of childhood with the firm integrity and well-matured principles of christian manhood. The eminent superiority of his moral and intellectual nature excited no envy; for his rich mind poured forth its treasures with the same unpretending freedom, with which childhood lavishes its smiles. It was his joy to find greatness and excite goodness in others, nobly unmindful of himself; therefore no one was his enemy, and even those spoke well of him, who felt rebuked by his conscientious adherence to duty. To us, he was all this, and much more. From the first moment he came among us, we applied to him the words of his favorite Schiller: "This man was never made To ply and mould himself, like wax, to others, We saw that his noble soul, serenely rising above all parties, worked for the Human Race. He was the generous, heroic and steadfast friend of Freedom,-not in one, or a few, but in all its manifestations. Exiled from Germany for his bold love of liberty, he might have reposed in America on the laurels of former years. But conscience, seeing the good and the true, through the transparent medium of his own pure integrity, was to him a perpetual revelation of God's will. The same noble disinterestedness that drove him from his beloved Germany, made him the early and declared friend of the slave, when such a declaration amounted to a virtual proscription in the United States. In him our sacred cause has indeed lost a most faithful, able, and revered supporter. How much have we owed to his clear percep tions, his mild and candid spirit, his uncompromising honesty, his friendly and judicious counsels! To mark our sense of his early and invaluable co-operation, and of the extent of our present bereavement, It is Resolved, BY THE MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, That the death of our accomplished and excellent brother, CHARLES FOLLEN, has filled our hearts with a sorrow which no language can utter. Resolved, That his early, unwavering and efficient services for the poor in this age of hollowness, and this land of oppression, have created in the heart of this Society a love and esteem, more than fraternal, and have merited the gratitude and veneration of every lover of justice and every patriot in the Union. Resolved, That the hearty approval and ready advocacy of our principles and measures by a spirit so enlarged, so versed in varied knowledge, so tried and proved, so impartial and pure, affords high evidence that our cause, ever rising by the assaults of its enemies, will not perish even by the fall of its wisest and truest friends. Resolved, That we deeply and tenderly sympathize with the bereaved family,-with his darling son, to whom no earthly friend can supply the loss of such a father,—with the beloved companion of his studies, the sharer of his counsels, and the worthy part ner of his benevolent efforts. That she was capable of fully appreciating the noble and affectionate being, whose destiny was so many years linked with her own, does but increase the magnitude of her loss. May she find solace in the remembrance of how much he had benefitted the human race-how much of genuine life he had lived, be fore he was thus suddenly called to a higher state of existence. We fervently pray that the Comforter of all who mourn, the Father of the fatherless, the widow's God, may strengthen her heart in this hour of desolation, and grant to her and her's, his blessed consolatious and everlasting support. Resolved, That an address on the life and character of CHARLES FOLLEN, and, in particular, upon his early and eminent services to the cause of abolition, be delivered by such person and at such time and place as the Board of Managers of this Society shall appoint. After a pause of some moments, Mr. EDMUND QUINCY rose to sustain the resolutions. Mr. Quincy said-This silence arises from no indifference to the subject presented to us. It is the silence of grief and sympathy. I waited to see some one, more nearly the coeval of our dear friend, arise to tell us of his worth. But I have known him ever since the period of his arrival in this country-an exile and in poverty-driven by his love of liberty from Europe to these republican shores, and may therefore venture to speak of him. I was then a boy; and I looked up to him with admiration for his superiority in goodness and in knowledge. My subsequent acquaintance of fifteen years has but strengthened the love and reverence that his character at first excited. I can vouch for the appropriateness of these resolutions. They contain no unmerited and unnecessary eulogy. His mind, his heart, and his life, deserve it all-all we can possibly say in his praise. Few men have made the sacrifices which that man has made for all that the republican should hold dear. He has devoted to the principles of liberty all that he held dearest on earth; his residence in his own country, his beloved Germany, his reputation, his fortune, his sacred honor. He held a distinguished professorship in the University of Basel, in Switzerland. There his free spirit intimidated the despotic governments of Europe. The Holy Alliance sealed his condemnation, and demanded that he should be