Finding, also, in the year 1783 that the Slave Trade, which had greatly
declined during the American war, was reviving, he addressed a pathetic
letter to our Queen, (as I mentioned in the last chapter,) who, on
hearing the high character of the writer of it from Benjamin West,
received it with marks of peculiar condescension and attention. The
following is a copy of it:--
TO CHARLOTTE, QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN.
Impressed with a sense of religious duty, and encouraged by the
opinion generally entertained of thy benevolent disposition to
succor the distressed, I take the liberty; very respectfully, to
offer to thy perusal some tracts, which, I believe, faithfully
describe the suffering condition of many hundred thousands of
our fellow-creatures of the African race, great numbers of whom,
rent from every tender connexion in life, are annually taken
from their native land; to endure, in the American islands and
plantations, a most rigorous and cruel slavery; whereby many,
very many of them, are brought to a melancholy and untimely end.
When it is considered that the inhabitants of Great Britain, who
are themselves so eminently blessed in the enjoyment of
religious and civil liberty, have long been, and yet are, very
deeply concerned in this flagrant violation of the common rights
of mankind, and that even its national authority is exerted in
support of the African Slave Trade, there is much reason to
apprehend that this has been, and, as long as the evil exists,
will continue to be, an occasion of drawing down the Divine
displeasure on the nation and its dependencies.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200