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August 15, 1828
Writing to the Yankee and the Boston Literary Gazette, Garrison asserts “that, if my life be spared, my name shall one day be known so extensively as to render private enquiry unecessary, and known, too, in a praiseworthy manner. I speak in the spirit of prophecy, not of vainglory — with a strong pulse, a flashing eye, and a glow of the heart.”1
May 13, 1830
Convicted of libel after publishing a charge that Francis Todd was involved in the slave trade, Garrison writes from jail. He writes in a partly playful mood. “… I am in prison, as snug as a robin in his cage, but I sing as often, and quite as well, as I did before my wings were clipped “… He claims a number of visitors … so that, “between the labors of my brain, the conversations of my friends, and the ever-changing curiousities of this huge menagerie, time flies away astonishingly swift … this is a capital place to sketch the lights and shadows of human nature…”1
My 13, 1830
Garrison writes to his prosecutor. “Your presumptuous, feeble, ridiculous remarks upon the subject of slavery, and the rights of slaveholders, exhausted my patience. A buzzing fly may disturb the equanimity of a sage; but if a pin be stuck through its wings, the insect, Sir, is harmless . Beware of my pen!”1
1 Letters of William Lloyd Garrison - Volumes I - VI
April 4, 1833
Garrison writes to members of a Committee of Boston’s colored community, thanking them for a silver cup presented to him at the home of George Putnam. It was presented on the occasion of a farewell interview, as Garrison prepared for his first trip to England. “I thank you for this liberal expression of your sentiments. It was not needed to convince me of your friendship for my person … Gratitude shall engrave your names upon the tablet of my memory, more deeply than they are engraved upon this cup. … I will endeavor to be more worthy of your regard. 1
April 25, 1834
Writing to Helen: “The deeper I get in my moral researches, the more does my soul sicken at the depravity of the times. As a nation, we are ‘full of wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores’. Men are profane — impure –vicious –rebellious. The leprosy of corruption covers society, and the cancer of selfishness is preying upon its vitals. As a people, we are by no means backward in our professions of christianity and republicanism; but it is certain that we draw nigh unto God with our lips, while our hearts are far from him –else we should bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” 1
December 18, 1834
In a letter addressed to “the Colored Inhabitants of Boston”, Garrison writes against advertisements he had seen which urged them to “rally on the side of the Whigs”. He notes that prior to the election “fully attended meetings” among colored voters passed resolutions in favor of Whigs. He is confident that when they voted for Whigs, their motives were better than those actuated by white Whig supporters. “..you meant to act wisely for yourselves, and indirectly at least, to advance that sacred cause which we deem to be paramount to all others … I think you committed an error — I think you were misled, unintentionally, by those who you have every reason to believe are truly your well-wishers…” He then indicates that he voted for Amasa Walker “on the ground of humanity, justice, benevolence and religion; and I think, as you valued your welfare, he ought to have received your votes…” 1
Feb 7, 1835
In this letter to Smith, Garrison utilizes a favored method of placing in two parallel columns words of the person addressed, pointing out what Garrison believes to be glaring inconsistencies. Here the columns are titled, “Gerrit Smith vs. Gerrit Smith, Hard Language vs. Soft and Hard Language”. 1
Jan 17, 1836
Garrison is in Connecticut, and writes to Samuel J. May, indicating that he cannot attend the fourth annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Here are a few sentences of his letter. “Let me say to the brethren who shall assemble together — Be Bold For God. These are times in which we are specially called upon not to count our lives dear unto us — if, living, we are to be slaves ourselves, or to work at the enslavement of others. Nay, we shall be unworthy of an existence, if we suffer ourselves to be awed into silence by the threats of oppressors. The cause which we advocate is not ours, but God’s; and therefore I renew the charge — Be Bold For God.” 1
Jan. 30, 1836
