I will fly to our fellow-citizens in the Southern States; I will, on my knees, conjure them, in the name of humanity, to abolish a traffic which causes it to bleed in every pore. If they are deaf to the pleadings of nature, I will conjure them, for the sake of consistency, to cease to deprive their fellow-creatures of freedom, which their writers, their orators, representatives, senators, and even their constitutions of government, have declared to be the unalienable birthright of man."[99] [Footnote 98: Chap. xxx.] [Footnote 99: Chap. xxxii.] But this comparison was presented not merely in the productions of literature, or in fugitive essays. It was distinctly set forth, on an important occasion, in the diplomacy of our country, by one of her most illustrious citizens. Complaint had been made against England for carrying away from New York certain negroes, in alleged violation of the treaty of 1783. In an elaborate paper discussing this matter, John Jay, at that time, under the Confederation, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, says, "Whether men can be so degraded as, under any circumstances, to be with propriety denominated _goods and chattels_, and, under that idea, capable of becoming _booty_, is a question on which opinions are unfortunately various, even in countries professing Christianity and respect for the rights of mankind." He then proceeds, in words worthy of special remembrance at this time: "If a war should take place between France and Algiers, and in the course of it France should invite the American slaves there to run away from their masters, and actually receive and protect them in their camp, what would Congress, and indeed the world, think and say of France, if, in making peace with Algiers, she should give up those American slaves to their former Algerine masters? _Is there any difference between the two cases than this_, viz., _that the American slaves at Algiers are_ WHITE _people, whereas the African slaves at New York were_ BLACK _people_?" In introducing these sentiments, the Secretary remarks, "He is aware he is about to say unpopular things; but higher motives than personal considerations press him to proceed."[100] Words worthy of John Jay! [Footnote 100: Secret Journals of Congress, 1786, vol. iv. pp. 274-280.]