SARAH AND ANGELINA GRIMKÉ
A BIOGRAPHY

WILLIAM L. CLEMENTS
LIBRARY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
UNIVERSITYOf MICHIGAN


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THE GRIMKÉ SISTERS
SARAH AND ANGELINA GRIMKÉ
THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMEN ADVOCATES
OF ABOLITION AND WOMAN'S RIGHTS
BY
CATHERINE H. BIRNEY
"The glory of all glories is the glory of self-sacrifice"
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
1885

Copyright,
1885,
BY LEE AND SHEPARD
All Rights Reserved.
THE GRIMKÉ SISTERS.

PREFACE.
It was with great diffidence, from inexperience in lit-
erary work of such length, that I engaged to write the
biography which I now present to the public. But the
diaries and letters placed in my hands lightened the work
of composition, and it has been a labor of affection as
well as of duty to pay what tribute I might to the mem-
ory of two of the noblest women of the country, whom
I learned to love and venerate during a residence of
nearly two years under the same roof, and who, to the
end of their lives, honored me with their friendship.
C. H. B.
WASHINGTON CITY, Sept., 1885.
3


CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Childhood of Sarah, 7. Practical teachings, 9. Teaching slaves, 11.
Sarah a godmother, 13. Their mother, 15.
CHAPTER II.
Thirst for knowledge, 17. Religious impressions, 19. Providence inter-
poses, 21. Their father's death-bed, 23. Sarah and slavery, 25. Sa
vation by works, 27. The Friends, 29. Sarah resists the call, 31.
Sarah leaves Charleston, 33.
CHAPTER III.
Sarah a Quaker, 35. Visit to Charleston, 37. Angelina, 39. Angelina's
slave, 41. Angelina converted, 43. Sarah's heart trial, 45.
CHAPTER IV.
Contrasts, 47. Spiritual change, 49. Novels and finery, 51. Plain dress,
53.
CHAPTER V.
Angelina's progress, 55. Abandons Presbyterianism, 57. Adopts Qua-
kerism, 59. A Quaker quarrel, 61. Angelina goes north, 63. Trim-
ming a cap, 65.
CHAPTER VI.
Christian frugality, 67. Christian reproofs, 69. Faithful testimony, 71.
Sitting in silence, 73. Sympathy with slaves, 75. Intercedes for a
slave, 77. A sin to joke, 79. Introspection, 81.
CHAPTER VII.
Intellectual power, 83. Anti-slavery in 1829, 85. Bane of slavery, 87.
Longs to leave home, 89. Narrow life, 91. Farewell to home, 93.
1

2
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VIII.
Not in favor, 95. Doubts, 97. Benevolent activities, 99. Nullification,
101. Thomas Grimké, 103. Quaker time-serving, 105. Separation,
107.
CHAPTER IX.
Visits Catherine Beecher, 109. Morbid feelings, ill. Growing out of
Quakerism, 113. Lane Seminary debate, 115. Death of Thomas
Grimké, 117. The cause of peace, 119.
CHAPTER X.
Sarah Douglass, 121. The fire kindled, 123. Letter to Garrison, 125.
Apology for letter, 127. Publication of letter, 129. Sarah disapproves,
131.
CHAPTER XI.
Practical efforts, 133. Visit to Providence, 135. The sisters differ, 137.
Elizur Wright's invitation, 139. Asking advice of Sarah, 141. The
last straw, 143. Sarah resolves to leave Philadelphia, 145. Angelina's
A. S. feelings, 147. Her clear convictions, 149.
CHAPTER XII.
The sisters together, 151. A rebellious Quaker, 153. Removal to New
York, 155. The anti-slavery leaders, 157. T. D. Weld, 159. Epistle
to the clergy, 161. First speeches to women, 163. Lectures, 165.
Disregard of the color line, 167. Henry B. Stanton, 169. Success on
the platform, 171. They go to Boston, 173.
CHAPTER XIII.
Woman's rights, 175. Sentiment at Boston, 177. Speaking to men, 179.
Women's preaching, 181. Opposition, 183. The pastoral letter, 185.
Mixed audiences, 187. Hardships — eloquence, 189. Sarah prefers the
pen, 191. A public debate, 193. Sarah's impulsiveness, 195.
CHAPTER XIV.
Catherine Beecher, 197–99. Woman and abolition, 201. Whittier's letter,
203. Weld's letter, 205. Weld's third letter, 207. How reforms fail,
209. Friendly criticism, 211. No human government-ism, 213. The
sisters desist, 215. Weld on dress, 217. Henry C. Wright, 219.
Friendship renewed, 221.

CONTENTS
3
CHAPTER XV.
Crowded audiences, 223. Sickness, 225. The Massachusetts legislature,
Speeches in Boston, 229. Angelina's marriage, 231. The ceremony,
233. Pennsylvania Hall, 235. The mob, 237. Last public speech,
239. Burning the hall, 241.
CHAPTER XVI.
Disownment, 243. The home, 245. Self-denial, 247. Sarah Douglass,
249. An ex-slave, 251. Uses of retirement, 253. Mutual love, 255.
Slavery as it is,” 257. Going to church, 259. The baby, 261. Life
at Belleville, 263-5. Educators, 267. Piety, 269. Christianity, 271.
66
CHAPTER XVII.
Eagleswood, 273. Sarah as teacher, 265. Sarah at sixty-two, 277.
Love of children, 279. Success of the school, 281. Affliction, 283.
War to end in freedom, 285. Sisterly affection, 287. The colored
nephews, 289. The discovery, 291. A visit to nephews, 293. Neph-
ews educated, 295. Voting - petitions, 297. Work for charities, 299.
Contented old age, 301.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Sarah's sickness, 303. Death of Sarah, 305. Eulogies, 307. Paralysis,
309. Sublime patience, 311. Death of Angelina, 313. Elizur Wright,
315. Wendell Phillips, 317. The lesson of two lives, 319.


THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
CHAPTER I.
SARAH and ANGELINA GRIMKÉ were born in Charles-
ton, South Carolina; Sarah, Nov. 26, 1792; Angelina,
Feb. 20, 1805. They were the daughters of the Hon.
John Fauchereau Grimké, a colonel in the revolutionary
war, and judge of the Supreme Court of South Carolina.
His ancestors were German on the father's side, French
on the mother's; the Fauchereau family having left
France in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes in 1685.
From his German father and Huguenot mother, Judge
Grimké inherited not only intellectual qualities of a high
order, but an abiding consciousness of his right to think
for himself, a spirit of hostility to the Roman Catholic
priesthood and church, and faith in the Calvinistic the-
ology. Though he exhibited, during the course of his life,
a freedom from certain social prejudices general among
people of his class at Charleston, he seems to have never
wavered in his adhesion to the tenets of his forefathers.
That they were ever questioned in his household is not
probable.
From a diary kept by him, it appears that his favorite
subject of thought for many years was moral discipline,
and he was fond of searching out and transcribing the
opinions of various authors on this subject.
5

6
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
His family was wealthy and influential, and he received
all the advantages which such circumstances could give.
As was the custom among people of means in those days,
he was sent to England for his collegiate course, and,
after being graduated at Oxford, he studied law and prac-
tised for a while in London, having his rooms in the
Temple. With a fine person, a cultivated mind and a
generous allowance, he became a favorite in the fashion-
able and aristocratic society of Great Britain ; neverthe-
less, he did not hesitate to quit the pleasant life he was
leading and return home as soon as his native country
seemed to need him. He speedily raised a company of
cavalry in Charleston, and cast his lot with the patriots
whom he found in arms against the mother-country. We
have no record of his deeds, but we know that he distin-
guished himself at Eutaw Springs and at Yorktown,
where he was attached to Lafayette's brigade.
When the war was over, Col. Grimké began the prac-
tice of law in Charleston, and rose in a few years to the
front rank at the bar. He held various honorable offices
before he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of
the State.
Early in life Judge Grimké married Mary Smith of Irish
and English-Puritan stock. She was the great-grand-
daughter of the second Landgrave of South Carolina,
and descended on her mother's side from that famous rebel
chieftain, Sir Roger Moore, of Kildare, who would have
stormed Dublin Castle with his handful of men, and
whose handsome person, gallant manners, and chivalric
courage made him the idol of his party and the hero of
song and story. Fourteen children were born to this
couple, all of whom were more or less remarkable for the
traits which would naturally be expected from such ances-

CHILDHOOD OF SARAH
7
try, while in several of them the old Huguenot-Puritan
infusion colored every mental and moral quality. This
was especially notable in Sarah Moore Grimké, the sixth
child, who even in her childhood continually surprised
her family by her independence, her sturdy love of truth,
and her clear sense of justice. Her conscientiousness was
such that she never sought to conceal or even excuse any-
thing wrong she did, but accepted submissively whatever
punishment or reprimand was inflicted upon her.
Between Sarah and her brother Thomas, six years her
senior, an early friendship was formed, which was ever a
source of gratification to both, and which continued with-
out a break until his death. To the influence of his high,
strong nature she attributed to a great extent her early
tendency to think and reason upon subjects much beyond
her age. Until she was twelve years old, a great deal of
her time was passed in study with this brother, her
bright, active mind eagerly reaching after the kind of
knowledge which in those days was considered food too
strong for the intellect of a girl. She begged hard to be
permitted to study Latin, and began to do so in private,
but her parents, and even her brother, discouraged this,
and she reluctantly gave it up.
Judge Grimké's position, character, and wealth placed
his family among the leaders of the very exclusive so-
ciety of Charleston. His children were accustomed to
luxury and display, to the service of slaves, and to the
indulgence of every selfish whim, although the father's
practical common sense led him to protest against the
habits to which such indulgences naturally led. He was
necessarily much from home, but, when leisure permitted,
his great pleasure was teaching his children and discuss-
ing various topics with them. To Sarah he paid partic-

8
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
ular attention, her superior mental qualities exciting his
admiration and pride. He is said to have frequently de-
clared that if she had been of the other sex she would
have made the greatest jurist in the land.
In his own habits, Judge Grimké was prudent and sin-
gularly economical, and, in spite of discouraging surround-
ings, endeavored to instil lessons of simplicity into his
children. An extract from one of Sarah's letters will
illustrate this. Referring in 1863 to her early life, she
thus writes to a friend :-
"Father was pre-eminently a man of common sense,
and economy was one of his darling virtues. I suppose
I inherited some of the latter quality, for from early life
I have been renowned for gathering up the fragments
that nothing be lost, so that it was quite a common saying
in the family: "Oh, give it to Sally; she'll find use for
it,' when anything was to be thrown away. Only once
within my memory did I depart from this law of my na-
ture. I went to our country residence to pass the sum-
mer with father. He had deposited a number of useful
odds and ends in a drawer. Now little miss, being in-
stalled as housekeeper to papa, and for the first time in
her life being queen
at least so she fancied- of all she
surveyed, went to work searching every cranny, and pry-
ing into every drawer, and woe betide anything which
did not come up to my idea of neat housekeeping.
When I chanced across the drawer of scraps I at once
condemned them to the flames. Such a place of dis-
order could not be tolerated in my dominions. I never
thought of the contingency of papa's shirts, etc., want-
ing mending; my oversight, however, did not prevent
the natural catastrophe of clothes wearing out, and
one day papa brought me a garment to mend, Oh,

PRACTICAL TEACHINGS
9
666
said I, tossing it carelessly aside, that hole is too big
to darn.'
Certainly, my dear,' he replied, but you can put a
piece in. Look in such a drawer, and you will find plenty
to patch with.
“But behold the drawer was empty. Happily, I had
commuted the sentence of burning to that of distribu-
tion to the slaves, one of whom furnished me the piece,
and mended the garment ten times better than I could
have done. So I was let to go unwhipped of justice for
that misdemeanor, and perhaps that was the lesson which
burnt into my soul. My story does n't sound Southerny,
does it? Well, here is something more. During that
summer, father had me taught to spin and weave negro
cloth. Don't suppose I ever did anything worth while;
only it was one of his maxims: 'Never lose an oppor.
tunity of learning what is useful. If you never need the
knowledge, it will be no burden to have it; and if you
should, you will be thankful to have it.'
So I had to use
my delicate fingers now and then to shell corn, a process
which sometimes blistered them, and was sent into the
field to pick cotton occasionally. Perhaps I am indebted
partially to this for my life-long detestation of slavery, as
it brought me in close contact with these unpaid toilers.”
Doubtless she had many a talk with these “unpaid
toilers," and learned from them the inner workings of a
system which her friends would fain have taught her to
view as fair and merciful.
Children are born without prejudice, and the young
children of Southern planters never felt or made any
dif-
ference between their white and colored playmates. The
instances are many of their revolt and indignation when
first informed that there must be a difference. So that

10
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
woman.
there is nothing singular in the fact that Sarah Grimké,
to use her own words, early felt such an abhorrence of
the whole institution of slavery, that she was sure it was
born in her. Several of her brothers and sisters felt the
same. But she differed from other children in the re-
spect that her sensibilities were so acute, her heart so ten-
der, that she made the trials of the slaves her own, and
grieved that she could neither share nor mitigate them.
So deeply did she feel for them that she was frequently
found in some retired spot weeping, after one of the
slaves had been punished. She remembered that once,
when she was not more than four or five years old, she
accidentally witnessed the terrible whipping of a servant
As soon as she could escape from the house, she
rushed out sobbing, and half an hour afterwards her
nurse found her on the wharf, begging a sea captain to
take her away to some place where such things were not
done.
She told me once that often, when she knew one of
the servants was to be punished, she would shut herself
up and pray earnestly that the whipping might be averted;
“ and sometimes,” she added, “my prayers were answered
in very unexpected ways.”
Writing to a young friend, a few years before her
death, she says: “When I was about your age, we spent
six months of the year in the back country, two hundred
miles from Charleston, where we would live for months
without seeing a white face outside of the home circle.
It was often lonely, but we had many out-door enjoy-
ments, and were very happy. I, however, always had
one terrible drawback. Slavery was a millstone about
my neck, and marred my comfort from the time I can re-
member myself. My chief pleasure was riding on horse-
לל

TEACHING SLAVES
11
back daily. Hiram' was a gentle, spirited, beautiful crea-
ture. He was neither slave nor slave owner, and I loved
and enjoyed him thoroughly.”
When she was quite young her father gave her a little
African girl to wait on her. To this child, the only slave
she ever owned, she became much attached, treating her
as an equal, and sharing all her privileges with her. But
the little girl died after a few years, and though her
youthful mistress was urged to take another, she refused,
saying she had no use for her, and preferred to wait on
herself. It was not until she was more than twelve years
old that, at her mother's urgent request, she consented to
have a dressing-maid.
Judge Grimké, his family and connections, were all
High-Church Episcopalians, tenacious of every dogma,
and severe upon any neglect of the religious forms of
church or household worship. Nothing but sickness ex-
cused any member of the family, servants included, from
attending morning prayers, and every Sunday the well-
appointed carriage bore those who wished to attend
church to the most fashionable one in the city. The
children attended Sabbath-school regularly, and in the
afternoon the girls who were old enough taught classes
in the colored school. Here, Sarah was the only one who
ever caused any trouble. She could never be made to
understand the wisdom which included the spelling-book,
in the hands of slaves, among the dangerous weapons,
and she constantly fretted because she could only give her
pupils oral instruction. She longed to teach them to
read, for many of them were pining for the knowledge
which the “poor white trash” rejected; but the laws of
the State not only prohibited the teaching of slaves, but
provided fines and imprisonment for those who ventured

12
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
to indulge their fancy in that way. So that, argue as she
might, and as she did, the privilege of opening the store-
house of learning to those thirsty souls was denied her.
“But,” she writes, “my great desire in this matter would
not be totally suppressed, and I took an almost malicious
satisfaction in teaching my little waiting-maid at night,
when she was supposed to be occupied in combing and
brushing my long locks. The light was put out, the key-
hole screened, and flat on our stomachs before the fire,
with the spelling-book under our eyes, we defied the laws
of South Carolina.”
But this dreadful crime was finally discovered, and
poor Hetty barely escaped a whipping; and her bold
young mistress had to listen to a severe lecture on the
enormity of her conduct.
When Sarah was about twelve years old, two impor-
tant events occurred to interrupt the even tenor of her
life. Her brother Thomas was sent off to Yale College,
leaving her companionless and inconsolable, until, a few
weeks later, the birth of a little sister brought comfort and
joy to her heart. This sister was Angelina Emily, the last
child of her parents, and the pet and darling of Sarah
from the moment the light dawned upon her blue eyes.
Sarah seems to have felt for this new baby not only
more than the ordinary affection of a sister, but the
yearning tenderness of a mother, and a mysterious affin-
ity which foreshadowed the heart and soul sympathy
which, notwithstanding the twelve years' difference in
their
ages, made them as one through life. She at once
begged that she might stand godmother for her sister;
but her parents, thinking this desire only a childish whim,
refused. She was seriously in earnest, however, and day
after day renewed her entreaties, answering her father's

SARAH A GODMOTHER
13
arguments that she was too young for such a responsi-
bility by saying that she would be old enough when it
became necessary to exercise any of the responsibility.
Seeing finally that her heart was so set upon it, her par-
ents consented; and joyfully she stood at the baptismal
font, and promised to train this baby sister in the way she
should go. Many years afterwards, in describing her
feelings on this occasion, she said: “I had been taught to
believe in the efficacy of prayer, and I well remember,
after the ceremony was over, slipping out and shutting
myself up in my own room, where, with tears streaming
down my cheeks, I prayed that God would make me
worthy of the task I had assumed, and help me to guide
and direct my precious child. Oh, how good I resolved
to be, how careful in all my conduct, that my life might
be blessed to her!”
Entering in such a spirit upon the duties she had taken
upon herself, we cannot over-estimate her influence in
forming the character and training the mind of this “pre-
cious Nina,” as she so often called her. And, as we shall
see, for very many years Angelina followed closely where
Sarah led, treading almost in her footsteps, until the seed
sown by the older sister, ripening, bore its fruit in a
power and strength and individuality which gave her the
leadership, and caused Sarah to fall back and gaze with
wonder upon development so much beyond her thoughts
or hopes.
From the first, Sarah took almost entire charge of her
little god-daughter; and, as “Nina”
grew out of her
babyhood, Sarah continued to exercise such general super-
vision over her that the child learned to look up to her
as to a mother, and frequently when together, and in her
correspondence for many years, addressed her as “Mother."

14
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
It does not appear that Judge Grimké entertained any
views differing greatly from those of intelligent men in
the society about him. He was a man of wide culture,
varied experience of life, and a diligent student. There-
fore, as he made a companion of his bright and promising
daughter, he doubtless did much to sharpen her intellect,
as well as to deepen her conscientiousness and sense of
religious obligation. Her brother Thomas, too, added
another strong influence to her mental development. She
was nearly fifteen when he returned from college, bring-
ing with him many new ideas, most of them quite origi-
nal, and which he at once set to work to study more
closely, with a view to putting them into practical opera-
tion. Sarah was his confidante and his amanuensis; and,
looking up to him almost as to a demi-god, she readily
fell in with his opinions, and made many of them her own.
Of her mother there is little mention in the early part
of her life. Mrs. Grimké appears to have been a very
devout woman, of rather narrow views, and undemonstra-
tive in her affections. She was, however, intelligent, and
had a taste for reading, especially theological works. Her
son Thomas speaks of her as having read Stratton's book
on the priesthood, and inferring from its implications the
sect to which the author belonged. The oldest of her
children was only nineteen when Angelina was born.
The burdens laid upon her were many and great; and we
cannot wonder that she was nervous, exhausted, and irri-
table. The house was large, and kept in the style common
in that day among wealthy Southern people. The ser-
vants were numerous, and had, no doubt, the usual idle,
pilfering habits of slaves. All provisions were kept under
lock and key, and given out with scrupulous exactitude,
and incessant watchfulness as to details was a necessity.

THEIR MOTHER
15
owner's.
As children multiplied, Mrs. Grimké appears to have
lost all power of controlling either them or her servants.
She was impatient with the former, and resorted with the
latter to the punishments commonly inflicted by slave-
These severities alienated her children still more
from her, and they showed her little respect or affection.
It never appears to have occurred to any of them to try
to relieve her of her cares; and it is probable she was
more sinned against than sinning, - a sadly burdened and
much-tried woman. From numerous allusions to her in
the diaries and letters, the evidence of an ill-regulated
household is plain, as also the feelings of the children
towards her. From Angelina's diary we copy the follow-
ing: -
“On 2d day I had some conversation with sister Mary
on the deplorable state of our family, and to-day with
Eliza. They complain very much of the servants being
so rude, and doing so much as they please. But I tried
to convince them that the servants were just what the
family was, that they were not at all more rude and self-
ish and disobliging than they themselves were. I gave
one or two instances of the manner in which they treated
mother and each other, and asked how they could expect
the servants to behave in any other way when they had
such examples continually before them, and queried in
which such conduct was most culpable. Eliza always
admits what I say to be true, but, as I tell her, never
profits by it. ... Sister Mary is somewhat different; she
will not condemn herself.... She will acknowledge the
sad state of the family, but seems to think mother is
altogether to blame. And dear mother seems to resist all
I say: she will neither acknowledge the state of the
family nor her own faults, and always is angry when I

16
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
speak to her. . . . Sometimes when I look back to the first
years of my religious life, and remember how unremit-
tingly I labored with mother, though in a very wrong
spirit, being alienated from her and destitute of the spirit
of love and forbearance, my heart is very sore.”
This unfortunate state of things prevailed until the
children were grown, and with more or less amelioration
after that time. Sarah's natural tenderness, and the
sense of justice which, as she grew to womanhood, was so
conspicuous in Angelina, drew their mother nearer to
them than to her other children, though Thomas always
wrote of her affectionately and respectfully. She, how-
ever, with her rigid orthodox beliefs, could never under-
stand her "alien daughters," as she called them; and she
never ceased to wonder how such strange fledglings could
have come from her nest. It was only when they had
proved by years of self-sacrifice the earnestness of their
peculiar views that she learned to respect them; and,
though they never succeeded in converting her from her
inherited opinions, she was towards the last years of her
life brought into something like affectionate sympathy
with them.

THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
17
CHAPTER II.
It was quite the custom in the last century and the
beginning of the present one for cultivated people to keep
diaries, in which the incidents of each day were jotted
down, accompanied by the expression of private opinions
and feelings. Women, especially, found this diary a
pleasant sort of confessional, a confidante to whose pages
they could entrust their most secret thoughts without
fear of rebuke or betrayal. Sarah Grimké's diary, cover-
ing over five hundred pages of closely written manu-
script, though not begun until 1821, gives many remi-
niscences of her youth, and describes with painful
conscientiousness her religious experiences. She also
repeatedly regrets the fact that her education, though
what was considered at that time a good one, was entirely
superficial, embracing only that kind of knowledge which
is acquired for display. What useful information she
received she owed to the conversations of her father
and her brother Thomas, her beloved companion and
friend."
There is no doubt that this want of proper training was
to her a cause of regret during her whole life. With her,
learning was always a passion ; and, in passing, I may say
she never thought herself too old for study and the acqui-
sition of knowledge. As she grew up, and saw the very
different education her brothers were receiving, her am-

18
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
bition and independence were fired, and she longed to
share their advantages. But in vain she entreated per-
mission to do so. The only answer she received was:
“You are a girl; what do you want of Latin and Greek
and philosophy ? You can never use them.” And when
it was discovered that she was secretly studying law, and
was ambitious to stand side by side with her brother at
the bar, smiles and sneers rebuked her “unwomanly"
aspirations. And though she argued the point with much
spirit, unable to see why the mere fact of being a girl
should confine her to the necessity of being a “doll, a
coquette, a fashionable fool,” she failed to secure a single
adherent to her strong-minded ideas. Her nature thus
denied its proper nutriment, and her most earnest desires
crushed, she sought relief in another direction. Painting,
poetry, general reading occupied her leisure time, while
she was receiving private tuition from the best masters in
Charleston.
At sixteen she was introduced into society, or, as she
phrases it, “initiated into the circles of dissipation and
folly.” In her account of the life she led in those circles
she does not spare herself.
“I believe,” she writes, “ for the short space I was ex-
hibited on this theatre, few have exceeded me in extrava-
gance of every kind, and in the sinful indulgence of pride
and vanity, sentiments which, however, were strongly
mingled with a sense of their insufficiency to produce even
earthly happiness, with an eager desire for intellectual
pursuits, and a thorough contempt for the trifles I was
engaged in. Often during this period have I returned
home, sick of the frivolous beings I had been with, morti-
fied at my own folly, and weary of the ball-room and its
gilded toys. Night after night, as I glittered now in this
יל

RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS
19
gay scene, now in that, my soul has been disturbed by
the query, Where are the talents committed to thy
charge?' But the intrusive thought would be silenced
by the approach of some companion, or a call to join the
dance, or by the presentation of the stimulating cordial,
and my remorse and my hopeless desires would be
drowned for the time being. Once, in utter disgust, I
made a resolution to abstain from such amusements; but
it was made in self-will, and did not stand long, though I
was so earnest that I gave away much of
my finery.
I cannot look back to those years without a blush of
shame, a feeling of anguish at the utter perversion of the
ends of my being. But for my tutelary god, my idolized
brother, my young, passionate nature, stimulated by that
love of admiration which carries many a high and noble
soul down the stream of folly to the whirlpool of an un-
hallowed marriage, I had rushed into this lifelong misery.
Happily for me, this butterfly life did not last long.
My ardent nature had another channel opened for it,
through which it rushed with its usual impetuosity. I
was converted, and turned over to doing good.”
Up to this time she was a communicant in the Episco-
pal church, and a regular attendant on its various services,
But, as she records, her heart was never touched, her soul
never stirred. She heard the same things preached week
after week, -- the necessity of coming to Christ and the
danger of delay, — and she wondered at her insensibility.
She joined in family worship, and was scrupulously exact
in her private devotions; but all was done mechanically,
from habit, and no quickening sense of her “awful con-
dition" came to her until she went one night, on the
invitation of a friend, to hear a Presbyterian minister,
the Rev. Henry Kolloch, celebrated for his eloquence.

20
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
66
He preached a thrilling sermon, and Sarah was deeply
moved. But the impression soon wore off, and she re-
turned to her gay life with renewed ardor. A year after,
the same minister revisited Charleston; and again she
went to hear him, and again felt the arrows of con-
science,” and again disregarded the solemn warning. The
journal continues: -
“After this he came no more; and in the winter of
1813-14 I was led in an unusual degree into scenes of
dissipation and frivolity. It seemed as if my cup of
worldly pleasure was filled to the brim; and after enjoy-
ing all the city afforded, I went into the country in the
spring with a fashionable acquaintance, designing to
finish
my
wild career there."
While on this visit, she accidentally met the Rev. Dr
Kolloch, and became acquainted with him. He seems to
have taken a warm interest in her spiritual welfare, and
his conversations made a serious impression on her which
her
gay
friends tried to remove. But her sensitive spirit
was so affected by his admonitions, and warnings of the
awful consequences of persisting in a course of conduct
which must eventually lead to everlasting punishment,
that she was made very miserable. She trembled as he
portrayed her doom, and wept bitterly; but, though she
assented to the truth of his declarations, she did not feel
quite prepared to give up the pomps and vanities of her
life, unsatisfactory as they were. A sore conflict began
in her mind, and she could take no pleasure in anything.
Dr. Kolloch's parting question to her, spoken in the most
solemn tones, “Can you, then, dare to hesitate ? ” rang
continually in her ears; and the next few days and nights
were passed in a turmoil of various feelings, until, ex-
hausted, she gave up the struggle, and acknowledged

PROVIDENCE INTERPOSES
21
לל
herself sensible of the emptiness of worldly gratifications,
and thought she was willing to resign all for Christ. She
returned home sorrowful and heavy-hearted. The glory
of the world was stained, and she no longer dared to par-
ticipate in its vain pleasures. She felt “loaded down
with iniquity," and, almost sinking under a sense of her
guilt and her danger, she secluded herself from society,
and put away her ornaments, “determined to purchase
Heaven at any price.” But she found no relief in these
sacrifices; and, after enduring much trial at her ill suc-
cess, she wrote to Dr. Kolloch, informing him of her state
of mind.
“Over his answer,” she writes, “I shed many tears; but,
instead of prostrating myself in deep abasement before
the Lord, and craving his pardon, I was desirous of doing
something which might claim his approbation and disperse
the thick cloud which seemed to hide him from me. I
therefore set earnestly to work to do good according to
my capacity. I fed the hungry and clothed the naked, I
visited the sick and afflicted, and vainly hoped these out-
side works would purify a heart defiled with the pride of
life, still the seat of carnal propensities and evil passions;
but here, too, I failed. I went mourning on my way
under the curse of a broken law; and, though I often
watered my couch with my tears, and pleaded with my
Maker, yet I knew nothing of the sanctifying influence
of his holy spirit, and, not finding that happiness in reli-
gion I anticipated, I, by degrees, through the persuasions
of companions and the inclination of my depraved heart,
began to go little more into society, and to resume my for-
mer style of dressing, though in comparative moderation."
She then states how, some time after she had thus de-
parted from her Christian profession, Dr. Kolloch came
a

22
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
once more, and his sad and earnest rebukes made her
unutterably wretched. But she tried to stifle the voice
of conscience by entering more and more into worldly
amusements, until she had lost nearly all spiritual sense.
Her disposition became soured by incessantly yielding to
temptation, and she adds :-
“I know not where I might have been landed, had not the
merciful interposition of Providence stopped my progress.”
This “merciful interposition of Providence” was noth-
ing less than the declining health of her father; and it
affords, indeed, a curious comment on the old Orthodox
teachings, that this young woman, devotedly attached to
her father, and fully appreciating his value to his family,
should have regarded his ill-health as sent by God for her
especial benefit, to interrupt her worldly course, and com-
pass her salvation.
Judge Grimké's illness continued for a year or more;
and so faithfully did Sarah nurse him that when it was
decided that he should go to Philadelphia to consult Dr.
Physic, she was chosen to accompany him.
This first visit to the North was the most important
event of Sarah's life, for the influences and impressions
there received gave some shape to her vague and way-
ward fancies, and showed her a gleam of the light beyond
the tangled path which still stretched before her.
She found lodgings for her father and herself in a
Quaker family whose name is not mentioned. About
their life there, little is said ; Sarah being too much occu-
pied with the care of her dear invalid to take much
interest in her new surroundings. Judge Grimké's health
continued to decline. His daughter's account of the last
days of his life is very touching, and shows not only how
deep was her religious feeling, but how tender and yet

THEIR FATHER'S DEATH-BED
23
how strong she was all through this great trial. The
father and daughter, strangers in a strange land, drawn
more closely together by his suffering and her necessary
care, became friends indeed; their attachment increasing
day by day, until, ere their final separation, they loved
each other with that fervent affection which grows only
with true sympathy and unbounded confidence. Sarah
thus wrote of it:-
I regard this as the greatest blessing, next to my con-
version, I have ever received from God, and I think if all
my future life is passed in affliction this mercy alone
should make me willingly, yea, cheerfully and joyously,
submit to the chastisements of the Lord.”
During their stay in Philadelphia, she had hoped for
her father's recovery, but when, by the doctor's advice,
they went to Long Branch, and she saw how weak and ill
he was, this hope forsook her, and she describes her
agony as something never to be effaced from her
memory.
Doubtless this was intensified by her lone and friendless
position. They were in a tavern, without one human
being to soothe them or sympathize with them. “But,"
she writes, “let me here acknowledge the mercy of that
Being whose everlasting arms supported me in this hour
of suffering. After the first burst of grief I became
calm, and felt an assurance that He in whom I trusted
would never leave nor forsake me, and that I would have
strength given me, even to the performance of the last
sad duties. But the end was not yet; the disease fluctu-
ated, some days arousing a gleam of hope, only to be ex-
tinguished by the next day's weakness. Alas! I was
compelled to see that death was certainly, though slowly,
approaching, and all feeling for my own suffering was
sunk in anxiety to contribute to my father's comfort, and

24
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
smooth his passage to the grave. And, blessed be God,
I was not only able to minister to many of his temporal
wants, but permitted to strengthen his hopes of a happy
immortality. I prayed with him and read to him, and I
cannot recollect hearing an impatient expression from
him during his whole illness, or a wish that his sufferings
might be lessened or abridged. He often tried to conceal
his bodily pain, and to soothe me by every appearance of
cheerful piety.
Thus he lingered until the 6th of Au-
gust, when he grew visibly worse. Many incoherent
expressions escaped him, but even then how tenderly he
spoke of
me,
I ever shall remember.
.. About eight
o'clock I moved him to his own bed, and, sitting down,
prepared to watch by him. He entreated me to lie down,
and I told him when he slept I would.
“Oh, God,' he exclaimed with fervent energy, how
sweet to sleep and wake in heaven!' This last desire
was realized. He clasped one of my hands, and as I bent
over him and arranged his pillow he put his arm around
me. I did not stir; apparently he slept. But the relaxed
grasp, the dewy coldness, the damps of death which stood
upon his forehead, all told me that he was hastening fast
to Jesus. Alone, at the hour of midnight, I sat by this
bed of death. My eyes were fixed on that face whose
calmness seemed to say, 'I rest in peace.' A gentle pres-
sure of the hand, and a scarcely audible respiration, alone
indicated that life was not extinct; at length that pres-
sure ceased, and the strained ear could no longer hear a
breath. I continued gazing on the lifeless form, closed
his eyes and kissed him. His spirit, freed from the
shackles of mortality, had sprung to its source, the bosom
of his God. I passed the rest of the night alone."
And alone, the only mourner, this brave, heart-stricken

SARAH AND SLAVERY
25
girl followed the remains of her beloved father to the
grave.
When all was over she went back to Philadelphia,
where she remained two or three months, and then re-
turned to Charleston.
During the season of family mourning which followed,
having nothing especial to do, Sarah became more than
ever concerned about her spiritual welfare. She con-
stantly deplored her lukewarmness, and regarded herself
as standing on the edge of a precipice from which she
had no power to withdraw. The subject of slavery began
now also to agitate her mind. After her residence in
Philadelphia, where doubtless she had to listen to some
sharp reflections on the Southern institution, it seemed
more than ever abhorrent to her, but it does not appear
that she gave utterance to her feelings on more than one
or two occasions. Even her diary contains only a slight
and occasional reference to them. She saw, she says,
how useless it was to discuss the subject, as even Ange-
lina, the child of her own training, could see nothing
wrong in the mere fact of slave-holding, if the slaves
were kindly treated.
Her brother Thomas, to whom she might have opened
her overburdened heart, and received from his affection
and good sense, comfort and strength, she saw little of;
besides, he was a slave-owner, and among his numerous
reform theories of education, politics, and religion, he
does not seem to have thought of touching slavery.
He was a leading member of the bar, very busy with his
literary work, had a wife and family, and resided out of
the city
Alone, therefore, Sarah brooded over her trials, and
those of the slaves, “ until they became like a canker,

26
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
incessantly gnawing." Upon the latter she could only
look as one in bonds herself, powerless to prevent or ame-
liorate them. Her sole consolation was teaching the ob-
jects of her compassion, within the lawful restrictions,
whenever she could find the opportunity. But she began
to look upon the world as a wilderness of desolation and
suffering, and herself as the most miserable of sinners,
fast hastening to destruction. In this frame of mind she
was induced to listen to the doctrine of universal salva-
tion, and eagerly adopted it, hoping thereby to find relief
from her doubts and fears. Her mother discovered this
with horror, and, trembling for her daughter's safety, she
aroused herself to argue so strongly against what she
termed the false and awful doctrine, that, though Sarah
refused to acknowledge the force of all she said, it had
its effect, and she gradually lost her hold on her new be-
lief. But losing that, she lost all hope. “ Wormwood
and gall” were her portion, and, while she fulfilled the
outward duties of religion, dreariness and settled de-
spondency took possession of her mind. She writes :
“ Tears never moistened my eyes; to prayer I was a
stranger. With Job I dared to curse the day of my
birth. One day I was tempted to say something of the
kind to my mother. She was greatly shocked, and re-
proved me seriously. I craved a hiding-place in the
grave, as a rest from the distress of my feelings, thinking
that no estate could be worse than the present. Some-
times, being unable to pray, unable to command one feel-
ing of good, either natural or spiritual, I was tempted to
commit some great crime, thinking I could repent and
thus restore my lost sensibility. On this I often medi-
tated, and assuredly should have fallen into this snare had
not the
mercy
of God still followed me.”

SALVATION BY WORKS
27
I might go on for many pages painting this dreary pic-
ture of a misdirected life, but enough has been quoted at
present to show Sarah Grimké's strong, earnest, impres-
sionable nature, and the effects upon it of the teachings
of the old theology, mingled with the narrow Southern
ideas of usefulness and woman's sphere. Endowed with
a superior intellect, with a most benevolent and unselfish
disposition, with a cheerful, loving nature, she desired
above all things to be an active, useful member of so-
ciety. But every noble impulse was strangled at its birth
by the iron bands of a religion that taught the crucifixion
of every natural feeling as the most acceptable offering
to a stern and relentless God. She was now twenty-eight
years of age, and with the exception of the period de-
voted to her father she had as yet thought and worked
only for herself. I do not mean that she neglected home
duties, or her private charities and visits to the afflicted,
but all these offices were performed from one especial
motive and with the same end in view — to avert from
herself the wrath of her Maker. This one thought filled
all her mind. All else was as nothing. Family and
friends, home and humanity, were of importance only as
they furthered this object. It is in this spirit that she
mentioned her father's illness and death, and the heroic,
self-sacrificing death, by shipwreck, of her brother Ben-
jamin, to which she could resign herself from a convic-
tion that the stroke was sent as a chastisement to her, and
was a merciful dispensation to draw his young wife nearer
to God. We read not one word of solicitude for mother,
or brothers, or sisters, not a single prayer for their con-
version. She was too busy watching and weeping over
her own short-comings to concern herself about their
doom. The long diary is filled with the reiteration of

28
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
her fears, her sorrows, and her prayers. Many years
afterwards she thus referred to this condition of her
mind :
“I cannot without shuddering look back to that period.
How dreadful did the state of my mind become! Noth-
ing interested me; I fulfilled my duties without any
feeling of satisfaction, in gloomy silence. My lips moved
in prayer, my feet carried me to the holy sanctuary, but
my heart was estranged from piety. I felt as if my doom
was irrevocably fixed, and I was destined to that fire
which is never quenched. I have never experienced any
feeling so terrific as the despair of salvation. My soul
still remembers the wormwood and the gall, still remem-
bers how awful the conviction that every door of hope
was closed, and that I was given over unto death."
Naturally, such a strain at last impaired her health, and,
her mother becoming alarmed, she was sent in the autumn
of 1820 to North Carolina, where several relatives owned
plantations on the Cape Fear River. She was welcomed
with great affection, especially by her aunt, the wife of
her uncle James Smith, and mother of Barnwell Rhett.
(This name was assumed by him on the inheritance of
property from a relative of that name.)
In the village near which this aunt lived there was no
place of worship except the Methodist meeting-house.
Sarah attended this; and under the earnest and alarming
preaching she heard there, together with association with
some of the most spiritual-minded of the members, she
was aroused from her apathetic state, and was enabled to
join in their services with some interest.
She even
offered up prayer with them, and at one of their love-
feasts delivered a public testimony to the truths of the
gospel. Thus associated with them, she was induced to

THE FRIENDS
29
examine their principles and doctrines, but found them
as faulty as all the rest she had from time to time investi-
gated. She therefore soon decided not to become one of
them. From her earliest serious impressions, she had
been dissatisfied with Episcopacy, feeling its forms life-
less; but now, after having carefully considered the
various other sects, and finding error in all, she con-
cluded to remain in the church whose doctrines at least
satisfied her as well as those of any other, and were those
of her mother and her family.
Of the Society of Friends she knew little, and that
little was unfavorable. To a remark made one day by
her mother, relative to her turning Quaker, she replied,
with some warmth:-
“ Anything but a Quaker or a Catholic!”
Having made up her mind that the Friends were wrong,
she had steadily refused, during her stay in Philadelphia,
to attend their meetings or read any of their writings.
Nevertheless many things about them, scarcely noticed
at the time, — their quiet dress, orderly manner of life
and gentle tones of voice, together with their many acts
of kindness to her and her father, - came back to her after
she had left them, and especially impressed her as con-
trasting so strongly with the slack habits and irregular
discipline which made her own home so unhappy.
On the vessel which carried her from Philadelphia to
Charleston, after her father's death, was a party of
Friends; and in the seven days which it then required to
make the voyage, an intimacy sprang up between them
and Sarah which influenced her whole after-life. From
one of them she had accepted a copy of Woolman's
works, -- evidence that there must have been religious
discussions between them. And that there was talk —

30
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
probably some jesting - in the family about Quakers is
shown by the little incident Sarah relates of her brother
Thomas presenting her, soon after her return from North
Carolina, with a volume of Quaker writings he had picked
up at some sale. He placed it in her hand, saying jo-
cosely, —
“Thee had better turn Quaker, Sally; thy long face
would suit well their sober dress.”
She was, as we have said, of a naturally cheerful dispo-
sition; but her false views of religion led her to believe
that “by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made
better," and she shed more tears, and offered up more
petitions for forgiveness, over occasional irresistible mer-
riment than I have space to record.
She accepted the book from her brother, read it, and,
needing some explanation of portions of it, wrote to one
of the Friends in Philadelphia whose acquaintance she
had made on the vessel. A correspondence ensued, which
resulted after some months in her entire conversion to
Quakerism.
She had now reached, she thought, a resting-place for
her weary, sore-travailed spirit; and, like a tired pilgrim,
she dropped all her burdens beside this fresh stream, from
whose waters she expected to drink such cooling draughts.
The quiet of the little meeting-house in Charleston, the
absence of ornament and ceremony, the silent worship by
the few members, the affectionate thee and thou, all
soothed her restless soul for a while, and a sweet calm fell
upon her. But she believed that God constantly spoke to
her heart, directing her by the still, small voice; and the
fidelity with which she obeyed this invisible guide was
not only a real detriment to her spiritual progress, but the
cause of much distress to her.

SARAH RESISTS THE CALL
31
When, as sometimes happened from various causes, she
failed in obedience, her mental suffering was intense, and
in abject humility she accepted as punishment any morti-
fication or sorrow that came to her afterwards. As a
sequence to this hallucination, she also had visions at vari-
ous times, and saw and communed with spirits, and did
not hesitate to acknowledge their influence and to respect
their intimations. So marvellously real were her feelings
on these points that her immediate friends, though
greatly deploring their effect upon her, seldom ventured
any remonstrance against them. Now, under the influ-
ence of her new belief, the impression of a divine call to
be made upon her deepened, and soon took shape in the
persuasion that it was to be a call to the ministry. Her
soul recoiled at the very thought of work so solemn, and
she prayed the Lord to spare her; but the more she
prayed, the stronger and clearer the intimations became,
until she felt that no loop-hole of escape was left her
from obedience to her Master's will. From the publicity
the work involved, she intuitively shrank. Her natural
sensitiveness and all the prejudices of her life rebelled
against it, and she could not look forward to it without
fear and trembling. Every meeting now found her, she
says, like a craven, dreading to hear the summons which
would oblige her to rise and open her lips before the two
or three gathered there. Vainly did she try to "hide
herself from the Lord.” The evidence came distinctly to
her one morning that some words of admonition were
required of her; but so appalling did the act appear to
her that she trembled, hesitated, resisted, and was silent.
Sorrow and remorse at once filled her soul; and, feeling
that she had sinned against the Holy Ghost, she thought
that God never could forgive her, and that no sacrifice

32
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
she could ever offer could atone for this first act of diso-
bedience. Through long and dreary years it was the
spectre that never would down, but stood ready to point
its accusing finger whenever she was tempted to seek the
cause of her disappointments and sorrows.
Thus, in the very outset of her new departure, arose
apprehensions which followed her continually, robbing
her religious exercises of all peace, and bringing her such
a depth of misery that, she says, it almost destroyed her
soul. The frequent letters of her Quaker friend, though
calculated to soothe and encourage her, were all firm on
the point of implicit obedience to the movements of the
Spirit; and she found herself in a straight and narrow
path, from which she was not allowed to deviate.
To this friend, Israel Morris, Sarah seems to have con-
fessed all her shortcomings, all her fears, until, encouraged
by his sympathy, and led by her longing for a wider field
of action, she began to contemplate a removal to the
North. There were other causes which urged her to seek
another home. The inharmonious life in her family,
joined to the reproaches and ridicule constantly aimed at
her, and which stung her to the quick, naturally inspired
the desire to go where she would be rid of it all, and live
in peace. In her religious exaltation, it was easy for her
to persuade herself that she was moved to make this im-
portant change by the Lord's command. She sincerely
believed it was so, and speaks of it as an unmistakable
call, not to be disregarded, to go forth from that land, and
her work would be shown her. Naturally, Philadelphia
was the spot to which she was directed. When informed
of her desires, Israel Morris not only gave his approval,
but invited her to a home in his family. A door of shel-
ter and safety being thus thrown open to her, she no

SARAH LEAVES CHARLESTON
33
longer hesitated, but at once made known her intention
to her relatives. There seems to have been little or no
opposition offered to a step so serious; in fact, her broth-
ers and sisters, though much attached to her, — for her
loving nature was irresistible, — evidently felt it a relief
when she was gone, her strict and pious life being a con-
stant rebuke to their worldly views and practices.
Her sister Anna, at her urgent request, accompanied
her on the voyage. This sister, the widow of an Episco-
pal clergyman, though a defender of slavery as an institu-
tion, recognized its evil influences on the society where it
existed, and gladly accepted the opportunity offered to
take her young daughter away from them. It was neces-
sary, too, that she should do something to increase her
slender income, and Sarah advised opening a small school
in Philadelphia, - a thing which she could not have done
in Charleston without a sacrifice of her own social posi-
tion and of the family pride.
There is nothing said of the parting, even from Ange-
lina, though we know it must have been a hard trial for
Sarah to leave this young sister, just budding into woman-
hood, and surrounded by all the snares whose alluring
influences she understood so well. That she could con-
sent to leave her thus is perhaps the strongest proof of
her faith in the imperative nature of the summons to
which she felt she was yielding obedience.
The exiles reached Philadelphia without accident in
the latter part of May, 1821. Lodgings were found for
Mrs. Frost and her child, and Sarah went at once to the
residence of her friend, Israel Morris.

34
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER III.
It is very much to be regretted that all of Sarah
Grimké's letters to Angelina, and to other members of
her family at this time, were, at her own request, de-
stroyed as received. They would not only have afforded
most interesting reading, but would have thrown light on
much which, without them, is necessarily obscure. Nor
were there more than twenty-five or thirty of Angelina's
letters preserved, and they were written between the
years 1826 and 1828. We therefore have but little data
by which to follow Sarah's life during the five years suc-
ceeding her return to Philadelphia, and before she again
went to Charleston; or Angelina's life at home, during
the same period. Sarah's diary, frequently interrupted,
continues to record her religious sorrows, for these fol-
lowed her even into the peaceful home at “Greenhill
Farm,” the name of Israel Morris's place, where she was
received and treated like a near and dear relative; and it
was but natural and proper that she should be so accepted
by the members of Mr. Morris's family. He was literally
her only friend at the North. Through his influence she
had been brought into the Quaker religion, and encour-
aged to leave her mother and native land.
She was
entirely unpractised in the ways of the world, and was
besides in very narrow circumstances, her only available
income being the interest on $10,000, the sum left by

SARAH A QUAKER
35
Judge Grimké to each of his children. The estate had
not yet been settled up. Add to all this the virtue of
hospitality, inculcated by the Quaker doctrine, and it
seems perfectly natural that Sarah should accept the offer
of her friend in the spirit in which it was made, and feel
grateful to her Heavenly Father that such a refuge was
provided for her.
The notes in her journal for that summer are rather
meagre. She attended meeting regularly, but made no for-
mal application to be received into the Society of Friends.
It would hardly have been considered so soon; she must
first go through a season of probation. How hard this
was is told in the lamentations and prayers which she
confided to her diary. The “fearful act of disobedience”
of which she was guilty in Charleston lay as a heavy
load on her spirit, troubling her thoughts by day and her
dreams by night, until she says:
66 At times I am almost
led to believe I shall never know good any more.”
Notwithstanding these trying spiritual exercises, the
summer seems to have passed in more peace than she had
dared to hope for. Israel Morris was a truly good man,
with a strong, genial nature, which must have had a
soothing effect upon Sarah's troubled spirit. But before
many months her thoughts began to turn back to home.
Her mother's want of spirituality, from her standpoint,
grieved her greatly. The accounts she received of the
disorder in the family added to her anxieties, and she felt
that her influence was needed to bring about harmony,
and to guide her mother on the road to Zion. She laid
the case before the Lord, and, receiving no intimation
that she would be doing a wrong thing, she decided to
return to Charleston.
Before leaving Philadelphia, however, she felt that it
وو

36
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
was her duty to assume the full Quaker dress. She had
worn plain colors from the time she began to attend
meeting in her native city, but the clothes were not fash-
ioned after the Quaker style, and she still indulged her-
self in occasionally wearing a becoming black dress;
though when she did so, she not only felt uncomfortable
herself, but knew that she made many of her friends so.
“Persisting in so doing," she says, “I have since been
made sensible, manifested a want of condescension en-
tirely unbecoming a Christian, and one day conviction
was so strong on this subject, that, as I was dressing, I
felt as if I could not proceed, but sat down with my dress
half on, and these words passed through my mind: Can
it be of any consequence in the sight of God whether I
wear a black dress or not? The evidence was clear that
it was not, but that self-will was the cause of my continu-
ing to do it. For this I suffered much, but was at length
strengthened to cast away this idol.”
Remembering the fashionable life she had once led,
and her natural taste for the beautiful in all things, it
must have been something of a sacrifice, even though sus-
tained by her religious exaltation, to lay aside everything
pretty and becoming, and, denying herself even so much
as a flower from nature's own fields, to array herself in
the scant and sober dress of drab, the untrimmed ker-
chief, and the poke bonnet.
Writing from Greenhill in October, she says:
“On last Fifth Day I changed my dress for the more
plain one of the Quakers, not because I think making my
clothes in their peculiar manner makes me any better, but
because I believe it was laid upon me, seeing that my na-
tural will revolted from the idea of assuming this garb.
I trust I have made this change in a right spirit, and with

VISIT TO CHARLESTON
37
a single eye to my dear Redeemer. It was accompanied
by a feeling of much peace.”
Late in the autumn she sailed for Charleston, and was
received by the home circle with affection, though her
plain dress gave occasion for some slighting remarks.
These, however, no longer affected her as they once had
done, and she bore them in silence. Surrounded by her
family, all of whom she warmly loved, in spite of their
want of sympathy with her, rooming with her “precious
child,” with full opportunity to counsel and direct her,
and intent upon carrying out reform in the household, she
was for a time almost contented. She took up her old
routine, her charities, and her schools, and attended meet-
ing regularly. But a very few weeks sufficed to make her
realize her utter inability to harmonize the discordant
elements in her home, or to make more than a transient
impression upon her mother. Day by day she became
more discouraged; everything seemed to conspire to
thwart her efforts for good, which were misconstrued and
misunderstood. Surrounded, too, and besieged by all the
familiar influences of her old life, it became harder to
sustain her peculiar views and habits, and spiritual luke-
warmness gained rapidly upon
her. With deep humility
she acknowledged the mistake she had made in going
back to Charleston, which place was evidently not the
vineyard in which she could labor to any profit.
In July she was again in Philadelphia, a member now
of the family of Catherine Morris, sister to Israel. Here
she remained until after her admission into Friends' So-
ciety, when, feeling it her duty to make herself indepen-
dent of the friends who had been so kind to her, she cast
about her for something to do, and was mortified and
chagrined to find there was nothing suited to her capacity.

38
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
“Oh!” she exclaims, “had I received the education I
desired, had I been bred to the profession of the law, I
might have been a useful member of society, and instead
of myself and my property being taken care of, I might
have been a protector of the helpless, a pleader for the
poor and unfortunate.”
The industrial avenues for women were few and nar-
row in those days; and for the want of some practical
knowledge, the doors Sarah Grimké might have entered
were closed to her, and she was finally forced to abandon
her hopes of independence, and to again accept a home
for the winter in Israel Morris's house, now in the city.
It must not be supposed, however, that either here or at
Catherine's, where she afterwards made her steady home,
she was a burden or a hindrance. She was too energetic
and too conscientious to be a laggard anywhere. So kind
and so thoughtful was she, so helpful in sickness, so sym-
pathetic in joy and in sorrow, that she more than earned
her frugal board wherever she went. Could she only
have been persuaded that it was right to yield to her natu-
rally cheerful temper, she would have been a delightful
companion at all times; but her sadness frequently affected
her friends, and even drew forth an occasional reproof.
The ministry, that dreadful requirement which she felt
sure the Lord would make of her, was ever before her,
and in fear and trembling she awaited the moment when
the command would be given, “ Arise and speak."
This painful preparation went on year after year, but
her advance towards her expected goal was very slow.
She would occasionally nerve herself to speak a few
words of admonition in a small meeting, make a short
prayer, or quote a text of scripture, but her services
were limited to these efforts. She often feared that she

ANGELINA
39
was restrained by her desire that her first attempt at ex-
horting should be a brilliant success, and place her at
once where she would be a power in the meetings; and
she prayed constantly for a clear manifestation, something
she could not mistake, that she might not be tempted by
the hope of relief from present suffering to move prema-
turely in the “awful work.”
Thus she waited, trying to restrain and satisfy her im-
patient yearnings for some real, living work by teaching
charity schools, visiting prisons, and going through the
duties of monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings. But
she could not shut out from herself the doubts that would
force themselves forward, that her time was not employed
as it should be.
We hear nothing of her family during these years,
nothing to indicate any change in their condition or in
their feelings. We know, however, that Sarah kept up a
frequent correspondence with her mother and with Ange-
lina, and that chiefly through her admonitions the latter
was turned from her worldly life to more serious con-
cerns.
Like Sarah, Angelina grew up a gay, fashionable girl.
Her personal beauty and qualities of mind and heart
challenged the admiration of all who came in contact
with her. More brilliant than Sarah, she was also more
self-reliant, and, though quite as sympathetic and sensi-
tive, she was neither so demonstrative nor so tender in
her feelings as her elder sister, and her manner being
more dignified and positive, she inspired, even in those
nearest to her, a certain degree of awe which forbade,
perhaps, the fulness of confidence which Sarah's greater
gentleness always invited. Her frankness and scrupulous
conscientiousness were equal to Sarah's, but she always

40
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
years
age the
preserved her individuality and her right to think for
herself. Once convinced, she could maintain her opinion
against all arguments and persuasions, no matter from
whom. As an illustration of this, it is related of her
that when she was about thirteen
of
bishop of the diocese called to talk to her about being
confirmed. She had, of course, been baptized when an
infant, and he told her she was now old enough to take
upon herself the vows then made for her. She asked the
meaning of confirmation, and was referred to the prayer-
book. After reading the rite over, she said:
“I cannot be confirmed, for I cannot promise what is
here required."
The bishop urged that it was a form which all went
through who had been baptized in the Church, and ex-
pected to remain in it. Looking him calmly in the face,
she said, in a tone whose decision could not be ques-
tioned:-
“ If, with my feelings and views as they now are, I
should go through that form, it would be acting a lie. I
cannot do it.” And no persuasions could induce her to
cons
Like Sarah, she felt much for the slaves, and was ever
kind to them, thoughtful, and considerate. She, too, suf-
fered keenly when punishments were inflicted upon them;
and no one could listen without tears to the account she
gave of herself, as a little girl, stealing out of the house
after dark with a bottle of oil with which to anoint the
wounds of some poor creature who had been torn by the
lash. Earlier than Sarah, she recognized the whole injus-
tice of the system, and refused ever to have anything to
do with it. She did once own a woman, but under the
following circumstances: -

ANGELINA'S SLAVE
41
“I had determined,” she writes, “never to own a slave;
but, finding that my mother could not manage Kitty, I
undertook to do so, if I could have her without any inter-
ference from anyone. This could not be unless she was
mine, and purely from notions of duty I consented to
own her. Soon after, one of my
mother's servants quar-
relled with her, and beat her. I determined she should
not be subject to such abuse, and I went out to find her a
place in some Christian family. My steps were ordered
by the Lord. I succeeded in my desire, and placed her
with a religious friend, where she was kindly treated.”
Afterwards, when the woman had become a good Meth-
odist, Angelina transferred the ownership to her mother,
not wishing to receive the woman's wages, — to take, as
she said, money which that poor creature had earned.
There is no evidence that, up to the time of her first
visit to Philadelphia, in 1828, she saw anything sinful in
owning slaves; indeed, Sarah distinctly says she did not.
She took the Bible as authority for the right to own
them, and their cruel treatment by their masters was all
that distressed her for many years.
Like most of her young companions, Angelina had
great respect for the ordinary observances of religion
without much devotional sense of its sacred obligations,
But Sarah did not neglect her duty as godmother. Her
searching inquiries and solemn warnings had their effect,
and soon awakened a slumbering conscience. But its 11-
braidings were not accepted unquestionably by Angelina,
as they had been by Sarah. They only stung her into a
desire for investigation. She must know the why; and
her strong self-reliance helped her judgment, and buoyed
her up amid waves of doubt and anxiety that would have
submerged her more timid sister.

