It can never be wrong for the imbruted and whip-scarred slaves, or their friends, to strike down the traffickers in human flesh. I am ever ready to write, speak, publish, organize, combine — and even to conspire against Slavery, when there is a reasonable hope for success.
Original passage & context
"While it shall be considered right to protect oneself against thieves, burglars, robbers and assassins, and to slay a wild beast in the act of devouring his human prey, it can never be wrong for the imbruted and whip-scarred slaves, or their friends, to hunt, harrass and even strike down the traffickers in human flesh. [...] I am ever ready to write, speak, publish, organize, combine, and even to conspire against Slavery, when there is a reasonable hope for success."
The militant half of the same Oct 31 letter whose denial appears earlier in this feed: after denying foreknowledge, Douglass defends in the strongest terms the right of the enslaved to strike down their enslavers. Period spelling 'harrass' preserved. Fragments joined with [...].