ty_, which
we so highly prize, and are so earnestly supplicating God
and man to grant us: nay, which we claim as the natural
right of every man. Let me beseech my countrymen to put on
bowels of compassion for these their _brethren_ (for so I
must call them,) yea, let me beseech you for your own sake
and for God's sake, _to break every yoke_ and let the
oppressed go free."[379]

Begun among the members of the bar and the pulpit, the common folk at
length felt a lively interest in the subject of emancipation. An
occasional burst of homely, vigorous eloquence from the pulpit on the
duties of the hour inflamed the conscience of the pew with a noble
zeal for a righteous cause. The afflatus of liberty sat upon the
people as cloven tongues. Every village, town, and city had its
orators whose only theme was emancipation. "The pulpit and the press
were not silent, and sermons and essays in behalf of the enslaved
Africans were continually making their appearance." The public
conscience was being rapidly educated, and from the hills of Berkshire
to the waters of Massachusetts Bay the fires of liberty were burning.

FOOTNOTES:

[260] George H. Moore, LL.D., for many years librarian of the New-York
Historical Society, but at present the efficient superintendent of the
Lenox Library, in his "Notes on the History of Slavery in
Massachusetts," has summoned nearly all the orators and historians of
Massachusetts to the bar of history. He leaves them open to one of
three charges, viz., evading the truth, ignorance of it, or falsifying
the record. And in addition to this work, which is authority, his
"Additional Notes" glow with an energy and perspicuity of style which
lead me to conclude that Dr. Moore works admirably under the spur, and
that his refined sarcasm, unanswerable logic, and critical accuracy
give him undisputed place amongst the ablest writers of our times.

[261] Wood's New-England Prospect, 1634, p. 77.

[262] Slavery in Mass., p. 7.

[263] Ibid., pp. 4, 5, and 6.

[264] Elliott's New-England Hist., pp. 167-205.

[265] Winthrop's Journal, Feb. 26, 1638, vol. i. p. 254; see, also,
Felt, vol. ii. p. 230.

[266] Dr. Moore backs his statement as to the time The Desire was
built by quoting from Winthrop, vol. i. p. 193. But there is a mistake
somewhere as to the correct date. Winthrop says she was built in 1636;
but I find in Mr. Drake's "Founders of New England," pp. 31, 32, this