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THE
HISTORY
OF THE
RISE, PROGRESS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF
THE ABOLITION
OF
THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE
BY THE
BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

BY THOMAS CLARKSON, M.A.

1808.




CHAPTER I.

_Continuation from June 1788 to July 1789--Author travels to collect
further evidence--great difficulties in obtaining it--forms committees on
his tour--Privy council resume the examinations--inspect cabinet of African
productions--obliged to leave many of the witnesses in behalf of the
abolition unexamined--prepare their report--Labours of the committee in the
interim--Proceedings of the planters and others--Report laid on the table
of the House of Commons--Introduction of the question, and debate
there--twelve propositions deduced from the report and reserved for future
discussion--day of discussion arrives--opponents refuse to argue from the
report--require new evidence--this granted and introduced--further
consideration of the subject deferred to the next session--Renewal of Sir
William Dolben's bill--Death and character of Ramsay._


Matters had now become serious. The gauntlet had been thrown down and
accepted. The combatants had taken their stations, and the contest was to
be renewed, which was to be decided soon on the great theatre of the
nation. The committee by the very act of their institution had pronounced
the Slave-trade to be criminal. They, on the other hand, who were concerned
in it, had denied the charge. It became the one to prove, and the other to
refute it, or to fall in the ensuing session.

The committee, in this perilous situation, were anxious to find out such
other persons, as might become proper evidences before the privy council.
They had hitherto sent there only nine or ten, and they had then only
another, whom they could count upon for this purpose, in their view. The
proposal of sending persons to Africa, and the West Indies, who might come
back and report what they had witnessed, had been already negatived. The
question then was, what they were to do. Upon this they deliberated, and
the result was an application to me to undertake a journey to different
parts of the kingdom for this purpose.

When this determination was made I was at Teston, writing a long letter to
the privy council on the ill usage and mortality of the seamen employed in
the Slave-trade, which it had been previously agreed should be received as
evidence there. I thought it proper, however, before I took my departure,
to form a system of questions upon the general subject. These I divided
into six tables. The first related to the productions of Africa, and the
disposition and manners of the natives. The second, to the methods of
reducing them to slavery. The third, to the manner of bringing them to the
ships, their value, the medium of exchange, and other circumstances. The
fourth, to their transportation. The fifth, to their treatment in the
Colonies. The sixth, to the seamen employed in the trade. These tables
contained together one hundred and forty-five questions. My idea was that
they should be printed on a small sheet of paper, which should be folded up
in seven or eight leaves, of the length and breadth of a small almanac, and
then be sent in franks to our different correspondents. These, when they
had them, might examine persons capable of giving evidence, who might live
in their neighbourhoods or fall in their way, and return us their
examinations by letter.

The committee having approved and printed the tables of questions, I began
my tour. I had selected the southern counties from Kent to Cornwall for it.
I had done this, because these included the great stations of the ships of
war in ordinary; and as these were all under the superintendence of Sir
Charles Middleton, as comptroller of the navy, I could get an introduction
to those on board them. Secondly, because sea-faring people, when they
retire from a marine life, usually settle in some town or village upon the
coast.

Of this tour I shall not give the reader any very particular account. I
shall mention only those things which are most worthy of his notice in it.
At Poole in Dorsetshire I laid the foundation of a committee, to act in
harmony with that of London for the promotion of the cause. Moses Neave, of
the respectable society of the Quakers, was the chairman; Thomas Bell, the
secretary, and Ellis. B. Metford and the reverend Mr. Davis and others the
committee. This was the third committee, which had been instituted in the
country for this purpose. That at Bristol, under Mr. Joseph Harford as
chairman, and Mr. Lunell as secretary, had been the first. And that at
Manchester, under Mr. Thomas Walker as chairman, and Mr. Samuel Jackson as
secretary, had been the second.

As Poole was a great place for carrying on the trade to Newfoundland, I
determined to examine the assertion of the Earl of Sandwich in the House of
Lords, when he said, in the debate on Sir William Dolben's bill, that the
Slave-trade was not more fatal to seamen than the Newfoundland and some
others. This assertion I knew at the time to be erroneous, as far as my own
researches had been concerned: for out of twenty-four vessels, which had
sailed out of the port of Bristol in that employ, only two sailors were
upon the dead list. In sixty vessels from Poole, I found but four lost. At
Dartmouth, where I went afterwards on purpose, I found almost a similar
result. On conversing however with Governor Holdsworth, I learnt that the
year 1786 had been more fatal than any other in this trade. I learnt that
in consequent of extraordinary storms and hurricanes, no less than five
sailors had died and twenty-one had been drowned in eighty-three vessels
from that port. Upon this statement I determined to look into the
muster-rolls of the trade there for two or three years together. I began by
accident with the year 1769, and I went on to the end of 1772. About eighty
vessels on an average had sailed thence in each of these years. Taking the
loss in these years, and compounding it with that in the fatal year, three
sailors had been lost, but taking it in these four years by themselves,
only two had been lost, in twenty-four vessels so employed. On a comparison
with the Slave-trade, the result would be, that two vessels to Africa would
destroy more seamen than eighty-three sailing to Newfoundland. There was
this difference also to be noted, that the loss in the one trade was
generally by the weather or by accident, but in the other by cruel
treatment or disease; and that they, who went out in a declining state of
health in the one, came home generally recovered, whereas they, who went
out robust in the other, came home in a shattered condition.

At Plymouth I laid the foundation of another committee. The late William
Cookworthy, the late John Prideaux, and James Fox, all of the society of
the Quakers, and Mr. George Leach, Samuel Northcote, and John Saunders, had
a principal share in forming it. Sir William Ellford was chosen chairman.

From Plymouth I journeyed on to Falmouth, and from thence to Exeter, where
having meetings with the late Mr. Samuel Milford, the late Mr. George
Manning, the reverend James Manning, Thomas Sparkes, and others, a desire
became manifest among them of establishing a committee there. This was
afterwards effected; and Mr. Milford, who, at a general meeting of the
inhabitants of Exeter, on the tenth of June, on this great subject, had
been called by those present to the chair, was appointed the chairman of
it.

With respect to evidence, which was the great object of this tour, I found
myself often very unpleasantly situated in collecting it. I heard of many
persons capable of giving it to our advantage, to whom I could get no
introduction. I had to go after these many miles out of my established
route. Not knowing me, they received me coldly, and even suspiciously;
while I fell in with others, who, considering themselves, on account of
their concerns and connexions, as our opponents, treated me in an uncivil
manner.

But the difficulties and disappointments in other respects, which I
experienced in this tour, even where I had an introduction, and where the
parties were not interested in the continuance of the Slave-trade, were
greater than people in general would have imagined. One would have thought,
considering the great enthusiasm of the nation on this important subject,
that they, who could have given satisfactory information upon it, would
have rejoiced to do it. But I found it otherwise, and this frequently to my
sorrow. There was an aversion in persons to appear before such a tribunal
as they conceived the privy council to be. With men of shy or timid
character this operated as an insuperable barrier in their way. But it
operated more or less upon all. It was surprising to see what little
circumstances affected many. When I took out my pen and ink to put down the
information, which a person was giving me, he became evidently embarrassed
and frightened. He began to excuse himself from staying, by alleging that
he had nothing more to communicate, and he took himself away as quickly as
he could with decency. The sight of the pen and ink had lost me so many
good evidences, that I was obliged wholly to abandon the use of them, and
to betake myself to other means. I was obliged for the future to commit my
tables of questions to memory, and endeavour by practice to put down, after
the examination of a person, such answers as he had given me to each of
them.

Others went off because it happened that immediately on my interview, I
acquainted them with the nature of my errand, and solicited their
attendance in London. Conceiving that I had no right to ask them such a
favour, or terrified at the abruptness and apparent awfulness of my
request, some of them gave me an immediate denial, which they would never
afterwards retract. I began to perceive in time that it was only by the
most delicate management that I could get forward on these occasions. I
resolved therefore for the future, except in particular cases, that, when I
should be introduced to persons who had a competent knowledge of this
trade, I would talk with them upon it as upon any ordinary subject, and
then leave them without saying any thing about their becoming evidences. I
would take care, however, to commit all their conversation to writing, when
it was over, and I would then try to find out that person among their
relations or friends, who could apply to them for this purpose with the
least hazard of a refusal.

There were others also, who, though they were not so much impressed by the
considerations mentioned, yet objected to give their public testimony.
Those, whose livelihood, or promotion, or expectations, were dependent upon
the government of the country, were generally backward on these occasions.
Though they thought they discovered in the parliamentary conduct of Mr.
Pitt, a bias in favour of the cause, they knew to a certainty that the Lord
Chancellor Thurlow was against it. They conceived, therefore, that the
administration was at least divided upon the question, and they were
fearful of being called upon lest they should give offence, and thus injure
their prospects in life. This objection was very prevalent in that part of
the kingdom which I had selected for my tour.

The reader can hardly conceive how my mind was agitated and distressed on
these different accounts. To have travelled more than two months, to have
seen many who could have materially served our cause, and to have lost most
of them, was very trying. And though it is true that I applied a remedy, I
was not driven to the adoption of it till I had performed more than half my
tour. Suffice it to say, that after having travelled upwards of sixteen
hundred miles backwards and forwards, and having conversed with forty-seven
persons, who were capable of promoting the cause by their evidence, I could
only prevail upon nine, by all the interest I could make, to be examined.

On my return to London, whither I had been called up by the committee to
take upon me the superintendence of the evidence, which the privy council
was now ready again to hear, I found my brother: he was then a young
officer in the navy; and as I knew he felt as warmly as I did in this great
cause, I prevailed upon him to go to Havre de Grace, the great slave-port
in France, where he might make his observations for two or three months,
and then report what he had seen and heard; so that we might have some one
to counteract any false statement of things which might be made relative to
the subject in that quarter.

At length the examinations were resumed, and with them the contest, in
which our own reputation and the fate of our cause were involved. The
committee for the abolition had discovered one or two willing evidences
during my absence, and Mr. Wilberforce, who was now recovered from his
severe indisposition, had found one or two others. These added to my own
made a respectable body: but we had sent no more than four or five of these
to the council when the King's illness unfortunately stopped our career.
For nearly five weeks between the middle of November and January the
examinations were interrupted or put off so that at the latter period we
began to fear that there would be scarcely time to hear the rest; for not
only the privy council report was to be printed, but the contest itself was
to be decided by the evidence contained in it, in the existing session.

The examinations, however, went on, but they went on only slowly, being
still subject to interruption from the same unfortunate cause. Among others
I offered my mite of information again. I wished the council to see more of
my African productions and manufactures, that they might really know what
Africa was capable of affording instead of the Slave-trade, and that they
might make a proper estimate of the genius and talents of the natives. The
samples which I had collected, had been obtained by great labour, and at no
inconsiderable expense: for whenever I had notice that a vessel had arrived
immediately from that continent, I never hesitated to go, unless under the
most pressing engagements elsewhere, even as far as Bristol, if I could
pick up but a single new article. The Lords having consented, I selected
several things for their inspection out of my box, of the contents of which
the following account may not be unacceptable to the reader.

The first division of the box consisted of woods of about four inches
square, all polished. Among these were mahogany of five different sorts,
tulip-wood, satin-wood, cam-wood, bar-wood, fustic, black and yellow ebony,
palm-tree, mangrove, calabash, and date. There were seven woods of which
the native names were remembered: three of these, Tumiah, Samain, and
Jimlaké, were of a yellow colour; Acajoú was of a beautiful deep crimson;
Bork and Quellé were apparently fit for cabinet work; and Benten was the
wood of which the natives made their canoes. Of the various other woods the
names had been forgotten, nor were they known in England at all. One of
them was of a fine purple; and from two others, upon which the privy
council had caused experiments to be made, a strong yellow, a deep orange,
and a flesh-colour were extracted.

The second division included ivory and musk; four species of pepper, the
long, the black, the Cayenne, and the Malaguetta: three species of gum;
namely, Senegal, Copal, and ruber astringens; cinnamon, rice, tobacco,
indigo, white and Nankin cotton, Guinea corn, and millet; three species of
beans, of which two were used for food, and the other for dyeing orange;
two species of tamarinds, one for food, and the other to give whiteness to
the teeth; pulse, seeds, and fruits of various kinds, some of the latter of
which Dr. Spaarman had pronounced, from a trial during his residence in
Africa, to be peculiarly valuable as drugs.

The third division contained an African loom, and an African spindle with
spun cotton round it; cloths of cotton of various kinds, made by the
natives, some white, but others dyed by them of different colours, and
others, in which they had interwoven European silk; cloths and bags made of
grass, and fancifully coloured; ornaments made of the same materials; ropes
made from a species of aloes, and others, remarkably strong, from grass and
straw; fine string made from the fibres of the roots of trees; soap of two
kinds, one of which was formed from an earthy substance; pipe-bowls made of
clay, and of a brown red; one of these, which came from the village of
Dakard, was beautifully ornamented by black devices burnt in, and was
besides highly glazed; another, brought from Galàm was made of earth, which
was richly impregnated with little particles of gold; trinkets made by the
natives from their own gold; knives and daggers made by them from our
bar-iron; and various other articles, such as bags, sandals, dagger-cases,
quivers, grisgris, all made of leather of their own manufacture, and dyed
of various colours, and ingeniously sewed together.

The fourth division consisted of the thumb-screw, speculum oris, and chains
and shackles of different kinds, collected at Liverpool. To these were
added, iron neck-collars, and other instruments of punishment and
confinement, used in the West Indies, and collected at other places. The
instrument, also, by which Charles Horseler was mentioned to have been
killed, in the former volume, was to be seen among these.

We were now advanced far into February, when we were alarmed by the
intelligence that the Lords of the Council were going to prepare their
report. At this time we had sent but few persons to them to examine, in
comparison with our opponents, and we had yet eighteen to introduce: for
answers had come into my tables of questions from several places, and
persons had been pointed out to us by our correspondents, who had increased
our list of evidences to this number. I wrote therefore to them, at the
desire of the committee for the abolition, and gave them the names of the
eighteen, and requested that all of them might be examined. I requested
also, that they would order, for their own inspection, certain muster-rolls
of vessels from Poole and Dartmouth, that they might be convinced that the
objection which the Earl of Sandwich had made in the House of Lords,
against the abolition of the Slave-trade, had no solid foundation. In reply
to my first request they informed me, that it was impossible, in the
advanced state of the session (it being then the middle of March), that the
examinations of so many could be taken; but I was at liberty, in
conjunction with the Bishop of London, to select eight for this purpose.
This occasioned me to address them again; and I then found, to my surprise
and sorrow, that even this last number was to be diminished; for I was
informed in writing, "that the Bishop of London having laid my last letter
before their Lordships, they had agreed to meet on the Saturday next, and
on the Tuesday following, for the purpose of receiving the evidence of some
of the gentlemen named in it. And it was their Lordships' desire that I
would give notice to any three of them (whose information I might consider
as the most material) of the above determination, that they might attend
the committee accordingly."

This answer, considering the difficulties we had found in collecting a body
of evidence, and the critical situation in which we then were, was
peculiarly distressing; but we had no remedy left us, nor could we
reasonably complain. Three therefore were selected, and they were sent to
deliver their testimony on their arrival in town.

But before the last of these had left the council-room, who should come up
to me but Mr. Arnold! He had but lately arrived at Bristol from Africa; and
having heard from our friends there that we had been daily looking for him,
he had come to us in London. He and Mr. Gardiner were the two surgeons, as
mentioned in the former volume, who had promised me, when I was in Bristol,
in the year 1787, that they would keep a journal of facts for me during the
voyages they were then going to perform. They had both of them kept this
promise. Gardiner, I found, had died upon the Coast, and his journal,
having been discovered at his death, had been buried with him in great
triumph. But Arnold had survived, and he came now to offer us his services
in the cause.

As it was a pity that such correct information as that taken down in
writing upon the spot should be lost (for all the other evidences, except
Dr. Spaarman and Mr. Wadstrom, had spoken from their memory only), I made
all the interest I could to procure a hearing for Mr. Arnold. Pleading now
for the examination of him only, and under these particular circumstances,
I was attended to. It was consented, in consequence of the little time
which was now left for preparing and printing the Report, that I should
make out his evidence from his journal under certain heads. This I did. Mr.
Arnold swore to the truth of it, when so drawn up, before Edward Montague,
esquire, a master in chancery. He then delivered the paper in which it was
contained to the Lords of the Council, who, on receiving it, read it
throughout, and then questioned him upon it.

At this time, also, my brother returned with accounts and papers relative
to the Slave-trade, from Havre de Grace; but as I had pledged myself to
offer no other person to be examined, his evidence was lost. Thus, after
all the pains we had taken, and in a contest, too, on the success of which
our own reputation and the fate of Africa depended, we were obliged to
fight the battle with sixteen less than we could have brought into the
field; while our opponents, on the other hand, on account of their superior
advantages, had mustered all their forces, not having omitted a single man.

I do not know of any period of my life in which I suffered so much both in
body and mind, as from the time of resuming these public inquiries by the
privy council, to the time when they were closed. For I had my weekly duty
to attend at the committee for the abolition during this interval. I had to
take down the examinations of all the evidences who came to London, and to
make certain copies of these. I had to summon these to town, and to make
provision against all accidents; and here I was often troubled by means of
circumstances, which unexpectedly occurred, lest, when committees of the
council had been purposely appointed to hear them, they should not be
forthcoming at the time. I had also a new and extensive correspondence to
keep up; for the tables of questions which had been sent down to our
correspondents, brought letters almost innumerable on this subject, and
they were always addressed to me. These not only required answers of
themselves, but as they usually related to persons capable of giving their
testimony, and contained the particulars of what they could state, they
occasioned fresh letters to be written to others. Hence the writing of ten
or twelve daily became necessary.

But the contents of these letters afforded the circumstances, which gave
birth to so much suffering. They contained usually some affecting tale of
woe. At Bristol my feelings had been harassed by the cruel treatment of the
seamen, which had come to my knowledge there: but now I was doomed to see
this treatment over again in many other melancholy instances; and
additionally to take in the various sufferings of the unhappy slaves. These
accounts I could seldom get time to read till late in the evening, and
sometimes not till midnight, when the letters containing them were to be
answered. The effect of these accounts was in some instances to overwhelm
me for a time in tears, and in others to produce a vivid indignation, which
affected my whole frame. Recovering from these, I walked up and down the
room. I felt fresh vigour, and made new determinations of perpetual warfare
against this impious trade. I implored strength that I might proceed. I
then sat down, and continued my work as long as my wearied eyes would
permit me to see. Having been agitated in this manner, I went to bed: but
my rest was frequently broken by the visions which floated before me. When
I awoke, these renewed themselves to me, and they flitted about with me for
the remainder of the day. Thus I was kept continually harassed: my mind was
confined to one gloomy and heart-breaking subject for months. It had no
respite, and my health began now materially to suffer.

But the contents of these letters were particularly grievous, on account of
the severe labours which they necessarily entailed upon me in other ways
than those which have been mentioned. It was my duty, while the privy
council examinations went on, not only to attend to all the evidence which
was presented to us by our correspondents, but to find out and select the
best. The happiness of millions depended upon it. Hence I was often obliged
to travel during these examinations, in order to converse with those who
had been pointed out to us as capable of giving their testimony; and, that
no time might be lost, to do this in the night. More than two hundred miles
in a week were sometimes passed over on these occasions.

The disappointments too, which I frequently experienced in these journeys,
increased the poignancy of the suffering, which arose from a contemplation
of the melancholy cases which I had thus travelled to bring forward to the
public view. The reader at present can have no idea of these. I have been
sixty miles to visit a person, of whom I had heard, not only as possessing
important knowledge, but as espousing our opinions on this subject. I have
at length seen him. He has applauded my pursuit at our first interview. He
has told me, in the course of our conversation, that neither my own pen,
nor that of any other man, could describe adequately the horrors of the
Slave-trade, horrors which he himself had witnessed. He has exhorted me to
perseverance in this noble cause. Could I have wished for a more favourable
reception?--But mark the issue. He was the nearest relation of a rich
person concerned in the traffic; and if he were to come forward with his
evidence publicly, he should ruin all his expectations from that quarter.
In the same week I have visited another at a still greater distance. I have
met with similar applause. I have heard him describe scenes of misery which
he had witnessed, and on the relation of which he himself almost wept. But
mark the issue again.--"I am a surgeon," says he: "through that window you
see a spacious house. It is occupied by a West Indian. The medical
attendance upon his family is of considerable importance to the temporal
interests of mine. If I give you my evidence I lose his patronage. At the
house above him lives an East Indian. The two families are connected: I
fear, if I lose the support of one, I shall lose that of the other also:
but I will give you privately all the intelligence in my power."

The reader may now conceive the many miserable hours I must have spent,
after such visits, in returning home; and how grievously my heart must have
been afflicted by these cruel disappointments, but more particularly where
they arose from causes inferior to those which have been now mentioned, or
from little frivolous excuses, or idle and unfounded conjectures, unworthy
of beings expected to fill a moral station in life. Yes, O man! often in
these solitary journeyings have I exclaimed against the baseness of thy
nature, when reflecting on the little paltry considerations which have
smothered thy benevolence, and hindered thee from succouring an oppressed
brother. And yet, on a further view of things, I have reasoned myself into
a kinder feeling towards thee. For I have been obliged to consider
ultimately, that there were both lights and shades in the human character;
and that, if the bad part of our nature was visible on these occasions, the
nobler part of it ought not to be forgotten. While I passed a censure upon
those, who were backward in serving this great cause of humanity and
justice, how many did I know, who were toiling in the support of it! I drew
also this consolation from my reflections, that I had done my duty; that I
had left nothing untried or undone; that amidst all these disappointments I
had collected information, which might be useful at a future time; and that
such disappointments were almost inseparable from the prosecution of a
cause of such magnitude, and where the interests of so many were concerned.
Having now given a general account of my own proceedings, I shall state
those of the committee; or show how they contributed, by fulfilling the
duties of their several departments, to promote the cause in the interim.

In the first place they completed the rules, or code of laws, for their own
government.

They continued to adopt and circulate books, that they might still
enlighten the public mind on the subject, and preserve it interested in
favour of their institution. They kept the press indeed almost constantly
going for this purpose. They printed, within the period mentioned, Ramsay's
Address on the proposed Bill for the Abolition; The Speech of Henry
Beaufoy, esquire, on Sir William Dolben's Bill, of which an extract was
given in the first volume; Notes by a Planter on the two Reports from the
Committee of the honourable House of Assembly of Jamaica; Observations on
the Slave-trade by Mr. Wadstrom; and Dickson's Letters on Slavery. These
were all new publications. To those they added others of less note, with
new editions of the old.

They voted their thanks to the reverend Mr. Gifford, for his excellent
sermon on the Slave-trade; to the pastor and congregation of the Baptist
church at Maze Pond, Southwark, for their liberal subscription; and to John
Barton, one of their own members, for the services he had rendered them.
The latter, having left his residence in town for one in the country,
solicited permission to resign, and hence this mark of approbation was
given to him. He was continued also as an honorary and corresponding
member.

They elected David Hartley and Richard Sharpe, esquires, into their own
body, and Alexander Jaffray, esquire, the reverend Charles Symmons of
Haverfordwest, and the reverend T. Burgess (now bishop of St. David's), as
honorary and corresponding members. The latter had written Considerations
on the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave-trade upon Grounds of natural,
religious, and political Duty, which had been of great service to the
cause.

Of the new correspondents of the committee within this period I may first
mention Henry Taylor, of North Shields; William Proud, of Hull; the
reverend T. Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge; and William Ellford, esquire, of
Plymouth. The latter, as chairman of the Plymouth committee, sent up for
inspection an engraving of a plan and section of a slave-ship, in which the
bodies of the slaves were seen stowed in the proportion of rather less than
one to a ton. This happy invention gave all those, who saw it, a much
better idea than they could otherwise have had of the horrors of their
transportation, and contributed greatly, as will appear afterwards, to
impress the public in favour of our cause.

The next, whom I shall mention, was C.L. Evans, esquire, of West Bromwich;
the reverend T. Clarke, of Hull; S.P. Wolferstan, esquire, of Stafford near
Tamworth; Edmund Lodge, esquire, of Halifax; the reverend Caleb Rotheram,
of Kendal; and Mr. Campbell Haliburton, of Edinburgh. The news which Mr.
Haliburton sent was very agreeable. He informed us that, in consequence of
the great exertions of Mr. Alison, an institution had been formed in
Edinburgh, similar to that in London, which would take all Scotland under
its care and management, as far as related to this great subject. He
mentioned Lord Gardenston as the chairman; Sir William Forbes as the deputy
chairman; himself as the secretary; and Lord Napier, professor Andrew
Hunter, professor Greenfield, and William Creech, Adam Rolland, Alexander
Ferguson, John Dickson, John Erskine, John Campbell, Archibald Gibson,
Archibald Fletcher, and Horatius Canning, esquires, as the committee.

The others were, the reverend J. Bidlake, of Plymouth; Joseph Storrs, of
Chesterfield; William Fothergill, of Carr End, Yorkshire; J. Seymour, of
Coventry; Moses Neave, of Poole; Joseph Taylor, of Scarborough; Timothy
Clark, of Doncaster; Thomas Davis, of Milverton; George Croker Fox, of
Falmouth; Benjamin Grubb, of Clonmell in Ireland; Sir William Forbes, of
Edinburgh; the reverend J. Jamieson, of Forfar; and Joseph Gurney, of
Norwich; the latter of whom sent up a remittance, and intelligence at the
same time, that a committee, under Mr. Leigh, so often before mentioned,
had been formed in that city[A].

[Footnote A: On the removal of Mr. Leigh from Norwich, Dr. Pretyman,
precentor of Lincoln and a prebend of Norwich, succeeded him.]

But the committee in London, while they were endeavouring to promote the
object of their institution at home, continued their exertions for the same
purpose abroad within this period.

They kept up a communication with the different societies established in
America.

They directed their attention also to the continent of Europe. They had
already applied, as I mentioned before, to the King of Sweden in favour of
their cause, and had received a gracious answer. They now attempted to
interest other potentates in it. For this purpose they bound up in an
elegant manner two sets of the Essays on the Slavery and Commerce of the
Human Species and on the Impolicy of the Slave-trade, and sent them to the
Chevalier de Pinto, in Portugal. They bound up in a similar manner three
sets of the same, and sent them to Mr. Eden (now Lord Auckland), at Madrid,
to be given to the King of Spain, the Count d'Aranda, and the Marquis del
Campomanes.

They kept up their correspondence with the committee at Paris, which had
greatly advanced itself in the eyes of the French nation; so that, when the
different bailliages sent deputies to the States General, they instructed
them to take the Slave-trade into their consideration as a national object,
and with a view to its abolition.

They kept up their correspondence with Dr. Frossard of Lyons. He had
already published in France on the subject of the Slave-trade; and now he
offered the committee to undertake the task, so long projected by them, of
collecting such arguments and facts concerning it, and translating them
into different languages, as might be useful in forwarding their views in
foreign parts.

They addressed letters also to various individuals, to Monsieur Snetlage,
doctor of laws at Halle in Saxony; to Monsieur Ladebat, of Bourdeaux; to
the Marquis de Feuillade d'Aubusson, at Paris; and to Monsieur Necker.
The latter in his answer replied in part as follows: "As this great
question," says he, "is not in my department, but in that of the minister
for the Colonies, I cannot interfere in it directly, but I will give
indirectly all the assistance in my power. I have for a long time taken
an interest in the general alarm on this occasion, and in the noble
alliance of the friends of humanity in favour of the injured Africans.
Such an attempt throws a new lustre over your nation. It is not yet,
however, a national object in France. But the moment may perhaps come;
and I shall think myself happy in preparing the way for it. You must
be aware, however, of the difficulties which we shall have to encounter
on our side of the water; for our colonies are much more considerable
than yours; so that in the view of political interest we are not on an
equal footing. It will therefore be necessary to find some middle line
at first, as it cannot be expected that humanity alone will be the
governing principle of mankind."

But the day was now drawing near, when it was expected that this great
contest would be decided. Mr. Wilberforce on the nineteenth of March rose
up in the House of Commons, and desired the resolution to be read, by which
the house stood pledged to take the Slave-trade into their consideration in
the then session. He then moved that the house should resolve itself into a
committee of the whole house on Thursday, the twenty-third of April, for
this purpose. This motion was agreed to; after which he moved for certain
official documents, necessary to throw light upon the subject in the course
of its discussion.

This motion, by means of which the great day of trial was now fixed, seemed
to be the signal for the planters, merchants, and other interested persons
to begin a furious opposition. Meetings were accordingly called by
advertisement. At these meetings much warmth and virulence were manifested
in debate, and propositions breathing a spirit of anger were adopted. It
was suggested there, in the vehemence of passion, that the Islands could
exist independently of the Mother-country; nor were even threats withheld
to intimidate government from effecting the abolition.

From this time, also, the public papers began to be filled with such
statements as were thought most likely to influence the members of the
House of Commons, previously to the discussion of the question.

The first impression attempted to be made upon them was with respect to the
slaves themselves. It was contended, and attempted to be shown by the
revival of the old argument of human sacrifices in Africa, that these were
better off in the islands than in their own country. It was contended also,
that they were people of very inferior capacities, and but little removed
from the brute creation; whence an inference was drawn, that their
treatment, against which so much clamour had arisen, was adapted to their
intellect and feelings.

The next attempt was to degrade the abolitionists in the opinion of the
house, by showing the wildness and absurdity of their schemes. It was again
insisted upon that emancipation was the real object of the former; so that
thousands of slaves would be let loose in the islands to rob or perish, and
who could never be brought back again into habits of useful industry.

An attempt was then made to excite their pity in behalf of the planters.
The abolition, it was said, would produce insurrections among the slaves.
But insurrections would produce the massacre of their masters; and, if any
of these should happily escape from butchery, they would be reserved only
for ruin.

An appeal was then made to them on the ground of their own interest and of
that of the people, whom they represented. It was stated that the ruin of
the islands would be the ruin of themselves and of the country. Its revenue
would be half annihilated. Its naval strength would decay. Merchants,
manufacturers and others would come to beggary. But in this deplorable
situation they would expect to be indemnified for their losses.
Compensation indeed must follow. It could not be withheld. But what would
be the amount of it? The country would have no less than from eighty to a
hundred millions to pay the sufferers; and it would be driven to such
distress in paying this sum us it had never before experienced.

The last attempt was to show them that a regulation of the trade was all
that was now wanted. While this would remedy the evils complained of, it
would prevent the mischief which would assuredly follow the abolition. The
planters had already done their part. The assemblies of the different
islands had most of them made wholesome laws upon the subject. The very
bills passed for this purpose in Jamaica and Grenada had arrived in
England, and might be seen by the public: the great grievances had
been redressed: no slave could now be mutilated or wantonly killed
by his owner; one man could not now maltreat, or bruise, or wound
the slave of another; the aged could not now be turned off to perish
by hunger. There were laws also relative to the better feeding and
clothing of the slaves. It remained only that the trade to Africa
should be put under as wise and humane regulations as the slavery in
the islands had undergone.

These different statements, appearing now in the public papers from day to
day, began, in this early stage of the question, when the subject in all
its bearings was known but to few, to make a considerable impression upon
those, who were soon to be called to the decision of it. But that, which
had the greatest effect upon them, was the enormous amount of the
compensation, which, it was said, must be made. This statement against the
abolition was making its way so powerfully, that Archdeacon Paley thought
it his duty to write, and to send to the committee, a little treatise
called Arguments against the unjust Pretensions of Slave-dealers and
Holders, to be indemnified by pecuniary Allowances at the public Expense in
case the Slave-trade should be abolished. This treatise, when the substance
of it was detailed in the public papers, had its influence upon several
members of the House of Commons. But there were others, who had been as it
were panic-struck by the statement. These in their fright seemed to have
lost the right use of their eyes, or to have looked through a magnifying
glass. With these the argument of emancipation, which they would have
rejected at another time as ridiculous, obtained now easy credit. The
massacres too and the ruin, though only conjectural, they admitted also.
Hence some of them deserted our cause wholly, while others, wishing to do
justice as far as they could to the slaves on the one hand, and to their
own countrymen on the other, adopted a middle line of conduct, and would go
no further than the regulation of the trade.

While these preparations were making by our opponents to prejudice the
minds of those, who were to be the judges in this contest, Mr. Pitt
presented the privy council report at the bar of the House of Commons; and
as it was a large folio volume, and contained the evidence upon which the
question was to be decided, it was necessary that time should be given to
the members to peruse it. Accordingly the twelfth of May was appointed,
instead of the twenty-third of April, for the discussion of the question.

This postponement of the discussion of the question gave time to all
parties to prepare themselves further. The merchants and planters availed
themselves of it to collect petitions to parliament from interested persons
against the abolition of the trade, to wait upon members of parliament by
deputation, in order to solicit their attendance in their favour, and to
renew their injurious paragraphs in the public papers. The committee for
the abolition availed themselves of it to reply to these; and here Dr.
Dickson, who had been secretary to Governor Hey, in Barbadoes, and who had
offered the committee his Letters on Slavery before mentioned and his
services also, was of singular use. Many members of parliament availed
themselves of it to retire into the country to read the report. Among the
latter were Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Pitt. In this retirement they
discovered, notwithstanding the great disadvantages under which we had
laboured with respect to evidence, that our cause was safe, and that, as
far as it was to be decided by reason and sound policy, it would triumph.
It was in this retirement that Mr. Pitt made those able calculations, which
satisfied him for ever after, as the minister of the country, as to the
safety of the great measure of the abolition of the Slave-trade; for he had
clearly proved, that not only the islands could go on in a flourishing
state without supplies from the coast of Africa, but that they were then in
a condition to do it.

At length, the twelfth of May arrived. Mr. Wilberforce rose up in the
Commons, and moved the order of the day for the house to resolve itself
into a committee of the whole house, to take into consideration the
petitions, which had been presented against the Slave-trade.

This order having been read, he moved that the report of the committee of
privy council; that the acts passed in the islands relative to slaves; that
the evidence adduced last year on the Slave-trade; that the petitions
offered in the last session against the Slave-trade; and that the accounts
presented to the house, in the last and present session, relative to the
exports and imports to Africa, be referred to the same committee.

These motions having been severally agreed to, the house immediately
resolved itself into a committee of the whole house, and Sir William Dolben
was put into the chair.

Mr. Wilberforce began by declaring, that, when he considered how much
discussion the subject, which he was about to explain to the committee, had
occasioned not only in that house but throughout the kingdom, and
throughout Europe; and when he considered the extent and importance of it,
the variety of interests involved in it, and the consequences which might
arise, he owned he had been filled with apprehensions, lest a subject of
such magnitude, and a cause of such weight, should suffer from the weakness
of its advocate; but when he recollected that in the progress of his
inquiries he had every where been received with candour, that most people
gave him credit for the purity of his motives, and that, however many of
these might then differ from him, they were all likely to agree in the end,
he had dismissed his fears and marched forward with a firmer step in this
cause of humanity, justice and religion. He could not, however, but lament
that the subject had excited so much warmth. He feared that too many on
this account were but ill prepared to consider it with impartiality. He
entreated all such to endeavour to be calm and composed. A fair and cool
discussion was essentially necessary. The motion he meant to offer was as
reconcileable to political expediency as to national humanity. It belonged
to no party-question. It would in the end be found serviceable to all
parties; and to the best interests of the country. He did not come forward
to accuse the West India planter, or the Liverpool merchant, or indeed any
one concerned in this traffic; but, if blame attached any where, to take
shame to himself, in common indeed with the whole parliament of Great
Britain, who, having suffered it to be carried on under their own
authority, were all of them participators in the guilt.

In endeavouring to explain the great business of the day, he said he should
call the attention of the house only to the leading features of the
Slave-trade. Nor should he dwell long upon these. Every one might imagine
for himself, what must be the natural consequence of such a commerce with
Africa. Was it not plain that she must suffer from it? that her savage
manners must be rendered still more ferocious? and that a trade of this
nature, carried on round her coasts, must extend violence and desolation to
her very centre? It was well known that the natives of Africa were sold as
goods, and that numbers of them were continually conveyed away from their
country by the owners of British vessels. The question then was, which way
the latter came by them. In answer to this question the privy council
report, which was then on the table, afforded evidence the most
satisfactory and conclusive. He had found things in it, which had confirmed
every proposition he had maintained before, whether this proposition had
been gathered from living information of the best authority, or from the
histories he had read. But it was unnecessary either to quote the report,
or to appeal to history on this occasion. Plain reason and common sense
would point out how the poor Africans were obtained. Africa was a country
divided into many kingdoms, which had different governments and laws. In
many parts the princes were despotic. In others they had a limited rule.
But in all of them, whatever the nature of the government was, men were
considered as goods and property, and, as such, subject to plunder in the
same manner as property in other countries. The persons in power there were
naturally fond of our commodities; and to obtain them (which could only be
done by the sale of their countrymen) they waged war on one another, or
even ravaged their own country, when they could find no pretence for
quarrelling with their neighbours; in their courts of law many poor
wretches, who were innocent, were condemned; and, to obtain these
commodities in greater abundance, thousands were kidnapped and torn from
their families and sent into slavery. Such transactions, he said, were
recorded in every history of Africa, and the report on the table confirmed
them. With respect, however, to these he should make but one or two
observations. If we looked into the reign of Henry the Eighth, we should
find a parallel for one of them. We should find that similar convictions
took place; and that penalties followed conviction.

With respect to wars, the kings of Africa were never induced to engage in
them by public principles, by national glory, and least of all by the love
of their people. This had been stated by those most conversant in the
subject, by Dr. Spaarman and Mr. Wadstrom. They had conversed with these
princes, and had learned from their own mouths, that to procure slaves was
the object of their hostilities. Indeed, there was scarcely a single person
examined before the privy council, who did not prove that the Slave-trade
was the source of the tragedies acted upon that extensive continent. Some
had endeavoured to palliate this circumstance; but there was not one who
did not more or less admit it to be true. By one the Slave-trade was called
the concurrent cause, by the majority it was acknowledged to be the
principal motive of the African wars. The same might be said with respect
to those instances of treachery and injustice, in which individuals were
concerned. And here he was sorry to observe that our own countrymen were
often guilty. He would only at present advert to the tragedy at Calabàr,
where two large African villages, having been for some time at war, made
peace. This peace was to have been ratified by intermarriages; but some of
our captains, who were there, seeing their trade would be stopped for a
while, sowed dissension again between them. They actually set one village
against the other, took a share in the contest, massacred many of the
inhabitants, and carried others of them away as slaves. But shocking as
this transaction might appear, there was not a single history of Africa to
be read, in which scenes of as atrocious a nature were not related. They,
he said, who defended this trade, were warped and blinded by their own
interests, and would not be convinced of the miseries they were daily
heaping on their fellow-creatures. By the countenance they gave it, they
had reduced the inhabitants of Africa to a worse state than that of the
most barbarous nation. They had destroyed what ought to have been the bond
of union and safety among them: they had introduced discord and anarchy
among them: they had set kings against their subjects, and subjects against
each other: they had rendered every private family wretched: they had, in
short, given birth to scenes of injustice and misery not to be found in any
other quarter of the globe.

Having said thus much on the subject of procuring slaves in Africa, he
would now go to that of the transportation of them. And here he had fondly
hoped, that when men with affections and feelings like our own had been
torn from their country, and every thing dear to them, he should have found
some mitigation of their sufferings; but the sad reverse was the case. This
was the most wretched part of the whole subject. He was incapable of
impressing the house with what he felt upon it. A description of their
conveyance was impossible. So much misery condensed in so little room was
more than the human imagination had ever before conceived. Think only of
six hundred persons linked together, trying to get rid of each other,
crammed in a close vessel with every object that was nauseous and
disgusting, diseased, and struggling with all the varieties of
wretchedness. It seemed impossible to add any thing more to human misery.
Yet shocking as this description must be felt to be by every man, the
transportation had been described by several witnesses from Liverpool to be
a comfortable conveyance. Mr. Norris had painted the accommodations on
board a slave-ship in the most glowing colours. He had represented them in
a manner which would have exceeded his attempts at praise of the most
luxurious scenes. Their apartments, he said, were fitted up as
advantageously for them as circumstances could possibly admit: they had
several meals a day; some, of their own country provisions, with the best
sauces of African cookery; and, by way of variety, another meal of pulse,
according to the European taste. After breakfast they had water to wash
themselves, while their apartments were perfumed with frankincense and
lime-juice. Before dinner they were amused after the manner of their
country; instruments of music were introduced: the song and the dance were
promoted: games of chance were furnished them: the men played and sang,
while the women and girls made fanciful ornaments from beads, with which
they were plentifully supplied. They were indulged in all their little
fancies, and kept in sprightly humour. Another of them had said, when the
sailors were flogged, it was out of the hearing of the Africans, lest it
should depress their spirits. He by no means wished to say that such
descriptions were wilful misrepresentations. If they were not, it proved
that interest of prejudice was capable of spreading a film over the eyes
thick enough to occasion total blindness.

Others, however, and these men of the greatest veracity, had given a
different account. What would the house think, when by the concurring
testimony of these the true history was laid open? The slaves who had been
described as rejoicing in their captivity, were so wrung with misery at
leaving their country, that it was the constant practice to set sail in the
night, lest they should know the moment of their departure. With respect to
their accommodation, the right ancle of one was fastened to the left ancle
of another by an iron fetter; and if they were turbulent, by another on the
wrists. Instead of the apartments described, they were placed in niches,
and along the decks, in such a manner, that it was impossible for any one
to pass among them, however careful he might be, without treading upon
them. Sir George Yonge had testified, that in a slave-ship, on board of
which he went, and which had not completed her cargo by two hundred and
fifty, instead of the scent of frankincense being perceptible to the
nostrils, the stench was intolerable. The allowance of water was so
deficient, that the slaves were frequently found gasping for life, and
almost suffocated. The pulse with which they had been said to be favoured,
were absolutely English horse-beans. The legislature of Jamaica had stated
the scantiness both of water and provisions, as a subject which called for
the interference of parliament. As Mr. Norris had said, the song and the
dance were promoted, he could not pass over these expressions without
telling the house what they meant. It would have been much more fair if he
himself had explained the word _promoted_. The truth was, that, for the
sake of exercise, these miserable wretches, loaded with chains and
oppressed with disease, were forced to dance by the terror of the lash, and
sometimes by the actual use of it. "I," said one of the evidences, "was
employed to dance the men, while another person danced the women." Such
then was the meaning of the word _promoted_; and it might also be observed
with respect to food, that instruments were sometimes carried out, in order
to force them to eat; which was the same sort of proof, how much they
enjoyed themselves in this instance also. With respect to their singing, it
consisted of songs of lamentation for the loss of their country. While they
sung they were in tears: so that one of the captains, more humane probably
than the rest, threatened a woman with a flogging because the mournfulness
of her song was too painful for his feelings. Perhaps he could not give a
better proof of the sufferings of these injured people during their
passage, than by stating the mortality which accompanied it. This was a
species of evidence which was infallible on this occasion. Death was a
witness which could not deceive them; and the proportion of deaths would
not only confirm, but, if possible, even aggravate our suspicion of the
misery of the transit. It would be found, upon an average of all the ships,
upon which evidence had been given, that, exclusively of such as perished
before they sailed from Africa, not less than twelve and a half per cent
died on their passage: besides these, the Jamaica report stated that four
and a half per cent died while in the harbours, or on shore before the day
of sale, which was only about the space of twelve or fourteen days after
their arrival there; and one third more died in the seasoning: and this in
a climate exactly similar to their own, and where, as some of the witnesses
pretended, they were healthy and happy. Thus, out of every lot of one
hundred, shipped from Africa, seventeen died in about nine weeks, and not
more than fifty lived to become effective labourers in our islands.

Having advanced thus far in his investigation, he felt, he said, the
wickedness of the Slave-trade to be so enormous, so dreadful, and
irremediable, that he could stop at no alternative short of its abolition.
A trade founded on iniquity, and carried on with such circumstances of
horror, must be abolished, let the policy of it be what it might; and he
had from this time determined, whatever were the consequences, that he
would never rest till he had effected that abolition. His mind had indeed
been harassed by the objections of the West India planters, who had
asserted, that the ruin of their property must be the consequence of such a
measure. He could not help, however, distrusting their arguments. He could
not believe that the Almighty Being, who had forbidden the practice of
rapine and bloodshed, had made rapine and bloodshed necessary to any part
of his universe. He felt a confidence in this persuasion, and took the
resolution to act upon it. Light indeed soon broke in upon him. The
suspicion of his mind was every day confirmed by increasing information,
and the evidence he had now to offer upon this point was decisive and
complete. The principle upon which he founded the necessity of the
abolition was not policy, but justice: but, though justice were the
principle of the measure, yet he trusted he should distinctly prove it to
be reconcileable with our truest political interest.

In the first place, he asserted that the number of the slaves in our West
India islands might be kept up without the introduction of recruits from
Africa; and to prove this, he would enumerate the different sources of
their mortality. The first was the disproportion of the sexes, there being,
upon an average, about five males imported to three females: but this evil,
when the Slave-trade was abolished, would cure itself. The second consisted
in the bad condition in which they were brought to the islands, and the
methods of preparing them for sale. They arrived frequently in a sickly and
disordered state, and then they were made up for the market by the
application of astringents, washes, mercurial ointments, and repelling
drugs, so that their wounds and diseases might be hid. These artifices were
not only fraudulent but fatal: but these, it was obvious, would of
themselves fall with the trade. A third was, excessive labour joined with
improper food; and a fourth was, the extreme dissoluteness of their
manners. These also would both of them be counteracted by the impossibility
of getting further supplies: for owners, now unable to replace those slaves
whom they might lose, by speedy purchases in the markets, would be more
careful how they treated them in future, and a better treatment would be
productive of better morals. And here he would just advert to an argument
used against those who complained of cruelty in our islands, which was,
that it was the interest of masters to treat their slaves with humanity:
but surely it was immediate and present, not future and distant, interest,
which was the great spring of action in the affairs of mankind. Why did we
make laws to punish men? It was their interest to be upright and virtuous:
but there was a present impulse continually breaking in upon their better
judgment, and an impulse, which was known to be contrary to their permanent
advantage. It was ridiculous to say that men would be bound by their
interest, when gain or ardent passion urged them. It might as well be
asserted that a stone could not be thrown into the air, or a body move from
place to place, because the principle of gravitation bound them to the
surface of the earth. If a planter in the West Indies found himself reduced
in his profits, he did not usually dispose of any part of his slaves; and
his own gratifications were never given up, so long as there was a
possibility of making any retrenchment in the allowance of his slaves.--But
to return to the subject which he had left: He was happy to state, that as
all the causes of the decrease which he had stated might be remedied, so,
by the progress of light and reformation, these remedies had been gradually
coming into practice; and that, as these had increased, the decrease of
slaves had in an equal proportion been lessened. By the gradual adoption of
these remedies, he could prove from the report on the table, that the
decrease of slaves in Jamaica had lessened to such a degree, that from the
year 1774 to the present it was not quite one in a hundred, and that in
fact they were at present in a state of increase; for that the births in
that island, at this moment, exceeded the deaths by one thousand or eleven
hundred per annum. Barbadoes, Nevis, Antigua, and the Bermudas, were, like
Jamaica, lessening their decrease, and holding forth an evident and
reasonable expectation of a speedy state of increase by natural population.
But allowing the number of negros even to decrease for a time, there were
methods which would ensure the welfare of the West India islands. The lands
there might be cultivated by fewer hands, and this to greater advantage to
the proprietors and to this country, by the produce of cinnamon, coffee,
and cotton, than by that of sugar. The produce of the plantations might
also be considerably increased, even in the case of sugar, with less hands
than were at present employed, if the owners of them would but introduce
machines of husbandry. Mr. Long himself, long resident as a planter, had
proved, upon his own estate, that the plough, though so little used in the
West Indies, did the service of a hundred slaves, and caused the same
ground to produce three hogsheads of sugar, which, when cultivated by
slaves, would only produce two. The division of work, which, in free and
civilized countries, was the grand source of wealth, and the reduction of
the number of domestic servants, of whom not less than from twenty to forty
were kept in ordinary families, afforded other resources for this purpose.
But, granting that all these suppositions should be unfounded, and that
every one of these substitutes should fail for a time, the planters would
be indemnified, as is the case in all transactions of commerce, by the
increased price of their produce in the British market. Thus, by contending
against the abolition, they were defeated in every part of the argument.
But he would never give up the point, that the number of the slaves could
be kept up by natural population, and without any dependence whatever on
the Slave-trade. He therefore called upon the house again to abolish it as
a criminal waste of life--it was utterly unnecessary--he had proved it so
by documents contained in the report. The merchants of Liverpool, indeed,
had thought otherwise, but he should be cautious how he assented to their
opinions. They declared last year that it was a losing trade at two slaves
to a ton, and yet they pursued it when restricted to five slaves to three
tons. He believed, however, that it was upon the whole a losing concern; in
the same manner as the lottery would be a losing adventure to any company
who should buy all the tickets. Here and there an individual gained a large
prize, but the majority of adventurers gained nothing. The same merchants,
too, had asserted that the town of Liverpool would be ruined by the
abolition. But Liverpool did not depend for its consequence upon the
Slave-trade. The whole export-tonnage from that place amounted to no less
than 170,000 tons; whereas the export part of it to Africa amounted only to
13,000. Liverpool, he was sure, owed its greatness to other and very
different causes; the Slave-trade bearing but a small proportion to its
other trades.

Having gone through that part of the subject which related to the slaves,
he would now answer two objections which he had frequently heard started.
The first of these was, that the abolition of the Slave-trade would operate
to the total ruin of our navy, and to the increase of that of our rivals.
For an answer to these assertions, he referred, to what he considered to be
the most valuable part of the report, and for which the house and the
country were indebted to the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Clarkson. By
the report it appeared, that, instead of the Slave-trade being a nursery
for British seamen, it was their grave. It appeared that more seamen died
in that trade in one year than in the whole remaining trade of the country
in two. Out of 910 sailors in it, 216 died in the year, while upon a fair
average of the same number of men employed in the trades to the East and
West Indies, Petersburgh, Newfoundland, and Greenland, no more than 87
died. It appeared also, that out of 3170, who had left Liverpool in the
slave-ships in the year 1787, only 1428 had returned. And here, while he
lamented the loss which the country thus annually sustained in her seamen,
he had additionally to lament the barbarous usage which they experienced,
and which this trade, by its natural tendency to harden the heart,
exclusively produced. He would just read an extract of a letter from
Governor Parrey, of Barbadoes, to Lord Sydney, one of the secretaries of
state. The Governor declared he could no longer contain himself on account
of the ill treatment, which the British sailors endured at the hands of
their savage captains. These were obliged to have their vessels strongly
manned, not only on account of the unhealthiness of the climate of Africa,
but of the necessity of guarding the slaves, and preventing and suppressing
insurrections; and when they arrived in the West Indies, and were out of
all danger from the latter, they quarrelled with their men on the most
frivolous pretences, on purpose to discharge them, and thus save the
payment of supernumerary wages home. Thus many were left in a diseased and
deplorable state; either to perish by sickness, or to enter into foreign
service; great numbers of whom were for ever lost to their country. The
Governor concluded by declaring, that the enormities attendant on this
trade were so great, as to demand the immediate interference of the
legislature.


The next objection to the abolition was, that if we were to relinquish the
Slave-trade, our rivals, the French, would take it up; so that, while we
should suffer by the measure, the evil would still go on, and this even to
its former extent. This was, indeed, a very weak argument; and, if it would
defend the continuance of the Slave-trade, might equally be urged in favour
of robbery, murder, and every species of wickedness, which, if we did not
practise, others would commit. But suppose, for the sake of argument, that
they were to take it up. What good would it do them? What advantages, for
instance, would they derive from this pestilential commerce to their
marine? Should not we, on the other hand, be benefited by this change?
Would they not be obliged to come to us, in consequence of the cheapness of
our manufactures, for what they wanted for the African market? But he would
not calumniate the French nation so much as to suppose that they would
carry on the trade if we were to relinquish it. He believed, on the other
hand, that they would abolish it also. Mr. Necker, the present minister of
France, was a man of religious principle; and, in his work upon the
administration of the finances, had recorded his abhorrence of this trade.
He was happy also to relate an anecdote of the present King of France,
which proved that he was a friend to the abolition; for, being petitioned
to dissolve a society, formed at Paris, for the annihilation of the
Slave-trade, his majesty answered, that he would not, and was happy to hear
that so humane an association was formed in his dominions. And here, having
mentioned the society in Paris, he could not help paying a due compliment
to that established in London for the same purpose, which had laboured with
the greatest assiduity to make this important subject understood, and which
had conducted itself with so much judgment and moderation as to have
interested men of all religions, and to have united them in their cause.

There was another topic which he would submit to the notice of the house
before he concluded. They were perhaps not aware, that a fair and
honourable trade might be substituted in the natural productions of Africa,
so that our connection with that continent in the way of commercial
advantage need not be lost. The natives had already made some advances in
it; and if they had not appeared so forward in raising and collecting their
own produce for sale as in some other countries, it was to be imputed to
the Slave-trade: but remove the cause, and Africa would soon emerge from
her present ignorant and indolent state. Civilization would go on with her
as well as with other nations. Europe three or four centuries ago was in
many parts as barbarous as Africa at present, and chargeable with as bad
practices. For, what would be said, if, so late as the middle of the
thirteenth century, he could find a parallel there for the
Slave-trade?--Yes. This parallel was to be found even in England. The
people of Bristol, in the reign of Henry the Seventh, had a regular market
for children, which were bought by the Irish: but the latter having
experienced a general calamity, which they imputed as a judgment from
Heaven on account of this wicked traffic, abolished it. The only thing,
therefore, which he had to solicit of the house, was to show that they were
now as enlightened as the Irish were four centuries back, by refusing to
buy the children of other nations. He hoped they would do it. He hoped,
too, they would do it in an unqualified manner. Nothing less than a total
abolition of the trade would do away the evils complained of. The
legislature of Jamaica, indeed, had thought that regulations might answer
the purpose. Their report had recommended, that no person should be
kidnapped, or permitted to be made a slave, contrary to the customs of
Africa. But might he not be reduced to this state very unjustly, and yet by
no means contrary to the African laws? Besides, how could we distinguish
between those who were justly or unjustly reduced to it? Could we discover
them by their physiognomy?--But if we could, Who would believe that the
British captains would be influenced by any regulations made in this
country, to refuse to purchase those who had not been fairly, honestly, and
uprightly enslaved? They who were offered to us for sale were brought, some
of them, three or four thousand miles, and exchanged like cattle from one
hand to another, till they reached the coast. But who could return these to
their homes, or make them compensation for their sufferings during their
long journeyings? He would now conclude by begging pardon of the house for
having detained them so long. He could indeed have expressed his own
conviction in fewer words. He needed only to have made one or two short
statements, and to have quoted the commandment, "Thou shalt do no murder."
But he thought it his duty to lay the whole of the case, and the whole of
its guilt, before them. They would see now that no mitigations, no
palliatives, would either be efficient or admissible. Nothing short of an
absolute abolition could be adopted. This they owed to Africa: they owed
it, too, to their own moral characters. And he hoped they would follow up
the principle of one of the repentant African captains, who had gone before
the committee of privy council as a voluntary witness, and that they would
make Africa all the atonement in their power for the multifarious injuries
she had received at the hands of British subjects. With respect to these
injuries, their enormity and extent, it might be alleged in their excuse,
that they were not fully acquainted with them till that moment, and
therefore not answerable for their former existence: but now they could no
longer plead ignorance concerning them. They had seen them brought directly
before their eyes, and they must decide for themselves, and must justify to
the world and their own consciences the facts and principles upon which
their decision was formed.

Mr. Wilberforce having concluded his speech, which lasted three hours and a
half, read, and laid on the table of the house, as subjects for their
future discussion, twelve propositions, which he had deduced from the
evidence contained in the privy council report, and of which the following
is the abridged substance:

1. That the number of slaves annually carried from the coast of Africa, in
British vessels, was about 38,000, of which, on an average, 22,500 were
carried to the British islands, and that of the latter only 17,500 were
retained there.

2. That these slaves, according to the evidence on the table, consisted,
First, of prisoners of war; Secondly, of free persons sold for debt, or on
account of real or imputed crimes, particularly adultery and witchcraft; in
which cases they were frequently sold with their whole families, and
sometimes for the profit of those by whom they were condemned; Thirdly, of
domestic slaves sold for the profit of their masters, in some places at the
will of the masters, and in others, on being condemned by them for real or
imputed crimes; Fourthly, of persons made slaves by various acts of
oppression, violence, or fraud, committed either by the princes and chiefs
of those countries on their subjects, or by private individuals on each
other;--or, lastly, by Europeans engaged in this traffic.

3. That the trade so carried on had necessarily a tendency to occasion
frequent and cruel wars among the natives; to produce unjust convictions
and punishments for pretended or aggravated crimes; to encourage acts of
oppression, violence, and fraud, and to obstruct the natural course of
civilization and improvement in those countries.

4. That Africa in its present state furnished several valuable articles of
commerce which were partly peculiar to itself, but that it was adapted to
the production of others, with which we were now either wholly or in great
part supplied by foreign nations. That an extensive commerce with Africa
might be substituted in these commodities, so as to afford a return for as
many articles as had annually been carried thither in British vessels: and,
lastly, that such a commerce might reasonably be expected to increase by
the progress of civilization there.

5. That the Slave-trade was peculiarly destructive to the seamen employed
in it; and that the mortality there had been much greater than in any
British vessels employed upon the same coast in any other service or trade.

6. That the mode of transporting the slaves from Africa to the West Indies
necessarily exposed them to many and grievous sufferings, for which no
regulations could provide an adequate remedy; and that in consequence
thereof a large proportion had annually perished during the voyage.

7. That a large proportion had also perished in the harbours in the West
Indies, from the diseases contracted in the voyage and the treatment of the
same, previously to their being sold, and that this loss amounted to four
and a half per cent. of the imported slaves.

8. That the loss of the newly imported slaves, within the three first years
after their importation, bore a large proportion to the whole number
imported.

9. That the natural increase of population among the slaves in the islands,
appeared to have been impeded principally by the following causes:--First,
By the inequality of the sexes in the importations from Africa. Secondly,
By the general dissoluteness of manners among the slaves, and the want of
proper regulations for the encouragement of marriages and of rearing
children among them. Thirdly, By the particular diseases which were
prevalent among them, and which were in some instances to be attributed to
too severe labour, or rigorous treatment, and in others to insufficient or
improper food. Fourthly, By those diseases, which affected a large
proportion of negro-children in their infancy, and by those, to which the
negros newly imported from Africa had been found to be particularly liable.

10. That the whole number of the slaves in the island of Jamaica in 1768
was about 167,000, in 1774 about 193,000, and in 1787 about 256,000: that
by comparing these numbers with the numbers imported and retained in the
said island during all these years, and making proper allowances, the
annual excess of deaths above births was in the proportion of about
seven-eighths per cent.; that in the first six years of this period it was
in the proportion of rather more than one on every hundred; that in the
last thirteen years of the same it was in the proportion of about
three-fifths on every hundred; and that a number of slaves, amounting to
fifteen thousand, perished during the latter period in consequence of
repeated hurricanes, and of the want of foreign supplies of provisions.

11. That the whole number of slaves in the island of Barbadoes was in the
year 1764 about 70,706; in 1774 about 74,874; in 1780 about 68,270; in
1781, after the hurricane, about 63,248, and in 1786 about 62,115: that by
comparing these numbers with the number imported into this island (not
allowing for any re-exportation), the annual excess of deaths above births
in the ten years from 1764 to 1774 was in the proportion of about five on
every hundred; that in the seven years from 1774 to 1780 it was in the
proportion of about one and one-third on every hundred; that between the
year 1780 and 1781 there had been a decrease in the number of slaves of
about five thousand; that in the six years from 1781 to 1786 the excess of
deaths was in the proportion of rather less than seven-eighths on every
hundred; that in the four years from 1783 to 1786 it was in the proportion
of rather less than one-third on every hundred; and that, during the whole
period, there was no doubt that some had been exported from the island, but
considerably more in the first part of this period than in the last.

12. That the accounts from the Leeward Islands, and from Dominica, Grenada,
and St. Vincent's, did not furnish sufficient grounds for comparing the
state of population in the said islands at different periods with the
number of slaves, which had been from time to time imported there and
exported therefrom; but that from the evidence which had been received
respecting the present state of these islands, as well as that of Jamaica
and Barbadoes, and from a consideration of the means of obviating the
causes, which had hitherto operated to impede the natural increase of the
slaves, and of lessening the demand for manual labour, without diminishing
the profit of the planters, no considerable or permanent inconvenience
would result from discontinuing the further importation of African slaves.

These propositions having been laid upon the table of the house, Lord
Penrhyn rose in behalf of the planters, and, next after him, Mr. Gascoyne
(both members for Liverpool) in behalf of the merchants concerned in the
latter place. They both predicted the ruin and misery, which would
inevitably follow the abolition of the trade. The former said, that no less
than seventy millions were mortgaged upon lands in the West Indies, all of
which would be lost. Mr. Wilberforce therefore should have made a motion to
pledge the house to the repayment of this sum, before he had brought
forward his propositions. Compensation ought to have been agreed upon as a
previously necessary measure. The latter said, that in consequence of the
bill of last year many ships were laid up and many seamen out of employ.
His constituents had large capitals engaged in the trade, and, if it were
to be wholly done away, they would suffer from not knowing where to employ
them. They both joined in asserting, that Mr. Wilberforce had made so many
misrepresentations in all the branches of this subject, that no reliance
whatever was to be placed on the picture, which he had chosen to exhibit.
They should speak however more fully to this point, when the propositions
were discussed.

