The capital itself is but a great
slave-mart, with its baracoons and manacles, its handcuffs and
auction-stands! Ay, and all this in full view of the national edifice,
wherein is deposited that instrument which bears on its head and front
the noble sentiment--"That all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Under the
influence of these recollections, I abandoned the idea of visiting
Washington.
At 9 o'clock on Monday morning we set off by railway for Philadelphia.
While I was taking a last glance at my trunks in the luggage-van, at
the Baltimore station, about half-a-dozen very clean and respectable
coloured ladies came up, and made for the said van as a matter of
course. It was the only accommodation that would be allowed them,
though they paid the same fare as other people! They were ladies to
whom any gentleman in England would have been proud to resign a seat.
But in the land of equality, they were consigned to the cold, dark, and
dirty regions of the luggage-van. I noticed one important difference
between the railway economy of England and that of America.
Pages:
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259