The North Star (Rochester)/1848/01/14/William Lloyd Garrison
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
We most sincerely rejoice, as will every friend of God and liberty, and as would every fettered bondman in this slaveholding republic, could they hear the glad tidings, that health, through a bountiful providence has been restored to William Lloyd Garrison, and that he is again in the field, at the head of his storm--beaten sheet, the Liberator. Seventeen-years of cloudy days and dreary nights have rolled away, since all alone, with powerful hand and dauntless heart he launched his bark upon the menacing billows of our pro-slavery public opinion. Under his broad banner of immediate, unconditional and everlasting emancipation, many essayed to follow, but like a disciple of old, some, alas! too many, have found their fears greater than their faith, and they have sunk to rise no more. Of these however, we mean not to speak.
Garrison is again in the field, and in the thickest of the battle,
Under the sooty flag of Slavery."
May God grant him continued life and health, till he shall see the travail of his noble soul—"when the sighing of the poor, and the crying of the needy" shall have forever ceased throughout our slave cursed land!
We copy, with ineffable pleasure, his first words on resuming his editorial duties:
In resuming the editorial pen, after so long an absence from my post, my first duty is to express to my numerous friends, on both sides of the Atlantic, the deep gratitude of my heart for the lively solicitude which they manifested during my severe illness at the West, and the warm congratulations which they have since offered on my recovery. Such demonstrations of affection and confidence would more than counterbalance a century of abuse and persecution on the part of the enemies of God and man. The earnest hope that I might survive this powerful attack of disease has been based on the expectation, that if my life should be spared, I would consecrate it anew to the cause of suffering humanity—to the overthrow of all forms of despotism, whether spiritual or corporeal—to the promotion of peace and liberty throughout the world. That expectation I hope never to disappoint. It shall be to me a trumpet-call to the field of moral conflict, inspiriting me to higher and better efforts to promote the welfare of my race—to reunite forever the broken ties of human brotherhood. It is extremely painful to be impotent in such a field, or absent from it, even for an hour. How much remains to be done! How swarm the foes of liberty and equality! How numerous are their banners, how extended their ranks, how malevolent their purposes! Over what continent, kingdom, people or tribe, do they-not hold mastery? What vigilance and determination, what energy and enterprise, do they not exhibit! What resources, inventions, machinations, are theirs! They rule with a red of iron. Though they cause human blood to flow like water, it does not satiate their appetite; though they have obtained universal conquest, they sigh for another world to subjugate. But—as sure as light is more pleasant than darkness, and truth is stronger than falsehood—they are yet to be put to flight, and their reign of cruelty is to terminate. Their weapons are those of the coward, the suicide, the assassin: such cannot always prosper. Their courage is only beastly: it has no moral quality; and in conflict with spiritual heroism, it quickly becomes pusillanimous. Their power is only an aggregation of self-destructive materials, and constantly exposed to spontaneous combustion. One brave, disinterested, world-wide spirit, whose faith is an eternity of steadfastness, and whose love is God-inspired, can carry dismay through all their ranks. It is only for "the sacramental host of God's elect" to be up and doing, in a spirit worthy of their cause and profession, to usher in that glorious day when the great human family, now isolated and hostile,
"Like kindred drops, shall mingle into one."
Having been so long out of the conflict, some time must elapse before I can wear my armor easily, and vigorously wield the weapons of Reform. I still feel, both mentally and physically, the effects of my recent illness, and must proceed in my labors with much circumspection, lest by too great mental excitement, a relapse ensue, and my last condition be worse than the first. Asking the indulgence of all who feel an interest in the character of the Liberator, and who desire to see it kept "a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well," I shall aim to infuse into its columns noble thoughts, great sentiments, and glorious conceptions, such as the teeming mind of awakened Humanity may place within my reach.