THE FAIR.
This endeavor of the women of Boston, to replenish the treasury of the cause, has been more successful than any former one of a similar nature. The fair of 1834 produced $300; of 1835, $350; of 1836, $600; and the present one of 1837, $850. This regular increase is an index of the progress of the principles. As the movement within goes on, the hands are moved with it. These fairs are beneficial in another view than a financial one. They increase the interest of abolitionists themselves in a cause, which, because its principles are of universal application, cannot be too much loved; and they excite an interest where none before existed, in the minds of the surrounding community. Many as individual, who would never have read an Anti-Slavery publication, or entered a lecture room, has been induced by curiosity, or the demands of the Christmas or New Year's holiday, to visit this annual scene of abolition business; and has left it with a juster appreciation of the motives, and a clearer comprehension of the measures, of those whom misrepresentation has led him to misunderstand. The fair, this year, was a scene of quiet animation. It was an obedience of the triform injunction:—'Be diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' In one part of the spacious vestry of the Marlborough chapel, (put in readiness for the occasion by the active kindness of Mr. Sears, to whom the fair is much indebted,) might be heard an animated discussion over the book and print table, as to the tendency of 'pictorial representations' of slavery. In another, by the table of refreshments, might be observed an equally spirited one, touching the effect of abstaining from the products of slave labor. Here might be seen a group of youthful faces, never before seen in Anti-Slavery regions, examining the antique modelled monumental vases, inscribed to the memory of LOVEJOY; and listening with a 'keener rush of blood' to the tale of his devotedness: and there , amid the confusion of gay toys, and the chat of the crowd, might be seen older and graver brows, thought-struck by the noble verses of Bulwer and Whittier, used as mottoes and inscriptions. There was a reticule with this inscription:
A NEW-ENGLAND MOTHER.
When Mrs. Lovejoy heard of the death of her son, she replied, 'Tis well! I would rather my son had fallen a martyr to his cause, than that he had proved recreant to his principles.'— A touching illustration of the 'appropriate sphere' of Woman. The reverse bore-
ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY,
a member of the ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, who was murdered defending the freedom of the Press at Altos, Illinois, November 7, 1837.
'In the evil days before us,
And the trials yet to come—
In the shadows of the prison,
And the cruel martyrdom—
We will think of thee, O brother!
And thy sainted name shall be
In the blessing of the captive,
And the anthem of the free.'
Other articles bore the beautiful prose Hymn of Mrs. Barbauld, 'Thou who sittest pining in captivity, weeping over thy sick child! though no one seeth thee, God seeth thee!'—to which so many owe it that they have, from childhood, been abolitionists in the abstract, and that they were ready to move with the grand movement to abolish it. Most of the little implements of housewifery were covered with appropriate mottoes and devices. When pincushions are periodicals, and needle-books are tracts, discussion can hardly be stifled, or slavery perpetuated.
Some cradle quilts and other articles from friends is Reading, were finished with drawings and mottoes in indelible ink. A pungent article from friends in Ashburnham, demands notice for the felicitous inscription on the bag:—'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard-seed, which a man planted,' &c. &c. A little pair of infant's socks were marked, 'the widow's two mites.' Will those who have but two mites to give, recollect that the price for which these sold will circulate information and argument, whose returns of influence and effort for the slave may be more than all the large sums thrown into the treasury? Most of the articles met a ready sale, particularly the beautiful ones from Manchester, by Geo. Thompson; from Darlington, by A.E. Grimke; and from Glasgow, by Jane Smeal. These were a great attraction. The balance of the pledge of $1000, made by the Boston Female to the Massachusetts Society, amounting to $592, was next day paid over.
Grateful acknowledgments are due to the same generous friends of the slave, who furnished refreshments and superintended the arrangements of the last year's fair—Mr. R. Goss and Mr. J.E. Fuller. The fair is also under obligations to Mr. Whipple of Newburyport, for a donation of books, and to two ladies of Boston for a well-timed and plentiful supply of raisins, cake and confectionary.
The throng of purchasers during the whole two days, the constant and unconstrained decorum on the part of both buyers and sellers, the complete success of the sale, and the disregard of the degrading prejudice against color, showed by the absence of complexional distinctions, all unite to render this a most satisfactory and interesting occasion, and one which it is hoped will annually occur.
M.W.C.
