When at dinner one day with the family at Teston Hall, I was much pleased with the turn which the conversation had taken on the subject, and in the joy of my heart I exclaimed, that "I was ready to devote myself to the cause." This brought great commendation from those present; and Sir Charles Middleton added, that if I wanted any information in the course of my future inquiries relative to Africa, which he could procure me as comptroller of the navy, such as extracts from the journals of the ships of war to that continent, or from other papers, I should have free access to his office.

This offer I received with thankfulness, and it operated as a new encouragement to me to proceed.
The next morning, when I awoke, one of the first things that struck me was, that I had given a pledge to the company the day before that I would devote myself to the cause of the oppressed Africans.

I became a little uneasy at this.

I questioned whether I had considered matters sufficiently to be able to go so far with propriety.

I determined therefore to give the subject a full consideration, and accordingly I walked to the place of my usual meditations,--the woods.
Having now reached a place of solitude, I began to balance everything on both sides of the question.