"Some of the colored people outside, as well as in the
car, were weeping most bitterly. I learned that many
families were separated. Wives were there to take leave
of their husbands, and husbands of their wives, children
of their parents, brothers and sisters shaking hands
perhaps for the last time, friends parting with friends,
and the tenderest ties of humanity sundered at the
single bid of the inhuman slave-broker before them. A
husband, in the meridian of life, begged to see the
partner of his bosom. He protested that she was
free--that she had free papers, and was torn from him,
and shut up in the jail. He clambered up to one of the
windows of the car to see his wife, and, as she was
reaching forward her hand to him, the black-hearted
villain, Slatter, ordered him down. He did not obey. The
husband and wife, with tears streaming down their
cheeks, besought him to let them converse for a moment.
But no! a monster more hideous, hardened and savage,
than the blackest spirit of the pit, knocked him down
from the car, and ordered him away. The bystanders could
hardly restrain themselves from laying violent hands
upon the brutes. This is but a faint description of that
scene, which took place within a few rods of the
capitol, under _enactments_ recognized by Congress. O!
what a revolting scene to a feeling heart, and what a
retribution awaits the actors! Will not these wailings
of anguish reach the ears of the Most High? 'Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.'"

Of those sent off at this time, several, through the generosity of