This interesting controversy did not end until several more letters
had passed back and forth, and various other topics had been brought
in; but it was carried through with the same spirit of candor and love
on all sides which marked the beginning. There was one subject
introduced, a sort of side-question which I must notice, as it reveals
in a very pleasant manner the religious principle and manly moral
courage of Theodore D. Weld. At the close of one of her letters, Sarah
says:--

"Now just as it has come into my head, please tell me whether thy
clothing costs one hundred dollars per annum? I ask because it was
insisted upon that Mr. Weld must spend that amount on his wardrobe,
and I as strenuously insisted he did not. It was thought impossible a
gentleman could spend less, but I think anti-slavery agents know
better."

To this, he answered thus, at the end of one of _his_ letters.

"Oh! I forgot the wardrobe! I suppose you are going to take me to task
about my shag-overcoat, linsey-woolsey coat, and cowhide shoes; for
you Quakers are as notional about _quality_ as you are precise about
_cut_. Well, now to the question. While I was travelling and
lecturing, I think that _one_ year my clothing must have cost me
nearly one hundred dollars. It was the first year of my lecturing in
the West, when one entire suit and part of another were destroyed or
nearly so by mobs. Since I resigned my commission as agent, which is
now nearly a year, my clothing has not cost me one third that amount.
I don't think it _even_ cost me fifty dollars a year, except the year
I spoke of, when it was ruined by mobs, and the year 1832, when, in
travelling, I lost it all with my other baggage in the Alum River.
There, I believe I have answered your question as well as I can.
However, I have always had to encounter the criticism and chidings of
my acquaintances about my coarse dress. They will have it that I have
always curtailed my influence and usefulness by such a John the
Baptist attire as I have always been habited in. But I have remarked
that those persons who have beset me on that score have shown in some
way that they had their hearts set more or less on showing off their
persons to advantage by their dress. Now I think of it, I believe you
are in great danger of making a little god out of your caps and your
drab color, and '_thee_' and '_thou_.' Besides, the tendency is quite
questionable. The moment certain shades of color, or a c