[ xiv ]
The bearer hereof, Mr. Gustavus Vassa, an African, is recommended to us by the Rev. Dr. Peckard, Dean of Peterborough, and by many other respectable characters, as an intelligent and upright man; and as we have no doubt but the accounts we have received are grounded on the best authority, we recommend him to the assistance of the friends of humanity in this town, in promoting subscriptions to an interesting Narrative of his Life.
| John Sykes, Mayor, | R. A. Harrison, Esq. |
| Thomas Clarke, Vicar, | Jos. R. Pease, Esq. |
| William Hornby, Esq. of Gainsborough. | |
LETTER
To William Hughes, Esq. Devizes.
Dear Sir,
Whether you will consider my introducing to your acquaintance the bearer of this letter, Olaudah Equiano, the enlightened African, (or Gustavus Vassa as a liberty or favour, I shall not anticipate.
He came recommended to me by men of distinguished talents and exemplary virtue, as an honest and benevolent man; and his conversation and manners as well as his book do more than justice to the recommendation.
The active part he took in bringing about the motion for the repeal of the Slave Act, has given him much celebrity as a public man; and, in all the varied scenes of chequered life, through which he has passed, his private character and conduct have been irreproachable.
His business in your part of the world is to promote the sale of his book, and is a part of my business, as a friend to the cause of humanity, to do all the little
