Free Labor Association
Dublin Core
Title
Free Labor Association
Description
PHILADELPHIA, 10 mo. 2, 1840
ESTEEMED FRIEND,
I have not unfrequently, in my capacity as corresponding Secretary of the American Free Produce Association, and also as an individual sympathising with thee and and the great and glorious struggle for human fredom in which we are mutually engaged, felt disposed to address thee; and as the approaching anniversary of our Free Produce Society is so near at hand, I have felt satisfied to remain quiet no longer, without at least inviting thee to attend our meeting. My dear friend, I have been greatly at a loss to see how, consistently with thy general character, thee could remain so silent upon the question of abstinence. I should regret to think that one whose whole soul was so deeply interested in the anti-slavery cause should have so far passed by the consideration of this branch of the subject, as to b ignorant of its important bearing on the main question, and should as deeply regret a failure to plainly and boldly avow the conviction if once made.
In the name of millions of enslaved fellow-beings--in the name of our glorious cause of christianity and of consistency--I urge upon thy mind the serious enquiry--'art thou performing thy duty in this branch of the anti-slavery reform?' I just observe, in the accounts given in some of the European journals which have been kindly sent me, that when there, thee was able to see that if the professed friends of the slave would 'touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean thing,' their abstinence would produce a powerful effect upon the system--that, if Britain should refuse to receive slave produce, it would strike a death-blow to the monster. Now, from this I should draw the general inference, that those who partake of slave produce are guilty, as a mass, of upholding the unrighteous system. I also infer that individuals composing a community, or mass of people, partake of the guilt pertaining to the crimes which the mass may commit while they are leagued with them in the perpetration. Hence, the comparative feebleness of the influence of the abstinence of one person does not lesson the guilt of partaking.
This subject might be prolonged far beyond the limits of this sheet, if my time, and thy patience, but I feel it to be unnecessary. 'A word to the wise is sufficient.' Our meeting will be held in this city on the 20th instant. I earnestly invite thy attendance, and extend the invitation to every friend of the cause of honest inquirer--independent of party, sect, color, sex, or condition. I feel a confidence that thy mind is so far established upon the 'general equality of the human family,' as to regard none the less the suggestions which I have made on account of the humble source from which they emanate.
I am thy sincere friend in the cause of the oppressed,
DANIEL S. MILLER JR.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
ESTEEMED FRIEND,
I have not unfrequently, in my capacity as corresponding Secretary of the American Free Produce Association, and also as an individual sympathising with thee and and the great and glorious struggle for human fredom in which we are mutually engaged, felt disposed to address thee; and as the approaching anniversary of our Free Produce Society is so near at hand, I have felt satisfied to remain quiet no longer, without at least inviting thee to attend our meeting. My dear friend, I have been greatly at a loss to see how, consistently with thy general character, thee could remain so silent upon the question of abstinence. I should regret to think that one whose whole soul was so deeply interested in the anti-slavery cause should have so far passed by the consideration of this branch of the subject, as to b ignorant of its important bearing on the main question, and should as deeply regret a failure to plainly and boldly avow the conviction if once made.
In the name of millions of enslaved fellow-beings--in the name of our glorious cause of christianity and of consistency--I urge upon thy mind the serious enquiry--'art thou performing thy duty in this branch of the anti-slavery reform?' I just observe, in the accounts given in some of the European journals which have been kindly sent me, that when there, thee was able to see that if the professed friends of the slave would 'touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean thing,' their abstinence would produce a powerful effect upon the system--that, if Britain should refuse to receive slave produce, it would strike a death-blow to the monster. Now, from this I should draw the general inference, that those who partake of slave produce are guilty, as a mass, of upholding the unrighteous system. I also infer that individuals composing a community, or mass of people, partake of the guilt pertaining to the crimes which the mass may commit while they are leagued with them in the perpetration. Hence, the comparative feebleness of the influence of the abstinence of one person does not lesson the guilt of partaking.
This subject might be prolonged far beyond the limits of this sheet, if my time, and thy patience, but I feel it to be unnecessary. 'A word to the wise is sufficient.' Our meeting will be held in this city on the 20th instant. I earnestly invite thy attendance, and extend the invitation to every friend of the cause of honest inquirer--independent of party, sect, color, sex, or condition. I feel a confidence that thy mind is so far established upon the 'general equality of the human family,' as to regard none the less the suggestions which I have made on account of the humble source from which they emanate.
I am thy sincere friend in the cause of the oppressed,
DANIEL S. MILLER JR.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
Creator
Daniel S. Miller Jr., William Lloyd Garrison
Source
Liberator 10:42, p. 167
Date
10.16.1840
Collection
Citation
Daniel S. Miller Jr., William Lloyd Garrison, “Free Labor Association,” No Stain of Tears and Blood, accessed October 22, 2026, https://productsoffreelabor.com/items/show/81.
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