Julia G[riffiths] Crofts to Frederick Douglass, July 15, 1859

LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.

NUMBER LXVII.

HALIFAX, (Eng.,) July 15, 1859.

MY DEAR FRIEND:—I regretted to allow last week's mail to depart without its conveying an epistle from me; but repeated absence from home, and change of residence, combined to render my writing earlier, impossible. I shall yet indulge the hope that this communication will reach you in time for the August Monthly—for though more brief than usual it must of necessity be, I wish it to appear in your columns, as another assurance that my interest in the cause of the slave has, in no respect, lessened, nor my zeal in the least abated. Our Halifax friends have postponed the meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society one week, or I should have had the pleasure of telling you, in this letter, that I had become a member of this active association, in which or many reason, I have been, since its formation, peculiarly interested.

The June number of your journal was doubly welcome—conveying as it did to me, your 'Eulogy' of that right noble, Christian man, Hon. WILLIAM JAY—one with whom I felt it an honor to have occasional correspondence with while in Rochester. It does not seem so very long since large sheets of manuscript, written in his clear and peculiarly distinct writing, passed though my hands, fist, on their way to your printers, and again, with proof sheets, in which errors were rare, because of the exceedingly legible characters in which Mr. Jay inscribed the powerful and voluminous articles with which he, from time to time, enriched your columns. 'The path of the just' (and this path was trodden by Hon. Wm. Jay) 'is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.' Your truly eloquent, 'Eulogy' is worthy of the occasion. The colored people have lost one of their most faithful and uncompromising friends; but I have full faith in the name of 'JAY' to believe that those who bear it will bear it worthily; and that, from sire to son, will descend the mantle of the true patriot, the Christian legislator, the faithful friend of an oppressed people.

Slavery, with its manifold evils, has been more than usually brought under my notice of late. Not long since I met a minister and his wife who were resident for some time at Oberlin, and are now in constant correspondence with friends there. I need scarcely say that the pending Rescue trials, &c., formed a leading subject of conversation, since these friends are in possession of the latest news from head quarters, and take a deep interest in what is now going forward at Oberlin.

I am, at this time, in correspondence with Miss. Johnstone, the lady who has undertaken a mission to this country on behalf of Dr. CHEEVER'S CHURCH OF THE PURITANS. I am really appalled at some of the disclosures made, and unwilling to believe others. I am more than ever convinced that one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the cause of freedom in the United States, is the incessant dissension in the anti-slavery ranks, and the desire that some well meaning people have to make an attack (open or insidious, as the case may be) on their allies—allies who, though engaged in the same moral warfare for freedom, are not carrying flags precisely similar in color to their own.

I wish I were in Brooklyn at this moment. Then would I once place in the hands of our noble friends there, anti-slavery communications received this morning, and say to him, 'This is a dream; give me the interpretation thereof.' Surely Henry Ward Beecher and Dr. Cheever go hand in hand in this mighty Christian warfare for freedom? If they do not, pray explain how it is, and why it is?— Each may do his work in his own peculiar wayl but if every shot sent against the enemy tells, what matters it if there be a slight difference in the construction of the guns whence the shots issue? Your June paper characterizes Mr. Beecher's speech before the 'Boston Tract Society' as 'the heaviest broadside poured out against slavery during Anniversary Week!' Another journal lashed him for giving that Society 'the benefit of his eloquence and of the eclat that goes with his name. I am not fully acquainted with the principles and practice of the Boston Tract Society; but, if its 'managers' be 'unscrupulous,' then have they the more need of the faithful dealings of Ward Beecher, one of the few who, surely, among the 'faithless,' will ever be 'faithful' found. I cannot believe that Mr. Beecher will ever be found among those who make a compromise with slavery, or with pro-slavery divines. He has too much of the indomitable spirit of LUTHER in him to truckle to any phase of the slave power. I WILL BELIEVE IN HIM STILL, even though he 'refused to speak at the meeting of the Church A. S. Society,' and 'auctioned all the pews of his church lately to the highest bidders, by which' (a correspondent tells me) 'he realized $25,000, and ejected five hundred members who were not able to bid against their wealthier brethren.'

The appeal, emanating from the members of Dr. Cheever's Church of the Puritans, must, as it becomes more extensively circulated, in this country, create a great sensation among that section to whom it is addressed—viz: 'the Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland.' What the monetary results will be I cannot say, since some of our excellent antislavery friends do not deem it legitimate antislavery work to send aid across the Atlantic towards the maintenance of a Congregational Church in the vast city of New York. For their information I shall copy an extract from a letter of a trans-Atlantic friend on this topic:—'I was not aware of the pecuniary destitution of the Church of the Puritans until I saw the appeal made abroad on its behalf. I knew that some of the members had forsaken the church because of Dr. Cheever's faithfulness on the subject of slavery, but supposed that this could not much effect the stability or prosperity of the church. It is now, however, well known that nearly all his wealthy members have deserted him, being unable to bear the reproach of sustaining a preacher of the gospel who makes "deliverance of the captive," and the "setting at liberty them that are bruised," one of the objects of his ministry. As in the days of his master, only "the common people hear him gladly." I should regard it as a real and sad misfortune if the Church of the Puritans should pass out of the hands of Dr. Cheever. That pulpit which has become an exceeding "terror to evil doers," which has "not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God," against the stupendous curse and crime of our

land, should not be allowed to pass from its present occupant. Nothing could give the religious (?) supporters of slavery a stronger hold upon their present pro-slavery position, than to be able to point to Dr. Cheever's church as ruined by its anti-slavery character. I do hope that Miss Johnstone's mission will be entirely successful. We do not expect miracles to be performed for any cause, however good. The anti-slavery cause, like other good causes, must be sustained by means; a church in New York City can be sustained only at great expense.'

Ere many months pass I hope to learn from Miss Johnstone's own lips more particulars of her plan for operations. If the matter could be brought before the Congregational Union and a practical plan for aiding Dr. Cheever's church be presented to that body, it does seem to me that the needed funds could be raised at once. Dr. Cheever's name is so well known, and so distinguished among the Congregational body, that I believe if sermons were preached in the Congregational pulpits, and collections taken up, the needed funds might promptly be raised, and Miss Johnstone sent on her way rejoicing. Summer, however, is not the time for special subscriptions— People are flitting about in all directions— meetings of all kinds are thinly attended at this season—and not until the sear and yellow leaf is falling from the tree can we hope that any thing effective can be commenced in Great Britain in aid of the Church of the Puritans and its world-renowned pastor.