Dedication

My Lords and Gentlemen,

Lords and gentlemen,

Permit me, with the greatest deference and respect, to lay at your feet the following genuine Narrative; the chief design of which is to excite in your august assemblies a sense of compassion for the miseries which the Slave-Trade has entailed on my unfortunate countrymen. By the horrors of that trade was I first torn away from all the tender connexions that were naturally dear to my heart; but these, through the mysterious ways of Providence, I ought to regard as infinitely more than compensated by the introduction I have thence obtained to the knowledge of the Christian religion, and of a nation which, by its liberal sentiments, its humanity, the glorious freedom of its government, and its proficiency in arts and sciences, has exalted the dignity of human nature.

With the greatest respect, I ask your permission to present this true account to you. My main purpose is to stir compassion in your distinguished assemblies for my unfortunate countrymen’s suffering under the slave trade. The horrors of that trade first tore me away from all the loving ties naturally dear to my heart. But through the mysterious ways of Providence, I ought to see those losses as infinitely more than compensated for. Through those losses, I came to know the Christian religion and a nation that has raised the dignity of humanity. That nation has done so through its generous principles, its humanity, its gloriously free government, and its achievements in the arts and sciences.

I am sensible I ought to entreat your pardon for addressing to you a work so wholly devoid of literary merit; but, as the production of an unlettered African, who is actuated by the hope of becoming an instrument towards the relief of his suffering countrymen, I trust that such a man, pleading in such a cause, will be acquitted of boldness and presumption.

I know I should ask your forgiveness for presenting you with a work that has no literary merit. But I am an African with no formal education, hoping to help relieve the suffering of my fellow Africans. I trust that such a man, pleading for such a cause, will not be judged bold or presumptuous.

May the God of heaven inspire your hearts with peculiar benevolence on that important day when the question of Abolition is to be discussed, when thousands, in consequence of your Determination, are to look for Happiness or Misery!

May the God of heaven fill your hearts with special compassion on the important day when you debate abolition. For thousands, your decision will mean happiness or misery!