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

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10th Month, 15th and 16th, I was employed in business; and having an opportunity, by a vessel which was ready for sailing, I wrote to my family. The next day I spent an hour or two in Doctor R.'s family. The Doctor, although advanced in years, is still very active in business; and his wife, who is an elderly woman, continues to be very active in her family. I found them amidst a nu-merous group of promising children; some of whom are arrived at years of maturity. The con-versation I had with the Doctor was interesting, he having been intimately acquainted with many of the leading characters in the Revolution, par-ticularly with General Washington, and the Presi- dent, T. Jefferson. As Doctor R. had constantly been a warm advocate for the abolition of Negro slavery, he sometimes endeavoured to introduce the subject in conversation with the General; but always found him extremely backward at saying any thing on these occasions, as if conscious of the cruelty of the practice, although he was deeply in-volved in it. Though a man of great character and talents in many respects, yet the detention of his Negro slaves in bondage during his life, will always be a shade to his virtues. Yet it is but justice to notice that, by will, he provided for the liberation of his slaves, who in course became free-men at his death.