given up to their tribunals. He was ostracised, compelled to quit his chair of Philosophy, and became a destitute exile on our republican shores. At first, he availed himself of his skill in athletic exercises, and became the teacher of a gymnasium. Afterwards, he was a Tutor in Harvard University, and finally filled a Professorship with eminent success. Among all the distinguished men of this age, none have occupied more space in the republic of letters than CHARLES FOLLEN. Placed in the midst of a worldly aristocracy, he need but have fallen in with their views, and ministered to their conservatism, to have been flattered and caressed by the rich and the great. But the anti-slavery standard was reared. A voice was heard calling aloud in behalf of Freedom in the ears of our nation, and he felt that his mission in her service was but begun. Again throwing down reputation, and ease, and honorable station, he placed himself by the side of the friendless negro. Coming forward as he did at the stormiest and most tempestuous period of the cause, and laboring as he did for its support, he did much towards securing for it its present hopeful and commanding position. In consequence, as I believe, of the stand he then took, he lost the honorable and lucrative post he had so successfully filled. The term for which it had been temporarily established having expired, the subscriptions were not renewed. It fell to the ground, for want of the means of support. I believe that had he maintained an atti tude of indifference to the anti-slavery cause, that Professorship would have been placed on a permanent foundation, and he would have retained the office he so worthily filled. But, turning his back upon every such temptation, he went forth again into the world, and at length became the pastor of a wealthy congregation in New York. Here he labored with great success, and here, also, his stand as an anti-slavery man caused him to be proscribed. He was driven from that metropolitan pulpit for his love of liberty, and his devotion to her cause. His means of life, from that time, were ever shifting and precarious. His profound learning, his immense stores of every kind of knowledge, and the efforts of his powerful genius were not indeed lost, but they were hidden in remote districts, and devoted to small and rural parishes, where he was beloved and appreciated. Suddenly and painfully has he been summoned hence; but, while we mourn, we feel how blessed it must have been to him, so tried and purified, to depart. was Christ; therefore it was gain for him to die. his memory! Let us imitate his spirit and his deeds! Let us be ready as he was to assume the cross of every odious reform, and we shall then be as well prepared as he to meet our Judge. For him to live The Rev. JOHN PIERPONT rose in support of the resolutions. His voice was at first inaudible, and he was requested to ascend the platform, that he might be distinctly heard. He said,—I have but little to say, Mr. President, and that little ought to be heard from a low place. I ought to take no other; I am not even a member of your Society. But I could not allow the resolutions to be put, which my friend has just sustained, without expressing my deep sympathy with them, as he has done; though neither of us knew, the moment before, that they were to be presented. I was bound to that man by many ties. Not only by the ties of acquaintance, but by the stronger bonds of sympathy. Last month, I received a note from him, requesting me to take a part in the dedication of the little church at East Lexington, which he and his beloved partner in life had been exerting themselves so diligently to erect for the service of Christ and of Freedom. There was that in his note which indicated that he felt sure of all my sympathy with him in his undertaking. I said, yes! it shall go hard with me but I will come. I longed, if I might, to encourage him in his devoted labors, and to see him anchored in this quiet haven, after so many and various perils. I went. Another part was assigned me, than the one I had thought to fill. Unexpectedly, I was called to preach; the health of Dr. Channing having prevented him from performing that office for his friend. But a damp was cast upon the festivity of the occasion, for he was not there. We wanted his cheerful voice, his calm and lovely smile,-his benignant countenance. We know, now, why he was not there. We cannot doubt that for him to die was gain. I had other acquaintances on board that devoted boat; but in thought, it is still he that meets my eye. I picture him as he ever was in life, calm and resolute amid that scene of danger and of death. He reviews his past life-he feels that it was spent for others, not himself. The flames surround him! the cold depths are below! May it be yours and mine to feel the exulting joy in death, which he might justly feel. You, sir, are a father, and have seen your little ones at play, striving by their artless efforts to attract your attention. You have watched them climbing from chair to chair, till they attained their seat in your arms; not content with any other place. So it was with our friend. These chairs of