THE HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE, BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

By THOMAS CLARKSON, M.A.   1839

Figure 1. Thomas Clarkson

CONTENTS

1. PREFATORY REMARKS ON THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
2. CHAPTER I
   Introduction.—Estimate of the evil of the Slave Trade; and of the
   blessing of the Abolition of it.—Usefulness of the contemplation
   of this subject

3. CHAPTER II
   Those, who favoured the cause of the Africans previously to 1787,
   were so many necessary forerunners in it.—Cardinal Ximenes;
   and others

4. CHAPTER III
   Forerunners continued to 1787; divided now into four classes.—First
   consists of persons in England of various descriptions, Godwyn,
   Baxter, and others

5. CHAPTER IV
   Second, of the Quakers in England, George Fox, and his religious
   descendants

6. CHAPTER V
   Third, of the Quakers in America.—Union of these with individuals
   of other religious denominations in the same cause

7. CHAPTER VI
   Facility of junction between the members of these three different
   classes

8. CHAPTER VII
   Fourth, consists of Dr. Peckard; then of the Author.—Author wishes
   to embark in the cause; falls in with several of the members of
   these classes

9. CHAPTER VIII
   Fourth class continued; Langton, Baker, and others.—Author now
   embarks in the cause as a business of his life

10. CHAPTER IX
    Fourth class continued; Sheldon, Mackworth, and others.—Author
    seeks for further information on the subject; and visits Members
    of Parliament

11. CHAPTER X
    Fourth class continued.—Author enlarges his knowledge.—Meeting at
    Mr. Wilberforce’s.—Remarkable junction of all the four classes,
    and a Committee formed out of them, in May, 1787, for the Abolition
    of the Slave Trade.

12. CHAPTER XI
    History of the preceding classes, and of their junction, shown by
    means of a map.

13. CHAPTER XII
    Author endeavours to do away the charge of ostentation in consequence
    of becoming so conspicuous in this work.

14. CHAPTER XIII
    Proceedings of the Committee; Emancipation declared to be no part
    of its object.—Wrongs of Africa by Mr. Roscoe.

15. CHAPTER XIV
    Author visits Bristol to collect information.—Ill-usage of seamen in
    the Slave Trade.—Articles of African produce.—Massacre at
    Calabar.

16. CHAPTER XV
    Mode of procuring and paying seamen in that trade; their mortality
    in it.—Construction and admeasurement of slave-ships.—Difficulty
    of procuring evidence.—Cases of Gardiner and Arnold.

17. CHAPTER XVI
    Author meets with Alexander Falconbridge; visits ill-treated and
    disabled seamen; takes a mate out of one of the slave-vessels, and
    puts another in prison for murder.

18. CHAPTER XVII
    Visits Liverpool.—Specimens of African produce.—Dock duties.—Iron
    instruments used in the traffic.—His introduction to Mr.
    Norris.

19. CHAPTER XVIII
    Manner of procuring and paying seamen at Liverpool in the Slave
    Trade; their treatment and mortality.—Murder of Peter Green.—Dangerous
    situation of the Author in consequence of his
    inquiries.

20. CHAPTER XIX
    Author proceeds to Manchester; delivers a discourse there on the
    subject of the Slave Trade.—Revisits Bristol; new and difficult
    situation there; suddenly crosses the Severn at night.—Returns
    to London.

21. CHAPTER XX
    Labours of the Committee during the Author’s journey.—Mr. Sharp
    elected chairman.—Seal engraved.—Letters from different correspondents
    to the Committee.

22. CHAPTER XXI
    Further labours of the Committee to February, 1788.—List of new
    Correspondents.

23. CHAPTER XXII
    Progress of the cause to the middle of May.—Petitions to
    Parliament.—Author’s interviews with Mr. Pitt and Mr. Grenville.—Privy
    Council inquire into the subject; examine Liverpool delegates.—Proceedings
    of the Committee for the Abolition.—Motion and
    Debate in the House of Commons; discussion of the general
    question postponed to the next Session.

24. CHAPTER XXIII
    Progress to the middle of July.—Bill to diminish the horrors of the
    Middle Passage; Evidence examined against it; Debates; Bill
    passed through both Houses.—Proceedings of the Committee, and
    effects of them.

25. CHAPTER XXIV
    Continuation from June, 1788, to July, 1789.—Author travels in
    search of fresh evidence.—Privy Council resume their examinations;
    prepare their report.—Proceedings of the Committee for
    the Abolition; and of the Planters and others.—Privy Council
    report laid on the table of the House of Commons; debate upon
    it.—Twelve propositions.—Opponents refuse to argue from the
    report; examine new evidence of their own in the House of
    Commons.—Renewal of the Middle Passage Bill.—Death and
    character of Ramsay.

26. CHAPTER XXV
    Continuation from July, 1789, to July, 1790.—Author travels to
    Paris to promote the abolition in France; his proceedings there;
    returns to England.—Examination of opponents’ evidence resumed
    in the Commons.—Author travels in quest of new evidence on the
    side of the Abolition; this, after great opposition, introduced.—Renewal
    of the Middle Passage Bill.—Section of the slave-ship.—Cowper’s
    Negro’s Complaint.—Wedgewood’s Cameos.

27. CHAPTER XXVI
    Continuation from July, 1790, to July, 1791.—Author travels
    again.—Examinations on the side of the Abolition resumed in the Commons;
    list of those examined.—Cruel circumstances of the
    times.—Motion for the Abolition of the Trade; debates; motion
    lost.—Resolutions of the Committee.—Sierra Leone Company
    established.

28. CHAPTER XXVII
    Continuation from July, 1791, to July, 1792.—Author travels
    again.—People begin to leave off sugar; petition Parliament.—Motion
    renewed in the Commons; debates; abolition resolved upon,
    but not to commence till 1796.—The Lords determine upon hearing
    evidence on the resolution; this evidence introduced; further
    hearing of it postponed to the next Session

29. CHAPTER XXVIII
    Continuation from July, 1792, to July, 1793.—Author travels
    again.—Motion to renew the Resolution of the last year in the Commons;
    motion lost.—New motion to abolish the foreign Slave
    Trade; motion lost.—Proceeding of the Lords

30. CHAPTER XXIX
    Continuation from July, 1793, to July, 1794.—Author travels
    again.—Motion to abolish the foreign Slave Trade renewed, and carried;
    but lost in the Lords; further proceedings there.—Author, on
    account of declining health, obliged to retire from the cause

31. CHAPTER XXX
    Continuation from July, 1794, to July, 1799.—Various motions within
    this period

32. CHAPTER XXXI
    Continuation from July, 1799, to July, 1805.—Various motions within
    this period

33. CHAPTER XXXII
    Continuation from July, 1805, to July, 1806.—Author, restored, joins
    the Committee again.—Death of Mr. Pitt.—Foreign Slave Trade
    abolished.—Resolution to take measures for the total abolition of
    the trade.—Address to the King to negotiate with foreign powers
    for their concurrence in it.—Motion to prevent new vessels going
    into the trade.—All these carried through both Houses of Parliament

34. CHAPTER XXXIII
    Continuation from July, 1806, to July, 1807.—Death of Mr. Fox.—Bill
    for the total abolition carried in the Lords; sent from thence
    to the Commons; amended, and passed there, and sent back to
    the Lords; receives the royal assent.—Reflections on this great
    event

35. Map
36. Plan and Sections of a Slave Ship

PREFATORY REMARKS

TO

THE PRESENT EDITION.

The invaluable services rendered by Thomas Clarkson to
the great question of the Slave Trade in all its branches,
have been universally acknowledged both at home and
abroad, and have gained him a high place among the
greatest benefactors of mankind. The History of the
Abolition which this volume contains, affords some means
of appreciating the extent of his sacrifices and his labours
in this cause. But after these, with the unwearied exertions
of William Wilberforce, had conducted its friends
to their final triumph, in 1807, they did not then rest from
their labours. There remained four most important
objects, to which the anxious attention of all Abolitionists
was now directed.

First,—The law had been passed, forced upon the
Planters, the Traders, and the Parliament, by the voice of
the people; and there was a necessity for keeping a
watchful eye over its execution.

Secondly,—The statute, however rigorously it might be
enforced, left, of course, the whole amount of the Foreign
Slave traffic untouched, and it was infinitely to be desired
that means should be adopted for extending our Abolition
to other nations.

Thirdly,—Some compensation was due to Africa, for
the countless miseries which our criminal conduct had for

ages inflicted upon her, and strict justice, to say nothing
of common humanity and Christian charity, demanded
that every means should be used for aiding in the progress
of her civilization, and effacing as far as possible the
dreadful marks which had been left upon her by our
crimes.

Lastly,—Many of those whom we had transported by
fraud and violence from their native country, and still
more of the descendants of others who had fallen a sacrifice
to our cruelties, and perished in the course of nature,
slaves in a foreign land, remained to suffer the dreadful
evils of West India bondage. It seemed to follow, that
the earliest opportunity consistent with their own condition,
should be taken to free those unhappy beings, the
victims of our sordid cruelty; and all the more to be
pitied, as we were all the more to be blamed, because one
result of our transgression was the having placed them in
so unnatural a position, that their enemies might seem to
be furnished with an argument more plausible than sound,
drawn from the Negro’s supposed unfitness for immediate
emancipation.

In order to promote these four great objects, a society
was formed in May 1807, called the African Institution,
and although, at first, its labours were chiefly directed to
the portion of the subject relating to Africa, by degrees,
as the extinction of the British Slave Trade was accomplished,
its care was chiefly bestowed on West India
matters, which were more within the power of this country
than the slave traffic, still carried on by foreign nations.
But it is necessary in the first place, to recite the measures
by which our own share in that enormous crime was
surrendered, and the stigma partially obliterated, which

it had brought upon our national character, Thomas
Clarkson bore a forward and important part in all these
useful and virtuous proceedings. His health was now, by
rest among the Lakes of Westmoreland for several years,
comparatively restored and his mind once more bent
itself to the accomplishment of the grand object; of his life,
we may he permitted reverently to suggest, the end of his
existence.

Mr. Stephen and others, at first, deemed the certainty
of the Act passed in March 1807, being evaded
under the stimulus, and the insurance against capture
afforded by the enormous profits of the traffic, so clear,
that they expected the law to become, almost from the
time of its being enacted, a dead letter. There soon
appeared the strongest reasons to concur in this opinion,
the result of long and close observation in the Islands
where Mr. Stephen had passed part of his life. The slave-dealers
knew the risk of penalty and forfeiture which they
ran; but they also knew that if one voyage in three or
four was successful, they were abundantly remunerated for
all their losses; and, therefore, they were no more restrained
by the Abolition Act, than by any moderate increase of
the cost or the risk attending their wicked adventures.
This was sure, to be the case, as long as the law only
treated slavetrading as a contraband commerce, subjecting
those who drove it to nothing but pecuniary penalties.
But it was equally evident that the same persons who
made these calculations of profit and risk, while they
only could lose the ship or the money by a seizure, would
hesitate before they encountered the hazard of being tried
as for a crime. And, surely, if ever these was an act
which deserved to be declared felony, and dealt with as

such, it was this of slave-trading. Accordingly, in 1810,
Mr. Brougham, then a member of the House of Commons,
in moving an address to the crown, (which was
unanimously agreed to,) for more vigorous measures
against the traffic, both British and Foreign, gave notice
of the Bill, which he next year carried through Parliament,
and which declared the traffic to be a felony,
punishable with transportation. Some years afterwards
it was by another Act made capital, under the name of
Piracy, but this has since been repealed. Several convictions
have taken place under the former Act, (of 1811,)
and there cannot be the least doubt that the law has
proved effectual, and that the Slave Trade has long ceased
to exist as far as the British dominions are concerned.

That foreign states continue shamefully to carry it on,
is no less certain. There are yearly transported to Cuba
and Brazil, above 100,000 unhappy beings, by the two
weakest nations in Europe, and these two most entirely
subject to the influence and even direct control of
England. The inevitable consequence is, that more
misery is now inflicted on Africa by the criminals, gently
called Slave-traders, of these two guilty nations, than if
there were no treaties for the abolition of the traffic. The
number required is always carried over, and hence, as
many perish by a miserable death in escaping from the
cruisers, as reach their destination. The recitals of horror
which have been made to Parliament and the country on
this dreadful subject, are enough to curdle the blood in
the veins and heart of any one endued with the common
feelings of humanity. The whole system of prevention,
or rather of capture, after the crime has been committed,
seems framed with a view to exasperate the evils of the

infernal traffic, to scourge Africa with more intolerable
torments, and to make human blood be spilt like water.
Our cruisers, are excited to an active discharge of their
duty, by the benefit of sharing in the price fetched
when the captured ship is condemned and sold; but this is
a small sum, indeed, compared with the rich reward of
head-money held out, being so much for every slave taken
on board. It is thus made the direct interest of these
cruisers, that the vessels should have their human cargoes
on board, rather than be prevented from shipping them.
True, this vile policy may prove less mischievous where
no treaty exists, giving a right to seize when there are
no slaves in the vessel, because here a slave ship is suffered
to pass, how clear soever her destination might be;
yet, even here, the inducement to send in boats, and seize
as soon as a slave or two may be on board, is removed,
and the cruiser is told, “only let all these wretched
beings be torn from their country, and safely lodged in
the vessel’s hold, and your reward is great and sure.”
Then, whenever there is an outfit clause, that is a power
to seize vessels fitted for the traffic, this mischievous
plan tends directly to make the cruiser let the slaver
make ready and put to sea, or it has no tendency or
meaning at all. Accordingly, the course is for the cruiser
to stand out to sea, and not allow herself to be seen in
the offing—the crime is consummated—the slaves are
stowed away—the pirate—captain weighs anchor—the
pirate-vessel freighted with victims, and manned by
criminals fares forth—the cruiser, the British cruiser,
gives chace—and then begin those scenes of horror, surpassing
all that the poet ever conceived, whose theme
was the torments of the damned and the wickedness of

the fiends. Casks are filled with the slave, and in these
they are stowed away; or to lighten the vessel, they are
flung overboard by the score; sometimes they are flung
overboard in casks, that the chasing ship may be detained
by endeavours to pick them up; the dying and the dead
strew the deck; women giving birth to the fruit of the
womb, amidst the corpses of their husbands and their
children; and other, yet worse and nameless atrocities,
fill up the terrible picture, of impotent justice and
triumphant guilt. But the guilt is not all Spanish and
Portuguese. The English Government can enforce its
demands on the puny cabinets of Madrid and Lisbon,
scarce conscious of a substantive existence, in all that
concerns our petty interests: wherever justice and mercy
to mankind demand our interference, there our voice sinks
within us, and no sound is uttered. That any treaty
without an outfit clause should be suffered to exist between
powers so situated, is an outrage upon all justice,
all reason, all common sense. But one thing is certain,
that unless we are to go further, we have gone too far,
and must in mercy to hapless Africa retrace our steps.
Unless we really put the traffic down with a strong hand,
and instantly, we must instantly repeal the treaties that
pretended to abolish it, for these exacerbate the evil a
hundred fold, and are ineffectual to any one purpose but
putting money into the pockets of our men of war. The
fact is as unquestionable, as it is appalling, that all our
anxious endeavours to extinguish the Foreign Slave
Trade, have ended in making it incomparably worse than
it was before we pretended to put it down; that owing
to our efforts, there are thrice the number of slaves yearly
torn from Africa; and that wholly because of our efforts,

two thirds of these are murdered on the high seas and in
the holds of the pirate vessels.

It is said, that when these scenes were described to an
indignant nation last session of Parliament, the actual
effects of this bad system were denied, though its tendency
could not be disputed.

It was averred that “no British seaman could be
capable of neglecting his duty for the sake of increasing
the gains of the station.” But nothing could be more
absurd than this. Can the direct and inevitable tendency
of the head-money system be doubted? Are cruisers the
only men over whom motives have no influence? Then
why offer a reward at all? When they want no stimulus
to perform their duty, why tell them that if the ship is
empty, they get a hundred pounds: if laden, five thousand?
They know the rules of arithmetic;—they understand
the force of numbers. But, in truth, there is not an individual
on all the coast of Africa who will be misled by
such appeals, or suffer all this to divert them from their
purpose of denouncing the system. There are persons
high in rank among the best servants of the crown, who
know the facts from their own observations, and who are
ready to bear witness to the truth, in spite of all the
attempts that have been made to silence them.

The other great object of the African Institution
regarded the West Indies. The preparation of the
negroes for that freedom which was their absolute right,
and could only be withheld for an hour, on the ground of
their not being prepared for it, and therefore being better
without it, was the first thing to be accomplished. Here
the friends of the abolition, all but Mr. Stephen, suffered
a great disappointment. He alone had uniformly-foretold

that the hopes held out, as it seemed very reasonably, of
better treatment resulting from the stoppage of the
supply of hands, were fallacious. All else had supposed
that interest might operate on men whom principle had
failed to sway; that they whom no feelings of compassion
for their fellow-creatures could move to do their duty,
might be touched by a feeling of their own advantage,
when interest coincided with duty. The Slave-mart is
now closed, it was said; surely the stock on hand will be
saved by all means, and not wasted when it can no longer
be replaced. The argument was purposely rested on the
low ground of regarding human beings as cattle, or even
as inanimate chattels, and it was conceived that human
life would be regarded of as much value as the wear and
tear of beasts, of furniture, or of tools. Hence it was
expected that a better system of treatment would follow,
from the law which closed the African market, and
warned every planter that his stock must be spared by
better treatment, and kept up by breeding, since it no
longer could be, as it hitherto had been, maintained by
new supplies.

Two considerations were, in these arguments, kept out
of view, both of a practical nature, and both known to
Mr. Stephen,—the cultivation of the Islands by agents
having wholly different interests from their masters, and
the gambling spirit of trading and culture which long
habit had implanted in the West Indian nature. The
comforts of the slave depended infinitely more upon the
agent on the spot, than the owner generally resident in
the mother country; and though the interest of the latter
might lead to the saving of negro life, and care for negro
comforts, the agent had no such motives to influence his

conduct; besides, it was with the eyes of this agent that
the planter must see, and he gave no credence to any
accounts but his. Now the consequence of cruelty is to
make men at war with its objects. No one but a most
irritable person feels angry with his beast, and even the
anger of such a person is of a moment’s duration. But
towards an inanimate chattel even the most irritable of
sane men can feel nothing like rage. Why? Because in
the one case there is little, in the other no conflict or resistance
at all. It is otherwise with a slave; he is human,
and can disobey—can even resist. This feeling always
rankles in his oppressor’s bosom, and makes the tyrannical
superior hate, and the more oppress his slave. The agent
on the spot feels thus, and thus acts; nor can the voice
of the owner at a distance be heard, even if interest,
clearly proved, were to prompt another course. But the
chief cause of the evil is the spirit of speculation, and it
affects and rules resident owners even more than absentees.
Let sugar rise in price, and all cold calculations
of ultimate loss to the gang are lost in the vehement thirst
of great present gain. All, or nearly all, planters are in
distressed circumstances. They look to the next few
years as their time; and if the sun shines they must make
hay. They are in the mine, toiling for a season, with
every desire to escape and realize something to spend
elsewhere. Therefore they make haste to be rich, and
care little, should the speculation answer and much sugar
bring in great gain, what becomes of the gang ten years
hence. Add to all this, that any interference of the local
legislatures to discourage sordid or cruel management, to
clothe the slaves with rights, to prepare them for freedom
by better education, to pave the way for emancipation by

restraining the master’s power, to create an intermediate
State of transition from slavery to freedom by partial
liberty, as by attaching them to the soil, and placing them
in the preparatory state through which our ancestors in
Europe passed from bondage in gross to entire independence—all
such measures were in the absolute discretion;
not of the planters, but of the resident agents, one
of the worst communities in the world, who had little
interest in preparing for an event which they deprecated,
and whose feelings of party, as well as individually, were
all ranged on the oppressor’s side. All this Mr. Stephen,
enlightened by experience, and wise by long reflection,
clearly and alone foresaw; all this vision of the future
was too surely realized by the event. No improvement of
treatment took place; no additional liberality in the supplies
was shown; no abstinence in the exaction of labour
appeared; no interference of the Colonial Legislature to
check misconduct was witnessed; far less was the least
disposition perceived to give any rights to the slaves, any
security against oppression, any title independent of his
Master, any intermediate state or condition which might
prepare him for freedom. It is enough to say, that a
measure which every man, except Mr. Stephen, had regarded
as the natural, almost the necessary effect of the
abolition—attaching the slaves to the soil—was not so
much as propounded, far less adopted; it may be even
said, was never mentioned in any one local assembly of
any of our numerous colonies, during the thirty years
which elapsed between the abolition and the emancipation!
This is unquestionable, and it is decisive.

As soon as it began to be perceived that such was likely
to be the result of the abolition in regard to the emancipation,

Mr. Stephen’s authority with his coadjutors, always
high, rose in proportion to the confirmations which the
event had lent his predictions; and his zealous endeavours
and unwearied labours for the subversion of the accursed
system became both more extensive and more effectual.
If, however, strict justice requires the tribute which we
have paid to this eminent person’s distinguished services,
justice also renders it imperative on the historian of the
Abolition in all its branches, to record an error into which
he fell. Having originally maintained that the traffic
would survive the Act of 1807, in which he was right,
that Act only imposing pecuniary penalties, he persisted
in the same opinion after the Act of 1811 had made
slave-trading a felony; and long after it had been
effectually put down in the British dominions, he continued
to maintain that it was carried on nearly as much
as ever, reasoning upon calculations drawn from the
island returns. Hence he insisted upon a general Registry
Act, as essential to prevent the continuance of an importation
which had little or no real existence. The
importance of such a measure was undeniable, with a
view to secure the good treatment of the negroes in the
islands; but the extinction of the Slave Trade had long
before been effectually accomplished.

In the efforts to obtain Negro Emancipation, all the
Abolitionists were now prepared to join. The conduct of
the Colonial Assemblies having long shown the fallacy of
those expectations which had been entertained of the
good work being done in the islands as soon as the
supply of new hands should be stopped by the Abolition,
there remained no longer any doubt whatever, that the
mother country alone could abate a nuisance hateful in

the sight of God and man. Constant opportunities were
therefore offered to agitate this great question, which was
taken up by the enlightened, the humane, and the religious,
all over the empire.

The magnitude of the subject was indeed worthy of
all the interest it excited. The destiny of nearly a million
of human beings—nay, the question whether they should
be treated as men with rational souls, or as the beasts
which perish—should enjoy the liberty to which all God’s
creatures are entitled, as of right, or be harassed, oppressed,
tormented, and stinted, both as regarded bodily
food, and spiritual instruction—whether the colonies
should be peopled with tyrants and barbarians, or inhabited
by civilized and improving christian communities—was
one calculated to put in action all the best principles
of our nature, and to move all the noblest feelings of the
human heart.

Thomas Clarkson, as far as his means extended, aided
this great excitement. He renewed his committees of
correspondence all over the country; aided by the Society
of Friends, his early and steady coadjutors in this pious
work, he recommenced the epistolary intercourse with
the provinces, held for so many hopeless years on the
Slave Trade, but now made far more promising by the
victory which had been obtained, and by the unanimity
with which all Abolitionists now were resolved to procure
emancipation. He also recommenced his journeys through
the different parts of the island, and visited in succession
part of Scotland, almost all England, and the whole of
Wales, encouraging and interesting the friends of humanity
wherever he went, and forming local societies and
committees for furthering the common object.

But it was, after all, in Parliament that the battle
must be fought; and Mr. Buxton, of whose invaluable
services in the House of Commons the cause has lately
been deprived, repeatedly, with the support of Messrs.
Wilberforce, William Smith, Brougham, Lushington,
and others, urged the necessity of interference upon the
representatives of a people unanimous in demanding it;
and he repeatedly urged it in vain. The Government
always leaned towards the planter, and the most flimsy
excuses were constantly given for preferring to the
effectual measures propounded by the Abolitionists, the
most flimsy of expedients, useless for any one purpose,
save that of making pretences and gaining time.

At length came the great case of the missionary
Smith’s persecution, trial, and untimely death, when all
the forms of judicature had been prostituted, all the rules
of law broken, all the principles of justice outraged, by
men assuming to sit in judgment as a court of criminal
jurisprudence; and though assisted by legal functionaries,
exhibiting such a spectacle of daring violation of the most
received and best known canons of procedure, as no
civilized community ever before were called upon to
endure. This subject was immediately brought before
Parliament by Mr. Brougham, and his motion of censure,
which might have been an impeachment of the governor
and the court of Demerara, was powerfully supported by
Mr. Wilberforce, the amiable, eloquent, and venerable
leader of the party, Mr. Denman, Mr. Williams, and Dr.
Lushington, but rejected by a majority of the Commons,
whom Mr. Canning led, in a speech little worthy of his
former exertions against the Slave Trade, and far from
being creditable either to his judgment or to his principles.

Yet this memorable debate was of singular service
to the cause. The great speeches delivered were spread
through all parts of the country; the nakedness of the
horrid system was exposed; the corruptions as well as
cruelty of slavery were laid bare; the determination of
colonies to protect its worst abuses was demonstrated;
necessity of the mother-country interfering with a
strong hand was declared; and even the loss of the
motion showed the people of England how much their
own exertions were still required if they would see
slavery extirpated, by proving that upon them alone the
fate of the execrable system hung.

The effects of this great debate cannot be over estimated.
The case of the missionary became the universal
topic; The name of the martyred Smith, the general
rallying cry. The superior interest excited by individual
sufferings to any general misery inflicted upon masses of
the people, or any evil, however gigantic, which operates
over a large space, and in a course of time, has always
been observed. The remark was peculiarly applicable in
this instance. Although all reflecting men had, for many
long years, been well aware of the evils pervading our
colonial system, and though the iniquity and perverseness
of West Indian judicatures had long been the topic of
universal comment, yet this single case of a persecuted
individual falling a victim to those gross perversions of
law and justice which are familiar to the colonial people,
produced an impression far more general and more deep
than all that had ever been written or declaimed against
system of West India slavery; and looking back on
the consummation of all our hopes in 1833 and 1838, we
at once revert from this auspicious era to that ever

memorable occasion as having laid the solid foundation
of our ultimate triumph.

In this important day, which has thus by its effects
proved decisive of the Emancipation question, Mr. Stephen
bore no part. He had long ceased to adorn and enlighten
the House of Commons. His retirement was the result
of honest differences of opinion respecting West India
slavery with his political friends, then in the plenitude of
their power. Those differences caused him to take the
noble part, so rarely acted by politicians, of withdrawing
from Parliament rather than lend his great support to men
with whom he differed upon a question admitting no compromise;
and he devoted his exertions in private life to
the furtherance of the cause ever nearest his heart, the
publication of his able and elaborate work on the Colonial
Slave Laws was the fruit of his leisure; and had he never
lent any other aid to the Emancipation, this would alone
have placed him high among its most able and effective
supporters. In all the consultations which were held
before Mr. Brougham’s motion in 1824, he bore an active
and useful part. In pushing the advantages gained by
the debate he was unwearied and successful. Unhappily
it pleased Providence that he should not receive here
below the final reward of his long and valued labours;
for he was called to his final repose some months before
the Emancipation Bill passed into a law.

There remains little to add, except that this measure,
which was carried with little opposition in 1833, owed
its success in Parliament to the ample bribe of twenty
millions, by which the acquiescence of the West Indians
was purchased. The measure had hardly come into
operation, when all men perceived that the intermediate

state of apprenticeship was anything rather than a
preparation for freedom, and anything rather than a
mitigation of slavery. It is due to some able and distinguished
friends of the negro race to state, that they all
along were averse to this plan of a transition state.
Lord Howick, then in the Colonial Office as Under-Secretary,
went so far as to leave the department, from
his dislike of this part of the measure. Mr. Buxton and
others protested against it. Even its friends intimated
that they wished the period of apprenticeship to end in
1838 instead of 1840; but there was a general belief of
the preparatory step being necessary,—a belief apparently
founded on experience of the negro character, and
indeed of the vicious tendency of all slavery, to extinguish
the power of voluntary labour, as well as to make the
sudden change to freedom unsafe for the peace of the
community. The fact soon dispersed these opinions.
Antigua in a minute emancipated all her slaves to the
number of thirty thousand and upwards. Not a complaint
was ever heard of idleness or indolence; and, far
from any breach of the peace being induced by the sudden
change in the condition of the people, the Christmas of
1833 was the first, for the last twenty years, that martial
law was not proclaimed, in order to preserve the public
peace. Similar evidence from Jamaica and other islands,
proving the industrious and peaceable habits of the
apprentices, showed that there was nothing peculiar in
the circumstances of Antigua.

An important occurrence is now to be recorded as
having exercised a powerful influence upon the question
of immediate emancipation. Joseph Sturge, of Birmingham,
a member of the Society of Friends, stricken with a

sense of the injustice perpetrated against the African
race, repaired to the West Indies, in order that he might
examine, with his own eyes, the real state of the question
between the two classes. He was accompanied by John
Scoble and Thomas Harvey; and these able, excellent,
and zealous men returned in a few months with such
ample evidence of the effects produced by apprenticeship,
and the fitness of the negroes for liberty, that the
attention of the community was soon awakened to the
subject, even more strenuously than it ever before had
been; and the walls of Parliament were soon made once
more to ring with the sufferings of the slave, only emancipated
in name, and the injustice of withholding from
him any longer the freedom which was his indefeasible
right, as soon as he was shown capable of enjoying it
beneficially for himself and safely for the rest of the
community.

In these transactions, both in Jamaica, where he is
one of the largest planters, and in Parliament, where he
is one of the most respected members, the Marquess of
Sligo bore an eminent and an honourable part. His
praise has been justly sounded by all who have supported
the cause of negro freedom, and his conduct was
by all admitted to be as much marked by the disinterested
virtue of a good citizen and amiable man, as it was
by the sagacity and ability of an enlightened statesman.
Both as governor of Jamaica, as the owner of slaves
whom he voluntarily liberated, and as a peer of Parliament,
his patriotism, his humanity, and his talents, shone
conspicuously through this severe and glorious struggle.
While such was the conduct of those eminent philanthropists,
some difference of opinion prevailed among the

other and older leaders of the cause, chiefly grounded
upon doubts whether the arrangement made by Parliament
in 1833, might not be regarded as a compact with
the planters which it would be unjust to violate by
terminating their right to the labour of the apprentices
at a period earlier than the one fixed in the Emancipation
Act. A little consideration of the question at issue soon
dispelled those doubts, and removed every obstacle to
united exertion, by restoring entire unanimity of opinion.
The slaves, it was triumphantly affirmed, were no party
to the compact. But moreover, the whole arrangement
of the apprenticeship was intended as a benefit to them,
by giving them the preparation thought to be required
before they could, safely for themselves, be admitted to
unrestricted freedom,—not as a benefit to the planters,
whose acquiescence was purchased with the grant of
twenty millions. Experience having shown that no
preparation at all was required, it was preposterous to
continue the restraint upon natural liberty an hour
longer, as regarded the negroes,—the only party whom
we had any right to consider in the question; and as for
the planters there was the grossest absurdity in further
regarding any interests or any claims of theirs. The
arrangement of 1833, as far as regards the transition or
intermediate state, had been made under an error in fact,
an error propagated by the representations of the masters.
That error was now at an end, and an immediate alteration
of the provisions to which it had given rise was thus a
matter of strict justice;—not to mention that the planters
had failed to perform their part of the contract. The
Colonial Assemblies had, except in Antigua, done nothing
for the slave in return for the large sum bestowed upon

the West India body. So that in any view there was an
end of all pretext for the further delay of right and
justice.

The ground now taken by the whole Abolitionists;
therefore, both in and out of Parliament was, that the
two years which remained of the indentured apprenticeship
must immediately be cut off, and freedom
given to the slaves in August, 1838, instead of 1840;
The peace of the West Indian community, and the real
interests of the planters, were affirmed to be as much
concerned in this change as the rights of the negroes
themselves. Far from preparing them for becoming
peaceable subjects and contented members of society at
the end of their apprenticeship, those two years of compulsory
labour would, it was justly observed, be a period
of heart-burning and discontent between master and
servant, which must, in the mean while, be dangerous to
the peace of society, and must leave, at the end of the
time, a feeling of mutual ill-will and distrust. The
question could no longer be kept from the cognizance of
the negro people. Indeed, their most anxious expectations
were already pointed towards immediate liberty,
and their strongest feelings were roused to obtain it.

Of these sentiments the whole community partook;
meetings were everywhere held; petitions crowded the
tables of Parliament; the press poured forth innumerable
tracts which were eagerly received; the pulpit lent its
aid to this holy cause; and discussions upon petitions
and upon incidental motions shook the walls of Parliament,
while they stimulated the zeal of the people. The
Government adopted an unfortunate course, which contributed
greatly to weaken their hold on the confidence

and affections of the country; they resisted all the
motions that were made on behalf of the slaves, and
appeared to regard only the interests of the master,
turning a deaf ear to the arguments of right and of
justice.

It was found, during the course of these debates, that
a new Slave Trade had sprung up in the East Indies,
with the sanction of an English Order in Council. Under
pretence that hands were wanted to cultivate their estates,
the Demerara planters had obtained permission to import
what they termed, with a delicacy borrowed from the
vocabulary of the African Slave Trade, “labourers”
from Asia and from Africa east of the Cape, and to make
them Indentured Apprentices for a term of years. No
restrictions whatever were imposed by this unheard-of
Order. No tonnage was required in proportion to the
numbers shipped, no amount of provision, no medical
assistance; no precautions were taken, or so much as
thought of, to prevent kidnapping and fraud, nay, to
prevent main force being used in any part of Eastern
Africa, or of all Asia, in carrying on board the victims of
West Indian avarice; in short, a worse Slave Trade than
the African was established, and all the dominions of the
East India Company, with all the African and Asiatic
coasts, as yet independent, were given over to its ravages.
This was repeatedly denounced by Lord Brougham in the
House of Lords; and although his motion for rescinding
the order was supported by Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Ellenborough,
and Lord Wharncliffe, the influence of the
Government and the planters prevailed, and the House
rejected it. A bill was afterwards brought in to check
the enormities complained of; but no remedy at all effectual

is as yet applied. The official documents, however,
proved that already men had been inveigled on board,
by the agents of the Mauritius planters, in different parts
of the East, and that the mortality on that comparatively
short voyage exceeded even the dreadful waste of life
which had characterized, and impressed with marks of
horrid atrocity, the accursed Middle Passage.

This subject, as might well be expected, once more
roused the energies of Thomas Clarkson: he addressed an
able and convincing letter to Lord Brougham, his old
friend and coadjutor in the sacred cause; and it was
printed and universally circulated. The subject still
remains unsettled: and the labours of the enlightened
philanthropist cannot now be directed to one more
important, or more urgent.

Meanwhile, in the spring of 1838, the question of
Immediate Emancipation was agitated throughout the
country. The Government proved hostile. Immense
meetings were held at Exeter Hall, which were attended
by many members of Parliament, over which Lord
Brougham presided. Among others who were present
and bore a distinguished part, were certain representatives
of Ireland who promised their strenuous support.
It is a painful duty to add, that their fellow-members
from Ireland did not, on this great occasion, follow their
good example; for eleven only of those, on whose votes
reliance had been placed, opposed the Government, while
no less than twenty-seven gave them support.

The question was rejected by the House of Lords,
when brought forward by Lord Brougham; but in spite
of the efforts of the Government; the defalcation of the
Irish, of a still greater proportion of the Scotch representatives,

two hundred and seventeen members of the House
of Commons voted for Immediate Abolition, out of four
hundred and eighty-nine who were present on the occasion.
A second effort in the same session placed Ministers
in a minority; but they immediately gave notice, they
should strenuously oppose any attempt to carry into
practical effect this decision of the House; and in this
determination they were supported by a majority on a
third division.

The word, however, had gone forth all over England,
that the Slave should be free. It had not only pervaded
Europe, it had reached America; and the West Indians
at length perceived that they could no longer resist the
voice of the British people, when it spoke the accents of
humanity and of justice. The slaves would have met the
dawn of the first of August,—the day which all the
motions in Parliament and all the prayers of the petitions
had fixed,—with perfect quiet, but with a resolute determination
to do no work. The peace would not have
been broken, but no more would a clod have been turned
after that appointed sun had risen. A handful of whites
surrounded by myriads of negroes,—now substantially
free, and free without a blow,—must have been overwhelmed
in an hour after sunrise on that day, had they
resisted. The Colonial Legislatures, therefore, now
listened to the voice of reason, and they, one after
another, emancipated their slaves. The first of August
saw not a bondsman, under whatever appellation, in
any part of the Western Sea which owns the British
rule.

The Mauritius, however, still held out, and on the
Mauritius the hand of the Imperial Parliament must and

will be laid, to enforce mercy and justice on those to whom
mercy and justice have so long called aloud in vain. In
truth, if the case for instant emancipation was strong everywhere,
it was in no quarter half so strong as in the Mauritius;
and the distribution of the grant by Parliament to
this Colony was the most unjustifiable, and even incomprehensible.
For, elsewhere, there existed at least a title to
the slave, over whom an unjust and unchristian law recognised
the right of property. But in the Mauritius there
was not, nor is there now, one negro to whom a good title
is clearly provable. The atrocious conduct of Governors
and other functionaries, in conniving at the Slave Trade
of Eastern Africa, had filled that Colony with thousands
of negroes, every one of whom was carried there by the
commission of felony, long after Slave Trading had been
declared a capital crime by the law of the land, as by the
law of nature it always was. Sir George Murray, when
Colonial Secretary of State, had admitted, that at least
thirty thousand of the negroes in the settlement were
nominally slaves, but in reality free, having been carried
thither contrary to law. He understated it by twenty
thousand or more: yet on all these negroes, in respect of
property, were two millions and more claimed: for all
these the compensation money was given and taken,
which Parliament had lavishly bestowed. How then
was it possible to doubt, that every slave in the Mauritius
should receive his freedom, when the only ground
alleged for not singling out and liberating this fifty
thousand, was the inability to distinguish them from
the rest? If ten men are tried for an offence, and it
is clear that five are innocent, though you cannot distinguish
them from their companions, what jury will hesitate

in acquitting the whole, on the ordinary principle
of its being better five guilty should escape than five
guiltless suffer? The same is still the state of the case
in that most criminal settlement, which, having far
surpassed all others in the enormity of its guilt, is now
the only one where no attempt has been made to evince
repentance by amendment of conduct. But the Government
which has the power of compelling justice will share
the crime which they refuse to prevent, and the Legislature
must compel the Government, if their guilty
reluctance shall continue, or it will take that guilt upon
itself^A.

A: It is truly gratifying to state, that the late Secretary for the
Colonies, Lord Glenelg, has, since this was written, given the most
satisfactory assurances of orders having been sent over for immediate
emancipation, in case the former instructions to the Governor of
Mauritius should have failed, to make the Colonists themselves adopt
the measure. Lord Glenelg’s conduct on this occasion is most creditable
to him.

The latest act of Thomas Clarkson’s life has been one
which, or rather the occasion for which, it is truly painful
to contemplate; but this too must be recorded, or the
present historical sketch would be incomplete. He whose
days had all been spent in acts of kindness and of justice
to others, was at last forced to exert his powers, supposed,
by some, and erroneously supposed, to be enfeebled by
age, in obtaining redress for his own wrongs. He whose
thoughts had all been devoted to the service of his fellow-creatures,
was now obliged to think of himself. A life
spent in works of genuine philanthropy, alike standing
aloof from party, and retiring with genuine humility from
the public gaze, might have well hoped to escape that
detraction, which is the lot of those who assume the

leading stations among their contemporaries, and mingle
in the contentious scenes of worldly affairs. Or, at least,
it might have been expected that his traducers would
only be found among the oppressors of the New World,
or the slave-traders of the Old. This felicity has not
been his lot; and the evening of his days has been overcast
by an assault upon his character, proceeding from the
quarter of all others the most unexpected and the most
strange.

The sons of his old and dear friend William Wilberforce,—whose
incomparable merits he had ever been the
first to acknowledge, whom he loved as a brother, and
revered as the great leader of the cause to which his
whole life had been devoted,—in publishing a Life of
their illustrious parent, thought fit to charge Thomas
Clarkson with having suppressed his services while he
exaggerated his own; and not content with bringing a
charge utterly groundless, (as it was instantly proved,)
they deemed it worthy of their subject and of their name,
to drag forth into the light of day a private correspondence
of a delicate nature, with the purpose of proving
that their father and others had assisted him with money,
and that he had been pressing in his demands of a
subscription. Two extracts of Letters of his were
printed by these reverend gentlemen, upon which a
statement was afterwards grounded in the Edinburgh
Review of their book, that the subscription was raised to
remunerate him for his services in the Abolition. They
further asserted, that their father was in the field before
him, and that it was under their father’s direction that he,
and the Abolition Committee of 1786, acted. In the
whole history of controversy, we venture to affirm, there

never was an instance of so triumphant a refutation as
that by which these slanderous aspersions were instantly
refuted, and their authors and their accomplices reduced
to a silence as prudent as discreditable.

