that the slave power was more oppressive than ever before;
slave enactments more cruel; the spirit of Slavery more intolerant; the
fetters more tightly drawn; perilous escapes more frequent; slave
captures and slave hunts more appalling; in short, the enslavers of the
race had never before so defiantly assumed that negro Slavery was
sanctioned by the Divine laws of God.
Thus, while these opposing agencies were hotly contesting the rights of
man, James Miller McKim, as one of the earliest, most faithful, and
ablest abolitionists in Pennsylvania, occupied a position of influence,
labor and usefulness, scarcely second to Mr. Garrison.
For at least fourteen of the eventful years referred to, it was the
writer's privilege to occupy a position in the Anti-slavery office with
Mr. McKim, and the best opportunity was thus afforded to observe him
under all circumstances while battling for freedom. As a helper and
friend of the fleeing bondman, in numberless instances the writer has
marked well his kind and benevolent spirit, before and after the
formation of the late Vigilance Committee. At all times when the funds
were inadequate, his aid could be counted upon for sure relief. He never
failed the fugitive in the hour of need. Whether on the Underground Rail
Road bound for Canada, or before a United States commissioner trying a
fugitive case, the slave found no truer friend than Mr. McKim.
If the records of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition
of Slavery, and the Pennsylvania Anti-slavery Society were examined and
written out by a pen, as competent as Mr. McKim's, two or three volumes
of a most thrilling, interesting, and valuable character could be
furnished to posterity. But as his labors have been portrayed for these
pages, by a hand much more competent than the writer's, it only remains
to present it as follows:
The subject of this sketch was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, November
14, 1810, the oldest but one of eight children. On his father's side, he
was of Scotch Irish, on his mother's (Miller) of German descent. He
graduated at Dickinson College in 1828; and entering upon the study of
medicine, attended one or more courses of lectures in the University of
Pennsylvania. Before he was ready to take his degree, his mind was
powerfully turned towards religion, and he relinquished medicine for the
study of divinity, entering the Theological Seminary at Princeton, in
the fall of 1831, and a year later, being matriculated at Andover. The
death of his parents, however, and subsequently that of his oldest
brother, made his connection with both these institutions a very brief
one, and he was obliged, as the charge of the family now devolved upon
him, to continue his studies privately at home, under the friendly
direction of the late Dr. Duffield. An ardent and pronounced disciple of
the "New School" of Presbyterians, belonging to a strongly Old School
Presbytery; he was able to secure license and ordination only by
transfer to another; and, in October, 1835, he accepted a pulpit in
Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pa., where he preached for one year, to a
Presbyterian congregation, to what purpose, and with what views, may be
learned from the following passage taken from one of his letters,
written more than twenty years afterwards, to the _National Anti-Slavery
Standard_. "The first settled pastor of this little flock was one
sufficiently well-known to such of your readers as will be interested in
this, to make mention of his name unnecessary. He had studied for the
ministry with a strong desire, and a half formed purpose to become a
missionary in foreign lands. Before he had proceeded far in his studies,
however, he became alive to the claims of the 'perishing heathen' here
at home. When he received his licensure, his mind was divided between
the still felt impulse of his first purpose and the pressure of his
later convictions. While yet unsettled on this point, the case of the
little church at Womelsdorf was made known to him, followed by an urgent
request from the people and from the Home Missionary Society to take
charge of it. He acceded to the request and remained there one year,
zealously performing the duties of his office to the best of his
knowledge and ability. The people, earnest and simple-hearted, desired
the 'sincere milk of the Word,' and receiving it 'grew thereby.' All the
members of the church became avowed abolitionists. They showed their
faith by their works, contributing liberally to the funds of the
Anti-slavery Society. Many a seasonable donation has our Pennsylvania
organization received from that quarter. For though their anti-slavery
minister had left and had been followed by others of different
sentiments and though he had withdrawn from the church with which they
were in common connected, and that on grounds which subjected him to the
imputation and penalties af heresy, these good people did not feel
called upon to change their relations of personal friendship, nor did
they make it a pretext, as others have done, for abandoning the cause."
In October, 1836, he accepted a lecturing agency under the American
Anti-slavery Society, as one of the "seventy," gathered from all
professions, whom Theodore D. Weld had by his eloquence inspired to
spread the gospel of emancipation. Mr. McKim had long before this had
his attention drawn to the subject of slavery, in the summer of 1832;
and the reading of Garrison's "Thoughts on Colonization," at once made
him an abolitionist. He was an appointed delegate to the Convention
which formed the American Anti-slavery Society, and enjoyed the
distinction of being the youngest member of that body.[A] Henceforth the
object of the society, and of his ministry became inseparable in his
mind.
