[Letter to] My dear Mrs. Chapman
Contributors: Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806-1885, recipient
Series: Maria Weston Chapman Correspondence (1835-1885)
Published: 1844
Place of publication: 34 Eccles St., Dublin, [Ireland]
Language: eng
Format: [manuscript]
Subjects: Correspondence; Free trade; Temperance; Women abolitionists; Antislavery movements; New England Non-Resistance Society; History
Notes: Holograph, signed.

T. Davis of Providence sent James Haughton a copy of Theodore Parker's Discourses. James Haughton is a Unitarian but finds among the adherents of this church "as much coldness toward human improvement" as among those of other sects. Haughton comments: "Teetotalism is my favorite hobby." He discusses the question of British trade with Brazil. Haughton considers all slave grown produce stolen goods. Free trade with Brazil would cause increased exploitation of Africans. Haughton asks: "Can there be a doubt that your increase of slavery is owing to our great trade with you?" Haughton has appealed to the London Committee "to cry out against all slave produce." Haughton contrasts Maria Weston Chapman's non-resistance to his own attitude toward government action. James H Webb, the brother of Richard Davis Webb, professes to be "more of an absolute Non-resistant than any of us." The Irish people are now almost wholly absorbed in their political troubles. As Daniel O'Connell has a horror of bloodshed, "while he lives, I believe we shall be safe from the calamity of civil war." Irish agitation is a security from the peace of Europe. Just as England, if it was invaded, would get no help from Ireland. The teetotal reform "is producing glorious results in this land." Educational conditions are also improving somewhat. Haughton is glad that Maria W. Chapman liked his essay in the Liberty Bell. [James Haughton's essay, "A Word of Encouragement," was printed in the Liberty Bell in 1844, p. 30-39.]

On pages five and six of this letter, there are two layers of writing, lengthwise and crosswise.