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Show ToT-111-. DISIN'l'ERESTED benevolence, ~y .dear sir, has nothing at all to do wtlh abohttOmsm. Nay, I doubt very much if there is such a thing as disinter· estcd benevolence ; but be this ns it may, there is occasion for it in the anti-slavery ranks. It is scJJlshncss,-shccr selfishness, that loas thus fnr carried on the war with slavery ancl wl'ong in aU times; and selfishness must brenk the chains of the American slave. Self· love has fixed the chain around the arm of every leader and every soldier in tloc American anti·slavcry army. Where would William Lloyd GmTison have been to·day, if nny combination of circumstances could have shut in his soul's dcrp hatred of oppression, aml prevented its finding utterance in burning words 1 A LETTER. 231 Tic wouldlmYC been dead and rotten. It is ncccs.<ary to his own existence that ltc should "·ork,-work for the sl::wc ; and ln his work be gratifies all the strongest instincts of his nature, more completely than even tho grossest sensualist can gratify his, by unlimited in· U.ulgcncc. Gcrritt Smith, too. Suppose be was compelled to hoard his lll'inccly fortune, or spend it as most others do! 0 dear! what a dyspeptic we sl1ould ]Javc in six months; and all tl1o hydropathic institutes in the country could never keep him alive five years. John P. IIalc ;muld soon be dono with his rotund Trson and jovial face, if he could n9 longer send the ;;harp arrows of his wit and sarcasm into the consciences of his human-whipping neighbol's. It is a necessity of all great nations to hate mean· ness, and nothing under God's heaven ever was so mean as A..mcr.icnn sbvcry . rrhink of it. Men 'rho swagger around with pistols and bowie-knifes to avenge their insulted honor, if any one should question it,-imaginc one turning up his sleeves to horsewhip an old woman for btnning his steak, or pocketing her wages, earned at tho wash·tub! No one with a soul above that of a pig· louse, could |