This letter, written in Boston by William Handy, was addressed to Reverend Thomas W. Higginson, an abolitionist minister from Worcester, Massachusetts. In this letter, Handy proposes strategies to deal with the potential arrest of James Redpath in the aftermath of Harpers Ferry. Higginson and Redpath had both supported John Brown's raid on the arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. After John Brown's execution, some of his followers had fled the country, but Higginson and Redpath had both remained in the United States. Handy fearsthat Redpath would be arrested, and he wants to figure out the best way to protect Redpath's rights.