ons, that distinguished spot on which is
erected the sacred Fane of republican Freedom, is not only
polluted by the galling shackle and the iron rod of oppression,
but is absolutely converted into a great depository for the
purchase and sale of human beings. The demoralizing effect which
this must produce on the minds of many who become familiarized
with it, and the odium which it attaches to us, in the estimation
of enlightened foreigners, many of whom are constant witnesses
thereof, must inevitably sap the foundation of our free
institutions, and degrade our national character in the eyes of
the world. This, we conceive, (to say nothing of the injustice of
slavery and its concomitants,) should be a sufficient incentive
to action--a sufficient inducement to labor in the holy cause of
emancipation.

We are aware that it has been asserted, even on the floor of
Congress, that we should wait until the people of that District
themselves demand the abolition of the system of slavery. This
doctrine we conceive to be fallacious. _The people there are not
exclusively responsible for the national disgrace and criminality
attending it._ The United States government, and of course, the
people in every section of the Union, must bear the odium and
meet the consequences:--and if so, it follows, that they have a
perfect right to avert the same, by such just and legal means as
their wisdom may point out, and their judgment select. But a
portion of the people of that District _are_ now demanding the
eradication of the evil in question. Societies for the abolition
of slavery have been organized among them; and they have
protested against the continuance of the cruel and disgraceful
practice. Let, then, the voice of their brethren elsewhere, be
heard in unison with theirs. Let a strong appeal be made to the
justice of the nation, that the constituted authorities may be
induced to take up the subject, and bestow upon it that care
which its importance imperiously requires.

To facilitate the accomplishment of this purpose, we would advise
and recommend, that petitions and memorials be circulated by all
the anti-slavery societies in each of the States and territories,
for the signature of the citizens at large, and that they be
forwarded to Congress by the