Garrison writes to the President of the Anti-Slavery Convention to be held in Providence, in February. He congratulates the people of Rhode Island, (and comments that Connecticut is the only New England state presently where there is no such Society), but notes the existence of other state societies. He mentions Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Kentucky. 1
July 5, 1836
Garrison tells of his effigy erected in Fall River. “… some unknown but patriotic artist, (rejoicing in his liberty,) with considerable labor, but not much skill, made an effigy of straw, and suspended it upon a post in Main Street, to which was fastened a label containing these condemnatory words — ‘Garrison, the abolitionist; fit subject for the gallows.’ The man of straw proved better than a town crier to urge all good citizens to attend our meeting in the afternoon.. He brought many to hear and see, who else might have remained at home. I am much obliged to him, for he enabled me to put up the celestial goddess of Liberty in his stead, in the presence of the people. “ 1
July 30, 1836
Writing to the New England Spectator, Garrison complains that he has been misrepresented as being “against the Sabbath”. He explains his position. “The Christian Sabbath is not one of time; it is not dependent upon the recurrence of one day in seven; it sanctifies every moment, and, being wholly spiritual, comes not by observation. Is it not our daily prayer – ’Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven?’ If that kingdom be within us, if that will be truly obeyed by us, we enjoy, as to times and seasons, a liberty in Christ Jesus, unknown to those under the first covenant. It may no longer be imposed upon us …..Am I opposed to the religious observance and bodily rest of one day in seven? No –But provided it be voluntary. But when men attempt to make this strict outward observance a test of Christian character, and to decide for me how far I may walk or ride on that day, and to brand innocent and useful acts as damning crimes, I must resist the attempt as pernicious and unauthorized by the gospel of Christ…” 1
Sept 28, 1836
“The abolition men in this city are somewhat drowsy, but the women are, as usual, wide awake, and the life of the cause. I must put some goads into the former, and spur them up.” 1
Dec. 17, 1836
“I have received a letter from Gerrit Smith, enclosing a check of $50 … a donation to help sustain the Liberator, which paper, he says, “is, and ever should be, dearer to the heart of the thorough American abolitionist, than any other anti-slavery periodical.” Garrison comments, “After the difference which has existed between us, and the many severe things I have written in reference to his colonization conduct, is not the donation generous, and the panegyric still more liberal? 1
Aug 28, 1837
Responding to public criticism, Garrison refers to an abolitionist who says that he never ’swallowed William Lloyd Garrison, and I never tried to swallow him’. Garrison responds: “For myself, I feel within me the instinct of self-preservation too strongly to be willing to allow either man or beast to swallow me, either in a figuratrive or literal sense. I desire to remain uneaten; my earnest entreaty is, that no man will think of making a meal of me, either in the gross, or in choice proportions….” 1
Oct. 20, 1837
In a long letter to the New England Spectator, Garrison responds to comments made about churches in the black community. “..Nothing can be more unfair than your reference to the Belknap-street church. When the eloquent Thomas Paul acted as pastor, it was the chief, I believe the only place provided exclusively for the worship of the colored population in this city: of course (and particularly on account of his extraordinary powers as a preacher), it was well attended.” Garrison then recognizes that disputes in that congregation have resulted in poor attendance, then proceeds. “..Why are you so disingenuous as to hide the fact that, instead of one house, as formerly, there are now several houses exclusively appropriated to their religious worship — and all, more or less, numerously attended? Especially, why do you wilfully refuse to state, that the building so long, ably and successfully occupied by my beloved colored brother Samuel Snowden has been constantly thronged to such excess by our colored friends, that its dimensions have been enlarged to twice its original size? 1
Nov. 6, 1837
