The North Star (Rochester)/1848/01/07/The National Bazaar
THE NATIONAL BAZAAR.
It was our happiness last week to attend this splendid exhibition of anti-slavery industry, taste, skill, elegance, and beauty, held in Faneuil Hall, Boston. From representations which we had heard, and descriptions which we had read, our expectations were very high; but high as they were, they were more than gratified. On entering the vast and venerable hall, the manner and grandeur of its decoration reminded us strongly of some old, but beautiful Gothic cathedrals through which we have had the pleasure to pass. For the special decoration of the hall it would seem that almost a young forest of evergreens had been stripped of its foliage. Bowers, arches, wreathes, and beautiful chains of it, were displayed in all directions; the long range of pillars supporting the capacious galleries on either side, and the upper range around the gallery, reaching the ceiling, were all elegantly trimmed with evergreen; and between the pillars in the gallery, rising from the breastwork around it, were finely modelled forms of arches and windows of the old Gothic order, all of which were beautifully dressed in living green. Across the hall, in various directions from side to side, were chains of evergreen, meeting and crossing immediately under a large and luminous gas light chandelier, which, when lighted, grandly reflected the charm which nature always lends to works of art. In the centre of the hall was a large table forming a circle, piled with rich and beautiful articles, too numerous to mention. This, too, was all surrounded and decorated with evergreen, in every graceful shape and form which genius, skill, and fancy, could invent. On either side, and all around this table, were tables connected from one end of the hall to the other, and only divided from each other by multitudinous forms of living green rising between them. Some of the more youthful of the ladies wore wreathes of evergreen about their heads, as if determined to be in unity with the natural and artificial beauty surrounding them.
It would be pleasant to be in such a place at any time, but to be there in the glorious cause of righteous liberty, surrounded by the old and tried friends of the cause; meeting and conversing with many of them for the first time since our return from England; witnessing the ardor of their zeal, and gathering light and life from their lofty communications, made it a delightful occasion to us, and one which we could wish every friend of the slave could share. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, were all represented. The various useful, rich, elegant and beautiful works from those countries deepened, in our mind, the earnest sincerity and devotion to our cause, which often filled our heart with grateful admiration during our sojourn in those lands. Noble was the devotion and great the industry that sent those beautiful works to our shores, and laid them on the pure altar of Christian Philanthropy. Every article was a silent but powerful pleader in behalf of the American slave, and a telling rebuke of the guilty slavelholder of the South, and his much more guilty allies of the North. The women of monarchical England pleading with their sisters in republican America, to quit the infernal practice of trading in the bodies and souls of men, and making merchandize of the bodies of their sable sisters; and this, too, in old Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty," the birth-place of American independence—where was nursed the young spirit of the revolution, and where now hang the pictures of Washington, Adams, Hancock, Warren, and others, who seventy years ago fought a British king in defence of American liberty! Scotland, too, joins the appeal with the names of her forty thousand daughters. What a rebuke is here!
In looking upon the labors of the dear friends at home as well as abroad, we felt abashed by their superior devotion. We never feel more ashamed of our humble efforts in the cause of emancipation, than when we contrast them with the silent, unobserved, and unapplauded efforts of those through whose constant and persevering endeavors this annual exhibition is given to the American public. Anti-slavery authors and orators may be said to receive compensation for what they do, in the applause which must, sooner or later redound to them; but not so with the thousands whose works of use and beauty adorn this fair. It is for them to work, unnoticed and unknown, and sometimes unenquired for; and many of them unable to see the good that results from their efforts. Evidently no sinister native can enter into such action; and yet—noble souls they!—they have a great and glorious reward. The consciousness of having done something toward releasing from cruel bondage, even one sister, and the gratitude of that sister going up in glory to God for deliverance from thraldom, is a happiness to the pure mind, which as far transcends that derived from the praise of men, as heaven transcends earth, and eternity, time. Let proud pro-slavery congregations get up fairs to build and beautity their churches; let them labor to cushion their pews, carpet their floors, and ornament their pulpits; they may indeed reap the reward that results from the exercise of skill and industry, but the thought must come, after all, We have worshipped ourselves, rather than God; we have been looking to our own ease and comfort, rather than relieving those who are unable to help themselves. Such persons know nothing of the holy satisfaction consequent upon unselfish labor and effort in behalf of the hated and enslaved of our land. This is emphatically the great religious movement or the day—one in which the laborer is taught to look only to the source of all good for reward. The history of the Boston Fair is interesting, instructive and encouraging. It shows what may be accomplished by unwavering fidelity, unfaltering industry, and patient devotion to a good cause, The first of which (this is the fourteenth fair,) was held, we believe, in a small room, No. 46, Washington street. At that time few ventured to attend it, and fewer to assist it. A few ladies only were found willing to encounter the odium of attending such a place. Fourteen years have passed away, and our fair, after working its way through the lower rooms of Marlborough Chapel, and the more commodious Amory Hall, finds place in the "old cradle of liberty," and large as is the cradle, this fourteen year's growth is becoming too large for it. The fact is, our fair becoming one of the most popular and genteel exhibitions of the year. We are glad of its prosperity, not because we love popularity, but because of the change in public opinion which it indicates. We know that imputations have been cast upon those who act most prominently in conducting this fair. It is said they seek popularity, and play into the hands of the Beacon street aristocracy. The insinuation is base. Where has aristocracy, cotton-ocracy or slave-ocracy received more faithful rebukes within the last few weeks than in the Liberator of Boston?
What amount of money was realised by the fair, we do not know: probably not so much this year as last. Our money, like our country's honor, is being squandered on our hired assassins in Mexico, and the one is becoming about as scarce as the other. The scarcity of money will account for a decrease (if there be any) of the proceeds of the fair this year. But, be the sum little or much, it is in good hands, and will be faithfully appropriated to the dissemination of light on the subject of slavery; and we are sure it will do much toward disposing the public mind favorably to the cause.
The Bazaar itself was a sort of anti-slavery meeting. Several evenings were devoted to addresses from well known anti-slavery speakers, all of whom were listened to with surprising attention, considering the many attractions in other directions. It was our lot to make the last anti-slavery speech in Fanueil Hall on the last night of the old year.