ePub John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (The Classics of Western Spirituality) by John Climacus in History

Description

In this revised edition of his earlier biography; Paul Simon provides an inspiring account of the life and work of Elijah Lovejoy; an avid abolitionist in the 1830s and the first martyr to freedom of the press in the United States.Lovejoy was a native New Englander; the son of a Congregational minister. He came to the Midwest in 1827 in pursuit of a teaching career and succeeded in running his own school for two years in St. Louis. Teaching failed to challenge Lovejoy; however; so he bought a half interest in the St. Louis Times and became its editor. In 1832; after experiencing a religious conversion; he returned east to study for the ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. After his graduation; Lovejoy was called back to St. Louis by a group of Christian businessmen to serve as the editor of a new religious newspaper; the Observer; promoting religion; morality; and education. It was through this forum that Lovejoy took an ever stronger stance against slavery.In the slave state of Missouri; such a view was not only unpopular; but in the eyes of many; criminal. As a result; Lovejoy and his family suffered repeated persecution and acts of violence from angry mobs. In July 1836; in hopes of finding a more tolerant community in a "free" state; he moved both his printing press and his family across the Mississippi River to Alton; Illinois.The move to Alton was a fateful one. Lovejoy’s press was dismantled and thrown into the river by a mob on the night of its arrival. Lovejoy ordered a new printing press; and it; too; was destroyed eleven months later. A determined and dedicated man; Lovejoy ordered a third press; and city officials took special precautions to ensure its safety after delivery. Nevertheless; an organized and angry mob rolled this third press; still in its crate; into the river exactly one month after Lovejoy’s second press had been destroyed. A fourth press; housed in a large stone warehouse and guarded by Lovejoy and his supporters; met the same fate but only after a drunken mob had killed Lovejoy himself. He was buried two days later; 9 November 1837; on his thirty-fifth birthday. No one was ever convicted of his murder.Rather than suppressing the abolitionist movement; Lovejoy’s death caused an eruption of antislavery activity throughout the nation. At a protest meeting in Ohio; John Brown dedicated his life to fighting slavery; and Wendell Phillips emerged from a Lovejoy protest meeting in Boston to become a leader in the antislavery fight.Simon defines Lovejoy’s fight as a struggle for human dignity and the oppressed. He distinguishes Lovejoy as a courageous and admirable individual and his story as an important and enduring one for both the cause of freedom for the slaves and the cause of freedom of the press.