John G. Whittier, in his preface to Mrs. Child's ‘Letters,’ published in 1883, wrote, concerning this appeal: ‘It is quite impossible for any one of the present generation to imagine the popular surprise and indignation which this book called forth, or how entirely its author cut herself off from the favor and sympathy of a large number of those who had delighted to do her honor. Social and literary circles closed their doors to her.1 The sale of her books, the subscriptions to her magazine fell off to a ruinous extent. Thenceforth her life was a battle, a constant rowing against the stream of popular prejudice and hatred. And through it all she bore herself with patience, fortitude, and unshaken reliance upon the justice and ultimate triumph of the cause she had espoused. Whenever there was a brave word to be spoken, her voice was heard, and never in vain.’
In a letter written to the Rev. Samuel J. May in 1867, Mrs. Child refers as follows to the change in her circumstances made by the publication of the ‘Appeal’: ‘With regard to society I was a gainer decidedly, for though the respectables, who had condescended to patronize me, forthwith sent me to Coventry, AntiSlav-ery introduced me to the noblest and best in the land, intellectually and morally, and knit us together in that ’
