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THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.

 

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CHAPTER I.

 

THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.

 

Ecclesiastes iv. 1. So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

It is certainly surprising, that in this nineteenth century, and under the light of free and Christian institutions, we should be called upon to discuss anew the subject of the African slave trade. It was supposed that the inexpediency and iniquity of this traffic were universally conceded; that the efforts of philanthropic and Christian men, upon two continents, to enlighten public opinion, had been successful; and that the action of our government and the governments of Europe in abolishing said traffic, was regarded as final.

But for several years past there has been growing up in the community a power that plants itself in direct antagonism to the teachings of our religion, the professed aim of our political institutions, the influence of our educational systems, and the senti-