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

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Chapter V. Burlington--Allentown--New-York--Bristol--Philadelphia--Yearly Meeting there. On the 6th of the 4th Month, I left Philadelphia on my way to New-York, and, after a pleasant sail of three hours, arrived safe at Burlington. Among the passengers in the packet, was a British sailor on his way to England, being summoned as an evidence between the owners and underwriters of a slave ship. He told me, that he was the only survivor out of 380 persons; 350 of which were slaves. We read that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the notice of our heavenly Father. How great then must be the responsibility of the owners of one of these slave ships, who, in the wantonness of power, or the gratification of a base and sordid disposition, thus exposes the lives of his fellow-creatures to every species of suffering, and very frequently, as in the above case, to a premature death! I recollect once being in conversation with a person concerned in the traffic, and who was dis-posed to defend it; at length being hard pressed, he gave up the point, in a good deal of warmth, with this remarkable declaration:-Why, Sir,