Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoywas an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. He was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionClergyman
Date of Birth9 November 1802
CountryUnited States of America
cultivated drawn flag formed freedom heads material soil waves whip
The very flag of freedom that waves over our heads is formed from material cultivated by slaves, on soil moistened with their blood drawn from them by the whip of a republican taskmaster!
citizens course either favor fear fellow god good governed higher highly opinion permitted taken value
While I value the good opinion of my fellow citizens as highly as anyone, I may be permitted to say that I am governed by higher considerations than either the favor or the fear of man. I am impelled to the course I have taken because I fear God.
arrested dear entirely eternal holy influences mercy miracle resisted saved sovereign tears wonder
Nothing but a miracle of sovereign mercy could have arrested and saved me from eternal perdition. How I could have so long resisted the entreaties, the prayers, and the tears of my dear parents, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, is, to me, a wonder entirely incomprehensible.
downhill earthly easy father feelings highest honored hope learned life motives owe parents permit though whom wisdom
My honored father will permit the observation that, though I have not heretofore always appreciated, as I ought, the motives and the feelings of a father, I hope I have learned wisdom in that respect; and my highest earthly gratification would be to make easy the downhill of life of those parents to whom I owe all that I am and most that I have.
again heavenly holy hope lived possible resisted scarcely seems visited
It seems to me scarcely possible that one who has so long lived in sin, who has resisted so much light and has so often grieved away the Holy Spirit, as I have, should again be visited with its heavenly influences. But I hope it is so.
against easier easiest god hold motives presents ten thoughts thousand turn unto
It is the easiest thing in the world to become a Christian - ten thousand times easier than it is to hold out unrepenting against the motives which God presents to the mind, to induce it to forsake its evil thoughts and turn unto Him.
convert man piece possible thus
It is not possible that one man can convert another into a piece of property, thus at once annihilating all his personal rights, without the most flagrant injustice and usurpation.
dare god guide mould necessity resigning willing
If I know my own heart, I do now feel the necessity of resigning myself into the hands of my God, to mould and guide me at His will; tho I dare not say that I am, at present, willing to do it.
guilty hunted jeopardy life threatened violation
If I have been guilty of no violation of law, why am I hunted up and down continually like a partridge upon the mountains? Why am I threatened with the tar barrel? Why am I waylaid every day, and from night to night, and my life in jeopardy every hour?
accepted assurance bring divine lay receive sinful sins sorrows
I was, by divine grace, enabled to bring all my sins and all my sorrows and lay them at the feet of Jesus, and to receive the blessed assurance that He had accepted me, all sinful and polluted as I was.
counsel earnestly god insist protection remain seeking
I have concluded, after consultation with my friends and earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain at Alton, and here to insist on protection in the exercise of my rights.
claim leave protection
I have been beset night and day at Alton. And now, if I leave here and go elsewhere, violence may overtake me in my retreat, and I have no more claim upon the protection of any other community than I have upon this.
appealed cannot cheerfully constitution die god laws protect rest
I have appealed to the constitution and laws of my country; if they fail to protect me, I appeal to God, and with Him I cheerfully rest my cause. I can die at my post, but I cannot desert it.
christ easy enemies great lest matter ought reason satan shall sure tremble wicked
I am sure I ought not to be, but I have great reason to tremble lest Satan and my own wicked heart get the better of me. It is no easy matter to fight such enemies as these, but with Christ strengthening me, I know I shall come off more than a conquerer.