At the time appointed I went with my books, papers, and African productions.  Mr. Pitt examined the former himself.  He turned over leaf after leaf, in which the copies of the muster-rolls were contained, with great patience; and when he had looked over above a hundred pages accurately, and found the name of every seaman inserted, his former abode or service, the time of his entry, and what had become of him, either by death, discharge or desertion, he expressed his surprise at the great pains which had been taken in this branch of the inquiry, and confessed, with some emotion, that his doubts were wholly removed with respect to the destructive nature of this employ; and he said, moreover, that the facts contained in these documents, if they had been but fairly copied, could never be disproved.  He was equally astonished at the various woods and other productions of Africa, but most of all at the manufactures of the natives in cotton, leather, gold, and iron, which were laid before him.  These he handled and examined over and over again.  Many sublime thoughts seemed to rush in upon him at once at the sight of these, some of which he expressed with observations becoming a great and a dignified mind.  He thanked me for the light I had given him on many of the branches of this great question.  And I went away under a certain conviction that I had left him much impressed in our favour.

My next visit was to Mr. (now Lord) Grenville.  I called upon him at the request of Mr. Wilberforce, who had previously written to him from Bath, as be had promised to attend the meetings of the privy council during the examinations which were to take place.  I found in the course of our conversation that Mr. Grenville had not then more knowledge of the subject than Mr. Pitt; but I found him differently circumstanced in other respects, for I perceived in him a warm feeling in behalf of the injured Africans, and that he had no doubt of the possibility of all the barbarities which had been alleged against this traffic.  I showed him all my papers and some of my natural productions, which he examined.  I was with him the next day, and once again afterwards, so that the subject was considered in all its parts.  The effect of this interview with him was of course different from that upon the minister.  In the former case I had removed doubts, and given birth to an interest in favour of our cause.  But I had here only increased an interest which had already been excited.  I had only enlarged the mass of feeling, or added zeal to zeal, or confirmed resolutions and reasonings.  Disposed in this manner originally himself, and strengthened by the documents with which I had furnished him, Mr. Grenville contracted an enmity to the Slave-trade, which was never afterwards diminished[A].

[Footnote A:  I have not mentioned the difference between these two eminent persons, with a view of drawing any invidious comparisons, but because, as these statements are true, such persons as have a high opinion of the late Mr. Pitt’s judgment, may see that this great man did not espouse the cause hastily, or merely as a matter of feeling, but upon the conviction of his own mind.]