Writing to his English friend, Elizabeth Pease, Garrison comments on the “present state of anti-slavery” in the United States. “Upon the slaveholding States, we make no perceptible impression. No opponent of slavery can tread upon their soil, as an abolitionist, without the risk of martyrdom. I have relinquished the expectation, that they will ever, by mere moral suasion, consent to emancipate their victims. I believe that nothing but the exterminating judgments of heaven can shatter the chain of the slave, and destroy the power of the oppressor. … Repentance, if it come at all, will come too late. Our sins have gone up over our heads, and our iniquities unto the clouds, and a just God means to dash us in pieces as a potter’s vessel is broken… my hope of the peaceful and voluntary overthrow of slavery in the southern states of this nation is very feeble, my faith in the promises of God, that he will maintain the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor, and he will deliver the oppressed out of the hand of the spoiler, is unfaltering, invincible. ” 1
May 19, 1838
“The meeting broke up about 10 o’clock, and we all got safely home. The next day, the street was thronged with profane ruffians and curious spectators — the women, however, holding their meetings in the hall all day, till towards evening. It was given out by the mob, that the hall would be burnt to the ground that night. … that night the mob “had increased to several thousands, and soon got into the hall by dashing open the doors with their axes. They then set fire to this huge building, and in the course of an hour it was a solid mass of flames. The bells of the city were rung, and several engines rallied, but no water was permitted to be thrown upon the building …”Awful as is this occurrence in Philadelphia, it will do incalculable good to our cause; for the wrath of man worketh out the righteousness of God….” 1
June 18, 1838
“I hold to the sanctification of seven days in a week, instead of one day in seven, as under the Jewish institution. I discard all human creeds, and all ecclesiastical combinations, and all observances of times and seasons, and all rites, ceremonies, forms and ordinances, as constituting no part of christianity, and as being contrary to that liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free….” 1
Feb. 10, 1840
“I will not stop to say what I think of the barbarism and tyranny of Connecticut, in trampling upon the rights of conscience, and consigning to prison such of her citizens as believe that they are forbidden by the gospel to do military duty. After ages will look upon this matter with astonishment. It is the opprobrium of the nineteenth century.” 1
May 15, 1840
Telling Helen of the election of Abby Kelley to the Business Committee of the AASS, and the subsequent creation of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Garrison says: “The spirit of mobocracy has been roused, in consequence of so many of the ‘Garrison Party’ having come from Massachusetts; and our delegation have been driven out of the halls we had engaged, and had to go from pillar to post to find a place where to lay their heads. … What particularly excited these ‘lewd fellows of the baser sort’ was, the mixing of our white and colored friends on terms of equality…. it has not amounted to anything like a popular tumult.” 1
May 22, 1840
In a letter to Oliver Johnson, at last on ship bound for England, after delays, Garrison is concerned about the role of women. “The object of the Convention is to promote the interest of Humanity. It is, then, a common object, in which all who wear the human form have a right to participate, without regard to color, sex, or clime. With a young woman placed on the throne of Great Britain, will the philanthropists of that country presume to object to the female delegates from the United States, as members of the Convention, on the ground of their sex? … I cannot consent to have one human being excluded from the World’s Platform, even for the sake of peace…” 1
June 29, 1840
From London, Garrison writes to Helen, with news of the Convention. He indicates that, by the time of his late arrival, the Convention had voted not at admit the women delegates from the United States. He recounts the attempt of Wendell Phillips to move the question during the Convention, his disappointment with George Thompson’s weak response, and tells of the decision which he, Remond, Rogers, and Wm Adams made, refusing to take seats in the Convention. “I am quite certain, from all that has transpired, that, had we arrived a few days before the opening of the Convention, we could have carried out our point triumphantly. As it is, we have not visited this country in vain. The ‘woman question’ has been fairly started, and will be canvassed from the Land’s End to John O’Groat’s house. Already, many excellent and noble minds are highly displeased at the decision of the Convention, and denounce it strongly…” 1
August 19, 1840