The latter declaration called up Mr. Wilberforce again, who observed, that
he had no intention of misrepresenting any fact. He did not know that he
had done it in any one instance; but, if he had, it would be easy to
convict him out of the report upon the table.

Mr. Burke then rose. He would not, he said, detain the committee long.
Indeed he was not able, weary and indisposed as he then felt himself, even
if he had an inclination to do it; but as, on account of his other
parliamentary duty, he might not have it in his power to attend the
business now before them in its course, he would take that opportunity of
stating his opinion upon it.


And, first, the house, the nation, and all Europe were under great
obligations to Mr. Wilberforce for having brought this important subject
forward. He had done it in a manner the most masterly, impressive, and
eloquent. He had laid down his principles so admirably, and with so much
order and force, that his speech had equalled any thing he had ever heard
in modern oratory, and perhaps it had not been excelled by any thing to be
found in ancient times. As to the Slave-trade itself, there could not be
two opinions about it where men were not interested. A trade, begun in
savage war, prosecuted with unheard-of barbarity, continued during the
transportation with the most loathsome imprisonment, and ending in
perpetual exile and slavery, was a trade so horrid in all its
circumstances, that it was impossible to produce a single argument in its
favour. On the ground of prudence, nothing could be said in defence of it;
nor could it be justified by necessity. It was necessity alone, that could
be brought to justify inhumanity; but no case of necessity could be made
out strong enough to justify this monstrous traffic. It was therefore the
duty of the house to put an end to it, and this without further delay. This
conviction, that it became them to do it immediately, made him regret (and
it was the only thing he regretted in the admirable speech he had heard)
that his honourable friend should have introduced propositions on this
subject. He could have wished that the business had been brought to a
conclusion at once, without voting the propositions, which had been read to
them. He was not over fond of abstract propositions. They were seldom
necessary; and often occasioned great difficulty, embarrassment, and delay.
There was besides no occasion whatever to assign detailed reasons for a
vote, which Nature herself dictated, and which Religion enforced. If it
should happen, that the propositions were not carried in that house or the
other, such a complication of mischiefs might follow, as might occasion
them heartily to lament that they were ever introduced. If the ultimate
resolution should happen to be lost, he was afraid the propositions would
pass as waste paper, if not be injurious to the cause at a future time.

And now, as the house must bring this matter to an issue, he would beg
their attention to a particular point. He entreated them to look further
than the present moment, and to ask themselves, if they had fortified their
minds sufficiently to bear the consequences, which might arise from the
abolition of the Slave-trade, supposing they should decide upon it. When
they abandoned it, other foreign powers might take it up, and clandestinely
supply our islands with slaves. Had they virtue enough to see another
country reaping profits, which they themselves had given up; and to abstain
from that envy natural to rivals, and firmly to adhere to their
determination? If so, let them thankfully proceed to vote the immediate
abolition of the Slave-trade. But if they should repent of their virtue
(and he had known miserable instances of such repentance), all hopes of
future reformation of this enormous evil would be lost. They would go back
to a trade they had abandoned with redoubled attachment, and would adhere
to it with a degree of avidity and shameless ardour, to their own
humiliation, and to the degradation and disgrace of the nation in the eyes
of all Europe. These were considerations worth regarding, before they took
a decisive step in a business, in which they ought not to move with any
other determination than to abide by the consequences at all hazards. The
honourable gentleman (who to his eternal honour had introduced this great
subject to their notice) had in his eloquent oration knocked at every door,
and appealed to every passion, well knowing that mankind were governed by
their sympathies. But there were other passions to be regarded. Men were
always ready to obey their sympathies, when it cost them nothing. But were
they prepared to pay the price of their virtue on this great occasion? This
was the question. If they were, they would do themselves immortal honour,
and would have the satisfaction of having done away a commerce, which,
while it was productive of misery not to be described, most of all hardened
the heart, and vitiated the human character.

With respect to the consequences mentioned by the two members for
Liverpool, he had a word or two to offer upon them. Lord Penrhyn had talked
of millions to be lost and paid for. But seeing no probability of any loss
ultimately, he could see no necessity for compensation. He believed, on the
other hand, that the planters would be great gainers by those wholesome
regulations, which they would be obliged to make, if the Slave-trade were
abolished. He did not however flatter them with the idea that this gain
would be immediate. Perhaps they might experience inconveniences at first,
and even some loss. But what then? With their loss, their virtue would be
the greater. And in this light he hoped the house would consider the
matter; for, if they were called upon to do an act of virtuous energy and
heroism, they ought to think it right to submit to temporary disadvantages
for the sake of truth, justice, humanity, and the prospect of greater
happiness.

The other member, Mr. Gascoyne, had said, that his constituents, if the
trade were abolished, could not employ their capitals elsewhere. But
whether they could or not, it was the duty of that house, if they put them
into a traffic, which was shocking to humanity and disgraceful to the
nation, to change their application, and not to allow them to be used to a
barbarous purpose. He believed, however, that the merchants of Liverpool
would find no difficulty on this head. All capitals required active motion.
It was in their nature not to remain passive and unemployed. They would
soon turn them into other channels. This they had done themselves during
the American war; for the Slave-trade was then almost wholly lost, and
yet they had their ships employed, either as transports in the service
of Government, or in other ways.

And as he now called upon the house not to allow any conjectural losses to
become impediments in the way of the abolition of the Slave-trade, so he
called upon them to beware how they suffered any representations of the
happiness of the state of slavery in our islands to influence them against
so glorious a measure. Admiral Barrington had said in his testimony, that
he had often envied the condition of the slaves there. But surely, the
honourable admiral must have meant, that, as he had often toiled like a
slave in the defence of his country, (as his many gallant actions had
proved,) so he envied the day, when he was to toil in a similar manner in
the same cause. If, however, his words to be taken literally, his
sensations could only be accounted for by his having seen the negros in the
hour of their sports, when a sense of the misery of their condition was
neither felt by themselves nor visible to others. But their appearance on
such occasions did by no means disprove their low and abject state. Nothing
made a happy slave but a degraded man. In proportion as the mind grows
callous to its degradation, and all sense of manly pride is lost, the slave
feels comfort. In fact, he is no longer a man. If he were to define a man,
he would say with Shakespeare,

  "Man is a being holding large discourse, Looking before and after."

But a slave was incapable of looking before and after. He had no motive to
do it. He was a mere passive instrument in the hands of others, to be used
at their discretion. Though living, he was dead as to all voluntary agency.
Though moving amidst the creation with an erect form, and with the shape
and semblance of a human being, he was a nullity as a man.

Mr. Pitt thanked his honourable friend Mr. Wilberforce for having at length
introduced this great and important subject to the consideration of the
house. He thanked him also for the perspicuous, forcible, and masterly
manner, in which he had treated it. He was sure that no argument,
compatible with any idea of justice, could be assigned for the continuation
of the Slave-trade. And, at the same time that he was willing to listen
with candour and attention to every thing, that could be urged on the other
side of the question, he was sure that the principles from which his
opinion was deduced were unalterable. He had examined the subject with the
anxiety which became him, where the happiness and interests of so many
thousands were concerned, and with the minuteness which would be expected
of him, on account of the responsible situation which he held; and he
averred, that it was sophistry, obscurity of ideas, and vagueness of
reasoning, which alone could have hitherto prevented all mankind (those
immediately interested in the question excepted) from agreeing in one and
the same opinion upon the subject. With respect to the propriety of
introducing the individual propositions, which had been offered, he
differed with Mr. Burke, and he thanked his honourable friend Mr.
Wilberforce for having chosen the only way, in which it could be made
obvious to the world, that they were warranted on every ground of reason
and of fact in coming to that vote, which he trusted would be the end of
their proceeding. The grounds for the attainment of this end were
distinctly stated in the propositions. Let the propositions be brought
before the house, one by one, and argued from the evidence; and it would
then be seen, that they were such as no one, who was not deaf to the
language of reason, could deny. Let them be once entered upon the journals
of that house, and it was almost impossible they should fail. The abolition
must be voted. As to the mode of it, or how it should be effected, they
were not at present to discuss it; but he trusted it would be such, as
would not invite foreign powers to supply our islands with slaves by a
clandestine trade. After a debt, founded on the immutable principles of
justice, was found to be due, it was impossible but the country had means
to cause it to be paid. Should such an illicit proceeding be attempted, the
only language which it became us to adopt was, that Great Britain had
resources to enable her to protect her islands, and to prevent that traffic
from being clandestinely carried on by them, which she had thought fit from
a regard to her character to abandon. It was highly becoming Great Britain
to take the lead of other nations in such a virtuous and magnificent
measure, and he could not but have confidence, that they would be inclined
to share the honour with us, or be pleased to follow us as their example.
If we were disposed to set about this glorious work in earnest, they might
be invited to concur with us by a negotiation to be immediately opened for
that purpose. He would only now observe, before he sat down, in answer to
certain ideas thrown out, that he could by no means acquiesce in any
compensation for losses, which might be sustained by the people of
Liverpool, or by others in any other part of the kingdom, in the execution
of this just and necessary undertaking.

Sir William Yonge said, he wanted no inducement to concur with the
honourable mover of the propositions, provided the latter could be fairly
established, and no serious mischiefs were to arise from the abolition. But
he was apprehensive that many evils might follow, in the case of any sudden
or unlooked-for decrease in the slaves. They might be destroyed by
hurricanes. They might be swept off by many fatal disorders. In these
cases, the owners of them would not be able to fill up their places, and
they who had lent money upon the lands, where the losses had happened,
would foreclose their mortgages. He was fearful also that a clandestine
trade would be carried on, and then the sufferings of the Africans, crammed
up in small vessels, which would be obliged to be hovering about from day
to day, to watch an opportunity of landing, would be ten times greater than
any which they now experienced in the legal trade. He was glad, however, as
the matter was to be discussed, that it had been brought forward in the
shape of distinct propositions, to be grounded upon the evidence in the
privy council report.

Mr. Fox observed, that he did not like, where he agreed as to the substance
of a measure, to differ with respect to the form of it. If, however, he
differed in any thing in the present case, it was with a view rather to
forward the business than to injure it, or to throw any thing like an
obstacle in its way. Nothing like either should come from him. What he
thought was, that all the propositions were not necessary to be voted
previously to the ultimate decision, though some of them undoubtedly were.
He considered them as of two classes: the one, alleging the grounds upon
which it was proper to proceed to the abolition; such as that the trade was
productive of inexpressible misery, in various ways, to the innocent
natives of Africa; that it was the grave of our seamen; and so on: the
other, merely answering objections which might be started, and where there
might be a difference of opinion. He was however glad that the propositions
were likely to be entered upon the journals; since, if from any misfortune
the business should be deferred, it might succeed another year. Sure he was
that it could not fail to succeed sooner or later. He highly approved of
what Mr. Pitt had said, relative to the language it became us to hold out
to foreign powers in case of a clandestine trade. With respect, however, to
the assertion of Sir William Yonge, that a clandestine trade in slaves
would be worse than a legal one, he could not admit it. Such a trade, if it
existed at all, ought only to be clandestine. A trade in human flesh and
sinews was so scandalous, that it ought not openly to be carried on by any
government whatever, and much less by that of a Christian country. With
regard to the regulation of the Slave-trade, he knew of no such thing as a
regulation of robbery and murder. There was no medium. The legislature must
either abolish it, or plead guilty of all the wickedness which had been
shown to attend it. He would now say a word or two with respect to the
conduct of foreign nations on this subject. It was possible that these,
when they heard that the matter had been discussed in that house, might
follow the example, or they might go before us and set one themselves. If
this were to happen, though we might be the losers, humanity would be the
gainer. He himself had been thought sometimes to use expressions relative
to France, which were too harsh, and as if he could only treat her as the
enemy of this country. Politically speaking, France was our rival. But he
well knew the distinction between political enmity and illiberal prejudice.
If there was any great and enlightened nation in Europe, it was France,
which was as likely as any country upon the face of the globe to catch a
spark from the light of our fire, and to act upon the present subject with
warmth and enthusiasm. France had often been improperly stimulated by her
ambition; and he had no doubt but that, in the present instance, she would
readily follow its honourable dictates.

Mr. (now Lord) Grenville would not detain the house by going into a
question, which had been so ably argued; but he should not do justice to
his feelings, if he did not express publicly to his honourable friend, Mr.
Wilberforce, the pleasure he had received from one of the most masterly and
eloquent speeches he had ever heard,--a speech, which, while it did honour
to him, entitled him to the thanks of the house, of the people of England,
of all Europe, and of the latest posterity. He approved of the
propositions, as the best mode of bringing this great question to a happy
issue. He was pleased also with the language which had been held out with
respect to foreign nations, and with our determination to assert our right
of preventing our colonies from carrying on any trade, which we had thought
it our duty to abandon.

Aldermen Newnham, Sawbridge, and Watson, though they wished well to the
cause of humanity, could not, as representatives of the city of London,
give their concurrence to a measure, which would injure it so essentially
as that of the abolition of the Slave-trade. This trade might undoubtedly
be put under wholesome regulations, and made productive of great commercial
advantages. But, if it were abolished, it would render the city of London
one scene of bankruptcy and ruin. It became the house to take care, while
they were giving way to the goodness of their hearts, that they did not
contribute to the ruin of the mercantile interests of their country.

Mr. Martin stated, that he was so well satisfied with the speech of the
honourable gentleman, who had introduced the propositions, and with the
language held out by other distinguished members on this subject, that he
felt himself more proud than ever of being an Englishman. He hoped and
believed, that the melancholy predictions of the worthy aldermen would not
prove true, and that the citizens of London would have too much public
spirit to wish that a great national object (which comprehended the great
duties of humanity, and justice) should be set aside, merely out of
consideration to their own private interests.

Mr. Dempster expected, notwithstanding all he had heard, that the first
proposition submitted to them, would have been to make good out of the
public purse all the losses individuals were liable to sustain from an
abolition of the Slave-trade. This ought to have been, as Lord Penrhyn had
observed, a preliminary measure. He did not like to be generous out of the
pockets of others. They were to abolish the trade, it was said, out of a
principle of humanity. Undoubtedly they owed humanity to all mankind. But
they also owed justice to those, who were interested in the event of the
question, and had embarked their fortunes on the faith of parliament. In
fact, he did not like to see men introducing even their schemes of
benevolence to the detriment of other people; and much less did he like to
see them going to the colonies, as it were upon their estates, and
prescribing rules to them for their management. With respect to his own
speculative opinion, as it regarded cultivation, he had no objection to
give it. He was sure that sugar could be raised cheaper by free men than by
slaves. This the practice in China abundantly proved. But yet neither he
nor any other person had a right to force a system upon others. As to the
trade itself, by which the present labourers were supplied, it had been
considered by that house as so valuable, that they had preferred it to all
others, and had annually voted a considerable sum towards carrying it on.
They had hitherto deemed it an essential nursery for our seamen. Had it
really been such as had been represented, our ancestors would scarcely have
encouraged it; and therefore, upon these and other considerations, he could
not help thinking that they would be wanting in their duty, if they
abolished it altogether.

Mr. William Smith would not detain the house long at that late hour upon
this important subject; but he could not help testifying the great
satisfaction he felt at the manner, in which the honourable gentleman who
opened the debate (if it could be so called) had treated it. He approved of
the propositions as the best mode of bringing the decision to a happy
issue. He gave Mr. Fox great credit for the open and manly way, in which he
had manifested his abhorrence of this trade, and for the support he meant
to give to the total and unqualified abolition of it; for he was satisfied,
that the more it was inquired into, the more it would be found that nothing
short of abolition would cure the evil. With respect to certain assertions
of the members for Liverpool, and certain melancholy predictions about the
consequences of such an event, which others had held out, he desired to lay
in his claim for observation upon them, when the great question should come
before the house.

Soon after this the house broke up; and the discussion of the propositions,
which was the next parliamentary measure intended, was postponed to a
future day, which was sufficiently distant to give all the parties
concerned time to make the necessary preparations for it.

Of this interval the committee for the abolition availed themselves to
thank Mr. Wilberforce for the very able and satisfactory manner, in which
he had stated to the house his propositions for the abolition of the
Slave-trade, and for the unparalleled assiduity and perseverance, with
which he had all along endeavoured to accomplish this object, as well as to
take measures themselves for the further promotion of it. Their opponents
availed themselves of this interval also. But that, which now embarrassed
them, was the evidence contained in the privy council report. They had no
idea, considering the number of witnesses they had sent to be examined,
that this evidence, when duly weighed, could by right reasoning have given
birth to the sentiments, which had been displayed in the speeches of the
most distinguished members of the House of Commons, or to the contents of
the propositions, which had been laid upon their table. They were
thunder-struck as it were by their own weakness; and from this time they
were determined, if possible, to get rid of it as a standard for decision,
or to interpose every parliamentary delay in their power.

On the twenty-first of May, the subject came again before the attention of
the house. It was ushered in, as was expected, by petitions collected in
the interim, and which were expressive of the frightful consequences, which
would attend the abolition of the Slave-trade. Alderman Newnham presented
one from certain merchants in London; Alderman Watson another from certain
merchants, mortgagees, and creditors of the sugar-islands; Lord Maitland
another from the planters of Antigua; Mr. Blackburne another from certain
manufacturers of Manchester; Mr. Gascoyne another from the corporation of
Liverpool; and Lord Penrhyn others from different interested bodies in the
same town.

Mr. Wilberforce then moved the order of the day, for the house to go into a
committee of the whole house on the report of the privy council, and the
several matters of evidence already upon the table relative to the
Slave-trade.

Mr. Alderman Sawbridge immediately arose, and asked Mr. Wilberforce, if he
meant to adduce any other evidence, besides that in the privy council
report, in behalf of his propositions, or to admit other witnesses, if such
could be found, to invalidate them. Mr. Wilberforce replied, that he was
quite satisfied with the report on the table. It would establish all his
propositions. He should call no witnesses himself: as to permission to
others to call them, that must be determined by the house.

This question and this answer gave birth immediately to great disputes upon
the subject. Aldermen Sawbridge, Newnham, and Watson; Lords Penrhyn and
Maitland; Mr. Gascoyne, Marsham, and others spoke against the admission of
the evidence, which had been laid upon the table. They contended, that it
was insufficient, defective, and contradictory; that it was _ex parte_
evidence; that it had been manufactured by ministers; that it was founded
chiefly on hearsay, and that the greatest part of it was false; that it had
undergone no cross-examination; that it was unconstitutional; and that, if
they admitted it, they would establish a dangerous precedent, and abandon
their rights. It was urged on the other hand by Mr. Courtenay, that it
could not be _ex parte_ evidence, because it contained testimony on both
sides of the question. The circumstance also of its being contradictory,
which had been alleged against it, proved that it was the result of an
impartial examination. Mr. Fox observed, that it was perfectly admissible.
He called upon those, who took the other side of the question, to say why,
if it was really inadmissible, they had not opposed it at first. It had
now been a long time on the table, and no fault had been found with it.
The truth was, it did not suit them, and they were determined by a
side-wind as it were to put an end to the inquiry. Mr. Pitt observed
that, if parliament had previously resolved to receive no evidence
on a given subject but from the privy council, such a resolution
indeed would strike at the root of the privileges of the House of
Commons; but it was absurd to suppose that the house could upon
no occasion receive evidence, taken where it was most convenient
to take it, and subject throughout to new investigation, if any
one doubted its validity. The report of the privy council consisted, first,
of calculations and accounts from the public offices, and, next, of written
documents on the subject; both of which were just as authentic, as if they
had been laid upon the table of that house. The remaining part of it
consisted of the testimony of living witnesses, all of whose names were
published, so that if any one doubted their veracity, it was open to him to
reexamine all or each of them. It had been said by adversaries that the
report on the table was a weak and imperfect report, but would not these
have the advantage of its weakness and imperfection? It was strange, when
his honourable friend, Mr. Wilberforce, had said, "Weak and imperfect as
the report may be thought to be, I think it strong enough to bear me out in
all my propositions," that they, who objected to it, should have no better
reason to give than this, "We object, because the ground of evidence on
which you rest is too weak to support your cause." Unless it were meant to
say (and the meaning seemed to be but thinly disguised) that the house
ought to abandon the inquiry, he saw no reason whatever for not going
immediately into a committee; and he wished gentlemen to consider whether
it became the dignity of their proceedings to obstruct the progress of an
inquiry, which the house had pledged itself to undertake. Their conduct
indeed seemed extraordinary on this occasion. It was certainly singular
that, while the report had been five weeks upon the table, no argument had
been brought against its sufficiency; but that on the moment when the house
was expected to come to an ultimate vote upon the subject, it should be
thought defective, contradictory, unconstitutional, and otherwise
objectionable. These objections, he was satisfied, neither did nor could
originate with the country gentlemen; but they were brought forward, for
purposes not now to be concealed, by the avowed enemies of this noble
cause.

In the course of the discussion, which arose upon this subject, every
opportunity was taken to impress the house with the dreadful consequences
of the abolition. Mr. Henniker read a long letter from the King of Dahomey
to George the First; which had been found among the papers of James, first
Duke of Chandos, and which had remained in the family till that time. In
this, the King of Dahomey boasted of his victory over the King of Ardrah,
and how he had ornamented the pavement and walls of his palace with the
heads of the vanquished. These cruelties, Mr. Henniker said, were not
imputable to the Slave-trade. They showed the Africans to be naturally a
savage people, and that we did them a great kindness by taking them from
their country. Alderman Sawbridge maintained that, if the abolition passed,
the Africans, who could not be sold as slaves, would be butchered at home;
while those, who had been carried to our islands, would be no longer under
control. Hence insurrections, and the manifold evils which belonged to
them. Alderman Newnham was certain that the abolition would be the ruin of
the trade of the country. It would affect even the landed interest, and the
funds. It would be impossible to collect money to diminish the national
debt. Every man in the kingdom would feel the abolition come home to him.
Alderman Watson maintained the same argument, and pronounced the trade
under discussion to be a merciful and humane trade.

Compensation was also insisted upon by Mr. Drake, Alderman Newnham, Mr.
Henniker, Mr. Cruger, and others. This was resisted by Mr. Burke; who said
that compensation in such a case would be contrary to every principle of
legislation. Government gave encouragement to any branch of commerce, while
it was regarded as conducive to the welfare of the community, or compatible
with humanity and justice. But they were competent to withdraw their
countenance from it, when it was found to be immoral, and injurious, and
disgraceful to the state. They, who engaged in it, knew the terms under
which they were placed, and adopted it with all the risks with which it was
accompanied; and of consequence it was but just, that they should be
prepared to abide by the loss which might accrue, when the public should
think it right no longer to support it. But such a trade as this it was
impossible any longer to support. Indeed it was not a trade. It was a
system of robbery. It was a system, too, injurious to the welfare of other
nations.

How could Africa ever be civilized under it? While we continued to purchase
the natives, they must remain in a state of barbarism. It was impossible to
civilize slaves. It was contrary to the system of human nature. There was
no country placed under such disadvantageous circumstances, into which the
shadow of improvement had ever been introduced.

Great pains were taken to impress the house with the propriety of
regulation. Sir Grey Cooper; Aldermen Sawbridge, Watson, and Newnham; Mr.
Marsham, and Mr. Cruger, contended strenuously for it, instead of
abolition. It was also stated that the merchants would consent to any
regulation of the trade, which might be offered them.

In the course of the debate much warmth of temper was manifested on both
sides. The expression of Mr. Fox in a former debate, "that the Slave-trade
could not be regulated, because there could be no regulation of robbery and
murder," was brought up, and construed by planters in the house as a charge
of these crimes upon themselves. Mr. Fox, however, would not retract the
expression. He repeated it. He had no notion, however, that any individual
would have taken it to himself. If it contained any reflection at all, it
was on the whole parliament, who had sanctioned such a trade. Mr. Molyneux
rose up, and animadverted severely on the character of Mr. Ramsay, one of
the evidences in the privy council report, during his residence in the West
Indies. This called up Sir William Dolben and Sir Charles Middleton in his
defence, the latter of whom bore honourable testimony to his virtues from
an intimate acquaintance with him, and a residence in the same village with
him, for twenty years. Mr. Molyneux spoke also in angry terms of the
measure of abolition. To annihilate the trade, he said, and to make no
compensation on account of it, was an act of swindling. Mr. Macnamara
called the measure hypocritical, fanatic, and methodistical. Mr. Pitt was
so irritated at the insidious attempt to set aside the privy council
report, when no complaint had been alleged against it before, that he was
quite off his guard, and he thought it right afterwards to apologize for
the warmth into he had been betrayed. The Speaker too was obliged
frequently to interfere. On this occasion no less than thirty members
spoke. And there had probably been few seasons, when so much disorder had
been discoverable in that house.

The result of the debate was, a permission to those interested in the
continuance of the Slave-trade to bring counsel to the bar on the
twenty-sixth of May, and then to introduce such witnesses, as might throw
further light on the propositions in the shortest time: for Mr. Pitt only
acquiesced in this new measure on a supposition, "that there would be no
unnecessary delay, as he could, by no means submit to the ultimate
procrastination of so important a business." He even hoped (and in this
hope he was joined by Mr. Fox) that those concerned would endeavour to
bring the whole of the evidence they meant to offer at the first
examination.

On the day appointed, the house met for the purposes now specified; when
Alderman Newnham, thinking that such an important question should not be
decided but in a full assembly of the representatives of the nation, moved
for a call of the house on that day fortnight. Mr. Wilberforce stated that
he had no objection to such a measure; believing the greater the number
present the more favourable it would be to his cause. This motion, however,
produced a debate and a division, in which it appeared that there were one
hundred and fifty-eight in favour of it, and twenty-eight against it. The
business of the day now commenced. The house went into a committee, and Sir
William Dolben was put into the chair. Mr. Serjeant Le Blanc was then
called in. He made an able speech in behalf of his clients; and introduced
John Barnes, esquire, as his first witness, whose examination took up the
remainder of the day. By this step they, who were interested in the
continuance of the trade, attained their wishes, for they had now got
possession of the ground with their evidence; and they knew they could keep
it, almost as long as they pleased, for the purposes of delay. Thus they,
who boasted, when the privy council examinations began, that they would
soon do away all the idle tales, which had been invented against them, and
who desired the public only to suspend their judgment till the report
should come out, when they would see the folly and wickedness of all our
allegations, dared not abide by the evidence, which they themselves had
taught others to look up to as the standard by which they were desirous of
being judged: thus they, who had advantages beyond measure in forming a
body of evidence in their own favour, abandoned that, which they had
collected. And here it is impossible for me not to make a short comparative
statement on this subject, if it were only to show how little can be made
out, with the very best opportunities, against the cause of humanity and
religion. With respect to ourselves, we had almost all our witnesses to
seek. We had to travel after them for weeks together. When we found them,
we had scarcely the power of choice. We were obliged to take them as they
came. When we found them, too, we had generally to implore them to come
forward in our behalf. Of those so implored three out of four refused, and
the plea for this refusal was a fear lest they should injure their own
interests. The merchants, on the other hand, had their witnesses ready on
the spot. They had always ships in harbour containing persons, who had a
knowledge of the subject. They had several also from whom to choose. If one
man was favourable to their cause in three of the points belonging to it,
but was unfavourable in the fourth, he could be put aside and replaced.
When they had thus selected them, they had not to entreat, but to command,
their attendance. They had no fear, again, when they thus commanded, of a
refusal on the ground of interest; because these were promoting their
interest by obliging those who employed them. Viewing these and other
circumstances, which might be thrown into this comparative statement, it
was some consolation to us to know, amidst the disappointment which this
new measure occasioned, and our apparent defeat in the eyes of the public,
that we had really beaten our opponents at their own weapons, and that, as
this was a victory in our own private feelings, so it was the presage to us
of a future triumph.

On the twenty-ninth of May, Mr. Tierney made a motion to divide the
consideration of the Slave-trade into two heads, by separating the African
from the West Indian part of the question. This he did for the more clear
discussion of the propositions, as well as to save time. This motion,
however, was overruled by Mr. Pitt.

At length, on the ninth of June, by which time it was supposed that new
light, and this in sufficient quantity, would have been thrown upon the
propositions, it appeared that only two witnesses had been fully heard. The
examinations, therefore, were continued, and they went on till the
twenty-third. On this day, the order for the call of the house, which had
been prolonged, standing unrepealed, there was a large attendance of
members. A motion was then made to get rid of the business altogether, but
it failed. It was now seen, however, that it was impossible to bring the
question to a final decision in this session, for they, who were interested
in it, affirmed that they had yet many important witnesses to introduce.
Alderman Newnham, therefore, by the consent of Mr. Wilberforce, moved, that
"the further consideration of the subject be deferred to the next session."
On this occasion, Mr. William Smith remarked, that though the decision on
the great question was thus to be adjourned, he hoped the examinations, at
least, would be permitted to go on. He had not heard any good reason, why
they might not be carried on for some weeks longer. It was known that the
hearing of evidence was at all times thinly attended. If therefore the few
members, who did attend, were willing to give up their time a little
longer, why should other members complain of an inconvenience in the
suffering of which they took no share? He thought that by this proceeding
the examination of witnesses on the part of the merchants might be
finished, and of consequence the business brought into a very desirable
state of forwardness against the ensuing session. These observations had
not the desired effect, and the motion of Mr. Alderman Newnham was carried
without a division. Thus the great question, for the elucidation of which
all the new evidences were to be heard at the very first examination, in
order that it might be decided by the ninth of June, was by the intrigue of
our opponents deferred to another year.

The order of the day for going into the further consideration of the
Slave-trade having been discharged, Sir William Dolben rose, to state, that
it was his intention to renew his bill of the former year, relative to the
conveyance of the unhappy Africans from their own country to the West
Indies, and to propose certain alterations in it. He made a motion
accordingly, which was adopted; and he and Mr. Wilberforce were desired to
prepare the same.

This bill he introduced soon afterwards, and it passed; but not without
opposition. It was a matter, however, of great pleasure to find that the
worthy baronet was enabled by the assistance of Captain (afterwards
Admiral) Macbride, and other naval officers in the house, to carry such
clauses, as provided in some degree for the comfort of the poor seamen, who
were seduced into this wicked trade. They could not indeed provide against
the barbarity of their captains; but they secured them a space under the
half deck in which to sleep. They prescribed a form of muster-rolls, which
they were to see and sign in the presence of the clearing officer. They
regulated their food both as to kind and quantity; and they preserved them
from many of the impositions, to which they had been before exposed.

From the time when Mr. Wilberforce gave his first notice this session to
the present, I had been variously employed, but more particularly in the
composition of a new work. It was soon perceived to be the object of our
opponents, to impress upon the public the preference of regulation to
abolition. I attempted therefore to show the fallacy and wickedness of this
notion. I divided the evils belonging to the Slave-trade into two kinds.
These I enumerated in their order. With respect to those of the first kind,
I proved that they were never to be remedied by any acts of the British
parliament. Thus, for instance, what bill could alter the nature of the
human passions? What bill could prevent fraud and violence in Africa, while
the Slave-trade existed there? What bill could prevent the miserable
victims of the trade from rising, when on board the ships, if they saw an
opportunity, and felt a keen sense of their oppression? Those of the second
I stated to admit of a remedy, and, after making accurate calculations on
the subject of each, I showed that those merchants, who were to do them
away effectually, would be ruined by their voyages. The work was called An
Essay on the comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition as applied
to the Slave-trade.

The committee also in this interval brought out their famous print of the
plan and section of a slave-ship; which was designed to give the spectator
an idea of the sufferings of the Africans in the Middle Passage, and this
so familiarly, that he might instantly pronounce upon the miseries
experienced there. The committee at Plymouth had been the first to suggest
the idea; but that in London had now improved it. As this print seemed
to make an instantaneous impression of horror upon all who saw it, and
as it was therefore very instrumental, in consequence of the wide
circulation given it, in serving the cause of the injured Africans,
I have given the reader a copy of it in the annexed plate, and I will
now state the ground or basis, upon which it was formed.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

It must be obvious that it became the committee to select some one ship,
which had been engaged in the Slave-trade, with her real dimensions, if
they meant to make a fair representation of the manner of the
transportation. When Captain Parrey, of the royal navy, returned from
Liverpool, to which place Government had sent him, he brought with him the
admeasurement of several vessels, which had been so employed, and laid them
on the table of the House of Commons. At the top of his list stood the ship
Brookes. The committee therefore, in choosing a vessel on this occasion,
made use of the ship Brookes; and this they did, because they thought it
less objectionable to take the first that came, than any other. The vessel
then in the plate is the vessel now mentioned, and the following is her
admeasurement as given in by Captain Parrey.

                                                          Ft.  In.
Length of the lower deck, gratings, and bulkheads
  included at A A,                                       100    0
Breadth of beam on the lower deck inside, B B,            25    0
Depth of hold O O O, from ceiling to ceiling,             10    0
Height between decks from deck to deck,                    5    0
Length of the men's room, C C, on the lower deck,         46    0
Breadth of the men's room, C C, on the lower deck,        25    4
Length of the platform, D D, in the men's room,           46    0
Breadth of the platform, in the men's room, on
  each side,                                               6    0
Length of the boys' room, E E,                            13    0
Breadth of the boys' room,                                25    0
Breadth of platform, F F, in boys' room,                   6    0
Length of women's room, G G,                              28    6
Breadth of women's room,                                  23    6
Length of platform, H H, in women's room,                 28    6
Breadth of platform in women's room,                       6    0
Length of the gun-room, I I, on the lower deck,           10    6
Breadth of the gun-room on the lower deck,                12    0
Length of the quarter deck, K K,                          33    6
Breadth of the quarter deck,                              19    6
Length of the cabin, L L,                                 14    0
Height of the cabin,                                       6    2
Length of the half deck, M M,                             16    6
Height of the half deck,                                   6    2
Length of the platform, N N, on the half deck,            16    6
Breadth of the platform on the half deck,                  6    0
Upper deck, P P,

The committee, having proceeded thus far, thought that they should now
allow certain dimensions for every man, woman, and child; and then see, how
many persons, upon such dimensions and upon the admeasurements just given,
could be stowed in this vessel. They allowed, accordingly, to every man
slave six feet by one foot four inches for room, to every woman five feet
by one foot four, to every boy five feet by one foot two, and to every girl
four feet six by one foot. They then stowed them, and found them as in the
annexed plate, that is, they found (deducting the women stowed in Z of
figures 6 and 7, which spaces, being half of the half deck, were allowed by
Sir William Dolben's last bill to the seamen) that only four hundred and
fifty could be stowed in her; and the reader will find, if he should think
it worth while to count the figures in the plate, that, on making the
deduction mentioned, they will amount to this number.

The committee then thought it right to inquire how many slaves, the act of
Sir William Dolben allowed this vessel to carry, and they found the number
to be one hundred and fifty-four; that is, they found it allowed her to
carry four more than could be put in without trespassing upon the room
allotted to the rest; for we see that the bodies of the slaves, except just
at the head of the vessel, already touch each other, and that no deduction
has been made for tubs or stanchions to support the platforms and decks.

Such was the picture, which the committee were obliged to draw, if they
regarded mathematical accuracy, of the room allotted to the slaves in this
vessel. By this picture was exhibited the nature of the Elysium, which Mr.
Norris and others had invented for them during their transportation from
their own country. By this picture were seen also the advantages of Sir
William Dolben's bill; for many, on looking at the plate, considered the
regulation itself as perfect barbarism. The advantages however obtained by
it were considerable; for the Brookes was now restricted to four hundred
and fifty slaves, whereas it was proved that she carried six hundred and
nine in a former voyage.

The committee, at the conclusion of the session of parliament, made a
suitable report. It will be unnecessary to detail this for obvious reasons.
There was, however, one thing contained in it, which ought not to be
omitted. It stated, with appropriate concern, the death of the first
controversial writer, and of one of the most able and indefatigable
labourers, in their cause. Mr. Ramsay had been for some time indisposed.
The climate of the West Indies, during a residence of twenty years, and the
agitation in which his mind had been kept for the last four years of his
life, in consequence of the virulent attacks on his word and character by
those interested in the continuance of the trade, had contributed to
undermine his constitution. During his whole illness he was cheerful and
composed; nor did he allow it to hinder him, severe as it was, from taking
any opportunity which offered of serving those unhappy persons, for whose
injuries he had so deeply felt. A few days only before he died, I received
from him probably the last letter he ever wrote, of which the following is
an extract:

"My health has certainly taken a most alarming turn; and if some
considerable alteration does not take place for the better in a very little
time, it will be all over with me; I mean as to the present life. I have
lost all appetite; and suffer grievously from an almost continual pain in
my stomach, which leaves me no enjoyment of myself, but such as I can
collect from my own reflections, and the comforts of religion. I am glad
the bill for the abolition is in such forwardness. Whether it goes through
the House or not, the discussion attending it will have a most beneficial
effect. The whole of this business I think now to be in such a train, as to
enable me to bid farewell to the present scene with the satisfaction of not
having lived in vain, and of having done something towards the improvement
of our common nature; and this at no little expense of time and reputation.
The little I have now written is my utmost effort; yet yesterday I thought
it necessary to write an answer to a scurrilous libel in The Diary by one
Scipio. On my own account he should have remained unnoticed, but our great
cause must be kept unsullied."

Mr. Ramsay was a man of active habit, of diligence and perseverance in his
undertakings, and of extraordinary application. He was of mild and humble
manners. He possessed a strong understanding, with great coolness and
courage. Patriotism and public spirit were striking traits in his
character. In domestic life he was amiable: in the ministry, exemplary and
useful; and he died to the great regret of his parishioners, but most of
all to that of those, who moved with him in his attempts to bring about the
important event of the abolition of the Slave-trade.




CHAPTER II.

_Continuation from July 1789 to July 1790--Author travels to Paris to
promote the abolition in France--attends the committees of the Friends of
the Negros--Counter attempts of the committee of White Colonists--An
account of the deputies of Colour--Meeting at the Duke de la
Rochefoucauld's--Mirabeau espouses the cause--canvasses the National
Assembly--Distribution of the section of the slave-ship there--Character of
Brissot--Author leaves Paris and returns to England--Examination of
merchants' and planters' evidence resumed in the House of Commons--Author
travels in search of evidence in favour of the abolition--Opposition to the
hearing of it--This evidence is at length introduced--Renewal of Sir
William Dolben's bill--Distribution of the section of the slave-ship in
England--and of Cowper's Negro's Complaint--and of Wedgewood's Cameos._


We usually find, as we give ourselves up to reflection, some little
mitigation of the afflictions we experience; and yet of the evils which
come upon us, some are often so heavy as to overpower the sources of
consolation for a time, and to leave us wretched. This was nearly our
situation at the close of the last session of parliament. It would be idle
not to confess that circumstances had occurred, which wounded us deeply.
Though we had foiled our opponents at their own weapons, and had
experienced the uninterrupted good wishes and support of the public, we had
the great mortification to see the enthusiasm of members of parliament
beginning to cool; to see a question of humanity and justice (for such it
was, when it was delivered into their hands) verging towards that of
commercial calculation; and finally to see regulation, as it related to it
in the way of being substituted for abolition. But most of all were we
affected, knowing as we did the nature and the extent of the sufferings
belonging to Slave-trade, that these should be continued to another year.
This last consideration almost overpowered me. It had fallen to my lot,
more than to that of any other person, to know these evils, and I seemed
almost inconsolable at the postponement of the question. I wondered how
members of parliament, and these Englishmen, could talk as they did on this
subject; how they could bear for a moment to consider their fellow-man as
an article of trade; and how they should not count even the delay of an
hour, which occasioned so much misery to continue, as one of the most
criminal actions of their lives.

It was in vain, however, to sink under our burthens. Grief could do no
good; and if our affairs had taken an unfavourable turn, the question was,
how to restore them. It was sufficiently obvious that, if our opponents
were left to themselves, or, without any counteracting evidence, they would
considerably soften down the propositions, if not invalidate them in the
minds of many. They had such a power of selection of witnesses, that they
could bring men forward, who might say with truth, that they had seen but
very few of the evils complained of, and these in an inferior degree. We
knew also from the example of the Liverpool delegates, how interest and
prejudice could blind the eyes, and how others might be called upon to give
their testimony, who would dwell upon the comforts of the Africans, when
they came into our power; on the sprinkling of their apartments with
frankincense; on the promotion of music and the dance among them; and on
the health and festivity of their voyages. It seemed therefore necessary,
that we should again be looking out for evidence on the part of the
abolition. Nor did it seem to me to be unreasonable, if our opponents were
allowed to come forward in a new way, because it was more constitutional,
that we should be allowed the same privilege. By these means the evidence,
of which we had now lost the use, might be restored; indifference might be
fanned into warmth; commercial calculation might be overpowered by justice;
and abolition, rising above the reach of the cry of regulation, might
eventually triumph.

I communicated my ideas to the committee, and offered to go round the
kingdom to accomplish this object. The committee had themselves been
considering what measures to take, and as each in his own mind had come to
conclusions similar with my own, my proposal was no sooner made, than
adopted.

I had not been long upon this journey, when I was called back. Mr.
Wilberforce, always solicitous for the good of this great cause, was of
opinion, that, as commotions had taken place in France, which then aimed at
political reforms, it was possible that the leading persons concerned in
them might, if an application were made to them judiciously, be induced to
take the Slave-trade into their consideration, and incorporate it among the
abuses to be done away. Such a measure, if realized, would not only lessen
the quantity of human suffering, but annihilate a powerful political
argument against us. He had a conference therefore with the committee on
this subject; and, as they accorded with his opinion, they united with him
in writing a letter to me, to know if I would change my journey, and
proceed to France.

As I had no object in view but the good of the cause, it was immaterial to
me where I went, if I could but serve it; and therefore, without any
further delay, I returned to London.

As accounts had arrived in England of the excesses which had taken place in
the city of Paris, and of the agitated state of the provinces through which
I was to pass, I was desired by several of my friends to change my name. To
this I could not consent; and, on consulting the committee, they were
decidedly against it.

I was introduced as quickly as possible, on my arrival at Paris, to the
friends of the cause there, to the Duke de la Rochefoucald, the Marquis de
Condorcet, Messieurs Petion de Villeneuve, Claviere, and Brissot, and to
the Marquis de la Fayette. The latter received me with peculiar marks of
attention. He had long felt for the wrongs of Africa, and had done much to
prevent them. He had a plantation in Cayenne, and had devised a plan, by
which the labourers upon it should pass by degrees from slavery to freedom.
With this view he had there laid it down as a principle, that all crimes
were equal, whether they were committed by Blacks or Whites, and ought
equally to be punished. As the human mind is of such a nature, as to be
acted upon by rewards as well as punishments, he thought it unreasonable,
that the slaves should have no advantage from a stimulus from the former.
He laid it down therefore as another principle, that temporal profits
should follow virtuous action. To this he subjoined a reasonable education
to be gradually given. By introducing such principles, and by making
various regulations for the protection and comforts of the slaves, he
thought he could prove to the planters, that there was no necessity for the
Slave-trade; that the slaves upon all their estates would increase
sufficiently by population; that they might be introduced gradually, and
without detriment, to a state of freedom; and that then the real interests
of all would be most promoted. This system he had begun to act upon two
years before I saw him. He had also, when the society was established in
Paris, which took the name of The Friends of the Negros, enrolled himself a
member of it.

The first public steps taken after my arrival in Paris were at a committee
of the Friends of the Negros, which was but thinly attended. None of those
mentioned, except Brissot, were present. It was resolved there, that the
committee should solicit an audience of Mr. Necker; and that I should wait
upon him, accompanied by a deputation consisting of the Marquis de
Condorcet, Monsieur de Bourge, and Brissot de Warwille; Secondly, that the
committee should write to the president of the National Assembly, and
request the favour of him to appoint a day for hearing the cause of the
Negros; and, Thirdly, that it should be recommended to the committee in
London to draw up a petition to the National Assembly of France, praying
for the abolition of the Slave-trade by that country. This petition, it was
observed, was to be signed by as great a number of the friends to the cause
in England, as could be procured. It was then to be sent to the committee
at Paris, who would take it in a body to the place of its destination.

I found great delicacy as a stranger in making my observations upon these
resolutions, and yet I thought I ought not to pass them over wholly in
silence, but particularly the last. I therefore rose up, and stated that
there was one resolution, of which I did not quite see the propriety. But
this might arise from my ignorance of the customs, as well as of the genius
and spirit of the French people. It struck me that an application from a
little committee in England to the National Assembly of France was not a
dignified measure, nor was it likely to have weight with such a body. It
was, besides, contrary to all the habits of propriety, in which I had been
educated. The British Parliament did not usually receive petitions from the
subjects of other nations. It was this feeling, which had induced me thus
to speak.

To these observations it was replied, that the National Assembly of France
would glory in going contrary to the example of other nations in a case of
generosity and justice, and that the petition in question, if it could be
obtained, would have an influence there, which the people of England,
unacquainted with the sentiments of the French nation, would hardly credit.

To this I had only to reply, that I would communicate the measure to the
committee in London, but that I could not be answerable for the part they
would take in it.

By an answer received from Mr. Necker, relative to the first of these
resolutions, it appeared that the desired interview had been obtained: but
he granted it only for a few minutes, and this principally to show his good
will to the cause. For he was then so oppressed with business in his own
department, that he had but little time for any other. He wrote to me
however the next day, and desired my company to dinner. He then expressed a
wish to me, that any business relative to the Slave-trade might be managed
by ourselves as individuals, and that I would take the opportunity of
dining with him occasionally for this purpose. By this plan, he said, both
of us would save time. Madame Necker also promised to represent her
husband, if I should call in his absence, and to receive me, and converse
with me on all occasions, in which this great cause of humanity and
religion might be concerned.

With respect to the other resolutions nothing ever came of them; for we
waited daily for an answer from the president during the whole of his
presidency, but we never received any; and the committee in London, when
they had read my letter, desired me unequivocally to say, that they did not
see the propriety of the petition, which it had been recommended to them to
obtain.

At the next meeting it was resolved, that a letter should be written to the
new president for the same purpose as the former. This, it was said, was
now rendered essentially necessary. For the merchants, planters, and others
interested in the continuance of the Slave-trade, were so alarmed at the
enthusiasm of the French people, in favour of the new order of things, and
of any change recommended to them, which had the appearance of promoting
the cause of liberty, that they held daily committees to watch and to
thwart the motions of the Friends of the Negros. It was therefore thought
proper, that the appeal to the Assembly should be immediate on this
subject, before the feelings of the people should cool, or, before they,
who were thus interested, should poison their minds by calculations of loss
and gain. The silence of the former president was already attributed to the
intrigues of the planters' committee. No time therefore was to be lost. The
letter was accordingly written, but as no answer was ever returned to it,
they attributed this second omission to the same cause.

I do not really know whether interested persons ever did, as was suspected,
intercept the letters of the committee to the two presidents as now
surmised; or whether they ever dissuaded them from introducing so important
a question for discussion when the nation was in such a heated state; but
certain it is that we had many, and I believe barbarous, enemies to
encounter. At the very next meeting of the committee, Claviere produced
anonymous letters, which he had received, and in which it was stated that,
if the society of the Friends of the Negros did not dissolve itself, he and
the rest of them would be stabbed. It was said that no less than three
hundred persons had associated themselves for this purpose. I had received
similar letters myself; and on producing mine, and comparing the
hand-writing in both, it appeared that the same persons had written them.

In a few days after this the public prints were filled with the most
malicious representations of the views of the committee. One of them was,
that they were going to send twelve thousand muskets to the Negros in St.
Domingo, in order to promote an insurrection there. This declaration was so
industriously circulated, that a guard of soldiers was sent to search the
committee-room; but these were soon satisfied, when they found only two or
three books and some waste paper. Reports equally unfounded and wicked were
spread also in the same papers relative to myself. My name was mentioned at
full length, and the place of my abode hinted at. It was stated at one
time, that I had proposed such wild and mischievous plans to the committee
in London relative to the abolition of the Slave-trade, that they had cast
me out of their own body, and that I had taken refuge in Paris, where I now
tried to impose equally on the French nation. It was stated at another,
that I was employed by the British government as a spy, and that it was my
object to try to undermine the noble constitution, which was then forming
for France. This latter report at this particular time, when the passions
of men were so inflamed, and when the stones of Paris had not been long
purified from the blood of Foulon and Berthier, might have cost me my life;
and I mentioned it to General la Fayette, and solicited his advice. He
desired me to make a public reply to it: which I did. He desired me also to
change my lodging to the Hotel de York, that I might be nearer to him; and
to send to him if there should be any appearance of a collection of people
about the hotel, and I should have aid from the military in his quarter. He
said also, that he would immediately give in my name to the Municipality;
and that he would pledge himself to them, that my views were strictly
honourable.

On dining one day at the house of the Marquis de la Fayette, I met the
deputies of Colour. They had arrived only the preceding day from St.
Domingo. I was desired to take my seat at dinner in the midst of them. They
were six in number; of a sallow or swarthy complexion, but yet it was not
darker than that of some of the natives of the south of France. They were
already in the uniform of the Parisian National Guards; and one of them
wore the cross of St. Louis. They were men of genteel appearance and modest
behaviour. They seemed to be well informed, and of a more solid cast than
those, whom I was in the habit of seeing daily in this city. The account
which they gave of themselves was this. The White People of St. Domingo,
consisting of less than ten thousand persons, had deputies then sitting in
the National Assembly. The People of Colour in the same island greatly
exceeded the Whites in number. They amounted to thirty thousand, and were
generally proprietors of lands. They were equally free by law with the
former, and paid their taxes to the mother-country in an equal proportion.
But in consequence of having sprung from slaves they had no legislative
power, and moreover were treated with great contempt. Believing that the
mother-country was going to make a change in its political constitution,
they had called a meeting on the island, and this meeting had deputed them
to repair to France, and to desire the full rights of citizens, or that the
free People of Colour might be put upon an equality with the Whites. They
(the deputies) had come in consequence. They had brought with them a
present of six millions of livres to the National Assembly, and an
appointment to General la Fayette to be commander in chief over their
constituents, as a distinct body. This command, they said, the General had
accepted, though he had declined similar honours from every town in France,
except Paris, in order to show that he patronised their cause.

I was now very anxious to know the sentiments which these gentlemen
entertained on the subject of the Slave-trade. If they were with us, they
might be very useful to us; not only by their votes in the Assembly, but by
the knowledge of facts, which they would be able to adduce there in our
favour. If they were against us, it became me to be upon my guard against
them, and to take measures accordingly. I therefore stated to them at once
the nature of my errand to France, and desired their opinion upon it. This
they gave me without reserve. They broke out into lavish commendations of
my conduct, and called me their friend. The Slave-trade, they said, was the
parent of all the miseries in St. Domingo, not only on account of the cruel
treatment it occasioned to the slaves, but on account of the discord which
it constantly kept up between the Whites and People of Colour, in
consequence of the hateful distinctions it introduced. These distinctions
could never be obliterated while it lasted. Indeed both the trade and the
slavery must fall before the infamy, now fixed upon a skin of colour, could
be so done away, that Whites and Blacks could meet cordially, and look with
respect upon one another. They had it in their instructions, in case they
should obtain a seat in the Assembly, to propose an immediate abolition of
the Slave-trade, and an immediate amelioration of the state of slavery
also, with a view to its final abolition in fifteen years.

But time was flying apace, I had now been nearly seven weeks in Paris; and
had done nothing. The thought of this made me uneasy, and I saw no
consoling prospect before me. I found it even difficult to obtain a meeting
of the Friends of the Negros. The Marquis de la Fayette had no time to
attend. Those of the committee, who were members of the National Assembly,
were almost constantly engaged at Versailles. Such of them as belonged to
the Municipality, had enough to do at the Hotel de Ville. Others were
employed either in learning the use of arms, or in keeping their daily and
nightly guards. These circumstances made me almost despair of doing any
thing for the cause at Paris, at least in any reasonable time. But a new
circumstance occurred, which distressed me greatly; for I discovered, in
the most satisfactory manner, that two out of the six at the last committee
were spies. They had come into the society for no other reason, than to
watch and report its motions, and they were in direct correspondence with
the slave-merchants at Havre de Grace. This matter I brought home to them
afterwards, and I had the pleasure of seeing them excluded from all our
future meetings.

From this time I thought it expedient to depend less upon the committee and
more upon my own exertions, and I formed the resolution of going among the
members of the National Assembly myself, and of learning from their own
mouths the hope I ought to entertain relative to the decision of our
question. In the course of my endeavours I obtained a promise from the Duke
de la Rochefoucauld, the Comte de Mirabeau, the Abbé Syeyes, Monsieur
Bergasse, and Monsieur Petion de Villeneuve, five of the most approved
members of the National Assembly, that they would meet me, if I would fix a
day. I obtained a similar promise from the Marquis de Condorcet, and
Claviere and Brissot, as members selected from the committee of the Friends
of the Negros. And Messieurs de Roveray and Du Monde, two Genevese
gentlemen at Versailles, men of considerable knowledge and interest, and
who had heard of our intended meeting, were to join us at their own
request. The place chosen was the house of the Bishop of Chartres at
Versailles.

I was now in hope that I should soon bring the question to some issue; and
on the fourth of October I went to dine with the Bishop of Chartres to fix
the day. We appointed the seventh. But how soon, frequently, do our
prospects fade! From the conversation which took place at dinner, I began
to fear that our meeting would not be realized. About three days before,
the officers of the Guard du Corps had given the memorable banquet,
recorded in the annals of the revolution, to the officers of the regiment
of Flanders which then lay at Versailles. This was a topic, on which the
company present dwelt. They condemned it as a most fatal measure in these
heated times; and were apprehensive, that something would grow immediately
out of it, which might endanger the King's safety. In passing afterwards
through the streets of Versailles my fears increased. I met several of that
regiment in groups. Some were brandishing their swords. Others were walking
arm in arm and singing tumultuously. Others were standing and conversing
earnestly together. Among the latter I heard one declare with great
vehemence, "that it should not be; that the revolution must go on." On my
arrival at Paris in the evening the Palais Royale was full of people, and
there were movements and buzzings among them, as if something was expected
to happen. The next day, when I went into the streets it was obvious what
was going to take place. Suffice it to say, that the next evening the King
and Queen were brought prisoners into Paris. After this, things were in
such an unsettled state for a few days, and the members of the National
Assembly were so occupied in the consideration of the event itself, and of
the consequences which might attend it, that my little meeting, of which it
had cost me so much time and trouble to procure the appointment, was
entirely prevented.

I had now to wait patiently till a new opportunity should occur. The Comte
de Mirabeau, before the departure of the King, had moved and carried the
resolution that "the Assembly was inseparable from his majesty's person."
It was expected, therefore, that the National Assembly would immediately
transfer its sittings to Paris. This took place on the nineteenth. It was
now more easy for me to bring persons together, than when I had to travel
backward and forward to Versailles. Accordingly, by watching my
opportunities, I obtained the promise of another meeting. This was held
afterward at the Duke de la Rochefoucauld's. The persons before mentioned
were present; except the Comte de Mirabeau, whose occupations at that
moment made it utterly impossible for him to attend.

The Duke opened the business in an appropriate manner; and concluded, by
desiring each person to give his opinion frankly and unequivocally as to
what might be expected of the National Assembly relative to the great
measure of the abolition of the Slave-trade.

The Abbé Syeyes rose up, and said, it would probably bring the business
within a shorter compass, if, instead of discussing this proposition at
large, I were to put to the meeting my own questions. I accordingly
accepted this offer; and began by asking those present, "how long it was
likely that the present National Assembly would sit." After some
conversation it was replied, that, "it would sit till it had completed the
constitution, and interwoven such fixed principles into it, that the
legislature, which should succeed it, might have nothing more to do, than
to proceed on the ordinary business of the state. Its dissolution would
probably not take place till the month of March."

I then asked them, "whether it was their opinion, that the National
Assembly would feel itself authorized to take up such a foreign question
(if I might be allowed the expression) as that of the abolition of the
Slave-trade." The answer to this was, "that the object of the National
Assembly was undoubtedly the formation of a constitution for the French
people. With respect to foreign possessions, it was very doubtful, whether
it were the real interest of France to have any colonies at all. But while
it kept such colonies under its dominion, the Assembly would feel, that it
had the right to take up this question; and that the question itself would
naturally spring out of the bill of rights, which had already been adopted
as the basis of the constitution."

The next question I proposed was, "whether they were of opinion, that the
National Assembly would do more wisely, in the present situation of things,
to determine upon the abolition of the Slave-trade now, or to transfer it
to the legislature, which was to succeed it in the month of March."

This question gave birth to a long discussion; during which much eloquence
was displayed. But the unanimous answer, with the reasons for it, may be
conveyed in substance as follows. "It would be most wise, it was said, in
the present Assembly to introduce the question to the notice of the nation,
and this as essentially connected with the bill of rights, but to transfer
the determination of it, in a way the best calculated to ensure success, to
the succeeding legislature. The revolution was of more importance to
Frenchmen, than the abolition of the Slave-trade. To secure this was their
first object, and more particularly, because the other would naturally flow
from it. But the revolution might be injured by the immediate determination
of the question. Many persons in the large towns of Bourdeaux, Marseilles,
Rouen, Nantes, and Havre, who were now friends to it, might be converted
into enemies. It would also be held up by those, who wished to produce a
counter-revolution, (and the ignorant and prejudiced might believe it,)
that the Assembly had made a great sacrifice to England, by thus giving her
an opportunity of enlarging her trade. The English House of Commons had
taken up the subject, but had done nothing. And though they, who were then
present, were convinced of the sincerity of the English minister, who had
introduced it; and that the trade must ultimately fall in England, yet it
would not be easy to persuade many bigoted persons in France of these
truths. It would therefore be most wise in the Assembly only to introduce
the subject as mentioned; but if extraordinary circumstances should arise,
such as a decree, that the deputies of Colour should take their seats in
the Assembly, or that England should have begun this great work, advantage
might be taken of them, and the abolition of the Slave-trade might be
resolved upon in the present session."

The last question I proposed was this. "If the determination of this great
question should be proposed to the next legislature, would it be more
difficult to carry it then than now."

This question also produced much conversation. But the answer was
unanimous, "that there would be no greater difficulty in the one than in
the other case; for that the people would daily, more and more admire their
constitution; that this constitution would go down to the next legislature,
from whence would issue solid and fixed principles, which would be resorted
to as a standard for decision on all occasions. Hence the Slave-trade,
which would be adjudged by it also, could not possibly stand. Add to which,
that the most virtuous members in the present would be chosen into the new
legislature, which, if the constitution were but once fairly established,
would not regard the murmurs of any town or province." After this, a
desultory conversation took place, in which some were of opinion that it
would be proper, on the introduction of the subject into the Assembly, to
move for a committee of inquiry, which should collect facts and documents
against the time, when it should be taken up with a view to its final
discussion.

As it now appeared to me, that nothing material would be done with respect
to our cause till after the election of the new legislature, I had thoughts
of returning to England to resume my journey in quest of evidence; but I
judged it right to communicate first with the Comte de Mirabeau and the
Marquis de la Fayette, both of whom would have attended the meeting just
mentioned, if unforeseen circumstances had not prevented them.

On conversing with the first, I found that he differed from those, whom I
had consulted. He thought that the question, on account of the nature and
urgency of it, ought to be decided in the present legislature. This was so
much his opinion, that he had made a determination to introduce it there
himself; and had been preparing for his motion. He had already drawn up the
outlines of a speech for the purpose; but was in want of circumstantial
knowledge to complete it. With this knowledge he desired me to furnish him.
He then put his speech into my hand; and wished me to take it home and
peruse it. He wrote down also some questions, and he gave them to me
directly afterwards, and begged I would answer them at my leisure.

On conversing with the latter, he said, that he believed with those at the
meeting, that there would be no greater difficulty in carrying the question
in the succeeding than in the present legislature. But this consideration
afforded an argument for the immediate discussion of it: for it would make
a considerable difference to suffering humanity, whether it were to be
decided now or then. This was the moment to be taken to introduce it; nor
did he think that they ought to be deterred from doing it, by any supposed
clamours from some of the towns in France. The great body of the people
admired the constitution; and would support any decisions, which were made
in strict conformity to its principles. With respect to any committee of
inquiry, he deprecated it. The Slave-trade, he said, was not a trade. It
dishonoured the name of commerce. It was piracy. But if so, the question,
which it involved, was a question of justice only; and it could not be
decided with propriety by any other standard. I then informed him, that the
Comte de Mirabeau had undertaken to introduce it into the Assembly. At this
he expressed his uneasiness. "Mirabeau," says he, "is a host in himself;
and I should not be surprised if by his own eloquence and popularity only
he were to carry it; and yet I regret that he has taken the lead in it. The
cause is so lovely, that even ambition, abstractedly considered, is too
impure to take it under its protection, and not to sully it. It should have
been placed in the hands of the most virtuous man in France. This man is
the Duc de la Rochefoucauld. But you cannot alter things now. You cannot
take it out of his hands. I am sure he will be second to no one on this
occasion."

