218 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



SOCIETIES. 



COLONIZATION ANTI-SLAVERY TEMPERANCE ANTIQUARIAN 



1812, and' deservedly ranks first among 

 the benevolent institutions of the state. 

 It is composed of men of the first talents, 

 of the highest respectability and worth 

 and of all religious denominations. Its 

 object is the distribution of the Scriptures, 

 without note or comment, among the poor 

 and destitute of our own and foreign 

 lands — to aid in placing the word of God, 

 the means of salvation, in the hands of 

 every individual of our fallen race. It 

 has for several 3^ears past made it an es- 

 pecial business to seek out the destitute 

 in our own state, and to supply all who 

 will receive it with the word of life. The 

 annual reports of the society show that it 

 has already aided much in distributing the 

 Scriptures, but the light of eternity only 

 will reveal the amount of good which it 

 has effected in promoting the salvation of 

 sinners. 



This society holds its annual meeting 

 at jMontpelier on the Wednesday succeed- 

 ing tha second Tliursday in October. In 

 subordination to the state society, there 

 are au.xiliary Bible societies in most of the 

 counties in the state. 



The Vermont Colonization Society. — This 

 society was organized in the year 1818, 

 for the laudable and humane oljject of as- 

 sisting the free blacks, in the United 

 States, who desire to return to Africa, 

 and thus to remove a principal obstacle to 

 the manumission of those held in slavery 

 in this country. It acts as auxiliary to 

 the United States Colonization Society 

 and has aided in the establishment of a 

 flourishing colony of free blacks on the 

 western coast of Africa, where that de- 

 graded race is raised to the dignity and 

 privileges of civilized and enlightened 

 freemen — an establishment to vvJiich the 

 Christian philanthropist looks, as the in- 

 strument in the hands of God,for suppress- 

 ing the diabolical traffic in slaves, and for 

 conveying the blessings of civilization and 

 Christianity to the benighted millions of 

 Africa. 



This society holds its annual meeting at 

 Montpelier on the third Thursday in Oct. 



The Vermont JlnLi- Slavery Society was 

 formed by a state convention assembled 

 at Middlebury on the oOth of April and 

 1st of May, 1834. At this convention 

 delegates were in attendance from 26 

 towns, and numbering about 100. The 

 attention of the people had been, to some 

 extent, previously awakened to the sub- 

 ject of emancipation by the labors of O. 

 S. Murray and Henry Jones, the former 

 of whom had lectured in several counties 

 in this state in 1832, as an agent of the 

 New England Anti-Slavery Society, and 

 encountered much opposition. Tlie prin- 



ciples of the state society may be gathered 

 from the 3d article of its constitution 

 which declares, that " In pursuing its en- 

 terprize the society asks no physical inter- 

 ference with slavery on the part of the 

 free states, or of the general government ; 

 nor will it make any appeal to excite the 

 slaves to insurrection ; nor will it use any 

 unlawful or unchristian measures ; — but it 

 will seek the overthrow of slavery by fear- 

 lessly exposing the guilt and danger of 

 holding men as property, by rebuking sin 

 and calling for its immediate relinquish- 

 ment — by appeals to the understanding 

 and conscience — by tlje power of the pul- 

 pit and the press — by petitioning Congress 

 to use its constitutional powers for the 

 suppression of the American slave trade 

 and the abolition of slavery in those ter- 

 ritories under its jurisdiction — by address- 

 ing considerations of interest, safety and 

 economy to the people of the slave hold- 

 ing states — by exhorting the people of the 

 free states, in view of their confederation, 

 and consequent participation with the 

 south, to use all lawful and peaceable 

 means for the removal of the common 

 evil — and by kindly, frankly, yet boldly, 

 holding truth before the public mind, and 

 inviting all to join in forming and express- 

 ing a public sentiment, which shall be 

 effectual in its extermination." 



Soon after the organization of the state 

 society, auxiliary associations were form- 

 ed in many towns, numbering in the ag- 

 gregate many thousand members. In 

 January, 1839, a weekly journal, "T/ie 

 Voice of Freedom,^' was commenced un- 

 der the patronage of the society and pub- 

 lished three years. From its organization 

 the society has been steadily progressing 

 in its work, and at present few are found 

 in the state who are opposed to the prin- 

 ciples set forth in its constitution. 



The Vermont Temperance Society. — This 

 society was organized in 182'J, and holds 

 its annual meeting at Montpelier on tlie, 

 Tuesday next succeeding the 2d Thurs- 

 day in October. The object of this, and 

 of county, town and neighborhood tem- 

 perance societies, which are formed in all 

 parts of the state, is the banishment of al- 

 cohol, th.at most prolific source of moral 

 and physical evil, from use as a beverage, 

 and, apparently, much good has been ef- 

 fected by these united efforts. And we 

 have no doubt that, if these societies would 

 entrench themselves upon the ground of 

 expedience, and would then pursue their 

 measures with energy and candor, the 

 amount of good effected by them would 

 be greatly increased. 



The Vermont Historical and Jlntiquarian 

 Society was incorporated in November, 



