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Show 286 A DAY SPENT AT to urge that I had been dcsignc<l fOr the church; that I bad already advanced as far as deacon's orders in it; tl1at my prospects tlLCrc on account of my connections were then brilliant; that, by appearing to desert my profession, my family woulcl be dissatisfied, if not unhappy. 'rhcsc thoughts pressed upon rnc, ::mel rendered the conflict cliffieult. "But the sacrifice of my prospects staggered me, I own, tlw most. When tbe other objections which I have related, occurred to me, my enthusiasm instantly, like a flash of lightning, consumed them; but this stuck to me, and lroublccl me. I had ambition. 1 hacl a t!tirst after worldly interest and honors, and 1 could not extinguish it at 011('1\ I ·was moTe than two llours in solitude untlcr this pain lul conflict. At length I yiclderl, not because I oaw any reasonable prospect of success in my new undertaking, for all cool-headed and cool-hearted men would have pronounced against it; but in obedience, I belicYe, to a ltigher rower. And I can say, that both on the moment of this resolution, and for some time n.ficrwanl~, ., L: t!1 JJl(L'i ' 1-'llb· lime and happy feelings than at any fo:·'·' ' r pdod oi' my life." In order to show how this enterprise was looked PLAYFORD IlALL. 287 upon and talkccl of very commonly by the majority of men in these t1mes, we will extract the following pnsso.ge from Doswell's Life of Johnson, in which Dozzy thus enters his solemn protest: ~~ rrhc \\'ild anJ dangerous attempt, which has for some time been per· sistecl in, to obtain a~ act of our Legislature, to abolish so very important and necessary a branch of commercial interest, must l1avc been crushed at once, had not the insignificance of the zealots, wlto vainly took the lend in it, made the vast body of planters, merchants and others, whose immen;;c properties arc involved in that trade, reasonably enough suppose, that there could be no danger. The encouragement which the attempt hns received, excites my \Yonder nnd indignation; and though some men of superior abilities have supported it, whct!tcr from a love of temporary popularity, ,vJwn pro;.-pcrouo::; or a love of general mischief, w1wn desperate, my opinion is unshaken. '"l'o abolish a statute which in all ages God has sanctioned, antl man has continued, wonlJ. not only be robbery to an innnmcmblc chss of our fellow-subjects, but it woulcl be extreme cruelty to the African savages, a portion of ,ybom it saves from massacre, or into]crablo bondage in their own country, and introduces into |
