ks had been
delivered, and received graciously; and that he was authorised to say,
that, unfortunately, in consequence of those, hereditary possessions which
had devolved upon his majesty, he was obliged to confess that he was the
sovereign of an island, which had, been principally peopled by African
slaves, but that he had been frequently mindful of their hard case. With
respect to the Slave-trade, he never heard of an instance, in which the
merchants of his own native realm had embarked in it; and as they had
hitherto preserved their character pure in this respect, he would do all he
could, that it should not be sullied in the eyes of the generous English
nation, by taking up, in the case which had been pointed out to him, such
an odious concern.

By this time I had finished my Essay on the Impolicy of the Slave-trade,
which I composed from materials collected chiefly during my journey to
Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster. These materials I had admitted with
great caution and circumspection; indeed I admitted none, for which I could
not bring official and other authentic documents, or living evidences if
necessary, whose testimony could not reasonably be denied; and, when I gave
them to the world, I did it under the impression that I ought to give them
as scrupulously, as if I were to be called upon to substantiate them upon
oath. It was of peculiar moment that this book should make its appearance
at this time. First, Because it would give the Lords of the Council, who
were then sitting, an opportunity of seeing many important facts, and of
inquiring into their authenticity; and it might suggest to them also some
new points, or such as had not fallen within the limits of the arrangement
they had agreed upon for their examinations on this subject; and Secondly,
Because, as the members of the House of Commons were to take the question
into consideration early in the next sessions, it would give them also new
light and information upon it before this period. Accordingly the commitee
ordered two thousand copies of it to be struck off, for these and other
objects; and though the contents of it were most diligently sifted by the
different opponents of the cause, they never even made an attempt to answer
it. It continued, on the other hand, during the inquiry of the legislature,
to afford the basis or grounds upon which to examine evidences on the
political part of the subject; and evidences thus examined continued in
their t