reedom of the children of
God!--Will it be possible for us to inspire them with a love to its
dictates, while they are so exasperated at being dispossessed of that
invaluable blessing, _Liberty?_ The apostles submitted to chains
themselves, but loaded no man with them. Christ came to free, not to
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
Negroes. Patents are granted. The King of France objects to the Negroes
being kept in slavery. As do the college of Cardinals at Rome. The
natives, an inoffensive people; corrupted by the Europeans. The
sentiments of the natives concerning the slave-trade, from William
Smith: Confirmed by Andrew Brue and James Barbot.

It was about the year 1551, towards the latter end of the reign of King
Edward the Sixth, when some London merchants sent out the first English
ship, on a trading voyage to the coast of Guinea; this was soon followed
by several others to the same parts; but the English not having then any
plantations in the West Indies, and consequently no occasion for
Negroes, such ships traded only for gold, elephants teeth, and