On my return to my hotel, I perused the outlines of the speech, which the
Comte de Mirabeau had lent me. It afforded a masterly knowledge of the
evils of the trade, as drawn from reason only. It was put together in the
most striking and affecting manner. It contained an almost irresistible
appeal to his auditors by frequent references to the ancient system of
things in France, and to their situation and prospects under the new. It
flowed at first gently like a river in a level country; but it grew
afterwards into a mountain torrent, and carried every thing before it. On
looking at the questions, which he had written down for me, I found them
consist of three. 1. What are the different ways of reducing to slavery the
inhabitants of that part of Africa, which is under the dominion of France?
2. What is the state of society there with respect to government, industry,
and the arts? 3. What are the various evils belonging to the transportation
of the Africans from their own country?

It was peculiarly agreeable to me to find, on reading the first two
questions, that I had formed an acquaintance with Monsieur Geoffroy de
Villeneuve, who had been aide du camp to the Chevalier de Boufflers at
Goree; but who was then at his father's house in Paris. This gentleman had
entertained Dr. Spaarman and Mr. Wadstrom; and had accompanied them up the
Senegal, when under the protection of the French government in Africa. He
had confirmed to me the testimony, which they had given before the privy
council. But he had a fund of information on this subject, which went far
beyond what these possessed, or I had ever yet collected from books or men.
He had travelled all over the kingdom of Cayor on foot; and had made a map
of it. His information was so important, that I had been with him for
almost days together to take it down. I determined therefore to arrange the
facts, which I had obtained from him, of which I had now a volume, that I
might answer the two first questions, which had been proposed to me; for it
was of great importance to the Comte de Mirabeau, that he should be able to
appeal, in behalf of the statements in his speech to the Assembly, to an
evidence on the spot.

In the course of my correspondence with the Comte, which continued with but
little intermission for six weeks, many circumstances took place, which
were connected with the cause, and which I shall now detail in their order.

On waiting upon Mr. Necker, at his own request, he gave me the pleasing
intelligence, that the committee of finances, which was then composed of
members of the National Assembly, had resolved, though they had not yet
promulgated their resolution, upon a total abolition of all the bounties
then in existence in favour of the Slave-trade.

The Deputies of Colour now began to visit me at my own hotel. They informed
me, that they had been admitted, since they had seen me, into the National
Assembly. On stating their claims, the president assured them, that they
might take courage; for that the Assembly knew no distinction between
Blacks and Whites, but considered all men as having equal rights. This
speech of the president, they said, had roused all the White Colonists in
Paris. Some of these had openly insulted them. They had held also a meeting
on the subject of this speech; at which they had worked themselves up so as
to become quite furious. Nothing but intrigue was now going forward among
them to put off the consideration of the claims of the free People of
Colour. They, the deputies, had been flattered by the prospect of a hearing
no less than six times; and, when the day arrived, something had constantly
occurred to prevent it.

At a subsequent interview, they appeared to be quite disheartened; and to
be grievously disappointed as to the object of their mission. They were now
sure, that they should never be able to make head against the intrigues and
plots of the White Colonists. Day after day had been fixed as before for
the hearing of their cause. Day after day it had been deferred in like
manner. They were now weary with waiting. One of them, Ogé, could not
contain himself, but broke out with great warmth--"I begin," says he, "not
to care, whether the National Assembly will admit us or not. But let it
beware of the consequences. We will no longer continue to be beheld in a
degraded light. Dispatches shall go directly to St. Domingo; and we will
soon follow them. We can produce as good soldiers on our estates, as those
in France. Our own arms shall make us independent and respectable. If we
are once forced to desperate measures, it will be in vain that thousands
will be sent across the Atlantic to bring us back to our former state." On
hearing this, I entreated the deputies to wait with patience. I observed to
them, that in a great revolution, like that of France, things, but more
particularly such as might be thought external, could not be discussed
either so soon or so rapidly as men full of enthusiasm would wish. France
would first take care of herself. She would then, I had no doubt, extend
her care to her Colonies. Was not this a reasonable conclusion, when they,
the deputies, had almost all the first men in the Assembly in their favour?
I entreated them therefore to wait patiently; as well as upon another
consideration, which was, that by an imprudent conduct they might not only
ruin their own cause in France, but bring indescribable misery upon their
native land.

By this time a large packet, for which I had sent from England, arrived. It
consisted of above a thousand of the plan and section of a slave-ship, with
an explanation in French. It contained also about five hundred coloured
engravings, made from two views, which Mr. Wadstrom had taken in Africa.
The first of these represented the town of Joal, and the King's military on
horseback returning to it, after having executed the great pillage, with
their slaves. The other represented the village of Bain; from whence
ruffians were forcing a poor woman and her children to sell them to a ship,
which was then lying in the Roads. Both these scenes Mr. Wadstrom had
witnessed. I had collected also by this time, one thousand of my Essays on
the Impolicy of the Slave-trade, which had been translated into the French
language. These I now wished to distribute, as preparatory to the motion of
Mirabeau, among the National Assembly. This distribution was afterwards
undertaken and effected by the Archbishop of Aix, the Bishop of Chartres,
the Marquis de la Fayette, the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, the Comte de
Mirabeau, Monsieur Necker, the Marquis de Condorcet, Messieurs Petion de
Villeneuve, Bergasse, Claviere and Brissot, and by the Marchioness de la
Fayette, Madame Necker, and Madame de Poivre, the latter of whom was the
widow of the late Intendant of the Isle of France.

This distribution had not been long begun, before I witnessed its effects.
The virtuous Abbé Gregoire, and several members of the National Assembly,
called upon me. The section of the slave-ship, it appeared, had been the
means of drawing them towards me. They wished for more accurate information
concerning it. Indeed it made its impression upon all who saw it. The
Bishop of Chartres once told me, that, when he first espoused our cause, he
did it at once; for it seemed obvious to him that no one could, under the
Christian dispensation, hold another as his slave; and it was no less
obvious where such an unnatural state existed, that there would be great
abuses; but that, nevertheless, he had not given credit to all the tales
which had been related of the Slave-trade, till he had seen this plate;
after which there was nothing so barbarous which might not readily be
believed. The Archbishop of Aix, when I first showed him the same plate,
was so struck with horror, that he could scarcely speak: and when Mirabeau
first saw it, he was so impressed by it, that he ordered a mechanic to make
a model of it in wood, at a considerable expense. This model he kept
afterwards in his dining-room. It was a ship in miniature, about a yard
long, and little wooden men and women, which were painted black to
represent the slaves, were seen stowed in their proper places.

But while the distribution of these different articles thus contributed to
make us many friends, it called forth the extraordinary exertions of our
enemies. The merchants and others interested in the continuance of the
Slave-trade wrote letters to the Archbishop of Aix, beseeching him not to
ruin France; which he would inevitably do, if, as then president, he were
to grant a day for hearing the question of the abolition. Offers of money
were made to Mirabeau from the same quarter, if he would totally abandon
his motion. An attempt was made to establish a colonial committee,
consisting of such planters as were members of the National Assembly; upon
whom it should devolve to consider and report upon all matters relating to
the Colonies, before they could be determined there. Books were circulated
in abundance in opposition to mine. Resort was again had to the public
papers, as the means of raising a hue and cry against the principles of the
Friends of the Negros. I was again denounced as a spy; and as one sent by
the English minister to bribe members in the Assembly to do that in a time
of public agitation, which in the settled state of France they could never
have been prevailed upon to accomplish. And as a proof that this was my
errand, it was requested of every Frenchman to put to himself the following
question, "How it happened that England, which had considered the subject
coolly and deliberately for eighteen months, and this in a state of
internal peace and quietness, had not abolished the Slave-trade?"

The clamour which was now made against the abolition, pervaded all Paris,
and reached the ears of the King. Mr. Necker had a long conversation with
him upon it. The latter sent for me immediately. He informed me, that His
Majesty was desirous of making himself master of the question, and had
expressed a wish to see my Essay on the Impolicy of the Slave-trade. He
desired to have two copies of it; one in French, and the other in English;
and he would then take his choice as to which of them he would read. He
(Mr. Necker) was to present them. He would take with him also at the same
time the beautiful specimens of the manufactures of the Africans, which I
had lent to Madame Necker out of the cabinet of Monsieur Geoffrey de
Villeneuve and others. As to the section of the slave-ship, he thought it
would affect His Majesty too much, as he was then indisposed. All these
articles, except the latter, were at length presented. The King bestowed a
good deal of time upon the specimens. He admired them; but particularly
those in gold. He expressed his surprise at the state of some of the arts
in Africa. He sent them back on the same day on which he had examined them,
and commissioned Mr. Necker to return me his thanks; and to say that he had
been highly gratified with what he had seen; and, with respect to the Essay
on the Impolicy of the Slave-trade, that he would read it with all the
seriousness, which such a subject deserved.

My correspondence with the Comte de Mirabeau was now drawing near to its
close. I had sent him a letter every other day for a whole month, which
contained from sixteen to twenty pages. He usually acknowledged the receipt
of each. Hence many of his letters came into my possession. These were
always interesting, on account of the richness of the expressions they
contained. Mirabeau even in his ordinary discourse was eloquent. It was his
peculiar talent to use such words, that they who heard them, were almost
led to believe, that he had taken great pains to cull them for the
occasion. But this his ordinary language was the language also of his
letters; and as they show a power of expression, by which the reader may
judge of the character of the eloquence of one, who was then undoubtedly
the greatest orator in France, I have thought it not improper to submit one
of them to his perusal in the annexed note[A]. I could have wished, as far
as it relates to myself, that it had been less complimentary. It must be
observed, however, that I had already written to him more than two hundred
pages with my own hand; and as this was done at no small expense, time and
trouble, and solely to qualify him for the office of doing good, he could
not but set some value upon my labours.

[Footnote A: "Je fais toujours mille remercimens plus empressés et plus
affectueux à Monsieur Clarkson pour la vertueuse profusion de ses lumieres,
de ses reserches, et de ses travaux. Comme ma motion et tous ses
developpemens sont entierement prêts, j'attends avec une vive impatience
ses nouvelles lettres, afin d'achever de classer les faits et les
raisonnemens de Monsieur Clarkson, et, cette deduction entierement finie,
de commencer à manoeuvrer en tactique le succès douteux de cette perilleuse
proposition. J'aurai l'honneur de le recevoir Dimanche depuis onze heures,
et même dix du matin jusqu'à midi, non seulement avec un vif plaisir, mais
avec une sensible reconnoissance.

_25 Decembre, 1789_.

LE COMTE DE MIRABEAU."]

When our correspondence was over, I had some conversation with him relative
to fixing a day for the motion. But he judged it prudent, previously to
this, to sound some of the members of the Assembly on the subject of it.
This he did; but he was greatly disappointed at the result. There was not
one member, out of all those, with whom he conversed, who had not been
canvassed by the planters' committee. And though most of them had been
proof against all its intrigues and artifices, yet many of them hesitated
respecting the abolition at that moment. There was a fear in some that they
should injure the revolution by adopting it; others, who had no such fears,
wished for the concurrence of England in the measure, and suggested the
propriety of a deputation there for that purpose previously to the
discussion of the question in France. While others maintained, that as
England had done nothing, after having had it so long under consideration,
it was fair to presume, that she judged it impolitic to abandon the
Slave-trade; but if France were to give it up, and England to continue it,
how would humanity be the gainer?

While the Comte de Mirabeau was continuing his canvass among the members of
the National Assembly, relative to his motion, attempts were again made in
the public papers to mislead them. Emancipation was now stated to be the
object of the Friends of the Negros. This charge I repelled, by addressing
myself to Monsieur Beauvet. I explained to him the views of the different
societies, which had taken up the cause of the Africans; and I desired him
to show my letter to the planters. I was obliged also to answer publicly a
letter by Monsieur Mosneron de Laung. This writer professed to detail the
substance of the privy council report. He had the injustice to assert, that
three things had been distinctly proved there: First, that slavery had
always existed in Africa; Secondly, that the natives were a bloody people,
addicted to human sacrifice, and other barbarous customs; and, Thirdly,
that their soil was incapable of producing any proper articles for
commerce. From these premises he argued, as if they had been established by
the unanimous and uncontradicted testimony of the witnesses; and he drew
the conclusion, that not only had England done nothing in consequence, but
that she never would do anything, which should affect the existence of this
trade.

But these letters had only just made their appearance in the public papers,
when I was summoned to England. Parliament, it appeared, had met; and I was
immediately to leave Paris. Among those, of whom I had but just time to
take leave, were the Deputies of Colour. At this, my last conference with
them, I recommended moderation and forbearance, as the best gifts I could
leave them; and I entreated them rather to give up their seats in the
Assembly, than on that account to bring misery on their country; for that
with patience their cause would ultimately triumph. They replied, that I
had prescribed to them a most difficult task. They were afraid that neither
the conduct of the White Colonists nor of the National Assembly could be
much longer borne. They thanked me, however, for my advice. One of them
gave me a trinket, by which I might remember him; and as for himself, he
said, he should never forget one, who had taken such a deep interest in
the welfare of his mother[A]. I found, however, notwithstanding all I
said, that there was a spirit of dissatisfaction in them, which nothing
but a redress of their grievances could subdue; and that, if the planters
should persevere in their intrigues, and the National Assembly in delay,
a fire would be lighted up in St. Domingo, which could not easily be
extinguished. This was afterward realized: for Ogé, in about three months
from this time, left his companions to report to his constituents in St.
Domingo the state of their mission; when hearing, on his arrival in that
island, of the outrageous conduct of the Whites of the committee of Aquin,
who had begun a persecution of the People of Colour for no other reason
than that they had dared to seek the common privileges of citizens; and
of the murder of Ferrand and Labadie, he imprudently armed his slaves.
With a small but faithful band he rushed upon superior numbers; and was
defeated. Taking refuge at length in the Spanish part of St. Domingo,
he was given up; and his enemies, to strike terror into the People of
Colour, broke him upon the wheel. From this time reconciliation between
the parties became impossible. A bloody war commenced, and with it all
those horrors which it has been our lot so frequently to deplore. It must
be remembered, however, that the Slave-trade, by means of the cruel
distinctions it occasioned, was the original cause; and though the
revolution of France afforded the occasion; it was an occasion which
would have been prevented, if it had not been for the intrigues and
injustice of the Whites.

[Footnote A: Africa.]

Another, upon whom I had time to call, was the amiable Bishop of Chartres.
When I left him, the Abbé Syeyes, who was with him, desired to walk with me
to my hotel. He there presented me with a set of his works, which he sent
for, while he staid with me; and on parting, he made use of this
complimentary expression, in allusion, I suppose, to the cause I had
undertaken,--"I am pleased to have been acquainted with the friend of man."

It was necessary that I should see the Comte de Mirabeau and the Marquis de
la Fayette, before I left Paris. I had written to each of them to
communicate the intelligence of my departure, as soon as I received it. The
Comte, it appeared, had nearly canvassed the Assembly. He could count upon
three hundred members, who, for the sake of justice, and without any
consideration of policy or of consequences, would support his motion.
But alas! what proportion did this number bear to twelve hundred? About
five hundred more would support him; but only on one condition; which
was, if England would give an unequivocal proof of her intention to
abolish the trade. The knowledge of these circumstances, he said, had
induced him to write a letter to Mr. Pitt. In this he had explained,
how far he could proceed without his assistance, and how far with it.
He had frankly developed to him the mind and temper of the Assembly on
this subject; but his answer must be immediate: for the White Colonists
were daily gaining such an influence there, that he foresaw it would be
impossible to carry the measure, if it were long delayed. On taking leave
of him he desired me to be the bearer of the letter, and to present it
to Mr. Pitt.

On conversing with the Marquis de la Fayette, he lamented deeply the
unexpected turn, which the cause of the Negros had lately taken in the
Assembly. It was entirely owing to the daily intrigues of the White
Colonists. He feared they would ruin every thing. If the Deputies of Colour
had been heard on their arrival, their rights would have been acknowledged.
But now there was little probability that they would obtain them. He
foresaw nothing but desolation in St. Domingo. With respect to the
abolition of the Slave-trade, it might be yet carried; but not unless
England would concur in the measure. On this topic he enlarged with much
feeling. He hoped the day was near at hand, when two great nations, which
had been hitherto distinguished only for their hostility, one toward the
other, would unite in so sublime a measure; and that they would follow up
their union by another, still more lovely, for the preservation of eternal
and universal peace. Thus their future rivalships might have the
extraordinary merit of being rivalships in good. Thus the revolution of
France, through the mighty aid of England, might become the source of
civilization, of freedom, and of happiness to the whole world. No other
nations were sufficiently enlightened for such an union, but all other
nations might be benefited by it.

The last person whom I saw, was Brissot. He accompanied me to my carriage.
With him therefore I shall end my French account; and I shall end it in no
way so satisfactory to myself, as in a very concise vindication of his
character, from actual knowledge, against the attacks of those who have
endeavoured to disparage it; but who never knew him. Justice and truth, I
am convinced, demand some little declaration on this subject at my hands.
Brissot then was a man of plain and modest appearance. His habits, contrary
to those of his countrymen in general, were domestic. In his own family he
set an amiable example, both as a husband and as a father. On all occasions
he was a faithful friend. He was particularly watchful over his private
conduct. From the simplicity of his appearance, and the severity of his
morals, he was called The Quaker; at least in all the circles which I
frequented. He was a man of deep feeling. He was charitable to the poor as
far as a slender income permitted him. But his benevolence went beyond the
usual bounds. He was no patriot in the ordinary acceptation of the word;
for he took the habitable globe as his country, and wished to consider
every foreigner as his brother.

I left France, as it maybe easily imagined, much disappointed, that my
labours, which had been of nearly six months continuance, should have had
no better success; nor did I see, in looking forward, any circumstances
that were consoling with respect to the issue of them there; for it was
impossible that Mr. Pitt, even if he had been inclined to write to
Mirabeau, circumstanced as matters then were with respect to the hearing of
evidence, could have given him a promise, at least of a speedy abolition;
and, unless his answer had been immediate, it would have arrived, seeing
that the French planters were daily profiting by their intrigues, too late
to be effectual.

I had but just arrived in England, when Mr. Wilberforce made a new motion
in the House of Commons on the subject of the, Slave-trade. In referring to
the transactions of the last sessions, he found that twenty-eight days had
been allotted to the hearing of witnesses against the abolition, and that
eleven persons only had been examined in that time. If the examinations
were to go on in the same manner, they might be made to last for years. He
resolved therefore to move, that, instead of hearing evidence in future in
the house at large, members should hear it in an open committee above
stairs; which committee should sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the
house itself. This motion he made; and in doing it he took an opportunity
of correcting an erroneous report; which was, that he had changed his mind
on this great subject. This was, he said, so far from being the case, that
the more he contemplated the trade, the more enormous he found it, and the
more he felt himself compelled to persevere in endeavours for its
abolition.

One would have thought that a motion, so reasonable and so constitutional,
would have met with the approbation of all; but it was vehemently opposed
by Mr. Gascoyne, Alderman Newnham, and others. The plea set up was, that
there was no precedent for referring a question of such importance to a
committee. It was now obvious, that the real object of our opponents in
abandoning decision by the privy council evidence was delay. Unable to meet
us there, they were glad to fly to any measure, which should enable them to
put off the evil day. This charge was fixed upon them in unequivocal
language by Mr. Fox; who observed besides, that if the members of the house
should then resolve to hear evidence in a committee of the whole house as
before, it would amount to a resolution, that the question of the abolition
of the Slave-trade should be put by, or at least that it should never be
decided by them. After a long debate, the motion of Mr. Wilberforce was
voted without a division; and the examination of witnesses proceeded in
behalf of those who were interested in the continuance of the trade.

This measure having been resolved upon, by which dispatch in the
examinations was promoted, I was alarmed lest we should be called upon for
our own evidence, before we were fully prepared. The time which I had
originally allotted for the discovery of new witnesses, had been taken up,
if not wasted, in France. In looking over the names of the sixteen, who
were to have been examined by the committee of privy council, if there
had been time, one had died, and eight, who were sea-faring people,
were out of the kingdom. It was time therefore to stir immediately
in this business. Happily, on looking over my letters, which I found
on my arrival in England, the names of several had been handed to me,
with the places of their abode, who could give me information on the
subject of our question. All these I visited with the utmost dispatch.
I was absent only three weeks. I had travelled a thousand miles in
this time, had conversed with seventeen persons, and had prevailed
upon three to be examined.

I had scarcely returned with the addition of these witnesses to my list,
when I found it necessary to go out again upon the same errand. This second
journey arose in part from the following circumstances. There was a matter
in dispute relative to the mode of obtaining slaves in the rivers of
Calabàr and Bonny. It was usual, when the slave-ships lay there, for a
number of canoes to go into the inland country. These went in a fleet.
There might be from thirty to forty armed natives in each of them. Every
canoe also had a four- or a six-pounder (cannon) fastened to her bow.
Equipped in this manner they departed; and they were usually absent from
eight to fourteen days. It was said that they went to fairs, which were
held on the banks of these rivers, and at which there was a regular show of
slaves. On their return they usually brought down from eight hundred to a
thousand of these for the ships. These lay at the bottom of the canoes;
their arms and legs having been first bound by the ropes of the country.
Now the question was, how the people, thus going up these rivers, obtained
their slaves?

It was certainly a very suspicious circumstance, that such a number of
persons should go out upon these occasions; and that they should be armed
in such a manner. We presumed therefore, that, though they might buy many
of the slaves, whom they brought down, at the fairs, which have been
mentioned, they obtained others by violence, as opportunity offered. This
inference we pressed upon our opponents; and called upon them to show what
circumstances made such warlike preparations necessary on these excursions.
To this they replied readily. The people in the canoes, said they, pass
through the territories of different petty princes; to each of whom, on
entering his territory, they pay a tribute or toll. This tribute has been
long fixed; but attempts frequently have been made to raise it. They who
follow the trade cannot afford to submit to these unreasonable demands; and
therefore they arm themselves in case of any determination on the part of
these petty princes to enforce them.

This answer we never judged to be satisfactory. We tried therefore to throw
light upon the subject, by inquiring if the natives, who went up on these
expeditions, usually took with them as many goods, as would amount to the
number of the slaves they were accustomed to bring back with them. But we
could get no direct answer, from any actual knowledge, to this question.
All had seen the canoes go out and return; but no one had seen them loaded,
or had been on board them. It appeared, however, from circumstantial
evidence, that, though the natives on these occasions might take some
articles of trade with them, it was impossible from appearances, that they
could take them in the proportion mentioned. We maintained then our
inference as before; but it was still uniformly denied.

How then were we to decide this important question? for it was said, that
no white man was ever permitted by the natives to go up in these canoes. On
mentioning accidentally the circumstances of the case, as I have now stated
them, to a friend, immediately on my return from my last journey, he
informed me, that he himself had been in company, about a year before, with
a sailor, a very respectable-looking man, who had been up these rivers. He
had spent half an hour with him at an inn. He described his person to me.
But he knew nothing of his name, or of the place of his abode. All he knew
was, that he was either going, or that he belonged to, some ship of war in
ordinary; but he could not tell at what port. I might depend upon all these
circumstances, if the man had not deceived him; and he saw no reason why he
should.

I felt myself set on fire, as it were, by this intelligence, deficient as
it was; and I seemed to determine instantly that I would, if it were
possible, find him out. For if our suspicions were true, that the natives
frequently were kidnapped in these expeditions, it would be of great
importance to the cause of the abolition to have them confirmed; for as
many slaves came annually from these two rivers, as from all the coast of
Africa besides. But how to proceed on so blind an errand was the question.
I first thought of trying to trace the man by letter. But this might be
tedious. The examinations were now going on rapidly. We should soon be
called upon for evidence ourselves. Besides, I knew nothing of his name. I
then thought it to be a more effectual way to apply to Sir Charles
Middleton, as comptroller of the navy, by whose permission I could board
every ship of war in ordinary in England, and judge for myself. But here
the undertaking seemed very arduous; and the time it would consume became
an objection in this respect, that I thought I could not easily forgive
myself, if I were to fail in it. My inclination, however, preponderated
this way. At length I determined to follow it; for, on deliberate
consideration, I found that I could not employ my time more advantageously
to the cause; for as other witnesses must be found out somewhere, it was
highly probable that, if I should fail in the discovery of this man, I
should, by moving among such a number of sea-faring people, find others,
who could give their testimony in our favour.

I must now inform the reader, that ships of war in ordinary, in one of
which this man was reported to be, are those, which are out of commission,
and which are laid up in the different rivers and waters in the
neighbourhood of the King's dock-yards. Every one of these has a boatswain,
gunner, carpenter, and assistants on board. They lie usually in divisions
of ten or twelve; and a master in the navy has a command over every
division.

At length I began my journey. I boarded all the ships of war lying in
ordinary at Deptford, and examined the different persons in each. From
Deptford I proceeded to Woolwich, where I did the same. Thence I hastened
to Chatham, and then, down the Medway, to Sheerness. I had now boarded
above a hundred and sixty vessels of war. I had found out two good and
willing evidences among them. But I could gain no intelligence of him, who
was the object of my search.

From Chatham, I made the best of my way to Portsmouth-harbour. A very
formidable task presented itself here. But the masters' boats were ready
for me; and I continued my pursuit. On boarding the Pegase, on the second
day, I discovered a very respectable person in the gunner of that ship. His
name was George Millar. He had been on board the Canterbury slave-ship at
the dreadful massacre at Calabàr. He was the only disinterested evidence
living, of whom I had yet heard. He expressed his willingness to give his
testimony, if his presence should be thought necessary in London. I then
continued my pursuit for the remainder of the day. On the next day, I
resumed and finished it for this quarter. I had now examined the different
persons in more than a hundred vessels in this harbour, but I had not
discovered the person I had gone to seek.

Matters now began to look rather disheartening, I mean, as far as my grand
object was concerned. There was but one other port left, and this was
between two and three hundred miles distant. I determined however to go to
Plymouth. I had already been more successful in this tour, with respect to
obtaining general evidence, than in any other of the same length; and the
probability was, that, as I should continue to move among the same kind of
people, my success would be in a similar proportion according to the number
visited. These were great encouragements to me to proceed. At length, I
arrived at the place of my last hope. On my first day's expedition I
boarded forty vessels, but found no one in these, who had been on the coast
of Africa in the Slave-trade. One or two had been there in King's ships;
but they had never been on shore. Things were now drawing near to a close;
and, notwithstanding my success as to general evidence in this journey, my
heart began to beat. I was restless and uneasy during the night. The next
morning, I felt agitated again between the alternate pressure of hope and
fear; and in this state I entered my boat. The fifty-seventh vessel, which
I boarded in this harbour, was the Melampus frigate. One person belonging
to it, on examining him in the captain's cabin, said he had been two
voyages to Africa; and I had not long discoursed with him, before I found,
to my inexpressible joy, that he was the man. I found too, that he
unravelled the question in dispute precisely as our inferences had
determined it. He had been two expeditions up the river Calabàr in the
canoes of the natives. In the first of these, they came within a certain
distance of a village. They then concealed themselves under the bushes,
which hung over the water from the banks. In this position they remained
during day-light. But at night they went up to it armed; and seized all the
inhabitants, who had not time to make their escape. They obtained
forty-five persons in this manner. In the second they were out eight or
nine days; when they made a similar attempt, and with nearly similar
success. They seized men, women, and children, as they could find them in
the huts. They then bound their arms, and drove them before them to the
canoes. The name of the person, thus discovered on board the Melampus, was
Isaac Parker. On inquiring into his character from the master of the
division, I found it highly respectable. I found also afterwards, that he
had sailed with Captain Cook, with great credit to himself, round the
world. It was also remarkable that my brother, on seeing him in London,
when he went to deliver his evidence, recognised him as having served on
board the Monarch man-of-war, and as one of the most exemplary men in that
ship.

I returned now in triumph. I had been out only three weeks, and I had found
out this extraordinary person, and five respectable witnesses besides.
These, added to the three discovered in the last journey, and to those
provided before, made us more formidable than at any former period; so that
the delay of our opponents, which we had looked upon as so great an evil,
proved in the end truly serviceable to our cause.

On going into the committee-room of the House of Commons on my return, I
found that the examinations were still going on in the behalf of those, who
were interested in the continuance of the trade; and they went on beyond
the middle of April, when it was considered that they had closed. Mr.
Wilberforce moved accordingly on the twenty-third of the same month, that
Captain Thomas Wilson, of the royal navy, and that Charles Berns Wadstrom
and Henry Hew Dalrymple, esquires, do attend as witnesses on the behalf of
the abolition. There was nothing now but clamour from those on the opposite
side of the question. They knew well, that there were but few members of
the House of Commons, who had read the privy council report. They knew
therefore, that, if the question were to be decided by evidence, it must be
decided by that, which their own witnesses had given before parliament. But
this was the evidence only on one side. It was certain therefore, if the
decision were to be made upon this basis, that it must be entirely in their
favour. Will it then be believed that in an English House of Commons there
could be found persons, who could move to prevent the hearing of any other
witnesses on this subject; and, what is more remarkable, that they should
charge Mr. Wilberforce, because he proposed the hearing of them, with the
intention solely of delay? Yes. Such persons were found, but, happily, only
among the friends of the Slave-trade. Mr. Wilberforce, in replying to them,
could not help observing, that it was rather extraordinary that they, who
had occasioned the delay of a whole year, should charge him with that, of
which they themselves had been so conspicuously guilty. He then commented
for some time on the injustice of their motion. He stated too, that he
would undertake to remove from disinterested and unprejudiced persons many
of the impressions, which had been made by the witnesses against the
abolition; and he appealed to the justice and honour of the house in behalf
of an injured people; under the hope, that they would not allow a decision
to be made till they had heard the whole of the case. These observations,
however, did not satisfy all those, who belonged to the opposite party.
Lord Penrhyn contended for a decision without a moment's delay. Mr.
Gascoyne relented; and said, he would allow three weeks to the
abolitionists, during which their evidence, might be heard. At length the
debate ended; in the course of which, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox powerfully
supported Mr. Wilberforce; when the motion was negatived without any
attempt at a division.

The witnesses in behalf of the abolition of the Slave-trade now took
possession of the ground, which those in favour of it had left. But what
was our surprise, when only three of them had been heard, to find that Mr.
Norris should come forward as an evidence! This he did to confirm what he
had stated to the privy council as to the general question; but he did it
more particularly, as it appeared afterwards, in the justification of his
own conduct: for the part, which he had taken at Liverpool, as it related
to me, had become a subject of conversation with many. It was now well
known, what assistance he had given me there in my pursuit; how he had even
furnished me with clauses for a bill for the abolition of the trade; how I
had written to him, in consequence of his friendly cooperation, to come up
as an evidence in our favour; and how at that moment he had accepted the
office of a delegate on the contrary side. The noise, which the relation
and repetition of these and other circumstances had made, had given him, I
believe, considerable pain. His friends too had urged some explanation as
necessary. But how short-sighted are they who do wrong! By coming forward
in this imprudent manner, he fixed the stain only the more indelibly on
himself; for he thus imposed upon me the cruel necessity of being examined
against him; and this necessity was the more afflicting to me, because I
was to be called upon, not to state facts relative to the trade, but to
destroy his character as an evidence in its support. I was to be called
upon, in fact, to explain all those communications, which have been stated
to have taken place between us on this subject. Glad indeed should I have
been to have declined this painful interference. But no one would hear of a
refusal. The Bishop of London, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Wilberforce, considered my
appearance on this occasion as an imperious duty to the cause of the
oppressed. It may be perhaps sufficient to say, that I was examined; that
Mr. Norris. was present all the time; that I was cross-examined by counsel;
and that after this time, Mr. Norris seemed to have no ordinary sense of
his own degradation; for he never afterwards held up his head, or looked
the abolitionists in the face, or acted with energy as a delegate, as on
former occasions.

The hearing of evidence continued to go on in behalf of the abolition of
the trade. No less than twenty-four witnesses, altogether, were heard in
this session. And here it may not be improper to remark, that, during the
examination of our own witnesses as well as the cross-examination of those
of our opponents, no counsel were ever employed. Mr. Wilberforce and Mr.
William Smith undertook this laborious department; and as they performed it
with great ability, so they did it with great liberality towards those, who
were obliged to come under their notice in the course of this fiery ordeal.

The bill of Sir William Dolben was now to be renewed. On this occasion the
enemies of the abolition became again conspicuous; for on the twenty-sixth
of May, they availed themselves of a thin house to propose an amendment, by
which they increased the number of the slaves to the tonnage of the vessel.
They increased it too, without taking into the account, as had hitherto
been done, the extent of the superficies of the vessels, which were to
carry them. This was the third indecorous attempt against what were only
reasonable and expected proceedings in the present session. But their
advantage was of no great duration; for, the very next day, the amendment
was rejected on the report by a majority of ninety-five to sixty-nine, in
consequence, principally, of the private exertions of Mr. Pitt. Of this
bill, though it was renewed in other years besides the present, I shall say
no more in this History; because it has nothing to do with the general
question. Horrible as it yet left the situation of the poor slaves in their
transportation, (which the plate has most abundantly shown) it was the best
bill, which could be then obtained; and it answered to a certain degree the
benevolent wishes of the worthy baronet, who introduced it: for if we could
conclude that these voyages were made more comfortable to the injured
Africans, in proportion as there was less mortality in them, he had
undoubtedly the pleasure of seeing the end, at least partially, obtained;
though he must always have felt a great drawback from it, by reflecting
that the survivors, however their sufferings might have been a little
diminished, were reserved for slavery.

The session was now near its close; and we had the sorrow to find, though
we had defeated our opponents in the three instances which have been
mentioned, that the tide ran decidedly against us, upon the general
question, in the House of Commons. The same statements, which had struck so
many members with panic in the former sessions, such as that of
emancipation, of the ruin and massacre of the planters, and of
indemnification to the amount of seventy millions, had been industriously
kept up, and this by a personal canvass among them. But this hostile
disposition was still unfortunately increased by considerations of another
sort. For the witnesses of our opponents had taken their ground first. No
less than eleven of them had been examined in the last sessions. In the
present, two-thirds of the time had been occupied by others on the same
side. Hence the impression upon this ground also was against us; and we had
yet had no adequate opportunity of doing it away. A clamour was also
raised, where we thought it least likely to have originated. They (the
planters) it was said, had produced persons in elevated life and of the
highest character as witnesses; whereas we had been obliged to take up with
those of the lowest condition. This idea was circulated directly after the
introduction of Isaac Parker, before mentioned; a simple mariner; and who
was now contrasted with the admirals on the other side of the question.
This outcry was not only ungenerous, but unconstitutional. It is the glory
of the English law, that it has no scale of veracity, which it adapts to
persons, according to the station, which they may be found to occupy in
life. In our courts of law the poor are heard as well as the rich; and if
their reputation be fair, and they stand proof against the
cross-examinations they undergo, both the judge and the jury must determine
the matter in dispute by their evidence. But the House of Commons were now
called upon by our opponents, to adopt the preposterous maxim of attaching
falsehood to poverty, or of weighing truth by the standard of rank and
riches.

But though we felt a considerable degree of pain, in finding this adverse
disposition among so many members of the Lower House, it was some
consolation to us to know, that our cause had not suffered with their
constituents, the people. These were still warmly with us. Indeed, their
hatred of the trade had greatly increased. Many circumstances had occurred
in this year to promote it. The committee, during my absence in France, had
circulated the plate of the slave-ship throughout all England. No one saw
it but he was impressed. It spoke to him in a language, which was at once
intelligible and irresistible. It brought forth the tear of sympathy in
behalf of the sufferers, and it fixed their sufferings in his heart. The
committee too had been particularly vigilant during the whole of the year,
with respect to the public papers. They had suffered no statement in behalf
of those interested in the continuance of the trade, to go unanswered. Dr.
Dickson, the author of the Letters on Slavery before mentioned, had come
forward again with his services on this occasion, and by his active
cooperation with a sub-committee appointed for the purpose, the coast was
so well cleared of our opponents, that, though they were seen the next year
again, through the medium of the same papers, they appeared only in sudden
incursions, as it were, during which they darted a few weapons at us; but
they never afterward ventured upon the plain to dispute the matter, inch by
inch, or point by point, in an open and manly manner.

But other circumstances occurred to keep up a hatred of the trade among the
people in this interval, which, trivial as they were, ought not to be
forgotten. The amiable poet Cowper had frequently made the Slave-trade the
subject of his contemplation. He had already severely condemned it in his
valuable poem The Task. But now he had written three little fugitive pieces
upon it. Of these the most impressive was that, which he called The Negro's
Complaint, and of which the following is a copy:

  "Forced from home and all its pleasures,
    Afric's coast I left forlorn,
  To increase a stranger's treasures,
    O'er the raging billows borne;
  Men from England bought and sold me,
    Paid my price in paltry gold;
  But, though theirs they have inroll'd me,
    Minds are never to be sold.

  "Still in thought as free as ever,
    What are England's rights, I ask.
  Me from my delights to sever,
    Me to torture, me to task?
  Fleecy locks and black complexion
    Cannot forfeit Nature's claim;
  Skins may differ, but affection
    Dwells in black and white the same.

  "Why did all-creating Nature
    Make the plant, for which we toil?
  Sighs must fan it, tears must water,
    Sweat of ours must dress the soil.
  Think, ye masters, iron-hearted,
    Lolling at your jovial boards,
  Think, how many backs have smarted
    For the sweets your cane affords.

  "Is there, as you sometimes tell us,
    Is there one, who rules on high;
  Has he bid you buy and sell us,
    Speaking from his throne, the sky?
  Ask him, if your knotted scourges,
    Fetters, blood-extorting screws,
  Are the means, which duty urges
    Agents of his will to use?

  "Hark! he answers. Wild tornadoes,
    Strewing yonder sea with wrecks,
  Wasting towns, plantations, meadows,
    Are the voice with which he speaks.
  He, foreseeing what vexations
    Afric's sons should undergo,
  Fix'd their tyrants' habitations
    Where his whirlwinds answer--No.

  "By our blood in Afric wasted,
    Ere our necks received the chain;
  By the miseries, which we tasted
    Crossing, in your barks, the main;
  By our sufferings, since you brought us
    To the man-degrading mart,
  All sustain'd by patience, taught us
    Only by a broken heart.

  "Deem our nation brutes no longer,
    Till some reason you shall find
  Worthier of regard, and stronger,
    Than the colour of our kind.
  Slaves of gold! whose sordid dealings
    Tarnish all your boasted powers,
  Prove that you have human feelings,
    Ere you proudly question ours."

This little piece, Cowper presented in manuscript to some of his friends in
London; and these, conceiving it to contain a powerful appeal in behalf of
the injured Africans, joined in printing it. Having ordered it on the
finest hot-pressed paper, and folded it up in a small and neat form, they
gave it the printed title of "A Subject for Conversation at the Tea-table."
After this, they sent many thousand copies of it in franks into the
country. From one it spread to another, till it travelled almost over the
whole island. Falling at length into the hands of the musician, it was set
to music; and it then found its way into the streets, both of the
metropolis and of the country, where it was sung as a ballad; and where it
gave a plain account of the subject, with an appropriate feeling, to those
who heard it.

Nor was the philanthropy of the late Mr. Wedgwood less instrumental in
turning the popular feeling in our favour. He made his own manufactory
contribute to this end. He took the seal of the committee, as exhibited in
the first volume, for his model; and he produced a beautiful cameo, of a
less size, of which the ground was a most delicate white, but the Negro,
who was seen imploring compassion in the middle of it, was in his own
native colour. Mr. Wedgwood made a liberal donation of these, when
finished, among his friends. I received from him no less than five hundred
of them myself. They, to whom they were sent, did not lay them up in their
cabinets, but gave them away likewise. They were soon, like The Negro's
Complaint, in different parts of the kingdom. Some had them inlaid in gold
on the lid of their snuff-boxes. Of the ladies, several wore them in
bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins
for their hair. At length, the taste for wearing them became general; and
thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen
for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice,
humanity, and freedom.

I shall now only state that the committee took as members within its own
body, in the period of time which is included in this chapter, the Reverend
Mr. Ormerod, chaplain to the Bishop of London, and Captain James Bowen, of
the royal navy; that they elected the honourable Nathaniel Curzon (now Lord
Scarsdale), Dr. Frossard of Lyons, and Benjamin Garlike, esquire, then
secretary to the English embassy at the Hague, honorary and corresponding
members; and that they concluded their annual labours with a suitable
report; in which they noticed the extraordinary efforts of our opponents to
injure our cause, in the following manner: "In the progress of this
business a powerful combination of interest has been excited against us.
The African trader, the planter, and the West India merchant have united
their forces to defend the fortress, in which their supposed treasures lie.
Vague calculations and false alarms have been thrown out to the public, in
order to show, that the constitution and even the existence of this free
and opulent nation depend on its depriving the inhabitants of a foreign
country of those rights and of that liberty, which we ourselves so highly
and so justly prize. Surely in the nature of things and in the order of
Providence it cannot be so. England existed as a great nation, long before
the African commerce was known amongst us, and it is not to acts of
injustice and violence that she owes her present rank in the scale of
nations."




CHAPTER III.

_Continuation from July 1790 to July 1791--Author travels again throughout
the kingdom--Object of his journey--Motion in the House of Commons to
resume the hearing of evidence in favour of the abolition--List of all
those examined on this side of the question--Machinations of interested
persons, and cruel circumstances of the times previously to the day of
decision--Motion at length made for stopping all further importation of
Slaves from Africa--debates upon it--motion lost--Resolutions of the
committee for the Abolition of the Slave-trade--Establishment of the Sierra
Leone Company._


It was a matter of deep affliction to us to think, that the crimes and
sufferings inseparable from the Slave-trade were to be continued to another
year. And yet it was our duty, in the present moment, to acquiesce in the
postponement of the question. This postponement was not now for the purpose
of delay, but of securing victory. The evidence, on the side of the
abolition, was, at the end of the last session, but half finished. It was
impossible, for the sake of Africa, that we could have then closed it. No
other opportunity might offer in parliament for establishing an indelible
record in her favour, if we were to neglect the present. It was our duty
therefore even to wait to complete it, and to procure such a body of
evidence, as should not only bear us out in the approaching contest, but
such as, if we were to fail, would bear out our successors also. It was
possible indeed, if the inhabitants of our islands were to improve in
civilization, that the poor slaves might experience gradually an improved
treatment with it; and so far testimony now might not be testimony for
ever: but it was utterly impossible, while the Slave-trade lasted, and the
human passions continued to be the same, that there should be any change
for the better in Africa; or that any modes, less barbarous, should come
into use for procuring slaves. Evidence therefore, if once collected on
this subject, would be evidence for posterity. In the midst of these
thoughts another journey occurred to me as necessary for this purpose; and
I prayed, that I might have strength to perform it in the most effectual
manner; and that I might be daily impressed, as I travelled along, with the
stimulating thought, that the last hope for millions might possibly rest
upon my own endeavours.

The committee highly approved of this journey. Mr. Wilberforce saw the
absolute necessity of it also; and had prepared a number of questions, with
great ingenuity, to be put to such persons, as might have information to
communicate. These I added to those in the tables, which have been already
mentioned; and they made together a valuable collection on the subject.

This tour was the most vexatious of any I had yet undertaken; many still
refused to come forward to be examined, and some on the most frivolous
pretences; so that I was disgusted, as I journeyed on, to find how little
men were disposed to make sacrifices for so great a cause. In one part of
it I went over nearly two thousand miles, receiving repeated refusals. I
had not secured one witness within this distance. This was truly
disheartening. I was subject to the whims and the caprice of those, whom I
solicited on these occasions[A]. To these I was obliged to accommodate
myself. When at Edinburgh, a person who could have given me material
information, declined seeing me, though he really wished well to the cause.
When I had returned southward as far as York, he changed his mind; and he
would then see me. I went back, that I might not lose him. When I arrived,
he would give me only private information. Thus I travelled, backwards and
forwards, four hundred miles to no purpose. At another place a circumstance
almost similar happened, though with a different issue. I had been for two
years writing about a person, whose testimony was important. I had passed
once through the town, in which he lived; but he would not then see me. I
passed through it now, but no entreaties of his friends could make him
alter his resolution. He was a man highly respectable as to situation in
life; but of considerable vanity. I said therefore to my friend, on leaving
the town, You may tell him that I expect to be at Nottingham in a few days;
and though it be a hundred and fifty miles distant, I will even come back
to see him, if he will dine with me on my return. A letter from my friend
announced to me, when at Nottingham, that his vanity had been so gratified
by the thought of a person coming expressly to visit him from such a
distance, that he would meet me according to my appointment. I went back.
We dined together. He yielded to my request. I was now repaid; and I
returned towards Nottingham in the night. These circumstances I mention,
and I feel it right to mention them, that the reader may be properly
impressed with the great difficulties we found in collecting a body of
evidence in comparison with our opponents. They ought never to be
forgotten; for if with the testimony, picked up as it were under all these
disadvantages, we carried our object against those, who had almost
numberless witnesses to command, what must have been the merits of our
cause! No person can indeed judge of the severe labour and trials in these
journeys. In the present, I was out four months. I was almost over the
whole island, I intersected it backwards and forwards both in the night and
in the day. I travelled nearly seven thousand miles in this time, and I was
able to count upon twenty new and willing evidences.

[Footnote A: Ten or twelve of those, who were examined, much to their
honour, came forward of their own accord.]

Having now accomplished my object, Mr. Wilberforce moved on the fourth of
February in the House of Commons, that a committee be appointed to examine
further witnesses in behalf of the abolition of the Slave-trade. This
motion was no sooner made, than Mr. Cawthorne rose, to our great surprise,
to oppose it. He took upon himself to decide, that the house had heard
evidence enough. This indecent motion was not without its advocates. Mr.
Wilberforce set forth the injustice of this attempt; and proved, that out
of eighty-one days, which had been given up to the hearing of evidence, the
witnesses against the abolition had occupied no less than fifty-seven. He
was strenuously supported by Mr. Burke, Mr. Martin, and other respectable
members. At length, the debate ended in favour of the original motion, and
a committee was appointed accordingly.

The examinations began again on February the seventh, and continued till
April the fifth, when they were finally closed. In this, as in the former
session, Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. William Smith principally conducted them;
and indeed it was necessary that they should have been present at these
times; for it is perhaps difficult to conceive the illiberal manner, in
which our witnesses were treated by those on the other side of the
question. Men, who had left the trade upon principle, and who had come
forward, against their apparent interest, to serve the cause of humanity
and justice, were looked upon as mercenaries and culprits, or as men of
doubtful and suspicious character. They were brow-beaten. Unhandsome
questions were put to them. Some were kept for four days under examination.
It was however highly to their honour, that they were found in no one
instance to prevaricate, nor to waver as to the certainty of their facts.

But this treatment, hard as it was for them to bear, was indeed good for
the cause; for, coming thus pure out of the fire, they occasioned their own
testimony, when read, to bear stronger marks of truth than that of the
generality of our opponents; nor was it less superior, when weighed by
other considerations. For the witnesses against the abolition were
principally interested. They who were not, had been hospitably received at
the planters' tables. The evidence too, which they delivered, was almost
wholly negative. They had not seen such and such evils. But this was no
proof that the evils did not exist. The witnesses, on the other hand, who
came up in favour of the abolition, had no advantage in making their
several assertions. In some instances they came up against their apparent
interest; and, to my knowledge, suffered persecution for so doing. The
evidence also, which they delivered, was of a positive nature. They gave an
account of specific evils, which had come under their own eyes. These evils
were never disproved. They stood therefore on a firm basis, as on a tablet
of brass. Engraved there in affirmative characters; a few of them were of
more value, than all the negative and airy testimony, which had been
advanced on the other side of the question.

That the public may judge, in some measure, of the respectability of the
witnesses in favour of the abolition, and that they may know also to whom
Africa is so much indebted for her deliverance, I shall subjoin their names
in the three following lists. The first will contain those, who were
examined by the privy council only; the second those, who were examined by
the privy council and the house of commons also; and the third those, who
were examined by the house of commons only.




LIST I.

Andrew Spaarman, physician, botanist, and successor to Linnaeus, traveller
  on discovery in Africa for the King of Sweden.

Reverend Isham Baggs, chaplain for two voyages to Africa in H.M. ship,
  Grampus.

Captain James Bowen, of the royal navy, one voyage to Africa.

Mr. William James, a master in the royal navy, three voyages, as mate of a
  slave-vessel.

Mr. David Henderson, gunner of H.M. ship Centurion, three voyages to
  Africa.

Harry Gandy, two voyages to Africa, as captain of a slave-vessel.

Thomas Eldred, two voyages there, as mate.

James Arnold, three voyages there, as surgeon and surgeon's mate.

Thomas Deane, two voyages there, as captain of a wood and ivory ship.




LIST II.

Major-General Rooke, commander of Goree, in Africa.

Henry Hew Dalrymple, esquire, lieutenant of the 75th regiment at Goree, and
  afterwards in all the West Indian islands.

Thomas Willson, esquire, naval commander at Goree.

John Hills, esquire, captain of H.M. ship Zephyr, on the African station.

Sir George Yonge, two voyages as lieutenant, and two as captain, of a ship
  of war, on the African station.

Charles Berns Wadstrom, esquire, traveller on discovery in Africa for the
  King of Sweden.

Reverend John Newton, five voyages to Africa in a slave-vessel, and
  resident eighteen months there.

Captain John Ashley Hall, in the merchant service, two voyages in a
  slave-vessel as a mate.

Alexander Falconbridge, four voyages in a slave-vessel as surgeon and
  surgeon's mate.

Captain John Samuel Smith, of the royal navy, on the West India station.




LIST III.

Anthony Pantaleo How, esquire, employed by Government as a botanist in
 Africa.

Sir Thomas Bolton Thompson, two voyages as a lieutenant, and two as
  commander of a ship of war on the African station.

Lieutenant John Simpson, of the marines, two voyages in a ship of war on
  the African station.

Lieutenant Richard Storey, of the royal navy, four years on the
  slave-employ all over the coast.

Mr. George Miller, gunner of H.M. ship Pegase, one voyage in a slave-ship.

Mr. James Morley, gunner of H.M. ship Medway, six voyages in a slave-ship.

Mr. Henry Ellison, gunner of H.M. ship Resistance, eleven years in the
  slave-trade.

Mr. James Towne, carpenter of H.M. ship Syren, two voyages in a slave-ship.

Mr. John Douglas, boatswain of H.M. ship Russel, one voyage in a
  slave-ship.

Mr. Isaac Parker, shipkeeper of H.M. ship Melampus, two voyages in a
  slave-ship.

Thomas Trotter, esquire, M.D. one voyage as surgeon of a slave-ship.

Mr. Isaac Wilson, one voyage as surgeon of a slave-ship.

Mr. Ecroyde Claxton, one voyage as surgeon of a slave-ship.

James Kiernan, esquire, resident four years on the banks of the Senegal.

Mr. John Bowman, eleven years in the slave-employ as mate, and as a factor
  in the interior of Africa.

Mr. William Dove, one voyage for slaves, and afterwards resident in
  America.

Major-general Tottenham, two years resident in the West Indies.

Captain Giles, 19th regiment, seven years quartered in the West Indies.

Captain Cook, 89th regiment, two years quartered in the West Indies.

Lieutenant Baker Davison, 79th regiment, twelve years quartered in the West
  Indies.

Captain Hall, of the royal navy, five years on the West India station.

Captain Thomas Lloyd, of the royal navy, one year on the West India
  station.

Captain Alexander Scott, of the royal navy, one voyage to Africa and the
  West Indies.

Mr. Ninian Jeffreys, a master in the royal navy, five years mate of a West
  Indiaman, and for two years afterwards in the Islands in a ship of war.

Reverend Thomas Gwynn Rees, chaplain of H.M. ship Princess Amelia, in the
  West Indies.

Reverend Robert Boucher Nicholls, dean of Middleham, many years resident in
  the West Indies.

Hercules Ross, esquire, twenty-one years a merchant in the West Indies.

Mr. Thomas Clappeson, fifteen years in the West Indies as a wharfinger and
  pilot.

Mr. Mark Cook, sixteen years in the West Indies, first in the planting
  business; and then as clerk and schoolmaster.

Mr. Henry Coor, a mill-wright for fifteen years in the West Indies.

Reverend Mr. Davies, resident fourteen years in the West Indies.

Mr. William Duncan, four years in the West Indies, first as a clerk and
  then as an overseer.

Mr. William Fitzmaurice, fifteen years, first as a book-keeper, and then as
  an overseer, in the West Indies.

Mr. Robert Forster, six years, first in a store, then as second master and
  pilot of a ship of war in the West Indies.

Mr. Robert Ross, twenty-four years, first as a book-keeper, then as an
  overseer, and afterwards as a planter, in the West Indies.

Mr. John Terry, fourteen years an overseer or manager in the West Indies.

Mr. Matthew Terry, twelve years resident, first as a book-keeper and
  overseer, than as a land-surveyor in the King's service, and afterwards,
  as a colony-surveyor, in the West Indies.

George Woodward, esquire, an owner and mortgagee of property, and
  occasionally a resident in the West Indies.

Mr. Joseph Woodward, three years resident in the West Indies.

Henry Botham, esquire, a director of sugar-works both in the East and West
  Indies.

Mr. John Giles, resident twelve years in the West Indies and America.

J. Harrison, esquire, M.D. twenty-three years resident, in the medical
  line, in the West Indies and America.

Robert Jackson, esquire, M.D. four years resident in the West Indies in the
  medical line, after which he joined his regiment, in the same profession,
  in America.

Thomas Woolrich, esquire, twenty years a merchant in the West Indies, but
  in the interim was twice in America.

Reverend James Stuart, two years in the West Indies, and twenty in America.

George Baillie, esquire, one year in the West Indies, and twenty-five in
  America.

William Beverley, esquire, eighteen years in America.

John Clapham, esquire, twenty years in America.

Robert Crew, esquire, a native of America, and long resident there.

John Savage, esquire, forty-six years resident in America.





The evidence having been delivered on both sides, and then printed, it was
judged expedient by Mr. Wilberforce, seeing that it filled three folio
volumes, to abridge it. This abridgement was made by the different friends
of the cause. William Burgh, esquire, of York; Thomas Babington, esquire,
of Rothley Temple; the Reverend Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge; Mr.
Campbell Haliburton, of Edinburgh; George Harrison, with one or two others
of the committee, and myself, were employed upon it. The greater share,
however, of the labour fell upon Dr. Dickson. That no misrepresentation of
any person's testimony might be made, Matthew Montagu, esquire, and the
honourable E.J. Eliott, members of parliament, undertook to compare the
abridged manuscripts with the original text, and to strike out or correct
whatever they thought to be erroneous, and to insert whatever they thought
to have been omitted. The committee, for the abolition, when the work was
finished, printed it at their own expense. Mr. Wilberforce then presented
it to the House of Commons, as a faithful abridgement of the whole
evidence. Having been received as such under the guarantee of Mr. Montagu
and Mr. Eliott, the committee sent it to every individual member of that
House.

The book having been thus presented, and a day fixed for the final
determination of the question, our feelings became almost insupportable:
for we had the mortification to find, that our cause was going down in
estimation, where it was then most important that it should have increased
in favour. Our opponents had taken advantage of the long delay, which the
examination of evidence had occasioned, to prejudice the minds of many of
the members of the House of Commons against us. The old arguments of
emancipation, massacre, ruin, and indemnification, had been kept up; but,
as the day of final decision approached, they had been increased. Such was
our situation at this moment; when the current was turned still more
powerfully against us by the peculiar circumstances of the times. It was
indeed the misfortune of this great cause to be assailed by every weapon,
which could be turned against it. At this time Thomas Paine had published
his Rights of Man. This had been widely circulated. At this time also the
French revolution had existed nearly two years. The people of England had
seen, during this interval, a government as it were dissected. They had
seen an old constitution taken down, and a new one put up, piece by piece,
in its stead. The revolution, therefore, in conjunction with the book in
question, had had the effect of producing dissatisfaction among thousands;
and this dissatisfaction was growing, so as to alarm a great number of
persons of property in the kingdom, as well as the government itself. Now
will it be believed that our opponents had the injustice to lay hold of
these circumstances, at this critical moment, to give a death-blow to the
cause of the abolition? They represented the committee, though it had
existed before the French revolution or the Rights of Man were heard of, as
a nest of Jacobins; and they held up the cause, sacred as it was, and
though it had the support of the minister, as affording an opportunity of
meeting for the purpose of overthrowing the state. Their cry succeeded. The
very book of the abridgment of the evidence was considered by many members
as poisonous as that of the Rights of Man. It was too profane for many of
them to touch; and they who discarded it, discarded the cause also.

But these were not the only circumstances which were used as means, at this
critical moment, to defeat us. News of the revolution, which had commenced
in St. Domingo in consequence of the disputes between the Whites and the
People of Colour, had, long before this, arrived in England. The horrible
scenes which accompanied it, had been frequently published as so many
arguments against our cause. In January new insurrections were announced as
having happened in Martinique. The Negros there were described as armed,
and the planters as having abandoned their estates for fear of massacre.
Early in the month of March insurrections in the smaller French islands
were reported. Every effort was then made to represent these as the effects
of the new principles of liberty, and of the cry for abolition. But what
should happen, just at this moment, to increase the clamour against us?
Nothing less than an insurrection in Dominica.--Yes!--An insurrection in a
British island. This was the very event for our opponents. "All the
predictions of the planters had now become verified. The horrible massacres
were now realizing at home." To give this news still greater effect, a
meeting of our opponents was held at the London Tavern. By a letter read
there it appeared, that "the ruin of Dominica was now at hand." Resolutions
were voted, and a memorial presented to government, "immediately to
dispatch such a military force to the different islands, as might preserve
the Whites from destruction, and keep the Negros in subjection during the
present critical state of the slave-bill." This alarm was kept up till the
seventh of April, when another meeting took place to receive the answer of
government to the memorial. It was there resolved, that "as it was too late
to send troops to the islands, the best way of preserving them would be to
bring the question of the Slave-trade to an immediate issue; and that it
was the duty of the government, if they regarded the safety of the islands,
to oppose the abolition of it." Accounts of all these proceedings were
inserted in the public papers. It is needless to say that they were
injurious to our cause. Many looked upon the abolitionists as monsters.
They became also terrified themselves. The idea with these was, that unless
the discussion on this subject was terminated, all would be lost. Thus,
under a combination of effects arising from the publication of the Rights
of Man, the rise and progress of the French revolution, and the
insurrections of the Negros in the different islands, no one of which
events had any thing to do with the abolition of the Slave-trade, the
current was turned against us; and in this unfavourable frame of mind many
members of parliament went into the House, on the day fixed for the
discussion, to discharge their duty with respect to this great question.

On the eighteenth of April Mr. Wilberforce made his motion. He began by
expressing a hope, that the present debate, instead of exciting asperity
and confirming prejudice, would tend to produce a general conviction of the
truth of what in fact was incontrovertible; that the abolition of the
Slave-trade was indispensably required of them, not only by morality and
religion, but by sound policy. He stated that he should argue the matter
from evidence. He adverted to the character, situation, and means of
information of his own witnesses; and having divided his subject into
parts, the first of which related to the manner of reducing the natives of
Africa to a state of slavery, he handled it in the following manner.

He would begin, he said, with the first boundary of the trade. Captain
Wilson and Captain Hills, of His Majesty's navy, and Mr. Dalrymple of the
land service, had concurred in stating, that in the country contiguous to
the river Senegal, when slave-ships arrived there, armed parties were
regularly sent out in the evening, who scoured the country, and brought in
their prey. The wretched victims were to be seen in the morning bound back
to back in the huts on shore, whence they were conveyed, tied hand and
foot, to the slave-ships. The design of these ravages was obvious, because,
when the Slave-trade was stopped, they ceased. Mr. Kiernan spoke of the
constant depredations by the Moors to procure slaves. Mr. Wadstrom
confirmed them. The latter gentleman showed also that they were excited by
presents of brandy, gunpowder, and such other incentives; and that they
were not only carried on by one community against another; but that the
Kings were stimulated to practise them, in their own territories, and on
their own subjects: and in one instance a chieftain, who, when intoxicated,
could not resist the demands of the slave-merchants, had expressed, in a
moment of reason, a due sense of his own crime, and had reproached his
Christian seducers. Abundant also were the instances of private rapine.
Individuals were kidnapped, whilst in their fields and gardens. There was
an universal feeling of distrust and apprehension there. The natives never
went any distance from home without arms; and when Captain Wilson asked
them the reason of it, they pointed to a slave-ship then lying within
sight.

On the windward coast, it appeared from Lieutenant Story and Mr. Bowman,
that the evils just mentioned existed, if possible, in a still higher
degree. They had seen the remains of villages, which had been burnt, whilst
the fields of corn were still standing beside them, and every other trace
of recent desolation. Here an agent was sent to establish a settlement in
the country, and to send to the ships such slaves as he might obtain. The
orders he received from his captain were, that "he was to encourage the
chieftains by brandy and gunpowder to go to war, to make slaves." This he
did. The chieftains performed their part in return. The neighbouring
villages were surrounded and set on fire in the night. The inhabitants were
seized when making their escape; and, being brought to the agent, were by
him forwarded to his principal on the coast. Mr. How, a botanist in the
service of Government, stated, that on the arrival of an order for slaves,
from Cape Coast Castle, while he was there, a native chief immediately sent
forth armed parties, who brought in a supply of all descriptions in the
night.

