work has been prepared for
the press from a rough transcript of my journal, from my correspondence,
and other documents, by the friend who accompanied me on a former
journey to the West Indies, and who then compiled the account of our
joint labors.

Nearly the whole of the narrative portion of this publication has been
sent to America, to different individuals who were concerned in, or
present at the transactions related, and has been returned to me with
their verification of the facts; so that the reader has the strongest
guaranty for their accuracy. The inferences and comments I am solely
responsible for, and I leave them to rest on their own merits.

In undertaking this journey, I was careful not to shackle my individual
liberty by appearing as the representative of any society, whether
religious or benevolent; and, on the other hand, none of those friends,
who kindly furnished me with letters of introduction, are in any way
responsible for my proceedings in the United States, or for any thing
which this volume contains.

In conclusion,--should these pages come under the notice of any, who,
though well wishers to their species, are not yet identified with
anti-slavery effort, I would entreat such to "come over and help us." If
they are ambitious of a large and quick return for their outlay of
money, of time, of labor,--for their painful sympathies and self-denying
prayers,--where will they find a cause where help is more needed, or
where it would be rewarded more surely and abundantly? Let them reflect
on what has been effected, within a few short years, in the British West
Indies, so recently numbered among "the dark places of the earth, full
of the habitations of cruelty,"--but now scenes of light, gladness, and
prosperity, temporal and spiritual. To show what remains to be
accomplished for the universal abolition of slavery--a field in which
the laborers are few indeed, in proportion to its extent--I may be
allowed to quote the following comprehensive statement, from the preface
to one of the most important volumes that ever issued from the press on
the subject of slavery:[A]

[Footnote A: "Proceedings of the London Anti-Slavery Convention."]

"The extent of these giant evils may be gathered from a brief
statement of facts. In the United States of America, the slave
population is estimated to be 2,750,000; in Brazil, 2,500,000;
in the Spanish Colonies, 600,000; in the French Colonies,
2