I gained accordingly access very early to General Rooke; to Lieutenant Dalrymple, of the army; to Captain Fiddes, of the engineers; to the reverend Mr.Newton; to Mr.Nisbett, a surgeon in the Minories; to Mr.Devaynes, who was then in parliament, and to many others; and I made it a rule to put down in writing, after every conversation, what had taken place in the course of it.

By these means, things began to unfold themselves to me more and more, and I found my stock of knowledge almost daily on the increase.
While, however, I was forwarding this, I was not inattentive to the other object of my pursuit, which was that of waiting upon members personally.

The first I called upon was Sir Richard Hill.

At the first interview he espoused the cause.

I waited then upon others, and they professed themselves friendly; but they seemed to make this profession more from the emotion of good hearts, revolting at the bare mention of the Slave Trade, than from any knowledge concerning it.