Williamson, Jan. 2, 1848[9]

Friend Douglass:—I noticed in the Star of Temperance an article, headed "The Bible Cause." The writer says: "Already there has been a general distribution of the Bible gratuitously to every destitute family in the United States, since the commencement of the efforts of the American Bible Society, organized some forty years since." Does the writer not know that there are NOW in the United States some seven or eight hundred thousand families who are destitute of the Bible, and those who are reputed heathens, too, for the want of that book, and a capacity to read it? They are colored people, to be sure, but nevertheless they are MEN and WOMEN, and have as much need of the Bible as their more fortunate white neighbors. If the Bible Society spoke of has not offered this numerous class of destitute fellow-creatures the scriptures, it is a sad commentary on their fidelity to the cause they so zealously espouse. This making fish of one and flesh of another, is not exactly the right thing.

As thou art a plain, out-spoken reformer, would it not be well to remind the editor of the Star of Temperance of his great mistake, and desire that it may be corrected, in order that the public may become intelligent on this subject. Thine for the Truth,

G. M. C.Cooper, Griffith M.

Griffith M. Cooper (c. 1791–1864), a Quaker and farmer, was a longtime reader of Douglass’s newspaper. Before becoming a Quaker, he served as an officer in the War of 1812. He resided in Williamson, New York, with his wife Eliza and two children, William and Mary. Cooper served as an Underground Railroad agent and was active in antislavery conventions held in upstate New York. He also chaired the Committee on Indian Concerns for the Society of Friends. North Star, 3 March 1848, 1 June, 14 September 1849; FDP, 18 March 1852; 1850 US. Census, New York, Wayne County, Williamson, 155; Friends Intelligencer, vol. 21, (Philadelphia: Emmor Comly, 1865).