Writing to James Barbadoes, Thomas Cole, and J. T. Hilton, Garrison acknowledges receipt of an “affectionate and heart-melting letter congratulating me on my return in safety to the land of my nativity, and inviting me, in behalf of the colored citizens of Boston, to attend a public-meeting tomorrow evening, for the purpose of receiving their hearty welcome, and the assurance of their continued attachment and unshaken confidence…. there are none among the whole human race so dear to me as my colored friends in this city; because they were the first to give me the right hand of fellowship, and to bid me God speed in my warfare against the monster of monsters, American slavery…”
1
June 7, 1842
Here is the story of a “young lad”, a “fugitive” from slavery, who has appeared in Concord, New Hampshire (the letter is written to Nathaniel P. Rogers). A strange, involved, story; and so far as known, the lad was never identified. According to this letter, Garrison says, “this unfortunate lad will remain with us…” 1
July 6, 1843
Here is an account, written to Edmund Quincy, of an attempt to hold a fourth of July meeting in the Town Hall, “in defence of our enslaved countrymen”. The Town Hall was closed to the meeting, and the meeting was held opposite the Hall, “under the protecting shadows of two umbrageous trees”. “So much for our first reception in Northampton.” A much longer account is in the July 14 letter sent to the Liberator. 1
July 14, 1843
This longer account of the rejection at Northampton, to the Liberator, tells of a speaker who rose at the meeting, critical of Garrison. He claims that Garrison cannot tell how to abolish slavery. The speaker abhorred slavery too, but it was supported by the Constitution, and could not be ended until the Constitution was amended. Since Garrison was opposed to political action, Garrison was unable to say how slavery should be abolished! Garrison, in response, claims to have answered the criticism to the satisfaction of most in the audience. The article then includes comments on the Northampton papers. “There are three newspapers here — two whig, and one democratic. The Courier and Gazette (both whig) took no notice of the meeting — whether from motives of policy,or in the spirit of contempt, I do not know… their silence in regard to a meeting held under such peculiar circumstances, in so public a manner, and with such a noble object in view, is certainly not creditable to their humanity or courtesy… In the Democrat appeared an editorial sketch of the meeting, which was chiefly confined to a personal attack upon myself, and to a broad caricature of what was said of the lowest black-guardism… ” 1
Dec. 8, 1843
Here Garrison recalls his good experiences with O’Connell, and the importance of O’Connell being clear as an abolitionist. “But I have regretted to perceive in you, within a few months past, for reasons which, to me, are perfectly inexplicable, a disposition to travel widely and frequently out of your path, to attack me personally in the most contemptuous manner… You have seized the most extraordinary occasions to hold me up to derision and odiuim in Ireland — by stigmatizing me, while denouncing American slavery, as a ‘maniac in religion’, and referring to me as ‘a man called Lloyd Garrison,’ whose company as an abolitionist you rejected, and also that of all his anti-slavery associates!..” He asks why O’Connell has “attempted to stain my religious character, and to cripple my labors in the abolition of slavery, by pointing a finger of reproach at me as a heretic? … Surely, I do not err, when I hazard the assertion, that you have not been self-moved in this matter!” Garrison goes on to claim that if he had spoken against the cause of Irish Repeal, then, criticism of him would have been justified, or if he had abandoned the anti-slavery cause, such rejection by O’Connell would “have been to the point”…”I think you have erred in attacking me as you have done in so gratuitous and offensive a manner. Am I not right in this view of the case? … Hoping you will mightily foil all the machinations of your wily enemies, and be triumphant in your peaceful efforts for Repeal, and wishing a long life for yourself, and freedom and prosperity for oppressed and suffering Ireland, I remain, Yours, in every conflict for the right.” 1
Sept. 17, 1846