42
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
In the first letter of hers that was preserved, written
in January, 1826, we are introduced to her religious feel-
ings, and find that they were formed by the pattern set
by Sarah, save that they lacked Sarah's earnestness and
sincere conviction. She acknowledges herself a poor,
miserable sinner, but the tone is that of confidence that
she will come out all right, and that it is n't really such a
dreadful thing to be a sinner after all. In this letter, too,
she mentions the death of her brother Benjamin, and in
the same spirit in which Sarah wrote of it.
“I was in Beaufort,” she says, “when the news of my
dear Ben's fate arrived. You may well suppose it was a
great shock to my feelings, but I did not for one moment
doubt all was right. This blow has been dealt by the
hand of mercy.
We have been much comforted in this
dispensation. I have felt that it was good for me, and I
think I have been thankful for it."
And further on: “If this affliction will only make Mary
(Benjamin's wife) a real Christian, how small will be the
price of her salvation ! "
Poor Ben! heroic, self-sacrificing soul, he was not a
professing Christian.
In this same letter she expresses the desire to become
a communicant of the Episcopal Church.
But she did not wait for Sarah's answer. Before it
came, she and one of her sisters had joined the Church.
This was in January. Before a month had passed she
began to be dissatisfied, and grew more and more so as
time went on. Why, it is not difficult to surmise. From
having been accustomed to much society and genial inter-
course, she found herself, from her own choice, shut out
from it all, and imprisoned within the rigid formalism
and narrow exclusiveness of a proud, aristocratic church

ANGELINA CONVERTED
43
society. The compensation of knowing herself a lamb of
this flock was not sufficient. She starved, she says, on
the cold water of Episcopacy, and, to her mother's dis-
tress, began going to the Presbyterian church, just as
Sarah had done.
In April, she writes thus to her sister: -
“O, my dear mother, I have joyful news to tell you.
God has given me a new heart. He has renewed a right
spirit within me. This is news which has occasioned even
the angels in heaven to rejoice; surely, then, as a Chris-
tian, as my sister and my mother, you will also greatly
rejoice. For many years I hardened my heart, and would
not listen to God's admonitions to flee from the wrath to
come. Now I feel as if I could give up all for Christ,
and that if I no longer live in conformity to the world, I
can be saved.”
She then states that this change was brought about by
the preaching of Mr. McDowell, the Presbyterian minis-
ter, and that she can never be grateful enough, as his
ministry had been blessed to the saving of her soul. A
little further on she adds:-
“ The Presbyterians, I think, enjoy so many privileges
that, on this account, I would wish to be one. They have
their monthly concert and prayer-meetings, Bible-classes,
weekly prayer-meetings, morning and evening, and many
more which spring from different circumstances. I trust,
my dear mother, you will approve of what I have done.
I cannot but think if I had been taking an improper step,
my conscience would have warned me of it, but, far other-
wise, I have gone on my way rejoicing.
" Mr. Hanckel sent me a note and a tract persuasive of
my remaining in his church. The latter I think the most
bigoted thing I ever read. He said he would call and see

44
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
me on the subject. I trust and believe God will give me
words whereby to refute his arguments. Brother Tom
sanctioned my change, for his liberal mind embraces all
classes of Christians in the arms of charity and love, and
he thinks everyone right to sit under that minister, and
choose that form, which makes the deepest impression on
the heart. I feel that I have begun a great work, and
must be diligent. Adieu, my dear mother. You must
write soon to your daughter, and tell her all your mind on
this subject.”
There is something very refreshing in all this, after poor
Sarah's pages of bitterness and self-reproach. At that
time, at any rate, Angelina enjoyed her religion. It was
to her the fulfilment of promise. Sarah experienced little
of its satisfactions, and groaned and wept under its
requirements, from a sense of her utter unworthiness to
accept any of its blessings. And this difference between
the sisters continued always. Angelina knew that humil-
ity was the chief of the Christian virtues, and often she
believed she had attained to it; but there was too much
self-assertion, too much of the pride of power, in her
composition, to permit her to go down into the depths,
and prostrate herself in the dust as Sarah did. She could
turn her full gaze to the sun, and bask in its genial beams,
while Sarah felt unworthy to be touched by a single ray,
and looked up to its light with imploring but shaded eyes.
In November, 1827, Sarah again visited Charleston.
Her heart yearned for Angelina, whose religious state
excited her tenderest solicitude, and called for her wisest
counsel. For that enthusiastic young convert was again
running off the beaten track, and picking flaws in her
new doctrines. But there was another reason why Sarah
desired to absent herself from Philadelphia for a while.

SARAH'S HEART TRIAL
45
years, she
I can touch but lightly on this experience of her life,
for her sensitive soul quivered under any allusion to it;
and though her diary contains many references to it, they
are chiefly in the form of prayers for submission to her
trial, and strength to bear it. But it was the key-note to
the dirge which sounded ever after in her heart, mingling
its mournful numbers with every joy, even after she had
risen beyond her religious horrors.
For months she fought against this new snare of Satan,
as she termed it, this plain design to draw her thoughts
from God, and compass her destruction. The love of
Christ should surely be enough for her, and any craving for
earthly affection was the evidence of an unsanctified heart.
In a delicate reference to this, in after
says:
“It is a beautiful theory, but my experience belies it,
that God can be all in all to man. There are moments,
diamond points in life, when God fills the yearning soul,
and supplies all our needs, through the richness of his
mercy
in Christ Jesus. But human hearts are created for
human hearts to love and be loved by, and their claims
are as true and as sacred as those of the spirit.”
It was very soon after her first doubts concerning her
worthiness to accept the happiness offered to her that she
determined to go to Charleston and put her feelings to
the test of absence and unbiased reflection. The entry in
her diary of November 22d is as follows:-
“Landed this morning in Charleston, and was wel-
comed by my dear mother with tears of pleasure and
tenderness, as she folded me once more to her bosom.
My dear sisters, too, greeted me with all the warmth of
affection. It is a blessing to find them all seriously dis-
posed, and my precious Angelina one of the Master's
chosen vessels. What a mercy!”

46
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER IV.
morrow.
THE strong contrast between Sarah and Angelina
Grimké was shown not only in their religious feelings,
but in their manner of treating the ordinary concerns
of life, and in carrying out their convictions of duty. In
her humility, and in her strong reliance on the “inner
light,” Sarah refused to trust her own judgment, even in
the merest trifles, such as the lending of a book to a
friend, postponing the writing of a letter, or sweeping a
room to-day, when it might be better to defer it until to-
She
says of this: "Perhaps to some who have
been led by higher ways than I have been into a knowl-
edge of the truth, it may appear foolish to think of seek-
ing direction in little things, but my mind has for a long
time been in a state in which I have often felt a fear how
I came in or went out, and I have found it a precious
thing to stop and consult the mind of truth, and be gov-
erned thereby.”
The following incident, one out of many, will illustrate
the sincerity of her conviction on this point.
“In this frame of mind I went to meeting, and it being
a rainy day I took a large, handsome umbrella, which I
had accepted from brother Henry, accepted doubtfully,
therefore wrongfully, and have never felt quite easy to
use it, which, however, I have done a few times. After
I was in meeting, I was much tried with a wandering

CONTRASTS
47
-
mind, and every now and then the umbrella would come
before me, so that I sat trying to wait on my God, and
he showed me that I must not only give up this little
thing, but return it to brother. Glad to purchase peace,
I yielded ; then the reasoner said I could put it away and
not use it, but this language was spoken: I have shown
thee what was required of thee.' It seemed to me that
a little light came through a narrow passage, when my
will was subdued. Now this is a marvellous thing to me,
as marvellous as the dealings of the Lord with me in
what may appear great things.”
In a note she adds : 66 This little sacrifice was made. I
sent the umbrella with an affectionate note to brother,
and believe it gave him no offence to have it returned.
And sweet has been the recompense even peace.”
Whenever she acted from her own impulses, she was
very clever in finding out some disappointment or mis-
take, which she could claim as a punishment for her self-
will.
As sympathy was the strongest quality of her moral
nature, she suffered intensely when, impelled by a sense
of duty, she offered a rebuke of any kind. The tender-
est pity stirred her heart for wrong-doers, and though she
never spared the sinner, it was always manifest that she
loved him while hating his sin.
Angelina, on the other hand, was wonderfully well
satisfied with her own power of distinguishing right from
wrong; this power being, she believed, the gift of the
Spirit to her. She sought her object, dreading no con-
sequences, and if disaster followed she comforted herself
with the feeling that she had acted according to her best
light. She was a faithful disciple of every cause she
espoused, and scrupulously exact in obeying even its im-

48
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
plied provisions. In this there was no hesitancy. No
matter who was offended, or what sacrifices to herself it
involved, the law, the strict letter of the law, must be
carried out.
In the early years of her religious life, she frequently
felt called upon to rebuke those about her. She did it
unhesitatingly, and as a righteous and an inflexible judge.
In order to make these differences between the sisters
more plain, differences which harmonized singularly with
their unity in other respects, I shall be obliged, at the
risk of wearying the reader, to make some further ex-
tracts from their diaries, before entering upon that por-
tion of their lives in which they became so closely iden-
tified.
After Sarah's return home, in 1827, we learn more of
her mother and of the family generally, and see, though
with them, how far apart she really was from them. The
second entry in her diary at that date shows the begin-
ning of this.
623d. Have been favored with strength to absent
myself from family prayers. A great trial this to An-
gelina and myself, and something the rest cannot under-
stand. But I have a testimony to bear against will
worship, and oh, that I may be faithful to this and to all the
testimonies which we as a Society are called to declare.
“26th. Am this day thirty-five years old. A serious
consideration that I have passed so many years to so little
profit.
“How little mother seems to know when I am sitting
solemnly beside her, of the supplications which arise for
her, under the view of her having ere long to give an ac-
count of the deeds done in the body."
A month later she writes: “The subject of returning

SPIRITUAL CHANGE
49
to Philadelphia has been revived before me. It seems
like a fresh trial, and as if, did my Master permit, here
would I stay, and in the bosom of my family be content
to dwell; but if he orders it otherwise, great as will be
the struggle, may I submit in humble faith."
By the following extracts it will be seen that living
under the daily and hourly influence of Sarah, Angelina
was slowly but surely imbibing the fresh milk of Quaker-
ism, and was preparing for another great change on her
spiritual journey.
In March, 1828, she wrote as follows to her sister, Mrs.
Frost, in Philadelphia:-
“I think I can say that it was owing in a great measure
to my peculiar state of mind that I did not write to you
for so long. During that time it seemed as though the
Lord was driving me from everything on which I had
rested for happiness, in order to bring me to Christ alone.
My dear little church, in which I delighted once to dwell,
seemed to have Ichabod written upon its walls, and I felt
as though it was a cross for me to go into it. At
times I thought the Saviour meant to bring me out of it,
and I could weep at the bare thought of being separated
from people I loved so dearly. Like Abraham, I had
gone out from my kindred into a strange land, and I have
often thought that by faith I was joined to that body of
Christians, for I certainly knew nothing at all about them
at that time."
In the latter part of the letter she mentions the visit
to her of an Episcopal minister, from near Beaufort. He
asked her if she could not do something to remove the
lukewarmness from the Episcopal Church, and if a real
evangelical minister was sent there would she not return
to it.
“But,” she says, “I told him I could not consci-

50
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
entiously belong to any church which exalted itself above
all others, and excluded ministers of other denomina-
tions from its pulpit. The principle of liberty is what
especially endears the Presbyterian church to me. Our
pulpit is open to all Christians, and, as I have often heard
my dear pastor remark, our communion table is the Lord's
table, and all his children are cheerfully received at it."
About the same time Sarah says in her diary : “My
dear Angelina observed to-day, 'I do not know what is
the matter with me; some time ago I could talk to the
poor people, but now it seems as if my lips were abso-
lutely sealed. I cannot get the words out.' I mark with
intense interest her progress in the divine life, believing
she is raised up to declare the wonderful works of God
to the children of men.”
In the latter part of March, 1828, she makes the fol-
lowing entry : “On the eve of my departure from home,
all before me lies in darkness save this one step, to go at
this time in the Langdon Cheeves. This seems peremp-
tory, and at times precious promises have been annexed
to obedience, -Go, and I will be with thee.'"
Angelina had been very happy during the year spent in
the Presbyterian Church, all its requirements suiting her
temperament exactly. Her energy and activity found
full exercise in various works of charity, in visiting the
prison, where she delighted to exhort the prisoners, in
reading, and especially in expounding the scriptures to
the sick and aged ; in zealously forwarding missionary
work, and in warm interest in all the social exercises of
the society. She was petted by the pastor, and admired
by the congregation. It was very pleasant to her to feel
that she not only conformed to all her duties, but was
regarded as a shining light, destined to do much to build

NOVELS AND FINERY
51
up
the church. She still retained most of her old fricnd-
ships in the Episcopal church, which had not given up all
hope of luring her back to its fold. Altogether, life had
gone smoothly with her, and she was well satisfied. The
change which she now contemplated was a revolution.
It was to break up all the old habits and associations, dis-
turb life-long friendships, and, stripping her of the attrac-
tions of society and church intercourse, leave her standing
alone, a spectacle to the eyes of those who gazed, a won-
der and a grief to her friends. But all this Sarah had
warned her of, and all this she felt able to endure. Self-
sacrifice, self-immolation, in fact, was what Sarah taught;
and, although Angelina never learned the lesson fully, she
made a conscientious effort to understand and practise it.
She began very shortly after Sarah's arrival at home. In
January her diary records the following offering made to
the Moloch of Quakerism: -
“ To-day I have torn up my novels. My mind has long
been troubled about them. I did not dare either to sell
them or lend them out, and yet I had not resolution to
destroy them until this morning, when, in much mercy,
strength was granted.”
Sarah in her diary thus refers to this act: “ This morn-
ing my dear Angelina proposed destroying Scott's novels,
which she had purchased before she was serious. Perhaps
I strengthened her a little, and accordingly they were cut
up. She also gave me some elegant articles to stuff a
cushion, believing that, as we were commanded to lead
holy and unblamable lives, so we must not sanction sin in
others by giving them what we had put away ourselves."
Angelina also says, “A great deal of my finery, too, I
have put beyond the reach of anyone.”
An explanation of this is given in a copy of a paper

52
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
which was put into the cushion alluded to by Sarah. The
copy is in her handwriting.
“Believing that if ever the contents of this cushion, in
the lapse of years, come to be inspected (when, mayhap, its
present covering should be destroyed by time and service),
they will excite some curiosity in those who will behold
the strange assemblage of handsome lace veils, flounces,
and trimmings, and caps, this may inform them that in
the winter of 1827–8, Sarah M. Grimké, being on a visit to
her friends in Charleston, undertook the economical task
of making a rag carpet, and with the shreds thereof con-
cluded to stuff this cushion. Having made known her
intention, she solicited contributions from all the family,
which they furnished liberally, and several of them hav-
ing relinquished the vanities of the world to seek a better
inheritance, they threw into the treasury much which
they had once used to decorate the poor tabernacle of
clay. Now it happened that on the 10th day of the first
month that, sitting at her work and industriously cutting
her scraps, her well-beloved sister Angelina proposed add-
ing to the collection for the cushion two handsome lace
veils, a lace flounce, and other laces, etc., which were
accepted, and are accordingly in this medley. This has
been done under feelings of duty, believing that, as we
are called with a high and holy calling, and forbidden to
adorn these bodies, but to wear the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, as we have ourselves laid aside these
superfluities of naughtiness, so we should not in any
measure contribute to the destroying of others, knowing
that we shall be called to give an account of the deeds
done in the body."
This was at least consistent, and in this light cannot be
condemned. From that time Angelina kept up this kind

PLAIN DRESS
53
of sacrifices, which were gladly made, and for which she
seems to have found ample compensation in her satisfied
sense of duty.
One day she records: “I have just untrimmed my hat,
and have put nothing but a band of ribbon around it, and
taken the lace out of the inside. I do want, if I am a
Christian, to look like one. I think that professors of
religion ought so to dress that wherever they are seen all
around may feel they are condemning the world and all its
trifling vanities.”
A little later, she writes : “My attention has lately been
called to the duty of Christians dressing quite plain.
When I was first brought to the feet of Jesus, I learned
this lesson in part, but I soon forgot much of it. Now I
find
my views stricter and clearer than they ever were.
The first thing I gave up was a cashmere mantle which
cost twenty dollars. I had not felt easy with it for some
months, and finally determined never to wear it again,
though I had no money at the time to replace it with any-
thing else. However, I gave it up in faith, and the Lord
provided for me. This part of Scripture came very forci-
bly to my mind, and very sweetly, too, ' And Dagon
was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark
of the Lord.' . It was then clearly revealed to me that
if the true ark Christ Jesus was really introduced
into the temple of the heart, that every idol would fall
before it."
Elsewhere she mentions that she had begun with this
mantle by cutting off the border; but this compromise
did not satisfy conscience.
But the work thus begun did not ripen ntil some time
after Sarah's departure, though the preparation for it
went daily and silently on.

54
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Sarah in the meanwhile was once more quietly settled
at Catherine Morris' house in Philadelphia.
But we must leave this much-tried pilgrim for a little
while, and record the progress of her young disciple on
the path which, through much tribulation, led her at last
to her sister's side, and to that work which was even now
preparing for them both.

ANGELINA'S PROGRESS
55
CHAPTER V.
ANGELINA's diary, commenced in 1828, is most charac-
teristic, and in the very beginning shows that inclination
to the consideration and discussion of serious questions
which in after years so distinguished her.
It is rather remarkable to find a girl of twenty-three
scribbling over several pages about the analogy existing
between the natural and the spiritual world, or discussing
with herself the question: " Are seasons of darkness al-
ways occasioned by sin ?" or giving a long list of reasons
why she differs from commentators upon certain texts of
scriptures. She enjoyed this kind of thinking and writ-
ing, and seems to have been unwearying in her search
after authorities to sustain her views. The maxims, too,
which she was fond of jotting down here and there, and
which furnished the texts for long dissertations, show the
serious drift of her thoughts, and their clearness and
beauty.
From this time it is interesting to follow her spiritual
progress, so like and yet so unlike Sarah's. She, also,
early in her religious life, was impressed with the feeling
that she would be called to some great work. In the
winter of 1828, she writes :
“It does appear to me, and it has appeared so ever
since I had a hope, that there was a work before me to
which all my other duties and trials were only prepar-

56
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
atory. I have no idea what it is, and I may be mistaken,
but it does seem that if I am obedient to the still small
voice' in my heart, that it will lead me and cause me to
glorify my Master in a more honorable work than
any
in
which I have been yet engaged.”
Knowing Sarah's convictions at this time, it is easy to
imagine the long, confidential talks she must have had
with Angelina, and the loving persuasion used to bring
this dear sister into the same communion with herself,
and it is no marvel that she succeeded. Angelina's na-
ture was an earnest one, and she ever sought the truth,
and the best in every doctrine, and this remained with
her after the rest was rejected. The Presbyterian
Church satisfied her better than the Episcopal, but if
Sarah or anyone else could show her a brighter light to
guide her, a better path leading to the same goal, she
would have thought it a heinous offence against God and
her own true nature to reject it. That no desire for nov-
elty impelled her in her then contemplated change, and
that she foresaw all she would have to contend with, and
the sacrifices she would have to make, is evident from
several passages like the following: -
“Yesterday I was thrown into great exercise of mind.
The Lord more clearly than ever unfolded his design of
appointing me another field of labor, and at the same
time I felt released from the cross of conducting family
worship. I feel that very soon all the burdens will drop
from my hands, and all the cords by which I have been
bound to many Christian friends will be broken asunder.
Soon I shall be a stranger among those with whom I took
sweet counsel, and shall have to tread the wine
press
alone
and be forsaken of all.”
A day or two after she says:

ABANDONS PRESBYTERIANISM
57
“This morning I felt no condemnation when I went
into family prayers, and did not lead as usual in the
duties. I felt that my Master had stripped me of the
priest's garments, and put them on my mother. May He
be pleased to anoint her for these sacred duties.”
Her impressions may be accounted for by the influence
of Sarah's feelings regarding herself, and as there was
then no other field of public usefulness open to women,
especially among the Quakers, than the ministry, her mind
naturally settled upon that as her prospective work. But,
unlike Sarah, the anticipation inspired her with no dread,
no doubt even of her ability to perform the duties, or of
her entire acceptance in them. It is true she craved of
the Lord guidance and help, but she was confident she
would receive all she needed, and in this state of mind
she was better fitted, perhaps, to wait patiently for her
summons than Sarah was.
She gives a minute and very interesting account of the
successive steps by which she was led to feel that she
could no longer worship in the Presbyterian Church, and
we see the workings of Sarah's influence through it all.
But it was not until after Sarah left for Philadelphia that
Angelina took any decided measures to release herself
from the old bonds. All winter it had grieved her to
think of leaving a church which she had called the cradle
of her soul, and where she had enjoyed so many privi-
leges. She loved everything connected with it; the pas-
tor to whom she had looked up as her spiritual guide;
the members with whom she had been so intimately as-
sociated, and the Sunday-school in which she was much
beloved, and where she felt she was doing a good work.
Again and again she asked herself: “How can I give
them up?"

58
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Her friends all noticed the decline of her interest in the
church work and services, and commented upon it. But
she shrank for a long time from any open avowal of her
change of views, preferring to let her conduct tell the
story. And in this she was straightforward and open
enough, not hesitating to act at once upon each new light
as it was given to her. First came the putting away of
everything like ornament about her dress. 6 Even the
bows on my shoes,” she says, “must go," and then con-
tinues :
“ My friends tell me that I render myself ridiculous,
and expose the cause of Jesus to reproach, on account of
my plain dressing. They tell me it is wrong to make my-
self so conspicuous. But the more I ponder on the sub-
ject, the more I feel that I am called with a high and holy
calling, and that I ought to be peculiar, and cannot be
too zealous. I rejoice to look forward to the time when
Christians will follow the apostolical injunction to keep
their garments unspotted from the world ;' and is not
every conformity to it a spot on the believer's character?
I think it is, and I bless the Lord that He has been
pleased to bring my mind to a contemplation of this sub-
ject. I pray that He may strengthen me to keep the res-
olution to dress always in the following style: A hat over
the face, without any bows of ribbon or lace; no frills or
trimmings on any part of my dress, and materials not the
finest."
This simplicity in dress, and the sinfulness of every
self-indulgence, she also taught to her Sunday-school
scholars with more or less success, as one example out of
several of a similar character will show.
Yesterday,” she writes, “I met my class, and think it
was a profitable meeting to all. One of them has enter-
66

ADOPTS QUAKERISM
59
tained a hope for about a year. She asked me if I
thought it wrong to plant geraniums? I told her I had
no time for such things. She then said that she had once
taken great pleasure in cultivating them, but lately she
had felt so much condemnation that she had given it up
entirely. Another professed to have some little hope in
the Saviour, and remarked that I had changed her views
with regard to dress very much, that she had taken off
her rings and flounces, and hoped never to wear them
again. Her hat also distressed her. It was almost new,
and she could not afford to get another. I told her if
she would send it to me I would try to change it. Two
others came who felt a little, but are still asleep. A good
work is evidently begun. May it be carried triumphantly
on.
Towards spring she began to absent herself from the
weekly prayer-meetings, to stop her active charities, and
to withdraw herself more from the family and social cir-
cle. In April she writes in her diary :-
“My mind is composed, and I cannot but feel aston-
ished at the total change which has passed over me in the
last six months. I once delighted in going to meeting
four and five times every week, but now my
Master
says,
"Be still,' and I would rather be at home; for I find that
every stream from which I used to drink the waters of
salvation is dry, and that I have been led to the foun-
tain itself. And is it possible, I would ask myself to-night,
is it possible that I have this day paid my last visit to the
Presbyterian Church? that I have taught my interesting
class for the last time? Is it right that I should separate
myself from a people whom I have loved so tenderly,
and who have been the helpers of my joy? Is it right to
give up instructing those dear children, whom I have so

60
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
often carried in the arms of faith and love to the throne
of grace?
Reason would sternly answer, No, but the
Spirit whispers, Come out from among them !! I am
sure if I refuse the call of my Master to the Society of
Friends, I shall be a dead member in the Presbyterian
Church. I have read none of their books for fear of
being convinced of their principles, but the Lord has
taught me Himself, and I feel that He who is Head over
all things, has called me to follow Him into the little
silent meeting which is in this city.”
And into the little silent meeting she went, — little, in-
deed, as the only regular attendants were two old men;
and silent, chiefly because between these two there was a
bitter feud, and the communion of spirit was naturally
preferred to vocal intercession.
When Angelina became aware of this state of feeling,
and saw that the two old Quakers always left the meet-
ing-house without shaking hands, as it was the custom to
do, she became much troubled, and for several weeks
much of the comfort of attending meeting was destroyed.
“ The more I thought of it,” she writes to Sarah, “the
clearer became the conviction that I must write to J. K.
(the one with whom she was best acquainted). This I
did, after asking counsel of the Lord, for full well did I
know that I should expose myself to the anger and rude-
ness of J. K., by touching on a point which I believed
was already sore from the prickings of conscience. His
reply was even harsher than I expected; but, though it
did wound my feelings, it convinced me that he needed just
what I wrote, and that the pure witness within him con-
demned him. My letter, I think, was written in conform-
ity to the direction given by Paul to Timothy, Rebuke
not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and in a spirit

A QUAKER QUARREL
61
of love and tenderness. His answer spoke a spirit too
proud to brook even the meekest remonstrance, and he
tried to justify his conduct by saying that D. L. was a
thief and a slave-holder, and had cheated him out of
a large sum of money, etc. I answered him, expressing
my belief that, let D. L.'s moral character be what it
might, the Christian ought to be gentle and courteous
to all men; and that we were bound to love our
enemies, which was not at all inconsistent with the
obligation to bear a decided testimony against al that
we believed contrary to the precepts of the Bible. He
sent me another letter, in which he declared D. L.
was to him as a “heathen and a publican,' and I was
a busybody in other men's matters.' Here I think
the matter will end. I feel that I have done what was
required of me, and I am willing he should think of me
as he does, so long as I enjoy the testimony of a good
conscience."
We cannot wonder that Angelina drew upon herself,
as Sarah had done, the arrows of ridicule; and that taunts
and sneers followed her, as she walked alone in her simple
dress to her humble place of worship. But we marvel
that one situated as she was, — young, naturally gay and
brilliant, the centre of a large circle of fashionable friends,
the ewe lamb of an influential religious society, - should
have unflinchingly maintained her position under persecu-
tions and trials that would have made many an older
disciple succumb. That they were martyrdom to her
proud spirit there can be no doubt; but, sustained by the
inner light, the conviction that she was right, she could
put every temptation behind her, and resist even the
prayers and tears of her mother.
Her withdrawal from the Presbyterian Church caused

62
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
the most intense excitement in the community, and every
effort was made to reclaim her.
The Rev. Mr. McDowell, her pastor, visited her, and
remonstrated with her in the most feeling manner, assur-
ing her of his profound pity, as she was evidently under
a delusion of the arch-adversary. Members of the con-
gregation made repeated calls upon her, urging every
argument they could think of to convince her she was
deceived. Some expressed a fear that her mind was a
little unbalanced, and shook their heads over the possible
result; others declared that she was committing a great
impropriety to shut herself up every Sunday with two old
men. This, Angelina informed them, was a mistake, as
the windows and doors were wide open, and the gate
also. Others of her friends assured her with tears in
their eyes that they would pray to the Lord to bring her
back to the path of duty she had forsaken.
The superintendent of the Sunday-school came also to
plead with her, in the name of the children she was aban-
doning. Some of the scholars themselves came and im-
plored her not to leave them.
But,” she writes, “none of these things turn me a hair's
breadth, for I have the witness in myself that I have done
as the Master commanded. Some tell me this is a judg-
ment on me for sin committed ; and some say it is a chas-
tisement to Mr. McDowell for going away last summer.
(During the prevalence of an epidemic the summer
before, the Presbyterian pastor had been much blamed
for deserting his flock and fleeing to the sea-shore until all
danger was past.)
By all this it will be seen that Angelina was regarded
as too precious a jewel in the crown of the Church to be
relinquished without a struggle.

ANGELINA GOES NORTH
63
But satisfied as was her conscience, Angelina's natural
feelings could not be immediately stifled. Though
not so sensitive or so affectionate as Sarah, she was
quite as proud, and valued as greatly the good opinion
of her family and friends. She could not feel her-
self an outcast, an object of pity and derision, with-
out being deeply affected by it.
Her bealth gave
way under the pressure, and a change of scene and
climate was recommended. Sarah at once urged that
she join her in Philadelphia; and, this meeting the
approbation of her mother, she sailed for the North in
July (1828).
In Sarah’s diary, about this time, we find the following
entry:
“13th. My beloved Angelina arrived yesterday. Peace
has, I believe, been the covering of our minds; and in
thinking of her today, and trying to feel whether I should
advise her not to adopt immediately the garb of a Quaker,
the language presented itself, “Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm.' So I dared not meddle
with her."
The summer was a peaceful and delightful one to Ange-
lina. She was the guest of Catherine Morris, and was
treated like a daughter by all the kind Quaker circle.
The novelty of her surroundings, the fresh scenes and
new ideas constantly presented before her, opened up a
field of thought whose boundaries only she had until then
touched, but which she soon began eagerly and conscien-
tiously to explore. Two extracts from letters written by
her at that time will show how strict she was in her
Quaker principles, and also that the persuasion that she
was to be given some great work to do was becoming
even more firmly grounded.

64
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
me.
To Sarah, who was absent from her for a short time,
she writes :-
“Dear Mother: My mind begins to be much exercised.
I scarcely want to converse at all, and believe it best I
should be much alone. Sister Anna is very kind in leav-
ing me to myself. She appears to feel much for me, but
I do not feel at liberty to ask her what occasions the tears
which at times flow as she throws her arms around
I sometimes think she sees more than I do about
myself. I often tremble when I think of the future, and
fear that I am not entirely resigned to my Master's
will. Read the first chapter of Jeremiah; it rests much
on my mind, and distresses me; and though I would
wish to put far off the evil day, yet I am urged con-
tinually to pray that the Lord would cut short the work of
preparation."
Her sister Anna (Mrs. Frost) was one of those who
thought Angelina was under a terrible delusion, and
mourned over her wasted energies. But it is certainly
singular that the chapter to which she refers, taken in
connection with the work with which she afterwards be-
came identified, should have made the impression on her
mind which it evidently did, as she repeatedly alludes to
it. This letter is the last in which she addresses Sarah as
mother. Their Quaker friends all objected to the habit,
and it was dropped.
In another letter she describes a visit she made to a
friend in the country, and says:
“I have already had reason to feel my great need of
watchfulness here. Yesterday the nurse gave me a cap
to tuck and trim for the baby. My hands actually trem-
bled as I worked on it, and yet I had not faithfulness
enough to refuse to do it. This text was repeatedly pre-

TRIMMING A CAP
65
sented to me, Happy is he who condemneth not himself
in that thing which he alloweth. While working, my
heart was lifted up to the Father of mercies for strength
to bear my testimony against such vanities; and when I
put the cap into Clara's hands, I begged her not to give
me any more such work to do, as I felt it a duty to bear
my testimony against dress, and believed it sinful in me
to assist anyone in doing what I was convinced was sinful,
and assured her of my willingness to do any plain work.
She laughed at my scruples, but my agitated mind was
calmed, and I was satisfied to be thought foolish for
Christ's sake. Thomas (Clara's husband) and I had a long
talk about Quakers yesterday. I tried to convince him
that they do not reject the Bible, explained the reason of
their not calling it the word of God, and got him to
acknowledge that in several texts I repeated the word
was the Spirit. We conversed on the ordinances. He
did not argue much for them, but was immovable in his
opinions. He thinks if all Quakers were like me, he could
like them, but believes I have carried all the good of
Presbyterianism into the Society, therefore they cannot be
judged of by me."
On the 11th of November Sarah writes: “Parted with
my dearly beloved sister Angelina this afternoon. We
have been one another's consolation and strength in the
Lord, mingling sweetly in exercise, and bearing one
another's burdens."
The first entry in Angelina’s diary after her return to
Charleston is as follows: “Once more in the bosom of my
family. My prayer is that our coming together may be
for the better, not for the worse.”
Considering the agitation which had been going on at
the North for several years concerning slavery, we must

66
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
suppose that Angelina and Sarah Grimké heard it fre-
quently discussed, and had its features brought before
them in a stronger light than that in which they had pre-
viously viewed them. In Sarah's mind, absorbed as it was
at that time by her own sorrows and by the deeply-rooted
conviction of her prospective and dreaded call to the minis-
try, there appears to have been no room for any other sub-
ject, if we except the strife then going on in the Quaker
Church, and which called forth all her sympathy for the
Orthodox portion, and her strong denunciation of the Hicks-
ites. But upon Angelina every word she heard against the
institution which she had always abhorred, but accepted as
a necessary evil, made an indelible impression, which deep-
ened when she was again face to face with its odious linea-
ments. This begins to show itself soon after her return
home, as will be seen by the following extract:-
“Since my arrival I have enjoyed a continuation
of that rest from exercise of mind which began last
spring, until to-night. My soul is sorrowful, and my
heart bleeds. I am ready to exclaim, When shall I be
released from this land of slavery! But if my suffering
for these poor creatures can at all ameliorate their condi-
tion, surely I ought to be quite willing, and I can now
bless the Lord that my labor is not all in vain, though
much remains to be done yet."
The secluded and inactive life she now led confirmed
the opinion of her Presbyterian friends that she was a
backslider in the divine life.
I must reserve for another chapter the recital of Ange-
lina's efforts to open the eyes of the members of her
household to the unchristian life they were leading, and
the sins they were multiplying on their heads by their
treatments of those they held in bondage.

CHRISTIAN FRUGALITY
67
CHAPTER VI.
my board.
Many things about the home life which habit had pre-
vented Angelina from remarking before, now, since her
visit among Friends, struck her as sinful, and inconsistent
with a Christian profession. Only a few days after her
return, she thus writes in her diary:-
6 I am much tried at times at the manner in which I
am obliged to live here in so much luxury and ease, and
raised so far above the poor, and spending so much on
I want to live in plainness and simplicity
and economy, for so should every Christian do. I am at
a loss how to act, for if I live with mother, which seems
the proper place for me, I must live in this way in a great
degree. It is true I can always take the plainest food,
and this I do generally, believing that whether at home
or abroad I ought to eat nothing I think too sumptuous
for a servant of Jesus Christ. For this reason, when I
took tea at a minister's house a few evenings since, I did
not touch the richest cakes, nor the fruit and nuts handed
after tea; and when paying a visit the other morning, I
refused cake and wine, although I felt fatigued, and
would have liked something plain to eat. But it is not
only the food I eat at mother's, but the whole style of
living is a direct departure from the simplicity that is in
Christ. The Lord's poor tell me they do not like to come
to such a fine house to see me; and if they come, instead

68
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
of being able to read a lesson of frugality, and deadness
to the world, they must go away lamenting over the in-
consistency of a sister professor. One thing is very hard
to bear – I feel obliged to pay five dollars a week for
board, though I disapprove of this extravagance, and am
actually accessory in maintaining this style of living,
when I know it is wrong, and am thereby prevented from
giving to the poor as liberally as I would like.”
She and Sarah had for several years, when at home,
paid board regularly to their mother, and this was prob-
ably one thing which irritated the other members of the
family, several of whom were living in idleness on their
mother, doing nothing and paying nothing. The brothers
at least could not but feel the implied rebuke. As we
have seen, she was not at all backward in expressing her
disapprobation, when she found her silent testimony was
disregarded or misunderstood; and her language was gen-
erally rather forcible. This, of course, was trying to
those who did not see the necessity of living according
to her standard, and very trying to Angelina, whose con-
victions were clear, and whose interest in her relatives
was as tender as it was sincere. Scarcely a day passed
that something did not occur to wound her feelings, shock
her religious prejudices, or arouse her righteous indigna-
tion. Slavery was always the cause of the latter, and for
the others ample reason was to be found in what she
styled the vain lusts of the world, and in the coldness and
irritability of some members of the family. Unre-
strained self-indulgence, joined to high-strung and undis-
ciplined tempers, made of what should have been a
united, bright, and charming home circle, a place of con-
stant discord, jealousy, and unhappiness.
Sarah had borne this state of things better than Ange-

CHRISTIAN REPROOFS
69
lina could, her extreme gentleness and kindness disarming
all unkind feelings in others. But even she was forced
to flee from it at last. The record is a most painful one,
and it gives another evidence of Angelina's sense of her
own power, and of her reliance on divine help, that she
should for one moment have contemplated effecting
any change. But the respite from those dissensions, and
the rest thus given to her spirit by her visit North,
softened the bitter feelings she had once entertained, and
when she returned home it was with sentiments of affec-
tion for everyone, and especially for her mother, from
whom she had been grievously estranged. She prayed
that she might not do or say anything to alienate them
further from her; but when she fully realized, as she had
never yet done, the sad condition of things, she could not
keep silent. She felt it her duty to speak, and she did
so, kindly and affectionately, but unsparingly. She re-
lates many incidents proving this, and showing also how
badly her reproofs were received. The mistake she made,
and which in after years she freely acknowledged, was in
excess of zeal. But Angelina was a born radical, and if
a thing was wrong, it was wrong, and she could not see
why it should not be righted at once. Temporizing
with a wrong, or compromising with it in any way, were
things outside of her reasoning, and she never would ad-
mit that they were justifiable under any circumstances.
It was, of course, difficult to apply this principle in the
desired reform of her mother's inherited and life-long
prejudices. Hence the incessant chafing and irritation
which daily made Angelina feel more keenly her isolated
position, and caused her to turn with increasing longing
to the North, where her beloved sister and many dear
friends were in sympathy with her.

70
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
up stairs.
To illustrate what I have said, one or two examples
will be sufficient. She was much troubled because her
mother had the drawing-room repainted and handsomely
papered. Mrs. Grimké doubtless selected a paper in har-
mony with the house and furniture, and had no suspicion
that she was thereby committing a sin. But Angelina
thought it entirely too fine, and felt that she could never
sit in the room.
When the work was at last finished, and
some friends were invited to tea, and afterwards repaired
to the newly-decorated apartment, Angelina did not ac-
company them, but remained below, reading alone, much
disturbed during the evening by the talking and laughing
Her mother did not notice her absence, or
ascribed it to some other cause; but Angelina explained
it to her some time afterwards, when, she says, a way
seemed to open for it.
“I spoke to her of how great a trial it was to me to see
her living in the luxury she did, and explained to her that
it was not, as she seemed to think, because I did not wish
to see brother John and sister Sally that I was tried at
their dining here every week, but it was the parade and
profusion which was displayed when they came. I spoke
also of the drawing-room, and remarked it was as much
my feeling about that which had prevented my coming
into the room when M. A. and others drank tea here, as
my objection to fashionable company. She said it was very
hard that she could not give her children what food she
chose, or have a room papered, without being found fault
with; that, indeed, she was weary of being continually
blamed about everything she did, and she wished she
could be let alone, for she saw no sin in these things. “I
trust,' I said, that I do not speak to thee, mother, in the
spirit thou art now speaking to me; nothing but my con-

FAITHFUL TESTIMONY
71
viction that I am bound to bear my testimony to the
truth could induce me to find fault with thee. In doing
so, I am acting with eternity in view. I am acting in
reference to that awful hour when I shall stand at thy
death-bed, or thou by mine.' Interrupting me, she said if
I was so constantly found fault with, I would not bear it
either; for her part, she was quite discouraged. Oh,
mother,' said I, there is something in thee so alienated
from the love of Christ that thou canst not bear to be
found fault with. Yes,' she said, “you and Sally always
say I speak in a wrong spirit, but both of you in a right
one. She then went on to say how much I was changed,
about slavery, for instance, for when I was first serious I
thought it was right, and never condemned it. I replied
that I acted according to the light I had. Well, then,'
she continued, 'you are not to expect everyone to think
like Quakers.' I remarked that true believers had but
one leader, who would, if they followed Him, guide them
into all truth, and teach them the same things. She again
spoke of my turning Quaker, and said it was because I
was a Quaker that I disapproved of a great many things
that nobody but Quakers could see any harm in. I was
much roused at this, and said with a good deal of energy,
Dear mother, what but the power of God could ever
have made me change my sentiments?' Some very pain-
ful conversation followed about Kitty. I did not hesitate
to say that no one with Christian feelings could have
treated her as she was treated before I took her; her con-
dition was a disgrace to the name of Christian. She re-
minded me that I had advised the very method that had
been adopted with her. This stung me to the quick.
Not after I professed Christianity,' I eagerly replied,
and that I should have done so before, only proved the

72
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
wretched manner of
my
education.'
But mother is per-
fectly blind as to the miserable manner in which she
brought us up. During the latter part of the conversa-
tion I was greatly excited, for so acute have been my suf-
ferings on account of slavery, and so strong my feelings
of indignation in looking upon its oppressions and degra-
dations, that I cannot command my feelings in speaking
of what my own eyes have seen, and thus, I believe, I lost
the satisfaction I should otherwise have felt for speaking
the truth."
Though constantly disregarded, taunted, and thwarted,
Angelina faithfully persevered in her efforts at reform, at
the same time as faithfully striving after more meekness
and singleness of purpose herself.
After a while, she obtained two concessions from which
she hoped much: one, that the servants should come to
her in the library every day for religious instruction; the
other, that her mother would sit with her in silence every
evening for half an hour before tea.
The servants came as directed, and Angelina made her
instructions so interesting that soon some of the neigh-
bors' servants asked to be admitted, and then her mother
and one or two of her sisters joined the meetings; and
though no very marked fruit of her labors appeared for
some time, she persevered, with a firm faith that the seed
she was sowing would not all be scattered to the winds.
The proposal to her mother to sit in silence for a while
with her every evening was in accordance with the
Quaker practices. She thought they would both find it
profitable, and that it would be the means of forming a
bond of union between them. The mother's assent to
this was certainly an amiable concession to her daughter's
views, enhanced by the regularity with which she kept

SITTING IN SILENCE
73
לל
the appointment, although the dark, silent room must
have been at times a trifle wearisome. Angelina always
sat on a low seat beside her, with her head in her mother's
lap, and very rarely was the silence broken. The prac-
tice was kept up until the mosquitoes obliged them to dis-
continue it. That it did not prove entirely satisfactory,
we judge from several entries in the diary like the follow-
ing: -
“I still sit in silence with dear mother, but feel very
sensibly that she takes no interest at all in it; still, I do
not like to relinquish the habit, believing it may yet be
blessed. Eliza came this evening, as she has several
times before. It was a season of great deadness, and yet
I am glad to sit even thus, for where there is communion
there will be some union.”
Her position was certainly a difficult and a painful one;
for, apart from other troubles, her eyes were now fully
open to all the iniquities of the slave system, and she
could neither stay in nor go out without having some of
its miserable features forced upon her notice. In the view
of her after-work, it is interesting to note the beginning
of her strong feelings on the subject, as well as her faith-
ful crusades against it in her own family. In April, 1829,
she writes as follows in her diary:-
" Whilst returning from meeting this morning, I saw
before me a colored woman who in much distress was
vindicating herself to two white boys, one about eighteen,
the other fifteen, who walked on each side of her. The
dreadful apprehension that they were leading her to the
workhouse crossed my mind, and I would have avoided
her if I could. As I approached, the younger said to
her, "I will have you tied up. My knees smote together,
and
my
heart sank within me. As I passed them, she ex-

74
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
claimed, Missis !' But I felt all I had to do was to
suffer the pain of seeing her. My lips were sealed, and
my soul earnestly craved a willingness to bear the exer-
cise which was laid on me. How long, O Lord, how long
wilt thou suffer the foot of the oppressor to stand on the
neck of the slave! None but those who know from
experience what it is to live in a land of bondage can
form
any
idea of what is endured by those whose eyes are
open to the enormities of slavery, and whose hearts are
tender enough to feel for these miserable creatures. For
two or three months after my return here it seemed to
me that all the cruelty and unkindness which I had from
my infancy seen practised towards them came back to my
mind as though it was only yesterday. And as to the
house of correction, it seemed as though its doors were
unbarred to me, and the wretched, lacerated inmates of
its cold, dark cells were presented to my view. Night
and day they were before me, and yet my hands were
bound as with chains of iron. I could do nothing but
weep over the scenes of horror which passed in review
before my mind. Sometimes I felt as though I was
willing to fly from Carolina, be the consequences what
they might. At others, it seemed as though the very ex-
ercises I was suffering under were preparing me for future
usefulness to them; and this, — hope, I can scarcely call it,
for my very soul trembled at the solemn thought of such a
work being placed in my feeble and unworthy hands,
this idea was the means of reconciling me to suffer, and
causing me to feel something of a willingness to pass
through any trials, if I could only be the means of expos-
ing the cruelty and injustice which was practised in the
institution of oppression, and of bringing to light the
hidden things of darkness, of revealing the secrets of

SYMPATHY WITH SLAVES
75
iniquity and abolishing its present regulations, — above
all, of exposing the awful sin of professors of religion
sending their slaves to such a place of cruelty, and having
them whipped so that when they come out they can
scarcely walk, or having them put upon the treadmill
until they are lamed for days afterwards. These are
not things I have heard ; no, my own eyes have looked
upon them and wept over them. Such was the opinion I
formed of the workhouse that for many months whilst
I was a teacher in the Sunday-school, having a scholar in
my class who was the daughter of the master of it, I had
frequent occasion to go to it to mark her lessons, and no
one can imagine my feelings in walking down that street.
It seemed as though I was walking on the very confines
of hell; and this winter, being obliged to pass it to pay a
visit to a friend, I suffered so much that I could not get
over it for days, and wondered how any real Christian
could live near such a place.”
It may appear to some who read this biography that
Angelina's expressions of feeling were over-strained.
But it was not so. Her nervous organization was exceed-
ingly delicate, and became more so after she began to
give her best thoughts to the cause of humanity. In her
own realization, at least, of the suffering of others there
was no exaggeration.
Not long after making the above record of her feelings
on this subject, she narrates the following incident:-
“I have been suffering for the last two days on account
of Henry's boy having run away, because he was threat-
ened with a whipping. Oh, who can paint the horrors of
slavery! And yet, so hard is the natural heart that I am
constantly told that the situation of slaves is very good,
much better than that of their owners. How strange that

76
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
anyone should believe such an absurdity, or try to make
others believe it! No wonder poor John ran away at the
threat of a flogging, when he has told me more than once
that when H. last whipped him he was in pain for a week
afterwards. I don't know how the boy must have felt,
but I know that that night was one of agony to me; for
it was not only dreadful to hear the blows, but the oaths
and curses H. uttered went like daggers to my heart.
And this was done, too, in the house of one who is re-
garded as a light in the church. O Jesus, where is thy
meek and merciful disposition to be found now? Are the
marks of discipleship changed, or who are thy true disci-
ples? Last night I lay awake weeping over the condition
of John, and it seemed as though that was all I could do.
But at last I was directed to go to H. and tenderly
remonstrate with him. I sought strength, and was willing
to do so, if the impression continued. To-day, was some-
what released from this exercise, though still suffering,
and almost thought it would not be required. But at
dusk it returned; and, having occasion to go into H.'s
room for something, I broached the subject as guardedly
and mildly as possible, first passing my arm around him,
and leaning my head on his shoulder. He very openly
acknowledged that he meant to give John such a whip-
ping as would cure him of ever doing the same thing
again, and that he deserved to be whipped until he could
not stand. I said that would be treating him worse than
he would treat his horse. He now became excited, and
replied that he considered his horse no comparison better
than John, and would not treat it so. By this time my
heart was full, and I felt so much overcome as to be com-
pelled to seat myself, or rather to fall into a chair before
him, but I don't think he observed this. The conversa-

INTERCEDES FOR A SLAVE
77
tion proceeded. I pleaded the cause of humanity. He
grew very angry, and said I had no business to be med-
dling with him, that he never did so with me. I said if
I had ever done anything to offend him I was very sorry
for it, but I had tried to do everything to please him.
He said I had come from the North expressly to be mis-
erable myself and make everyone in the house so, and
that I had much better go and live at the North. I told
him that I was not ignorant that both C. and himself
would be very glad if I did, and that as soon as I felt
released from Carolina I would go; but that I had be-
lieved it my duty to return this winter, though I knew I
was coming back to suffer. He again accused me of med-
dling with his private affairs, which he said I had no right
to do. I told him I could not but lift up my voice against
his manner of treating John. He said rather than suffer
the continual condemnation of his conduct by me, he
would leave mother's house. I appealed to the witness
in his own bosom as to the truth of what I urged. To my
surprise he readily acknowledged that he felt something
within him which fully met all I asserted, and that I had
harrowed his feelings and made him wretched. Much
more passed. I alluded to his neglect of me, and testified
that I had experienced no feeling but that of love towards
him and all the family, and a desire to do all I could to
oblige them; and I left the room in tears. I retired to
bless my Saviour for the strength he had granted, and
to implore his continued support.”
“7th. Surely my heart ought to be lifted to my
blessed Master in emotions of gratitude and praise. His
boy came home last night a short time after our conver-
sation, and instead of punishing him, as I am certain he
intended to do, he merely told him to go about his busi-

78
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
ness. I was amazed last night after all my sufferings
were over, and I was made willing to leave all things in
my Father's hands, to see John in the house. This was a
renewed proof to me how necessary it is for us to watch
for the right time in which to do things. If I had not
spoken just when I did, I could not have done so before
John's return. He has escaped entirely. ... Oh, how
earnestly two nights ago did I pray for a release from this
land of slavery, and how my heart still pants after it!
And yet, I think, I trust it is in submission to my Heav-
enly Father's will. I feel comfortable to-night; my
relief from suffering about John is so great that other
trials seem too light to name.”
“8th. My heart sings aloud for joy. I feel the sweet
testimony of a good conscience, the reward of obedience
in speaking to H. Dear boy, he has good, tender feelings
naturally, but a false education has nearly destroyed
them, and his own perverted judgment as to what is
manly and what is necessary in the government of slaves
has done the rest. Lord, open thou his eyes.”
On the 13th of March she says: “To-day, for the first
time, I ironed my clothes, and felt as though it was an
acceptable sacrifice. This seemed part of the preparation
for
my removal to the North. I felt fearful lest this ob-
ject was a stronger incentive to me than the desire to
glorify my divine Master.”
There was doubtless some truth in the charge brought
against her by her brothers, that her face was a perpetual
condemnation of them. Referring to a call she received
from some friends, she says:
“ An emptiness and vapidness pervaded all they said
about religion. I was silent most of the time, and fear
what I did say sprang from a feeling of too great indig-

A SIN TO JOKE
79
nation. Just before they went away, I joined in a joke;
much condemnation was felt, for the language to me con-
stantly is, I have called thee with a high and holy call-
ing,' and it seems as though solemnity ought always to
pervade my mind too much to allow me ever to joke, but
my natural vivacity is hard to bridle and subdue.”
The bond between Sarah and Angelina was growing
stronger every day, their separation in matters of religion
from the other members of the family serving more than
anything else to draw them closely and lovingly together.
Every letter from Sarah was hailed as a messenger of
peace and joy, and to her Angelina turned for counsel
and sympathy. It is very pleasant to read such words as
the following, and know that they expressed the inmost
feelings of Angelina's heart :-
“ Thou art, dearest, my best beloved, and often does my
heart expand with gratitude to the Giver of all good for
the gift of such a friend, who has been the helper of my
joy and the lifter up of my hands when they were ready
to hang down in hopeless despair. Often do I look back
to those days of conflict and suffering through which I
passed last winter, when thou alone seemed to know of the
deep baptisms wherewith I was baptized, and to be quali-
fied to speak the words of encouragement and reproof
which I believe were blessed to my poor soul.
“I received another long letter from thee this afternoon.
I cannot tell thee what a consolation thy letters are to
her who feels like an exile, a stranger in the place of her
nativity, as unknown, and yet well known,' and one of
the very least where she was once among the greatest.”
In one of her letters, written soon after her return
home, she thus speaks of her Quaker dress :-
“I thought I should find it so trying to dress like a

80
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Quaker here; but it has been made so easy that if it is a
cross I do not feel the weight of it. . . . It appears to
me that at present I am to be little and unknown, and
that the most that is required of me is that I bear a de-
cided testimony against dress. I am literally as a wonder
unto many, but though I am as a gazing-stock — perhaps a
laughing-stock -- in the midst of them, yet I scarcely feel
it, so sensible am I of the presence and approbation of
Him for whose sake I count it a high privilege to endure
scorn and derision. I begin to feel that it is a solemn
thing even to dress like a Quaker, as by so doing I profess
a belief in the purest principles of the Bible, and warrant
the expectation in others that my life will exhibit to all
around those principles drawn out in living characters."
There is a pride of conscience in all this, strongly con-
trasting with Sarah's want of self-confidence when travel-
ling the same path. If Angelina suffered for her religion,
no one suspected it, and for this very reason she was en-
abled to exert a stronger influence upon those about her
than Sarah ever could have done. She herself saw the
great points of difference between them, and frequently
alluded to them. On one page of her diary she writes:
“I have been reading dear sister's diary the last two
days, and find she has suffered great conflict of mind, par-
ticularly about her call to the ministry, and I am led to
look at the contrast between our feelings on the subject.
I clearly saw winter before last that my having been
appointed to this work was the great reason why I was
called out of the Presbyterian Society, but I don't think
my will has ever rebelled against it.
“So far from murmuring against the appointment, I
have felt exceedingly impatient at not being permitted to
enter upon my work at once; and this is probably an evi-

INTROSPECTION
81
dence that I am not prepared for it. But it is hard for
me to be and to do nothing. My restless, ambitious tem-
per, so different from dear sister's, craves high duties and
high attainments, and I have at times thought that this
ambition was a motive to me to do my duty and submit
my will. The hope of attaining to great eminence in the
divine life has often prompted me to give up in little
things, to bend to existing circumstances, to be willing for
the time to be trampled upon. These are my tempta-
tions. For a long time it seemed to me I did everything
from a hope of applause. I could not even write in my
diary without a feeling that I was doing it in the hope
that it would one day meet the eye of the public. Last
winter I wrote more freely in it, and am still permitted
to do so. Very often, when thinking of my useless state
at present, something of disappointment is felt that I am
as nothing, and this language has been presented with
force, Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them
not.'»

