Letter from John Scoble, London, [England], to William Lloyd Garrison, 1837 Oct[ober] 1

John Scoble writes to William Lloyd Garrison saying that while he feels "cheered by the extension of Anti-Slavery principles in the United States," he feels "depressed at the state of the Anti-Slavery cause here" in the United Kingdom. He highlights India and Africa as suffering from slavery and the slave trade, as well as the system of apprenticeship in British colonies, as being cases where British abolitionist leadership is needed but lacking. He tells Garrison, "our statesmen .. like your own, are mere party men. Every thing is sacrificed to party." He also describes the efforts of abolitionist women throughout the country to gather signatures to present to "our youthful Queen." Scoble asks Garrison to send a copy of the Liberator to 18 Aldermanubury, the office of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, remarking that "We have not received a copy of your paper for two years!" Scoble then discusses the "question about the Texas" saying it "is beginning to be better understood here than formerly," and that "it is impossible to regard, without shuddering, the annexation of Texas to your Union!"
Courtesy of Boston Public Library