Letter from Mary Wigham, Edinburgh, [Scotland], to Maria Weston Chapman, [18]39 March 4

Mary Wigham writes to Maria Weston Chapman in regards to re-opening correspondence with her which was discontinued by her predecessor. She writes of support from fellow laborers from "this side of the atlantic." She is grieved to hear of the way the Quakers are behaving towards their "coloured brethren, particularly in Philadelphia---It is indeed strangely inconsistent with the principles which they progress to hold." She mentions the accounts they receive from the West Indies and writes that the West Indian slaves are grateful for their freedom to the Marquis of Sligo. However, she says the planters' attitudes towards their slaves has not changed. She writes, "we do not relax in our vigilance, as it is not to be supposed that a change of system has changed the hearts of the planters, for they appear to be doing all they can to oppress and injure the race, now so happily released from their bondage." She discusses the aboriginies of the British dependancies "more especially those of British India" have claimed the attention of the emancipation society.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library