John Stuart Mill ALS 1866 - The William Garrison Testimonial for his Work for Emancipation

A letter signed "Mr. Mill" in the body, 4.25" x 6.75", Avignon, France, dated November 3, 1866. He "presents his compliments to Mr. [Thomas C. ] Ryley and encloses a cheque (not present) for £5 for the Garrison Testimonial…" With the front panel of the original envelope in Mill's hand. Each tipped to a slightly larger sheet. In fine condition. This is regarding the testimony for abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, another advocate of women's rights who shared a mutual friend and admiration with Mill, and who had all but retired from public life earlier in 1866. 

Also included is a signed William Lloyd Garrison 3" x 1.5" note. Signed " Admit the bearer to/ Mr. Thompson's Lecture./ Wm Lloyd Garrison. It is affixed to a 4.75" x 7.25" page. In fine condition.

John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873), who has been called the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the 19th century, was a British philosopher, economist, and theorist who contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy.

Part of Testimonial: We, the undersigned, do therefore invite all people who rejoice in the destruction of Slavery, in the re-establishment of the Union on the basis of Universal Freedom, who appreciate his past service in the cause of Liberty, and the dignity and judgment with which he has accepted and interpreted the more recent events of public history, to unite with us in presenting a national testimonial, of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars, to our fellow countryman

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

William Lloyd Garrison (December 10, 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper The Liberator, which he founded in 1831 and published in Boston until slavery in the United States was abolished by constitutional amendment in 1865. Garrison promoted "no-governmentism" and rejected the inherent validity of the American government on the basis that its engagement in war, imperialism, and slavery made it corrupt and tyrannical. He initially opposed violence as a principle and advocated for Christian nonresistance against evil; at the outbreak of the Civil War, he abandoned his previous principles and embraced the armed struggle and the Lincoln administration. He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society and promoted immediate and uncompensated, as opposed to gradual and compensated, emancipation of slaves in the United States.

With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA.

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