82
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER VII.
-
At this time of her life, ere a single sorrow had thrown
its shadow across her heart, and all her tears were shed
for other's woes, we see very distinctly Angelina's pecu-
liar characteristics. Her conscientiousness and her pride
are especially conspicuous. The former, with its atten-
dant sacrifices at the shrine of religious principle, had the
effect of silencing criticism after a while, and inspiring a
respect which touched upon veneration. One of her
sisters, in referring to this, says:
“ Though we considered her views entirely irrational,
yet so absolute was her sense of duty, her superiority to
public sentiment, and her moral courage, that she seemed
to us almost like one inspired, and we all came to look up-
on her with a feeling of awe.”
Of her pride — “that stumbling block," as she calls it,
to Christian meekness - she herself writes :
“My pride is my bane. In examining myself, I blush
to confess this fault, so great do I find its proportions.
I am all pride, and I fear I am even proud of my pride."
But hers was not the pride that includes personal
vanity or the desire for the applause of the multitude, for
of these two elements few ever had less; neither was
there any haughtiness in it, only the dignity which comes
from the conscious possession of rare advantages, joined
to the desire to use them to the glory of something better

INTELLECTUAL POWER
83
than self. Still it was pride, and, in her eyes, sinful, and
called for all her efforts to subdue its manifestations. It
especially troubled her whenever she entered into any
argument or discussion, both of which she was rather
fond of inviting. She knew full well her intellectual
power, and thoroughly enjoyed its exercise.
I regret that space does not permit me to copy her dis-
cussion with the Rev. Mr. McDowell on Presbyterianism;
her answers to the questions given her when arraigned
before the Sessions for having left the Church; her con-
versation on Orthodoxy with some Hicksites who called
on her, and her arguments on silent worship. They all
show remarkable reasoning power, great lucidity of
thought, and great faculty of expression for so young a
woman.
But, interesting as is the whole history of Angelina's
last year in Charleston, I may not dwell longer upon it,
but hasten towards that period when the reason for all
this mental and spiritual preparation was made manifest
in the work in which she became as a “light upon the hill
top," and, which, as long as it lasted, filled the measure
of her desires full to the brim.
As it is important to show just what her views and
feelings about slavery were at this time, and as they can
be better narrated in her own words than in mine, I shall
quote from her diary and a few letters all that relates to
the subject.
In May, 1829, we find this short sentence in her
diary:
May it not be laid down as an axiom, that that system
must be radically wrong which can only be supported by
transgressing the laws of God.”
630 Mo. 20th. Could I think I was in the least ad-
CG

84
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
vancing the glory of God by staying here, I think I would
be satisfied, but I am doing nothing. Though the fields
are white for harvest, yet am I standing idle in the mar-
ket place. I am often tempted to ask, Why am I kept
in such a situation, a poor unworthy worm, feeding on
luxuries my soul abhors, tended by slaves, who (I think)
I would rather serve than be served by, and whose bond-
age I deeply deplore? Oh! why am I kept in Carolina ?
But the answer seems to be : "I have set thee as a sign to
the people.' Lord, give me patience to stand still."
629th. At times slavery is a heavy burden to my heart.
Last night I was led to speak of this subject, of all others
the sorest on which to touch a Carolinian. The depravity
of slaves was spoken of with contempt, and one said they
were fitted to hold no other place than the one they do.
I asked what had made them so depraved? Was it not
because of their degraded situations, and was it not white
people who had placed them and kept them in this situa-
tion, and were they not to blame for it? Was it not a
fact that the minds of slaves were totally uncultivated,
and their souls no more cared for by their owners than if
they had none? Was it not true that, in order to restrain
them from vice, coercion was employed instead of the
moral restraint which, if proper instruction had been
given them, would have guarded them against evil? 'I
wish,' exclaimed one, that you would never speak on the
subject.' "And why?' I asked. Because you speak in
such a serious way,' she replied. «Truth cuts deep in-
to the heart," I said, and this is no doubt the reason why
no one likes to hear me express my sentiments, but I did
feel it my duty to bear a decided testimony against an
institution which I believe altogether contrary to the
spirit of the Gospel; for it was a system which nourished

ANTI-SLAVERY IN 1829
85
the worst passions of the human heart, a system which
sanctioned the daily trampling under foot of the feelings
of our fellow creatures. But,' said one, it is exceed-
ingly imprudent in you to speak as you do? I replied I
was not speaking before servants, I was speaking only to
owners, whom I wished to know my sentiments; this wrong
had long enough been covered up, and I was not afraid
or ashamed to have any one know my sentiments — they
were drawn from the Bible. I also took occasion to speak
very plainly to sister Mary about the bad feeling she had
towards negroes, and told her, though she wished to get
rid of them, and would be glad to see them shipped, as
she called it, that this wish did not spring from pure
Christian benevolence. My heart was very heavy after
this conversation.”
“30 Mo. 31st. Yesterday was a day of suffering. My
soul was exceedingly sorrowful, and out of the depths of
it, I cried unto the Lord that He would make a way for
me to escape from this land of slavery. Is there any suf-
fering so great as that of seeing the rights and feelings of
our fellow creatures trodden under foot, without being
able to rescue them from bondage? How clear it is to
my mind that slaves can be controlled only by one of two
principles, fear or love. As to moral restraint, they know
nothing of it, for they are not taught to act from principle.
I feel as though I had nothing to do in this thing, but by
my manner to bear a decided testimony against such an
abuse of power. The suffering of mind through which
I have passed has necessarily rendered me silent and
solemn. The language seems to be, "It behooves thee to
suffer these things,' and this morning I think I saw very
plainly that this was a part of the preparation for the aw-
ful work of the ministry."

86
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
66 4th Mo. 4th. Does not this no less positive than
comprehensive law under the Gospel dispensation entirely
exclude slavery: Do unto others as you would be done
by?' After arguing for some time, one evening, with an
individual, I proposed the question: Would'st thou be
willing to be a slave thyself ?' He eagerly answered
“No!' Then,' said I, “thou hast no right to enslave the
negro, for the Master expressly says: “Do unto others as
thou wouldst they should do unto thee."' Again I put
the query: Suppose thou wast obliged to free thy slaves,
or take their place, which wouldst thou do?? Of course
he said he would free them. But why,' I asked, if thou
really believest what thou contendest for, namely, that
their situation is as good as thine ?' But these questions
were too close, and he did not know what to say."
" 4th Mo. 23d. Friend K. drank tea here last night.
It seems to me that whenever mother can get anyone to
argue with her on the subject of slavery, she always in-
troduces it; but last night she was mistaken, for, to my
surprise, Friend K. acknowledged that notwithstanding
all that could be said for it, there was something in her
heart which told her it was wrong, and she admitted all I
said. Since my last argument on this subject, it has ap-
peared to me in another light. I remarked that a Caro-
lina mistress was literally a slave-driver, and that I
thought it degrading to the female character. The mis-
tress is as great a slave to her servants, in some respects,
as they are to her. One thing which annoys me very
much is the constant orders that are given. Really,
when I into mother's room to read to her, I am con-
tinually interrupted by a variety of orders which might
easily be avoided, were it not for the domineering spirit
which is, it seems to me, inherent in a Carolinian ; and
go

BANE OF SLAVERY
87
they are such fine ladies that if a shutter is to be hooked,
or a chair moved, or their work handed to them, a ser-
vant must be summoned to do it for them. Oh! I do
very much desire to cultivate feelings of forbearance, but
I feel at the same time that it is my duty to bear an open
and decided testimony against such a violation of the di-
vine command.”
“28th. It seems this morning as if the language was
spoken with regard to dear mother: Thy work is done.
My mind has been mostly released from exercises, and it
seems as though I had nothing to do now but to bear and
forbear with her. I can truly say I have not shunned to
declare unto her the whole counsel of God, but she
would none of my reproofs.' I stretched out my hands
to her, speaking the truth in love, but she has not re-
garded. Perhaps He has seen fit not to work by me lest
I should be exalted above measure.”
“ 5th Mo. 6th. Today has been one of much trial of
mind, and my soul has groaned under the burden of
slavery. Is it too harsh to say that a person must be des-
titute of Christian feelings to be willing to be served by
slaves, who are actuated by no sentiment but that of fear?
Are not these unfortunate creatures expected to act on
principles directly opposite to our natural feelings and
daily experience? They are required to do more for
others than for themselves, and all without thanks or re-
ward."
66 12th. It appears to me that there is a real want of
natural affection among many families in Carolina, and I
have thought that one great cause of it is the indepen-
dence which members of families feel here. Instead of
being taught to do for themselves and each other, they are
brought up to be waited on by slaves, and become unami-

88
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
666
able, proud, and selfish. I have many times felt exceed-
ingly tried, when, in the flowings of love towards mother,
I have offered to do little things for her, and she has re-
fused to allow me, saying it was Stephen's or William's
duty, and she preferred one of them should do it. The
other night, being refused in this way, I said :-
Mother, it seems to me thou would'st at any time
rather have a servant do little things for thee, than me.'
She replied it was their business. Well,' said I, 'mother,
I do not think it ever was designed that parents and chil-
dren should be independent of each other. Our Heavenly
Father intended that we should be dependent on each
other, not on servants.' From time to time ability is
granted me to labor against slavery. I may be mistaken,
but I do not think it is any longer without sin in mother,
for I think she feels very sensibly that it is not right,
though she never will acknowledge it."
“ Night. Left the parlor on account of some unpleas-
ant occurrence, and retired to weep in solitude over the
evils of slavery. The language was forcibly revived:
• Woe unto you, for you bind heavy burdens, grievous to
be borne, on men's shoulders, and will not move them
yourselves with one of your fingers. I do not think I
pass a single day without apprehension as to something
painful about the servants."
66 15th. Had a long conversation with Selina last even-
ing about servants, and expressed very freely my opinion
of Henry's feelings towards them, and his treatment of
John. She admitted all I said, and seemed to feel for
slaves, until I said I thought they had as much right to
freedom as I had. Of course would not admit this,
but I was glad an opportunity was offered for me to tell
her that my life was one of such continual and painful

LONGS TO LEAVE HOME
89
exercise on account of the manner in which our servants
were treated, that, were it not for mother, I would not
stay a day longer in Carolina, and were it not for the be-
lief that Henry would treat his servants worse if we were
not here, that both Eliza and I would leave the house.
Dear girl; she seemed to feel a good deal at these stric-
tures on her husband, but bore with me very patiently."
618th. Oh, Lord ! grant that my going forth out of
this land may be in such a time and such a way, let what
may happen after I leave my mother's house, I may never
have to reproach myself for doing so. Of late my mind
has been much engrossed with the subject of slavery. I
have felt not only the necessity of feeling that it is sinful,
but of being able to prove from Scripture that it is not
warranted by God."
6630th.
Slavery is a system of abject selfishness, and
yet I believe I have seen some of the best of it. In its
worst form, tyranny is added to it, and power cruelly
treads under foot the rights of man, and trammels not
only the body, but the mind of the poor negro. Experi-
ence has convinced me that a person may own a slave,
with a single eye to the glory of God.
But as the eye
is kept single, it will soon become full of light on this
momentous subject; the arm of power will be broken ;
the voice of authority will tremble, and strength will be
granted to obey the command : « Touch not the unclean
thing.''
“ Night. Sometimes I think that the children of Is-
rael could not have looked towards the land of Canaan
with keener longing than I do to the North. I do not
expect to go there and be exempt from trial, far from it ;
and yet it looks like a promised land, a pleasant land, be-
cause it is a land of freedom; and it seems to me that I

90
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
כלל
6 Night.
would rather bear much deeper spiritual exercises than,
day after day, and month after month, to endure the
conntless evils which incessantly flow from slavery. Oh,
to grace how great a debtor for my sentiments on this
subject. Surely I may measurably adopt the language of
Paul, when with holy triumph he exclaimed: By the
grace of God I am what I am.
A few weeks later, we read: “If I could believe that I
contributed to dear mother's happiness, surely duty, yea,
inclination, would lead me to continue here ; but I do not.
Yesterday morning I read her some papers on slavery,
which had just come by the L. C. (vessel). It was greatly
against her will, but it seemed to me I must do it, and
that this was the last effort which would be required of
me. She was really angry, but I did not feel condemned.”
Have sought a season of retirement, in
order to ponder all these things in my heart, for I feel
greatly burdened, and think I must open this subject to
dear mother to-morrow, perhaps. I earnestly desire to do
the Lord's will.”
“12th. This morning I read parts of dear sister's
letters to mother, on the subject of my going to the
North. She did not oppose, though she regretted it. My
mind is in a calm, almost an indifferent, state about it,
simply acquiescing in what I believe to be the divine will
concerning me."
Had we all of Sarah's letters written to Angelina, we
should doubtless see that she fully sympathized with her
in her anti-slavery sentiments; but Sarah's diary shows
her thoughts to have been almost wholly absorbed by her
disappointed hopes, and her trials in the ministry. As
positive evidences of her continued interest in slavery,
we have only the fact that, in 1829, Angelina mentions, in

NARROW LIFE
91
she says,
her diary, receiving anti-slavery documents from her sister,
and the statements of friends that she retained her interest
in the subject which had, in her earlier years, caused her
so much sorrow.
It is astonishing how ignorant of passing events, even
of importance, a person may remain who is shut up as
Sarah Grimké was, in an organization hedged in by re-
strictions which would prevent her from gaining such
knowledge. She mingled in no society outside of her
church; her time was so fully occupied with her various
charitable and religious duties, that she frequently laments
the necessity of neglecting reading and writing, which,
6 I love so well.”
When a few friends met together, their conversation
was chiefly of religious or benevolent matters, and it is
probable that Sarah even read no newspaper but the
Friends' Journal.
That this narrow and busy life was led even after An-
gelina joined her we judge from what Angelina writes to
her brother Thomas, thanking him for sending them his
literary correspondence to read. She says: “It is very
kind in thee to send us thy private correspondence. We
enjoy it so much that I am sure thou would'st feel com-
pensated for the trouble if thou could'st see us. We
mingle almost entirely with a Society which appears to
know but little of what is going on outside of its own
immediate precincts. It is therefore a great treat when
we have access to information more diffuse, or that which
introduces our minds in some measure into the general
interest which seems to be exciting the religious world.”
The fact, however, remains, that in 1829 Sarah sent to
Angelina various anti-slavery publications, from which
the latter drew strength and encouragement for her own

92
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
arguments. Angelina also mentions reading carefully
Woolman's works, which she found very helpful. But it
is evident that neither she nor Sarah looked forward at
all to any identification of themselves with the active
opponents of slavery. For them, at that time, there
seemed to be nothing more to do than to express
their
opinions on the subject in private, and to get as far away
from the sight of its evils as possible. As Sarah had
done this, so now Argelina felt that the time had come
when she too must go.
She had done what she could, and had failed in making
the impression she had hoped to make. Why should she
linger longer where her feelings were daily tortured, and
where there was not one to sympathize with her or aid
her, where she could neither give nor receive any good ?
Still there was a great struggle in her mind about leaving
her mother. She thus writes of it:
“ Though I am favored to feel this is the right time for
me to go, yet I cannot but be pained at the thought of
leaving mother, for I am sure I shall leave her to suffer.
It has appeared very plain to me that I never would have
been taken from her again if she had been willing to
listen to my remonstrances, and to yield to the requisi-
tions of duty, as shown her by the light within. And I
do not think dear sister or I will ever see her again until
she is willing to give up slavery.”
66 10th Mo. 4th. Last night E. T. took tea here. As
soon as she began to extol the North and speak against
slavery, inother left the room. She cannot bear these
two subjects. My mind continues distressingly exercised
and anxious that mother's eyes should be open to all the
iniquities of the system she upholds. Much hope has
lately been experienced, and it seems as though the lan-

FAREWELL TO HOME
93
66
guage to me was: “Thou hast done what was given thee
to do; now go and leave the rest to me.”
Two weeks later, she writes as follows:
Night. This morning I had a very satisfactory con-
versation with dear mother, and feel considerably relieved
from painful exercise. I found her views far more cor-
rect than I had supposed, and I do believe that, through
suffering, the great work will yet be accomplished. She
remarked that, though she had found it very hard to bear
many things which sister and I had from time to time
said to her, yet she believed that the Lord had raised us
up to teach her, and that her fervent prayer was that,
if we were right and she was wrong, she might see it.
I remarked that if she was willing, she would, I was sure,
see still more than she now did ; and I drew a contrast
between what she once approved and now believed right.
Yes,' she said, “I see very differently; for when I look
back and remember what I used to do, and think nothing
of it, I shrink back with horror. Much more passed, and
we parted in love."
Two weeks later Angelina left Charleston, never to re-
turn. The description of the parting with her mother is
very affecting, but we have not room for it here. It
shows, however, that Mrs. Grimké had the true heart of a
mother, and loved her daughter most tenderly. She shed
bitter tears as she folded her to her bosom for the last
time, murmuring amid her sobs : “ Joseph is not, and
Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away also!”
The mother and daughter never saw each other again.

94
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
CHAPTER VIII.
ANGELINA arrived in Philadelphia in the latter part of
October, 1829, and made her home with Sarah in the
family of Catherine Morris.
Over the next four or five years I must pass very
briefly, although they were marked by many interesting
incidents and some deep sorrows, and much that the sis-
ters wrote during that time I would like to notice, if space
permitted.
We see Sarah still regarding herself as the vilest of
sinners, against whom it seemed at times as if every door
of mercy was closed, and still haunted by her horror of
horrors, the ministry. Her preparation continued, but
brought her apparently no nearer the long-expected and
dreaded end. She was still unrecognized by the Church.
First-day meetings were looked forward to without pleas-
ure, while the Quarterly and Yearly meetings were seasons
of actual suffering. Of one of the latter she says,
"I think no criminal under sentence of death can look
more fearfully to the day of execution than I do towards
our Yearly Meeting.”
Still she would nerve herself from time to time to arise
when the Spirit moved her, and say a few words, but de-
riving no satisfaction from the exercise, except that of
obedience to the divine will.
Doubtless she would have grown out of all this timid-
-

NOT IN FAVOR
95
ity, and would have acquitted herself more acceptably in
meeting, if she had met with consideration and kindness
from the elders and influential members of the Society.
But, for reasons not clearly explained, her efforts do not
seem to have been generally regarded with favor; and so
sensibly did she feel this that she trembled in every limb
when obliged even to offer a prayer in the presence of one
of the dignitaries. It is probable that her ultra views on
various needed reforms in the society, and declining — as
she and Angelina both did
- to conform to all its pecu-
liar usages, gave offence. For instance, the sisters never
could bring themselves to use certain ungrammatical
forms of speech, such as thee for thou, and would wear
bonnets of a shape and material better adapted to protect
them from the cold than those prescribed by Quaker
style. It was also discovered that they indulged in vocal
prayer in their private devotions, which was directly con-
trary to established usage. These things were regarded
as quiet protests against customs which all members of
the Society were expected to respect. As to the princi-
ples of Quakerism, the sisters were more scrupulous in
obeying them than many of the elders themselves. Sarah
frequently mentions the coldness and indifference with
which she was treated by those from whom she had a
right to look for tender sympathy and friendly counsel,
and feelingly records the kindness and encouragement
offered to her by many of the less conspicuous brothers
and sisters. It is no doubt that to this treatment by those
in authority was due the gradual waning of her interest
in Quakerism, although she is far from acknowledging it.
One obstacle in the way of her success as a preacher
was her manner of speaking. Though a clear, forcible
thinker and writer, she lacked the gift of eloquence which

96
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
so distinguished Angelina, and being, besides, exceedingly
self-conscious, it was difficult for her to express herself
satisfactorily in words. Her speech was sometimes slow
and hesitating; at others, when feeling very deeply, or at
all embarrassed, rapid and a little confused, as though she
was in a hurry to get through. This irregularity laid her
open to the charge which was frequently brought against
her, that she prepared and committed her offerings to
memory before coming to meeting, an almost unpardon-
able offence according to the views of those making the
accusation. That her earnest denial of this should be
treated lightly was an additional wrong which Sarah
never entirely succeeded in forgiving. In reference to
this she says: -
“The suffering passed through in meeting, on account
of the ministry, feeling as if I were condemned already
whenever I arise; the severe reproofs administered by an
elder to whom I did a little look for kindness; the cutting
charge of preparing what I had to say out of meeting,
and going there to preach, instead of to worship, like poor
Mary Cox, was almost too much for me. It cost me hours
of anguish; but Jesus allayed the storm and gave me
peace; for in looking at my poor services I can truly say
it is not so, although my mind is often brought under
exercise on account of this work, and many are the sleep-
less hours I pass in prayer for preservation in it, feeling it
indeed an awful thing to be a channel of communication
between God and His people."
Referring to the charge again, some time later, she says:-
“ There are times when I greatly fear my best life will
perish in this conflict. I have felt lately as if I were
ready to give up all, and to question all I have known and
done."
22

DOUBTS
97
As contrasting with the very different opinions she held
a few years later, the following lines from her diary, about
the beginning of 1830, are interesting: -
“There are seasons when my heart is so filled with
apostolic love that I feel as if I could freely part with all
I hold most dear, to be instrumental to the salvation of
souls, especially those of the members of my own reli-
gious society; and the language often prevails, “I am not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' Yet
woman's preaching mocks at all my reasoning. I cannot
see it to be right, and I am moving on in faith alone, feel-
ing that Woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel.' To see
is no part of my business, but I marvel not at the unbelief
of others; every natural feeling is against it.”
About this time, Angelina was admitted as a member
of Friends' Society, and began her preparation for the
ministry. But her active spirit needed stronger food to
satisfy its cravings. It was not enough for her to accept
the few duties assigned to her; she must make others for
herself. Her restless energy, which was only her ambi-
tion to be practically useful, refused to let her sit with
folded hands waiting for the Lord's work. She was too
strong to be idle, too conscious of the value of the talents
committed to her charge, to be willing to lay them away
for safe keeping in a Quaker napkin, spotless as it might
be. She never loved the Society of Friends as Sarah did.
She chafed under its restrictions, questioned its authority,
and rebelled against the constant admonition to “be still."
On one page of her diary, dated a short time before her
admission to Friends' Society, she says:--
“I have passed through some trying feelings of late
about becoming a member of Friends' Society. Perhaps
it is Satan who has been doing all he could to prevent my

98
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
joining, by showing me the inconsistencies of the people,
and persuading me that I am too good to be one of them.
I have been led to doubt if it was right for me ever to
have worn the dress of a Quaker, for I despised the very
form in my heart, and have felt it a disgrace to have
adopted it, so empty have the people seemed to me, and
sometimes it has seemed impossible that I should ever be
willing to join them. My heart has been full of rebellion,
and I have even dared to think it hard that I should have
to bear the burdens of a people I did not, could not,
love."
Angelina's devotion to Sarah led her to resent the treat-
ment of the latter by the elders, and came near producing
a breach between Catherine Morris and the sisters.
Nevertheless, she did join the Society, impelled thereto,
we are forced to believe, more by love and consideration
for Sarah than by religious conviction.
But she con-
stantly complains of her “leanness and barrenness of
spirit,” of “doubts and distressing fears” as to the Lord's
remembrance of her for good, and grieves that she is
such a useless member of the Church, the “activity of
nature," she says, “ finding it very hard to stand and
wait."
Her restlessness, no doubt, gave Sarah some trouble, for
there are several entries in her diary like the following:-
“O Lord, be pleased, I beseech Thee, to preserve my
precious sister from moving in her own will, or under the
deceitful reasonings of Satan. Strengthen her, I beseech
Thee, to be still."
But though Angelina tried for a time to submit pas-
sively to the slow training marked out for her, she found
no satisfaction in it. She looked to the ministry as her
ultimate field of labor, but she must be doing something

BENEVOLENT ACTIVITIES
99
in the meanwhile, something outside of the missionary
work which satisfied Sarah's conscience. But what should
that be? The same difficulties which had humiliated and
frightened Sarah into a life of quiet routine now faced
Angelina. But she looked at them bravely, measured
herself with them, and resolved to conquer them. The
field of education was the only one which seemed to
promise the active usefulness she craved; and she at once
set about fitting herself to be a teacher. She was now
twenty-six years old, but no ambitious girl of fifteen ever
entered upon school duties with more zest than she ex-
hibited in preparing a course of study for herself. His-
tory, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry were begun, with
her sister Anna as a fellow-student, and much time was
devoted to reading biography and travels. All this, how-
ever, was evening work. Her days were almost wholly
given up to charities and the appointed meetings assigned
to her by the society, into all of which she infused so
much
energy
that Catherine and Sarah both began to fear
that she was in danger of losing some of her spirituality.
She
says
herself that she was so much interested in some
of her work that the days were not long enough for her.
There is no allusion in the diary or letters of either of
the sisters, in 1829 or 1830, to the many stirring events
of the anti-slavery movement which occurred after the
final abolition of slavery in New York, in 1827, and which
foreshadowed the earnest struggle for political supremacy
between the slave power and the free spirit of the nation.
The daily records of their lives and thoughts exhibit them
in the enjoyment of their quiet home with Catherine
Morris, visiting prisons, hospitals, and alms-houses, and
mourning over no sorrow or sins but their own. Angelina
was leading a life of benevolent effort, too busy to admit

100
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
woman.
of the pleasures of society, and her Quaker associations
did not favor contact with the world's people, or promote
knowledge of the active movements in the larger reforms
of the day. As to Sarah, she was still suffering keenly
under the great sorrow of her life.
At this time, Angelina was a most attractive young
Tall and graceful, with a shapely head covered
with chestnut ringlets, a delicate complexion and features,
and clear blue eyes, which could dance with merriment or
flash with indignation, and withal a dignified, yet gentle
and courteous bearing, it is not surprising that she should
have had many admirers of the opposite sex, even in the
limited society to which she was confined. Nor can we
wonder that, with a heart so susceptible to all the finer
emotions, she should have preferred the companionship of
one to that of all others. But though for more than two
years this friendship — for it never became an engagement
absorbed all her thoughts, to the exclusion even of her
studies, I must conclude from the plain evidence in the
case that it was only a warm friendship, at least on her
side, not the strong, enduring love, based upon entire
sympathy, which afterwards blessed her life. It owed its
origin to her admiration for intellectuality in men, and its
continuance to her womanly pity; for the object of her
preference suffered much from ill-health, which at last
gave way altogether in the latter part of 1832, when he
died.
To the various emotions naturally aroused during this
long experience, and to the depression of spirits which
followed the final issue, we may perhaps partially ascribe
Angelina's indifference to the excited state of feeling
throughout the country on the subject of that institution
which "owned no law but human will."

NULLIFICATION
101
In November, 1831, Sarah Grimké once more, and for
the last time, visited Charleston.
In December, the slave insurrection in Jamaica — ten-
fold more destructive to life and property than the insur-
rection of Nat Turner, in Virginia, of the preceding
August — startled the world ; but even this is scarcely
referred to in the correspondence between the two sisters.
But that Angelina, at least, was interested in matters
outside of her religion, we gather from a postscript to
one of her letters. “ Tell me,” she says, “something
about politics."
This refers to nullification, that ill-judged and prema-
ture attempt at secession made by the Calhoun wing of
the slave power, which was then the most exciting topic
in South Carolina. Thomas Grimké was one of the few
eminent lawyers in the State who, from the first, de-
nounced and resisted the treasonable doctrine, — he so
termed it in an open letter of remonstrance addressed to
Calhoun, McDuffie, Governor Hayne, and Barnwell Rhett,
his cousin and legal pupil, who was afterwards attorney-
general of the State. Mr. Grimké represented at that
time the city of Charleston in the State Senate; and in a
two days' argument he so triumphantly exposed the soph-
istries and false pretences of the nullifiers, that his con-
stituents, enraged by it, gathered a mob, and with threats
of personal violence attacked his house. But this de-
scendant of the Huguenots had been seasonably warned;
and, sending his family to the country, he illuminated his
front windows, threw open his doors, and seated himself
quietly on the porch to await his visitors. The howling
1 Mr. Grimké told Carolina that, if she persisted in her disloy-
alty, she would stand as a blasted tree in the midst of her sister
States.

102
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
horde came on, but when the man they sought boldly
advanced to meet them, and announced himself ready to
be mobbed for the cause he had denounced, their courage
faltered; they tried to hoot, balked, broke ranks, and
straggled away.
A few words just here about this “beloved brother
Thomas," who was always held in reverence by every
member of his family, will not be out of place. As before
stated, he was a graduate of Yale College, and rose to
eminence at the bar and in the politics of his State. But
he was a man of peculiar views on many subjects, and
while his intellectual ability was everywhere acknowl-
edged, his judgment was often impugned and his opin-
ions severely criticised. He gained a wide reputation on
account of his brilliant addresses, especially those of
Peace, Temperance, and Education. He was a promi-
nent member of the American Peace Society, and did not
believe that even defensive warfare was justifiable. He
was a fine classical scholar, but held that both the classics
and the higher mathematics should not be made obliga-
tory studies in a collegiate education, as being compara-
tively useless to the great majority of American young
A High Church Episcopalian, and very religious,
he strongly urged the necessity of establishing a Bible
class for religious instruction in every school. He also
attempted to make a reform in orthography by dropping
out all superfluous letters, but abandoned this after pub-
lishing a small volume of essays, in which he used his
amended words, which, as he gave no prefatory expla-
nation, were misunderstood and ridiculed. In all these
subjects he was much interested, and succeeded in inter-
esting his sisters, delegating to them the supervision and
correction of his addresses and essays published in Phila-
men.

THOMAS GRIMKÉ
103
delphia. Strange, indeed, is it, that this very religious,
liberal-minded, and conscientious man was a large slave-
owner, and yet the oppressed and persecuted Cherokees
of Georgia and Alabama had no more earnest advocate
than he! And to this “Indian question ” both Sarah and
Angelina gave their cordial sympathy.
The correspondence between them and Thomas was a
remarkable one. It embraced the following subjects:
Peace, Temperance, the Classics, the Priesthood, the Jew-
ish Dispensation, Was the Eagle the Babylonian and Per-
sian Standard ? Catholicism, and the universality of human
sacrifice, with short discussions on minor controversial
topics. Into all of these Angelina especially entered
with great and evident relish, and her long letters, cover-
ing page after page of foolscap, would certainly have
wearied the patience of any one less interested than
Thomas was in the subjects of which they treated. That
which claimed Sarah's particular interest was Peace, and
she held to her brother's views to the end of her life.
She especially indorsed the sentiment expressed in his
written reply to the question, what he would do if he
were mayor of Charleston and a pirate ship should attack
the city ?
“I would,” he answered, “call together the Sunday-
school children and lead them in procession to meet the
pirates, who would be at once subdued by the sight."
In answer to a letter written by Sarah soon after her
arrival in Charleston, Angelina says:-
“I am not at all surprised at the account thou hast
given of Carolina, and yet am not alarmed, as I believe
the time of retribution has not yet fully come, and I
cannot but hope that those most dear to us will have fled
from her borders before the day of judgment arrives."

104
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
This refers to nullification, which was threatening to
end in bloodshed; but there is in the sentence also an evi-
dent allusion to slavery.
In her next letter she describes the interest she feels in
the infant school, of which she had become a teacher, and
does not know which is the most absorbing, - that, or the
Arch Street prison. Before closing, she says: —
“No doubt thou art suffering a double portion now, for
in a land of slavery there is very much daily — yea, almost
hourly, — to try the better feelings, besides that suffering
which thou art so constantly enduring."
Catherine Morris must have acted the part of a good
mother to both Sarah and Angelina, for they frequently
refer to their peaceful home with her. In one of her
letters Angelina says, -
“I never valued the advantages I enjoy so much as I
do now; no, nor my home, either, dear sister. Many a
time of late has my heart been filled with gratitude in
looking at the peaceful shelter provided for me in a
strange land. It is just such a home as I would desire
were I to have a choice, and I often ask why my restless
heart is not quite happy in the land of ease which has
been assigned me, for I do believe I shall, in after life, look
back upon this winter as one of peculiar favor, a time
granted for the improvement of my mind and my heart."
Again: “Very often do I contrast the sweet, unbroken
quiet of the home I now enjoy with the uncongenial one
I was taken from.”
In one of her letters she asks: “Dearest, does our
precious mother seem to have any idea of leaving Caro-
lina? Such seems to be the distressing excitement there
from various causes, that I think it cannot be quite safe to
remain there. What does brother Thomas think will be

QUAKER TIME-SERVING
105
the issue of the political contest? I find the fate of the
poor Indians is now inevitable.”
Towards the close of the winter there are two para-
graphs in her letters which show that she did at least
read the daily papers.
In one she asks: “ Didst thou
know that great efforts are making in the House of Dele-
gates in Virginia to abolish slavery ?”
The other one is as follows:
“Read the enclosed, and give it to brother Thomas
from me.
Do you know how this subject has been agi-
tated in the Virginia legislature?”
The question naturally arises: if a little, why not more?
If she could refer to the subject of the Virginia debates,
why should she not in some of her letters give expression
to her own views, or answer some expressions from
Sarah? The Quaker Society, is the only answer we can
find; the Society whose rules and customs at that time
tended to repress individuality in its members, and inde-
pendence of thought or action; which forbade its young
men and maidens to look admiringly on any fair face or
manly form not framed in a long-eared cap, or surmounted
by the regulation broad-brim; which did not accord to a
member the right even to publish a newspaper article,
without having first submitted it to a committee of its
Solons.
From the beginning, the Quaker Church bore its testi-
mony against the abolition excitement. Most Friends
were in favor of the Colonization Society; the rest were
gradualists. Their commercial interests were as closely
interwoven with those of the South as were the interests
of any other class of the Northern people, and it took
them years to admit, if not to discover, that there was any
new light on the subject of human rights.

106
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
“The mills of the gods grind slowly;” and perhaps it
was all the better in the end, for the cause they advocated
so grandly, that Sarah and Angelina Grimké should have
gone through this long period of silence and repression,
during which their moral and intellectual forces gathered
power for the conflict — the great work which both had
so singularly and for so many years seen was before them,
though its nature was for a long time hidden.
Angelina's experience in the infant school, interesting
as it was to her, was discouraging so far as her success as
a teacher went; and she soon gave
it
up
and made inqui-
ries concerning some school in which she could prepare
herself to teach. Catherine Beecher's then famous semi-
nary at Hartford was recommended, and a correspondence
was opened. Several letters passed between Catherine
and her would-be pupil, which so aroused Catherine's in-
terest, that she went on to Philadelphia chiefly to make a
personal acquaintance with the very mature young
woman who at the age of twenty-seven declared she
knew nothing and wanted to go to school again. In one
of her letters to Sarah, early in the spring of 1832, Ange-
lina says,
“Catherine Beecher has actually paid her promised
visit. She regretted not seeing thee, and seemed much
pleased with me. The day after she arrived she went to
meeting with me, and I think was more tired of it than
any person I ever saw. It was a long, silent meeting, ex-
cept a few words from J. L.”
When Catherine Beecher took her leave of Angelina,
she cordially invited her to visit Hartford, and examine
for herself the system of education there pursued.
Sarah returned to Philadelphia in March, 1832, cutting
short her visit at the earnest entreaty of Angelina, who

SEPARATION
107
was then looking forward to her first Yearly Meeting, and
desired her sister's encouraging presence with her. Writ-
ing to Sarah, she says: “I have much desired that we
might at that time mingle in sympathy and love. Truly
we have known, might I not say, the agony of separa-
tion."
Soon after Sarah's return, Angelina went to live with
Mrs. Frost, in order to give that sister the benefit of her
board. This separation was a great trial to both sisters,
and only consented to from a sense of duty.

108
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
CHAPTER IX.
In July, 1832, Angelina, accompanied by a friend, set
out to make her promised visit to Hartford. Her jour-
nal, kept day by day, shows her to have been at this time
in a most cheerful frame of mind, which fitted her to en-
joy not only the beautiful scenery on her journey, but the
society of the various people she met. At times she is
almost like a young girl just out of school; and we can
hardly wonder that she felt so, after the monotonous life
she had led so long, and the uniform character of the
people with whom she had associated. She visited New
Haven, with its great college, and then went to Hartford,
where a week was pleasantly spent in attendance on
Catherine Beecher's classes, and in visiting Lydia Sigour-
ney, and others, to whom she had brought letters. After
examining Angelina, Catherine gave her the gratifying
opinion that she could be prepared to teach in six months,
and she at once began to try her hand at drawing maps,
and to take part in many of the exercises of the school.
She could, however, make no definite arrangement until
her return to Philadelphia; but she was full of en-
thusiasm, and utilized to the very utmost the advantages
of conversation with Catherine and Harriet Beecher.
She was evidently quite charmed with Harriet's bright
intellect and pleasant manner, and refers particularly to a

VISITS CATHERINE BEECHER
109
very satisfactory conversation held with her about Quakers.
The people of this Society were so little known in New
England at that period, that Angelina and her friend, in
their peculiar dress, were objects of great curiosity where-
ever they went. Catherine Beecher accompanied them
back to New York, and saw them safely on their way to
Philadelphia. But when Angelina mentioned to Friends
her desire to return to Hartford and become a teacher, she
was answered with the most decided disapprobation. Sev-
eral unsatisfactory reasons were given — "going among
strangers” - “ leaving her sisters,” — “abandoning her
charities,” &c., the real one probably being the fear to
trust their impressionable young member to Presbyterian
influence. And so she must content herself to sink down
in the old ruts, and plod on in work which was daily be-
coming more insufficient to her intellectual and spiritual
needs. Her chief pleasure was her correspondence with
her brother Thomas, with whom she discussed controver-
sial Bible questions, and various moral reforms, including
prison discipline; but only once does she seem to have
touched the question of slavery, which abscrbed the pub-
lic mind to such a degree that there was scarcely a house-
hold throughout the length and breadth of the land,
that did not feel its influence in some way.
In 1832 the most intense excitement prevailed through-
out the South, especially in South Carolina, where Mr.
Calhoun had just thrown down the gauntlet to the Fed-
eral government. In this Angelina expresses some inter-
est, though chiefly from a religious point of view, as she
regards all the important events then taking place as
“signs of the times,” and congratulates herself and her
brother that they live in “such an important and interest-
ing era, when the laws of Christianity are interwoven

110
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
CG
לל
with the system of education, and with even the disci-
pline of prisons and houses of refuge." In one of her
letters we find the following:-
“I may be deceived, but the cloud which has arisen in
the South will, I fear, spread over all our heavens, though
it looks now so small. It will come down upon us in a
storm which will beat our government to pieces; for,
beautiful as it may appear, it is, nevertheless, not built
upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. We
may boast of this temple of liberty, but oh, my brother,
it is not of God.”
In this letter she spoaks of being much interested in
Ramsey's Civil and Ecclesiastical Polity of the Jews,"
and mentions that they were studying together, in the
family, “ Townsend's Old Testament, chronologically ar-
ranged, with notes, a work in twenty-eight volumes."
She adds :
“ Will not the study of the Bible produce a thirst for
the purest and most valuable literature, as, to understand
it, we must study the history of nations, natural history,
philosophy, and geography."
In another letter she
says:
“I am glad of thy opinions, but I cannot see that Caro-
lina will escape. Slavery is too great a sin for justice al-
ways to sleep over, and this is, I believe, the true cause of
the declining state of Carolina; this the root of bitter-
ness which is to trouble our republic. I am not moved
by fear to these reflections, but by a calm and deliberate
consideration of the state of the Church, and while I be-
lieve convulsions and distress are coming upon this coun-
try, I am comforted in believing that my kingdom is not
of this world, nor thine either, I trust, beloved brother."

MORBID FEELINGS
111
To this letter Sarah adds a postscript, and says: “My
fears respecting you are often prevalent, but I endeavor
not to be too anxious. The Lord is omnipotent, and al-
though I fear IIis sword is unsheathed against America, I
believe He will remember His own elect, and shield them.
Do the planters approve or aid the Colonization So-
ciety? There have been some severe pieces published in
our papers
about it."
At this time — that is, during the summer of 1832
Sarah lived a more than usually retired life, and her diary
only records her increased depression of spirits, and her
continued painful experiences in meeting. She would
gladly have turned her back upon it all, and sought a home
elsewhere at the North, or have returned to Charleston,
but she dared not move without divine approbation, and
this never seemed sufficiently clear to satisfy her.
Surely,” she says, “ though I cannot understand why
it is so, there must be wisdom in the decree which forbids
my seeking another home. Most gladly would I have
remained in Charleston, but my Father's will was not so.”
And again she says, —
“But while the desire to escape present conflict has
turned my mind there [to Charleston] with longing
towards my precious mother, all the answer I can hear
from the sanctuary is, “Stay here;' and Satan adds, 'to
suffer.?” According to Sarah's own views, she had thus
far made little or no progress towards the great end and
aim of her labors and sacrifices, -- the securing of her
eternal salvation; and the amount of misery she managed
to manufacture for herself out of this thought, and her
many fancied transgressions, is sad in the extreme. Year's
afterwards, in a letter to a young friend, she says, -
“I have suffered the very torments of the fabled hell,
در و

112
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
because my conscience was sore to the touch all over. I
would fain have you spared such long, dark years of
anguish."
And to another friend, concerning this portion of her
life, she writes, -
“Much of my suffering arose from a morbid conscience,
a conscience which magnified infirmities into crimes,
and transformed our blessed Father in heaven into a stern
judge, who punishes to the uttermost every real or imagi-
nary departure from what we apprehend to be his require-
ments. Deceived by the false theological views in which
I was educated, I was continually lashed by the scorpion
whip of a perverted conscience.”
During the winter of 1832–33, the time of both sisters
was much taken up in nursing a sick woman, whose
friendless position stirred Angelina's sense of duty, and
she had her removed to Mrs. Frost's house. She and
Sarah took upon themselves all the offices of nurse, even
the most menial. They read to her, and tried to cheer
her during the day, sat up with her at night, and in every
way devoted themselves to the poor consumptive, until
death came to her relief. Such a sacrifice to a sense of
duty was all the more admirable, as the invalid was unu-
sually exacting and unreasonable, and felt apparently
little appreciation of the trouble she gave. Angelina,
being in the same house, was more with her than Sarah,
and she could scarcely have shown her greater attention
if the tenderest ties had existed between her and her
charge.
This was only one among the many similar acts of self-
abnegation which were dotted all along Angelina's path
through life; she never went out of her way to avoid
them, but would travel any distance to take them up, if

GROWING OUT OF QUAKERISM
113
duty pointed her to them; and in accepting them she
never seemed to think she was doing more than just what
she ought to do, although they were generally of the kind
which bring no honor or reward, except that sense of
duty fulfilled which spreads over hearts like hers such
sweet content.
From many passages in the diaries, it is evident that, as
the agitating questions of the time were forced upon
the notice of Sarah and Angelina, their thoughts were
diverted from the narrow channel to which they had so
long been confined ; and, in proportion as their interest in
these matters increased, the cords which bound them to
their religious society loosened. Angelina, as we have
before remarked, never stood in the same attitude as
Sarah towards the Society. To the latter, it was as the
oracle of her fate, whose decrees she dared not question,
much less disobey. It represented to her mind the divine
will and purposes, which were wisdom entirely, and could
only fail through the pride or disobedience of sinners like
herself. Angelina, on the contrary, regarded it as made
up of human beings with human intellects, full of weak-
ness, and liable to err in the interpretation of the Lord's
will, and, while praying for guidance and strength, be-
lieved it wise to follow her own judgment to a great
extent. She could not be restrained from reasoning for
herself, and would often have acted more independently,
but for her affection for Sarah. The scales, however,
were slowly falling from Sarah's eyes, though it was long
before she saw the new light as anything but a snare of
Satan, who she felt sure was bound to have her, in spite
of all her struggles. Against the growing coolness towards
her Society she did struggle and pray in deepest contri-
tion. At one time she writes,
-

114
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
“Satan is tempting me strongly with increased dissatis-
faction with Friends; but I know if I am to be of any
use it is in my own Society.”
And again: “I beseech thee, O God, to fill my heart
with love for the Society of Friends. I shall be ruined
if I listen to Satan.”
But all this was of no avail. Angelina was growing in
knowledge, and was imparting to Sarah what she learned.
The evidence is meagre, but there is enough to show that
the ruling topics claimed much of their attention during
that summer, and that Angelina, especially, drew upon
herself more than one reproof from Catherine Morris for
the interest she manifested in matters entirely outside
of the Society.” In the spring, she writes in a letter to
Thomas:
“ The following proposition was made at a Colonization
meeting in this city: is it strictly true? No two nations,
brought together under similar circumstances with those
under which the Africans have been brought into this coun-
try, have amalgamated.' Are not the people in the West
Indies principally mulatto? And how is it in South
America ? Did they not amalgamate there? Did not
the Helots, a great many of whom were Persians, etc.,
taken in battle, amalgamate with the Grecians, and rise to
equal privileges in the State ? I ask for information.
Please tell me, also, whether slavery is not an infringe-
ment of the Constitution of the United States. You
Southerners have no idea of the excitement existing at
the North on the subjects of abolition and colonization."
This shows only the dawning of interest in the mighty
subject. The evidence is full and conclusive that at this
time neither Sarah nor Angelina had formed any
decided
opinions concerning either of the societies mentioned

LANE SEMINARY DEBATE
115
above, or contemplated taking any active part whatever
in the cause of freedom.
In February, 1834, occurred the famous debate at Lane
Seminary, near Cincinnati, presided over by Dr. Lyman
Beecher, which, for earnestness, ability, and eloquence, has
probably never been surpassed in this country. A colo-
nization society, composed in great part of Southern stu-
dents, had been formed in 1832 in the seminary, but went
to pieces during the debate, which lasted eighteen even-
ings, and produced a profound sensation throughout the
Presbyterian Church, and even outside of it. President
Beecher took no part in it, standing too much in awe of
the trustees of the institution to countenance it even by
his presence, although he had promised to do so.
The speakers were all students, young men remarkable
for their sincerity and their energy, and several of them
excelling as orators. Among the latter were Henry B.
Stanton and Theodore D. Weld, both possessing great
powers of reasoning and natural gifts of eloquence. Of
Theodore D. Weld it was said, that when he lectured on
temperance, so powerfully did he affect his audiences,
that many a liquor dealer went home and emptied out the
contents of his barrels. Those who remember him in his
best days can well believe this, while others who have
had the privilege of hearing him only in his “parlor talks”
can have no difficulty in understanding the impression he
must have made on mixed audiences in those times when
his great heart, filled from boyhood with sorrow for the
oppressed, found such food for its sympathies."
לל
1 An incident of the childhood of this zealous champion of
human rights, related in a letter I have, shows how early he took
his stand by the side of the weak and defenceless. When he was
about six years old, and going to school in Connecticut, a little

116
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
It is no disparagement to the many able and eloquent
advocates of the anti-slavery cause, between 1833 and
1836, to say that public opinion placed Weld at the head
of them all. In him were combined reason and imagina-
tion, wide and accurate knowledge, manly courage, a ten-
der and sympathetic nature, a remarkable faculty of
expression, and a fervent enthusiasm which made him the
best platform orator of his time. As a lecturer on educa-
tion, temperance, and abolition, he drew crowded houses
and made many converts. The late Secretary Stanton
was one of these, and often mentioned Mr. Weld as the
most eloquent speaker he had ever heard; and Wendell
Phillips, in a recent letter, says of him: “In the first years
of the anti-slavery cause, he was our foremost advocate.”
Of Henry B. Stanton, a newspaper reporter once said
in excuse for not reporting one of his great anti-slavery
speeches, that he could not attempt to report a whirlwind
or a thunderstorm.
With such leaders, and with followers no less earnest
colored boy was admitted as a pupil. Weld had never seen a black
person before, and was grieved to find that the color of his skin
caused him to be despised by the other boys, and put off on a seat
by himself. The teacher heard him his lessons separately, and
generally sent him back to his lonely seat with a cuff or a jeer.
After witnessing this injustice for a day or two, little Weld went to
the teacher and asked to have his own seat changed. “Why, where
do you want to sit ?” asked the teacher. “By Jerry,” replied Weld.
The master burst out laughing, and exclaimed: “Why, are you a
nigger too ?” and, “Theodore Weld is a nigger!” resounded
through the school. “I never shall forget," says Mr. Weld, "the
tumult in my little bosom that day. I went, however, and sat with
Jerry, and played with Jerry, and we were great friends; and in a
week I had permission to say my lessons with Jerry, and I have
been an abolitionist ever since, and never had any prejudices to
overcome.”

DEATH OF THOMAS GRIMKÉ
117
if less brilliant, it is not surprising that the Lane Semi-
nary debate arrested such general attention, and after-
wards assumed so much importance in the anti-slavery
struggle. The trustees, fearing its effect upon their
Southern patrons, ordered that both societies should be
dissolved, and no more meetings held. The anti-slavery
students replied to this order by withdrawing in a body
from the institution. Some went over to Oberlin; others,
and among them the two I have named — entered the
field as lecturers and workers in the cause they had so ar-
dently espoused.
In September, 1834, Sarah and Angelina were gratified
by a visit from their brother Thomas, who was on his way
to Cincinnati, to deliver an address on Education before
the College of Professional Teachers, and also to visit his
brother Frederic, residing in Columbus, whom he had not
seen for sixteen years. As Angelina had not seen him
since her departure from Charleston in 1829, the few days
of his society she now enjoyed were very precious, and
made peculiarly so by after-events. The cholera was
then for the second time epidemic in the West, but those
who knew enough about it to be prudent felt no fear, and
the sisters bade farewell to their brother, cheered by his
promise to see them again on his way home. He deliv-
ered his address in Cincinnati, started for Columbus,
arrived within twelve miles of it, when, at a wayside tav-
ern, he was seized with cholera. His brother, then hold-
ing a term of the Supreme Court, was sent for. He at
once adjourned court and hastened to Thomas with a
physician. He was already speechless, but was able to
turn upon Frederic a look of recognition, then pressed
his hand, and died.
Angelina, writing of her brother's death, says: “The

118
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
world has lost an eminent reformer in the cause of Chris-
tian education, an eloquent advocate of peace, and one
who was remarkably ready for every good work. I never
saw a man who combined such brilliant talents, such di-
versity and profundity of knowledge, with such humility
of heart and such simplicity and gentleness of manner.
He was a great and good man, a pillar of the church and
state, and his memory is blessed.”
In a letter written in 1837, referring to her brother's
visit to Philadelphia, Sarah says: “We often conversed
on the subject of slavery, and never did I hear from his
lips an approval of it. He had never examined the
subject; he regarded it as a duty to do it, and he intended
devoting the powers of his mind to it the next year of his
life, and asked us to get ready for him all the abolition
works worth studying. But God took him away. My
own views were dark and confused. Had I had my pres-
ent light, I might have helped him.”
Angelina bore her testimony to the same effect. Refer-
ring to Thomas in a letter to a member of her family
many years after his death, she says:
“ He was deeply interested in every reform, and saw
very clearly that the anti-slavery agitation which began in
1832 would shake our country to its foundation. He
told me in Philadelphia that he knew slavery would be
the all-absorbing subject here, and that he intended to
devote a whole year to its investigation; and, in order that
he might do so impartially, he requested me to subscribe
for every periodical and paper, and to buy and forward
to him any books, that might be published by the Anti-
Slavery and Colonization societies. I asked whether he
believed colonization could abolish slavery. Ile said:
No, never!' but observed: 'I help that only on ac-
לל

THE CAUSE OF PEACE
119
count of its reflex influence upon slavery here. If we
can build up an intelligent, industrious community of
colored people in Africa, it will do a great deal towards
destroying slavery in the United States.'”
The loss of her brother almost crushed Sarah, although
she expresses only submission to the Lord's will. It had
the effect of closing her heart and mind once more to
everything but religion, and again she gave herself fully
and entirely to her evangelical preparation. She ex-
presses herself as longing to preach the everlasting
Gospel, and prays that she may soon be called to be a
minister, and be instrumental in turning her fellow sinners
away from the wrath to come. Later, in the early part
of 1835, after having re-perused her brother's works, she
solemnly dedicated herself to the cause of peace, persuad-
ing herself that Thomas had left it as a legacy to her and
Angelina. She resolved to use all her best endeavors to
promote its advancement, and daily prayed for a blessing
on her exertions and for the success of the cause. This at
least served to divert her thoughts from herself, and no
doubt helped her to the belief which now came to her,
that at last Satan was conquered, and she was accepted
of God.
If she could only have been comforted also with the
knowledge that her labors in the ministry were recog-
nized, her satisfaction would have been complete, but
more than ever was she tormented by the slights and
sneers of the elders, and by her own conviction that she
was a useless vessel. There is scarcely a page of her
diary that does not tell of some humiliation, some disap-
pointment connected with her services in meeting.