instruction-these chairs of high philosophy-they were not regarded by him as abiding seats,-not as the places where he was to live, nor even as the places by which he was to live; but as places to fit him for a second and higher life in the arms of his Heavenly Father. I warmly second the resolutions, and hope that some man will be selected from the anti-slavery society, who has the knowledge of our friend's life and character which will qualify, and at the same time the spirit which will enable him to dare to speak of both as they demand, in your behalf, and in the presence of the world. Mr. Pierpont was requested to read the resolutions a second time, which he did; and was followed by SAMUEL J. MAY in their support. I rise, Mr. President and friends, not because I expect to do any justice to my own feelings, much less to the character of our departed friend, but because I am impelled to speak of some things which may not be known to us all. Some present may not be fully aware of the indebtedness of our cause to that great, because greatly good man. It was in the spring of 1833, while persecution was raging against us, and while I was constantly obliged to listen to the expression of very different sentiments, that I was cheered onward and strengthened by Dr. Follen. It was at our darkest hour that he came among us. It was not because he was solicited. Though we were not then, any more than we are now, divested of the idea that greater things might be accomplished for our cause by those who occupy the highest places in the commuity, yet as he was a foreigner, and not much known to most of us, we had not solicited his aid. He came to us because his great heart told him that ours was a great and good cause. He was drawn into our midst, by the "cords of love and the bands of a man." He fully understood our principles. He as heartily and as entirely embraced them, with as perfect an understanding of their exceeding breadth, as those who began to promul gate them. When the time arrived for the New England Convention of 1834, Dr. Follen was there. All the time he could command from his avocations at Cambridge, (which were never neglected,) he spent with us. I need but refer you to that valuable document adopted by the Convention, "Address to the People of the United States," prepared by him as chairman of a committee appointed by that Convention-to show how thoroughly he understood our purposes, and how deeply he loved our principles. I hope that address may be re-read. It is pregnant with thought; it is worthy of being printed and re-printed, and kept in constant circulation. From that time, in every emergency of our cause, Dr. Follen came forward. During the perilous year 1835, he was always seen at our meetings, and continually stepped into our little office, to cheer us with his words of encouragement, or aid us by his counsels. Let me refer you to his admirable speech and resolution presented that year to this Society. They involved principles which some of our band had not the resolution to embrace. Oh! could he but have infused into those who then stood by his side, those righteous and consistent and indispensable principles of action, our eyes would not have since been obliged to look upon the sights they have seen, nor our hearts have since been grieved as they have been. But HE was faithful, always. He was a modest, not a forth putting man. He never spoke when he had nothing to say, but whenever principle was in question, he always had something to say. It is impossible for any words to do him justice. But few appreciate him. One must indeed be a great and good man to appreciate fully how good and how great Dr. Follen was. The first thought that came to my mind when the news of his death reached my ears, was the beautiful thought of the Apos. tle :-He was a dear child of God." What mean these words, if not to express such a character as his? the character of one who found his delight in devoting his high powers to the service of mankind, thus proving his affinity with God. 66 Mr. QUINCY. Since I rose to sustain these resolutions, some lines have been put into my hand-the last, probably, that Dr. Follen ever wrote. They are a translation from the German poet, Korner, and were written for a little anti-slavery book, the Liberty Bell, but came too late for publication. We may almost regard them as a voice from the dead. They are his last offering on the altar of Liberty; and it is not ungraceful in us to lay them upon his grave. "FAREWELL TO LIFE. [Translation of lines composed by Korner, when, dangerously wounded and helpless, he lay in a forest, expecting to die.] This smarting wound-these lips so pale and chill- I stand upon the borders of my days! Amen! My God, I own thy holy will. The golden dreams that once my soul did fill, The songs of mirth become sepulchral lays. Faith! Faith! That truth which all my spirit sways, Yonder, as here, must live within me still. And what I held as sacred here below, What I embraced with quick and youthful glow, Whether I called it liberty or love A seraph bright I see it stand above; And as my senses slowly pass away, A breath transports me to the realms of day." |