from the firm admonition, we leave for the secondary consideration
of proper wives and daughters.

But the reader will ask, what has this to do with poor Manuel
Pereira,--or the imprisonment of free citizens of a friendly nation?
We will show him that the complex system of official spoliation, and
the misrepresentations of the police in regard to the influence of
such persons upon the slave population, is a principal feature in
its enforcement. To do this, we deem it essentially necessary to
show the character of such men and the manner in which this law is
carried out. We shall make no charges that we cannot sustain by the
evidence of the whole city proper, and with the knowledge that truth
is stronger than fiction.

What will the reader say when we tell him that, among the leading
minds of the city--we say leading minds, for we class those who are
considered foremost in the mercantile sphere among them--are three
brothers, unmarried, but with mistresses bought for the purpose,
whose dark skins avert the tongue of scandal;--that, twice, men were
sold, because of the beauty of their wives, to distant traders, that
the brothers might cast off their old mistresses, and appropriate
new ones to an unholy purpose; that these men enjoy their richly
furnished mansions, are known for their sumptuous entertainments,
set an example of mercantile honor and integrity, are flattered
among the populace, receive the attentions of very fine and very
virtuous ladies, wield a potential voice in the city government, and
lead in the greatest development of internal improvements;--that
these men even whisper high-sounding words of morality, and the
established custom considers their example no harm when color is
modified.