these commodities were _obtained_ at the sacrifice of justice, and the natural rights of man, upon no other terms can our laws permit them to be indefinitely _retained_, by their present _possessors_, who are the substantial _successors_ and assigns of the original captors.[17] 54. To return from this lengthy excursion, I must acknowledge, (however ludicrous it may seem to those who are _hardened_ to such things by repetition,) that the tragedy of a company of men, women and children, pinioned and bound together with chains and ropes, without accusation of crime, and driven as beasts of the harness, through the metropolis of that country, of which I had hitherto indulged both pleasure and pride, in the consciousness of being a _native citizen_, and, of having commenced my life coevally with its constitutional organization; occurring at the precise hour of the convocation of the guardians of its liberties; produced a new era in my sensations. Disinclination, as well as the delay incurred, prevented my visit to the congressional hall on that day.--And I devoted several succeeding days to the purpose of delineating on paper, a faithful copy of the impressions and sentiments which involuntarily pervaded my _full_ heart and agitated mind. Those memoirs have furnished some materials for this essay. 55. One evening while writing notes concerning the occurrence just mentioned, a lad, sitting in the same room with me, was studying his lessons in Goldsmith's Abridgment of Geography; in which I noticed he read these words:--"The United States are celebrated for the excellence of their constitution, which provides for political liberty and individual security. _The inhabitants are justly famed for their ardent love of freedom._" Immediately after reading those paragraphs, he addressed me, without knowing on what subject I was occupied, thus: "Why, how can it be said that the inhabitants of the United States love LIBERTY, _while they hold almost a whole nation of people in a state of bondage and ignorance_?" I endeavoured to explain to him this puzzling problem, by replying, that "by _the inhabitants_ was meant the _white_ population of the United States, and the liberty which they ardently love is probably their _own_ liberty, which they appear to care more about than they do about the liberty of _black_ men."