[H]e watched with curiosity and interest the operation of a republican form of government on the continent of north America. Here, though he found much to applaud, he could not but deem it a sad instance of inconsistency, that a nation which had struggled so long […] in the assertion of its own freedom, should tolerate the slavery of negroes in its own dominion. But above all, he thought it lamentable that Washington, the great champion of independence, should hold several hundreds of his fellow men in bondage. On this subject, in the year 1797, he addressed to the General a letter of remonstrance. This letter is ably written, and its principles are irrefragable. It is, however, more strong than courteous – more convincing than conciliatory: and the Ex-President of the American republic testified to his displeasure at its contents, by returning it to the writer in a blank cover. (Shepherd 1824, pp. 22–23)

And reflect that your rights are the rights of mankind,

That to all they were bounteously given,

And that he who in chains would his fellow-man binds

Uplifts his proud arm against Heaven.