42 



piioceedi:ngs of tue 



in both places his occupation is given as a tea merchant. His 

 name again appears in the Boston directory from 1866-1872*. 



Here he is hsted as a printer From the above it appears 



that the author and printer of the pamphlet lived in Boston at 

 the time of the publication of it, thus affording evidence of its 

 genuineness. The only negative testimony is that the copyright 

 records of Massachusetts for 1849, which are in the custody of 

 the Eegister of Copyrights, fail to show that the book was 

 copyrighted as claimed." 



The statement of registration is in favour of the authenticity of 

 the work ; for it is unlikely that one who was forging a date 

 would print a cunspicuous paragraph by which the forgery could 

 be so easily detected. 



The attempt to find evidence in the Press of the delivery of the 

 lectures in 1847 or the publication of the work in 1849 has also 

 failed. Mr. Horace G. Wadlin, Librarian of the Boston Public 

 Library, has kindly written, Apr. 23, 1913 : — " An exhaustive 



search of Boston daily newspapers for 1846 and 1847 has 



failed to reveal any information concerning G. W. Sleeper." 

 Dr. Putnam writes : — " Search has also been made in the files of 

 some of the Boston newspapers of that period [1849 j, but without 

 avail. This search is not quite completed and if we should dis- 

 cover it I will inform you." Supposing that the pamphlet is 

 genuine the remainder of the introduction, of which the first 

 portion was quoted on p. 39, gives an explanation of the silence 

 of the Boston Press. 



'• The first public delivery of either occurred 



in Boston about two years ago, it was, however, almost 

 impossible to obtain a hearing for them so bitterly hostile 

 did the audiences (assemblies little better than savages) 

 prove themselves to be, and so persistently did they inter- 

 rupt, and endeavor to overawe, the lecturer. 



" Such being the condition of society, and as the press of 

 this city, influenced by certain clergymen, have not seen fit 

 to acquaint the public either with the substance of the ideas 

 set forth or with the facts relating to the attempts to deliver 

 the lectures containing them, I decided to put these subjects 

 to print ; as being the only way open to secure attention 

 from the many fair and noble minds among our citizens who 

 undoubtedly have Common Sense." 



Comparison between G. W. Sleeper'' s pamplilets of 1849 and 1860. — 

 We know that the date (Providence ; 1860) of the later pamphlet, 

 "Shall we have Free Speech?" is genuine; for the copy in the 

 British Museum Library bears the stamp " June 9, 1864." This 



* Mr. J. F. Sleeper informs me that this is an error and that his father 

 did not return to Boston but went to New York in June 1866. 



