Letter from Harriet Beecher Stowe, Cabin, to William Lloyd Garrison, 1853 Dec[ember] 12

Item Information

Title:
Letter from Harriet Beecher Stowe, Cabin, to William Lloyd Garrison, 1853 Dec[ember] 12
Description:
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes to William Lloyd Garrison discussing the feud between Garrison and Frederick Douglass. Stowe thinks that the "whole matter on both sides seems to be a want of personal confidence. The one side alledge that F. Douglass is ambitious, selfish, & ungrateful & he maintaining that the other is dictatorial &c &c ..." She tells Garrison that "we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak" and that Douglass, like "every victim which we draw up from the abyss of slavery will have in the depths of his soul a morbid spot - a deep bleeding wound." Stowe includes an excerpt from a newspaper (probably from the Pennsylvania Freeman) showing how "Douglass is cut the quick by such language" and tells Garrison that he "cannot yet close your heart on one whas has been to you as a son." She agrees "it is true that he has provoked the attack" but encourages "longer forbearance" as a wiser course for Garrison to have pursued. Still, Stowe tells him that she will try to influence Douglass to stop his attacks, saying that "waters must become calm before they reflect the image of truth." She reminds Garrison that "Douglass is a noble creature & if patience, long suffering love & brotherly kindness can save, must not be lost." Stowe insists that "whole thing ... ought to be dropped" and then asks Garrison why Henry Clarke "Wright &c [are] so sensitive to the use of the term 'infidel'[?]" She states that names are needed for different beliefs and, "If H[enry Clarke] Wright is not an infidel what is he!" Stowe then points to Garrison's "remarkable tact at conversation" and suggests that a personal interview with Douglass might "assuage something of the bitterness which Douglass feels." After ending the letter, Stowe adds a note along the spine edge of the last page, asking Garrison to send her some numbers of the Liberator that she is missing.
Author:
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
Addressee:
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Date:
December 12, 1853
Format:
Letters/Correspondence
Manuscripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Anti-Slavery Collection
Subjects:
Abolitionists--United States--19th century--Correspondence
Antislavery movements--United States--History--19th century
Race relations--United States--History--19th century
Social reformers--United States--History--19th century
Women abolitionists--United States--History--19th century--Correspondence
Abolitionists--United States--History--19th century
Antislavery movements--United States
Race relations
Social reformers--United States
Women abolitionists--United States
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895
Wright, Henry Clarke, 1797-1870
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Liberator (Boston, Mass. : 1831)
Extent:
1 leaf (8 p.) ; 21 cm.
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z1107647
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
Cabin
Language:
English
Notes:
Holograph, signed.
Title devised by cataloger.
Identifier:
5860213
Call #:
MS A.1.2 v.23, p.107
Barcode:
39999085840096