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Some Historical Account of Guinea, Its Situation, Produce, and the General Disposition of Its Inhabitants - An Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Slave Trade, Its Nature and Lamentable Effects by Anthony Benezet
page 45 of 155 (29%)
enslave us.--Submission to the faith he left us, ought to be a voluntary
act, and should be propagated by persuasion, gentleness, and reason."

"At my first arrival in Hispaniola, (added the bishop) it contained a
million of inhabitants; and now (viz. in the space of about twenty
years) there remains scarce the hundredth part of them; thousands have
perished thro' want, fatigue, merciless punishment, cruelty, and
barbarity. If the blood of _one_ man unjustly shed, calls loudly for
vengeance; how strong must be the cry of that of so _many_ unhappy
creatures which is shedding daily?"--The good bishop concluded his
speech, with imploring the King's clemency for subjects so unjustly
oppressed; and bravely declared, that heaven would one day call him to
an account, for the numberless acts of cruelty which he might have
prevented. The King applauded the bishop's zeal; promised to second it;
but so many of the great ones had an interest in continuing the
oppression, that nothing was done; so that all the Indians in
Hispaniola, except a few who had hid themselves in the most inaccessible
mountains, were destroyed.





CHAP. V.


First account of the English trading to Guinea. Thomas Windham and
several others go to that coast. Some of the Negroes carried off by the
English. Queen Elizabeth's charge to Captain Hawkins respecting the
natives. Nevertheless he goes on the coast and carries off some of the
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