uses. The public had been
aroused by the issue and there was a large audience. The case for
the abolitionists was stated by their ablest speakers, among whom was
William Lloyd Garrison. They labored to convince the committee that
their utterances were not incendiary, and that any legislative censure
directed against them would be an encouragement to mob violence and the
persecution which was already their lot. After the defensive arguments
had been fully presented, William Goodell took the floor and proceeded
to charge upon the Southern States which had made these demands a
conspiracy against the liberties of the North. In the midst of great
excitement and many interruptions by the chairman of the committee, he
quoted the language of Governor McDuffie's message, and characterized
the documents lying on the table before him as "fetters for Northern
freemen." Then, turning to the committee, he began, "Mr. Chairman, are
you prepared to attempt to put them on?"--but the sentence was only half
finished when the stentorian voice of the chairman interrupted him: "Sit
down, sir!" and he sat down. The committee then arose and left the room.
But the audience did not rise; they waited till other abolitionists
found their tongues and gave expression to a fixed determination to
uphold the liberties purchased for them by the blood of their fathers.
The Massachusetts Legislature did not comply with the request of
Governor McDuffie of South Carolina to take the first step towards the
enslavement of all laborers, white as well as black. And Rhode Island
refused to enact into law the pending bill for the suppression of
anti-slavery societies. They declined to violate the plain requirements
of their Constitution that the interests of slavery might be promoted.
Not many years later they were ready to strain or break the Constitution
for the sake of liberty.

In the general crusade against liberty churches proved more pliable
than States. The authority of nearly all the leading denominations
was directed against the abolitionists. The General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church passed in 1836 a resolution censuring two of
their members who had lectured in favor of modern abolitionism. The
Ohio Conference of the same denomination had passed resolutions urging
resistance to the anti-slavery movement. In June, 1836, the New York
Conference decided that no one should be chosen as deacon or elder who
did not give pledge that he would re