as that of the abolition of the Slave Trade.

The committee having dispersed five hundred circular letters, giving an
account of their institution in London and its neighbourhood, the
Quakers were the first to notice it. This they did in their yearly
epistle, of which the following is an extract:--"We have also thankfully
to believe there is a growing attention in many, not of our religious
society, to the subject of negro slavery; and that the minds of the
people are more and more enlarged to consider it as an aggregate of
every species of evil, and to see the utter inconsistency of upholding
it by the authority of any nation whatever, especially of such as
punish, with loss of life, crimes whose magnitude bears scarce any
proportion to this complicated iniquity."

The General Baptists were the next; for on the 22nd of June, Stephen
Lowdell and Dan Taylor attended as a deputation from the annual meeting
of that religious body, to inform the committee, that those whom they
represented approved their proceedings, and that they would countenance
the object of their institution.

The first individual who addressed the committee was Mr. William Smith,
the late member for Norwich. In his letter, he expressed the pleasure he
had received in finding persons associated in the support of a cause in
which he himself had taken a deep interest. He gave them advice as to
their future plans. He promised them all the co-operation in his power:
and he exhorted them not to despair, even if their first attempt should
be unsuccessful; "for consolation," says he, "will not be wanting. You
may rest satisfied that the attempt will be productive of some good;
that the fervent wishes of the righteous will be on your side, and that
the blessing of those who are ready to perish will fall upon you." And
as Mr. Smith was the first person to address the committee as an
individual after its formation, so, next to Mr. Wilberforce and the
members of it, he gave the most time and attention to the promotion of
the cause.

On the 5th of July, the committee opened a correspondence, by means of
William Dillwyn, with the societies of Philadelphia and New York, of
whose institution an account has been given. At this sitting a due sense
was signified of the services of Mr. Ramsay, and a desire of his
friendly communications when convenient.

The two next meetings were principally occupied in making out lists of
the names of persons in the country, to wh