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.

[Sidenote: 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