Letter from George Thompson, London, [England], to Richard Davis Webb, 1852 April 12

George Thompson writes to Richard Davis Webb in regards to receiving from John Bishop Estlin a copy of Webb's pamphlet. He writes that the exposure of Scoble is "severe, and to prove, to them, damaging but is deserved and will be useful to the cause of truth and the slave." He reveals that Scoble while staying with him in Edinburgh, tried to "parson my mind against Garrison and the abolitionists of Boston & Philadelphia, by the most atrocious charges of impiety and licentiousness." He writes that Scoble is an enemy to the cause of the slave. During his British India labors, the new directors of the [British & Foreign anti-slavery society] misrepresented his objects as well as during the convention in 1840, they did all they could to "murder the reputations of Garrison, Rogers, Remond, the Motts, &c." In a second letter to Richard Davis Webb on April 15th, 1852, he writes more on Scoble. He writes of attending a parliament meeting in which 2500 of his constituents attended. They voted to reelect Thompson as a member of parliament. He relays a story in which a friend who is a subscriber of the Liberator, Isaac mentioned that Scoble addressed a small audience telling them he was not intending to vote for Thompson. He discusses other meetings and gossip among the English abolitionists.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library