Holograph.

This letter appears to be a rough draft.

In this letter, William Lloyd Garrison refers to Mrs. Catherine Buck Clarkson's wish that Garrison return her husband's manuscript concerning the dissolution of the American Union. Garrison argues that Mr. Clarkson gave him the manuscript. The copy published in the London Patriot was verbatim, with a few corrections. Garrison asks: "Why do you object to my retaining the Ms.? Or on what ground do you claim a right to it, transcending my own? Or why do you reproach Mr. Thompson, as though as he had committed a serious wrong? You express 'deep sorrow for what has taken place.' Why are you thus sorrowful?" (The paper referred to by Thomas Clarkson was "Hints for the American People in the Event of a Dissolution of the Union.")

Merrill, Walter M. Letters of William Lloyd Garrison, v.3, no.180.