[AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM MASSACHUSETTS REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE GRENNELL JR. DESCRIBING THE DIFFICULTIES OF ABOLISHING SLAVERY, THE STATUS OF SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND THE EFFECTS OF THE "GAG RULE"]

Washington, February 1, 1837.. [3]pp. on a folded folio sheet. Docketed and addressed on verso of second leaf, with Grinnell's free frank. Old folds. 1½ x 2-inch tear in second leaf from opening, with no loss of text. Very good. An intriguing letter from Massachusetts Congressman George Grennell (sometimes Grinnell) Jr. to the scientist and mathematician James H. Coffin, discussing his nuanced feelings on abolitionism and its role in the Washington, D.C. Grennell is firmly in favor of abolishing slavery, but wonders how it can be best effected. He also comments on the recently enacted "Gag Rule" in Congress, in which House of Representatives voted to table any petitions mentioning slavery and ban any discussion or referral of it to committees. After exchanging pleasantries, Grennell goes on to answer his friend's question about abolition at length: "You speak of Abolition measures and lectures. I would, if my engagement permitted, write you on this subject, which seems to have been brought very prominently before the minds of my neighbours and friends of late....We cannot by legislation interfere with Slavery in the States and I must say the measures and language employed by the Abolitionists are illy calculated to operate upon the conscience of the Slave holders in the States. Nor do I think it would be safe for either the white or the black race, instantly and at once, to set the latter free. This would drench the South in blood. Slavery ought to cease among men, and in a way, by means and at a time, the safest, the wisest and the best for both races. Slavery in this district [of Columbia] may constitutionally be abolished, and it ought by law to be abolished. And although this is an impropitious time to demand it, so greatly agitated is all the South, in consequence of the Abolition measures of the last two years, our citizens ought to have and enjoy the right to petition....Nor ought they to be deterred from petitioning by the violent denunciations of Southern men. The Slave trade, as it exists here, is an abomination which no State allows within its own jurisdiction. "We are voted down and debate is suppressed when any proposition is introduced touching Slavery in this District and we are voted down, by your own political friends, the Jackson men of the House. You will not suppose I intend any unkind sentiment by this. But, Mr. Van Buren and his party deem it quite important to propitiate Southern favor to secure Southern votes. The Northern Whigs always vote in favor of petitions and their rights. Northern Administration men vote with the South." George Grennell was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1825 to 1827, and served as Representative for the Anti-Jacksonians before joining the Whig party in the period from 1829 to 1839. He was also the grandfather of renowned explorer and conservationist George Bird Grinnell. The recipient of the letter, James H. Coffin, was a Massachusetts native who became a professor of science and mathematics at Williams College, and in 1846 became chair of Mathematics and Astronomy at Lafayette College. He was known as a pioneering researcher in meteorology and particularly in the study of wind patterns. An interesting letter from an early Whig party politician, outlining his complicated feelings on the inherent difficulties of abolition. (Inventory #: WRCAM57625)