120
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER X.
ALTHOUGH the Quakers were the first, as a religious so-
ciety, to recognize the iniquity of slavery, and to wash
their hands of it, so far as to free all the slaves they
owned ; few of them saw the further duty of discouraging
it by ceasing all commercial intercourse with slave-hold-
ers. They nearly all continued to trade with the South,
and to use the products of slave-labor. After the appear-
ance in this country of Elizabeth Heyrick's pamphlet, in
which she so strongly urged upon abolitionists the duty of
abstinence from all slave products, the number was in-
creased of those who declined any and every participation
in the guilt of the slave-holder, and exerted themselves to
convert others to the same views; but the majority of sel-
fish and inconsiderate people is always large, and it refused
to see the good results which could be reasonably ex-
pected from such a system of self-denial. As the older
members, also, of Friends' Society were opposed to all
exciting discussions, and to popular movements generally,
while the younger ones could not smother a natural in-
terest in the great reforms of the day; it followed that,
although all were opposed to slavery in the abstract, there
was no fixed principle of action among them. In their
ranks were all sorts : gradualists and immediatists, advo-
cates of unconditional emancipation, and colonizationists,
thus making it impossible to discuss the main question

SARAH DOUGLASS
121
without excitement. Therefore all discussion was dis-
couraged and even forbidden.
The Society never counted among its members many
colored persons. There were, however, a few in Phila-
delphia, all educated, and belonging to the best of their
class. Among them was a most excellent woman, Sarah
Douglass, to whom Sarah and Angelina Grimké became
much attached, and with whom Sarah kept up a corre-
spondence for nearly thirty years.
The first letter of this correspondence which we have,
was written in March, 1835, and shows that Sarah had
known very little about her colored brethren in Philadel-
phia, and it also shows her inclination towards coloniza-
tion. She mentions having been cheered by an account
of several literary and benevolent societies among the
colored residents, expresses warm sympathy with them,
and gives them some good, practical advice about helping
themselves. She then says:
“I went about three weeks ago to an anti-slavery meet-
ing, and heard with much interest an address from
Robert Gordon. It was feeling, temperate, and judi-
cious; but one word struck my ear unpleasantly. He
said, . And yet it is audaciously asked: What has the
North to do with slavery?' The word 'audaciously,'
while I am ready to admit its justice, seemed to me in-
consistent with the spirit of the Gospel ; although we
may abhor the system of slavery, I want us to remember
that the guilt of the oppressor demands Christian pity
and Christian prayer.
“My sister went last evening to hear George Thomp-
son. She is deeply interested in this subject, and was
much pleased with his discourse. Do not the colored
people believe that the Colonization Society may prove a

122
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
-
blessing to Africa, that it may be the means of liberating
some slaves, and that, by sending a portion of them there,
they may introduce civilization and Christianity into this
benighted region? That the Colonization Society can
ever be the means of breaking the yoke in America ap-
pears to me utterly impossible, but when I look at poor
heathen Africa, I cannot but believe its efforts will be a
blessing to her.”
In the next letter, written in April, she descants on the
universal prejudice against color, - “a prejudice," she
says, “which will in days to come excite as much astonish-
ment as the facts now do that Christians some of them
I verily believe, sincere lovers of God — put to death nine-
teen persons and one dog for the crime of witchcraft.”
And yet, singularly enough, she does not, at this time,
notice the inconsistency of a separate seat for colored
people in all the churches. In the Quaker meeting this
was especially humiliating, as it was placed either directly
under the stairs, or off in a corner, was called the “ negro
seat," and was regularly guarded to prevent either col-
ored people from passing beyond it, or white people from
making a mistake and occupying it. Two years later,
Sarah and Angelina both denounced it; but before that,
though they may have privately deplored it, they seem to
have accepted it as a necessary conformity to the existing
feeling against the blacks.
The decision of Friends' Society concerning discussion
Sarah Grimké seems to have accepted, for, as we have
said, there is no expression of her views on emancipation
in letters or diary. But Angelina felt that her obligations to
humanity were greater than her obligations to the Society
of Friends; and as she listened to the eloquent speeches
of George Thompson and others, her life-long interest in

THE FIRE KINDLED
123
the slave was stimulated, and it aroused in her a desire to
work for him in some way, to do something that would
practically help his cause.
On one of several loose leaves of a diary which Ange-
lina kept at this time, we find the following under date,
“5th Mo. 12th, 1835: Five months have elapsed since
I wrote in this diary, since which time time I have be-
come deeply interested in the subject of abolition. I had
long regarded this cause as utterly hopeless, but since I
have examined anti-slavery principles, I find them so full
of the power of truth, that I am confident not many
years will roll by before the horrible traffic in human be-
ings will be destroyed in this land of Gospel privileges.
My soul has measurably stood in the stead of the poor
slave, and my earnest prayers have been poured out that
the Lord would be pleased to permit me to be instru-
mental of good to these degraded, oppressed, and suffer-
ing fellow-creatures. Truly, I often feel ready to go to
prison or to death in this cause of justice, mercy, and
love; and I do fully believe if I am called to return to
Carolina, it will not be long before I shall suffer persecu-
tion of some kind or other.”
Her fast-increasing enthusiasm alarmed her cautious
sister, and drew from her frequent and serious remon-
strances. But that she also travelled rapidly towards the
final rending of the bonds which had hitherto held her,
we find from a letter to Sarah Douglass, written in the
spring of 1835. Speaking of Jay's book of Colonization,
which had just appeared, she says:-
“ The work is written for the most part in a spirit of
Christian candor and benevolence. There is here and
there a touch of satire or sarcasm I would rather should
have been spared. The subject is one of solemn impor-

124
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
tance to our country, and while I do desire that every
righteous means may be employed to give to America a
clear and convincing view of the fearful load of guilt
that rests upon her for trading in the souls of men, yet I
do want the friends of emancipation to take no unhal-
lowed weapons to sever the manacles of the slave. I
rejoice in the hope that all the prominent friends of aboli-
tion are peace men. My sister sends her love to thee.
Her mind is deeply engaged in the cause of immediate,
unconditional emancipation. I believe she does often
pray for it.”
In July, 1835, Angelina went to visit a friend in
Shrewsbury, New Jersey. In this quiet retreat she had
ample time for reflection, and for the study of abolition.
She could, she says, think of nothing else; and the ques-
tion continually before her was, “What can I do?
What can I do?” But the more she thought, the more
perplexed she became. The certainty that any indepen-
dent action, whatever, would not only offend her Society,
but grieve her sister, stood in the way of reaching any
conclusion, and kept her in a state of unrest which plainly
showed itself in her letters to Sarah.
Doubtless she did consider Sarah's advice, for she still
looked up to her with filial regard, but before she could
do more than consider it, an event occurred which made
the turning point in her career, and emancipated her for-
ever from the restrictions to which she had so unwillingly
assented.
The difficulty which abolitionists found in holding
meetings in Boston, to be addressed by George Thomp-
son, of England, brought out in July an Appeal to the
citizens of Boston from Mr. Garrison. This reached An-
gelina's hands, and so touched her feelings, so aroused all

LETTER TO GARRISON
125
her anti-slavery enthusiasm, that she could no longer keep
quiet. She must give expression to her sympathy with
the great cause. She wrote to the author
a brave
thing for her to do but we doubt if she could have re-
frained even if she could have fully realized the storm of
reproach which the act brought down upon her. On ac-
count of its length, I cannot copy this letter entire, but a
few extracts will give an idea of its general tone and
spirit. It is dated Philadelphia, Sth Month 30th, 1835,
and begins thus: -
“ RESPECTED FRIEND: It seems as if I was compelled
at this time to address thee, notwithstanding all my
reasonings against intruding on thy valuable time, and
the uselessness of so insignificant a person as myself
offering thee the sentiments of sympathy at this alarming
crisis.
“I can hardly express to thee the deep and solemn in-
terest with which I have viewed the violent proceedings
of the last few weeks. Although I expected opposition,
I was not prepared for it so soon it took me by sur-
prise — and I greatly feared abolitionists would be driven
back in the first outset, and thrown into confusion. . .
Under these feelings I was urged to read thy Appeal to
the citizens of Boston. Judge, then, what were my
feel-
ings on finding that my fears were utterly groundless, and
that thou stoodest firm in the midst of the storm, deter-
mined to suffer and to die, rather than yield one inch. ..
The ground upon which you stand is holy ground; never,
never surrender it.”
She then goes on to encourage him to persevere in his
work, reminding him of the persecutions of reformers in

126
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
past times, and that religious persecution always began
with mobs.
“If,” she says, “persecution is the means which God
has ordained for the accomplishment of this great end,
Emancipation ; then, in dependence upon Him for
strength to bear it, I feel as if I could say, Let It Come!
for it is my deep, solemn, deliberate conviction that this is
a cause worth dying for. I say so, from what I have seen,
heard, and known in a land of slavery, where rests the
darkness of Egypt, and where is found the sin of Sodom.
Yes! Let it come — let us suffer, rather than insurrections
should arise.”
This letter Mr. Garrison published in the Liberator, to
the surprise of Angelina, and the great displeasure and
grief of her Quaker friends. But she who had just coun-
selled another to suffer and die rather than abate an inch
of his principles was not likely to quail before the
strongly expressed censure of her Society, which was at
once communicated to her. Only over her sister's tender
disapproval did she shed any tears. Her letter of expla-
nation to Sarah shows the sweetness and the firmness of
her character so conspicuously, that I offer no apology for
copying a portion of it. It is dated Shrewsbury, Sept.
27th, 1335, and enters at once upon the subject:-
“MY BELOVED SISTER: I feel constrained in all the ten-
derness of a sister's love to address thee, though I hardly
know what to say, seeing that I stand utterly condemned
by the standard which thou hast set up to judge me by-
the opinion of my friends. This thou seemest to feel an
infallible criterion. If it is, I have not so learned Christ,
for He says, he that loveth father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me,' etc. I do most fully believe

APOLOGY FOR LETTER
127
that had I done what I have done in a church capacity, I
should justly incur their censure, because they disapprove
of any intermeddling with the question, but what I did
was done in a private capacity, on my own responsibility.
Now, my precious sister, I feel willing to be condemned
by all but thyself, without a hearing; but to thee I owe
the sacred duty of vindication, though hardly one ray of
hope dawns on my mind that I shall be acquitted even by
thee. If I know mine own heart, I desire not to be ac-
quitted ; if I have erred, or if this trial of my faith is
needful for me by Him who knoweth with what food to
feed His poor dependent ones, thou hast been with me
in heights and in depths, in joy and in sorrow, therefore
to thee I speak. Thou knowest what I have passed
through on the subject of slavery; thou knowest I am an
exile from the home of my birth because of slavery —
therefore, to thee I speak.
“Previous to my writing that letter, I believe four weeks
elapsed, during which time, though I passed through close
and constant exercise, I did not read anything on the
subject of abolition, except the pieces in the Friends'
paper and the Pennsylvanian relative to the insurrec-
tions and the bonfires in Charleston. I was afraid to
read. After this, I perused the Appeal. I confess I could
not read it without tears, so much did its spirit harmonize
with my own feelings. This introduced my mind into deep
sympathy with Wm. Lloyd Garrison. I found in that
piece the spirit of my Master; my heart was drawn out
in prayer for him, and I felt as if I would like to write
to him, but forebore until this day four weeks ago, when
it seemed to me I must write to him. I put it by and sat
down to read, but I could not read. I then thought that
perhaps writing would relieve my own mind, without it

128
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
being required of me to send what I wrote. I wrote the
letter and laid it aside, desiring to be preserved from
sending it if it was wrong to do so. On Second Day night,
on my bended knees, I implored Divine direction, and
next morning, after again praying over it, I felt easy to
send it, and, after committing it to the office, felt anxiety
removed, and as though I had nothing more to do with it.
Thou knowest what has followed. I think on Fifth Day I
was brought as low as I ever was. After that my Heav-
enly Father was pleased in great mercy to open the win-
dows of heaven, and pour out upon my grief-bound,
sin-sick soul, the showers of His grace, and in prayer at
the footstool of mercy I found that relief which human
hearts denied me. A little light seemed to arise. I re-
membered how often, in deep and solemn prayer, I had
told my Heavenly Father I was willing to suffer anything
if I could only aid the great cause of emancipation, and
the query arose whether this suffering was not the pecu-
liar kind required of me. Since then I have been per-
mitted to enjoy a portion of that peace which human
hands cannot rob me of, though great sadness covers my
mind; for I feel as though my character had sustained a
deep injury in the opinion of those I love and value most
- how justly, they will best know at a future day. Silent
submission is my portion, and in the everlasting strength
of my Master, I humbly trust I shall be enabled to bear
whatever is put upon me.
“I have now said all I have to say, and I leave this
text with thee: Judge not by appearance, but judge
righteous judgment;' and again, Judge nothing before
the time. Farewell. In the love of the blessed Gospel
of God's Son, I remain, thy afflicted sister.
66 A. E. G."
-

PUBLICATION OF LETTER
129
The entry in Sarah's diary respecting this incident is
as follows. The date is two days before that of Ange-
lina's letter to her.
“The suffering which my precious sister has brought
upon herself by her connection with the anti-slavery
cause, which has been a sorrow of heart to me, is another
proof how dangerous it is to slight the clear convictions
of truth. But, like myself, she listened to the voice of
the tempter. Oh! that she may learn obedience by the
things that she suffers. Of myself I can say, the Lord
brought me up out of the horrible pit, and my prayer for
her is that she may be willing to bear the present chas-
tisement patiently."
In Angelina's diary, she describes very touchingly some
of her trials in this matter. Writing in September, 1835,
after recording in similar language to that used in her let-
ter to Sarah the state of feelings under which she wrote
and sent the letter to Garrison, she says:
“I had some idea it might be published, but did not
feel at liberty to say it must not be, for I had no idea
that, if it was, my name would be attached to it. As
three weeks passed and I heard nothing of it, I concluded
it had been broken open in the office and destroyed. Το
my great surprise, last Fourth Day, Friend B. came to tell
me a letter of mine had been published in the Liberator.
He was most exceeding tried at my having written it,
and also at its publication. He wished me to re-examine
the letter, and write to Wm. Lloyd Garrison, expressing
disapproval of its publication, and altering some portions
of it. His visit was, I believe, prompted by the affection
he bears me, but he appeared utterly incapable of under-
standing the depth of feeling under which that letter was
written. The editor's remarks were deeply trying to him.
-

130
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Friend B. seemed to think they were the ravings of a
fanatic, and that the bare mention of my precious
brother's name was a disgrace to his character, when
coupled with mine in such a cause and such a paper, or
rather in a cause advocated in such a way. I was so
astonished and tried that I hardly knew what to say. I
declined, however, to write to W.L. G., and said I felt
willing to bear any suffering, if it was only made instru-
mental of good. I felt my great unworthiness of being
used in such a work, but remembered that God hath
chosen the weak things of this world to confound the
wise. But I was truly miserable, believing my character
was altogether gone among my dearest, most valued
friends. I was indeed krought to the brink of despair, as
the vilest of sinners. A little light dawned at last, as I
remembered how often I had told the Lord if He would
only prepare me to be, and make me, instrumental in the
great work of emancipation, I would be willing to bear
any suffering, and the question arose, whether this was not
the peculiar kind allotted to me. Oh, the extreme pain
of extravagant praise ! to be held up as a saint in a pub-
lic newspaper, before thousands of people, when I felt I
was the chief of sinners. Blushing, and confusion of
face were mine, and I thought the walls of a prison would
have been preferable to such an exposure. Then, again,
to have my name, not so much my name as the name of
Grimké, associated with that of the despised Garrison,
seemed like bringing disgrace upon my family, not my-
self alone. I felt as though the name had been tarnished
in the eyes of thousands who had before loved and re-
vered it. I cannot describe the anguish of my soul.
Nevertheless, I could not blame the publication of the
letter, nor would I have recalled it if I could.

SARAH DISAPPROVES
131
“My greatest trial is the continued opposition of my
precious sister Sarah. She thinks I have been given over
to blindness of mind, and that I do not know light from
darkness, right from wrong. Her grief is that I cannot
see it was wrong in me ever to have written the letter at
all, and she seems to think I deserve all the suffering I
have brought upon myself.”
We approach now the most interesting period in the
lives of the two sisters. A new era was about to dawn
upon them; their quiet, peaceful routine was to be dis-
turbed; a path was opening for them, very different from
the one which had hitherto been indicated, and for which
their long and painful probation had eminently prepared
them. Angelina was the first to see it, the first to ven-
ture upon it, and for a time she travelled it alone, unsus-
tained by her beloved sister, and feeling herself con-
demned by all her nearest friends.

132
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XI.
ALL through the winter of 1835-36, demonstrations
of violence continued to be made against the friends of
emancipation throughout the country. The reign of
terror inaugurated in 1832 threatened to crush out the
grandest principles of our Constitution. Freedom of
press and speech became by-words, and personal liberty
was in constant danger. A man or woman needed only
to be pointed out as an abolitionist to be insulted and
assaulted. No anti-slavery meetings could be held unin-
terrupted by the worst elements of rowdyism, instigated
by men in high position. In vain the authorities were
appealed to for protection; they declared their inability
to afford it. The few newspapers that dared to express
disapproval of such disregard of the doctrine of cqual
rights were punished by the withdrawal of subscriptions
and advertisements, while the majority of the public
press teemed with the vilest slanders against the noble
men and women who, in spite of mobs and social ostra-
cism, continued to sow anti-slavery truths so diligently
that new converts were made every day, and the very
means taken to impose upon public opinion enlightened
it more and more.1
1 Apropos of sowing anti-slavery truths, I remember seeing at
the first anti-slavery fair I attended, -in 1853, I think,-a sampler

PRACTICAL EFFORTS
133
During this winter we find nothing especial to narrate
concerning Sarah and Angelina. Sarah's diary continues
to record her trials in meeting, and her religious suffer-
ings, notwithstanding her recently expressed belief that
her eternal salvation was secured. Angelina kept no
diary at this time, and wrote few letters, but we see from
an occasional allusion in these that her mind was busy,
and that her warmest interest was enlisted in the cause of
abolition.
She read everything she could get on the subject,
wrote some effective articles for the anti-slavery papers,
and pondered night and day over the question of what
more she could do. One practical thing she did was to
write to the widow of her brother Thomas, proposing to
purchase from her the woman whom she (Angelina) in her
girlhood had refused to own, and who afterwards became
the property of her brother. This woman was now the
mother of several children, and Angelina, jointly with
Mrs. Frost, proposed to purchase them all, bring them to
Philadelphia, and emancipate them. But no notice was
taken of the application, either by their sister-in-law or
their sister Eliza, to whom Angelina repeatedly wrote on
the subject.
Learning from their mother that she was about to make
her will, Angelina and Sarah wrote to her, asking that
her slaves be included in their portions. To this she as-
sented, but managed to dispose of all but four before she
died. These were left to her two anti-slavery daughters,
made in 1836 by a little girl, a pupil in a school where evidently
great pains were taken to propagate anti-slavery principles. On
the sampler was neatly worked the words : May the points of
our needles prick the slave-holders' consciences."

134
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
who at once freed them, at the same time purchasing the
husband of one of them and freeing him.
As she continued to study anti-slavery doctrines, one
thing became very plain to Angelina — that the friends of
emancipation, in order to clear their skirts of all partici-
pation in the slave-owner's sin, must cease to use the pro-
ducts of slave labor. To this view she tried to bring all
with whom she discussed the main subject, and so impor-
tant did it appear to her, that she thought of writing to
some of the anti-slavery friends in New York about it,
but her courage failed. After what she had gone through
because of the publication of her letter to Mr. Garrison,
she shrank from the risk of having another communication
made public. But her mind was deeply exercised on this
point, and when - in the spring — she and Sarah went
to attend Yearly Meeting in Providence, R. I., an oppor-
tunity offered for her to express her views to a promi-
nent member of the New York Society, whom she met
on the boat. She begged this lady to talk to Gerrit
Smith, recently converted from colonization, and others,
about it, and to offer them, in her name, one hundred dol-
lars towards setting up a free cotton factory. This was
the beginning of a society formed by those willing to
pledge themselves to the use of free-labor products only.
In 1826 Benjamin Lundy had procured the establish-
ment, in Baltimore, of a free-labor produce store; and
subsequently he had formed several societies on the same
principle. Evan Lewis had established one in Philadel-
phia about 1826, and it was still in existence.
The sisters had been so long and so closely tied to
Philadelphia and their duties there, that the relief of the
visit to Providence was very great. Sarah mentions it in
this characteristic way:

VISIT TO PROVIDENCE
135
“The Friend of sinners opened a door of escape for
me out of that city of bonds and afflictions.” In Provi-
dence she records how much more freedom she felt in the
exercise of her ministerial gift than she did at home.
Angelina sympathized with these sentiments, feeling,
as she expresses it, that her release from Philadelphia was
signed when she left for Providence. She found it de-
lightful to be able to read what she pleased without
being criticised, and to talk about slavery freely. While
in Providence she was refreshed by calls upon her of
several abolitionists, among them a cotton manufacturer
and his son, Quakers, with whom she had a long talk, not
knowing their business. She discussed the use of slave-
labor, and descanted on the impossibility of any man
being clean-handed enough to work in the anti-slavery
cause so long as he was making his fortune by dealing in
slave-labor products. These two gentlemen afterwards
became her warm friends.
An Anti-slavery Society meeting was held in Providence
while Angelina was there, but she did not feel at liberty
to attend it, though she mentions seeing Garrison, Henry
B. Stanton, Osborne, “and others,” but does not say that
she made their acquaintance; probably not, as she was
visiting orthodox Quakers who all disapproved of these
men, and Angelina's modesty would never have allowed
her to seek their notice.
Leaving Providence, the sisters attended two Quarterly
Meetings in adjacent towns, where, Angelina states, the
subject of slavery was brought up, “and," she says,
“gospel liberty prevailed to such an extent, that even
poor
I enabled to open my lips in a few words.”
She neglected to say that these few words introduced the
subject to the meetings, and produced such deep feeling
לל
was

136
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
that many hitherto wavering ones went away strength-
ened and encouraged.
They also attended Yearly Meeting at Newport, where
many
friends were made; and where Angelina's conver-
sations on the subject which absorbed all her thoughts
produced such an impression that she was strongly urged
to remain in New England, and become an anti-slavery
missionary in the Society of Friends. But she did not
feel that she could stay, as, she says, it was shown her
very clearly that Shrewsbury was her right place for the
summer, though why, she knew not. The reason was
plainly revealed a little later.
She returned to Shrewsbury refreshed and strengthened,
and feeling that her various experiences had helped her
to see more clearly where her duty and her work lay.
But she was saddened by the conviction that if she gave
herself up, as she felt she must, to the anti-slavery cause,
she would be cast loose from her peaceful home, and from
very many dear friends, to whom she was bound by the
strongest ties of gratitude and affection. She thus writes
to a friend :
" Didst thou ever feel as if thou hadst no home on
earth, except in the bosom of Jesus? I feel so now.”
For several weeks after her return to Shrewsbury, An-
gelina tried to withdraw her mind from the subject which
her sister thought was taking too strong hold on it, and
interfering with her spiritual needs and exercises. Out
of deference to these views, she resumed her studies, and
tried to become interested in a “ History of the United
States on Peace Principles," which she had thought some
time before of writing. Then she began the composition
of a little book on the “ Beauty and Duty of Forgive-
ness, as Illustrated by the Story of Joseph," but gave
-
לל

THE SISTERS DIFFER
137
that up to commence a sacred history. In this she did
become much interested for a time, but her mind was too
heavily burdened to permit her to remain tranquil long.
Still the question was ever before her: "Is there nothing
that I can do?” She tried to be cheerful, but felt at all
times much more like shedding tears. And her suffering
was greater that it was borne alone. The friend, Mrs.
Parker, whom she was visiting, was a comparative
stranger, whose views she had not yet ascertained, and
whom she feared to trouble with her perplexities. Of
Sarah, so closely associated with Catherine Morris, she
could not make an entire confidant, and no other friend
was near. Catherine, and some others in Philadelphia,
anxious about her evident and growing indifference to
her Society duties, tried to persuade her to open a school
with one who had long been a highly-prized friend, but
Angelina very decidedly refused to listen to the project.
“As to S. W.'s proposal,” she writes, “I cannot think
of acceding to it, because I have seen so clearly that my
pen, at least, must be employed in the great reformations
of the day, and if I engaged in a school, my time would
not be my own. No money that could be given could in-
duce me to bind my body and mind and soul so com-
pletely in Philadelphia. There is no lack of light as to
the right decision about this."
For this reply she received a letter of remonstrance
from Sarah, to which she thus answered:
“I think I am as afraid as thou canst be of my doing
anything to hurt my usefulness in our Society, if that is
the field designed for me to labor in. But, Is it? is often
a query of deep interest and solemnity to my mind. I
feel no openness among Friends. My spirit is oppressed
and heavy laden, and shut up in prison. What am I to

138
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
me.
do? The only relief I experience is in writing letters
and pieces for the peace and anti-slavery causes, and this
makes me think that my influence is to reach beyond our
own limits. My mind is fully made up not to spend next
winter in Philadelphia, if I can help it. I feel strangely
released, and am sure I know not what is to become of
I am perfectly blind as to the future."
But light was coming, and her sorrowful questionings
were soon to be answered.
It was not long before Mrs. Parker saw that her guest's
cheerfulness was assumed, and only thinly veiled some
great trouble.
As they became more intimate, she ques-
tioned her affectionately, and soon drew from her the
whole story of her sorrows and her perplexities, and her
great need of a friend to feel for her and advise her. Mrs.
Parker became this friend, and, though differing from her
on some essential points, did much to help and strengthen
her. For many days slavery was the only topic dis-
cussed between them, and then one morning Angelina
entered the breakfast-room with a beaming countenance,
and said: -
“ It has all come to me; God has shown me what
I can do; I can write an appeal to Southern women,
one which, thus inspired, will touch their hearts, and
lead them to use their influence with their husbands
and brothers. I will speak to them in such tones that
they must hear me, and, through me, the voice of justice
and humanity.”
This appeal was begun that very day, but before she
had written many pages, she was interrupted in her task
by a letter which threw her into a state of great agita-
tion, and added to her perplexity. This letter was
from Elizur Wright, then secretary of the American

ELIZUR WRIGHT'S INVITATION
139
Anti-Slavery Society, the office of which was in New
York. He invited her, in the name of the Executive
Committee of the Society, to come to New York, and
meet with Christian women in sewing circles and private
parlors, and talk to them, as she so well knew how to do,
on slavery.
The door of usefulness she had been looking for so
long was opened at last, but it was so unexpected, so dif-
ferent from anything she had yet thought of, that she was
cast into a sea of trouble. Naturally retiring and unob-
trusive, she shrank from so public an engagement, and
this proposal frightened her so much that she could not
sleep the first night after receiving it. She had never
spoken to the smallest assembly of Friends, and even in
meeting, where all were free to speak as the spirit moved
them, she had never uttered a word ; and yet, how could
she refuse? She delayed her answer until she could
make it the subject of prayer and consult with Sarah.
Desiring to leave her sister entirely free to express her
opinion, she merely wrote to her that she had received
the proposition.
Sarah was beginning to feel that Angelina was growing
beyond her, and, may be, above her. She did not offer a
word of advice, but most tenderly expressed her entire
willingness to give up her “precious child,” to go any-
where, and do anything she felt was right. And in a
letter to a friend, alluding to this, she says: -
My beloved sister does indeed need the prayers of all
who love her. Oh! may He who laid down his life for us
guide her footsteps and keep her in the hollow of His
holy hand. Perhaps the Lord may be pleased to cast our
lot somewhere together. If so, I feel as if I could ask no
more in this world."
CG

140
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Sarah's willingness to surrender her to wnatever work
she felt called to do was a great relief to Angelina. In
writing to thank her and to speak more fully of Mr.
Wright's letter, she says:
6 The bare idea that such a thing may be required of
me is truly alarming, and that thy mind should be at all
resigned to it increases the fear that possibly I may have
to do it. It does not appear by the letter that it is ex-
pected I should extend my work outside of our Society.
One thing, however, I do see clearly, that I am not to do
it now, for I have begun to write an "Appeal to the
Christian Women of the South, which I feel must be
finished first."
She then proceeds to give an account of the part of this
Appeal already written, and of what she intended the rest
to be, and shows that she shared the feelings common
among Southerners, the anticipation of a servile insurrec-
tion sooner or later. She says:-
“In conclusion I intend to take up the subject of aboli-
tionism, and endeavor to undeceive the South as to the
supposed objects of anti-slavery societies, and bear my
full testimony to their pacific principles; and then to
close with as feeling an appeal as possible to them as
women, as Christian women, setting before them the
awful responsibility resting on them at this crisis; for if
the women of the South do not rise in the strength of the
Lord to plead with their fathers, husbands, brothers, and
sons, that country must witness the most dreadful scenes
of murder and blood.
“It will be a pamphlet of a dozen pages, I suppose. My
wish is to submit it to the publishing committee of the
A. A. S. S., of New York, for revision, to be published by
them with my name attached, for I well know my name

ASKING ADVICE OF SARAH
141
is worth more than myself, and will add weight to it.1
Now, dearest, what dost thou think of it? A pretty bold
step, I know, and one of which my friends will highly
disapprove, but this is a day in which I feel I must act
independently of consequences to myself, for of how little
consequence will my trials be, if the cause of truth is
helped forward ever so little. The South must be reached.
An address to men will not reach women, but an address
to women will reach the whole community, if it can be
reached at all.
“I mean to write to Elizur Wright by to-morrow's mail,
informing him that I am writing such a pamphlet, and
that I feel as if the proposition of the committee is one of
too much importance, either to accept or refuse, without
more reflection than I have yet been able to give to it.
The trial would indeed be great, to have to leave this
sweet, quiet retreat, but if duty calls, I must go....
Many, many thanks for thy dear, long letters."
While Angelina was thus busily employed, and buoyed
up by the hope of benefiting those whose wrongs she had
all her life felt so deeply, Sarah was reaching towards her,
and in trying to be indulgent to her and just to her Soci-
ety at the same time, she was awakening to her own false
position and to some of the awful mistakes of her religious
life. Through the summer, such passages as the follow-
ing appear in her diary: ---
“The approach of our Yearly Meeting was almost
overwhelming. I felt as if I could be thankful even for
1 In a letter written some time after, she says: “I would have
liked thee to join thy name to mine in my Appeal, but thought it
would probably bring out so much opposition and violence, that I
preferred bearing it all myself.”

142
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
sickness, for almost anything so I might have escaped
attending it. But my dear Saviour opened no door, and
after a season of unusual conflict I was favored with resig-
nation.
“Oh! the cruel treatment I have undergone from those
in authority. I could not have believed it had I not been
called to endure it. But the Lord permits it. My part is
not to judge how far they have been moving under divine
direction, but to receive humbly and thankfully through
them the lessons of meekness, lowliness, faith, patience,
and love, and I trust I may be thankful for the opportu-
nity thus afforded to love my enemies and to pray for
them, and perhaps it is to prepare me to feel for others,
that I have been thus tried and afflicted.”
That she was thus prepared was evidenced through all
the varied experiences of her after-life, for certainly no
more sympathetic soul ever dwelt in a mortal frame, and
more generously diffused its warmth and tenderness upon
all who came within its radius.
After the next First Day meeting, she writes :-
“The suffering in my own meeting is so intense that I
think nothing short of a settled conviction that obedience
and eternal life are closely connected could enable me to
open my lips there."
Two weeks later, an almost prophetic sentence is
written.
“ Truly discouragement does so prevail that it would be
no surprise to me if Friends requested me to be silent.
Hitherto, I have been spared this trial, but if it comes,
O Holy Father, may my own will be so slain that I
may bow in reverent adoring submission."
Notwithstanding all this distress, however, Sarah might
still have lingered on some time longer, stifling in the dry
92

THE LAST STRAW
113
dust of the Quaker Church, and refusing to partake of the
living water Angelina proffered to her, but for an incident
which occurred about this time, scarcely a fortnight after
the last sentence quoted, an incident which proved to be
the last straw added to the heavy burden she had borne
so submissively, if not patiently. It is best given in her
own words, and I may add, it is the last entry in her
most remarkable diary.
“8th Mo. 3d. Went this morning to Orange Street
meeting after a season of conflict and prayer. I believed
the Lord required this sacrifice, but I went with a heart
bowed down, praying to Jesus that I might not speak my
own words, that he would be pleased to make a way for
me, or, if what I had to deliver brought upon me opposition,
to strengthen me to endure it. The meeting had been
gathered some time when I arose, and after repeating our
Lord's thrice-repeated query to Peter, 'Lovest thou me?'
I remarked that it was addressed to one who had been
forgiven much, and who could appeal to the Searcher of
hearts that he did indeed love Him. Few of us had had
the temptation to endure which overcame Peter when he
denied his Lord and Master. But although few of us
might openly deny the Lord who bought us, yet there is,
I apprehend, in many of us an evil heart of unbelief,
which alienates us from God and disqualifies from answer-
ing the query as Peter did. I had proceeded so far when
Jonathan Evans rose and said: 'I hope the Friend will
now be satisfied.' I immediately sat down and was
favored to feel perfectly calm. The language, “Ye can
have no power at all against me unless it be given you,'
sustained me, and although I am branded in the public
eye with the disapprobation of a poor fellow worm, and it
was entirely a breach of discipline in him to publicly

144
TIIE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
silence a minister who has been allowed to exercise her
gifts in her own meeting without ever having been
requested to be silent, yet I feel no anger towards him.
Surely the feelings that could prompt to so cruel an
act cannot be the feelings of Christian love. But it
seems to be one more evidence that my dear Saviour
designs to bring me out of this place. How much has his
injunction rested on my mind of latter time. When
they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another. I
pray unto Thee, O Lord Jesus, to direct the wanderer's
footsteps and to plant me where thou seest I can best pro-
mote thy glory. Expect to go to Burlington to-morrow.”
To those unacquainted with the Society of Friends
fifty years ago, and its discipline at that period, so differ-
ent from what it is now, this incident may seem of little
consequence; but it was, on the contrary, extremely se-
rious. Jonathan Evans was the presiding elder of the
Yearly Meetings, a most important personage, whose au-
thority was undisputed. He was sometimes alluded to
as “Pope Jonathan.” He had disliked Sarah from the
time of her connection with the Society, and had habitu-
ally treated her and her offerings with a silent indiffer-
ence most significant, and which, of course, had its effect
on many who pinned their prejudices as well as their
faith to the coats of the elders. It was owing entirely
to this secretly-exercised but well-understood opposition,
that Sarah had for nine long years used her ministerial
gift only through intense suffering. She believed, against
much rebellion in her own breast, that it had been given
her to use in God's service, and that she had no right to
withhold it; but she had been made so often to feel the
condemnation under which she labored, that she was
really not much surprised when the final blow came.

SARAH RESOLVES TO LEAVE PHILADELPHIA 145
But with all her religious humility her pride was great,
and her sensitiveness to any discourtesy very keen. She
may not have felt anger against Elder Evans. We can
imagine, on the contrary, that her heart was filled with
pity for him, but a pity largely mixed with contempt;
and it is certain that the Society was made, in her view,
responsible for his conduct. Every slight she had ever
received in it came back to her exaggerated; all her dis-
satisfaction with its principles of action doubled; the
grief she had always felt at its indifference to the doc-
trine of the atonement, and its neglect to preach " Jesus
Christ and him crucified,” of which she had often com-
plained, was intensified, and her first impulse was to quit
the Society, as she determined to quit Philadelphia,
for ever.
Angelina was greatly shocked when she learned of the
treatment her sister had received, but the words, “ I will
break your bonds and set you free," came immediately to
her mind, and so comforted her that her grief and indig-
nation were turned to joy. She had long felt that, kind
as Catherine Morris had always been, her strict orthodox
principles, which she severely enforced in her household,
circumscribed Sarah's liberty of thought and action, and
operated powerfully in preventing her from rising out of
her depressed and discouraged state. But though the
question had often revolved itself in her mind, and even
been discussed between her and her sister, neither had
been able to see how Sarah could ever leave Catherine,
bound to her as she was by such strong ties of gratitude,
and feeling herself so necessary to Catherine's comfort.
But now the way was made clear, and certainly no true
friend of Sarah could expect her to remain longer in
Philadelphia

146
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
It is surprising that Sarah had not discovered many
years earlier that the attempt must be futile to engraft a
scion of the Charleston aristocracy upon the rugged stock
of Quaker orthodoxy.
She went to Burlington, to the house of a dear friend
who knew of all her trials, and there she remained for
several weeks.
Angelina had finished her “ Appeal," and, only two
days before she heard of the Evans incident, wrote to
Sarah to inform her of the fact. This letter is dated
“ Aug. 1st, 1836."
After a few affectionate inquiries, she says: “I have
just finished my 'Appeal to Southern Women.' It has
furnished work for two weeks. How much I wish I
could have thee here, if it were only for three or four
hours, that we might read it over together before I send
it to Elizur Wright. I read it to Margaret, and she says
it carries its own evidence with it; still, I should value
thy judgment very much if I could have it, but a private
opportunity offers to-morrow, and I think I had better send
it. It must go just as I sent my letter to W. L. G., with
fervent prayers that the Lord would do just as he pleased
with it. I believe He directed and helped me to write it,
and now I feel as if I had nothing to do but to send it to
the Anti-Slavery Society, submitting it entirely to their
judgment. . . . I cannot be too thankful for the change
thou expressest in thy feelings with regard to the Anti-
Slavery Society, and feel no desire at all to blame thee for
former opposition, believing, as I do, that it was permitted
in order to drive me closer to my Saviour, and into a deeper
examination of the ground upon which I was standing.
I am indeed thankful for it; how could I be otherwise,
when it was so evident thou hadst my good at heart and

ANGELINA'S A. S. FEELINGS
147
really did for the best ? And it did not hurt me at all.
It did not alienate me from the blessed cause, for I think
the same suffering that would drive us back from a bad
cause makes us cling to and love a good one more ar-
dently. O sister, I feel as if I could give up not only
friends, but life itself, for the slave, if it is called for. I
feel as if I could go anywhere to save him, even down
to the South if I am called there. The conviction deep-
ens and strengthens, as retirement affords fuller oppor-
tunity for calm reflection, that the cause of emancipation
is a cause worth suffering for, yea, dying for, if need be.
With regard to the proposed mission in New York, I can
see nothing about it, and never did any poor creature feel
more unfit to do anything than I do to undertake it.
But what duty presses me into, I cannot press myself out
of.... I sometimes feel frightened to think of how
long I was standing idle in the market-place, and cannot
help attributing it in a great measure to the doctrine of
nothingness so constantly preached up in our Society. It
is the most paralyzing, zeal-quenching doctrine that ever
was preached in the Church, and I believe has produced
its legitimate fruit of nothingness in reducing us to noth-
ing, when we ought to have been a light in the Christian
Church. . . . Farewell, dearest, perhaps we shall soon
meet."
The Appeal was sent to New York, and this was what
Mr. Wright wrote to the author in acknowledging its
receipt:-
"I have just finished reading your Appeal, and not with
a dry eye. I do not feel the slightest doubt that the com-
mittee will publish it. Oh that it could be rained down
into every parlor in our land. I know it will carry the
Christian women of the South if it can be read, and my

148
THE SISTEPS GRIMKÉ
soul blesses that dear and glorious Saviour who has helped
you to write it."
When it was read some days after to the gentlemen of
the committee, they found in it such an intimate knowl-
edge of the workings of the whole slave system, such
righteous denunciation of it, and such a warm interest in
the cause of emancipation, that they decided to publish it
at once and scatter it through the country, especially
through the South. It made a pamphlet of thirty-six
pages. The Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine for October,
1836, thus mentions it :-
“ This eloquent pamphlet is from the pen of a sister of
the late Thomas S. Grimké, of Charleston, S. C. We
need hardly say more of it than that it is written with
that peculiar felicity and unction which characterized
the works of her lamented brother. Among anti-slavery
writings there are two classes — one especially adapted
to make new converts, the other to strengthen the old.
We cannot exclude Miss Grimké's Appeal from either
class. It belongs pre-eminently to the former. The con-
verts that will be made by it, we have no doubt, will be
not only numerous, but thorough-going.”
Mr. Wright spoke of it as a patch of blue sky breaking
through the storm-cloud of public indignation which had
gathered so black over the handful of anti-slavery workers.
This praise was not exaggerated. The pamphlet pro-
duced the most profound sensation wherever it was read,
but, as Angelina predicted, she was made to suffer for
having written it. Friends upbraided and denounced
her, Catherine Morris even predicting that she would be
disowned, and intimating pretty plainly that she would
not dissent from such punishment; and Angelina even
began to doubt her own judgment, and to question if she

HER CLEAR CONVICTIONS
149
ought not to have continued to live a useless life in Phila-
delphia, rather than to have so displeased her best friends.
But her convictions of duty were too strong to allow her
to remain long in this depressed, semi-repentant state. In
a letter to a friend she expresses herself as almost won-
dering at her own weakness; and of Catherine Morris she
says: “Her disapproval, more than anything else, shook
my resolution. Nevertheless, I told her, with many tears,
that I felt it a religious duty to labor in this cause, and
that I must do it even against the advice and wishes of
my friends. I think if I ever had a clear, calm view of
the path of duty in all my life, I have had it since I came
here, in reference to slavery. But I assure thee that I
expect nothing less than that my labors in this blessed
cause will result in my being disowned by Friends, but
none of these things will move me. I must confess I
value my right very little in a Society which is frowning
on all the moral reformations of the day, and almost en-
slaving its members by unchristian and unreasonable
restrictions, with regard to uniting with others in these
works of faith and labors of love. I do not believe it
would cost me one pang to be disowned for doing my
duty to the slave."
But her condemnation reached beyond the Quaker
Society - even to her native city, where her Appeal pro-
duced a sensation she had little expected. Mr. Weld's
account of its reception there is thus given :-
“When it (the Appeal) came out, a large number of
copies were sent by mail to South Carolina. Most of
them were publicly burned by postmasters. Not long
after this, the city authorities of Charleston learned that
Miss Grimké was intending to visit her mother and
sisters, and pass the winter with them. Thereupon the

150
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
mayor
called
upon
Mrs. Grimké and desired her to inform
her daughter that the police had been instructed to pre-
vent her landing while the steamer remained in port, and
to see to it that she should not communicate, by letter or
otherwise, with any persons in the city; and, further,
that if she should elude their vigilance and go on shore,
she would be arrested and imprisoned until the return of
the vessel. Her Charleston friends at once conveyed to
her the message of the mayor, and added that the people
of Charleston were so incensed against her, that if she
should go there despite the mayor's threat of pains and
penalties, she could not escape personal violence at the
hands of the mob. She replied to the letter that her
going would probably compromise her family; not only
distress them, but put them in peril, which she had neither
heart nor right to do; but for that fact, she would cer-
tainly exercise her constitutional right as an American
citizen, and go to Charleston to visit her relatives, and if
for that, the authorities should inflict upon her pains and
penalties, she would willingly bear them, assured that
such an outrage would help to reveal to the free States
the fact that slavery defies and tramples alike upon con-
stitutions and laws, and thus outlaws itself.”
These brave words said no more than they meant, for
Angelina Grimké's moral heroism would have borne her to
the front of the fiercest battle ever fought for human
rights; and she would have counted it little to lay down
her life if that could help on the victory. She touched
as yet only the surf of the breakers into which she was
soon to be swept, but her clear eye would not have
quailed, or her cheek have blanched, if even then all their
cruelty could have been revealed to her,

THE SISTERS TOGETHER
151
CHAPTER XII.
We have seen, a few pages back, that Angelina ex-
pressed her thankfulness at Sarah's change of views with
respect to the anti-slavery cause. Again we must regret
the destruction of Sarah's letters, which would have
shown us by what chains of reasoning her mind at last
reached entire sympathy with Angelina's. We can only
infer that her progress was rapid after the public rebuke
which caused her to turn her back on Philadelphia, and
that her sister's brave and isolated position, appealing
strongly to her affection, urged her to make a closer ex-
amination of the subject of abolitionism than she had yet
done. The result we know; her entire conversion in a
few weeks to Angelina's views. And from that time she
travelled close by her sister's side in this as well as in
other questions of reform, drawing her inspiration from
Angelina's clearer intuitions and calmer judgment, and
frankly and affectionately acknowledging her right of
leadership.
The last of August, 1836, the sisters were once more
together, Sarah having accepted Mrs Parker's invitation
to come to Shrewsbury. The question of future arrange-
ments was now discussed. Angelina felt a strong inclina-
tion to go to New England, and undertake there the same
work which the committee in New York wished her to
perform, and she even wrote to Mr. Wright that she ex-

152
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
pected to do so. Feeling also that Friends had the first
right to her time and labors, and that, if permitted, she
would prefer to work within the Society, she wrote to
her old acquaintances, E. and L. Capron, the cotton manu-
facturers of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, to consult them
on the subject. She mentions this in a letter to her
friend, Jane Smith, saying: -
"My present feelings lead me to labor with Friends on
the manufacture and use of the products of slave-labor.
They excuse themselves from doing anything, because
they say they cannot mingle in the general excitement,
and so on. Now, here is a field of labor in which they
need have nothing to do with other societies, and yet will
be striking a heavy blow at slavery. These topics the
Anti-Slavery Society has never acted upon as a body, and
therefore no agent of theirs could consistently labor on
them. I stated to E. and L. Capron just how I felt, and
asked whether I could be of any use among them, whether
they were prepared to have the morality of these things
discussed on Christian principles. I have no doubt my
Philadelphia friends will oppose my going there, but,
Jane, I have realized very sensibly of late that I belong
not to them, but to Christ Jesus, and that I must follow
the Lamb whithersoever He leadeth.... I feel as if I
was about to sacrifice every friend I thought I had, but
I still believe with T. D. Weld, that this is a cause
worth dying for.”
This is the first mention we find of her future husband,
whom she had not yet seen, but whose eloquent addresses
she had read, and whose ill-treatment by Western mobs
had more than once called forth the expression of her in-
dignation.
The senior member of the firm to which she had writ-

A REBELLIOUS QUAKER
153
ten answered her letter in person, and, she says, utterly
discouraged her. He said that if she should go into New
England with the avowed intention of laboring among
Friends on the subject of slavery in any way, her
path would be completely closed, and she would find her-
self entirely helpless. He even went so far as to say that
he believed there were Friends who would destroy her
character if she attempted anything of the kind. He
proposed that she should go to his house for the winter,
and employ her time in writing for the Anti-Slavery So-
ciety, and doing anything else she could incidentally.
But this plan did not suit her. She felt it right to offer
her services to Friends first, and was glad she had done
so; but if they would not ac them she must take
them elsewhere. Besides, when she communicated
her plan to Catherine Morris, Catherine objected to it
very decidedly, and said she could not go without a certi-
ficate and a companion, and these she knew Friends would
not grant her.
“Under all these circumstances,” Angelina writes, “I
felt a little like the apostle Paul, who having first offered
the Jews the gospel, and finding they would not receive
it, believed it right for him to turn to the Gentiles.
Didst thou ever hear anything so absurd as what Cathe-
rine says about the certificate and a companion? I can-
not feel bound by such unreasonable restrictions if my
Heavenly Father opens a door for me, and I do not mean
to submit to them. She knows very well that Arch
Street Meeting would grant me neither, but as the servant
of Jesus Christ I have no right to bow down thus to the
authority of man, and I do not expect ever again to suffer
myself to be trammelled as I have been. It is sinful in
any human being to resign his or her conscience and free

151
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
agency to any society or individual, if such usurpation
can be resisted by moral power. The course our Society
is now determined upon, of crushing everything which
opposes the peculiar views of Friends, seems to me just
like the powerful effort of the Jews to close the lips of
Jesus. They are afraid that the Society will be com-
pletely broken up if they allow any difference of opinion
to pass unrebuked, and they are resolved to put down all
who question in any way the doctrines of Barclay, the
soundness of Fox, or the practices which are built on
them. But the time is fast approaching when we shall
see who is for Christ, and who for Fox and Barclay, the
Paul and Apollos of our Society."
Her plan of going to New England frustrated, Ange-
lina hesitated no longer about accepting the invitation
from New York. But first there was a long discussion of
the subject with Sarah, who found it hard to resign her
sister to a work she as yet did not cordially approve.
She begged her not to decide suddenly, and pointed out
all sorts of difficulties -- the great responsibility she
would assume, her retiring disposition, and almost morbid
shrinking from whatever might make her conspicuous;
the trial of going among strangers, made greater by her
Quaker costume and speech, and lastly, of the almost uni-
versal prejudice against a woman's speaking to any audi-
ence; and she asked her if, under all these embarrassing
circumstances, added to her inexperience of the world,
she did not feel that she would ultimately be forced to
give up what now seemed to her so practicable. To all
this Angelina only answered that the responsibility
seemed thrust upon her, that the call was God's call, and
she could not refuse to answer it. Sarah then told her
that if she should go upon this mission without the sanc-

REMOVAL TO NEW YORK
155
made up.
tion of the “Meeting for Sufferings,” it would be re-
garded as a violation of the established usages of the So-
ciety, and it would feel obliged to disown her. Angelina's
answer to this ended the discussion. She declared that as
her mind was made up to go, she could not ask leave of
her Society — that it would grieve her to have to leave
it, and it would be unpleasant to be disowned, but she
had no alternative. Then Sarah, whose loving heart had,
during the long talk, been moving nearer and nearer to
that of her dear child, surprised her by speaking in the
beautiful, tender language of Ruth: “If thou indeed
feelest thus, and I cannot doubt it, then my mind too is
Where thou goest, I will go; thy God shall
be my God, thy people my people. What thou doest, I
will, to my utmost, aid thee in doing. We have wept
and prayed together, we will go and work together.”
And thus fully united, heart and soul and mind, they
departed for New York, Angelina first writing to inform
the committee of her decision, and while thanking them
for the salary offered, refusing to receive any. She also told
them that her sister would accompany her and co-operate
with her, and they would both bear their own expense.
After this time, the sisters found themselves in frequent
and intimate association with the men who, as officers of
the American Anti-Slavery Society, had the direction of
the movement. The marked superiority of their new
friends in education, experience, culture, piety, liberality
of view, statesmanship, decision of character, and energy
in action, to the Philadelphia Quakers and Charleston
slave-holders, must have been to them a surprise and a
revelation. Working with a common purpose, these men
were of varied accomplishments and qualities. William
Jay and James G. Birney were cultured men of the world,

156
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
trained in legal practice and public life; Arthur Tappan,
Lewis Tappan, John Rankin, and Duncan Dunbar, were
successful merchants; Abraham L. Cox, a physician in
large practice; Theodore D. Weld, Henry B. Stanton,
Alvan Stewart, and Gerrit Smith were popular orators;
Joshua Leavitt, Elizur Wright, and William Goodell were
ready writers and able editors; Beriah Green and Amos
A. Phelps were pulpit speakers and authors, and John G.
Whittier was a poet. Some of them had national reputa-
tions. Those who in December, 1835, protested against
the false charges of publishing incendiary documents cal-
culated to excite servile war, made against the Society by
President Jackson, had signed names almost as well
known as his, and had written better English than his
message. Several of them had been officers of the Amer-
ican Anti-Slavery Society from its formation. Their
energy had been phenomenal: they had raised funds, sent
lecturers into nearly every county in the free States, and
circulated in a single year more than a million copies of
newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and books. Their
moderation, good judgment, and piety had been seen and
known of all men.
Faithful in the exposure of unfaithful-
ness to freedom on the part of politicians and clergymen,
they denounced neither the Constitution nor the Bible.
Their devotion to the cause of abolition was pure; for its
sake they suppressed the vanity of personal notoriety and
of oratorical display. Among them, not one can be
found who sought to make a name as a leader, speaker, or
writer; not one who was jealous of the reputation of co-
adjutors; not one who rewarded adherents with flattery
and hurled invectives at dissentients; not one to whom
personal flattery was acceptable or personal prominence
desirable; not one whose writings betrayed egotism, self-

THE ANTI-SLAVERY LEADERS
157
inflation or bombast. Such was their honest aversion to
personal publicity, it is now almost impossible to trace the
work each did. Some of their noblest arguments for
Freedom were published anonymously. They made no
vainglorious claims to the original authorship of ideas.
But never in the history of reform was work better done
than the old American Anti-Slavery Society did from its
formation in 1833 to its disruption in 1840. In less than
seven years it regained for Freedom most of the vantage-
ground lost under the open assaults and secret plottings,
beginning in 1829, of the Jackson administration, and in
the panic caused by the Southampton insurrection; blew
into flame the embers of the national anti-slavery senti-
ment; painted slavery as it was; vindicated the anti-
slavery character of the Constitution and the Bible;
defended the right of petition ; laid bare the causes of
the Seminole war: exposed the Texas conspiracy and the
designs of the slave power for supremacy; and freed the
legitimate abolition cause from 6 no human government,”
secession, and anti-constitution heresies. In short, it
planted the seed which flowered and fruited in a political
party, around which the nation was to gather for defence
against the aggressions of the slave power.
At the anti-slavery office in New York, Angelina and
Sarah learned, much to their satisfaction, that the work
that would probably be required of Angelina could be
done in a private capacity; that it was proposed to orga-
nize, the next month (November), a National Female Anti-
Slavery Society, for which women agents would be
needed, and they could make themselves exceedingly
useful travelling about, distributing tracts, and talking to
Women in their own homes.
There the matter rested for a time.

158
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Writing to her friend Jane Smith in Philadelphia after
their return to Shrewsbury, Angelina says: -
"I am certain of the disapproval of nearly all my
friends. As to dear Catherine, I am afraid she will
hardly want to see me again. I wrote to her all about it,
for I wanted her to know what my prospects were. I ex-
pect nothing less than the loss of her friendship and of
my membership in the Society. The latter will be a far
less trial than the former. ... I cannot describe to thee
how my dear sister has comforted and strengthened me.
I cannot regard the change in her feelings as any other
than as a strong evidence that my Heavenly Father has
called me into the anti-slavery field, and after having
tried my faith by her opposition, is now pleased to
strengthen and confirm it by her approbation."
In a postscript to this letter, Sarah says:-
“God does not willingly grieve or afflict the children of
men, and if my suffering or even my beloved sister's,
which is harder to bear than my own, can help forward
the cause of Truth and Righteousness, I may rejoice in
that we are found worthy not only to believe on, but also
to suffer for, the name of Jesus.”
Angelina adds that she shall be obliged to go to Phila-
delphia for a week or so, to dispose of her personal effects,
and asks Jane to receive her as a boarder, as she did not
think it would be right to impose herself upon either her
sister, Mrs. Frost, or Catherine, on account of their disap-
proval of anti-slavery measures.
“I never felt before," she says, " as if I had no home.
It seems as if the Lord had completely broken up my rest
and driven me out to labor for the poor slave. It is His
work - I blame no one."
A few weeks later, the sisters were again in New York,
לל

T. D. WELD
159
the guests of that staunch abolitionist, Dr. Cox, and his
good wife, Abby, as earnest a worker in the cause as her
husband. An anti-slavery convention had been called for
the first week in the month of November, and met soon
after their arrival. It was at this convention that Ange-
lina first saw and listened to Theodore D. Weld.
Writing to her friend Jane, she says:-
“The meetings are increasingly interesting, and to-day
(11th) we enjoyed a moral and intellectual feast in a
most noble speech from T. D. Weld, of more than two
hours, on the question, "What is slavery?' I never
heard so grand and beautiful an exposition of the dignity
and nobility of man in my life.”
She goes on to give a synopsis of the entire speech,
and by her frequent enthusiastic comments reveals how
much it and the speaker impressed her. She continues :-
“ After the meeting was over, W. L. Garrison intro-
duced Weld to us. He greeted me with the appellation
of my dear sister,' and I felt as though he was a brother
indeed in the holy cause of suffering humanity; a man
raised up by God and wonderfully qualified to plead the
cause of the oppressed. Perhaps now thou wilt want to
know how this lion of the tribe of abolition looks. Well,
at first sight, there was nothing remarkable to me in his
appearance, and I wondered whether he was really as
great as I had heard. But as soon as his countenance
became animated by speaking, I found it was one which
portrayed the noblest qualities of the heart and head
beaming with intelligence, benevolence, and frankness.”
On the last page of her letter she says: “It is truly
comforting to me to find that sister is so much pleased
with the Convention, that she acknowledges the spirit of
brotherly love and condescension manifest there, and that

160
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
earnest desire after truth which characterizes the ad-
dresses. We have been introduced to a number of aboli-
tionists, Thurston, Phelps, Green, the Burleighs, Wright,
Pritchard, Thome, etc., and Amos Dresser, as lovely a
specimen of the meekness and lowliness of the great
Master as I ever saw. His countenance betrayeth that he
has been with Jesus, and it was truly affecting to hear
him on Sixth Day give an account of the Nashville
outrage to a very large colored school.1
“ The F. A. S. Society is to have its first public meeting
this week, at which we hope to hear Weld, but fear he
will not have time, as he is not even able to go home to
meals, and told me he had sat up until two o'clock every
night since he came to New York. As to myself, I feel I
have nothing to do but to attend the Convention at
present. I am very comfortable, feeling in my right
place, and sister seems to feel so too, though neither of us
sees much ahead.”
In her next letter she describes the deepening interest
of the Convention, and Sarah's increasing unity with its
members.
1 Amos Dresser was one of the Lane Seminary students. After
leaving that institution, in order to raise funds to continue his
studies, he accepted an agency for the sale of the “Cottage Bible.”
While peacefully prosecuting his business in Nashville, in 1834, it
became known that he was an abolitionist. This was enough.
He was arrested, his trunk broken open, and its contents searched
and scattered. He was then taken before a vigilance committee,
and without a single charge, except that of his anti-slavery princi-
ples, being brought against him, was condemned to receive twenty
lashes, “well laid on," on the bare back, and then to be driven
from the town. The sentence was carried out by the votes and in
the presence of thousands of people, and was presided over by the
mayor and the elders of the Presbyterian Church from whose hands
Mr. Dresser had, the Sunday before, received the Holy Communion.

