Victor Hugo encourages abolitionists

In a letter to Maria Weston Chapman, Hugo speaks strongly against slavery:  “Slavery in the United States!  It is the duty of this republic to set such a bad example no longer …. The United States must renounce slavery, or they must renounce liberty … ”   Garrison comments, in an introduction to the letter, “Give it the widest circulation.  Its  words will make every humane heart thrill.”  (Liberator, August 8, 181)