[Footnote A: It may be a matter of some interest to state that the
original draft of the Declaration of Sentiments adopted at this meeting,
together with the autographs of the signers, is now in the keeping of
the New York Historical Society.]
In the following summer, 1834, he delivered in Carlisle two addresses in
favor of immediate emancipation, which excited much discussion and
bitter feeling in that border community, and gained him no little
obloquy, which was of course increased when, as a lecturer, on the
regular stipend of eight dollars a week and travelling expenses,
("pocket lined with British gold" was the current charge), he traversed
his native state, among a people in the closest geographical,
commercial, and social contact with the system of slavery. His fate was
not different from that of his colleagues, in respect of interruptions
of his meetings by mob violence, personal assaults with stale eggs and
other more dangerous missiles, and a public sentiment which everywhere
encouraged and protected the rioters.
Meantime, a radical change of opinion on theological questions, led Mr.
McKim formally to sever his connection with the Presbyterian Church, and
ministry. Being now free to act without sectarian constraint, he was, in
the beginning of 1840, made Publishing Agent of the Pennsylvania
Anti-slavery Society, which caused him to settle in Philadelphia, where
he was married, in October, to Sarah A. Speakman, of Chester county. The
chief duties of his office at first, were the publication and management
of the _Pennsylvania Freeman_, including, for an interval after the
retirement of John G. Whittier, the editorial conduct of that paper. In
course of time his functions were enlarged, and under the title of
Corresponding Secretary, he performed the part of a factotum and general
manager, with a share in all the anti-slavery work, local and national.
After the consolidation of the _Freeman_ with the _Standard_, in 1854,
he became the official correspondent of the latter paper, his letters
serving to some extent as a substitute for the discontinued _Freeman_.
The operations of the Underground Rail Road came under his review and
partial control, as has already appeared in these pages, and the slave
cases which came before the courts claimed a large share of his
attention. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, in 1851, his
duties in this respect were arduous and various, as may be inferred from
one of his private letters to an English friend, which found its way
into print abroad, and which will be found in another place. (See p.
581).
During the John Brown excitement Mr. McKim had the privilege of
accompanying Mrs. Brown in her melancholy errand to Harper's Ferry, to
take her last leave of her husband before his execution, and to bring
away the body. His companions on that painful but memorable journey,
were his wife, and Hector Tyndale, Esq., afterwards honorably
distinguished in the war as General Tyndale. Returning with the body of
the hero and martyr, still in company with Mrs. Brown, Mr. McKim
proceeded to North Elba, where he and Wendell Phillips, who had joined
him in New York with a few other friends gathered from the neighborhood,
assisted in the final obsequies.
When the war broke out, Mr. McKim was one of the first to welcome it as
the harbinger of the slave's deliverance, and the country's redemption.
"A righteous war," he said, "is better than a corrupt peace. * * *
When war can only be averted by consenting to crime, then welcome war
with all its calamities." In the winter of 1862, after the capture of
Port Royal, he procured the calling of a public meeting of the citizens
of Philadelphia to consider and provide for the wants of the ten
thousand slaves who had been suddenly liberated. One of the results of
this meeting was the organization of the Philadelphia Port Royal Relief
Committee. By request he visited the Sea Islands, accompanied by his
daughter, and on his return made a report which served his associates as
a basis of operations, and which was republished extensively in this
country and abroad.
After the proclamation of emancipation, he advocated an early
dissolution of the anti-slavery organization, and at the May Meeting of
the American Anti-slavery Society, in 1864, introduced a proposition
looking to that result. It was favorably received by Mr. Garrison and
others, but no action was taken upon it at that time. When the question
came up the following year, the proposition to disband was earnestly
supported by Mr. Garrison, Mr. Quincy, Mr. May, Mr. Johnson, and others,
but was strongly opposed by Wendell Phillips and his friends, among whom
from Philadelphia were Mrs. Mott, Miss Grew, and Robert Purvis, and was
decided by a vote in the negative.
Mr. McKim was an early advocate of colored enlistments, as a means of
lifting up the blacks and putting down the rebellion. In the spring of
1863, he urged upon the Philadelphia Union League, of which he was a
member, the duty of recruiting colored soldiers; as the result, on
motion of Thomas Webster, Esq., a movement was set on foot which led to
the organization of the Philadelphia Supervisory Committee, and the
subsequent establishment of Camp William Penn, with the addition to the
national army, of eleven colored regiments.
When, in November, 1863, the Port Royal Relief Committee was enlarged
into the Pennsylvania Freedman's Relief Association, Mr. McKim was made
its corresponding secretary. He had previously resigned his place in the
Anti-slavery Society, believing that that organization was near the end
of its usefulness.