The venerable philanthropist took up his pen, worn
down in the cause of humanity and of justice. First,
he showed, by incontrovertible evidence, the utter falsehood
of the charge, that he had underrated the merits of
others and exalted his own. These proofs were the references
to his volumes themselves, which it really seemed as
if the two reverend authors had never even looked into.
He then proved to demonstration that he had taken the
field earlier than William Wilberforce. This was shown,
first, by known dates, matter of history; next, by letters
from the friends of both parties, as Archdeacon Corbet
and William Smith; but, lastly, by the words of William
Wilberforce himself, as well privately as at public meetings,
asserting that he (William Wilberforce) came into
the field after his valued friend. But a striking fact may
be cited, as a sample at once of the course pursued by
the assailants, and the completeness of the defence.
The reverend authors in proof of their unqualified assertion,
that Thomas Clarkson and the Committee acted
from the first under William Wilberforce’s directions,
refer to “MS. Minutes of the Committee” for their
authority. But the friend who so ably superintended the
publication of Thomas Clarkson’s defence, and who added
to that tract an appendix of singular merit and great
interest (H.C. Robinson), showed that the parts referred
to by the reverend authors, in proof of their assertion,
completely disproved it; and that six months after the
Committee had been working, William Wilberforce

applied to them for any information of which they might
be possessed on the subject of the Slave Trade.

But the publication of the letters and the colour
given to the transaction were far worse. The preservation
of that correspondence, at all, by the sons, could only be
justified by the belief of its being accidentally kept by the
father, but, of course, never intended to be made public;
least of all without the usual precaution of asking the
writer’s leave, and giving him the opportunity of explaining
it. The biographers printed it without any kind of
communication with him, and he saw it for the first time
in print.

Then, the attempt was made to represent this pure,
and valuable, and disinterested man as a mendicant
philanthropist, who, for his exertions in the cause of
justice, stooped to the humiliating attitude of collecting
a remuneration from his friends. The words of William
Wilberforce, and other Abolition leaders, prove that he
had expended a very considerable portion of his own small
patrimony in the cause, and that the subscription was to
pay a debt,—a just and lawful debt; not to confer a
bounty, or reward, or remuneration for services performed.
It is also proved, that after being reimbursed to the
amount of the sum contributed, or rather levied on those
for whom the poorest of their body had advanced his
own money, he remained out of pocket far more than
others had ever given, after their share of the repayment
was credited to them, in this debtor and creditor
account.

But this is not all: Mr. Wilberforce himself, then a
man of ample fortune, and Member for Yorkshire, had in
1807, published a pamphlet in the cause. The Minutes

of the Committee for 6th June, 1811, contained an entry
of an order to pay 83l. out of the subscription funds to Mr.
Cadell, being Mr. Wilberforce’s share of the loss sustained
by that publication. There had been no mention at all of
this in his life, by these reverend authors, who scrupled
not to print the garbled letters, with the manifest design
of lowering the character of their father’s friend, by
ranking him among venal stipendiary pretenders to philanthropy,
and jobbing mendicant patriots.

Wherefore, it may be asked, was this matter at all
dragged forth to light, except to effect that unworthy
purpose, and to give pain to a man as eminently as
deservedly respected and beloved? The false pretext is,
the vindication of their father’s memory.—But it had never
been attacked. They affect to suppose such an attack,
that they may have a pretext for inflicting a wound in a
fictitious and almost a fraudulent defence.—But if it had
been ever so rudely attacked, the letters are no defence.
For the only possible pretence of attack was the notion
of Thomas Clarkson having assumed the priority, and
these letters can have no earthly relation to that point.
Whether Wilberforce, or Clarkson, or neither of them,
first began the abolition struggle, is a question as utterly
wide of the subscription as any one private matter in the
life of either party can be of any one public transaction
in which both were engaged.

The indignation of mankind was awakened by this
disgraceful proceeding, and it was in vain that the friends
of the Wilberforces urged, as some extenuation of their
offence, the zeal which they naturally cherished for the
memory of their parent. Men of reflection felt that no
well-regulated mind can ever engage in slandering one

person for the purpose of elevating another. Men of
ordinary discernment perceived that the assaults on
Clarkson’s reputation had no possible tendency to raise
Wilberforce’s reputation. Men of observation saw at
once that there lurked behind the wish to praise the one
party, a desire to wound the other; and gave them far
less credit for over-anxiety to gratify their filial affections
than eagerness to indulge their hostile feelings. It
was plain, too, that they sought this gratification at the
hazard of bringing a stain upon the memory of their
father; for what could be more natural than the suspicion
that they had obtained from him the materials out of
which their web of detraction was woven? And what
more discreditable to the author of the affectionate and
familiar letters of Wilberforce to Clarkson than their
discrepancy with the charges now urged against him?
It is due to the memory of this venerable man, now gone
to his rest, to say that no one who knew him, ever so
slightly, could believe in the possibility of his holding one
language to his friend and another to his children: far less
of his bequeathing to them anything like materials for the
attack upon one to whom he professed the most warm and
steady attachment. But if such be the conclusion of all
who knew the man, assuredly in arriving at it they have
derived no help from the lights afforded by his family.

The vindication of Thomas Clarkson has been triumphant;
the punishment of his traducers has been
exemplary. His character stands higher than ever; his
name is lofty and it is unsullied; they have a character
to retrieve,—a name which they have tarnished since it
descended upon them, they have to restore by their own
future deserts.

The astonishment of the world was at its pitch when
the champion of Abolition, the steady ally of Thomas
Clarkson and Granville Sharpe, the Edinburgh Review,
was seen attempting to rescue these parties, and taking
part against the injured man, the patriarch of a cause defended
by that celebrated Journal during a brilliant period
of much above thirty years. The boldness displayed in
its pages on this occasion was excessive. As if feeling
that the weak and indefensible part in the assault was the
publishing of the letters, it had the confidence to affirm,
that this proceeding was called for in justice to Wilberforce’s
memory. So daring an attempt upon the integrity
of facts has not often been witnessed. What! The publication
of these letters, which had no possible connexion
with Wilberforce’s character, (a character, indeed, that no
one had assailed,) letters which were absolutely foreign
even to the question of priority in the abolition cause,—the
publication of these necessary to the defence of Wilberforce?
Then, upon what ground necessary? How
had he been attacked? Where was he to be defended?
But, if attacked, how did the letters aid,—how connect
themselves with,—how, in any manner of way, bear upon
the defence, or any defence, or any portion of Wilberforce’s
character and life? They showed him to have
contributed towards the payment of a debt he had contracted
to Clarkson. But who had ever charged him with
refusing to pay his debts? With his merits as to the
Abolition, (if that be what is meant by his character,)—merits
which it was a mere fabrication to pretend that
Clarkson had ever been slow to acknowledge,—those
letters had absolutely no possible connexion; and whoever,
on this score, affects to defend this publication, is capable

of vindicating the printing any private letter upon the
most delicate subject, by any man who writes the history
of any other affair, or who writes on any subject from which
the correspondence is wholly foreign. It is proper to
add, that the editors of this Journal have most properly
published a retractation of the charges made, in their
ignorance of the whole facts of the case.

The acute and sagacious editor of T. Clarkson’s vindication,
has given his reasons for suspecting that this criticism,
in the Edinburgh Review, must have proceeded from
some party directly concerned in the publication of Wilberforce’s
life. We enter into no discussion of the circumstantial
evidence adduced in favour of this supposition.
The editors of the Journal are the parties to whom we
look; and as they, after being to all appearance misled
by some partial writer, have made the best reparation
for an involuntary error, by doing justice to the injured
party, we can have no further remark to make upon the
subject.

But it is impossible to close these pages without
mentioning the extraordinary merit of this latest, and, in
all likelihood, this last production of Clarkson’s pen. It
is indeed a most able performance, and has been admired
by some of the ablest controversial writers of the age, as
a model of excellence in controversial writing. Plain,
vigorous, convincing, perfectly calm and temperate, devoid
of all acrimony, barely saying enough to repel unjust
aggression without one word of retaliation, never losing
sight for a moment of its purely defensive object, and
accordingly, from the singleness of purpose with which
that object is pursued, attaining it with the most triumphant
success,—no wonder that the public judgment

has been loudly and universally pronounced in its favour,
that its adversaries have been reduced to absolute silence,
that its author’s name has been exalted even higher than
before it stood. But the wonder is to see such unimpaired
vigour at four-score years of age, after a life of unwearied
labour, latterly clouded by domestic calamity, and
a spirit as young as ever in zeal for justice, tempered only
by the mellowness which the kindly heart spreads over
the fruits of the manly understanding.

There wanted no testimonials of esteem from his
country to consummate the venerable philanthropist’s
renown; yet these too have been added. Various meetings
have addressed their gratulations to him. Of these
the great corporation of London claims the first regard,
and after presenting him with the freedom of the city,
they have ordered to be erected in their hall, as a memorial
of his extraordinary virtue, a likeness of the mortal
form of Thomas Clarkson.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

No subject more pleasing than that of the removal of evils.—Evils have existed
almost from the beginning of the world; but there is a power in our
nature to counteract them—this power increased by Christianity.—Of the
evils removed by Christianity one of the greatest is the Slave Trade.—The
joy we ought to feel on its abolition from a contemplation of the nature of
it; and of the extent of it; and of the difficulty of subduing it.—Usefulness
also of the contemplation of this subject.

I scarcely know of any subject, the contemplation of which is
more pleasing, than that of the correction or of the removal of
any of the acknowledged evils of life; for while we rejoice to
think that the sufferings of our fellow-creatures have been thus, in
any instance, relieved, we must rejoice equally to think, that our
own moral condition must have been necessarily improved by
the change.

That evils, both physical and moral, have existed long upon
earth there can be no doubt. One of the sacred writers, to whom
we more immediately appeal for the early history of mankind, informs
us that the state of our first parents was a state of innocence
and happiness; but that, soon after their creation, sin and misery
entered into the world. The poets in their fables, most of which,
however extravagant they may seem, had their origin in truth,
speak the same language. Some of these represent the first
condition of man by the figure of the golden, and his subsequent
degeneracy and subjection to suffering by that of the silver, and
afterwards of the iron age. Others tell us that the first female
was made of clay; that she was called Pandora, because every

necessary gift, qualification, or endowment, was given to her by
the gods, but that she received from Jupiter, at the same time, a
box from which, when opened, a multitude of disorders sprung,
and that these spread themselves immediately afterwards among
all of the human race. Thus it appears, whatever authorities we
consult, that those which may be termed the evils of life existed
in the earliest times. And what does subsequent history, combined
with our own experience, tell us, but that these have been
continued, or that they have come down in different degrees
through successive generations of men, in all the known countries
of the universe, to the present day?

But though the inequality visible in the different conditions
of life, and the passions interwoven into our nature, (both which
have been allotted to us for wise purposes, and without which we
could not easily afford a proof of the existence of that, which is
denominated virtue,) have a tendency to produce vice and wretchedness
among us, yet we see, in this our constitution, what may
operate partially as preventives and corrective of them. If
there be a radical propensity in our nature to do that which is
wrong, there is, on the other hand, a counteracting power within
it, or an impulse by means of the action of the divine Spirit upon
our minds, which urges us to do that which is right. If the voice
of temptation, clothed in musical and seducing accents, charms us
one way, the voice of holiness, speaking to us from within, in a
solemn and powerful manner, commands us another. Does one
man obtain a victory over his corrupt affections? an immediate
perception of pleasure, like the feeling of a reward divinely
conferred upon him, is noticed. Does another fall prostrate
beneath their power? a painful feeling, and such as pronounces
to him the sentence of reproof and punishment is found to follow.
If one, by suffering his heart to become hardened, oppresses a
fellow-creature, the tear of sympathy starts up in the eye of
another, and the latter instantly feels a desire, involuntarily
generated, of flying to his relief. Thus impulses, feelings, and
dispositions have been implanted in our nature, for the purpose
of preventing and rectifying the evils of life. And as these have
operated, so as to stimulate some men to lessen them by the

exercise of an amiable charity, so they have operated to stimulate
others in various other ways to the same end. Hence the philosopher
has left moral precepts behind him in favour of benevolence,
and the legislator has endeavoured to prevent barbarous practices
by the introduction of laws.

In consequence then of these impulses and feelings, by which
the pure power in our nature is thus made to act as a check upon
the evil part of it, and in consequence of the influence which
philosophy and legislative wisdom have had in their respective
provinces, there has been always, in all times and countries, a
counteracting energy, which has opposed itself, more or less, to
the crimes and miseries of mankind. But it seems to have been
reserved for Christianity to increase this energy, and to give it
the widest possible domain. It was reserved for her, under the
same divine influence, to give the best views of the nature and
of the present and future condition of man; to afford the best
moral precepts, to communicate the most benign stimulus to the
heart, to produce the most blameless conduct, and thus to cut off
many of the causes of wretchedness, and to heal it wherever it
was found. At her command, wherever she has been duly
acknowledged, many of the evils of life have already fled. The
prisoner of war is no longer led into the amphitheatre to become
a gladiator, and to imbrue his hands in the blood of his fellow-captive
for the sport of a thoughtless multitude. The stern
priest, cruel through fanaticism and custom, no longer leads his
fellow-creature to the altar to sacrifice him to fictitious gods.
The venerable martyr, courageous through faith and the sanctity
of his life, is no longer hurried to the flames. The haggard
witch, poring over her incantations by moon-light, no longer
scatters her superstitious poison among her miserable neighbours,
nor suffers for her crime.

But in whatever way Christianity may have operated towards
the increase of this energy, or towards a diminution of human
misery, it has operated in none more powerfully than by the new
views and consequent duties, which it introduced on the subject
of charity, or practical benevolence and love. Men in ancient
times looked upon their talents, of whatever description, as, their

own, which they might use, or cease to use at their discretion.
But the Author of our religion was the first who taught that,
however in a legal point of view, the talent of individuals might
belong exclusively to themselves, so that no other person had a
right to demand the use of it by force, yet in the Christian dispensation
they were but the stewards of it for good; that so
much was expected from this stewardship, that it was difficult
for those who were intrusted with it to enter into his spiritual
kingdom; that these had no right to conceal their talent in a
napkin, but that they were bound to dispense a portion of it to
the relief of their fellow-creatures; and that, in proportion to the
magnitude of it, they were accountable for the extensiveness of its
use. He was the first who pronounced the misapplication of it
to be a crime, and to be a crime of no ordinary dimensions. He
was the first who broke down the boundary between Jew and
Gentile, and, therefore, the first who pointed out to men the inhabitants
of other countries, for the exercise of their philanthropy and
love. Hence a distinction is to be made both in the principle
and practice of charity, as existing in ancient or in modern times.
Though the old philosophers, historians, and poets, frequently
inculcated benevolence, we have no reason to conclude from any
facts they have left us, that persons in their days did anything
more than occasionally relieve an unfortunate object, who might
present himself before them, or that, however they might deplore
the existence of public evils among them, they joined in associations
for their suppression, or that they carried their charity, as
bodies of men, into other kingdoms. To Christianity alone we
are indebted for the new and sublime spectacle, of seeing men
going beyond the bounds of individual usefulness to each other;
of seeing them associate for the extirpation of private and public
misery; and of seeing them carry their charity, as a united
brotherhood, into distant lands. And in this wider field of
benevolence it would be unjust not to confess, that no country
has shone with more true lustre than our own, there being
scarcely any case of acknowledged affliction, for which some of
her Christian children have not united in an attempt to provide
relief.

Among the evils corrected or subdued, either by the general
influence of Christianity on the minds of men, or by particular
associations of Christians, the African^A. Slave Trade appears to
me to have occupied the foremost place. The abolition of it,
therefore, of which it has devolved upon me to write the history,
should be accounted as one of the greatest blessings, and as such
should be one of the most copious sources of our joy: indeed, I
know of no evil, the removal of which should excite in us a
higher degree of pleasure. For, in considerations of this kind,
are we not usually influenced by circumstances? Are not our
feelings usually affected according to the situation, or the magnitude,
or the importance of these? Are they not more or less
elevated, as the evil under our contemplation has been more or
less productive of misery, or more or less productive of guilt?
Are they not more or less elevated again, as we have found it
more or less considerable in extent? Our sensations will undoubtedly
be in proportion to such circumstances, or our joy to
the appreciation or mensuration of the evil which has been
removed.

A: Slavery had been before annihilated by Christianity; I mean in the West of
Europe, at the close of the twelfth century

To value the blessing of the abolition as we ought, or to
appreciate the joy and gratitude which we ought to feel concerning
it, we must enter a little into the circumstances of the trade.
Our statement, however, of these needs not be long: a few pages
will do all that is necessary! A glance only into such a subject
as this will be sufficient to affect the heart,—to arouse our indignation
and our pity,—and to teach us the importance of the
victory obtained.

The first subject for consideration, towards enabling us to
make the estimate in question, will be that of the nature of the
evil belonging to the Slave Trade. This may be seen by examining
it in three points of view. First, as it has been proved
to arise on the Continent of Africa, in the course of reducing the
inhabitants of it to slavery. Secondly, in the course of conveying
them from thence to the lands or colonies of other nations. And,
thirdly, in continuing them there as slaves.

To see it, as it has been shown, to arise in the first case, let
us suppose ourselves on the Continent just mentioned. Well
then, We are landed,—We are already upon our travels,—We
have just passed through one forest,—We are now come to a
more open place, which indicates an approach to habitation.
And what object is that which first obtrudes itself upon our
sight? Who is that wretched woman whom we discover under
that noble tree, wringing her hands, and beating her breast, as
if in the agonies of despair? Three days has she been there, at
intervals, to look and to watch; and this is the fourth morning,
and no tidings of her children yet. Beneath its spreading boughs
they were accustomed to play: but, alas! the savage man-stealer
interrupted their playful mirth, and has taken them for ever from
her sight.

But let us leave the cries of this unfortunate woman, and
hasten into another district. And what do we first see here?
Who is he that just now started across the narrow pathway, as
if afraid of a human face? What is that sudden rustling among
the leaves? Why are those persons flying from our approach,
and hiding themselves in yon darkest thicket? Behold, as we
get into the plain, a deserted village! The rice-field has been
just trodden down around it; an aged man,—venerable by his
silver beard,—lies wounded and dying near the threshold of his
hut. War, suddenly instigated by avarice, has just visited the
dwellings which we see. The old have been butchered, because
unfit for slavery, and the young have been carried off, except such
as have fallen in the conflict, or have escaped among the woods
behind us.

But let us hasten from this cruel scene, which gives rise to so
many melancholy reflections. Let us cross yon distant river, and
enter into some new domain. But are we relieved even here
from afflicting spectacles? Look at that immense crowd which
appears to be gathered in a ring. See the accused innocent in
the middle! The ordeal of poisonous water has been administered
to him, as a test of his innocence or his guilt: he begins
to be sick and pale. Alas! yon mournful shriek of his relatives
confirms that the loss of his freedom is now sealed.

And whither shall we go now? the night is approaching fast.
Let us find some friendly hut, where sleep may make us forget
for a while the sorrows of the day. Behold a hospitable native
ready to receive us at his door! let us avail ourselves of his
kindness. And now let its give ourselves to repose. But why,
when our eyelids are but just closed, do we find ourselves thus
suddenly awakened? What is the meaning of the noise around
us, of the trampling of people’s feet, of the rustling of the bow,
the quiver, and the lance? Let us rise up and inquire. Behold!
the inhabitants are all alarmed! a wakeful woman has shown
them yon distant column of smoke and blaze. The neighbouring
village is on fire: the prince, unfaithful to the sacred duty of the
protection of his subjects, has surrounded them. He is now
burning their habitations, and seizing, as saleable booty, the
fugitives from the flames.

Such then are some of the scenes that have been passing in
Africa, in consequence, of the existence of the Slave Trade; or
such is the nature of the evil, as it has shown itself in the first of
the cases we have noticed. Let us now estimate it as it has been
proved to exist in the second; or let us examine the state of the
unhappy Africans reduced to slavery in this manner, while on
board the vessels, which are to convey them across the ocean to
other lands. And here I must observe at once, that, as far as
this part of the evil is concerned, I am at a loss to describe it.
Where shall I find words to express properly their sorrow, as
arising from the reflection of being parted for ever from their
friends, their relatives, and their country? Where shall I find
language to paint, in appropriate colours, the horror of mind
brought on by thoughts of their future unknown destination, of
which they can augur nothing but misery from all that they have
yet seen? How shall I make known their situation, while
labouring, under painful disease, or while struggling in the
suffocating holds of their prisons, like animals enclosed in an
exhausted receiver? How shall I describe their feelings as
exposed to all the personal indignities, which lawless appetite or
brutal passion may suggest? How shall I exhibit their sufferings
as determining to refuse sustenance and die, or as resolving to

break their chains, and, disdaining to live as slaves, to punish
their oppressors? How shall I give an idea of their agony when
under various punishments and tortures for their reputed crimes?
Indeed, every part of this subject defies my powers, and I must,
therefore, satisfy myself and the reader with a general representation,
or in the words of a celebrated member of Parliament,
that “Never was so much human suffering condensed in so small
a space.”

I come now to the evil, as it has been proved to arise in the
third case; or to consider the situation of the unhappy victims
of the trade, when their painful voyages are over, or after they
have been landed upon their destined shores. And here we are
to view them, first under the degrading light of cattle: we are to
see them examined, handled, selected, separated, and sold. Alas!
relatives are separated from relatives, as if, like cattle, they had no
rational intellect, no power of feeling the nearness of relationship,
nor sense of the duties belonging to the ties of life! We
are next to see them labouring; and this for the benefit of those
to whom they are under no obligation, by any law either natural
or divine, to obey. We are to see them, if refusing the commands
of their purchasers, however weary, or feeble, or indisposed,
subject to corporal punishments, and if forcibly resisting them to
death: we are to see them in a state of general degradation and
misery. The knowledge which their oppressors have of their
own crime, in having violated the rights of nature, and of the
disposition of the injured to seek all opportunities of revenge,
produces a fear which dictates to them the necessity of a system
of treatment, by which they shall keep up a wide distinction
between the two, and by which the noble feelings of the latter
shall be kept down, and their spirits broken. We are to see them
again subject to individual persecution, as anger, or malice, or
any bad passion may suggest: hence the whip, the chain, the
iron-collar! hence the various modes of private torture, of which
so many accounts have been truly given. Nor can such horrible
cruelties be discovered so as to be made punishable, while the
testimony of any number of the oppressed is invalid against the
oppressors, however they may be offences against the laws. And,

lastly, we are to see their innocent offspring, against whose
personal liberty the shadow of an argument cannot be advanced,
inheriting all the miseries of their parents’ lot.

The evil then, as far as it has been hitherto viewed, presents
to us, in its three several departments, a measure of human suffering
not to be equalled—not to be calculated—not to be described.
But would that we could consider this part of the subject as
dismissed! would that in each of the departments now examined
there was no counterpart left us to contemplate! But this
cannot be; for if there be persons who suffer unjustly there must
be others who oppress: and if there be those who oppress, there
must be to the suffering, which has been occasioned, a corresponding
portion of immorality or guilt.

We are obliged then to view the counterpart of the evil in
question, before we can make a proper estimate of the nature of
it. And, in examining this part of it, we shall find that we have
a no less frightful picture to behold than in the former cases; or
that, while the miseries endured by the unfortunate Africans excite
our pity on the one hand, the vices, which are connected with
them, provoke our indignation and abhorrence on the other. The
Slave Trade, in this point of view, must strike us as an immense
mass of evil on account of the criminality attached to it, as displayed
in the various branches of it, which have already been
examined. For, to take the counterpart of the evil in the first of
these, can we say that no moral turpitude is to be placed to the
account of those, who, living on the continent of Africa, give
birth to the enormities, which take place in consequence of the
prosecution of this trade? Is not that man made morally worse,
who is induced to become a tiger to his species, or who, instigated
by avarice, lies in wait in the thicket to get possession of his fellow-man?
Is no injustice manifest in the land, where the prince,
unfaithful to his duty, seizes his innocent subjects, and sells them
for slaves? Are no moral evils produced among those communities,
which make war upon other communities for the sake of
plunder, and without any previous provocation or offence? Does
no crime attach to those, who accuse others falsely, or who multiply
and divide crimes for the sake of the profit of the punishment,

and who for the same reason continue the use of barbarous
and absurd ordeals as a test of innocence or guilt?

In the second of these branches, the counterpart of the evil is
to be seen in the conduct of those who purchase the miserable
natives in their own country, and convey them to distant lands.
And here questions, similar to the former, may be asked. Do
they experience no corruption of their nature, or become chargeable
with no violation of right, who, when they go with their
ships to this continent, know the enormities which their visits
there will occasion, who buy their fellow-creature man, and this,
knowing the way in which he comes into their hands, and who
chain, and imprison, and scourge him? Do the moral feelings of
those persons escape without injury, whose hearts are hardened?
And can the hearts of those be otherwise than hardened, who are
familiar with the tears and groans of innocent strangers forcibly
torn away from every thing that is dear to them in life, who are
accustomed to see them on board their vessels in a state of suffocation
and in the agonies of despair, and who are themselves in
the habit of the cruel use of arbitrary power?

The counterpart of the evil in its third branch is to be seen in
the conduct of those, who, when these miserable people have been
landed, purchase and carry them to their respective homes. And
let us see whether a mass of wickedness is not generated also in
the present case. Can those have nothing to answer for, who separate
the faithful ties which nature and religion have created?
Can their feelings be otherwise than corrupted, who consider their
fellow-creatures as brutes, or treat those as cattle, who may become
the temples of the Holy Spirit, and in whom the Divinity
disdains not himself to dwell? Is there no injustice in forcing
men to labour without wages? Is there no breach of duty, when
we are commanded to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, and
visit the sick and in prison, in exposing them to want, in torturing
them by cruel punishment, and in grinding them down by
hard labour, so as to shorten their days? Is there no crime in
adopting a system, which keeps down all the noble faculties of
their souls, and which positively debases and corrupts their nature?
Is there no crime in perpetuating these evils among their

innocent offspring? And finally, besides all these crimes, is there
not naturally in the familiar sight of the exercise, but more especially
in the exercise itself, of uncontrolled power, that which vitiates
the internal man? In seeing misery stalk daily over the land,
do not all become insensibly hardened? By giving birth to that
misery themselves, do they not become abandoned? In what
state of society are the corrupt appetites so easily, so quickly, and
so frequently indulged, and where else, by means of frequent indulgence,
do these experience such a monstrous growth? Where
else is the temper subject to such frequent irritation, or passion to
such little control? Yes—if the unhappy slave is in an unfortunate
situation, so is the tyrant who holds him. Action and reaction
are equal to each other, as well in the moral as in the
natural world. You cannot exercise an improper dominion over
a fellow-creature, but by a wise ordering of Providence you must
necessarily injure yourself.

Having now considered the nature of the evil of the Slave
Trade in its three separate departments of suffering, and in its
corresponding counterparts of guilt, I shall make a few observations
on the extent of it.

On this subject it must strike us, that the misery and the
crimes included in the evil, as it has been found in Africa, were
not like common maladies, which make a short or periodical
visit and then are gone, but that they were continued daily. Nor
were they like diseases, which from local causes attack a village
or a town, and by the skill of the physician, under the blessing of
Providence, are removed; but they affected a whole continent. The
trade with all its horrors began at the river Senegal, and continued,
winding with the coast, through its several geographical divisions
to Cape Negro; a distance of more than three thousand miles.
In various lines or paths formed at right angles from the shore, and
passing into the heart of the country, slaves were procured and
brought down. The distance, which many of them travelled, was
immense. Those, who have been in Africa, have assured us, that
they came as far as from the sources of their largest rivers, which
we know to be many hundred miles inland, and the natives have
told us, in their way of computation, that they came a journey of
many moons.

It must strike us again, that the misery and the crimes, included
in the evil, as it has been shown in the transportation, had
no ordinary bounds. They were not to be seen in the crossing of
a river, but of an ocean. They did not begin in the morning and
end at night, but were continued for many weeks, and sometimes
by casualties for a quarter of the year. They were not limited
to the precincts of a solitary ship, but were spread among many
vessels; and these were so constantly passing, that the ocean
itself never ceased to be a witness of their existence.

And it must strike us, finally, that the misery and crimes, included
in the evil as it has been found in foreign lands, were not
confined within the shores of a little island. Most of the islands
of a continent, and many of these of considerable population and
extent, were filled with them. And the continent itself, to which
these geographically belong, was widely polluted by their domain.
Hence, if we were to take the vast extent of space occupied by these
crimes and sufferings from the heart of Africa to its shores, and that
which they filled on the continent of America and the islands adjacent,
and were to join the crimes and sufferings in one to those in
the other, by the crimes and sufferings which took place in the track
of the vessels successively crossing the Atlantic, we should behold
a vast belt as it were of physical and moral evil, reaching through
land and ocean to the length of nearly half the circle of the globe.

The next view which I shall take of this evil will be as it
relates to the difficulty of subduing it.

This difficulty may be supposed to have been more than ordinarily
great. Many evils of a public nature, which existed in
former times, were the offspring of ignorance and superstition,
and they were subdued of course by the progress of light and
knowledge. But the evil in question began in avarice. It
was nursed also by worldly interest. It did not therefore so
easily yield to the usual correctives of disorders in the world.
We may observe also, that the interest by which it was thus
supported, was not that of a few individuals, nor of one body,
but of many bodies of men. It was interwoven again into the
system of the commerce and of the revenue of nations. Hence
the merchant—the planter—the mortgagee—the
manufacturer—the

politician—the legislator—the cabinet-minister—lifted up
their voices against the annihilation of it. For these reasons,
the Slave Trade may be considered like the fabulous hydra, to
have a hundred heads, every one of which it was necessary to cut
off before it could be subdued. And as none but Hercules was
fitted to conquer the one, so nothing less than extraordinary
prudence, courage, labour, and patience, could overcome the
other. To protection in this manner by his hundred interests, it
was owing, that the monster stalked in security for so long a
time. He stalked too in the open day, committing his mighty
depredations. And when good men, whose duty it was to mark
him as the object of their destruction, began to assail him, he did
not fly, but gnashed his teeth at them, growling savagely at the
same time, and putting himself into a posture of defiance.

We see then, in whatever light we consider the Slave Trade,
whether we examine into the nature of it, or whether we look
into the extent of it, or whether we estimate the difficulty of subduing
it, we must conclude that no evil more monstrous has ever
existed upon earth. But if so, then we have proved the truth of
the position, that the abolition of it ought to be accounted by us
as one of the greatest blessings, and that it ought to be one of the
most copious sources of our joy. Indeed, I do not know, how we
can sufficiently express what we ought to feel upon this occasion.
It becomes us, as individuals, to rejoice. It becomes us, as a
nation, to rejoice. It becomes us even to perpetuate our joy to
our posterity. I do not mean, however, by anniversaries, which
are to be celebrated by the ringing of bells and convivial meetings,
but by handing down this great event so impressively to our
children, as to raise in them, if not continual, yet frequently
renewed thanksgivings, to the great Creator of the universe, for
the manifestation of this his favour, in having disposed our legislators
to take away such a portion of suffering from our fellow-creatures,
and such a load of guilt from our native land.

And as the contemplation of the removal of this monstrous
evil should excite in us the most pleasing and grateful sensations,
so the perusal of the history of it should afford us lessons, which it
must be useful to us to know or to be reminded of. For it cannot

be otherwise than useful to us to know the means which have been
used, and the different persons who have moved in so great a cause.
It cannot be otherwise than useful to us to be impressively reminded
of the simple axiom which the perusal of this history will particularly
suggest to us, that “the greatest works must have a beginning;” because
the fostering of such an idea in our minds cannot
but encourage us to undertake the removal of evils, however vast
they may appear in their size, or however difficult to overcome. It
cannot, again, be otherwise than useful to us to be assured, (and
this history will assure us of it,) that in any work, which is a
work of righteousness, however small the beginning may be, or
however small the progress may be that we may make in it, we
ought never to despair; for that, whatever checks and discouragements
we may meet with, “no virtuous effort is ever ultimately
lost.” And finally, it cannot be otherwise than useful to us, to form
the opinion, which the contemplation of this subject must always
produce, namely, that many of the evils which are still left among
us, may, by an union of wise and virtuous individuals, be greatly
alleviated, if not entirely done away; for if the great evil of the
Slave Trade, so deeply entrenched by its hundred interests, has
fallen prostrate before the efforts of those who attacked it, what
evil of a less magnitude shall not be more easily subdued? O
may reflections of this sort always enliven us, always encourage
us, always stimulate us to our duty! May we never cease to
believe, that many of the miseries of life are still to be remedied,
or to rejoice that we may be permitted, if we will only make
ourselves worthy by our endeavours, to heal them! May we
encourage for this purpose every generous sympathy that arises
in our hearts, as the offspring of the Divine influence for our
good, convinced that we are not born for ourselves alone, and
that the Divinity never so fully dwells in us, as when we do his
will, and that we never do his will more agreeably, as far as it
has been revealed to us, than when we employ our time in works
of charity towards the rest of our fellow-creatures!

CHAPTER II.

As it is desirable to know the true sources of events in history,
so this will be realized in that of the abolition of the Slave Trade.—Inquiry
as to those who favoured the cause of the Africans previously to the year
1787.—All these to be considered as necessary forerunners in that
cause.—First forerunners
were Cardinal Ximenes; the Emperor Charles the Fifth; Pope
Leo the Tenth; Elizabeth, queen of England; Louis the Thirteenth, of
France.

It would be considered by many, who have stood at the mouth
of a river, and witnessed its torrent there, to be both an
interesting and a pleasing journey to go to the fountain head,
and then to travel on its banks downwards, and to mark the
different streams in each side, which should run into it
and feed it. So I presume the reader will not be a little
interested and entertained, in viewing with me the course of
the abolition of the Slave Trade, in
first finding its source, and then in tracing the different springs
which have contributed to its increase. And here I may observe
that, in doing this, we shall have advantages, which historians
have not always had in developing the causes of things. Many
have handed down to us, events, for the production of which they
have given us but their own conjectures. There has been often,
indeed, such a distance between the events themselves, and the
lives of those who have recorded them, that the different means
and motives belonging to them have been lost through time. On
the present occasion, however, we shall have the peculiar
satisfaction of knowing, that we communicate the truth, or that
those which we unfold, are the true causes and means; for the
most remote of all the human springs, which can be traced as having
any bearing upon the great event in question, will fall within the
period of three centuries, and the most powerful of them within
the last twenty years. These circumstances indeed have had
their share in inducing me to engage in the present history.
Had I measured it by the importance of the subject, I had been
deterred; but believing that most readers love the truth, and that

it ought to be the object of all writers to promote it, and believing,
moreover, that I was in possession of more facts on this subject than
any other person, I thought I was peculiarly called to undertake it.

In tracing the different streams from whence the torrent
arose, which has now happily swept away the Slave Trade, I
must begin with an inquiry as to those who favoured the cause of
the injured Africans, from the year 1516, to the year 1787, at
which latter period, a number of persons associated themselves,
in England, for its abolition. For though they, who belonged to
this association, may, in consequence of having pursued a regular
system, be called the principal actors, yet it must be acknowledged,
that their efforts would never have been so effectual, if
the minds of men had not been prepared by others, who had
moved before them. Great events have never taken place without
previously disposing causes. So it is in the case before us.
Hence they, who lived even in early times, and favoured this
great cause, may be said to have been necessary precursors in it.
And here it may be proper to observe, that it is by no means
necessary that all these should have been themselves actors in the
production of this great event. Persons have contributed towards
it in different ways:—Some have written expressly on the subject,
who have had no opportunity of promoting it by personal exertions.
Others have only mentioned it incidentally in their writings.
Others, in an elevated rank and station, have cried out
publicly concerning it, whose sayings have been recorded.
All these, however,
may be considered as necessary forerunners in their day; for all
of them have brought the subject more or less into notice. They
have more or less enlightened the mind upon it; they have more
or less impressed it; and therefore each may be said to have had
his share in diffusing and keeping up a certain portion of knowledge
and feeling concerning it, which has been eminently useful
in the promotion of the cause.

It is rather remarkable, that the first forerunners and coadjutors
should have been men in power.

So early as in the year 1503, a few slaves had been sent from
the Portuguese settlements in Africa into the Spanish colonies

in America. In 1511, Ferdinand the Fifth, king of Spain,
permitted them to be carried in great numbers. Ferdinand,
however, must have been ignorant in these early times of the
piratical manner in which the Portuguese had procured them.
He could have known nothing of their treatment when in
bondage, nor could he have viewed the few uncertain adventurous
transportations of them into his dominions in the western world,
in the light of a regular trade. After his death, however; a
proposal was made by Bartholomew de las Casas, the bishop of
Chiapa, to Cardinal Ximenes, who held the reigns of the government
of Spain till Charles the Fifth came to the throne, for the
establishment of a regular system of commerce in the persons of
the native Africans. The object of Bartholomew de las Casas
was undoubtedly to save the American Indians, whose cruel
treatment and almost extirpation he had witnessed during his
residence among them, and in whose behalf he had undertaken a
voyage to the court of Spain. It is difficult to reconcile this
proposal with the humane and charitable spirit of the bishop of
Chiapa. But it is probable he believed that a code of laws would
soon be established in favour both of Africans and of the natives
in the Spanish settlements, and that he flattered himself that,
being about to return and to live in the country of their slavery,
he could look to the execution of it. The cardinal, however,
with a foresight, a benevolence, and a justice which will always
do honour to his memory, refused the proposal, not only judging
it to be unlawful to consign innocent people to slavery at all, but
to be very inconsistent to deliver the inhabitants of one country
from a state of misery by consigning to it those of another.
Ximenes, therefore, may be considered as one of the first great
friends of the Africans after the partial beginning of the trade.

This answer of the cardinal, as it showed his virtue as an
individual, so was it peculiarly honourable to him as a public
man, and ought to operate as a lesson to other statesmen, how
they admit any thing new among political regulations and establishments,
which is connected in the smallest degree with injustice; for evil,
when once sanctioned by governments, spreads in
a tenfold degree, and may, unless seasonably checked, become so

ramified as to effect the reputation of a country, and to render its
own removal scarcely possible without detriment to the political
concerns of the state. In no instance has this been verified more
than in the case of the Slave Trade. Never was our national
character more tarnished, and our prosperity more clouded by
guilt. Never was there a monster more difficult to subdue.
Even they, who heard as it were the shrieks of oppression, and
wished to assist the sufferers, were fearful of joining in their
behalf. While they acknowledged the necessity of removing
one evil, they were terrified by the prospect of introducing another;
and were, therefore, only able to relieve their feelings by,
lamenting, in the bitterness of their hearts, that this traffic had
ever been begun at all.

After the death of Cardinal Ximenes, the emperor Charles the
Fifth, who had come into power, encouraged the Slave Trade.
In 1517, he granted a patent to one of his Flemish favourites,
containing an exclusive right of importing four thousand
Africans into America. But he lived long enough to repent of
what he had thus inconsiderately done; for in the year 1542, he
made a code of laws for the better protection of the unfortunate
Indians in his foreign dominions, and he stopped the progress of
African slavery by an order that all slaves in his American
islands should he made free. This order was executed by Pedro
de la Gasca. Manumission took place as well in Hispaniola as
on the Continent; but on the return of Gasca to Spain, and the
retirement of Charles into a monastery, slavery was revived.

It is impossible to pass over this instance of the abolition of
slavery by Charles, in all his foreign dominions, without some
comments. It shows him, first, to have been a friend both to the
Indians and the Africans, as a part of the human race; it shows
he was ignorant of what he was doing when he gave his sanction
to this cruel trade; it shows when legislators give one set of
men undue power over another, how quickly they abuse it, or he
never would have found himself obliged, in the short space
of twenty-five years, to undo that which he had countenanced as
a great state measure; and while it confirms the former lesson to
statesmen of watching the beginnings or principles of things in

their political movements, it should teach them never to persist
in the support of evils, through the false shame of being obliged
to confess that they had once given them their sanction, nor to
delay the cure of them because, politically speaking, neither this
nor that is the proper season; but to do them away instantly, as
there can only be one fit or proper time in the eye of religion,
namely, on the conviction of their existence.

From the opinions of Cardinal Ximenes and of the emperor
Charles the Fifth, I hasten to that which was expressed much
about the same time, in a public capacity, by Pope Leo the
Tenth. The Dominicans in Spanish America, witnessing the
cruel treatment which the slaves underwent there, considered
slavery as utterly repugnant to the principles of the gospel, and
recommended the abolition of it. The Franciscans did not
favour the former in this their scheme of benevolence; and the
consequence was, that a controversy on this subject sprung up
between them, which was carried to this pope for his decision.
Leo exerted himself, much to his honour, in behalf of the poor
sufferers, and declared “That not only the Christian religion, but
that Nature herself cried out against a state of slavery.” This
answer was certainly worthy of one who was deemed the head of
the Christian Church. It must, however, be confessed that
it would have been strange if Leo, in his situation as pontiff,
had made a different reply. He could never have denied that
God was no respecter of persons. He must have acknowledged
that men were bound to love each other as brethren; and, if he
admitted the doctrine that all men were accountable for their
actions hereafter, he could never have prevented the deduction
that it was necessary they should be free. Nor could he, as a
man of high attainments, living early in the sixteenth century,
have been ignorant of what had taken place in the twelfth; or
that, by the latter end of this latter century, christianity had obtained
the undisputed honour of having extirpated slavery from
the western part of the European world.