But he would now mention one or two instances of another sort, and these
merely on account of the conclusion, which was to be drawn from them. When
Captain Hills was in the river Gambia, he mentioned accidentally to a Black
pilot, who was in the boat with him, that he wanted a cabin-boy. It so
happened that some youths were then on the shore with vegetables to sell.
The pilot beckoned to them to come on board; at the same time giving
Captain Hills to understand, that he might take his choice of them; and
when Captain Hills rejected the proposal with indignation, the pilot seemed
perfectly at a loss to account for his warmth; and drily observed, that the
slave-captains would not have been so scrupulous. Again, when General Rooke
commanded at Goree, a number of the natives, men, women, and children, came
to pay him a friendly visit. All was gaiety and merriment. It was a scene
to gladden the saddest, and to soften the hardest heart. But a
slave-captain was not so soon thrown off his guard. Three English
barbarians of this description had the audacity jointly to request the
general, to seize the whole unsuspicious multitude and sell them. For this
they alleged the precedent of a former governor. Was not this request a
proof of the frequency of such acts of rapine? for how familiar must such
have been to slave-captains, when three of them dared to carry to a British
officer of rank such a flagitious proposal! This would stand in the place
of a thousand instances. It would give credibility to every other act of
violence stated in the evidence, however enormous it might appear.

But he would now have recourse for a moment to circumstantial evidence. An
adverse witness, who had lived on the Gold Coast, had said that the only
way, in which children could be enslaved, was by whole families being sold
when the principals had been condemned for witchcraft. But he said at the
same time, that few were convicted of this crime, and that the younger part
of a family in these cases was sometimes spared. But if this account were
true, it would follow that the children in the slave-vessels would be few
indeed. But it had been proved, that the usual proportion of these was
never less than a fourth of the whole cargo on that coast, and also, that
the kidnapping of children was very prevalent there.

All these atrocities, he said, were fully substantiated by the evidence;
and here he should do injustice to his cause, if he were not to make a
quotation from the speech of Mr. B. Edwards in the Assembly of Jamaica,
who, though he was hostile to his propositions, had yet the candour to
deliver himself in the following manner there. "I am persuaded," says he,
"that Mr. Wilberforce has been rightly informed as to the manner in which
slaves are generally procured. The intelligence I have collected from my
own Negros abundantly confirms his account; and I have not the smallest
doubt, that in Africa the effects of this trade are precisely such as he
has represented them. The whole, or the greatest part, of that immense
continent is a field of warfare and desolation; a wilderness, in which the
inhabitants are wolves towards each other. That this scene of oppression,
fraud, treachery, and bloodshed, if not originally occasioned, is in part
(I will not say wholly) upheld by the Slave-trade, I dare not dispute.
Every man in the Sugar Islands may be convinced that it is so, who will
inquire of any African Negros, on their first arrival, concerning the
circumstances of their captivity. The assertion that it is otherwise, is
mockery and insult."

But it was not only by acts of outrage that the Africans were brought into
bondage. The very administration of justice was turned into an engine for
that end. The smallest offence was punished by a fine equal to the value of
a slave. Crimes were also fabricated; false accusations were resorted to;
and persons were sometimes employed to seduce the unwary into practices
with a view to the conviction and the sale of them.

It was another effect of this trade, that it corrupted the morals of those,
who carried it on. Every fraud was used to deceive the ignorance of the
natives by false weights and measures, adulterated commodities, and other
impositions of a like sort. These frauds were even acknowledged by many,
who had themselves practised them in obedience to the orders of their
superiors. For the honour of the mercantile character of the country, such
a traffic ought immediately to be suppressed.

Yet these things, however clearly proved by positive testimony, by the
concession of opponents, by particular inference, by general reasoning, by
the most authentic histories of Africa, by the experience of all countries
and of all ages,--these things, and (what was still more extraordinary)
even the possibility of them, were denied by those, who had been brought
forward on the other side of the question. These, however, were chiefly
persons, who had been trading governors of forts in Africa; or who had long
commanded ships in the Slave-trade. As soon as he knew the sort of
witnesses which was to be called against him, he had been prepared to
expect much prejudice. But his expectations had been greatly surpassed by
the testimony they had given. He did not mean to impeach their private
characters, but they certainly showed themselves under the influence of
such gross prejudices, as to render them incompetent judges of the subject
they came to elucidate. They seemed (if he might so say) to be enveloped by
a certain atmosphere of their own; and to see, as it were, through a kind
of African medium. Every object, which met their eyes, came distorted and
turned from its true direction. Even the declarations, which they made on
other occasions, seemed wholly strange to them. They sometimes not only
forgot what they had seen, but what they had said; and when to one of them
his own testimony to the privy council was read, he mistook it for that of
another, whose evidence he declared to be "the merest burlesque in the
world."

But the House must be aware that there was not only an African medium, but
an African logic. It seemed to be an acknowledged axiom in this; that every
person, who offered a slave for sale, had a right to sell him, however
fraudulently he might have obtained him. This had been proved by the
witnesses, who opposed him. "It would have stopped my trade," said one of
them, "to have asked the broker, how he came by the person he was offering
me for sale"--"We always suppose," said another, "the broker has a right to
sell the person he offers us"--"I never heard of such a question being
asked," said a third; "a man would be thought a fool, who should put such a
question."--He hoped the House would see the practical utility of this
logic. It was the key-stone, which held the building together. By means of
it, slave-captains might traverse the whole coast of Africa, and see
nothing but equitable practices. They could not, however, be wholly
absolved, even if they availed themselves of this principle to its fullest
extent; for they had often committed depredations themselves; especially
when they were passing by any part of the coast, where they did not mean to
continue or to go again. Hence it was (as several captains of the navy and
others had declared on their examination) that the natives, when at sea in
their canoes, would never come near the men of war, till they knew them to
be such. But finding this, and that they were not slave-vessels, they laid
aside their fears, and came and continued on board with unsuspecting
cheerfulness.

With respect to the miseries of the Middle Passage, he had said so much on
a former occasion, that he would spare the feelings of the committee as
much as he could. He would therefore simply state that the evidence, which
was before them, confirmed all those scenes of wretchedness, which he had
then described; the same suffering from a state of suffocation by being
crowded together; the same dancing in fetters; the same melancholy singing;
the same eating by compulsion; the same despair; the same insanity; and all
the other abominations which characterized the trade. New instances however
had occurred, where these wretched men had resolved on death to terminate
their woes. Some had destroyed themselves by refusing sustenance, in spite
of threats and punishments. Others had thrown themselves into the sea; and
more than one, when in the act of drowning, were seen to wave their hands
in triumph, "exulting" (to use the words of an eye-witness) "that they had
escaped." Yet these and similar things, when viewed through the African
medium he had mentioned, took a different shape and colour. Captain Knox,
an adverse witness, had maintained, that slaves lay during the night in
tolerable comfort. And yet he confessed, that in a vessel of one hundred
and twenty tons, in which he had carried two hundred and ninety slaves, the
latter had not all of them room to lie on their backs. How comfortably then
must they have lain in his subsequent voyages! for he carried afterwards in
a vessel of a hundred and eight tons four hundred and fifty and in a vessel
of one hundred and fifty tons, no less than six hundred slaves. Another
instance of African deception was to be found in the testimony of Captain
Frazer, one of the most humane captains in the trade. It had been said of
him, that he had held hot coals to the mouth of a slave, to compel him to
eat. He was questioned on this point; but not admitting, in the true spirit
of African logic, that he who makes another commit a crime, is guilty of it
himself, he denied the charge indignantly, and defied a proof. But it was
said to him, "Did you never order such a thing to be done?" His reply was,
"Being sick in my cabin, I was informed that a man-slave would neither eat,
drink, nor speak. I desired the mate and surgeon to try to persuade him to
speak. I desired that the slaves might try also. When I found he was still
obstinate, not knowing whether it was from sulkiness or insanity, I ordered
a person to present him with a piece of fire in one hand and a piece of yam
in the other, and to tell me what effect this had upon him. I learnt that
he took the yam and began to eat it, but he threw the fire overboard." Such
was his own account of the matter. This was eating by duresse, if any thing
could be called so. The captain, however, triumphed in his expedient, and
concluded by telling the committee, that he sold this very slave at Grenada
for forty pounds. Mark here the moral of the tale, and learn the nature and
the cure of sulkiness.

But upon whom did the cruelties, thus arising out of the prosecution of
this barbarous traffic, fall? Upon a people with feeling and intellect like
ourselves. One witness had spoken of the acuteness of their understandings;
another of the extent of their memories; a third of their genius for
commerce; a fourth of their proficiency in manufactures at home. Many had
admired their gentle and peaceable disposition; their cheerfulness; and
their hospitality. Even they, who were nominally slaves in Africa, lived a
happy life. A witness against the abolition had described them as sitting
and eating with their masters in the true style of patriarchal simplicity
and comfort. Were these then a people incapable of civilization? The
argument that they were an inferior species had been proved to be false.

He would now go to a new part of the subject. An opinion had gone forth
that the abolition of the trade would be the ruin of the West India
Islands. He trusted he should prove that the direct contrary was the truth;
though, had he been unable to do this, it would have made no difference as
to his own vote. In examining, however, this opinion, he should exclude the
subject of the cultivation of new lands by fresh importations of slaves.
The impolicy of this measure, apart from its inhumanity, was indisputably
clear. Let the committee consider the dreadful mortality, which attended
it. Let them look to the evidence of Mr. Woolrich, and there see a contrast
drawn between the slow, but sure progress of cultivation, carried on in the
natural way, and the attempt to force improvements, which, however
flattering the prospect at first, soon produced a load of debt, and
inextricable embarrassments. He might even appeal to the statements of the
West Indians themselves, who allowed that more than twenty millions were
owing to the people of this country, to show that no system could involve
them so deeply as that, on which they had hitherto gone. But he would refer
them to the accounts of Mr. Irving, as contained in the evidence. Waving
then the consideration of this part of the subject, the opinion in question
must have arisen from a notion, that the stock of slaves, now in the
islands, could not be kept up by propagation; but that it was necessary,
from time to time, to recruit them with imported Africans. In direct
refutation of this position he should prove, First, that in the condition
and treatment of the Negros, there were causes, sufficient to afford us
reason to expect a considerable decrease, but particularly that their
increase had not been a serious object of attention; Secondly, that this
decrease was in fact, notwithstanding, very trifling; or rather, he
believed, he might declare it had now actually ceased; and, Thirdly, he
should urge many direct and collateral facts and arguments, constituting on
the whole an irresistible proof, that even a rapid increase might
henceforth be expected.

He wished to treat the West Indians with all possible candour; but he was
obliged to confess, in arguing upon these points, that whatever splendid
instances there might be of kindness towards their slaves, there were some
evils of almost universal operation, were necessarily connected with the
system of slavery. Above all, the state of degradation, to which they were
reduced, deserved to be noticed; as it produced an utter inattention to
them as moral agents. They were kept at work under the whip like cattle.
They were left totally ignorant of morality and religion. There was no
regular marriage among them. Hence promiscuous intercourse, early
prostitution, and excessive drinking, were material causes of their
decrease. With respect to the instruction of the slaves in the principles
of religion, the happiest effects had resulted, particularly in Antigua,
where, under the Moravians and Methodists, they had so far profited, that
the planters themselves confessed their value, as property, had been raised
one-third by their increased habits of regularity and industry.

Whatever might have been said to the contrary, it was plainly to be
inferred from the evidence, that the slaves were not protected by law.
Colonial statutes had indeed been passed; but they were a dead letter;
since, however ill they were treated, they were not considered as having a
right to redress. An instance of astonishing cruelty by a Jew had been
mentioned by Mr. Ross. It was but justice to say, that the man was held in
detestation for it; but yet no one had ever thought of calling him to a
legal account. Mr. Ross conceived a master had a right to punish his slave
in whatever manner he might think proper. The same was declared by
numberless other witnesses. Some instances, indeed, had lately occurred of
convictions. A master had wantonly cut the mouth of a child, of six months
old, almost from ear to ear. But did not the verdict of the jury show, that
the doctrine of calling masters to an account was entirely novel; as it
only pronounced him "Guilty, subject to the opinion of the court, if
immoderate correction of a slave by his master be a crime indictable!" The
court determined in the affirmative; and what was the punishment of this
barbarous act?--A fine of forty shillings currency, equivalent to about
twenty-five shillings sterling.

The slaves were but ill off in point of medical care. Sometimes four or
five, and even eight or nine thousand of them, were under the care of one
medical man; which, dispersed on different and distant estates, was a
greater number than he could possibly attend to.

It was also in evidence, that they were in general under-fed. They were
supported partly by the produce of their own provision-ground, and partly
by an allowance of flour and grain from their masters. In one of the
islands, where provision-ground did not answer one year in three, the
allowance to a working Negro was but from five to nine pints of grain per
week: in Dominica, where it never failed, from six to seven quarts: in
Nevis and St. Christophers, where there was no provision-ground, it was but
eleven pints. Add to this, that it might be still less, as the
circumstances of their masters might become embarrassed; and in this case
both an abridgment of their food, and an increase of their labour, would
follow.

But the great cause of the decrease of the slaves was in the non-residence
of the planters. Sir George Yonge, and many others, had said, they had seen
the slaves treated in a manner, which their owners would have resented, if
they had known it. Mr. Orde spoke in the strongest terms of the misconduct
of managers. The fact was, that these in general sought to establish their
characters by producing large crops at a small immediate expense; too
little considering how far the slaves might suffer from ill-treatment and
excessive labour. The pursuit of such a system was a criterion for judging
of their characters, as both Mr. Long and Mr. Ottley had confessed.

But he must contend, in addition to this, that the object of keeping up the
stock of slaves by breeding had never been seriously attended to. For this
he might appeal both to his own witnesses, and to those of his opponents;
but he would only notice one fact. It was remarkable that, when owners and
managers were asked about the produce of their estates, they were quite at
home as to the answer; but when they were asked about the proportion of
their male and female slaves, and their infants, they knew little about the
matter. Even medical men were adepts in the art of planting; but when they
were asked the latter questions, as connected with breeding and rearing,
they seemed quite amazed; and could give no information upon the subject of
them.

Persons, however, of great respectability had been called as witnesses, who
had not seen the treatment of the Negros as he had now described it. He
knew what was due to their characters; but yet he must enter a general
protest against their testimony. "I have often," says Mr. Ross, "attended
both governors and admirals upon tours in the island of Jamaica. But it was
not likely that these should see much distress upon these occasions. The
White People and drivers would take care not to harrow up the feelings of
strangers of distinction by the exercise of the whip, or the infliction of
punishments, at that particular time; and, even if there were any
disgusting objects, it was natural to suppose that they would then remove
them." But in truth these gentlemen had given proofs, that they were under
the influence of prejudice. Some of them had declared the abolition would
ruin the West Indies. But this, it was obvious, must depend upon the
practicability of keeping up the stock without African supplies; and yet,
when they were questioned upon this point, they knew nothing about it.
Hence they had formed a conclusion without premises. Their evidence, too,
extended through a long series of years. They had never seen one instance
of ill-treatment in the time; and yet, in the same breath, they talked of
the amended situation of the slaves; and that they were now far better off
than formerly. One of them, to whom his country owed much, stated that a
master had been sentenced to death for the murder of his own slave; but his
recollection must have failed him; for the murder of a slave was not then a
capital crime. A respectable governor also had delivered an opinion to the
same effect; but, had he looked into the statute-book of the island, he
would have found his error.

It had been said that the slaves were in a better state than the peasantry
of this country. But when the question was put to Mr. Ross, did he not
answer, "that he would not insult the latter by a comparison?"

It had been said again, that the Negros were happier as slaves, than they
would be if they were to be made free. But how was this reconcileable with
facts? If a Negro under extraordinary circumstances had saved money enough,
did he not always purchase his release from this situation of superior
happiness by the sacrifice of his last shilling? Was it not also notorious,
that the greatest reward, which a master thought he could bestow upon his
slave for long and faithful services, was his freedom?

It had been said again, that Negros, when made free, never returned to
their own country. But was not the reason obvious? If they could even reach
their own homes in safety, their kindred and connections might be dead. But
would they subject themselves to be kidnapped again; to be hurried once
more on board a slave-ship; and again to endure and survive the horrors of
the passage? Yet the love of their native country had been proved beyond a
doubt. Many of the witnesses had heard them talk of it in terms of the
strongest affection. Acts of suicide too were frequent in the islands,
under the notion that these afforded them the readiest means of getting
home. Conformably with this, Captain Wilson had maintained, that the
funerals, which in Africa were accompanied with lamentations and cries of
sorrow, were attended, in the West Indies, with every mark of joy.

He had now, he said, made good his first proposition, That in the condition
of the slaves there were causes, which should lead us to expect, that there
would be a considerable decrease among them. This decrease in the island of
Jamaica was but trifling, or, rather, it had ceased some years ago; and if
there was a decrease, it was only on the imported slaves. It appeared from
the privy council report, that from 1698 to 1730 the decrease was three and
a half per cent.; from 1730 to 1755 it was two and a half per cent.; from
1755 to 1768 it was lessened to one and three quarters; and from 1768 to
1788 it was not more than one per cent.: this last decrease was not greater
than could be accounted for from hurricanes and consequent famines, and
from the number of imported Africans who perished in the seasoning. The
latter was a cause of mortality, which, it was evident, would cease with
the importations. This conclusion was confirmed in part by Dr. Anderson,
who, in his testimony to the Assembly of Jamaica, affirmed, that there was
a considerable increase on the properties of the island, and particularly
in the parish in which he resided.

He would now proceed to establish his second proposition, That from
henceforth a very considerable increase might be expected. This he might
support by a close reasoning upon the preceding facts. But the testimony of
his opponents furnished him with sufficient evidence. He could show, that
wherever the slaves were treated better than ordinary, there was uniformly
an increase in their number. Look at the estates of Mr. Willock, Mr.
Ottley, Sir Ralph Payne, and others. In short, he should weary the
committee, if he were to enumerate the instances of plantations, which were
stated in the evidence to have kept up their numbers only from a little
variation in their treatment. A remedy also had been lately found for a
disorder, by which vast numbers of infants had been formerly swept away.
Mr. Long also had laid it down, that whenever the slaves should bear a
certain proportion to the produce, they might be expected to keep up their
numbers; but this proportion they now exceeded. The Assembly of Jamaica had
given it also as their opinion, "that when once the sexes should become
nearly equal in point of number, there was no reason to suppose, that the
increase of the Negros by generation would fall short of the natural
increase of the labouring poor in Great Britain." But the inequality, here
spoken of, could only exist in the case of the African Negros, of whom more
males were imported than females; and this inequality would be done away
soon after the trade should cease.

But the increase of the Negros, where their treatment was better than
ordinary, was confirmed in the evidence by instances in various parts of
the world. From one end of the continent of America to the other their
increase had been undeniably established; and this to a prodigious extent,
though they had to contend with the severe cold of the winter, and in some
parts with noxious exhalations in the summer. This was the case also in the
settlement of Bencoolen in the East Indies. It appeared from the evidence
of Mr. Botham, that a number of Negros, who had been imported there in the
same disproportion of the sexes as in West India cargoes, and who lived
under the same disadvantages, as in the Islands, of promiscuous intercourse
and general prostitution, began, after they had been settled a short time,
annually to increase.

But to return to the West Indies.--A slave-ship had been many years ago
wrecked near St. Vincent's. The slaves on board, who escaped to the island,
were without necessaries; and, besides, were obliged to maintain a war with
the native Caribbs: yet they soon multiplied to an astonishing number; and,
according to Mr. Ottley, they were now on the increase. From Sir John
Dalrymple's evidence it appeared, that the domestic slaves in Jamaica, who
were less worked than those in the field, increased; and from Mr. Long,
that the free Blacks and Mulattoes there increased also.

But there was an instance which militated against these facts (and the only
one in the evidence) which he would now examine. Sir Archibald Campbell had
heard, that the Maroons in Jamaica in the year 1739 amounted to three
thousand men fit to carry arms. This supposed their whole number to have
been about twelve thousand. But in the year 1782, after a real muster by
himself, he found, to his great astonishment, that the fighting men did not
then amount to three hundred. Now the fact was, that Sir Archibald
Campbell's first position was founded upon rumour only; and was not true.
For according to Mr. Long, the Maroons were actually numbered in 1749; when
they amounted to about six hundred and sixty in all, having only a hundred
and fifty men fit to carry arms. Hence, if when mustered by Sir Archibald
Campbell he found three hundred fighting men, they must from 1749 to 1782
have actually doubled their population.

Was it possible, after these instances, to suppose that the Negros could
not keep up their numbers, if their natural increase were made a subject of
attention? The reverse was proved by sound reasoning. It had been confirmed
by unquestionable facts. It had been shown, that they had increased In
every situation, where there was the slightest circumstance in their
favour. Where there had been any decrease, it was stated to be trifling;
though no attention appeared to have been paid to the subject. This
decrease had been gradually lessening; and, whenever a single cause of it
had been removed (many still remaining), it had altogether ceased. Surely
these circumstances formed a body of proof, which was irresistible.

He would now speak of the consequences of the abolition of the Slave-trade
in other points of view; and first, as to its effects upon our marine. An
abstract of the Bristol and Liverpool muster-rolls had been just laid
before the House. It appeared from this, that in three hundred and fifty
slave-vessels, having on board twelve thousand two hundred and sixty-three
persons, two thousand six hundred and forty-three were lost in twelve
months; whereas in four hundred and sixty-two West Indiamen, having on
board seven thousand six hundred and forty persons, one hundred and
eighteen only were lost in seven months. This rather exceeded the losses
stated by Mr. Clarkson. For their barbarous usage on board these ships, and
for their sickly and abject state in the West Indies, he would appeal to
Governor Parry's letter; to the evidence of Mr. Ross; to the assertion of
Mr. B. Edwards, an opponent; and to the testimony of Captains Sir George
Yonge and Thompson, of the Royal Navy. He would appeal also to what Captain
Hall, of the Navy, had given in evidence. This gentleman, after the action
of the twelfth of April, impressed thirty hands from a slave-vessel, whom
he selected with the utmost care from a crew of seventy; and he was
reprimanded by his admiral, though they could scarcely get men to bring
home the prizes, for introducing such wretches to communicate disorders to
the fleet. Captain Smith of the Navy had also declared, that when employed
to board Guineamen to impress sailors, although he had examined near twenty
vessels, he never was able to get more than two men, who were fit for
service; and these turned out such inhuman fellows, although good seamen,
that he was obliged to dismiss them from the ship.

But he hoped the committee would attend to the latter part of the assertion
of Captain Smith. Yes:--this trade, while it injured the constitutions of
our sailors, debased their morals. Of this, indeed, there was a barbarous
illustration in the evidence. A slaveship had struck on some shoals, called
the Morant Keys, a few leagues from the east end of Jamaica. The crew
landed in their boats, with arms and provisions, leaving the slaves on
board in their irons. This happened in the night. When morning came, it was
discovered that the Negros had broken their shackles, and were busy in
making rafts; upon which afterwards they placed the women and children. The
men attended upon the latter, swimming by their side, whilst they drifted
to the island where the crew were. But what was the sequel? From an
apprehension that the Negros would consume the water and provision, which
had been landed, the crew resolved to destroy them as they approached the
shore. They killed between three and four hundred. Out of the whole cargo
only thirty-three were saved, who, on being brought to Kingston, were sold.
It would, however, be to no purpose, he said, to relieve the Slave-trade
from this act of barbarity. The story of the Morant Keys was paralleled by
that of Captain Collingwood; and were you to got rid of these, another, and
another, would still present itself, to prove the barbarous effects of this
trade on the moral character.

But of the miseries of the trade there was no end. Whilst he had been
reading out of the evidence the story of the Morant Keys, his eye had but
glanced on the opposite page, and it met another circumstance of horror.
This related to what were called the refuse-slaves. Many people in Kingston
were accustomed to speculate in the purchase of those, who were left after
the first day's sale. They then carried them out into the country, and
retailed them. Mr. Ross declared, that he had seen these landed in a very
wretched state, sometimes in the agonies of death, and sold as low as for a
dollar, and that he had known several expire in the piazzas of the
vendue-master. The bare description superseded the necessity of any remark.
Yet these were the familiar incidents of the Slave-trade.

But he would go back to the seamen. He would mention another cause of
mortality, by which many of them lost their lives. In looking over Lloyd's
list, no less than six vessels were cut off by the irritated natives in one
year, and the crews massacred. Such instances were not unfrequent. In
short, the history of this commerce was written throughout in characters of
blood.

He would next consider the effects of the abolition on those places where
it was chiefly carried on. But would the committee believe, after all the
noise which had been made on this subject, that the Slave-trade composed
but a thirtieth part of the export trade of Liverpool, and that of the
trade of Bristol it constituted a still less proportion? For the effects of
the abolition on the general commerce of the kingdom, he would refer them
to Mr. Irving; from whose evidence it would appear, that the medium value
of the British manufactures, exported to Africa, amounted only to between
four and five hundred thousand pounds annually. This was but a trifling
sum. Surely the superior capital, ingenuity, application, and integrity, of
the British manufacturer would command new markets for the produce of his
industry, to an equal amount, when this should be no more. One branch,
however, of our manufactures, he confessed, would suffer from the
abolition; and that was the manufacture of gunpowder; of which the nature
of our connection with Africa drew from us as much as we exported to all
the rest of the world besides.

He hastened, however, to another part of the argument. Some had said, "We
wish to put an end to the Slave-trade, but we do not approve of your mode.
Allow more time. Do not displease the legislatures of the West India
islands. It is by them that those laws must be passed, and enforced, which
will secure your object." Now he was directly at issue with these
gentlemen. He could show, that the abolition was the only certain mode of
amending the treatment of the slaves, so as to secure their increase; and
that the mode which had been offered to him, was at once inefficacious and
unsafe. In the first place, how could any laws, made by these legislatures,
be effectual, whilst the evidence of Negros was in no case admitted against
White men? What was the answer from Grenada? Did it not state, "that they
who were capable of cruelty, would in general be artful enough to prevent
any but slaves from being witnesses of the fact?" Hence it had arisen, that
when positive laws had been made, in some of the islands, for the
protection of the slaves, they had been found almost a dead letter.
Besides, by what law would you enter into every man's domestic concerns,
and regulate the interior economy of his house and plantation? This would
be something more than a general excise. Who would endure such a law? And
yet on all these and innumerable other minutiae must depend the protection
of the slaves, their comforts, and the probability of their increase. It
was universally allowed, that the Code Noir had been utterly neglected in
the French islands, though there was an officer appointed by the crown to
see it enforced. The provisions of the Directorio had been but of little
more avail in the Portuguese settlements, or the institution of a Protector
of the Indians, in those of the Spaniards. But what degree of protection
the slaves would enjoy might be inferred from the admission of a gentleman,
by whom this very plan of regulation had been recommended, and who was
himself no ordinary person, but a man of discernment and legal resources.
He had proposed a limitation of the number of lashes to be given by the
master or overseer for one offence. But, after all, he candidly confessed,
that his proposal was not likely to be useful, while the evidence of slaves
continued inadmissible against their masters. But he could even bring
testimony to the inefficacy of such regulations. A wretch in Barbadoes had
chained a Negro girl to the floor, and flogged her till she was nearly
expiring. Captain Cook and Major Fitch, hearing her cries, broke open the
door and found her. The wretch retreated from their resentment, but cried
out exultingly, "that he had only given her thirty-nine lashes (the number
limited by law) at any one time; and that he had only inflicted this number
three times since the beginning of the night," adding, "that he would
prosecute them for breaking open his door; and that he would flog her to
death for all any one, if he pleased; and that he would give her the fourth
thirty-nine before morning."

But this plan of regulation was not only inefficacious, but unsafe. He
entered his protest against the fatal consequences, which might result from
it. The Negros were creatures like ourselves; but they were uninformed, and
their moral character was debased. Hence they were unfit for civil rights.
To use these properly they must be gradually restored to that level, from
which they had been so unjustly degraded. To allow them an appeal to the
laws, would be to awaken in them a sense of the dignity of their nature.
The first return of life, after a swoon, was commonly a convulsion,
dangerous at once to the party himself and to all around him. You should
first prepare them for the situation, and not bring the situation to them.
To be under the protection of the law was in fact to be a freeman; and to
unite slavery and freedom in one condition was impracticable. The
abolition, on the other hand, was exactly such an agent as the case
required. All hopes of supplies from the Coast being cut off, breeding
would henceforth become a serious object of attention; and the care of
this, as including better clothing and feeding, and milder discipline,
would extend to innumerable particulars, which an act of assembly could
neither specify nor enforce. The horrible system, too, which many had gone
upon, of working out their slaves in a few years, and recruiting their
gangs with imported Africans, would receive its death-blow from the
abolition of the trade. The opposite would force itself on the most
unfeeling heart. Ruin would stare a man in the face, if he were not to
conform to it. The non-resident owners would then express themselves in the
terms of Sir Philip Gibbs, "that he should consider it as the fault of his
manager, if he were not to keep up the number of his slaves." This
reasoning concerning the different tendencies of the two systems was
self-evident. But facts were not wanting to confirm it. Mr. Long had
remarked, that all the insurrections and suicides in Jamaica had been found
among the imported slaves, who, not having lost the consciousness of civil
rights, which they had enjoyed in their own country, could not brook the
indignities to which they were subjected in the West Indies. An instance in
point was afforded also by what had lately taken place in the island of
Dominica. The disturbance there had been chiefly occasioned by some runaway
slaves from the French islands. But what an illustration was it of his own
doctrine to say, that the slaves of several persons, who had been treated,
with kindness, were not among the number of the insurgents on that
occasion!

But when persons coolly talked of putting an end to the Slave-trade through
the medium of the West India legislatures, and of gradual abolition, by
means of regulations, they surely forgot the miseries which this horrid
traffic occasioned in Africa during every moment of its continuance. This
consideration was conclusive with him, when called upon to decide whether
the Slave-trade should be tolerated for a while, or immediately abolished.
The divine law against murder was absolute and unqualified. Whilst we were
ignorant of all these things, our sanction of them might, in some measure,
be pardoned. But now, when our eyes were opened, could we tolerate them for
a moment, unless we were ready at once to determine, that gain should be
our God, and, like the heathens of old, were prepared to offer up human
victims at the shrine of our idolatry?

This consideration precluded also the giving heed for an instant to another
plea, namely, that if we were to abolish the trade it would be
proportionably taken up by other nations. But, whatever other nations did,
it became Great Britain, in every point of view, to take a forward part.
One half of this guilty commerce had been carried on by her subjects. As we
had been great in our crime, we should be early in our repentance. If
Providence had showered his blessings upon us in unparalleled abundance, we
should show ourselves grateful for them by rendering them subservient to
the purposes for which they were intended. There would be a day of
retribution, wherein we should have to give an account of all those
talents, faculties, and opportunities, with which we had been intrusted.
Let it not then appear, that our superior power had been employed to
oppress our fellow-creatures, and our superior light to darken the creation
of God. He could not but look forward with delight to the happy prospects
which opened themselves to his view in Africa from the abolition of the
Slave-trade; when a commerce, justly deserving that name, should be
established with her; not like that, falsely so called, which now
subsisted, and which all who were interested for the honour of the
commercial character (though there were no superior principle) should
hasten to disavow. Had this trade indeed been ever so profitable, his
decision would have been in no degree affected by that consideration.
"Here's the smell of blood on the hand still, and all the perfumes of
Arabia cannot sweeten it."

He doubted, whether it was not almost an act of degrading condescension to
stoop to discuss the question in the view of commercial interest. On this
ground, however, he was no less strong than on every other. Africa abounded
with productions of value, which she would gladly exchange for our
manufactures, when these were not otherwise to be obtained: and to what an
extent her demand might then grow exceeded almost the powers of
computation. One instance already existed of a native king, who being
debarred by his religion the use of spirituous liquors, and therefore not
feeling the irresistible temptation to acts of rapine which they afforded
to his countrymen, had abolished the Slave-trade throughout all his
dominions, and was encouraging an honest industry.

For his own part, he declared that, interested as he might be supposed to
be in the final event of the question, he was comparatively indifferent as
to the present decision of the House upon it. Whatever they might do, the
people of Great Britain, he was confident, would abolish the Slave-trade
when, as would then soon happen, its injustice and cruelty should be fairly
laid before them. It was a nest of serpents, which would never have existed
so long, but for the darkness in which they lay hid. The light of day would
now be let in on them, and they would vanish from the sight. For himself,
he declared he was engaged in a work, which he would never abandon. The
consciousness of the justice of his cause would carry him forward, though
he were alone; but he could not but derive encouragement from considering
with whom he was associated. Let us not, he said, despair. It is a blessed
cause; and success, ere long, will crown our exertions. Already we have
gained one victory. We have obtained for these poor creatures the
recognition of their human nature[A], which, for a while, was most
shamefully denied them. This is the first fruits of our efforts.

[Footnote A: This point was actually obtained by the evidence before the
House of Commons; for, after this, we heard no more of them as an inferior
race.]

Let us persevere, and our triumph will be complete. Never, never, will we
desist, till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name; till
we have released ourselves from the load of guilt under which we at present
labour; and till we have extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic,
which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened
times, will scarcely believe had been suffered to exist so long, a disgrace
and a dishonour to our country.


He then moved, that the chairman be instructed to move for leave to bring
in a bill to prevent the further importation of slaves into the British
colonies in the West Indies.

Colonel Tarleton immediately rose up, and began by giving an historical
account of the trade from the reign of Elizabeth to the present time. He
then proceeded to the sanction, which parliament had always given it. Hence
it could not then be withdrawn without a breach of faith. Hence, also, the
private property embarked in it was sacred, nor could it be invaded, unless
an adequate compensation were given in return.

They, who had attempted the abolition of the trade, were led away by a
mistaken humanity. The Africans themselves had no objection to its
continuance.

With respect to the Middle Passage, he believed the mortality there to be
on an average only five in the hundred; whereas in regiments, sent out to
the West Indies, the average loss in the year was about ten and a half per
cent.

The Slave-trade was absolutely necessary, if we meant to carry on our West
India commerce; for many attempts had been made to cultivate the lands in
the different islands by White labourers; but they had always failed.

It had also the merit of keeping up a number of seamen in readiness for the
state. Lord Rodney had stated this as one of its advantages on the breaking
out of a war. Liverpool alone could supply nine hundred and ninety-three
seamen annually.

He would now advert to the connections dependent upon the African trade. It
was the duty of the House to protect the planters, whose lives had been,
and were then, exposed to imminent dangers, and whose property had
undergone an unmerited depreciation. To what could this depreciation, and
to what could the late insurrection at Dominica, be imputed, which had been
saved from horrid carnage and midnight-butchery only by the adventitious
arrival of two British regiments? They could only be attributed to the long
delayed question of the abolition of the Slave-trade; and if this question
were to go much longer unsettled, Jamaica would be endangered also.

To members of landed property he would observe, that the abolition would
lessen the commerce of the country, and increase the national debt and the
number of their taxes. The minister, he hoped, who patronized this wild
scheme, had some new pecuniary resource in store to supply the deficiencies
it would occasion.

To the mercantile members he would speak thus: "A few ministerial men in
the house had been gifted with religious inspiration, and this had been
communicated to other eminent personages in it: these enlightened
philanthropists had discovered, that it was necessary, for the sake of
humanity and for the honour of the nation, that the merchants concerned in
the African trade should be persecuted, notwithstanding the sanction of
their trade by parliament, and notwithstanding that such persecution must
aggrandize the rivals of Great Britain." Now how did this language sound?
It might have done in the twelfth century, when all was bigotry and
superstition. But let not a mistaken humanity, in these enlightened times,
furnish a colourable pretext for any injurious attack on property or
character.

These things being considered, he should certainly oppose the measure in
contemplation. It would annihilate a trade, whose exports amounted to eight
hundred thousand pounds annually, and which employed a hundred and sixty
vessels and more than five thousand seamen. It would destroy also the West
India trade, which was of the annual value of six millions; and which
employed one hundred and sixty thousand tons of shipping, and seamen in
proportion. These were objects of too much importance to the country to be
hazarded on an unnecessary speculation.

Mr. Grosvenor then rose. He complimented the humanity of Mr. Wilberforce,
though he differed from him on the subject of his motion. He himself had
read only the privy council report; and he wished for no other evidence.
The question had then been delayed two years. Had the abolition been so
clear a point as it was said to be, it could not have needed either so much
evidence or time.

He had heard a good deal about kidnapping and other barbarous practices. He
was sorry for them. But these were the natural consequences of the laws of
Africa; and it became us as wise men to turn them to our own advantage. The
Slave-trade was certainly not an amiable trade. Neither was that of a
butcher; but yet it was a very necessary one.

There was great reason to doubt the propriety of the present motion. He had
twenty reasons for disapproving it. The first was, that the thing was
impossible. He needed not therefore to give the rest. Parliament, indeed,
might relinquish the trade. But to whom? To foreigners, who would continue
it, and without the humane regulations, which were applied to it by his
country-men.

He would give advice to the house on this subject in the words, which the
late Alderman Beckford used on a different occasion: "Meddle not with
troubled waters: they will be found to be bitter waters, and the waters of
affliction." He again admitted, that the Slave-trade was not an amiable
trade; but he would not gratify his humanity at the expense of the
interests of his country; and he thought we should not too curiously
inquire into the unpleasant circumstances, which attended it.

Mr. James Martin succeeded Mr. Grosvenor. He said, he had been long aware,
how much self-interest could pervert the judgment; but he was not apprized
of the full power of it, till the Slave-trade became a subject of
discussion. He had always conceived, that the custom of trafficking in
human beings had been incautiously begun, and without any reflection upon
it; for he never could believe that any man, under the influence of moral
principles, could suffer himself knowingly to carry on a trade replete with
fraud, cruelty, and destruction; with destruction, indeed, of the worst
kind, because it subjected the sufferers to a lingering death. But he found
now, that even such a trade as this could be sanctioned.

It was well observed in the petition from the University of Cambridge
against the Slave-trade, "that a firm belief in the Providence of a
benevolent Creator assured them that no system, founded on the oppression
of one part of mankind, could be beneficial to another." He felt much
concern, that in an assembly of the representatives of a country, boasting
itself zealous not only for the preservation of its own liberties, but for
the general rights of mankind, it should be necessary to say a single word
upon such a subject; but the deceitfulness of the human heart was such, as
to change the appearances of truth, when it stood in opposition to
self-interest. And he had to lament that even among those, whose public
duty it was to cling to the universal and eternal principles of truth,
justice, and humanity, there were found some, who could defend that which
was unjust, fraudulent, and cruel.

The doctrines he had heard that evening, ought to have been reserved for
times the most flagrantly profligate and abandoned. He never expected then
to learn, that the everlasting laws of righteousness were to give way to
imaginary, political, and commercial expediency; and that thousands of our
fellow-creatures were to be reduced to wretchedness, that individuals might
enjoy opulence, or government a revenue.

He hoped that the house for the sake of its own character would explode
these doctrines with all the marks of odium they deserved; and that all
parties would join in giving a death-blow to this execrable trade. The
royal family would, he expected, from their known benevolence, patronize
the measure. Both Houses of Parliament were now engaged in the prosecution
of a gentleman accused of cruelty and oppression in the East. But what were
these cruelties, even if they could be brought home to him, when compared
in number and degree to those, which were every day and every hour
committed in the abominable traffic, which was now under their discussion!
He considered therefore both Houses of Parliament as pledged upon this
occasion. Of the support of the bishops he could have no doubt; because
they were to render Christianity amiable, both by their doctrine and their
example. Some of the inferior clergy had already manifested a laudable zeal
in behalf of the injured Africans. The University of Cambridge had
presented a petition to that house worthy of itself. The Sister-university
had, by one of her representatives, given sanction to the measure.
Dissenters of various denominations, but particularly the Quakers, (who to
their immortal honour had taken the lead in it,) had vied with those of the
established church in this amiable contest. The first counties, and some of
the largest trading towns, in the kingdom had espoused the cause. In short,
there had never been more unanimity in the country, than in this righteous
attempt.

With such support, and with so good a cause, it would be impossible to
fail. Let but every man stand forth, who had at any time boasted of himself
as an Englishman, and success would follow. But if he were to be unhappily
mistaken as to the result, we must give up the name of Englishmen. Indeed,
if we retained it, we should be the greatest hypocrites in the world; for
we boasted of nothing more than of our own liberty; we manifested the
warmest indignation at the smallest personal insult; we professed liberal
sentiments towards other nations: but to do these things, and to continue
such a traffic, would be to deserve the hateful character before mentioned.
While we could hardly bear the sight of any thing resembling slavery, even
as a punishment, among ourselves, how could we consistently entail an
eternal slavery upon others?

It had been frequently, but most disgracefully said, that "we should not be
too eager in setting the example. Let the French begin it." Such a
sentiment was a direct libel upon the ancient, noble, and generous
character of this nation. We ought, on the other hand, under the blessings
we enjoyed, and under the high sense we entertained of our own dignity as a
people, to be proudly fearful, lest other nations should anticipate our
design, and obtain the palm before us. It became us to lead. And if others
should not follow us, it would belong to them to glory in the shame of
trampling under foot the laws of reason, humanity, and religion.

This motion, he said, came strongly recommended to them. The honourable
member, who introduced it, was justly esteemed for his character. He was
the representative too of a noble county, which had been always ready to
take the lead in every public measure for the good of the community, or for
the general benefit of mankind; of a county too, which had had the honour
of producing a Saville. Had his illustrious predecessor been alive, he
would have shown the same zeal on the same occasion. The preservation of
the unalienable rights of all his fellow-creatures was one of the chief
characteristics of that excellent citizen. Let every member in that house
imitate him in the purity of their conduct and in the universal rectitude
of their measures, and they would pay the same tender regard to the rights
of other countries as to those of their own; and, for his part, he should
never believe those persons to be sincere, who were loud in their
professions of love of liberty, if he saw that love confined to the narrow
circle of one community, which ought to be extended to the natural rights
of every inhabitant of the globe.

But we should be better able to bring ourselves up to this standard of
rectitude, if we were to put ourselves into the situation of those, whom we
oppressed. This was the rule of our religion. What should we think of
those, who should say, that it was their interest to injure us? But he
hoped we should not deceive ourselves so grossly as to imagine, that it was
our real interest to oppress any one. The advantages to be obtained by
tyranny were imaginary, and deceitful to the tyrant; and the evils they
caused to the oppressed were grievous, and often insupportable.

Before he sat down, he would apologize, if he had expressed himself too
warmly on this subject. He did not mean to offend any one. There were
persons connected with the trade, some of whom he pitied on account of the
difficulty of their situation. But he should think most contemptibly of
himself as a man, if he could talk on this traffic without emotion. It
would be a sign to him of his own moral degradation. He regretted his
inability to do justice to such a cause; but if, in having attempted to
forward it, he had shown the weakness of his powers, he must console
himself with the consideration, that he felt more solid comfort in having
acted up to sound public principles, than he could have done from the
exertion of the most splendid talents against the conviction of his
conscience.

Mr. Burdon rose, and said he was embarrassed to know how to act. Mr.
Wilberforce had in a great measure met his ideas. Indeed he considered
himself as much in his hands; but he wished to go gradually to the
abolition of the trade. He wished to give time to the planters to recruit
their stocks. He feared the immediate abolition might occasion a monopoly
among such of them as were rich, to the detriment of the less affluent. We
ought, like a judicious physician, to follow nature, and to promote a
gradual recovery.

Mr. Francis rose next. After complimenting Mr. Wilberforce, he stated that
personal considerations might appear to incline him to go against the side
which he was about to take, namely, that of strenuously supporting his
motion. Having himself an interest in the West Indies, he thought that what
he should submit to the house would have the double effect of evidence and
argument; and he stated most unequivocally his opinion, that the abolition
of the Slave-trade would tend materially to the benefit of the West Indies.

The arguments urged by the honourable mover were supported by the facts,
which he had adduced from the evidence, more strongly than any arguments
had been supported in any speech be had ever heard. He wished, however,
that more of these facts had been introduced into the debate; for they were
apt to have a greater effect upon the mind than mere reasonings, however
just and powerful. Many had affirmed that the Slave-trade was politic and
expedient; but it was worthy of remark, that no man had ventured to deny
that it was criminal. Criminal, however, be declared it to be in the
highest degree; and he believed it was equally impolitic. Both its
inexpediency and injustice had been established by the honourable mover. He
dwelt much on the unhappy situation of the Negros in the West Indies, who
were without the protection of government or of efficient laws, and subject
to the mere caprice of men, who were at once the parties, the judges, and
the executioners.

He instanced an overseer, who, having thrown a Negro into a copper of
boiling cane-juice for a trifling offence, was punished merely by the loss
of his place, and by being obliged to pay the value of the slave. He stated
another instance of a girl of fourteen, who was dreadfully whipped for
coming too late to her work. She fell down motionless after it; and was
then dragged along the ground, by the legs, to an hospital; where she died.
The murderer, though tried, was acquitted by a jury of his peers, upon the
idea, that it was impossible a master could destroy his own property. This
was a notorious fact. It was published in the Jamaica Gazette; and it had
even happened since the question of the abolition had been started.

The only argument used against such cruelties, was the master's interest in
the slave. But he urged the common cruelty to horses, in which their
drivers had an actual interest with the drivers of men in the colonies, as
a proof that this was no security. He had never heard an instance of a
master being punished for the murder of his slave. The propagation of the
slaves was so far from being encouraged, that it was purposely checked,
because it was thought more profitable and less troublesome to buy a full
grown Negro, than to rear a child. He repeated that his interest might have
inclined him to the other side of the question; but he did not choose to
compromise between his interest and his duty; for, if he abandoned his
duty, he should not be happy in this world; nor should he deserve happiness
in the next.

Mr. Pitt rose, but he said it was only to move, seeing that justice could
not be done to the subject this evening, that the further consideration of
the question might be adjourned to the next.

Mr. Cawthorne and Colonel Tarleton both opposed this motion, and Colonel
Phipps and Lord Carhampton supported it.

Mr. Fox said, the opposition to the adjournment was uncandid and
unbecoming. They who opposed it well knew that the trade could not bear
discussion. Let it be discussed; and, although there were symptoms of
predetermination in some, the abolition of it must be carried. He would not
believe that there could be found in the House of Commons men of such hard
hearts and inaccessible understandings, as to vote an assent to its
continuance, and then go home to their families, satisfied with their vote,
after they had been once made acquainted with the subject.

Mr. Pitt agreed with Mr. Fox, that from a full discussion of the subject
there was every reason to augur, that the abolition would be adopted. Under
the imputations, with which this trade was loaded, gentlemen should
remember, they could not do justice to their own characters, unless they
stood up, and gave their reasons for opposing the abolition of it. It was
unusual also to force any question of such importance to so hasty a
decision. For his own part, it was his duty, from the situation in which he
stood, to state fully his own sentiments on the question; and, however
exhausted both he and the house might be, he was resolved it should not
pass without discussion, as long as he had strength to utter a word upon
it. Every principle, that could bind a man of honour and conscience, would
impel him to give the most powerful support he could to the motion for the
abolition.

The motion of Mr. Pitt was assented to, and the house was adjourned
accordingly.

On the next day the subject was resumed. Sir William Yonge rose, and said,
that, though he differed from the honourable mover, he had much admired his
speech of the last evening. Indeed the recollection of it made him only the
more sensible of the weakness of his own powers; and yet, having what he
supposed to be irrefragable arguments in his possession, he felt emboldened
to proceed.

And, first, before he could vote for the abolition, he wished to be
convinced, that, whilst Britain were to lose, Africa would gain. As for
himself, he hated a traffic in men, and joyfully anticipated its
termination at no distant period under a wise system of regulation: but he
considered the present measure as crude and indolent; and as precluding
better and wiser measures, which were already in train. A British
Parliament should attain not only the best ends, but by the wisest means.

Great Britain might abandon her share of this trade, but she could not
abolish it. Parliament was not an assembly of delegates from the powers of
Europe, but of a single nation. It could not therefore suppress the trade;
but would eventually aggravate those miseries incident to it, which every
enlightened man must acknowledge, and every good man must deplore. He
wished the traffic for ever closed. But other nations were only waiting for
our decision, to seize the part we should leave them. The new projects of
these would be intemperate; and, in the zeal of rivalship, the present
evils of comparatively sober dealing would be aggravated beyond all
estimate in this new and heated auction of bidders for life and limb. We
might indeed by regulation give an example of new principles of policy and
of justice; but if we were to withdraw suddenly from this commerce, like
Pontius Pilate, we should wash our hands indeed, but we should not be
innocent as to the consequences.

On the first agitation of this business, Mr. Wilberforce had spoken
confidently of other nations following our example. But had not the
National Assembly of France referred the Slave-trade to a select committee,
and had not that committee rejected the measure of its abolition? By the
evidence it appeared, that the French and Spaniards were then giving
bounties to the Slave-trade; that Denmark was desirous of following it;
that America was encouraging it; and that the Dutch had recognized its
necessity, and recommended its recovery. Things were bad enough indeed as
they were, but he was sure this rivalship would make them worse.

He did not admit the disorders imputed to the trade in all their extent.
Pillage and kidnapping could not be general, on account of the populousness
of the country; though too frequent instances of it had been proved. Crimes
might be falsely imputed. This he admitted; but only partially. Witchcraft,
he believed, was the secret of poisoning, and therefore deserved the
severest punishment. That there should be a number of convictions for
adultery, where polygamy was a custom, was not to be wondered at. But he
feared, if a sale of these criminals were to be done away, massacre would
be the substitute.

An honourable member had asked on a former day, "Is it an excuse for
robbery, to say that another would have committed it?" But the Slave-trade
did not necessarily imply robbery. Not long since Great Britain sold her
convicts, indirectly at least, to slavery. But he was no advocate for the
trade. He wished it had never been begun; and that it might soon terminate.
But the means were not adequate to the end proposed.

Mr. Burke had said on a former occasion, "that in adopting the measure we
must prepare to pay the price of our virtue." He was ready to pay his share
of that price. But the effect of the purchase must be first ascertained. If
they did not estimate this, it was not benevolence, but dissipation.
Effects were to be duly appreciated; and though statesmen might rest every
thing on a plausible manifesto of cause, the humbler moralist, meditating
peace and goodwill towards men, would venture to call such statesmen
responsible for consequences.

In regard to the colonies, a sudden abolition would be oppression. The
legislatures there should be led, and not forced, upon this occasion. He
was persuaded they would act wisely to attain the end pointed out to them.
They would see, that a natural increase of their Negros might be effected
by an improved system of legislation; and that in the result the
Slave-trade would be no longer necessary.

A sudden abolition, also, would occasion dissatisfaction there. Supplies
were necessary for some time to come. The Negros did not yet generally
increase by birth. The gradation of ages was not yet duly filled. These and
many defects might be remedied, but not suddenly.

It would cause also distress there. The planters, not having their expected
supplies, could not discharge their debts. Hence their slaves would be
seized and sold. Nor was there any provision in this case against the
separation of families, except as to the mother and infant child. These
separations were one of the chief outrages complained of in Africa. Why
then should we promote them in the West Indies? The confinement on board a
slave-ship had been also bitterly complained of; but, under distraint for
the debt of a master, the poor slave might linger in a gaol twice or thrice
the time of the Middle Passage.

He again stated his abhorrence of the Slave-trade; but as a resource,
though he hoped but a temporary one, it was of such consequence to the
existence of the country, that it could not suddenly be withdrawn. The
value of the imports and exports between Great Britain and the West Indies,
including the excise and customs, was between seven and eight millions
annually; and the tonnage of the ships employed, about an eighth of the
whole tonnage of these kingdoms.

He complained that in the evidence the West India planters had been by no
means spared. Cruel stories had been hastily and lightly told against them.
Invidious comparisons had been made to their detriment. But it was well
known, that one of our best comic writers, when he wished to show
benevolence in its fairest colours, had personified it in the character of
the West Indian. He wished the slave might become as secure as the
apprentice in this country: but it was necessary that the alarms concerning
the abolition of the Slave-trade should, in the mean time, be quieted; and
he trusted that the good sense and true benevolence of the House would
reject the present motion.

Mr. Matthew Montagu rose, and said a few words in support of the motion;
and after condemning the trade in the strongest manner, he declared, that
as long as he had life, he would use every faculty of his body and mind in
endeavouring to promote its abolition.

Lord John Russell succeeded Mr. Montagu. He said, that although slavery was
repugnant to his feelings, he must vote against the abolition, as visionary
and delusive. It was a feeble attempt without the power to serve the cause
of humanity. Other nations would take up the trade. Whenever a bill of wise
regulation should be brought forward, no man would be more ready than
himself to lend his support. In this way the rights of humanity might be
asserted without injury to others. He hoped he should not incur censure by
his vote; for, let his understanding be what it might, he did not know that
he had, notwithstanding the assertions of Mr. Fox, an inaccessible heart.

Mr. Stanley (agent for the islands) rose next. He felt himself called upon,
he said, to refute the many calumnies, which had for years been propagated
against the planters, (even through the medium of the pulpit, which should
have been employed to better purposes,) and which had at length produced
the mischievous measure, which was now under the discussion of the House. A
cry had been sounded forth, and from one end of the kingdom to the other;
as if there had never been a slave from Adam to the present time. But it
appeared to him to have been the intention of Providence, from the very
beginning, that one set of men should be slaves to another. This truth was
as old as it was universal. It was recognized in every history, under every
government, and in every religion. Nor did the Christian religion itself,
if the comments of Dr. Halifax, bishop of Gloucester, on a passage in St.
Paul's epistle to the Corinthians were true, show more repugnance to
slavery than any other.

He denied that the slaves were procured in the manner which had been
described. It was the custom of all savages to kill their prisoners; and
the Africans ought to be thankful that they had been carried safe into the
British colonies.

As to the tales of misery in the Middle Passage, they were gross
falsehoods; and as to their treatment in the West Indies, he knew
personally that it was, in general, indulgent and humane.

With regard to promoting their increase by any better mode of treatment, he
wished gentlemen would point it out to him. As a planter he would thank
them for it. It was absurd to suppose that he and others were blind to
their own interest. It was well known that one Creole slave was worth two
Africans: and their interest therefore must suggest to them that the
propagation of slaves was preferable to the purchase of imported Negros, of
whom one half very frequently died in the seasoning.

He then argued the impossibility of beasts doing the work of the
plantations. He endeavoured to prove that the number of these, adequate to
this purpose, could not be supplied with food; and after having made many
other observations, which, on account of the lowness of his voice, could
not be heard, he concluded by objecting to the motion.

Mr. William Smith rose. He wondered how the last speaker could have had the
boldness to draw arguments from scripture in support of the Slave-trade.
Such arguments could be intended only to impose on those, who never took
the trouble of thinking for themselves. Could it be thought for a moment,
that the good sense of the House could be misled by a few perverted or
misapplied passages, in direct opposition to the whole tenor and spirit of
Christianity; to the theory, he might say, of almost every religion, which
had ever appeared in the world? Whatever might have been advanced, every
body must feel, that the Slave-trade could not exist an hour, if that
excellent maxim, "to do to others as we would wish that others should do to
us," had its proper influence on the conduct of men.

Nor was Mr. Stanley more happy in his argument of the antiquity and
universality of slavery. Because a practice had existed, did it necessarily
follow that it was just? By this argument every crime might be defended
from the time of Cain. The slaves of antiquity, however, were in a
situation far preferable to that of the Negros in the West Indies. A
passage in Macrobius, which exemplified this in the strongest manner, was
now brought to his recollection. "Our ancestors," says Macrobius,
"denominated the master father of the family, and the slave domestic, with
the intention of removing all odium from the condition of the master, and
all contempt from that of the servant." Could this language be applied to
the present state of West India slavery?

It had been complained of by those who supported the trade, that they
laboured under great disadvantages by being obliged to contend against the
most splendid abilities which the House could boast. But he believed they
laboured under one, which was worse, and for which no talents could
compensate; he meant the impossibility of maintaining their ground fairly
on any of those principles, which every man within those walls had been
accustomed, from his infancy, to venerate as sacred. He and his friends too
laboured under some disadvantages. They had been charged with fanaticism.
But what had Mr. Long said, when he addressed himself to those planters,
who were desirous of attempting improvements on their estates?  He advised
them "not to be diverted by partial views, vulgar prejudices, or the
ridicule which might spring from weak minds, from a benevolent attention to
the public good." But neither by these nor by other charges were he or his
friends to be diverted from the prosecution of their purpose. They were
convinced of the rectitude and high importance of their object; and were
determined never to desist from pursuing it, till it should be attained.

But they had to struggle with difficulties far more serious. The West
Indian interest, which opposed them, was a collected body; of great power,
affluence, connections, and respectability.

Artifice had also been employed. Abolition and emancipation had been so
often confounded, and by those who knew better, that it must have been
purposely done, to throw an odium on the measure which was now before them.

The abolitionists had been also accused as the authors of the late
insurrection in Dominica. A revolt had certainly taken place in that
island. But revolts there had occurred frequently before. Mr. Stanley
himself, in attempting to fix this charge upon them, had related
circumstances, which amounted to their entire exculpation. He had said,
that all was quiet there till the disturbances in the French islands; when
some Negros from the latter had found their way to Dominica, and had
excited the insurrection in question. He had also said, that the Negros in
our own islands hated the idea of the abolition; for they thought, as no
new labourers were to come in, they should be subjected to increased
hardships. But if they and their masters hated this same measure, how was
this coincidence of sentiment to give birth to insurrection?

Other fallacies also had been industriously propagated. Of the African
trade it had been said, that the exports amounted to a million annually;
whereas, from the report on the table, it had on an average amounted to
little more than half a million; and this included the articles for the
purchase of African produce, which were of the value of a hundred and forty
thousand pounds.

The East Indian trade, also, had been said to depend on the West Indian and
the African. In the first place, it had but very little connection with the
former at all. Its connection with the latter was principally on account of
the saltpetre, which it furnished for making gunpowder. Out of nearly three
millions of pounds in weight of the latter article, which had been exported
in a year from this country, one half had been sent to Africa alone; for
the purposes, doubtless, of maintaining peace, and encouraging civilization
among its various tribes! Four or five thousand persons were said also to
depend for their bread in manufacturing guns for the African trade; and
these, it was pretended, could not make guns of another sort.--But where
lay the difficulty?--One of the witnesses had unravelled it. He had seen
the Negros maimed by the bursting of these guns. They killed more from the
butt than from the muzzle. Another had stated, that on the sea-coast the
natives were afraid to fire a trade-gun.

In the West Indian commerce two hundred and forty thousand tons of shipping
were stated to be employed. But here deception intruded itself again. This
statement included every vessel, great and small, which went from the
British West Indies to America, and to the foreign islands; and, what was
yet more unfair, all the repeated voyages of each throughout the year. The
shipping, which could only fairly be brought into this account, did but
just exceed half that which had been mentioned.

In a similar manner had the islands themselves been overrated. Their value
had been computed, for the information of the privy council, at thirty-six
millions; but the planters had estimated them at seventy. The truth,
however, might possibly lie between these extremes. He by no means wished
to depreciate their importance; but he did not like that such palpable
misrepresentations should go unnoticed.

An honourable member (Colonel Tarleton) had disclaimed every attempt to
interest the feelings of those present, but had desired to call them to
reason and accounts. He also desired (though it was a question of feeling,
if any one ever was,) to draw the attention of the committee to reason and
accounts--to the voice of reason instead of that of prejudice, and to
accounts in the place of idle apprehensions. The result, he doubted not,
would be a full persuasion, that policy and justice were inseparable upon
this, as upon every other occasion.

The same gentleman had enlarged on the injustice of depriving the Liverpool
merchants of a business, on which were founded their honour and their
fortunes. On what part of it they founded their honour he could not
conjecture, except from those passages in the evidence, where it appeared,
that their agents in Africa had systematically practised every fraud and
villainy, which the meanest and most unprincipled cunning could suggest, to
impose on the ignorance of those with whom they traded.

The same gentleman had also lamented, that the evidence had not been taken
upon oath. He himself lamented it too. Numberless facts had been related by
eye-witnesses, called in support of the abolition, so dreadfully atrocious,
that they appeared incredible; and seemed rather, to use the expression of
Ossian, like "the histories of the days of other times." These procured for
the trade a species of acquittal, which it could not have obtained, had the
committee been authorised to administer an oath. He apprehended also, in
this case, that some other persons would have been rather more guarded in
their testimony. Captain Knox would not then perhaps have told the
committee, that six hundred slaves could have had comfortable room at night
in his vessel of about one hundred and forty tons; when there could have
been no more than five feet six inches in length, and fifteen inches in
breadth, to about two thirds of his number.

The same gentleman had also dwelt upon the Slave-trade as a nursery for
seamen. But it had appeared by the muster-rolls of the slave-vessels, then
actually on the table of the House, that more than a fifth of them died in
the service, exclusive of those who perished when discharged in the West
Indies; and yet he had been instructed by his constituents to maintain this
false position. His reasoning, too, was very curious; for, though numbers
might die, yet as one half, who entered, were landsmen, seamen were
continually forming. Not to dwell on the expensive cruelty of forming these
seamen by the yearly destruction of so many hundreds, this very statement
was flatly contradicted by the evidence. The muster-rolls from Bristol
stated the proportion of landmen in the trade there at one twelfth, and the
proper officers of Liverpool itself at but a sixteenth, of the whole
employed. In the face again of the most glaring facts, others had
maintained that the mortality in these vessels did not exceed that of other
trades in the tropical climates. But the same documents, which proved that
twenty-three per cent, were destroyed in this wasting traffic, proved that
in West India ships only about one and a half per cent. were lost,
including every casualty.--But the very men, under whose management this
dreadful mortality had been constantly occurring, had coolly said, that
much of it might be avoided by proper regulations. How criminal then were
they, who, knowing this, had neither publicly proposed, nor in their
practice adopted, a remedy!

