and his own, and for constructing monograms of the
family names.[2]

The pamphlets in the collection have intrinsically more value than the
larger works. They were nearly all contemporaneous, and were sent to
Washington by their authors, with inscriptions upon the title pages
in their authors' handwriting, of the most profound respect and
esteem. Some of these pamphlets are now exceedingly rare. In a bound
volume lettered "Tracts on Slavery," and containing several papers,
all of radical anti-slavery tendencies,[3] is the one to which I wish
especially to call your attention. It is so rare that, having shown
this copy for fifteen years to persons especially interested in this
subject, and having made the most diligent inquiry, I have never heard
of another, till within a few days since, when I learn from my friend,
Mr. George H. Moore, the librarian of the New York Historical Society,
that there is a copy in that society's library. Its title is: "An
Oration upon the Moral and Political Evil of Slavery. Delivered at a
Public Meeting of the Maryland Society for Promoting the Abolition of
Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes and others unlawfully held in
Bondage, Baltimore, July 4, 1791. By George Buchanan, M. D., Member of
the American Philosophical Society. Baltimore: Printed by Philip
Edwards, M,DCC,XCIII." Twenty pages, octavo.

A Fourth-of-July oration in Baltimore, on the moral and political
evils of slavery, only four years after the adoption of the
Constitution, is an incident worthy of historical recognition, and a
place in anti-slavery literature. The following extracts will give an
idea of its style and range of thought:

"God hath created mankind after His own image, and granted them
liberty and independence; and if varieties may be found in their
structure and color, these are only to be attributed to the nature
of their diet and habits, as also to the soil and the climate they
may inhabit, and serve as flimsy pretexts for enslaving them.

"What, will you not consider that the Africans are men? That they
have human souls to be saved? That they are born free and
independent? A violation of these prerogatives is an infringement
upon the laws of God.

"Possessed of Christian sentiments, they fail not to exercise them
when opportunity offers. Things pleasing rejoice them, and
melancholy circumstances pall their appetites for amusements. They
brook no ins