From Spain and Italy I come to England. The first importation
of slaves from Africa, by our countrymen, was in the reign
of Elizabeth, in the year 1562. This great princess seems on

the very commencement of the trade to have questioned its
lawfulness. She seems to have entertained a religious scruple
concerning it; and, indeed, to have revolted at the very thought
of it. She seems to have been aware of the evils to which its
continuance might lead, or that, if it were sanctioned, the most
unjustifiable means might be made use of to procure the persons
of the natives of Africa. And in what light she would have
viewed any acts of this kind, had they taken place, we may conjecture
from this fact,—that when Captain (afterwards Sir John)
Hawkins returned from his first voyage to Africa and Hispaniola,
whither he had carried slaves, she sent for him, and, as we learn
from Hill’s Naval History expressed her
concern lest any of the
Africans should be carried off without their free consent, declaring
that “it would be detestable, and call down the vengeance
of heaven upon the undertakers.” Captain Hawkins promised
to comply with the injunctions of Elizabeth in this respect, but
he did not keep his word; for when he went to Africa again, he
seized many of the inhabitants and carried them off as slaves,
which occasioned Hill, in the account he gives of his second
voyage, to use these remarkable words:—”Here began the horrid
practice of forcing the Africans into slavery, an injustice and
barbarity which, so sure as there is vengeance in heaven for the
worst of crimes, will some time be the destruction of all who
allow or encourage it.” That the trade should have been suffered
to continue under such a princess, and after such solemn expressions
as those which she has been described to have uttered, can
be only attributed to the pains taken by those concerned in it to
keep her ignorant of the truth.

From England I now pass over to France. Labat, a Roman
missionary, in his account of the isles of America, mentions that
Louis the Thirteenth was very uneasy when he was about to issue
the edict by which all Africans coming into his colonies were
to be made slaves, and that this uneasiness continued till he was
assured that the introduction of them in this capacity into his
foreign dominions was the readiest way of converting them to the
principles of the Christian religion.

These, then, were the first forerunners in the great cause of

the abolition of the Slave Trade: nor have their services towards
it been of small moment; for, in the first place, they have enabled
those who came after them, and who took an active interest
in the same cause, to state the great authority of their opinions
and of their example. They have enabled them, again, to detail
the history connected with these, in consequence of which circumstances
have been laid open which it is of great importance
to know; for have they not enabled them to state that the
African Slave Trade never would have been permitted to exist
but for the ignorance of those in authority concerning it—that at
its commencement there was a revolting of nature against it—a
suspicion, a caution, a fear, both as to its unlawfulness and its
effects? Have they not enabled them to state that falsehoods
were advanced, and these concealed under the mask of religion,
to deceive those who had the power to suppress it? Have they
not enabled them to state that this trade began in piracy, and
that it was continued upon the principles of force? And, finally,
have not they who have been enabled to make these statements,
knowing all the circumstances connected with them, found their
own zeal increased, and their own courage and perseverance
strengthened; and have they not, by the communication of them
to others, produced many friends and even labourers in the
cause?

CHAPTER III.

Forerunners continued to 1787; divided from
this time into four classes.—First
class consists principally of persons in Great Britain
of various descriptions:
Godwyn; Baxter; Tryon; Southern; Primatt; Montesquieu;
Hutcheson; Sharp; Ramsay; and a multitude of others,
whose names and services follow.

I have hitherto traced the history of the forerunners in this great
cause only up to about the year 1640. If I am to pursue my plan,
I am to trace it to the year 1787. But in order to show what I
intend in a clearer point of view, I shall divide those who have
lived within this period, and who will now consist of persons in
a less elevated station, into four classes: and I shall give to each
class a distinct consideration by itself.

Several of our old English writers, though they have not mentioned
the African Slave Trade, or the slavery consequent upon it,
in their respective works, have yet given their testimony of condemnation
against both. Thus our great Milton:—

I might mention Bishop Saunderson and others, who bore a
testimony equally strong against the lawfulness of trading in the
persons of men, and of holding them in bondage; but as I mean
to confine myself to those who have favoured the cause of the
Africans specifically, I cannot admit their names into any of the
classes which have been announced.

Of those, who compose the first class, defined as it has now
been, I cannot name any individual who took a part in this cause
till between the years 1670 and 1680; for in the year 1640,
and for a few years afterwards, the nature of the trade and of the

slavery was but little known, except to a few individuals, who
were concerned in them; and it is obvious that these would
neither endanger their own interest nor proclaim their own guilt
by exposing it. The first, whom I shall mention is Morgan
Godwyn, a clergyman of the established church. This pious
divine wrote a treatise upon the subject, which he dedicated to
the then archbishop of Canterbury. He gave it to the world, at
the time mentioned, under the title of “The Negroes’ and Indians’
Advocate.” In this treatise he lays open the situation of these
oppressed people, of whose sufferings he had been an eye-witness
in the island of Barbados. He calls forth the pity of the reader
in an affecting manner, and exposes with a nervous eloquence the
brutal sentiments and conduct of their oppressors. This seems to
have been the first work undertaken in England expressly in
favour of the cause.

The next person, whom I shall mention, is Richard Baxter,
the celebrated divine among the nonconformists. In his Christian
Directory, published about the same time as The Negroes’ and
Indians’ Advocate, he gives advice to those masters in foreign
plantations, who have negroes and other slaves. In this he protests
loudly against this trade. He says expressly that they, who
go out as pirates, and take away poor Africans, or people of
another land, who never forfeited life or liberty, and make them
slaves and sell them, are the worst of robbers, and ought to be
considered as the common enemies of mankind; and that they who
buy them, and use them as mere beasts for their own convenience,
regardless of their spiritual welfare, are fitter to be called demons
than christians. He then proposes several queries, which he
answers in a clear and forcible manner, showing the great inconsistency
of this traffic, and the necessity of treating those then in
bondage with tenderness and a due regard to their spiritual
concerns.

The Directory of Baxter was succeeded by a publication called
Friendly Advice to the Planters in three parts. The first of
these was, A brief Treatise of the principal Fruits and Herbs
that grow in Barbados, Jamaica, and other Plantations in the
West Indies. The second was, The Negroes’ Complaint, or their

hard Servitude, and the Cruelties practised upon them by divers of
their Masters professing Christianity. And the third was, A
Dialogue between an Ethiopian and a Christian, his Master, in
America. In the last of these, Thomas Tryon, who was the
author, inveighs both against the commerce and the slavery of
the Africans, and in a striking manner examines each by the
touchstone of reason, humanity, justice, and religion.

In the year 1696, Southern brought forward his celebrated
tragedy of Oronooko, by means of which many became enlightened
upon the subject, and interested in it. For this tragedy was
not a representation of fictitious circumstances, but of such as
had occurred in the colonies, and as had been communicated in a
publication by Mrs. Behn.

The person who seems to have noticed the subject next was
Dr. Primatt. In his Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy, and on
the Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals, he takes occasion to advert to
the subject of the African Slave Trade. “It has pleased God,”
says he, “to cover some men with white skins and others with
black; but as there is neither merit nor demerit in complexion,
the white man, notwithstanding the barbarity of custom and prejudice,
can have no right by virtue of his colour to enslave and
tyrannize over the black man. For whether a man be white or
black, such he is by God’s appointment, and, abstractly considered,
is neither a subject for pride, nor an object of contempt.”

After Dr. Primatt, we come to Baron Montesquieu, “Slavery,”
says he, “is not good in itself. It is neither useful to the
master nor to the slave; not to the slave, because he can do
nothing from virtuous motives; not to the master, because he
contracts among his slaves all sorts of bad habits, and accustoms
himself to the neglect of all the moral virtues. He becomes
haughty, passionate, obdurate, vindictive, voluptuous, and cruel.”
And with respect to this particular species of slavery, he proceeds
to say, “It is impossible to allow the negroes are men, because,
if we allow them to be men, it will begin to be believed that we
ourselves are not Christians.”

Hutcheson, in his System of Moral Philosophy, endeavours to
show, that he who detains another by force in slavery, can make

no good title to him, and adds, “Strange that in any nation
where a sense of liberty prevails, and where the Christian religion
is professed, custom and high prospect of gain can so stupify the
consciences of men, and all sense of natural justice, that they can
hear such computations made about the value of their fellow-men
and their liberty, without abhorrence and indignation!”

Foster, in his Discourses on Natural Religion and Social
Virtue, calls the slavery under our consideration “a criminal
and outrageous violation of the natural rights of mankind.” I am
sorry that I have not room to say all that he says on this subject.
Perhaps the following beautiful extracts may suffice:—

“But notwithstanding this, we ourselves, who profess to be
Christians, and boast of the peculiar advantages we enjoy by
means of an express revelation of our duty from heaven, are in
effect these very untaught and rude heathen countries. With
all our superior light, we instil into those whom we call savage
and barbarous, the most despicable opinion of human nature.
We, to the utmost of our power, weaken and dissolve the
universal tie that binds and unites mankind. We practise what
we should exclaim against as the utmost excess of cruelty and
tyranny, if nations of the world, differing in colour and form of
government from ourselves, were so possessed of empire as to be
able to reduce us to a state of unmerited and brutish servitude.
Of consequence, we sacrifice our reason, our humanity, our
Christianity, to an unnatural sordid gain. We teach other
nations to despise and trample under foot all the obligations of
social virtue. We take the most effectual method to prevent
the propagation of the Gospel, by representing it as a scheme of
power and barbarous oppression, and an enemy to the natural
privileges and rights of man.”

“Perhaps all that I have now offered may be of very little
weight to restrain this enormity, this aggravated iniquity. However,
I shall still have the satisfaction of having entered my
private protest against a practice which, in my opinion, bids that
God, who is the God and Father of the Gentiles unconverted to
Christianity, most daring and bold defiance, and spurns at all the
principles both of natural and revealed religion.”

The next author is Sir Richard Steele, who, by means of the
affecting story of Inkle and Yarico, holds up this trade again to
our abhorrence.

In the year 1735, Atkins, who was a surgeon in the navy,
published his Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, and the West Indies, in
his Majesty’s ships Swallow and Weymouth. In this work he
describes openly the manner of making the natives slaves, such
as by kidnapping, by unjust accusations and trials, and by other
nefarious means. He states also the cruelties practised upon
them by the white people, and the iniquitous ways and dealings
of the latter, and answers their argument, by which they insinuated
that the condition of the Africans was improved by their
transportation to other countries.

From this time, the trade beginning to be better known, a
multitude of persons of various stations and characters sprung up,
who by exposing it, are to be mentioned among the forerunners
and coadjutors in the cause.

Pope, in his Essay on Man, where he endeavours to show
that happiness in the present depends, among other things, upon
the hope of a future state, takes an opportunity of exciting compassion
in behalf of the poor African, while he censures the
avarice and cruelty of his master:—

Thomson also, in his Seasons, marks this traffic as destructive
and cruel, introducing the well-known fact of sharks following
the vessels employed in it:—

Neither was Richard Savage forgetful in his poems of the
Injured Africans: he warns their oppressors of a day of retribution
for their barbarous conduct. Having personified Public
Spirit, he makes her speak on the subject in the following
manner:—

Wallis, in his System of the Laws of Scotland, maintains, that
“neither men nor governments have a right to sell those of
their own species. Men and their liberty are neither purchaseable
nor saleable.” And, after arguing the case, he says, “This
is the law of nature, which is obligatory on all men, at all times,
and in all places.—Would not any of us, who should be snatched
by pirates from his native land, think himself cruelly abused,
and at all times entitled to be free? Have not these unfortunate
Africans, who meet with the same cruel fate, the same right?
Are they not men as well as we? And have they not the same
sensibility? Let us not, therefore, defend or support an usage,
which is contrary to all the laws of humanity.”

In the year 1750, the reverend Griffith Hughes, rector of
St. Lucy, in Barbados, published his Natural History of that

island. He took an opportunity, in the course of it, of laying
open to the world the miserable situation of the poor Africans,
and the waste of them by hard labour and other cruel means, and
he had the generosity to vindicate their capacities from the
charge, which they who held them in bondage brought against
them, as a justification of their own wickedness in continuing to
deprive them of the rights of men.

Edmund Burke, in his account of the European settlements,
(for this work is usually attributed to him,) complains “that the
Negroes in our colonies endure a slavery more complete, and
attended with far worse circumstances, than what any people in
their condition suffer, in any other part of the world, or have
suffered in any other period of time. Proofs of this are not
wanting. The prodigious waste, which we experience in this
unhappy part of our species, is a full and melancholy evidence of
this truth.” And he goes on to advise the planters, for the sake
of their own interest, to behave like good men, good masters, and
good Christians, and to impose less labour upon their slaves, and
to give them recreation on some of the grand festivals, and to
instruct them in religion, as certain preventives of their decrease.

An anonymous author of a pamphlet, entitled, An Essay in
Vindication of the Continental Colonies of America, seems to have
come forward next. Speaking of slavery there, he says, “It is
shocking to humanity, violative of every generous sentiment,
abhorrent utterly from the Christian religion.—There cannot be a
more dangerous maxim than that necessity is a plea for injustice,
for who shall fix the degree of this necessity? What villain so
atrocious, who may not urge this excuse, or, as Milton has happily
expressed it,

“That our colonies,” he continues, “want people, is a very
weak argument for so inhuman a violation of justice.—Shall a
civilized, a Christian nation encourage slavery,
because the barbarous,
savage, lawless African hath done it? To what end do
we profess a religion whose dictates we so flagrantly violate?
Wherefore have we that pattern of goodness and humanity, if we

refuse to follow it? How long shall we continue a practice
which policy rejects, justice condemns, and piety revolts at?”

The poet Shenstone, who comes next in order, seems to have
written an elegy on purpose to stigmatize this trade. Of this
elegy I shall copy only the following parts:—

In the year 1755, Dr. Hayter, bishop of Norwich, preached a
sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in
which he bore his testimony against the continuance of this
trade.

Dyer, in his poem called The Fleece, expresses his sorrow on
account of this barbarous trade, and looks forward to a day

of retributive justice on account of the introduction of such
an evil.

In the year 1760, a pamphlet appeared, entitled, Two Dialogues
on the Man-trade, by John Philmore. This name is supposed
to be an assumed one. The author, however, discovers
himself to have been both an able and a zealous advocate in
favour of the African race.

Malachi Postlethwaite, in his Universal Dictionary of Trade
and Commerce, proposes a number of queries on the subject of the
Slave Trade. I have not room to insert them at full length,
but I shall give the following as the substance of some of them
to the reader: “Whether this commerce be not the cause of
incessant wars among the Africans—Whether the Africans, if it
were abolished, might not become as ingenious, as humane, as
industrious, and as capable of arts, manufactures, and trades, as
even the bulk of Europeans—Whether, if it were abolished, a
much more profitable trade might not be substituted, and this to
the very centre of their extended country, instead of the trifling
portion which now subsists upon their coasts—And whether the
great hindrance to such a new and advantageous commerce has
not wholly proceeded from that unjust, inhuman, unchristianlike
traffic, called the Slave Trade, which is carried on by the
Europeans.” The public proposal of these and other queries by
a man of so great commercial knowledge as Postlethwaite, and
by one who was himself a member of the African Committee,
was of great service in exposing the impolicy as well as immorality
of the Slave Trade.

In the year 1761, Thomas Jeffery published an account of a
part of North America, in which he lays open the miserable state
of the slaves in the West Indies, both as to their clothing, their
food, their labour, and their punishments. But, without going
into particulars, the general account be gives of them is affecting:
“It is impossible,” he says, “for a human heart to reflect upon
the slavery of these dregs of mankind, without in some measure
feeling for their misery, which ends but with their lives—nothing
can be more wretched than the condition of this people.”

Sterne, in his account of the Negro girl in his Life of Tristram

Shandy, took decidedly the part of the oppressed Africans. The
pathetic, witty, and sentimental manner, in which he handled
this subject, occasioned many to remember it, and procured a
certain portion of feeling in their favour.

Rousseau contributed not a little in his day to the same
end.

Bishop Warburton, preached a sermon in the year 1766,
before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in which
he took up the cause of the miserable Africans, and in which he
severely reprobated their oppressors. The language in this
sermon is so striking, that I shall make an extract from it.
“From the free savages,” says he, “I now come to the savages
in bonds. By these I mean the vast multitudes yearly stolen
from the opposite continent, and sacrificed by the colonists to
their great idol, the god of gain. But what then say these
sincere worshippers of Mammon? They are our own property
which we offer up,—Gracious God! to talk, as of herds of
cattle, of property in rational creatures, creatures endued with all
our faculties, possessing all our qualities but that of colour, our
brethren both by nature and grace, shocks all the feelings of
humanity, and the dictates of common sense? But, alas! what
is there, in the infinite abuses of society, which does not shock
them! Yet nothing is more certain in itself and apparent to
all, than that the infamous traffic for slaves directly infringes
both divine and human law. Nature created man free, and grace
invites him to assert his freedom.

“In excuse of this violation it hath been pretended, that
though, indeed, these miserable outcasts of humanity be torn
from their homes and native country by fraud and violence, yet
they thereby become the happier, and their condition the more
eligible. But who are you, who pretend to judge of another
man’s happiness; that state which each man under the guidance
of his Maker forms for himself, and not one man for another?
To know what constitutes mine or your happiness is the sole
prerogative of him who created us, and cast us in so various and
different moulds. Did your slaves ever complain to you of their
unhappiness amidst their native woods and deserts? or rather let

me ask, did they ever cease complaining of their condition under
you their lordly masters, where they see, indeed, the accommodations
of civil life, but see them all pass to others, themselves
unbenefited by them? Be so gracious then, ye petty tyrants over
human freedom, to let your slaves judge for themselves, what it
is which makes their own happiness, and then see whether they
do not place it in the return to their own country, rather than in
the contemplation of your grandeur, of which their misery makes
so large a part; a return so passionately longed for, that, despairing
of happiness here, that is, of escaping the chains of their
cruel task-masters, they console themselves with feigning it to be
the gracious reward of heaven in their future state.”

About this time certain cruel and wicked practices, which
must now be mentioned, had arrived at such a height, and had
become so frequent in the metropolis, as to produce of themselves
other coadjutors to the cause.

Before the year 1700, planters, merchants, and others, resident
in the West Indies, but coming to England, were accustomed
to bring with them certain slaves to act as servants with
them during their stay. The latter, seeing the freedom and the
happiness of servants in this country, and considering what
would be their own hard fate on their return to the islands,
frequently absconded. Their masters of course made search after
them, and often had them seized and carried away by force. It
was, however, thrown out by many on these occasions, that the
English laws did not sanction such proceedings, for that all
persons who were baptized became free. The consequence of this
was, that most of the slaves, who came over with their masters,
prevailed upon some pious clergyman to baptize them. They
took of course godfathers of such citizens as had the generosity
to espouse their cause. When they were seized they usually
sent to these, if they had an opportunity, for their protection.
And in the result, their godfathers, maintaining that they had
been baptized, and that they were free on this account as well as
by the general tenour of the law of England, dared those who
had taken possession of them to send them out of the kingdom.

The planters, merchants, and others, being thus circumstanced,

knew not what to do. They were afraid of taking their
slaves away by force, and they were equally afraid of bringing
any of the cases before a public court. In this dilemma, in 1729,
they applied to York and Talbot, the attorney and solicitor-general
for the time being, and obtained the following strange
opinion from them:—”We are of opinion, that a slave by
coming from the West Indies into Great Britain or Ireland,
either with or without his master, does not become free, and that
his master’s right and property in him is not thereby determined
or varied, and that baptism doth not bestow freedom on him, nor
make any alteration in his temporal condition in these kingdoms.
We are also of opinion, that the master may legally compel him
to return again to the plantations.”

This cruel and illegal opinion was delivered in the year 1729.
The planters, merchants, and others, gave it of course all the
publicity in their power. And the consequences were as might
easily have been apprehended. In a little time slaves absconding
were advertised in the London papers as runaways, and rewards
offered for the apprehension of them, in the same brutal manner
as we find them advertised in the land of slavery. They were
advertised also, in the same papers, to be sold by auction, sometimes
by themselves, and at others with horses, chaises, and
harness? They were seized also by their masters, or by persons
employed by them, in the very streets, and dragged from thence
to the ships; and so unprotected now were these poor slaves, that
persons in nowise concerned with them began to institute a trade
in their persons, making agreements with captains of ships going
to the West Indies to put them on board at a certain price.
This last instance shows how far human nature is capable of
going, and is an answer to those persons who have denied that
kidnapping in Africa was a source of supplying the Slave Trade.
It shows, as all history does from the time of Joseph, that where
there is a market for the persons of human beings, all kinds of
enormities will be practised to obtain them.

These circumstances then, as I observed before, did not fail of
producing new coadjutors in the cause. And first they produced
that able and indefatigable advocate, Mr. Granville Sharp. This

gentleman is to be distinguished from those who preceded him
by this particular, that, whereas these were only writers, he was
both a writer and an actor in the cause. In fact, he was the first
labourer in it in England. By the words “actor” and “labourer,”
I mean that he determined upon a plan of action in behalf of the
oppressed Africans, to the accomplishment of which he devoted
a considerable portion of his time, talents, and substance. What
Mr. Sharp has done to merit the title of coadjutor in this high
sense, I shall now explain. The following is a short history of
the beginning and of the course of his labours:—

In the year 1765, Mr. David Lisle had brought over from
Barbados Jonathan Strong, an African slave, as his servant.
He used the latter in a barbarous manner at his lodgings in
Wapping, but particularly by beating him over the head with a
pistol, which occasioned his head to swell. When the swelling
went down, a disorder fell into his eyes, which threatened the
loss of them. To this an ague and fever succeeded, and a lameness
in both his legs.

Jonathan Strong, having been brought into this deplorable
situation, and being therefore wholly useless, was left by his
master to go whither he pleased. He applied accordingly to Mr.
William Sharp, the surgeon, for his advice, as to one who gave
up a portion of his time to the healing of the diseases of the
poor. It was here that Mr. Granville Sharp, the brother of the
former, saw him. Suffice it to say, that in process of time he
was cured. During this time Mr. Granville Sharp, pitying his
hard case, supplied him with money, and he afterwards got him
a situation in the family of Mr. Brown, an apothecary, to carry
out medicines.

In this new situation, when Strong had become healthy and
robust in his appearance, his master happened to see him. The
latter immediately formed the design of possessing him again.
According, when he had found out his residence, he procured
John Ross, keeper of the Poultry-counter, and William Miller,
an officer under the Lord Mayor, to kidnap him. This was done
by sending for him to a public-house in Fenchurch-street, and
then seizing him. By these he was conveyed, without any

warrant, to the Poultry-counter, where he was sold by his master,
to John Kerr, for thirty pounds.

Strong, in this situation, sent, as was usual, to his godfathers,
John London and Stephen Nail, for their protections. They went,
but were refused admittance to him. At length he sent for Mr.
Granville Sharp: the latter went, but they still refused access to
the prisoner. He insisted, however, upon seeing him, and
charged the keeper of the prison at his peril to deliver him up,
till he had been carried before a magistrate.

Mr. Sharp, immediately upon this, waited upon Sir Robert
Kite, the then lord mayor, and entreated him to send for Strong
and to hear his case. A day was accordingly appointed. Mr.
Sharp attended, and also William McBean, a notary public, and
David Laird, captain of the ship Thames, which was to have
conveyed Strong to Jamaica, in behalf of the purchaser, John
Kerr. A long conversation ensued, in which the opinion of
York and Talbot was quoted. Mr. Sharp made his observations.
Certain lawyers who were present seemed to be staggered at the
case, but inclined rather to recommit the prisoner: the lord
mayor, however, discharged Strong, as he had been taken up
without a warrant.

As soon as this determination was made known, the parties
began to move off. Captain Laird, however, who kept close to
Strong, laid hold of him before he had quitted the room, and
said aloud, “Then I now seize him as my slave.” Upon this
Mr. Sharp put his hand upon Laird’s shoulder, and pronounced
these words: “I charge you, in the name of the king, with an
assault upon the person of Jonathan Strong, and all these are my
witnesses.” Laird was greatly intimidated by this charge, made
in the presence of the lord mayor and others, and, fearing a
prosecution, let his prisoner go, leaving him to be conveyed away
by Mr. Sharp.

Mr. Sharp having been greatly affected by this case, and
foreseeing how much he might be engaged in others of a similar
nature, thought it time that the law of the land should be known
upon this subject: he applied, therefore, to Dr. Blackstone,
afterwards Judge Blackstone, for his opinion upon it. He was,

however, not satisfied with it when he received it; nor could he
obtain any satisfactory answer from several other lawyers, to
whom he afterwards applied. The truth is that the opinion of
York and Talbot, which had been made public and acted upon
by the planters, merchants, and others, was considered of high
authority, and scarcely any one dared to question the legality of
it. In this situation Mr. Sharp saw no means of help but in his
own industry, and he determined immediately to give up two or
three years to the study of the English law, that he might the
better advocate the cause of these miserable people. The result
of these studies was the publication of a book in the year 1769,
which he called, A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous
Tendency of Tolerating Slavery in England. In this work he
refuted, in the clearest manner, the opinion of York and Talbot:
he produced against it the opinion of the Lord Chief Justice Holt,
who, many years before, had determined that every slave coming
into England became free: he attacked and refuted it again by a
learned and laborious inquiry into all the principles of Villenage.
He refuted it again by showing it to be an axiom in the British
constitution, “That every man in England was free to sue for
and defend his rights, and that force could not be used without a
legal process,” leaving it to the judges to determine whether an
African was a man. He attacked also the opinion of Judge
Blackstone, and showed where his error lay. This valuable book,
containing these and other kinds of arguments on the subject, he
distributed, but particularly among the lawyers, giving them an
opportunity of refuting or acknowledging the doctrines it contained.

While Mr. Sharp was engaged in this work, another case
offered, in which he took a part: this was in the year 1768.
Hylas, an African slave, prosecuted a person of the name of
Newton for having kidnapped his wife, and sent her to the West
Indies. The result of the trial was, that damages to the amount
of a shilling were given, and the defendant was bound to bring
back the woman, either by the first ship, or in six months from
this decision of the court.

But soon after the work just mentioned was out, and when

Mr. Sharp was better prepared, a third case occurred: this happened
in the year 1770. Robert Stapylton, who lived at Chelsea,
in conjunction with John Malony and Edward Armstrong, two
watermen, seized the person of Thomas Lewis, an African slave,
in a dark night, and dragged him to a boat lying in the Thames;
they then gagged him and tied him with a cord, and rowed him
down to a ship, and put him on board to be sold as a slave in
Jamaica. This base action took place near the garden of Mrs.
Banks, the mother of the late Sir Joseph Banks. Lewis, it
appears, on being seized, screamed violently. The servants of
Mrs. Banks, who heard his cries, ran to his assistance, but the
boat was gone. On informing their mistress of what had happened,
she sent for Mr. Sharp, who began now to be known as
the friend of the helpless Africans, and professed her willingness
to incur the expense of bringing the delinquents to justice. Mr.
Sharp, with some difficulty, procured a habeas corpus, in consequence
of which Lewis was brought from Gravesend just as the
vessel was on the point of sailing. An action was then commenced
against Stapylton, who defended himself on the plea,
“That Lewis belonged to him as his slave.” In the course
of the trial, Mr. Dunning, who was counsel for Lewis, paid
Mr. Sharp a handsome compliment; for he held in his hand
Mr. Sharp’s book, on the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of
Tolerating Slavery in England, while he was pleading; and in
his address to the jury he spoke and acted thus:—”I shall
submit to you,” says Mr. Dunning, “what my ideas are upon
such evidence, reserving to myself an opportunity of discussing it
more particularly, and reserving to myself a right to insist upon
a position, which I will maintain (and here he held up the book
to the notice of those present,) in any place and in any court of
the kingdom, that our laws admit of no such property^A.” The
result of the trial was, that the jury pronounced the plaintiff not
to have been the property of the defendant, several of them
crying out, “No property, no property.”

A: It is lamentable to think that the same Mr. Dunning,
in a cause of this
kind, which came on afterwards, took the opposite side of the
question.

After this one or two other trials came on, in which the

oppressor was defeated, and several cases occurred in which poor
slaves were liberated from the holds of vessels and other places of
confinement, by the exertions of Mr. Sharp. One of these cases
was singular. The vessels on board which a poor African had
been dragged and confined, had reached the Downs, and had
actually got under weigh for the West Indies: in two or three
hours she would have been out of sight; but just at this critical
moment the writ of habeas corpus was carried on board. The
officer who served it on the captain saw the miserable African
chained to the mainmast, bathed in tears, and casting a last
mournful look on the land of freedom, which was fast receding
from his sight. The captain, on receiving the writ, became outrageous;
but knowing the serious consequences of resisting the
law of the land, he gave up his prisoner, whom the officer carried
safe, but now crying for joy, to the shore.

But though the injured Africans, whose causes had been
tried, escaped slavery, and though many who had been forcibly
carried into dungeons, ready to be transported into the Colonies,
had been delivered out of them, Mr. Sharp was not easy in his
mind: not one of the cases had yet been pleaded on the broad
ground, “Whether an African slave, coming into England,
became free?” This great question had been hitherto studiously
avoided; it was still, therefore, left in doubt. Mr. Sharp was
almost daily acting as if it had been determined, and as if he had
been following the known law of the land: he wished, therefore,
that the next cause might be argued upon this principle. Lord
Mansfield too, who had been biassed by the opinion of York and
Talbot, began to waver in consequence of the different pleadings
he had heard on this subject: he saw also no end of trials like
these, till the law should be ascertained, and he was anxious for
a decision on the same basis as Mr. Sharp. In this situation the
following case offered, which was agreed upon for the determination
of this important question.

James Somerset, an African slave, had been brought to
England by his master, Charles Stewart, in November 1769.
Somerset in process of time left him. Stewart took an opportunity
of seizing him, and had him conveyed on board the Ann

and Mary, Captain Knowles, to be carried out of the kingdom
and sold as a slave in Jamaica: the question was, “Whether a
slave, by coming into England, became free?”

In order that time might be given for ascertaining the law
fully on this head, the case was argued at three different sittings.
First, in January, 1772; secondly, in February, 1772; and
thirdly, in May, 1772. And that no decision otherwise than
what the law warranted might be given, the opinion of the judges
was taken upon the pleadings. The great and glorious result of
the trial was, “That as soon as ever any slave set his foot upon
English territory, he became free.”

Thus ended the great case of Somerset, which, having, been
determined after so deliberate an investigation of the law, can
never be reversed while the British Constitution remains. The
eloquence displayed in it by those who were engaged on the side of
liberty, was perhaps never exceeded on any occasion; and the
names of the counsellors Davy, Glynn, Hargrave, Mansfield, and
Alleyne, ought always to be remembered with gratitude by the
friends of this great cause. For when we consider in how many
crowded courts they pleaded, and the number of individuals in
these, whose minds they enlightened, and whose hearts they interested
in the subject, they are certainly to be put down as no
small instruments in the promotion of it; but chiefly to him, under
Divine Providence, are we to give the praise, who became
the first great actor in it, who devoted his time, his talents, and
his substance to this Christian undertaking, and by whose laborious
researches the very pleaders themselves were instructed and
benefited. By means of his almost incessant vigilance and attention,
and unwearied efforts, the poor African ceased to be hunted
in our streets as a beast of prey. Miserable as the roof might be,
under which he slept, he slept in security. He walked by the
side of the stately ship, and he feared no dungeon in her hold.
Nor ought we, as Englishmen, to be less grateful to this distinguished
individual than the African ought to be upon this occasion.
To him we owe it, that we no longer see our public papers
polluted by hateful advertisements of the sale of the human species,
or that we are no longer distressed by the perusal of impious

rewards for bringing back the poor and the helpless into slavery,
or that we are prohibited the disgusting spectacle of seeing man
bought by his fellow-man. To him, in short, we owe this restoration
of the beauty of our constitution—this prevention of the continuance
of our national disgrace.

I shall say but little more of Mr. Sharp at present, than that
he felt it his duty, immediately after the trial, to write to Lord
North, then principal minister of state, warning him in the most
earnest manner, to abolish immediately both the trade and the
slavery of the human species in all the British dominions, as
utterly irreconcileable with the principles of the British
constitution,
and the established religion of the land.

Among other coadjutors, whom the cruel and wicked practices
which have now been so amply detailed brought forward,
was a worthy clergyman, whose name I have not yet been able
to learn. He endeavoured to interest the public feeling in behalf
of the injured Africans, by writing an epilogue to the Padlock, in
which Mungo appeared as a black servant. This epilogue is so
appropriate to the case, that I cannot but give it to the reader.
Mungo enters, and thus addresses the audience:—

I may now add, that few theatrical pieces had a greater run
than the Padlock; and that this epilogue, which
was attached to it soon after it came out, procured a good deal of
feeling for the
unfortunate sufferers, whose cause it was intended to serve.

Another coadjutor, to whom these cruel and wicked practices
gave birth, was Thomas Day, the celebrated author of Sandford
and Merton, and whose virtues were well known among those
who had the happiness of his friendship. In the year 1773 he
published a poem, which he wrote expressly in behalf of the
oppressed Africans. He gave it the name of The Dying Negro.
The preface to it was written in an able manner by his friend
Counsellor Bicknell, who is therefore to be ranked among the
coadjutors in this great cause. The poem was founded on a

simple fact, which had taken place a year or two before. A poor
negro had been seized in London, and forcibly put on board a
ship, where he destroyed himself, rather than return to the land
of slavery. To the poem is affixed a frontispiece, in which the
negro is represented. He is made to stand in an attitude of the
most earnest address to heaven, in the course of which, with the
fatal dagger in his hand, he breaks forth in the following words:

This poem, which was the first ever written expressly on the
subject, was read extensively; and it added to the sympathy in
favour of suffering humanity, which was now beginning to show
itself in the kingdom.

About this time the first edition of the Essay an Truth made
its appearance in the world. Dr. Beattie took an opportunity, in
this work, of vindicating the intellectual powers of the Africans
from the aspersions of Hume, and of condemning their slavery as
a barbarous piece of policy, and as inconsistent with the free and
generous spirit of the British nation.

In the year 1774, John Wesley, the celebrated divine, to
whose pious labours the religious world will long be indebted,
undertook the cause of the poor Africans. He had been in America,
and had seen and pitied their hard condition. The work
which he gave to the world in consequence, was entitled Thoughts
on Slavery. Mr. Wesley had this great cause much at heart, and
frequently recommended it to the support of those who attended
his useful ministry.

In the year 1776, the Abbé Proyart brought out, at Paris, his
History of Loango, and other kingdoms in Africa, in which he
did ample justice to the moral and intellectual character of the
natives there.

The same year produced two new friends in England, in the
same cause, but in a line in which no one had yet moved. David
Hartley, then a member of parliament for Hull, and the son of
Dr. Hartley who wrote the Essay on Man, found it impossible
any longer to pass over without notice the case of the oppressed

Africans. He had long felt for their wretched condition, and,
availing himself of his legislative situation, he made a motion in
the House of Commons, “That the Slave Trade was contrary to
the laws of God, and the rights of men.” In order that he might
interest the members as much as possible in his motion, he had
previously obtained some of the chains in use in this cruel traffic,
and had laid them upon the table of the House of Commons.
His motion was seconded by that great patriot and philanthropist,
Sir George Saville. But though I am now to state that it failed,
I cannot but consider it as a matter of pleasing reflection, that
this great subject was first introduced into parliament by those
who were worthy of it; by those who had clean hands and an
irreproachable character, and to whom no motive of party or faction
could be imputed, but only such as must have arisen from a
love of justice, a true feeling of humanity, and a proper sense of
religion.

About this time two others, men of great talents and learning,
promoted the cause of the injured Africans, by the manner
in which they introduced them to notice in their respective
works.

Dr. Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, had, so
early as the year 1759, held them up in an honourable, and their
tyrants in a degrading light. “There is not a Negro from the
coast of Africa, who does not, in this respect, possess a degree of
magnanimity which the soul of his sordid master is too often
scarce capable of conceiving. Fortune never exerted more cruelly
her empire over mankind, than when she subjected those nations
of heroes to the refuse of the gaols of Europe, to wretches
who possess the virtue neither of the countries they came from,
nor of those they go to, and whose levity, brutality, and baseness
so justly expose them to the contempt of the vanquished.” And
now, in 1776, in his Wealth of Nations he showed in a forcible
manner (for he appealed to the interest of those concerned,) the
dearness of African labour; or the impolicy of employing slaves.

Professor Millar, in his Origin of Ranks, followed Dr. Smith
on the same ground. He explained the impolicy of slavery in
general, by its bad effects upon industry, population, and morals.

These effects he attached to the system of agriculture as followed
in our islands. He showed, besides, how little pains were taken,
or how few contrivances were thought of, to ease the labourers
there. He contended that the Africans ought to be better
treated, and to be raised to a better condition; and he ridiculed
the inconsistency of those who held them in bondage. “It
affords,” says he, “a curious spectacle to observe that the same
people, who talk in a high strain of political liberty, and who
consider the privilege of imposing their own taxes as one of the
unalienable rights of mankind, should make no scruple of reducing
a great proportion of their fellow-creatures into circumstances
by which they are not only deprived of property, but almost of
every species of right. Fortune, perhaps, never produced a situation
more calculated to ridicule a liberal hypothesis, or to show
how little the conduct of men is at the bottom directed by any
philosophical principles.” It is a great honour to the University
of Glasgow, that it should have produced, before any public agitation
of this question, three professors^A, all of whom bore their
public testimony against the continuance of the cruel trade.

A: The other was Professor Hutcheson, before mentioned in p. 56.

From this time, or from about the year 1776, to about the
year 1782, I am to put down three other coadjutors, whose labours
seem to have come in a right season for the promotion of the
cause.

The first of these was Dr. ROBERTSON. In his History of
America he laid open many facts relative to this subject. He
showed himself a warm friend both of the Indians and Africans.
He lost no opportunity of condemning that trade, which brought
the latter into bondage: “a trade,” says he, “which is no less
repugnant to the feelings of humanity than to the principles of
religion.” And in his Charles the Fifth, he showed in a manner
that was clear, and never to be controverted, that Christianity
was the great cause in the twelfth century of extirpating slavery
from the west of Europe. By the establishment of this fact, he
rendered important services to the oppressed Africans. For if
Christianity, when it began to be felt in the heart, dictated the
abolition of slavery, it certainly became those who lived in a

Christian country, and who professed the Christian religion, to
put an end to this cruel trade.

The second was the Abbé Raynal. This author gave an
account of the laws, government, and religion of Africa, of the
produce of it, of the manners of its inhabitants, of the trade in
slaves, of the manner of procuring these, with
several other particulars
relating to the subject. And at the end of his account,
fearing lest the good advice he had given for making the condition
of the slaves more comfortable should be construed into an
approbation of such a traffic, he employed several pages in showing
its utter inconsistency with sound policy, justice, reason, humanity,
and religion.

“I will not here,” says he, “so far debase myself as to enlarge
the ignominious list of those writers who devote their abilities
to justify by policy what morality condemns. In an age
where so many errors are boldly laid open, it would be unpardonable
to conceal any truth that is interesting to humanity. If
whatever I have hitherto advanced hath seemingly tended only
to alleviate the burden of slavery, the reason is, that it was
first necessary to give some comfort to those unhappy beings whom
we cannot set free, and convince their oppressors that they were
cruel, to the prejudice of their real interests. But, in the mean
time, till some considerable revolution shall make the evidence
of this great truth felt, it may not be improper to pursue this
subject further. I shall then first prove that there is no reason
of state which can authorize slavery. I shall not be afraid to
cite to the tribunal of reason and justice those governments
which tolerate this cruelty, or which even are not ashamed to
make it the basis of their power.”

And a little further on he observes—”Will it be said that he,
who wants to make me a slave, does me no injury; but that he
only makes use of his rights? Where are those rights? Who
hath stamped upon them so sacred a character as to silence mine?”

In the beginning of the next paragraph he speaks thus:—”He
who supports the system of slavery is the enemy of the
whole human race. He divides it into two
societies of legal assassins;

the oppressors, and the oppressed. It is the same thing
as proclaiming to the world, if you would preserve your life,
instantly take away mine, for I want to have yours.”

Going on two pages further, we find these words:—”But the
Negroes, they say, are a race born for slavery; their dispositions
are narrow, treacherous, and wicked; they themselves allow the
superiority of our understandings, and almost acknowledge the
justice of our authority. Yes; the minds of the Negroes are
contracted, because slavery destroys all the springs of the soul.
They are wicked, but not equally so with you. They are treacherous,
because they are under no obligation to speak truth to their
tyrants. They acknowledge the superiority of our understanding,
because we have abused their ignorance. They allow the
justice of our authority, because we have abused their weakness.”

“But these Negroes, it is further urged, were born slaves.
Barbarians! will you persuade me that a man can be the property
of a sovereign, a son the property of a father, a wife the
property of a husband, a domestic the property of a master, a
Negro the property of a planter?”

But I have no time to follow this animated author, even by
short extracts, through the varied strains of eloquence which he
displays upon this occasion. I can only say that his labours entitle
him to a high station among the benefactors to the African
race.

