h passions enlisted in its support, is by no means its least
alarming feature. This Hydra has ten thousand heads, every one of which
will bite or growl, when the broad daylight of truth lays open the
secrets of its hideous den.

I shall perhaps be asked why I have said so much about the
slave-_trade_, since it was long ago abolished in this country? There
are several good reasons for it. In the first place, it is a part of the
system; for if there were no slaves, there could be no slave-trade; and
while there are slaves, the slave-trade _will_ continue. In the next
place, the trade is still briskly carried on in Africa, and slaves are
smuggled into these States through the Spanish colonies. In the third
place, a very extensive internal slave-trade is carried on in this
country. The breeding of negro-cattle for the foreign markets, (of
Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Missouri,) is a very
lucrative branch of business. Whole coffles of them, chained and
manacled, are driven through our Capital on their way to auction.
Foreigners, particularly those who come here with enthusiastic ideas
of American freedom, are amazed and disgusted at the sight.[G] A troop
of slaves once passed through Washington on the fourth of July, while
drums were beating, and standards flying. One of the captive negroes
raised his hand, loaded with irons, and waving it toward the starry
flag, sung with a smile of bitter irony, "Hail Columbia! _happy_ land!"

[Footnote G: See the second volume of Stuart's "Three years in North
America." Instead of being angry at such truths, it would be wise to
profit by them.]

In the summer of 1822, a coffle of slaves, driven through Kentucky,
was met by the Rev. James H. Dickey, just before it entered Paris. He
describes it thus: "About forty black men were chained together; each of
them was hand-cuffed, and they were arranged rank and file. A chain,
perhaps forty feet long, was stretched between the two ranks, to which
short chains were joined, connected with the hand-cuffs. Behind them
were about thirty women, tied hand to hand. Every countenance wore a
solemn sadness; and the dismal silence of despair was only broken by the
sound of two violins. Yes--as if to add insult to injury, the foremost
couple were furnished with a violin a-piece; the second couple were
ornamented with cockades; while near the centre our national standard
was carried by hands literally in chains. I may have mistaken some of
t