" It was they
that gave to liberty a hearing, to the prophet of righteousness a chance
to deliver his message. It was in their meeting-house, in Julian Hall,
that Garrison gave his lectures, giving the first one on the evening of
October 15, 1830.
Samuel J. May, who was present, has preserved his impressions of the
lecture and lecturer. "Never before," he records many years afterward,
"was I so affected by the speech of man. When he had ceased speaking I
said to those around me: 'That is a providential man; he is a prophet;
he will shake our nation to its center, but he will shake slavery out of
it. We ought to know him, we ought to help him. Come, let us go and give
him our hands.' Mr. Sewall and Mr. Alcott went up with me and we
introduced each other. I said to him, 'Mr. Garrison, I am not sure that
I can indorse all you have said this evening. Much of it requires
careful consideration. But I am prepared to embrace you. I am sure you
are called to a great work, and I mean to help you.' Mr. Sewall
cordially assured him of his readiness also to cooperate with him. Mr.
Alcott invited him to his home. He went and we sat with him until twelve
that night, listening to his discourse, in which he showed plainly that
_immediate, unconditional emancipation, without expatriation, was the
right of every slave, and could not be withheld by his master an hour
without sin_. That night my soul was baptised in his spirit, and ever
since I have been a disciple and fellow-laborer of William Lloyd
Garrison.
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