EPISTLE TO THE CLERGY
161
“We sit,” she says, “ from 9 to 1, 3 to 5, and 7 to 9, and
never feel weary at all. It is better, far better than any
Yearly Meeting I ever attended. It is still uncertain
when we shall adjourn, and it is so good to be here that I
don't know how to look forward to the end of such a
feast. . .. T. D. Weld is to begin his Bible argument
to-morrow. It will occupy, he says, four days.”
The Convention adjourned the latter part of November,
1836, and we may judge how profitable its meetings had
proved to Sarah Grimké, from the fact that she at once
began the preparation of an " Epistle to the Clergy of the
Southern States," which, printed in pamphlet form, was
issued some time in December, and was as strong an argu-
ment against the stand on the subject of slavery taken by
the majority of the clergy as had yet appeared. Reading
it, one would little suspect how recent had been the
author's opposition to just such protests as this, calculated
to stir up bitter feelings and create discussion and excite-
ment in the churches. It is written in a spirit of gentle-
ness and persuasion, but also of firm admonition, and
evidently under a deep sense of individual responsibility.
It shows, too, that Sarah had reached full accord with
Angelina in her views of immediate emancipation.
By the time the Convention was over, the sisters, and
portions of their history, had become so well known to
abolitionists, that the leaders felt they had secured inval-
uable champions in these two Quaker women, one so logi-
cal, brilliant, and persuasive; the other so intelligent,
earnest, and conscientious; and both distinguished by
their ability to testify as eye-witnesses against the mon-
strous evils of slavery.
It was proposed that they should begin to hold a series
of parlor meetings, for women only, of course. But it

162
THE SISTERS GRIMKE
was soon found that they had, in private conversations,
made such an impression, that no parlors would be large
enough to accommodate all who desired to hear them
speak more at length. Upon learning this, the Rev. Mr.
Dunbar, a Baptist clergyman, offered them the use of his
Session room, and the Female Anti-Slavery Society em-
braced the opportunity to make this the beginning of
regular quarterly meetings. On the Sunday previous to
the meeting, notice of it was given out in four churches,
without however, naming the proposed speakers. But it
became known in some way that the Misses Grimké were
to address the meeting, and a shock went through the
whole community. Not a word would have been said if
they had restricted themselves to a private parlor meet-
ing, but that it should be transferred to such a public
place as the parlor of a church made quite a different
affair of it. Friends were of course as loud as Friends
could properly be in their expressions of disapproval,
while other denominations, not so restrained, gave Mr.
Dunbar, the abolitionists, and the “two bold Southern
women an unmistakable piece of their mind. Even
Gerrit Smith, always the grandest champion of woman,
advised against the meeting, fearing it would be pro-
nounced a Fanny Wright affair, and do more harm than
good. Sarah and Angelina were appalled, the latter
especially, feeling almost as if she was the bold creature
she was represented to be. She declared her utter inabil-
ity, in the face of such antagonism, to go on with the
work she had undertaken, and the more she looked at it,
the more unnatural and unwise it seemed to her; and
when printed hand-bills were scattered about, calling at-
tention in a slighting manner to their names, both felt as
if it were humanly impossible for them to proceed any

FIRST SPEECHES TO WOMEN
163
כל
further. But the meeting had been called, and as there
was no business to come before it, they did not know
what to do.
“In this emergency,” Angelina writes, “I called upon
Him who has ever hearkened unto my cry. My strength
and confidence were renewed, my burden slipped off, and
from that time I felt sure of God's help in the hour of
need, and that He would be mouth and wisdom, tongue
and utterance to us both.”
“Yesterday," she continues, "T. D. Weld came up,
like a brother, to sympathize with us and encourage our
hearts. He is a precious Christian, and bade us not to
fear, but to trust in God. In a previous conversation on
our holding meetings, he had expressed his full unity with
our doing so, and grieved over that factitious state of so-
ciety which bound up the energies of woman, instead of
allowing her to exercise them to the glory of God and
the good of her fellow creatures. His visit was really a
strength to us, and I felt no more fear. We went to the
meeting at three o'clock, and found about three hundred
women there. It was opened with prayer by Henry Lud-
low; we were warmly welcomed by brother Dunbar, and
then these two left us. After a moment, I arose and
spoke about forty minutes, feeling, I think, entirely un-
embarrassed. Then dear sister did her part better than I
did. We then read some extracts from papers and let-
ters, and answered a few questions, when at five the meet-
ing closed ; after the question had been put whether our
sisters wished another meeting to be held. A good many
rose, and Henry Ludlow says he is sure he can get his
session room for us.”
This account of the first assembly of women, not
Quakers, in a public place in America, addressed by

164
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
American women, is deeply interesting, and touching
from its very simplicity.
We who are so accustomed to hear women speak to
promiscuous audiences on any and every subject, and to
hear them applauded too, can scarcely realize the preju-
dice which, half a century back, sought to close the lips
of two refined Christian ladies, desirous only of adding
their testimony against the greatest evil of any age or
country. But those who denounced and ridiculed them
builded better than they knew, for then and there was
laid the corner-stone of that temple of equal rights for
women, which has been built upon by so many brave
hearts and willing hands since, and has brought to the
front such staunch supporters and brilliant advocates as
now adorn every convention of the Woman's Rights
Associations.
After mentioning some who came up and spoke to
them after the meeting was over, Angelina adds :-
“ We went home to tea with Julia Tappan, and Brother
Weld was all anxiety to hear about the meeting. Julia
undertook to give some account, and among other things
mentioned that a warm-hearted abolitionist had found his
way into the back part of the meeting, and was escorted
out by Henry Ludlow. Weld's noble countenance in-
stantly lighted up, and he exclaimed: How supremely
ridiculous to think of a man's being shouldered out of a
meeting, for fear he should hear a woman speak!'
"In the evening a colonizationist of this city came to
introduce an abolitionist to Lewis Tappan. We women
soon hedged in our expatriation brother, and held a long
and interesting argument with him until near ten o'clock.
He gave up so much that I could not see what he had to
stand on when we left him.”

LECTURES
165
Another meeting, similar to the first, was held the next
week, when so much interest was manifested that it was
decided to continue the meetings every week until further
notice. By the middle of January they had become so
crowded, and were attended by such an influential class of
women, that Mr. Ludlow concluded to offer his church to
them. He always opened the meetings with prayer, and
then retired. The addresses made by the sisters were
called “ lectures,” but they were rather familiar talks, occa-
sionally a discussion, while many questions were asked and
answered. Angelina's confidence in herself increased
rapidly, until she no longer felt the least embarrassment
in speaking; though she alludes to the exhausting effect
of the meetings on her physical system. Of Sarah, she
says, writing to Jane Smith:-
“It is really delightful to see dear sister so happy in
this work. ... Some Friends come to hear us, but I do
not know what they think of the meetings — or of us.
How little, how very little I supposed, when I used so
often to say “I wish I were a man,' that I could forth
and lecture, that I ever would do such a thing. The
idea never crossed my mind that as a woman such work
could possibly be assigned to me."
To this letter there is a postscript from Sarah, in which
go
she says:
“I would not give up my abolition feelings for any-
thing I know. They are intertwined with my Christian-
ity. They have given a new spring to my existence, and
shed over my whole being sweet and hallowed enjoy-
ments.”
Angelina's next letter to her friend is dated, “20 Mo.
4th, 1837," and continues the account of the meetings.
She mentions that, at the last one, they had one male au-

165
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
ditor, who refused to go out when told he must, so
he was allowed to stay, and she says: “Somehow,
I did not feel his presence embarrassing at all, and
went on just as though he had not been there. Some
one said he took notes, and I think he was a Southern
spy, and shall not be at all surprised if he publishes us in
some Southern paper.”
Truly it was a risky thing for a lord of creation to in-
trude himself into a woman's meeting in those days!
Angelina goes on to remark that more Friends are at-
tending their meetings, and that if they were not opened
with prayer, still more would come. Also, that Friends
had been very kind and attentive to them in every way,
and never said a discouraging word to them. She then
discourses a little on phrenology, at that time quite a new
thing in this country, and relates an anecdote of “ Brother
Weld," as follows:-
“When he went to Fowler in this city, he disguised
himself as an omnibus driver. The phrenologist was so
struck with the supposed fact that an omnibus driver
should have such an extraordinary head, that he pre-
served an account of it, and did not know until some
time after that it was Weld's. He says that when he first
had his head examined at Utica, he was told he was de-
ficient in the organ of color, his eyebrow showing it. He
immediately remembered that his mother often told him:
* Theodore, it is of no use to send you to match a skein
of silk, for you never bring the right color.' When re-
lating this, he observed a general titter in the room, and
on inquiring the reason a candle was put near him, and, to
his amazement, all agreed that the legs of his pantaloons
were of different shades of green. Instead of a ridge all
around his eyebrow, he has a little hollow in one spot.”

DISREGARD OF THE COLOR LINE
167
A society for the encouragement of abstinence from
the use of slave products had just been formed in Phila-
delphia, and Angelina desired her friend to put her name
to the pledge, but not Sarah's. In a postscript Sarah ex-
plains this, saying:-
“I do abstain from slave produce as much as I can, just
because I feel most easy to do so, but I cannot say my
judgment is convinced; therefore, I would rather not
put my name to the pledge."
Her judgment was convinced, however, very shortly
afterwards, by a discussion of the subject with Weld and
some others, and she then wrote to Jane Smith to set her
name down, as she found her testimony in the great cause
was greatly strengthened by keeping clean hands.
There is much told of their meetings, and their other
experiences in New York, which is very interesting, and
for which I regret I have not room. Angelina describes
in particular one visit they made to a poor family, that
of one of her Sunday-school pupils, where they stayed to
tea, being afterwards joined by Mr. Weld, who came to
escort them home. She says of him :-
“I have seen him shine in the Convention and in re-
fined circles, but never did I admire him so much. His
perfect ease at this fireside of poverty showed that he was
accustomed to be the friend and companion of the poor of
this world."
The family here mentioned was doubtless a colored one,
as it was in the colored Sunday school that both sisters
taught. They had already proved, by their friendship
for Sarah Douglass, the Fortens, and other colored fami-
lies of Philadelphia, how slight was their prejudice
against color, but the above incident proves the entire
sincerity of their convictions and their desire to avail

168
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
themselves of every opportunity to testify to it. Still,
there is no doubt that to the influence of Theodore
Weld's conversations they owed much of their enlighten-
ment on this as well as on some other points of radical
abolitionism. It was after a talk with him that Angelina
describes the Female Anti-Slavery Society of New York
as utterly inefficient, “doing literally nothing," and as-
cribes its inefficiency to the sinful prejudice existing there,
which shut out colored women from any share in its man-
agement, and
gave
little encouragement to them even to
become members.
She adds: “I believe it is our duty to visit the poor,
white and colored, just in this way, and to receive them
at our houses. I think that the artificial distinctions in
society, the separation between the higher and the lower
orders, the aristocracy of wealth and education, are the
very rock of pauperism, and that the only way to eradi-
cate this plague from our land will be to associate with
the
poor, and the wicked too, just as our Redeemer did.
To visit them as our inferiors, the recipients of our
bounty, is quite a different thing from going among them
as our equals.”
In her next letter to Jane Smith, Angelina gives an in-
teresting account of H. B. Stanton's great speech before
the Committee of the Massachusetts legislature on the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia ; a speech
which still ranks as one of the ablest and most brilliant
ever delivered in this country. There is no date to this
letter, but it must have been written the last of February
or first of March, 1837. She begins thus:-
“I was wondering, my dear Jane, what could be the
reason I had not heard from thee, when brother Weld
came in with thine and Mira's letters hanging from the

HENRY B. STANTON
169
so
paper on which they had been tied. I bring you,' he
said, “a good emblem of the fate of abolitionists,
take warning;' and held them up to our view. ...
“ Brother Garrison was here last Sixth Day and spent
two hours with us. He gave us a most delightful account
of recent things in Boston, which I will try to tell thee of.
When the abolitionists found how their petitions were
treated in Congress, they sent in, from all parts of Massa-
chusetts, petitions to the legislature, requesting it to issue
a protest against such contempt of the people's wishes
and rights. The legislature was amazed at the number
and respectability of these petitions, and appointed a
committee to take them under consideration. Abolition-
ists then asked for a hearing before that committee, not
in the lobby, but in the Hall of Representatives. The
request was granted, and though the day was exceedingly
stormy, a good number were out. A young lawyer of
Boston first spoke an hour and a half; H. B. Stanton
followed, and completely astonished the audience, but
could not get through by dark, and asked for another
meeting. The next afternoon an overflowing audience
greeted him; he spoke three hours, and did not yet finish.
Another meeting was appointed for the next evening, and
he
says
he thinks hundreds went away because they could
not get in. Stanton spoke one hour and a quarter, and
then broke down from the greatness of the effort, added
to the unceasing labors of the winter. A profound silence
reigned through the crowded hall. Not one moved to
depart. At last a member of the committee arose, and
asked if there was any other abolitionist present who
wished to speak. Stanton said he believed not, as they
now had the views of the Anti-Slavery Society. The com-
mittee were not satisfied; and one of them said if there

170
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
So.
was any abolitionist who wished to follow Mr. Stanton,
they would gladly hear all he had to say, but all declined.
Brother Garrison said such was the desire to hear more
on this subject, that he came directly to New York to get
Weld to go and speak before them, but his throat is still
so much affected that it will be impossible for him to do
Is n't this cheering news? Here are seven hundred
men in the Massachusetts legislature, who, if they can be
moved to protest against the unconstitutional proceedings
of Congress, will shake this nation to its cents, and rock
it in a revolutionary storm that must either sink it or save
it.”
After closing their meetings in New York, the sisters
held similar ones in Newark, Bloomfield, and other places
in New Jersey, in all of which Sarah was as active and
enthusiastic as Angelina, and from this time we hear no
more of the gloom and despondency which had saddened
so many of the best years of her life. But, identified com-
pletely with her sister's work, she was busy, contented
and satisfied of the Lord's goodness and mercy.
These meetings had all been quiet and undisturbed in
every way, owing of course, to the fact that only women
attended, but the newspapers had not spared them. Ridi-
cule, sarcasm, and pity were liberally bestowed upon the
“deluded ladies” by the press generally, and the Rich-
mond Whig published several editorials about “those
fanatical women, the Misses Grimké.” But writing
against them was the extent of the opposition at that
time, and this affected them very little.
From New Jersey they went up the North River with
Gerrit Smith, holding interesting meetings at IIudson and
Poughkeepsie. At the latter place they spoke to an as-
sembly of colored people of both sexes, and this was the

SUCCESS ON THE PLATFORM
171
:-
first time Angelina ever addressed a mixed audience, and
it was perhaps in accordance with the fitness of things
that it should have been a colored one. She often spoke
of this in after years, looking back to it with pleasure.
Here, also, they attended a meeting of the Anti-slavery
Society of the Protestant Episcopal Methodist Church,
and spoke against the sin of prejudice. In a letter to
Sarah Douglass, Sarah says:
My feelings were so overcome at this meeting that I
sat down and wept. I feel as if I had taken my stand by
the side of the colored American, willing to share with
him the odium of a darker skin, and I trust if I am per-
mitted again to take my seat in Arch Street Meeting
House, it will be beside thee and thy dear mother.”
These Hudson River meetings ended the labors of the
sisters in New York for the time. They returned to the
city to take a little needed rest, and to prepare for the
Female Anti-Slavery Convention, which was to meet
there early in May. The Society which had sent them
forth had reason to be well satisfied with its experiment.
Not only had they awakened enthusiasm and sincere in-
terest in abolition, but had demonstrated the ability of
women to publicly advocate a great cause, and the entire
propriety of their doing so. One of the members of the
committee asserted that it would be as impossible to cal-
culate the number of converts they had made, as to esti-
mate the encouragement and strength their zeal and elo-
quence had given to abolitionists all over the country.
Men were slow to believe the reports of their wives and
sisters respecting Angelina's wonderful oratory, and this
incredulity produced the itching ears which soon drew to
the meetings where the Grimké sisters were to speak
more men than women, and gave them the applause and

172
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
hearty support of some of the ablest minds of New Eng-
land. The Female Anti-slavery Convention opened with
seventy-one delegates; the Misses Grimké, at their own
request, representing South Carolina. During this con-
vention they met many congenial.souls, among whom
they particularize Lydia M. Child, Mary T. Parker, and
Anna Weston, as sympathizing so entirely with their own
views respecting prejudice and the province of woman.
The latter question had long been Sarah's pet problem,
to the solution of which she had given much thought and
study, ever since the time when she was denied participa-
tion in her brother's education because of her sex. It is
scarcely too much to say that to her mind this question
was second in importance to none, and though the word
enfranchisement, as applied to woman, had not yet been
uttered, the whole theory of it was in Sarah's heart, and
she eagerly awaited the proper time and place to develop
it. Angelina, while holding the same views, would prob-
ably have kept them in the background longer, but for
Sarah's arguments, supported by the objection so fre-
quently urged against the encouragement of their meet-
ings, — that slavery was a political subject with which
women had nothing to do. This objection she answered
in a masterly paper, an " Appeal to the Women of the
Nominally Free States," which was printed in pamphlet
form and sent out by the Female Anti-Slavery Conven-
tion, and attracted wide attention. The chief point she
took was this: “ The denial of our duty to act in this
cause is a denial of our right to act; and if we have no
right to act, then may we well be termed the white
slaves of the North,' for, like our brethren in bonds, we
must seal our lips in silence and despair."
The whole argument, covering nearly seventy pages, is

THEY GO TO BOSTON
173
remarkable in its calm reasoning, sound logic, and fervid
eloquence, and will well repay perusal, even at this day.
About the same time a beautiful and most feeling “Ad-
dress to Free Colored Americans" was written by Sarah,
and likewise circulated by the Convention. These two
pamphlets made the sisters so widely known, and so in-
creased the desire in other places to hear them speak, that
invitations poured in upon them from different parts of
the North and West, as well as from the New England
States. It was finally decided that they should go to
Boston first, to aid the brave, good women there, who,
while willing to do all that women could do for the cause
in a private capacity, had not yet been persuaded to open
their lips for it in any kind of a public meeting. It was
not contemplated, however, that the sisters should address
any
but assemblies of women. Even Boston was not yet
prepared for a greater infringement of the social pro-
prieties.

174
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XIII.
THE Woman's Rights agitation, while entirely separate
from Abolitionism, owes its origin to the interest this sub-
ject excited in the hearts and minds of American women;
and to Sarah and Angelina Grimké must be accorded the
credit of first making the woman question one of reform.
Their broad views, freely expressed in their New York
meetings, opened up the subject of woman's duties under
the existing state of public sentiment, and, in connection
with the revelations made concerning the condition of
her white and colored sisters at the South, and the frantic
efforts used to prevent her from receiving these revela-
tions, she soon began to see that she had some moral obli-
gations outside of her home sphere and her private circle.
At first her only idea of aid in the great cause was that
of prayer, which men universally granted was her espe-
cial privilege, even encouraging her to pray for them ;
but it must be private prayer prayer
in her own closet
— with no auditor but the God to whom she appealed.
As soon as it became public, and took the form of peti-
tions to legislatures and to Congress, the reprobation
began. The enemies of freedom, fully realizing woman's
influence, opposed her interference at every point; and
when a Southern representative declared from his seat
that women had no right to send up petitions to Con-
-

WOMAN'S RIGHTS
175
gress, he was sustained by the sycophantic response which
came from the North, that slavery was a political ques-
tion, with which women had nothing to do. Angelina
Grimké answered this so fully and so eloquently in her
“ Appeal to Northern Women," that no doubt could have
been left in the minds of those who read it, not only of
woman's right, but of her duty to interfere in this mat-
ter. The appeal is made chiefly to woman's tenderest
and holiest feelings, but enough is said of her rights to
show whither Angelina's own reflections were leading her,
and it must have turned the thoughts of many other
women in the same direction. A passage or two may be
quoted as examples.
“Every citizen should feel an intense interest in the
political concerns of the country, because the honor, happi-
ness and well-being of every class are bound up in its
politics, government, and laws. Are we aliens because
we are women? Are we bereft of citizenship because we
are the mothers, wives, and daughters of a mighty peo-
ple? Have women no country
no interests staked on
the public weal - no partnership in a nation's guilt and
shame? Has woman no home nor household altars, nor
endearing ties of kindred, nor sway with man, nor power
at the mercy-seat, nor voice to cheer, nor hand to raise
the drooping, or to bind the broken? ... The Lord
has raised up men whom he has endowed with wisdom
and understanding, and knowledge,' to lay deep and
broad the foundations of the temple of liberty. This is
a great moral work in which they are engaged. No war-
trumpet summons to the field of battle; but Wisdom
crieth without, Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him
bring an offering.' Shall woman refuse her response to
the call? Was she created to be a helpmeet for man

176
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
his sorrows to divide, his joys to share, and all his toils to
lighten by her willing aid, and shall she refuse to aid him
with her prayers, her labors, and her counsels too, at such
a time, in such a cause as this?”
There had been, from the beginning of the anti-slavery
agitation, no lack of women sympathizers with it. Some
of the best and brightest of the land had poured forth
their words of grief, of courage, and of hope through
magazines and newspapers, in prose and in verse, and had
proved their willingness to suffer for the slave, by endur-
ing unshrinkingly ridicule and wrath, pecuniary loss and
social ostracism. All over the country, in almost every
town and village, women labored untiringly to raise
funds for the printing of pamphlets, sending forth lectur-
ers and for the pay of special agents. They were regular
attendants also on the anti-slavery meetings and conven-
tions, often outnumbering the men, and privately made
some of the best suggestions that were offered. But so
strong and general was the feeling against women speak-
ing in any public place, that, up to the time when Sarah
and Angelina Grimké began their crusade, it was an al-
most unheard of thing for a woman to raise her voice in
any but a church prayer-meeting. During the sittings of
the Anti-Slavery Convention in Philadelphia, in 1833,
which was attended by a number of women, chiefly
Friends, Lucretia Mott, though she had had experience
in speaking in Quaker meetings, timidly arose one day,
and, in fear lest she might offend, ventured to propose an
amendment to a certain resolution. With rare indul-
gence and good sense, Beriah Green, the president of the
convention, encouraged her to proceed; and May, in his
“Recollections," says: “She made a more impressive and
effective speech than any other that was made in the

SENTIMENT AT BOSTON
177
לל
-
convention, excepting only the closing address of our
president.
Two other ladies, Esther Moore and Lydia White, em-
boldened by Mrs. Mott's example, afterwards said a few
words on one or two occasions, but these were the only
infringements, during all those early years of agitation, of
St. Paul's oft-quoted injunction.
When Sarah and Angelina Grimké accepted the invita-
tion of the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Boston, to
come and labor there, they found friends on every hand
women of the highest culture and purest religion, eager
to hear them, not only concerning what their eyes had
witnessed in that land of worse than Egyptian bond-
age, but ready to be enlightened upon their own duties
and rights in the matter of moral reform, and as willing
as resolute to perform them. Without experience, as the
sisters were, we can hardly be surprised that they should
have been carried beyond their original moorings, and
have made what many of their best friends felt was a se-
rious mistake, in uniting the two causes, thus laying upon
abolitionists a double burden, and a responsibility to
which the great majority of them were as much opposed
as were their bitterest enemies. But no movement in
this direction was made for some time. Indeed, it seems
to have grown quite naturally out of, or been forced for-
ward by, the alarm among men, and the means they took
to frighten and warn women away from the dangerous
topic.
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Convention met early
in June, 1837. In writing about it to Jane Smith, Ange-
lina first touches upon the dawning feeling on this woman
question. She says:-
“We had Stanton and Burleigh, Colver and Birney,

178
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Garrison and Goodell, etc. Their eloquence was no less
delightful to the ear than the soundness of their doctrine
was comforting to the heart. . . . A peace resolution
was brought up, but this occasioned some difficulty on
account of non-resistance here meaning a repudiation of
civil government, and of course we cannot expect many
to be willing to do this. . . . At Friend Chapman's,
where we spent a social evening, I had a long talk with
the brethren on the rights of women, and found a very
general sentiment prevailing that it is time our fetters
were broken. L. M. Child and Maria Chapman strongly
supported this view; indeed, very many seem to think a
new order of things is very desirable in this respect.
And now, my dear friend, in view of these things, I feel
that it is not the cause of the slave only that we plead,
but the cause of woman as a moral, responsible being,
and I am ready to exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these
things?' These holy causes must be injured if they are
not helped by us. I see not to what point all these things
are leading us. But one thing comforts me: I do feel as
though the Lord had sent us, and as if I was leaning on
his arm.”
And in this reliance, in a meek and lowly spirit, im-
pelled not by inclination, but by an overpowering sense of
duty, these gentle women, fully realizing the singularity
of their position, prepared to enter upon entirely new
scenes of labor, encompassed by difficulties peculiarly try-
ing to their delicate natures.
A series of public meetings was arranged for them as
soon as the Convention adjourned, and the first was held
in Dorchester, in the town hall, to which they repaired
upon finding the number of those who wished to hear
them too great to be accommodated in a private house.

SPEAKING TO MEN
179
Their next was in Boston on the following afternoon.
Angelina's heart here almost failed her as she glanced
over the assemblage of women of all classes, and thought
of the responsibility resting upon her. It was at this
meeting that a reverend gentleman set the example, which
was followed by two or three other men, of slyly sliding
into a back seat to hear for himself what manner of thing
this woman's speaking was. Satisfied of its superior
quality, and alarmed at its effects upon the audience, he
shortly afterwards took great pains to prove that it was
unscriptural for a woman to speak in public.
As the meetings were held at first only in the daylight,
there was little show of opposition for some time. The
sisters went from one town to another, arousing enthusi-
asm everywhere, and vindicating, by their power and
success, their right to speak. Angelina's letters to Jane
Smith contain memoranda of all the meetings she and
Sarah held during that summer and fall. It is surpris-
ing that they were able to endure such an amount of
mental and physical labor, and maintain the constantly
increasing eagerness to hear them. Before the end of the
first week, she records :-— “Nearly thirty men present,
pretty easy to speak.” A few days later the number of
men had increased to fifty, with “great openness on their
part to hear."
After having held meetings every day, their audience
numbering from one hundred and fifty to one thousand,
Angelina records on the 21st July, at Lynn:-
“In the evening of the same day addressed our first
mixed audience. Over one thousand present, great open-
ness to hear, and ease in speaking."
This, so briefly mentioned, was the beginning of the
revolution in sentiment respecting woman's sphere, which,

180
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
though it was met at the outset with much the same
spirit which opposed abolitionism, soon spread and be-
came a principle of reform as conscientiously and as ably
advocated as any other, moral or political. Neither Sarah
nor Angelina had any idea of starting such a revolution,
but when they found it fairly inaugurated, and that many
women had long privately held the same views as they
did and were ready to follow in their lead, they bravely
accepted, and to the end of their lives as bravely sustained
all the responsibilities their opinions involved. They
were the pioneers in the great cause of political freedom
for women, and opened the way in the true pioneer spirit.
The clear sense of justice and the broad humanity which
inspired their trenchant rebukes and fervid appeals not
only enlightened and encouraged other women, but led to
inquiry into various wrongs practised towards the sex
which had up to that time been suffered in silence and in
ignorance, or in despair of any possibility of relief. The
peculiar tenderness of Sarah Grimké's nature, and her
overflowing sympathy with any form of suffering, led her,
earlier than Angelina, to the consideration of the neces-
sity of some organized system of protection of helpless
women and children; and, from the investigation of the
impositions and abuses to which they were subjected, was
evolved, without much difficulty, the doctrine of woman's
equality before the law, and her right to a voice on every
subject of public interest, social or political. Sarah's
published letters during the summer of 1837 show her to
have been as deeply interested in this reform as in aboli-
tionism, and to her influence was certainly due the intro-
duction of the “Woman Question” into the anti-slavery
discussions. That this question was as yet a secondary
one in Angelina's mind is evident from what she writes

WOMEN'S PREACHING
181
to Jane Smith about this time. She says: “ With re-
gard to speaking on the rights of woman, it has really
been wonderful to me that though, everywhere I go, I
meet prejudice against our speaking, yet, in addressing an
audience, I never think of referring to it. I was particu-
larly struck with this two days ago. Riding with Dr.
Miller to a meeting at Franklin, I found, from conversa-
tion with him, that I had a great amount of prejudice to
meet at that town, and very much in his own mind. I
gave him my views on women's preaching, and verily be-
lieve I converted him, for he said he had no idea so much
could be adduced from the Bible to sustain the ground I
had taken, and remarked: “This will be quite new to
the people, and I believe they will gladly hear these
things, and pressed me so much to speak on the subject
at the close of my lecture that I was obliged to promise I
would if I could remember to do so. After speaking two
hours, we returned to his house to tea, and he asked:
Why did you not tell the people why you believed you
had a right to speak?' I had entirely forgotten all
about it until his question revived the conversation
we had on the road. Now I believe the Lord orders
these things so, driving out of my mind what I ought not
to speak on. If the time ever comes when this shall be
a part of my public work, then I shall not be able to
forget it.”
But to return to the meeting at Lynn. We are told
that the men present listened in amazement. They were
spell-bound, and impatient of the slightest noise which
might cause the loss of a word from the speakers. An-
other meeting was called for, and held the next evening.
This was crowded to excess, many going away unable to
get even standing-room.

182
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
“At least one hundred,” Angelina writes, “stood around
the doors, and, on the outside of each window, men stood
with their heads above the lowered sash.
Very easy
speaking indeed.”
But now the opposers of abolitionism, and especially
the clergy, began to be alarmed.
It amounted to very
little that (to borrow the language of one of the news-
papers of the day) “two fanatical women, forgetful of
the obligations of a respected name, and indifferent to
the feelings of their most worthy kinsmen, the Barnwells
and the Rhetts, should, by the novelty of their course,
draw to their meetings idle and curious women.” But it
became a different matter when men, the intelligent, re-
spectable and cultivated citizens of every town, began to
crowd to hear them, even following them from one place
to another, and giving them loud and honest applause.
Then they were adjudged immodest, and their conduct
denounced as unwomanly and demoralizing. Their devo-
tion to principle, the purity of their lives, the justice of
the cause they pleaded, the religious stand-point from
which they spoke, all were overlooked, and the pitiless
scorn of Christian men and women of every sect was
poured down upon them. Nor should we wonder when
we remember that, at that time, the Puritan bounds of
propriety still hedged in the education and the training
of New England women, and limited the views of New
England men. Even 'many of the abolitionists had first
to hear Sarah and Angelina Grimké to be convinced that
there was nothing unwomanly in a woman's raising her
voice to plead for those helpless to plead for themselves.
So good a man and so faithful an anti-slavery worker as
Samuel J. May confesses that his sense of propriety was a
little disturbed at first. Letters of reproval, admonition,

OPPOSITION
183
and persuasion, some anonymous, some signed by good
conscientious people, came to the sisters frequently.
Clergymen denounced them from their pulpits, especi-
ally warning their women members against them. Muni-
cipal corporations refused the use of halls for their
meetings, and threats of personal violence came from
various quarters. Friends especially felt outraged. The
New England Yearly Meeting went so far as to advise
the closing of meeting-house doors to all anti-slavery
lecturers and the disownment the sisters had long expected
now became imminent.
We can well imagine how terrible all this must have
been to their shrinking, sensitive, and proud spirits. But
their courage never failed, nor was their mighty work for
humanity stayed one instant by this storm of indignation
and wrath. Angelina, writing to her dear Jane an ac-
count of some of the opposition to them, says:
6 And now, thou wilt want to know how we feel about
all these things. Well, dear, poor enough in ourselves, and
defenceless; but rich and strong in the help which our
Master is pleased to give from time to time, making per-
fect his strength in our weakness. This is a truly hum-
bling dispensation, but whọn I am speaking I am favored
to forget little I entirely, and to feel altogether hidden
behind the great cause I am pleading. Were it not for
this, I do not know how I could face such audiences and
such opposition. O Jane, how good it is that we can
cast all our burdens upon the Lord.”
And Sarah, writing to Sarah Douglass, says: “They
think to frighten us from the field of duty; but they do
not move us. God is our shield, and we do not fear what
man can do unto us." A little further on she says: “It
is really amusing to see how the clergy are arrayed against

184
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
two women who are telling the story of the slave's
wrongs.”
This was before the celebrated “Pastoral Letter” ap-
peared. Sarah's answer to that in her letters to the N. E.
Spectator shows how far the clergy had gone beyond
amusing her.
There were, of course, many church members of every
denomination, and many ministers, in the abolition ranks.
Indeed, at some of the Anti-Slavery Conventions, it was
a most edifying sight to see clergymen of different
churches sitting together and working together in har-
mony, putting behind them, for the time being, all creeds
and dogmas, or, rather, sinking them all in the one creed
taught by the blessed command to do unto others as they
would be done by.
Some of the more conservative of the clergy objected,
it is true, to the great freedom of thought and speech
allowed generally in the Conventions, but this was slight
compared to the feeling excited by the encouragement
given to women to take prominent and public part in the
work, even to speaking from the platform and the pulpit.
The general prejudice against this was naturally in-
creased by the earnest eloquence with which Angelina
Grimké pointed out the inconsistent attitude of ministers
and church members towards slavery; by Sarah's strongly
expressed views concerning a paid clergy; and the indig-
nant protests of both sisters against the sin of prejudice,
then as general in the church as out of it.
The feeling grew very strong against them. They
were setting public sentiment at defiance, it was said ;
they were seeking to destroy veneration for the ministers
of the Gospel ; they were casting contempt upon the con-
secrated forms of the Church; and much more of the

THE PASTORAL LETTER
185
same kind. Nowhere, however, did the feeling find de-
cided public expression until the General Association of
Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts saw proper to
pass a resolution of censure against Sarah and Angelina
Grimké, and issued a pastoral letter, which, in the light
and freedom of the present day, must be regarded as a
most extraordinary document, to say the least of it. The
opening sentences show the degree of authority felt and
exercised by the clergy at that time. It maintained that,
as ministers were ordained by God, it was their place and
duty to judge what food was best to feed to the flock over
which they had been made overseers by the Holy Ghost;
and that, if they did not preach on certain topics, as the
flock desired, the flock had no right to put strangers in
their place to do it; that deference and subordination
were necessary to the happiness of every society, and
peculiarly so to the relation of a people to their pastor ;
and that the sacred rights of ministers had been violated
by having their pulpits opened without their consent to
lecturers on various subjects of reform.
All this might pass without much criticism: but it was
followed by a tirade against woman-preachers, aimed at
the Grimké sisters especially, which was as narrow as it
was shallow. The dangers which threatened the female
character and the permanent injury likely to result to
society, if the example of these women should be fol-
lowed, were vigorously portrayed. Women were re-
minded that their power was in their dependence; that
God had given them their weakness for their protection;
and that when they assumed the tone and place of man,
as public reformers, they made the care and protection of
man seem unnecessary. “If the vine," this letter fanci-
fully said, “ whose strength and beauty is to lean upon the

186
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
trellis-work, and half conceal its clusters, thinks to assume
the independence and the overshadowing nature of the
elm, it will not only cease to bear fruit, but will fall in
shame and dishonor into the dust."
Sarah Grimké had just begun a series of letters on the
“ Province of Woman” for the N. E. Spectator, when
this pastoral effusion came out. Her third letter was de-
voted to it. She showed in the clearest manner the
unsoundness of its assertions, and the unscriptural and
unchristian spirit in which they were made. The deli-
cate irony with which she also exposed the ignorance and
the shallowness of its author must have caused him to
blush for very shame.
Whittier's muse, too, found the Pastoral Letter a fit-
ting theme for its vigorous, sympathetic utterances. The
poem thus inspired is perhaps one of the very best among
his many songs of freedom. It will be remembered as
beginning thus:-
6 So this is all! the utmost reach
Of priestly power the mind to fetter,
When laymen think, when women preach,
A war of words, a 'Pastoral Letter!'"
Up to this time nothing had been said by either of the
sisters in their lectures concerning their views about
women. They had carefully confined themselves to the
subject of slavery, and the attendant topics of immediate
emancipation, abstinence from the use of slave products,
the errors of the Colonization Society, and the sin of
prejudice on account of color. But now that they found
their own rights invaded, they began to feel it was time
to look out for the rights of their whole sex.
The Rev. Amos Phelps, a staunch abolitionist, wrote a
private letter to the sisters, remonstrating earnestly but
ללי

MIXED AUDIENCES
187
kindly against their lecturing to men and women, and
requesting permission to publish the fact of his having
done so, with a declaration on their part that they pre-
ferred having female audiences only. Angelina says to
Jane Smith:-
“I wish you could see sister's admirable reply to this.
We told him we were entirely willing he should publish
anything he felt it right to, but that we could not con-
sent to his saying in our name that we preferred female
audiences only, because in so saying we should surrender
a fundamental principle, believing, as we did, that as
moral beings it was our duty to appeal to all moral beings
on this subject, without any distinction of sex. He
thinks we are throwing a responsibility on the Anti-Sla-
very Society which will greatly injure it. To this we
replied that we would write to Elizur Wright, and give
the Executive Committee an opportunity to throw off all
such responsibility by publishing the facts that we had no
commission from them, and were not either responsible to
or dependent on them. I wrote this letter. H. B. Stan-
ton happened to be here at the time; after reading all the
letters, he wrote to Elizur Wright, warning him by no
means to publish anything which would in the least ap-
pear to disapprove of what we were doing. I do not
know what the result will be. My only fear is that some
of our anti-slavery brethren will commit themselves, in
this excitement, against women's rights and duties before
they examine the subject, and will, in a few years, regret
the steps they may now take. This will soon be an ab-
sorbing topic. It must be discussed whether women are
moral and responsible beings, and whether there is such a
thing as male and female virtues, male and female duties,
etc. My opinion is that there is no difference, and that

188
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
this false idea has run the ploughshare of ruin over the
whole field of morality. My idea is that whatever is
morally right for a man to do is morally right for a woman
to do. I recognize no rights but human rights. I know
nothing of men's rights and women's rights; for in Christ
Jesus there is neither male nor female. ... I am per-
suaded that woman is not to be as she has been, a mere
second-hand agent in the regeneration of a fallen world,
but the acknowledged equal and co-worker with man in
this glorious work. . . . Hubbard Winslow of Boston has
just preached a sermon to set forth the proper sphere
of our sex. I am truly glad that men are not ashamed to
come out boldly and tell us just what is in their hearts."
In another letter she mentions that a clergyman gave
out a notice of one of their meetings, at the request, he
said, of his deacons, but under protest; and he earnestly
advised his members, particularly the women, not to go
and hear them. At a meeting, also, at Pepperell, where
they had to speak in a barn, on account of the feeling
against them, she mentions that an Orthodox clergyman
opened the meeting with prayer, but went out immedi-
ately after finishing, declaring that he would as soon rob
a hen-roost as remain there and hear a woman speak in
public.
This, however, did not prevent the crowding of the
barn “almost to suffocation," and deep attention on the
part of those assembled.
In the face of all this censure and ridicule, the two
sisters continued in the discharge of a duty to which they
increasingly felt they were called from on high. The
difficulties, inconveniences, and discomforts to which they
were constantly subjected, and of which the women re-
formers of the present day know so little, were borne
.

HARDSHIPS - ELOQUENCE
189
cheerfully, and accepted as means of greater refinement
and purification for the Lord's work. They were often
obliged to ride six or eight or ten miles through the sun
or rain, in stages or wagons over rough roads to a meet-
ing, speak two hours, and return the same distance to
their temporary abiding-place. For many weeks they
held five and six meetings a week, in a different place
every time, were often poorly lodged and poorly fed, es-
pecially the latter, as they ate nothing which they did not
know to be the product of free labor; taking cold fre-
quently, and speaking when ill enough to be in bed, but
sustained through all by faith in the justice of their cause,
and by their simple reliance upon the love and guidance
of an Almighty Father. The record of their journeyings,
as copied by Angelina from her day-book for the benefit
of Jane Smith, is very interesting, as showing how, in
spite of continued opposition to them, anti-slavery senti-
ment grew under their eloquent preaching. Wendell
Phillips says: “I can never forget the impulse our cause
received when those two sisters doubled our hold on New
England in 1837 and 1838, and made a name, already
illustrious in South Carolina by great services, equally
historical in Massachusetts, in the two grandest move-
ments of our day.”
Angelina's eloquence must have been something mar-
vellous. The sweet, persuasive voice, the fluent speech,
and occasionally a flash of the old energy, were all we
who knew her in later years were granted, to show us
what had been ; but it was enough to confirm the accounts
given by those who had felt the power of her oratory in
those early times. Says Wendell Phillips: “I well re-
member evening after evening listening to eloquence such
as never then had been heard from a woman.
She swept

190
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
66 An-
the chords of the human heart with a power that has
never been surpassed and rarely equalled.”
Mr. Lincoln, in whose pulpit she lectured in Gardiner,
says:
“ Never before or since have I seen an audience so
held and so moved by any public speaker, man or woman;
and never before or since have I seen a Christian pulpit
so well filled, nor in the pews seen such absorbed hearers."
Robert F. Walcutt testifies in the same manner.
gelina,” he says, “possessed a rare gift of eloquence, a
calm power of persuasion, a magnetic influence over those
who listened to her, which carried conviction to hearts
that nothing before had reached. I shall never forget the
wonderful manifestation of this power during six succes-
sive evenings, in what was then called the Odeon. It
was the old Boston Theatre, which had been converted
into a music hall; the four galleries rising above the audi-
torium all crowded with a silent audience carried away
with the calm, simple eloquence which narrated what she
and her sister had seen from their earliest days. And yet
this Odeon scene, the audience so quiet and intensely ab-
sorbed, occurred at the most enflamed period of the anti-
slavery contest. The effective agent in this phenomenon
was Angelina's serene, commanding eloquence, a wonder-
ful gift, which enchained attention, disarmed prejudice,
and carried her hearers with her."
Another, who often heard her, speaks of the gentle, firm,
and impressive voice which could ring out in clarion
tones when speaking in the name of the Lord to let the
oppressed go free.
Many travelled long distances to hear her. Mechanics
left their shops, and laborers came in out of the field, and
sat almost motionless throughout her meetings, showing
impatience only when the lecture was over and they could

SARAH PREFERS THE PEN
191
hear no more. Sarah's speaking, though fully as earnest,
,
was not nearly so effective as Angelina's. She was never
very fluent, and cared little for the flowers of rhetoric.
She could state a truth in clear and forcible terms, but
the language was unvarnished, sometimes harsh, while
the manner of speaking was often embarrassed. She un-
derstood and felt her deficiencies, and preferred to serve
the cause through her pen rather than through her voice.
Writing to Sarah Douglass, in September, 1837, she
says:
“ That the work in which we are engaged is in a pecu-
liar manner dear Angelina's, I have no doubt. God
called and qualified her for it by deep travail of spirit. I
do not think my mind ever passed through the prepara-
tion hers did, and I regard my being with her more as an
evidence of our dear Saviour's care for us, than a design
that I should perform a conspicuous part in this labor of
love. Hence, although at first I was permitted to assist
her, as her strength increased and her ability to do the
work assigned her was perfected, I was more and more
withdrawn from the service. Nor do I think anyone
ought to regret it. My precious sister has a gift in lec-
turing, in reasoning and elucidating, so far superior to
mine, that I know the cause is better pleaded if left en-
tirely in her hands. My spirit has not bowed to this
dispensation without prayer for resignation to being thus
laid aside, but since I have been enabled to take the
above view, I have been contented to be silent, believing
that so is the will of God.”
Sarah's religious anxieties seem all to have vanished be-
fore the absorbing interest of her new work. She had
no longer time to think of herself, or to stand and ques-
tion the Lord on every going-out and coming-in. She re-

192
THE SISTERS GRIMKẾ
lied
upon Him as much as ever, but she understood Him
better, and had more faith in His loving-kindness. In a
letter to T. D. Weld, she says:-
“For many years I have been inquiring the way to
Zion, and now I know not but I shall have to surrender
all or many long-cherished points of religion, and come
back to the one simple direction: Follow after holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord.'”
All her letters show how much happier she was under
her new experiences. Angelina thus writes of her:-
“ Sister Sarah enjoys more real comfort of mind than
I ever saw her enjoy before, and it is delightful to be thus
yoked with her in this work.”
But with Sarah's wider, fuller sympathies came bitter
regrets over the spiritual bondage which had kept her
idle and useless so long. And yet, in spite of all, her
heart still clung to the Society of Friends, and the strug-
gle to give them up, to resign the long-cherished hope of
being permitted to preach among them the unsearchable
riches of Christ, was very great. But conscientious and
true to her convictions even here, as her own eyes had
been mercifully opened to the faults of this system of re-
ligion, she must do what she could to help others. Under
a solemn sense of responsibility, she wrote and printed a
pamphlet exposing the errors of the Quaker Church, and
showing the withering influence it exerted over all moral
and religious progress. For this, she doubted not, she
would be at once disowned; but Friends seem to have
been very loth to part with the two rebellious subjects,
who had certainly given them much trouble, but in whom
they could not help feeling a certain pride of ownership.
They showed their willingness to be patient yet a little
while longer.

A PUBLIC DEBATE
193
All through the summer and early fall, the meetings
were continued with slightly decreasing opposition, and
continued abuse from press and pulpit and “good so-
ciety.” Sarah still bore her share of the labors, fre-
quently speaking an hour at a time, and taking charge
chiefly of the legal side of the question of slavery, while
the moral and religious sides were left for Angelina. At
Amesbury, Angelina writes :-
“We met the mother, aunt, and sister of brother
Whittier. They received us at their sweet little cottage
with sincere pleasure, I believe, they being as thorough-
going as their dear J. G. W., whom they seem to know
how to value. He was absent, serving the good cause in
New York.”
At an evening meeting they held at Amesbury, a letter
was handed Angelina, which stated that some gentlemen
were present, who had just returned from the South, and
had formed very different opinions from those of the lec-
turers, and would like to state them to the meeting.
Sarah read the letter aloud, and requested the gentlemen
to proceed with their remarks. Two arose, and soon
showed how little they really knew, and how close an
affinity they felt with slave-holders. A discussion ensued,
which lasted an hour, when Angelina went on with her
lecture on the “Dangers of Slavery.” When it was
over, the two gentlemen of Southern sympathies re-
quested that another opportunity be granted for a free dis-
cussion of the subject. This was agreed to, and the 19th
of the month, August, settled upon.
This was another and a great step forward, and when
known gave rise to renewed denunciations, the press being
particularly severe against such an unheard-of thing,
which, it was declared, would not be tolerated if the
לל

194
TYE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
לל
Misses Grimké were not members of the Society of
Friends. The abolitionists, however, rallied to their sup-
port, H. B. Stanton even proposing to arrange some
meeting where he and they could speak together. But
even Angelina shrank from such an irretrievable committal
on his part as this would be, and did not think the time
had yet come for such an anomaly. On the 19th they
returned to Amesbury, and Angelina writes that great
excitement prevailed, and that many had come from
neighboring towns to hear two Massachusetts men defend
slavery against the accusations of two Southern women.
“May the blessed Master," she adds, “stand at our right
hand in this trying and uncommon predicament.”
Two evenings were given to the discussion, the hall
being packed both evenings, many, even ladies, standing
the whole time. Angelina gives no details about it, as,
she says, she sends a paper with a full account to Jane
Smith; but we may judge of the interest it excited from
the fact that the people urged a continuance of the dis-
cussion for two more evenings, which, however, the sisters
were obliged to decline. Angelina adds:--
“ Everyone is talking about it; but we have given
great offence on account of our womanhood, which seems
to be as objectionable as our abolitionism. The whole
land seems aroused to discussion on the province of
woman, and I am glad of it. We are willing to bear the
brunt of the storm, if we can only be the means of
making a breach in the wall of public opinion, which lies
right in the way of woman's true dignity, honor, and
usefulness. Sister Sarah does preach up woman's rights
most nobly and fearlessly, and we find that many of our
New England sisters are prepared to receive these strange
doctrines, feeling, as they do, that our whole sex needs

SARAH'S IMPULSIVENESS
195
emancipation from the thraldom of public opinion. What
dost thou think of some of them walking two, four, six,
and eight miles to attend our meetings?”
This preaching of the much-vexed doctrine was, how-
ever, done chiefly in private, indeed altogether so by
Angelina.
Sarah's nature was
so impulsive that she
could not always refrain from putting in a stroke for her
cherished views when it seemed to fit well into the argu-
ment of a lecture. What prominent abolitionists thought
of the subject in its relation to the anti-slavery cause,
and especially what T. D. Weld and John G. Whittier
thought, must be told in another chapter.

196
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XIV.
AMONG the most prominent opposers of immediate
emancipation were Dr. Lyman Beecher and the members
of his remarkable family; and though they ultimately be-
came converts to it, even so far as to allow a branch of
the “underground railway” to run through their barn,
their conversion was gradual, and only arrived at after
various controversies and discussions, and much bitter
feeling between them and the advocates of the unpopular
cause. Opposed to slavery in the abstract, that is, believ-
ing it to be a sin to hold a fellow creature in bondage for
the “mere purposes of gain,” they utterly condemned
all agitation of the question. The Church and the Gos-
pel were, with them, as with so many evangelical Chris-
tians, the true means through which evils should be reached
and reforms effected. All efforts outside were unwise and
useless, not to say sinful. And further, as Catherine Beech-
er expressed it, they considered the matter of Southern
slavery as one with which the North was no more called
to interfere than in the abolition of the press-gang system
in England, or the tithe system in Ireland. Some chap-
ters back, the short but pleasant friendship of Catherine
Beecher and Angelina Grimké was mentioned. Very
soon after that little episode, the Beechers removed to

CATHERINE BEECHER
197
Cincinnati, where the doctor was called to the Presidency
of the Lane Theological Seminary. We can well under-
stand that the withdrawal of nearly all its students after
the great discussion was a sore trial to the Beechers, and
intensified their already adverse feelings towards aboli-
tionists. The only result of this with which we have to
do is the volume published by Catherine Beecher during
the summer of 1837, entitled “Miss Beecher on the Slave
Question," and addressed to Angelina Grimké.
Catherine was the true counterpart of her father, and
the most intellectual of his children, but she lacked the
gentle, feminine graces, and was so wanting in tenderness
and sympathy that Angelina charitably implies that her
heart was sunk forever with her lover, Professor Fisher of
Yale, who perished in a storm at sea. With indepen-
dence, striking individuality, and entire freedom from
timidity of any sort, it would appear perfectly natural
that Catherine should espouse the Woman's Rights re-
form, even though opposing that of abolitionism. But
she presented the singular anomaly of a strong-minded
woman, already successful in taking care of herself, advo-
cating woman's subordination to man, and prescribing for
her efforts at self-help limits so narrow that only the few
favored as she was could venture within them.
Her book was received with much favor by slave-hold-
ers and their apologists, though it was harshly criticised
by a few of the more sensible of the former. These de-
clared that they had more respect for abolitionists who
openly denounced the system of slavery, than for those
people who, in order to please the South, cloaked their
real sentiments under a garb like that of Miss Beecher's
book. It was also severely handled by abolitionists, and
Lucretia Mott wrote a very able review of it, which

198
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
Angelina, however, pronounced entirely too mild. She
writes to Jane Smith:
“Catherine's arguments are the most insidious things
I ever read, and I feel it my duty to answer them; only,
I know not how to find language strong enough to ex-
press my indignation at the view she takes of woman's
character and duty.”
The answer was given in a number of sharp, terse, let-
ters, sent to the Liberator from various places where the
sisters stopped while lecturing. A few passages will con-
vey some idea of the spirit and style of these letters,
thirteen in number. In the latter part of the second let-
ter she says:
“Dost thou ask what I mean by emancipation? I will
explain myself in a few words.
“1st. It is to reject with indignation the wild and guilty
phantasy that man can hold property in man.
“2d. To pay the laborer his hire, for he is worthy of it.
“3d. No longer to deny him the right of marriage, but
to let every man have his own wife, and let every woman
have her own husband, as saith the apostle.
“4th. To let parents have their own children, for they
are the gift of the Lord to them, and no one else has any
right to them.
“5th. No longer to withhold the advantages of educa-
tion, and the privilege of reading the Bible.
66th. To put the slave under the protection of equita-
ble laws.
“Now why should not all this be done immediately?
Which of these things is to be done next year, and which
the
year
after? and so on. Our immediate emancipation
means doing justice and loving mercy to-day, and this is
what we call upon every slave-holder to do.

CATHERINE BEECHER
199
ern
“I have seen too much of slavery to be a gradualist. I
dare not, in view of such a system, tell the slave-holder
that he is physically unable to emancipate his slaves.? 1
I say he is able to let the oppressed go free, and that such
heaven-daring atrocities ought to cease now, henceforth,
and forever. Oh, my very soul is grieved to find a North-
woman thus sewing pillows under all arm-holes,
framing and fitting soft excuses for the slave-holder's con-
science, whilst with the same pen she is professing to re-
gard slavery as a sin. “An open enemy is better than
such a secret friend.'
“Hoping that thou mayst soon be emancipated from
such inconsistency, I remain until then,
« Thine out of the bonds of Christian abolitionism.
66 A. E. GRIMKÉ.”
The last letter, which Angelina says she wrote in sad-
ness and read to her sister in tears, ends thus :
-
“ After endeavoring to show that woman has no moral
right to exercise the right of petition for the dumb and
stricken slave; no business to join, in any way, in the ex-
citement which anti-slavery principles are producing in
our country; no business to join abolition societies, etc.,
thou professest to tell our sisters what they are to do
in order to bring the system of slavery to an end. And
now, my dear friend, what does all thou hast said in many
pages amount to? Why, that women are to exert their
influence in private life to allay the excitement which ex-
ists on this subject, and to quench the flame of sympathy
1 The plea made by many of the apologists was that, as the
laws of some of the States forbade emancipation, the masters were
physically unable to free their slaves.

