“Woman question”, and captial punishment
April 4, 1843
Writing to Elizabeth Pease, he wonders if she will attend the London Anti-Slavery Convention. If women are not admitted as delegates, he reminds her that the gallery is a good place from which to observe ! “Can any thing be more contemptible than this exclusive spirit toward women? ..A woman now sits on the throne of England. I am not aware that such a position is deemed incompatible with her sex…”
On capital punishment: “Petitions have recently been presented to the Legislature of Massachusetts, praying for the abolition of capital punishment; and, in case this prayer should not be granted, requesting that such clergymen as advocate judicial homicide should be appointed hangmen! This has caused much fluttering among the clergy and their friends, who affect to regard these petitions as most insulting to their cloth, and as an outrage on thier holy profession. … why should they object “to inflicting the penalty by their own hands?…” 1