“Though I practise not, I see what a noble course there is opened for me; and if I have a desire, it is that by the instrumentality of thy grace, O Lord, thou wouldest mould me into a man who is altogether thy servant, in temper, in objects of pursuit, in labours, in meekness, in charity, in faith, in godliness, in prayer, and in practice, directing my steps heavenward.

“My attention has been drawn of late to the wickedness of our proceedings as a nation, towards the ignorant and barbarous natives of countries on which we seize. What have we Christians done for them? We have usurped their lands, kidnapped, enslaved, and murdered themselves. The greatest of their crimes is that they sometimes trespass into the lands of their forefathers; and the very greatest of their misfortunes is that they have ever become acquainted with Christians. Shame on such Christianity! My object is to inquire into past proceedings, for the purpose of instituting certain rules and laws, on principles of justice, for the future treatment of the aborigines of those countries where we make settlements. […] ”