[Footnote: The passage here particularly alluded to, is so extraordinary, and affords such an illustration of the influence under which this work was composed, that it deserves to be transcribed. After a description of the state of slavery in Africa, which the author represents as a sort of necessary evil, deeply rooted in the habits and manners of that country (but without in the least alluding to the great aggravation of the evil arising from the European Slave Trade), the author concludes his remarks as follows: "Such are the general outlines of that system of slavery which prevails in Africa; and it is evident, from its nature and extent, that it is a system of no modern date. It probably had its origin in the remote ages of antiquity, before the Mahomedans explored a passage across the Desert. How far it is maintained and supported by the Slave Traffic which, for two hundred years, the nations of Europe have carried on with the natives of the coast, it is neither within my province, nor in my power, to explain. If my sentiments should be required concerning the effect which a discontinuance of that commerce would produce on the manners of the natives, I should have no hesitation in observing, that in the present unenlightened state of their minds, my opinion is, the effect would neither be so extensive nor beneficial as many wise and worthy persons fondly expect." (Park's Travels, p. 297.) On reading this passage, it is impossible not to be struck both with the opinion itself and the manner in which it is expressed. The proposition, literally taken, is a mere _truism_, undeniably just, but of no practical value or importance. For, who doubts that the probable good effects of the Abolition may have been overrated by men of warm and sanguine benevolence? Or, who would assert, that such exaggerations ought to have any weight in argument, except as inducements to greater caution and deliberation?--But, the evident intention of the passage is, to convey a meaning beyond what "meets the ear"; to produce an _impression_ on the reader, independent of any proofs or principles by which his opinion ought to be governed; and to insinuate, what it is not thought proper to assert, that the zeal manifested in favour of the Abolition originated solely in ignorance and enthusiasm.]