200
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
sons.
in the hearts of their fathers, husbands, brothers, and
Fatal delusion! Will Christian women heed such
advice?
“Hast thou ever asked thyself what the slave would
think of thy book if he could read it? Dost thou know
that, from the beginning to the end, not a word of com-
passion for him has fallen from thy pen? Recall, I pray,
the memory of hours which thou spent in writing it.
Was the paper once moistened by the tear of pity ? Did
thy heart once swell with sympathy for thy sister in
bonds? Did it once ascend to God in broken accents for
the deliverance of the captive? Didst thou even ask thy-
self what the free man of color would think of it? Is it
such an exhibition of slavery and prejudice as will call
down his blessing on thy head? Hast thou thought of
these things? or carest thou not for the blessings and
prayers of these our suffering brethren? Consider, I en-
treat, the reception given to thy book by the apologists
of slavery. What meaneth that loud acclaim with which
they hail it? Oh, listen and weep, and let thy repentings
be kindled together, and speedily bring forth, I beseech
thee, fruits meet for repentance, and henceforth show
thyself faithful to Christ and His bleeding representative,
the slave.
"I greatly fear that thy book might have been written
just as well, hadst thou not had the heart of a woman.
It bespeaks a superior intellect, but paralyzed and spell-
bound by the sorcery of a worldly-minded expediency.
Where, oh, where in its pages are the outpourings of a
soul overwhelmed with a sense of the heinous crimes of
our nation, and the necessity of immediate repentance ?
.. Farewell! Perhaps on a dying bed thou mayst vainly
wish that Miss Beecher on the Slave Question' might

WOMAN AND ABOLITION
201
perish with the mouldering hand which penned its cold
and heartless pages. But I forbear, and in deep sadness
of heart, but in tender love though I thus speak, I bid
thee again, farewell. Forgive me if I have wronged thee,
and pray for her who still feels like
“Thy sister in the bonds of a common sisterhood.
66 A. E. GRIMKE."
While Angelina was writing these letters, Sarah was
publishing her letters on the Province of Woman” in
the Spectator. This was a heavier dose than Boston
could stand at one time; harsh and bitter things were
said about the sisters, notices of their meetings were torn
down or effaced, and abolitionism came to be so mixed
up in the public mind with Woman's Rights, that anti-
slavery leaders generally began to feel anxious lest their
cause should suffer by being identified with one to which
the large majority of abolitionists was decidedly opposed.
Even among them, however, there was a difference of
opinion, Garrison, H. C. Wright and others, non-resistants,
encouraging the agitation of Woman's Rights. A few
lines from one of Angelina's letters will best define the
position taken by herself and Sarah.
“ Sister and I,” she writes, “ feel quite ready for the
discussion about women, but brothers Whittier and Weld
entreat us to let it alone for the present, because it will
involve topics of such vast importance, — a paid ministry,
clerical domination, etc., - and will, they fear, divert our
attention and that of the community from the anti-slavery
cause; and that the wrongs of the slave are so much
greater than the wrongs of woman, they ought not to be
confounded. In their letters, received last week, they
regret exceedingly that the letters in the Spectator had

202
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
been written. They think just as we do, but believe that,
for the time being, a persevering, practical assertion of
woman's right to speak to mixed audiences is the best
one we can make, and that we had better keep out of
controversies, as our hands are full. On the other hand,
we fear that the leaven of the Pharisees will be so assidu-
ously worked into the minds of the people, that if they
come to hear us, they will be constantly thinking it is a
shame for us to speak in the churches, and that we shall
lose that influence which we should otherwise have. We
know that our views on this subject are quite new to the
mass of the people of this State, and I think it best to
throw them open for their consideration, just letting
them have both sides of the argument to look at, at the
same time. Indeed some wanted to have a meeting in
Boston for us to speak on this subject now, and we went
into town on purpose to hold a conference about it at
Maria Chapman's. She, Mary Parker, and sister were
against it for the present, fearing lest it would bring down
such a storm upon our heads, that we could not work in
the country, and so Henrietta Sargent and I yielded, and
I suppose this is the wisest plan, though, as brother Stan-
I am ready for the battle now. I am still glad
of sister's letters, and believe they are doing great good.
Some noble-minded women cheer her on, and she feels en-
couraged to persevere, the brethren notwithstanding. I
tell them that this is a part of the great doctrine of
Human Rights, and can no more be separated from eman-
cipation than the light from the heat of the sun; the
rights of the slave and of woman blend like the colors of
the rainbow. However, I rarely introduce this topic into
my addresses, except to urge my sisters up to duty. Our
brethren are dreadfully afraid of this kind of amalgama-
ton says,

WHITTIER'S LETTER
203
tion. I am very glad to hear that Lucretia Mott ad-
dressed the Moral Reform Society, and am earnest in the
hope that we are only pioneers, going before a host of
worthy women who will come up to the help of the Lord
against the mighty."
The letters of Whittier and Weld, alluded to by Ange-
lina, are so good and so important that I feel no reluc-
tance in giving them here almost entire. The first is
Whittier's, and is dated : 6 Office of Am. A. S. Soc., 14th
of 8th Mo., 1837,” — and is as follows:
“MY DEAR SISTERS, — I have been waiting for an op-
portunity to answer the letter which has been so kindly
sent me. I am anxious, too, to hold a long conversation
with you on the subject of war, human government, and
church and family government. The more I reflect on
this subject, the more difficulty I find, and the more de-
cidedly am I of opinion that we ought to hold all these
matters far aloof from the cause of abolition.
Our good
friend, H. C. Wright, with the best intentions in the
world, is doing great injury by a different course. He is
making the anti-slavery party responsible in a great de-
gree, for his, to say the least, startling opinions. I do
not censure him for them, although I cannot subscribe to
them in all their length and breadth. But let him keep
them distinct from the cause of emancipation. This is his
duty. Those who subscribe money to the Anti-Slavery
Society do it in the belief that it will be spent in the
propagation, not of Quakerism or Presbyterianism, but of
the doctrines of Immediate Emancipation. To employ an
agent who devotes half his time and talents to the propa-
gation of “no human or no family government' doctrines
in connection intimate connection -- with the doctrines

204
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
of abolition, is a fraud upon the patrons of the cause. Just
So with
papers.
Brother Garrison errs, I think, in this
respect. He takes the no church, and no human gov-
ernment' ground, as, for instance, in his Providence
speech. Now, in his prospectus, he engaged to give his
subscribers an anti-slavery paper, and his subscribers made
their contract with him on that ground. If he fills his
paper with Grahamism and no governmentism, he de-
frauds his subscribers. However, I know that brother
Garrison does not look at it in this light.
“In regard to another subject, the rights of woman,'
you are now doing much and nobly to vindicate and
assert the rights of woman. Your lectures to crowded
and promiscuous audiences on a subject manifestly, in
many of its aspects, political, interwoven with the frame-
work of the government, are practical and powerful
assertions of the right and the duty of woman to labor
side by side with her brother for the welfare and redemp-
tion of the world. Why, then, let me ask, is it necessary
for you to enter the lists as controversial writers on this
question? Does it not look, dear sisters, like abandoning
in some degree the cause of the poor and miserable slave,
sighing from the cotton plantations of the Mississippi,
and whose cries and groans are forever sounding in our
ears, for the purpose of arguing and disputing about
some trifling oppression, political or social, which we may
ourselves suffer? Is it not forgetting the great and
dreadful wrongs of the slave in a selfish crusade against
some paltry grievance of our own? Forgive me if I have
stated the case too strongly. I would not for the world
interfere with you in matters of conscientious duty, but I
wish you would weigh candidly the whole subject, and
see if it does not seem an abandonment of
your
first love.

WELD'S LETTER
205
Oh, let us try to forget everything but our duty to God
and our fellow beings; to dethrone the selfish principle,
and to strive to win over the hard heart of the oppressor
by truth kindly spoken. The Massachusetts Congrega-
tional Association can do you no harm if you do not
allow its splenetic and idle manifesto to divert your atten-
tion from the great and holy purpose of your souls.
“Finally, dear sisters, rest assured that you have my
deepest and warmest sympathy; that my heart rejoices
to know that you are mighty instruments in the hands of
Him who hath come down to deliver. May the canopy
of His love be over you, and His peace be with you!
“ Your friend and brother,
66 JNO. G. WHITTIER.”
כל
Weld's first letter, written the day after Whittier's,
begins by defining his own position on the disturbing
question. He says: “As to the rights and wrongs of
woman, it is an old theme with me.
It was the first sub-
ject I ever discussed. In a little debating society, when
a boy, I took the ground that sex neither qualified nor
disqualified for the discharge of any functions, mental,
moral, or spiritual: that there is no reason why woman
should not make laws, administer justice, sit in the chair
of State, plead at the Bar, or in the pulpit, if she has the
qualifications, just as much as man. What I advocated
in boyhood, I advocate now — that woman, in every parti-
cular, shares, equally with man, rights and responsibilities.
Now that I have made this statement of my creed on
this point, to show you that we fully agree, except that I
probably go much further than you do, I must say I do
most deeply regret that you have begun a series of
articles in the papers on the rights of woman. Why, my

206
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
dear sisters, the best possible advocacy which you can
make is just what you are making day by day. Thou-
sands hear you every week who have all their lives held
that women must not speak in public. Such a practical
refutation of the dogma which your speaking furnishes
has already converted multitudes."
He then goes on to urge two strong points:-
1st. That as Southerners, and having been brought up
among slaveholders, they could do more to convince the
North than twenty Northern women, though they could
speak as well, and that they would lose this peculiar
advantage the moment they took up another subject.
2d. That almost any other women of their capacity and
station could produce a greater effect on the public mind
on that subject than they, because they were Quakers,
and woman's right to speak and minister was a Quaker
doctrine. Therefore, for these and other reasons, he
urged them to leave the lesser work to others who could
do it better than they, and devote, consecrate their
whole souls, bodies, and spirits to the greater work which
they could do far better than anybody else. He con-
tinues: “Let us all first wake up the nation to lift mil-
lions of slaves from the dust and turn them into men,
and then, when we all have our hand in, it will be an
easy matter to take millions of women from their knees
and set them on their feet; or, in other words, transform
them from babies into women.”
A spirited, almost dogmatic, controversy was the result
of these letters. In a letter to Jane Smith, Angelina
says: “I cannot understand why they (the abolitionists)
so exceedingly regret sister's having begun those letters.
Brother Weld was not satisfied with writing us one letter
about them, but we have received two more setting forth

WELD'S THIRD LETTER
207
various reasons why we should not moot the subject of
woman's rights at all, but our judgment is not convinced,
and we hardly know what to do about it, for we have
just as high an opinion of Brother Garrison's views, and
he says, “go on.'. . . The great effort of abolitionists
now seems to be to keep every topic but slavery out of
view, and hence their opposition to Henry C. Wright and
his preaching anti-government doctrines, and our even
writing on woman's rights. Oh, if I only saw they were
right and we were wrong, I would yield immediately.”
One of the two other letters from T. D. Weld, referred
to by Angelina, is a very long one, covering over ten
pages of the old-fashioned foolscap paper, and is in reply
to letters received from the sisters, and which were after-
wards returned to them and probably destroyed. I have
concluded to make some extracts from this long letter
from Mr. Weld, not only on account of the arguments
used, but to show the frank, fearless spirit with which he
met the reasoning of his two “ sisters.” When we con-
sider that he was even then courting Angelina, his hardi-
hood is a little surprising.
After observing that he had carefully read their letters,
and made an abstract on half a sheet of paper of the
"positions and conclusions found therein," he continues: -
" This abstract I have been steadily looking at with
great marvelling,
6. 1st. That
you
should
argue at length the doctrine of
Woman's Rights, as though I was a dissentient;
“2d. That you should so magnify the power of the New
England clergy;
663d. That
you
should so misconceive the actual convic-
tions of ministers and Christians, and almost all, as to
the public speaking of women;

208
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
56 4th. That you should take the ground that the clergy,
and the whole church government, must come down be-
fore slavery can be abolished (a proposition which to my
mind is absurd).
“ 5th. That you should so utterly overlook the very
threshold principle upon which alone any moral reforma-
tion can be effectually promoted. Oh, dear! There are
a dozen other things - marvellables --- in your letters;
but I must stop short, or I can say nothing on other
points.
“... Now, before we commence action, let us clear the
decks; for if they are clogged we shall have foul play.
Overboard with everything that don't belong on board.
Now, first, what is the precise point at issue between us ?
I answer first negatively, that we may understand each
other on all points kindred to the main one. 1st. It is
not whether woman's rights are inferior to man's rights."
He then proceeded to state the doctrine of Woman's
Rights very forcibly. Of sex, he says:-
“ Its only design is not to give nor to take away, nor
in any respect to modify, or even touch, rights or respon-
sibilities in any sense, except so far as the peculiar offices
of each sex may afford less or more opportunity and abil-
ity for the exercise of rights, and the discharge of re-
sponsibilities, but merely to continue and enlarge the
human department of God's government."
For an entire page he continues in this manner of “
gatives” to “ clear the decks," until he has shown through
seven negative specifications what do not constitute the
point at issue, and then goes on :-
“Well, waving further negatives, the question at issue
between us is, whether you, S. M. G. and A. E. G.,
should engage in the public discussion of the rights of
ne-

HOW REFORMS FAIL
209
women as a distinct topic. Here you affirm, and I deny.
Your reasons for doing it, as contained in your two letters,
are the following: -
“1st. The New England Spectator was opened ; you
were invited to write on the subject, and some of the
Boston abolitionists urged you to do so, and you say,
We viewed this unexpected opportunity of throwing
our views before the public, as providential.'
“ Answer. When the devil is hard pushed, and likely to
be run down in the chase, it is an old trick of his to start
some smaller game, and thus cause his pursuers to strike
off from his own track on to that of one of his imps. It
was certainly a very providential opportunity for Ne-
hemiah to throw his views before the public,' when Ge-
shem, Sanballat, and Tobiah invited and urged him to stop
building the wall and hold a public discussion as to the
right to build. And doubtless a great many Jews said to
him, 'Unless we establish the right in the first place, it
will surely be taken from us utterly. This is a providen-
tial opportunity to preach truth in the very camp of the
enemy. But who got it up, God or the devil? ... Look
over the history of the world, and in nine cases out of
ten we shall find that Satan, after being foiled in his arts
to stop a great moral enterprise, has finally succeeded by
diverting the reformers from the main point to a colla-
teral, and that too just at the moment when such diver-
sion brought ruin. Now, even if this opportunity made
it the duty of somebody to take up the subject (which is
not proved by the fact of the opportunity), why should
you give your views, and with your name? Others as
able might be found, and as familiar with the subject.
others are driven off the field, and cannot
answer the objections. I answer, your names do not an-
But you say,

210
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
He urges
swer the objections. . . . How very easy to bave helped
a third person to the argument. By publicly making an
onset in your own names, in a widely-circulated periodi-
cal, upon a doctrine cherished as the apple of their eye
(I don't say really believed) by nine tenths of the church
and the world; what was it but a formal challenge to
the whole community for a regular set-to ?”
He proceeds to speak of such a “set to” and debate as
“producing alienation wide-spread in our own ranks, and
introducing confusion and every evil work."
the necessity of vindicating a right “ by exercising it,”
instead of simply arguing for it.
Of ministers he says: “True, there is a pretty large
class of ministers who are fierce about it, and will fight,
but a still-larger class that will come over if they first
witness the successful practice rather than meet it in the
shape of a doctrine to be swallowed. Now, if instead of
blowing a blast through the newspapers, sounding the on-
set, and summoning the ministers and churches to surren-
der, you had without any introductory flourish just gone
right among them and lectured, when and where and as
you could find opportunity, and paid no attention to criti-
cism, but pushed right on, without making any ado about
attacks,' and 'invasions,' and opposition,' and have let
the barkers bark their bark out, within one year you
might have practically brought over five hundred thou-
sand persons, of the very moral élite of New England.
You may rely upon it. . . . No moral enterprise, when
prosecuted with ability and any sort of energy, ever failed
under heaven so long as its conductors pushed the main
principle, and did not strike off until they reached the
summit level. On the other hand, every reform that ever
foundered in mid-sea, was capsized by one of these gusty

FRIENDLY CRITICISM
211
side-winds. Nothing more utterly amazes me than the
fact that the conduct of a great, a pre-eminently great
moral enterprise, should exhibit so little of a wise, far-
sighted, comprehensive plan. Surely it is about plain
enough to be called self-evident, that the only common-
sense method of conducting a great moral enterprise is to
start with a fundamental, plain principle, so fundamental
as not to involve side-relations, and so plain, that it cannot
be denied.”
The main obvious principle he urges is to be pushed
until the community surrenders to it. He adds:-
“Then, when you have drawn them up to the top of
the general principle, you can slide them down upon all
the derivative principles all at once. But if you attempt
to start off on a derivative principle, from any other point
than the summit level of the main principle, you must beat
up stream - yes, up a cataract. It reverses the order of
nature, and the laws of mind.
“You put the cart before the horse; you drag the tree
by the top, in attempting to push your woman's rights
until human rights have gone ahead and broken the path.
6 You are both liable, it seems to me, from your structure
of mind, to form your opinions upon too slight data, and
too narrow a range of induction, and to lay your plans
and adopt your measures, rather dazzled by the glare of
false analogies than led on by the relations of cause and
effect. Both of you, but especially Angelina, unless I
greatly mistake, are constitutionally tempted to push for
present effect, and upon the suddenness and impulsiveness
of the onset rely mainly for victory. Besides from her
strong resistiveness and constitutional obstinacy, she is
liable every moment to turn short from the main point

212
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
and spend her whole force upon some little one-side annoy-
ance that might temporarily nettle her. In doing this she
might win a single battle, but lose a whole campaign. Add
to this, great pride of character, so closely curtained as
to be almost searchless to herself, with a passion for ad-
venture and novel achievements, and she has in all an
amount of temptation to poor human nature that can be
overmastered only by strong conflicts and strong faith.
Under this, a sense of justice so keen that violation of
justice would be likely to lash up such a tide of indigna-
tion as would drive her from all anchorage. I say this to
her not in raillery. I believe it, and therefore utter it. It
is either fiction or fact. If fiction it can do no hurt; if
fact, it may not be in vain in the Lord, and then my
heart's desire and prayer will be fulfilled. May the Lord
have you in his keeping, my own dear sisters.
“ Most affectionately, your brother ever,
66 T. D. WELD.”
“One point I designed to make more prominent. It is
this: What is done for the slave and human rights in
this country must be done now, now, now.
Delay is
madness, ruin, whereas woman's rights are not a life
and death business, now or never. Why can't you have
eyes to see this? The wayfaring man, though a fool,
need not err here, it is so plain. What will you run a tilt
at next?"
And he names several things, — the tariff, the banks,
English tithe system, burning widows, etc., and adds:-
“If you adopt the views of H. C. Wright, as you are
reported to have done, in his official bulletin of a domes-
tic scene' (where you are made to figure conspicuously
among the conquests of the victor as rare spoils gracing
כל

NO HUMAN GOVERNMENT-ISM
213
the triumphal car), why then we are in one point of
doctrine just as wide asunder as extremes can be.”
This letter was answered by Sarah, and with the most
admirable patience and moderation. She begins by
saying:-
“Angelina is so wrathy that I think it will be unsafe
to trust the pen in her hands to reply to thy two last
good long letters. As I feel nothing but gratitude for
the kindness which I am sure dictated them, I shall
endeavor to answer them, and, as far as possible, allay
thy uneasiness as to the course we are pursuing."
She then proceeds to calmly discuss his objections, and
to defend their views on the woman question, which, she
says, she regards as second in importance to none, but
that she does not feel bound to take up every caviller
who presents himself, and therefore will not notice some
others who had criticised her letters in the Spectator.
About H. C. Wright, she says: “I must say a few
words concerning Brother Wright, towards whom I do
not feel certain that the law of love predominated when
thou wrote that part of thy letter relative to him. ...
We feel prepared to avow the principles set forth in the
domestic scene.' I wonder thou canst not perceive the
simplicity and beauty and consistency of the doctrine
that all government, whether civil or ecclesiastical, con-
flicts with the government of Jehovah, and that by the
Christian no other can be acknowledged, without leaning
more or less on an arm of flesh. Would to God that all
abolitionists put their trust where I believe H. C. Wright
has placed his, in God alone.... I have given my opinions
(in the Spectator). Those who read them may receive or
reject or find fault. I have nothing to do with that. I
shall let thee enjoy thy opinion, but I must wait and see

214
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
the issue before I conclude it was one of Satan's provi-
dences. ... I know the opposition to our views arises
in part from the fact that women are habitually regarded
as inferior beings, but chiefly I believe from a desire to
keep them in unholy subjection to man, and one way of
doing this is to deprive us of the means of becoming
their equals by forbidding us the privileges of education
which would fit us for the performance of duty. I am
greatly mistaken if most men have not a desire that
women should be silly. . . . I have not said half I wanted,
but this must suffice for the present, as Angelina has con-
cluded to try her hand at scolding. Farewell, dear
brother. May the Lord reward thee tenfold for thy
kindness, and keep thee in the hollow of His holy hand.
“ Thy sister in Jesus,
(S. M. G.”
Angelina's part of the letter is not written in the
sweet, Quaker spirit which prevails through Sarah's, but
shows a very interesting consciousness of her power over
the man she addressed.
“Sister,” she writes, “seems very much afraid that my
pen will be transformed into a venomous serpent when I
employ it to address thee, my dear brother, and no
wonder, for I like to pay my debts, and, as I received
ten dollars' worth of scolding, I should be guilty of
injustice did I not return the favor. Well! such a lec-
ture I never before had from anyone. What is the
matter with thee? One would really suppose that we
1 Angelina and Sarah had sent Mr. Weld ten dollars for some
supposed debts. He returned it, and said if any trifling sums fell
due, he would take them out in scolding, and pay himself thus.

THE SISTERS DESIST
215
had actually abandoned the anti-slavery cause, and were
roving the country, preaching nothing but woman's
rights, when, in fact, I can truly say that whenever I
lecture, I forget everything but the slave. He is all in all
for the time being. And what is the reason I am to be
scolded because sister writes letters in the Spectator?
Please let every woman bear her own burdens. Indeed,
I should like to know what I have done yet? And dost
thou really think in my answer to C. E. Beecher's absurd
views of woman that I had better suppress my own? If
SO, I will do it, as thou makest such a monster out of the
molehill, but my judgment is not convinced that in this
incidental way it is wrong to throw light on the sub-
ject.”
She speaks very gratefully of “Brother Lincoln, of
Gardner," who rejoiced to have them speak in his pulpit,
and says:
“My keen sense of justice compels me to admire such
nobility. He hoped sister would give her views on this
branch of the subject in the Spectator. He thought they
were needed, and we are well convinced they are,
T. D. W. notwithstanding. So much for my bump of
obstinacy which even thy sledge-hammer cannot beat
down.”
The subsequent correspondence, which I regret I have
not room to insert, shows that the remonstrances of Whit-
tier and Weld were effective in restraining, for the time
being, the impatience of the sisters to urge in their public
meetings what, however, they faithfully preached in pri-
vate — their conviction that the wrongs of woman were
the root of all oppression.
Sarah meekly writes to “brother Weld.”
“ After a struggle with my feelings, so severe that I

216
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
wrong, and if
-
was almost tempted to turn back from the anti-slavery
cause, I have given up to what seemed the inevitable, and
have thought little of it since. Perhaps I have done
SO, I trust I shall see it and repent it. I do
not intend to make any promises, because I may have
reason to regret them, but I do not know that I shall
scribble any more on the objectionable topic of woman.”
This interesting controversy did not end until several
more letters had passed back and forth, and various other
topics had been brought in; but it was carried through
with the same spirit of candor and love on all sides which
marked the beginning. There was one subject intro-
duced, a sort of side-question which I must notice, as it
reveals in a very pleasant manner the religious principle
and manly moral courage of Theodore D. Weld. At the
close of one of her letters, Sarah
says:
“Now just as it has come into my head, please tell me
whether thy clothing costs one hundred dollars per an-
num? I ask because it was insisted upon that Mr. Weld
must spend that amount on his wardrobe, and I as stren-
uously insisted he did not. It was thought impossible
a gentleman could spend less, but I think anti-slavery
agents know better.”
To this, he answered thus, at the end of one of his
letters.
66 Oh! I forgot the wardrobe! I suppose you are going
to take me to task about my shag-overcoat, linsey-woolsey
coat, and cowhide shoes; for you Quakers are as notional
about quality as you are precise about cut. Well, now to
the question. While I was travelling and lecturing, I
think that one year my clothing must have cost me nearly
one hundred dollars. It was the first
year
of
my
lectur-
ing in the West, when one entire suit and part of another

WELD ON DRESS
217
were destroyed or nearly so by mobs. Since I resigned
my commission as agent, which is now nearly a year, my
clothing has not cost me one third that amount. I don't
think it even cost me fifty dollars a year, except the year
I spoke of, when it was ruined by mobs, and the year
1832, when, in travelling, I lost it all with my other
baggage in the Alum River. There, I believe I have an-
swered your question as well as I can. However, I have
always had to encounter the criticism and chidings of my
acquaintances about my coarse dress. They will have it
that I have always curtailed my influence and usefulness
by such a John the Baptist attire as I have always been
habited in. But I have remarked that those persons who
have beset me on that score have shown in some way
that they had their hearts set more or less on showing off
their persons to advantage by their dress. Now I think
of it, I believe you are in great danger of making a little
god out of your caps and your drab color, and “thee'
and thou.' Besides, the tendency is quite questionable.
The moment certain shades of color, or a certain combi-
nation of letters, or modulation of sounds, or arrangement
of seams and angles, are made the sine qua non of reli-
gion and principle, that moment religion and principle are
hurled from their vantage-ground and become slaves
instead of rulers. I cannot get it out of my mind that
these must be a fetter on the spirit that clings to such
stereotyped forms and ceremonies that rustle and clatter
the more because life and spirit and power do not inhabit
them. Think about it, dear sisters."
In Sarah's next letter to him she says:
“Now first about the wardrobe. Thou art greatly mis-
taken in supposing that I meant to quiz thee; no, not I,
indeed. I wish from my heart more of us who take the

218
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
profession of Jesus on our lips were willing to wear shag
cloaks and linsey-Woolsey garments. Now I may inform
thee that, notwithstanding my prim caps, etc., I am
as economical as thou art. I do many things in the way
of dress to please my friends, but perhaps their watchful-
ness is needful.”
Dear Aunt Sarah! these last words will make many
smile who remember how scrupulously careful she was
about spending more on her dress than was absolutely
necessary to cleanliness and health. Every dollar beyond
this she felt was taken from the poor or from some bene-
volent enterprise. The watchfulness of her friends was
indeed needful !
It appears from the above correspondence that both
Sarah and Angelina had become tinctured with the doc-
trines of “non-resistance," which, within a few years, had
gained some credit with a ew “perfectionists” and active
reformers in and about Boston. They had been presented
by Lydia Maria Child, a genial writer, under the guise of
the Scriptural doctrine of love. This sentiment was held
to be adequate to the regulation of social and political
life: by it, ruffians were to be made to stand in awe of
virtue; thieves, burglars, and murderers were to be made
ashamed of themselves, and turned into honest and amia-
ble citizens; children were to be governed without pun-
ishment; and the world was to be made a paradise. Rev.
Henry C. Wright, a man of some ability, but tossed by
every wind of doctrine, embraced the new gospel. He
applied its principles to public matters. From the essen-
tial sinfulness of all forms of force, if used towards human
beings, he inferred that penal laws, prisons, sheriffs, and
criminal courts should be dispensed with; that govern-
ments, which, of necessity, execute their decrees by force,

HENRY C. WRIGHT
219
course.
should be abolished; that Christians should not take part
in politics, either by voting or holding office; that they
should not employ force, even to resist encroachment or
in the defence of their wives and children; and that
although slavery, being a form of force, was wrong, no
one should vote against it. The slave-holder was to be
converted by love. The free States should show their
grief and disapprobation by seceding from the slave
States, and by nullifying within their limits any unjust
laws passed by the nation. All governments, civil, eccle-
siastical, and family, were to disappear, so that the divine
law, interpreted by each one for himself, might have free
To this fanciful, transcendental, and anarchical
theory, Mr. Wright made sundry converts, more or less
thorough, including Parker Pillsbury, Wm. L. Garrison,
and Stephen S. Foster. That he took a good deal of
pains to capture the subjects of our biography is evident.
He attended their lectures, cultivated their acquaintance,
extended to them his sympathy, and made them his
guests. There are certain affinities of the non-resistance
doctrines with Quakerism, which made them attractive to
these two women who had little worldly knowledge, and
who had been trained for years in the peace doctrines of
the Philadelphia Friends.
It was fortunate for the anti-slavery cause that Sarah
and Angelina were warned in time by their New York
friends of the fatally dangerous character of the heresies
they were inclined to accept. They went no further in
that direction. In all their subsequent letters, journals,
and papers there is not a word to show that either of
them ever entertained no-government notions, or identi-
fied herself with persons who did. During the remaining
months of their stay in Massachusetts, they devoted them-

220
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
selves to their true mission of anti-slavery work, accepting
the co-operation and friendship of all friends of the slave,
but avoiding compromising relations with those known as
“no human government” non-resistants.
This course
was continued in after years, and drew upon them the
disapprobation and strictures of the non-voting, non-fight-
ing faction. In a letter from Sarah to Augustus Wattles,
dated May 11, 1854, about the time of the Kansas war,
she says:
“We were fully aware of the severe criticisms passed up-
on us by many of those who showed their unfitness to be
in the judgment seat, by the unmerciful censure they have
pronounced against us when we were doing what to us
seemed positive duty. They wanted us to live out Wm.
Lloyd Garrison, not the convictions of our own souls,
entirely unaware that they were exhibiting, in the high
places of moral reform, the genuine spirit of slave-holding
by wishing to curtail the sacred privilege of conscience.
But we have not allowed their unreasonableness to sever
us from them; they have many noble traits, have acted
grandly for humanity, and it was perhaps a part of their
business to abuse us. I do not think I love Garrison any
the less for what he has said. His spirit of intolerance
towards those who did not draw in his traces, and his
adulation of those who surrendered themselves to his
guidance, have always been exceedingly repulsive to me,
weaknesses which marred the beauty and symmetry of
his character, and prevented its symmetrical development,
but nevertheless I know the stern principle which is the
basis of his action. He is Garrison and nobody else, and
all I ask is that he would let others be themselves.”
The feeling thus expressed was probably never changed
until after the sisters had taken up their residence in the

FRIENDSHIP RENEWED
221
neighborhood of Boston, when visits were interchanged
with Mr. Garrison, and friendly relations established,
which ended only with death. It is certain, however,
that Sarah and Angelina sympathized with the stalwart
freemen who used Sharp's rifles in the defence of free
Kansas, who voted the Liberty, Free Soil, and Republi-
can ticket, who elected Abraham Lincoln President, and
who shouldered muskets against the rebels.

222
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XV.
The anti-slavery cause, and intimate association with so
many of its enthusiastic advocates, had indeed done much
for Sarah Grimké. Her mind was rapidly becoming puri-
fied from the dross that had clogged it so long; religious
doubts and difficulties were fading away one by one, and
the wide, warm sympathies of her nature now freed, ex-
panded gladly to a new world of light and love and labor.
As she expressed it, she was like one coming into a clear
brisk atmosphere, after having been long shut up in a
close room.
Her drowsy faculties were all stirred and in-
vigorated, and though her disappointments had left wounds
whose pain must always remind her of them, she had no
longer time to sit down and bemoan them.
There was so
much to do in the broad, fresh fields which stretched
around her, and she had been idle so long! Is it any
wonder that she tried to grasp too much at first?
The affection between her and Angelina was growing
daily more tender — perhaps a little more maternal on her
part. Drawn closer together by the now complete separa-
tion from every member of their own family, and by the
disapproval and coldness of their Philadelphia friends,
they were an inexpressible solace and help to each other.
Identified in all their trials, as now in their labors, they

CROWDED AUDIENCES
223
worked together in a sweet unity of spirit, which lessened
every difficulty and lightened every burden.
They continued to lecture almost uninterruptedly for
five months, and though the prejudice against them as
women appeared but slightly diminished, people were
becoming familiarized to the idea of women speaking in
public, and the way was gradually being cleared for the
advance-guard of that noble army which has brought
about so many changes favorable to the weak and down-
trodden of its own sex.
Invitations to speak came to the sisters from all parts
of the State, and not even by dividing their labors among
the smaller towns could they begin to respond to all who
wished to hear them. Sometimes the crowds around the
place of meeting were so great that a second hall or
church would have to be provided, and Sarah speak in
one, while Angelina spoke in the other. At one place,
where over a thousand people crowded into a church, one
of the joists gave way; it was propped up, but soon
others began to crack, and, although the people were
warned to leave that part of the building, only a few
obeyed, and it was found impossible to persuade them to
go, or to consent to have the speaking stopped.
At another place ladders were put up at all the win-
dows, and men crowded upon them, and tenaciously held
their uncomfortable positions through the whole meeting.
In one or two places they were refused a meeting-house,
on account of strong sectarian feeling against them as
Quakers. At Worcester they had to adjourn from a
large Congregational church to a small Methodist one,
because the clergyman of the former suddenly returned
from an absence, and declared that if they spoke in his
church he would never enter it again. At Bolton, notices

224
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
of their meetings were torn down, but the town hall was
packed notwithstanding, many going away, unable to get
in. The church here had also been refused them. An-
gelina, in the course of her lecture, seized an opportunity
to refer to their treatment, saying that if the people of
her native city could see her lecturing in that hall be-
cause every church had been closed against the cause of
God's down-trodden creatures, they would clap their
hands for joy, and say, “See what slavery is doing for us
in the town of Bolton!”
She describes very graphically going two miles to a
meeting on a dark and rainy night, when Sarah was
obliged to remain at home on account of a cold, and Abby
Kelly drove her in a chaise, and how nearly they came to
being upset, and how they met men in flocks along the
road, all going to the meeting. She says:-
“ It seemed as if I could not realize they were going to
hear me," and adds :-
“ This was the first large meeting I ever attended with-
out dear sister, and I wonder I did not feel desolate, for I
knew not a creature there. Nevertheless, the Lord
strengthened me, and I spoke with ease for an hour and
a quarter.”
But the incessant strain upon her nervous system, to-
gether with the fatigue and exposure of almost constant
travelling, began to tell seriously on her health. In Oc-
tober she frequently speaks of being "so tired," of being
“so glad to rest a day," etc., until, all these warnings be-
ing unheeded, nature peremptorily called a halt. In the
beginning of November, after a week of unusual fatigue,
having lectured six times in as many different places, they
reached Hingham quite worn out. Sarah, though still
suffering with a cold, begged to lecture in her sister's

SICKNESS
225
-
place, but Angelina had been announced, and she knew
the people would be disappointed if she failed to appear.
When they entered the crowded hall, a lady seeing how
unwell Angelina looked, seized both her hands and ex-
claimed:
"Oh, if you will only hold out to-night, I will nurse
you for a week!"
She did hold out for an hour and a half, and then sank
back exhausted, and was obliged to leave the lecture un-
finished. This was the beginning of an illness which
lasted, with its subsequent convalescence, through the re-
mainder of the year. Their good friends, Samuel and
Eliza Philbrick, brought the sisters to their beautiful
home in Brookline, and surrounded them with every care
and comfort kind hearts could suggest. Sarah then found
how very weary she was also, and how opportune was this
enforced rest.
Thus,” wrote Angelina some weeks afterwards to
Jane Smith, “thus ended our summer campaign. Oh,
how delightful it was to stretch my weary limbs on a bed
of ease, and roll off from my mind all the heavy responsi-
bilities which had so long pressed upon it, and, above all,
to feel in my soul the language, Well done.' It was
luxury indeed, well worth the toil of months."
Sarah, too, speaks of looking back upon the labors of
the summer with feelings of unmixed satisfaction.
That the leaven prepared in Sarah Grimké's letters on
the “Province of Woman” was beginning to work was
evidenced by a public discussion on woman's rights
which took place at the Boston Lyceum on the evening
of Dec. 4, 1837. The amount of interest this first
public debate on the subject excited was shown by
the fact that an audience of fifteen hundred of the most
66

226
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
intelligent and respectable people of Boston crowded the
hall and listened attentively to the end. Sarah and
Angelina, the latter now almost entirely recovered, were
present, accompanied by Mr. Philbrick.
“A very noble view throughout,” says Angelina, and
adds: “The discussion has raised my hopes of the woman
question. It was conducted with respect, delicacy, and
dignity, and many minds no doubt were roused to reflec-
tion, though I must not forget to say it was decided
against us by acclamation, our enemies themselves being
judges. It was like a meeting of slave-holders deciding
that the slaves are happier in their present condition than
they would be freed.”
Soon after this, Angelina writes that some Boston
women, including Maria Chapman and Lydia M. Child,
were about to start a woman's rights paper, and she
adds: “We greatly hope dear Maria Chapman will soon
commence lecturing, and that the spark we have been
permitted to kindle on the woman question will never
die out.”
The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society was held the latter part of January, 1838, and
was notable in several respects. On the second day, the
“great Texas meeting," as it was called, was held in
Faneuil Hall, and the fact that this Cradle of Liberty was
loaned to the abolitionists was bitterly commented upon
by their opponents, while abolitionists themselves re-
garded it as strong evidence of the progress their cause
had made. Angelina writes Jane Smith a graphic ac-
count of the speakers and speeches at this meeting, but
especially mentions Henry B. Stanton, who made the
most powerful speech of the whole session, and was so
severe on Congress, that a representative who was pres-

THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE
227
ent arose to object to the shot thunderbolts and burning
lava” that had been let loose on the heads of "the
powers that be, of those whom we were commanded to
honor and obey." These remarks were so ridiculous as to
excite laughter, and the manner in which Stanton demol-
ished the speaker by his own arguments called forth such
repeated rounds of applause that the great orator was
obliged to insist upon silence.
At this meeting, said to have been the largest ever
held in Boston, several hundred women were present, a
most encouraging sign to Sarah Grimké of the progress of
her ideas.
After some parleying, the hall of the House of Repre-
sentatives was granted the Society for their remaining
meetings, and here Quincy, Colver, Phelps, and Wendell
Phillips spoke and made a deep impression, so deep that
a committee was appointed to take into consideration the
petitions on the subject of slavery.
Stanton, half in jest, asked Angelina if she would not
like to speak before that committee, as the names of some
thousands of women were before it as signers of petitions.
She had never thought of such a thing, but, after reflect-
ing upon it a day, sent Stanton word that if the friends
of the cause thought well of it, she would speak as he
had proposed. He was surprised and troubled, for,
though he was all right in the abstract on the woman
question, he feared the consequences of such a manifest
assertion of equality.
“It seems,” Angelina writes, “even the stout-hearted
tremble when the woman question is to be acted out in
full. Jackson, Fuller, Phelps, and Quincy were con-
sulted. The first is sound to the core, and went right
up to the State House to inquire of the chairman of the

228
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
committee whether I could be heard. Wonderful to tell,
he said Yes, without the least hesitation, and actually
helped to remove the scruples of some of the timid-
hearted abolitionists. Perhaps it is best I should bear
the responsibility wholly myself. I feel willing to do it,
and think I shall say nothing more about it, but just let
Birney and Stanton make the speeches they expect to
before the committee this week, and when they have
done, make an independent application to the chairman
as a woman, as a Southerner, as a moral being. ... I
feel that this is the most important step I have ever been
called to take: important to woman, to the slave, to my
country, and to the world.”
This plan was carried out, thanks to James C. Alvord,
the chairman of the committee; and the halls of the
Massachusetts Legislature were opened for the first time
to a woman. Wendell Phillips says of that meeting: -
“It gave Miss Grimké the opportunity to speak to the
best culture and character of Massachusetts; and the
profound impression then made on a class not often found
in our meetings was never wholly lost. It was not only
the testimony of one most competent to speak, but it was
the profound religious experience of one who had broken
out of the charmed circle, and whose intense earnestness
melted all opposition. The converts she made needed no
after-training. It was when you saw she was opening
some secret record of her own experience that the painful
silence and breathless interest told the deep effect and
lasting impression her words were making."
We have not Angelina's account of this meeting, but
referring to it in a letter to Sarah Douglass, she says:
“My heart never quailed before, but it almost died within
me at that tremendous hour.”

SPEECHES IN BOSTON
229
But one hearing did not satisfy her, and the committee
needed no urging to grant her another. At the second
meeting, the hall was literally packed, and hundreds went
away unable to obtain seats. When she arose to speak,
there was some hissing from the doorways, but the most
profound silence reigned through the crowd within. An-
gelina first stood in front of the Speaker's desk, then she
was requested to occupy the Secretary's desk on one side,
and soon after, that she might be seen as well as heard,
she was invited to stand in the Speaker's place. And
from that conspicuous position she spoke over two hours
without the least interruption. She says to Sarah Doug-
lass:
“What the effect of these meetings is to be, I know
not, nor do I feel that I have anything to do with it.
This I know, that the chairman was in tears almost the
whole time I was speaking," and she adds: “We aboli-
tion women are turning the world upside down, for dur-
ing the whole meeting there was sister seated up in the
Speaker's chair of state.”
These meetings were followed by the six evening lec-
tures at the Odeon, to which reference has already been
made. Sarah delivered the first lecture, taking for her
subject the history of the country in reference to slavery.
She spoke for two hours, fearlessly, as she always did,
and though she says Garrison told her he trembled with
apprehension, the audience of fifteen hundred people lis-
tened respectfully and attentively, frequently applauding
the utterance of some strongly expressed truth, and show-
ing no excitement even under the rebukes she adminis-
tered to Edward Everett, then Governor of Massachusetts,
for his speech in Congress in 1826, and to ex-Governor
Lincoln for his in 1831. Both these worthies had de-

230
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
clared their willingness to go down South to suppress
servile insurrection.
This was the last time Sarah spoke in public. Her
throat, which had long troubled her, was now seriously
affected, and entire rest was prescribed. She did not
murmur, for she had increasingly felt that Angelina's
speaking was more effective than hers, and now she
believed the Lord was showing her that this part of the
work must be left to her more gifted sister, and she
gladly yielded to her the task of delivering the five suc-
ceeding lectures. In relation to these lectures, the son of
Samuel Philbrick has kindly sent me the following extract
from a diary kept by his father. Under date of April
23, 1838, he says:-
“In February Angelina addressed the committee of
our legislature on the subject of slavery and the slave
trade in the District of Columbia and Florida, and the
inter-state slave trade, during three sittings of two hours
each, in the Representatives' Hall in Boston, before a
crowded audience, stowed as close as they could stand in
every aisle and corner. Her addresses were listened to
with profound attention and respect, without interruption
to the last. More than five hundred people could not get
seats, but stood quietly during two full hours, in profound
silence.
“During the last few weeks she has delivered five lec-
tures, and Sarah one at the Odeon, before an assembly of
men and women from all parts of the city. Every part of
the building was crowded, every aisle filled. Estimated
number, two thousand to three thousand at each meeting.
There was great attention and silence, and the addresses
were intensely interesting."
These over, the sisters bade farewell to their most ex-

ANGELINA'S MARRIAGE
231
cellent Brookline friends, in whose family they had so
peacefully rested for six months, and returned to Phila-
delphia, Sarah accepting a temporary home with Jane
Smith, while Angelina went to stay with Mrs. Frost, at
whose house two weeks later, that is on the 14th of May,
she was united in marriage to Theodore D. Weld.
No marriage could have been more true, more fitting
in every respect. The solemn relation was never entered
upon in more holiness of purpose or in higher resolve to
hold themselves strictly to the best they were capable of.
It was a rededication of lives long consecrated to God
and humanity; of souls knowing no selfish ambition, seek-
ing before all things the glory of their Creator in the ele-
vation of His creatures everywhere. The entire unity of
spirit in which they afterwards lived and labored, the
tender affection which, through a companionship of more
than forty years, knew no diminution, made a family life
so perfect and beautiful that it brightened and inspired
all who were favored to witness it. No one could be
with them under the most ordinary circumstances with-
out feeling the force and influence of their characters.
Invitations were sent to about eighty persons, mostly
abolitionists, of all colors, some jet black. Nearly all
came; representing Pennsylvania, New York, New Jer-
sey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
Among them were H. B. Stanton, C. C. Burleigh, Wil-
liam Lloyd Garrison, Amos Dresser, H. C. Wright, Maria
and Mary Chapman, Abby Kelly, Samuel Philbrick, Jane
Smith, and Sarah Douglass of course, and Mr. Weld's
older brother, the president of the asylum for deaf mutes.
Sarah Grimké's account of the wedding, written to a
friend in England, is most interesting; and one cannot
but wonder if another like it ever took place. The letter

232
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
was written while the then and ever after inseparable trio
was at Manlius, New York, visiting Mr. Weld's family.
After a slight mention of other matters, she says :-
“I must now give thee some account of my dear sis-
ter's marriage, which probably thou hast already heard of.
Her precious husband is emphatically a man of God, a
member of the Presbyterian Church. Of course Ange. .
lina will be disowned for forming this connection, and I
shall be for attending the marriage. We feel no regret
at this circumstance, believing that the discipline which
cuts us off from membership for an act so strictly in con-
formity with the will of God, and so sanctioned by His
word as is the marriage of the righteous, must be anti-
Christian, and I am thankful for an opportunity to testify
against it. The marriage was solemnized at the house of
our sister, Anna R. Frost, in Philadelphia, on the 14th
instant. By the law of Pennsylvania, a marriage is legal
if witnessed by twelve persons. Neither clergyman nor
magistrate is required to be present. Angelina could not
conscientiously consent to be married by a clergyman,
and Theodore D. Weld cheerfully consented to have the
marriage solemnized in such manner as comported with
her views. We all felt that the presence of a magistrate,
a stranger, would be unpleasant to us at such a time, and
we therefore concluded to invite such of our friends as
we desired, and have the marriage solemnized as a reli-
gious act, in a religious and social meeting. Neither
Theodore nor Angelina felt as if they could bind them-
selves to any preconceived form of words, and accord-
ingly uttered such as the Lord gave them at the
moment. Theodore addressed Angelina in a solemn and
tender manner.
Ie alluded to the unrighteous power
vested in a husband by the laws of the United States

THE CEREMONY
233
over the person and property of his wife, and he abjured
all authority, all government, save the influence which
love would give to them over each other as moral and im-
mortal beings. I would give much could I recall his
words, but I cannot. Angelina's address to him was brief
but comprehensive, containing a promise to honor him, to
prefer him above herself, to love him with a pure heart
fervently. Immediately after this we knelt, and dear
Theodore poured out his soul in solemn supplication for
the blessing of God on their union, that it might be pro-
ductive of enlarged usefulness, and increased sympathy
for the slave. Angelina followed in a melting appeal to
our Heavenly Father, for a blessing on them, and that
their union might glorify Him, and then asked His gui-
dance and over-shadowing love through the rest of their
pilgrimage. A colored Presbyterian minister then
prayed, and was followed by a white one, and then I
felt as if I could not restrain the language of praise and
thanksgiving to Him who had condescended to be in the
midst of this marriage feast, and to pour forth abundantly
the oil and wine of consolation and rejoicing. The Lord
Jesus was the first guest invited to be present, and He
condescended to bless us with His presence, and to sanc-
tion and sanctify the union which was thus consummated.
The certificate was then read by William Lloyd Garrison,
and was signed by the company. The evening was spent
in pleasant social intercourse. Several colored persons
were present, among them two liberated slaves, who
formerly belonged to our father, had come by inheritance
to sister Anna, and had been freed by her. They were
our invited guests, and we thus had an opportunity to
bear our testimony against the horrible prejudice which
prevails against colored persons, and the equally awful
prejudice against the poor."

234
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
This unconventional but truly religious marriage cere-
mony was in perfect harmony with the loyal, noble natures
of Theodore Weld and Angelina Grimké, exemplifying
the simplicity of their lives and the strength of their prin-
ciples. No grand preparations preceded the event; no
wedding bells were rung on the occasion; no rare gifts
were displayed: but the blessing of the lowly and the
despised, and the heart-felt wishes of co-workers and co-
sufferers were the offerings which lent to the occasion its
purest joy and brightest light.
But though so quietly and peacefully solemnized, this
marriage was to have its celebration, - one little antici-
pated, but according well with the experiences which had
preceded it, and serving to make it all the more impres-
sive and its promises more sacred.
Refused the use of churches and lecture-rooms, and
denied the privilege of hiring halls for their meetings, the
abolitionists of Philadelphia, with other friends of free
discussion, formed an association, and built, at an expense
of forty thousand dollars, a beautiful hall, to be used for
free speech on any and every subject not of an immoral
character. Daniel Neall was the president of this associa-
tion, and William Dorsey the secretary. The hall, one of
the finest buildings in the city, was situated at the south-
west corner of Delaware, Sixth, and Harris streets, be-
tween Cherry and Sassafras streets.
It was opened for the first time on Angelina Grimké's
wedding-day, and was filled with one of the largest audi-
ences ever assembled in Philadelphia.
As soon as the president of the association had taken
his seat, the secretary arose and explained the uses and
purposes the hall was expected to serve. He said :-
“A number of individuals of all sects, and those of no

PENNSYLVANIA HALL
235
sect, of all parties, and those of no party, being desirous
that the citizens of Philadelphia should possess a room
wherein the principles of liberty and equality of civil
rights could be freely discussed, and the evils of slavery
fearlessly portrayed, have erected this building, which we
are now about to dedicate to liberty and the rights of
man. . . . A majority of the stockholders are mechanics
or working-men, and (as is the case in almost every other
good work) a number are women.”
The secretary then proceeded to read letters from John
Quincy Adams, Thaddeus Stevens, Gerrit Smith, Theo-
dore Weld, and others, who had been invited to deliver
addresses, but who, from various causes, were obliged to
decline. That from Weld was characteristic of the ear-
nestness of the man. After stating that for a year
and a
half he had been prevented from speaking in public on
account of an affection of the throat, and must therefore
decline the invitation of the committee, he adds :-
“I exult in the erection of your "temple of freedom,
and the more, as it is the first and only one, in a republic
of fifteen millions, consecrated to free discussion and equal
rights.
years they have been banished from our halls of
legislation and of justice, from our churches and our pul-
pits. It is befitting that the city of Benezet and of
Franklin should be the first to open an asylum where the
hunted exiles may find a home. God grant that your
Pennsylvania Hall may be free, indeed !
“The empty name is everywhere, — free government,
free men, free speech, free people, free schools, and free
churches. Hollow counterfeits all! Free! It is the
climax of irony, and its million echoes are hisses and jeers,
even from the earth's ends. Free! Blot it out. Words
6 For

286
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
are the signs of things. The substance has gone! Let
fools and madmen clutch at shadows. The husk must
rustle the more when the kernel and the ear are gone.
Rome's loudest shout for liberty was when she murdered
it, and drowned its death shrieks in her hoarse huzzas.
She never raised her hands so high to swear allegiance to
freedom as when she gave the death-stab, and madly
leaped upon its corpse; and her most delirious dance was
among the clods her hands had cast upon its coffin.
Free! The word and sound are omnipresent masks and
mockers. An impious lie, unless they stand for free lynch
law and free murder, for they are free.
“But I'll hold. The times demand brief speech, but
mighty deeds. On, my brethren! uprear your temple.
“ Your brother in the sacred strife for all,
C THEODORE D. WELD.”
David Paul Brown, of Philadelphia, was invited to
deliver the dedicatory address, which, with other exer-
cises, occupied the mornings and evening of three days,
and included addresses by Garrison, Thomas P. Hunt,
Arnold Buffum, Alanson St. Clair, and others, on slavery,
temperance, the Indians, right of free discussion, and
kindred topics. On the second day, an appropriate and
soul-stirring poem by John G. Whittier was read by
C. C. Burleigh. The first lines will give an idea of the
spirit of the whole poem, one of the finest efforts Whittier
ever made:-
“Not with the splendors of the days of old,
The spoil of nations and barbaric gold,
No weapons wrested from the fields of blood,
Where dark and stern the unyielding Roman stood,
And the proud eagles of his cohorts saw

THE MOB
237
A world war-wasted, crouching to his law;
Nor blazoned car, nor banners floating gay,
Like those which swept along the Appian Way,
When, to the welcome of imperial Rome,
The victor warrior came in triumph home,
And trumpet peal, and shoutings wild and high,
Stirred the blue quiet of th' Italian sky,
But calm and grateful, prayerful, and sincere,
As Christian freemen only, gathering here,
We dedicate our fair and lofty hall,
Pillar and arch, entablature and wall,
As Virtue's sharine, as Liberty's abode,
Sacred to Freedom, and to Freedom's God.”
The Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women
was then holding a session in the city, and among the
members present were some of the brightest and noblest
women of the day, women with courage as calm and high
to dare, as with hearts tender to feel for human woe.
The Convention occupied the lecture-room of Pennsyl-
vania Hall, under the main saloon. A strong desire hav-
ing been expressed by many citizens to hear some of these
able pleaders for the slave, notice was given that there
would be a meeting in the main saloon on the evening of
the 16th, at which Angelina, E. G. Weld, Maria Chapman,
and others would speak.
Up to the time of this announcement, no apprehension
of
any
disturbance had been felt by the managers of the
hall. So far all the meetings had been conducted with-
out interruption; nor could anyone have supposed it
possible that in a city renowned for its order and law,
and possessing a large and efficient police force, a public
outrage upon an assemblage of respectable citizens, many
of them women, could be perpetrated. But it was soon
to be shown how deeply the spirit of slavery had infused

238
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
itself into the minds of the people of the free States,
leading them to disregard the rights of individuals and
to wantonly violate the sacred principles guaranteed by
the Constitution of the country.
During the day some threats of violence were thrown
out, and written placards were posted about the city
inviting interference with the proposed meeting, forcibly
if necessary. But this was regarded only as the expres-
sion of malice on the part of a few, or perhaps of an
individual, and occasioned no alarm. Still, the precau-
tion was taken to request the mayor to hold his police
force in readiness to protect the meeting in case of need.
The day passed quietly. Long before the time announced
for the meeting, the hall, capable of containing three
thousand people, was thronged, and, by the time the
speakers arrived, every seat was filled, every inch of
standing room was occupied, and thousands went away
from the doors unable to obtain admittance. The audi-
ence was for the most part a highly respectable and
intelligent one, and, notwithstanding the great crowd,
was exceedingly quiet. William Lloyd Garrison opened
the meeting with a short but characteristic speech, during
which he was frequently interrupted by hisses and groans;
and when he ended, some efforts were made to break
the meeting. In the midst of the confusion, Maria W.
Chapman arose, calm, dignified, and, with a wave of her
hand, as though to still the noise, began to speak, but,
before she had gone far, yells from the outside proclaimed
the arrival there of a disorderly rabble, and at once the
confusion inside became so great, that, although the
brave woman continued her speech, she was not heard
except by those immediately around her.
Sarah Grimké thus wrote of Mrs. Chapman's appear-
up

LAST PUBLIC SPEECH
239
ance on that occasion: “She is the most beautiful woman
I ever saw; the perfection of sweetness and intelligence
being blended in her speaking countenance. She arose
amid the yells and shouts of the infuriated mob, the
crash of windows and the hurling of stones. She looked
to me like an angelic being descended amid that tempest
of passion in all the dignity of conscious superiority.”
Then Angelina Weld, the bride of three days, came
forward, and so great was the effect of her pure, beautiful
presence and quiet, graceful manner, that in a few mo-
ments the confusion within the hall had subsided. With
deep solemnity, and in words of burning eloquence, she
gave her testimony against the awful wickedness of an
institution which had no secrets from her. She was fre-
quently interrupted by the mob, but their yells and
shouts only furnished her with metaphors which she
used with unshrinking power. More stones were thrown
at the windows, more glass crashed, but she only paused
to ask:
“What is a mob? What would the breaking of every
window be? Any evidence that we are wrong, or that
slavery is a good and wholesome institution? What if
that mob should now burst in upon us,
break
up our meet-
ing, and commit violence upon our persons — would this
be anything compared with what the slaves endure? No,
no: and we do not remember them (as bound with them,'
if we shrink in the time of peril, or feel unwilling to sac-
rifice ourselves, if need be, for their sake. I thank the
Lord that there is yet life enough left to feel the truth,
#ven though it rages at it — that conscience is not so com-
pletely seared as to be unmoved by the truth of the liv-
ing God."
Here a shower of stones was thrown through the win-
-

240
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
dows, and there was some disturbance in the audience,
but quiet was again restored, and Angelina proceeded,
and spoke for over an hour, making no further reference
to the noise without, and only showing that she noticed
it by raising her own voice so that it could be heard
throughout the hall.
Not once was a tremor or a change of color perceptible,
and though the missiles continued to fly through the bro-
ken sashes, and the hootings and yellings increased out-
side, so powerfully did her words and tones hold that vast
audience, that, imminent as seemed their peril, scarcely a
man or woman moved to depart. She sat down amid
applause that drowned all the noise outside.
Abby Kelly, then quite a young woman, next arose and
said a few words, her first public utterances.
She was
followed by gentle Lucretia Mott in a short but most
earnest speech, and then this memorable meeting, the first
of the kind where men and women acted together as
moral beings, closed.
There was a dense crowd in the streets around the hall
as the immense audience streamed out, but though screams
and all sorts of appalling noises were made, no violence
was offered, and all reached their homes in safety.
But the mob remained, inany of its wretched members
staying all night, assaulting every belated colored man
who came along. The next morning the dregs of the
populace, and some respectable looking men again assem-
bled around the doomed hall, but the usual meetings were
held, and even the convention of women assembled in
the lecture room to finish up their business. The evening
was to have been occupied by a public meeting of the
Wesleyan Anti-Slavery Society of Philadelphia, but as
the day waned to its close, the indications of approaching

BURNING THE HALL
241
disturbance became more and more alarming. The crowd
around the building increased, and the secret agents of
slavery were busy inflaming the passions of the rabble
against the abolitionists, and inciting it to outrage. See-
ing this, and realizing the danger which threatened, the
managers of the hall gave the building over to the pro-
tection of the mayor of the city, at his request. Of course
the proposed meeting was postponed. All the
mayor
did
was to appear in front of the hall, and, in a friendly tone,
express to the mob the hope that it would not do any-
thing disorderly, saying that he relied upon the men he
saw before him, as his policemen, and he wished them
“good evening!” The mob gave "three cheers for the
mayor,” and, as soon as he was out of sight, extinguished
the gas lights in front of the building. The rest is soon
told. Doors and windows were broken through, and with
wild yells the reckless horde dashed in, plundered the
Repository, scattering the books in every direction, and,
mounting the stairways and entering the beautiful hall,
piled combustibles on the Speaker's forum, and applied the
torch to them, shrieking like demons, -as they were, for
the time. A moment more, and the flames roared and
crackled through the building, and though it was esti-
mated that fifteen thous, nd persons were present, and
though the fire companies were early on the scene, not one
effort was made to save the structure so recently erected,
at such great cost, and consecrated to such Christian uses.
In a few hours the smouldering walls alone were left.
Angelina Weld never again appeared in public. An
accident soon after her marriage caused an injury of such
a nature that her nervous system was permanently im-
paired, and she was ever after obliged to avoid all excite-
ment or over-exertion. The period of her public labors

242
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
was short, but how fruitful, how full of blessings to the
cause of the slave and to the many who espoused it
through her powerful appeals! Great was her grief; for,
knowing now her capabilities, she had looked forward to
renewed and still more successful work; but she accepted
with sweet submission the cross laid upon her. Not a
murmur arose to her lips. She was content to leave all
to the Lord. He could find some new work for her to do.
She would trust Him, and patiently wait.
The loss of the services of one so richly endowed, so
devoted, and so successful, was deeply felt by the friends
of emancipation, and especially as at this important epoch
efficient speakers were sorely needed, and two of the
most efficient, Weld and Burleigh, were already, from
overwork, taken from the platform.
But though denied the privilege of again raising her
voice in behalf of the oppressed, Angelina continued to plead
for them through her pen. She could never forget the cause
that could never forget her, and to her writings was trans-
ferred much of the force and eloquence of her speaking.
Immediately after the destruction of Pennsylvania
Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Weld, accompanied by Sarah Grimké,
paid a visit to Mr. Weld's parents in Manlius, from which
place, Sarah, writing to Jane Smith, says:-
“O Jane, it looks like almost too great a blessing for
us three to be together in some quiet, humble habitation,
living to the glory of God, and promoting the happiness
of those around us; to be spiritually united, and to be pur-
suing with increasing zeal the great work of the abolition
of slavery.”
The “quiet, humble habitation" was found at Fort
Lee, on the Hudson, and there the happy trio settled
down for their first housekeeping.

