Reading Garrison's Letters

July 9,1829

Commenting on newspaper reports of his first public speech (July 4, 1829), Garrison denies that he advocates “a union of Church and State”… “I wish to see a full ballot-box of unbought, intelligent votes, on every, the most trivial election. I wish a good moral character to be an indispensable qualification in the selection of candidates for office, from a Town Clerk to a President of the United States. I wish the “voice of the people” to mean something more than the echo of an evening caucus or a petty committee…”¹

¹ Letters of William Lloyd Garrison – Volumes I – VI