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Travels in Some Parts of North America, in the Years 1804, 1805, & 1806, by Robert Sutcliff

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Grace; but the wind continuing high, it was thought unsafe to send the mail across the Sus- quehanna, which is here upwards of a mile over; so we concluded to lodge here, and see what the morning might produce. As we were a mixed company in the stage, the conversation turned on various subjects; and the poor Negro slaves being frequently in sight, as we passed along, they be- came one of course. I observed one passenger to be a warm advocate for the slave trade; and he, in very strong terms, condemned the conduct of friends who were active in the cause of the Negroes. Amongst other things, he remarked that there was a tailor in Philadelphia, a Quaker, of the name of -- --, whose work-board being at a front window, he had an opportunity of noticing the pas- sengers in the street; and that whenever he saw a Negro whom he judged to be a runaway slave, he would, in a moment, jump from his work-board and run into the street. If he found the Negro to be really a runaway, he would take him under his protection, and send him to some settlement in the back parts of Pennsylvania, where he would be sure to find employment; and thus he went on from day to day, in what the slave merchant considered no better than highway robbery. The man who was making these observations, I found had been in that trade; and that T. H. was the friend who had with much propriety been a father to the oppressed Negroes. 10th Month, 10th.