under chains into Boston Court House, and when Anthony Burns was
sent back into slavery, I wept for my native State, as a daughter
weeps for the crimes of a beloved mother. It seemed to me that I
would gladly have died to have saved Massachusetts from that sin and
that shame. The tears of a secluded woman, who has no vote to give,
may appear to you of little consequence. But assuredly it is not
well with any Commonwealth, when her daughters weep over her
degeneracy and disgrace.

In the name of oppressed humanity, of violated religion, of
desecrated law, of tarnished honor, of our own freedom endangered,
of the moral sense of our people degraded by these evil influences,
I respectfully, but most urgently, entreat you to annul this
infamous enactment, so far as the jurisdiction of Massachusetts
extends. Our old Commonwealth has been first and foremost in many
good works; let her lead in this also. And deem it not presumptuous,
if I ask it likewise for my own sake. I am a humble member of the
community; but I am deeply interested in the welfare and reputation
of my native State, and that gives me some claim to be heard. I am
growing old; and on this great question of equal rights I have
toiled for years, sometimes with a heart sickened by "hope
deferred." I beseech you to let me die on Free Soil! Grant me the
satisfaction of saying, ere I go hence--

"Slaves cannot breathe among us. If their lungs
Receive _our_ air, that moment they are free!
They touch _our_ country, and their shackles fall!"

If you cannot be induced to reform this great wickedness, for the
sake of outraged justice and humanity, then do it for the honor of