It is not necessary, nor indeed is there room, to detail my employments in this village, or the lonely walks I took there, or the meditations of my mind at such seasons.  I will therefore come at once to a particular occurrence.  When at dinner one day with the family at Teston-hall, I was much pleased with the turn which the conversation had taken on the subject, and in the joy of my heart, I exclaimed that, “I was ready to devote myself to the cause.”  This brought great commendation from those present; and Sir Charles Middleton added, that if I wanted any information in the course of my future inquiries relative to Africa, which he could procure me as comptroller of the navy, such as extracts from the journals of the ships of war to that continent, or from other papers, I should have free access to his office.  This offer I received with thankfulness, and it operated as a new encouragement to me to proceed.

The next morning, when I awoke, one of the first things that struck me was, that I had given a pledge to the company the day before, that I would devote myself to the cause of the oppressed Africans.  I became a little uneasy at this.  I questioned whether I had considered matters sufficiently to be able to go so far with propriety.  I determined therefore to give the subject a full consideration, and accordingly I walked to the place of my usual meditations, the woods.

Having now reached a place of solitude, I began to balance every thing on both sides of the question.  I considered first, that I had not yet obtained information sufficient on the subject, to qualify me for the undertaking of such a work.  But I reflected, on the other hand, that Sir Charles Middleton had just opened to me a new source of knowledge; that I should be backed by the local information of Dillwyn and Ramsay, and that surely, by taking pains, I could acquire more.

I then considered, that I had not yet a sufficient number of friends to support me.  This occasioned me to review them.  I had now Sir Charles Middleton, who was in the House of Commons.  I was sure of Dr. Porteus, who was in the House of Lords.  I could count upon Lord Scarsdale, who was a peer also.  I had secured Mr. Langton, who had a most extensive acquaintance with members of both houses of the legislature.  I had also secured Dr. Baker, who had similar connections.  I could depend upon Granville Sharp, James Phillips, Richard Phillips, Ramsay, Dillwyn, and the little commitee to which he belonged, as well as the whole society of the Quakers.  I thought therefore upon the whole, that, considering the short time I had been at work, I was well off with respect to support; I believed also that there were still several of my own acquaintance, whom I could interest in the question, and I did not doubt that, by exerting myself diligently, persons, who were then strangers to me, would be raised up in time.