Description

Holograph, signed.Title devised by cataloger.Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) manuscript composed in pencil on white paper. Above the saluation a checkmark and the number "101" are both written in pencil. There are also annotations made in brown ink, including underlining below the salutation and the word "London" and diagonal lines through the first paragraph and last lines of the letter.In this letter to William Lloyd Garrison, George Thompson discusses his defeat in the election to Parliament for Tower Hamlets, London, stating "No one has been less annoyed by this event than myself." Thompson blames his defeat on "a combination of Publicans, Brewers, Distillers, Gin-shop Keepers, Magistrates, Monopolists and great Corporations" as well as his "unpopularity with the 'hunkers' of all parties". He adds that the "the general election has been favourable to the radical interest" and describes the outlook for electoral reform in the coming Parliament. Thompson then moves on to discuss literature in England, commenting on the popularity of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and reporting that "between 400,000 and 500,000 copies ... are already in circulation". Futhermore, he says that theatres are "highly crowded to overflowing by persons anxious to witness a representation of its most striking scenes on the stage." He then mentions the popularity of Hildreth's "The White Slave" and "another volume called 'Uncle Tom in England'" before discussing William Wells Brown's "Three Years in Europe" and the English translation of Victor Hugo's "Napoleon the Little". Thompson also mentions the death of the...

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