But the humanity of it was insisted upon by positive circumstances
also, namely, that a great number of the slaves were prisoners of war, and
that in former times all such were put to death, whereas now they were
saved; so that there was a great accession of happiness to Africa since the
introduction of the Trade.
These statements, and those of others on the same side of the question, had
a great effect, as may easily be conceived, upon the feelings of those of
the council who were present. Some of them began immediately to be
prejudiced against us. There were others who even thought that it was
almost unnecessary to proceed in the inquiry, for that the Trade was
actually a blessing. They had little doubt that all our assertions
concerning it would be found false. The Bishop of London himself was so
impressed by these unexpected accounts, that he asked me if Falconbridge,
whose pamphlet had been previously sent by the commitee to every member of
the council, was worthy of belief, and if he would substantiate publicly
what he had thus written.
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