The Underground Railroad
ship-wrecked mariners, very few in number and scattered over a
vast space.
What most redounds to the honor and praise of Mr. Garrett, in
this transaction, as a noble and disinterested philanthropist
is, that after the fugitives had been discharged from custody
under the writ of _habeas corpus_, and when he had been advised
by his lawyer, who was also his personal friend, to keep his
hands off and let the party work their own passage to a haven of
freedom, not then far distant, or he might be involved in
serious trouble, he deliberately refused to abandon them to the
danger of pursuit and capture. The welfare and happiness of too
many human beings were at stake to permit him to think of
personal consequences, and he was ready and dared to encounter
any risk for himself, so that he could insure the safety of
those fleeing from bondage. It was this heroic purpose to
protect the weak and helpless at any cost, this fearless
unselfish action, not stopping to weigh the contingencies of
individual gain or loss, that constitutes his best title to the
gratitude of those he served, and to the admiration and respect
of all who can appreciate independent conduct springing from
pure and lofty motives. He did what he thought and believed to
be right, and let the consequences take care of themselves. He
never would directly or otherwise, entice a slave to leave his
master; but he never would refuse his aid to the hunted, panting
wretch that in the pursuit of happiness was seeking after
liberty. And who among us is now bold enough to say, that in all
this he did not see clearly, act bravely, do justly, and live up
to the spirit of the sacred text:--"Whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them?"
W.
In a letter addressed to one of the sons, William Lloyd Garrison pays
the following beautiful and just tribute to his faithfulness in the
cause of freedom.
BOSTON, January 25th, 1871.
MY DEAR FRIEND:--I have received the intelligence of the death
of your honored and revered father, with profound emotions. If
it were not for the inclemency of the weather, and the delicate
state of my health, I would hasten to be at the funeral, long as
the distance is; not indeed as a mourner, for, in view of his
ripe old age, and singularly beneficent life, there is no cause
for sorrow, but to express the estimation in which I held him,
as one of the best men who ever walked the earth, and one of the
most beloved among my numerous friends and co-workers in the
cause of an oppressed and down-trodden race, now happily
rejoicing in their heavenly-wrought deliverance. For to no one
was the language of Job more strictly applicable than to
himself:--"When the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when
the eye saw me, it gave witness to me; because I delivered the
poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to
help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon
me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on
righteousness, and it clothed me; my judgment was as a robe and
a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I
was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not I
searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked
the spoil out of his teeth." This is an exact portraiture of
your father, a most comprehensive delineation of his character
as a philanthropist and reformer. It was his meat and drink.
"The poor to feed, the lost to seek,
To proffer life to death,
Hope to the erring, to the weak
The strength of his own faith.
"To plead the captive's right; remove
The sting of hate from law;
And soften in the fire of love
The hardened steel of war.
"He walked the dark world in the mild,
Still guidance of the light;
In tearful tenderness a child,
A strong man in the right."
Did there ever live one who had less of that "fear of man which
bringeth a snare," than himself? Or who combined more moral
courage with exceeding tenderness of spirit? Or who adhered more
heroically to his convictions of duty in the face of deadly
peril and certain suffering? Or who gave himself more
unreservedly, or with greater disinterestedness, to the service
of bleeding humanity? Or who took more joyfully the spoiling of
his goods as the penalty of his sympathy for the hunted
fugitive? Or who more untiringly kept pace with all the
progressive movements of the age, as though in the very
freshness of adult life, while venerable with years? Or who, as
a husband, father, friend, citizen, or neighbor, more nobly
performed all the duties, or more generally distributed all the
charities of life? He will leave a great void in the community.
Such a stalwart soul appears only at rare intervals. Delaware,
enslaved, treated him like a felon; Delaware, redeemed, will be
proud of his memory.
"Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
His rightful place is conspicuously among the benefactors,
saviours, martyrs of the human race.
His career was full of dramatic interest from beginning to end,
and crowded with the experiences and vicissitudes of a most
eventful nature. What he promised he fulfilled; what he
attempted, he seldom, or never failed to accomplish; what he
believed, he dared to proclaim upon the housetop; what he
ardently desired, and incessantly labored for, was the reign of
universal freedom, peace, and righteousness. He was among the
manliest of men, and the gentlest of spirits. There was no form
of human suffering that did not touch his heart; but his
abounding sympathy was especially drawn out towards the poor,
imbruted slaves of the plantation, and such of their number as
sought their freedom by flight. The thousands that passed safely
through his hands, on their way to Canada and the North, will
never forget his fatherly solicitude for their welfare, or the
dangers he unflinchingly encountered in their behalf. Stripped
of all his property under the Fugitive Slave law, for giving
them food, shelter, and assistance to continue their flight, he
knew not what it was to be intimidated or disheartened, but gave
himself to the same blessed work as though conscious of no loss.
