[ABOLITION] Universalist Church circular outlining a protest against slavery signed by James Weston

1 1/2 pages, on bifolium, 6 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. Typed, with few manuscript edits and undersigned in ink, "James P. Weston."

A note to recipients begins the circular, being dated at Boston, 3 November 1845. The note reports that at a Mass Meeting of Universalists, a Resolution was passed appointing a committee of five to prepare a "solemn, earnest, and plain Protest against American Slavery," and to present that protest to every Universalist clergyman in the United States for his signature. Those who refuse are requested to give a reason for their refusal.

The protest outlines 9 reasons the Church opposes slavery, including that it: "denies the eternal distinction between a man and property," "trammels the intellectual powers and prevents their expansion," "checks the development of the moral nature of the slave," "involves a practical denial of the religious nature of the slave," "presents an insurmountable barrier to the propagation of the great truth of the Universal Brotherhood, and thereby most effectually prevents the progress of true Christianity," and others.

The final reason given notably mentions that "peculiarities of situation may affect the judgment and moral sense," but asserts that "no peculiarity of situation can excuse a perpetual denial of universal principles and obligations."

The circular ends: "For these reasons we Protest against the system of American Slavery as utterly wrong, and confess our obligation to use all justifiable means to promote its Abolition."

James Partelow Weston (1815-1888) grew up in Bristol, Maine, where he developed a passion for teaching and a devotion to the Universalist Church. He entered Lincoln Academy in Newcastle in 1832 and switched to Maine Wesleyan Seminary in 1834. He attended Waterville College in 1836, and transferred to Bowdoin, where he graduated in 1843. In that year, Weston also became Augusta's Universalist pastor, serving until May of 1850, when he returned to Waterville Liberal Institute to preach there.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Ephemeral Americana and Historical Documents

This lot is located in Cincinnati.