The average loss of the slaves on board, which had been calculated by Mr.
Wilberforce at twelve and a half per cent., had been denied. He believed
this calculation, taking in all the circumstances connected with it, to be
true; but that for years not less than one tenth had so perished, he would
challenge those concerned in the traffic to disprove. Much evidence had
been produced on the subject; but the voyages had been generally selected.
There was only one, who had disclosed the whole account. This was Mr.
Anderson of London, whose engagements in this trade had been very
inconsiderable. His loss had only amounted to three per cent.; but,
unfortunately for the Slave-traders of Liverpool, his vessel had not taken
above three fourths of that number in proportion to the tonnage which they
had stated to be necessary to the very existence of their trade.

An honourable member (Mr. Grosvenor) had attributed the protraction of this
business to those who had introduced it. But from whom did the motion for
further evidence (when that of the privy council was refused) originate,
but from the enemies of the abolition? The same gentleman had said, it was
impossible to abolish the trade; but where was the impossibility of
forbidding the further importation of slaves into our own colonies? and
beyond this the motion did not extend.

The latter argument had also been advanced by Sir William Yonge and others.
But allowing it its full force, would there be no honour in the dereliction
of such a commerce? Would it be nothing publicly to recognise great and
just principles? Would our example be nothing?--Yes: every country would
learn, from our experiment, that American colonies could be cultivated
without the necessity of continual supplies equally expensive and
disgraceful.

But we might do more than merely lay down principles or propose examples.
We might, in fact, diminish the evil itself immediately by no
inconsiderable part,--by the whole of our own supply: and here he could not
at all agree with the honourable baronet, in what seemed to him a
commercial paradox, that the taking away from an open trade by far the
largest customer, and the lessening of the consumption of the article,
would increase both the competition and the demand, and of course all those
mischiefs, which it was their intention to avert.

That the civilization of the Africans was promoted, as had been asserted,
by their intercourse with the Europeans, was void of foundation, as had
appeared from the evidence. In manners and dishonesty they had indeed
assimilated with those who frequented their coasts. But the greatest
industry and the least corruption of morals were in the interior, where
they were out of the way of this civilizing connection.

To relieve Africa from famine, was another of the benign reasons which had
been assigned for continuing the trade. That famines had occurred there, he
did not doubt; but that they should annually occur, and with such
arithmetical exactness as to suit the demands of the Slave-trade, was a
circumstance most extraordinary; so wonderful indeed, that, could it once
be proved, he should consider it as a far better argument in favour of the
divine approbation of that trade, than any which had ever yet been
produced.

As to the effect of the abolition on the West Indies, it would give weight
to every humane regulation which had been made; by substituting a certain
and obvious interest, in the place of one depending upon chances and
calculation. An honourable member (Mr. Stanley) had spoken of the
impossibility of cultivating the estates there without further importations
of Negros; and yet, of all the authorities he had brought to prove his
case, there was scarcely one which might not be pressed to serve more or
less effectually against him. Almost every planter he had named had found
his Negros increase under the good treatment he had professed to give them;
and it was an axiom, throughout the whole evidence, that wherever they were
well used importations were not necessary. It had been said indeed by some
adverse witnesses, that in Jamaica all possible means had been used to keep
up the stock by breeding; but how preposterous was this, when it was
allowed that the morals of the slaves had been totally neglected, and that
the planters preferred buying a larger proportion of males than females!

The misfortune was, that prejudice and not reason was the enemy to be
subdued. The prejudices of the West Indians on these points were numerous
and inveterate. Mr. Long himself had characterized them on this account, in
terms which he should have felt diffident in using. But Mr. Long had shown
his own prejudices also. For he justified the chaining of the Negros on
board the slave-vessels, on account of "their bloody, cruel, and malicious
dispositions." But hear his commendation of some of the Aborigines of
Jamaica, "who had miserably perished in caves, whither they had retired to
escape the tyranny of the Spaniards. These," says he, "left a glorious
monument of their having disdained to survive the loss of their liberty and
their country." And yet this same historian could not perceive that this
natural love of liberty might operate as strongly and as laudably in the
African Negro, as in the Indian of Jamaica.

He was concerned to acknowledge that these prejudices were yet further
strengthened by resentment against those who had taken an active part in
the abolition of the Slave-trade. But it was never the object of these to
throw a stigma on the whole body of the West Indians; but to prove the
miserable effects of the trade. This it was their duty to do; and if, in
doing this, disgraceful circumstances had come out, it was not their fault;
and it must never be forgotten that they were true.

That the slaves were exposed to great misery in the islands, was true as
well from inference as from facts: for what might not be expected from the
use of arbitrary power, where the three characters of party, judge, and
executioner were united! The slaves too were more capable on account of
their passions, than the beasts of the field, of exciting the passions of
their tyrants. To what a length the ill treatment of them might be carried,
might be learnt from the instance which General Tottenham mentioned to have
seen in the year 1780 in the streets of Bridge Town, Barbadoes: "A youth
about nineteen (to use his own words in the evidence), entirely naked, with
an iron collar about his neck, having five long projecting spikes. His body
both before and behind, was covered with wounds. His belly and thighs were
almost cut to pieces, with running ulcers all over them; and a finger might
have been laid in some of the weals. He could not sit down, because his
hinder part was mortified; and it was impossible for him to lie down, on
account of the prongs of his collar." He supplicated the General for
relief. The latter asked, who had punished him so dreadfully? The youth
answered, his master had done it. And because he could not work, this same
master, in the same spirit of perversion, which extorts from scripture a
justification of the Slave-trade, had fulfilled the apostolic maxim, that
he should have nothing to eat. The use he meant to make of this instance
was to show the unprotected state of the slaves. What must it be, where
such an instance could pass not only unpunished, but almost unregarded! If,
in the streets of London, but a dog were to be seen lacerated like this
miserable man, how would the cruelty of the wretch be execrated, who had
thus even abused a brute!

The judicial punishments also inflicted upon the Negro showed the low
estimation, in which, in consequence of the strength of old customs and
deep-rooted prejudices, they were held. Mr. Edwards, in his speech to the
Assembly at Jamaica, stated the following case, as one which had happened
in one of the rebellions there. Some slaves surrounded the dwelling-house
of their mistress. She was in bed with a lovely infant. They deliberated
upon the means of putting her to death in torment. But in the end one of
them reserved her for his mistress; and they killed her infant with an axe
before her face. "Now," says Mr. Edwards, (addressing himself to his
audience,) "you will think that no torments were too great for such
horrible excesses. Nevertheless I am of a different opinion. I think that
death, unaccompanied with cruelty, should be the utmost exertion of human
authority over our unhappy fellow-creatures." Torments, however, were
always inflicted in these cases. The punishment was gibbeting alive, and
exposing the delinquents to perish by the gradual effects of hunger,
thirst, and a parching sun; in which situation they were known to suffer
for nine days, with a fortitude scarcely credible, never uttering a single
groan. But horrible as the excesses might have been, which occasioned these
punishments, it muse be remembered, that they were committed by ignorant
savages, who had been dragged from all they held most dear; whose patience
had been exhausted by a cruel and loathsome confinement during their
transportation; and whose resentment had been wound up to the highest pitch
of fury by the lash of the driver.

But he would now mention another instance, by way of contrast, out of the
evidence. A child on board a slave-ship, of about ten months old, took sulk
and would not eat. The captain flogged it with a cat; swearing that he
would make it eat, or kill it. From this and other ill-treatment the
child's legs swelled. He then ordered some water to be made hot to abate
the swelling. But even his tender mercies were cruel; for the cook, on
putting his hand into the water, said it was too hot. Upon this the captain
swore at him, and ordered the feet to be put in. This was done. The nails
and skin came off. Oiled cloths were then put round them. The child was at
length tied to a heavy log. Two or three days afterwards, the captain
caught it up again; and repeated that he would make it eat, or kill it. He
immediately flogged it again, and in a quarter of an hour it died. But,
after the child was dead, whom should the barbarian select to throw it
overboard, but the wretched mother? In vain she started from the office. He
beat her, till he made her take up the child and carry it to the side of
the vessel. She then dropped it into the sea, turning her head the other
way that she might not see it. Now it would naturally be asked, Was not
this captain also gibbered alive? Alas! although the execrable, barbarity
of the European exceeded that of the Africans before mentioned, almost as
much as his opportunities of instruction had been greater than theirs, no
notice whatsoever was taken of this horrible action; and a thousand similar
cruelties had been committed in this abominable trade with equal impunity:
but he would say no more. He should vote for the abolition, not only as it
would do away all the evils complained of in Africa and the Middle Passage;
but as it would be the most effectual means of ameliorating the condition
of those unhappy persons, who were still to continue slaves in the British
colonies.

Mr. Courtenay rose. He said, he could not but consider the assertion of Sir
William Yonge as a mistake, that the Slave-trade, if abandoned by us, would
fall into the hands of France. It ought to be recollected, with what
approbation the motion for abolishing it, made by the late Mirabeau, had
been received; although the situation of the French colonies might then
have presented obstacles to carrying the measure into immediate execution.
He had no doubt, if parliament were to begin, so wise and enlightened a
body as the National Assembly would follow the example. But even if France
were not to relinquish the trade, how could we, if justice required its
abolition, hesitate as to our part of it?

The trade, it had been said, was conducted upon the principles of humanity.
Yes: we rescued the Africans from what we were pleased to call their
wretched situation in their own country, and then we took credit for our
humanity; because, after having killed one half of them in the seasoning,
we substituted what we were again pleased to call a better treatment than
that which they would have experienced at home.


It had been stated that the principle of war among savages was a general
massacre. This was not true. They frequently adopted the captives into
their own families; and, so far from massacring the women and children,
they often gave them the protection which the weakness of their age and sex
demanded.

There could be no doubt, that the practice of kidnapping prevailed in
Africa. As to witchcraft, it had been made a crime in the reign of James
the First in this country, for the purpose of informations; and how much
more likely were informations to take place in Africa, under the
encouragement afforded by the Slave-trade! This trade, it had been said,
was sanctioned by twenty-six acts of parliament. He did not doubt but
fifty-six might be found, by which parliament had sanctioned witchcraft; of
the existence of which we had now no belief whatever.

It had been said by Mr. Stanley, that the pulpit had been used as an
instrument of attack on the Slave-trade. He was happy to learn it had been
so well employed; and he hoped the Bishops would rise up in the House of
Lords, with the virtuous indignation which became them, to abolish a
traffic so contrary to humanity, justice, and religion.

He entreated every member to recollect, that on his vote that night
depended the happiness of millions; and that it was then in his power to
promote a measure, of which the benefits would be felt over one whole
quarter of the globe; that the seeds of civilization might, by the present
bill, be sown all over Africa; and the first principles of humanity be
established in regions, where they had hitherto been excluded by the
existence of this execrable trade.

Lord Carysfort rose, and said, that the great cause of the abolition had
flourished by the manner in which it had been opposed. No one argument of
solid weight has been adduced against it. It had been shown, but never
disproved, that the colonial laws were inadequate to the protection of the
slaves; that the punishments of the latter were most unmerciful; that they
were deprived of the right of self-defence against any White man; and, in
short, that the system was totally repugnant to the principles of the
British constitution.

Colonel Phipps followed Lord Carysfort. He denied that this was a question
in which the rights of humanity and the laws of nature were concerned. The
Africans became slaves in consequence of the constitution of their own
governments. These were founded in absolute despotism. Every subject was an
actual slave. The inhabitants were slaves to the great men; and the great
men were slaves to the Prince. Prisoners of war, too, were by law subject
to slavery. Such being the case, he saw no more cruelty in disposing of
them to our merchants, than to those of any other nation. Criminals also in
cases of adultery and witchcraft became slaves by the same laws.

It had been said, that there were no regulations in the West Indies for the
protection of slaves. There were several; though he was ready to admit,
that more were necessary; and he would go in this respect as far as
humanity might require. He had passed ten months in Jamaica, where he had
never seen any such acts of cruelty as had been talked of. Those which he
had seen were not exercised by the Whites, but by the Blacks. The dreadful
stories, which had been told, ought no more to fix a general stigma upon
the planters, than the story of Mrs. Brownrigg to stamp this polished
metropolis with the general brand of murder. There was once a haberdasher's
wife (Mrs. Nairne) who locked up her apprentice girl, and starved her to
death; but did ever any body think of abolishing haberdashery on this
account? He was persuaded the Negros in the West Indies were cheerful and
happy. They were fond of ornaments; but it was not the characteristic of
miserable persons to show a taste for finery. Such a taste, on the
contrary, implied a cheerful and contented mind. He was sorry to differ
from his friend Mr. Wilberforce, but he must oppose his motion.

Mr. Pitt rose, and said, that from the first hour of his having had the
honour to sit in parliament down to the present, among all the questions,
whether political or personal, in which it had been his fortune to take a
share, there had never been one in which his heart was so deeply interested
as in the present; both on account of the serious principles it involved,
and the consequences connected with it.

The present was not a mere question of feeling. The argument, which ought
in his opinion to determine the committee, was, that the Slave-trade was
unjust. It was therefore such a trade as it was impossible for him to
support, unless it could be first proved to him, that there were no laws of
morality binding upon nations; and that it was not the duty of a
legislature to restrain its subjects from invading the happiness of other
countries, and from violating the fundamental principles of justice.

Several had stated the impracticability of the measure before them. They
wished to see the trade abolished; but there was some necessity for
continuing it, which they conceived to exist. Nay, almost every one, he
believed, appeared to wish, that the further importation of slaves might
cease; provided it could be made out, that the population of the West
Indies could be maintained without it. He proposed therefore to consider
the latter point; for, as the impracticability of keeping up the population
there appeared to operate as the chief objection, he trusted that, by
showing it to be ill founded, he should clear away all other obstacles
whatever; so that, having no ground either of justice or necessity to stand
upon, there could be no excuse left to the committee for resisting the
present motion.

He might reasonably, however, hope that they would not reckon any small or
temporary disadvantage, which might arise from the abolition, to be a
sufficient reason against it. It was surely not any slight degree of
expediency, nor any small balance of profit, nor any light shades of
probability on the one side, rather than on the other, which would
determine them on this question. He asked pardon even for the supposition.
The Slave-trade was an evil of such magnitude, that there must be a common
wish in the committee at once to put an end to it, if there were no great
and serious obstacles. It was a trade, by which multitudes of unoffending
nations were deprived of the blessings of civilization, and had their peace
and happiness invaded. It ought therefore to be no common expediency, it
ought to be nothing less than the utter ruin of our islands, which it
became those to plead, who took upon them to defend the continuance of it.

He could not help thinking that the West India gentlemen had manifested an
over great degree of sensibility as to the point in question; and that
their alarms had been unreasonably excited upon it. He had examined the
subject carefully for himself; and he would now detail those reasons, which
had induced him firmly to believe, not only that no permanent mischief
would follow from the abolition; but not even any such temporary
inconvenience, as could be stated to be a reason for preventing the House
from agreeing to the motion before them; on the contrary, that the
abolition itself would lay the foundation for the more solid improvement of
all the various interests of those colonies.

In doing this he should apply his observations chiefly to Jamaica, which
contained more than half the slaves in the British West Indies; and if he
should succeed in proving that no material detriment could arise to the
population there, this would afford so strong a presumption with respect to
the other islands, that the House could no longer hesitate, whether they
should, or should not, put a stop to this most horrid trade.

In the twenty years ending in 1788, the annual loss of slaves in Jamaica
(that is, the excess of deaths above the births,) appeared to be one in the
hundred. In a preceding period the loss was greater; and, in a period
before that, greater still; there having been a continual gradation in the
decrease through the whole time. It might fairly be concluded, therefore,
that (the average loss of the last period being one per cent.) the loss in
the former part of it would be somewhat more, and in the latter part
somewhat less, than one per cent.; insomuch that it might be fairly
questioned, whether, by this time, the births and deaths in Jamaica might
not be stated as nearly equal. It was to be added, that a peculiar
calamity, which swept away fifteen thousand slaves, had occasioned a part
of the mortality in the last-mentioned period. The probable loss,
therefore, now to be expected was very inconsiderable indeed.

There was, however, one circumstance to be added, which the West India
gentlemen, in stating this matter, had entirely overlooked; and which was
so material, as clearly to reduce the probable diminution in the population
of Jamaica down to nothing. In all the calculations he had referred to of
the comparative number of births and deaths, all the Negros in the island
were included. The newly imported, who died in the seasoning, made a part.
But these swelled, most materially, the number of the deaths. Now as these
extraordinary deaths would cease, as soon as the importations ceased, a
deduction of them ought to be made from his present calculation.

But the number of those, who thus died in the seasoning, would make up of
itself nearly the whole of that one per cent., which had been stated. He
particularly pressed an attention to this circumstance; for the complaint
of being likely to want hands in Jamaica, arose from the mistake of
including the present unnatural deaths, caused by the seasoning, among the
natural and perpetual causes of mortality. These deaths, being erroneously
taken into the calculations, gave the planters an idea, that the numbers
could not be kept up. These deaths, which were caused merely by the
Slave-trade, furnished the very ground, therefore, on which the continuance
of that trade had been thought necessary.

The evidence as to this point was clear; for it would be found in that
dreadful catalogue of deaths, arising from the seasoning and the passage,
which the House had been condemned to look into, that one half died. An
annual mortality of two thousand slaves in Jamaica might be therefore
charged to the importation; which, compared with the whole number on the
island, hardly fell short of the whole one per cent. decrease.

Joining this with all the other considerations, he would then ask, Could
the decrease of the slaves in Jamaica be such--could the colonies be so
destitute of means--could the planters, when by their own accounts they
were establishing daily new regulations for the benefit of the
slaves--could they, under all these circumstances, be permitted to plead
that total impossibility of keeping up their number, which they had rested
on, as being indeed the only possible pretext for allowing fresh
importations from Africa? He appealed therefore to the sober judgment of
all, whether the situation of Jamaica was such, as to justify a hesitation
in agreeing to the present motion.

It might be observed also, that, when the importations should stop, that
disproportion between the sexes, which was one of the obstacles to
population, would gradually diminish; and a natural order of things be
established. Through the want of this natural order a thousand grievances
were created, which it was impossible to define; and which it was in vain
to think that, under such circumstances, we could cure. But the abolition
of itself would work this desirable effect. The West Indians would then
feel a near and urgent interest to enter into a thousand little details,
which it was impossible for him to describe, but which would have the
greatest influence on population. A foundation would thus be laid for the
general welfare of the islands; a new system would rise up, the reverse of
the old; and eventually both their general wealth and happiness would
increase.

He had now proved far more than he was bound to do; for, if he could only
show that the abolition would not be ruinous, it would be enough. He could
give up, therefore, three arguments out of four, through the whole of what
he had said, and yet have enough left for his position. As to the Creoles,
they would undoubtedly increase. They differed in this entirely from the
imported slaves, who were both a burthen and a curse to themselves and
others. The measure now proposed would operate like a charm; and, besides
stopping all the miseries in Africa and the passage, would produce even
more benefit in the West Indies than legal regulations could effect.

He would now just touch upon the question of emancipation. A rash
emancipation of the slaves would be mischievous. In that unhappy situation,
to which our baneful conduct had brought ourselves and them, it would be no
justice on either side to give them liberty. They were as yet incapable of
it; but their situation might be gradually amended. They might be relieved
from every thing harsh and severe; raised from their present degraded
state; and put under the protection of the law. Till then, to talk of
emancipation was insanity. But it was the system of fresh importations,
which interfered with these principles of improvement; and it was only the
abolition which could establish them. This suggestion had its foundation in
human nature. Wherever the incentive of honour, credit, and fair profit
appeared, energy would spring up; and when these labourers should have the
natural springs of human action afforded them, they would then rise to the
natural level of human industry.

From Jamaica he would now go to the other islands. In Barbadoes the slaves
had rather increased. In St. Kitts the decrease for fourteen years had been
but three fourths per cent.; but here many of the observations would apply,
which he had used in the case of Jamaica. In Antigua many had died by a
particular calamity. But for this, the decrease would have been trifling.
In Nevis and Montserrat there was little or no disproportion of the sexes;
so that it might well be hoped, that the numbers would be kept up in these
islands. In Dominica some controversy had arisen about the calculation; but
Governor Orde had stated an increase of births above the deaths. From
Grenada and St. Vincents no accurate accounts had been delivered in answer
to the queries sent them; but they were probably not in circumstances less
favourable than in the other islands.

On a full review then, of the state of the Negro population in the West
Indies, was there any serious ground of alarm from the abolition of the
Slave-trade? Where was the impracticability, on which alone so many had
rested their objections? Must we not blush at pretending, that it would
distress our consciences to accede to this measure, as far as the question
of the Negro population was concerned?

Intolerable were the mischiefs of this trade, both in its origin and
through every stage of its progress. To say that slaves could be furnished
us by fair and commercial means was ridiculous. The trade sometimes ceased,
as during the late war. The demand was more or less according to
circumstances. But how was it possible, that to a demand so exceedingly
fluctuating the supply should always exactly accommodate itself? Alas! we
made human beings the subject of commerce; we talked of them as such; and
yet we would not allow them the common principle of commerce, that the
supply must accommodate itself to the consumption. It was not from wars,
then, that the slaves were chiefly procured. They were obtained in
proportion as they were wanted. If a demand for slaves arose, a supply was
forced in one way or other; and it was in vain, overpowered as we then were
with positive evidence, as well as the reasonableness of the supposition,
to deny that by the Slave-trade we occasioned all the enormities which had
been alleged against it.

Sir William Yonge had said, that, if we were not to take the Africans from
their country, they would be destroyed. But he had not yet read, that all
uncivilized nations destroyed their captives. We assumed therefore what was
false. The very selling of them implied this: for, if they would sell their
captives for profit, why should they not employ them so as to receive a
profit also? Nay, many of them, while there was no demand from the
slave-merchants, were often actually so employed. The trade, too, had been
suspended during the war; and it was never said, or thought, that any such
consequence had then followed.

The honourable baronet had also said in justification of the Slave-trade,
that witchcraft commonly implied poison, and was therefore a punishable
crime; but did he recollect that not only the individual accused, but that
his whole family, were sold as slaves? The truth was, we stopped the
natural progress of civilization in Africa. We cut her off from the
opportunity of improvement. We kept her down in a state of darkness,
bondage, ignorance and bloodshed. Was not this an awful consideration for
this country? Look at the map of Africa, and see how little useful
intercourse had been established on that vast continent! While other
countries were assisting and enlightening each other, Africa alone had none
of these benefits. We had obtained as yet only so much knowledge of her
productions, as to show that there was a capacity for trade, which we
checked. Indeed, if the mischiefs there were out of the question, the
circumstance of the Middle Passage alone would, in his mind, be reason
enough for the abolition. Such a scene as that of the slave-ships passing
over with their wretched cargoes to the West Indies, if it could be spread
before the eyes of the House, would be sufficient of itself to make them
vote in favour of it; but when it could be added, that the interest even of
the West Indies themselves rested on the accomplishment of this great
event, he could not conceive an act of more imperious duty, than that,
which was imposed upon the House, of agreeing to the present motion.

Sir Archibald Edmonstone rose, and asked, whether the present motion went
so far, as to pledge those who voted for it, to a total and immediate
abolition.

Mr. Alderman Watson rose next. He defended the Slave-trade as highly
beneficial to the country, being one material branch of its commerce. But
he could not think of the African trade without connecting it with the West
Indian. The one hung upon the other. A third important branch also depended
upon it; which was the Newfoundland fishery: the latter could not go on, if
it were not for the vast quantity of inferior fish bought up for the Negros
in the West Indies; and which was quite unfit for any other market. If
therefore we destroyed the African, we destroyed the other trades. Mr.
Turgot, he said, had recommended in the National Assembly of France the
gradual abolition of the Slave-trade. He would therefore recommend it to
the House to adopt the same measure, and to soften the rigours of slavery
by wholesome regulations; but an immediate abolition he could not
countenance.

Mr. Fox at length rose. He observed that some expressions, which he had
used on the preceding day, had been complained of as too harsh and severe.
He had since considered them; but he could not prevail upon himself to
retract them; because, if any gentleman, after reading the evidence on the
table, and attending to the debate, could avow himself an abetter of this
shameful traffic in human flesh, it could only be either from some hardness
of heart, or some difficulty of understanding, which he really knew not how
to account for.

Some had considered this question as a question of political, whereas it
was a question of personal, freedom. Political freedom was undoubtedly a
great blessing; but, when it came to be compared with personal, it sank to
nothing. To confound the two, served therefore to render all arguments on
either perplexing and unintelligible. Personal freedom was the first right
of every human being. It was a right, of which he who deprived a
fellow-creature was absolutely criminal in so depriving him, and which he
who withheld was no less criminal in withholding. He could not therefore
retract his words with respect to any, who (whatever respect he might
otherwise have for them) should, by their vote of that night, deprive their
fellow-creatures of so great a blessing. Nay, he would go further. He would
say, that if the House, knowing what the trade was by the evidence, did not
by their vote mark to all mankind their abhorrence of a practice so savage,
so enormous, so repugnant to all laws human and divine, they would consign
their character to eternal infamy.

That the pretence of danger to our West Indian islands from the abolition
of the Slave-trade was totally unfounded, Mr. Wilberforce had abundantly
proved: but if there were they, who had not been satisfied with that proof,
was it possible to resist the arguments of Mr. Pitt on the same subject? It
had been shown, on a comparison of the births and deaths in Jamaica, that
there was not now any decrease of the slaves. But if there had been, it
would have made no difference to him in his vote; for, had the mortality
been ever so great there, he should have ascribed it to the system of
importing Negros, instead of that of encouraging their natural increase.
Was it not evident, that the planters thought it more convenient to buy
them fit for work, than to breed them? Why, then, was this horrid trade to
be kept up?--To give the planters, truly, the liberty of misusing their
slaves, so as to check population; for it was from ill-usage only that, in
a climate so natural to them, their numbers could diminish. The very
ground, therefore, on which the planters rested the necessity of fresh
importations, namely, the destruction of lives in the West Indies, was
itself the strongest argument that could be given, and furnished the most
imperious call upon parliament for the abolition of the trade.

Against this trade innumerable were the charges. An honourable member, Mr.
Smith, had done well to introduce those tragical stories, which had made
such an impression upon the House. No one of these had been yet
controverted. It had indeed been said, that the cruelty of the African
captain to the child was too bad to be true; and we had been desired to
look at the cross-examination of the witness, as if we should find traces
of the falsehood of his testimony there. But his cross-examination was
peculiarly honourable to his character; for after he had been pressed, in
the closest manner, by some able members of the House, the only
inconsistency they could fix upon him was, whether the fact had happened on
the same day of the same month of the year 1764 or the year 1765.

But it was idle to talk of the incredibility of such instances. It was not
denied, that absolute power was exercised by the slave-captains; and if
this was granted, all the cruelties charged upon them would naturally
follow. Never did he hear of charges so black and horrible as those
contained in the evidence on the table. They unfolded such a scene of
cruelty, that if the House, with all their present knowledge of the
circumstances, should dare to vote for its continuance, they must have
nerves, of which he had no conception. We might find instances indeed, in
history, of men violating the feelings of nature on extraordinary
occasions. Fathers had sacrificed their sons and daughters, and husbands
their wives; but to imitate their characters we ought to have not only
nerves as strong as the two Brutuses, but to take care that we had a cause
as good; or that we had motives for such a dereliction of our feelings as
patriotic as those, which historians had annexed to these when they handed
them to the notice of the world.

But what was our motive in the case before us?--to continue a trade which
was a wholesale sacrifice of a whole order and race of our
fellow-creatures; which carried them away by force from their native
country, in order to subject them to the mere will and caprice, the tyranny
and oppression, of other human beings, for their whole natural lives, them
and their posterity for ever!! O most monstrous wickedness! O unparalleled
barbarity! And, what was more aggravating, this most complicated scene of
robbery and murder which mankind had ever witnessed, had been honoured by
the name of--trade.

That a number of human beings should be at all times ready to be furnished
as fair articles of commerce, just as our occasions might require, was
absurd. The argument of Mr. Pitt on this head was unanswerable. Our demand
was fluctuating: it entirely ceased at some times: at others it was great
and pressing. How was it possible, on every sudden call, to furnish a
sufficient return in slaves, without resorting to those execrable means of
obtaining them, which were stated in the evidence? These were of three
sorts, and he would now examine them.

Captives in war, it was urged, were consigned either to death or slavery.
This, however, he believed to be false in point of fact. But suppose it
were true; Did it not become us, with whom it was a custom, founded in the
wisest policy, to pay the captives a peculiar respect and civility, to
inculcate the same principles in Africa? But we were so far from doing
this, that we encouraged wars for the sake of taking, not men's goods and
possessions, but men themselves; and it was not the war which was the cause
of the Slave-trade, but the Slave-trade which was the cause of the war. If
was the practice of the slave-merchants to try to intoxicate the African
kings in order to turn them to their purpose. A particular instance
occurred in the evidence of a prince, who, when sober, resisted their
wishes; but in the moment of inebriety he gave the word for war, attacked
the next village, and sold the inhabitants to the merchants.

The second mode was kidnapping. He referred the House to various instances
of this in the evidence: but there was one in particular, from which we
might immediately infer the frequency of the practice. A Black trader had
kidnapped a girl and sold her; but he was presently afterwards kidnapped
and sold himself; and, when he asked the captain who bought him, "What! do
you buy me, who am a great trader?" the only answer was, "Yes, I will buy
you, or her, or any body else, provided any one will sell you;" and
accordingly both the trader and the girl were carried to the West Indies
and sold for slaves.

The third mode of obtaining slaves was by crimes committed or imputed. One
of these was adultery. But was Africa the place, where Englishmen, above
all others, were to go to find out and punish adulterers? Did it become us
to cast the first stone? It was a most extraordinary pilgrimage for a most
extraordinary purpose! And yet upon this plea we justified our right of
carrying off its inhabitants. The offence alleged next was witchcraft. What
a reproach it was to lend ourselves to this superstition!--Yes: we stood
by; we heard the trial; we knew the crime to be impossible; and that the
accused must be innocent: but we waited in patient silence for his
condemnation; and then we lent our friendly aid to the police of the
country, by buying the wretched convict, with all his family; whom, for the
benefit of Africa, we carried away also into perpetual slavery.

With respect to the situation of the slaves in their transportation, he
knew not how to give the House a more correct idea of the horrors of it,
than by referring them to the printed section of the slave-ship; where the
eye might see what the tongue must fall short in describing. On this dismal
part of the subject he would not dwell. He would only observe, that the
acts of barbarity, related of the slave-captains in these voyages, were so
extravagant, that they had been attributed in some instances to insanity.
But was not this the insanity of arbitrary power? Who ever read the facts
recorded of Nero without suspecting he was mad? Who would not be apt to
impute insanity to Caligula--or Domitian--or Caracalla--or Commodus--or
Heliogabalus? Here were six Roman emperors, not connected in blood, nor by
descent, who, each of them, possessing arbitrary power, had been so
distinguished for cruelty, that nothing short of insanity could be imputed
to them. Was not the insanity of the masters of slave-ships to be accounted
for on the same principles?

Of the slaves in the West Indies it had been said, that they were taken
from a worse state to a better. An honourable member, Mr. W. Smith, had
quoted some instances out of the evidence to the contrary. He also would
quote one or two others. A slave under hard usage had run away. To prevent
a repetition of the offence his owner sent for his surgeon, and desired him
to cut off the man's leg. The surgeon refused. The owner, to render it a
matter of duty in the surgeon, broke it. "Now," says he, "you must cut it
off; or the man will die." We might console ourselves, perhaps, that this
happened in a French island; but he would select another instance, which
had happened in one of our own. Mr. Ross heard the shrieks of a female
issuing from an outhouse; and so piercing, that he determined to see what
was going on. On looking in he perceived a young female tied up to a beam
by her wrists; entirely naked; and in the act of involuntary writhing and
swinging; while the author of her torture was standing below her with a
lighted torch in his hand, which he applied to all the parts of her body as
it approached him. What crime this miserable woman had perpetrated he knew
not; but the human mind could not conceive a crime warranting such a
punishment.

He was glad to see that these tales affected the House. Would they then
sanction enormities, the bare recital of which made them shudder? Let them
remember that humanity did not consist in a squeamish ear. It did not
consist in shrinking and starting at such tales as these; but in a
disposition of the heart to remedy the evils they unfolded. Humanity
belonged rather to the mind than to the nerves. But, if so, it should
prompt men to charitable exertion. Such exertion was necessary in the
present case. It was necessary for the credit of our jurisprudence at home,
and our character abroad. For what would any man think of our justice, who
should see another hanged for a crime, which would be innocence itself, if
compared with those enormities, which were allowed in Africa and the West
Indies under the sanction of the British parliament?

It had been said, however, in justification of the trade, that the Africans
were less happy at home than in the Islands. But what right had we to be
judges of their condition? They would tell us a very different tale, if
they were asked. But it was ridiculous to say, that we bettered their
condition, when we dragged them from every thing dear in life to the most
abject state of slavery.

One argument had been used, which for a subject so grave was the most
ridiculous he had ever heard. Mr. Alderman Watson had declared the
Slave-trade to be necessary on account of its connection with our
fisheries. But what was this but an acknowledgment of the manner, in which
these miserable beings were treated? The trade was to be kept up, with all
its enormities, in order that there might be persons to consume the refuse
fish from Newfoundland, which was too bad for any body else to eat.

It had been said that England ought not to abolish the Slave-trade, unless
other nations would also give it up. But what kind of morality was this?
The trade was defensible upon no other principle than that of a highwayman.
Great Britain could not keep it upon these terms. Mere gain was not a
motive for a great country to rest on, as a justification of any measure.
Honour was its superior; and justice was superior to honour.

With regard to the emancipation of those in slavery, he coincided with Mr.
Wilberforce and Mr. Pitt; and upon this principle, that it might be as
dangerous to give freedom at once to a man used to slavery, as, in the case
of a man who had never seen day-light, to expose him all at once to the
full glare of a meridian sun.

With respect to the intellect and sensibility of the Africans, it was pride
only, which suggested a difference between them and ourselves. There was a
remarkable instance to the point in the evidence, and which he would quote.
In one of the slave-ships was a person of consequence; a man, once high in
a military station, and with a mind not insensible to the eminence of his
rank. He had been taken captive and sold; and was then in the hold,
confined promiscuously with the rest. Happening in the night to fall
asleep, he dreamed that he was in his own country; high in honour and
command; caressed by his family and friends; waited on by his domestics;
and surrounded with all his former comforts in life. But awaking suddenly,
and finding where he was, he was heard to burst into the loudest groans and
lamentations on the miserable contrast of his present state; mixed with the
meanest of his subjects; and subjected to the insolence of wretches a
thousand times lower than himself in every kind of endowment. He appealed
to the House, whether this was not as moving a picture of the miserable
effects of the Slave-trade, as could be well imagined. There was one way,
by which they might judge of it. Let them make the case their own. This was
the Christian rule of judging; and, having mentioned Christianity, he was
sorry to find that any should suppose, that it had given countenance to
such a system of oppression. So far was this from being the case, that he
thought it one of the most splendid triumphs of this religion, that it had
caused slavery to be so generally abolished on its appearance in the world.
It had done this by teaching us, among other beautiful precepts, that, in
the sight of their Maker, all mankind were equal. Its influence appeared to
have been more powerful in this respect than that of all the ancient
systems of philosophy; though even in these, in point of theory, we might
trace great liberality and consideration for human rights. Where could be
found finer sentiments of liberty than in Demosthenes and Cicero? Where
bolder assertions of the rights of mankind, than in Tacitus and Thucydides?
But, alas! these were the holders of slaves! It was not so with those who
had been converted to Christianity. He knew, however, that what he had been
ascribing to Christianity had been imputed by others to the advances which
philosophy had made. Each of the two parties took the merit to itself. The
philosopher gave it to philosophy, and the divine to religion. He should
not then dispute with either of them; but, as both coveted the praise, why
should they not emulate each other by promoting this improvement in the
condition of the human race?

He would now conclude by declaring, that the whole country, indeed the
whole civilized world, must rejoice that such a bill as the present had
been moved for, not merely as a matter of humanity, but as an act of
justice; for he would put humanity out of the case. Could it be called
humanity to forbear from committing murder? Exactly upon this ground did
the present motion stand; being strictly a question of national justice. He
thanked Mr. Wilberforce for having pledged himself so strongly to pursue
his object till it was accomplished; and, as for himself, he declared,
that, in whatever situation he might ever be, he would use his warmest
efforts for the promotion of this righteous cause.

Mr. Stanley (the member for Lancashire) rose, and declared that, when he
came into the house, he intended to vote against the abolition; but that
the impression made both on his feelings and on his understanding was such,
that he could not persist in his resolution. He was now convinced that the
entire abolition of the Slave-trade was called for equally by sound policy
and justice. He thought it right and fair to avow manfully this change in
his opinion. The abolition, he was sure, could not long fail of being
carried. The arguments for it were irresistible.

The honourable Mr. Ryder said, that he came to the house, not exactly in
the same circumstances as Mr. Stanley, but very undecided on the subject.
He was, however, so strongly convinced by the arguments he had heard, that
he was become equally earnest for the abolition.

Mr. Smith (member for Pontefract) said, that he should not trouble the
House at so late an hour, further than to enter his protest, in the most
solemn manner, against this trade, which he considered as most disgraceful
to the country, and contrary to all the principles of justice and religion.

Mr. Sumner declared himself against the total, immediate, and unqualified
abolition, which he thought would wound at least the prejudices of the West
Indians, and might do mischief; but a gradual abolition should have his
hearty support.

Major Scott declared there was no member in the house, who would give a
more independent vote upon this question than himself. He had no concern
either in the African or West Indian trades; but in the present state of
the finances of the country, he thought it would be a dangerous experiment
to risk any one branch of our foreign commerce. As far as regulation would
go, he would join in the measure.

Mr. Burke said he would use but few words. He declared that he had for a
long time had his mind drawn towards this great subject. He had even
prepared a bill for the regulation of the trade, conceiving at that time
that the immediate abolition of it was a thing hardly to be hoped for; but
when he found that Mr. Wilberforce had seriously undertaken the work, and
that his motion was for the abolition, which he approved much more than his
own, he had burnt his papers; and made an offering of them in honour of his
nobler proposition, much in the same manner as we read, that the curious
books were offered up and burnt at the approach of the Gospel. He highly
applauded the confessions of Mr. Stanley and Mr. Ryder. It would be a
glorious tale for them to tell their constituents, that it was impossible
for them, however prejudiced, if sent to hear discussion in that house, to
avoid surrendering up their hearts and judgments at the shrine of reason.

Mr. Drake said, that he would oppose the abolition to the utmost. We had by
a want of prudent conduct lost America. The house should be aware of being
carried away by the meteors with which they had been dazzled. The leaders,
it was true, were for the abolition; but the minor orators, the dwarfs, the
pigmies, he trusted, would that night carry the question against them. The
property of the West Indians was at stake; and, though men might be
generous with their own property, they should not be so with the property
of others.

Lord Sheffield reprobated the overbearing language, which had been used by
some gentlemen towards others, who differed in opinion from them on a
subject of so much difficulty as the present. He protested against a
debate, in which he could trace nothing like reason; but, on the contrary,
downright phrensy, raised perhaps by the most extraordinary eloquence. The
abolition, as proposed, was impracticable. He denied the right of the
legislature to pass a law for it. He warned the Chancellor of the Exchequer
to beware of the day, on which the bill should pass, as the worst he had
ever seen.

Mr. Milnes declared, that he adopted all those expressions against the
Slave-trade, which had been thought so harsh; and that the opinion of the
noble lord had been turned in consequence of having become one of the
members for Bristol. He quoted a passage from Lord Sheffield's pamphlet;
and insisted that the separation of families in the West Indies, there
complained of by himself, ought to have compelled him to take the contrary
side of the question.

Mr. Wilberforce made a short reply to some arguments in the course of the
debate; after which, at half past three in the morning, the House divided.
There appeared for Mr. Wilberforce's motion eighty-eight, and against it
one hundred and sixty-three; so that it was lost by a majority of
seventy-five votes.

By this unfavourable division the great contest, in which we had been so
long engaged, was decided. We were obliged to give way to superior numbers.
Our fall, however, grievous as it was, was rendered more tolerable by the
circumstance of having been prepared to expect it. It was rendered more
tolerable also by other considerations; for we had the pleasure of knowing,
that we had several of the most distinguished characters in the kingdom,
and almost all the splendid talents of the House of Commons[A], in our
favour. We knew too, that the question had not been carried against us
either by evidence or by argument; but that we were the victims of the
accidents and circumstances of the times. And as these considerations
comforted us, when we looked forward to future operations on this great
question, so we found great consolation as to the past, in believing, that,
unless human constitutions were stronger then they really were, we could
not have done more than we had done towards the furtherance of the cause.

[Footnote A: It is a pity that no perfect list was ever made of this or of
any other division in the House of Commons on this subject. I can give,
however, the names of the following members, as having voted for Mr.
Wilberforce's motion at this time.

  Mr. Pitt,            Hon. R. Fitzpatrick,
  Mr. Fox,             Sir William Dolben,
  Mr. Burke,           Sir Henry Houghton,
  Mr. Grey,            Sir Edward Lyttleton,
  Mr. Windham,         Sir William Scott,
  Mr. Sheridan,        Mr. Samuel Thornton,
  Mr. Whitbread,       Mr. Henry Thornton,
  Mr. Courtenay,       Mr. Robert Thornton,
  Mr. Francis,         Mr. Duncombe,
  Mr. Wilberforce,     Mr. Martin,
  Mr. Ryder,           Mr. Milnes,
  Mr. William Smith,   Mr. Steele,
  Mr. John Smyth,      Mr. Coke,
  Mr. Robert Smith,    Mr. Elliott,
  Mr. Powys,           Mr. Montagu,
  Lord Apsley,         Mr. Bastard,
  Lord Bayham,         Mr. Stanley,
  Lord Arden,          Mr. Plumer,
  Lord Carysfort,      Mr. Beaufoy,
  Lord Muncaster,      Mr. I.H. Browne,
  Lord Barnard,        Mr. G.N. Edwards,
  Lord North,          Mr. W.M. Pitt,
  Lord Euston,         Mr. Bankes.
  General Burgoyne]

The committee for the abolition held a meeting soon after this our defeat.
It was the most impressive I ever attended. The looks of all bespoke the
feelings of their hearts. Little was said previously to the opening of the
business; and, after it was opened, it was conducted with a kind of solemn
dignity, which became the occasion. The committee, in the course of its
deliberations, came to the following resolutions:

That the thanks of this committee be respectfully given to the illustrious
minority of the House of Commons, who lately stood forth the assertors of
British justice and humanity, and the enemies of a traffic in the blood of
man.


That our acknowledgements are particularly due to William Wilberforce,
esquire, for his unwearied exertions to remove this opprobrium of our
national character; and to the right honourable William Pitt, and the right
honourable Charles James Fox, for their virtuous and dignified cooperation
in the same cause.

That the solemn declarations of these gentlemen, and of Matthew Montagu and
William Smith, esquires, that they will not relinquish, but with life,
their struggle for the abolition of the Slave-trade, are not only highly
honourable to themselves as Britons, as Statesmen, and as Christians, but
must eventually, as the light of evidence shall be more and more diffused,
be seconded by the good wishes of every man not immediately interested in
the continuance of that detestable commerce.

And, lastly, that anticipating the opposition they should have to sustain
from persons trained to a familiarity with the rapine and desolation
necessarily attendant on the Slave-trade, and sensible also of the
prejudices which implicitly arise from long-established usages, this
committee consider the late decision in the House of Commons as a delay,
rather than a defeat. In addressing a free and enlightened nation on a
subject, in which its justice, its humanity, and its wisdom are involved,
they cannot despair of final success; and they do hereby, under an
increasing conviction of the excellence of their cause, and inconformity to
the distinguished examples before them, renew their firm protestation, that
they will never desist from appealing to their countrymen, till the
commercial intercourse with Africa shall cease to be polluted with the
blood of its inhabitants.

These resolutions were published, and they were followed by a suitable
report.

The committee, in order to strengthen themselves for the prosecution of
their great work, elected Sir William Dolben, baronet, Henry Thornton,
Lewis Alexander Grant, and Matthew Montagu, esquires, who were members of
parliament, and Truman Harford, Josiah Wedgwood, jun. esquire, and John
Clarkson, esquire, of the royal navy, as members of their own body; and
they elected the Reverend Archdeacon Plymloy (now Corbett) an honorary and
corresponding member, in consequence of the great services which he had
rendered their cause in the shires of Hereford and Salop, and the adjacent
counties of Wales.

The several committees, established in the country, on receiving the
resolutions and report as before mentioned, testified their sympathy in
letters of condolence to that of London on the late melancholy occasion;
and expressed their determination to support it as long as any vestiges of
this barbarous traffic should remain.

At length the session ended; and though, in the course of it, the
afflicting loss of the general question had occurred, there was yet an
attempt made by the abolitionists in parliament, which met with a better
fate. The Sierra Leone company received the sanction of the legislature.
The object of this institution was to colonize a small portion of the coast
of Africa. They, who were to settle there, were to have no concern in the
Slave-trade, but to discourage it as much as possible. They were to
endeavour to establish a new species of commerce, and to promote
cultivation in its neighbourhood by free labour. The persons more generally
fixed upon for colonists, were such Negros, with their wives and families,
as chose to abandon their habitations in Nova Scotia. These had followed
the British arms in America; and had been settled there, as a reward for
their services, by the British government. My brother, just mentioned to
have been chosen a member of the committee, and who had essentially served
the great cause of the abolition on many occasions, undertook a visit to
Nova Scotia, to see if those in question were willing to undergo the
change; and in that case to provide transports, and conduct them to Sierra
Leone. This object he accomplished. He embarked more than eleven hundred
persons in fifteen vessels, of all which he took the command. On landing
them he became the first Governor of the new Colony. Having laid the
foundation of it, he returned to England; when a successor was appointed.
From that time many unexpected circumstances, but particularly devastations
by the French in the beginning of the war, took place, which, contributed
to ruin the trading company, which was attached to it. It is pleasing,
however, to reflect, that though the object of the institution, as far as
mercantile profit was concerned, thus failed, the other objects belonging
to it were promoted. Schools, places of worship, agriculture, and the
habits of civilized life, were established. Sierra Leone, therefore, now
presents itself as the medium of civilization for Africa. And, in this
latter point of view, it is worth all the treasure which has been lost in
supporting it: for the Slave-trade, which was the great obstacle to this
civilization, being now happily abolished, there is a metropolis,
consisting of some hundreds of persons, from which may issue the seeds of
reformation to this injured continent; and which, when sown, may be
expected to grow into fruit without interruption. New schools may be
transplanted from thence into the interior. Teachers, and travellers on
discovery, may be sent from thence in various directions; who may return to
it occasionally as to their homes. The natives too, able now to travel in
safety, may resort to it from various parts. They may see the improvements
which are going on from time to time. They may send their children to it
for education. And thus it may become the medium[A] of a great intercourse
between England and Africa, to the benefit of each other.

[Footnote A: To promote this desirable end an association took place last
year, called The African Institution, under the patronage of the Duke of
Gloucester, as president, and of the friends to the African cause,
particularly of such as were in parliament, and as belonged to the
committee for the abolition of the Slave-trade.]




CHAPTER IV.

_Continuation from July 1791 to July 1792--Author travels round the kingdom
again--Object of his journey--People begin to leave off the use of
sugar--to form committees--and to send petitions to Parliament--Motion made
in the House of Commons for the immediate abolition of the trade--Debates
upon it--Abolition resolved upon, but not to commence till 1796--Resolution
taken to the Lords--Latter determine upon hearing evidence--Evidence at
length introduced--Further hearing of it postponed to the next session._


The defeat which we had just sustained, was a matter of great triumph to
our opponents. When they considered the majority in the House of Commons in
their favour, they viewed the resolutions of the committee, which have been
detailed, as the last spiteful effort of a vanquished and dying animal, and
they supposed that they had consigned the question to eternal sleep. The
committee, however, were too deeply attached to the cause, vanquished as
they were, to desert it; and they knew also too well the barometer of
public feeling, and the occasion of its fluctuations, to despair. In the
year 1787 the members of the House of Commons, as well as the people, were
enthusiastic in behalf of the abolition of the trade. In the year 1788 the
fair enthusiasm of the former began to fade. In 1789 it died. In 1790
prejudice started up as a noxious weed in its place. In 1791 this prejudice
arrived at its growth. But to what were these changes owing?--To delay;
during which the mind, having been gradually led to the question as a
commercial, had been gradually taken from it as a moral object. But it was
possible to restore the mind to its proper place. Add to which, that the
nation had never deserted the cause during this whole period.

It is much to the honour of the English people, that they should have
continued to feel for the existence of an evil which was so far removed
from their sight. But at this moment their feelings began to be
insupportable. Many of them resolved, as soon as parliament had rejected
the bill, to abstain from the use of West Indian produce. In this state of
things a pamphlet, written by William Bell Crafton, of Tewksbury, and
called "A Sketch of the Evidence, with a Recommendation on the Subject to
the Serious Attention of People in general," made its appearance; and
another followed it, written by William Fox, of London, "On the Propriety
of abstaining from West India Sugar and Rum." These pamphlets took the same
ground. They inculcated abstinence from these articles as a moral duty;
they inculcated it as a peaceable and constitutional measure; and they laid
before the reader a truth, which was sufficiently obvious, that if each
would abstain, the people would have a complete remedy for this enormous
evil in their own power.

While these things were going on, it devolved upon me to arrange all the
evidence on the part of the abolition under proper heads, and to abridge it
into one volume. It was intended that a copy of this should be sent into
different towns of the kingdom, that all might know, if possible, the
horrors (as far as the evidence contained them) of this execrable trade;
and as it was possible that these copies might lie in the places where they
were sent, without a due attention to their contents, I resolved, with the
approbation of the committee, to take a journey, and for no other purpose
than personally to recommend that they might be read.

The books, having been printed, were dispatched before me. Of this tour I
shall give the reader no other account than that of the progress of the
remedy, which the people were then taking into their own hands. And first I
may observe, that there was no town, through which I passed, in which there
was not some one individual who had left off the use of sugar. In the
smaller towns there were from ten to fifty by estimation, and in the larger
from two to five hundred, who had made this sacrifice to virtue. These were
of all ranks and parties. Rich and poor, churchmen and dissenters, had
adopted the measure. Even grocers had left off trading in the article, in
some places. In gentlemen's families, where the master had set the example,
the servants had often voluntarily followed it; and even children, who were
capable of understanding the history of the sufferings of the Africans,
excluded, with the most virtuous resolution, the sweets, to which they had
been accustomed, from their lips. By the best computation I was able to
make from notes taken down in my journey, no fewer than three hundred
thousand persons had abandoned the use of sugar.

Having travelled over Wales, and two thirds of England, I found it would be
impossible to visit Scotland on the same errand. I had already, by moving
upwards and downwards in parallel lines, and by intersecting these in the
same manner, passed over six thousand miles. By the best calculation I
could make, I had yet two thousand to perform. By means of almost incessant
journeyings night and day, I had suffered much in my health. My strength
was failing daily. I wrote therefore to the committee on this subject; and
they communicated immediately with Dr. Dickson, who, on being applied to,
visited Scotland in my stead. He consulted first with the committee at
Edinburgh relative to the circulation of the Abridgement of the Evidence.
He then pursued his journey, and, in conjunction with the unwearied efforts
of Mr. Campbel Haliburton, rendered essential service to the cause for this
part of the kingdom.

On my return to London I found that the committee had taken into their own
body T.F. Forster, B.M. Forster, and James West, esquires, as members; and
that they had elected Hercules Ross, esquire, an honorary and corresponding
member, in consequence of the handsome manner in which he had come forward
as an evidence, and of the peculiar benefit which had resulted from his
testimony to the cause.

The effects of the two journeys by Dr. Dickson and myself were soon
visible. The people could not bear the facts, which had been disclosed to
them by the Abridgement of the Evidence. They were not satisfied, many of
them, with the mere abstinence from sugar; but began to form committees to
correspond with that of London. The first of these appeared at Newcastle
upon Tyne, so early as the month of October. It consisted of the Reverend
William Turner as chairman, and of Robert Ormston, William Batson, Henry
Taylor, Ralph Bainbridge, George Brown, Hadwen Bragg, David Sutton, Anthony
Clapham, George Richardson, and Edward Prowit. It received a valuable
addition afterwards by the admission of many others. The second was
established at Nottingham. The Reverend Jeremiah Bigsby became the
president, and the Rev. G. Walker and J. Smith, and Mess. Dennison, Evans,
Watson, Hart, Storer, Bott, Hawkesley, Pennington, Wright, Frith, Hall, and
Wakefield, the committee. The third was formed at Glasgow, under the
patronage of David Dale, Scott Moncrieff, Robert Graham, Professor Millar,
and others. Other committees started up in their turn. At length public
meetings began to take place, and after this petitions to be sent to
parliament; and these so generally, that there was not a day for three
months, Sundays excepted, in which five or six were not resolved upon in
some places or other in the kingdom.

Of the enthusiasm of the nation at this time none can form an opinion but
they who witnessed it. There never was perhaps a season when so much
virtuous feeling pervaded all ranks. Great pains were taken by interested
persons in many places to prevent public meetings. But no efforts could
avail. The current ran with such strength and rapidity, that it was
impossible to stem it. In the city of London a remarkable instance
occurred. The livery had been long waiting for the common council to begin
a petition. But the lord mayor and several of the aldermen stifled it. The
former, indignant at this conduct, insisted upon a common hall. A day was
appointed; and, though the notice given of it was short, the assemblage was
greater than had ever been remembered on any former occasion. Scarcely a
liveryman was absent, unless sick, or previously engaged. The petition,
when introduced, was opposed by those who had prevented it in the common
council. But their voices were drowned amidst groans and hissings. It was
shortly after carried; and it had not been signed more than half an hour,
before it was within the walls of the House of Commons. The reason of this
extraordinary dispatch was, that it had been kept back by intrigue so late,
that the very hour, in which it was delivered to the House, was that in
which Mr. Wilberforce was to make his new motion.

And as no petitions were ever more respectable than those presented on this
occasion, as far as they breathed the voice of the people, and as far as
they were founded on a knowledge of the object which they solicited, so
none were ever more numerous, as far as we have any record of such
transactions. Not fewer than three hundred and ten were presented from
England; one hundred and eighty-seven from Scotland; and twenty from Wales.
Two other petitions also for the abolition came from England, but they were
too late for delivery. On the other side of the question, one was presented
from the town of Reading for regulation, in opposition to that for
abolition from the same place. There were also four against abolition. The
first of these was from certain persons at Derby in opposition to the other
from that town. The second was from Stephen Fuller, esquire, as agent for
Jamaica. The third from J. Dawson, esquire, a slave-merchant at Liverpool.
And the fourth from the merchants, planters, mortgagees, annuitants, and
others concerned in the West Indian colonies. Taking in all these
statements, the account stood thus. For regulation there was one; against
all abolition there were four; and for the total abolition of the trade
five hundred and nineteen.

On the second of April Mr. Wilberforce moved the order of the day; which
having been agreed to, Sir William Dolben was put into the chair.

He then began by soliciting the candid attention of the West Indians to
what he was going to deliver to the House. However others might have
censured them indiscriminately, he had always himself made a distinction
between them and their system. It was the latter only, which he reprobated.
If aristocracy had been thought a worse form of government than monarchy,
because the people had many tyrants instead of one, how objectionable must
be that form of it, which existed in our colonies! Arbitrary power could be
bought there by any one, who could buy a slave. The fierceness of it was
doubtless restrained by an elevation of mind in many, as arising from a
consciousness of superior rank and consequence: but, alas! it was too often
exercised there by the base and vulgar. The more liberal too of the
planters were not resident upon their estates. Hence a promiscuous censure
of them would be unjust, though their system would undoubtedly be odious.

As for the cure of this monstrous evil, he had shown, last year, that
internal regulations would not produce it. These could have no effect,
while the evidence of slaves was inadmissible. What would be the situation
of the bulk of the people of this country, if only gentlemen of five
hundred a-year were admitted as evidences in our courts of law? Neither was
the cure of it in the emancipation of the slaves. He did not deny that he
wished them this latter blessing. But, alas, in their present degraded
state, they were unfit for it! Liberty was the child of reason and order.
It was indeed a plant of celestial growth, but the soil must be prepared
for its reception. He, who would see it flourish and bring forth its proper
fruit, must not think it sufficient to let it shoot in unrestrained
licentiousness. But if this inestimable blessing was ever to be imparted to
them, the cause must be removed, which obstructed its introduction. In
short, no effectual remedy could be found but in the abolition of the
Slave-trade.

He then took a copious view of the advantages, which would arise both to
the master and to the slave, if this traffic were done away; and having
recapitulated and answered the different objections to such a measure, he
went to that part of the subject, in which he described himself to be most
interested.

He had shown, he said, last year, that Africa was exposed to all the
horrors of war; and that most of these wars had their origin in the
Slave-trade. It was then said, in reply, that the natural barbarity of the
natives was alone sufficient to render their country a scene of carnage.
This was triumphantly instanced in the king of Dahomey. But his honourable
friend Lord Muncaster, then in the House, had proved in his interesting
publication, which had appeared since, called Historical Sketches of the
Slave-trade and of its Effects in Africa, addressed to the People of Great
Britain, that the very cruelties of this king, on which so much stress had
been laid, were committed by him in a war, which had been undertaken
expressly to punish an adjacent people for having stolen some of his
subjects and sold them for slaves.

He had shown also last year, that kings were induced to seize and sell
their subjects, and individuals each other, in consequence of the existence
of the Slave-trade.

He had shown also, that the administration of justice was perverted, so as
to become a fertile source of supply to this inhuman traffic; that every
crime was punished by slavery; that false accusations were made, to procure
convicts; and that even the judges had a profit on the convictions.

He had shown again, that many acts of violence were perpetrated by the
Europeans themselves. But he would now relate others, which had happened
since. The captain of an English vessel, lying in the river Cameroons, sent
his boat with three sailors and a slave to get water. A Black trader seized
the latter, and took him away. He alleged in his defence, that the captain
owed him goods to a greater amount than the value of the slave; and that he
would not pay him.

This being told on board, the captain, and a part of his crew, who were
compelled to blacken their naked bodies that they might appear like the
natives, went on shore at midnight, armed with muskets and cutlasses. They
fired on the trader's dwelling, and killed three of his children on the
spot. The trader, being badly wounded, died while they were dragging him to
the boat; and his wife, being wounded also, died in half an hour after she
was on board the ship. Resistance having been made to these violent
proceedings, some of the sailors were wounded, and one was killed. Some
weeks after this affray, a chieftain of the name of Quarmo went on board
the same vessel to borrow some cutlasses and muskets. He was going, he
said, into the country to make war; and the captain should have half of his
booty. So well understood were the practices of the trade, that his request
was granted. Quarmo, however, and his associates, finding things favourable
to their design, suddenly seized the captain, threw him overboard, hauled
him into their canoe, and dragged him to the shore; where another party of
the natives, lying in ambush, seized such of the crew as were absent from
the ship. But how did these savages behave, when they had these different
persons in their power? Did they not instantly retaliate by murdering them
all? No--they only obliged the captain to give an order on the vessel to
pay his debts. This fact came out only two months ago in a trial in the
court of common pleas--not in a trial for piracy and murder--but in the
trial of a civil suit, instituted by some of the poor sailors, to whom the
owners refused their wages, because the natives, on account of the
villanous conduct of their captain, had kept them from their vessel by
detaining them as prisoners on shore. This instance, he said, proved the
dreadful nature of the Slave-trade, its cruelty, its perfidy, and its
effect on the Africans as well as on the Europeans, who carried it on. The
cool manner, in which the transaction was conducted on both sides, showed
that these practices were not novel. It showed also the manner of doing
business in the trade. It must be remembered too, that these transactions
were carrying on at the very time when the inquiry concerning this trade
was going forward in Parliament, and whilst the witnesses of his opponents
were strenuously denying not only the actual, but the possible, existence
of any such depredations.

But another instance happened only in August last. Six British ships, the
Thomas, Captain Phillips; the Wasp, Captain Hutchinson; the Recovery,
Captain Kimber, of Bristol; and the Martha, Captain Houston; the Betsey,
Captain Doyle; and the Amachree, (he believed,) Captain Lee, of Liverpool;
were anchored off the town of Calabàr. This place was the scene of a
dreadful massacre about twenty years before. The captains of these vessels,
thinking that the natives asked too much for their slaves, held a
consultation, how they should proceed; and agreed to fire upon the town
unless their own terms were complied with. On a certain evening they
notified their determination to the traders; and told them, that, if they
continued obstinate, they would put it into execution the next morning. In
this they kept their word. They brought sixty-six guns to bear upon the
town; and fired on it for three hours. Not a shot was returned. A canoe
then went off to offer terms of accommodation. The parties however not
agreeing, the firing recommenced; more damage was done; and the natives
were forced into submission. There were no certain accounts of their loss.
Report said that fifty were killed; but some were seen lying badly wounded,
and others in the agonies of death, by those who went afterwards on shore.