Garrison writes to Helen, in part describing a meeting in Exeter Hall, London, where he, Thompson, and Douglass spoke. Generally applauded, his speech was ”frequently interrupted by a certain portion of the audience, in a rowdyish manner, something after the pattern we occasionally exhibit in Boston and elsewhere.” Further, he comments: “My manner of expressing my thoughts and feelings is somewhat novel, and not always palatable, in this country, on account of its plainness and directness; but it will do more good, in the end, than a smoother mode. At least, I think so, and will ‘bide my time’. I am led to be more plain-spoken, because almost every one here deals in circumlocution, and to offend nobody seems to be the aim of the speaker. If I chose, I could be as smooth and politic as any other, but I do not so choose, and much prefer nature to art.” 1
Aug. 9, 1847
Garrison writes to Helen, from Harrisburg, where he and Douglass spoke at the Court House. “I first addressed the meeting, and was listened to, not only without molestation, but with marked attention and respect … as Douglass rose to speak, the spirit of rowdyism began to show itself outside of the building, around the door and windows. It was the first time that a ‘nigger’ had attempted to address the people in Harrisburg in public, and it was regarded by the mob as an act of unparalleled audacity. They knew nothing at all of Douglass, except that he was a nigger. They came equipped with rotten eggs and brickbats, fire-crackers and other missiles, and made use of them somewhat freely — breaking panes of glass, and soiling the clothes of some who were struck by the eggs. …I was enabled to obtain a silent hearing for a few moments, when I told the meeting that if this was a specimen of Harrisburg decorum and love of liberty, instead of wasting our breath upon the place, we should turn our back upon it, shaking off the dust of our feet — &c. &c 1
May 26, 1858
“Dear Mr. Parker: I was so interrupted by company to a late hour last night, that I have found it impossible to look over your manuscript, though I tried to do my best. You say it is written so plain that he who runs may read it –’if he can’. I can say, on an examination of it, that its chirography is such as to furnish a very strong inducement for any man to run who attempts to read it! ..” 1
Jan. 1, 1866
Thanking Phillips for the help he has given to his Garrison namesake, “covering his entire collegiate course”, then he comments on their disagreements. “Though, my dear P., you and I have differed somewhat in our judgment of the bearing of events and the action of public men upon that cause which has been equally dear to our hearts, yet it is my comfort and solace to know that in our principles, our desires, and our claims for equal and exact justice to the colored race as to the white, we blend together as fully now as ever. May our friendship be as perpetual as sun, moon and stars, but without their occasional obscurantism!” 1
Writing to Cooper Nell, he indicates that he will attend a testimonial in the coming days. “I shall be happy to see the delegation of my colored friends on Friday evening next, as designated in your letter just received. Primarily I have no doubt that I am indebted to your strong friendship and warm appreciation of my anti-slavery labors for the presentation that will be made on that occasion. It will be all the more valued on that account; though I shall feel none the less obliged to every one contributing to the testimonial.” 11 Letters of William Lloyd Garrison - Volumes I - VI
Jan. 24, 1872
Writing to a friend, he comments on Greeley: “Greeley never was in harmony with us, but in his Tribune often treated us very shabbily, and to this day has not outgrown his contempt for our movement. In fact, inflexible adherence to a moral principle has always been with him pitiable fanaticism, and compromise between God and the Adversary has constituted the sum and substance of his moral and political philosophy. He is unable to comprehend the moral power and grandeur of the Anti-Slavery struggle, as inaugurated and carried on by the old abolitionists, as a blind man is to perceive colors, or a deaf man to enjoy Handel’s Messiah…” 1
Aug. 3, 1872
Writing to Charles Sumner: “Though I should be strongly induced, by the friendship subsisting between us, to avoid taking a position antagonistical to your own, under ordinary circumstances, even if I deemed it erroneous, yet all personal considerations, must be subordinated to the public welfare when seriously imperiled. … you have spoken plainly … in utter condemnation of the President of the United States; and your advice to the whole body of colored voters is, that they concentrate their suffrages upon a rival candidate in the person of Horace Greeley … I propose to speak with equal plainness, and as earnestly, to counsel my colored countrymen not to follow your lead in this matter, but, as voters, to move unitedly for the re-election of President Grant …” 1