Letter from Samuel May, Leicester, Mass[achusetts], to William Lloyd Garrison, 1877 July 30

Item Information

Title:
Letter from Samuel May, Leicester, Mass[achusetts], to William Lloyd Garrison, 1877 July 30
Description:
Samuel May writes to William Lloyd Garrison thanking him for his last letter and for some newspapers that he, and his son Francis Jackson Garrison, have sent May from England. He then discusses a meeting Garrison attended "of the friends of the repeal of the 'Contagious Diseases Acts'" telling him how important it was for Garrison to speak on this subject. May criticizes clergy who claimed "that the subject is not a decent one (whose fault is it, if not?) and not fit to be mentioned by any gentleman or lady." He states, "it taxes the utmost capacity of the reformers to bring to light, without either offending the average public sense of decorum on the one hand, or using vague and almost unintelligible language on the other." May also comments on "the non-recognition (or at most very slight recognition) at Edmund Quincy's funeral of his good, brave life, and of the extraordinary fidelity with which he adhered throughout to the Antislavery cause and others." He complains, "there were no addresses whatever" at the funeral service and he has "no doubt that this course was deliberately taken, as a 'safe' & 'prudent' one in the circumstances ..." He tells Garrison that he asked Maria Weston Chapman to "prepare a suitable biog[raphica]l sketch of E. Quincy - such a one as was due to him an Abolitionist from the Abolitionists of America" but she declined citing a piece written by Oliver Johnson in the "Orange Journal." He says that while Johnson wrote well of Quincy, due to the newspaper's small circulation it was not "a sufficient tribute or an adequate record in the case." May thinks the Weston sisters knew Quincy well and so they would be able to write the sketch of his life best, and he asks Garrison to encourage Anne Warren Weston to write it, saying "she was Edmund's great friend. He had a great admiration of her character and delightful social qualities." He shares his hope that Garrison is recovering in England asks him to remember him to their friends there.
Author:
May, Samuel, Jr., 1810-1899
Addressee:
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Date:
July 30, 1877
Format:
Letters/Correspondence
Manuscripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Anti-Slavery Collection
Subjects:
Great Britain
Abolitionists--United States--19th century--Correspondence
Antislavery movements--United States--History--19th century
Prostitution--Law and legislation--Great Britain--History--19th century
Social reformers--Great Britain--History--19th century
Social reformers--United States--History--19th century
Abolitionists--United States--History--19th century
Antislavery movements--United States
Prostitution--Law and legislation
Social reformers
Social reformers--United States
May, Samuel, Jr., 1810-1899
Johnson, Oliver, 1809-1889
Weston, Anne Warren, 1812-1890
Quincy, Edmund, 1808-1877
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806-1885
Places:
United Kingdom
Extent:
1 leaf (4 p.) ; 22 cm.
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z110b64v
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
Leicester, Mass[achusetts]
Language:
English
Notes:
Holograph, signed.
Title devised by cataloger.
Identifier:
5869315
Call #:
MS A.1.2 v.39, p.117A
Barcode:
39999085840591