, he had no doubt, was born as free a man
as himself, or my informant. Upon being asked, how he could _bear_ then
to retain him, he replied, that the customs of his part of the country
were such, that these things are not minded much.

[27] I was informed that the mulatto man was probably destined for the
New-Orleans market, not very far distant from the _Gulf of Mexico_,
which probably embraces more personal slavery, including its
neighbouring regions, than any region of equal extent on the globe.

[28] On the ensuing day, having persevered in endeavours to secure the
captives, the son of this landlord (to whom I presume _manacles_,
_hand-cuffs_, _iron man-fetters_, _hopples_ _&c._ are as familiar as
steel-traps and snares to the hunter of the _animals which yield fur_,)
expressed his sympathy for the loss of the purchaser of the mulatto man,
(who still remained in his chains,) should he be set at liberty. I asked
him whether he considered it worse for the trader to lose a few hundred
dollars in money, than for the mulatto man to be transported to a
strange country, and be deprived of his liberty for life. To which he
replied, after a short pause, _that he did not know as there was much
difference_! I assured him, that if he _did not_, I was _sorry_ for him.
This illustrates the invincible force of morbid education and of habit.

[29] By information, derived from distinct and corresponding sources, a
few days after this caravan left Washington, there is no doubt of the
fact, that it contained, in addition to the slaves, a young black woman,
who had been emancipated in Delaware, and was sold by the same person as
an agent, that assisted in seizing and sold the black woman and child;
and also a legally free mulatto man, in irons, who had been sold in the
night by his employer, near Philadelphia, and who was most unmercifully
beaten with a club, on the night previous to their arrival in the city,
for telling a person that he was free.

[30] Additional aid was also rendered by the Abolition Society at
Wilmington.

[31] It would be equally as absurd to do this, as it would to import
2,000,000 prisoners of war from Turkey or China, and make citizens of
them.

[32] "It is not for us to inquire why, in the creation of mankind, the
inhabitants of the several parts of the earth were distinguished by a
difference in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know, that all
are the work of an Almighty Hand." [From the first