Letter from Oliver Johnson, Orange, N.J., to William Lloyd Garrison, Nov[ember] 28, 1877

Oliver Johnson writes that he takes neither Garrison's criticism nor his heated tone as a personal offense, knowing that they are dervied from Garrison's "honest convictions and a genuine love for humanity". Johnson declines to respond to Garrison's points, arguing instead that he, like Garrison, is a man of strong convictions, and asserts that their respective convictions in this instance are contrary and fixed. Johnson states his belief that the course of action initiated by President Hayes on the matter of the rights and protections of Freedmen is not only proper when considered in the light of the obligations imposed by the Constitution, but that it is the best course that Hayes could undertake. Johnson invites Garrison to offer a formal rebuttal of his arguments for publication in the Orange Journal. Johnson closes by informing Garrison that he has just returned from Peacham, where he delivered a lecture on the "Early Anti-Slavery Days".
Courtesy of Boston Public Library