DISOWNMENT
243
CHAPTER XVI.
They were scarcely settled amid their new surround-
ings before the sisters received a formal notice of their
disownment by the Society of Friends because of Ange-
lina's marriage. The notification, signed by two promi-
nent women elders of the Society, expressed regret that
Sarah and Angelina had not more highly prized their
right of membership, and added an earnest desire that
they might come to a sense of their real state, and mani-
fest a disposition to condemn their deviations from the
path of duty.
Angelina replied without delay that they wished the
discipline of the Society to have free course with regard
to them. “It is our joy,” she wrote, “that we have
committed no offence for which Christ Jesus will disown
us as members of the household of faith. If you regret
that we have valued our right of membership so little,
we equally regret that our Society should have adopted
a discipline which has no foundation in the Bible or in
reason; and we earnestly hope the time may come when
the simple Gospel rule with regard to marriage, Be not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers,' will be as
conscientiously enforced as that sectarian one which pro-
hibits the union of the Lord's own people if their shibbo-
leth be not exactly the same.

244
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
“We are very respectfully, in that love which knows
no distinction in color, clime, or creed, your friends,
6 A. E. G. WELD.
« SARAH M. GRIMKÉ."
It will be noticed that in this reply Angelina avoids
the Quaker phraseology, and neither she nor Sarah ever
after used it, except occasionally in correspondence with
a Quaker friend.
Thus ended their connection with the Society of
Friends. From that time they never attached themselves
to any religious organization, but rested contentedly in
the simple religion of Christ, illustrating by every act of
their daily lives how near they were to the heart of all
true religion.
As I am approaching the limits prescribed for this vol-
ume, I can, in the space remaining to me, only note with
any detail the chief incidents of the years which followed
Angelina's marriage. I would like to describe at length
the beautiful family life the trio created, and which dis-
proved so clearly the current assertion that interest in
public matters disqualifies woman for home duties or
make these distasteful to her. In the case of Sarah and
Angelina those duties were entered upon with joy and
gratitude, and with the same conscientious zeal that had
characterized their public labors. The simplicity and
frugality, too, which marked all their domestic arrange-
ments, and which neither thought it necessary to apologize
for at any time, recall to one's mind the sweet pictures of
Arcadian life over which goodness, purity, and innocence
presided, creating an atmosphere of perfect inward and
outward peace.
Sarah's letters detail their every-day occupations, their

THE HOME
245
66
division of labor, their culinary experiments, often failures,
--- for of practical domestic economy they had little knowl-
edge, though they enjoyed the new experience like happy
children. She tells of rambles and picnics along the
Hudson, climbing rocks to get a fine view, halting under
the trees to read together for a while, taking their simple
dinner in some shady nook, and returning weary but
happy to their “dear little No. 3," as she designates
their house.
Oh, Jane,” she writes, “words cannot tell the goodness
of the Lord to us since we have sat down under the
shadow of our own roof, and gathered around our humble
board. Peace has flowed sweetly through our souls.
The Lord has been in the midst, and blessed us with his
presence, and the daily aspiration of our souls is : Lord,
show us thy will concerning us." And in another letter
she says, “We are delighted with our arrangement to do
without a girl. Angelina boils potatoes to admiration,
and says she finds cooking much easier than she ex-
pected.”
During the summer they were gratified by a visit from
their good friend Jane, who, it appears, gave them some
useful and much-needed lessons in the art of cookery.
But about this time Sarah became converted to the Gra-
ham system of diet, which Mr. Weld had adopted three,
and Mrs. Weld two years before. Sarah thus writes of
it:-
“We have heard Graham lectures, and read Alcott's
Young Housekeeper,' and are truly thankful that the
Lord has converted us to this mode of living, and that we
are all of one heart and one mind. We believe it is the
most conducive to health, and, besides, it is such an eman-
cipation of woman from the toils of the kitchen, and

246
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
saves so much precious time for purposes of more impor-
tance than eating and drinking. We have a great variety
of dishes, and, to our taste, very savory. We can make
good bread, and this with milk is an excellent meal.
This week I am cook, and am writing this while my
beans are boiling and pears stewing for dinner. We use
no tea or coffee, and take our food cool.”
She then tells of the arrival one day of two friends
from the city, just as they had sat down to their simple
meal of rice and molasses. “But,” she says, “we were
very glad to see them, and with bread and milk, and pie
without shortening, and hominy, we contrived to give
them enough, and as they were pretty hungry they par-
took of it with tolerable appetite." Answering some in-
quiries from Jane Smith, Angelina writes :-
“As to how I have made out with cooking, it so
happens that labor (planting a garden) gives Theodore
such an appetite that everything is sweet to him, so that
my rice and asparagus, potatoes, mush, and Indian bread
all taste well, though some might think them not fit to
eat.”
They had but one cooking day, when enough was gen-
erally prepared to last a week, so that very little time
and mind was given to creature comforts; in fact, no
more than was necessary to the preservation of health.
Their motto literally was “to eat to live," and this they
felt to be a part of that non-conformity to the world of
which the apostle speaks, and after which Sarah, at least,
felt she must still strive. Their furniture corresponded
with the simplicity of their table, Angelina writes
shortly after her marriage : -
“We ordered our furniture to be made of cherry, and
quite enjoy the cheapness of our outfit as well as our
לל

SELF-DENIAL
247
manner of life; for the less we spend, the less the
Anti-Slavery Society will have to pay my Theodore for
his labors as editor of all the extra publications of the
Society.”
Thus some high or unselfish motive inspired all their
conduct and influenced every arrangement. Nothing
superfluous or merely ornamental found a place with
these true and zealous followers of Him whose precepts
guided their lives. Everything in doors and out served
a special purpose of utility, or suggested some duty or
great moral aim.
Angelina was exceedingly fond of
flowers, but refrained from cultivating them, because of
the time required, which she thought could be better
employed. She felt she had no right to use one mo-
ment for her own selfish gratification which could be
given to some more necessary work. Therefore, though
both sisters were peculiarly gifted with a love of the
beautiful, as their frequent descriptions of natural scenery
show, they contented themselves, from principle, with the
enjoyment of “glorious sunsets,” and with the flowers of
the field and wayside. Later they learned a different
appreciation of all the innocent pleasures of life; but at
the time I am describing, they had just emerged from
Quaker asceticism, and in the flush of their new religion,
and looking upon their past years as almost wasted, they
were eager only to make amends for them. In one of
her letters to her English friend, Angelina acknowledges
the present from her of a large picture of a Kneeling
Slave, and adds:-
“We purpose pasting it on binder's boards, binding it
with colored paper, and fixing it over our mantelpiece.
It is just such a speaking monument of suffering as we
want in our parlor, and suits my fireboard most admira-

248
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
bly. I first covered this with plain paper, and then
arranged as well as I could about forty anti-slavery pic-
tures upon it. I never saw one like it, but we hope other
abolitionists will make them when they see what an
ornamental and impressive article of furniture can thus
be manufactured. We want those wh come into our
house to see at a glance that we are on the side of the
oppressed and the poor."
Sarah Douglass spent a day with them in September,
and as I can have no more fitting place to show how
conscientious were these rare spirits in their practical
testimony against the color prejudice, I will quote a few
passages from a letter written to Sarah Douglass after
her departure from the circle where she had been treated
as a most honored guest. Sarah Grimké begins as fol-
lows:-
Thy letter, my beloved Sarah, was truly acceptable
as an evidence of thy love for us, and because it told us
one of our Lord's dear children had been comforted in
being with us. It would have been truly grateful to have
had thee a longer time with us, and we hope thy next
visit may be less brief. By the way, dear, as I love frank-
ness, I am going to tell thee what I have thought in read-
ing thy note. It seemed to me thy proposal 'to spend a
day' with us was made under a little feeling something
like this: Well, after all, I am not quite certain I shall
be an acceptable visitor.' I can only say that it is no sur-
prise to me that thou shouldst be beset with such a temp-
tation, but set a strong guard against this entrance to thy
heart, lest the adversary poison all the springs of comfort.
I want thee to rise above the ispicions which are so
naturally aroused. They are among the subtle devices of
Satan, by which he alienates us from Jesus, and makes
CG

SARAH DOUGLASS
249
us.
us go morning on our way with the language in our
hearts : Is there not a cause ?'"
Angelina adds: -
“ MY DEAR SARAH, -- I can fully unite with my pre-
cious sister in all she has said relative to thy late visit to
Theodore and I both felt surprised and disappointed
that thou proposedst spending but one day with us when
we had expected a visit of a week. It was indeed a com-
fort to receive such a letter from thee, dear, and yet there
was much of pain mingled in the feeling. Thou thankest
us for our Christian conduct. In what did it consist ?
In receiving and treating thee as an equal, a sister beloved
in the Lord ? Oh, how humbling to receive such thanks!
What a crowd of reflections throng the mind as we in-
quire, Why does her full heart thus overflow with grati-
tude? Yes, how irresistibly are we led to contemplate
the woes which iron-hearted prejudice inflicts on the op-
pressed of our land, the hidden sorrows they endure –
the full cup of bitterness which is wrung out to them by
the hands of professed followers of Him who is no respec-
ter of persons. And oh, how these reflections ought to
lead us to labor and to pray that the time may soon come
when thou canst no longer write such a letter! The Lord
in his mercy has made our little household one in senti-
ment on this subject, and we know we have been blessed
in the exercise of those Christian feelings which He hath
tazght us to cherish, not only towards the outraged peo-
ple of color, but towards that large class of individuals
who serve in families, and are, at the same time, almost
completely separated from human society and sympathy
so far as their employers are concerned.
“Let me tell thee, dear Sarah, how much good it did
me to find that thy visit had made thee love my precious

250
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
husband as a brother, and afforded thee an opportunity to
feel what manner of spirit is his. Now I greatly want
thy dear mother to know him too, and cannot but believe
she will come and visit us next summer."
The gratitude of Sarah Douglass for the reception
given her at Fort Lee was not surprising, considering how
different such kindness was from the treatment she and
her excellent mother had always received from the Society
of Friends, of which they were members. Scarcely any-
thing more damaging to the Christian spirit of the Society
can be found than the testimony of this mother and daugh-
ter, which Sarah Grimké obtained and wrote out, but, I
believe, never published.
Before his marriage, Mr. Weld lodged, on principle, in
à colored family in New York, even submitting to the
inconvenience of having no heat in his room in winter,
and bearing with singular charity and patience what
Sarah calls the sanctimonious pride and Pharisaical aris-
tocracy of his hosts. He, also, and the sisters when they
were in the city, attended a colored church, which, how-
ever, became to Sarah, at least, a place of such “spiritual
famine” that she gave up going.
In the winter of 1839-40, when it became necessary to
have more help in the household, a colored woman, Betsy
Dawson by name, was sent for. She had been a slave in
Colonel Grimké's family, and, falling to the share of Mrs.
Frost when the estate was settled up, was by her emanci-
pated. She was received into the family at Fort Lee as
a friend, and so treated in every respect. Sarah expresses
the pleasure it was to have one as a helper who knew and
loved them all, and adds: “Besides I cannot tell thee
how thankful we are that our heavenly Father has put it
in our power to have one who was once a slave in our
כל

AN EX-SLAVE
251
family to sit at our table and be with us as a sister
cherished, to place her on an entire equality with us in
social intercourse, and do all we can to show her we feel
for her as we, under like circumstances, would desire her
to feel for us. I don't know what M. C. [a friend from
New York] thought of our having her at table and in our
parlor just like one of ourselves."
Some time later, Angelina writes of another of the fam-
ily slaves, Stephen, to whom they gave a home, putting
him to do the cooking, lest, being unaccustomed to a
Northern climate, he should suffer by exposure to out-
door work. He proved an eyesore in every way, but
they retained him as long as it was possible to do so, and
bore with him patiently, as no one else would have him.
Mrs. Weld frequently allowed him to hire out for four or
five hours a day to husk corn, etc., and was glad to give
him this opportunity to earn something extra while she
did his work at home. In short, wherever and whenever
they could testify to their convictions of duty on this
point, it was done unhesitatingly and zealously, without
fear or favor of any man. We might consider the inci-
dents I have related, and a dozen similar ones I could give,
as evidence only of a desire to perform a religious duty,
to manifest obedience to the command to do as they
would be done by, while beneath still lay the bias of early
training sustained by the almost universal feeling con-
cerning the inferiority of the negro race.
With people
of such pure religious dedication, and such exalted views,
it was perhaps not difficult to treat their ex-slaves as
human beings, and the fact that they did so may not
excite much wonder. But there came a time, then far in
their future, when the sincerity of their convictions upon
this matter of prejudice was most triumphantly vindicated.

252
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
-
Such a vindication even they, with all their knowledge
of the hidden evils of slavery, nerer dreamed could ever
be required of them, but the manner in which they met
the tremendous test was the crowning glory of their lives.
In all the biographies I have read, such a manifestation of
the spirit of Jesus Christ does not appear. This will be
narrated in its proper place.
Happy as the sisters were in their home, it must not be
supposed that they had settled down to a life of ease and
contented privacy, abandoning altogether the great work
of their lives. Far from it. The time economized from
household duties was devoted chiefly to private labor for
the cause, from the public advocacy of which they felt
they had only stepped aside for a time. Neither had any
idea that this public work was over. Angelina writes to
her friend in England soon after her marriage:
“I cannot tell thee how I love this private life — how
I have thanked my heavenly Father for this respite from
public labor, or how earnestly I have prayed that whilst
I am thus dwelling at ease I may not forget the captives
of my land, or be unwilling to go forth again on the high
places of the field, to combat the giant sin of Slavery with
the smooth stones of the river of Truth, if called to do so
by Him who put me forth and went before me in days
that are past. My dear Theodore entertains the noblest
views of the rights and responsibilities of woman, and
will never lay a straw in the way of my lecturing. He
has many times strengthened my hands in the work, and
often tenderly admonished me to keep my eye upon my
great Leader, and my heart in a state of readiness to go
forth whenever I am called out. I humbly trust I may,
but as earnestly desire to be preserved from going before
I hear a voice saying unto me, This is the way, walk in

USES OF RETIREMENT
253
it, and I will be thy shield and thy buckler.' This
was the promise which was given me before, and
how faithfully it was fulfilled, my soul knoweth right
well.”
Sarah too, writes to Sarah Douglass :-
“I have thought much of my present situation, laid
aside from active service, but I see no pointing of the
divine finger to go forth, and I believe the present dispen-
sation of rest has been granted to us not only as a reward
for past faithfulness, but as a means of personal advance-
ment in holiness, a time of deep searching of heart, when
the soul may contemplate itself, and seek nearer and
fuller and higher communion with its God."
And again she says:-
“It is true my nature shrinks from public work, but
whenever the mandate goes forth to declare on the house-
tops that which I have heard in the ear, I shall not dare
to hold back. I conclude that whenever my Father
needs my services, He will prepare me to obey the call
by exercise of mind."
In the meanwhile Sarah finished and published a most
important contribution to the arguments on the woman's
rights subject. This was a small volume of letters on the
“Equality of the Sexes," commenced during her lecturing
tour, and addressed to Mary S. Parker, president of the
Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Written in a gentle,
reverent spirit, but clothed in Sarah's usual forcible lan-
guage, they not only greatly aided the cause which lay so
near her heart, but relieved and strengthened many ten-
der consciences by their strong arguments.
An extract or two from a letter written to Sarah by
Angelina and Theodore early in the autumn of 1838 will
show the tender relations existing between these three,

254
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
and which continued undisturbed by all the changes and
trials of succeeding years.
In September, Sarah went to Philadelphia to attend the
Annual Anti-Slavery Convention. Angelina writes to
her a few days after her departure:-
“We have just come up from our evening meal, my
beloved sister, and are sitting in our little study for a
while before taking our moonlight ramble on the river
bank. After thou left us, I cleared up the dishes, and
then swept the house; got down to the kitchen just in
time for dinner, which, though eaten alone, was, I must
confess, very much relished, for exercise gives a good ap-
petite, thou knowest. I then set my beans to boil whilst
I dusted, and was upstairs waiting, ready dressed, for the
sound of the Echo's' piston. Soon I heard it, and blew
my whistle, which was not responded to, and I began to
Theodore was not on board. But I blew again,
and the glad response came merrily over the water, and I
thought I saw him. In a little while he came, and gave
me all your parting messages. On Second Day the
weather was almost cold, and we were glad to take a run
at noon up the Palisades and sun ourselves on the rock
at the first opening. Returning, we gathered some field
beans, and some apples for stewing, as our fruit was nearly
out. In the evening it was so cool that we thought a fire
would be more comfortable, so we sat in the kitchen, par-
ing apples, shelling beans, and talking over the Bible
argument; and, as we had a fire, I thought we had
fear my
1 This was the argument which Angelina heard Mr. Weld make
before the A. S. Convention in New York two years before, and
which was afterwards published by the A. A. S. Society. He was
now revising it for a new edition. It made many converts to eman-
cipation. Among them was the Rev. Dr. Brisbane of South Caro-

MUTUAL LOVE
255
better stew the apples at once. This was done to save
time the next day, but I burnt them sadly. However,
thou knowest they were just as nice to our Theodore, who
never complains of anything. Third Day evening we took
a walk up the Palisades. The moon shone most beauti-
fully, throwing her mantle of light all abroad over the
blue arch of heaven, the gently flowing river, and the
woods and vales around us. I could not help thinking, if
earth was so lovely and bright, what must be the glories
of that upper Temple which needeth not the light of the
sun or of the moon. O sister, shall we ever wash our
robes so white in the blood of the Lamb as to be clean
enough to enter that pure and holy Temple of the Most
High? We returned to our dear little home, and went to
bed by the lamp of heaven; for we needed no other, so
brightly did she shine through our windows. We remem-
bered thee, dear sister, in our little seasons of prayer at
the opening and closing of each day. We pray the Lord
to bring thee back to us in the fulness of the blessing of
the Gospel of peace, and to make our house a home to thy
weary, tossed, afflicted spirit. We feel it a great blessing
to have thee under our roof. Thy room looks very deso-
late; for, though the sun shines brightly in it, I find, after
all, thou art the light of it.”
Theodore adds a postscript, addresses Sarah as “My
dearly loved sister," and says, “As dear Angy remarks,
your room does look so chill and desolate, and your place
at table, and your chair in our little morning and evening
lina, a slave-owner, who, after reading it, sat down to answer and
refute it; but, before proceeding half way, he became convinced
that he was wrong, and Weld right. Acting upon this conviction,
he freed his slaves, went to Cincinnati, joined the abolition ranks,
and became one of their most eloquent advocates.

256
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
circle, that we talk about it a dozen times a day. But we
rejoice that the Master put it into your heart to go and
give your testimony for our poor, suffering brothers and
sisters, wailing under bonds, and we pray without ceasing
that He who sent will teach, strengthen, and help you
greatly to do for Him and the bleeding slave.”
Debarred from lecturing by the condition of his throat,
Mr. Weld was a most untiring worker in the Anti-Slavery
office in New York, from which he received a small salary.
His time out of office hours was employed in writing for
the different anti-slavery papers, and in various editorial
duties. Soon after his marriage he began the preparation
of a book, which, when issued, produced perhaps a
greater sensation throughout the country than anything
that had yet been written or spoken. This was, “AMERI-
CAN SLAVERY AS IT IS: TESTIMONY OF A THOUSAND WIT-
NESSES,” a book of two hundred and ten pages, and con-
sisting of a collection of facts relating to the actual con-
dition and treatment of slaves; facts drawn from slave-
holders themselves, and from Southern publications.
The design was to make the South condemn herself, and
never was success more complete. Of all the lists of
crimes, all the records of abominations, of moral deprav-
ity, of marvellous inhumanity, of utter insensibility to
the commonest instincts of nature, the civilized world has
never read anything equal to it. Placed by the side of
Fox's “ Book of Martyrs," it outrivals it in all its revolting
characters, and calls up the burning blush of shame for
our country and its boasted Christian civilization. Not-
withstanding all that had been written on the subject, the
public was still comparatively ignorant of the sufferings
of the slaves, and the barbarities inflicted upon them.
Mr. Weld thought the state of the abolition cause de-

“ SLAVERY AS IT IS'
257
manded a work which would not only prove by argu-
ment that slavery and cruelty were inseparable, but
which would contain a mass of incontrovertible facts,
that would exhibit the horrid brutality of the system.
Nearly all the papers, most of them of recent date, from
which the extracts were taken, were deposited at the
office of the American Anti-Slavery Society in New
York, and all who thought the atrocities described in
Weld's book were incredible, were invited to call and ex-
amine for themselves.
This book was the most effective answer ever given to
the appeal made against free discussion, based on the
Southampton massacre. It was, in fact, an offset of the
horrors of that bloody affair, giving, as it did, a picture of
the deeper horrors of slavery. It was the first adequate
disclosure of this “ bloodiest picture in the book of time,”
which had yet been made, and all who read it felt that, fear-
ful as was the Virginia tragedy, the system which provoked
it included many things far worse, and demanded investi-
gation and discussion. Issued in pamphlet form, the
Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses,” was extensively
circulated over the country, and most advantageously
used by anti-slavery lecturers and advocates; and it is not
too much to say that by awakening the humanity and pride
of the people to end this national disgrace, it made much
easier the formation of the anti-slavery political party.
In the preparation of this work, Mr. Weld received
invaluable assistance from his wife and sister. Not only
was the testimony of their personal observation and ex-
perience given over their own names, but many files of
Southern papers were industriously examined for such
facts as were needed, and which Mr. Weld arranged.
Early in January, 1839, Sarah writes:-

258
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
“I do not think we ever labored more assiduously for
the slave than we have done this fall and winter, and,
although our work is of the kind that may be privately
performed, yet we find the same holy peace in doing it
which we found in the public advocacy of the cause."
Referring a little later to this work, she says: “We
have been almost too busy to look out on the beautiful
winter landscape, and have been wrought up by our
daily researches almost to a frenzy of justice, intolerance,
and enthusiasm to crush the viper that is eating out the
vitals of the nation. Oh, what a blessed privilege to be
engaged in labor for the oppressed! We often think, if
the slaves are never emancipated, we are richly rewarded
by the hallowed influence of abolition principles on our
own hearts.”
In a recent letter to me, Mr. Weld makes some inter-
esting statements respecting this work. I will give them
in his own words: —
" The fact is, those dear souls spent six months,
averaging more than six hours a day, in searching
through thousands upon thousands of Southern news-
papers, marking and cutting out facts of slave-holding
disclosures for the book. I engaged of the Superin-
tendent of the New York Commercial Reading-Room
all his papers published in our Southern States and
Territories. These, after remaining upon the files one
month, were taken off and sold. Thus was gathered
the raw material for the manufacture of Slavery As
It Is. After the work was finished, we were curious
to know how many newspapers had been examined.
So we went up to our attic and took an inventory
of bundles, as they were packed heap upon heap.
When our count had reached twenty thousand news-

GOING TO CHURCH
259
papers, we said: There, let that suffice.'
Though
the book had in it many thousand facts thus authenti-
cated by the slave-holders themselves, yet it contained
but a tiny fraction of the nameless atrocities gathered
from the papers examined."
Besides this absorbing occupation, the sisters busied
themselves that winter getting up a petition to Congress
for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,
and walked many miles, day after day, to obtain signa-
tures, meeting with patience, humility, and sweetness the
frequent rebuffs of the rude and the ignorant, feeling only
pity for them, and gratitude to God who had touched and
softened their own hearts and enlightened their minds.
They received repeated invitations from the different
anti-slavery organizations to again enter the lecture field,
and great disappointment was felt by all who had once
listened to them that they should have retired from public
work.
Sarah speaks of attending “meeting," as, from habit,
she called it, and doubtless they all went regularly, as
Mr. Weld was a communicant of the Presbyterian
Church, and Mrs. Weld and Sarah were still sound on all
the fundamental points of Christian doctrine. During
some portion of every Sunday, Mrs. Weld was in the
habit of visiting among the very poor, white and colored,
and preaching to them the Gospel of peace and good
will. In her peculiarly tender and persuasive way, she
opened to those unhappy and benighted souls the promi-
ses and hopes which supported her, and lavished upon
them the treasures of an eloquence that thousands had
and would still have crowded to listen to. There were
none to applaud in those sorrowful abodes, but her words
of courage and consolation lifted many a despondent
לל

260
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
heart from the depths, while her own faith in the love
and mercy of her heavenly Father brought confidence
and comfort to many a benumbed and wavering soul.
In December, 1839, the happiness of the little house-
hold was increased by the birth of a son, who received
the name of Charles Stuart, in loving remembrance of
the eminent English philanthropist, with whom Mr. Weld
had been as a brother, and whom he regarded as living
as near the angels as mortal man could live. The advent
of this child was not only an inexpressible blessing to the
affectionate hearts of the father and mother, but to Sarah
it seemed truly a mark of divine love to her, compensat-
ing her for the home ties and affections once so nearly
within her grasp, and still often mourned for. She de-
scribes her feelings as she pressed the infant in her arms
and folded him to her breast as a rhapsody of wild
delight. “Oh, the ecstacy and the gratitude!” she ex-
claimed: “How I opened the little blanket and peeped
in to gaze, with swimming eyes, at my treasure, and
looked upon that face forever so dear!”
For months before the birth of her child, Mrs. Weld
had read carefully different authors on the treatment of
children, and felt herself prepared at every point with
the best theories derived from Combes' “ Physiological
and Moral Management of Infancy,” and kindred works.
It is rather amusing to read how systematically this baby
was trained, and how little he appreciated all the wise
theories; how he protested against going to sleep by
rule; how he would n't be bathed in cold water; how he
was fed, a tablespoonful at a time, five times during the
twenty-four hours, — at 8, 12, 4, 8, and 3 in the morning;
how his fretting at last induced his Aunt Sarah to take
the responsibility of giving him a little license with his
לל

THE BABY
261
bottle, when, horrified at his gluttony, she was, at the
same time, convinced that the child had been slowly
starving ever since his birth. Allowed more indulgence
in food, he soon stopped fretting, and became a healthy,
lively baby
Angelina, writing to a friend, speaks of the blessed in-
fluence the child was exerting over them all. “The
idea,” she says, “of a baby exercising moral influence
never came into my mind until I felt its power on my
own heart. I used to think all a parent's reward for early
care and anxiety was reaped in after-life, save the enjoy-
ment of an infant as a pretty plaything. But the Lord has
taught me differently, and woe be unto me if I do not profit
by the instructions of this little teacher sent from God.”
It was about this time that the injury referred to in the
last chapter was received, which frustrated all Angelina's
hopes and plans for continued public service for the slave,
and condemned her, with all her rare intellectual gifts, to
a quiet life. The sweet submission with which she bore
this trial proved how great was the peace which possessed
her soul, and kept her ready for whatever it seemed good
for the Father to send her. Henceforth, shut out from
the praises and plaudits of men, in her own home, among
her neighbors and among the poor and afflicted, quietly
and unobtrusively she fulfilled every law of love and
duty. And though during the remainder of her life she
was subject to frequent weakness and intense pain, all was
borne with such fortitude and patience that only her hus-
band and sister knew that she suffered.
In the latter part of February, 1840, Mr. Weld, having
purchased a farm of fifty acres at Belleville, New Jersey,
removed his family there. Angelina, announcing the
change to Jane Smith, says:-

252
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
לל
“Yes, we have left the sweet little village of Fort
Lee, a spot never to be forgotten by me as the place
where my Theodore and I first lived together, and the
birthplace of my darling babe, the scene of my hap-
piest days. There, too, my precious sister ministered
with untiring faithfulness to my wants when sick, and
there, too, I welcomed thee for the first time under my
roof.”
To their new home they brought the simplicity of
living to which they had adhered in their old one, a sim-
plicity which, with their more commodious house, enabled
them to exercise the broad hospitality which they had
been obliged to deny themselves in a measure at Fort Lee.
All the good deeds done under this sacred name of hospi-
tality during their fourteen years' residence at Belleville
can never be known. Few ever so diligently sought, or
so cheerfully accepted, opportunities for the exercise of
every good word and work. Scarcely a day passed that
they did not feel called upon to make some sacrifice of
comfort or convenience for the comfort or convenience of
others; and more than once the sacrifice involved the risk
of health and life. But in true humility and with an un-
wavering trust in God, they looked away from themselves
and beyond ordinary considerations.
One of their first acts, after their removal, was to take
back to their service the incompetent Stephen whom they
had been forced to discharge from Fort Lee, and who had
lived a precarious life afterwards. They gave him work on
the farm, paid him the usual wages, and patiently endea-
vored to correct his faults. A young nephew in delicate
health was also added to their household; and, a few
months later, Angelina having heard that an old friend
and her daughter in Charleston were in pecuniary dis-

LIFE AT BELLEVILLE
263
tress and feeble health, wrote and offered them a home
with her for a year.
“ They have no means of support, and are anxious to
leave Carolina," wrote Angelina to Jane Smith; "we will
keep them until their health is recruited, their minds
rested, and some situation found for them where they can
earn their own living. We know not,” she adds, “ whom
else the Lord may send us, and only pray Him to help us
to fulfil His will towards all whose lot may be cast among
us."
were
The visitors to the Belleville farm — chiefly old and
new anti-slavery friends — were numerous, and
always received with a cordiality which left no room to
doubt its sincerity.
At one time they received into their family a poor
young man from Jamaica, personally a stranger, but of
whose labors as a self-appointed missionary among the
recently emancipated slaves of the West Indies they had
heard. He had labored for three years, supporting him-
self as he could, until he was utterly broken down in
health, when he came back to die. His friendless situa-
tion appealed to the warmest sympathy of the Welds, and
he was brought to their hospitable home. The pleasantest
room in the house was given to him, and every
attention
bestowed upon him, until death came to his relief.
The people of their neighborhood soon learned to know
where they could confidently turn for help in any kind of
distress. It would be difficult to tell the number of times
that one or the other of the great-hearted trio responded
to the summons from a sick or dying bed, and gave with-
out stint of their sympathy, their time, and their labor.
Once, following only her own conviction of duty, An-
gelina left her home to go and nurse a wretched colored

264
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
man and his wife, ill with small-pox and abandoned by
everyone. She stayed with them night and day until
they were so far recovered as to be able to help them-
selves.
What a picture is this! That humble cabin with its
miserable occupants -- and they negroes — ill with a loath-
some disease, suffering, praying for help, but deserted
by neighbors and friends. Suddenly a fair, delicate face
bends over them; a sweet, low voice bids them be com-
forted, and gentle hands lift the cooling draught to their
parched lips, bathe their fevered brows, make comfort-
able their poor bed, and then, angel as she appears to
them, stations herself beside them, to minister to them
like the true sister of mercy she was.
In this action, we may well suppose, Angelina was not
encouraged by her husband or sister, but it was a sacred
principle with them never to oppose anything which she
conscientiously saw it was her duty to do. When this
appeared to her so plain that she felt she could not hold
back from it, they committed her to the Lord, and left
their doubts and anxieties with Him. She never shrank
from the meanest offices to the sick and suffering, though
their performance might be followed, as was often the
case, by faintness and nausea. She would return home
exhausted, but cheerful, and grateful that she had been
able to help “one of God's suffering children.”
In other ways the members of this united household
were diligent in good works. If a neighbor required a
few hundred dollars to save the foreclosure of a mort-
gage, the combined resources of the family were taxed to
aid him; if a poor student needed a helping hand in his
preparation for college, or for teaching, it was gladly ex-
tended to him --perhaps his board and lodging given

LIFE AT BELLEVILLE
265
him for six months or a year — with much valuable in-
struction thrown in. The instances of charity of this kind
were many, and were performed with such a cheerful spirit
that Sarah only incidentally alludes to the increase of their
cares and work at such times. In fact, their roof was ever
a shelter for the homeless, a home for the friendless; and
it is pleasant to record that the return of ingratitude, so
often made for benevolence of this kind, was never their
portion. They always seem to have had the sweet satisfac-
tion of knowing, sooner or later, that their kindness was
not thrown away or under-estimated.
Besides the work of the farm, Mr. Weld interested
himself in all the local affairs of his neighborhood.
His
energy, common sense, and enthusiasm pushed forward
many a lagging improvement, while the influence of his
moral and intellectual views was felt in every household.
He taught the young men temperance, and the dignity of
honest labor; to the young women he preached self-reli-
ance, contempt for the frivolities of fashion, and the duty
of making themselves independent. He became superin-
tendent of the public schools of the township, and gave
to them his warmest and most active services.
Sarah, although always ready to second Angelina in
every charity, found her chief employment at home. She
relieved her sister almost entirely of the care of the chil-
dren, for in the course of years two more little ones were
given to them, and she lessened the expenses by attend-
ing to household work, which would otherwise have called
for another servant. After a short time, Mr. Weld's
father, mother, sister, and brother, all invalids, came to
live near them, claiming much of their sympathy and
their care. Their niece also, the daughter of Mrs. Frost,
now married, and the mother of children, took up her

266
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
לל
residence in the neighborhood, and Aunt Sai, as the chil-
dren called her, and as almost every one else came, in
time, to call her, found even fuller occupation for heart
and hands. Her love for children was intense, and she
had the rare faculty of being able to bring her intelli-
gence down to theirs. Angelina's children were literally
as her own, on whom she ever bestowed the tenderest
care, and with whose welfare her holiest affections were
intertwined. She often speaks of loving them with “all
but a mother's love," of having them “ enshrined in her
heart of hearts,” of “receiving through them the only
cordial that could have raised a heart bowed by sorrow
and crushing memories."
In one of her letters she says: “I live for Theodore
and Angelina and the children, those blessed comforters
to my poor, sad heart," and, during an absence from home,
she writes to Angelina :-
“I have enjoyed being with my friends : still there is a
longing, a yearning after my children. I miss the sight
of those dear faces, the sound of those voices that comes
like music to my ears."
In a letter to Sarah Douglass, written towards the close
of their residence in Belleville, she says:-
“In our precious children my desolate heart found a
sweet response to its love. They have saved me from I
know not what of horrible despair, or rushing into some
new and untried and unsanctified effort to let off the fire
that consumed me. Crushed, mutilated, torn, they com-
forted and cheered me, and furnished me with objects of
interest which drew me from myself. I feel that they
were the gift of a pitying Father, and that to love and
cherish them is my highest manifestation of love to the
Giver."

EDUCATORS
267
As the children grew, the parents began to feel the dif-
ficulty of educating them properly without other com-
panions, and it was at last decided to take a few children
into the family to be instructed with their own.
This was the beginning of another important chapter in
their lives. As educators Mr. and Mrs. Weld very soon
developed such rare ability, that although they had
thought of limiting the number of pupils to two or three,
so many were pressed upon them, with such good reasons
for their acceptance, that the two or three became a dozen,
and were with difficulty kept at that figure. In this new
life their trials were many, their labor great, and the
pecuniary compensation exceedingly moderate; but it is
inspiring to read from Sarah the accounts of Theodore's
courage - “ always ready to take the heaviest end of
every burden," and of Angelina's cheerfulness; and from
Angelina the frequent testimony to Sarah's patience and
fidelity. It took this dear Aunt Sai many years to learn
to like teaching, especially as she never had any talent for
governing, save by love, and this method was not always
appreciated.
With their new and exacting work, the farm, of course,
had to be given up, and was finally sold.
In 1852 the Raritan Bay Association, consisting of
thirty or forty educated and cultured families of conge-
nial tastes, was formed at Eagleswood, near Perth Amboy,
New Jersey; and a year later Mr. and Mrs. Weld were
invited to join the Association, and take charge of its edu-
cational department. They accepted in the hope of find-
ing in the change greater social advantages for themselves
and their children, with less responsibility and less labor;
for of these last the husband, wife, and sister, in their
Belleville school, had had more than they were physically

268
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
able to endure longer. Their desire and plan was to es-
tablish, with the children of the residents at Eagleswood,
a school also for others, and to charge such a moderate
compensation only as would enable the middle classes to
profit by it. In this project, as with every other, no selfish
ambition found a place.
They removed to Eagleswood in the autumn of 1854.
And now, as I am nearing the end of my narrative, this
seems to be the place to say a few words relative to the
religious views into which the tivo sisters finally settled.
We have followed them through their various conflicts
from early youth to mature age, and have seen in their
several changes of belief that there was no fickleness, no
real inconsistency. They sought the truth, and at differ-
ent times thought they had found it. But it was the
truth as taught in Christ Jesus, the simple doctrine of the
Cross they wanted, the preaching and practice of love for
God, and for the meanest, the weakest, the lowest of His
children. The spiritual conflicts through which they
passed, prepared them to see the nothingness of all out-
ward forms, and they came at last to reject the so-called
orthodox creed, and to look only to God for help and
comfort.
During the entire period of Sarah's connection with
religious organizations, and even from her very first reli-
gious impressions, she found it difficult to accept the doc-
trine of the Atonement; and yet she professed and tried
to think she believed it, but only because the Bible, which
she accepted as a revelation from God, taught it. That
her reason rebelled against it is shown in her frequent
prayers to be delivered from this great temptation of the
arch enemy, and her deep repentance whenever she lapsed
into a state of doubt. The fear that she might come to

PIETY
269
reject this fundamental dogma was — at least up to the
time when she was driven from the Quaker Church — one
of her most terrible trials, causing her at intervals more
agony than all else put together. But the worshipful
element was so strong in Sarah that she could not, even
after her reason had satisfied her conscience on this point,
give up this Christ at whose feet she had learned her
most precious lessons of faith and meekness and gentle-
ness and long-suffering, and whom she had accepted and
adored as her intermediary before an awful Jehovah. In
her whole life there appears to me nothing more beautiful
than this full, tender, abiding love of Jesus, and I believe
it to have been the inspiration always of all that was
loveliest and grandest in her character. In one of her
letters, written while at Belleville, she says:
“I cannot grasp the idea of an Infinite Being; but,
without perplexing myself with questions which I cannot
solve, everything around me proclaims the presence and
the government of an intelligent, law-abiding Law-giver,
and I believe implicitly in his power and his love. But I
must have the Friend of sinners to rest in."
And again : “In one sense, as Creator and Benefactor,
I feel this Infinite Being to be my Father, but I want a
Jesus whom I can approach as a fellow creature, yet who
is so nearly allied to God that I can look up to Him with
reverence, and love Him and lie in His bosom."
And later, in a letter to Gerrit Smith, she says:
“God is love, and whoso dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God and God in him. O friends, but for this faith, this
anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast, I know not
what would have become of us in the sweep which there
has been of what we called the doctrines of Christianity
from our minds. They have passed away like the shad-
99

270
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
ows of night, but the glorious truth remains that the
Lord of love and mercy reigns, and great peace have they
who do His will.”
Their increasingly liberal views, and their growing
indifference to most of the established forms in religion,
drew upon them the severe censure of their Charleston
relatives, and finally, when, about 1847, it came to be
known that they no longer considered the Sabbath in a
sacred light, their sister Eliza wrote to them that all
personal intercourse must end between them and her,
and that her doors would be forever closed against them.
Angelina's answer, covering four full pages of foolscap,
was most affectionate; but, while she expressed her sor-
row at the feeling excited against them, she could not
regret that they had been brought from error to truth.
She argued the point fully, patiently giving all the best
authorities concerning the substitution of the Christian
for the Jewish Sabbath, and against their sister's asser-
tion that the former was a divine institution.
“When I began to understand," she says, “what the
gift of the Holy Spirit really was, then all outwardisms
fell off. I did not throw them off through force of argu-
ment or example of others, but all reverence for them
died in my heart. I could not help it; it was unexpected
to me, and I wondered to find even the Sabbath gone.
And now, to give to God alone the ceaseless worship of
my life is all my creed, all my desire. Oh, for this pure,
exalted state, how my soul pants after it! In my nursery
and kitchen and parlor, when ministering to the common
little wants of my family, and encountering the fretful-
ness and waywardness of my children, oh, for the pure
worship of the soul which can enable me to meet and
bear all the little trials of life in quietness and love and

1
CHRISTIANITY
271
patience. This is the religion of Christ, and I feel that
no other can satisfy me or meet the wants of human
nature. I cannot sanction any other, and I dare not
teach any other to my precious children."
Thus it came to pass with them and with Theodore
also, that to love Jesus more, and to follow more and
more after him, became the sum of their religion. With
increasing years and wider experiences, their views broad-
ened into the most comprehensive liberality, but the high
worship of an infinite God, and the sweet reverence for
his purest disciple never left them.

272
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XVII.
In a letter to Dr. Harriot Hunt, Sarah Grimké thus
describes Eagleswood :-
“ It was a most enchanting spot. Situated on the Rari-
tan Bay and River, just twenty-five miles from New York,
and sixty miles from Philadelphia, in sight of the beauti-
ful lower bay and of the dark Neversink Hills, all its
surroundings appeal to my sense of the beautiful. In
rambles through the woods or along the shore, new
charms are constantly presented. The ever-varying face
of the bay alone is a source of ceaseless enjoyment, and
with the sound of its waves, sometimes dashing impetu-
ously, sometimes murmuring softly, the eye, the ear, and
the soul are filled with wonder and delight.”
In this beautiful spot a commodious stone building
was erected, suitable for association purposes. One end
was divided into flats for a limited number of families;
the other into school-rooms, dormitories, and parlors for
social uses, while the centre contained the refectory for
pupils and teachers, of whom there was an efficient corps,
and dining-rooms for the other residents and their visi-
tors. Several families of intelligence and culture re-
sided in the immediate neighborhood, adding much to the
social life of the place. All who were so fortunate as to

EAGLESWOOD
273
be members of the Eagleswood family during Mr. Weld's
administration must often look back with the keenest
pleasure to the days passed there. It seems to me there
can never be such a centre to such a circle as the Welds
drew around them. Here gathered, at different times,
many of the best, the brightest, the broadest minds of the
day. Here came James G. Birney, Wm. H. Channing,
Henry W. Bellows, O. B. Frothingham, Dr. Chapin, Wm.
H. Furness, Wm. Cullen Bryant, the Collyers, Horace
Greeley, Gerrit Smith, Moncure D. Conway, James Free-
man Clarke, Joshua R. Giddings, Youmans, and a host of
others whose names were known throughout the land.
Here, too, came artists and poets for a few days' inspira-
tion, and weary men of business for a little rest and intel-
lectual refreshment, and leaders of reform movements,
attracted by the liberal atmosphere of the place. Nearly
all of these, invited by Mr. Weld, gave to the pupils and
their families and friends, assembled in the parlors, some-
thing of themselves, - some personal experience, perhaps,
or a lecture or short essay, or an insight into their own es-
pecial work and how it was done. The amount of pleasant
and profitable instruction thus imparted was incalculable;
while the after discussions and conversation were as enjoy-
able as might be expected from the friction of such minds.
Seldom, if ever, in the famous salons of Europe were
better things said or higher topics treated than in the
Eagleswood parlors. All the rights and wrongs of hu-
manity received here earnest consideration; while ques-
tions of general interest, politics, religion, the arts and
sciences, even the last new novel or poem, had each its
turn. Thoreau, also, spent many days at Eagleswood,
and spoke often to the pupils; and A. Bronson Alcott
gave them a series of his familiar lectures.

271
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Here, on Sundays, Theodore D. Weld delivered lay
sermons, so full of divine light and love, of precious les-
sons of contempt for all littleness, of patience with the
weaknesses of our fellow-men, that few could listen with-
out being inspired with higher and holier purposes in life.
Here James G. Birney died, in 1857, and was buried in
the beautiful little cemetery on the crest of the hill.
Here were brought and interred the bodies of Stevens
and Hazlitt, two of John Brown's mistaken but faithful
apostles.
Here stirring lessons of patriotism were learned in 1860
-61, and from this place went forth, at the first call, some
of the truest defenders of the liberties of the nation.
At Eagleswood, Mr. Weld and his faithful wife and sis-
ter passed some of their most laborious as well as some of
their most pleasant and satisfactory years. They did not
find the association all or even the half of what they had
expected. “We had indulged the delightful hope,” writes
Sarah, “that Theodore would have no cares outside of
the schoolroom, and Angelina would have leisure to pur-
sue her studies and aid in the cause of woman. Her
heart is in it, and her talents qualify her for enlarged use-
fulness. She was no more designed to serve tables than
Theodore to dig potatoes. But verily, to use a homely
phrase, we have jumped out of the frying-pan into the
fire in point of leisure, for there are innumerable sponges
here to suck up every spare moment; but dear Nina is a
miracle of hope, faith, and endurance."
In the new school Angelina taught history, for which
she was admirably qualified, while Sarah taught French,
and was also book-keeper, both of which offices were dis-
tasteful to her because of her conscious incompetency.
She did herself great injustice, as the results of her work

SARAH AS TEACHER
275
showed, but it required a great mental struggle to recon-
cile herself to it in the beginning.
“I am driven to it,” she says, “by a stern sense of
duty. I feel its responsibilities and my own insufficiency
so deeply, that I never hear the school bell with pleasure,
and seldom enter the schoolroom without a sinking of the
heart, a dread as of some approaching catastrophe. Oh,
if I had only been developed into usefulness in early life,
how much happier I should have been and would be now.
From want of training, I am all slip-shod, and all I do,
whether learning or teaching, is done slip-shod fashion.
However, I must try and use the fag-end of me that is
left, to the most advantage."
In order to do this, although sixty-one years old, she
set earnestly to work to brush up her intellectual powers
and qualify herself as far as possible for her position.
She took French lessons daily, that she might improve her
accent and learn the modern methods of teaching, and for
months after she entered the Eagleswood school her read-
ing was confined to such books as could enlighten her
most on her especial work. She was rewarded by finding
her interest in it constantly increasing, and she would
doubtless have learned to love it, if, as she expressed it,
her heart, soul, and mind had not been so nearly absorbed
by the woman movement. Age and reflection had not
only modified her views somewhat on this subject, but
had given her a more just appreciation of the real obsta-
cles in the way of the enfranchisement of her sex. Speak-
ing of Horace Mann, she says:--
“He will not help the cause of woman greatly, but his
efforts to educate her will do a greater work than he an-
ticipates. Prepare woman for duty and usefulness, and
she will laugh at any boundaries man may set for her.

276
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
She will as naturally fall into her right position as the
feather floats in the air, or the pebble sinks in the water."
And at another time she writes: “I feel more and
more that woman's work is inside, that the great battle
must first be fought within, and the conquest obtained
over her love of admiration, her vanity, her want of
moral courage, her littleness, ere she is prepared to use
her rights without abusing them. Women must come
into the arena with men, not to increase the number of
potsherds, but to elevate the standard of right.”
Her ideal of womanhood was very high, and compre-
hended an education so different from the usual one,
that she seldom ventured to unfold it. But she longed
to do something towards it, and there is no doubt that
but for home duties, which she felt were paramount, she
would have undertaken a true missionary work of regene-
ration among women, especially of the lower classes.
Many sleepless nights were passed pondering upon the
subject. At one time she thought of editing a paper,
then of studying law, that she might sometimes be able
to advise and protect the weak and defenceless of her
She went so far in this as to consult an eminent
lawyer in Philadelphia, but was discouraged by him.
Then she considered the medical profession as opening to
her a door of influence and usefulness among poor
women. Sarah Douglass, who was a successful medical
lecturer among the colored women of Philadelphia and
New York, encouraged her friend in this idea, and urged
her to take a course of lectures.
“I would dearly like to do as you say,” Sarah Grimké
answered, “but it must not be in Philadelphia. I cannot
draw a long breath there, intellectual or moral. Freedom
to live as my conscience dictates, to give free utterance
sex.

SARAH AT SIXTY-TWO
277
to my thoughts, to have contact with those who are
pressing after progress and whose watchword is onward,
is needful to me. In Philadelphia there is an atmosphere
of repression that would destroy me. Ground to powder
as I was, in the mill of bigotry and superstition, I shudder
at the thought of encountering again the same suffering I
went through there. Indeed, I wonder I was not alto-
gether stultified and dried up beyond the power of revivi-
fication, when the spring came to my darkened soul after
that long, long winter. ... There must be something in
this wide, progressive world for me to do, but I must
wait patiently to see what the future has in store for
me.”
All this, from a woman in her sixty-second year, shows
how fresh was still her interest in humanity, and how little
her desires for usefulness and improvement were damp-
ened by age. But Angelina's continued delicate health
kept her from carrying out any of her plans. She could
see no way of escape consistent with duty and her devo-
tion to the children, and she cheerfully submitted to the
inevitable. But she could never bring herself to be satis-
fied with the Association life. She had had no ideal about
it, no golden dreams, but joined it because she could not
be separated from those she loved, and, with singular
reasoning, she put one thousand dollars into it, because, if
there was to be a failure and loss, she wished to share it
with her sister and brother. But she had no affinity for
living together in a great hotel, and it fretted her much,
also, to see Mr. and Mrs. Weld taking constantly increas-
ing burdens
themselves as the school increased. Her
longings, for their sake, for a little quiet home, are very
pathetic. But she never allowed her anxieties to affect
her intercourse in the household; on the contrary, no
upon

278
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
-
one was more full of life and good humor than she. Her
favorite maxim was: “Bravely to meet our trials is true
heroism; to bear them cheerfully, an exhibition of
strength and fortitude infinitely beyond trying to get rid
of them."
But it is doubtful, after all, if everything else had been
favorable to it, that Sarah could have brought herself to
leave Angelina and the children. She says herself:
“A separation from the darling children who have
brightened a few years of my lonely and sorrowful life
overwhelms me when I think of it as the probable result
of any change. They seem to be the links that bind
me to life, the stars that shed light on my path, the
beings in whom past, present, and future enjoyments
are centred, without whom existence would have no
charms.”
All through her letters we see that, though generally
cheerful, and often even merry, there were bitter mo-
ments in this devoted woman's life, moments when all
the affection with which she was surrounded failed to fill
the measure of her content. The old wounds would still
sometimes bleed and the heart ache for home joys all her
own. Writing to Jane Smith in 1852, she says: “I
chide myself that I am not happier than I am, surrounded
by so many blessings, but there are times when I feel as
though the sun of earthly bliss had set for me. I know
not what would have become of me but for Angelina's
children. They have strewed my solitary path with
flowers, and gemmed my sky with stars. My heart has
brooded o'er sorrows untold, until life has seemed an
awful blank, humanity a cheat, and myself an outcast.
Then have come the soft accents of my children's voices,
and they have spoken to me so lovingly, that I have

LOVE OF CHILDREN
279
turned from my bitter thoughts and have said : "For-
give thy poor, weak servant, Lord.'”
All through Sarah's life, children had a great attraction
for her. Even amid her cares and doubts at Eagleswood
she writes: “Surrounded by all these dear young people,
and drinking in from their exuberance, and scarcely living
my own life, I cannot but be cheerful.”
And describing an evening in the school parlor, when
she joined in the Virginia reel, she says: “The children
make one feel young if we will only be children with
them. I owe them so much that I shall try to be cheer-
ful to the end of my days.”
And in this school, where boys and girls of all ages and
all temperaments mingled, “Aunt Sai” was the great
comforter and counsellor. Her inexhaustible tenderness
and mother-love blessed all who came near her and
soothed all who had a heartache. The weak and erring
found in her a frank but pitying rebuker; the earnest and
good, a kind friend and wise helper, and a child never
feared to go to her either to ask a favor or to confess a fault.
At Eagleswood the Welds kept up as far as practicable
their frugal habits, though, soon after their establishment,
they all modified their Graham diet so far as to take meat
once a day. Sarah's economy, especially in trifles, was re-
markable, almost as much so as the untiring, almost pain-
ful industry of herself and Mrs. Weld. A penny was
never knowingly wasted, a minute never willingly lost.
Among other thrifty devices, she generally wrote to her
friends on the backs of circulars, on blank pages of notes
she received, on almost any clean scrap, in fact. Ange-
lina often remonstrated with her, but to no avail.
“It gives me a few more pennies for my love purse,
and my friends won't mind," she would say.

