ston a wide berth,
and to be somewhat particular that they did not turn in with her while
the homicidal fit lasted.

This editing his paper at long range, and this thought of life and
safety Garrison did not at all relish. They grew more and more irksome
to his fearless and earnest spirit. For his was a "pine-and-fagot"
Abolitionism that knew not the fear of men or their wrath. But now he
must needs have a care for the peace of mind of his young wife, who was,
within a few months, to give birth to a child. And her anxiety for him
was very great. Neither was the anxiety of devoted friends and followers
to be lightly disregarded. All of which detained the leader in Brooklyn
until the 25th of the month, when the danger signals seemed to have
disappeared. Whereupon he set out immediately for his post in Boston to
be at the head of his forces. He found the city in one of those strange
pauses of popular excitement, which might signify the ebb of the tide or
only the retreat of the billows. He was not inclined to let the
anti-Abolition agitation subside so soon, before it had carried on its
flood Abolition principles to wider fields and more abundant harvests in
the republic. Anxious lest the cat-like temper of the populace was
falling into indifference and apathy, he and his disciples took occasion
to prod it into renewed wakefulness and activity. The instruments used
for this purpose were anti-slavery meetings and the sharp goad of his
_Liberator_ editorials. The city was possessed with the demon of
slavery, and its foaming at the mouth was the best of all signs that the
Abolition exorcism was working effectively. So, in between the
glittering teeth and the terrible paws was thrust the maddening goad,
and up sprang the mighty beast horrible to behold.

One of these meetings was the anniversary of the formation of the Boston
Female Anti-Slavery Society which fell on October 14th. The ladies
issued their notice, engaged a hall, and invited George Thompson to
address them. Now the foreign emissary was particularly exasperating to
Boston sensibility on the subject of slavery. He was the veritable red
rag to the pro-slavery bull. The public announcement, therefore, that he
was to speak in the city threw the public mind into violent agitation.
The _Gazette_ and the _Courier_ augmented the excitement by the
recklessness with which they denounced the proposed meeting, the former
promising to Thompson a lynching, while the latter en