_
It was impossible for the committee to look back to the proceedings of the
last session, as they related to the great question under their care,
without feeling a profusion of joy, as well as of gratitude to those, by
whose virtuous endeavours they had taken place. But, alas, how few of our
earthly pleasures come to us without alloy! a melancholy event succeeded.
We had the painful intelligence, in the month of October 1806, that one of
the oldest and warmest friends of the cause was then numbered with the
dead.
Of the character of Mr. Fox, as it related to this cause, I am bound to
take notice. And, first, I may observe, that he professed an attachment to
it almost as soon as it was ushered into the world. Early in the year 1788,
when he was waited upon by a deputation of the committee, his language was,
as has appeared in the first volume, "that he would support their object to
its fullest extent, being convinced that there was no remedy for the evil
but in the total abolition of the trade."
His subsequent conduct evinced the sincerity of his promises. He was
constant in his attendance in Parliament whenever the question was brought
forward; and he never failed to exert his powerful eloquence in its favour.
Pages:
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501