He would now say a few words relative to the Middle Passage, principally to
show, that regulation could not effect a cure of the evil there. Mr. Isaac
Wilson had stated in his evidence, that the ship, in which he sailed, only
three years ago, was of three hundred and seventy tons; and that she
carried six hundred and two slaves. Of these she lost one hundred and
fifty-five. There were three or four other vessels in company with her, and
which belonged to the same owners. One of these carried four hundred and
fifty, and buried two hundred; another carried four hundred and sixty-six,
and buried seventy-three; another five hundred and forty-six, and buried
one hundred and fifty-eight; and from the four together, after the landing
of their cargoes, two hundred and twenty died. He fell in with another
vessel, which had lost three hundred and sixty-two; but the number, which
had been bought, was not specified. Now if to these actual deaths, during
and immediately after the voyage, we were to add the subsequent loss in the
seasoning, and to consider that this would be greater than ordinary in
cargoes which were landed in such a sickly state, we should find a
mortality, which, if it were only general for a few months, would entirely
depopulate the globe.

But he would advert to what Mr. Wilson said, when examined, as a surgeon,
as to the causes of these losses, and particularly on board his own ship,
where he had the means of ascertaining them. The substance of his reply was
this--That most of the slaves laboured under a fixed melancholy, which now
and then broke out into lamentations and plaintive songs, expressive of the
loss of their relations, friends, and country. So powerfully did this
sorrow operate, that many of them attempted in various ways to destroy
themselves, and three actually effected it. Others obstinately refused to
take sustenance; and when the whip and other violent means were used to
compel them to eat, they looked up in the face of the officer, who
unwillingly executed this painful task, and said with a smile, in their own
language, "Presently we shall be no more." This, their unhappy state of
mind, produced a general languor and debility, which were increased in many
instances by an unconquerable aversion to food, arising partly from
sickness, and partly, to use the language of the slave-captains, from
sulkiness. These causes naturally produced the flux. The contagion spread;
several were carried off daily; and the disorder, aided by so many powerful
auxiliaries, resisted the power of medicine. And it was worth while to
remark, that these grievous sufferings were not owing either to want of
care on the part of the owners, or to any negligence or harshness of the
captain; for Mr. Wilson declared, that his ship was as well fitted out, and
the crew and slaves as well treated, as any body could reasonably expect.

He would now go to another ship. That, in which Mr. Claxton sailed as a
surgeon, afforded a repetition of all the horrid circumstances which had
been described. Suicide was attempted, and effected; and the same barbarous
expedients were adopted to compel the slaves to continue an existence,
which they considered as too painful to be endured. The mortality also was
as great. And yet here again the captain was in no wise to blame. But this
vessel had sailed since the regulating act. Nay, even in the last year the
deaths on shipboard would be found to have been between ten and eleven per
cent. on the whole number exported. In truth, the House could not reach the
cause of this mortality by all their regulations. Until they could cure a
broken heart--until they could legislate for the affections, and bind by
their statutes the passions and feelings of the mind, their labour would be
in vain.

Such were the evils of the Passage. But evils were conspicuous every where,
in this trade. Never was there indeed a system so replete with wickedness
and cruelty. To whatever part of it we turned our eyes, whether to Africa,
the Middle Passage, or the West Indies, we could find no comfort, no
satisfaction, no relief. It was the gracious ordinance of Providence, both
in the natural and moral world, that good should often arise out of evil.
Hurricanes cleared the air; and the propagation of truth was promoted by
persecution. Pride, vanity, and profusion contributed often, in their
remoter consequences, to the happiness of mankind. In common, what was in
itself evil and vicious was permitted to carry along with it some
circumstances of palliation. The Arab was hospitable; the robber brave. We
did not necessarily find cruelty associated with fraud, or meanness with
injustice. But here the case was far otherwise. It was the prerogative of
this detested traffic to separate from evil its concomitant good, and to
reconcile discordant mischiefs. It robbed war of its generosity; it
deprived peace of its security: we saw in it the vices of polished society,
without its knowledge or its comforts; and the evils of barbarism without
its simplicity. No age, no sex, no rank, no condition was exempt from the
fatal influence of this wide-wasting calamity. Thus it attained to the
fullest measure of pure, unmixed, unsophisticated wickedness; and, scorning
all competition and comparison, it stood without a rival in the secure,
undisputed, possession of its detestable preeminence.

But, after all this, wonderful to relate, this execrable traffic had been
defended on the ground of benevolence! It had been said, that the slaves
were captives and convicts, who, if we were not to carry them away, would
be sacrificed, and many of them at the funerals of people of rank,
according to the savage custom of Africa. He had shown, however, that our
supplies of slaves were obtained from other quarters than these. But he
would wave this consideration for the present. Had it not been acknowledged
by his opponents, that the custom of ransoming slaves prevailed in Africa?
With respect to human sacrifices, he did not deny, that there might have
been some instances of these; but they had not been proved to be more
frequent than amongst other barbarous nations; and, where they existed,
being acts of religion, they would not be dispensed with for the sake of
commercial gain. In fact, they had nothing to do with the Slave-trade; only
perhaps, if it were abolished, they might, by means of the civilization
which would follow, be done away.

But, exclusively of these sacrifices, it had been asserted, that it was
kindness to the inhabitants to take them away from their own country. But
what said the historians of Africa, long before the question of the
abolition was started? "Axim," says Bosman, "is cultivated, and abounds
with numerous large and beautiful villages: its inhabitants are
industriously employed in trade, fishing, or agriculture."--"The
inhabitants of Adom always expose large quantities of corn to sale, besides
what they want for their own use."--"The people of Acron husband their
grounds and time so well, that every year produces a plentiful harvest."
Speaking of the Fetu country, he says, "Frequently, when walking through
it, I have seen it abound with fine well built and populous towns,
agreeably enriched with vast quantities of corn and cattle, palm-wine and
oil. The inhabitants all apply themselves without distinction to
agriculture; some sow corn; others press oil, and draw wine from the
palm-trees."

Smith, who was sent out by the royal African company in 1726, assures us,
"that the discerning natives account it their greatest unhappiness, that
they were ever visited by the Europeans. They say that we Christians
introduced the traffic of slaves; and that before our coming they lived in
peace. But, say they, it is observable, wherever Christianity comes, there
come swords and guns and powder and ball with it."

"The Europeans," says Bruce, "are far from desiring to act as peace-makers
among them. It would be too contrary to their interests; for the only
object of their wars is to carry off slaves; and, as these form the
principal part of their traffic, they would be apprehensive of drying up
the source of it, were they to encourage the people to live well together."

"The neighbourhood of the Damel and Tin keep them perpetually at war, the
benefit of which accrues to the Company, who buy all the prisoners made on
either side; and the more there are to sell, the greater is their profit;
for the only end of their armaments is to make captives, to sell them to
the White traders."

Artus, of Dantzic, says that in his time, "those liable to pay fines were
banished till the fine was paid; when they returned to their houses and
possessions."

Bosman affirms "that formerly all crimes in Africa were compensated by fine
or restitution, and, where restitution was impracticable, by corporal
punishment."

Moore says, "Since this trade has been used, all punishments have been
changed into slavery. There being an advantage in such condemnation, they
strain the crimes very hard, in order to get the benefit of selling the
criminal. Not only murder, theft, and adultery, are punished by selling the
criminal for a slave, but every trifling crime is punished in the same
manner."

Loyer affirms that "the King of Sain, on the least pretence, sells his
subjects for European goods. He is so tyrannically severe, that he makes a
whole village responsible for the fault of one inhabitant; and on the least
offence sells them all for slaves."

Such, he said, were the testimonies, not of persons whom he had summoned;
not of friends of the abolition: but of men who were themselves, many of
them, engaged in the Slave-trade. Other testimonies might be added; but
these were sufficient to refute the assertions of his opponents, and to
show the kind services we had done to Africa by the introduction of this
trade.

He would just touch upon the argument, so often repeated, that other
nations would carry on the Slave-trade, if we abandoned it. But how did we
know this? Had not Denmark given a noble example to the contrary? She had
consented to abolish the trade in ten years; and had she not done this,
even though we, after an investigation for nearly five years, had ourselves
hung back? But what might not be expected, if we were to take up the cause
in earnest; if we were to proclaim to all nations the injustice of the
trade, and to solicit their concurrence in the abolition of it! He hoped
the representatives of the nation would not be less just than the people.
The latter had stepped forward, and expressed their sense more generally by
petitions, than in any instance in which they had ever before interfered.
To see this great cause thus triumphing over distinctions and prejudices
was a noble spectacle. Whatever might be said of our political divisions,
such a sight had taught us, that there were subjects still beyond the reach
of party; that there was a point of elevation, where we ascended above the
jarring of the discordant elements, which ruffled and agitated the vale
below. In our ordinary atmosphere clouds and vapours obscured the air, and
we were the sport of a thousand conflicting winds and adverse currents; but
here we moved in a higher region, where all was pure and clear, and free
from perturbation and discomposure.

  "As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
  Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;
  Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
  Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

Here then, on this august eminence, he hoped we should build the Temple of
Benevolence; that we should lay its foundation deep in Truth and Justice;
and that we should inscribe upon its gates, "Peace and Goodwill to Men."
Here we should offer the first-fruits of our benevolence, and endeavour to
compensate, if possible, for the injuries we had brought upon our
fellow-men.

He would only now observe, that his conviction of the indispensable
necessity of immediately abolishing this trade remained as strong as ever.
Let those who talked of allowing three or four years to the continuance of
it, reflect on the disgraceful scenes which had passed last year. As for
himself, he would wash his hands of the blood which would be spilled in
this horrid interval. He could not, however, but believe, that the hour was
come, when we should put a final period to the existence of this cruel
traffic. Should he unhappily be mistaken, he would never desert the cause;
but to the last moment of his life he would exert his utmost powers in its
support. He would now move, "That it is the opinion of this committee, that
the trade carried on by British subjects for the purpose of obtaining
slaves on the coast of Africa, ought to be abolished."

Mr. Baillie was in hopes that the friends of the abolition would have been
contented with the innocent blood which had been already shed. The great
island of St. Domingo had been torn to pieces by insurrections. The most
dreadful barbarities had been perpetrated there. In the year 1789 the
imports into it exceeded five millions sterling. The exports from it in the
same year amounted to six millions; and the trade employed three hundred
thousand tons of shipping, and thirty thousand seamen. This fine island,
thus advantageously situated, had been lost in consequence of the agitation
of the question or the Slave-trade. Surely so much mischief ought to have
satisfied those who supported it; but they required the total destruction
of all the West Indian colonies, belonging to Great Britain, to complete
the ruin.

The honourable gentleman, who had just spoken, had dwelt, upon the
enormities of the Slave-trade. He was far from denying, that many acts of
inhumanity might accompany it; but as human nature was much the same every
where, it would be unreasonable to expect among African traders, or the
inhabitants of our islands, a degree of perfection in morals, which was not
to be found in Great Britain itself. Would any man estimate the character
of the English nation by what was to be read in the records of the Old
Bailey? He himself, however, had lived sixteen years in the West Indies,
and he could bear testimony to the general good usage of the slaves.

Before the agitation of this impolitic question the slaves were contented
with their situation. There was a mutual confidence between them and their
masters: and this continued to be the case till the new doctrines were
broached. But now depots of arms were necessary on every estate; and the
scene was totally reversed. Nor was their religious then inferior to their
civil state. When the English took possession of Grenada, where his
property lay, they found them baptized and instructed in the principles of
the Roman Catholic faith. The priests of that persuasion had indeed been
indefatigable in their vocation; so that imported Africans generally
obtained within twelve months a tolerable idea of their religious duties.
He had seen the slaves there go through the public mass in a manner, and
with a fervency, which would have done credit to more civilized societies.
But the case was now altered; for, except where the Moravians had been,
there was no trace in our islands of an attention to their religious
interests.

It had been said, that their punishments were severe. There might be
instances of cruelty; but these were not general. Many of them were
undoubtedly ill disposed; though not more, according to their number, on a
plantation, than in a regiment, or in a ship's crew. Had we never heard of
seamen being flogged from ship to ship, or of soldiers dying in the very
act of punishment? Had we not also heard, even in this country of boasted
liberty, of seamen being seized, and carried away, when returning from
distant voyages, after an absence of many years; and this without even
being allowed to see their wives and families? As to distressed objects, he
maintained, that there was more wretchedness and poverty in St. Giles's,
than in all the West Indian islands belonging to Great Britain.

He would now speak of the African and West Indian trades. The imports and
exports of these amounted to upwards of ten millions annually; and they
gave employment to three hundred thousand tons of shipping, and to about
twenty-five thousand seamen. These trades had been sanctioned by our
ancestors in parliament. The acts for this purpose might be classed under
three heads. First, they were such as declared the colonies and the trade
thereof advantageous to Great Britain, and therefore entitled to her
protection. Secondly, such as authorised, protected, and encouraged the
trade to Africa, as advantageous in itself, and necessary to the welfare
and existence of the sugar colonies: and, Thirdly, such as promoted and
secured loans of money to the proprietors of the said colonies, either from
British subjects or from foreigners. These acts[A], he apprehended, ought
to satisfy every person of the legality and usefulness of these trades.
They were enacted in reigns distinguished for the production of great and
enlightened characters. We heard then of no wild and destructive doctrines
like the present. These were reserved for this age of novelty and
innovation. But he must remind the House, that the inhabitants of our
islands had as good a right to the protection of their property, as the
inhabitants of Great Britain. Nor could it be diminished in any shape
without full compensation. The proprietors of lands in the ceded islands,
which were purchased of government under specific conditions of settlement,
ought to be indemnified. They also (of whom he was one) who had purchased
the territory granted by the crown to General Monkton in the Island of St.
Vincent, ought to be indemnified also. The sale of this had gone on
briskly, till it was known, that a plan was in agitation for the abolition
of the Slave-trade. Since that period the original purchasers had done
little or nothing, and they had many hundred acres on hand, which would be
of no value, if the present question was carried. In fact, they had a right
to compensation. The planters generally spent their estates in this
country. They generally educated their children in it. They had never been
found seditious or rebellious; and they demanded of the Parliament of Great
Britain that protection, which, upon the principles of good faith, it was
in duty bound to afford them in common with the rest of his majesty's loyal
subjects.

[Footnote A: Here he quoted them specifically.]

Mr. Vaughan stated that, being a West Indian by birth and connected with
the islands, he could speak from his own knowledge. In the early part of
his life he was strongly in favour of the abolition of the Slave-trade. He
had been educated by Dr. Priestley and the father of Mrs. Barbauld; who
were both of them friends to that question. Their sentiments he had
imbibed: but, although bred at the feet of Gamaliel, he resolved to judge
for himself, and he left England for Jamaica.

He found the situation of the slaves much better than he had imagined.
Setting aside liberty, they were as well off as the poor in Europe. They
had little want of clothes or fuel: they had a house and garden found them;
were never imprisoned for debts; nor deterred from marrying through fear of
being unable to support a family; their orphans and widows were taken care
of, as they themselves were when old and disabled; they had medical
attendance without expense; they had private property, which no master ever
took front them; and they were resigned to their situation, and looked for
nothing beyond it. Perhaps persons might have been prejudiced by living in
the towns, to which slaves were often sent for punishment; and where there
were many small proprietors; or by seeing no Negro otherwise than as
belonging to the labouring poor; but they appeared to him to want nothing
but liberty; and it was only occasionally that they were abused.

There were two prejudices with respect to the colonies, which he would
notice. The first was, that cruel usage occasioned the inequality of births
and deaths among the slaves. But did cruelty cause the excess of deaths
above births in the city of London? No--this excess had other causes. So it
had among the slaves. Of these more males were imported than females: they
were dissolute too in their morals; they had also diseases peculiar to
themselves. But in those islands where they nearly kept up their numbers,
there was this difficulty, that the equality was preserved by the increase
on one estate compensating for the decrease on another. These estates,
however, would not interchange their numbers; whereas, where freedom
prevailed, the free labourers circulated from one employer to another, and
appeared wherever they were wanted.

The second was, that all chastisement of the slaves was cruelty. But this
was not true. Their owners generally withdrew them from public justice; so
that they, who would have been publicly executed elsewhere, were often kept
alive by their masters, and were found punished again and again for
repeating their faults. Distributive justice occasioned many punishments;
as one slave was to be protected against every other slave: and, when one
pilfered from another, then the master interfered. These punishments were
to be distinguished from such as arose from enforcing labour, or from the
cruelty of their owners. Indeed he had gone over the islands, and he had
seen but little ill usage. He had seen none on the estate where he resided.
The whip, the stocks, and confinement, were all the modes of punishment he
had observed in other places. Some slaves belonging to his father were
peculiarly well off. They saved money, and spent it in their own way.

But, notwithstanding all he had said, he allowed that there was room for
improvement; and particularly for instilling into the slaves the principles
of religion. Where this should be realized, there would be less punishment,
more work, more marriages, more issue, and more attachment to masters.
Other improvements would be the establishment of medical societies; the
introduction of task-work; and grants of premiums and honorary distinctions
both to fathers and mothers, according to the number of children which they
should rear. Besides this, Negro evidence should be allowed in the courts
of law, it being left to the discretion of the court or jury to take or
reject it, according to the nature of the case. Cruel masters also should
be kept in order in various ways. They should be liable to have their
slaves taken from them, and put in trust. Every instrument of punishment
should be banished, except the whip. The number of lashes should be
limited; and the punishment should not be repeated till after intervals.
These and other improvements should be immediately adopted by the planters.
The character of the exemplary among them was hurt by being confounded with
that of lower and baser men. He concluded by stating, that the owners of
slaves were entitled to compensation, if, by means of the abolition, they
should not be able to find labourers for the cultivation of their lands[A].

[Footnote A: Mr. Vaughan declared in a future stage of the debate, that he
wished to see a prudent termination both of the Slave-trade and of slavery;
and that, though he was the eldest son of his father, he never would, on
any consideration, become the owner of a slave.]

Mr. Henry Thornton conceived, that the two last speakers had not spoken to
the point. The first had described the happy state of the slaves in the
West Indies. The latter had made similar representations; but yet had
allowed, that much improvement might be made in their condition. But this
had nothing to do with the question then before them. The manner of
procuring slaves in Africa was the great evil to be remedied. Africa was to
be stripped of its inhabitants to supply a population for the West Indies.
There was a Dutch proverb, which said, "My son, get money, honestly if you
can--but get money:" or, in other words, "Get slaves, honestly if you
can--but get slaves." This was the real grievance; and the two honourable
gentlemen, by confining their observations to the West Indies, had entirely
overlooked it.

Though this evil had been fully proved, he could not avoid stating to the
House some new facts, which had come to his knowledge as a director of the
Sierra Leone Company, and which would still further establish it. The
consideration, that they had taken place since the discussion of the last
year on this subject, obliged him to relate them.

Mr. Falconbridge, agent to the Company, sitting one evening in Sierra
Leone, heard a shout, and immediately afterwards the report of a gun.
Fearing an attack, he armed forty of the settlers, and rushed with them to
the place from whence the noise came. He found a poor wretch, who had been
crossing from a neighbouring village, in the possession of a party of
kidnappers, who were tying his hands. Mr. Falconbridge, however, dared not
rescue him, lest, in the defenceless state of his own town, retaliation
might be made upon him.

At another time a young woman, living half a mile off, was sold, without
any criminal charge, to one of the slave-ships. She was well acquainted
with the agent's wife, and had been with her only the day before. Her cries
were heard; but it was impossible to relieve her.

At another time a young lad, one of the free settlers who went from
England, was caught by a neighbouring chief, as he was straggling alone
from home, and sold for a slave. The pretext was, that some one in the town
of Sierra Leone had committed an offence. Hence the first person belonging
to it, who could be seized, was to be punished. Happily the free settlers
saw him in his chains; and they recovered him, before he was conveyed to
the ship.

To mark still more forcibly the scenes of misery, to which the Slave-trade
gave birth, he would mention a case stated to him in a letter by King
Naimbanna. It had happened to this respectable person, in no less than
three instances, to have some branches of his family kidnapped, and carried
off to the West Indies. At one time three young men, Corpro, Banna, and
Marbrour, were decoyed on board a Danish slave-ship, under pretence of
buying something, and were taken away. At another time another relation
piloted a vessel down the river. He begged to be put on shore, when he came
opposite to his own town; but he was pressed to pilot her to the river's
mouth. The captain then pleaded the impracticability of putting him on
shore; carried him to Jamaica; and sold him for a slave. Fortunately,
however, by means of a letter, which was conveyed there, the man, by the
assistance of the governor, was sent back to Sierra Leone. At another time
another relation was also kidnapped. But he had not the good fortune, like
the former, to return.

He would mention one other instance. A son had sold his own father, for
whom he obtained a considerable price: for, as the father was rich in
domestic slaves, it was not doubted that he would offer largely for his
ransom. The old man accordingly gave twenty-two of these in exchange for
himself. The rest, however, being from that time filled with apprehensions
of being on some ground or other sold to the slave-ships, fled to the
mountains of Sierra Leone, where they now dragged on a miserable existence.
The son himself was sold, in his turn, soon after. In short, the whole of
that unhappy peninsula, as he learnt from eye-witnesses, had been desolated
by the trade in slaves. Towns were seen standing without inhabitants all
over the coast; in several of which the agent of the Company had been.
There was nothing but distrust among the inhabitants. Every one, if he
stirred from home, felt himself obliged to be armed.

Such was the nature of the Slave-trade. It had unfortunately obtained the
name of a trade; and many had been deceived by the appellation. But it was
war, and not trade. It was a mass of crimes, and not commerce. It was that
which prevented the introduction of a trade in Africa; for it was only by
clearing and cultivating the lands, that the climate could be made healthy
for settlements; but this wicked traffic, by dispersing the inhabitants,
and causing the lands to remain uncultivated, made the coast unhealthy to
Europeans. He had found, in attempting to establish a colony there, that it
was an obstacle, which opposed itself to him in innumerable ways; it
created more embarrassments than all the natural impediments of the
country; and it was more hard to contend with, than any difficulties of
climate, soil, or natural disposition of the people.

We would say a few words relative to the numerous petitions, which were
then on the table of the House. They had shown, in an extraordinary manner,
the opinion of the people. He did not wish to turn this into a
constitutional question; but he would observe, that it was of the utmost
consequence to the maintenance of the constitution of this country, that
the reputation of Parliament should be maintained. But nothing could
prejudice its character so much, as a vote, which should lead the people to
believe, that the legislative body was the more corrupt part of it, and
that it was slow to adopt moral principles.

It had been often insinuated that Parliament, by interfering in this trade,
departed from its proper functions. No idea could be more absurd: for, was
it not its duty to correct abuses? and what abuses were greater than
robbery and murder? He was indeed anxious for the abolition. He desired it,
as a commercial man, on account of the commercial character of the country.
He desired it for the reputation of Parliament, on which so materially
depended the preservation of our happy constitution: but most of all he
prayed for it for the sake of those eternal principles of justice, which it
was the duty of nations, as well as of individuals, to support.

Colonel Tarleton repeated his arguments of the last year. In addition to
these he inveighed bitterly against the abolitionists, as a junto of
sectaries, sophists, enthusiasts, and fanatics. He condemned the abolition
as useless, unless other nations would take it up. He brought to the
recollection of the House the barbarous scenes which had taken place in St.
Domingo, all of which, he said, had originated in the discussion of this
question. He described the alarms, in which the inhabitants of our own
islands were kept, lest similar scenes should occur from the same cause. He
ridiculed the petitions on the table. Itinerant clergymen, mendicant
physicians, and others, had extorted signatures from the sick, the
indigent, and the traveller. School-boys were invited to sign them, under
the promise of a holiday. He had letters to produce, which would prove all
these things, though he was not authorized to give up the names of those
who had written them.

Mr. Montagu said, that, in the last session, he had simply entered his
protest against the trade; but now he could be no longer silent; and as
there were many, who had conceived regulation to be more desirable than
abolition, he would confine himself to that subject.

Regulation, as it related to the manner of procuring slaves, was utterly
impossible: for how could we know the case of each individual, whom we
forced away into bondage? Could we establish tribunals all along the coast,
and in every ship, to find it out? What judges could we get for such an
office? But, if this could not be done upon the coast, how could we
ascertain the justness of the captivity of by far the greatest number, who
were brought from immense distances inland?

He would not dwell upon the proof of the inefficiency of regulations, as to
the Middle Passage. His honourable friend Mr. Wilberforce had shown, that,
however the mortality might have been lessened in some ships by the
regulations of Sir William Dolben, yet, wherever a contagious disorder
broke out, the greatest part of the cargo was swept away. But what
regulations by the British Parliament could prevent these contagions, or
remove them suddenly, when they appeared?

Neither would regulations be effectual, as they related to the protection
of the slaves in the West Indies. It might perhaps be enacted, as Mr.
Vaughan had suggested, that their punishments should be moderate; and that
the number of lashes should be limited. But the colonial legislatures had
already done as much, as the magic of words alone could do, upon this
subject: yet the evidence upon the table clearly proved, that the only
protection of slaves was in the clemency of their masters. Any barbarity
might be exercised with impunity, provided no White person were to see it,
though it happened in the sight of a thousand slaves. Besides, by splitting
the offence, and inflicting the punishment at intervals, the law could be
evaded, although the fact was within the reach of the evidence of a White
man. Of this evasion, Captain Cook, of the eighty-ninth regiment, had given
a shocking instance: and Chief Justice Ottley had candidly confessed, that
"he could devise no method of bringing a master, so offending, to justice,
while the evidence of the slave continued inadmissible." But perhaps
councils of protection, and guardians of the slaves, might be appointed.
This again was an expedient, which sounded well; but which would be
nugatory and absurd. What person would risk the comfort of his life by the
exercise of so invidious an interference? But supposing that one or two
individuals could be found, who would sacrifice all their time, and the
friendship of their associates, for the good of the slaves; what could they
effect? Could they be in all places at once? But even if acts of barbarity
should be related to them, how were they to come at the proof of them?

It appeared then that no regulations could be effectual until the slaves
were admitted to give their evidence: but to admit them to this privilege
in their present state would be to endanger the safety and property of
their masters. Mr. Vaughan had, however, recommended this measure with
limitations, but it would produce nothing but discontent; for how were the
slaves to be persuaded, that it was fit they should be admitted to speak
the truth, and then be disbelieved and disregarded? What a fermentation
would such a conduct naturally excite in men dismissed with injuries
unredressed, though abundantly proved, in their apprehension, by their
testimony! In fact, no regulations would do. There was no cure for these
evils, but in the abolition of the Slave-trade. He called upon the planters
to concur with his honourable friend Mr. Wilberforce in this great measure.
He wished them to consider the progress, which the opinion of the injustice
of this trade was making in the nation at large, as manifested by the
petitions; which had almost obstructed the proceedings of the House by
their perpetual introduction. It was impossible for them to stifle this
great question. As for himself, he would renew his profession of last year,
that he would never cease, but with life, to promote so glorious an end.

Mr. Whitbread said, that even if he could conceive, that the trade was, as
some had asserted it to be, founded on principles of humanity; that the
Africans were rescued from death in their own country; that, upon being
carried to the West Indies, they were put under kind masters; that their
labour there was easy; that at evening they returned cheerful to their
homes; that in sickness they were attended with care; and that their old
age was rendered comfortable; even then he would vote for the abolition of
the Slave-trade; inasmuch as he was convinced, that that, which was
fundamentally wrong, no practice could justify.

No eloquence could persuade him, that the Africans were torn from their
country and their dearest connections, merely that they might lead a
happier life; or that they could be placed under the uncontrolled dominion
of others without suffering. Arbitrary power would spoil the hearts of the
best. Hence would arise tyranny on the one side, and a sense of injury on
the other. Hence the passions would be let loose, and a state of perpetual
enmity would follow.

He needed only to go to the accounts of those who defended the system of
slavery, to show that it was cruel. He was forcibly struck last year by an
expression of an honourable member, an advocate for the trade, who, when
he came to speak of the slaves, on selling off the stock of a plantation,
said, that they fetched less than the common price, because they were
damaged.--Damaged!--What! were they goods and chattels? What an idea was
this to hold out of our fellow-creatures. We might imagine how slaves were
treated, if they could be spoken of in such a manner. Perhaps these unhappy
people had lingered out the best part of their lives in the service of
their master. Able then to do but little, they were sold for little! and
the remaining substance of their sinews was to be pressed out by another,
yet more hardened than the former, and who had made a calculation of their
vitals accordingly.

As another proof, he would mention a passage in a pamphlet, in which the
author, describing the happy situation of the slaves, observed, that a good
Negro never wanted a character. A bad one could always be detected by his
weals and scars. What was this but to say, that there were instruments in
use, which left indelible marks behind them; and who would say, that these
were used justly?

An honourable gentleman, Mr. Vaughan, had said, that setting aside slavery,
the slaves were better off than the poor in this country. But what was it
that we wished to abolish? Was it not the Slave-trade, which would destroy
in time the cruel distinction he had mentioned? The same honourable
gentleman had also expressed his admiration of their resignation; but might
it not be that resignation, which was the consequence of despair?

Colonel Tarleton had insinuated, that the petitions on the table had been
obtained in an objectionable manner. He had the honour to present one from
his constituents; which he would venture to say had originated with
themselves; and that there did not exist more respectable names in the
kingdom, than those of the persons who had signed it. He had also asserted,
that there was a strong similitude in their tenour and substance, as if
they had been manufactured by the same persons. This was by no means to be
wondered at. There was surely but one plain tale to tell; and it was not
surprising, that it had been clothed in nearly the same expressions. There
was but one boon to ask, and that was--the abolition of this wicked trade.

It had been said by another, (Mr. Baillie) that the horrible insurrections
in St. Domingo arose from the discussion of the question of the
Slave-trade. He denied the assertion; and maintained that they were the
effect of the trade itself. There was a point of endurance, beyond which
human nature could not go; at which the mind of man rose by its native
elasticity with a spring and violence proportioned to the degree to which
it had been depressed. The calamities in St. Domingo proceeded from the
Slave-trade alone; and, if it were continued, similar evils were to be
apprehended in our own islands. The cruelties, which the slaves had
perpetrated in that unfortunate colony, they had learnt from their masters.
Had not an African eyes? Had he not ears? Had he not organs, senses, and
passions? If you pricked him, would he not feel the puncture and bleed? If
you poisoned him, would he not die? and, if you wronged him, would he not
revenge? But he had said sufficient; for he feared he could not better the
instruction.

Mr. Milbank would only just observe, that the policy of the measure of the
abolition was as great, as its justice was undeniable. Where slavery
existed, every thing was out of its natural place. All improvement was at
an end. There must also, from the nature of the human heart, be oppression.
He warned the planters against the danger of fresh importations, and
invited their concurrence in the measure.

Mr. Dundas (now Lord Melville) declared, that he had always been a warm
friend to the abolition of the Slave-trade, though he differed with Mr.
Wilberforce as to the mode of effecting it.

The abolitionists, and those on the opposite side of the question, had,
both of them, gone into extremes. The former were for the immediate and
abrupt annihilation of the trade. The latter considered it as essentially
necessary to the existence of the West Indian islands, and therefore laid
it down, that it was to be continued for ever. Such was the vast distance
between the parties. He would now address himself to each.

He would say first, that he agreed with his honourable friend Mr.
Wilberforce in very material points. He believed the trade was not founded
in policy; that the continuation of it was not essential to the
preservation of our trade with the West Indian islands; and that the slaves
were not only to be maintained, but increased there, by natural population.
He agreed, too, as to the propriety of the abolition. But when his
honourable friend talked of direct and abrupt abolition, he would submit it
to him, whether he did not run counter to the prejudices of those who were
most deeply interested in the question; and whether, if he could obtain his
object without wounding these, it would not be better to do it? Did he not
also forget the sacred attention, which Parliament had ever shown to the
private interests and patrimonial rights of individuals?

Whatever idea men might then have of the African trade, certain it was that
they, who had connected themselves with it, had done it under the sanction
of Parliament. It might also be well worth while to consider (though the
conduct of other nations ought not to deter us from doing our duty) whether
British subjects in the West Indies might not be supplied with slaves under
neutral flags. Now he believed it was possible to avoid these objections,
and at the same time to act in harmony with the prejudices which had been
mentioned. This might be done by regulations, by which we should effect the
end much more speedily than by the way proposed. By regulations, he meant
such as would increase the breed of the slaves in the West Indies; such as
would ensure a moral education to their children; and such as would even in
time extinguish hereditary slavery. The extinction, however, of this was
not to be effected by allowing the son of an African slave to obtain his
freedom on the death of his parent. Such a son should be considered as born
free. He should then be educated at the expense of the person importing his
parents; and, when arrived at such a degree of strength as might qualify
him to labour, he should work for a term of years for the payment of the
expense of his education and maintenance. It was impossible to emancipate
the existing slaves at once; nor would such an emancipation be of any
immediate benefit to themselves: but this observation would not apply to
their descendants, if trained and educated in the manner he had proposed.

He would now address himself to those who adopted the opposite extreme: and
he thought he should not assume too much, when he said, that if both
slavery and the Slave-trade could be abolished with safety to their
property, it deeply concerned their interests to do it. Such a measure,
also, would only be consistent with the principles of the British
Constitution. It was surely strange that we, who were ourselves free,
should carry on a Slave-trade with Africa; and that we should never think
of introducing cultivation into the West Indies by free labourers.

That such a measure would tend to their interest he had no doubt. Did not
all of them agree with Mr. Long, that the great danger in the West Indies
arose from the importation of the African slaves there? Mr. Long had
asserted, that all the insurrections there arose from these. If this
statement were true, how directly it bore upon the present question! But we
were told also, by the same author, that the Slave-trade gave rise to
robbery, murder, and all kinds of depredations on the coast of Africa. Had
this been answered? No: except indeed it had been said, that the slaves
were such as had been condemned for crimes. Well then: the imported
Africans consisted of all the convicts, rogues, thieves, and vagabonds in
Africa. But would the West Indians choose to depend on fresh supplies of
these for the cultivation of their lands, and the security of their
islands, when it was also found that every insurrection had arisen from
them? it was plain the safety of the islands was concerned in this
question. There would be danger so long as the trade lasted. The Planters
were, by these importations, creating the engines of their own destruction.
Surely they would act more to their own interest, if they would concur in
extinguishing the trade, than by standing up for its continuance.

He would now ask them, what right they had to suppose that Africa would for
ever remain in a state of barbarism. If once an enlightened prince were to
rise up there, his first act would be to annihilate the Slave-trade. If the
light of heaven were ever to descend upon that continent, it would directly
occasion its downfall. It was their interest then to contrive a mode of
supplying labour, without trusting to precarious importations from that
quarter. They might rest assured that the trade could not continue. He did
not allude to the voice of the people in the petitions then lying on the
table of the House; but he knew certainly, that an idea not only of the
injustice but of the impolicy of this trade had been long entertained by
men of the most enlightened understandings in this country. Was it then a
prudent thing for them to rest on this commerce for the further improvement
of their property?

There was a species of slavery, prevailing only a few years ago, in the
collieries in certain boroughs of Scotland. Emancipation there was thought
a duty by Parliament: But what an opposition there was to the measure!
Nothing but ruin would be the consequence of it! After several years
struggle the bill was carried. Within a year after, the ruin so much talked
of vanished in smoke, and there was an end of the business. It had also
been contended that Sir William Dolben's bill would be the ruin of
Liverpool: and yet one of its representatives had allowed, that this bill
had been of benefit to the owners of the slave-vessels there. Was he then
asking too much of the West Indians, to request a candid consideration of
the real ground of their alarms? He would conclude by stating, that he
meant to propose a middle way of proceeding. If there was a number of
members in the House, who thought with him, that this trade ought to be
ultimately abolished, but yet by moderate measures, which should neither
invade the property nor the prejudices of individuals; he wished them to
unite, and they might then reduce the question to its proper limits.

Mr. Addington (the speaker) professed himself to be one of those moderate
persons called upon by Mr. Dundas. He wished to see some middle measure
suggested. The fear of doing injury to the property of others, had hitherto
prevented him from giving an opinion against a system, the continuance of
which he could not countenance.

He utterly abhorred the Slave-trade. A noble and learned lord, who had now
retired from the bench, said on a certain occasion, that he pitied the
loyalty of that man, who imagined that any epithet could aggravate the
crime of treason. So he himself knew of no language which could aggravate
the crime of the Slave-trade. It was sufficient for every purpose of
crimination, to assert, that man thereby was bought and sold, or that he
was made subject to the despotism of man. But though he thus acknowledged
the justice due to a whole continent on the one side, he confessed there
were opposing claims of justice on the other. The case of the West Indians
deserved a tender consideration also.

He doubted, if we were to relinquish the Slave-trade alone, whether it
might not be carried on still more barbarously than at present; and
whether, if we were to stop it altogether, the islands could keep up their
present stocks. It had been asserted that they could. But he thought that
the stopping of the importations could not be depended upon for this
purpose, so much as a plan for providing them with more females.

With the mode suggested by his right honourable friend, Mr. Dundas, he was
pleased, though he did not wholly agree to it. He could not grant liberty
to the children born in the islands. He thought also, that the trade ought
to be permitted for ten or twelve years longer, under such arrangements as
should introduce a kind of management among the slaves there, favourable to
their interests, and of course to their future happiness. One species of
regulation which he should propose, would be greater encouragement to the
importation of females than of males, by means of a bounty on the former
till their numbers should be found equal. Rewards also might be given to
those slaves who should raise a certain number of children; and to those
who should devise means of lightening negro-labour. If the plan of his
honourable friend should comprehend these regulations, he would heartily
concur in it. He wished to see the Slave-trade abolished. Indeed it did not
deserve the name of a trade. It was not a trade, and ought not to be
allowed. He was satisfied, that in a few years it would cease to be the
reproach of this nation and the torment of Africa. But under regulations
like these, it would cease without any material injury to the interests of
others.

Mr. Fox said, that after what had fallen from the two last speakers he
could remain no longer silent. Something so mischievous had come out, and
something so like a foundation had been laid for preserving, not only for
years to come, but for ever, this detestable traffic, that he should feel
himself wanting in his duty, if he were not to deprecate all such
deceptions and delusions upon the country.

The honourable gentlemen had called themselves moderate men: but upon this
subject he neither felt, nor desired to feel, any thing like a sentiment of
moderation. Their speeches had reminded him of a passage in Middleton's
Life of Cicero. The translation of it was defective, though it would
equally suit his purpose. He says, "To enter into a man's house, and kill
him, his wife, and family, in the night, is certainly a most heinous crime,
and deserving of death; but to break open his house, to murder him, his
wife, and all his children, in the night, may be still very right, provided
it be done with moderation." Now, was there any thing more absurd in this
passage, than to say, that the Slave-trade might be carried on with
moderation; for, if you could not rob or murder a single man with
moderation, with what moderation could you pillage and wound a whole
nation? In fact, the question of the abolition was simply a question of
justice. It was only, whether we should authorize by law, respecting
Africa, the commission of crimes, for which, in this country, we should
forfeit our lives; notwithstanding which, it was to be treated, in the
opinion of these honourable gentlemen, with moderation.

Mr. Addington had proposed to cure the disproportion of the sexes in the
islands, by a bounty on the importation of females; or, in other words, by
offering a premium to any crew of ruffians, who would tear them from their
native country. He would let loose a banditti against the most weak and
defenceless of the sex. He would occasion these to kill fathers, husbands,
and brothers, to get possession of their relatives, the females, who, after
this carnage, were to be reserved for--slavery. He should like to see the
man, who would pen such a moderate clause for a British Parliament.

Mr. Dundas had proposed to abolish the Slave-trade, by bettering the state
of the slaves in the islands, and particularly that of their offspring. His
plan, with respect to the latter, was not a little curious. They were to
become free, when born; and then they were to be educated at the expense of
those to whom their fathers belonged. But it was clear, that they could not
be educated for nothing. In order, therefore, to repay this expense, they
were to be slaves for ten or fifteen years. In short, they were to have an
education, which was to qualify them to become freemen; and, after they had
been so educated, they were to become slaves. But as this free education
might possibly unfit them for submitting to slavery; so, after they had
been made to bow under the yoke for ten or fifteen years, they might then,
perhaps, be equally unfit to become free; and therefore, might be retained
as slaves for a few years longer, if not for their whole lives. He never
heard of a scheme so moderate, and yet so absurd and visionary.

The same honourable gentleman had observed, that the conduct of other
nations should not hinder us from doing our duty; but yet neutrals would
furnish our islands with slaves. What was the inference from this moderate
assertion, but that we might as well supply them ourselves? He hoped, if we
were yet to be supplied, it would never be by Englishmen. We ought no
longer to be concerned in such a crime.

An adversary, Mr. Baillie, had said, that it would not be fair to take the
character of this country from the records of the Old Bailey. He did not at
all wonder, when the subject of the Slave-trade was mentioned, that the Old
Bailey naturally occurred to his recollection. The facts which had been
described in the evidence, were associated in all our minds with the ideas
of criminal justice. But Mr. Baillie had forgot the essential difference
between the two cases. When we learnt from these records, that crimes were
committed in this country, we learnt also, that they were punished with
transportation and death. But the crimes committed in the Slave-trade were
passed over with impunity. Nay, the perpetrators were even sent out again
to commit others.

As to the mode of obtaining slaves, it had been suggested as the least
disreputable, that they became so in consequence of condemnation as
criminals. But he would judge of the probability of this mode by the
reasonableness of it. No less than eighty thousand Africans were exported
annually by the different nations of Europe from their own country. Was it
possible to believe, that this number could have been legally convicted of
crimes, for which they had justly forfeited their liberty? The supposition
was ridiculous. The truth was, that every enormity was practised to obtain
the persons of these unhappy people. He referred those present to the case
in the evidence of the African trader, who had kidnapped and sold a girl,
and who was afterwards kidnapped and sold himself. He desired them to
reason upon the conversation which had taken place between the trader and
the captain of the ship on this occasion. He desired them also to reason
upon the instance mentioned this evening, which had happened in the river
Cameroons, and they would infer all the rapine, all the desolation, and all
the bloodshed, which had been placed to the account of this execrable
trade.

An attempt had been made to impress the House with the horrible scenes
which had taken place in St. Domingo, as an argument against the abolition
of the Slave-trade; but could any more weighty argument be produced in its
favour? What were the causes of the insurrections there? They were two. The
first was the indecision of the National Assembly, who wished to compromise
between that which was right and that which was wrong on this subject. And
the second was the oppression of the People of Colour, and of the Slaves.
In the first of the causes we saw something like the moderation of Mr.
Dundas and Mr. Addington. One day this Assembly talked of liberty, and
favoured the Blacks. Another day they suspended their measures, and
favoured the Whites. They wished to steer a middle course; but decision had
been mercy. Decision even against the Planters would have been a thousand
times better than indecision and half measures. In the mean time, the
People of Colour took the great work of justice into their own hands.
Unable, however, to complete this of themselves, they called in the aid of
the Slaves. Here began the second cause; for the Slaves, feeling their own
power, began to retaliate on the Whites. And here it may be observed, that,
in all revolutions, the clemency or cruelty of the victors will always be
in proportion to their former privileges, or their oppression. That the
Slaves then should have been guilty of great excesses was not to be
wondered at; for where did they learn their cruelty? They learnt it from
those who had tyrannized over them. The oppression, which they themselves
had suffered, was fresh in their memories, and this had driven them to
exercise their vengeance so furiously. If we wished to prevent similar
scenes in our own islands, we must reject all moderate measures, and at
once abolish the Slave-trade. By doing this, we should procure a better
treatment for the Slaves there; and when this happy change of system should
have taken place, we might depend on them for the defence of the islands as
much as on the Whites themselves.

Upon the whole, he would give his opinion of this traffic in a few words.
He believed it to be impolitic--he knew it to be inhuman--he was certain it
was unjust--he though it so inhuman and unjust, that, if the colonies could
not be cultivated without it, they ought not to be cultivated at all. It
would be much better for us to be without them, than not abolish the
Slave-trade. He hoped therefore that members would this night act the part
which would do them honour. He declared, that, whether he should vote in a
large minority or a small one, he would never give up the cause. Whether in
the House of Parliament or out of it, in whatever situation he might ever
be, as long as he had a voice to speak, this question should never be at
rest. Believing the trade to be of the nature of crimes and pollutions,
which stained the honour of the country, he would never relax his efforts.
It was his duty to prevent man from preying upon man; and if he and his
friends should die before they had attained their glorious object, he hoped
there would never be wanting men alive to their duty, who would continue to
labour till the evil should be wholly done away. If the situation of the
Africans was as happy as servitude could make them, he could not consent to
the enormous crime of selling man to man; nor permit a practice to
continue, which put an entire bar to the civilization of one quarter of the
globe. He was sure that the nation would not much longer allow the
continuance of enormities which shocked human nature. The West Indians had
no right to demand that crimes should be permitted by this country for
their advantage; and, if they were wise, they would lend their cordial
assistance to such measures, as would bring about, in the shortest possible
time, the abolition of this execrable trade.

Mr. Dundas rose again, but it was only to move an amendment, namely, that
the word "gradually" should be inserted before the words "to be abolished"
in Mr. Wilberforce's motion.

Mr. Jenkinson (now Lord Hawkesbury) said, that the opinions of those who
were averse to the abolition had been unfairly stated. They had been
described as founded on policy, in opposition to humanity. If it could be
made out that humanity would be aided by the abolition, he would be the
last person to oppose it. The question was not, he apprehended, whether the
trade was founded in injustice and oppression. He admitted it was: nor was
it, whether it was in itself abstractedly an evil: he admitted this also:
but whether, under all the circumstances of the case, any considerable
advantage would arise to a number of our fellow-creatures from the
abolition of the trade in the manner in which it had been proposed.

He was ready to admit, that the Africans at home were made miserable by the
Slave-trade, and that, if it were universally abolished, great benefit
would arise to them. No one, however, would assert, that these miseries
arose from the trade as carried on by Great Britain only. Other countries
occasioned as much of the evil as we did; and if the abolition of it by us
should prove only the transferring of it to those countries, very little
benefit would result from the measure.

What then was the probability of our example being followed by foreign
powers? Five years had now elapsed since the question was first started,
and what had any of them done? The Portuguese continued the trade. The
Spaniards still gave a bounty to encourage it. He believed there were
agents from Holland in this country, who were then negotiating with persons
concerned in it in order to secure its continuance. The abolition also had
been proposed in the National Assembly of France, and had been rejected
there. From these circumstances he had a right to infer, that if we gave up
the trade, we should only transfer it to those countries: but this transfer
would be entirely against the Africans. The mortality on board English
ships, previously to the regulating bill, was four and an eighth per cent.
Since that time it had been reduced to little more than three per cent.[A]
In French ships it was near ten, and in Dutch ships from five to seven, per
cent. In Portuguese it was less than either in French or Dutch, but more
than in English ships since the regulating bill. Thus the deaths of the
Africans would be more than doubled, if we were to abolish the trade.

[Footnote A: Mr. Wilberforce stated it on the same evening to be between
ten and eleven per cent. for the last year. The number then exported from
Africa to our islands was rather more than 22,000, of whom more than 2,300
died.]

Perhaps it might be replied, that, the importations being stopped in our
own islands, fewer Africans would experience this misery, because fewer
would be taken from their own country on this account. But he had a right
to infer, that as the planters purchased slaves at present, they would
still think it their interest to have them. The question then was, whether
they could get them by smuggling. Now it appeared by the evidence, that
many hundred slaves had been stolen from time to time from Jamaica, and
carried into Cuba. But if persons could smuggle slaves out of our colonies,
they could smuggle slaves into them; but particularly when the planters
might think it to their interest to assist them.

With respect to the slaves there, instances had been related of their
oppression, which shocked the feelings of all who heard them: But was it
fair to infer from these their general ill usage? Suppose a person were to
make a collection of the different abuses, which had happened for a series
of years under our own happy constitution, and use these as an argument of
its worthlessness; should we not say to him, that in the most perfect
system which the human intellect could form, some defects would exist; and
that it was unfair to draw inferences from such partial facts? In the same
manner he would argue relative to the alleged treatment of the slaves.
Evidence had been produced upon this point on both sides. He should not be
afraid to oppose the authorities of Lord Rodney, and others, against any,
however respectable, in favour of the abolition. But this was not
necessary. There was another species of facts, which would answer the same
end. Previously to the year 1730 the decrease of the slaves in our islands
was very considerable. From 1730 to 1755 the deaths were reduced to only
two and a half per cent. above the births: from 1755 to 1768 to only one
and three fourths; and from 1768 to 1788 to only one per cent. This then,
on the first view of the subject, would show, that whatever might have been
the situation of slaves formerly, it had been gradually improved. But if,
in addition to this, we considered the peculiar disadvantages under which
they laboured; the small proportion of females to males; and the
hurricanes, and famines, which had swept away thousands, we should find it
physically impossible, that they could have increased as related, if they
had been treated as cruelly as the friends of the abolition had described.

This species of facts would enable him also to draw still more important
conclusions; namely, that as the slaves in the West Indies had gradually
increased, they would continue to increase; that very few years would pass,
not only before the births were equal to the deaths, but before they were
more numerous than the deaths; and that if this was likely to happen in the
present state of things, how much more would it happen, if by certain
regulations the increase of the slaves should be encouraged?

The only question then was, whether it was more advantageous to breed or to
import. He thought he should prove the former; and if so, then this
increase was inevitable, and the importations would necessarily cease.

In the first place, the gradual increase of the slaves of late years
clearly proved, that such increase had been encouraged. But their price had
been doubled in the last twenty years. The planter therefore must feel it
his interest to desist from purchasing, if possible. But again, the
greatest mortality was among the newly imported slaves. The diseases they
contracted on the passage, and their deaths in the seasoning, all made for
the same doctrine. Add to this, that slaves bred in the islands were more
expert at colonial labour, more reconciled to their situation, and better
disposed towards their masters, than those who were brought from Africa.

But it had been said, that the births and deaths in the islands were now
equal; and, that therefore no further supply was wanted. He denied the
propriety of this inference. The slaves were subject to peculiar diseases.
They were exposed also to hurricanes and consequent famines. That the day,
however, would come, when the stock there would be sufficient, no person
who attended to the former part of his argument could doubt. That they had
gradually increased, were gradually, increasing, and would, by certain
regulations, increase more and more, must be equally obvious. But these
were all considerations for continuing the traffic a little longer.

He then desired the House to reflect upon the state of St. Domingo. Had not
its calamities been imputed by its own deputies to the advocates for the
abolition? Were ever any scenes of horror equal to those which had passed
there? And should we, when principles of the same sort were lurking in our
own islands, expose our fellow-subjects to the same miseries, who, if
guilty of promoting this trade, had, at least, been encouraged in it by
ourselves?

That the Slave-trade was an evil, he admitted. That the state of slavery
itself was likewise an evil, he admitted; and if the question was, not
whether we should abolish, but whether we should establish these, he would
be the first to oppose himself to their existence; but there were many
evils, which we should have thought it our duty to prevent, yet which, when
they had once arisen, it was more dangerous to oppose than to submit to.
The duty of a statesman was, to consider abstractedly what was right or
wrong, but to weigh the consequences which were likely to result from the
abolition of an evil, against those, which were likely to result from its
continuance. Agreeing then most perfectly with the abolitionists in their
end, he differed from them only in the means of accomplishing it. He was
desirous of doing that gradually, which he conceived they were doing
rashly. He had therefore drawn up two propositions. The first was, That an
address be presented to His Majesty, that he would recommend to the
colonial assemblies to grant premiums to such planters, and overseers, as
should distinguish themselves by promoting the annual increase of the
slaves by birth; and likewise freedom to every female slave, who had reared
five children to the age of seven years. The second was, That a bounty of
five pounds per head be given to the master of every slave-ship, who should
import in any cargo a greater number of females than males, not exceeding
the age of twenty-five years. To bring forward these propositions, he would
now move that the chairman leave the chair.

Mr. Este wished the debate to be adjourned. He allowed there ware many
enormities in the trade, which called for regulation. There were two
propositions before the House: the one for the immediate, and the other for
the gradual, abolition of the trade. He thought that members should be
allowed time to compare their respective merits. At present his own opinion
was, that gradual abolition would answer the end proposed in the least
exceptionable manner.

Mr. Pitt rejoiced that the debate had taken a turn, which contracted the
question into such narrow limits. The matter then in dispute was merely as
to the time at which the abolition should take place. He therefore
congratulated the House, the country, and the world, that this great point
had been gained; that we might now consider this trade as having received
its condemnation; that this curse of mankind was seen in its true light;
and that the greatest stigma on our national character, which ever yet
existed, was about to be removed! Mankind, he trusted, were now likely to
be delivered from the greatest practical evil that ever afflicted the human
race--from the most severe and extensive calamity recorded in the history
of the world.

His honourable friend (Mr. Jenkinson) had insinuated, that any act for the
abolition would be evaded. But if we were to enforce this act with all the
powers of the country, how could it fail to be effectual? But his
honourable friend had himself satisfied him upon this point. He had
acknowledged, that the trade would drop of itself, on account of the
increasing dearness of the commodity imported. He would ask then, if we
were to leave to the importer no means of importation but by smuggling; and
if, besides all the present disadvantages, we were to load him with all the
charges and hazards of the smuggler, would there be any danger of any
considerable supply of fresh slaves being poured into the islands through
this channel? The question under these circumstances, he pronounced, would
not bear a dispute.

His honourable friend had also maintained, that it would be inexpedient to
stop the importations immediately, because the deaths and births in the
islands were as yet not equal. But he (Mr. Pitt) had proved last year, from
the most authentic documents, that an increase of the births above the
deaths had already taken place. This then was the time for beginning the
abolition. But he would now observe, that five years had elapsed since
these documents were framed; and therefore the presumption was, that the
Black population was increasing at an extraordinary rate. He had not, to be
sure, in his consideration of the subject, entered into the dreadful
mortality arising from the clearing of new lands. Importations for this
purpose were to be considered, not as carrying on the trade, but as setting
on foot a Slave-trade, a measure which he believed no one present would
then support. He therefore asked his honourable friend, whether the period
he had looked to was now arrived? whether the West Indies, at this hour,
were not in a state, in which they could maintain their population?

It had been argued, that one or other of these two assertions was false;
that either the population of the slaves must be decreasing, (which the
abolitionists denied,) or, if it was increasing, the slaves must have been
well treated. That their population was rather increasing than otherwise,
and also that their general treatment was by no means so good as it ought
to have been, were both points which had been proved by different
witnesses. Neither were they incompatible with each other. But he would see
whether the explanation of this seeming contradiction would not refute the
argument of expediency, as advanced by his honourable friend. Did the
slaves decrease in numbers?--Yes. Then ill usage must have been the cause
of it; but if so, the abolition was immediately necessary to restrain it.
Did they, on the other hand, increase?--Yes. But if so, no further
importations were wanted: Was their population (to take a middle course)
nearly stationary, and their treatment neither so good nor so bad as it
might be?--Yes. But if so, this was the proper period for stopping further
supplies; for both the population and the treatment would be improved by
such a measure.

But he would show again the futility of the argument of his honourable
friend. He himself had admitted, that it was in the power of the colonists
to correct the various abuses, by which the Negro population was
restrained. But they could not do this without improving the condition of
their slaves; without making them approximate towards the rank of citizens;
without giving them some little interest in their labour, which would
occasion them to work with the energy of men. But now the Assembly of
Grenada had themselves stated, "that though the Negros were allowed the
afternoons of only one day in every week, they would do as much work in
that afternoon, when employed for their own benefit, as in the whole day,
when employed in their masters' service." Now after this confession, the
House might burn all his calculations relative to the Negro population;
for, if it had not yet quite reached the desirable state which he had
pointed out, this confession had proved, that further supplies were not
wanted. A Negro, if he worked for himself, could do double work. By an
improvement then in the mode of labour, the work in the islands could be
doubled. But if so, what would become of the argument of his honourable
friend? for then only half the number of the present labourers were
necessary.

He would now try this argument of expediency by other considerations. The
best informed writers on the subject had told us, that the purchase of new
Negros was injurious to the planters. But if this statement was just, would
not the abolition be beneficial to them? That it would, was the opinion of
Mr. Long, their own historian. "If the Slave-trade," says he, "was
prohibited for four or five years, it would enable them, to retrieve their
affairs by preventing them from running into debt, either by renting or
purchasing Negros." To this acknowledgment he would add a fact from the
evidence, which was, that a North American province, by such a prohibition
alone for a few years, from being deeply plunged in debt, had become
independent, rich, and flourishing.

The next consideration was the danger, to which the islands were exposed
from the newly imported slaves. Mr. Long, with a view of preventing
insurrections, had advised, that a duty, equal to a prohibition, might be
laid on the importation of Coromantine slaves. After noticing one
insurrection, which happened through their means, he speaks of another in
the following year, in which thirty-three Coromantines, "most of whom had
been newly imported, murdered and wounded no less than nineteen Whites in
the space of an hour." To the authority of Mr. Long he would add the
recorded opinion of a Committee of the House of Assembly of Jamaica, which
was appointed to inquire into the best means of preventing future
insurrections. The Committee reported, that "the rebellion had originated,
like most others, with the Coromantines," and they proposed that a bill
should be brought in for laying a higher duty on the importation of these
particular Negros, which should operate as a prohibition. But the danger
was not confined to the introduction of Coromantines. Mr. Long accounts for
the frequent insurrections in Jamaica from the greatness of its general
importations. "In two years and a half," says he, "twenty-seven thousand
Negros have been imported--No wonder that we have rebellions!" Surely then,
when his honourable friend spoke of the calamities of St. Domingo, and of
similar dangers impending over our own islands, it ill became him to be the
person to cry out for further importations! It ill became him to charges
upon the abolitionists the crime of stirring up insurrections, who only
recommended what the Legislature of Jamaica itself had laid down in a time
of danger with an avowed view to prevent them. It was indeed a great
satisfaction to himself, that among the many arguments for prohibiting the
Slave-trade, the security of our West Indian possessions against internal
commotions, as well as foreign enemies, was among the most prominent and
forcible. And here he would ask his honourable friend, whether in this part
of the argument he did not see reason for immediate abolition. Why should
we any longer persist in introducing those latent principles of
conflagration, which, if they should once burst forth, might annihilate the
industry of a hundred years? which might throw the planters back a whole
century in their profits, in their cultivation, and in their progress
towards the emancipation of their slaves? It was our duty to vote, that the
abolition of the Slave-trade should be immediate, and not to leave it to he
knew not what future time or contingency.

Having now done with the argument of expediency, he would consider the
proposition of his right honourable friend Mr. Dundas; that, on account of
some patrimonial rights of the West Indians, the prohibition of the
Slave-trade would be an invasion of their legal inheritance. He would first
observe, that, if this argument was worth any thing, it applied just as
much to gradual as to immediate abolition. He had no doubt, that, at
whatever period we should say the trade should cease, it would be equally
set up; for it would certainly be just as good an argument against the
measure in seventy years hence, as it was against it now. It implied also,
that Parliament had no right to stop the importations: but had this
detestable traffic received such a sanction, as placed it more out of the
jurisdiction of the legislature for ever after, than any other branch of
our trade? In what a situation did the proposition of his honourable friend
place the legislature of Great Britain! It was scarcely possible to lay a
duty on any one article, which might not in some way affect the property of
individuals. But if the laws respecting the Slave-trade implied a contract
for its perpetual continuance, the House could never regulate any other of
the branches of our national commerce.

But any contract for the promotion of this trade must, in his opinion, have
been void from the beginning: for if it was an outrage upon justice, and
only another name for fraud, robbery, and murder, What pledge could devolve
upon the legislature to incur the obligation of becoming principals in the
commission of such enormities by sanctioning their continuance?

But he would appeal to the acts themselves. That of 23 George II. c. 31,
was the one upon which the greatest stress was laid. How would the House be
surprised to hear, that the very outrages committed in the prosecution of
this trade had been forbidden by that act! "No master of a ship trading to
Africa," says the act, "shall by fraud, force, or violence, or by any
indirect practice whatever, take on board or carry away from that coast any
Negro, or native of that country, or commit any violence on the natives, to
the prejudice of the said trade; and every person so offending, shall for
every such offence forfeit one hundred pounds." But the whole trade had
been demonstrated to be a system of fraud, force, and violence; and
therefore the contract was daily violated, under which the Parliament
allowed it to continue.

But why had the trade ever been permitted at all? The preamble of the act
would show: "Whereas the trade to and from Africa is very advantageous to
Great Britain, and necessary for supplying the Plantations and Colonies
thereunto belonging with a sufficient number of Negros at reasonable rates,
and for that purpose the said trade should be carried on"--Here then we
might see what the Parliament had in view, when it passed this act. But no
one of the occasions, on which it grounded its proceedings, now existed. He
would plead, then, the act itself as an argument for the abolition. If it
had been proved that, instead of being very advantageous to Great Britain,
it was the most destructive to her interests--that it was the ruin of her
seamen--that it stopped the extension of her manufactures;--if it had been
proved, in the second place, that it was not now necessary for the supply
of our Plantations with Negros;--if it had been further established, that
it was from the beginning contrary to the first principles of justice, and
consequently that a pledge for its continuance, had one been attempted to
be given, must have been absolutely void--where in this act of parliament
was the contract to be found, by which Britain was bound, as she was said
to be, never to listen to her own true interests and to the cries of the
natives of Africa? Was it not clear, that all argument, founded on the
supposed pledge of Parliament, made against those who employed it?

