Reading Garrison's Letters

Sept. 28, 1849

Writing to the Financial Committee of the Liberator:  “I find it necessary to state that, during the present quarter ending on Sunday next, (always the most barren of receipts of the whole four,) the whole amount received by the General Agent has only been sufficient to cover the expenses of the paper, exclusive of my own salary for three months, of which I  have received but $32.00 –leaving a balance due of $268, reckoning in the usual manner, which sum I am owing for rent, fuel, groceries, medical attendance, clothing, &c. &c. and must look in the face the first of the week, with an empty purse and pocket….”  ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI

October 11, 1842

“My expenses, this year in consequence of James’s illness, and in other ways, have been very considerable; so that I now stand in debt, over my salary, $150; and should James be taken away, the funeral expenses would probably amount to $50 or more.  What is  worse, the receipts of the Liberator up to the lst inst. have fallen short of the expenses nearly $200 –so that I have not been able to get the $100 due me for my last month’s services.   ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI

Jan. 7, 1841

“We have lost since last January, nearly 500 subscribers, over and above all additions; besides cutting off two or three hundred delinquent subscribers.  Several of those who have  hitherto stood firmly by the paper, have ordered their subscriptions to be stopped.  The Sabbath Convention has been more than they could tolerate; and to save the formal observance of the first day of the week, they are willing that slavery should be perpetuated.”   ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI

May 8, 1838

Garrison writes to Isaac Knapp, and includes some figures about numbers of abolitionists and abolition societies.  The American Anti-Slavery Society had in the past year receipts totaling forty-three thousand dollars, but expenditures of more than forty-five thousand,  “leaving the Society somewhat in debt”.  Total number of publications, printed during the same time, came to 646,000!  Thirty-eight travelling agents had been in the field.  Signatures forwarded to the House of Representatives at Washington, regarding the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, included 213,394 men and 201,077 women, and nearly as many to the Senate!

Aug 26, 1837

Amidst a growing controversy over the question about the role of the newspaper in relation to issues other than abolition, Garrison writes: “I feel somewhat at a loss to know what to do – whether to go into all the principles of holy reform, and make the abolition cause subordinate, or whether still to persevere in the one beaten track as hitherto.  Circumstances hereafter must determine this matter.”  ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI
 
 

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

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI
 
 

Jan 16, 1836

In a letter to Helen, Garrison is grateful that there has been a meeting of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, without the mob of last October.   “So doth moral courage triumph over brute force!”  He speaks about the need to liquidate the debt of the newspaper, now at $2500.   ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI
 

Oct 24, 1835

To Samuel E. Sewall, Garrison sends thanks for Sewall’s  part in rescuing him from the mob of the previous day.  “It seems to me that we ought to resolve that the Liberator, despite all opposition, shall continue to be printed — and printed, too, in Boston. Whether it is necessary for me to abide in the city, is a question of lawful expediency…”   ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI
 

Sept 7, 1832

Writing to the Liberator, Garrison emphasizes the need to organize abolitonists. “It is time for the friends of bleeding humanity to make a demonstation of their strength. It is idle for them to sigh over the degradation and misery of the slaves, while they neglect to coalesce. To effect this union, agents are indispensable….. it is much easier to convince a hundred men in a large audience, than half a dozen by detail. In this manner I may be able to disarm whole communities of their antipathies, and rally them around the standard which has been lifted up in Boston…” ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI

May 30, 1832

Garrison tells Robert Purvis, in this letter, that his Thoughts on African Colonization “will be ready for sale in this city to-morrow.  I make no calculation with regard to their effect upon the public mind; but, hastily as they have been put together, I believe they are calculated to make a salutary impression.”  ¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI