The persons in power there were
naturally fond of our commodities; and to obtain them (which could only be
done by the sale of their countrymen) they waged war on one another, or
even ravaged their own country, when they could find no pretence for
quarrelling with their neighbours; in their courts of law many poor
wretches, who were innocent, were condemned; and, to obtain these
commodities in greater abundance, thousands were kidnapped and torn from
their families and sent into slavery. Such transactions, he said, were
recorded in every history of Africa, and the report on the table confirmed
them. With respect, however, to these he should make but one or two
observations. If we looked into the reign of Henry the Eighth, we should
find a parallel for one of them. We should find that similar convictions
took place; and that penalties followed conviction.
With respect to wars, the kings of Africa were never induced to engage in
them by public principles, by national glory, and least of all by the love
of their people. This had been stated by those most conversant in the
subject, by Dr. Spaarman and Mr. Wadstrom. They had conversed with these
princes, and had learned from their own mouths, that to procure slaves was
the object of their hostilities.
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