Cabin, dec. 19, 1853

mr. garrison

dear sir:

1 after seeing you, i enjoyed the pleasure of a personal interview with mr. douglass and i feel bound in justice to say that the impression was far more satisfactory, than i had anticipated.

2 there does not appear to be any deep underlying stratum of bitterness -- he did not seem to me malignant or revengeful. i think that it was only a temporary excitement and one which he will outgrow.

3 i was much gratified with the growth and development both of his mind and heart. i am satisfied that his change of sentiments was not a mere political one but a genuine growth of his own conviction. a vigorous reflective mind like his, cast among those holding new sentiments, is naturally led to modified views.

4 at all events, he holds no opinion which he cannot defend, with a variety and richness of thought and expression and an aptness of illustration which show it to be a growth from the soil of his own mind with a living root and not a twig broken off other men's thoughts and stuck down to subserve a temporary purpose.

5 his plans for the elevation of his own race, are manly, sensible, comprehensive, he has evidently observed carefully and thought deeply and will i trust act efficiently.

6 you speak of him as an apostate -- i cannot but regard this language as unjustly severe -- why is he any more to be called an apostate for having spoken ill tempered things of former friends than they for having spoken severely and cruelly as they have of him? -- where is this work of excommunication to end -- is there but one true anti-slavery church and all others infidels? -- who shall declare which it is.

why did the author most likely use the phrase ‘bound in justice to state’ in the selected sentence instead of ‘strongly compelled to state’?
a) to be dramatic
b) to sound more intelligent
c) to contrast the theme of injustice
d) to offer a more balanced perspective