dollars for coming into the State; and if he cannot
pay it, may be sold at public outcry. This act has been changed to one
of increased severity. A free colored person cannot be a witness against
a white man. They may therefore be robbed, assaulted, kidnapped and
carried off with impunity; and even the legislatures of the old slave
States adopt it as a maxim that it is very desirable to get rid of them.
It is of no avail to _declare_ themselves free; the law _presumes_ them
to be slaves, unless they can _prove_ to the contrary. In many instances
written documents of freedom have been wrested from free colored people
and destroyed by kidnappers. A lucrative internal slave-trade furnishes
constant temptation to the commission of such crimes; and the _new_
States of Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and the territories of
Arkansas, and the Floridas, are not likely to be glutted for years to
come.

In Philadelphia, though remote from a slave market, it has been
ascertained that _more than thirty_ free persons of color, were stolen
and carried off within _two_ years. Stroud says: "Five of these have
been restored to their friends, by the interposition of humane
gentlemen, though not without great expense and difficulty. The others
are still in bondage; and if rescued at all, it must be by sending
_white_ witnesses a journey of more than a thousand miles."

I know the names of four colored citizens of Massachusetts, who went
to Georgia on board a vessel, were seized under the laws of that State,
and sold as slaves. They have sent the most earnest exhortations to
their families and friends to do something for their relief; but the
attendant expenses require more money than the friends of negroes are
apt to have, and the poor fellows as yet remain unassisted.

A New-York paper, November, 1829, contains the following caution:

"_Beware of kidnappers!_--It is _well understood_ that there is at
present in this city, a gang of kidnappers, busily engaged in their
vocation of stealing colored children for the Southern market! It is
believed that three or four have been stolen within as many days. A
little negro boy came to this city from the country three or four days
ago. Some strange white persons were very friendly to him, and yesterday
morning he was mightily pleased that they had given him some new
clothes. And the persons pretending thus to befriend him, entirely
secured his confidence. This day he cannot be found. Nor can he