rt the names, ages, and origin of their
possession, of all the coloured persons in their custody, under legal
affirmation, to the clerk of such county, to be transmitted by them to
some department designated for the purpose in each state. The most of
the present holders of these _stolen men_, probably acquired possession
of them as innocently as they do of legal slaves, and an attempt by
coercion, although justifiable with respect to the captive, would render
the enterprise abortive, through evasion, and probably would be more
expensive if successful.

79. It is my impression, that the introduction of slaves for sale into
almost every state in the union, is prohibited by specific statutes, and
if an annual inspection and registering of all slaves were enforced, it
would guarantee a compliance with such laws in a most effectual manner,
and dissolve the man-hunting fraternity at once.

80. I shall close this subject, which indeed "_is almost too deep and
awful to look into_," by declaring my solemn and decided conviction,
that the abstract relative principles of moral and political justice;
the sacred axioms of our Declaration of Independence, and of our
Constitution, as well as sound policy and prudence, obligate this
nation, most unequivocally, to ransom every human creature held in
_lawful_ bondage for life, against his will, without accusation of
crime; at an equitable valuation of his worth to the possessor under
existing laws, within the jurisdiction of the republic; and to place him
so nearly in a state of _personal_ liberty, and the enjoyment of his
natural and moral rights, as to secure to him the fruits or reward of
his own labour, the benefits of mental improvement, and exemption from
corporeal laceration. I do not consider it to be our duty to grant them
a participation in the _civil_ privileges of citizenship;[31]--but, they
have an incontestable claim to the protection of the laws, and to the
common privileges of aliens and strangers, or at least of prisoners of
war, so far as is compatible with the public peace and welfare. They are
created a distinct race of people, and the designs of the Author of
Nature ought not to be thwarted, by permitting their conjugal commixture
with a race physically different. Without examining the problematical
question of the inherent physical or moral superiority of either in the
scale of being, (which is not relevant to the present subject,)[32] I
must affirm, that in my hum