Charles V. allowed the Portuguese to furnish Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, With 4000 slaves annually.
That able navigator, Hawkins, in 1562, first sailed to Sierra Leone; and at that time the African Trade was considered of such importance in this country, that Queen Elizabeth, the ensuing year, sent Hawkins to trade there. He gives an account of their barbarity, and states, that the people were at that time mere slaves. He also mentions, that he found the French trading in that quarter of the world; so that your Lordships may perceive, that even so early as the latter part of the sixteenth century, the different nations of Europe that had possessions in the West Indies, considered the Slave Trade as absolutely necessary for the existence of these colonies. It is said, that Queen Elizabeth gave the first charter, and I believe the fact, as it comes from a very respectable channel. In 1618, James I. granted a charter to Sir
