(SLAVERY ABOLITION) Circular letter attempting to launch an

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(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Circular letter attempting to launch an anti-slavery newspaper in Virginia. One printed page, 9 3/4 x 8 inches, plus integral blank; mailing folds but no postal markings, moderate dampstaining. Leesburg and Springdale, VA, August 1849

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Samuel McPherson Janney (1801-1880), a Quaker from Springdale in the northern part of Virginia, was one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery in the South. This circular prints a letter to Janney from his friend T.C. Connolly of Leesburg, hoping to establish a weekly newspaper to effect "the gradual but certain removal from our domain of an incubus that is probably the origin of the many other ills that obstruct the way in our approach to power, prosperity and greatness. I mean slavery." Below is Janney's letter in response, agreeing to become a corresponding editor. The paper never launched, in part because Janney was charged later that same month for his efforts to "incite persons of colour within this Commonwealth to rebel and make insurrection." No other examples of this circular are found in OCLC.