iends. I received from him no less than five hundred
of them myself. They, to whom they were sent, did not lay them up in their
cabinets, but gave them away likewise. They were soon, like The Negro's
Complaint, in different parts of the kingdom. Some had them inlaid in gold
on the lid of their snuff-boxes. Of the ladies, several wore them in
bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins
for their hair. At length, the taste for wearing them became general; and
thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen
for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice,
humanity, and freedom.

I shall now only state that the committee took as members within its own
body, in the period of time which is included in this chapter, the Reverend
Mr. Ormerod, chaplain to the Bishop of London, and Captain James Bowen, of
the royal navy; that they elected the honourable Nathaniel Curzon (now Lord
Scarsdale), Dr. Frossard of Lyons, and Benjamin Garlike, esquire, then
secretary to the English embassy at the Hague, honorary and corresponding
members; and that they concluded their annual labours with a suitable
report; in which they noticed the extraordinary efforts of our opponents to
injure our cause, in the following manner: "In the progress of this
business a powerful combination of interest has been excited against us.
The African trader, the planter, and the West India merchant have united
their forces to defend the fortress, in which their supposed treasures lie.
Vague calculations and false alarms have been thrown out to the public, in
order to show, that the constitution and even the existence of this free
and opulent nation depend on its depriving the inhabitants of a foreign
country of those rights and of that liberty, which we ourselves so highly
and so justly prize. Surely in the nature of things and in the order of
Providence it cannot be so. England existed as a great nation, long before
the African commerce was known amongst us, and it is not to acts of
injustice and violence that she owes her present rank in the scale of
nations."

CHAPTER III.

_Continuation from July 1790 to July 1791--Author travels again throughout
the kingdom--Object of his journey--Motion in the House of Commons to
resume the hearing of evidence in favour of the abolition--List of all
those examined on this side of the question--Machinations of interested
persons, and cruel circu