Great-hearted philanthropist, what heroism could exceed thy own?
"For, while the jurist sitting with the slave-whip o'er him swung,
From the tortured truths of freedom the lie of slavery wrung,
And the solemn priest to Moloch, on each God-deserted shrine,
Broke the bondman's heart for bread, poured the bondman's blood
for wine--
While the multitude in blindness to a far-off Saviour knelt,
And spurned, the while, the temple where a present Saviour dwelt;
Thou beheld'st Him in the task-field, in the prison shadow dim,
And thy mercy to the bondman, it was mercy unto Him!"
I trust some one, well qualified to execute the pleasing task,
will write his biography for the grand lessons his life
inculcated. Yours, in full sympathy and trust,
WM. LLOYD GARRISON.
A contemporary who had known him long and intimately--who had
appreciated his devotion to freedom, who had shared with him some of the
perils consequent upon aiding the fleeing fugitives, and who belonged to
the race with whom Garrett sympathized, and for whose elevation and
freedom he labored so assiduously with an overflowing heart of tender
regard and sympathy--penned the following words, touching the sad event:
CHATHAM, C.W., January 30, 1871.
To MR. HENRY GARRETT:--Dear Sir:--I have just heard, through the
kindness of my friend, Mrs. Graves, of the death of your dear
father; the intelligence makes me feel sad and sorrowful; I
sincerely sympathize with you and all your brothers and sisters,
in your mournful bereavement; but you do not mourn without hope,
for you have an assurance in his death that your loss is his
infinite gain. For he was a good Christian, a good husband, a
good father, a good citizen, and a truly good Samaritan, for his
heart, his hand and his purse, were ever open to the wants of
suffering humanity, wherever he found it; irrespective of the
country, religion, or complexion of the sufferer. Hence there
are many more who mourn his loss, as well as yourselves; and I
know, verily, that many a silent tear was shed by his
fellow-citizens, both white and colored, when he took his
departure; especially the colored ones; for he loved them with a
brother's love, not because they were colored, but because they
were oppressed, and, like John Brown, he loved them to the last;
that was manifest by his request that they should be his
bearers. I can better feel than I have language to express the
mournful and sorrowing pride that must have stirred the inmost
souls of those men of color, who had the honor conferred on them
of bearing his mortal remains to their last resting-place, when
they thought of what a sacred trust was committed to their
hands. We are told to mark the perfect man, and behold the
upright, for the end of that man is peace; and such was the end
of your dear father, and he has gone to join the innumerable
company of the spirits of the just, made perfect on the other
side of the river, where there is a rest remaining for all the
children of God. My brother, Abraham D. Shadd, and my sister
Amelia, join their love and condolence with mine to you all,
hoping that the virtues of your father may be a guiding star to
you all, until you meet him again in that happy place, where
parting will be no more, forever.
Your humble friend, ELIZABETH J. WILLIAMS.
From the learned and the unlearned, from those in high places and from
those in humble stations, many testimonials reached the family,
respecting this great friend of the slave, but it is doubtful, whether a
single epistle from any one, was more affectingly appreciated by the
bereaved family, than the epistle just quoted from Elizabeth J.
Williams.
The Slave's most eloquent advocate, Wendell Phillips, in the "National
Standard," of February 4, 1871, in honor of the departed, bore the
following pertinent testimony to his great worth in the cause of
Liberty.
"I should not dare to trust my memory for the number of fugitive
slaves this brave old friend has helped to safety and
freedom--nearly three thousand, I believe. What a rich life to
look back on! How skilful and adroit he was, in eluding the
hunters! How patient in waiting days and weeks, keeping the poor
fugitives hidden meanwhile, till it was safe to venture on the
highway! What whole-hearted devotion, what unselfish giving of
time, means, and everything else to this work of brotherly love!
What house in Delaware, so honorable in history, as that where
hunted men fled, and were sure to find refuge. It was the North
Star to many a fainting heart. This century has grand scenes to
show and boast of among its fellows. But few transcend that
auction-block where the sheriff was selling all Garrett's goods
for the crime (!) of giving a breakfast to a family of fugitive
slaves. As the sale closed, the officer turns to Garrett,
saying: 'Thomas, I hope you'll never be caught at this again.'