ime my mind had been on the stretch. It had been
bent too to this one subject; for I had not even leisure to attend to my
own concerns. The various instances of barbarity, which had come
successively to my knowledge within this period, had vexed, harassed,
and afflicted it. The wound which these had produced, was rendered still
deeper by those cruel disappointments before related, which arose from
the reiterated refusal of persons to give their testimony, after I had
travelled hundreds of miles in quest of them. But the severest stroke
was that inflicted by the persecution, begun and pursued by persons
interested in the continuance of the trade, of such witnesses as had
been examined against them; and whom, on account of their dependent
situation in life, it was most easy to oppress. As I had been the means
of bringing these forward on these occasions, they naturally came to me,
when thus persecuted, as the author of their miseries and their ruin.
From their supplications and wants it would have been ungenerous and
ungrateful to have fled[A]. These different circumstances, by acting
together, had at length brought me into the situation just mentioned;
and I was therefore obliged, though very reluctantly, to be borne out of
the field, where I had placed the great honour and glory of my life.

[Footnote A: The late Mr. Whitbread, to whom one day in deep affliction
on this account I related accidentally a circumstance of this kind,
generously undertook, in order to make my mind easy upon the subject, to
make good all injuries, which should in future arise to individuals from
such persecution; and he repaired these, at different times, at a
considerable expense. I feel it a duty to divulge this circumstance, out
of respect to the memory of one of the best of men, and of one, whom, if
the history of his life were written, it would appear to have been an
extraordinary honour to the country to have produced.]

CHAPTER XXX.

Continuation from July 1794 to July 1799.--Various motions within this
period.

I purpose, though it may seem abrupt after the division which has
hitherto been made of the contents of this volume, to throw the events
of the next five years into one chapter.

Mr. Wilberforce and the members of the committee, whose constitutions
had not suffered like my own, were still left; and they determined to
persevere in the promotion of their great object as long as their health
and their faculties permitt