Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
AUTOGRAPHS
FOR
FREEDOM.
PREFACE
TO THE
American Edition.
There is, perhaps, little need of detaining the kindreader, even for one moment, in this the vestibule ofour Temple of Liberty, to state the motives and reasonsfor the publication of this collection of Anti-slaverytestimonies.
The good cause to which the volume is devoted;—theinfluence which must ever be exerted by persons ofexalted character, and high mental endowments;—thefact that society is slow to accept any cause that has notthe baptism of the acknowledged noble and good;—thehappiness arising from making any exertion to amelioratethe condition of the injured race amongst us, willat once suggest reasons and motives for sending forththis offering, which, while it shall prove acceptable as aGift Book, may help to swell the tide of that sentimentthat, by the Divine blessing, will sweep away fromthis otherwise happy land the great sin of SLAVERY.
Should this publication be instrumental in casting oneray of hope on the heart of one poor slave, or should itdraw the attention of one person, hitherto uninterested,ivto the deep wrongs of the bondman, or cause one sincereand earnest effort to promote emancipation, we believethat the kind contributors, who have generously respondedto our call, not less than the members of our Society,will feel themselves gratified and compensated.
The proceeds of the sale of the “Autographs forFreedom” will be devoted to the dissemination oflight and truth on the subject of slavery throughout thecountry.
On behalf of “The Rochester Ladies’ Anti-SlaverySociety,”
Preface to the English Edition.
Few better evidences of the deep interest which mostof the leading minds in America take in the question ofslavery can be afforded than are contained in this book.The ablest men and women of the country have here settheir hands to a solemn protest against its enormities.Mrs. Stowe, who has achieved a reputation as widelyextended as it is well earned,—who has, both in thiscountry and in the United States, aroused thousands to asense of the guilt and wrong of slavery who never spent athought upon it before,—has her name side by side withthat of Horace Mann, one of the most brilliant orators in theUnion. Whittier, whose sweet s