Page:Copley 1844 A History of Slavery and its Abolition 2nd Ed.djvu/331

Rh such a subject, and claimed for him a respectful attention on the part of the public.

Several other valuable publications tended to draw the public attention to the subject, especially Pinckard's Notes on the West Indies, 1815; Collins's Professional Planter, 1804; Dixon's Mitigation of Slavery, 1814; Watson's Defence of Methodist Missions, 1816; Cropper's Letters to Wilberforce, 1822; Wilberforce's Appeal to Religion, Justice, and Humanity, 1823; Negro Slavery in the United States and in the West Indies, especially in Jamaica, 1823; besides the Reports of the African Institution, and other kindred societies, and some pamphlets on the comparative expense of free and slave labour.

Under the conviction thus produced, in 1823 a society was formed "for the mitigation and gradual abolition of slavery throughout the British dominions." Will it be considered tedious and uninteresting to detail the names of those who formed this society? No: it will be interesting and gratifying to observe some names with which we have long been familiar, as fathers of the sacred cause, still animated in the evening of life with undiminished ardour for its prosecution and extension; and to observe others rising up to strengthen their hands, to pursue the arduous struggle, and finally to experience the joy of extended success.