The third was Dr. PALEY, whose genius, talents, and learning
have been so eminently displayed in his writings in the cause of
natural and revealed religion. Dr. Paley did not write any essay
expressly in favour of the Africans. But in his Moral Philosophy,
where he treated on slavery, he took an opportunity of
condemning, in very severe terms, the continuance of it. In this
work he defined what slavery was, and how it might arise consistently
with the law of nature; but he made an exception
against that which arose from the African trade.
“The Slave Trade,” says he, “upon the coast of Africa, is not
excused by these principles. When slaves in that country are
brought to market, no questions, I believe, are asked about the

origin or justice of the vendor’s title. It may be presumed,
therefore, that this title is not always, if it be ever, founded in
any of the causes above assigned.

“But defect of right in the first purchase is the least crime
with which this traffic is chargeable. The natives are excited to
war and mutual depredation, for the sake of supplying their
contracts, or furnishing the markets with slaves. With this the
wickedness begins. The slaves, torn away from their parents,
wives, and children, from their friends and companions, from
their fields and flocks, from their home and country, are
transported to the European settlements in America, with no other
accommodation on ship-board than what is provided for brutes.
This is the second stage of the cruelty, from which the miserable
exiles are delivered, only to be placed, and that for life,
in subjection to a dominion add system of laws, the most
merciless and
tyrannical that ever were tolerated upon the face of the earth:
and from all that can be learned by the accounts of people upon
the spot, the inordinate authority which the plantation-laws confer
upon the slaveholder is exercised, by the English slaveholder
especially, with rigour and brutality.

“But necessity is pretended, the name under which every
enormity is attempted to be justified; and after all, what is the
necessity? It has never been proved that the land could not be
cultivated there, as it is here, by hired servants. It is said, that
it could not be cultivated with quite the same conveniency and
cheapness, as by the labour of slaves; by which means, a pound
of sugar, which the planter now sells for sixpence, could not be
afforded under sixpence-halfpenny—and this is the necessity!

“The great revolution which has taken place in the western
world, may, probably, conduce (and who knows but that it was
designed) to accelerate the fall of this abominable tyranny: and
now that this contest and the passions which attend it are no
more, there may succeed, perhaps, a season for reflecting, whether
a legislature, which had so long lent its assistance to the support
of an institution replete with human misery, was fit to be trusted
with an empire, the most extensive that ever obtained in any age
or quarter of the world.”

The publication of these sentiments may be supposed to have
produced an extensive effect. For The Moral Philosophy was
adopted early by some of the colleges in our universities into the
system of their education. It soon found its way also into most
of the private libraries of the kingdom; and it was, besides,
generally read and approved. Dr. Paley, therefore, must be
considered, as having been a considerable coadjutor in
interesting the mind of the public in favour of the
oppressed Africans.

In the year 1783, we find Mr. Sharp coming again into
notice. We find him at this time taking a part in a cause, the
knowledge of which, in proportion as it was disseminated, produced
an earnest desire among all disinterested persons for the
abolition of the Slave Trade.

In this year, certain underwriters desired to be heard against
Gregson and others of Liverpool, in the case of the ship Zong,
Captain Collingwood, alleging that the captain and officers of the
said vessel threw overboard one hundred and thirty-two slaves
alive into the seas in order to defraud them, by claiming the
value of the said slaves, as if they had been lost in a natural way.
In the course of the trial which afterwards came on, it appeared,
that the slaves on board the Zong were very sickly; that sixty of
them had already died; and several were ill and likely to die,
when the captain proposed to James Kelsall, the mate, and
others, to throw several of them overboard, stating, “that if
they died a natural death, the loss would fall upon the owners of
the ship; but that if they were thrown into the sea, it would fall
upon the underwriters.” He selected, accordingly, one hundred
and thirty-two of the most sickly of the slaves. Fifty-four of
these were immediately thrown overboard, and forty-two were
made to be partakers of their fate on the succeeding day. In the
course of three days afterwards the remaining twenty-six were
brought upon deck to complete the number of victims. The
first sixteen submitted to be thrown into the sea; but the rest,
with a noble resolution, would not suffer the officers to touch
them, but leaped after their companions and shared their fate.

The plea which was set up in behalf of this atrocious and
unparalleled act of wickedness was, that the captain discovered,

when he made the proposal, that he had only two hundred gallons
of water on board, and that he had missed his port. It was
proved, however, in answer to this, that no one had been put
upon short allowance; and that, as if Providence had determined
to afford an unequivocal proof of the guilt, a shower of rain fell
and continued for three days immediately after the second lot of
slaves had been destroyed, by means of which they might have
filled many of their vessels^A with water, and thus have prevented
all necessity for the destruction of the third.

A: It appeared that they filled six.

Mr. Sharp was present at this trial, and procured the attendance
of a short-hand writer to take down the facts, which should
come out in the course of it. These he gave to the public afterwards.
He communicated them also, with a copy of the trial,
to the Lords of the Admiralty, as the guardians of justice upon
the seas, and to the Duke of Portland, as principal minister of
state. No notice, however, was taken by any of these, of the
information which had been thus sent them.

But though nothing was done by the persons then in power,
in consequence of the murder of so many innocent individuals,
yet the publication of an account of it by Mr. Sharp, in the
newspapers, made such an impression upon others, that; new
coadjutors rose up. For, soon after this, we find Thomas Day
entering the lists again as the champion of the injured Africans.
He had lived to see his poem of The Dying Negro, which had
been published in 1773, make a considerable impression. In 1776,
he had written a letter to a friend in America, who was the
possessor of slaves, to dissuade him by a number of arguments
from holding such property; and now, when the knowledge of
the case of the ship Zong was spreading, he published that letter
under the title of Fragment of an Original Letter on the Slavery
of the Negroes.

In this same year, Dr. Porteus, Bishop of Chester, but now
Bishop of London, came forward as a new advocate for the natives
of Africa. The way in which he rendered them service, was by
preaching a sermon in their behalf, before the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel. Of the wide circulation of this

sermon, I shall say something in another place, but much more
of the enlightened and pious author of it, who from this time
never failed to aid, at every opportunity, the cause which he had
so ably undertaken.

In the year 1784, Dr. GREGORY produced his Essays, Historical
and Moral. He took an opportunity of disseminating in
these a circumstantial knowledge of the Slave Trade, and an equal
abhorrence of it at the same time. He explained the manner of
procuring slaves in Africa; the treatment of them on the passage,
(in which he mentioned the case of the ship Zong) and the
wicked and cruel treatment of them in the colonies. He recited
and refuted also the various arguments adduced in defence of the
trade. He showed that it was destructive to our seamen. He
produced many weighty arguments also against the slavery itself.
He proposed clauses for an Act of Parliament for the abolition of
both; showing the good both to England and her colonies from
such a measure, and that a trade might be substituted in Africa,
in various articles, for that which he proposed to suppress. By
means of the diffusion of light like this, both of a moral and
political nature; Dr. Gregory is entitled to be ranked among the
benefactors to the African race.

In the same year, Gilbert Wakefield preached a sermon at
Richmond, in Surrey, where, speaking of the people of this
nation, he says, “Have we been as renowned for a liberal
communication of our religion and our laws as for the possession of
them! Have we navigated and conquered to save, to civilize,
and to instruct; or to oppress, to plunder, and to destroy? Let
India and Africa give the answer to these questions. The one
we have exhausted of her wealth and her inhabitants by violence,
by famine, and by every species of tyranny and murder. The
children of the other we daily carry from off the land of their
nativity; like sheep to the slaughter, to return no more. We
tear them from every object of their affection, or, sad alternative,
drag them together to the horrors of a mutual servitude! We
keep them in the profoundest ignorance. We gall them in a
tenfold chain, with an unrelenting spirit of barbarity, inconceivable
to all but the spectators of it, unexampled among former

and other nations, and unrecorded even in the bloody registers
of heathen persecution. Such is the conduct of us enlightened
Englishmen, reformed Christians! Thus have we
profited by our superior advantages, by the favour of God, by the
doctrines and example of a meek and lowly Savior. Will not
the blessings which we have abused loudly testify against us?
Will not the blood which we have shed cry from the ground
for vengeance upon our sins?”

In the same year, James Ramsay, vicar of Teston in Kent,
became also an able, zealous, and indefatigable patron of the
African cause. This gentleman had resided nineteen years in
the island of St. Christopher, where he had observed the treatment
of the slaves, and had studied the laws relating to them.
On his return to England, yielding to his own feelings of duty
and the solicitations of some amiable friends, he published a
work, which he called An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion
of the African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies.
After having given an account of the relative situation of master
and slave in various parts of the world, he explained the low and
degrading situation which the Africans held in society in our own
islands. He showed that their importance would be increased;
and the temporal interest of their masters promoted, by giving
them freedom, and by granting them other privileges. He
showed the great difficulty of instructing them in the state in
which they then were, and such as he himself had experienced,
both in his private and public attempts, and such as others had
experienced also. He stated the way in which private attempts
of this nature might probably be successful. He then answered
all objections against their capacities, as drawn from philosophy,
form, anatomy, and observation; and vindicated these from his
own experience. And lastly, he threw out ideas for the improvement
of their condition, by an establishment of a greater number
of spiritual pastors among them; by giving them more privileges
than they then possessed; and by extending towards them the
benefits of a proper police. Mr. Ramsay had no other motive
for giving this work to the public, than that of humanity, of a
wish to serve this much-injured part of the human species. For

he compiled it at the hazard of forfeiting that friendship, which
he had contracted with many during his residence in the islands,
and of suffering much in his private property, as well as subjecting
himself to the ill-will and persecution of numerous individuals.

The publication of this book by one who professed to have
been so long resident in the islands, and to have been an eyewitness
of facts, produced, as may easily be supposed, a good
deal of conversation, and made a considerable impression,
but particularly at this time, when a storm was visibly
gathering over
the heads of the oppressors of the African race. These circumstances
occasioned one or two persons to attempt to answer it,
and these answers brought Mr. Ramsay into the first controversy
ever entered into on this subject, during which, as is the case in
most controversies, the cause of truth was spread.

The works which Mr. Ramsay wrote upon this subject were,
the essay just mentioned, in 1784. An
Inquiry, also, into the Effects
of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in 1784; A
Reply to Personal Invectives and Objections, in
1785; A Letter to James Tobin, Esq.,
in 1787; Objections to the Abolition of
the Slave Trade, with Answers; and An
Examination of Harris’s Scriptural Researches on the
Licitness of the Slave Trade, in 1788;
and An Address on the proposed Bill for
the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in 1789. In short,
from the time when he first took up the cause, he was
engaged in it till his death, which was not a little
accelerated by his exertions. He lived, however, to see
this cause in a train of parliamentary inquiry, and he died
satisfied; being convinced, as he often expressed, that the
investigation must inevitably lead to the total abolition
of the Slave Trade.

In the next year, that is, in the year 1785, another advocate
was seen in Monsieur Necker, in his celebrated work on the
French Finances, which had just been
translated into the English language from the original work,
in 1784. This virtuous statesman, after having given his
estimate of the population and revenue of the French West
Indian colonies, proceeds thus:—”The
colonies of France contain, as we have seen, near five hundred
thousand slaves, and it is from the number of these poor wretches
that the inhabitants set a value on their plantations. What a

dreadful prospect! and how profound a subject for reflection!
Alas! how little are we both in our morality and our principles!
We preach up humanity, and yet go every year to bind in chains
twenty thousand natives of Africa! We call the Moors barbarians
and ruffians, because they attack the liberty of Europeans
at the risk of their own; yet these Europeans go, without
danger, and as mere speculators, to purchase slaves by gratifying
the avarice of their masters, and excite all those bloody scenes
which are the usual preliminaries of this traffic!” He goes on
still further in the same strain. He then shows the kind of
power which has supported this execrable trade. He throws out
the idea of a general compact, by which all the European nations
should agree to abolish it; and he indulges the pleasing hope that
it may take place even in the present generation.

In the same year we find other coadjutors coming before our
view, but these in a line different from that in which any other
belonging to this class had yet moved. Mr. George White, a
clergyman of the established church, and Mr. John Chubb, suggested
to Mr. William Tucket, the mayor of Bridgewater, where
they resided, and to others of that town, the propriety of
petitioning parliament for the abolition of the Slave Trade. This
petition was agreed upon, and, when drawn up, was as follows:—

“The humble petition of the inhabitants of Bridgewater
showeth,

“That your petitioners, reflecting with the deepest sensibility
on the deplorable condition of that part of the human species, the
African Negroes, who, by the most flagitious means, are reduced
to slavery and misery in the British colonies, beg leave to address
this honourable house in their behalf, and to express a just
abhorrence of a system of oppression, which no prospect of private
gain, no consideration of public advantage, no plea of political
expediency, can sufficiently justify or excuse.

“That, satisfied as your petitioners are that this inhuman system
meets with the general execration of mankind, they flatter
themselves the day is not far distant when it will be universally
abolished. And they most ardently hope to see a British parliament,
by the extinction of that sanguinary traffic, extend the

blessings of liberty to millions beyond this realm, held up to an
enlightened world a glorious and merciful example, and stand
in the defence of the violated rights of human nature.”

This petition was presented by the Honourable Ann Poulet,
and Alexander Hood, Esq., (afterwards Lord Bridport,) who were
the members for the town of Bridgewater. It was ordered to lie on
the table. The answer which these gentlemen gave to their
constituents relative to the reception of it in the House of Commons
is worthy of notice:—”There did not appear,” say they in their
common letter, “the least disposition to pay any further attention
to it. Every one almost says that the abolition of the Slave
Trade must immediately throw the West Indian islands into
convulsions, and soon complete their utter ruin. Thus they will
not trust Providence for its protection for so pious an undertaking.”

In the year 1786, Captain J.S. Smith, of the royal navy,
offered himself to the notice of the public in behalf of the African
cause. Mr. Ramsay, as I have observed before, had become
involved in a controversy in consequence of his support of it.
His opponents not only attacked his reputation, but had the
effrontery to deny his facts. This circumstance occasioned
Captain Smith to come forward. He wrote a letter to his friend Mr.
Hill, in which he stated that he had seen those things, while in
the West Indies, which Mr. Ramsay had asserted to exist, but
which had been so boldly denied. He gave, also, permission to
Mr. Hill to publish this letter. Too much praise cannot be
bestowed on Captain Smith, for thus standing forth in a noble
cause, and in behalf of an injured character.

The last of the necessary forerunners and coadjutors of this
class, whom I am to mention, was our much-admired poet,
Cowper; and a great coadjutor he was, when we consider what
value was put upon his sentiments, and the extraordinary
circulation of his works. There are few persons who have not been
properly impressed by the following lines:—

CHAPTER IV.

—Second class of forerunners and coadjutors, up to
May 1787, consists of the Quakers in England.—Of George Fox
and others.—Of the body of the Quakers assembled at the
yearly meeting in 1727; and at various other times.—Quakers,
as a body, petition Parliament; and circulate
books on the subject.—Individuals among them become
labourers and associate in behalf of the Africans;
Dilwyn, Harrison, and others.—This the first association
ever formed in England for the purpose.

The second class of the forerunners and coadjutors in this great
cause, up to May 1787, will consist of the Quakers in England.

The first of this class was George Fox, the venerable founder
of this benevolent society.

George Fox was contemporary with Richard Baxter, being
born not long after him, and dying much about the same time.
Like him, he left his testimony against this wicked trade. When
he was in the island of Barbados, in the year 1671, he delivered
himself to those who attended his religious meetings in the following
manner:—

“Consider with yourselves,” says he, “if you were in the
same condition as the poor Africans are—who came strangers to
you, and were sold to you as slaves—I say, if this should be the
condition of you or yours, you would think it a hard measure;
yea, and very great bondage and cruelty. And, therefore, consider
seriously of this; and do you for them and to them, as you
would willingly have them, or any others, do unto you, were you
in the like slavish condition, and bring them to know the Lord
Christ.” And in his Journal, speaking of the advice which he
gave his friends at Barbados, he says, “I desired also that they
would cause their overseers to deal mildly and gently with their
negroes, and not to use cruelty towards them, as the manner of
some had been, and that after certain years of servitude they
should make them free.”

William Edmundson, who was a minister of the society, and,
indeed, a fellow-traveller with George Fox, had the boldness in

the same island to deliver his sentiments to the governor on the
same subject. Having been brought before him and accused of
making the Africans Christians, or, in other words, of making
them rebel and destroy their owners, he replied, “That it was a
good thing to bring them to the knowledge of God and Christ
Jesus, and to believe in him who died for them and all men, and
that this would keep them from rebelling, or cutting any person’s
throat; but if they did rebel and cut their throats, as the governor
insinuated they would, it would be their own doing, in keeping
them in ignorance and under oppression, in giving them liberty
to be common with women like brutes, and, on the other hand,
in starving them for want of meat and clothes convenient; thus,
giving them liberty in that which God restrained, and restraining
them in that which was meat and clothing.”

I do not find any individual of this society moving in this
cause, for some time after the death of George Fox and William
Edmundson. The first circumstance of moment which I discover,
is a resolution of the whole Society on the subject, at their yearly
meeting, held in London in the year 1727. The resolution was
contained in the following words:—”It is the sense of this
meeting, that the importing of negroes from their native country
and relations by Friends is not a commendable nor allowed
practice, and is, therefore, censured by this meeting.”

In the year 1758, the Quakers thought it their duty, as
a body, to pass another resolution upon this subject. At this,
time the nature of the trade beginning to be better known, we
find them more animated upon it, as the following extract will
show:—

“We fervently warn all in profession with us, that they
carefully avoid being any way concerned in reaping the unrighteous
profits, arising from the iniquitous practice of dealing in
negro or other slaves; whereby, in the original purchase, one man
selleth another, as he doth the beasts that perish, without any
better pretension to a property in him than that of superior force;
in direct violation of the Gospel rule, which teacheth all to do as
they would be done by, and to do good to all; being the reverse
of that covetous disposition, which furnisheth encouragement to

those poor ignorant people to perpetuate their savage wars, in
order to supply the demands of this most unnatural traffic, by
which great numbers of mankind, free by nature, are subject to
inextricable bondage, and which hath often been observed to fill
their possessors with haughtiness, tyranny, luxury, and barbarity,
corrupting the minds and debasing the morals of their children,
to the unspeakable prejudice of religion and virtue, and the
exclusion of that holy spirit of universal love, meekness, and
charity, which is the unchangeable nature and the glory of true
Christianity. We, therefore, can do no less, than, with the
greatest earnestness, impress it upon Friends everywhere, that
they endeavour to keep their hands clear of this unrighteous gain
of oppression.”

The Quakers hitherto, as appears by the two resolutions
which have been quoted, did nothing more than seriously warn
all those in religious profession with them against being concerned
in this trade. But in three years afterwards, or at the yearly
meeting in 1761, they came to a resolution, as we find by the
following extract from their minutes, that any of their members
haying a concern in it should be disowned:—”This meeting
having reason to apprehend that divers under our name, are
concerned in the unchristian traffic in negroes, doth recommend
it earnestly to the care of Friends everywhere, to discourage, as
much as in them lies, a practice so repugnant to our Christian
profession; and to deal with all such as shall persevere in a
conduct so reproachful to Christianity; and to disown them, if
they desist not therefrom.”

The yearly meeting of 1761, having thus agreed to exclude
from membership such as should be found concerned in this trade,
that of 1763 endeavoured to draw the cords, still tighter, by
attaching criminality to those who should aid and abet the trade
in any manner. By the minute, which was made on this occasion,
I apprehend that no one belonging to the Society could
furnish even materials for such voyages. “We renew our
exhortation, that Friends everywhere be especially careful to
keep their hands clear of giving encouragement in any shape to
the Slave Trade, it being evidently destructive of the natural

rights of mankind, who are all ransomed by one Saviour, and
visited by one divine light, in order to salvation; a
traffic calculated to enrich and aggrandize some upon
the misery of others;
in its nature abhorrent to every just and tender sentiment, and
contrary to the whole tenour of the Gospel.”

Some pleasing intelligence having been sent on this subject,
by the Society in America to the Society in England, the yearly
meeting of 1772 thought it their duty to notice it, and to keep
their former resolutions alive by the following minute:—”It
appears that the practice of holding negroes in oppressive and
unnatural bondage hath been so successfully discouraged by
Friends in some of the colonies, as to be considerably lessened.
We cannot but approve of these salutary endeavours, and earnestly
intreat that they may be continued, that through the favour of divine
Providence a traffic, so unmerciful and unjust in its nature to a
part of our own species made, equally with ourselves, for
immortality, may come to be considered by all in its proper
light, and be utterly abolished as a reproach to the
Christian name.”

I must beg leave to stop here for a moment, just to pay the
Quakers a due tribute of respect for the proper estimation, in
which they have uniformly held the miserable outcasts of society,
who have been the subject of these minutes. What a contrast
does it afford to the sentiments of many others concerning them!
How have we been compelled to prove by a long chain of evidence,
that they had the same feelings and capacities as ourselves!
How many, professing themselves enlightened, even now view
them as of a different species! But in the minutes which have
been cited we have seen them uniformly represented, as persons
“ransomed by one and the same Saviour,” “as visited by one
and the same light for salvation,” and “as made equally for
immortality as others.” These practical views of mankind, as
they are highly honourable to the members of this Society, so
they afford a proof both of the reality and of the consistency of
their religion.

But to return:—From this time, there appears to have been
a growing desire in this benevolent society to step
out of its ordinary course in behalf of this injured
people. It had hitherto confined

itself to the keeping of its own members unpolluted by any
gain from their oppression. But it was now ready to make an
appeal to others, and to bear a more public testimony in their
favour. Accordingly, in the month of June, 1783, when a bill
had been brought into the House of Commons for certain regulations
to be made with respect to the African Trade, the society
sent the following petition to that branch of the legislature:—

“Your petitioners, met in this their annual assembly, having
solemnly considered the state of the enslaved negroes, conceive
themselves engaged, in religious duty, to lay the suffering situation
of that unhappy people before you, as a subject loudly calling for
the humane interposition of the legislature,

“Your petitioners regret that a nation, professing the Christian
faith, should so far counteract the principles of humanity and
justice, as by the cruel treatment of this oppressed race to fill
their minds with prejudices against the mild and beneficent
doctrines of the gospel.

“Under the countenance of the laws of this country, many
thousand of these our fellow-creatures, entitled to the natural
rights of mankind, are held as personal property in cruel bondage;
and your petitioners being informed that a Bill for the Regulation
of the African Trade is now before the House, containing a
clause which restrains the officers of the African Company from
exporting negroes, your petitioners, deeply affected with
a consideration of the rapine, oppression, and bloodshed,
attending this traffic, humbly request that this
restriction may be extended to
all persons whomsoever, or that the House would grant such other
relief in the premises as in its wisdom may seem meet.”

This petition was presented by Sir Cecil Wray, who, on introducing
it, spoke very respectfully of the society. He declared
his hearty approbation of their application, and said he hoped he
should see the day when not a slave would remain within the
dominions of this realm. Lord North seconded the motion, saying
he could have no objection to the petition, and that its object
ought to recommend it to every humane breast; that it did credit
to the most benevolent society in the world; but that, the session,
being so far advanced, the subject, could not then be taken into

consideration; and he regretted that the Slave Trade, against
which the petition was so justly directed, was in a commercial
view become necessary to almost every nation of Europe. The
petition was then brought up and read, after which it was ordered
to lie on the table. This was the first petition (being two years
earlier than that from the inhabitants of Bridgewater), which was
ever presented to parliament for the abolition of the Slave Trade.

But the society did not stop here; for having at the yearly
meeting of 1783 particularly recommended the cause to a standing
committee, appointed to act at intervals, called the Meeting for
Sufferings, the latter in this same year resolved upon an address
to the public, entitled, The Case of our Fellow-creatures, the
oppressed Africans, respectfully recommended to the serious Consideration of the Legislature of Great Britain, by the People
called Quakers: in which they endeavoured, in the most pathetic
manner, to make the reader acquainted with the cruel nature of
this trade; and they ordered 2000 copies of it to be printed.

In the year 1784, they began the distribution of this case. The
first copy was sent to the king through Lord Carmarthen, and the
second and the third, through proper officers, to the queen and
the Prince of Wales. Others were sent by a deputation of two
members of the society to Mr. Pitt, as prime-minister; to the
Lord Chancellor Thurlow; to Lord Gower, as president of the
council; to Lords Carmarthen and Sidney, as secretaries of state;
to Lord Chief-Justice Mansfield; to Lord Howe, as first lord of
the Admiralty; and to C.F. Cornwall, Esq., as speaker of the
House of Commons. Copies were sent also to every member of
both houses of parliament.

The society, in the same year, anxious that the conduct of its
members should be consistent with its public profession on this
great subject, recommended it to the quarterly and monthly
meetings to inquire through their respective districts, whether
any, bearing its name, were in any way concerned in the traffic,
and to deal with such, and to report the success of their labours
in the ensuing year. Orders were also given for the reprinting
and circulation of 10,000 other copies of The Case.

In the year 1785, the society interested itself again in a

similar manner. For the Meeting for Sufferings, as representing
it, recommended to the quarterly meetings to distribute a work,
written by Anthony Benezet, in America, called A Caution to
Great Britain and her Colonies, in a short Representation of the
calamitous State of the enslaved Negroes in the British
Dominions. This book was accordingly forwarded to
them for this purpose. On receiving it, they sent it
among several public bodies, the regular and dissenting
clergy, justices of the peace, and particularly among
the great Schools of the kingdom, that the rising
youth might acquire a knowledge, and at the same time a
detestation, of this cruel traffic. In this latter base,
a deputation of the
society waited, upon the masters, to know if they would allow
their scholars to receive it. The schools of Westminster, the
Charter-house, St. Paul, Merchant-Taylors, Eton, Winchester,
and Harrow, were among those visited. Several academies also
were visited for this purpose.

But I must now take my leave of the Quakers as a public
body^A and go back to the year 1783, to record an event, which
will be found of great importance in the present history, and in
which only individuals belonging to the society were concerned.
This event seems to have arisen naturally out of existing or past
circumstances. For the society, as I have before stated, had sent
a petition to parliament in this year, praying for the abolition, of
the Slave Trade. It had also laid the foundation for a public
distribution of the books as just mentioned, with a view of
enlightening others on this great subject. The case of the
ship Zong,
which I have before had occasion to explain, had occurred this
same year. A letter also had been presented, much about the
same time, by Benjamin West, from Anthony Benezet, before
mentioned, to our queen, in behalf of the injured Africans, which
she had received graciously. These subjects occupied at this
time the attention of many Quaker families, and among others,
that of a few individuals, who were in close intimacy with each
other. These, when they met together, frequently conversed
upon them. They perceived, as facts came out in conversation,

that there was a growing knowledge and hatred of the Slave Trade,
and that the temper of the times was ripening towards its abolition.
Hence a disposition manifested itself among these, to
unite as labourers for the furtherance of so desirable an object.
An union was at length proposed and approved of, and the
following persons (placed in alphabetical order) came together to
execute the offices growing out of it:—

A: The Quakers, as a public body, kept the subject alive
at their yearly meeting in 1784, 1785, 1787, &c.

The first meeting was held on the seventh of July, 1783. At
this “they assembled to consider what steps they should take for
the relief and liberation of the negro slaves in the West Indies,
and for the discouragement of the Slave Trade on the coast of
Africa.”

To promote this object; they conceived it necessary that the
public mind should be enlightened respecting it. They had recourse;
therefore, to the public papers, and they appointed their
members in turn to write in these, and to see that their productions
were inserted. They kept regular minutes for this purpose.
It was not however known to the world that such an association
existed.

It appears that they had several meetings in the course of
this year. Before the close of it they had secured a place in the
General Evening Post, in Lloyd’s Evening Post,
in the Norwich, Bath, York, Bristol, Sherborne, Liverpool, Newcastle, and
other provincial papers, for such articles as they chose to send to them.
These consisted principally of extracts from such authors, both in prose
and verse, as they thought would most enlighten and interest the mind
upon the subject of their institution.

In the year 1784 they pursued the same plan; but they began
now to print books. The first was from a manuscript composed
by Joseph Woods, one of the committee; It was entitled,
Thoughts on the Slavery of the Negroes. This
manuscript was well put together. It was a manly and yet
feeling address in behalf
of the oppressed Africans. It contained a sober and dispassionate

appeal to the reason of all, without offending the prejudices of any.
It was distributed at the expense of the association, and proved to
be highly useful to the cause which it was intended to promote.

A communication having been made to the committee, that
Dr. Porteus, then Bishop of Chester, had preached a sermon before
the society for the propagation of the gospel, in behalf of the
injured Africans, (which sermon was noticed in the last chapter,)
Samuel Hoare was deputed to obtain permission to publish it.
This led him to a correspondence with Mr. Ramsay before mentioned.
The latter applied in consequence to the bishop, and
obtained his consent. Thus this valuable sermon was also given
to the world.

In the year 1785, the association continued their exertions as
before; but I have no room to specify them. I may observe, however,
that David Barclay, a grandson of the great apologist of that
name, assisted at one of their meetings, and (what is singular)
that he was in a few years afterwards unexpectedly called to a
trial of his principles on this very subject. For he and his
brother John became, in consequence of a debt due to them, possessed
of a large grazing farm, or pen, in Jamaica, which had
thirty-two slaves upon it. Convinced, however, that the retaining
of their fellow-creatures in bondage was not only irreconcilable
with the principles of Christianity, but subversive of the rights of
human nature, they determined upon the emancipation of these.
And they^A performed
this generous office to the satisfaction of
their minds, to the honour of their characters, to the benefit of
the public, and to the happiness of the slave^B. I
mention this

anecdote, not only to gratify myself, by paying a proper respect to
those generous persons who sacrificed their interest to principle,
but also to show the sincerity of David Barclay, (who is now the
only surviving brother,) as he actually put in practice what at
one of these meetings he was desirous of recommending to others.

A: They engaged an agent to embark for Jamaica in 1796 to
effect this business, and had the slaves conveyed to Philadelphia,
where they were kindly received by the Society for improving the
Condition of free Black people. Suitable situations were found
for the adults, and the young ones were bound out apprentices to
handicraft trades, and to receive school learning.

B: James
Pemberton, of Philadelphia, made the following
observation in a letter to a Friend in England:—”David Barclay’s
humane views towards the Blacks from Jamaica have been so far
realized, that these objects of his concern enjoy their freedom
with comfort to themselves, and are respectable in their
characters, keeping up a friendly intercourse with each other,
and avoiding to
intermix with the common Blacks of this city, being sober in
their conduct and industrious in their business.”

Having now brought up the proceedings of this little association
towards the year 1786, I shall take my leave of it, remarking,
that it was the first ever formed in England for the promotion
of the abolition of the Slave Trade. That Quakers have had this
honour is unquestionable. Nor is it extraordinary that they
should have taken the lead on this occasion, when we consider
how advantageously they have been situated for so doing. For
the Slave Trade, as we have not long ago seen, came within the
discipline of the society in the year 1727. From thence it continued
to be an object of it till 1783. In 1783 the society
petitioned parliament, and in 1784 it distributed books to enlighten
the public concerning it. Thus we see that every Quaker,
born since the year 1727, was nourished as it were in a fixed
hatred against it. He was taught, that any concern in it was a
crime of the deepest dye. He was taught, that the bearing of his
testimony against it was a test of unity with those of the same
religious profession. The discipline of the Quakers was therefore
a school for bringing them up as advocates for the abolition of
this trade. To this it may be added, that the Quakers knew
more about the trade and the slavery of the Africans, than any
other religious body of men, who had not been in the land of their
sufferings. For there had been a correspondence between the
society in America and that in England on the subject, the contents
of which must have been known to the members of each.
American ministers also were frequently crossing the Atlantic on
religious missions to England. These, when they travelled
through various parts of our island, frequently related to the
Quaker families in their way the cruelties they had seen and
heard of in their own country. English ministers were also frequently
going over to America on the same religious errand.
These, on their return, seldom failed to communicate what they
had learned or observed, but more particularly relative to the

oppressed Africans, in their travels. The journals also of these,
which gave occasional accounts of the sufferings of the slaves,
were frequently published. Thus situated in point of knowledge,
and brought up moreover from their youth in a detestation of the
trade, the Quakers were ready to act whenever a favourable
opportunity should present itself.

CHAPTER V.

Third class of forerunners and coadjutors, up to 1787, consists of the Quakers
and others in America.—Yearly meeting for Pennsylvania and the Jerseys
takes up the subject in 1696; and continue it till 1787.—Other five yearly
meetings take similar measures.—Quakers, as individuals, also become
labourers; William Burling and others.—Individuals of other religious
denominations take up the cause also; Judge Sewell and others.—Union
of the Quakers with others in a society for Pennsylvania, in 1774; James
Pemberton; Dr. Rush.—Similar union of the Quakers with others for New
York and other provinces.

The next class of the forerunners and coadjutors, up to the
year 1787, will consist, first, of the Quakers in America; and
then of others, as they were united to these for the same object.

It may be asked, How the Quakers living there should have
become forerunners and coadjutors in the great work now under
our consideration. I reply, first, that it was an object for many
years with these to do away the Slave Trade as it was carried on
in their own ports. But this trade was conducted in part, both
before and after the independence of America, by our own
countrymen. It was, secondly, an object with these to annihilate
slavery in America; and this they have been instruments in
accomplishing to a considerable extent. But any abolition of
slavery within given boundaries must be a blow to the Slave
Trade there. The American Quakers, lastly, living in a land
where both the commerce and slavery existed, were in the way
of obtaining a number of important facts relative to both, which
made for their annihilation; and communicating many of these
facts to those in England, who espoused the same cause, they
became fellow-labourers with these in producing the event in
question.

The Quakers in America, it must be owned, did most of them
originally as other settlers there with respect to the purchase of
slaves. They had lands without a sufficient number of labourers,
and families without a sufficient number of servants, for their

work. Africans were poured in to obviate these difficulties, and
these were bought promiscuously by all. In these days, indeed,
the purchase of them was deemed favourable to both parties, for
there was little or no knowledge of the manner in which they
had been procured as slaves. There was no charge of inconsistency
on this account, as in later times. But though many of
the Quakers engaged, without their usual consideration, in purchases
of this kind, yet those constitutional principles, which
belong to the society, occasioned the members of it in general to
treat those whom they purchased with great tenderness, considering
them, though of a different colour, as brethren, and as
persons for whose spiritual welfare it became them to be concerned;
so that slavery, except as to the power legally belonging
to it, was in general little more than servitude in their hands.

This treatment, as it was thus mild on the continent of
America where the members of this society were the owners of
slaves, so it was equally mild in The West India Islands where
they had a similar property. In the latter countries, however,
where only a few of them lived, it began soon to be productive of
serious consequences; for it was so different from that which the
rest of the inhabitants considered to be proper, that the latter
became alarmed at it. Hence in Barbados an act was passed
in 1676, under Governor Atkins, which was entitled, An Act
to prevent the people called Quakers from bringing their Negroes
into their meetings for worship, though they held these in their
own houses. This act was founded on the pretence, that the
safety of the island might be endangered, if the slaves were to
imbibe the religious principles of their masters. Under this
act Ralph Fretwell and Richard Sutton were fined in the
different sums of eight hundred and of three hundred pounds,
because each of them had suffered a meeting of the Quakers
at his own house, at the first of which eighty negroes, and
at the second of which thirty of them were present. But
this matter was carried still further; for in 1680, Sir Richard
Dutton, then governor of the island, issued an order to the
Deputy Provost Marshal and others, to prohibit all meetings of
this society. In the island of Nevis the same bad spirit manifested

itself. So early as in 1661, a law was made there prohibiting
members of this society from coming on shore. Negroes were
put in irons for being present at their meetings, and they themselves
were fined also. At length, in 1677, another act was
passed, laying a heavy penalty on every master of a vessel
who should even bring a Quaker to the island. In Antigua and
Bermudas similar proceedings took place, so that the
Quakers were in time expelled from this part of the world. By
these means a valuable body of men were lost to the community
in these islands, whose example might have been highly useful;
and the poor slave, who saw nothing but misery in his temporal
prospects, was deprived of the only balm which could have
soothed his sorrow—the comfort of religion.

But to return to the continent of America. Though the
treatment which the Quakers adopted there towards those Africans
who fell into their hands, was so highly commendable, it
did not prevent individuals among them from becoming uneasy
about holding them in slavery at all. Some of these bore their
private testimony against it from the beginning as a wrong practice,
and in process of time brought it before the notice of their
brethren as a religious body. So early as in the year 1688, some
emigrants from Krieshiem in Germany, who had adopted the
principles of William Penn, and followed him into Pennsylvania,
urged, in the yearly meeting of the society there, the inconsistency
of buying, selling, and holding men in slavery, with the
principles of the Christian religion.

In the year 1696, the yearly meeting for that province took
up the subject as a public concern, and the result was, advice to
the members of it to guard against future-importations of African
slaves, and to be particularly attentive to the treatment of those
who were then in their possession.

In the year 1711, the same yearly meeting resumed the important
subject, and confirmed and renewed the advice which had
been before given.

From this time it continued to keep the subject alive; but
finding at length, that though individuals refused to purchase
slaves, yet others continued the custom, and in greater numbers

than it was apprehended would have been the case after the
public declarations which had been made, it determined, in the
year 1754, upon a fuller and more serious publication of its sentiments;
and therefore it issued, in the same year, the following
pertinent letter to all the members within its jurisdiction:—

Dear Friends,

It hath frequently been the concern of our yearly meeting
to testify their uneasiness and disunity with the importation
and purchasing of negroes and other slaves, and to direct the
overseers of the several meetings to advise and deal with such as
engage therein. And it hath likewise been the continual care of
many weighty friends to press those who bear our name, to guard,
as much as possible, against being in any respect concerned in
promoting the bondage of such unhappy people. Yet, as we
have with sorrow to observe, that their number is of late increased
among us, we have thought it proper to make our advice
and judgment more public, that none may plead ignorance of our
principles therein; and also again earnestly to exhort all to avoid,
in any manner, encouraging that practice of making slaves of our
fellow-creatures.

Now, dear friends, if we continually bear in mind the royal
law of doing to others as we would be done by, we should never
think of bereaving our fellow-creatures of that valuable
blessing—liberty, nor endure to grow rich by their bondage. To live in
ease and plenty by the toil of those whom violence and cruelty
have put in our power, is neither consistent with Christianity nor
common justice; and, we have good reason to believe, draws
down the displeasure of Heaven; it being a melancholy but true
reflection, that, where slave-keeping prevails, pure religion and
sobriety decline, as it evidently tends to harden the heart, and
render the soul less susceptible of that holy spirit of love,
meekness and charity, which is the peculiar characteristic of a true
Christian.

How then can we, who have been concerned to publish the
Gospel of universal love and peace among mankind, be so inconsistent with
ourselves, as to purchase such as are prisoners of war,

and thereby encourage, this anti-Christian practice; and more
especially as many of these poor creatures are stolen away,
parents from children, and children from parents; and others,
who were in good circumstances in their native country, inhumanly torn
from what they esteemed a happy situation, and
compelled to toil in a state of slavery, too often extremely cruel!

What dreadful scenes of murder and cruelty those barbarous
ravages must occasion in these unhappy people’s country are too
obvious to mention. Let us make their case our own, and consider
what we should think, and how we should feel, were we in
their circumstances. Remember our blessed Redeemer’s positive
command—to do unto others as we would have them do unto
us;—and that with what measure we mete, it shall be measured
to us again. And we intreat you to examine, whether the purchasing
of a negro, either born here or imported, doth not contribute to a
further importation, and, consequently, to the upholding of all
the evils above mentioned, and to the promoting of
man-stealing, the, only theft which by the Mosaic law was
punished with death;—He that stealeth a man and selleth him
or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.’

The characteristic and badge of a true Christian is love and
continual exercise of them: ‘Love one, another,’ says he, ‘as I have
loved you.’ But how can we be said to love our brethren who
bring, or, for selfish ends, keep them in bondage? Do we act
consistently with this noble principle, who lay such heavy burdens
on our fellow creatures? Do we consider that they are called
and do we sincerely desire that they may become heirs with us
in glory, and that they may rejoice in the liberty of the sons of
God, whilst we are withholding from them the common liberties
of mankind? Or can the spirit of God, by which we have
always professed to be led, be the author of these oppressive and
unrighteous measures? Or do we not thereby manifest, that
temporal interest hath more influence on our conduct herein, than
the dictates of that merciful, holy, and unerring Guide?

And we, likewise, earnestly recommend to all who have slaves,
to be careful to come up in the performance of their duty

towards them, and to be particularly watchful over their own
hearts, it being, by sorrowful experience, remarkable that custom
and a familiarity with evil of any kind, have a tendency to bias
the judgment and to deprave the mind; and it is obvious, that
the future welfare of these poor slaves, who are now in bondage,
is generally too much disregarded by those who keep them. If
their daily task of labour be but fulfilled, little else, perhaps, is
thought of: nay, even that which in others would be looked
upon with horror and detestation, is little regarded in them by
their masters; such as the frequent separation of husbands from
wives, and wives from husbands, whereby they are tempted to
break their marriage covenants, and live in adultery, in direct
opposition to the laws of God and men, although we believe that
Christ died for all men without respect of persons. How fearful
then ought we to be of engaging in what hath so natural a
tendency to lesson our humanity, and of suffering ourselves to be
inured to the exercise of hard and cruel measures, lest thereby,
in any degree, we lose our tender and feeling sense of the miseries
of our fellow-creatures, and become worse than those who
have not believed.

