t they may
appear in their size, or however difficult to overcome. It cannot again be
otherwise than useful to us to be assured (and this history will assure us
of it) that in any work, which is a work of righteousness, however small
the beginning may be, or however small the progress may be that we may make
in it, we ought never to despair; for that, whatever checks and
discouragements we may meet with, "no virtuous effort is ever ultimately
lost." And finally, it cannot be otherwise than useful to us to form the
opinion, which the contemplation of this subject must always produce,
namely, that many of the evils, which are still left among us, may, by an
union of wise and virtuous individuals, be greatly alleviated, if not
entirely done away: for if the great evil of the Slave-trade, so deeply
entrenched by its hundred interests, has fallen prostrate before the
efforts of those who attacked it, what evil of a less magnitude shall not
be more easily subdued? O may reflections of this sort always enliven us,
always encourage us, always stimulate us to our duty! May we never cease to
believe, that many of the miseries of life are still to be remedied, or to
rejoice that we may be permitted, if we will only make ourselves worthy by
our endeavours, to heal them! May we encourage for this purpose every
generous sympathy that arises in our hearts, as the offspring of the Divine
influence for our good, convinced that we are not born for ourselves alone,
and that the Divinity never so fully dwells in us, as when we do his will;
and that we never do his will more agreeably, as far as it has been
revealed to us, than when we employ our time in works of charity towards
the rest of our fellow-creatures!

CHAPTER II.

_As it is desirable to know the true sources of events in history, so this
will be realized in that of the abolition of the Slave-trade--Inquiry as to
those who favoured the cause of the Africans previously to the year
1787--All these to be considered as necessary forerunners in that
cause--First forerunners were Cardinal Ximenes--the Emperor Charles the
Fifth--Pope Leo the Tenth--Elizabeth queen of England--Louis the Thirteenth
of France._

It would be considered by many, who have stood at the mouth of a river, and
witnessed its torrent there, to be both an interesting and a pleasing
journey to go to the fountain-head, and then to travel on its banks
downwards, and to mark the different streams in each side,