" That the trade should have
been suffered to continue under such a princess, and after such solemn
expressions as those which she has been described to have uttered, can be
only attributed to the pains taken by those concerned in it to keep her
ignorant of the truth.
From England I now pass over to France. Labat, a Roman missionary, in his
account of the isles of America, mentions, that Louis the Thirteenth was
very uneasy when he was about to issue the edict, by which all Africans
coming into his colonies were to be made slaves, and that this uneasiness
continued, till he was assured, that the introduction of them in this
capacity into his foreign dominions was the readiest way of converting them
to the principles of the Christian religion.
These, then, were the first forerunners in the great cause of the abolition
of the Slave-trade. Nor have their services towards it been of small
moment. For, in the first place, they have enabled those, who came after
them, and who took an active interest in the same cause, to state the great
authority of their opinions and of their example.
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