And, dear friends, you, who by inheritance have slaves
born in your families, we beseech you to consider them as souls
committed to your trust, whom the Lord will require at your
hand, and who, as well as you, are made partakers of the Spirit
of grace, and called to be heirs of salvation. And let it be your
constant care to watch over them for good, instructing them in
the fear of God and the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, that
they may answer the end of their creation, and that God may be
glorified and honoured by them, as well as by us. And so train
them up, that if you should come to behold their unhappy situation,
in the same light that many worthy men who are at rest
have done, and many of your brethren now do, and should think
it your duty to set them free, they may be the more capable of
making proper use of their liberty.

Finally, brethren, we intreat you, in the bowels of Gospel-love,
seriously to weigh the Cause of detaining them in bondage.
If it be for your own private gain, or any other motive than their

good, it is much to be feared that the love of God, and the influence
of the Holy Spirit, are not the prevailing principles in you,
and that your hearts are not sufficiently redeemed from the
world, which, that you with ourselves may more and more come
to witness, through the cleansing virtue of the Holy Spirit of
Jesus Christ, is our earnest desire. With the salutation of our
love we are your friends and brethren:—

“Signed, in behalf of the yearly
meeting, by

JOHN EVANS,	ABRAHAM FARRINGDON,
JOHN SMITH,	JOSEPH NOBLE,
THOMAS CARLETON,	JAMES DANIEL,
WILLIAM TRIMBLE,	JOSEPH GIBSON,
JOHN SCARBOROUGH,	JOHN SHOTWELL,
JOSEPH HAMPTON,	JOSEPH PARKER.”

This truly Christian letter, which was written in the year
1754, was designed, as we collect from the contents of it, to make
the sentiments of the society better known and attended to on
the subject of the Slave Trade. It contains, as we see, exhortations
to all the members within the yearly meeting of Pennsylvania
and the Jerseys, to desist from purchasing and importing
slaves, and, where they possessed them, to have a tender consideration
of their condition. But that the first part of the subject of this
exhortation might be enforced, the yearly meeting for the same provinces
came to a resolution in 1755, That if any of the members belonging to
it bought or imported slaves, the overseers
were to inform their respective monthly meetings of it, that
“these might treat with them, as they might be directed in the
wisdom of truth.”

In the year 1774, we find the same yearly meeting legislating
again on the same subject. By the preceding resolution they
who became offenders, were subjected only to exclusion from the
meetings for discipline, and from the privilege of contributing to
the pecuniary occasions of the Society; but, by the resolution of
the present year, all members concerned in importing, selling,
purchasing, giving, or transferring negro or other slaves, or otherwise

acting in such manner as to continue them in slavery
beyond the term limited by law^A or custom,
were directed to be
excluded from membership or disowned. At this meeting also
all the members of it were cautioned and advised against acting
as executors or administrators to estates, where slaves were
bequeathed, or likely to be detained in bondage.

A: This alludes to the
term of servitude for white persons in these provinces.

In the year 1776, the same yearly meeting carried the matter
still further. It was enacted, That the owners of slaves, who
refused to execute proper instruments for giving them their
freedom, were to be disowned likewise.

In 1778 it was enacted by the same meeting, that the
children of those who had been set free by members, should be
tenderly advised, and have a suitable education given them.

It is not necessary to proceed further on this subject. It
may be sufficient to say, that from this time the minutes of the
yearly meeting for Pennsylvania and the Jerseys exhibit proofs
of an almost incessant attention, year after year^B, to
the means not only of wiping away the stain of slavery from their religious
community, but of promoting the happiness of those restored to
freedom, and of their posterity also; and as the yearly meeting
of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys set this bright example, so those
of New England, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and of the
Carolinas and Georgia, in process of time followed it.

B: Thus
in 1778-1782, 1784-1786. The members also of this meeting petitioned
their own legislature on this subject, both in 1783 and in 1786.

But, whilst the Quakers were making these exertions at their
different yearly meetings in America, as a religious body, to get
rid both of the commerce and slavery of their fellow-creatures,
others, in the same profession; were acting as individuals, (that
is, on their own grounds, and independently of any influence from
their religious communion,) in the same cause, whose labours it
will now be proper, in a separate narrative, to detail.

The first person of this description in the Society, was
William Burling, of Long Island. He had conceived an abhorrence
of slavery from early youth. In process of time he began

to bear his testimony against it, by representing the unlawfulness
of it to those of his own Society, when assembled at one of their
yearly meetings. This expression of his public testimony, he
continued annually on the same occasion. He wrote also
several Tracts with the same design, one of which, published in
the year 1718, he addressed to the elders of his own church, on
the inconsistency of compelling people and their posterity to
serve them continually and arbitrarily, and without any proper
recompense for their services.

The next was Ralph Sandiford, a merchant in Philadelphia.
This worthy person had many offers of pecuniary assistance,
which would have advanced him in life, but he declined them all
because they came from persons who had acquired their independence
by the oppression of their slaves. He was very earnest
in endeavouring to prevail upon his friends, both, in and out of
the society, to liberate those whom they held in bondage. At
length he determined upon a work called the Mystery of Iniquity,
in a brief examination of the practice of the times. This he
published in the year 1780, though the chief judge had threatened
him if he should give it to the world, and he circulated it free
of expense wherever he believed it would be useful. The above
work was excellent as a composition; the language of it was
correct; the style manly and energetic; and it abounded with
facts, sentiments, and quotations, which, while, they showed the
virtue and talents of the author, rendered it a valuable appeal in
behalf of the African cause.

The next public advocate was Benjamin Lay^A, who lived at
Abington, at the distance of twelve or fourteen miles from
Philadelphia. Benjamin Lay was known, when in England, to the
royal family of that day, into whose private presence he was
admitted. On his return to America, he took an active part in
behalf of the oppressed Africans. In the year 1737, he published
a Treatise on Slave-Keeping. This he gave away among his

neighbours and others, but more particularly among the rising
youth, many of whom he visited in their respective schools. He
applied also to several of the governors for interviews, with whom
he held conferences on the subject. Benjamin Lay was a man of
strong understanding and of great integrity, but of warm and
irritable feelings, and more particularly so when he was called
forth on any occasion in which the oppressed Africans were concerned;
for he had lived in the island of Barbados, and he had
witnessed there scenes of cruelty towards them which had greatly
disturbed his mind, and which unhinged it, as it were, whenever
the subject of their sufferings was brought before him. Hence, if
others did not think precisely as he did, when he conversed with
them on the subject, he was apt to go out of due bounds. In
bearing what he believed to be his testimony against this system
of oppression, he adopted sometimes a singularity of manner, by
which, as conveying demonstration of a certain eccentricity of
character, he diminished in some degree his usefulness to the
cause which he had undertaken; as far, indeed, as this eccentricity
might have the effect of preventing others from joining
him in his pursuit, lest they should be thought singular also, so
far it must be allowed that he ceased to become beneficial. But
there can be no question, on the other hand, that his warm and
enthusiastic manners awakened the attention of many to the
cause, and gave them first impressions concerning it, which they
never afterwards forgot, and which rendered them useful to it in
the subsequent part of their lives.

A: Benjamin
Lay attended the meetings for worship, or associated
himself with the religious society of the Quakers. His wife, too, was an
approved minister of the Gospel in that society; but I believe he was not
long an acknowledged member of it himself.

The person who laboured next in the society, in behalf of the
oppressed Africans, was John Woolman.

John Woolman was born at Northampton, in the county of
Burlington and province of Western New Jersey, in the year
1720. In his very early youth he attended, in an extraordinary
manner, to the religious impressions which he perceived upon his
mind, and began to have an earnest solicitude about treading in
the right path. “From what I had read and heard,” says he, in
his Journal^A, “I
believed there had been in past ages, people

who walked in uprightness before God in a degree exceeding any,
that I knew or heard of, now living. And the apprehension of
there being less steadiness and firmness among people of this age,
than in past ages, often troubled me while I was a child.” An
anxious desire to do away, as far as himself was concerned,
this merited reproach, operated as one among other causes to
induce him to be particularly watchful over his thoughts and
actions, and to endeavour to attain that purity of heart, without
which he conceived there could be no perfection of the Christian
character. Accordingly, in the twenty-second year of his age, he
had given such proof of the integrity of his life, and of his religious
qualifications, that he became an acknowledged minister of
the Gospel in his own society.

A: This short sketch of the life and
labours of John Woolman, is made up from his Journal.

At a time prior to his entering upon the ministry, being in
low circumstances, he agreed for wages to “attend shop for a
person at Mount Holly, and to keep his books.” In this situation
we discover, by an occurrence that happened, that he had
thought seriously on the subject, and that he had conceived
proper views of the Christian unlawfulness of slavery. “My
employer,” says he, “having a Negro woman, sold her, and
desired me to write a bill of sale, the man being waiting who
bought her. The thing was sudden, and though the thought of
writing an instrument of slavery for one of my fellow-creatures
made me feel uneasy, yet I remembered I was hired by the year,
that it was my master who directed me to do it, and that it was
an elderly man, a member of our society, who bought her. So
through weakness I gave way and wrote, but, at executing it, I
was so afflicted in my mind, that I said before my master and the
friend, that I believed slave-keeping to be a practice inconsistent
with the Christian religion. This in some degree abated my
uneasiness; yet, as often as I reflected seriously upon it, I
thought I should have been clearer, if I had desired to have been
excused from it, as a thing against my conscience; for such it
was. And some time after this, a young man of our society
spoke to me to write a conveyance of a slave to him, he having
lately taken a Negro into his house. I told him I was not easy
to write it; for though many of our meeting, and in other places,

kept slaves, I still believed the practice was not right, and desired
to be excused from the writing. I spoke to him in good-will;
and he told me that keeping slaves was not altogether agreeable
to his mind, but that the slave being a gift to his wife he had
accepted of her.”

We may easily conceive that a person so scrupulous and
tender on this subject, (as indeed John Woolman was on all
others,) was in the way of becoming in time more eminently
serviceable to his oppressed fellow-creatures. We have seen
already the good seed sown in his heart, and it seems to have
wanted only providential seasons and occurrences to be brought
into productive fruit. Accordingly we find that a journey,
which he took as a minister of the Gospel in 1746 through the
provinces of Maryland, Virginia, and, North Carolina, which
were then more noted than others for the number of slaves in
them, contributed to prepare him as an instrument for the
advancement of this great cause. The following are his own
observations upon this journey:—”Two things were remarkable
to me in this journey; first, in regard to my entertainment.
When I ate, drank, and lodged free-cost, with people who lived
in ease on the hard labour of their slaves, I felt uneasy; and, as
my mind was inward to the Lord, I found, from place to place,
this uneasiness return upon me at times through the whole visit.
Where the masters bore a good share of the burden and lived
frugally, so that their servants were well provided for; and their
labour moderate, I felt more easy; but where they lived in a
costly way, and laid heavy burdens on their slaves, my exercise
was often great, and I frequently had conversations with them in
private concerning it. Secondly, this trade of importing slaves
from their native country being much encouraged among them,
and the white people and their children so generally living without
much labour, was frequently the subject of my serious
thoughts: and I saw in these southern provinces so many vices
and corruptions, increased by this trade and this way of life, that
it appeared to me as a gloom over the land.”

From the year 1747 to the year 1758, he seems to have been
occupied chiefly as a minister of religion, but in the latter year

he published a work upon slave-keeping; and in the same year,
while travelling within the compass of his own monthly meeting,
a circumstance happened which kept alive his attention to the
same Subjects.

“About this time” says he, “a person at some
distance lying sick, his brother came to me to write his will. I
knew he had slaves, and asking his brother was told he intended
to leave them as slaves to his children. As writing was a profitable
employ, and as offending sober people was disagreeable to
my inclination, I was straitened in my mind, but as I looked to
the Lord he inclined my heart to his testimony; and I told the
man that I believed the practice of continuing slavery to this
people was not right, and that I had a scruple in my mind against
doing writings of that kind; that, though many in our society
kept them as slaves, still I was not easy to be concerned in it, and
desired to be excused from going to write the will. I spoke to
him in the fear of the Lord; and he made no reply to what I said, but
went away: he also had some concerns in the practice, and
I thought he was displeased with me. In this case I had a
confirmation, that acting contrary to present outward interest
from a motive of Divine love, and in regard to truth and
righteousness, opens the way to a treasure better than silver, and
to a friendship exceeding the friendship of men.”

From 1753 to 1755, two circumstances of a similar kind took
place, which contributed greatly to strengthen him in the path he
had taken; for in both these cases the persons who requested him
to make their wills were so impressed by the principle upon
which he refused them, and by his manner of doing it, that they
bequeathed liberty to their slaves.

In the year 1756, he made a religious visit to several of
the society in Long Island. Here it was that the seed, now
long fostered by the genial influences of Heaven, began to burst
forth into fruit; Till this time he seems to have been a passive
instrument, attending only to such circumstances as came in his
way on this subject. But now he became an active one, looking
out for circumstances for the exercise of his labours.

“My mind,” says he; “was deeply engaged in this visit, both in
public and private; and at several places, observing that members

kept slaves, I found myself under a necessity, in a friendly way,
to labour with them, on that subject, expressing, as the way
opened, the inconsistency of that practice with the parity of
the Christian religion, and the ill effects of it as manifested
amongst us.”

In the year 1757, he felt, his mind so deeply interested on the
same subject, that he resolved to travel over Maryland, Virginia,
and North Carolina, in order to try to convince persons, principally
in his own society, of the inconsistency of holding slaves.
He joined his brother with him in this arduous service. Having
passed the Susquehanna into Maryland, he began to experience
great agitation of mind. “Soon after I entered this province,”
says he, “a deep and painful exercise came upon me, which I
often had some feeling of since my mind was drawn towards
these parts, and with which I had acquainted my brother, before
we agreed to join as companions.”

“As the people in this and the southern provinces live much
on the labour of slaves, many of whom are used hardly, my concern
was that I might attend with singleness of heart to the voice
of the true Shepherd, and be so supported, as to remain unmoved
at the faces of men.”

It is impossible for me to follow him in detail, through this
long and interesting journey, when I consider the bounds I have
prescribed to myself in this work. I shall say, therefore, what I
propose to offer generally, and in a few words.

It appears that he conversed with persons occasionally, who
were not of his own society, with a view of answering their
arguments, and of endeavouring to evince the wickedness and impolicy
of slavery. In discoursing with these, however strenuous he
might appear, he seems never to have departed from a calm,
modest, and yet dignified and even friendly demeanour. At the
public meetings for discipline, held by his own society in these
provinces, he endeavoured to display the same truths, and in the
same manner, but particularly to the elders of his own society,
exhorting them, as the most conspicuous rank, to be careful of
their conduct, and to give a bright example in the liberation of
their slaves. He visited, also, families for the same purpose: and

he had the well-earned satisfaction of finding his admonitions
kindly received by some, and of seeing a disposition in others to
follow the advice he had given them.

In the year 1758, he attended the yearly meeting at Philadelphia,
where he addressed his brethren on the propriety of
dealing with such members as should hereafter purchase slaves.
On the discussion of this point he spoke a second time, and this
to such effect that, he had the satisfaction at this meeting to see
minutes made more fully than any before, and a committee appointed
for the advancement of the great object, to which he had
now been instrumental in turning the attention of many, and to
witness a considerable spreading of the cause. In the same year,
also, he joined himself with two others of the society to visit
such members of it as possessed slaves in Chester county. In
this journey he describes himself to have met with several who
were pleased with his visit, but to have found difficulties with
others, towards whom, however, he felt a sympathy and tenderness,
on account of their being entangled by the spirit of the
world.

In the year 1759, he visited several of the society who held
slaves in Philadelphia. In about three months afterwards, he
travelled there again, in company with John Churchman, to see
others under similar circumstances. He then went to different
places on the same errand. In this last journey he went alone.
After this he joined himself to John Churchman again, but he
confined his labours to his own province. Here he had the pleasure
of finding that the work prospered. Soon after this he took
Samuel Eastburne as a coadjutor, and pleaded the cause of the
poor Africans with many of the society in Bucks county, who
held them in bondage there.

In the year 1760, he travelled, in company with his friend
Samuel Eastburne, to Rhode Island, to promote the same object.
This island had been long noted for its trade to Africa for slaves.
He found at Newport, the great sea-port town belonging to it,
that a number of them had been lately imported. He felt his
mind deeply impressed on this account. He was almost over-powered

in consequence of it, and became ill. He thought once
of prompting a petition to the legislature, to discourage all such
importations in future. He then thought of going and speaking
to the House of Assembly, which was then sitting; but he was
discouraged from both these proceedings. He held, however,
conference with many of his own society in the meeting-house
chamber, where the subject of his visit was discussed on both
sides with a calm and peaceable spirit. Many of those present
manifested the concern they felt at their former practices, and
others a desire of taking suitable care of their slaves at their
decease. From Newport he proceeded to Nantucket; but observing
the members of the society there to have few or no
slaves, he exhorted them to persevere in abstaining from the use
of them, and returned home.

In the year 1761, he visited several families in Pennsylvania,
and, in about three months afterwards, others about Shrewsbury
and Squan in New Jersey. On his return he added a
part to the treatise before published on the keeping of
care which had been growing upon him for some years.

In the year 1762, he printed, published, and distributed this
treatise.

In 1767, he went on foot to the western shores of the same
province on a religious visit. After having crossed the Susquehanna,
his old feelings returned to him; for coming amongst
people living in outward ease and greatness, chiefly on the labour
of slaves, his heart was much affected, and he waited with humble
resignation to learn how he should further perform his duty to
this injured people. The travelling on foot, though it was agreeable
to the state of his mind, he describes to have been wearisome
to his body. He felt himself weakly at times, in consequence of
it, but yet continued to travel on. At one of the quarterly meetings
of the society, being in great sorrow and heaviness, and under
deep exercise on account of the miseries of the poor Africans, he
expressed himself freely to those present, who held them in bondage.
He expatiated on the tenderness and loving-kindness of the
apostles, as manifested in labours, perils, and sufferings, towards

the poor Gentiles, and contracted their treatment of the Gentiles
with it, whom he described in the persons of their slaves; and
was much satisfied with the result of his discourse.

From this time we collect little more, from his journal
concerning him, than that, in 1772, he embarked for England on a
religious visit. After his arrival there, he travelled through many
counties, preaching in different meetings of the society, till he
came to the city of York. But even here, though he was far
removed from the sight of those whose interests he had so warmly
espoused, he was not forgetful of their wretched condition. At
the quarterly meeting for that county, he brought their case before,
those present in an affecting manner. He exhorted these to
befriend their cause. He remarked that as they, the society, when
under outward sufferings, had often found a concern to lay them
before the legislature, and thereby, in the Lord’s time, had obtained
relief; so he recommended this oppressed part of the creation
to their notice, that they might, as, the way opened, represent
their sufferings as individuals, if not as a religious society,
to those in authority in this land. This was the last opportunity
that he had of interesting himself in behalf of this injured people
for soon afterwards he was seized with the small-pox at the
house of a friend in the city of York, where he died.

The next person belonging to the society of the Quakers, who
laboured in behalf of the oppressed Africans, was Anthony
Benezet. He was born before, and he lived after, John
Woolman; of course he was contemporary with him. I place him
after John Woolman, because he was not so much known as a
labourer, till two or three years after the other had begin to move
in the same cause.

Anthony Benezet was born at St. Quintin, in Picardy, of a
respectable family, in the year 1713. His father was one of the
many Protestants who, in consequence of the persecutions which
followed the revocation of the edict of Nantz, sought an asylum
in foreign countries. After a short stay in Holland, he settled,
with his wife and children, in London, in 1715.

Anthony Benezet having received from his father a liberal
education, served an apprenticeship in an eminent mercantile

house in London. In 1731, however, he removed with his family
to Philadelphia, where he joined in profession with the Quakers.
His three brothers then engaged in trade, and made considerable
pecuniary acquisitions in it. He himself might have partaken
both of their concerns and of their prosperity; but he did not
feel himself at liberty to embark in their undertakings. He
considered the accumulation of wealth as of no importance, when
compared with the enjoyment of doing good; and he chose the
humble situation of a schoolmaster, as according best with this
notion, believing, that by endeavouring to train up youth in
knowledge and virtue, he should become more extensively useful
than in any other way to his fellow-creatures.

He had not been long in his new situation, before he manifested
such an uprightness of conduct, such a courtesy of manners,
such a purity of intention, and such a spirit of benevolence, that
he attracted the notice, and gained the good opinion, of the
inhabitants among whom he lived. He had ready access to them, in
consequence, upon all occasions; and, if there were any whom
he failed to influence at any of these times, he never went away
without the possession of their respect.

In the year 1756, when a considerable number of French families
were removed from Acadia into Pennsylvania, on account of
some political suspicions, he felt deeply interested about them.
In a country where few understood their language, they were
wretched and helpless; but Anthony Benezet endeavoured to
soften the rigour of their situation, by his kind attention towards
them. He exerted himself, also, in their behalf, by procuring
many contributions for them, which, by the consent of his
fellow-citizens, were intrusted to his care.

As the principle of benevolence, when duly cultivated, brings
forth fresh shoots, and becomes enlarged, so we find this amiable
person extending the sphere of his usefulness by becoming an
advocate for the oppressed African race. For this service he
seems to have been peculiarly qualified. Indeed, as in all great
works, a variety of talents is necessary to bring them to perfection,
so Providence seems to prepare different men as instruments,
with dispositions and qualifications so various, that each, in pursuing

that line which seems to suit him best, contributes to furnish
those parts which, when put together, make up a complete
whole. In this point of view, John Woolman found in Anthony
Benezet the coadjutor whom, of all others, the cause required.
The former had occupied himself principally on the subject of
slavery. The latter went to the root of the evil, and more frequently
attacked the trade. The former chiefly confined his
labours to America, and chiefly to those of his own society there.
The latter, when he wrote, did not write for America only, but
for Europe also, and endeavoured to spread a knowledge and
hatred of the traffic through the great society of the world.

One of the means which Anthony Benezet took to promote
the cause in question, (and an effectual one it proved, as far as it
went,) was to give his scholars a due knowledge and proper
impressions concerning it. Situated as they were likely to be in
after-life, in a country where, slavery, was a custom,
he thus prepared many, and this annually, for the promotion of his plans.

To enlighten others, and to give them a similar bias, he had
recourse to different measures from time to time. In the almanacs
published annually in Philadelphia, he procured articles to
be inserted, which he believed would attract the notice of the
reader, and make him pause, at least for a while, as to the licitness
of, the Slave Trade. He wrote also, as he saw occasion, in
the public papers of the day. From small things he proceeded
to greater. He collected, at length, further information on the
subject, and, winding it up with observations and reflections, he
produced several little tracts, which he circulated successively
(but generally at his, own expense), as he considered them
adapted to the temper and circumstances of the times.

In the course of this his employment, having found some who
had approved his tracts, and, to whom, on that account, he wished
to write, and sending his tracts to others, to whom he thought
it proper to introduce them by letter, he found himself engaged
in a correspondence which much engrossed his time, but which
proved of great importance in procuring many advocates for his
cause.

In the year 1762, when he had obtained a still greater store

of information, he published a larger work. This, however, he
entitle A short Account of that part of Africa inhabited by the
Negroes In 1767 he published A Caution and Warning to Great
Britain and her colonies on the calamitous state of the enslaved
Negroes in the British Dominions; and soon after this appeared,
An Historical Account of Guinea, its Situation, Produce, and the
general Disposition of its Inhabitants: with an Inquiry into the
Rise and Progress of the Slave Trade, its Nature, and Calamitous
Effects. This pamphlet contained a clear and distinct development
of the subject, from the best authorities. It contained also,
the sentiments of many enlightened upon it; and it became
instrumental beyond any other book ever before published, in
disseminating a proper knowledge and detestation of this trade.

Anthony Benezet may be considered as one of the most zealous,
vigilant, and active advocates which the cause of the
oppressed Africans ever had. He seemed to have been born and
to have lived for the promotion of it and therefore he never
omitted any the least opportunity of serving it. If a person
called upon him who was going a journey his first thoughts
usually were how he could make him an instrument in its favour;
he either gave him tracts to distribute or he sent letters by
him, or he gave him some commission on the subject; so that he
was the means of employing several persons at the same time, in
various parts of America; in advancing the work he had undertaken.

In the same manner he availed himself of every other circumstance,
as far as he could, to the same end. When he heard that
Mr. Granville Sharp had obtained; in the year 1772, the noble
verdict in the cause of Somerset the slave, he opened a correspondence
with him which he kept up, that there might be an
union of action between them for the future, as far as it could
be effected, and that they might each give encouragement to the
other to proceed.

He opened also a correspondence with George Whitfield and
John Wesley that these might assist him in promoting the cause
of the oppressed.

He wrote also a letter to the Countess of Huntingdon on the

following subject:—She had founded a college, at the
recommendation of George Whitfield, called the Orphan-house near
Savannah, in Georgia, and had endowed it. The object of this
institution was to furnish scholastic instruction to the poor, and
to prepare some of them for the ministry. George Whitfield,
ever attentive to the cause of the poor Africans, thought that this
institution might have been useful to them also; but soon after
his death, they who succeeded him bought slaves, and these in
unusual numbers to extend the rice and indigo plantations belonging
to the college. The letter then in question was written
by Anthony Benezet, in order to lay before the Countess, as a
religious woman, the misery she was occasioning in Africa, by
allowing the managers of her college in Georgia to give encouragement
to the Slave Trade. The Countess replied, that
such a measure should never have her countenance, and that she
would take care to prevent it.

On discovering that the Abbé Raynal had brought out his
celebrated work, in which he manifested a tender feeling in
behalf of the injured Africans, he entered into a correspondence
with him, hoping to make him yet more useful to their cause.

Finding, also, in the year 1783 that the Slave Trade, which
had greatly declined during the American war, was reviving, he
addressed a pathetic letter to our Queen, (as I mentioned in the
last chapter,) who, on hearing the high character of the writer of
it from Benjamin West, received it with marks of peculiar condescension
and attention. The following is a copy of it:—

TO CHARLOTTE, QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN.

Impressed with a sense of religious duty, and encouraged
by the opinion generally entertained of thy benevolent disposition
to succor the distressed, I take the liberty; very respectfully,
to offer to thy perusal some tracts, which, I believe,
faithfully describe the suffering condition of many hundred
thousands of our fellow-creatures of the African race, great
numbers of whom, rent from every tender connexion in life, are
annually taken from their native land; to endure, in the American

islands and plantations, a most rigorous and cruel slavery;
whereby many, very many of them, are brought to a melancholy
and untimely end.

When it is considered that the inhabitants of Great Britain,
who are themselves so eminently blessed in the enjoyment of
religious and civil liberty, have long been, and yet are, very
deeply concerned in this flagrant violation of the common rights
of mankind, and that even its national authority is exerted in
support of the African Slave Trade, there is much reason to
apprehend that this has been, and, as long as the evil exists, will
continue to be, an occasion of drawing down the Divine displeasure
on the nation and its dependencies. May these considerations
induce thee to interpose thy kind endeavours in behalf of
this greatly injured people, whose abject situation gives them an
additional claim to the pity and assistance of the generous mind,
inasmuch as they are altogether deprived of the means of soliciting
effectual relief for themselves; that so thou mayest not
only be a blessed instrument in the hand of him ‘by whom
kings reign and princes decree justice,’ to avert the awful judgments
by which the empire has already been so remarkably
shaken, but that the blessings of thousands ready to perish may
come upon thee, at a time when the superior advantages attendant
on thy situation in this world will no longer be of any avail to
thy consolation and support.

To the tracts on this subject to which I have thus ventured
to crave thy particular attention, I have added some which at
different times I have believed it my duty to publish^A, and
which, I trust, will afford thee some satisfaction, their design
being for the furtherance of that universal peace and good-will
amongst men, which the Gospel was intended to introduce.

A: These
related to the principles of the religious society of the Quakers.

“I hope thou wilt kindly excuse the freedom used on this
occasion by an ancient man, whose mind, for more than forty
years past, has been much separated from the common intercourse
of the world, and long painfully exercised in the consideration of
the miseries under which so large a part of mankind, equally

with us the objects of redeeming love, are suffering the most
unjust and grievous oppression, and who sincerely desires thy
temporal and eternal felicity, and that of thy royal consort.

“ANTHONY BENEZET.”

Anthony Benezet, besides the care he bestowed upon forwarding
the cause of the oppressed Africans in different parts of the
world, found time to promote the comforts, and improve the
condition of those, in the state in which he lived. Apprehending
that much advantage would arise both to them and the public
from instructing them in common learning, he zealously promoted
the establishment of a school for that purpose. Much of the
two last years of his life he devoted to a personal attendance on
this school, being earnestly desirous that they who came to it
might be better qualified for the enjoyment of that freedom to
which great numbers of them had been then restored. To this
he sacrificed the superior emoluments of his former school, and
his bodily ease also, although the weakness of his constitution
seemed to demand indulgence. By his last will he directed,
that, after the decease of his widow, his whole little fortune (the
savings of the industry of fifty years) should, except a few very
small legacies, be applied to the support of it. During his
attendance upon it he had the happiness to find, (and his situation
enabled him to make the comparison,) that Providence had
been equally liberal to the Africans in genius and talents as to
other people.

After a few days’ illness, this excellent man died at Philadelphia,
in the spring of 1784. The interment of his remains
was attended by several thousands of all ranks, professions, and
parties, who united in deploring their loss. The mournful procession
was closed by some hundreds of those poor Africans
who had been personally benefited by his labours, and whose
behaviour on the occasion showed the gratitude and affection they
considered to be due to him as their own private benefactor, as
well as the benefactor of their whole race.

Such, then, were the labours of the Quakers in America; of
individuals, from 1718 to 1784, and of the body at large, from

1696 to 1787, in this great cause of humanity and religion. Nor
were the effects produced from these otherwise than corresponding
with what might have been expected from such an union of
exertion in such a cause; for both the evils, that is, the evil of
buying and selling, and the evil of using slaves, ceased at length
with the members of this benevolent society. The leaving off all
concern with the Slave Trade took place first. The abolition of
slavery, though it followed, was not so speedily accomplished;
for, besides the loss of property, when slaves were manumitted,
without any pecuniary consideration in return, their owners had
to struggle, in making them free, against the laws and customs
of the times. In Pennsylvania, where the law in this respect was
the most favourable, the parties wishing to give freedom to a
slave were obliged to enter into a bond for the payment of thirty
pounds currency, in case the said slave should become chargeable
for maintenance. In New Jersey the terms were far less favorable,
as the estate of the owner remained liable to the consequences
of misconduct in the slave, or even in his posterity. In
the southern parts of America manumission was not permitted
but on terms amounting nearly to a prohibition. But, notwithstanding
these difficulties, the Quakers could not be deterred, as
they became convinced of the unlawfulness of holding men in
bondage, from doing that which they believed to be right. Many
liberated their slaves, whatever the consequences were; and some
gave the most splendid example in doing it, not only by consenting,
as others did, thus to give up their property, and to incur
the penalties of manumission, but by calculating and giving what
was due to them, over and above their food and clothing, for
wages^A from
the beginning of their slavery to the day when
their liberation commenced. Thus manumission went on, some
sacrificing more; and others less; some granting it sooner, and
others later; till, in the year 1787^B there was not a slave in the
possession of an acknowledged Quaker.

A: One of the brightest instances was that
afforded by Warner Mifflin. He gave unconditional liberty to his
slaves. He paid all the adults, on their discharge, the sum, which
arbitrators, mutually chosen, awarded them.

B: Previously to
the year 1787, several of the states had made the terms of manumission
more easy.

Having given to the reader the history of the third class
of forerunners and coadjutors, as it consisted of the Quakers
in America, I am now to continue it, as it consisted of an union
of these with others on the same continent, in the year 1774, in
behalf of the African race. To do this, I shall begin with the
causes which led to the production of this great event.

And, in the first place, as example is more powerful than
precept, we cannot suppose that the Quakers could have shown
these noble instances of religious principle, without supposing
also that individuals of other religious denominations would be
morally instructed by them. They who lived in the neighborhood
where they took place, must have become acquainted with
the motives which led to them. Some of them must at least
have praised the action, though they might not themselves have
been ripe to follow the example: nor is it at all improbable that
these might be led, in the course of the workings of their own
minds, to a comparison between their own conduct and that of
the Quakers on this subject, in which they themselves might
appear to be less worthy in their own eyes. And as there is
sometimes a spirit of rivalship among the individuals of religious
sects, where the character of one is sounded forth as higher than
that of another; this, if excited by such a circumstance, would
probably operate for good. It must have been manifest also to
many, after a lapse of time, that there was no danger in what
the Quakers had done, and that there was even sound policy in
the measure. But, whatever were the several causes, certain it
is, that the example of the Quakers in leaving off all concern
with the Slave Trade, and in liberating their slaves, (scattered,
as they were, over various parts of America,) contributed to
produce in many of a different religious denomination from
themselves, a more tender disposition than had been usual
towards the African race.

But a similar disposition towards these oppressed people was
created in others, by means of other circumstances or causes. In
the early part of the eighteenth century, Judge Sewell of New
England came forward as a zealous advocate for them: he
addressed a memorial to the legislature, which he called, The

Selling of Joseph, and in which he pleaded their cause both as
a lawyer and, a Christian. This memorial produced an effect
upon many, but particularly upon those of his own persuasion;
and from this time the Presbyterians appear to have encouraged
a sympathy in their favour.

In the year 1739, the celebrated George Whitfield became an
instrument in turning the attention of many others to their hard
case, and of begetting in these a fellow sympathy towards them.
This laborious minister, having been deeply affected with what
he had seen in the course of his religious travels in America,
thought it his duty, to address a letter from Georgia to the inhabitants
of Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina.
This letter was printed in the year above mentioned, and is in
part as follows:—

As I lately passed through your provinces in my way hither,
I was sensibly touched with a fellow-feeling for the miseries of
the poor negroes. Whether it be lawful for Christians to buy
slaves, and thereby encourage the nations, from whom they are
bought, to be at perpetual war with each other, I shall not take
upon me to determine. Sure I am, it is sinful, when they have
bought them to use them as bad as though they were brutes, nay,
worse; and whatever particular exceptions there may be, (as I
would charitably hope there are some,) I fear the generality of
you who own negroes are liable to such a charge; for your slaves,
I believe, work as hard, if not harder, than the horses whereon
you ride. These, after they have done their work, are fed and
taken proper care of; but many negroes when wearied with
labour, in your plantations, have been obliged to grind their corn
after their return home: your dogs are caressed and fondled at
your table, but your slaves, who are frequently styled dogs or
beasts, have not an equal privilege; they are scarce permitted to
pick up the crumbs which fall from their master’s table: not to
mention what numbers have been given up to the inhuman usage
of cruel taskmasters, who, by their unrelenting scourges have
ploughed their backs and made long furrows, and at length
brought them even unto death. When, passing along, I have
viewed your plantations cleared and cultivated, many spacious

houses built and the owners of them faring sumptuously every
day, my blood has frequently almost run cold within me, to
consider how many of your slaves had neither convenient food to
eat, nor proper raiment to put on, notwithstanding most of the
comforts you enjoy were solely owing to their indefatigable
labours.

The letter, from which this is an extract, produced a desirable
effect upon many of those who perused it, but particularly upon
such as began to be seriously disposed in these times. And as
George Whitfield continued a firm friend to the poor Africans,
never losing an opportunity of serving them, he interested, in the
course of his useful life, many thousands of his followers in their
favour.

To this account it may be added, that from the year 1762
ministers, who were in the connection of John Wesley, began to
be settled in America, and that as these were friends to the
oppressed Africans also, so they contributed in their
turn^A to promote a softness of feeling towards them among those of
their own persuasion.

A: It must not be forgotten, that the example of the
Moravians had its influence also in directing men to their duty towards these
oppressed people; for though, when they visited this part of the world
for their conversion, they never meddled with the political state of things,
by recommending it to masters to alter the condition of their slaves, as
believing religion could give comfort in the most abject situations in
life, yet they uniformly freed those slaves who came into their own
possession.

In consequence then of these and other causes, a considerable
number of persons of various religious denominations, had
appeared at different times in America, besides the Quakers,
who, though they had not distinguished themselves by resolutions
and manumissions as religious bodies, were yet highly
friendly to the African cause. This friendly disposition began to
manifest itself about the year 1770; for when a few Quakers, as
individuals, began at that time to form little associations in the
middle provinces of North America, to discourage the introduction
of slaves among people in their own neighbourhoods, who
were not of their own Society, and to encourage the manumission
of those already in bondage, they, were joined as colleagues by

several persons of this description^A, who
co-operated with them in the promotion of their design.

A: It then
appeared that individuals among those of the
Church of England, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists,
and others had begun in a few instances to liberate their slaves.

This disposition, however, became more manifest in the year
1772; for the house of burgesses of Virginia presented a petition
to the king, beseeching his majesty to remove all those restraints
on his governors of that colony, which inhibited their assent to
such laws as might check that inhuman and impolitic commerce,
the Slave Trade: and it is remarkable, that the refusal of the
British government to permit the Virginians to exclude slaves
from among them by law, was enumerated afterwards among the
public reasons for separating from the mother country.

But this friendly disposition was greatly increased in the year
1773, by the literary labours of Dr. Benjamin Rush, of
Philadelphia^B, who, I believe, is a member
of the Presbyterian Church: for in this year, at the instigation of
Anthony Benezet, he took up the cause of the oppressed Africans in a
little work, which he entitled,
An Address to the Inhabitants of the British
Settlements, on the Slavery of the Negroes; and soon afterwards in
another, which was a vindication of the first, in answer to an
acrimonious attach by a West Indian planter. These publications
contained many new observations; they were written in a
polished style; and while they exhibited the erudition and
talents, they showed the liberality and benevolence of the author.
Having had a considerable circulation, they spread conviction
among many, and promoted the cause for which they had been so
laudably undertaken. Of the great increase of friendly disposition
towards the African cause in this very year, we have this remarkable
proof: that when the Quakers, living in East and West
Jersey, wished to petition the legislature to obtain an act of
assembly for the more equitable manumission of slaves in that
province, so many others of different persuasions joined them,

that the petition was signed by upwards of three thousand
persons.

B: Dr. Rush has been better known
since for his other literary works, such as his
Medical Dissertations, his
Treatises on the Discipline of Schools,
Criminal Law, &c.

But in the next year, or in the year 1774^A, the increased
good-will towards the Africans became so apparent, but more
particularly in Pennsylvania, where the Quakers were more
numerous than in any other state, that they, who considered
themselves more immediately as the friends of these injured
people, thought it right to avail themselves of it: and accordingly
James Pemberton, one of the most conspicuous of the Quakers
in Pennsylvania, and Dr. Rush, one of the most conspicuous of
those belonging to the various other religious communities in
that province, undertook, in conjunction with others, the important
task of bringing those into a society who were friendly
to this cause. In this undertaking they succeeded. And hence
arose that union of the Quakers with others, to which I have
been directing the attention of the reader, and by which the third
class of forerunners and coadjutors becomes now complete. This
society, which was confined to Pennsylvania, was the first ever
formed in America, in which there was an union of persons of
different religious denominations in behalf of the African race.

A: In this
year, Elhanan Winchester, a supporter of
the doctrine of universal redemption, turned the attention of
many of his hearers to this subject, both by private interference,
and by preaching expressly upon it.

But this society had scarcely begun to act, when the war
broke out between England and America, which had the effect
of checking its operations. This was considered as a severe blow
upon it. But as those things which appear most to our disadvantage,
turn out often the most to our benefit, so the war, by
giving birth to the independence of America, was ultimately
favourable to its progress. For as this contrast had produced
during its continuance, so it left, when it was over, a general
enthusiasm for liberty. Many talked of little else but of the
freedom they had gained. These were naturally led to the consideration
of those among them who were groaning in bondage.
They began to feel for their hard case. They began to think
that they should not deserve the new blessing which they
had acquired if they denied it to others. Thus the discussions,

which originated in this contest, became the occasion of turning
the attention of many, who might not otherwise have thought of
it, towards the miserable condition of the slaves.

Nor were writers wanting, who, influenced by considerations
on the war, and the independence resulting from it, made their
works subservient to the same benevolent end. A work, entitled
A Serious Address to the Rulers of America on the Inconsistency
of their Conduct respecting Slavery, forming a Contrast between the
Encroachments of England on American Liberty and American
Injustice in tolerating Slavery; which appeared in 1783, was particularly
instrumental in producing this effect. This excited a
more than usual attention to the case of these oppressed people,
and where most of all it could be useful; for the author compared in
two opposite columns the animated speeches and resolutions
of the members of congress in behalf of their own liberty
with their conduct in continuing slavery to others. Hence the
legislature began to feel the inconsistency of the practice; and so
far had the sense of this inconsistency spread there, that when
the delegates met from each state to consider of a federal union,
there was a desire that the abolition of the Slave Trade should be
one of the articles in it. This was, however, opposed by the
delegates from North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland,
and Georgia, the five states which had the greatest concern in
slaves. But even these offered to agree to the article, provided a
condition was annexed to it, (which was afterwards done,) that
the power of such abolition should not commence in the legislature
till the 1st of January, 1808.

