the country was in an inflamed condition, and the press, by misrepresentations and appeals to popular ignorance and prejudice, was constantly fanning the excitement. But in the midst of this darkness there was a sudden gleam of light, which filled the hearts of the Abolitionists with fresh hope. The Hon. William Jay, noble son of a noble sire, espoused the cause, and put forth a work in its defence which will live as a monument of his intellectual power as well as of his philanthrophy and courage. It was entitled "An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the American Colonization and the American Anti-Slavery Societies." It was full of light and truth, and admirably adapted to convince any candid person who would read it of the righteousness and wisdom of the anti-slavery movement. It appeared at a most opportune moment, and exerted a powerful influence in many quarters. But the author's noble name and his judicial eminence did not save him from the fierce denunciations of the pro-slavery press. He was roundly abused on all sides, and not long afterward lost his place on the bench in consequence of his abolitionism. He was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and filled the place for many years with great fidelity. His trained mind, his ripe judgment and wide legal knowledge were a great acquisition to the cause. He was a devoted Christian and a man of large influence in the Protestant Episcopal Church. How faithful he was in rebuking that Church for its complicity with slavery, all the friends of the cause gratefully remember. His pen was always at the service of the oppressed, and his collected antislavery writings are a monument of his industry and devotion, and an illustration of the nobleness and the grandeur of the cause which the American churches rejected and contemned. This year (1834) was also signalized by the peaceful emancipation of 800,000 slaves in the British West India Islands. The event took place on the 1st of August, and the Abolitionists awaited the result with intense interest, but not a shadow of doubt. They knew that obedience to God in the breaking of the chains of so many slaves would be perfectly safe; and so it proved, for not a drop of blood was shed; the negroes received their freedom with grateful joy as a boon from Heaven, and all the predictions of the proslavery party were falsified. Naturally enough, American Abolitionists were mightily encouraged by this intelligence to persevere in their labors. X. The Lane Theological Seminary — Arthur Tappan and Dr. Beecher - A Remarkable Class of Students - Discussion of the Slavery Question-Conversion of the Students to Abolitionism - Intense Excitement - The Students Become Missionaries The Trustees Enact a Gag-Law-The Faculty Submits-Dr. Beecher Yields to Temptation and Goes into Eclipse-The Students Refuse the Gag and Ask for a Dismission — The Faculty in SelfDefence, etc. - MR. ARTHUR TAPPAN, not long after he procured Mr. Garrison's release from the Baltimore jail, gave ten thousand dollars to the Lane Theological Seminary, at Cincinnati, upon the condition that Dr. Lyman Beecher should become its President. The churches of the North and East were then just beginning to perceive that the day was not far distant when the centre of moral and political influence in this country would be in the vast and then comparatively unsettled region drained by the Mississippi; and hence there was much zeal and not a little organized effort to anticipate the oncoming tide of population that was so soon to fill that immense territory, and to provide, in advance, educational institutions suited to its needs. The founding of Lane Seminary, at the gateway of the great West, was a part of this plan, and Dr. Beecher, being generally recognized as the leader of New England Revivalism, and the strongest representative of the advanced school of Orthodoxy at that day, Mr. Tappan thought that he of all others was the man best fitted to train a body of ministers for the new field. The Doctor, after considerable delay, and to the great grief of his Boston church, accepted the appointment. Such was his fame, that a large class of students, of unusual maturity of judgment and ripeness of Christian experience, was at once attracted to the Seminary. In the literary and theological departments together, they numbered about one hundred and ten. Eleven of these were from different slave States; seven were sons of slaveholders; one was himself a slaveholder, and one had purchased his freedom from cruel bondage by the payment of a large sum of money, which he had earned by extra labor. Besides these there were ten others who had resided for longer or shorter periods in the slave States, and made careful observation of the character and workings of slavery. The youngest of these students was nineteen years of age; most of those in the theological department were more than twenty-six, and several were over thirty. Most if not all of them had been converted in the revivals of that period, and were filled with the revival spirit, in which Dr. Beecher so much delighted. A more earnest and devoted band of students was probably never gathered in any theological seminary. The Doctor had great pride as well as confidence in them. Soon after the Seminary was opened the students formed a Colonization Society, and were encouraged by the faculty to manifest such an interest in the slavery question as was compatible with a scheme for sending the negroes to Africa. So much, it was thought, might be permitted without endangering the union of the States or the peace of the churches, and with safety to the Seminary itself. In the winter of 1833-34, after the publication of Garrison's "Thoughts on Colonization," and the organization of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with Arthur Tappan at its head, the students began to think about slavery and their duties to "the heathen at home." They proposed to hold meetings for the discussion of the subject, and so informed their teachers. Most of the faculty advised them to let the subject alone; but Dr. Beecher said to the committee that waited upon him "Go ahead, boys—that's right; I'll go in and discuss with you." The students, thus encouraged by the President, were confirmed in the conviction that, as men intending to be ministers of the Gospel, in a slaveholding country, it was their duty to study the subject of slavery patiently and thoroughly; and, as there were among them representatives of the slave as well as of the free States, they thought a frank, open and friendly discussion would be both interesting and profitable. The discussion began in February, 1834. An earlier day was at first proposed, but the disputants on the pro-slavery side asked for more time to prepare themselves for the argument. "You Abolitionists," they said, "have studied the subject; the rest of us haven't; you must give us more time." This request was cheerfully granted. When the time for opening the discussion came, it was agreed to consider two questions, viz. : 1st. Whether the people of the slaveholding States ought to abolish slavery at once, and without prescribing, as a condition, that the emancipated should be sent to Liberia, or elsewhere, out of the country? 2d. Whether the doctrines, tendencies, measures, spirit of the Colonization Society were such as to render it worthy of the patronage of Christian people? Dr. Beecher, instead of appearing at the first meeting, according to his declared purpose, sent a note to Mr. Weld, saying that, upon the whole, he thought it was not best for him to be present, but that his daughter Catherine would attend as his representative. The students afterwards learned that the Doctor changed his purpose by advice of the trustees. His daughter attended the first meeting, which was wholly |