But if we were not bound by existing laws to the support of this trade, we
were doubly criminal in pursuing it: for why ought it to be abolished at
all? Because it was incurable injustice. Africa was the ground, on which he
chiefly rested; and there it was, that his two honourable friends, one of
whom had proposed gradual abolition, and the other regulation, did not
carry their principles to their full extent. Both had confessed the trade
to be a moral evil. How much stronger then was the argument for immediate
than for gradual abolition! If on the ground of a moral evil it was to be
abolished at last, why ought it not now? Why was injustice to be suffered
to remain for a single hour? He knew of no evil, which ever had existed,
nor could he imagine any to exist, worse than the tearing of eighty
thousand persons annually from their native land, by a combination of the
most civilized nations, in the most enlightened quarter of the globe; but
more especially by that nation, which called herself the most free and the
most happy of them all.

He would now notice the objection, that other nations would not give up the
Slave-trade, if we were to renounce it. But if the trade were stained but
by a thousandth part of the criminality, which he and others, after a
thorough investigation of the subject, charged upon it, the House ought
immediately to vote its abolition. This miserable argument, if persevered
in, would be an eternal bar to the annihilation of the evil. How was it
ever to be eradicated, if every nation was thus prudentially to wait till
the concurrence of all the world should be obtained? But it applied a
thousand times more strongly in a contrary way. How much more justly would
other nations say, "Great Britain, free as she is, just and honourable as
she is, not only has not abolished, but has refused to abolish, the
Slave-trade. She has investigated it well. Her senate has deliberated upon
it. It is plain, then, that she sees no guilt in it." With this argument we
should furnish the other nations of Europe, if we were again to refuse to
put an end to this cruel traffic: and we should have from henceforth not
only to answer for our own, but for their crimes also. Already we had
suffered one year to pass away; and now, when the question was renewed, not
only had this wretched argument been revived, but a proposition had been
made for the gradual abolition of the trade. He knew indeed the difficulty
of reforming long established abuses: but in the present case, by proposing
some other period than the present, by prescribing some condition, by
waiting for some contingency, perhaps till we obtained the general
concurrence of Europe, (a concurrence which he believed never yet took
place at the commencement of any one improvement in policy or morals,) he
feared that this most enormous evil would never be redressed. Was it not
folly to wait for the stream to run down before we crossed the bed of its
channel? Alas! we might wait for ever. The river would still flow on. We
should be no nearer the object, which we had in view, so long as the step,
which could alone bring us to it, was not taken.

He would now proceed to the civilization of Africa; and as his eye had just
glanced upon a West Indian law in the evidence upon the table, he would
begin with an argument, which the sight of it had suggested to him. This
argument had been ably answered in the course of the evening; but he would
view it in yet another light. It had been said, that the savage disposition
of the Africans rendered the prospect of their civilization almost
hopeless. This argument was indeed of long standing; but, last year, it had
been supported upon a new ground. Captain Frazer had stated in his
evidence, that a boy had been put to death at Cabenda, because there were
those who refused to purchase him as a slave. This single story was deemed
by him, and had been considered by others, as a sufficient proof of the
barbarity of the Africans, and of the inutility of abolishing the
Slave-trade. But they, who had used this fact, had suppressed several
circumstances relating to it. It appeared, on questioning Captain Frazer
afterward, that this boy had previously run away from his master three
several times; that the master had to pay his value, according to the
custom of the country, every time he was brought back; and that partly from
anger at the boy for running away so frequently, and partly to prevent a
repetition of the same expense, he determined to destroy him. Such was the
explanation of the signal instance, which was to fix barbarity on all
Africa, as it came out in the cross-examination of Captain Frazer. That
this African master was unenlightened and barbarous, he freely admitted:
but what would an enlightened and civilized West Indian have done in a
similar case? He would quote the law, passed in the West Indies in 1722,
which he had just cast his eye upon in the book of evidence, by which law
this very same crime of running away was by the legislature of an island,
by the grave and deliberate sentence of an enlightened legislature,
punished with death; and this, not in the case only of the third offence,
but even in the very first instance. It was enacted, "That, if any Negro or
other slave should withdraw himself from his master for the term of six
months; or any slave, who was absent, should not return within that time,
every such person should suffer death." There was also another West Indian
law, by which every Negro was armed against his fellow-negro, for he was
authorized to kill every runaway slave; and he had even a reward held out
to him for so doing. Let the House now contrast the two cases. Let them ask
themselves which of the two exhibited the greater barbarity; and whether
they could possibly vote for the continuance of the Slave-trade, upon the
principle, that the Africans had shown themselves to be a race of
incorrigible barbarians?

Something like an opposite argument, but with a like view, had been
maintained by others on this subject. It had been said, in justification of
the trade, that the Africans had derived some little civilization from
their intercourse with us. Yes: we had given them just enough of the forms
of justice to enable them to add the pretext of legal trials to their other
modes of perpetrating the most atrocious crimes. We had given them just
enough of European improvements, to enable them the more effectually to
turn Africa into a ravaged wilderness. Alas! alas! we had carried on a
trade with them from this civilized and enlightened country, which, instead
of diffusing knowledge, had been a check to every laudable pursuit. We had
carried a poison into their country, which spread its contagious effects
from one end of it to the other, and which penetrated to its very centre,
corrupting every part to which it reached. We had there subverted the whole
order of nature; we had aggravated every natural barbarity, and furnished
to every man motives for committing, under the name of trade, acts of
perpetual hostility and perfidy against his neighbour. Thus had the
perversion of British commerce carried misery instead of happiness to one
whole quarter of the globe. False to the very principles of trade,
misguided in our policy, unmindful of our duty, what almost irreparable
mischief had we done to that continent! How should we hope to obtain
forgiveness from Heaven, if we refused to use those means, which the mercy
of Providence had still reserved to us for wiping away the guilt and shame,
with which we were now covered? If we refused even this degree of
compensation, how aggravated would be our guilt! Should we delay, then, to
repair these incalculable injuries? We ought to count the days, nay the
very hours, which intervened to delay the accomplishment of such a work.

On this great subject, the civilization of Africa, which, he confessed, was
near his heart, he would yet add a few observations. And first he would
say, that the present deplorable state of that country, especially when we
reflected that her chief calamities were to be ascribed to us, called for
our generous aid, rather than justified any despair, on our part, of her
recovery, and still less a repetition of our injuries. On what ground of
theory or history did we act, when we supposed that she was never to be
reclaimed? There was a time, which it might be now fit to call to
remembrance, when human sacrifices, and even, this very practice of the
Slave-trade, existed in our own island. Slaves, as we may read in Henry's
History of Great Britain, were formerly an established article of our
exports. "Great numbers," he says, "were exported, like cattle, from the
British coast, and were to be seen exposed for sale in the Roman
market."--"Adultery, witchcraft, and debt," says the same historian, "were
probably some of the chief sources of supplying the Roman market with
British slaves--prisoners taken in war were added to the number--there
might be also among them some unfortunate gamesters, who, after having lost
all their goods, at length, staked themselves, their wives, and their
children." Now every one of these sources of slavery had been stated to be
at this hour a source of slavery in Africa. If these practices, therefore,
were to be admitted as proofs of the natural incapacity of its inhabitants,
why might they not have been applied to ancient Britain? Why might not then
some Roman senator, pointing to British barbarians, have predicted with
equal boldness, that these were a people, who were destined never to be
free; who were without the understanding necessary for the attainment of
useful arts; depressed by the hand of Nature below the level of the human
species; and created to form a supply of slaves for the rest of the world?
But happily, since that time, notwithstanding what would then have been the
justness of these predictions, we had emerged from barbarism. We were now
raised to a situation, which exhibited a striking contrast to every
circumstance, by which a Roman might have characterized us, and by which we
now characterized Africa. There was indeed one thing wanting to complete
the contrast, and to clear us altogether from the imputation of acting even
to this hour as barbarians; for we continued to this hour a barbarous
traffic in slaves. We continued it even yet, in spite of all our great
pretensions. We were once as obscure among the nations of the earth, as
savage in our manners, as debased in our morals, as degraded in our
understandings, as these unhappy Africans. But in the lapse of a long
series of years, by a progression slow, and for a time almost
imperceptible, we had become rich in a variety of acquirements. We were
favoured above measure in the gifts of Providence, we were unrivalled in
commerce, preeminent in arts, foremost in the pursuits of philosophy and
science, and established in all the blessings of civil society: we were in
the possession of peace, of liberty, and of happiness: we were under the
guidance of a mild and a beneficent religion; and we were protected by
impartial laws, and the purest administration of justice: we were living
under a system of government, which our own happy experience led us to
pronounce the best and wisest, and which had become the admiration of the
world. From all these blessings we must for ever have been excluded, had
there been any truth in those principles, which some had not hesitated to
lay down as applicable to the case of Africa; and we should have been at
this moment little superior, either in morals, knowledge, or refinement, to
the rude inhabitants of that continent.

If then we felt that this perpetual confinement in the fetters of brutal
ignorance would have been the greatest calamity which could have befallen
us; if we viewed with gratitude the contrast between our present and our
former situation; if we shuddered to think of the misery, which would still
have overwhelmed us, had our country continued to the present times,
through some cruel policy, to be the mart for slaves to the more civilized
nations of the world;--God forbid, that we should any longer subject Africa
to the same dreadful scourge, and exclude the sight of knowledge from her
coasts, which had reached every other quarter of the globe!

He trusted we should no longer continue this commerce; and that we should
no longer consider ourselves as conferring too great a boon on the natives
of Africa in restoring them to the rank of human beings. He trusted we
should not think ourselves too liberal, if, by abolishing the Slave-trade,
we gave them the same common chance of civilization with other parts of the
world. If we listened to the voice of reason and duty this night, some of
us might live to see a reverse of that picture, from which we now turned
our eyes with shame. We might live to behold the natives engaged in the
calm occupations of industry, and in the pursuit of a just commerce. We
might behold the beams of science and philosophy breaking in upon their
land, which at some happy period in still later times might blaze with full
lustre; and joining their influence to that of pure religion, might
illuminate and invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense
continent. Then might we hope, that even Africa (though last of all the
quarters of the globe) should enjoy at length, in the evening of her days,
those blessings, which had descended so plentifully upon us in a much
earlier period of the world. Then also would Europe, participating in her
improvement and prosperity, receive an ample recompense for the tardy
kindness (if kindness it could be called) of no longer hindering her from
extricating herself out of the darkness, which, in other more fortunate
regions, had been so much more speedily dispelled.

  --Nos primus equis Oriens afflavit anhelis;
  Illic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper.

Then might be applied to Africa those words, originally used indeed with a
different view:

  Hic demum exactis ---- ----
  Devenere locos laetos, et amoena vireta
  Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas;
  Largior hic campos aether et lumine vestit
  Purpurco:

It was in this view--it was as an atonement for our long and cruel
injustice towards Africa, that the measure proposed by his honourable
friend Mr. Wilberforce most forcibly recommended itself to his mind. The
great and happy change to be expected in the state of her inhabitants was,
of all the various benefits of the abolition, in his estimation the most
extensive and important. He should vote against the adjournment; and he
should also oppose every proposition, which tended either to prevent, or
even to postpone for an hour, the total abolition of the Slave-trade.

Mr. Pitt having concluded his speech (at about six in the morning), Sir
William Dolben, the chairman, proposed the following questions. The first
was on the motion of Mr. Jenkinson, "that the chairman do now leave the
chair." This was lost by a majority of two hundred and thirty-four to
eighty-seven. The second was on the motion of Mr. Dundas, "that the
abolition should be gradual;" when the votes for gradual exceeded those for
immediate by one hundred and ninety-three to one hundred and twenty-five.
He then put the amended question, that "it was the opinion of the
committee, that the trade ought to be gradually abolished." The committee
having divided again, the votes for a gradual abolition were two hundred
and thirty, and those against any abolition were eighty-five.

After this debate, the committee for the abolition of the Slave-trade held
a meeting. They voted their thanks to Mr. Wilberforce for his motion, and
to Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and those other members of the House, who had
supported it. They resolved also, that the House of Commons, having
determined that the Slave-trade ought to be gradually abolished, had by
that decision manifested their opinion, that it was cruel and unjust. They
resolved also, that a gradual abolition of it was not an adequate remedy
for its injustice and cruelty; neither could it be deemed a compliance with
the general wishes of the people, as expressed in their numerous and urgent
petitions to Parliament. And they resolved lastly, that the interval, in
which the Slave-trade should be permitted to continue, afforded a prospect
of redoubled cruelties and ravages on the coast of Africa; and that it
imposed therefore an additional obligation on every friend to the cause to
use all constitutional means to obtain its immediate abolition.

At a subsequent meeting they voted their thanks to the right honourable
Lord Muncaster, for the able support he had given to the great object of
their institution by his Historical Sketches of the Slave-trade, and of its
Effects in Africa, addressed to the People of Great Britain; and they
elected the Reverend Richard Gifford and the Reverend Thomas Gisborne
honorary and corresponding members; the first on account of his excellent
sermon before mentioned and other services, and the latter on account of
his truly Christian and seasonable pamphlet, entitled Remarks on the late
Decision of the House of Commons respecting the Abolition of the
Slave-trade.

On the twenty-third of April, the House of Commons resolved itself into a
committee of the whole House, to consider the subject again; and Mr.
Beaufoy was put into the chair.

Mr. Dundas, upon whom the task of introducing a bill for the gradual
abolition of the Slave-trade now devolved, rose to offer the outlines of a
plan for that purpose. He intended, he said, immediately to abolish that
part of the trade, by which we supplied foreigners with slaves. The other
part of it was to be continued seven years from the first of January next.
He grounded the necessity of its continuance till this time upon the
documents of the Negro-population in the different islands. In many of
these, slaves were imported, but they were re-exported nearly in equal
numbers. Now all these he considered to be in a state to go on without
future supplies from Africa. Jamaica and the ceded islands retained almost
all the slaves imported into them. This he considered as a proof that these
had not attained the same desirable state; and it was therefore necessary,
that the trade should be continued longer on this account.

It was his intention, however, to provide proper punishments, while it
lasted, for abuses both in Africa and the Middle Passage. He would take
care, as far as he could, that none but young slaves should be brought from
the Coast of Africa. He would encourage establishments there for a new
species of traffic. Foreign nations should be invited to concur in the
abolition. He should propose a praedial rather than a personal service for
the West Indies, and institutions, by which the slaves there should be
instructed in religious duties. He concluded by reading several
resolutions, which he would leave to the future consideration of the House.

Mr. Pitt then rose. He deprecated the resolutions altogether. He denied
also the inferences, which Mr. Dundas had drawn from the West-Indian
documents relative to the Negro-population. He had looked over his own
calculations from the same documents again and again, and he would submit
them, with all their data, if it should be necessary, to the House.

Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Fox held the same language. They contended also,
that Mr. Dundas had now proved, a thousand times more strongly than ever,
the necessity of immediate abolition. All the resolutions he had read were
operative against his own reasoning. The latter observed, that the
Slave-traders were in future only to be allowed to steal innocent children
from their disconsolate parents.

After a few observations by Lord Sheffield, Mr. Drake, Colonel Tarleton,
and Mr. Rolle, the House adjourned.

On the twenty-fifth of April it resumed the consideration of the subject.
Mr. Dundas then went over his former resolutions, and concluded by moving,
"that it should not be lawful to import any African Negros into any British
colonies, in ships owned or navigated by British subjects, at any time
after the first of January 1800."

Lord Mornington (now Marquis Wellesley) rose to propose an amendment. He
congratulated his countrymen, that the Slave-trade had received its
death-wound. This traffic was founded in injustice; and between right and
wrong there could be no compromise. Africa was not to be sacrificed to the
apparent good of the West-Indies. He would not repeat those enormities out
of the evidence, which had made such a deep impression upon the House. It
had been resolved, that the trade should be abolished. The question then
was, how long they were to persevere in the crime of its continuance. One
had said, that they might be unjust for ten years longer; another, only
till the beginning of the next century. But this diversity of opinion had
proceeded from an erroneous statement of Mr. Dundas against the clear and
irrefragable calculations of Mr. Pitt. The former had argued, that, because
Jamaica and the ceded islands had retained almost all the slaves which had
been imported into them, they were therefore not yet in a situation to
support their population without further supplies from Africa. But the
truth was, that the slaves, so retained, were kept, not to maintain the
population there, but to clear new land. Now the House had determined, that
the trade was not to be continued for this purpose. The population,
therefore, in the islands was sufficient to continue the ordinary
cultivation of them.

He deprecated the idea, that the Slave-trade had been so sanctioned by the
acts of former parliaments, that the present could make no alteration in
it. Had not the House altered the import of foreign sugar into our islands?
a measure, which at the time affected the property of many. Had they not
prohibited the exports of provisions from America to the same quarter?
Again, as to compacts, had the Africans ever been parties to these? It was
rather curious also, when King James the Second gave a charter to the
slave-traders, that he should have given them a right to all the south of
Africa, and authority over every person born therein! But, by doing this,
it was clear, that he gave them a right which he never possessed himself.
After many other observations, he concluded by moving, "that the year 1793
be substituted in the place of the year 1800."

In the course of the debate, which followed, Mr. Burdon stated his
conviction of the necessity of immediate abolition; but he would support
the amendment, as the shortest of the terms proposed.

Mr. Robert Thornton would support it also, as the only choice left him. He
dared not accede to a motion, by which we were to continue for seven years
to imbrue our hands in innocent blood.

Mr. Ryder would not support the trade for one moment, if he could avoid it.
He could not hold a balance with gold in one scale, and blood in the other.

Mr. William Smith exposed the wickedness of restricting the trade to
certain ages. The original motion, he said, would only operate as a
transfer of cruelty from the aged and the guilty to the young and the
innocent. He entreated the House to consider, whether, if it related to
their own children, any one of them would vote for it.

Mr. Windham had hitherto felt a reluctance to speaking, not from the
abstruseness, but from the simplicity, of the subject; but he could not
longer be silent, when he observed those arguments of policy creeping again
out of their lurking-places, which had fled before eloquence and truth. The
House had clearly given up the policy of the question. They had been
determined by the justice of it. Why were they then to be troubled again
with arguments of this nature? These, if admitted, would go to the
subversion of all public as well as private morality. Nations were as much
bound as individuals to a system of morals, though a breach in the former
could not be so easily punished. In private life morality took pretty good
care of itself. It was a kind of retail article, in which the returns were
speedy. If a man broke open his neighbour's house, he would feel the
consequences. There was an ally of virtue, who rendered it the interest of
individuals to be moral, and he was called the executioner. But as such
punishment did not always await us in our national concerns, we should
substitute honour as the guardian of our national conduct. He hoped the
West-Indians would consider the character of the mother-country, and the
obligations to national as well as individual justice. He hoped also they
would consider the sufferings, which they occasioned both in Africa, in the
passage, and in the West-Indies. In the passage indeed no one was capable
of describing them. The section of the slave-ship, however, made up the
deficiency of language, and did away all necessity of argument, on this
subject. Disease there had to struggle with the new affliction of chains
and punishment. At one view were the irksomeness of a gaol, and the
miseries of an hospital; so that the holds of these vessels put him in mind
of the regions of the damned. The trade, he said, ought immediately to be
abolished. On a comparison of the probable consequences of the abolition of
it, he saw on one side only doubtful contingencies, but on the other shame
and disgrace.

Sir James Johnstone contended for the immediate abolition of the trade. He
had introduced the plough into his own plantation in the West Indies, and
he found the land produced more sugar than when cultivated in the ordinary
way by slaves. Even for the sake of the planters, he hoped the abolition
would not be long delayed.

Mr. Dundas replied: after which a division took place. The number of votes
in favour of the original motion were one hundred and fifty-eight, and for
the amendment one hundred and nine.

On the 27th of April the House resumed the subject. Mr. Dundas moved, as
before, that the Slave-trade should cease in the year 1800; upon which Lord
Mornington moved, that the year 1795 should be substituted for the latter
period.

In the course of the debate, which followed, Mr. Hubbard said, that he had
voted against the abolition, when the year 1793 was proposed; but he
thought that, if it were not to take place till 1795, sufficient time would
be allowed the planters. He would support this amendment; and he
congratulated the House on the prospect of the final triumph of truth,
humanity, and justice.

Mr. Addington preferred the year 1796 to the year 1795.

Mr. Alderman Watson considered the abolition in 1796 to be as destructive
as if it were immediate.

A division having taken place, the number of votes in favour of the
original motion were one hundred and sixty-one, and in favour of Lord
Mornington's amendment for the year 1795, one hundred and twenty-one. Sir
Edward Knatchbull, however, seeing that there was a disposition in the
House to bring the matter to a conclusion, and that a middle line would be
preferred, moved that the year 1796 should be substituted for the year
1800. Upon this the House divided again; when there appeared for the
original motion only one hundred and thirty-two, but for the amendment one
hundred and fifty-one.

The gradual abolition having been now finally agreed upon for the year
1796, a committee was named, which carried the resolution to the Lords.

On the eighth of May, the Lords were summoned to consider it. Lord
Stormont, after having spoken for some time, moved, that they should hear
evidence upon it. Lord Grenville opposed the motion on account of the
delay, which would arise from an examination of the witnesses by the House
at large: but he moved that such witnesses should be examined by a
committee of the House. Upon this a debate ensued, and afterwards a
division; when the original motion was carried by sixty-three against
thirty-six.

On the 15th of May the Lords met again. Evidence was then ordered to be
summoned in behalf of those interested in the continuance of the trade. At
length it was introduced; but on the fifth of June, when only seven persons
had been examined, a motion was made and carried, that the farther
examinations should be postponed to the next session.




CHAPTER V.

_Continuation from July 1792 to July 1793--Author travels round the kingdom
again--Motion to renew the resolution of the last year in the
Commons--Motion lost--New Motion in the Commons to abolish the foreign
Slave-trade--Motion lost--Proceedings of the Lords._


The resolution adopted by the Commons, that the trade should cease in 1796,
was a matter of great joy to many; and several, in consequence of it,
returned to the use of sugar. The committee, however, for the abolition did
not view it in the same favourable light. They considered it as a political
manoeuvre to frustrate the accomplishment of the object. But the
circumstance, which gave them the most concern, was the resolution of the
Lords to hear evidence. It was impossible now to say, when the trade would
cease. The witnesses in behalf of the merchants and planters had obtained
possession of the ground; and they might keep it, if they chose, even till
the year 1800, to throw light upon a measure which was to be adopted in
1796. The committee found too, that they had again the laborious task
before them of finding out new persons to give testimony in behalf of their
cause; for some of their former witnesses were dead, and others were out of
the kingdom; and unless they replaced these, there would be no probability
of making out that strong case in the Lords, which they had established in
the Commons. It devolved therefore upon me once more to travel for this
purpose: but as I was then in too weak a state to bear as much fatigue as
formerly, Dr. Dickson relieved me, by taking one part of the tour, namely,
that to Scotland, upon himself.

These journeys we performed with considerable success; during which the
committee elected Mr. Joseph Townsend of Baltimore, in Maryland, an
honorary and corresponding member.

Parliament having met, Mr. Wilberforce, in February 1793, moved, that the
House resolve itself into a committee of the whole House on Thursday next,
to consider of the circumstances of the Slave-trade. This motion was
opposed by Sir William Yonge, who moved, that this day six months should be
substituted for Thursday next. A debate ensued: of this, however, as well
as of several which followed, I shall give no account; as it would be
tedious to the reader to hear a repetition of the same arguments. Suffice
it to say, that the motion was lost by a majority of sixty-one to
fifty-three.

This sudden refusal of the House of Commons to renew their own vote of the
former year gave great uneasiness to the friends of the cause. Mr.
Wilberforce, however, resolved, that the session should not pass without an
attempt to promote it in another form; and accordingly, on the fourteenth
of May, he moved for leave to bring in a bill to abolish that part of the
Slave-trade, by which the British merchants supplied foreigners with
slaves. This motion was opposed like the former; but was carried by a
majority of seven. The bill was then brought in; and it passed its first
and second reading with little opposition; but on the fifth of June,
notwithstanding the eloquence of Mr. Pitt and of Mr. Fox, and the very able
speeches of Mr. Francis, Mr. Courtenay, and others, it was lost by a
majority of thirty-one to twenty-nine.

In the interval between these motions the question experienced in the Lords
considerable opposition. The Duke of Clarence moved that the House should
not proceed in the consideration of the Slave-trade till after the Easter
recess. The Earl of Abingdon was still more hostile afterwards. He
deprecated the new philosophy. It was as full of mischief as the Box of
Pandora. The doctrine of the abolition of the Slave-trade was a species of
it; and he concluded by moving, that all further consideration of the
subject be postponed. To the epithet, then bestowed upon the abolition of
it by this nobleman, the Duke of Clarence added those of fanatics and
hypocrites! among whom he included Mr. Wilberforce by name. All the other
Lords, however, who were present, manifested such a dislike to the
sentiments of the Earl of Abingdon, that he withdrew this motion.

After this the hearing of evidence on the resolution of the House of
Commons was resumed; and seven persons were examined before the close of
the session.




CHAPTER VI.

_Continuation from July 1793 to July 1794--Author travels round the kingdom
again--Motion to abolish the foreign Slave-trade renewed in the
Commons--and carried--but lost in the Lords--further proceedings
there--Author, on account of his declining health, obliged to retire from
the cause._


The committee for the abolition could not view the proceedings of both
Houses of Parliament on this subject during the year 1793, without being
alarmed for the fate of their question. The only two sources of hope, which
they could discover, were in the disposition then manifested by the peers
as to the conduct of the Earl of Abingdon, and in their determination to
proceed in the hearing of evidence. The latter circumstance indeed was the
more favourable, as the resolution, upon which the witnesses were to be
examined, had not been renewed by the Commons. These considerations,
however, afforded no solid ground for the mind to rest upon. They only
broke in upon it, like faint gleams of sunshine, for a moment, and then
were gone. In this situation the committee could only console themselves by
the reflection, that they had done their duty. In looking, however, to
their future services, one thing, and only one, seemed practicable; and
this was necessary; namely, to complete the new body of evidence, which
they had endeavoured to form in the preceding year. The determination to do
this rendered another journey on my part indispensable; and I undertook it,
broken down us my constitution then was, beginning it in September 1793,
and completing it in February 1794.

Mr. Wilberforce, in this interval, had digested his plan of operations; and
accordingly, early in the session of 1794, he asked leave to renew his
former bill, to abolish that part of the trade, by means of which British
merchants supplied foreigners with slaves. This request was opposed by Sir
William Yonge; but it was granted, on a division of the House, by a
majority of sixty-three to forty votes.

When the bill was brought in, it was opposed by the same member; upon which
the House divided; and there appeared for Sir William Yonge's amendment
thirty-eight votes, but against it fifty-six.

On a motion for the recommitment of the bill, Lord Sheffield divided the
House, against whose motion there was a majority of forty-two. And, on the
third reading of it, it was opposed again; but it was at length carried.

The speakers against the bill were; Sir William Yonge, Lord Sheffield,
Colonel Tarleton, Alderman Newnham, and Mr. Payne, Este, Lechmere,
Cawthorne, Jenkinson, and Dent. Those who spoke in favour of it were; Mr.
Pitt, Fox, William Smith, Whitbread, Francis, Burdon, Vaughan, Barham, and
Serjeants Watson and Adair.

While the foreign Slave-bill was thus passing its stages in the Commons,
Dr. Horsley, bishop of Rochester, who saw no end to the examinations, while
the witnesses were to be examined at the bar of the House of Lords, moved,
that they should be taken in future before a committee above-stairs. Dr.
Porteus, bishop of London, and the Lords Guildford, Stanhope, and
Grenville, supported this motion. But the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, aided by
the Duke of Clarence, and by the Lords Mansfield, Hay, Abingdon, and
others, negatived it by a majority of twenty-eight.

At length the bill itself was ushered into the House of Lords. On reading
it a second time, it was opposed by the Duke of Clarence, Lord Abingdon,
and others. Lord Grenville and the Bishop of Rochester declined supporting
it. They alleged, as a reason, that they conceived the introduction of it
to have been improper pending the inquiry on the general subject of the
Slave-trade. This declaration brought up the Lords Stanhope and Lauderdale,
who charged them with inconsistency as professed friends of the cause. At
length the bill was lost. During these discussions the examination of the
witnesses was resumed by the Lords; but only two of them were heard in this
session[A].

[Footnote A: After this the examinations wholly dropped in the House of
Lords.]

After this decision the question was in a desperate state; for if the
Commons would not renew their own resolution, and the Lords would not
abolish the foreign part of the Slave-trade, What hope was there, of
success? It was obvious too, that in the former House, Mr. Pitt and Mr.
Dundas voted against each other. In the latter, the Lord Chancellor Thurlow
opposed every motion in favour of the cause. The committee therefore were
reduced to this;--either they must exert themselves without hope, or they
must wait till some change should take place in their favour. As far as I
myself was concerned, all exertion was then over. The nervous system was
almost shattered to pieces. Both my memory and my hearing failed me. Sudden
dizziness seized my head. A confused singing in the ears followed me,
wherever I went. On going to bed the very stairs seemed to dance up and
down under me, so that, misplacing my foot, I sometimes fell. Talking too,
if it continued but half an hour, exhausted me, so that profuse
perspirations followed; and the same effect was produced even by an active
exertion of the mind for the like time. These disorders had been brought on
by degrees in consequence of the severe labours necessarily attached to the
promotion of the cause. For seven years I had a correspondence to maintain
with four hundred persons with my own hand. I had some book or other
annually to write in behalf of the cause. In this time I had travelled more
than thirty-five thousand miles in search of evidence, and a great part of
these journeys in the night. All this time my mind had been on the stretch.
It had been bent too to this one subject; for I had not even leisure to
attend to my own concerns. The various instances of barbarity, which had
come successively to my knowledge within this period, had vexed, harassed,
and afflicted it. The wound, which these had produced, was rendered still
deeper by those cruel disappointments before related, which arose from the
reiterated refusal of persons to give their testimony, after I had
travelled hundreds of miles in quest of them. But the severest stroke was
that inflicted by the persecution, begun and pursued by persons interested
in the continuance of the trade, of such witnesses as had been examined
against them; and whom, on account of their dependent situation in life, it
was most easy to oppress. As I had been the means of bringing these forward
on these occasions, they naturally came to me, when thus persecuted, as the
author of their miseries and their ruin. From their supplications and wants
it would have been ungenerous and ungrateful to have fled[A]. These
different circumstances, by acting together, had at length brought me into
the situation just mentioned; and I was therefore obliged, though very
reluctantly, to be borne out of the field, where I had placed the great
honour and glory of my life.

[Footnote A: The late Mr. Whitbread, to whom one day in deep affliction on
this account I related accidentally a circumstance of this kind, generously
undertook, in order to make my mind easy upon the subject, to make good all
injuries, which should in future arise to individuals from such
persecution; and he repaired these, at different times, at a considerable
expense. I feel it a duty to divulge this circumstance, out of respect to
the memory of one of the best of men, and of one, whom, if the history of
his life were written, it would appear to have been an extraordinary honour
to the country to have produced.]




CHAPTER VII.

_Continuation from July 1794 to July 1799--Various motions within this
period._


I purpose, though it may seem abrupt after the division which has hitherto
been made of the contents of this volume, to throw the events of the next
five years into one chapter.

Mr. Wilberforce and the members of the committee, whose constitutions had
not suffered like my own, were still left; and they determined to persevere
in the promotion of their great object; as long as their health and their
faculties permitted them. The former, accordingly, in the month of February
1795, moved in the House of Commons for leave to bring in a bill for the
abolition of the Slave-trade. This motion was then necessary, if, according
to the resolution of that House, the Slave-trade was to cease in 1796. It
was opposed, however, by Sir William Yonge, and unfortunately lost by a
majority of seventy-eight to fifty-seven.

In the year 1796 Mr. Wilberforce renewed his efforts in the Commons. He
asked leave to bring in a bill for the abolition of the Slave-trade, but in
a limited time. The motion was opposed as before; but on a division, there
were for it ninety-three, and against it only sixty-seven.

The bill having been brought in, was opposed in its second reading; but it
was carried through it by a majority of sixty-four to thirty-one.

In a future stage it was opposed again; but it triumphed by a majority of
seventy-six to thirty-one. Mr. Eliott was then put into the chair. Several
clauses were adopted; and the first of March 1797 was fixed for the
abolition of the trade: but in the next stage of it, after a long speech
from Mr. Dundas, it was lost by a majority of seventy-four against seventy.

Mr. Francis, who had made a brilliant speech in the last debate,
considering that nothing effectual had been yet done on this great
question, and wishing that a practical beginning might be made, brought
forward soon afterwards, a motion relative to the improvement of the
condition of the slaves in the West Indies. This, after a short debate, was
negatived without a division. Mr. William Smith also moved an address to
His Majesty, that he would be pleased to give directions to lay before the
House copies of the several acts relative to regulations in behalf of the
slaves, passed by the different colonial assemblies since the year 1788.
This motion was adopted by the House. Thus passed away the session of 1796.

In the year 1797, while Mr. Wilberforce was deliberating upon the best
measure for the advancement of the cause, Mr. C. Ellis came forward with a
new motion. He began by declaring, that he agreed with the abolitionists as
to their object; but he differed with them as to the mode of attaining it.
The Slave-trade he condemned as a cruel and pernicious system; but, as it
had become an inveterate evil, he feared it could not be done away all at
once, without injury to the interests of numerous individuals, and even to
the Negros themselves. He concluded by moving an address to His Majesty,
humbly requesting, that he would give directions to the governors of the
West Indian islands, to recommend it to the colonial assemblies to adopt
such measures as might appear to them best calculated to ameliorate the
condition of the Negros, and thereby to remove gradually the Slave-trade;
and likewise to assure His Majesty of the readiness of this House to concur
in any measure to accelerate this desirable object. This motion was
seconded by Mr. Barham. It was opposed, however, by Mr. Wilberforce, Mr.
Pitt, and others; but was at length carried by a majority of ninety-nine to
sixty-three.

In the year 1798 Mr. Wilberforce asked leave to renew his former bill, to
abolish the Slave-trade within a limited time. He was supported by Mr.
Canning, Mr. Hobhouse, Sir Robert Buxton, Mr. Bouverie, and others. Mr.
Sewell, Bryan Edwards, Henniker, and C. Ellis, took the opposite side of
the question. Mr. Ellis, however, observed, that he had no objection to
restricting the Slave-trade to plantations already begun in the colonies;
and Mr. Barham professed himself a friend to the abolition, if it could be
accomplished in a reasonable way. On a division, there appeared to be for
Mr. Wilberforce's motion eighty-three, but against it eighty-seven.

In the year 1799 Mr. Wilberforce, undismayed by these different
disappointments, renewed his motion. Colonel M. Wood, Mr. Petrie, and
others, among whom were Mr. Windham and Mr. Dundas, opposed it. Mr. Pitt,
Fox, W. Smith, Sir William Dolben, Sir R. Milbank, Mr. Hobhouse, and Mr.
Canning, supported it. Sir R. Milbank contended, that modifications of a
system fundamentally wrong ought not to be tolerated by the legislature of
a free nation. Mr. Hobhouse said, that nothing could be so nefarious as
this traffic in blood. It was unjust in its principle. It was cruel in its
practice. It admitted of no regulation whatever. The abolition of it was
called for equally by morality and sound policy. Mr. Canning exposed the
folly of Mr. Dundas, who had said, that as Parliament had in the year 1787
left the abolition to the colonial assemblies, it ought not to be taken out
of their hands. This great event, he observed, could only be accomplished
in two ways; either by these assemblies, or by the Parliament of England.
Now the members of the assembly of Jamaica had professed, that they would
never abolish the trade. Was it not therefore idle to rely upon them for
the accomplishment of it? He then took a very comprehensive view of the
arguments, which had been offered in the course of the debate, and was
severe upon the planters in the House, who, he said, had brought into
familiar use certain expressions, with no other view than to throw a veil
over their odious system. Among these was--their right to import labourers.
But never was the word "labourers" so prostituted, as when it was used for
slaves. Never was the word "right" so prostituted, not even when The Rights
of Man were talked of, as when the right to trade in man's blood was
asserted by the members of an enlightened assembly. Never was the right of
importing these labourers worse defended than when the antiquity of the
Slave-trade, and its foundation on antient acts of parliament, were brought
forward in its support. We had been cautioned not to lay our unhallowed
hands on the antient institution of the Slave-trade; nor to subvert a
fabric, raised by the wisdom of our ancestors, and consecrated by a lapse
of ages. But on what principles did we usually respect the institutions of
antiquity? We respected them when we saw some shadow of departed worth and
usefulness; or some memorial of what had been creditable to mankind. But
was this the case with the Slave-trade? Had it begun in principles of
justice or national honour, which the changes of the world alone had
impaired? had it to plead former services and glories in behalf of its
present disgrace? In looking at it we saw nothing but crimes and sufferings
from the beginning--nothing but what wounded and convulsed our
feelings--nothing but what excited indignation and horror. It had not even
to plead what could often be said in favour of the most unjustifiable wars.
Though conquest had sometimes originated in ambition, and in the worst of
motives, yet the conquerors and the conquered were sometimes blended
afterwards into one people; so that a system of common interest arose out
of former differences. But where was the analogy of the cases? Was it only
at the outset that we could trace violence and injustice on the part of the
Slave-trade? Were the oppressors and the oppressed so reconciled, that
enmities ultimately ceased?--No. Was it reasonable then to urge a
prescriptive right, not to the fruits of an antient and forgotten evil, but
to a series of new violences; to a chain of fresh enormities; to cruelties
continually repeated; and of which every instance inflicted a fresh
calamity, and constituted a separate and substantial crime?

The debate being over, the House divided; when it appeared that there were
for Mr. Wilberforce's motion seventy-four, but against it eighty-two.

The motion for the general abolition of the Slave-trade having been thus
lost again in the Commons, a new motion was made there soon after, by Mr.
Henry Thornton, on the same subject. The prosecution of this traffic on
certain parts of the coast of Africa had become so injurious to the new
settlement at Sierra Leone, that not only its commercial prospects were
impeded, but its safety endangered. Mr. Thornton therefore brought in a
bill to confine the Slave-trade within certain limits. But even this bill,
though it had for its object only to free a portion of the coast from the
ravages of this traffic, was opposed by Mr. Gascoyne, Dent, and others.
Petitions also were presented against it. At length, after two divisions,
on the first of which there were thirty-two votes to twenty-seven, and on
the second thirty-eight to twenty-two, it passed through all its stages.

When it was introduced into the Lords the petitions were renewed against
it. Delay also was interposed to its progress by the examination of
witnesses. It was not till the fifth of July that the matter was brought to
issue. The opponents of the bill at that time were, the Duke of Clarence,
Lord Westmoreland, Lord Thurlow, and the Lords Douglas and Hay, the two
latter being Earls of Morton and Kinnoul in Scotland. The supporters of it
were Lord Grenville, who introduced it; Lord Loughborough; Holland; and Dr.
Horsley, bishop of Rochester. The latter was peculiarly eloquent. He began
his speech by arraigning the injustice and impolicy of the trade:
injustice, he said, which no considerations of policy could extenuate;
impolicy, equal in degree to its injustice.

He well knew that the advocates for the Slave-trade had endeavoured to
represent the project for abolition as a branch of jacobinism; but they,
who supported it, proceeded upon no visionary motives of equality or of the
imprescriptible rights of man. They strenuously upheld the gradations of
civil society: but they did indeed affirm that these gradations were, both
ways, both as they ascended and as they descended, limited. There was an
existence of power, to which no good king would aspire; and there was an
extreme condition of subjection, to which man could not be degraded without
injustice; and this they would maintain was the condition of the African,
who was torn away into slavery.

He then explained the limits of that portion of Africa, which the bill
intended to set apart as sacred to peace and liberty. He showed that this
was but one-third of the coast; and therefore that two-thirds were yet left
for the diabolical speculations of the slave-merchants. He expressed his
surprise that such witnesses as those against the bill should have been
introduced at all. He affirmed that their oaths were falsified by their own
log-books; and that from their own accounts the very healthiest of their
vessels were little better than pestilential gaols. Mr. Robert Hume, one of
these witnesses, had made a certain voyage. He had made it in thirty-three
days. He had shipped two hundred and sixty-five slaves, and he had lost
twenty-three of them. If he had gone on losing his slaves, all of whom were
under twenty-five years of age, at this rate, it was obvious, that he would
have lost two hundred and fifty-three of them, if his passage had lasted
for a year. Now in London only seventeen would have died, of that age, out
of one thousand within the latter period.

After having exposed the other voyages of Mr. Hume in a similar manner, he
entered into a commendation of the views of the Sierra Leone company; and
then defended the character of the Africans in their own country, as
exhibited in the Travels of Mr. Mungo Park. He made a judicious
discrimination with respect to slavery, as it existed among them. He showed
that this slavery was analogous to that of the heroic and patriarchal ages;
and contrasted it with the West Indian in an able manner.

He adverted, lastly, to what had fallen from the learned counsel, who had
supported the petitions of the slave-merchants. One of them had put this
question to their lordships, "if the Slave-trade were as wicked as it had
been represented, why was there no prohibition of it in the holy
scriptures?" He then entered into a full defence of the scriptures on this
ground, which he concluded by declaring that, as St. Paul had coupled
men-stealers with murderers, he had condemned the Slave-trade in one of its
most productive modes, and generally in all its modes:--and here it was
worthy of remark, that the word used by the apostle on this occasion, and
which had been translated men-stealers, should have been rendered
slave-traders. This was obvious from the Scholiast of Aristophanes, whom he
quoted. It was clear therefore that the Slave-trade, if murder was
forbidden, had been literally forbidden also.

The learned counsel too had admonished their lordships, to beware how they
adopted the visionary projects of fanatics. He did not know in what
direction this shaft was shot; and he cared not. It did not concern him.
With the highest reverence for the religion of the land, with the firmest
conviction of its truth, and with the deepest sense of the importance of
its doctrines, he was proudly conscious, that the general shape and fashion
of his life bore nothing of the stamp of fanaticism. But he begged leave,
in his turn, to address a word of serious exhortation to their lordships.
He exhorted them to beware, how they were persuaded to bury, under the
opprobrious name of fanaticism, the regard which they owed to the great
duties of mercy and justice, for the neglect of which (if they should
neglect them) they would be answerable at that tribunal, where no
prevarication of witnesses could misinform the judge; and where no subtlety
of an advocate, miscalling the names of things, putting evil for good and
good for evil, could mislead his judgement.

At length the debate ended: when the bill was lost by a majority of
sixty-eight to sixty-one, including personal votes and proxies.

I cannot conclude this chapter without offering a few remarks. And, first,
I may observe, as the substance of the debates has not been given for the
period which it contains, that Mr. Wilberforce, upon whom too much praise
cannot be bestowed for his perseverance from year to year, amidst the
disheartening circumstances which attended his efforts, brought every new
argument to bear, which either the discovery of new light or the events of
the times produced. I may observe also, in justice to the memories of Mr.
Pitt and Mr. Fox, that there was no debate within this period, in which
they did not take a part; and in which they did not irradiate others from
the profusion of their own light: and, thirdly, that in consequence of the
efforts of the three, conjoined with those of others, the great cause of
the abolition was secretly gaining ground. Many members who were not
connected with the trade, but who had yet hitherto supported it, were on
the point of conversion. Though the question had oscillated backwards and
forwards, so that an ordinary spectator could have discovered no gleam of
hope at these times, nothing is more certain, than that the powerful
eloquence then displayed had smoothed the resistance to it; had shortened
its vibrations; and had prepared it for a state of rest.

With respect to the West Indians themselves, some of them began to see
through the mists of prejudice, which had covered them. In the year 1794,
when the bill for the abolition of the foreign Slave-trade was introduced,
Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Barham supported it. They called upon the planters in
the House to give way to humanity, where their own interests could not be
affected by their submission. This indeed may be said to have been no
mighty thing; but it was a frank confession of the injustice of the
Slave-trade, and the beginning of the change which followed, both with
respect to themselves and others.

With respect to the old friends of the cause, it is with regret I mention,
that it lost the support of Mr. Windham within this period; and this regret
is increased by the consideration, that he went off on the avowed plea of
expediency against moral rectitude; a doctrine, which, at least upon this
subject, he had reprobated for ten years. It was, however, some
consolation, as far as talents were concerned, (for there can be none for
the loss of virtuous feeling,) that Mr. Canning, a new member, should have
so ably supplied his place.

Of the gradual abolitionists, whom we have always considered as the most
dangerous enemies of the cause, Mr. Jenkinson (now Lord Hawkesbury), Mr.
Addington (now Lord Sidmouth), and Mr. Dundas (now Lord Melville),
continued their opposition during all this time. Of the first two I shall
say nothing at present; but I cannot pass over the conduct of the latter.
He was the first person, as we have seen, to propose the gradual abolition
of the Slave-trade; and he fixed the time for its cessation on the first of
January 1800. His sincerity on this occasion was doubted by Mr. Fox at the
very outset; for he immediately rose and said, that "something so
mischievous had come out, something so like a foundation had been laid for
preserving, not only for years to come, but for any thing he knew for ever,
this detestable traffic, that he felt it his duty immediately to deprecate
all such delusions upon the country." Mr. Pitt, who spoke soon afterwards,
in reply to an argument advanced by Mr. Dundas, maintained, that "at
whatever period the House should say that the Slave-trade should actually
cease, this defence would equally be set up; for it would be just as good
an argument in seventy years hence, as it was against the abolition then."
And these remarks Mr. Dundas verified in a singular manner within this
period: for in the year 1796, when his own bill, as amended in the Commons,
was to take place, he was one of the most strenuous opposers of it; and in
the year 1799, when in point of consistency it devolved upon him to propose
it to the House, in order that the trade might cease on the first of
January 1800, (which was the time of his own original choice, or a time
unfettered by parliamentary amendment,) he was the chief instrument of
throwing out Mr. Wilberforce's bill, which promised even a longer period to
its continuance: so that it is obvious, that there was no time, within his
own limits, when the abolition would have suited him, notwithstanding his
profession, "that he had always been a warm advocate for the measure."




CHAPTER VIII.

_Continuation from July 1799 to July 1805--Various motions within this
period._


The question had now been brought forward in almost every possible way, and
yet had been eventually lost. The total and immediate abolition had been
attempted; and then the gradual. The gradual again had been tried for the
year 1793, then for 1795, and then for 1796, at which period it was
decreed, but never allowed to be executed. An abolition of a part of the
trade, as it related to the supply of foreigners with slaves, was the next
measure proposed; and when this failed, the abolition of another part of
it, as it related to the making of a certain portion of the coast of Africa
sacred to liberty, was attempted; but this failed also. Mr. Wilberforce
therefore thought it prudent, not to press the abolition as a mere annual
measure, but to allow members time to digest the eloquence, which had been
bestowed upon it for the last five years, and to wait till some new
circumstances should favour its introduction. Accordingly he allowed the
years 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803 to pass over without any further
parliamentary notice than the moving for certain papers; during which he
took an opportunity of assuring the House, that he had not grown cool in
the cause, but that he would agitate it in a future session.

In the year 1804, which was fixed upon for renewed exertion, the committee
for the abolition of the Slave-trade elected James Stephen, Zachary
Macaulay, Henry Brougham, esquires, and William Phillips, into their own
body. Four other members also, Robert Grant and John Thornton, esquires,
and William Manser and William Allen, were afterwards added to the list.
Among the reasons for fixing upon this year one may be assigned, namely,
that the Irish members, in consequence of the Union which had taken place
between the two countries, had then all taken their seats in the House of
Commons; and that most of them were friendly to the cause.

This being the situation of things, Mr. Wilberforce, on the thirtieth of
March, asked leave to renew his bill for the abolition of the Slave-trade
within a limited time. Mr. Fuller opposed the motion. A debate ensued.
Colonel Tarleton, Mr. Devaynes, Mr. Addington, and Mr. Manning spoke
against it. The latter, however, notwithstanding his connection with the
West Indies, said he would support it, if an indemnification were offered
to the planters, in case any actual loss should accompany the measure.

Sir William Geary questioned the propriety of immediate abolition.

Sir Robert Buxton, Mr. Pitt, Fox, and Durham, spoke in favour of the
motion.

Mr. William Smith rose, when the latter had seated himself, and
complimented him on this change of sentiment, so honourable to him,
inasmuch as he had espoused the cause of humanity against his supposed
interest as a planter. Mr. Leigh said, that he would not tolerate such a
traffic for a moment. All the feelings of nature revolted at it. Lord de
Blaquiere observed, "it was the first time the question had been proposed
to Irishmen as legislators. He believed it would be supported by most of
them. As to the people of Ireland, he could pledge himself, that they were
hostile to this barbarous traffic." An amendment having been proposed by
Mr. Manning, a division took place upon it, when leave was given to bring
in the bill, by a majority of one hundred and twenty-four to forty-nine.

On the seventh of June, when the second reading of the bill was moved, it
was opposed by Sir W. Yonge, Dr. Laurence, Mr. C. Brook, Mr. Dent, and
others. Among these Lord Castlereagh professed himself a friend to the
abolition of the trade, but he differed as to the mode. Sir J. Wrottesley
approved of the principle of the bill, but would oppose it in some of its
details. Mr. Windham allowed the justice, but differed as to the
expediency, of the measure. Mr. Deverell professed himself to have been a
friend to it; but he had then changed his mind. Sir Laurence Parsons wished
to see a plan for the gradual extinction of the trade. Lord Temple
affirmed, that the bill would seal the death-warrant of every White
inhabitant of the islands. The second reading was supported by Sir Ralph
Milbank, Mr. Pitt, Fox, William Smith, Whitbread, Francis, Barham, and by
Mr. Grenfell, and Sir John Newport. Mr. Grenfell observed, that he could
not give a silent vote, where the character of the country was concerned.
When the question of the abolition first came before the public, he was a
warm friend to it; and from that day to this he had cherished the same
feelings. He assured Mr. Wilberforce of his constant support. Sir John
Newport stated that the Irish nation took a virtuous interest in this noble
cause. He ridiculed the idea, that the trade and manufactures of the
country would suffer by the measure in contemplation; but, even if they
should suffer, he would oppose it. "Fiat justitia, ruat coelum." Upon a
division, there appeared for the second reading one hundred, and against it
forty-two.

On the twelfth of June, when a motion was made to go into a committee upon
the bill, it was opposed by Mr. Fuller, C. Brook, C. Ellis, Dent, Deverell,
and Manning: and it was supported by Sir Robert Buxton, Mr. Barham, and the
honourable J.S. Cocks. The latter condemned the imprudence of the planters.
Instead of profiting by the discussions, which had taken place, and making
wise provisions against the great event of the abolition, which would
sooner or later take place, they had only thought of new stratagems to
defeat it. He declared his abhorrence of the trade, which he considered to
be a national disgrace. The House divided: when there were seventy-nine for
the motion, and against it twenty.

On the twenty-seventh of June the bill was opposed in its last stage by Sir
W. Young, Mr. Dickenson, G. Rose, Addington, and Dent: and supported by Mr.
Pitt, W. Smith, Francis, and Barham; when it was carried by a majority of
sixty-nine to thirty-six. It was then taken up to the Lords; but on a
motion of Lord Hawkesbury, then a member of that House, the discussion of
it was postponed to the next year.

The session being ended, the committee for the abolition of the Slave-trade
increased its number, by the election of the right honourable Lord
Teignmouth, Dr. Dickson, and Wilson Birkbeck, as members.

In the year 1805, Mr. Wilberforce renewed his motion of the former year.
Colonel Tarleton, Sir William Yonge, Mr. Fuller, and Mr. Gascoyne opposed
it. Leave, however, was given him to introduce his bill.

On the second reading of it a serious opposition took place; and an
amendment was moved for postponing it till that day six months. The
amendment was opposed by Mr. Fox and Mr. Huddlestone. The latter could not
help lifting his voice against this monstrous traffic in the sinews and
blood of man, the toleration of which had so long been the disgrace of the
British legislature. He did not charge the enormous guilt resulting from it
upon the nation at large; for the nation had washed its hands of it by the
numerous petitions it had sent against it; and it had since been a matter
of astonishment to all Christendom, how the constitutional guardians of
British freedom should have sanctioned elsewhere the greatest system of
cruelty and oppression in the world.

He said that a curse attended this trade even in the mode of defending it.
By a certain fatality, none but the vilest arguments were brought forward,
which corrupted the very persons, who used them. Every one of these were
built on the narrow ground of interest; of pecuniary profit; of sordid
gain; in opposition to every higher consideration; to every motive that had
reference to humanity, justice, and religion; or to that great principle,
which comprehended them all. Place only before the most determined advocate
of this odious traffic the exact image of himself in the garb and harness
of a slave, dragged and whipped about like a beast: place this image also
before him, and paint it as that of one without a ray of hope to cheer him;
and you would extort from him the reluctant confession, that he would not
endure for an hour the misery, to which he condemned his fellow-man for
life. How dared he then to use this selfish plea of interest against the
voice of the generous sympathies of his nature? But even upon this narrow
ground the advocates for the traffic had been defeated. If the unhallowed
argument of expediency was worth any thing when opposed to moral rectitude,
or if it were to supersede the precepts of Christianity, where was a man to
stop, or what line was he to draw? For any thing he knew, it might be
physically true, that human blood was the best manure for the land; but who
ought to shed it on that account? True expediency, however, was, where it
ever would be found, on the side of that system, which was most merciful
and just. He asked how it happened, that sugar could be imported cheaper
from the East Indies, than from the West, notwithstanding the vast
difference of the length of the voyages, but on account of the impolicy of
slavery, or that it was made in the former case by the industry of free
men, and in the latter by the languid drudgery of slaves.

As he had had occasion to advert to the Eastern part of the world, he would
make an observation upon an argument, which had been collected from that
quarter. The condition of the Negros in the West Indies had been lately
compared with that of the Hindoos. But he would observe that the Hindoo,
miserable as his hovel was, had sources of pride and happiness, to which
not only the West Indian slave, but even his master, was a stranger. He was
to be sure a peasant; and his industry was subservient to the
gratifications of an European lord. But he was, in his own belief, vastly
superior to him. He viewed him as one of the lowest cast. He would not on
any consideration eat from the same plate. He would not suffer his son to
marry the daughter of his master, even if she could bring him all the West
Indies as her portion. He would observe too, that the Hindoo-peasant drank
his water from his native well; that, if his meal were scanty, he received
it from the hand of her, who was most dear to him; that, when he laboured,
he laboured for her and his offspring. His daily task being finished, he
reposed with his family. No retrospect of the happiness of former days,
compared with existing misery, disturbed his slumber; nor horrid dreams
occasioned him to wake in agony at the dawn of day. No barbarous sounds of
cracking whips reminded him, that with the form and image of a man his
destiny was that of the beast of the field. Let the advocates for the
bloody traffic state what they had to set off on their side of the question
against the comforts and independence of the man, with whom they compared
the slave.

The amendment was supported by Sir William Yonge, Sir William Pulteney,
Colonel Tarleton, Mr. Gascoyne, C. Brook, and Hiley Addington. On dividing
the House upon it, there appeared for it seventy-seven, but against it only
seventy.

This loss of the question, after it had been carried in the last year by so
great a majority, being quite unexpected, was a matter of severe
disappointment; and might have discouraged the friends of the cause in this
infancy of their renewed efforts, if they had not discovered the reason of
its failure. After due consideration it appeared, that no fewer than nine
members, who had never been absent once in sixteen years when it was
agitated, gave way to engagements on the day of the motion, from a belief
that it was safe. It appeared also, that out of the great number of Irish
members, who supported it in the former year, only nine were in the House,
when it was lost. It appeared also that, previously to this event, a
canvass, more importunate than had been heard of on any former occasion,
had been made among the latter by those interested in the continuance of
the trade. Many of these, unacquainted with the detail of the subject, like
the English members, admitted the dismal representations, which were then
made to them. The desire of doing good on the one hand, and the fear of
doing injury on the other, perplexed them; and in this dubious state they
absented themselves at the time mentioned.

The causes of the failure having been found accidental, and capable of a
remedy, it was resolved, that an attempt should be made immediately in the
House in a new form. Accordingly Lord Henry Petty signified his intention
of bringing in a bill for the abolition of the foreign part of the
Slave-trade; but the impeachment of Lord Melville, and other weighty
matters coming on, the notice was not acted upon in that session.




CHAPTER IX.

_Continuation from July 1805 to July 1806--Author returns to his duty in
the committee--travels again round the Kingdom--Death of Mr. Pitt--his
character, an it related to the question--Motion for the abolition of the
foreign Slave-trade--resolution to take measures for the total abolition of
it--Address to the King to negotiate with foreign powers for their
concurrence in it--Motion to prevent any new vessel going into the
trade--these carried through both houses of parliament._


It was now almost certain, to the inexpressible joy of the committee, that
the cause, with proper vigilance, could be carried in the next session in
the House of Commons. It became them therefore to prepare to support it. In
adverting to measures for this purpose, it occurred to them, that the House
of Lords, if the question should be then carried to them from the Commons,
might insist upon hearing evidence on the general subject. But, alas, even
the body of witnesses, which had been last collected, was broken by death
or dispersion! It was therefore to be formed again. In this situation it
devolved upon me, as I had now returned to the committee after an absence
of nine years, to take another journey for this purpose.

This journey I performed with extraordinary success. In the course of it I
had also much satisfaction on another account. I found the old friends of
the cause still faithful to it. It was remarkable, however, that the youth
of the rising generation knew but little about the question. For the last
eight or nine years the committee had not circulated any books; and the
debates in the Commons during that time had not furnished them with the
means of an adequate knowledge concerning it. When, however, I conversed
with these, as I travelled along, I discovered a profound attention to what
I said; an earnest desire to know more of the subject; and a generous
warmth in favour of the injured Africans, which I foresaw could soon be
turned into enthusiasm. Hence I perceived that the cause furnished us with
endless sources of rallying; and that the ardour, which we had seen with so
much admiration in former years, could be easily renewed.

I had scarcely finished my journey, when Mr. Pitt died. This event took
place in January 1806. I shall stop therefore to make a few observations
upon his character, as it related to this cause. This I feel myself bound
in justice to do, because his sincerity towards it has been generally
questioned.

The way, in which Mr. Pitt became acquainted with this question, has
already been explained. A few doubts having been removed, when it was first
started, he professed himself a friend to the abolition. The first proof,
which he gave of his friendship to it is known but to few; but it is,
nevertheless, true, that so early as in 1788, he occasioned a communication
to be made to the French government, in which he recommended an union of
the two countries for the promotion of the great measure. This proposition
seemed to be then new and strange to the court of France; and the answer
was not favourable.

From this time his efforts were reduced within the boundaries of his own
power.

As far, however, as he had scope, he exerted them. If we look at him in his
parliamentary capacity, it must be acknowledged by all, that he took an
active, strenuous, and consistent part, and this year after year, by which
he realized his professions. In my own private communications with him,
which were frequent, he never failed to give proofs of a similar
disposition. I had always free access to him. I had no previous note or
letter to write for admission. Whatever papers I wanted, he ordered. He
exhibited also in his conversation with me on these occasions marks of a
more than ordinary interest in the welfare of the cause. Among the
subjects, which were then started, there was one, which was always near his
heart. This was the civilization of Africa. He looked upon this great work
as a debt due to that continent for the many injuries we had inflicted upon
it: and had the abolition succeeded sooner, as in the infancy of his
exertions he had hoped, I know he had a plan, suited no doubt to the
capaciousness of his own mind, for such establishments in Africa, as he
conceived would promote in due time this important end.

I believe it will be said, notwithstanding what I have advanced, that if
Mr. Pitt had exerted himself as the minister of the country in behalf of
the abolition, he could have carried it. This brings the matter to an
issue; for unquestionably the charge of insincerity, as it related to this
great question, arose from the mistaken notion, that, as his measures in
parliament were supported by great majorities, he could do as he pleased
there. But, they who hold this opinion, must be informed, that there were
great difficulties, against which he had to struggle on this subject. The
Lord Chancellor Thurlow ran counter to his wishes almost at the very
outset. Lord Liverpool and Mr. Dundas did the same. Thus, to go no further,
three of the most powerful members of the cabinet were in direct opposition
to him. The abolition then, amidst this difference of opinion, could never
become a cabinet measure; but if so, then all his parliamentary efforts in
this case wanted their usual authority, and he could only exert his
influence as a private man[A].

[Footnote A: This he did with great effect on one or two occasions. On the
motion of Mr. Cawthorne in 1791, the cause hung as it were by a thread; and
would have failed that day, to my knowledge, but for his seasonable
exertions.]

But a difficulty, still more insuperable, presented itself, in an
occurrence which took place in the year 1791, but which is much too
delicate to be mentioned. The explanation of it, however, would convince
the reader, that all the efforts of Mr. Pitt from that day were rendered
useless, I mean as to bringing the question, as a minister of state, to a
favourable issue.