In consequence then of these different circumstances, the
Society of Pennsylvania, the object of which was “for promoting
the abolition of slavery and the relief of free negroes unlawfully
held in bondage,” became so popular, that in the year 1787 it
was thought desirable to enlarge it. Accordingly several new
members were admitted into it. The celebrated Dr. Franklin,
who had long warmly espoused the cause of the injured Africans,
was appointed president; James Pemberton and Jonathan Penrose
were appointed vice-presidents; Dr. Benjamin Rush and Tench
Coxe, secretaries; James Star, treasurer; William Lewis, John

D. Coxe, Miers Fisher, and William Rawle, counsellors; Thomas
Harrison, Nathan Boys, James Whiteall, James Reed, John
Todd, Thomas Armatt, Norris Jones, Samuel Richards, Francis
Bayley, Andrew Carson, John Warner, and Jacob Shoemaker,
junior, an electing committee; and Thomas Shields, Thomas
Parker, John Oldden, William Zane, John Warner, and William
McElhenny, an acting committee for carrying on the purposes
of the institution.

I shall now only observe further upon this subject, that as a
society, consisting of an union of the Quakers, with others of
other religious denominations, was established for Pennsylvania
in behalf of the oppressed Africans; so different societies, consisting
each of a similar union of persons, were established in New
York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and other
states for the same object, and that these afterwards held a correspondence
and personal communion with each other for the
promotion of it.

CHAPTER VI.

Observations on the three classes already
introduced.—Coincidence of extraordinary
circumstances.—Individuals in each of these classes, who seem to
have had an education as it were to qualify them for promoting the cause
of the abolition; Sharp and Ramsay in the first; Dillwyn in the second;
Pemberton and Rush in the third.—These, with their respective classes,
acted on motives of their own, and independently of each other; and yet,
from circumstances neither foreseen nor known by them, they were in the
way of being easily united in 1787.—William Dillwyn, the great medium
of connexion between them all.

If the reader will refer to his recollection, he will find that I
have given the history of three of the classes of the forerunners
and coadjutors in the great cause of the abolition of the Slave
Trade up to the time proposed. He will of course expect that I
should proceed with the history of the fourth. But, as I foresee
that, by making certain observations upon the classes already
introduced in the present, rather than in any future, place, I shall
be able to give him clearer views on the subject, I shall postpone
the history of the remaining class to the next chapter.

The account which I shall now give, will exhibit a concurrence
of extraordinary and important circumstances. It will
show, first, that in each of the three classes now introduced,
there were individuals, in the year 1787, who had been educated
as it were for the purpose of becoming peculiarly qualified to act
together for the promotion of the abolition of the Slave Trade.
It will show, secondly, that these, with their respective classes,
acted upon their own principles, distinctly and independently of
each other. And lastly, that by means of circumstances, which
they themselves had neither foreseen nor contrived, a junction
between them was rendered easily practicable, and that it was
beginning to take place at the period assigned.

The first class of forerunners and coadjutors consisted principally,
as it has appeared, of persons in England of various
descriptions. These, I may observe, had no communication with
each other as to any plan for the abolition of the Slave Trade.

There were two individuals, however, among them who were
more conspicuous than the rest, namely, Granville Sharp, the
first labourer, and Mr. Ramsay, the first controversial writer, in
the cause.

That Granville Sharp received an education as if to become
qualified to unite with others, in the year 1787, for this important
object, must have, appeared from the history of his labours,
as detailed in several of the preceding pages. The same may be
said of Mr. Ramsay; for it has already appeared that he lived in
the island of St. Christopher, where he made his observations,
and studied the laws, relative to the treatment of slaves, for nineteen years.

That Granville Sharp acted on grounds distinct from those in
any of the other classes is certain. For he knew nothing at this
time either of the Quakers in England or of those in America,
any more than that they existed by name. Had it not been for
the case of Jonathan Strong, he might never have attached himself
to the cause. A similar account may be given of Mr.
Ramsay; for, if it had not been for what he had seen in the
island of St. Christopher, he had never embarked in it. It was
from scenes, which he had witnessed there, that he began to feel
on the subject. These feelings he communicated to others on his
return to England, and these urged him into action.

With respect to the second class, the reader will recollect that
it consisted of the Quakers in England: first, of George Fox; then
of the Quakers as a body; then of individuals belonging to that
body, who formed themselves into a committee, independently
of it, for the promotion of the object in question. This committee,
it may he remembered, consisted of six persons, of whom
one was William Dillwyn.

That William Dillwyn became fitted for the station, which
he was afterwards to take, will be seen shortly. He was born in
America, and was a pupil of the venerable Benezet, who took pains
very early to interest his feelings on this great subject. Benezet
employed him occasionally, I mean in a friendly manner, as his
amanuensis, to copy his manuscripts for publication, as well as
several of his letters written in behalf of the cause. This gave

his scholar an insight into the subject; who, living besides in the
land where both the Slave Trade and slavery were established,
obtained an additional knowledge of them, so as to be able to
refute many of those objections, to which others, for want of local
observation, could never have replied.

In the year 1772, Anthony Benezet introduced William Dillwyn
by letter to several of the principal people of Carolina, with
whom he had himself corresponded on the sufferings of the poor
Africans, and desired him to have interviews with them on the
subject. He charged him also to be very particular in making
observations as to what he should see there. This journey was
of great use to the latter, in fixing him as the friend of these oppressed
people; for he saw so much of their cruel treatment in
the course of it, that he felt an anxiety ever afterwards, amounting
to a duty, to do every thing in his power for their relief.

In the year 1773, William Dillwyn, in conjunction with
Richard Smith and Daniel Wells, two of his own society, wrote
a pamphlet in answer to arguments then prevailing, that the
manumission of slaves would be injurious. This pamphlet—which
was entitled, Brief Considerations on Slavery, and the Expediency
of its Abolition; with some Hints on the Means whereby it may be
gradually effected,—proved that in lieu of the usual security required,
certain sums paid at the several periods of manumission
would amply secure the public, as well as the owners of the
slaves, from any future burdens. In the same year also, when
the society, joined by several hundreds of others in New Jersey,
presented a petition to the legislature, (as mentioned in the former chapter,)
to obtain an act of assembly for the more equitable
manumission of slaves in that province, William Dillwyn was
one of a deputation, which was heard at the bar of the assembly
for that purpose.

In 1774, he came to England, but his attention was still kept
alive to the subject; for he was the person by whom Anthony
Benezet sent his letter to the Countess of Huntingdon, as before
related. He was also the person to whom the same venerable
defender of the African race sent his letter, before spoken of, to
be forwarded to the Queen.

That William Dillwyn, and those of his own class in England,
acted upon motives very distinct from those of the former
class, may be said with truth; for they acted upon the constitutional
principles of their own society, as incorporated into its
discipline: which principles would always have incited them to
the subversion of slavery, as far as they themselves were concerned,
whether any other person had abolished it or not. To
which it may be added, as a further proof of the originality of
their motives, that the Quakers have had, ever since their institution
as a religious body, but little intercourse with the world.

The third class, to which I now come, consisted, as we have
seen, first of the Quakers in America; and secondly, of an union,
of these with others on the same continent. The principal individuals
concerned in this union were James Pemberton and Dr.
Rush. The former of these, having taken an active part in several
of the yearly meetings of his own society relative to the oppressed
Africans, and having been in habits of intimacy and friendship
with John Woolman and Anthony Benezet, with the result of
whose labours he was acquainted, may be supposed to have become
qualified to take a leading station in the promotion of their
cause. Dr. Rush also had shown himself, as has appeared, an
able advocate, and had even sustained a controversy in their
favour. That the two last mentioned acted also on motives of
their own, or independently of those belonging to the other two
classes, when they formed their association in Pennsylvania, will
be obvious from these circumstances; first, that most of those of
the first class, who contributed to throw the greatest light and
odium upon the Slave Trade, had not then made their public
appearance in the world. And, with respect to the second class,
the little committee belonging to it had neither been formed nor
thought of.

And as the individuals in each of the three classes, who have
now been mentioned, had an education as it were to qualify them
for acting together in this great cause, and had moved independently
of each other; so it will appear that, by means of circumstances,
which they themselves had neither foreseen nor contrived,

a junction between them was rendered easily practicable, and
that it was beginning to take place at the period assigned.

To show this, I must first remind the reader, that Anthony
Benezet, as soon as he heard of the result of the case of Somerset,
opened a correspondence with Granville Sharp, which was kept
up to the encouragement of both. In the year 1774, when he
learned that William Dillwyn was going to England, he gave
him letters to that gentleman. Thus one of the most conspicuous
of the second class was introduced, accidentally as it were, to one
of the most conspicuous of the first. In the year 1775, William
Dillwyn went back to America, but, on his return to England to
settle, he renewed his visits to Granville Sharp. Thus the connexion
was continued. To these observations I may now add,
that Samuel Hoare, of the same class as William Dillwyn, had,
in consequence of the Bishop of Chester’s sermon, begun a correspondence
in 1784, as before mentioned, with Mr. Ramsay,
who was of the same class as Mr. Sharp. Thus four individuals
of the two first classes were in the way of an union with one
another.

But circumstances equally natural contributed to render an
union between the members of the second and the third classes
easily practicable also. For what was more natural than that
William Dillwyn, who was born and who had resided long in
America, should have connexions there? He had long cultivated
a friendship (not then knowing to what it would lead) with
James Pemberton. His intimacy with him was like that of a
family connexion. They corresponded together; they corresponded
also as kindred hearts, relative to the Slave Trade.
Thus two members of the second and third classes had opened an
intercourse on the subject and thus was William Dillwyn the
great medium, through whom the members of the two classes
now mentioned, as well as the members of all the three, might be
easily united also, if a fit occasion should offer.

CHAPTER VII.

Fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors
up to 1787.—Dr. Peckard, vice-chancellor
of the University of Cambridge, the first of these; gives out
the Slave Trade as the subject for one of the annual prizes.—Author writes
and obtains the first of these; reads his Dissertation in the Senate-house in
the summer of 1785; his feelings on the subject during his return home; is
desirous of aiding the cause of the Africans, but sees great difficulties;
determines to publish his prize essay for this purpose; is accidentally
thrown into the way of James Phillips, who introduces him to W. Dillwyn,
the connecting medium of the three classes before mentioned; and
to G. Sharp and Mr. Ramsay, and to R. Phillips.

I proceed now to the fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors
up to the year 1787 in the great cause of the abolition of
the Slave Trade.

The first of these was Dr. Peckard. This gentleman had
distinguished himself in the earlier part of his life by certain
publications on the intermediate state of the soul, and by others
in favour of civil and religious liberty. To the latter cause he
was a warm friend, seldom omitting any opportunity of declaring
his sentiments in its favour. In the course of his preferment he
was appointed by Sir John Griffin, afterwards Lord Howard of
Walden, to the mastership of Magdalen College in the University
of Cambridge. In this high office he considered it to be
his duty to support those doctrines which he had espoused when
in an inferior station; and accordingly, when in the year 1784 it
devolved upon him to preach a sermon, before the University of
Cambridge, he chose his favourite subject: in the handling of
which he took an opportunity of speaking of the Slave Trade in
the following nervous manner:—

“Now, whether we consider the crime with respect to the
individuals concerned in this most barbarous and cruel traffic, or
whether we consider it as patronized and encouraged by the laws
of the land, it presents to our view an equal degree of enormity.
A crime, founded on a dreadful pre-eminence in wickedness—a
crime, which being both of individuals and the nation, must

sometime draw down upon us the heaviest judgment of Almighty
God, who made of one blood all the sons of men, and who gave
to all equally a natural right to liberty; and who, ruling all the
kingdoms of the earth with equal providential justice, cannot
suffer such deliberate, such monstrous iniquity, to pass long
unpunished.”

But Dr. Peckard did not consider this delivery of his testimony,
though it was given before a learned and religious body, as
a sufficient discharge of his duty, while any opportunity remained
of renewing it with effect. And, as such an one offered in the
year 1785, when he was vice-chancellor of the University, he
embraced it. In consequence of his office, it devolved upon him
to give out two subjects for Latin dissertations, one to the middle
bachelors, and the other to the senior bachelors of arts. They
who produced the best were to obtain the prizes. To the latter
he proposed the following: Anne liceat Invitos in Servitutem
dare? or, Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?

This circumstance of giving out subjects for the prizes, though
only an ordinary measure, became the occasion of my own
labours, or of the real honour which I feel in being able to
consider myself as the next coadjutor of this class in the cause of
the injured Africans. For it happened in this year that, being
of the order of senior bachelors, I became qualified to write. I
had gained a prize for the best Latin dissertation in the former
year, and, therefore, it was expected that I should obtain one in
the present, or I should be considered as having lost my reputation
both in the eyes of the University and of my own College. It
had happened also, that I had been honoured with the first of the
prizes^A, in that year, and therefore it was expected again, that I
should obtain the first on this occasion. The acquisition of the
second, however honourable, would have been considered as a
falling off, or as a loss of former fame. I felt myself, therefore,
particularly called upon to maintain my post. And, with feelings
of this kind, I began to prepare myself for the question.

A: There are two prizes on each
subject, one for the best and the other for the second-best
essays.

In studying the thesis, I conceived it to point directly to the

African Slave Trade, and more particularly as I knew that Dr.
Peckard, in the sermon which I have mentioned, had pronounced
so warmly against it. At any rate, I determined to give it this
construction. But, alas! I was wholly ignorant of this subject;
and, what was unfortunate, a few weeks only were allowed for
the composition. I was determined, however, to make the best
use of my time. I got access to the manuscript papers of a
deceased friend, who had been in the trade. I was acquainted
also with several officers who had been in the West Indies, and
from these I gained something. But I still felt myself at a loss for
materials, and I did not know where to get them; when going by
accident into a friend’s house, I took up a newspaper then lying
on his table. One of the articles which attracted my notice, was
an advertisement of ANTHONY BENEZET’S Historical Account of
Guinea. I soon left my friend and his paper, and, to lose no
time, hastened to London to buy it. In this precious book I
found almost all I wanted. I obtained, by means of it, a knowledge
of, and access to, the great authorities of Adanson, Moore, Barbot,
Smith, Bosman, and others. It was of great consequence to know
what these persons had said upon this subject. For, having been
themselves either long resident in Africa, or very frequently there,
their knowledge of it could not be questioned. Having been
concerned also in the trade, it was not likely that they would
criminate themselves more than they could avoid. Writing too
at a time when the abolition was not even thought of, they could
not have been biassed with any view to that event. And, lastly,
having been dead many years, they could not have been influenced,
as living evidences may be supposed to have been, either
to conceal or exaggerate, as their own interest might lead them,
either by being concerned in the continuance of the trade, or by
supporting the opinions of those of their patrons in power, who
were on the different sides of this question.

Furnished then in this manner, I began my work. But no
person can tell the severe trial which the writing of it proved to
me. I had expected pleasure from the invention of the arguments,
from the arrangement of them, from the putting of them
together, and from the thought in the interim that I was engaged

in an innocent contest for literary honour. But, all my pleasure
was damped by the facts which were now continually before me.
It was but one gloomy subject from morning to night. In the
day-time I was uneasy. In the night I had little rest. I sometimes
never closed my eye-lids for grief. It became now not so
much a trial for academical reputation, as for the production of a
work, which might be useful to injured Africa. And keeping
this idea in my mind ever after the perusal of Benezet, I always
slept with a candle in my room, that I might rise out of my bed
and put down such thoughts as might occur to me in the night,
if I judged them valuable, conceiving that no arguments of any
moment should be lost in so great a cause. Having at length
finished this painful task, I sent my Essay to the vice-chancellor,
and soon afterwards found myself honoured as before with the
first prize.

As it is usual to read these Essays publicly in the senate-house
soon after the prize is adjudged, I was called to Cambridge
for this purpose. I went and performed my office. On returning
however to London, the subject of it almost wholly engrossed
my thoughts. I became at times very seriously affected while
upon the road. I stopped my horse occasionally, and dismounted
and walked. I frequently tried to persuade myself in these intervals
that the contents of my Essay could not be true. The more,
however, I reflected upon them, or rather upon the authorities on
which they were founded, the more I gave them credit. Coming
in sight of Wades Mill, in Hertfordshire, I sat down disconsolate
on the turf by the roadside and held my horse. Here a thought
came into my mind, that if the contents of the Essay were true,
it was time some person should see these calamities to their end.
Agitated in this manner, I reached home. This was in the
summer of 1785.

In the course of the autumn of the same year I experienced
similar impressions. I walked frequently into the woods, that I
might think on the subject in solitude, and find relief to my mind
there. But there the question still recurred, “Are these things
true?” Still the answer followed as instantaneously “They are.”
Still the result accompanied it, “Then surely some person should

interfere.” I then began to envy those who had seats in parliament,
and who had great riches, and widely extended connexions,
which would enable them to take up this cause. Finding scarcely
any one at that time who thought of it, I was turned frequently
to myself. But here many difficulties arose. It struck me, among
others, that a young man of only twenty-four years of age could
not have that solid judgment or knowledge of men, manners, and
things, which were requisite to qualify him to undertake a task
of such magnitude and importance;—and with whom was I to
unite? I believed also, that it looked so much like one of the
feigned labours of Hercules, that my understanding would be
suspected if I proposed it. On ruminating, however, on the
subject, I found one thing at least practicable, and that this also
was in my power. I could translate my Latin dissertation. I
could enlarge it usefully. I could see how the public received it,
or how far they were likely to favour any serious measures, which
should have a tendency to produce the abolition of the Slave
Trade. Upon this then I determined; and in the middle of the
month of November 1785, I began my work.

By the middle of January, I had finished half of it, though
I had made considerable additions. I now thought of engaging
with some bookseller to print it when finished. For this purpose
I called upon Mr. Cadell, in the Strand, and consulted him
about it. He said that as the original essay had been honoured
by the University of Cambridge with the first prize, this circumstance
would insure it a respectable circulation among persons of
taste. I own I was not much pleased with his opinion. I wished
the essay to find its way among useful people, and among such as
would act and think with me. Accordingly I left Mr. Cadell,
after having thanked him for his civility, and determined, as I
thought I had time sufficient before dinner, to call upon a friend
in the city. In going past the Royal Exchange, Mr. Joseph
Hancock, one of the religious society of the Quakers, and with
whose family my own had been long united in friendship, suddenly
met me. He first accosted me by saying that I was the
person whom he was wishing to see. He then asked me why I
had not published my prize essay. I asked him in return what

had made him think of that subject in particular. He replied
that his own society had long taken it up as a religious body, and
individuals among them were wishing to find me out. I asked
him who. He answered, James Phillips, a bookseller, in Georgeyard,
Lombard-street, and William Dillwyn, of Walthamstow,
and others. Having but little time to spare, I desired
him to introduce me to one of them. In a few minutes he took me to
James Phillips, who was then the only one of them in town;
by whose conversation I was so much interested and encouraged,
that without any further hesitation I offered him the publication
of my work. This accidental introduction of me to James Phillips
was, I found afterwards, a most happy circumstance for the
promotion of the cause which I had then so deeply at heart, as it
led me to the knowledge of several of those, who became afterwards
material coadjutors in it. It was also of great importance
to me with respect to the work itself: for he possessed an acute
penetration, a solid judgment, and a literary knowledge, which he
proved by the many alterations and additions he proposed; and
which I believe I uniformly adopted, after mature consideration,
from a sense of their real value. It was advantageous to me also,
inasmuch as it led me to his friendship, which was never interrupted
but by his death.

On my second visit to James Phillips, at which time I
brought him about half my manuscript for the press, I desired
him to introduce me to William Dillwyn, as he also had mentioned
him to me on my first visit, and as I had not seen Mr.
Hancock since. Matters were accordingly arranged, and a day
appointed before I left him. On this day I had my first interview
with my new friend. Two or three others of his own religious
society were present, but who they were, I do not now recollect.
There seemed to be a great desire among them to know
the motive, by which I had been actuated in contending for the
prize. I told them frankly that I had no motive but that which,
other young men in the University had on such occasions;
namely, the wish of being distinguished, or of obtaining literary
honour; but that I had felt so deeply on the subject of it, that
I had lately interested myself in it from a motive of duty. My

conduct seemed to be highly approved by those present, and much
conversation ensued, but it was of a general nature.

As William Dillwyn wished very much to see me at his
house at Walthamstow, I appointed the 13th of March to
spend the day with them there. We talked for the most part,
during my stay, on the subject of my essay. I soon discovered
the treasure I had met with in his local knowledge, both of the
Slave Trade and of slavery, as they existed in the United States;
and I gained from him several facts, which, with his permission,
I afterwards inserted in my work. But how surprised was I to
hear, in the course of our conversation, of the labours of
Granville Sharp, of the writings of Ramsay, and of the controversy
in which the latter was engaged, of all which I had hitherto
known nothing! How surprised was I to learn that William
Dillwyn himself had, two years before, associated himself with
five others for the purpose of enlightening the public mind upon
this great subject! How astonished was I to find that a society
had been formed in America for the same object, with some of
the principal members of which he was intimately acquainted!
And how still more astonished at the inference which instantly
rushed upon my mind, that he was capable of being made the
great medium of connexion between them all. These thoughts
almost overpowered me. I believe that after this I talked but
little more to my friend. My mind was overwhelmed with the
thought that I had been providentially directed to his house; that
the finger of Providence was beginning to be discernible; that
the day-star of African liberty was rising, and that probably
I might be permitted to become an humble instrument in
promoting it.

In the course of attending to my work, as now in the press,
James Phillips introduced me also to Granville Sharp, with
whom I had afterwards many interesting interviews from time to
time, and whom I discovered to be a distant relation by my
father’s side.

He introduced me also by letter to a correspondence with Mr.
Ramsay, who in a short time afterwards came to London to
see me.

He introduced me also to his cousin, Richard Phillips, of
Lincoln’s Inn, who was at that time, on the point of joining the
religious society of Quakers. In him I found much sympathy,
and a willingness to co-operate with me. When dull
and disconsolate, he encouraged me. When in spirits, he stimulated me
further. Him I am now to mention as a new, but soon afterwards
as an active and indefatigable, coadjutor in the cause. But
I shall say more concerning him in a future chapter. I shall
only now add that my work was at length printed; that it was
entitled An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human
Species, particularly the African, translated
from a Latin Dissertation, which was honoured
with the first Prize in the University
of Cambridge, for the year 1785; with Additions; and that it
was ushered into the world in the month of June, 1786, or in
about a year after it had been read in the Senate-house in its first
form.

CHAPTER VIII.

Continuation of the fourth class
of forerunners and coadjutors up to 1787;
Bennet Langton; Dr. Baker; Lord and Lady Scarsdale.—Author visits
Ramsay at Teston.—Lady Middleton and Sir Charles (afterward Lord
Barham).—Author declares himself at the house of the latter ready now
to devote himself to the cause; reconsiders this declaration or pledge;
his reasoning and struggle upon it; persists in it; returns to London; and
pursues the work as now a business of his life.

I had purposed, as I said before, when I determined to publish
my essay, to wait to see how the world would receive it, or what
disposition there would be in the public to favour my measures
for the abolition of the Slave Trade. But the conversation which
I had held on the 13th of March with William Dillwyn, continued
to make such an impression upon me, that I thought now
there could be no occasion for waiting for such a purpose. It
seemed now only necessary to go forward. Others I found had
already begun the work. I had been thrown suddenly among
these, as into a new world of friends. I believed, also, that a
way was opening under Providence for support; and I now
thought that nothing remained for me but to procure as many
coadjutors as I could.

I had long had the honour of the friendship of Mr. Bennet
Langton, and I determined to carry him one of my books, and to
interest his feelings in it, with a view of procuring his assistance
in the cause. Mr. Langton was a gentleman of an ancient
family and respectable fortune in Lincolnshire, but resided then
in Queen Square, Westminster. He was known as the friend
of Dr. Johnson, Jonas Hanway, Edmund Burke, Sir Joshua
Reynolds, and others. Among his acquaintance, indeed, were
most of the literary, and eminent professional, and public-spirited
men of the times. At court, also, he was well known, and had
the esteem of his majesty (George III.), with whom he frequently
conversed. His friends were numerous also, in both houses of
the legislature. As to himself, he was much noted for his

learning, but most of all for the great example he gave, with
respect to the usefulness and integrity of his life.

By introducing my work to the sanction of a friend of such
high character and extensive connexions, I thought I should be
doing great things. And so the event proved. For when I
went to him after he had read it, I found that it had made a
deep impression upon his mind. As a friend to humanity, he
lamented over the miseries of the oppressed Africans; and over
the crimes of their tyrants, as a friend to morality and religion.
He cautioned me, however, against being too sanguine in my
expectations, as so many thousands were interested in continuing
the trade. Justice, however, which he said weighed with him
beyond all private or political interest, demanded a public
inquiry, and he would assist me to the utmost of his power in my
attempts towards it. From this time he became a zealous and
active coadjutor in the cause, and continued so to the end of his
valuable life.

The next person, to whom I gave my work with a like view,
was Dr. Baker, a clergyman of the Establishment, and with
whom I had been in habits of intimacy for some time. Dr.
Baker was a learned and pious man. He had performed the
duties of his profession, from the time of his initiation into the
church, in an exemplary manner; not only by paying a proper
attention to the customary services, but by the frequent visitation
of the sick and the instruction of the poor. This he had done,
too, to admiration in a particularly extensive parish. At the
time I knew him, he had May-Fair Chapel, of which an unusual
portion of the congregation consisted then of persons of rank and
fortune. With most of these he had a personal acquaintance.
This was of great importance to me in the promotion of my
views. Having left him my book for a month, I called upon
him. The result was that which I expected from so good a man.
He, did not wait for me to ask him for his co-operation, but he
offered his services in any way which I might think most eligible;
feeling it his duty, as he expressed it, to become an instrument
in exposing such a complication of guilt and misery to the world.
Dr. Baker became from this time an active coadjutor also, and
continued so to his death.

The person to whom I sent my work next, was the late Lord
Scarsdale, whose family I had known for about two years. Both
he and his lady read it with attention. They informed me, after
the perusal of it, that both of them were desirous of assisting me
in promoting the cause of the poor Africans. Lady Scarsdale
lamented that she might possibly offend near and dear connexions,
who had interests in, the West Indies, by so doing; but that,
conscious of no intention to offend these, and considering the
duties of religion to be the first to be attended to, she should be
pleased to become useful in so good a cause. Lord Scarsdale also
assured me, that, if the subject should ever come before the
House of Lords, it should have his constant support.

While attempting to make friends in this manner, I received
a letter from Mr. Ramsay, with an invitation to spend a month
at his house at Teston, near Maidstone, in Kent. This I accepted,
that I might communicate to him the progress I had made,
that I might gain more knowledge from him on the subject, and
that I might acquire new strength and encouragement to proceed.
On hearing my account of my proceedings, which I detailed to
him on the first evening of our meeting, he seemed almost overpowered
with joy. He said he had been long of opinion that the
release of the Africans from the scourges of this cruel trade was
within the determined views of Providence, and that by turning
the public attention to their misery, we should be the instruments
of beginning the good work. He then informed me how long
he himself had had their cause at heart; that communicating his
feelings to Sir Charles Middleton (afterwards Lord Barham) and
his lady, the latter had urged him to undertake a work in their
behalf; that her importunities were great respecting it; and that
he had on this account, and in obedience also to his own feelings,
as has been before mentioned, begun it; but that, foreseeing the
censure and abuse which such a subject, treated in any possible
manner, must bring upon the author, he had laid it aside for
some time. He had, however, resumed it at the solicitation of
Dr. Porteus, then Bishop of Chester; after which, in the year
1784, it made its appearance in the world.

I was delighted with this account on the first evening of my

arrival; but more particularly, as I collected from it that I might
expect in the Bishop of Chester and Sir Charles Middleton two
new friends to the cause. This expectation was afterwards fully
realized, as the reader will see in its proper place. But I was
still more delighted, when I was informed that Sir Charles and
Lady Middleton, with Mrs. Bouverie, lived at Teston Hall, in a
park which was but a few yards from the house in which I then
was. In the morning I desired an introduction to them, which
accordingly took place, and I found myself much encouraged and
supported by this visit.

It is not necessary, nor indeed is there room, to detail my
employments in this village, or the lonely walks I took there, or
the meditations of my mind at such seasons. I will therefore
come at once to a particular occurrence. When at dinner one
day with the family at Teston Hall, I was much pleased with
the turn which the conversation had taken on the subject, and in
the joy of my heart I exclaimed, that “I was ready to devote
myself to the cause.” This brought great commendation from
those present; and Sir Charles Middleton added, that if I wanted
any information in the course of my future inquiries relative to
Africa, which he could procure me as comptroller of the navy,
such as extracts from the journals of the ships of war to
that continent, or from other papers, I should have free access to his
office. This offer I received with thankfulness, and it operated
as a new encouragement to me to proceed.

The next morning, when I awoke, one of the first things that
struck me was, that I had given a pledge to the company the day
before that I would devote myself to the cause of the oppressed
Africans. I became a little uneasy at this. I questioned whether
I had considered matters sufficiently to be able to go so far with
propriety. I determined therefore to give the subject a full
consideration, and accordingly I walked to the place of my usual
meditations,—the woods.

Having now reached a place of solitude, I began to balance
everything on both sides of the question. I considered first, that
I had not yet obtained information sufficient on the subject to
qualify me for the undertaking of such a work. But I reflected,

on the other hand, that Sir Charles Middleton had just opened
to me a new source of knowledge; that I should be backed by
the local information of Dillwyn and Ramsay; and that surely,
by taking pains, I could acquire more.

I then considered that I had not yet a sufficient number of
friends to support me. This occasioned me to review them. I
had now Sir Charles Middleton, who was in the House of Commons.
I was sure of Dr. Porteus, who was in the House of
Lords. I could count upon Lord Scarsdale, who was a peer also.
I had secured Mr. Langton, who had a most extensive acquaintance
with members of both houses of the legislature. I had also
secured Dr. Baker, who had similar connexions. I could depend
upon Granville Sharp, James Phillips, Richard Phillips, Ramsay,
Dillwyn, and the little committee to which he belonged, as well
as the whole society of the Quakers. I thought, therefore, upon
the whole, that, considering the short time I had been at work,
I was well off with respect to support. I believed, also, that
there were still several of my own acquaintance whom I could
interest in the question, and I did not doubt that, by exerting
myself diligently, persons, who were then strangers to me, would
be raised up in time.

I considered next, that it was impossible for a great cause like
this to be forwarded without large pecuniary funds. I questioned
whether some thousand pounds would not be necessary, and from
whence was such a sum to come! In answer to this, I persuaded
myself that generous people would be found who would unite
with me in contributing their mite towards the undertaking,
and I seemed confident that, as the Quakers had taken up the
cause as a religious body, they would not be behind-hand in
supporting it.

I considered lastly, that if I took up the question, I must
devote myself wholly to it. I was sensible that a little labour
now and then would be inadequate to the purpose, or that, where
the interests of so many thousand persons were likely to be
affected, constant exertion would be necessary. I felt certain
that if ever the matter were to be taken up, there could be no
hope of success, except it should be taken up by some one who

would make it an object or business of his life. I thought too
that a man’s life might not be more than adequate to the accomplishment
of the end. But I knew of no one who could devote
such a portion of time to it. Sir Charles Middleton, though he
was so warm and zealous, was greatly occupied in the discharge
of his office. Mr. Langton spent a great portion of his time in
the education of his children. Dr. Baker had a great deal to do
in the performance of his parochial duty. The Quakers were
almost all of them in trade. I could look therefore to no person
but myself; and the question was, whether I was prepared to
make the sacrifice. In favour of the undertaking, I urged to
myself, that never was any cause, which had been taken up by
man in any country or in any age, so great and important; that
never was there one in which so much misery was heard to cry
for redress; that never was there one in which so much good
could be done; never one in which the duty of Christian charity
could be so extensively exercised; never one more worthy of the
devotion of a whole life towards it; and that, if a man thought
properly, he ought to rejoice to have been called into existence, if
he were only permitted to become an instrument in forwarding
it in any part of its progress. Against these sentiments, on the
other hand, I had to urge, that I had been designed for the
church; that I had already advanced as far as deacon’s orders in
it; that my prospects there on account of my connexions were
then brilliant, that, by appearing to desert my profession, my
family would be dissatisfied, if not unhappy. These thoughts
pressed upon me, and rendered the conflict difficult. But the
sacrifice of my prospects staggered me, I own, the most. When
the other objections, which I have related, occurred to me, my
enthusiasm instantly, like a flash of lightning, consumed them;
but this stuck to me, and troubled me. I had ambition. I had
a thirst after worldly interest and honours, and I could not
extinguish it at once. I was more than two hours in solitude
under this painful conflict. At length I yielded, not because I
saw any reasonable prospect of success in my new undertaking
(for all cool-headed and cool-hearted men would have pronounced
against it), but in obedience, I believe, to a higher Power. And

I can say, that both on the moment of this resolution, and
for some time afterwards, I had more sublime and happy feelings
than at any former period of my life.

Having now made up my mind on the subject, I informed
Mr. Ramsay, that in a few days I should be leaving Teston, that
I might begin my labours, according to the pledge I had given
him.

CHAPTER IX.

Continuation of the fourth Class of forerunners and
coadjutors Up to 1787.—Author resolves upon the distribution
of his book.—Mr. Sheldon; Sir Herbert Mackworth; Lord Newhaven;
Lord Balgonie (afterwards Leven); Lord Hawke; Bishop
Porteus.—Author visits African vessels in the Thames; and
various persons, for further information.—Visits also Members
of Parliament; Sir Richard Hill; Mr. Powys (late Lord Lilford);
Mr. Wilberforce and others; conduct of the latter on this occasion.

On my return to London, I called upon William Dillwyn, to
inform him of the resolution I had made at Teston, and found
him at his town lodgings in the Poultry. I informed him also,
that I had a letter of introduction in my pocket from Sir Charles
Middleton to Samuel Hoare, with whom I was to converse on
the subject. The latter gentleman had interested himself the
year before as one of the committee for the Black poor in
London, whom Mr. Sharp was sending under the auspices of
government to Sierra Leone. He was also, as the reader
may see by looking back, a member of the second class
of coadjutors, or of the little committee which had branched
out of the Quakers in England as before described. William
Dillwyn said he would go with me and introduce me
himself. On our arrival in Lombard-street, I saw my new
friend, with whom we conversed for some time. From thence I
proceeded, accompanied by both, to the house of James Phillips
in George-yard, to whom I was desirous of communicating my
resolution also. We found him at home, conversing with a
friend of the same religious society, whose name was Joseph
Gurney Bevan. I then repeated my resolution before them all.
We had much friendly and satisfactory conversation together.
I received much encouragement on every side, and I fixed to
meet them again at the place where we then were in three days.

On the evening of the same day, I waited upon Granville
Sharp to make the same communication to him. He received it
with great pleasure, and he hoped I should have strength to proceed.
From thence I went to the Baptist-head coffee-house, in

Chancery-lane, and having engaged with the master of the house
that I should always have one private room to myself when I
wanted it, I took up my abode there, in order to be near my
friend Richard Phillips of Lincoln’s Inn, from whose advice and
assistance I had formed considerable expectations.

The first matter for our deliberation, after we had thus become
neighbours, was, what plan I ought to pursue to give effect to the
resolution I had taken.

After having discussed the matter two or three times at his
chambers, it seemed to be our opinion, that, as members of the
legislature could do more to the purpose in this question, than any
other persons, it would be proper to circulate all the remaining
copies of my work among these, in order that they might thus
obtain information upon the subject. Secondly, that it would be
proper that I should wait personally upon several of these also.
And thirdly, that I should be endeavouring in the interim to
enlarge my own knowledge, that I might thus be enabled to
answer the various objections which might be advanced on the
other side of the question, as well as become qualified to be a
manager of the cause.

On the third day, or at the time appointed, I went with
Richard Phillips to George-yard, Lombard-street, where I met
all my friends as before. I communicated to them the opinion
we had formed at Lincoln’s Inn, relative to my future proceedings
in the three different branches as now detailed. They approved
the plan. On desiring a number of my books to be sent
to me at my new lodgings for the purpose of distribution, Joseph
Gurney Bevan, who was stated to have been present at the
former interview, seemed uneasy, and at length asked me if I was
going to distribute these at my own expense. I replied, I was.
He appealed immediately to those present whether it ought to be
allowed. He asked whether, when a young man was giving up
his time from morning till night, they who applauded his pursuit
and seemed desirous of co-operating with him, should allow him
to make such a sacrifice, or whether they should not at least
secure him from loss; and he proposed directly that the remaining
part of the edition should be taken off by subscription,

and, in order that my feelings might not be hurt from any supposed
stain arising from the thought of gaining any thing by
such a proposal, they should be paid for only at the prime cost.
I felt myself much obliged to him for this tender consideration
about me, and particularly for the latter part of it, under which
alone I accepted the offer. Samuel Hoare was charged with the
management of the subscription, and the books were to be distributed
as I had proposed, and in any way which I myself might
prescribe.

This matter having been determined upon, my first care was
that the books should be put into proper hands. Accordingly I
went round among my friends from day to day, wishing to secure
this before I attended to any of the other objects. In this I was
much assisted by my friend Richard Phillips. Mr. Langton began
the distribution of them. He made a point either of writing
to or of calling upon those to whom he sent them. Dr. Baker
took the charge of several for the same purpose; Lord and Lady
Scarsdale of others; Sir Charles and Lady Middleton of others.
Mr. Sheldon, at the request of Richard Phillips, introduced me
by letter to several members of parliament, to whom I wished to
deliver them myself. Sir Herbert Mackworth, when spoken to
by the latter, offered his services also. He seemed to be particularly
interested in the cause. He went about to many of his
friends in the House of Commons, and this from day to day, to
procure their favour towards it. Lord Newhaven was applied to,
and distributed some. Lord Balgonie took a similar charge.
The late Lord Hawke, who told me that he had long felt for
the sufferings of the injured Africans, desired to be permitted
to take his share of the distribution among members of the
House of Lords, and Dr. Porteus, now Bishop of London,
became another coadjutor in the same work.

This distribution of my books having been consigned to proper
hands, I began to qualify myself, by obtaining further knowledge,
for the management of this great cause. As I had obtained the
principal part of it from reading, I thought I ought now to see
what could be seen, and to know from living persons what could
be known on the subject. With respect to the first of these

points, the river Thames presented itself as at hand. Ships were
going occasionally from the port of London to Africa, and why
could I not get on board them and examine for myself? After
diligent inquiry, I heard of one which had just arrived. I
found her to be a little wood-vessel, called the Lively, Captain
Williamson, or one which traded to Africa in the natural productions
of the country, such as ivory, bees’-wax, Malaguetta pepper,
palm-oil, and dye-woods. I obtained specimens of some of these,
so that I now became possessed of some of those things of which
I had only read before. On conversing with the mate, he showed
me one or two pieces of the cloth made by the natives, and from
their own cotton. I prevailed upon him to sell me a piece of
each. Here new feelings arose, and particularly when I considered
that persons of so much apparent ingenuity, and capable of
such beautiful work as the Africans, should be made slaves, and
reduced to a level with the brute creation. My reflections here
on the better use which might be made of Africa by the substitution
of another trade, and on the better use which might be made
of her inhabitants, served greatly to animate and to sustain me
amidst the labour of my pursuits.

The next vessel I boarded was the Fly, Captain Colley.
Here I found myself for the first time on the deck of a slave-vessel.
The sight of the rooms below and of the gratings above,
and of the barricado across the deck, and the explanation of the
uses of all these, filled me both with melancholy and horror. I
found soon afterwards a fire of indignation kindling within me.
I had now scarce patience to talk with those on board. I had not
the coolness this first time to go leisurely over the places that
were open to me. I got away quickly. But that which I
thought I saw horrible in this vessel had the same effect upon me
as that which I thought I had seen agreeable in the other,
namely, to animate and to invigorate me in my pursuit.

But I will not trouble the reader with any further account of
my water-expeditions, while attempting to perfect my knowledge
on this subject. I was equally assiduous in obtaining intelligence
wherever it could be had; and being now always on the watch, I
was frequently falling in with individuals, from whom I gained

something. My object was to see all who had been in Africa,
but more particularly those who had never been interested, or
who at any rate were not then interested, in the trade. I gained
accordingly access very early to General Rooke; to Lieutenant
Dalrymple, of the army; to Captain Fiddes, of the engineers; to
the reverend Mr. Newton; to Mr. Nisbett, a surgeon in the
Minories; to Mr. Devaynes, who was then in parliament, and to
many others; and I made it a rule to put down in writing, after
every conversation, what had taken place in the course of it. By
these means, things began to unfold themselves to me more and
more, and I found my stock of knowledge almost daily on the
increase.

While, however, I was forwarding this, I was not inattentive
to the other object of my pursuit, which was that of waiting
upon members personally. The first I called upon was Sir
Richard Hill. At the first interview he espoused the cause. I
waited then upon others, and they professed themselves friendly;
but they seemed to make this profession more from the emotion
of good hearts, revolting at the bare mention of the Slave Trade,
than from any knowledge concerning it. One, however, whom I
visited, Mr. Powys, (the late Lord Lilford,) with whom I had
been before acquainted in Northamptonshire, seemed to doubt
some of the facts in my book, from a belief that human nature
was not capable of proceeding to such a pitch of wickedness. I
asked him to name his facts. He selected the case of the hundred
and thirty-two slaves who were thrown alive into the sea to
defraud the underwriters. I promised to satisfy him fully upon
this point, and went immediately to Granville Sharp, who lent me
his account of the trial, as reported at large from the notes of the
short-hand writer, whom he had employed on the occasion. Mr.
Powys read the account. He became, in consequence of it, convinced,
as, indeed, he could not otherwise be, of the truth of
what I had asserted, and he declared at the same time that, if
this were true, there was nothing so horrible related of this trade,
which might not immediately be believed. Mr. Powys had been
always friendly to this question, but now he took a part in the
distribution of my books.

