Letter from B.B. Marshall, Milford, [Massachusetts], to William Lloyd Garrison, 1862 July 25th

B.B. Marshall writes to William Lloyd Garrison about "the course pursued by Mr. [Adin] Ballou, in consequence of your visit to Hopedale .." Marshall discusses Ballou, saying "the notice which some other speakers have attracted on the Anti-Slavery platform has not fallen to his lot .. he has not earned that merit, which constant zeal, and untiring, unyielding, devotion always receives." He adds, "As an Author he is disappointed" and Ballou "is to day a disappointed man, soured and misanthropic, as the result of ungratified ambition." Marshall believes that Ballou thinks Garrison is "surrounded by war influences, living in the great city, and perhaps unconsciously, have imbibed somewhat of the spirit of war, and hence the 'war-power oratory' alluded to in the Hopedale 'Call' for 1st of August celebration." He criticizes Ballou for ignoring "the great issues" and commends Garrison for "declining to enter in a controversy with Adin Ballou." Still, Marshall believes that "the harm he has done to the cause of liberty is by no means trivial." He tells Garrison, "Your name is so identified with the slave, that liberty and 'Garrison' are almost synonomous [sic] terms, (what an honor! what a glory! what a record!) and Adin in his onslaught upon you has, virtually, dealt a blow at the enslaved." Marshall thinks that Ballou has even "lost caste" with his closest friend, Eben Draper over his views.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library