on festival-days. From all these
particulars the humanity of the Slave-trade was inferred, because it took
away the inhabitants of Africa into lands where no such barbarities were
known. But the humanity of it was insisted upon by positive circumstances
also, namely, that a great number of the slaves were prisoners of war, and
that in former times all such were put to death, whereas now they were
saved; so that there was a great accession of happiness to Africa since the
introduction of the Trade.

These statements, and those of others on the same side of the question, had
a great effect, as may easily be conceived, upon the feelings of those of
the council who were present. Some of them began immediately to be
prejudiced against us. There were others who even thought that it was
almost unnecessary to proceed in the inquiry, for that the Trade was
actually a blessing. They had little doubt that all our assertions
concerning it would be found false. The Bishop of London himself was so
impressed by these unexpected accounts, that he asked me if Falconbridge,
whose pamphlet had been previously sent by the commitee to every member of
the council, was worthy of belief, and if he would substantiate publicly
what he had thus written. But these impressions unfortunately were not
confined to those who had been present at the examinations. These could not
help communicating them to others. Hence in all the higher circles (some of
which I sometimes used to frequent) I had the mortification to hear of
nothing but the Liverpool evidence, and of our own credulity, and of the
impositions which had been practised upon us: of these reports the planters
and merchants did not fail to avail themselves. They boasted that they
would soon do away all the idle tales which had been invented against them.
They desired the public only to suspend their judgment till the privy
council report should be out, when they would see the folly and wickedness
of all our allegations. A little more evidence, and all would be over. On
the twenty-second of March, though the commitee of council had not then
held its sittings more than a month, and these only twice or thrice a week,
the following paragraph was seen in a morning paper:--"The report of the
commitee of privy council will be ready in a few days. After due
examination it appears that the major part of the complaints against this
Trade are ill-founded. Some regulations, however, are expected to take
pl