Francis Jackson Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879; the story of his life told by his children: volume 3

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Is this good woman as careful to suppress in her family those political or religious periodicals which sanction war, the army and navy, a monarchical government, conquests in India, and the like—all which serve to degrade, oppress, or depopulate the human race? . . . God forbid that I should ever take such a responsibility upon myself—that I should ever bring my children up in this one-sided manner! The one distinct and emphatic lesson which I shall teach them is, to take nothing upon mere authority—to dare to differ in opinion from their father, and from all the world — to understand, as clearly as possible, what can be said against or in favor of any doctrine or practice, and then to accept or reject it according to their own convictions of duty. . . .

I doubt not that a sincere concern for the welfare of the anti-slavery cause, and the usefulness of the Liberator as its advocate, may give rise to the inquiry in your mind: Why discuss the merits of the Bible, or the question of the holiness of the first day of the week, in the Liberator? Is it not needlessly to deter persons from taking the paper who otherwise would be disposed to subscribe for it, being desirous to promote the abolition of slavery? My dear friend, it would give me great satisfaction to extend the subscription-list of my paper much beyond what it is at present; and most solicitous am I to see every slave free, and to join in singing the song of jubilee. But I beg you and my other English friends to bear constantly in your minds the fact, that the discussion of these questions has been forced upon us by the enemies of the anti-slavery and non-resistance movements. Their constant cry has been, that we are desecrating the Sabbath in pleading the cause of the slave on that day, and mixing up secular with holy affairs. Thus criminated, we have naturally been led to see how this doctrine of the holiness of days affects every reformatory enterprise, and to inquire into its origin and nature. We are enlightened as we proceed in our investigations, and led to perceive not only that there is no scriptural authority for the observance of the first day of the week as the Sabbath, but that time is sanctified only as we use it aright, without regard to particular days or seasons. In short, that holiness pertains to the spirit and to its acts, not to any external arrangements or observances; and that whatever it is right to do on one day, it is right to do on every other day of the week. That this discussion has already proved highly serviceable to our cause, we have the clearest evidence.

Again, in advocating our non-resistance doctrines, our opponents have resorted to the Bible, and thought to silence us