If Slavery is really dead in the District of Columbia, and merely waiting for the ceremony of ‘Dust to dust’ by the President, to you more than to any other American statesman belongs the honor of this great triumph of justice, liberty…

I rejoice for my freed brothers,--and, Sir, I rejoice for you.

You have lived to strike down in Washington the power that lifted the bludgeon against your own free voice.

I take nothing from the good and brave men who have coöperated with you.

There is, or ought to be, a head to every body; and whether you will or not, the slaveholder and the slave look to you as the best embodiment of the Antislavery idea now in the councils of the nation.

Is or not the Constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, and all the treaties made under the authority of the United States, the supreme law of the land, which all persons, without any exception whatever…

Is or not the Supreme Court of the United States the proper and final tribunal to judge and determine all questions, whether in law or equity, under the Constitution and laws of the United States?

PRESIDENT,--With unspeakable delight I hail this measure and the prospect of its speedy adoption.

Though only a small instalment of that great debt to an enslaved race which we all owe, yet will it be recognized in history as a victory of humanity.

At home, throughout our own country, it will be welcomed with gratitude, while abroad it will quicken the hopes of all who love Freedom.

Liberal institutions will gain everywhere by the abolition of Slavery at the national capital.

For the sake of the national name, if not for the sake of justice, let the scandal cease.

Such a wrong, so utterly outrageous, could find safety only where protected from inquiry.

The right of petition, first vindicated by the matchless perseverance of John Quincy Adams, is now beyond question, and the constitutional power of Congress is hardly less free from doubt.

It may be of value to us that this republic should be among our friends, while it cannot be doubted that our friendship will contribute to Haytien security against danger from any quarter whatsoever.

It is enough to say on this point, that, if Congress cannot abolish Slavery here, then there is no power anywhere to abolish it here, and this wrong will endure always, lasting as the capital itself.

If this question were determined according to divine justice, so far as we may be permitted to contemplate such a judgment, it is obvious that nothing can be due to the master, and that any money paid belongs rather to the slave, who for…

If we undertake to audit this fearful account, pray what sum shall be allowed for the prolonged torments of the lash? what treasure shall be voted to the slave for wife ravished from his side, for children stolen, for knowledge shut out…

If Slavery has no constitutional existence here, then more than ever is Congress bound to interfere, even with money; for the scandal must be peremptorily stopped, without any postponement, or any consultation of the people on a point…

True, it exists as a MONSTROUS FACT; but it is none the less important to consider its origin, that we may understand how, assuming the form of law, it was able to shelter itself beneath the protecting shield of the Constitution.

To argue against such a pretension seems to be vain; for the pretension exists in open defiance of reason as well as of humanity.

It was not the planters in the British islands or in the French islands who organized emancipation, but the distant governments across the sea, far removed from local prejudice, which at last forbade the outrage.

Had these planters been left to themselves, they would have clung to the pretension, as men among us still cling to it.

Tell me not of rights, talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.