As this poem was well written, but cannot now be had, I shall give the introductory part of it, which is particularly beautiful, to the perusal of the reader.

It begins thus:-- Offspring of Love divine, Humanity! To whom, his eldest born, th' Eternal gave Dominion o'er the heart; and taught to touch Its varied stops in sweetest unison; And strike the string that from a kindred breast Responsive vibrates! from the noisy haunts Of mercantile confusion, where thy voice Is heard not; from the meretricious glare Of crowded theatres, where in thy place Sits Sensibility, with wat'ry eye, Dropping o'er fancied woes her useless tear; Come thou, and weep with me substantial ills; And execrate the wrongs that Afric's sons, Torn from their natal shore, and doom'd to bear The yoke of servitude in foreign climes, Sustain.

Nor vainly let our sorrows flow, Nor let the strong emotion rise in vain; But may the land contagion widely spread, Till in its flame the unrelenting heart Of avarice melt in softest sympathy-- And one bright blaze of universal love In grateful incense rises up to Heaven! Form'd with the same capacity of pain, The same desire of pleasure and of ease, Why feels not man for man! When nature shrinks From the slight puncture of an insect's sting, Faints, if not screen'd from sultry suns, und pines Beneath the hardship of an hour's delay Of needful nutriment;--when liberty Is priz'd so dearly, that the slightest breath That ruffles but her mantle, can awake To arms unwarlike nations, and can rouse Confed'rate states to vindicate her claims:-- How shall the suff'rer man his fellow doom To ills he mourns and spurns at; tear with stripes His quiv'ring flesh; with hunger and with thirst Waste his emaciate frame; in ceaseless toils Exhaust his vital powers; and bind his limbs In galling chains?
Shall he, whose fragile form Demands continual blessings to support Its complicated texture, air, and food, Raiment, alternate rest, and kindly skies, And healthful seasons, dare with impious voice To ask those mercies, whilst his selfish aim Arrests the general freedom of their course; And, gratified beyond his utmost wish, Debars another from the bounteous store?
In this manner was the subject of this beautiful poem introduced to the notice of the public.

But I have no room for any further extracts, nor time to make any further comment upon it.

I can only add, that the committee were duly sensible as well of its merits, as of the virtuous and generous disposition of the author, and that they requested John Barton to thank him in an appropriate manner for his offer, which he was to say they accepted gratefully.
At this sitting, at which ten members were present out of the twelve, a discussion unexpectedly arose on a most important subject.