the useless; not merely the pain of endless separation between the captive and all he holds dear; not merely the miseries of the passage across, and the perpetual servitude brought upon him and his posterity, but it is all these evils combined, and aggravated by circumstances, heart-rending beyond description. In spite of all the vigilance of the armed squadrons watching the coast, it was calculated, a few years ago, that near half a million of Africans were annually transported from Africa to Brazil and Cuba, chiefly, and sold as slaves; and it is an error to suppose that this trade has been suppressed.
In estimating our duty to Africa, a large item in the calculation should be the fact that Christian nations are responsible for this wretched state of things. The Governments now indeed declare the slave-trade to be piracy, but the time was when none frowned upon it, and the most of them encouraged it. What language can express the stringency of that obligation which rests upon those nations, not only to suppress the traffic at every needed cost, but to indemnify Africa for the awful evils and incalculable wrongs they have inflicted upon her! The sending of vessels to guard the coast may be considered an admission of this obligation. But the small results which have followed this effort ought to show the governments, who send these vessels, that they are wrongly applying their means. The profits to the slavers are so enormous, that they can afford to lose two-thirds of their vessels, and still derive a handsome
