BY CATHARINE E. BEECHER.
Philadelphia:
HENRY PERKINS, 134 CHESTNUT STREET.
PERKINS & MARVIN, BOSTON.
. . . . . . . .
1837.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1837, byHenry Perkins, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court ofthe Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
L. ASHMEAD AND CO. PRINTERS.[3]
The following are the circumstances which occasioned thesucceeding pages. A gentleman and a friend, requested the writerto assign reasons why he should not join the Abolition Society.While preparing a reply to this request, Miss Grimké's Addresswas presented, and the information communicated, of her intentionto visit the North, for the purpose of using her influence amongnorthern ladies to induce them to unite with Abolition Societies.The writer then began a private letter to Miss Grimké as apersonal friend. But by the wishes and advice of others, thesetwo efforts were finally combined in the following Essay, to bepresented to the public.[4]
The honoured and beloved name which that lady bears, soassociated as it is at the South, North, and West, with all thatis elegant in a scholar, refined in a gentleman, and elevated ina Christian,—the respectable sect with which she isconnected,—the interesting effusions of her pen,—and her ownintellectual and moral worth, must secure respect for heropinions and much personal influence. This seems to be asufficient apology for presenting to the public someconsiderations in connexion with her name; considerations whichmay exhibit in another aspect the cause she advocates, and whichit may be appropriate to consider. As such, they are respectfullycommended to the public, and especially to that portion of it forwhich they are particularly designed.[5]
Addressed to Miss A. D. Grimké.
My dear Friend,
Your public address to Christian females at the South has reachedme, and I have been urged to aid in circulating it at the North.I have also been informed, that you contemplate a tour, duringthe ensuing year, for the purpose of exerting your influence toform Abolition Societies among ladies of the non-slave-holdingStates.
Our acquaintance and friendship give me a claim to your privateear; but there are reasons why it seems more desirable to addressyou, who now stand before the public[6] as an advocate of Abolitionmeasures, in a more public manner.
The object I have in view, is to present some reasons why itseems unwise and inexpedient for ladies of the non-slave-holdingStates to unite themselves in Abolition Societies; and thus, atthe same time, to exhibit the inexpediency of the course youpropose to adopt.
I