The truth is, he who commences any reform which at last becomes one of transcendent importance and is crowned with victory, is always ill-judged and unfairly estimated. At the outset he is looked upon with contempt, and treated in the most opprobrious manner, as a wild fanatic or a dangerous disorganizer. In due time the cause grows and advances to its sure triumph; and in proportion as it nears the goal, the popular estimate of his character changes, till finally excessive panegyric is substituted for outrageous abuse. The praise, on the one hand, and the defamation on the other, are equally unmerited. In the clear light of Reason, it will be seen that he simply stood up to discharge a duty which he owed to his God, to his fellow-men, to the land of his nativity. WM. LLOYD GARRISON, at the Celebration of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Liberator, Jan. 24, 1851. It appears to us a self-evident truth, that, whatever the gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought NOW to be abandoned. WM. LLOYD GARRISON, in the Declaration of Sentiments of the Peace Convention at Boston, Sept. 18-20, 1838. In short, I did what I could for the redemption of the human race. WM. LLOYD GARRISON to Henry C. Wright, |