280
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
purse
This love
was well named. Into it were cast
all her small economies : a car-fare when she walked in-
stead of riding; a few pennies saved by taking a simpler
lunch than she had planned, when in New York on busi-
ness; the ten cents difference in the quality of a cap,
ribbon, or a handkerchief, - all these savings were dropped
into the love purse, to be drawn out again to buy a new
book for some friend too poor to get it herself; to sub-
scribe to a paper for another; to purchase some little gift
for a sick child, or a young girl trying to keep up a neat
appearance. It was a pair of cuffs to one, mittens or
slippers of her own knitting to another, a collar or a
ribbon to a third. All through the letters written during
the last twenty years of her life, the references to such
little gifts are innumerable, and show that her generosity
was only equalled by her thoughtfulness, and only limited
by her means. Nothing was spent unnecessarily, in the
strictest sense of the word, on herself; not a dollar of her
narrow income laid by. All went for kindly or charitable
objects, and was gladly given without a single selfish
twinge.
It is scarcely necessary to say that few schools have
ever been established upon such a basis of conscientious-
ness and love, and with such adaptability in its conductors
as that at Eagleswood; few have ever held before the
pupils so high a moral standard, or urged them on to such
noble purposes in life. Children entered there spoiled by
indulgence, selfish, uncontrolled, sometimes vicious.
Their teachers studied them carefully; confidence was
gained, weaknesses sounded, elevation measured. Very
slowly often, and with infinite patience and perseverance,
but successfully in nearly every case, these children were
redeemed. The idle became industrious, the selfish con-

SUCCESS OF THE SCHOOL
281
siderate, the disobedient and wayward repentant and
gentle. Sometimes the fruits of all this labor and for-
bearance did not show themselves immediately, and in a
few instances the seed sown did not ripen until the boy
or girl had left school and mingled with the world.
Then the contrast between the common, every-day aims
they encountered, and the teachings of their Eagleswood
mentors, was forced upon them. Forgotten lessons of
truth and honesty and purity were remembered, and the
wavering resolve was stayed and strengthened; worldly
expediency gave way before the magnanimous purpose,
cringing subserviency before independent manliness.
The letters of affection, gratitude, and appreciation of
what had been done to make true men and women of
them, which were received by the Welds, in many cases,
years after they had parted from the writers, were trea-
sured as their most precious souvenirs, and quite recon-
ciled them to the trials through which such results were
reached.
A short time before leaving Belleville, Mrs. Weld and
Sarah adopted the Bloomer costume on account of its con-
venience, and the greater freedom it permitted in taking
long rambles, but neither of them ever admired it or
urged its adoption on others. Mrs. Weld, it is true,
wrote a long and eloquent letter to the Dress Reform
Convention which met in Syracuse in the summer of
1857, but it was not to advocate the Bloomer, but to
show the need of some dress more suitable than the fash-
ionable one, for work and exercise. She also urged that
as woman was no longer in her minority, no longer “man's
pretty idol before whom he bowed in chivalric gallantry,"
or “his petted slave whom he coaxed and gulled with
sugar-plum privileges, whilst robbing her of intrinsic

282
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
-
rights,” but was emerging into her majority and claiming
her rights as a human being, and waking up to a higher
destiny: as she was beginning to answer the call to a life
of useful exertion and honorable independence, it was time
that she dressed herself in accordance with the change.
“I regard the Bloomer costume," she says, “as only an
approach to that true womanly attire which will in due
time be inaugurated. We must experiment before we
find a dress altogether suitable.... Man has long enough
borne the burden of supporting the women of the civilized
world. When woman's temple of liberty is finished —
when freedom for the world is achieved - when she has
educated herself into useful and lucrative occupations,
then
may she fitly expend upon her person her own earn-
ings, not man's. Such women will have an indefeasible
right to dress elegantly if they wish, but they will discard
cumbersomeness and a useless and absurd circumference
and length.”
Sarah says, in a letter to a friend, that the Bloomer
dress violated her taste, and was so opposed to her sense of
modesty that she could hardly endure it. During the resi-
dence at Eagleswood, both sisters discarded it altogether.
The John Brown tragedy was of course deeply felt by
Sarah and Angelina, and the bitter and desperate feelings
which inspired it fully sympathized with. Angelina was
made quite ill by it, while Sarah felt her soul bowed with
reverence for the deluded but grand old man.
60
Sarah !” she writes to Sarah Douglass, “what a glorious
spectacle is now before us. The Jerome of Prague of our
country, the John Huss of the United States, now stands
ready, as they were, to seal his testimony with his life's
blood. Last night I went in spirit to the martyr. It was
my privilege to enter into sympathy with him ; to go

AFFLICTION
283
down, according to my measure, into the depths where he
has travailed, and feel his past exercises, his present sub-
lime position.”
As mentioned a few pages back, two of John Brown's
men, who died with him at Harper's Ferry, were brought
to Eagleswood and there quietly interred. The pro-
slavery people of Perth Amboy threatened to dig up the
bodies, but the men and boys of Eagleswood showed such
a brave front, and guarded the graves so faithfully, that
the threat could not be accomplished.
The breaking out of the war found the Welds in deep
family sorrow, watching anxiously by the sick bed of a
dear son, with scarcely a hope of his recovery. Of
Sarah's absolute devotion, of her ceaseless care by day,
and her tireless watching by night, during the many long
and weary months through which that precious life flick-
ered, it is needless to speak. She took the delicate
mother's place beside that bed of suffering, and, strong in
her faith and hope, gave strength and hope to the heart-
stricken parents, sustaining them when they were ready
to sink beneath the avalanche of their woe. And when
at last, though life was spared, it was evident that the in-
valid must remain an invalid for a long time, perhaps for-
ever, Sarah's sublime courage stood steadfast. There was
no sign of faltering. With a resignation almost cheerful,
she took up her fresh burden, and, intent only on cheer-
ing her dear patient and comforting the sorrow of her
sister and brother, she forgot her seventy-one years and
every grief of the past. “I try," she writes, “to accept
this, the most grinding and bitter dispensation of my
checkered life, as what it must be, educational and dis-
ciplinary, working towards a better preparation for a
higher life.”

284
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
she says,
Chiefly on account of this son and the quiet which was
necessary for him, Mr. and Mrs. Weld gave up their posi-
tion at Eagleswood, to the deep regret of all who knew
them and had children to educate. They settled them-
selves temporarily in a pleasant house in Perth Amboy.
Here, between nursing their sick, and working for the
soldiers, they watched the progress of events which they
had long foreseen were inevitable.
Sarah speaks of the war as a retribution. " Hitherto,
“We have never been a republic, but one of the
blackest tyrannies that ever disgraced the earth."
She calls attention to the fact that the South, by start-
ing out with a definite and declared purpose, added much
to its strength. “In great revolutions,” she says, “con-
fusion in popular ideas is fatal. The South avoided
this. She set up one idea as paramount; she seized a
great principle and uttered it. She shouted the talismanie
words, Oppression and Liberty,' and said, “Let us achieve
our purpose or die!' The masses, blinded by falsehood,
caught the spirit of the leaders, and verily believe they
are struggling for freedom. We have never enunciated
any great truth as the cause of our uprising. We have
no great idea to rally around, and know not what we are
fighting for.
Later she expresses herself very strongly concerning
the selfishness of the politicians, North and South.
“It is true there are some," she writes, “ who are wag-
ing this war to make our Declaration of Independence a
fact; there is a glorious band who are fighting for human
rights, but the government, with Lincoln at its head, has
not a heart-throb for the slave. I want the South to do
her own work of emancipation. She would do it only
from dire necessity, but the North will do it from no

WAR TO END IN FREEDOM
285
-
higher motive, and the South will feel less exasperation
if she does it herself.”
In another letter in 1862, she writes :
“The negro has generously come forward, in spite of
his multiplied wrongs, and offered to help to defend the
country against those who are trying to fasten the chains
on the white as well as the black. We have impiously
denied him the right of citizenship, and have virtually
said, "Stand back; I am holier than thou.' I pray that
victory may not crown our arms until the negro stands
in his acknowledged manhood side by side in this conflict
with the white man, until we have the nobility to say
that this war is a war of abolition, and that no concession
on the part of the South shall save slavery from destruc-
tion. Whatever Lincoln and his Cabinet are carrying on
the war to accomplish, God's design is to deliver from
bondage his innocent people."
About this time Mrs. Weld published one of the most
powerful things she ever wrote, “A Declaration of War
on Slavery.” She and Sarah also drew up a petition to
the government for the entire abolition of slavery, and
took it around themselves for signatures. Very few
refused to sign it; and they were proposing to canvass, by
means of agents, the entire North, when the Emancipa-
tion Proclamation was issued.
With their Charleston relatives, Mrs. Weld and Sarah
had always kept up a rather irregular, but, on one side, at
least, an affectionate correspondence. Their mother died
in 1839, retaining, to the never-ceasing grief of her
Northern daughters, her slave-holding principles to the
last. The few remaining members of the family were
settled in and around Charleston, and were, with one ex-
ception, in comfortable circumstances at the beginning of

286
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
the war.
This exception was their brother John, who
was infirm, and had outlived his resources and the ability
to make a living. For years before the war, Sarah and
Angelina sent him from their slender incomes a small
annuity, sufficient to keep him from want, and it was con-
tinued, at much inconvenience during the war, until his
death, which occurred in the latter part of 1863. Their
sisters, Mary and Eliza, wrote very proud and defiant let-
ters during the first two years of hostilities, and declared
they were secure and happy in their dear old city. But
gradually their tone changed, and they did not refuse to
receive, through blockade-runners, a variety of necessary
articles from their abolition sisters. As their slaves de-
serted them, and one piece of property after another lost
its value or was destroyed, they saw poverty staring them
in the face; but their pride sustained them, and it was
not until they had lived for nearly a year on little else but
hominy and water that they allowed their sisters to know
of their condition. But in informing them of it, they
still declared their willingness to die “ for slavery and the
Confederacy.”
“Blind to the truth," writes Sarah, “ they religiously
believe that slavery is a divine institution, and say they
hope never to be guilty of disbelieving the Bible, and
thus rendering themselves amenable to the wrath of God.
I am glad," she adds, “to have this lesson of honest
blindness. It shows me that thousands like themselves
are worshipping a false god of their own creation.”
Of course relief was sent to these unhappy women as
soon as possible; and when hostilities ceased, more than
two hundred dollars' worth of necessaries of every kind
was despatched to them, with an urgent invitation to come
and accept a home at the North. Some time before this,

SISTERLY AFFECTION
287
however, the Welds had moved to Hyde Park, near Bos-
ton, and were delightfully located, owning their house,
and surrounded by kind and congenial neighbors. But
much as they all needed entire rest, and well as they had
earned it, they could not afford to be idle. Sarah became
housekeeper and general manager, while Mr. and Mrs.
Weld accepted positions, in Dr. Dio Lewis's famous school
at Lexington. They were obliged to leave home every
Monday and return on Friday.
The Charleston sisters refused for some time to accept
the invitation given them ; but so delicately and affection-
ately was it urged, that, goaded by necessity, they finally
consented. They made their preparations to leave
Charleston; but in the midst of them, the older sister,
Mary, who had been very feeble for some time, was taken
suddenly ill, and died. Eliza, then, a most sad and deso-
late woman, as we may well suppose, made the voyage to
New York alone. There Sarah met her, and accompanied
her to Hyde Park, where she was received with every
consideration affection could devise. She seems to have
soon made up her mind to make the best of her altered
circumstances, and thus show her gratitude to those who
had so readily overlooked her past abuse of them. Sarah
writes of her in 1866:-
My sister Eliza is well and so cheerful. She is a sun-
beam in the family, but the failure of the Confederacy
and the triumph of the Yankees' is hard to bear, —
the wrong having crushed the right.”
This sister was tenderly cared for until arrangements
were made for her return to Charleston with Mrs. Frost.
There she died in 1867. This was only one of the many
minor cases of retribution brought about by the Nemesis
of the civil war. Sarah montions another. The sale of
66

288
THE SISTERS GRIMKÊ
lands for government taxes at Beaufort, S. C., was made
from the verandah of the Edmond Rhett House, where,
more than ten years before, the rebellion was concocted
by the very men whose estates then (1866) were passing
under the hammer. And the chairman of the tax
committee was Dr. Wm. H. Brisbane, who, twenty-five
years before, was driven from the State because he would
liberate his slaves.
Quietly settled in what she felt was a permanent home,
and with no cares outside of her family, Sarah found time
not only to read, but to indulge her taste for scribbling,
as she called it. She sent, from time to time, articles to
the New York Tribune, the Independent, the Woman's
Journal, and other papers, all marked by remarkable
freshness as well as vigor. She also translated from the
French several stories illustrative of various social re-
forms, and in 1867, being then seventy-five years old,
she made a somewhat abridged translation of Lamartine's
poetical biography of Joan of Arc. This was Sarah's
most finished literary work, and aroused in her great en-
thusiasm. “ Sometimes,” she writes, “it seems to infuse
into my soul a mite of that divinity which filled hers.
Joan of Arc stands pre-eminent in my mind above all
other mortals save the Christ.”
When the book was finished, Sarah was most anxious
to get it published, “in order," she writes, “to revive the
memory in this country of the extraordinary woman who
was an embodiment of faith, courage, fortitude, and love
rarely equalled and never excelled."
But she had many more pressing demands on her in-
come at that time, and had nearly given up the project,
when a gentleman from Lynn called to see her, to whom
she read a few pages of the narrative. He was so much

THE COLORED NEPHEWS
289
pleased with it that he undertook to have it published.
It was brought out in a few weeks by Adams & Co., of Bos-
ton, in a prettily bound volume of one hundred and six
pages, and had, I believe, a large sale. Several long and
many short notices of it appeared in papers all over the
country, all highly complimentary to the venerable trans-
lator. These notices surprised Sarah as much as they
delighted her, and she expressed herself as deeply thank-
ful that she had translated the work.
A letter from Sarah Grimké to Jane Smith, written in
1850, contains the following paragraph: “We have just
heard of the death of our brother Henry, a planter and a
kind master. His slaves will feel his loss deeply. They
haunt me day and night. Sleeplessness is my portion,
thinking what will become of them. Oh, the horrors of
slavery!”
When she penned those lines, Sarah little imagined
how great a mockery was the title, “kind master,” she
gave her brother. She little suspected that three of
those slaves whose uncertain destiny haunted her pillow
were that brother's own children, and that he died leaving
the shackles on them -slaves to his heir, their white
brother, though he did stipulate that they and their
mother should never be sold. Well might Sarah exclaim :
“Oh, the horrors of slavery!” but in deepest humilia-
tion and anguish of spirit would the words have been
uttered had she known the truth. Montague Grimké in-
herited his brothers with the rest of the human chattels.
He knew they were his brothers, and he never thought
of freeing them. They were his to use and to abuse, — to
treat them kindly if it suited his mood; to whip them
if he fancied; to sell them if he should happen to need
money, — and they could not raise voice or hand to pre-

290
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
vent it. There was no law to which they could appeal,
no refuge they could seek from the very worst with which
their brother might threaten them. Was ever any crea-
ture — brute or human — in the wide world so defenceless
as the plantation slave! The forlorn case of these Grimké
boys was that of thousands of others born as they were,
and inheriting the intelligence and spirit of independence
of their white parent.
I have little space to give to their pitiful story. Many
have doubtless heard it. The younger brother, John, was,
at least as a child, more fortunate. When Charleston was
at last occupied by the Union army, the two oldest, Fran-
cis and Archibald, attracted the attention of some mem-
bers of the Sanitary Commission by their intelligence and
good behavior, and were by them sent to Massachusetts,
where some temporary work was found for them. Two
vacancies happening to occur in Lincoln University, Ox-
ford, Pennsylvania, they were recommended to fill them.
Thither they went in 1866, and, eager and determined
to profit by their advantages, they studied so well during
the winter months, and worked so diligently to help them-
selves in the summer, that, in spite of the drawbacks of
their past life, they rose to honorable positions in the
University, and won the regard of all connected with it.
Some time in February, 1868, Mrs. Weld read in the
Anti-Slavery Standard a notice of a meeting of a literary
society at Lincoln University, at which an address was
delivered by one of the students, named Francis Grimké.
She was surprised, and as she had never before heard of
the university, she made some inquiries about it, and was
much interested in what she learned of its object and char-
acter. She knew that the name of Grimké was confined to
the Charleston family, and naturally came to the conclusion,

THE DISCOVERY
291
at first, that this student who had attracted her attention
was an ex-slave of one of her brothers, and had, as was
frequently done, adopted his master's name. But the cir-
cumstance worried her. She could not drive it from her
mind. She knew so well that blackest page of slavery
on which was written the wrongs of its women, that,
dreadful as was the suspicion, it slowly grew upon her
that the blood of the Grimkés, the proud descendants of
the Huguenots, flowed in the veins of this poor colored
student. The agitation into which further refection on
the subject threw her came very near making her ill and
finally decided her to learn the truth if possible. She
addressed a note to Mr. Francis Grimké. The answer
she received confirmed her worst fears. He and his
brothers were her nephews. Her nerves already unstrung
by the dread of this cruel blow, Angelina fainted when
it came, and was completely prostrated for several days.
Her husband and sister refrained from disturbing her by
a question or a suggestion. Physically stronger than she,
they felt the superiority of her spiritual strength, and un-
certain, on this most momentous occasion, of their own
convictions of duty, they looked to her for the initiative.
The silent conflict in the soul of this tender, conscien-
tious woman during those days of prostration was known
only to her God. The question of prejudice had no place
in it, — that had long and long ago been cast to the winds.
It was the fair name of a loved brother that was at stake,
and which must be sustained or blighted by her action.
“ Ask me not,” she once wrote to a young person, “if it
is expedient to do what you propose: ask yourself if it is
right." This question now came to her in a shape it had
never assumed before, and it was hard to answer. But it
was no surprise to her family when she came forth from

292
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
that chamber of suffering and announced her decision.
She would acknowledge those nephews. She would not
deepen the brand of shame that had been set upon their
brows: hers, rather, the privilege to efface it. Her
brother had wronged these, his children; his sisters must
right them. No doubt of the duty lingered in her mind.
Those youths were her own flesh and blood, and, though
the whole world should scoff, she would not deny them.
Her decision was accepted by her husband and sister
without a murmur of dissent. If either had any doubts
of its wisdom, they were never uttered; and, as was
always the case with them, having once decided in their
own minds a question of duty, they acted upon it in no
half-way spirit, and with no stinted measures. In the
long letter which Angelina wrote to Francis and Archi-
bald Grimké, and which Theodore Weld and Sarah
Grimké fully indorsed, there appeared no trace of doubt
or indecision. The general tone was just such in which
she might have addressed newly-found legitimate neph-
After telling them that if she had not suspected
their relationship to herself, she should probably not have
written them, she questions them on various points, show-
ing her desire to be useful to them, and adds, “I want to
talk to you face to face, and am thinking seriously of going
on to your Commencement in June.” A few lines further
on she says:
“I will not dwell on the past: let all that go.
not be altered. Our work is in the present, and duty calls
upon us now so to use the past as to convert its curse into
a blessing. I am glad you have taken the name of
Grimké. It was once one of the noblest names of Caro-
lina. You, my young friends, now bear this once honored
I charge you most solemnly, by your upright con-
ews.
כל
It can-
name.

A VISIT TO NEPHEWS
293
duct and your life-long devotion to the eternal principles
of justice and humanity and religion, to lift this name out
of the dust where it now lies, and set it once more among
the princes of our land.”
Other letters passed between them until the youths had
told all their history, so painful in its details that Ange-
lina, after glancing at it, put it aside, and for months had
not the courage to read it. When June came, though far
from well, she summoned up strength and resolution to
do as she had proposed in the spring. Accompanied by
her oldest son, she attended the Lincoln University Com-
mencement, and made the personal acquaintance of Fran-
cis and Archibald Grimké. She found them good-looking,
intelligent, and gentlemanly young men ; and she took
them by the hand, and, to president and professors, ac-
knowledged their claim upon her. She also invited them
to visit her at her home, assuring them of a kind reception
from every member of her family. She remained a week
at Lincoln University, going over with these young men
all the details of their treatment by their brother Monta-
gue, and of the treatment of the slaves in all the Grimké
families. These details brought back freshly to her mind
the horrors which had haunted her life in Charleston, and
she lived them all over again, even in her dreams. She
had been miserably weak and worn for some time before
going to Lincoln; and the mental distress she now went
through affected her nervous system to such an extent
that there is no doubt her life was shortened by it.
The hearty concurrence of every member of the family
in the course resolved on towards the nephews shows
how united they were in moral sentiment as well as in
affection. There was not the slightest hesitancy ex-
hibited. The point touching her brother's shame thrust

294
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
-
in the background by the conviction of a higher duty,
Mrs. Weld allowed it to trouble her no more, but, with
her husband and sister, expressed a feeling of exultation
in acknowledging the relationship of the youths, as a tes-
timony and protest against the wickedness of that hate
which had always trampled down the people of color
because they were as God made them.
On Angelina's return journey, Sarah, ever anxious
about her, met her at Newark and accompanied her home.
A few weeks later, writing to Sarah Douglass an account
of the Grimké boys, she says:
“ They are very promising young men. We all feel
deeply interested in them, and I hope to be able to get to-
gether money enough to pay the college expenses of the
younger. I would rejoice to meet these entirely myself,
but, not having the means, I intend to try and collect it
somehow. Angelina has not yet recovered from the
effects of her journey and the excitement of seeing and
talking to those boys, the president, etc. When I met
her she was so exhausted and excited that I felt very anx-
ious, and when I found her brain and sight were so disor-
dered that she could not see distinctly, even striking her
head several times severely, and that she could not read,
I was indeed alarmed. But, notwithstanding all she had
suffered, she has not for a moment regretted that she
went. She feels that a sacred duty has been performed,
and rejoices that she had strength for it.”
A few weeks later, she writes: “Nina is about and
always busy, often working when she seems ready to drop,
sustained by her nervous energy and irresistible will.
She has kept up wonderfully under our last painful trial,
and has borne it so beautifully that I am afraid she is get-
ting too good to live.”
לל

NEPHEWS EDUCATED
295
I have no right to say that Angelina Weld suffered
martyrdom in every fibre of her proud, sensitive nature
during all the first months at least of this trial; but I
cannot but believe it. She never spoke of her own feel-
ings to any one but her husband; but Sarah writes to
Sarah Douglass in August, 1869:-
“My cheerful spirit has been sorely tested for some
months. Nina has been sick all summer, is a mere skele-
ton and looks ten or fifteen years older than she did
before that fatal visit to Lincoln University. I do not
think that she will ever be the same woman she was
before and sometimes I feel sure her toilsome journey on
this earth must be near its close. The tears will come
whenever I think of it."
But not so ! the sisters were to work hand in hand a
few years longer; the younger, in her patient suffering,
leaning with filial love on the stronger arm of the older,
both now gray-haired and beginning to feel the infirmities
of age, but still devoted to each other and united in sym-
pathy with every good and progressive movement. The
duty, as they conceived it, to their colored nephews was
as generously as conscientiously performed. They re-
ceived them into the family, treated them in every respect
as relatives, and exerted themselves to aid them in finish-
ing their education. Francis studied for the ministry,
and is now pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church
of Washington city. Archibald, through Sarah's exer-
tions and self-denial, took the law course at Harvard,
graduated, and has since practised law successfully in
Boston. Both are respected by the communities in which
they reside. John, the younger brother, remained in the
South with his mother.
Mrs. Weld and Sarah still took a warm, and, as far as

296
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
it was possible, an active interest in the woman suffrage
movement; and when, in February, 1870, after an elo-
quent lecture from Lucy Stone, a number of the most
intelligent and respectable women of Hyde Park deter-
mined to try the experiment of voting at the approaching
town election, Mrs. Weld and Sarah Grimké united cor-
dially with them. A few days before the election, a large
caucus was held, made up of about equal numbers of men
and women, among them many of the best and leading
people of the place. A ticket for the different offices
was made up, voted for, and elected. At this caucus
Theodore Weld made one of his old-time stirring
speeches, encouraging the women to assert themselves,
and persist in demanding their political rights.
The 7th of March, the day of the election, a terrific
snowstorm prevailed, but did not prevent the women
from assembling in the hotel near the place of voting,
where each one was presented, on the part of their
gentlemen friends, with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
At the proper time, a number of these gentlemen came
over to the hotel and escorted the ladies to the polls,
where a convenient place for them to vote had been
arranged. There was a great crowd inside the hall, eager
to see the joke of women voting, and many were ready
to jeer and hiss. But when, through the door, the women
filed, led by Sarah Grimké and Angelina Weld, the laugh
was checked, the intended jeer unuttered, and deafening
applause was given instead. The crowd fell back re-
spectfully, nearly every man removing his hat and remain-
ing uncovered while the women passed freely down the
hall, deposited their votes, and departed.
Of course these votes were not counted. There was no
expectation that they would be (though the ticket was

VOTING - PETITIONS
297
elected), but the women had given a practical proof of
their earnestness, and though one man said, in conse-
quence of this movement, he would sell his house two
thousand dollars cheaper than he would have done before,
and another declared he would give his away if the thing
was done again, and still another wished he might die if
the women were going to vote, the women themselves
were satisfied with their first step, and more than ever
determined to march courageously on until the citadel of
man's prejudices was conquered.
The following summer, Sarah Grimké, believing that
much good might be accomplished by the circulation of
John Stuart Mill's “Subjection of Women," made her-
self an agent foi he sale of the book, and traversed hill
and dale, walking miles daily to accomplish her purpose.
She thus succeeded in placing more than one hundred
and fifty copies in the hands of the women of Hyde Park
and the vicinity, in spite of the ignorance, narrowness,
heartlessness, and slavery which, she says, she had ample
opportunity to deplore. The profits of her sales were
given to the Woman's Journal.
Under date of May 25, 1871, she writes: -
“I have been travelling all through our town and
vicinity on foot, to get signers to a petition to Congress
for woman suffrage. It is not a pleasant work, often
subjecting me to rudeness and coldness; but we are so
frequently taunted with: "Women don't want the bal-
lot,' that we are trying to get one hundred thousand
names of women who do want it, to reply to this taunt."
But the work which enlisted this indefatigable woman's
warmest sympathies, and which was the last active
charity in which she engaged, was that of begging cast-
off clothing for the destitute freedmen of Charleston and

298
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Florida Accounts reaching her of their wretched condi-
tion through successive failures of crops, she set to work
with her old-time energy to do what she could for their
relief. She literally went from house to house, and from
store to store, presenting her plea so touchingly that few
could refuse her. Many barrels of clothing were in this
way gathered, and she often returned home staggering
beneath the weight of bundles she had carried perhaps
for a mile. She also wrote to friends at a distance, on
whose generosity she felt she could depend, and collected
from them a considerable sum of money, which went far
to keep the suffering from starvation until new crops
could be gathered. Writing to Sarah Douglass, she
says:
6 I have been so happy this winter, going about to beg
old clothing for the unfortunate freedmen in Florida. I
have sent off several barrels of clothes already. Alas!
there is no Christ to multiply the garments, and what are
those I send among so many ? I think of these destitute
ones night and day, and feel so glad to help them even a
little.”
This happiness in helping others was the secret of
Sarah Grimké's unvarying contentment, and there was
always some one needing the help she was so ready to
give, some one whose trials made her feel, she says,
ashamed to think of her own. But the infirmities of old
age were creeping upon her, and though her mental
faculties remained as bright as ever, she began to com-
plain of her eyes and her hearing. In August, 1872, she
writes to a friend :
“My strength is failing. I cannot do a tithe of the
walking I used to do, and am really almost good for noth-
ing. But I don't know but I may learn to enjoy doing
לל

WORK FOR CHARITIES
299
nothing; and if it is needful, I shall be thankful, as that
has always appeared to me a great trial."
Notwithstanding this representation, however, she was
seldom idle a moment. She was an untiring knitter, and
made quite a traffic of the tidies, cushion-covers, and other
fancy articles she knitted and netted. These were pur-
chased by her friends, and the proceeds given to the poor.
Soon after she had penned the above quoted paragraph,
too, she copied for the Rev. Henry Giles, the once suc-
cessful Unitarian preacher, a lecture of sixty-five pages,
from which he hoped to make some money. His eyesight
had failed, and his means were too narrow to permit of
his paying a copyist. She also managed to keep up more
or less, as her strength permitted, her usual visits to the
poor and afflicted; and during the hot summer of 1872
she and Angelina went daily to read to an old, bed-ridden
lady, who was dying of cancer, and living almost alone.
During the following winter Sarah's strength continued
to fail, and she had several fainting spells, of which, how-
ever, she was kept in ignorance. But as life's pulse beat
less vigorously, her heart seemed to grow warmer, and her
interest in all that concerned her friends rather to increase
than to lessen. She still wrote occasional short letters,
and enjoyed nothing so much as those she received, espe-
cially from young correspondents. In January, 1873, she
writes to an old friend :
“Yes, dear .... I esteem it a very choice blessing
that, as the outer man decays, the heart seems enlarged in
charity, and more and more drawn towards those I love.
Oh, this love! it is as subtle as the fragrance of the
flower, an indefinable essence pervading the soul. My
eyesight and my hearing are both in a weakly condition;
but I trust, as the material senses fail, the interior percep-

300
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
tion of the divine may be opened to a clearer knowledge
of God, and that I may read the glorious book of nature
with a more heavenly light, and apprehend with clearer
insight the majesty and divinity and capabilities of my
own being.”
A few months later, she writes : “My days of active
usefulness are over; but there is a passive work to be
done, far harder than actual work, — namely, to exercise
patience and study humble resignation to the will of God,
whatever that may be. Thanks be to Him, I have not
yet felt like complaining; nay, verily, the song of my
heart is, Who so blest as I? In years gone by, I used to
rejoice as every year sped its course and brought me
nearer to the grave. Bnt now, though the grave has no
terrors for me, and death looks like a pleasant transition
to another and a better condition, I am content to wait
the Father's own time for my removal. I rejoice that my
ideal is still in advance of my actual, though I can only
look for realization in another life. I know of a truth
that
my immortal spirit must progress; not into a state
of perfect happiness, — that would have no attractions for
me; there must be deficiencies in my heaven, to leave
room for progression. A realm of unqualified rest were a
stagnant pool of being, and the circle of absolute perfection
a waveless calm, the abstract cipher of indolence. But I
believe I shall be gifted with higher faculties, greater
powers, and therefore be capable of higher aspirations,
better achievements, and a nobler appreciation of God and
His works.”
The sweet tranquillity expressed in this letter, and
which was the greatest blessing that could have been
given to Sarah Grimké's last years, grew day by day, and
shed its benign influence on all about her. She had long

CONTENTED OLD AGE
301
ceased to look back, and had long been satisfied that
though she had had an ample share of sorrows and per-
plexities, her life had passed, after all, with more of good
than evil in it, more of enjoyment than sorrow. Her ex-
perience had been rich and varied; and, while she could
see, in the past, sins committed, errors of judgment, idio-
syncracies to which she had too readily yielded, she felt
that all had been blest to her in enlarging her knowledge
of herself, in widening her sphere of usefulness, and unit-
ing her more closely to Him who had always been her
guide, and whose promises sustained and blessed her, and
crowned her latter days with joy supreme.

302
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CHAPTER XVIII.
SARAH GRIMKÉ had always enjoyed such good health,
and was so unaccustomed to even small ailments, that
when a slight attack came in the beginning of August,
1873, in the shape of a fainting-fit in the night, she did
not understand what it meant. For two or three years
she had had an occasional attack of the same kind, but
was never before conscious of it, and as she had frequently
expressed a desire to be alone when she died, to have no
human presence between her and her God, she thought, as
the faintness came over her, that this desire was about to
be gratified. But not so: she returned to consciousness,
somewhat to her disappointment, and seemed to quite re-
cover her health in a few days. The weather, however,
was extremely warm, and she felt its prostrating effects.
On the 27th of August another fainting-spell came over
her, also in the night, and she felt so unwell on coming
out of it that she was obliged to call assistance. For sev-
eral weeks she was very ill, and scarcely a hope of her
recovery was entertained; but again she rallied and tried
to mingle with the family as usual, though feeling very
weak. Writing to Sarah Douglass of this illness, she
says:

SARAH'S SICKNESS
303
“ The first two weeks are nearly a blank. I only re-
member a sense of intense suffering, and that the second
day I thought I was dying, and felt calm with that sweet
peace which our heavenly Father gives to those who lay
their heads on His bosom and breathe out their souls to
Him. Death is so beautiful a transition to another and
a higher sphere of usefulness and happiness, that it no
longer looks to me like passing through a dark valley,
but rather like merging into sunlight and joy. When
consciousness returned to me, I was floating in an ocean
of divine love. Oh, dear Şarah, the unspeakable peace
that I enjoyed! Of course I was to come down from the
mount, but not into the valley of despondency. My
mind has been calm, my faith steadfast, my continual
prayer that I may fulfil the design of my Father in thus
restoring me to life and finish the work he must have for
me to do, either active or passive. I am lost in wonder,
love, and praise at the vast outlay of affection and means
used for my
restoration.
Stuart was
like a tender
daughter, and all have been so loving, so patient.”
She continued very feeble, but insisted upon joining the
family at meals, though she frequently had to be carried
back to her room. Still her lively interest in every one
about her showed no diminution, and she still wrote, as
strength permitted, short letters to old friends. A few
passages may be quoted from these letters to show how
clear her intellect remained, and with what a holy calm
her soul was clothed. To one nearly her own age, she
says:-
“You and I and all who are on the passage to redemp-
tion know that Gethsemane has done more for us than
the Mount of Transfiguration. I am sure I have ad-
vanced more in the right way through my sins than

304
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ.
through my righteousness, and for nothing am I more
fervently grateful than for the lessons of humility I have
learned in this way.”
To another who was mourning the death of a dear
child, she writes : “My whole heart goes out in unspeak-
able yearnings for you; not, dearest, that you may be
delivered from your present trials; not only that you may
be blessed with returning health, but that you may find
something better, holier, stionger than philosophy to sus-
tain you. Philosophy may enable us to endure ; this is
its highest mission; it cannot give the peace of God
which passeth all understanding. This is what I covet
for you. And how can you doubt of immortality when
you look on your beloved's face? Can you believe that
the soul which looked out of those eyes can be quenched
in endless night? No; never! As soon doubt existence
itself. It is this - these central truths, the existence and
the love of God, and the immortality of the soul, which
rob death of its terrors and shed upon it the blessed light
of a hope which triumphs over death itself. Oh that
you could make Christ your friend! He is so near and
dear to me that more than ever does he seem to be my
link to the Father and to the life everlasting.”
As she complained only of weakness, Sarah's friends
hoped that, when the cool weather came on, she would
regain her strength and be as well as usual. But though
she continued to move about the house, trying to make
herself useful, there was very little perceptible change in
her condition as the autumn passed and winter came on.
Thus she continued until the 12th of December, when she
took a violent cold. She was in the habit of airing her
bed every night just before retirirg, turning back the
cover, and opening wide her window. On that day it

DEATH OF SARAH
305
had rained, and the air was very damp, but she had her
bed and window opened as usual, insisting that Florence
Nightingale asserted that damp air never hurt anyone.
That night she coughed a great deal, but in answer to
Angelina's expressions of anxiety, said she felt no worse
than usual. But though she still went down to her meals,
it was evident that she was weaker than she had been. On
Sunday, the 14th, company coming to tea, she preferred
to remain in her room. She never went down again.
Her breathing was much oppressed on Monday and her
cough worse, but it was not until Tuesday evening, after
having passed a distressing day, that she would consent
to have a physician called. Everything was done for her
that could be thought of, and, as she grew worse, two
other physicians were sent for. But all in vain : it was
evident that the summons to come up higher” had
reached her yearning soul, and that a bright New Year
was dawning for her in that unseen world which she was
so well prepared to enter.
She lingered, suffering at times great agony from suffo-
cation, until the afternoon of the 23d, when she was
seized with the most severe paroxysm she had yet had.
Her family gathered about her bed, relieved her as far as
it was possible, and saw her sink exhausted into an un-
conscious state, from which, two hours later, she crossed
the threshold of Eternity. Her “precious Nina” bent
over her, caught the last breath, and exclaimed: “Well
done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord !”
The gates of heaven swung wide to admit that great
soul, and the form of clay that was left lying there seemed
touched with the glory that streamed forth. All traces
of suffering vanished, and the placid face wore -
לל

306
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
66 The look of one who bore away
Glad tidings from the hills of day.”
Every sorrow brings a peace with it, and Angelina's
sorrow was swallowed up in joy that the beloved sister
had escaped from pain and infirmity, and entered into
fuller and closer communion with her heavenly Father.
She and Sarah had promised each other that no stranger
hands should perform the last offices to their mortal re-
mains. How lovingly this promise was now kept by
Angelina, we must all understand.
The weather was very cold, and in order to give her
friends at a distance opportunity to attend the funeral,
it did not take place until the 27th. One of the last re-
quests of this woman, whose life had been an embodi-
ment of the most tender charity and the truest humility,
was that she might be laid in a plain pine coffin, and the
difference in price between it and the usual costly one be
given as her last gift to the poor. She knew — divine
soul! — that her cold form would sleep just as quietly, be
guarded by the angels just as faithfully, and as certainly
go to its resurrection glory from a pine box as from the
richest rosewood casket. And it was like the sweet sim-
plicity of her whole life, — nothing for show, all for God
and his poor.
Her request was complied with, but loving bands
covered every inch of that plain stained coffin with
fragrant flowers, making it rich and beautiful with those
sincere tributes of affection and gratitude to one whose
memory was a benediction.
The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Fran-
cis Williams, pastor of the Unitarian Church of IIyde
Park, and eloquent remarks were made by him and by
Wm. Lloyd Garrison.

EULOGIES
307
Mr. Williams could only testify to Sarah's life as he had
known it since she came to live in the village.
“To the last,” he said, " while her mind could plan, her
pen could move, and her heart could prompt, she was
busy in the service of humanity, — with her might and
beyond her strength, in constant nameless deeds of kind-
ness to those in need in our own neighborhood, and far to
the south, deeds which were wise and beautiful, — help to
the poor, sympathy with the suffering, consolation to the
dying. She has fought the good fight of right and love;
she has finished her course of duty; she has kept the faith
of friendship and sacrifice.
“We will more truly live because she has lived among
us. May her hope and peace be ours."
Mr. Garrison gave a brief summary of her life, and
ended by saying: “In view of such a life as hers, conse-
crated to suffering humanity in its manifold needs, em-
bracing all goodness, animated by the broadest catholicity
of spirit, and adorned with every excellent attribute, any
attempt at panegyric here seems as needless as it must be
inadequate. Here there is nothing to depress or deplore,
nothing premature or startling, nothing to be supple-
mented or finished. It is the consummation of a long
life, well rounded with charitable deeds, active sympa-
thies, toils, loving ministrations, grand testimonies, and
nobly self-sacrificing endeavors. She lived only to do
good, neither seeking nor desiring to be known, ever
unselfish, unobtrusive, compassionate, and loving, dwell-
ing in God and God in her."
The last look was then taken, the last kiss given, and
the coffin, lifted by those who loved and honored the
form it enclosed, was borne to its resting-place in Mount
Hope Cemetery.

308
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
"Dear friend," wrote Angelina to me, before yet the
last rites had been performed, "you know what I have
lost, not a sister only, but a mother, friend, counsellor, —
everything I could lose in a woman.”
The longer our loved ones are spared to us, the closer
becomes the tie by which we are bound to them, and the
deeper the pain of separation. It was thus with Ange-
lina. She could rejoice at her sister's blessed transla-
tion, but she keenly felt the bereavement notwithstanding.
Their lives had been so bound together; they had walked
so many years side by side; they had so shared each
other's burdens, cares, and sorrows, that she who was left
scarcely knew how to live the daily life without that dear
twin-soul. And so tender, so true and sacred was the
communion which had grown between them, that they
could not be separated long.
Angelina continued, as her feeble health permitted, to
do alone the work Sarah had shared with her. The sick,
the poor, the sorrowing, were looked after and cared for as
usual; but as she was already weighed down by declining
years, the burdens she tried to bear were too heavy. Sarah
used to say: “ Angelina's creed is, for herself, work till
you drop; for others, spare yourself.” Now, with no
anxiously watchful sister to restrain her, she overtaxed
every power, and brought on the result which had been
long feared, — the paralysis which finally ended her life.
Those who have read Mr. Weld's beautiful memorial
of his wife, with the touching account of her last days,
will find no fault, I am sure, if I reproduce a portion of it
here, while to those who have not been so fortunate, it
will show her sweet Christian spirit, mighty in its gentle-
ness, as no words of mine could do. In vain may we
look back through the centuries for a higher example of

PARALYSIS
309
divine love and patience and heroic fortitude; and, as a
friend observed, her expressions of gratitude for the long
and perfect use of her faculties at the very moment when
she felt the fatal touch which was to deprive her of them,
was the sublimity of sweet and grateful trust.
The early shattering of Angelina's nervous system
rendered her always exceedingly sensitive to outward
impressions. She could not look upon any form of suffer-
ing without, in a measure, feeling it herself; nor could
she read or listen to an account of great physical agony
without a sensation of faintness which frequently obliged
her, at such times, to leave the room and seek relief in
the open air. The first stroke of paralysis occurred the
summer after Sarah's death, and was brought on in a
singular manner. Mr. Weld's account of the incident
and its consequences is thus given :-
"For weeks she had visited almost daily a distant
neighbor, far gone in consumption, whose wife was her
dear friend. One day, over-heated and tired out by work
and a long walk in the sun, she passed their house in
returning home, too much overdone to call, as she
thought to do, and had gone a quarter of a mile toward
home, when it occurred to her, Mr. W. may be dying
now!
She turned back, and, as she feared, found
him dying. As she sat by his bedside, holding his hand,
a sensation never felt before seized her so strongly that
she at once attempted to withdraw her hand, but saw
that she could not without disturbing the dying man's
last moments. She sat thus, in exceeding discomfort, half
an hour, with that strange feeling creeping up her arm
and down her side.
“At last his grasp relaxed, and she left, only able to
totter, and upon getting home, she hardly knew how, de-

310
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
clined supper, and went at once to bed, saying only,
· Tired, tired. In the morning, when her husband rose,
she said, 'I've something to tell you. Her tone alarmed
him. Don't be alarmed,' she said. To his anxious
question, Pray, what is it?' she said again, Now you
must n't be troubled, I'm not; it's all for the best. Some-
thing ails my right side, I can't move hand or foot. It
must be paralysis. Well, how thankful I should be that
I have had the perfect use of all my faculties, limbs, and
senses for sixty-eight years! And now, if they are to be
taken from me, I shall have it always to be grateful for
that I have had them so long. Why, I do think I am
grateful for this, too. Come, let us be grateful together.
Her half-palsied husband could respond only in weakest
words to the appeal of his unpalsied wife. While exult-
ing in the sublime triumph of her spirit over the stroke
that felled her, well might he feel abashed, as he did, to
find that, in such a strait, he was so poor a help to her
who, in all his straits, had been such a help to him. After
a pause she added: Oh, possibly it is only the effect of
my being so tired out last night. Why, it seems to me I
was never half so tired. I wonder if a hard rubbing of
your strong hands might n't throw it off. Long and
strongly he plied with friction the parts affected, but no
muscle responded. All seemed dead to volition and
motion. Though thus crippled in a moment, she insisted
upon rising, that she might be ready for breakfast at the
usual hour. As the process of dressing went on, she
playfully enlivened it thus: Well, here I am a baby
again; have to be dressed and fed, perhaps lugged round
in arms or trundled in a wheel-chair, taught to walk on
one foot, and sew and darn stockings with my left hand.
Plenty of new lessons to learn that will keep me busy.

SUBLIME PATIENCE
311
-
See what a chance I have to learn patience! The dear
Father knew just what I needed,' etc.
“Soon after breakfast she gave herself a lesson in writ-
ing with her left hand, stopping often, as she slowly
scrawled on, to laugh at her quail tracks. After three
months of tireless persistence, she partially recovered the
use of her paralyzed muscles, so that she could write, sew,
knit, wipe dishes, and sweep, and do very shabbily,'
as she insisted, almost everything that she had done
before.
During the six years that remained of her life here, she
had what seemed to be two other slight shocks of paraly-
sis, one about three years after the first, and the other
only three weeks before her death. This last was man-
ifest in the sudden sinking of her bodily powers, pre-
eminently those of speech. During all those years she
looked upon herself as a soldier hourly awaiting orders,'
often saying with her good-night kiss, “May be this will
be the last here,' or, "Perhaps I shall send back my next
from the other shore;' or, The dear Father may call
me from you before morning;' or, “Perhaps when I
wake, it may be in a morning that has no night; then
I can help you more than I can now.'
Many letters received asked for her latest views and
feelings about death and the life beyond, - as one ex-
pressed it, when she was entering the dark valley.'
The valley' she saw, but no darkness, neither night
nor 'shadow; all was light and peace. On the future life
she had pondered much, but ever with a trust absolute
and an abounding cheer. Fear, doubt, anxiety, suspense,
she knew nothing of; none of them had power to mar
her peace or jostle her conviction. While she could
speak, she expressed the utmost gratitude that the dear
66

312
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
Father was loosening the cords of life so gently that she
had no pain.
" When her speech failed, after a sinking in which she
seemed dying, she strove to let us know that she knew it by
trying to speak the word “death.' Divining her thought,
I said, 'Is it death?' Then in a kind of convulsive out-
burst came, Death, death!'
Death, death!' Thinking that she was
right, that it was indeed to her death begun, of what could
die, thus dating her life immortal, I said, “No, oh no!
not death, but life immortal.' She instantly caught my
meaning, and cried out, 'Life eternal ! E— ter — nal life.'
She soon sank into a gentle sleep for hours. When she
awoke, what seemed that fatal sinking had passed.
“One night, while watching with her, after she had been
a long time quietly sleeping, she seemed to be in pain, and
began to toss excitedly. It was soon plain that what
seemed bodily pain was mental anguish. She began to
talk earnestly in mingled tones of pathos and strong
remonstrance. She was back again among the scenes of
childhood, talking upon slavery. At first, only words
could be caught here and there, but enough to show that
she was living over again the old horrors, and remonstrat-
ing with slave-holders upon the wrongs of slavery. Then
came passages of Scripture, their most telling words given
with strong emphasis, the others indistinctly; some in
tones of solemn rebuke, others in those of heart-broken
pathos, but most distinctly audible in detached fragments.
There was one exception, - a few words uttered brokenly,
with a half-explosive force, from James 5: 4: "The —
hire ----of-the- laborers, – kept — back — by — fraud,
- crieth:-and-the-cries - are -in -- the ears
of — the — Lord.' ...
“ As we stood around her, straining to catch again some

DEATH OF ANGELINA
313
fragmentary word, she would turn her eyes upon our
faces, one by one, as though lovingly piercing our inmost;
but though all speech failed, the intense longing of that
look outspoke all words. ...
“ Then there was again a vain struggle to speak, but no
words came! Only abortive sounds painfully shattered!
How precious those unborn words! Oh, that we knew
them !”
Thus quietly, peacefully, almost joyfully, the life forces
of the worn and weary toiler weakened day by day, until,
on the 26th of October, 1879, the great Husbandman
called her from her labors at last. She lived the life and
died the death of a saint.
Who shall dare to say when and where the echoes of
her soul died away? Not in vain such lives as hers and
her beloved sister's. They take their place with those of
the heroes of the world, great among the greatest.
One last thing I must mention, as strongly illustrative
of Angelina's modesty, and that shrinking from any praise
of man which was such a marked trait in her character.
She never voluntarily alluded to any act of hers which
would be likely to draw upon her commendatory notice,
even from the members of her own family, and in her
charities she followed out as far as possible the Bible in-
junction : “When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth.”
Her husband relates the following: -
“ In November, 1839, in making provision for the then
to her not improbable contingency of sudden death, An-
gelina prepared a communication to her husband, filled
with details concerning themselves alone. This was en-
closed in a sealed envelope, with directions that it should
be opened only after her death. When, a few days after

314
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
those years,
her decease, he broke the seal, he found, among many
details, this item: 'I also leave to thee the liability of
being called upon eventually to support in part four
emancipated slaves in Charleston, S. C., whose freedom I
have been instrumental in obtaining.""
It is plain from the wording of the letter that she had
never stated the fact to him. She lived forty years after
writing it and putting it under seal; and yet, during all
she never gave
him the least intimation of
her having freed those four slaves and contributed to
their support, as she had done. Even Sarah could not
have known anything of it. Her brother Henry, to whom
the bill of sale was made out, as they could not be legally
emancipated, was probably the only person who was
aware of her generous act. He became technically their
owner, responsible for them to the State, but left them
free to live and work for themselves as they pleased.
Angelina's funeral took place on the 29th of October,
and to it came many old friends and veteran co-workers
in the anti-slavery cause. The services were in keeping
with the record of the life they commemorated. They
were opened by that beautiful chant, “Thy will be done,”
followed by a touching prayer from the Rev. Mr. Mor-
rison, who then briefly sketched the life of her who lay
so still and beautiful before them. He was followed by
Elizur Wright, who, overcome by the memories with
which she was identified, memories of struggles, trials,
perils, and triumphs, that he stood for a moment unable
to speak. Then, only partially conquering his emotion,
he told of what she did and what she was in those times
which tried the souls of the stoutest. " There is,” said
he, “the courage of the mariner who buffets the angry
waves. There is the courage of the warrior who marches

ELIZUR WRIGHT
315
up to the cannon's mouth, coolly pressing forward amid
engines of destruction on every side. But hers was a
courage greater than theirs. She not only faced death at
the hands of stealthy assassins and howling mobs, in her
loyalty to truth, duty, and humanity, but she encountered
unflinchingly the awful frowns of the mighty consecrated
leaders of society, the scoffs and sneers of the multitude,
the outstretched finger of scorn, and the whispered mock-
ery of pity, standing up for the lowest of the low. Nur-
tured in the very bosom of slavery, by her own observation
and thought, of one thing she became certain, — that it
was a false, cruel, accursed relation between human
beings. And to this conviction, from the very budding
of her womanhood, she was true; not the fear of poverty,
obloquy, or death could induce her to smother it. Nei-
ther wealth, nor fame, nor tyrant fashion, nor all that the
high position of her birth had to offer, could bribe her to
abate one syllable of her testimony against the seductive
system. . . . Let us hope that South Carolina will yet
count this noble, brave, excellent woman above all her
past heroes. She it was, more than all the rest of us put
together, who called out what was good and humane in
the Christian church to take the part of the slave, and
deliver the proud State of her birth from the monster
that had preyed on its vitals for a century. I have no
fitting words for a life like hers. With a mind high and
deep and broad enough to grasp the relations of justice
and mercy, and a heart warm enough to sympathize with
and cherish all that live, what a home she made! Words
cannot paint it. I saw it in that old stone house, sur-
rounded with its beautiful garden, at Belleville, on the
banks of the Passaic. I saw it in that busy, bright, and
cheery palace of true education at Eagleswood, New

316
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
CC
owe more
כלל
Jersey. I have seen it here, in this Mecca of the wise.
Well done! Oh, well done!"
Mr. Wright was followed by Robert F. Walcutt, Lucy
Stone, and Wendell Phillips.
“ The women of to-day,” said Lucy Stone,
than they will ever know to the high courage, the rare
insight, and fidelity to principle of this woman, by whose
suffering easy paths have been made for them. Her ex-
ample was a bugle-call to all other women. Who can
tell how many have been quickened in a great life pur-
pose by the heroism and self-forgetting devotion of her
whose voice we shall never hear again, but who, being
dead, yet speaketh.?"
The remarks of Wendell Phillips were peculiarly affect-
ing, and were spoken with a tenderness which, for once
at least, disproved the assertion that his eloquence was
wanting in pathos.
“Friends," he said, "this life carries us back to the
first chapter of that great movement with which her
name is associated, - to 1835, '36, '37, '38, when our
cities roared with riot, when William Lloyd Garrison was
dragged through the streets, when Dresser was mobbed
in Nashville, and Macintosh burned in St. Louis. At
that time, the hatred toward abolitionists was so bitter
and merciless that the friends of Lovejoy left his grave
long time unmarked; and at last ventured to put, with
his name, on his tombstone, only this piteous entreaty:
Jam Parce Sepulto, Spare him now in his grave.'
“ As Friend Wright has said, we were but a handful,
and our words beat against the stony public as powerless
as if against the north wind. We got no sympathy from
most northern men: their consciences were seared as
with a hot iron. At this time a young woman came from

WENDELL PHILLIPS
317
the proudest State in the slave-holding section. She came
to lay on the altar of this despised cause, this seemingly
hopeless crusade, both family and friends, the best social
position, a high place in the church, genius, and many
gifts. No man at this day can know the gratitude we
felt for this help from such an unexpected source. After
this 1 came James G. Birney from the South, and many
able and influential men and women joined us. At last
John Brown laid his life, the crowning sacrifice, on the
altar of the cause. But no man who remembers 1837
and its lowering clouds will deny that there was hardly
any contribution to the anti-slavery movement greater or
more impressive than the crusade of these Grimké sisters
through the New England States.
“When I think of Angelina, there comes to me the
picture of the spotless dove in the tempest, as she battles
with the storm, seeking for some place to rest her foot.
She reminds me of innocence personified in Spenser's
poem. In her girlhood, alone, heart-led, she comforts the
slave in his quarters, mentally struggling with the prob-
lems his position wakes her to. Alone, not confused, but
seeking something to lean on, she grasps the Church,
which proves a broken reed. No whit disheartened, she
turns from one sect to another, trying each by the infalli-
ble touchstone of that clear, child-like conscience. The
two old, lonely Quakers rest her foot awhile. But the
eager soul must work, not rest in testimony. Coming
North at last, she makes her own religion one of sacrifice
and toil. Breaking away from, rising above, all forms,
the dove floats at last in the blue sky where no clouds
1 A mistake. James G. Birney was one of the most widely
known and influential leaders in the abolition cause at the time
Angelina came into it.

318
THE SISTERS GRIMKÉ
reach. ... This is no place for tears. Graciously, in
loving kindness and tenderly, God broke the shackles and
freed her soul. It was not the dust which surrounded
her that we loved. It was not the form which encom-
passed her that we revere; but it was the soul. We
linger a very little while, her old comrades. The hour
comes, it is even now at the door, that God will open our
eyes to see her as she is: the white-souled child of twelve
years old ministering to want and sorrow; the ripe life,
full of great influences; the serene old age, example and
inspiration whose light will not soon go out. Farewell
for a very little while. God keep us fit to join thee in
that broader service on which thou hast entered.”
At the close of Mr. Phillips' remarks a hymn was read
and sung, followed by a fervent prayer from Mr. Morrison,
when the services closed with the reading and singing of
“Nearer, my God to Thee.” Then, after the last look
had been taken, the coffin-lid was softly closed over the
placidly sleeping presence beneath, and the precious form
was borne to Mount Hope, and tenderly lowered to its
final resting-place. There the sisters, inseparable in life, lie
side by side next the "Evergreen Path," in that “dream-
less realm of silence.”
A friend, describing the funeral, says:-
“The funeral services throughout wore no air of gloom.
That sombre crape shrouded no one with its dismal
tokens. The light of a glorious autumn day streamed in
through uncurtained windows. It was not a house of
mourning, - no sad word said, no look of sorrow worn.
The tears that freely fell were not of grief, but tears of
yearning love, of sympathy, of solemn joy and gratitude
to God for such a life in its rounded completeness, such
an example and testimony, such fidelity to conscience,

THE LESSON OF TWO LIVES
319
such recoil from all self-seeking, such unswerving devo-
tion to duty, come what might of peril or loss, even unto
death."
Florence Nightingale, writing of a woman whose life,
like the lives of Sarah and Angelina Grimké, had been
devoted to the service of the poor, the weak, the oppressed,
says at the close :-
“ This is not an in memoriam, it is a war-cry such as
she would have bid me write, cry
for others to fill
her place, to fill up the ranks, and fight the good fight
against sin and vice and misery and wretchedness as she
did, — the call to arms such as she was ever ready to
a
obey."




Cos Berney, Catherine v
Bi

o co