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.
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