Among those whom I visited was Mr. Wilberforce. On my
first interview with him, he stated frankly, that the subject had
often employed his thoughts, and that it was near his heart.
He seemed earnest about it, and also very desirous of taking the
trouble of inquiring further into it. Having read my book, which
I had delivered to him, in person, he sent, for me. He expressed
a wish that I would make him acquainted with some of my
authorities for the assertions in it, which I did afterwards to his
satisfaction. He asked me if I could support it by any other evidence.
I told him I could. I mentioned Mr. Newton, Mr.
Nisbett, and several others to him. He took the trouble of sending
for all these. He made memorandums of their conversation,
and, sending for me afterwards, showed them to me. On learning
my intention to devote myself to the cause, he paid me many handsome
compliments. He then desired me to call upon him
often, and to acquaint him with my progress from time to time.
He expressed also his willingness to afford me any assistance in
his power in the prosecution of my pursuits.

The carrying on of these different objects, together with the
writing which was connected with them, proved very laborious,
and occupied almost all my time. I was seldom engaged less
than sixteen hours in the day. When I left Teston to begin the
pursuit as an object of my life, I promised my friend Mr. Ramsay
a weekly account of my progress. At the end of the first week
my letter to him contained little more than a sheet of paper. At
the end of the second it contained three; at the end of the third,
six; and at the end of the fourth I found it would be so
voluminous, that I was obliged to decline writing it.

CHAPTER X.

Continuation of the fourth class of forerunners and
coadjutors up to 1787.—Author goes on to enlarge his knowledge
in the different departments of the subject; communicates more
frequently with Mr. Wilberforce.—Meetings now appointed at
the house of the latter.—Dinner at Mr. Langton’s.—Mr. Wilberforce
pledges himself there to take up the subject in Parliament;
remarkable junction, in consequence, of all the four classes
of forerunners and coadjutors before-mentioned.—Committee formed
out of these on the 22nd of May, 1787, for the abolition of the
Slave Trade.

The manner in which Mr. Wilberforce had received me, and the
pains which he had taken, and was still taking, to satisfy himself
of the truth of those enormities which had been charged upon the
Slave Trade, tended much to enlarge my hope, that they might
become at length the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. Richard
Phillips, also, to whom I made a report at his chambers almost
every evening of the proceedings of the day, had begun to entertain
a similar expectation. Of course we unfolded our thoughts
to one another; from hence a desire naturally sprung up in each
of us to inquire whether any alteration in consequence of this new
prospect should be made in my pursuits. On deliberating upon
this point, it seemed proper to both of us that the distribution of
the books should be continued; that I should still proceed in
enlarging my own knowledge; and that I should still wait upon
members of the legislature, but with this difference, that I should
never lose sight of Mr. Wilberforce, but, on the other hand, that
I should rather omit visiting some others than paying a proper
attention to him.

One thing however appeared now to be necessary, which had
not yet been done. This was to inform our friends in the city,
upon whom I had all along occasionally called, that we believed
the time was approaching when it would be desirable that we
should unite our labours, if they saw no objection to such a
measure; for, if the Slave Trade were to
become a subject of parliamentary inquiry with
a view to the annihilation of it, no individual

could perform the work which would be necessary for such
a purpose. This work must be a work of many; and who so
proper to assist in it as they, who had before so honourably
laboured in it? In the case of such an event large funds also
would be wanted, and who so proper to procure and manage them
as these? A meeting was accordingly called at the house of James
Phillips, when these our views were laid open. When I stated
that from the very time of my hopes beginning to rise I had
always had those present in my eye as one day to be fellow-labourers,
William Dillwyn replied, that from the time they had
first heard of the Prize Essay, they also had had their eyes
upon me, and, from the time they had first seen me, had conceived: a
desire of making the same use of me as I had now expressed a
wish of making of them, but that matters did not appear ripe at
our first interview. Our proposal, however, was approved, and
an assurance was given, that an union should take place as soon
as it was judged to be seasonable. It was resolved also, that one
day in the week^A should be
appointed for a meeting at the house
of James Phillips, where as many might attend as had leisure,
and that I should be there to make a report of my progress, by
which we might all judge of the fitness of the time of calling ourselves
an united body. Pleased now with the thought that
matters were put into such a train, I returned to my former
objects.

A: At these weekly meetings I met
occasionally Joseph Woods, George Harrison, and John Lloyd, three of the other
members, who belonged to the committee of the second class of forerunners
and coadjutors as before described. I had seen all of them before,
but I do not recollect the time when I first met them.

It is not necessary to say anything more of the first of these
objects, which was that of the further distribution of my book,
than that it was continued, and chiefly by the same hands.

With respect to the enlargement of my knowledge, it was
promoted likewise. I now gained access to the Custom-House
in London, where I picked up much valuable information for my
purpose.

Having had reason to believe that the Slave Trade was peculiarly
fatal to those employed in it, I wished much to get copies

of many of the muster-rolls from the Custom-House at Liverpool
for a given time. James Phillips wrote to his friend William
Rathbone, who was one of his own religious society, and who
resided there, to procure them. They were accordingly sent up.
The examination of these, which took place at the chambers of
Richard Phillips, was long and tedious. We looked over them
together. We usually met for this purpose at nine in the evening,
and we seldom parted till one, and sometimes not till three
in the morning. When our eyes were inflamed by the candle, or
tired by fatigue, we used to relieve ourselves by walking out
within the precincts of Lincoln’s Inn, when all seemed to be fast
asleep, and thus, as it were, in solitude and in stillness to converse
upon them, as well as upon the best means of the further promotion
of our cause. These scenes of our early friendship and exertions
I shall never forget. I often think of them both with
astonishment and with pleasure. Having recruited ourselves in
this manner, we used to return to our work. From these muster-rolls,
I may now observe that we gained the most important
information: we ascertained, beyond the power of contradiction, that
more than half of the seamen who went out with the ships in the
Slave Trade did not return with them, and that of these so many
perished, as amounted to one-fifth of all employed. As to what
became of the remainder, the muster-rolls did not inform us;
this, therefore, was left to us as a subject for our future inquiry.

In endeavouring to enlarge my knowledge, my thoughts were
frequently turned to the West Indian part of the question, and
in this department my friend Richard Phillips gained me important
intelligence. He put into my hands several documents
concerning estates in the West Indies, which he had mostly from
the proprietors themselves, where the slaves by mild and prudent
usage had so increased in population, as to supersede the necessity
of the Slave Trade.

By attending to these and to various other parts of the subject,
I began to see as it were with new eyes; I was enabled to make
several necessary discriminations, to reconcile things before
seemingly contradictory, and to answer many objections which had
hitherto put on a formidable shape. But most of all was I

rejoiced at the thought that I should soon be able to prove that
which I had never doubted, but which had hitherto been beyond
my power in this case, that Providence, in ordaining laws relative
to the agency of man, had never made that to be wise which was
immoral, and that the Slave Trade would be found as impolitic
as it was inhuman and unjust.

In keeping up my visits to members of parliament, I was
particularly attentive to Mr. Wilberforce, whom I found daily
becoming more interested in the fate of Africa. I now made to
him a regular report of my progress, of the sentiments of those in
parliament whom I had visited, of the disposition of my friends
in the city, of whom he had often heard me speak, of my discoveries
from the Custom-Houses of London and Liverpool, of
my documents concerning West India estates, and of all, indeed,
that had occurred to me worth mentioning. He had himself also
been making his inquiries, which he communicated to me in
return. Our intercourse had now become frequent, no one week
elapsing without an interview: at one of these, I suggested to him
the propriety of having occasional meetings at his own house,
consisting of a few friends in parliament, who might converse on
the subject: of this he approved. The persons present at the
first meeting were Mr. Wilberforce, the Honourable John Villiers,
Mr. Powys, Sir Charles Middleton, Sir Richard Hill, Mr.
Granville Sharp, Mr. Ramsay, Dr. Gregory, (who had written
on the subject, as before mentioned,) and myself. At this meeting
I read a paper, giving an account of the light I had collected
in the course of my inquiries, with observations as well on the
impolicy as on the wickedness of the trade. Many questions
arose out of the reading of this little essay; many answers followed.
Objections were started and canvassed. In short, this
measure was found so useful, that certain other evenings as well
as mornings were fixed upon for the same purpose.

On reporting my progress to my friends in the city, several of
whom now assembled once in the week, as I mentioned before to
have been agreed upon, and particularly on reporting the different
meetings which had taken place at the house of Mr. Wilberforce
on the subject, they were of opinion that the time was approaching

when we might unite, and that this union might prudently
commence as soon as ever Mr. Wilberforce would give his word
that he would take up the question in Parliament. Upon this I
desired to observe, that though the latter gentleman had pursued
the subject with much earnestness, he had never yet dropped the
least hint that he would proceed so far in the matter, but I would
take care that the question should be put to him, and I would
bring them his answer.

In consequence of the promise I had now made, I went to
Mr. Wilberforce. But when I saw him, I seemed unable to
inform him of the object of my visit. Whether this inability
arose from any sudden fear that his answer might not be favourable,
or from a fear that I might possibly involve him in a long
and arduous contest upon this subject, or whether it arose from
an awful sense of the importance of the mission, as it related to
the happiness of hundreds of thousands then alive, and of millions
then unborn, I cannot say. But I had a feeling within me for
which I could not account, and which seemed to hinder me from
proceeding; and I actually went away without informing him
of my errand.

In this situation I began to consider what to do, when I
thought I would call upon Mr. Langton, tell him what had happened,
and ask his advice. I found him at home. We consulted
together. The result was, that he was to invite Mr. Wilberforce
and some others to meet me at a dinner at his own house
in two or three days, when he said he had no doubt of being able
to procure an answer, by some means or other, to the question
which I wished to have resolved.

On receiving a card from Mr. Langton, I went to dine with
him. I found the party consist of Sir Charles Middleton, Mr.
Wilberforce, Mr. Hawkins Browne, Mr. Windham, Sir Joshua
Reynolds, and Mr. Boswell. The latter was then known as the
friend of Dr. Johnson, and afterwards as the writer of
his Tour to the Hebrides. After dinner
the subject of the Slave Trade
was purposely introduced. Many questions were put to me, and
I dilated upon each in my answers, that I might inform and
interest those present as much as I could. They seemed to be

greatly impressed with my account of the loss of seamen in the
trade, and with the little samples of African cloth which I had
procured for their inspection. Sir Joshua Reynolds gave his
unqualified approbation of the abolition of this cruel traffic.
Mr. Hawkins Browne joined heartily with him in sentiment;
he spoke with much feeling upon it, and pronounced it to be
barbarous, and contrary to every principle of morality and religion.
Mr. Boswell, after saying the planters would urge that the
Africans were made happier by being carried from their own
country to the West Indies, observed, “Be it so. But we have
no right to make people happy against their will.” Mr. Windham,
when it was suggested that the great importance of our
West Indian islands, and the grandeur of Liverpool, would be
brought against those who should propose the abolition of the
Slave Trade, replied, “We have nothing to do with the policy
of the measure. Rather let Liverpool and the islands be swallowed
up in the sea, than this monstrous system of iniquity be
carried on.^A” While such conversation was passing, and when
all appeared to be interested in the cause, Mr. Langton put the
question, about the proposal of which I had been so diffident, to
Mr. Wilberforce, in the shape of a delicate compliment. The
latter replied, that he had no objection to bring forward the
measure in parliament when he was better prepared for it, and
provided no person more proper could be found. Upon this,
Mr. Hawkins Browne and Mr. Windham both said they would
support him there. Before I left the company, I took Mr. Wilberforce
aside, and asked him if I might mention this his resolution
to those of my friends in the city, of whom he had often
heard me speak, as desirous of aiding him by becoming a committee
for the purpose. He replied, I might. I then asked
Mr. Langton, privately, if he had any objection to belong to a
society of which there might be a committee for the abolition of
the Slave Trade. He said he should be pleased to become a

member of it. Having received these satisfactory answers, I
returned home.

A: I do not know upon what grounds, after
such strong expressions, Mr. Boswell, in the next year, and Mr. Windham,
after having supported the cause for three or four years, became
inimical to it.

The next day, having previously taken down the substance of
the conversation at the dinner, I went to James Phillips, and
desired that our friends might be called together as soon as they
conveniently could to hear my report. In the interim I wrote
to Dr. Peckard, and waited upon Lord Scarsdale, Dr. Baker,
and others, to know (supposing a society were formed for the
abolition of the Slave Trade) if I might say they would belong
to it. All of them replied in the affirmative, and desired me to
represent them, if there should be any meeting for this purpose.

At the time appointed I met my friends. I read over the
substance of the conversation which had taken place at Mr.
Langton’s. No difficulty occurred. All were unanimous for the
formation of a committee. On the next day we met by agreement
for this purpose. It was then resolved unanimously, among
other things,—That the Slave Trade was both impolitic and
unjust. It was resolved, also,—That the following persons be a
committee for procuring such information and evidence, and publishing
the same, as may tend to the abolition of the Slave Trade,
and for directing the application of such moneys as have been
already, and may hereafter be collected for the above purpose:—

• Granville Sharp
• Thomas Clarkson
• Richard Phillips
• William Dillwyn
• Samual Hoare
• John Barton
• George Harrison
• Joseph Hooper
• John Lloyd
• James Phillips
• Joseph Woods
• Philip Sansom

All these were present. Granville Sharp, who stands at the
head of the list, and who, as the father of the cause in England,
was called to the chair, maybe considered as representing the
first class of forerunners and coadjutors, as it has been before
described. The five next, of whom Samuel Hoare was chosen
as the treasurer, were they who had been the committee of the
second class, or of the Quakers in England, with the exception

of Dr. Knowles, who was then dying, but who, having heard of
our meeting, sent a message to us to exhort us to proceed. The
third class, or that of the Quakers in America, may be considered
as represented by William Dillwyn, by whom they were
afterwards joined to us in correspondence. The two who stand
next, and in which I am included, may be considered as representing
the fourth, most of the members of which we had been
the means of raising. Thus, on the 22nd of May, 1787, the
representatives of all the four classes, of which I have been giving
a history from the year 1516, met together, and were united in
that committee, to which I have been all along directing the
attention of the reader; a committee, which, labouring afterwards
with Mr. Wilberforce as a parliamentary head, did, under
Providence, in the space of twenty years, contribute to put an
end to a trade, which, measuring its magnitude by its crimes and
sufferings, was the greatest practical evil that ever afflicted the
human race.

After the formation of the committee^A, notice was sent to
Mr. Wilberforce of the event, and a friendship began, which has
continued uninterruptedly between them, from that to the present
day.

A: All the members
were of the society of the Quakers, except Mr. Sharp,
Sansom, and myself. Joseph Gurney Bevan was present on the day before this
meeting. He desired to belong to the society, but to be excused from belonging
to the committee.

CHAPTER XI.

The preceding history of the different classes of the
forerunners and coadjutors, to the time of the formation of the committee,
collected into one view by means of a map.—Explanation of this map,
and observations upon it.

As the preceding history of the different classes of the forerunners
and coadjutors, to the time of their junction, or to the
formation of the committee, as just explained, may be thought
interesting by many, I have endeavoured, by means of the
annexed map, so to bring it before the reader, that he may comprehend
the whole of it at a single view.

The figure beginning at A and reaching down to X represents
the first class of forerunners and coadjutors up to the year 1787,
as consisting of so many springs or rivulets, which assisted in
making and swelling the torrent which swept away the Slave
Trade.

The figure from B to C and from C to X represents the second
class, or that of the Quakers in England, up to the same time.
The stream on the right-hand represents them as a body, and
that on the left the six individuals belonging to them, who formed
the committee in 1783.

The figure from B to D represents the third class, or that of
the Quakers in America when joined with others in 1774. The
stream passing from D through E to X shows how this class
was conveyed down, as it were, so as to unite with the second.
That passing from D to Y shows its course in its own country,
to its enlargement in 1787. And here I may observe, that as the
different streams which formed a junction at X, were instrumental
in producing the abolition of the Slave Trade in England,
in the month of March, 1807, so those, whose effects are found
united at Y, contributed to produce the same event in America,
in the same month of the same year.

The figure from F to X represents the fourth class up to
1787.

X represents the junction of all the four classes in the
committee instituted in London on the twenty-second day of
May, 1787.

The parallel lines G, H, I, K, represent different periods of
time, showing when the forerunners and coadjutors lived. The
space between G and H includes the space of fifty years, in which
we find but few labourers in this cause. That between H and I
includes the same portion of time, in which we find them considerably
increased, or nearly doubled. That between I and K
represents the next thirty-seven years; but here we find their
increase beyond all expectation, for we find four times more
labourers in this short term, than in the whole of the preceding
century.

In looking over the map, as thus explained, a number of
thoughts suggested themselves, some of which it may not be
improper to detail. And first, in looking between the first and
second parallel, we perceive, that Morgan Godwyn, Richard
Baxter, and George Fox, the first a clergyman of the established
church, the second a divine at the head of the nonconformists,
and the third the founder of the religious society of the Quakers,
appeared each of them the first in his own class, and all of them,
about the same time, in behalf of the oppressed Africans. We
see then this great truth first apparent, that the abolition of the
Slave Trade took its rise, not from persons who set up a cry for
liberty, when they were oppressors themselves, nor from persons
who were led to it by ambition, or a love of reputation among
men, but where it was most desirable, namely, from the teachers
of Christianity in those times.

This account of its rise will furnish us with some important
lessons. And first, it shows us the great value of religion. We
see, when moral disorders become known, that the virtuous are
they who rise up for the removal of them. Thus Providence
seems to have appointed those who devote themselves most to his
service, to the honourable office of becoming so many agents,
under his influence, for the correction of the evils of life. And
as this account of the rise of the abolition of the Slave Trade
teaches us the necessity of a due cultivation of religion; so it

should teach us to have a brotherly affection for those, who,
though they may differ from us in speculative opinions concerning
it, do yet show by their conduct that they have a high reward
for it. For though Godwyn, and Baxter, and Fox, differed as to
the articles of their faith, we find them impelled by the spirit of
Christianity, which is of infinitely more importance than a mere
agreement in creeds, to the same good end.

In looking over the different streams in the map, as they are
discoverable both in Europe and America, we are impressed with
another truth on the same subject, which is, that the Christian
religion is capable of producing the same good fruit in all lands.
However men may differ on account of climate, or language, or
government, or laws, or however they may be situated in different
quarters of the globe, it will produce in them the same virtuous
disposition, and make them instruments for the promotion of
happiness in the world.

In looking between the two first parallels, where we see so
few labourers, and in contemplating the great increase of these
between the others, we are taught the consoling lesson, that however
small the beginning and slow the progress may appear in any
good work which we may undertake, we need not be discouraged
as to the ultimate result of our labours; for though our cause may
appear stationary, it may only become so, in order that it may
take a deeper root, and thus be enabled to stand better against
the storms which may afterwards beat about it.

In taking the same view again, we discover the manner in
which light and information proceed under a free government in
a good cause. An individual, for example, begins; he communicates
his sentiments to others. Thus, while alive, he enlightens;
when dead, he leaves his works, behind him. Thus, though departed,
he yet speaks, and his influence is not lost. Of those
enlightened by him, some become authors, and others actors in
their turn. While living, they instruct, like their predecessors;
when dead, they speak also. Thus a number of dead persons are
encouraging us in libraries, and a number of living are conversing
and diffusing zeal among us at the same time. This, however, is
not true in any free and enlightened country, with respect to the

propagation of evil. The living find no permanent encouragement,
and the dead speak to no purpose in such a case.

This account of the manner in which light and information
proceed in a free country, furnishes us with some valuable knowledge.
It shows us, first, the great importance of education; for
all they who can read may become enlightened. They may gain
as much from the dead as from the living. They may see the sentiments
of former ages. Thus they may contract, by degrees,
habits of virtuous inclination, and become fitted to join with
others in the removal of any of the evils of life.

It shows us, secondly, how that encouraging maxim may become
true, That no good effort is ever lost. For if he, who
makes the virtuous attempt, should be prevented by death from
succeeding in it, can he not speak, though in the tomb? Will not
his works still breathe his sentiments upon it? May not the
opinions, and the facts, which he has recorded, meet the approbation
of ten thousand readers, of whom it is probable, in the
common course of things, that some will branch out of him as
authors, and others as actors or labourers, in the same cause?

And, lastly, it will show us the difficulty (if any attempt
should be made) of reversing permanently the late noble act of
the legislature for the abolition of the Slave Trade. For let us
consider how many, both of the living and the dead, could be,
made to animate us. Let us consider, too, that this is the cause
of mercy, justice, and religion; that as such, it will always afford
renewed means of rallying; and that the dead will always be
heard with interest, and the living with enthusiasm upon it.

CHAPTER XII.

Author devotes this chapter to considerations relative to himself;
fears that by the frequent introduction of himself to the notice of the reader he
may incur the charge of ostentation.—Observations on such a charge.

Having brought my history of the abolition of the Slave Trade
up to the month of May 1787, I purpose taking the liberty,
before I proceed with it, to devote this chapter to considerations
relative to myself. This, indeed, seems to be now necessary; for
I have been fearful for some pages past, and, indeed, from the
time when I began to introduce myself to the notice of the reader,
as one of the forerunners and coadjutors in this great cause, that
I might appear to have put myself into a situation too prominent,
so as even to have incurred the charge of ostentation. But if
there should be some who, in consequence of what they have
already read of this history, should think thus unfavourably of
me, what must their opinion ultimately be, when, unfortunately,
I must become still more prominent in it! Nor do I know in
what manner I shall escape their censure: for if, to avoid egotism,
I should write, as many have done, in the third person, what
would this profit me? The delicate situation, therefore, in which
I feel myself to be placed, makes me desirous of saying a few
words to the reader on this subject.

And first, I may observe, that several of my friends urged me
from time to time, and this long before the abolition of the Slave
Trade had been effected, to give a history of the rise and progress
of the attempt, as far as it had been then made; but I uniformly
resisted their application.

When the question was decided last year, they renewed
their request. They represented to me, that no person knew the
beginning and progress of this great work so well as myself; that it
was a pity that such knowledge should die with me; that such a
history would be useful; that it would promote good feelings
among men; that it would urge them to benevolent exertions;
that it would supply them with hope in the midst of these; that
it would teach them many valuable lessons;—these and other
things were said to me. But, encouraging as they were, I never

lost sight of the objection; which is the subject of this chapter;
nor did I ever fail to declare, that though, considering the part I
had taken in this great cause, I might be qualified better than
some others, yet it was a task too delicate for me to perform. I
always foresaw that I could not avoid making myself too prominent
an object in such a history, and that I should be liable, on
that account, to the suspicion of writing it for the purpose of
sounding my own praise.

With this objection my friends were not satisfied. They
answered, that I might treat the History of the Abolition of the
Slave Trade as a species of biography, or as the history of a part of
my own life: that people, who had much less weighty matters to
communicate, wrote their own histories; and that no one charged
them with vanity for so doing.

I own I was not convinced by this answer. I determined,
however, in compliance with their wishes, to examine the objection
more minutely, and to see if I could overcome it more satisfactorily
to my own mind. With this view, I endeavoured to
anticipate the course which such a history would take. I saw
clearly, in the first place, that there were times, for months together,
when the committee for the abolition of the Slave Trade
was labouring without me, and when I myself for an equal space
of time was labouring in distant parts of the kingdom without
them. Hence I perceived that, if my own exertions were left
out, there would be repeated chasms in this history; and, indeed,
that it could not be completed without the frequent mention of
myself. And I was willing to hope that this would be so obvious
to the good sense of the reader, that if he should think me vain-glorious
in the early part of it, he would afterwards, when he
advanced in the perusal of it, acquit me of such a charge. This
consideration was the first which removed my objection on this
head. That there can be no ground for any charge of ostentation,
as far as the origin of this history is concerned, so I hope to
convince him there, can be none, by showing him in what light I
have always viewed myself in connexion with the committee, to
which I have had the honour to belong.

I have uniformly considered our committee for the abolition
of the Slave Trade; as we usually consider the human body,

that is, as made up of a head and of various members
which had different offices to perform. Thus, if one man was
an eye, another was an ear, another an arm, and another a
foot. And here I may say, with great truth, that I believe no
committee was ever made up of persons, whose varied talents
were better adapted to the work before them. Viewing then the
committee in this light, and myself as in connexion with it, I
may deduce those truths, with which the analogy will furnish me.
And first, it will follow, that if every member has performed his
office faithfully, though one may have done something more than
another, yet no one of them in particular has any reason to boast.
With what propriety could the foot, though in the execution of
its duty it had become weary, say to the finger, “Thou hast done
less than I;” when the finger could reply with truth, “I have
done all that has been given me to do?”. It will follow, also, that
as every limb is essentially necessary for the completion of a perfect
work; so in the case before us, every one was as necessary
in his own office, or department, as another. For what, for example,
could I myself have done if I had not derived so much
assistance from the committee? What could Mr. Wilberforce
have done in Parliament, if I, on the other hand, had not collected
that great body of evidence, to which there was such a
constant appeal? And what could the committee have done
without the parliamentary aid of Mr. Wilberforce? And in
mentioning this necessity of distinct offices and talents for the
accomplishment of the great work, in which we have been all of
us engaged, I feel myself bound by the feelings of justice to deliver
it as my opinion in this place, (for, perhaps, I may have no
other opportunity,)
that knowing, as I have done, so many members of
both houses of our legislature, for many of whom I have had a
sincere respect, there was never yet one, who appeared to me to
be so properly qualified, in all respects, for the management of
the great cause of the abolition of the Slave Trade, as he, whose
name I have just mentioned. His connexions, but more particularly
his acquaintance with the first minister of state, were of
more service in the promotion of it, than they, who are but little
acquainted with political movements, can well appreciate. His
habits also of diligent and persevering inquiry made him master

of all the knowledge that was requisite for conducting it. His
talents both in and out of parliament made him a powerful advocate
in its favour. His character, free from the usual spots of
human imperfection, gave an appropriate lustre to the cause,
making it look yet more lovely, and enticing others to its support.
But most of all the motive, on which he undertook it, insured its
progress. For this did not originate in views of selfishness, or of
party or of popular applause, but in an awful sense of his duty as
a Christian. It was this which gave him alacrity and courage
in his pursuit. It was this which made him continue in his elevated
situation of a legislator, though it was unfavourable, if not
to his health, at least to his ease and comfort. It was this which
made him incorporate this great object among the pursuits of his
life, so that it was daily in his thoughts. It was this which
when year after year of unsuccessful exertion returned, occasioned
him to be yet fresh and vigorous in spirit, and to persevere till
the day of triumph.

But to return:—There is yet another consideration, which I
shall offer to the reader on this subject, and with which I shall
conclude it. It is this; that no one ought to be accused of vanity
until he has been found to assume to himself some extraordinary
merit. This being admitted, I shall now freely disclose the views
which I have always been desirous of taking of my own conduct
on this occasion, in the following words:—

As Robert Barclay, the apologist for the Quakers, when
he dedicated his work to Charles the Second, intimated to this
prince, that any merit which the work might have, would not be
derived from his patronage of it, but from the Author of all
spiritual good; so I say to the reader, with respect to myself, that
I disclaim all praise on account of any part I may have taken
in the promotion of this great cause, for that I am desirious
above all things to attribute my best endeavours in it to the influence
of a superior Power; of Him, I mean, who gave me a
heart to feel—who gave me courage to begin—and perseverance
to proceed—and that I am thankful to Him, and this with the
deepest feeling of gratitude and humility, for having permitted
me to become useful, in any degree, to my fellow-creatures.

CHAPTER XIII

Author returns to his History.—Committee formed as before-mentioned; its
proceedings.—Author produces a summary view of the Slave Trade, and
of the probable consequences of its abolition.—Wrongs of Africa, by Mr.
Roscoe, generously presented to the committee.—Important discussion as
to the object of the committee.—Emancipation declared to be no part of
it.—Committee decides on its public title.—Author requested to go to
Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster, to collect further information on the
subject of the trade.

I return now, after this long digression, to the continuation of
my history.

It was shown in the latter part of the tenth chapter, that
twelve individuals, all of whom were then named, met together
by means which no one could have foreseen, on the 22d of May,
1787; and that, after having voted the Slave Trade to be both
unjust and impolitic, they formed themselves into a committee
for procuring such information and evidence, and for publishing
the same, as might tend to the abolition of it, and for directing
the application of such money as had been already, and might
hereafter be collected for that purpose. At this meeting it was
resolved also, that no less than three members should form a
quorum; that Samuel Hoare should be the treasurer; that the
treasurer should pay no money but by order of the committee;
and that copies of these resolutions should be printed and circulated,
in which it should be inserted that the subscriptions of all
such as were willing to forward the plans of the committee should
be received by the treasurer or any member of it.

On the 24th of May the committee met again to promote the
object of its institution.

The treasurer reported at this meeting, that the subscriptions
already received amounted to one hundred and thirty-six pounds.

As I had foreseen long before this time that my Essay on the
Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species was too large for
general circulation, and yet that a general circulation of knowledge

on this subject was absolutely necessary, I determined
directly after the formation of the committee to write a short
pamphlet consisting only of eight or ten pages for this purpose.
I called it A Summary View of the Slave Trade, and of the probable
consequences of its Abolition. It began by exhibiting to the
reader the various unjustifiable ways in which persons living on
the coast of Africa became slaves. It then explained the treatment
which these experienced on their passage, the number dying
in the course of it, and the treatment of the survivors in the
colonies of those nations to which they were carried. It then
announced the speedy publication of a work on the impolicy of
the trade, the contents of which, as far as I could then see, I gave
generally under the following heads:—Part the first, it was said,
would show that Africa was capable of offering to us a trade in
its own natural productions as well as in the persons of men;
that the trade in the persons of men was profitable but to a few;
that its value was diminished from many commercial considerations;
that it was also highly destructive to our seamen; and
that the branch of it, by which we supplied the island of St.
Domingo with slaves, was peculiarly impolitic on that account.
Part the second, it was said, would show that if the slaves were
kindly treated in our colonies, they would increase; that the
abolition of the trade would necessarily secure such a treatment
to them, and that it would produce many other advantages which
would be then detailed.

This little piece I presented to the committee at this their
second meeting. It was then duly read and examined; and the
result was, that after some little correction it was approved, and
that two thousand copies of it were ordered to be printed, with
lists of the subscribers and of the committee, and to be sent to
various parts of the kingdom.

On June the 7th, the committee met again for the despatch
of business, when, among other things, they voted their thanks
to Dr. Baker, of Lower Grosvenor-street, who had been one of
my first assistants, for his services to the cause.

At this committee John Barton, one of the members of it,
stated that he was commissioned by the author of a poem,

entitled The Wrongs of Africa, to offer the profits which might
arise from the sale of that work, to the committee, for the purpose
of enabling them to pursue the object of their institution. This
circumstance was not only agreeable, inasmuch as it showed us
that there were others who felt with us for the injured Africans,
and who were willing to aid us in our designs, but it was
rendered still more so when we were given to understand that
the poem was written by Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, and the preface
to it by the late Dr. Currie, who then lived in the same
place. To find friends to our cause rising up from a quarter
where we expected scarcely anything but opposition, was very
consolatory and encouraging. As this poem was well written,
but cannot now be had, I shall give the introductory part of it,
which is particularly beautiful, to the perusal of the reader. It
begins thus:—

In this manner was the subject of this beautiful poem introduced
to the notice of the public. But I have no room for any
further extracts, nor time to make any further comment upon it.
I can only add, that the committee were duly sensible as well of
its merits, as of the virtuous and generous disposition of the
author, and that they requested John Barton to thank him in an
appropriate manner for his offer, which he was to say they
accepted gratefully.

At this sitting, at which ten members were present out of the
twelve, a discussion unexpectedly arose on a most important subject.
The committee, finding that their meetings began to be
approved by many, and that the cause under their care was likely
to spread, and foreseeing, also, the necessity there would soon be
of making themselves known as a public body throughout the
kingdom, thought it right that they should assume some title,
which should be a permanent one, and which should be expressive
of their future views. This gave occasion to them to reconsider
the object for which they had associated, and to fix and
define it in such a manner that there should be no misunderstanding
about it in the public mind. In looking into the subject,
it appeared to them that there were two evils quite distinct
from each other, which it might become their duty to endeavour

to remove. The first was the evil of the Slave Trade, in consequence
of which many thousand persons were every year fraudulently
and forcibly taken from their country, their relations and
friends, and from all that they esteemed valuable in life. The
second was the evil of slavery itself, in consequence of which the
same persons were forced into a situation where they were
deprived of the rights of men, where they were obliged to linger
out their days subject to excessive labour and cruel punishments,
and where their children were to inherit the same hard lot. Now
the question was, which of the two evils the committee should
select as that to which they should direct their attention with a
view of the removal of it; or whether, with the same view, it
should direct its attention to both of them.

It appeared soon to be the sense of the committee, that to
aim at the removal of both, would be to aim at too much, and
that by doing this we might lose all.

The question then was, which of the two they were to take
as their object? Now, in considering this question, it appeared
that it did not matter where they began, or which of them they
took, as far as the end to be produced was the thing desired. For
first, if the Slave Trade should be really abolished, the bad usage
of the slaves in the colonies, that is, the hard part of their slavery,
if not the slavery itself, would fall. For the planters and others
being unable to procure more slaves from the coast of Africa, it
would follow directly, whenever this great event should take
place, that they must treat those better whom they might then
have. They must render marriage honourable among them.
They must establish the union of one man with one wife. They
must give the pregnant women more indulgences. They must
pay more attention to the rearing of their offspring. They must
work and punish the adults with less rigour. Now it was to be
apprehended that they could not do these things, without seeing
the political advantages which would arise to themselves from so
doing; and that, reasoning upon this, they might be induced to
go on to give them greater indulgences, rights, and privileges, in
time. But how would every such successive improvement of
their condition operate, but to bring them nearer to the state of

freemen? In the same manner it was contended, that the better
treatment of the slaves in the colonies, or that the emancipation
of them there, when fit for it, would of itself lay the foundation
for the abolition of the Slave Trade. For if the slaves were
kindly treated, that is, if marriage were encouraged among them;
if the infants who should be born were brought up with care; if
the sick were properly attended to; if the young and the adult
were well fed and properly clothed, and not over-worked, and not
worn down by the weight of severe punishments, they would
necessarily increase, and this on an extensive scale. But if the
planters were thus to get their labourers from the births on their
own estates, then the Slave Trade would in time be no longer
necessary to them, and it would die away as an useless and a
noxious plant. Thus it was of no consequence, which of the two
evils the committee were to select as the object for their labours;
for, as far as the end in view only was concerned, that the same
end would be produced in either case.

But in looking further into this question, it seemed to make
a material difference which of the two they selected, as far as
they had in view the due execution of any laws, which might
be made respecting them, and their own prospect of success in
the undertaking. For, by aiming at the abolition of the Slave
Trade, they were laying the axe at the very root. By doing this,
and this only, they would not incur the objection, that they were
meddling with the property of the planters, and letting loose an
irritated race of beings, who, in consequence of all the vices
and infirmities which a state of slavery entails upon those who
undergo it, were unfit for their freedom. By asking the government
of the country to do this, and this only, they were asking
for that which it had an indisputable right to do; namely, to
regulate or abolish any of its branches of commerce: whereas it
was doubtful, whether it could interfere with the management of
the internal affairs of the colonies, or whether this was not wholly
the province of the legislatures established there. By asking the
government, again, to do this, and this only, they were asking
what it could really enforce. It could station its ships of war,
and command its custom-houses, so as to carry any act of this

kind into effect. But it could not insure that an act to be
observed in the heart of the islands should be
enforced^A.
To this it was added, that if the committee were to fix upon the
annihilation of slavery as the object for their labours, the Slave
Trade would not fall so speedily as it would by a positive law for
the abolition; because, though the increase from the births might
soon supply all the estates now in cultivation with labourers,
yet new plantations might be opened from time to time in different
islands, so that no period could be fixed upon, when it could be
said that it would cease.

A: The late correspondence of the governors of our
colonies with Lord Camden in his official situation, but particularly
the statements made by Lord Seaforth and General Prevost, have shown
the wisdom of this remark, and that no dependence was to be had for the
better usage of the slaves but upon the total abolition of the trade.

Impressed by these arguments, the committee were clearly of
opinion, that they should define their object to be the abolition of
the Slave Trade, and not of the slavery which sprung from it.
Hence from this time, and in allusion to the month when this
discussion took place, they styled themselves in their different
advertisements, and reports, though they were first associated in
the month of May, The Committee instituted in June, 1787, for
effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Thus, at the very
outset, they took a ground which was for ever tenable. Thus
they were enabled also to answer the objection, which was afterwards
so constantly and so industriously circulated against them,
that they were going to emancipate the slaves. And I have no
doubt that this wise decision contributed greatly to their success;
for I am persuaded that, if they had adopted the other object,
they could not for years to come, if ever, have succeeded in their
attempt.

Before the committee broke up, I represented to them the
necessity there was of obtaining further knowledge on all those
individual points which might be said to belong to the great
subject of the abolition of the Slave Trade. In the first place,
this knowledge was necessary for me, if I were to complete my
work on The Impolicy of this Trade, which work, the Summary
View, just printed, had announced to the world. It would be

necessary, also, in case the Slave Trade should become a subject
of parliamentary inquiry; for this inquiry could not proceed
without evidence. And if any time was peculiarly fit for the
procuring of such information or evidence, it was the present.
At this time the passions of men had not been heated by any
public agitation of the question, nor had interest felt itself biassed
to conceal the truth. But as soon as ever it should be publicly
understood, that a parliamentary inquiry was certain, (which we
ourselves believed would be the case, but which interested men
did not then know,) we should find many of the avenues to
information closed against us. I proposed, therefore, that some
one of the committee should undertake a journey to Bristol,
Liverpool, and Lancaster, where he should reside for a time to
collect further light upon this subject; and that if others should
feel their occupations or engagements to be such as would make
such a journey unsuitable, I would undertake it myself. I
begged, therefore, the favour of the different members of the
committee, to turn the matter over in their minds by the next
meeting, that we might then talk over and decide upon the
propriety of the measure.

The committee held its fourth meeting on the 12th of June.
Among the subjects which were then brought forward, was that
of the journey before mentioned. The propriety, and indeed,
even the necessity, of it was so apparent, that I was requested
by all present to undertake it, and a minute for that purpose was
entered upon our records. Of this journey, as gradually unfolding
light on the subject, and as peculiarly connected with the promotion
of our object, I shall now give an account; after which I
shall return to the proceedings of the committee.

CHAPTER XIV.

Author arrives at Bristol; introduction to Quaker families there.—Objects of
his inquiry.—Ill usage of seamen on board the ship Brothers.—Obtains a
knowledge of several articles of African produce.—Dr. Caniplin; Dean
Tucker; Mr. Henry Sulgar.—Procures an authenticated account of the
treacherous massacre at Calabar.—Ill usage of the seamen of the ship
Alfred.—Painful feelings of the author on this occasion.

Having made preparations for my journey, I took my leave of
the different individuals of the committee. I called upon Mr.
Wilberforce, also, with the same design. He was then very ill,
and in bed; Sir Richard Hill and others were sitting by his bedside.
After conversing as much as he well could in his weak
state, he held out his hand to me and wished me success. When
I left him I felt much dejected; it appeared to me as if it would
be in this case, as it is often in that of other earthly things, that
we scarcely possess what we repute a treasure when it is taken
from us.

I determined to take this journey on horseback, not only on
account of the relaxed state in which I found myself, after such
close and constant application, but because I wished to have all
my time to myself upon the road, in order the better to reflect
upon the proper means of promoting this great cause. The first
place I resolved to visit was Bristol; accordingly I directed my
course thither. On turning a corner, within about a mile of that
city, at about eight in the evening, I came within sight of it.
The weather was rather hazy, which occasioned it to look of
unusual dimensions. The bells of some of the churches were
then ringing; the sound of them did not strike me till I had
turned the corner before mentioned, when it came upon me at
once; it filled me, almost directly, with a melancholy for which I
could not account. I began now to tremble, for the first time, at
the arduous task I had undertaken, of attempting to subvert one
of the branches of the commerce of the great place which was
then before me. I began to think of the host of people I should

have to encounter in it; I anticipated much persecution in it
also; and I questioned whether I should even get out of it alive.
But in journeying on I became more calm and composed; my
spirits began to return. In these latter moments I considered
my first feelings as useful, inasmuch as they impressed upon me
the necessity of extraordinary courage, and activity, and perseverance,
and of watchfulness, also, over my own conduct, that I
might not throw any stain upon the cause I had undertaken.
When, therefore, I entered the city, I entered it with an undaunted
spirit, determining that no labour should make me
shrink, nor danger, nor even persecution, deter me from my
pursuit.

