I WILL NOT, I WILL NOT, I WILL NOT, AND I WILL ….. Garrison

Here are the famous words, which appear in the first edition of the Liberator. Garrison acknowledges that some people have told him that he is too “severe” in his language against slavery.  —- Then he makes his choice clear:   “Is there not cause for severity?  I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice.  On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation.  NO! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm, tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher, tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but ureg me not to us moderation in a cause lie this present.  I am in earnest  — I will not equivocate  –I will not excuse  — I will not retreat a single inch  — AND I WILL BE HEARD.“