W[illia]m Lloyd Garrison, Maria W[eston] Chapman, and Edmund Quincy Printed Circular to John Smith, March 1, 1839

African American History Collection, 1729-1966 (bulk 1781-1865) [Box 3, Folder 07a]

Boston Mar 1. 1839. Dear Friend: The executive committee of the N. E. nonResistance Society at a meeting recently held, noted, that letters be addressed to all persons known to have adopted the principles of non Resistance, or who are favourable to their free discussion stating the claims & the wants of the Society, & requesting such pecuniary aid at their hands as the cause requires. It is in obedience to this vote that this letter is addressed to you. It is unnessary for us to enlarge upon the object of the Society. They are briefly set forth in the Declaration of Sentiments, which we have put forth to the world & in the constitution of the Society. We have neither time nor space to expatiate upon the infinite importance of the principles we hold, & which we would fain apply to the business of the world as well or to the regulation of undivided hearts & lives - principles, the adoption or re- jection of which, will we are assured determine the happiness or the misery the human race throughout all time, & whose influences will reach beyond the bounds of time & stretch far into the endless ages of eternity. The law to which we have submitted ourselves, through obedience to which we have found rest to our souls, whose light burden & easy yoke we have combined together that we may, in all love, persuade our brethern to take when upon themselves, is that paramount law of our being, to bring to light & exemplify which, the song of God came into the world and, after a life of privations & persecution was at last nailed "for our advantage to the bitter cross" - even the perfect & peaceable law of love. We are confirmed in the belief, that this is the great law of our nature, by beholding in the world around us the mournful signs of the ruin which men have brought upon themselves by refusing to obey it. We see it in the vaunted, yet vain, schemes of government, which they have devised for their own protection - combinations, which crush the poor & igno- -rant offender which they elevate wealthy & instructed criminals to the rank of the makers or administrations of their laws. We see it in the corrupt churches which make our land a spiritual desolation. We see it in an ambitious and self-seeking clergy, who claiming a title from Heaven to lord it over the consciences of their brethren, pervert souls from the right ways, teaching for doc- -trines the commandments of men; - teaching that the impartial Father of all the dwellers upon the earth, sanctions the enslaving & imbruting of His own chil- -dren; that He permits the traffic in the poison which consumes the bodies and the souls of men; that He is not displeased at the indulgence of ambition, covet- -ousness & revenge, provided they be displayed in certain modes of mans own appointing; that He allows, nay commands, man to slay his brother,

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About this Item

Series
African American History Collection, 1729-1966 (bulk 1781-1865) [Box 3, Folder 07a]
Title
W[illia]m Lloyd Garrison, Maria W[eston] Chapman, and Edmund Quincy Printed Circular to John Smith, March 1, 1839
Writer
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806-1885
Quincy, Edmund, 1808-1877
Type
letter
Recipient
Smith, John
Canvas
Image 1
Publication
Boston, [Massachusetts]
1839 March 1
Method and Signature Status
printed circular
Notes
Statement of claims and wants of the New England Non-Resistance Society. The executive committee voted to send out letters to all persons"known to have adopted the principles of non resistance." Espouses the Society's religious view of social ills and call for"holy warfare." Requested that recipients pledge money to the Society.

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"W[illia]m Lloyd Garrison, Maria W[eston] Chapman, and Edmund Quincy Printed Circular to John Smith, March 1, 1839." In the digital collection African American and African Diaspora Collection, 1729-1966 (bulk 1781-1865). https://name.umdl.umich.edu/africanamer.0003.07a. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 30, 2025.
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