My first introduction was by means of a letter to Harry
Gandy, who had then become one of the religious society of the
Quakers. This introduction to him was particularly useful to
me; for he had been a seafaring man. In his early youth he had
been of a roving disposition; and, in order to see the world, had
been two voyages in the Slave Trade, so that he had known the
nature and practices of it. This enabled him to give me much
useful information on the subject; and as he had frequently felt,
as he grew up, deep affliction of mind for having been concerned
in it, he was impelled to forward my views as much as possible,
under an idea that he should be thus making some reparation
for the indiscreet and profane occupations of his youth.

I was also introduced to the families of James Harford, John
Lury, Matthew Wright, Philip, Debell Tucket, Thomas Bonville,
and John Waring; all of whom were of the same religious
society. I gained an introduction, also, soon afterwards, to George
Fisher. These were my first and only acquaintance at Bristol
for some time; I derived assistance in the promotion of my object
from all of them; and it is a matter of pleasing reflection, that the
friendships then formed have been kept alive to the present time.

The objects I had marked down as those to be attended to,
were—to ascertain what were the natural productions of Africa,
and, if possible, to obtain specimens of them, with the view of
forming a cabinet or collection—to procure as much information
as I could relative to the manner of obtaining slaves on continent

of Africa, of transporting them to the West Indies, and of
treating them there—to prevail upon persons, having a knowledge
of any or all of these circumstances, to come forward to be examined
as evidences before parliament, if such an examination
should take place—to make myself still better acquainted with
the loss of seamen in the Slave Trade—also with the loss of
those who were employed in the other trades from the same port—to
know the nature, and quantity, and value of the imports and
exports of goods in the former case:—there were some other
objects which I classed under the head of miscellaneous.

In my first movements about this city, I found that people
talked very openly on the subject of the Slave Trade. They
seemed to be well acquainted with the various circumstances
belonging to it. There were facts, in short, in every body’s
mouth concerning it; and every body seemed to execrate it,
though no one thought of its abolition. In this state of things I
perceived that my course was obvious; for I had little else to do,
in pursuing two or three of my objects, than to trace the foundation
of those reports which were in circulation.

On the third of July I heard that the ship
Brothers^A, then lying in King’s Road for Africa, could not get her
seamen, and that a party which had been put on board, becoming terrified by
the prospect of their situation, had left her on Sunday morning.
On inquiring further, I found that those who had navigated her
on her last voyage, thirty-two of whom had died, had been so
dreadfully used by the captain, that he could not get hands in
the present. It was added, that the treatment of seamen was a
crying evil in this trade, and that consequently few would enter
into it, so that there was at all times a great difficulty in procuring
them, though they were ready enough to enter into
other trades.

A: I abstain from mentioning the names
of the captain of this or of other vessels, lest the recording of them
should give pain to relatives who can have had no share in their
guilt.

The relation of these circumstances made me acquainted with
two things, of which I had not before heard; namely, the aversion
of seamen to engage, and the bad usage of them when engaged in

this cruel trade; into both which I determined immediately to
inquire.

I conceived that it became me to be very cautious about giving
ear too readily to reports; and therefore, as I could easily learn
the truth of one of the assertions which had been made to me, I
thought it prudent to ascertain this, and to judge, by the discovery
I should make concerning it, what degree of credit might
be due to the rest. Accordingly, by means of my late friend,
Truman Harford, the eldest son of the respectable family of that
name, to which I have already mentioned myself to have been
introduced, I gained access to the muster-roll of the ship Brothers.
On looking over the names of her last crew, I found the melancholy
truth confirmed, that thirty-two of them had been placed
among the dead.

Having ascertained this circumstance, I became eager to
inquire into the truth of the others, but more particularly of the
treatment of one of the seamen, which, as it was reported to me,
exceeded all belief. His name was John Dean; he was a black
man, but free. The report was, that for a trifling circumstance,
for which he was in no-wise to blame, the captain had fastened
him with his belly to the deck, and that, in this situation, he had
poured hot pitch upon his back, and made incisions in it with
hot tongs.

Before however I attempted to learn the truth of this barbarous
proceeding, I thought I would look into the ship’s muster-roll,
to see if I could find the name of such a man. On examination
I found it to be the last on the list. John Dean, it appeared,
had been one of the original crew, having gone on board, from
Bristol, on the twenty-second day of July, 1785.

On inquiring where Dean was to be found, my informant told
me that he had lately left Bristol for London. I was shown,
however, to the house where he had lodged. The name of his
landlord was Donovan. On talking with him on the subject, he
assured me that the report I had heard was true; for that while
he resided with him he had heard an account of his usage from
some of his ship-mates, and that he had often looked at his
scarred and mutilated back.

On inquiring of Donovan if any other person in Bristol could
corroborate this account, he referred me to a reputable tradesman
living, in the Market-place. Having been introduced to him, he
told me that he had long known John Dean to be a sober and
industrious man; that he had seen the terrible indentures on his
back; and that they were said to have been made by the captain,
in the manner related, during his last voyage.

While I was investigating this matter further, I was introduced
to Mr. Sydenham Teast, a respectable ship-builder in
Bristol, and the owner of vessels trading to Africa in the natural
productions of that country. I mentioned to him by accident
what I had heard relative to the treatment of John Dean. He
said it was true. An attorney^A in London had then taken up
his cause, in consequence of which the captain had been prevented
from sailing till he could find persons who would be
answerable for the damages which might be awarded against him
in a court of law. Mr. Teast further said, that, not knowing at
that time the cruelty of the transaction to its full extent, he himself
had been one of the securities for the captain at the request
of the purser^B of the ship. Finding, however, afterwards,
that it was as the public had stated, he was sorry that he had ever
interfered, in such a barbarous case.

A: I afterwards found out
this attorney. He described the transaction to me, as, by report, it had
taken place, and informed me that he had made the captain of the Brothers
pay for his barbarity.

B: The purser of a ship, at Bristol,
is the person who manages the outfit, as well as the trade, and who is
often in part owner of her.

This transaction, which I now believed to be true, had the
effect of preparing me for crediting whatever I might hear concerning
the barbarities said to be practised in this trade. It
kindled also a fire of indignation within me, and produced in me
both anxiety and spirit, to proceed. But that which excited these
feelings the most, was the consideration that the purser of this
ship, knowing, as he did, of this act of cruelty, should have sent
out this monster again. This, I own, made me think that there
was a system of bad usage to be deliberately practised upon the

seamen in this employment, for some purpose or other which I
could then neither comprehend nor ascertain.

But while I was in pursuit of this one object, I was not
unmindful of the others which I had marked out for myself. I
had already procured an interview, as I have mentioned, with
Mr. Sydenham Teast. I had done this with a view of learning
from him what were the different productions of the continent of
Africa, as far as he had been able to ascertain from the imports
by his own vessels. He was very open and communicative.
He had imported ivory, red-wood, cam-wood, and gum-copal.
He purposed to import palm-oil. He observed that bees’-wax
might be collected, also, upon the coast. Of his gum-copal he
gave me a specimen. He furnished me, also, with two different
specimens of unknown woods, which had the appearance of being
useful. One of his captains, he informed me, had been told by
the natives, that cotton, pink in the pod, grew in their country.
He was of opinion, that many valuable productions might be
found upon this continent.

Mr. Biggs, to whom I gained an introduction also, was in a
similar trade with Mr. Teast; that is, he had one or two vessels
which skimmed, as it were, the coast and rivers for what they
could get of the produce of Africa, without having any concern
in the trade for slaves. Mr. Biggs gave me a specimen of gum
Senegal, of yellow-wood, and of Malaguetta and Cayenne pepper.
He gave me, also, small pieces of cloth made and dyed by the
natives, the colours of which they could only have obtained from
materials in their own country. Mr. Biggs seemed to be assured
that, if proper persons were sent to Africa on discovery, they
would fine a rich mine of wealth in the natural productions of it,
and in none more advantageous to this as a manufacturing nation,
than in the many beautiful dyes which it might furnish.

From Thomas Bonville I collected two specimens of cloth
made by the natives; and from others a beautiful piece of tulipwood,
a small piece of wood similar to mahogany, and a sample
of fine rice, all of which had been brought from the same continent.

Among the persons whom I found out at Bristol, and from

whom I derived assistance, were Dr. Camplin and the celebrated
Dean Tucker. The former was my warm defender; for the
West Indian and African merchants, as soon as they discovered
my errand, began to calumniate me. The dean, though in a
very advanced age, felt himself much interested in my pursuit.
He had long moved in the political world himself, and was
desirous of hearing of what was going forward that was new in it,
but particularly about so desirable a measure as that of the abolition
of the Slave Trade^A. He introduced me to the
Custom House at Bristol. He used to call upon me at the Merchants’
Hall, while I was transcribing the muster-rolls of the seamen
there. In short, he seemed to be interested in all my movements.
He became, also, a warm supporter both of me and of my cause.

A: Dean Tucker, in his
Reflections on the Disputes between Great Britain and Ireland,
published in 1785, had passed a severe censure on the British planters
for the inhuman treatment of their slaves.

Among others who were useful to me in my pursuit, was
Mr. Henry Sulgar, an amiable minister of the gospel, belonging
to the religious society of the Moravians in the same city. From
him I first procured authentic documents relative to the treacherous
massacre at Calabar. This cruel transaction had been frequently
mentioned to me; but as it had taken place twenty
years before, I could not find one person who had been engaged
in it, nor could I come, in a satisfactory manner, at the various
particulars belonging to it. My friend, however, put me in possession
of copies of the real depositions which had been taken in
the case of the king against Lippincott and others relative to this
event; namely, of Captain Floyd, of the city of Bristol, who had
been a witness to the scene, and of Ephraim Robin John, and of
Ancona Robin Robin John, two African chiefs, who had been
sufferers by it. These depositions had been taken before Jacob
Kirby and Thomas Symons, esquires, commissioners at Bristol
for taking affidavits in the Court of King’s Bench. The tragedy,
of which they gave a circumstantial account, I shall present to
the reader in as concise a manner as I can.

In the year, 1767, the ships Indian Queen, Duke of York,

Nancy, and Concord, of Bristol; the Edgar, of Liverpool; and
the Canterbury, of London; lay in Old Calabar river.

It happened, at this time, that a quarrel subsisted between
the principal inhabitants of Old Town and those of New Town,
Old Calabar, which had originated in a jealousy respecting slaves.
The captains of the vessels now mentioned, joined in sending
several letters to the inhabitants of Old Town, but particularly
to Ephraim Robin John, who was at that time a grandee, or
principal inhabitant of the place. The tenor of these letters was,
that they were sorry that any jealousy or quarrel should subsist
between the two parties; that if the inhabitants of Old Town
would come on board, they would afford them security and protection;
adding, at the same time, that their intention in inviting
them was, that they might become mediators, and thus heal
their disputes.

The inhabitants of Old Town, happy to find that their differences
were likely to be accommodated, joyfully accepted the
invitation. The three brothers of the grandee just mentioned,
the eldest of whom was Amboe Robin John, first entered their
canoe, attended by twenty-seven others, and, being followed by
nine canoes, directed their course to the Indian Queen. They
were despatched from thence the next morning to the Edgar, and
afterwards to the Duke of York, on board of which they went,
leaving their canoe and attendants by the side of the same vessel.
In the mean time, the people on board the other canoes were
either distributed on board, or lying close to, the other ships.

This being the situation of the three brothers, and of the
principal inhabitants of the place, the treachery now began to
appear. The crew of the Duke of York, aided by the captain
and mates, and armed with pistols and cutlasses, rushed into the
cabin, with an intent to seize the persons of their three innocent
and unsuspicious guests. The unhappy men, alarmed at this
violation of the rights of hospitality, and struck with astonishment
at the behaviour of their supposed friends, attempted to
escape through the cabin windows; but, being wounded, were
obliged to desist, and to submit to be put in irons.

In the same moment in which this atrocious attempt had

been made, an order had been given to fire upon the canoe,
which was then lying by the side of the Duke of York. The
canoe soon filled and sunk, and the wretched attendants were
either seized, killed, or drowned. Most of the other ships followed
the example. Great numbers were additionally killed and
drowned on the occasion, and others were swimming to the shore.

At this juncture, the inhabitants of New Town, who had concealed
themselves in the bushes by the water-side, and between
whom and the commanders of the vessels the plan had been previously
concerted, came out from their hiding-places, and,
embarking in their canoes, made for such as were swimming
from the fire of the ships. The ships’ boats, also, were manned,
and joined in the pursuit. They butchered the greatest part of
those whom they caught. Many dead bodies were soon seen
upon the sands, and others were floating upon the water; and
including those who were seized and carried off, and those who
were drowned and killed, either by the firing of the ships or by
the people of New Town, three hundred were lost to the inhabitants
of Old Town on that day.

The carnage which I have been now describing was scarcely
over, when a canoe, full of the principal people of New Town,
who had been the promoters of the scheme, dropped along-side of
the Duke of York. They demanded the person of Amboe Robin
John, the brother of the grandee of Old Town, and the eldest of
the three on board. The unfortunate man put the palms of his
hands together, and beseeched the commander of the vessel that
he would not violate the rights of hospitality, by giving up an
unoffending stranger to his enemies. But no entreaties could
avail. The commander received from the New Town people a
slave of the name of Econg in his stead, and then forced him
into the canoe, where his head was immediately struck off in the
sight of the crew, and of his afflicted and disconsolate brothers.
As for them, they escaped his fate; but they were carried off
with their attendants to the West Indies, and sold for slaves.

The knowledge of this tragical event now fully confirmed me
in the sentiment, that the hearts of those who were concerned
in this traffic became unusually hardened, and that I might

readily believe any atrocities, however great, which might be
related of them. It made also my blood boil, as it were, within
me: it gave anew spring to my exertions; and I rejoiced, sorrowful
as I otherwise was, that I had visited Bristol, if it had
been only to gain an accurate statement of this one fact.

In pursuing my objects, I found that reports were current,
that the crew of the Alfred slave-vessel, which had just returned,
had been barbarously used, but particularly a young man of the
name of Thomas, who had served as the surgeon’s mate on board
her. The report was, that he had been repeatedly knocked down
by the captain; that he had become in consequence of his ill
usage so weary of his life, that he had three times jumped over
board to destroy it; that on being taken up the last time he had
been chained to the deck of the ship, in which situation he had
remained night and day for some time; that in consequence of
this his health had been greatly impaired; and that it was supposed
he could not long survive this treatment.

It was with great difficulty, notwithstanding all my inquiries,
that I could trace this person. I discovered him, however, at
last. He was confined to his bed when I saw him, and appeared
to me to be delirious. I could collect nothing from himself
relative to the particulars of his treatment. In his intervals of
sense, he exclaimed against the cruelty both of the captain and of
the chief mate, and pointing to his legs, thighs, and body, which
were all wrapped up in flannel, he endeavoured to convince me
how much he had suffered there. At one time he said he forgave
them. At another, he asked if I came to befriend him. At
another, he looked wildly, and asked if I meant to take the
captain’s part, and to kill him.

I was greatly affected by the situation of this poor man,
whose image haunted me both night and day, and I was meditating
how most effectually to assist him, when I heard that he
was dead.

I was very desirous of tracing something further on this
subject, when Walter Chandler, of the society of the Quakers,
who had been daily looking out for intelligence for me, brought a
young man to me of the name of Dixon. He had been one of

the crew of the same ship. He told me the particulars of the
treatment of Thomas, with very little variation from those contained
in the public report. After cross-examining him in the
best manner I was able, I could find no inconsistency in his
account.

I asked Dixon how the captain came to treat the surgeon’s
mate in particular so ill. He said he had treated them all much
alike. A person of the name of Bulpin, he believed, was the
only one who had escaped bad usage in the ship. With respect
to himself, he had been cruelly used so early as in the outward
bound passage, which had occasioned him to jump overboard.
When taken up, he was put into irons, and kept in these for a
considerable time. He was afterwards ill used at different times,
and even so late as within three or four days of his return to
port. For just before the Alfred made the island of Lundy, he
was struck by the captain, who cut his under lip into two. He
said that it had bled so much, that the captain expressed himself
as if much alarmed; and having the expectation of arriving soon
at Bristol, he had promised to make him amends, if he would
hold his peace. This he said he had hitherto done, but he had
received no recompense. In confirmation of his own usage, he
desired me to examine his lip, which I had no occasion to do,
having already perceived it, for the wound was apparently almost
fresh.

I asked Dixon if there was any person in Bristol beside
himself, who could confirm to me this his own treatment, as well
as that of the other unfortunate man who was now dead. He
referred me to a seaman of the name of Matthew Pyke. This
person, when brought to me, not only related readily the particulars
of the usage in both cases, as I have now stated them, but
that which he received himself. He said that his own arm had
been broken by the chief mate in Black River, Jamaica, and
that he had also by the captain’s orders, though contrary to the
practice in merchant-vessels, been severely flogged. His arm
appeared to be then in pain; and I had a proof of the punishment
by an inspection of his back.

I asked Matthew Pyke if the crew in general had been

treated in a cruel manner. He replied they had, except James
Bulpin. I then asked where James Bulpin was to be found.
He told me where he had lodged; but feared he had gone home
to his friends in Somersetshire, I think, somewhere in the neighbourhood
of Bridgewater.

I thought it prudent to institute an inquiry into the characters
of Thomas, Dixon, and Matthew Pyke, before I went further.
The two former I found were strangers in Bristol, and I could
collect nothing about them. The latter was a native of the place,
had served his time as a seaman from the port, and was reputed
of fair character.

My next business was to see James Bulpin. I found him
just setting off for the country. He stopped, however, to converse
with me. He was a young man of very respectable appearance,
and of mild manners. His appearance, indeed, gave me reason
to hope that I might depend upon his statements; but I was
most of all influenced by the consideration that, never having
been ill-used himself, he could have no inducement to go beyond
the bounds of truth on this occasion. He gave me a melancholy
confirmation of all the three cases. He told me, also, that one
Joseph Cunningham had been a severe sufferer, and that there
was reason to fear that Charles Horseler, another of the crew,
had been so severely beaten over the breast with a knotted end
of a rope, (which end was of the size of a large ball, and had
been made on purpose,) that he died of it. To this he added,
that it was now a notorious fact, that the captain of the Alfred,
when mate of a slave-ship, had been tried at Barbados for the
murder of one of the crew with whom he had sailed, but that he
escaped by bribing the principal witness to
disappear^A.

A: Mr. Sampson, who was surgeon’s mate
of the ship in which the captain had thus served as a mate,
confirmed to me afterwards this assertion, having
often heard him boast in the cabin, “how he had tricked the law on that
occasion.”

The reader will see, the further I went into the history of
this voyage, the more dismal it became. One miserable account,
when examined, only brought up another. I saw no end to
inquiry. The great question was, what was I to do? I thought

the best thing would be to get the captain apprehended, and
make him stand his trial either for the murder of Thomas or of
Charles Horseler. I communicated with the late Mr. Burges,
an eminent attorney, and the deputy town-clerk, on this occasion.
He had shown an attachment to me on account of the cause I
had undertaken, and had given me privately assistance in it. I
say privately; because, knowing the sentiments of many of the
corporate body at Bristol, under whom he acted, he was fearful
of coming forward in an open manner. His advice to me was,
to take notes of the case for my own private conviction, but to
take no public cognizance of it. He said that seamen, as soon as
their wages were expended, must be off to sea again. They
could not generally, as landsmen do, maintain themselves on
shore. Hence I should be obliged to keep the whole crew at my
own expense till the day of trial, which might not be for months
to come. He doubted not that, in the interim, the merchants
and others would inveigle many of them away by making them
boatswains and other inferior officers in some of their ships; so
that, when the day of trial should come, I should find my witnesses
dispersed and gone. He observed, moreover, that if any
of the officers of the ship had any notion of going out again
under the same owners^A, I should
have all these against me. To which he added, that if I were to make a point
of taking up the cause of those whom I found complaining of hard usage in this
trade, I must take up that of nearly all who sailed in it; for that
he only knew of one captain from the port in the Slave Trade,
who did not deserve long ago to be hanged. Hence I should get
into a labyrinth of expense, and difficulty, and uneasiness of mind,
from whence I should not easily find a clew to guide me.

A: The seamen of the Alfred
informed the purser of their ill usage,
Matthew Pyke not only showed him his arm and his back, but acquainted him
with the murder of Charles Horseler, stating that he had the instrument of
his death in his possession. The purser seemed more alive to this than to
any other circumstance, and wished to get it from him. Pyke, however, had
given it to me. Now what will the reader think, when he is informed that the
purser, after all this knowledge of the captain’s cruelty, sent him out
again, and that he was the same person who was purser of the Brothers, and
who had also sent out the captain of that ship a second time, as has been
related, notwithstanding his barbarities in former voyages!

This advice, though it was judicious, and founded on a
knowledge of law proceedings, I found it very difficult to adopt.
My own disposition was naturally such, that whatever I engaged
in I followed with more than ordinary warmth. I could not be
supposed, therefore, affected and interested as I then was, to be
cool and tranquil on this occasion. And yet what would my
worthy friend have said, if in this first instance I had opposed
him? I had a very severe struggle in my own feelings on this
account. At length, though reluctantly, I obeyed; but as the
passions which agitate the human mind, when it is greatly
inflamed, must have a vent somewhere, or must work off, as it
were, or in working together must produce some new passion or
effect, so I found the rage which had been kindling within me
subsiding into the most determined resolutions of future increased
activity and perseverance. I began now to think that the day
was not long enough for me to labour in. I regretted often the
approach of night, which suspended my work, and I often welcomed
that of the morning, which restored me to it. When I
felt myself weary, I became refreshed by the thought of what I
was doing; when disconsolate, I was comforted by it. I lived
in hope that every day’s labour would furnish me with that
knowledge which would bring this evil nearer to its end; and I
worked on under these feelings, regarding neither trouble nor
danger in the pursuit.

CHAPTER XV.

Author confers with the inhabitants of Bridgewater relative to a petition to
parliament in behalf of the abolition; returns to Bristol; discovers a
scandalous mode of procuring seamen for the Slave Trade, and of paying
them; makes a comparative view of their loss in this and in other
trades; procures imports and exports.—Examines the construction and
admeasurement of slave ships; of the Fly and Neptune.—Difficulty of
procuring evidence.—Case of Gardiner, of the Pilgrim; of Arnold, of the
Ruby; some particulars of the latter in his former voyages.

Having heard by accident that the inhabitants of the town of
Bridgewater had sent a petition to the House of Commons, in the
year 1785, for the abolition of the Slave Trade, as has been
related in a former part of the work, I determined, while my
feelings were warm, to go there, and to try to find out those who
had been concerned in it, and to confer with them as the tried
friends of the cause. The time seemed to me to be approaching
when the public voice should be raised against this enormous evil.
I was sure that it was only necessary for the inhabitants of this
favoured island to know it to feel a just indignation against it.
Accordingly I set off. My friend George Fisher, who was before
mentioned to have been of the religious Society of the Quakers,
gave me an introduction to the respectable family of Ball, which
was of the same religious persuasion. I called upon Mr. Sealey,
Anstice, Crandon, Chubb, and others. I laid open to those
whom I saw, the discoveries I had made relative to the loss and
ill treatment of seamen; at which they seemed to be much
moved; and it was agreed that if it should be thought a proper
measure, (of which I would inform them when I had consulted
the committee,) a second petition should be sent to Parliament
from the inhabitants, praying for the abolition of the Slave Trade.
With this view I left them several of my Summary View, before
mentioned, to distribute, that the inhabitants might know more
particularly the nature of the evil, against which they were going
to complain. On my return to Bristol, I determined to inquire
into the truth of the reports that seamen had an aversion to enter,

and that they were inveigled, if not often forced, into this hateful
employment. For this purpose I was introduced to a landlord
of the name of Thompson, who kept a public-house called
the Seven Stars. He was a very intelligent man, was accustomed
to receive sailors when discharged at the end of their voyages,
and to board them till their vessels went out again, or to find
them births in others. He avoided, however, all connexion with
the Slave Trade, declaring that the credit of his house would be
ruined if he were known to send those, who put themselves under
his care, into it.

From him I collected the truth of all that had been stated to
me on this subject. But I told him I should not be satisfied
until I had beheld those scenes myself which he had described
to me; and I entreated him to take me into them, saying that I
would reward him for all his time and trouble, and that I would
never forget him while I lived. To this he consented; and as three
or four slave-vessels at this time were preparing for their voyages, it
was time that we should begin our rounds. At about twelve at
night we generally set out, and were employed till two and sometimes
three in the morning. He led me from one of these public-houses
to another which the mates of the slave-vessels used
to frequent to pick up their hands. These houses were in Marsh-street,
and most of them were then kept by Irishmen. The
scenes witnessed in these houses were truly distressing to me;
and yet, if I wished to know practically what I had purposed, I
could not avoid them. Music, dancing, rioting, drunkenness,
and profane swearing, were kept up from night to night. The
young mariner, if a stranger to the port, and unacquainted with
the nature of the Slave Trade, was sure to be picked up. The
novelty of the voyages, the superiority of the wages in this over
any other trades, and the privileges of various kinds, were set
before him. Gulled in this manner, he was frequently enticed
to the boat, which was waiting to carry him away. If these
prospects did not attract him, he was plied with liquor till he
became intoxicated, when a bargain was made over him between
the landlord and the mate. After this his senses were kept in
such a constant state of stupefaction by the liquor, that in time

the former might do with him what he pleased. Seamen, also,
were boarded in these houses, who, when the slave-ships were
going out, but at no other time, were encouraged to spend more
than they had money to pay for; and to these, when they had
thus exceeded, but one alternative was given, namely, a slave-vessel
or a gaol. These distressing scenes I found myself obliged
frequently to witness, for I was no less than nineteen times occupied
in making these hateful rounds; and I can say from my
own experience, and all the information I could collect from
Thompson and others, that no such practices were in use to obtain
seamen for other trades.

The treatment of the seamen employed in the Slave Trade
had so deeply interested me, and now the manner of procuring
them, that I was determined to make myself acquainted with
their whole history; for I found by report that they were not
only personally ill-treated, as I have already painfully described,
but that they were robbed by artifice of those wages, which had
been held up to them as so superior in this service. All persons
were obliged to sign articles that, in case they should die or be
discharged during the voyage, the wages then due to them should
be paid in the currency where the vessel carried her slaves, and
that half of the wages due to them on their arrival there should
be paid in the same manner, and that they were never permitted
to read over the articles they had signed. By means of this
iniquitous practice the wages in the Slave Trade, though nominally
higher in order to induce seamen to engage in it, were
actually lower than in other trades. All these usages I ascertained
in such a manner, that no person could doubt the truth of them.
I actually obtained possession of articles of agreement belonging
to these vessels, which had been signed and executed in former
voyages. I made the merchants themselves, by sending those
seamen who had claims upon them to ask for their accounts current
with their respective ships, furnish me with such documents
as would have been evidence against them in any court of law.
On whatever branch of the system I turned my eyes, I found it
equally barbarous. The trade was, in short, one mass of iniquity
from the beginning to the end.

I employed myself occasionally in the Merchant’s-hall, in
making copies of the muster-rolls of ships sailing to different
parts of the world, that I might make a comparative view of the
loss of seamen in the Slave Trade, with that of those in the other
trades from the same port. The result of this employment
showed me the importance of it: for, when I considered how
partial the inhabitants of this country were to their fellow-citizens,
the seamen belonging to it, and in what estimation the
members of the legislature held them, by enforcing the Navigation
Act, which they considered to be the bulwark of the nation,
and by giving bounties to certain trades, that these might become
so many nurseries for the marine, I thought it of great importance,
to be able to prove, as I was then capable of doing, that
more persons would be found dead in three slave-vessels from
Bristol, in a given time, than in all the other vessels put together,
numerous as they were, belonging to the same port.

I procured also an account of the exports and imports for the
year 1786, by means of which I was enabled to judge of the
comparative value of this and the other trades.

In pursuing another object, which was that of going on board
the slave-ships, and learning their construction and dimensions, I
was greatly struck, and indeed affected, by the appearance of two
little sloops, which were fitting out for Africa, the one of only
twenty-five tons, which was said to be destined to carry seventy
and the other of only eleven, which was said to be destined to
carry thirty slaves. I was told also that which was more affecting,
namely, that these were not to act as tenders on the coast,
by going up and down the rivers, and receiving three or four
slaves at a time, and then carrying them to a large ship, which
was to take them to the West Indies; but that it was actually
intended, that they should transport their own slaves themselves;
that one if not both of them were, on their arrival in the West
Indies, to be sold as pleasure-vessels, and that the seamen belonging
to them were to be permitted to come home by what is
usually called the run.

This account of the destination of these little vessels, though
it was distressing at first, appeared to me afterwards, on cool

reasoning, to be incredible. I thought that my informants
wished to impose upon me, in order that I might make statements
which would carry their own refutation with them, and that thus
I might injure the great cause which I had undertaken. And I
was much inclined to be of this opinion, when I looked again at
the least of the two; for any person, who was tall, standing upon
dry ground by the side of her, might have overlooked every thing
upon her deck. I knew also that she had been built as a pleasure-boat
for the accommodation of only six persons upon the
Severn. I determined, therefore, to suspend my belief till I
could take the admeasurement of each vessel. This I did; but
lest, in the agitation of my mind on this occasion, I should have
made any mistake, I desired my friend George Fisher to apply
to the builder for his admeasurement also. With this he kindly
complied. When he obtained it he brought it me. This account,
which nearly corresponded with my own, was as follows:—In
the vessel of twenty-five tons, the length of the upper part of
the hold, or roof of the room, where the seventy slaves were to be
stowed, was but little better than ten yards, or thirty-one feet.
The greatest breadth of the bottom, or floor, was ten feet four
inches; and the least five. Hence, a grown person must sit down
all the voyage, and contract his limbs within the narrow limits of
three square feet. In the vessel of eleven tons, the length of the
room for the thirty slaves was twenty-two feet. The greatest
breadth of the floor was eight, and the least four. The whole
height from the keel to the beam was but five feet eight inches,
three feet of which were occupied by ballast, cargo, and provisions,
so that two feet eight inches remained only as the height
between the decks. Hence, each slave would have only four
square feet to sit in, and, when in this posture, his head, if he
were a full-grown person, would touch the ceiling, or upper deck.

Having now received this admeasurement from the builder,
which was rather more favourable than my own, I looked upon
the destination of these little vessels as yet more incredible than
before. Still the different persons, whom I occasionally saw on
board them, persisted in it that they were going to Africa for
slaves, and also for the numbers mentioned, which they were

afterwards to carry to the West Indies themselves. I desired,
however, my friends, George Fisher, Truman Harford, Harry
Gandy, Walter Chandler, and others, each to make a separate
inquiry for me on this subject; and they all agreed that, improbable
as the account both of their destination, and of the number
they were to take, might appear, they had found it to be too true.
I had soon afterwards the sorrow to learn from official documents
from the Custom-house, that these little vessels actually
cleared out for Africa, and that now nothing could be related
so barbarous of this traffic, which might not instantly be
believed.

In pursuing my different objects there was one, which, to my
great vexation, I found it extremely difficult to attain. This was
the procuring of any assurance from those who had been personally
acquainted with the horrors of this trade, that they would
appear, if called upon, as evidence against it. My friend Harry
Gandy, to whom I had been first introduced, had been two
voyages, as I before mentioned; and he was willing, though at an
advanced age, to go to London, to state publicly all he knew concerning
them. But with respect to the many others in Bristol,
who had been to the coast of Africa, I had not yet found one
who would come forward for this purpose. There were several
old Slave Captains living there, who had a great knowledge of the
subject. I thought it not unreasonable that I might gain one or
two good evidences out of these, as they had probably long ago
left the concern, and were not now interested in the continuance
of it; but all my endeavours were fruitless. I sent messages to
them by different persons. I met them in all ways. I stated to
them, that if there was nothing objectionable in the trade, seeing
it laboured under such a stigma, they had an opportunity of
coming forward and of wiping away the stain. If, on the other
hand, it was as bad as represented, then they had it in their
power, by detailing the crimes which attached to it, of making
some reparation or atonement, for the part they had taken in it.
But no representations would do. All intercourse was positively
forbidden between us; and whenever they met me in the street,
they shunned me as if I had been a mad dog. I could not for

some time account, for the strange disposition which they thus
manifested towards me; but my friends helped me to unravel it,
for I was assured that one or two of them, though they went no
longer to Africa as captains, were in part owners of vessels
trading there; and, with respect to all of them, it might be
generally said, that they had been guilty of such enormities, that
they would be afraid of coming forward in the way I proposed,
lest any thing should come out by which they might criminate
themselves. I was obliged then to give up all hope of getting
any evidence from this quarter, and I saw but little prospect of
getting it from those, who were then actually deriving their livelihood
from the trade: and yet I was determined to persevere;
for I thought that some might be found in it who were not yet
so hardened as to be incapable of being awakened on this subject.
I thought that others might be found in it who wished to leave it
upon principle, and that these would unbosom themselves to me:
and I thought it not improbable that I might fall in with others,
who had come unexpectedly into a state of independence, and
that these might be induced, as their livelihood would be no
longer affected by giving me information, to speak the truth.

I persevered for weeks together under this hope, but could
find no one of all those, who had been applied to, who would
have any thing to say to me. At length, Walter Chandler had
prevailed upon a young gentleman, of the name of Gardiner, who
was going out as surgeon of the Pilgrim, to meet me. The condition
was, that we were to meet at the house of the former, but
that we were to enter in and go out at different times, that is, we
were not to be seen together.

Gardiner, on being introduced to me, said at once, that he had
often wished to see me on the subject of my errand, but that the
owner of the Pilgrim had pointed me out to him as a person
whom he would wish him to avoid. He then laid open to me
the different methods of obtaining slaves in Africa, as he had
learned from those on board his own vessel in his first, or former,
voyage. He unfolded also the manner of their treatment in the
Middle passage, with the various distressing scenes which had
occurred in it. He stated the barbarous usuage of the seamen as

he had witnessed it, and concluded by saying, that there never
was a subject which demanded so loudly the interference of the
legislature as that of the Slave Trade.

When he had finished his narrative, and answered the different
questions which I had proposed to him concerning it, I asked
him, in as delicate a manner as I could, how it happened, that,
seeing the trade in this horrible light, he had consented to follow
it again? He told me frankly, that he had received a regular
medical education, but that his relations, being poor, had not been
able to set him up in his profession. He had saved a little money
in his last voyage. In that, which he was now to perform, he
hoped to save a little more. With the profits of both voyages
together, he expected he should be able to furnish a shop in the
line of his profession, when he would wipe his hands of this
detestable trade.

I then asked him, whether, upon the whole, he thought he
had judged prudently, or whether the prospect of thus enabling
himself to become independent, would counterbalance the uneasiness
which might arise in future? He replied, that he had not
so much to fear upon this account. The trade, while it continued,
must have surgeons. But it made a great difference both to the
crew and to the slaves, whether these discharged their duty
towards them in a feeling manner, or not. With respect to himself,
he was sure that he should pay every attention to the
wants of each. This thought made his continuance in the trade
for one voyage longer more reconcilable. But he added, as if
not quite satisfied, “Cruel necessity!” and he fetched a deep
sigh.

We took our leave, and departed, the one a few minutes after
the other. The conversation of this young man was very interesting.
I was much impressed both by the nature and the manner
of it. I wished to secure him, if possible, as an evidence for
parliament, and thus save him from his approaching voyage: but
I knew not what to do. At first, I thought it would be easy to
raise a subscription to set him up. But then, I was aware that
this might be considered as bribery, and make his testimony
worth nothing. I then thought that the committee might detain

him as an evidence, and pay him, in a reasonable manner, for his
sustenance, till his testimony should be called for. But I did not
know how long it would be before his examination might take
place. It might be a year or two. I foresaw other difficulties
also and I was obliged to relinquish what otherwise I should
have deemed a prize.

On reviewing the conversation which had passed between us
after my return home, I thought, considering the friendly disposition
of Gardiner towards us, I had not done all I could for the
cause; and, communicating my feelings to Walter Chandler, he
procured me another interview. At this, I asked him, if he
would become an evidence if he lived to return. He replied,
very heartily, that he would. I then asked him, if he would
keep a journal of facts during his voyage, as it would enable
him to speak more correctly, in case he should be called upon
for his testimony. He assured me he would, and that he would
make up a little book for that purpose. I asked him, lastly,
when he meant to sail. He said, as soon as the ship could get
all her hands. It was their intention to sail to-morrow, but that
seven men, whom the mates had brought drunk out of Marsh-street
the evening before, were so terrified when they found they
were going to Africa, that they had seized the boat that morning,
and had put themselves on shore. I took my leave of him,
entreating him to follow his resolutions of kindness both to the
sailors and the slaves, and wished him a speedy and a safe
return.

On going one day by the Exchange, after this interview with
Gardiner, I overheard a young gentleman say to another, “that
it happened on the coast, last year, and that he saw it.” I
wished to know who he was, and to get at him if I could. I
watched him at a distance for more than half an hour, when I
saw him leave his companion. I followed him till he entered a
house. I then considered whether it would be proper, and in
what manner, to address him when he should come out of it.
But I waited three hours, and I never saw him. I then concluded
that he either lodged where I saw him enter, or that he
had gone to dine with some friend. I therefore took notice of

the house, and, showing it afterwards to several of my friends,
desired them to make him out for me. In a day or two I had an
interview with him. His name was James Arnold. He had
been two voyages to the coast of Africa for slaves; one as a surgeon’s
mate in the Alexander, in the year 1785, and the other as
surgeon in the Little Pearl, in the year 1786, from which he had
not then very long returned.

I asked him if he was willing to give me any account of these
voyages, for that I was making an inquiry into the nature of the
Slave Trade. He replied, he knew that I was. He had been
cautioned about falling in with me; he had, however, taken no
pains to avoid me. It was a bad trade, and ought to be exposed.

I went over the same ground as I had gone with Gardiner
relative to the first of these voyages; or that in the Alexander.
It is not necessary to detail the particulars. It is impossible,
however, not to mention, that the treatment of the seamen on
board this vessel was worse than I had ever before heard of.
No less than eleven of them; unable to bear their lives; had deserted
at Bonny, on the coast of Africa,—which is a most unusual
thing,—choosing all that could be endured, though in a
most inhospitable climate, and in the power of the natives,
rather than to continue in their own ship. Nine others also, in
addition to the loss of these, had died in the same voyage. As
to the rest; he believed, without any exception, that they had
been badly used.

In examining him with respect to his second voyage, or that
in the Little Pearl, two circumstances came out with respect to
the slaves, which I shall relate in few words.

The chief mate used to beat the men-slaves on very trifling
occasions. About eleven one evening, the ship then lying off the
coast, he heard a noise in their room. He jumped down among
them with the lanthorn in his hand. Two of those who had
been ill-used by him, forced themselves out of their irons, and,
seizing him, struck him with the bolt of them, and it was with
some difficulty that he was extricated from them by the crew.

The men-slaves, unable now to punish him, and finding they
had created an alarm, began to proceed to extremities. They

endeavoured to force themselves up the gratings, and to pull down
a partition which had been made for a sick-birth; when they
were fired upon and repressed. The next morning they were
brought up one by one; when it appeared that a boy had been
killed, who was afterwards thrown into the sea.

The two men, however, who had forced themselves out of
irons, did not come up with the rest, but found their way into
the hold, and armed themselves with knives from a cask, which
had been opened for trade. One of them being called to in the
African tongue by a black trader, who was then on board, came
up, but with a knife in each hand; when one of the crew, supposing
him yet hostile, shot him in the right side and killed him
on the spot.

The other remained in the hold for twelve hours. Scalding
water mixed with fat was poured down upon him, to make him
come up. Though his flesh was painfully blistered by these
means, he kept below. A promise was then made to him in the
African tongue by the same trader, that no injury should be done
him if he would come among them. To this at length he consented;
but on observing, when he was about half way up, that a
sailor was armed between decks, he flew to him, and clasped him,
and threw him down. The sailor fired his pistol in the scuffle,
but without effect; he contrived, however, to fracture his skull
with the butt end of it, so that the slave died on the third day.

The second circumstance took place after the arrival of the
same vessel at St. Vincent’s. There was a boy-slave on board,
who was very ill and emaciated. The mate, who, by his cruelty,
had been the author of the former mischief, did not choose to
expose him to sale with the rest, lest the small sum he would
fetch in that situation should lower the average price, and thus
bring down^A the
value of the privileges of the officers of the ship.
This boy was kept on board, and no provisions allowed him.

A: Officers are said to be allowed
the privilege of one or more slaves, according to their rank. When
the cargo is sold, the sum total fetched is put down, and this being
divided by the number of slaves sold, gives the average price of
each. Such officers, then, receive this average price for one or more slaves,
according to their privileges, but never the slaves themselves.

The mate had suggested the propriety of throwing him overboard,
but no one would do it. On the ninth day he expired, having
never been allowed any sustenance during that time.

I asked Mr. Arnold if he was willing to give evidence of
these facts in both cases. He said he had only one objection,
which was, that in two or three days he was to go in the Ruby
on his third voyage: but on leaving me, he said, that he would
take an affidavit before the mayor of the truth of any of those
things which he had related to me, if that would do; but, from
motives of safety, he should not choose to do this till within a few
hours before he sailed.

In two or three days after this he sent for me; he said the
Ruby would leave King-road the next day, and that he was
ready to do as he had promised. Depositions were accordingly
made out from his own words. I went with him to the residence
of George Daubeny, Esq., who was then chief magistrate of the
city, and they were sworn to in his presence, and witnessed as
the law requires.