Memoir on Slavery!/Original preface

The present Memoir was ready to be laid before the General, Constituent and Legislative Assembly of the Empire of Brazil, when, for reasons, the details of which belong to another place, it was dissolved,^[1] and the author, among other deputies, arrested and banished. A MS. copy, however, was left in the hands of a person to whom it had previously been confided, and from this, it is, that the present publication is taken, and now ushered to the world, from no other motive than such as the love for one՚s country would inspire.

The necessity of abolishing the slave trade and gradually emancipating the existing slaves, is so imperious, that we cannot conceive there is a Brazilian, wicked and ignorant enough, to ​deny it. Under this supposition, whatever may hereafter be the fate of Brazil, that country can never improve and become civilized, without removing, as early as possible, this deadly cancer, which corrodes its vitals and will inevitably bring it to ruin and destruction.

Fully sensible of this truth, and anxious also to see our country free from the dangers by which it is threatened, we have resolved not to withhold the present effort from the press, regretting at the same time that it is not in our power to confer with the author on the subject of any alterations or improvements he might be disposed to make in the MS. In the mean while, as the Memoir is written with manly eloquence and combines so much local knowledge and experience, we do not hesitate to send it forth in its original form, without studiously seeking to recommend it, as it bears upon the very face of it the stamp of wisdom, and besides breathes the language of patriotism. In short, we shall consider ourselves amply rewarded if the present publication redounds to the advantage of Brazil, and we are well assured that the author, who ever laboured for the welfare of his country, will be perfectly satisfied.

Paris, Oct. 4, 1825.