I do
not suppose Hawkins thought much of saving black men's souls. He saw
only an opportunity of extending his business among a people with whom
he was already largely connected. The traffic was established. It had
the sanction of the Church, and no objection had been raised to it
anywhere on the score of morality. The only question which could have
presented itself to Hawkins was of the right of the Spanish Government
to prevent foreigners from getting a share of a lucrative trade against
the wishes of its subjects. And his friends at the Canaries certainly
did not lead him to expect any real opposition. One regrets that a
famous Englishman should have been connected with the slave trade; but
we have no right to heap violent censures upon him because he was no
more enlightened than the wisest of his contemporaries.
Thus, encouraged from Santa Cruz, Hawkins on his return to England
formed an African company out of the leading citizens of London. Three
vessels were fitted out, Hawkins being commander and part owner. The
size of them is remarkable: the _Solomon_, as the largest was called,
120 tons; the _Swallow_, 100 tons; the _Jonas_ not above 40 tons. This
represents them as inconceivably small.
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