this testimony against slavery. But unable to procure a room for this
purpose was finally compelled to content himself with the witness he had
already borne in the _Genius_ and in prison in behalf of the slave. In
Philadelphia he well-nigh failed to obtain a hall for his lectures, but
did finally succeed in getting the Franklin Institute, where, to small
audiences, he lifted up his voice against the iniquity of the times. He
repeated his lectures in New York, New Haven, and Hartford. But not many
came out to hear him. The nation, its churches, and politicians had
thrust their fingers in their ears to every cry coming up from the
slave. Why should they go to sup with a madman on horrors, with which as
patriotic people they were forbidden to concern themselves. And so for
the most part Garrison could do nothing with communities, which had
eyes, but obstinately refused to see with them upon any subject relating
to the abominations of slavery. In his own town of Newburyport, officers
of Christian churches not only refused to hear his message themselves,
but debarred others from listening to the woes and wrongs of
fellow-creatures in bondage. As Mr. Garrison truly said at the time: "If
I had visited Newburyport to plead the cause of twenty white men in
chains, every hall and every meeting-house would have been thrown open,
and the fervor of my discourses anticipated and exceeded by my
fellow-townsmen. The fact that two millions of colored beings are
groaning in bondage, in this land of liberty, excites no interest nor
pity." If these damning facts are remembered sixty years after their
occurrence to the shame of the trustees of the two churches, viz., the
Presbyterian Church on Harris street and the Second Congregational
Church, it is also remembered to the honor of the two pastors, Rev. Dr.
Daniel Dana, and the Rev. Dr. Luther F. Dimmick, that they had thrown
open to the prophet the doors of their meeting-houses, which the
trustees afterward slammed in his face.