But though Mr. Pitt did not carry this great question, he was yet one of
the greatest supporters of it. He fostered it in its infancy. If, in his
public situation, he had then set his face against it, where would have
been our hope? He upheld it also in its childhood; and though in this state
of its existence it did not gain from his protection all the strength which
it was expected it would have acquired, he yet kept it from falling, till
his successors, in whose administration a greater number of favourable
circumstances concurred to give it vigour, brought it to triumphant
maturity.

Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox, having been called to the head of the executive
government on the death of Mr. Pitt, the cause was ushered into parliament
under new auspices. In a former year His Majesty had issued a proclamation,
by which British merchants were forbidden (with certain defined exceptions)
to import slaves into the colonies, which had been conquered by the British
arms in the course of the war. This circumstance afforded an opportunity of
trying the question in the House of Commons with the greatest hope of
success. Accordingly Sir A. Pigott, the attorney-general, as an officer of
the crown; brought in a bill on the thirty-first of March 1806, the first
object of which was, to give effect to the proclamation now mentioned. The
second was, to prohibit British subjects from being engaged in importing
slaves into the colonies of any foreign power, whether hostile or neutral.
And the third was, to prohibit British subjects and British capital from
being employed in carrying on a Slave-trade in foreign ships; and also to
prevent the outfit of foreign ships from British ports.

Sir A. Pigott, on the introduction of this bill, made an appropriate
speech. The bill was supported by Mr. Fox, Sir William Yonge, Mr. Brook,
and Mr. Bagwell; but opposed by Generals Tarleton and Gascoyne, Mr. Rose,
Sir Robert Peele, and Sir Charles Price. On the third reading a division
being called for, there appeared for it thirty-five, and against it only
thirteen.

On the seventh of May it was introduced into the Lords. The supporters of
it there were, the Duke of Gloucester, Lord Grenville, the Bishops of
London and St. Asaph, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and the Lords Holland,
Lauderdale, Auckland, Sidmouth, and Ellenborough. The opposers were, the
Dukes of Clarence and Sussex, the Marquis of Sligo, the Earl of
Westmoreland, and the Lords Eldon and Sheffield. At length a division took
place, when there appeared to be in favour of it forty-three, and against
it eighteen.

During the discussions, to which this bill gave birth, Lord Grenville and
Mr. Fox declared in substance, in their respective Houses of Parliament,
that they felt the question of the Slave-trade to be one, which involved
the dearest interests of humanity, and the most urgent claims of policy,
justice, and religion; and that, should they succeed in effecting its
abolition, they would regard that success as entailing more true glory on
their administration, and more honour and advantage on their country, than
any other measure, in which they could be engaged. The bill having passed
(the first, which dismembered this cruel trade,) it was thought proper to
follow it up in a prudent manner; and, as there was not then time in the
advanced period of the session to bring in another for the total extinction
of it, to move a resolution, by which both Houses should record those
principles, on which the propriety of the latter measure was founded. It
was judged also expedient that Mr. Fox, as the prime minister in the House
of Commons, should introduce it there.

On the tenth of June Mr. Fox rose. He began by saying that the motion, with
which he should conclude, would tend in its consequences to effect the
total abolition of the Slave-trade; and he confessed that, since he had sat
in that House (a period of between thirty and forty years), if he had done
nothing else, but had only been instrumental in carrying through this
measure, he should think his life well spent; and should retire quite
satisfied, that he had not lived in vain.

In adverting to the principle of the trade, he noticed some strong
expressions of Mr. Burke concerning it. "To deal in human flesh and blood,"
said that great man, "or to deal, not in the labour of men, but in men
themselves, was to devour the root, instead of enjoying the fruit of human
diligence."

Mr. Fox then took a view of the opinions of different members of the House
on this great question; and showed that, though many had opposed the
abolition, all but two or three, among whom were the members for Liverpool,
had confessed, that the trade ought to be done away. He then went over the
different resolutions of the House on the subject, and concluded from
thence, that they were bound to support his motion.

He combated the argument, that the abolition would ruin the West-Indian
Islands. In doing this he paid a handsome compliment to the memory of Mr.
Pitt, whose speech upon this particular point was, he said, the most
powerful and convincing of any he had ever heard. Indeed they, who had not
heard it, could have no notion of it. It was a speech, of which he would
say with the Roman author, reciting the words of the Athenian orator, "Quid
esset, si ipsum audivissetis!" It was a speech no less remarkable for
splendid eloquence, than for solid sense and convincing reason; supported
by calculations founded on facts, and conclusions drawn from premises, as
correctly as if they had been mathematical propositions; all tending to
prove that, instead of the West Indian plantations suffering an injury,
they would derive a material benefit by the abolition of the Slave-trade.
He then called upon the friends of this great man to show their respect for
his memory by their votes; and he concluded with moving, "that this House,
considering the African Slave-trade to be contrary to the principles of
justice, humanity, and policy, will, with all practicable expedition, take
effectual measures for the abolition of the said trade, in such a manner,
and at such a period, as may be deemed advisable."

Sir Ralph Milbank rose, and seconded the motion.

General Tarleton rose next. He deprecated the abolition, on account of the
effect which it would have on the trade and revenue of the country.

Mr. Francis said the merchants of Liverpool were at liberty to ask for
compensation; but he, for one, would never grant it for the loss of a
trade, which had been declared to be contrary to humanity and justice. As
an uniform friend to this great cause, he wished Mr. Fox had not introduced
a resolution, but a real bill for the abolition of the Slave-trade. He
believed that both Houses were then disposed to do it away. He wished the
golden opportunity might not be lost.

Lord Castlereagh thought it a proposition, on which no one could entertain
a doubt, that the Slave-trade was a great evil in itself; and that it was
the duty and policy of Parliament to extirpate it; but he did not think the
means offered were adequate to the end proposed. The abolition, as a
political question, was a difficult one. The year 1796 had been once fixed
upon by the House, as the period when the trade was to cease; but, when the
time arrived, the resolution was not executed. This was a proof, either
that the House did not wish for the event, or that they judged it
impracticable. It would be impossible, he said, to get other nations to
concur in the measure; and, even if they were to concur, it could not be
effected. We might restrain the subjects of the parent-state from following
the trade; but we could not those in our colonies. A hundred frauds would
be committed by those, which we could not detect. He did not mean by this,
that the evil was to go on for ever. Had a wise plan been proposed at
first, it might have been half-cured by this time. The present resolution
would do no good. It was vague, indefinite, and unintelligible. Such
resolutions were only the Slave-merchants' harvests. They would go for more
slaves than usual in the interim. He should have advised a system of duties
on fresh importations of slaves, progressively increasing to a certain
extent; and that the amount of these duties should be given to the
planters, as a bounty to encourage the Negro-population upon their estates.
Nothing could be done, unless we went hand in hand with the latter. But he
should deliver himself more fully on this subject, when any thing specific
should be brought forward in the shape of a bill.

Sir S. Romilly, the solicitor-general, differed from Lord Castlereagh; for
he thought the resolution of Mr. Fox was very simple and intelligible. If
there was a proposition vague and indefinite, it was that, advanced by the
noble lord, of a system of duties on fresh importations, rising
progressively, and this under the patronage and cooperation of the
planters. Who could measure the space between the present time and the
abolition of the trade, if that measure were to depend upon the approbation
of the colonies?

The cruelty and injustice of the Slave-trade had been established by
evidence beyond a doubt. It had been shown to be carried on by rapine,
robbery, and murder; by fomenting and encouraging wars; by false
accusations; and imaginary crimes. The unhappy victims were torn away not
only in the time of war, but of profound peace. They were then carried
across the Atlantic, in a manner too horrible to describe; and afterwards
subjected to eternal slavery. In support of the continuance of such a
traffic, he knew of nothing but assertions already disproved, and arguments
already refuted. Since the year 1796, when it was to cease by a resolution
of Parliament, no less than three hundred and sixty thousand Africans had
been torn away from their native land. What an accumulation was this to our
former guilt!

General Gascoyne made two extraordinary assertions: First, that the trade
was defensible on Scriptural ground.--"Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids,
which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen, that are round about thee;
of them shall you have bondmen and bondmaids. And thou shalt take them as
an heritance for thy children after thee to inherit them for a possession;
they shall be thy bondmen for ever." Secondly, that the trade had been so
advantageous to this country, that it would have been advisable even to
institute a new one, if the old had not existed.

Mr. Wilberforce replied to General Gascoyne. He then took a view of the
speech of Lord Castlereagh, which he answered point by point. In the course
of his observations he showed, that the system of duties progressively
increasing, as proposed by the noble lord, would be one of the most
effectual modes of perpetuating the Slave-trade. He exposed also the false
foundation of the hope of any reliance on the cooperation of the colonists.
The House, he said, had on the motion of Mr. Ellis in the year 1797, prayed
His Majesty to consult with the colonial legislatures to take such
measures, as might conduce to the gradual abolition of the African
Slave-trade. This address was transmitted to them by Lord Melville. It was
received in some of the islands with a declaration, "that they possibly
might, in some instances, endeavour to improve the condition of their
slaves; but they should do this, not with any view to the abolition of the
Slave-trade; for they considered that trade as their birth-right, which
could not be taken from them; and that we should deceive ourselves by
supposing, that they would agree to such a measure." He desired to add to
this the declaration of General Prevost in his public letter from Dominica.
Did he not say, when asked what steps had been taken there in consequence
of the resolution of the House in 1797, "that the act of the legislature,
entitled an act for the encouragement, protection, and better government of
slaves, appeared to him to have been considered, from the day it was passed
until this hour, as a political measure to avert the interference of the
mother-country in the management of the slaves."

Sir William Yonge censured the harsh language of Sir Samuel Romilly, who
had applied the terms rapine, robbery, and murder to those, who were
connected with the Slave-trade. He considered the resolution of Mr. Fox as
a prelude to a bill for the abolition of that traffic, and this bill as a
prelude to emancipation, which would not only be dangerous in itself, but
would change the state of property in the islands.

Lord Henry Petty, after having commented on the speeches of Sir S. Romilly
and Lord Castlereagh, proceeded to state his own opinion on the trade;
which was, that it was contrary to justice, humanity, and sound policy, all
of which he considered to be inseparable. On its commencement in Africa the
wickedness began. It produced there fraud and violence, robbery and murder.
It gave birth to false accusations, and a mockery of justice. It was the
parent of every crime, which could at once degrade and afflict the human
race. After spreading vice and misery all over this continent, it doomed
its unhappy victims to hardships and cruelties which were worse than death.
The first of these was conspicuous in their transportation. It was found
there, that cruelty begat cruelty; that the system, wicked in its
beginning, was equally so in its progress; and that it perpetuated its
miseries wherever it was carried on. Nor was it baneful only to the
objects, but to the promoters of it. The loss of British seamen in this
traffic was enormous. One fifth of all, who were employed in it, perished;
that is, they became the victims of a system, which was founded on fraud,
robbery, and murder; and which procured to the British nation nothing but
the execration of mankind. Nor had we yet done with the evils, which
attended it; for it brought in its train the worst of all moral effects,
not only as it respected the poor slaves, when transported to the colonies,
but as it respected those, who had concerns with them there. The arbitrary
power, which it conferred, afforded men of bad dispositions full scope for
the exercise of their passions; and it rendered men, constitutionally of
good dispositions, callous to the misery of others. Thus it depraved the
nature of all, who were connected with it. These considerations had made
him a friend to the abolition from the time he was capable of reasoning
upon it. They were considerations also, which determined the House in the
year 1782 to adopt a measure of the same kind as the present. Had any thing
happened to change the opinion of members since? On the contrary, they had
now the clearest evidence, that all the arguments then used against the
abolition were fallacious; being founded not upon truth, but on assertions
devoid of all truth, and derived from ignorance or prejudice.

Having made these remarks, he proved by a number of facts the folly of the
argument, that the Africans laboured under such a total degradation of
mental and moral faculties, that they were made for slavery.

He then entered into the great subject of population. He showed that in all
countries, where there were no unnatural hardships, mankind would support
themselves. He applied this reasoning to the Negro-population in the West
Indies; which he maintained could not only be kept up, but increased,
without any further importations from Africa.

He then noticed the observations of Sir W. Yonge on the words of Sir S.
Romilly; and desired him to reserve his indignation for those, who were
guilty of acts of rapine, robbery, and murder, instead of venting it on
those, who only did their duty in describing them. Never were accounts more
shocking than those lately sent to government from the West Indies. Lord
Seaforth, and the Attorney-general, could not refrain, in explaining them,
from the use of the words murder and torture. And did it become members of
that House (in order to accommodate the nerves of the friends of the
Slave-trade) to soften down their expressions, when they were speaking on
that subject; and to desist from calling that murder and torture, for which
a governor, and the attorney-general, of one of the islands could find no
better name?

After making observations relative to the cooperation of foreign powers in
this great work, he hoped that the House would not suffer itself to be
drawn, either by opposition or by ridicule, to the right or to the left;
but that it would, advance straight forward to the accomplishment of the
most magnanimous act of justice, that was ever achieved by any legislature
in the world.

Mr. Rose declared, that on the very first promulgation of this question, he
had proposed to the friends of it the very plan of his noble friend Lord
Castlereagh; namely, a system of progressive duties, and of bounties for
the promotion of the Negro-population. This he said to show that he was
friendly to the principle of the measure. He would now observe, that he did
not wholly like the present resolution. It was too indefinite. He wished
also, that something had been said on the subject of compensation. He was
fearful also, lest the abolition should lead to the dangerous change of
emancipation. The Negros, he said, could not be in a better state, or more
faithful to their masters, than they were. In three attacks made by the
enemy on Dominica, where he had a large property, arms had been put into
their hands; and every one of them had exerted himself faithfully. With
respect to the cruel acts in Barbadoes, an account of which had been sent
to government by Lord Seaforth and the Attorney-general of Barbadoes, he
had read them; and never had he read any thing on this subject with more
horror. He would agree to the strongest measures for the prevention of such
acts in future. He would even give up the colony, which should refuse to
make the wilful murder of a slave felony. But as to the other, or common,
evils complained of, he thought the remedy should be gradual; and such also
as the planters would concur in. He would nevertheless not oppose the
present resolution.

Mr. Barham considered compensation but reasonable, where losses were to
accrue from the measure, when it should be put in execution; but he
believed that the amount of it would be much less than was apprehended. He
considered emancipation, though so many fears had been expressed about it,
as forming no objection to the abolition, though he had estates in the West
Indies himself. Such a measure, if it could be accomplished successfully,
would be an honour to the country, and a blessing to the planters; but
preparation must be made for it by rendering the slaves fit for freedom,
and by creating in them an inclination to free labour. Such a change could
only be the work of time.

Sir John Newport said that the expressions of Sir S. Romilly, which had
given such offence, had been used by others; and would be used with
propriety, while the trade lasted. Some slave-dealers of Liverpool had
lately attempted to prejudice certain merchants of Ireland in their favour.
But none of their representations answered; and it was remarkable, that the
reply made to them was in these words. "We will have no share in a traffic,
consisting in rapine, blood, and murder." He then took a survey of a system
of duties progressively increasing, and showed, that it would be utterly
inefficient; and that there was no real remedy for the different evils
complained of, but in the immediate prohibition of the trade.

Mr. Canning renewed his professions of friendship to the cause. He did not
like the present resolution; yet he would vote for it. He should have been
better pleased with a bill, which would strike at once at the root of this
detestable commerce.

Mr. Manning wished the question to be deferred to the next session. He
hoped, compensation would then be brought forward as connected with it.
Nothing, however, effectual could be done without the concurrence of the
planters.

Mr. William Smith noticed, in a striking manner, the different
inconsistencies in the arguments of those, who contended for the
continuance of the trade.

Mr. Windham deprecated not only the Slave-trade, but slavery also. They
were essentially connected with each other. They were both evils, and ought
both of them to be done away. Indeed, if emancipation would follow the
abolition, he should like the latter measure the better. Rapine, robbery,
and murder were the true characteristics of this traffic. The same epithets
had not indeed been applied to slavery, because this was a condition, in
which some part of the human race had been at every period of the history
of the world. It was, however, a state, which ought not to be allowed to
exist. But, notwithstanding all these confessions, he should weigh well the
consequences of the abolition before he gave it his support. It would be on
a balance between the evils themselves and the consequences of removing
them, that he should decide for himself on this question.

Mr. Fox took a view of all the arguments, which had been advanced by the
opponents of the abolition; and having given an appropriate answer to each,
the House divided, when there appeared for the resolution one hundred and
fourteen, and against it but fifteen.

Immediately after this division Mr. Wilberforce moved an address to His
Majesty, "praying that he would be graciously pleased, to direct a
negotiation to be entered into, by which foreign powers should be invited
to cooperate with His Majesty in measures to be adopted for the abolition
of the African Slave-trade."

This address was carried without a division. It was also moved and carried,
that "these resolutions be communicated to the Lords; and that their
concurrence should be desired therein."

On the twenty-fourth of June the Lords met to consider of the resolution
and address. The Earl of Westmoreland proposed, that both counsel and
evidence should be heard against them; but his proposition was overruled.

Lord Grenville then read the resolution of the Commons. This resolution, he
said, stated first, that the Slave-trade was contrary to humanity, justice,
and sound policy. That it was contrary to humanity was obvious; for
humanity might be said to be sympathy for the distress of others, or a
desire to accomplish benevolent ends by good means. But did not the
Slave-trade convey ideas the very reverse of this definition? It deprived
men of all those Comforts, in which it pleased the Creator to make the
happiness of his creatures to consist,--of the blessings of society,--of
the charities of the dear relationships of husband, wife, father, son, and
kindred,--of the due discharge of the relative duties of these,--and of
that freedom, which in its pure and natural sense was one of the greatest
gifts of God to man.

It was impossible to read the evidence, as it related to this trade,
without acknowledging the inhumanity of it, and our own disgrace. By what
means was it kept up in Africa? By wars instigated, not by the passions of
the natives, but by our avarice. He knew it would be said in reply to this,
that the slaves, who were purchased by us, would be put to death, if we
were not to buy them. But what should we say, if it should turn out, that
we were the causes of those very cruelties, which we affected to prevent?
But, if it were not so, ought the first nation in the world to condescend
to be the executioner of savages?

Another way of keeping up the Slave-trade was by the practice of
man-stealing. The evidence was particularly clear upon this head. This
practice included violence, and often bloodshed. The inhumanity of it
therefore could not be doubted.

The unhappy victims, being thus procured, were conveyed, he said, across
the Atlantic in a manner which justified the charge of inhumanity again.
Indeed the suffering here was so great, that neither the mind could
conceive nor the tongue describe it. He had said on a former occasion, that
in their transportation there was a greater portion of misery condensed
within a smaller space, than had ever existed in the known world. He would
repeat his words; for he did not know, how he could express himself better
on the subject. And, after all these horrors, what was their destiny? It
was such, as justified the charge in the resolution again: for, after
having survived the sickness arising from the passage, they were doomed to
interminable slavery.

We had been, he said, so much accustomed to words, descriptive of the
cruelty of this traffic, that we had almost forgotten their meaning. He
wished that some person, educated as an Englishman, with suitable powers of
eloquence, but now for the first time informed of all the horrors of it,
were to address their lordships upon it, and he was sure, that they would
instantly determine that it should cease. But the continuance of it had
rendered cruelty familiar to us; and the recital of its horrors had been so
frequent, that we could now hear them stated without being affected as we
ought to be. He intreated their lordships, however, to endeavour to
conceive the hard case of the unhappy victims of it; and as he had led them
to the last stage of their miserable existence, which was in the colonies,
to contemplate it there. They were there under the arbitrary will of a
cruel task-master from morning till night. When they went to rest, would
not their dreams be frightful? When they awoke, would they not awake,

          ----"only to discover sights of woe,
  Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
  And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
  That comes to all; but torture without end
  Still urges?"----

They knew no change, except in the humour of their masters, to whom their
whole destiny was entrusted. We might perhaps flatter ourselves with
saying, that they were subject to the will of Englishmen. But Englishmen
were not better than others, when in possession of arbitrary power. The
very fairest exercise of it was a never-failing corrupter of the heart. But
suppose it were allowed, that self-interest might operate some little
against cruelty; yet where was the interest of the overseer or the driver?
But he knew it would be said, that the evils complained of in the colonies
had been mitigated. There might be instances of this; but they could never
be cured, while slavery existed. Slavery took away more than half of the
human character. Hence the practice, where it existed, of rejecting the
testimony of the slave: but, if his testimony was rejected, where could be
his redress against his oppressor?

Having shown the inhumanity, he would proceed to the second point in the
resolution, or the injustice, of the trade. We had two ideas of justice,
first, as it belonged to society by virtue of a social compact; and,
secondly, as it belonged to men, not as citizens of a community, but as
beings of one common nature. In a state of nature, man had a right to the
fruit of his own labour absolutely to himself; and one of the main
purposes, for which he entered into society, was, that he might be better
protected in the possession of his rights. In both cases therefore it was
manifestly unjust, that a man should be made to labour during the whole of
his life, and yet have no benefit from his labour. Hence the Slave-trade
and the Colonial slavery were a violation of the very principle, upon which
all law for the protection of property was founded. Whatever benefit was
derived from that trade to an individual, it was derived from dishonour and
dishonesty. He forced from the unhappy victim of it that, which the latter
did not wish to give him; and he gave to the same victim that, which he in
vain attempted to show was an equivalent to the thing he took, it being a
thing for which there was no equivalent; and which, if he had not obtained
by force, he would not have possessed at all. Nor could there be any answer
to this reasoning, unless it could be proved, that it had pleased God to
give to the inhabitants of Britain a property in the liberty and life of
the natives of Africa. But he would go further on this subject. The
injustice complained of was not confined to the bare circumstance of
robbing them of the right to their own labour. It was conspicuous
throughout the system. They, who bought them, became guilty of all the
crimes which had been committed in procuring them; and, when they possessed
them, of all the crimes which belonged to their inhuman treatment. The
injustice in the latter case amounted frequently to murder. For what was it
but murder to pursue a practice, which produced untimely death to thousands
of innocent and helpless beings? It was a duty, which their lordships owed
to their Creator, if they hoped for mercy, to do away this monstrous
oppression.

With respect to the impolicy of the trade (the third point in the
resolution), he would say at once, that whatever was inhuman and unjust
must be impolitic. He had, however, no objection to argue the point upon
its own particular merits; and, first, he would observe, that a great man,
Mr. Pitt, now no more, had exerted his vast powers on many subjects to the
admiration of his hearers; but on none more successfully than on the
subject of the abolition of the Slave-trade. He proved, after making an
allowance for the price paid for the slaves in the West Indies, for the
loss of them in the seasoning, and for the expense of maintaining them
afterwards, and comparing these particulars with the amount in value of
their labour there, that the evils endured by the victims of the traffic
were no gain to the master, in whose service they took place. Indeed Mr.
Long had laid it down in his History of Jamaica, that the best way to
secure the planters from ruin would be to do that, which the resolution
recommended. It was notorious, that when any planter was in distress, and
sought to relieve himself by increasing the labour on his estate by means
of the purchase of new slaves, the measure invariably tended to his
destruction. What then was the importation of fresh Africans but a system,
tending to the general ruin of the islands?

But it had often been said, that without fresh importations the population
of the slaves could not be supported in the islands. This, however, was a
mistake. It had arisen from reckoning the deaths of the imported Africans,
of whom so many were lost in the seasoning, among the deaths of the
Creole-slaves. He did not mean to say, that under the existing degree of
misery the population would greatly increase; but he would maintain, that,
if the deaths and the births were calculated upon those, who were either
born, or who had been a long time in the islands, so as to be considered as
natives, it would be found that the population had not only been kept up,
but that it had been increased.

If it was true, that the labour of a free man was cheaper than that of a
slave; and also that the labour of a long imported slave was cheaper than
that of a fresh imported one; and again, that the chances of mortality were
much more numerous among the newly imported slaves in the West Indies, than
among those of old standing there (propositions, which he took to be
established), we should see new arguments for the impolicy of the trade.

It might be stated also, that the importation of vast bodies of men, who
had been robbed of their rights, and grievously irritated on that account,
into our colonies (where their miserable condition opened new sources of
anger and revenge), was the importation only of the seeds of insurrection
into them. And here he could not but view with astonishment the reasoning
of the West Indian planters, who held up the example of St. Domingo as a
warning against the abolition of the Slave-trade; because the continuance
of it was one of the great causes of the insurrections and subsequent
miseries in that devoted island. Let us but encourage importations in the
same rapid progression of increase every year, which took place in St.
Domingo, and we should witness the same effect in our own islands.

To expose the impolicy of the trade further, he would observe, that it was
an allowed axiom, that as the condition of man was improved, he became more
useful. The history of our own country, in very early times, exhibited
instances of internal slavery, and this to a considerable extent. But we
should find that precisely in proportion as that slavery was ameliorated,
the power and prosperity of the country flourished. This was exactly
applicable to the case in question. There could be no general amelioration
of slavery in the West Indies, while the Slave-trade lasted: but, if we
were to abolish it, we should make it the interest of every owner of slaves
to do that, which would improve their condition; and which indeed would
lead ultimately to the annihilation of slavery itself. This great event,
however, could not be accomplished at once. It could only be effected in a
course of time.

It would be endless, he said, to go into all the cases, which would
manifest the impolicy of this odious traffic. Inhuman as it was, unjust as
it was, he believed it to be equally impolitic; and if their lordships
should be of this opinion also, he hoped they would agree to that part of
the resolution, in which these truths were expressed. With respect to the
other part of it, or that they would proceed to abolish the trade, he
observed, that neither the time nor the manner of doing it were specified.
Hence if any of them should differ as to these particulars, they might yet
vote for the resolution; as they were not pledged to any thing definite in
these respects; provided they thought that the trade should be abolished at
some time or other; and he did not believe, that there was any one of them,
who would sanction its continuance for ever.

Lord Hawkesbury said, that he did not mean to discuss the question on the
ground of justice and humanity, as contradistinguished from sound policy.
If it could fairly be made out, that the African Slave-trade was contrary
to justice and humanity, it ought to be abolished. It did not, however,
follow, because a great evil subsisted, that therefore it should be
removed; for it might be comparatively a less evil, than that which would
accompany the attempt to remove it. The noble lord, who had just spoken,
had exemplified this: for though slavery was a great evil in itself, he was
of opinion, that it could not be done away but in a course of time.

A state of slavery, he said, had existed in Africa from the earliest time;
and, unless other nations would concur with England in the measure of the
abolition, we could not change it for the better.

Slavery had existed also throughout all Europe. It had now happily in a
great measure been done away. But how? Not by acts of parliament; for these
might have retarded the event; but by the progress of civilization, which
removed the evil in a gradual and rational manner.

He then went over the same ground of argument, as when a member of the
Commons in 1792. He said that the inhumanity of the abolition was visible
in this, that not one slave less would be taken from Africa; and that such,
as were taken from it, would suffer more than they did now, in the hands of
foreigners. He maintained also, as before, that the example of St. Domingo
afforded one of the strongest arguments against the abolition of the trade.
And he concluded by objecting to the resolution, inasmuch as it could do no
good; for the substance of it would be to be discussed again in a future
session.

The Bishop of London (Dr. Porteus) began by noticing the concession of the
last speaker, namely, that, if the trade was contrary to humanity and
justice, it ought to be abolished. He expected, he said, that the noble
lord would have proved, that it was not contrary to these great principles,
before he had supported its continuance; but not a word had he said to
show, that the basis of the resolution in these respects was false. It
followed then, he thought, that as the noble lord had not disproved the
premises, he was bound to abide by the conclusion.

The ways, he said, in which the Africans were reduced to slavery in their
own country, were by wars, many of which were excited for the purpose; by
the breaking up of villages; by kidnapping; and by convictions for a
violation of their own laws. Of the latter class many were accused falsely,
and of crimes which did not exist. He then read a number of extracts from
the evidence examined before the privy council, and from the histories of
those, who, having lived in Africa, had thrown light upon this subject,
before the question was agitated. All these, he said, (and similar
instances could be multiplied,) proved the truth of the resolution, that
the African Slave-trade was contrary to the principles of humanity,
justice, and sound policy.

It was moreover, he said, contrary to the principles of the religion we
professed. It was not superfluous to say this, when it had been so
frequently asserted, that it was sanctioned both by the Jewish and the
Christian dispensations. With respect to the Jews he would observe, that
there was no such thing as perpetual slavery among them. Their slaves were
of two kinds, those of their own nation, and those from the country round
about them. The former were to be set free on the seventh year; and the
rest, of whatever nation, on the fiftieth, or on the year of Jubilee. With
respect to the Christian dispensation, it was a libel to say, that it
countenanced such a traffic. It opposed it both in its spirit and in its
principle. Nay, it opposed it positively; for it classed men-stealers, or
slave-traders, among the murderers of fathers and mothers and the most
profane criminals upon earth.

The antiquity of slavery in Africa, which the noble lord had glanced at,
afforded, he said, no argument for its continuance. Such a mode of defence
would prevent for ever the removal of any evil. It would justify the
practice of the Chinese, who exposed their infants in the streets to
perish. It would also justify piracy; for that practice existed long before
we knew any thing of the African Slave-trade.

He then combated the argument, that we did a kindness to the Africans by
taking them from their homes; and concluded, by stating to their lordships,
that, if they refused to sanction the resolution, they would establish
these principles, "that though individuals might not rob and murder, yet
that nations might--that though individuals incurred the penalties of death
by such practices, yet that bodies of men might commit them with impunity
for the purposes of lucre,--and that for such purposes they were not only
to be permitted, but encouraged."

The Lord Chancellor (Erskine) confessed, that he was not satisfied with his
own conduct on this subject. He acknowledged with deep contrition, that,
during the time he was a member of the other House, he had not once
attended, when this great question was discussed.

In the West Indies he could say personally, that the slaves were well
treated, where he had an opportunity of seeing them. But no judgement was
to be formed there with respect to the evils complained of. They must be
appreciated as they existed in the trade. Of these he had also been an
eye-witness. It was on this account that he felt contrition for not having
attended the House on this subject; for there were some cruelties in this
traffic which the human imagination could not aggravate. He had witnessed
such scenes over the whole coast of Africa: and he could say, that, if
their lordships could only have a sudden glimpse of them, they would be
struck with horror; and would be astonished, that they could ever have been
permitted to exist. What then would they say to their continuance year
after year, and from age to age?

From information, which he could not dispute, he was warranted in saying,
that on this continent husbands were fraudulently and forcibly severed from
their wives, and parents from their children; and that all the ties of
blood and affection were torn up by the roots. He had himself seen the
unhappy natives put together in heaps in the hold of a ship, where, with
every possible attention to them, their situation must have been
intolerable. He had also heard proved, in courts of justice, facts still
more dreadful than those which he had seen. One of these he would just
mention. The slaves on board a certain ship rose in a mass to liberate
themselves; and having advanced far in the pursuit of their object, it
became necessary to repel them by force. Some of them yielded; some of them
were killed in the scuffle; but many of them actually jumped into the sea
and were drowned; thus preferring death to the misery of their situation;
while others hung to the ship, repenting of their rashness, and bewailing
with frightful noises their horrid fate. Thus the whole vessel exhibited
but one hideous scene of wretchedness. They, who were subdued, and secured
in chains, were seized with the flux, which carried many of them off. These
things were proved in a trial before a British jury, which had to consider,
whether this was a loss, which fell within the policy of insurance, the
slaves being regarded as if they had been only a cargo of dead matter. He
could mention other instances, but they were much too shocking to be
described. Surely their lordships could never consider such a traffic to be
consistent with humanity or justice. It was impossible.

That the trade had long subsisted there was no doubt; but this was no
argument for its continuance. Many evils of much longer standing had been
done away; and it was always our duty to attempt to remove them. Should we
not exult in the consideration, that we, the inhabitants of a small island,
at the extremity of the globe, almost at its north pole, were become the
morning-star to enlighten the nations of the earth, and to conduct them out
of the shades of darkness into the realms of light; thus exhibiting to an
astonished and an admiring world the blessings of a free constitution? Let
us then not allow such a glorious opportunity to escape us.

It had been urged that we should suffer by the abolition of the
Slave-trade. He believed we should not suffer. He believed that our duty
and our interest were inseparable: and he had no difficulty in saying, in
the face of the world, that his own opinion was, that the interests of a
nation would be best preserved by its adherence to the principles of
humanity, justice, and religion.

The Earl of Westmoreland said, that the African Slave-trade might be
contrary to humanity and justice, and yet it might be politic; at least, it
might be inconsistent with humanity, and yet be not inconsistent with
justice: this was the case, when we executed a criminal, or engaged in war.

It was, however, not contrary to justice; for justice in this case must be
measured by the law of nations. But the purchase of slaves was not contrary
to this law. The Slave-trade was a trade with the consent of the
inhabitants of two nations, and procured by no terror, nor by any act of
violence whatever. Slavery had existed from the first ages of the world,
not only in Africa, but throughout the habitable globe; among the Persians,
Greeks, and Romans; and he could compare, with great advantage to his
argument, the wretched condition of the slaves in these ancient states with
that of those in our colonies. Slavery too had been allowed in a nation,
which was under the especial direction of Providence. The Jews were allowed
to hold the heathen in bondage. He admitted, that what the learned prelate
had said relative to the emancipation of the latter in the year of jubilee
was correct; but he denied that his quotation relative to the stealers of
men referred to the Christian religion. It was a mere allusion to that,
which was done contrary to the law of nations, which was the only measure
of justice between states.

With respect to the inhumanity of the trade, he would observe, that if
their lordships, sitting there as legislators, were to set their faces
against every thing which appeared to be inhuman, much of the security on
which their lives and property depended, might be shaken, if not totally
destroyed. The question was, not whether there was not some evil attending
the Slave-trade, but whether by the measure now before them they should
increase or diminish the quantum of human misery in the world. He believed,
for one, considering the internal state of Africa, and the impossibility of
procuring the concurrence of foreign nations in the measure, that they
would not be able to do any good by the adoption of it.

As to the impolicy of the trade, the policy of it, on the other hand, was
so great, that he trembled at the consequences of its abolition. The
property connected with this question amounted to a hundred millions. The
annual produce of the islands was eighteen millions, and it yielded a
revenue of four millions annually. How was this immense property and income
to be preserved? Some had said it would be preserved, because the Black
population in the islands could be kept up without further supplies. But
the planters denied this assertion; and they were the best judges of the
subject.

He condemned the resolution as a libel upon the wisdom of the law of the
land, and upon the conduct of their ancestors. He condemned it also,
because, if followed up, it would lead to the abolition of the trade, and
the abolition of the trade to the emancipation of the slaves in our
colonies.

The Bishop of St. Asaph (Dr. Horsley) said, that, allowing the slaves in
the West Indies even to be pampered with delicacies, or to be put to rest
on a bed of roses, they could not be happy, for--a slave would be still a
slave. The question, however, was not concerning the alteration of their
condition, but whether we should abolish the practice, by which they were
put in that condition? Whether it was humane, just, and politic in us so to
place them? This question was easily answered; for he found it difficult to
form any one notion of humanity, which did not include a desire of
promoting the happiness of others; and he knew of no other justice than
that, which was founded on the principle of doing to others, as we should
wish they should do to us. And these principles of humanity and justice
were so clear, that he found it difficult to make them clearer. Perhaps no
difficulty was greater than that of arguing a self-evident proposition, and
such he took to be the character of the proposition, that the Slave-trade
was inhuman and unjust.

It had been said, that slavery had existed from the beginning of the world.
He would allow it. But had such a trade as the Slave-trade ever existed
before? Would the noble Earl, who had talked of the slavery of ancient Rome
and Greece, assert, that in the course of his whole reading, however
profound it might have been, he had found any thing resembling such a
traffic? Where did it appear in history, that ships were regularly fitted
out to fetch away tens of thousands of persons annually, against their
will, from their native land; that these were subject to personal
indignities and arbitrary punishments during their transportation; and that
a certain proportion of them, owing to suffocation and other cruel causes,
uniformly perished? He averred, that nothing like the African Slave-trade
was ever practised in any nation upon earth.

If the trade then was repugnant, as he maintained it was, to justice and
humanity, he did not see how, without aiding and abetting injustice and
inhumanity, any man could sanction it: and he thought that the noble baron
(Hawkesbury) was peculiarly bound to support the resolution; for he had
admitted that if it could be shown, that the trade was contrary to these
principles, the question would be at an end. Now this contrariety had been
made apparent, and his lordship had not even attempted to refute it.

He would say but little on the subject of revealed religion, as it related
to this question, because the reverend prelate, near him, had spoken so
fully upon it. He might observe, however, that at the end of the sixth
year, when the Hebrew slave was emancipated, he was to be furnished
liberally from the flock, the floor, and the wine-press of his master.

Lord Holland lamented the unfaithfulness of the noble baron (Hawkesbury) to
his own principles, and the inflexible opposition of the noble earl
(Westmoreland), from both which circumstances he despaired for ever of any
assistance from them to this glorious cause. The latter wished to hear
evidence on the subject, for the purpose, doubtless, of delay. He was sure,
that the noble earl did not care what the evidence would say on either
side; for his mind was made up, that the trade ought not to be abolished.

The noble earl had made a difference between humanity, justice, and sound
policy. God forbid, that we should ever admit such distinctions in this
country! But he had gone further, and said, that a thing might be inhuman,
and yet not unjust; and he put the case of the execution of a criminal in
support of it. Did he not by this position confound all notions of right
and wrong in human institutions? When a criminal was justly executed, was
not the execution justice to him who suffered, and humanity to the body of
the people at large?

The noble earl had said also, that we should do no good by the abolition,
because other nations would not concur in it. He did not know what other
nations would do; but this he knew, that we ourselves ought not to be
unjust because they should refuse to be honest. It was, however,
self-obvious, that, if we admitted no more slaves into our colonies, the
evil would be considerably diminished.

Another of his arguments did not appear to be more solid; for surely the
Slave-trade ought not to be continued, merely because the effect of the
abolition might ultimately be that of the emancipation of the slaves; an
event, which would be highly desirable in its due time.

The noble lord had also said, that the planters were against the abolition,
and that without their consent it could never be accomplished. He differed
from him in both these points: for, first, he was a considerable planter
himself, and yet he was a friend to the measure: secondly, by cutting off
all further supplies, the planters would be obliged to pay more attention
to the treatment of their slaves, and this treatment would render the trade
unnecessary.

The noble earl had asserted also, that the population in the West Indies
could not be kept up without further importations; and this was the opinion
of the planters, who were the best judges of the subject. As a planter he
differed from his lordship again. If indeed all the waste lands were to be
brought into cultivation, the present population would be insufficient. But
the government had already determined, that the trade should not be
continued for such a purpose. We were no longer to continue pirates, or
executioners for every petty tyrant in Africa, in order that every holder
of a bit of land in our islands might cultivate the whole of his allotment;
a work, which might require centuries. Making this exception, he would
maintain, that no further importations were necessary. Few or no slaves had
been imported into Antigua for many years; and he believed, that even some
had been exported from it. As to Jamaica, although in one year fifteen
thousand died in consequence of a hurricane and famine, the excess of
deaths over the births during the twenty years preceding 1788 was only one
per cent. Deducting, however, the mortality of the newly imported slaves,
and making the calculation upon the Negros born in the island or upon those
who had been long there, he believed the births and the deaths would be
found equal. He had a right therefore to argue that the Negros, with better
treatment (which the abolition would secure), would not only maintain but
increase their population, without any aid from Africa. He would add, that
the newly imported Africans brought with them not only disorders, which
ravaged the plantations, but danger from the probability of insurrections.
He wished most heartily for the total abolition of the trade. He was
convinced, that it was both inhuman, unjust, and impolitic. This had always
been his opinion as an individual since he was capable of forming one. It
was his opinion then as a legislator. It was his opinion as a colonial
proprietor; and it was his opinion as an Englishman, wishing for the
prosperity of the British empire.

The Earl of Suffolk contended, that the population of the slaves in the
islands could be kept up by good treatment, so as to be sufficient for
their cultivation. He entered into a detail of calculations from the year
1772 downwards in support of this statement. He believed all the miseries
of St. Domingo arose from the vast importation of Africans. He had such a
deep sense of the inhumanity and injustice of the Slave-trade, that, if
ever he wished any action of his life to be recorded, it would be that of
the vote he should then give in support of the resolution.

Lord Sidmouth said, that he agreed to the substance of the resolution, but
yet he could not support it. Could he be convinced that the trade would be
injurious to the cause of humanity and justice, the question with him would
be decided; for policy could not be opposed to humanity and justice. He had
been of opinion for the last twenty years, that the interests of the
country and those of numerous individuals were so deeply blended with this
traffic, that we should be very cautious how we proceeded. With respect to
the cultivation of new lands, he would not allow a single Negro to be
imported for such a purpose; but he must have a regard to the old
plantations. When he found a sufficient increase in the Black population to
continue the cultivation already established there, then, but not till
then, he would agree to an abolition of the trade.

Earl Stanhope said he would not detain their lordships long. He could not,
however, help expressing his astonishment at what had fallen from the last
speaker; for he had evidently confessed that the Slave-trade was inhuman
and unjust, and then he had insinuated, that it was neither inhuman nor
unjust to continue it. A more paradoxical or whimsical opinion, he
believed, was never entertained, or more whimsically expressed in that
house. The noble viscount had talked of the interests of the planters: but
this was but a part of the subject; for surely the people of Africa were
not to be forgotten. He did not understand the practice of complimenting
the planters with the lives of men, women, and helpless children by
thousands for the sake of their pecuniary advantage; and they, who adopted
it, whatever they might think of the consistency of their own conduct,
offered an insult to the sacred names of humanity and justice.

The noble earl (Westmoreland) had asked what would be the practical effect
of the abolition of the Slave-trade. He would inform him. It would do away
the infamous practices, which took place in Africa; it would put an end to
the horrors of the passage; it would save many thousands of our
fellow-creatures from the miseries of eternal slavery; it would oblige the
planters to treat those better, who were already in that unnatural state;
it would increase the population of our islands; it would give a death-blow
to the diabolical calculations, whether it was cheaper to work the Negros
to death and recruit the gangs by fresh importations, or to work them
moderately and to treat them kindly. He knew of no event, which would be
attended with so many blessings.

There was but one other matter, which he would notice. The noble baron
(Hawkesbury) had asserted, that all the horrors of St. Domingo were the
consequence of the speculative opinions, which were current in a
neighbouring kingdom on the subject of liberty. They had, he said, no such
origin. They were owing to two causes; first, to the vast number of Negros
recently imported into that island; and, secondly, to a scandalous breach
of faith by the French legislature. This legislature held out the idea not
only of the abolition of the Slave-trade, but also of all slavery; but it
broke its word. It held forth the rights of man to the whole human race,
and then, in practice, it most infamously abandoned every article in these
rights; so that it became the scorn of all the enlightened and virtuous
part of mankind. These were the great causes of the miseries of St.
Domingo, and not the speculative opinions of France.

Earl Grosvenor could not but express the joy he felt at the hope, after all
his disappointments, that this wicked trade would be done away. He hoped
that His Majesty's ministers were in earnest, and that they would, early in
the next session, take this great question up with a determination to go
through with it; so that another year should not pass, before we extended
the justice and humanity of the country to the helpless and unhappy
inhabitants of Africa.

Earl Fitzwilliam said he was fearful, lest the calamities of St. Domingo
should be brought home to our own islands. We ought not, he thought, too
hastily to adopt the resolution on that account. He should therefore
support the previous question.

Lord Ellenborough said, he was sorry to differ from his noble friend (Lord
Sidmouth), and yet he could not help saying that if after twenty years,
during which this question had been discussed by both Houses of Parliament,
their Lordships' judgments were not ripe for its determination, he could
not look with any confidence to a time, when they would be ready to decide
it.

The question then before them was short and plain. It was, whether the
African Slave-trade was inhuman, unjust, and impolitic. If the premises
were true, we could not too speedily bring it to a conclusion.

The subject had been frequently brought before him in a way, which had
enabled him to become acquainted with it; and he was the more anxious on
that account to deliver his sentiments upon it as a peer of Parliament,
without reference to any thing he had been called upon to do in the
discharge of his professional duty. When he looked at the mode in which
this traffic commenced, by the spoliation of the rights of a whole quarter
of the globe; by the misery of whole nations of helpless Africans; by
tearing them from their homes, their families, and their friends; when he
saw the unhappy victims carried away by force; thrust into a dungeon in the
hold of a ship, in which the interval of their passage from their native to
a foreign land was filled up with misery, under every degree of debasement,
and in chains; and when he saw them afterwards consigned to an eternal
slavery; he could not but contemplate the whole system with horror. It was
inhuman in its beginning, inhuman in its progress, and inhuman to the very
end.

Nor was it more inhuman than it was unjust. The noble earl, (Westmoreland)
in adverting to this part of the question, had considered it as a question
of justice between two nations. But it was a moral question. Although the
natives of Africa might be taken by persons authorized by their own laws to
take and dispose of them, and the practice therefore might be said to be
legal as it respected them, yet no man could doubt, whatever ordinances
they might have to sanction it, that it was radically, essentially, and in
principle, unjust; and therefore there could be no excuse for us in
continuing it. On the general principle of natural justice, which was
paramount to all ordinances of men, it was quite impossible to defend this
traffic; and he agreed with the noble baron (Hawkesbury) that, having
decided that it was inhuman and unjust, we should not inquire whether it
was impolitic. Indeed, the inquiry itself would be impious; for it was the
common ordinance of God, that that, which was inhuman and unjust, should
never be for the good of man. Its impolicy therefore was included in its
injustice and its inhumanity. And he had no doubt, when the importations
were stopped, that the planters would introduce a change of system among
their slaves, which would increase their population, so as to render any
further supplies from Africa unnecessary. It had been proved indeed, that
the Negro-population in some of the islands was already in this desirable
state. Many other happy effects would follow. As to the losses which would
arise from the abolition of the Slave-trade, they, who were interested in
the continuance of it, had greatly over-rated, them. When pleading formerly
in his professional capacity for the merchants of Liverpool at their
lordships' bar, he had often delivered statements, which he had received
from them; and which he afterward discovered to be grossly incorrect. He
could say from his own knowledge, that the assertion of the noble earl
(Westmoreland), that property to the amount of a hundred millions would be
endangered, was wild and fanciful. He would not however deny, that some
loss might accompany the abolition; but there could be no difficulty in
providing for it. Such a consideration ought not to be allowed to impede
their progress in getting rid of an horrible injustice.

But it had been said, that we should do but little in the cause of humanity
by abolishing the Slave-trade; because other nations would continue it. He
did not believe they would. He knew that America was about to give it up.
He believed the states of Europe would give it up. But, supposing that they
were all to continue it, would not our honour be the greater? Would not our
virtue be the more signal? for then,

                  ----"faithful we
  Among the faithless found"----

to which he would add, that undoubtedly we should diminish the evil, as far
as the number of miserable beings was concerned, which was accustomed to be
transported to our own colonies.

Earl Spencer agreed with the noble viscount (Sidmouth) that the
amelioration of the condition of the slaves was an object, which might be
effected in the West Indies; but he was certain, that the most effectual
way of improving it would be by the total and immediate abolition of the
Slave-trade; and for that reason he would support the resolution. Had the
resolution held out emancipation to them, it would not have had his assent;
for it would have ill become the character of this country, if it had been
once promised, to have withheld it from them. It was to such deception that
the horrors of St. Domingo were to be attributed. He would not enter into
the discussion of the general subject at present. He was convinced that the
trade was what the resolution stated it to be, inhuman, unjust, and
impolitic. He wished therefore, most earnestly indeed, for its abolition.
As to the mode of effecting it, it should be such, as would be attended
with the least inconvenience to all parties. At the same time he would not
allow small inconveniences to stand in the way of the great claims of
humanity, justice, and religion.

The question was then put on the resolution, and carried by a majority of
forty-one to twenty. The same address also to His Majesty, which had been
agreed upon by the Commons, was directly afterward moved. This also was
carried, but without the necessity of a division.

The resolution and the motion having passed both Houses, one other
parliamentary measure was yet necessary to complete the proceedings of this
session. It was now almost universally believed, in consequence of what had
already taken place there, that the Slave-trade had received its
death-wound; and that it would not long survive it. It was supposed
therefore, that the slave-merchants would, in the interim, fit out not only
all the vessels they had, but even buy others, to make what might be called
their last harvest. Hence extraordinary scenes of rapine, and murder, would
be occasioned in Africa. To prevent these a new bill was necessary. This
was accordingly introduced into the Commons. It enacted, but with one
exception, that from and after the first of August 1806, no vessel should
clear out for the Slave-trade, unless it should have been previously
employed by the same owner or owners in the said trade, or should be proved
to have been contracted for previously to the tenth of June 1806, for the
purpose of being employed in that trade. It may now be sufficient to say
that this bill also passed both houses of parliament; soon after which the
session ended.




CHAPTER X.

_Continuation from July 18O6 to March 18O7--Death of Mr. Fox--Bill for the
total abolition of the Slave-trade carried in the House of Lords--sent from
thence to the Commons--amended and passed there--carried back, and passed
with its amendments by the Lords--receives the royal assent--Reflections on
this great event._


It was impossible for the committee to look back to the proceedings of the
last session, as they related to the great question under their care,
without feeling a profusion of joy, as well as of gratitude to those, by
whose virtuous endeavours they had taken place. But, alas, how few of our
earthly pleasures come to us without alloy! a melancholy event succeeded.
We had the painful intelligence, in the month of October 1806, that one of
the oldest and warmest friends of the cause was then numbered with the
dead.

Of the character of Mr. Fox, as it related to this cause, I am bound to
take notice. And, first, I may observe, that he professed an attachment to
it almost as soon as it was ushered into the world. Early in the year 1788,
when he was waited upon by a deputation of the committee, his language was,
as has appeared in the first volume, "that he would support their object to
its fullest extent, being convinced that there was no remedy for the evil
but in the total abolition of the trade."

His subsequent conduct evinced the sincerity of his promises. He was
constant in his attendance in Parliament whenever the question was brought
forward; and he never failed to exert his powerful eloquence in its favour.
The countenance, indeed, which he gave it, was of the greatest importance
to its welfare; for most of his parliamentary friends, who followed his
general political sentiments, patronized it also. By the aid of these,
joined to that of the private friends of Mr. Pitt, and of other members,
who espoused it without reference to party, it was always so upheld, that
after the year 1791 no one of the defeats, which it sustained, was
disgraceful. The majority on the side of those interested in the
continuance of the trade was always so trifling, that the abolitionists
were preserved a formidable body, and their cause respectable.

I never heard whether Mr. Fox, when he came into power, made any
stipulations with His Majesty on the subject of the Slave-trade: but this I
know, that he determined upon the abolition of it, if it were practicable,
as the highest glory of his administration, and as the greatest earthly
blessing which it was in the power of the Government to bestow; and that he
took considerable pains to convince some of his colleagues in the cabinet
of the propriety of the measure.

When the resolution, which produced the debates in parliament, as detailed
in the last chapter, was under contemplation, it was thought expedient that
Mr. Fox, as the minister of state in the House of Commons, should introduce
it himself. When applied to for this purpose he cheerfully undertook the
office, thus acting in consistency with his public declaration in the year
1791, "that in whatever situation he might ever be, he would use his
warmest efforts for the promotion of this righteous cause."

Before the next measure, or the bill to prevent the sailing of any new
vessel in the trade after the first of August, was publicly disclosed, it
was suggested to him, that the session was nearly over; that he might
possibly weary both Houses by another motion on the subject; and that, if
he were to lose it, or to experience a diminution of his majorities in
either, he might injure the cause; which was then in the road to triumph.
To this objection he replied, "that he believed both Houses were disposed
to get rid of the trade; that his own life was precarious; that if he
omitted to serve the injured Africans on this occasion, he might have no
other opportunity of doing it; and that he dared not, under these
circumstances, neglect so great a duty."

This prediction relative to himself became unfortunately verified; for his
constitution, after this, began to decline, till at length his mortal
destiny, in the eyes of his medical attendants, was sealed. But even then,
when removed by pain and sickness from the discussion of political
subjects, he never forgot this cause. In his own sufferings he was not
unmindful of those of the injured Africans. "Two things," said he, on his
death-bed, "I wish earnestly to see accomplished--peace with Europe,--and
the abolition of the Slave-trade." But knowing well, that we could much
better protect ourselves against our own external enemies, than this
helpless people against their oppressors, he added, "but of the two I wish
the latter." These sentiments he occasionally repeated, so that the subject
was frequently in his thoughts in his last illness. Nay, "the very hope of
the abolition (to use the expression of Lord Howick in the House of
Commons) quivered on his lips in the last hour of it." Nor is it
improbable, if earthly scenes ever rise to view at that awful crisis, and
are perceptible, that it might have occupied his mind in the last moment of
his existence. Then indeed would joy ineffable, from a conviction of having
prepared the way for rescuing millions of human beings from misery, have
attended the spirit on its departure from the body; and then also would
this spirit, most of all purified when in the contemplation of peace,
good-will, and charity upon earth, be in the fittest state, on gliding from
its earthly cavern, to commix with the endless ocean of benevolence and
love.

At length the session of 1807 commenced. It was judged advisable by Lord
Grenville, that the expected motion on this subject should, contrary to the
practice hitherto adopted, be agitated first in the Lords. Accordingly, on
the second of January he presented a bill, called an act for the abolition
of the Slave-trade; but he then proposed only to print it, and to let it
lie on the table, that it might be maturely considered, before it should be
discussed.

On the fourth no less than four counsel were heard against the bill.

On the fifth the debate commenced. But of this I shall give no detailed
account; nor, indeed, of any of those, which followed it. The truth is,
that the subject has been exhausted. They, who spoke in favour of the
abolition, said very little that was new concerning it. They, who spoke
against it, brought forward, as usual, nothing but negative assertions and
fanciful conjectures. To give therefore, what was said by both parties at
these times, would be but useless repetition[A]. To give, on the other
hand, that which was said on one side only would appear partial. Hence I
shall offer to the reader little more than a narrative of facts upon these
occasions.

[Footnote A: The different debates in both Houses on this occasion would
occupy the half of another volume. This is another circumstance, which
reconciles me to the omission. But that, which reconciles me the most is,
that they will be soon published. In these debates justice has been done to
every individual concerned in them.]

Lord Grenville opened the debate by a very luminous speech. He was
supported by the Duke of Glocester, the Bishop of Durham (Dr. Barrington),
the Earls Moira, Selkirk, and Roslyn, and the Lords Holland, King, and
Hood. The opponents of the bill were the Duke of Clarence, the Earls
Westmoreland and St. Vincent, and the Lords Sidmouth, Eldon, and
Hawkesbury.


The question being called for at four o'clock in the morning, it appeared
that the personal votes and proxies in favour of Lord Grenville's motion
amounted to one hundred, and those against it to thirty-six. Thus passed
the first bill in England, which decreed, that the African Slave-trade
should cease. And here I cannot omit paying to his Highness the Duke of
Glocester the tribute of respect, which is due to him, for having opposed
the example of his royal relations on this subject in behalf of an helpless
and oppressed people. The sentiments too, which he delivered on this
occasion, ought not to be forgotten. "This trade," said he, "is contrary to
the principles of the British constitution. It is, besides, a cruel and
criminal traffic in the blood of my fellow-creatures. It is a foul stain on
the national character. It is an offence to the Almighty. On every ground
therefore on which a decision can be made; on the ground of policy, of
liberty, of humanity, of justice, but, above all, on the ground of
religion, I shall vote for its immediate extinction."

On the tenth of February the bill was carried to the House of Commons. On
the twentieth, counsel were heard against it; after which, by agreement,
the second reading of it took place. On the twenty-third the question being
put for the commitment of it, Lord Viscount Howick (now Earl Grey) began an
eloquent speech. After he had proceeded in it some way, he begged leave to
enter his protest against certain principles of relative justice, which had
been laid down. "The merchants and planters," said he, "have an undoubted
right, in common with other subjects of the realm, to demand justice at our
hands. But that, which they denominate justice, does not correspond with
the legitimate character of that virtue; for they call upon us to violate
the rights of others, and to transgress our own moral duties. That, which
they distinguish as justice, involves in itself the greatest injury to
others. It is not in fact justice, which they demand, but--favour--and
favour to themselves at the expense of the most grievous oppression of
their fellow-creatures."

He then argued the question upon the ground of policy. He showed by a
number of official documents, how little this trade had contributed to the
wealth of the nation, being but a fifty-fourth part of its export trade;
and he contended that as four-sevenths of it had been cut off by His
Majesty's proclamation, and the passing of the foreign Slave-bill in a
former year, no detriment of any consequence would arise from the present
measure.

He entered into an account of the loss of seamen, and of the causes of the
mortality, in this trade.

He went largely into the subject of the Negro-population in the islands
from official documents, giving an account of it up to the latest date. He
pointed out the former causes of its diminution, and stated how the
remedies for these would follow.

He showed how, even if the quantity of colonial produce should be
diminished for a time, this disadvantage would, in a variety of instances,
be more than counterbalanced by advantages, which would not only be great
in themselves, but permanent.

He then entered into a refutation of the various objections which had been
made to the abolition, in an eloquent and perspicuous manner; and concluded
by appealing to the great authorities of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox in behalf of
the proposed measure. "These precious ornaments, he said, of their age and
country had examined the subject with all the force of their capacious
minds. On this question they had dismissed all animosity--all difference of
opinion--and had proceeded in union;--and he believed, that the best
tribute of respect we could show, or the most splendid monument we could
raise, to their memories, Would be by the adoption of the glorious measure
of the abolition of the Slave-trade."

Lord Howick was supported by Mr. Roscoe, who was then one of the members
for Liverpool; by Mr. Lushington, Mr. Fawkes, Lord Mahon, Lord Milton, Sir
John Doyle, Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Wilberforce, and Earl Percy, the latter
of whom wished that a clause might be put into the bill, by which all the
children of slaves, born after January 1810, should be made free. General
Gascoyne and Mr. Hibbert opposed the bill. Mr. Manning hoped that
compensation would be made to the planters in case of loss. Mr. Bathurst
and Mr. Hiley Addington preferred a plan for gradual abolition to the
present mode. These having spoken, it appeared on a division that there
were for the question two hundred and eighty-three, and against it only
sixteen.

Of this majority I cannot but remark, that it was probably the largest that
was ever announced on any occasion, where the House was called upon to
divide. I must observe also, that there was such an enthusiasm among the
members at this time, that there appeared to be the same kind and degree of
feeling, as manifested itself within the same walls in the year 1788, when
the question was first started. This enthusiasm too, which was of a moral
nature, was so powerful, that it seemed even to extend to a conversion of
the heart: for several of the old opponents of this righteous cause went
away, unable to vote against it; while others of them staid in their
places, and voted in its favour.

On the twenty-seventh of February Lord Howick moved, that the House resolve
itself into a committee on the bill for the abolition of the Slave-trade.
Sir C. Pole, Mr. Hughan, Brown, Bathurst, Windham, and Fuller opposed the
motion; and Sir R. Milbank, and Mr. Wynne, Barham, Courtenay, Montague,
Jacob, Whitbread, and Herbert (of Kerry), supported it. At length the
committee was allowed to sit _pro forma_, and Mr. Hobhouse was put into the
chair. The bill then went through it, and, the House being resumed, the
report was received and read.

On the sixth of March, when the committee sat again, Sir C. Pole moved,
that the year 1812 be substituted for the year 1807, as the time when the
trade should be abolished. This amendment produced a long debate, which was
carried on by Sir C. Pole, Mr. Fuller, Hiley Addington, Rose, Gascoyne, and
Bathurst on one side; and by Mr. Ward, Sir P. Francis, General Vyse, Sir T.
Turton, Mr. Whitbread, Lord Henry Petty, Mr. Canning, Stanhope, Perceval,
and Wilberforce on the other. At length, on a division, there appeared to
be one hundred and twenty-five against the amendment, and for it only
seventeen. The chairman then read the bill, and it was agreed that he
should report it with the amendments on Monday. The bill enacted, that no
vessel should clear out for slaves from any port within the British
dominions after the first of May 1807, and that no slave should be landed
in the colonies after the first of March 1808.

On the sixteenth of March, on the motion of Lord Henry Petty, the question
was put, that the bill be read a third time. Mr. Hibbert, Captain Herbert,
Mr. T.W. Plomer, Mr. Windham, and Lord Castlereagh spoke against the
motion. Sir P. Francis, Mr. Lyttleton, Mr. H. Thornton, and Mr. Barham,
Sheridan, and Wilberforce supported it. After this the bill was passed
without a division[A].

[Footnote A: S. Lushington, esq. M.P. for Yarmouth, gave his voluntary
attendance and assistance to the Committee, during all these motions, and
J. Bowdler, esquire, was elected a member of it.]

On Wednesday, the eighteenth, Lord Howick, accompanied by Mr. Wilberforce
and others, carried the bill to the Lords. Lord Grenville, on receiving it,
moved that it should be printed, and that, if this process could be
finished by Monday, it should be taken into consideration on that day. The
reason of this extraordinary haste was, that His Majesty, displeased with
the introduction of the Roman-catholic officers' bill into the Commons, had
signified his intention to the members of the existing administration, that
they were to be displaced.

The uneasiness, which, a few days before, had sprung up among the friends
of the abolition, on the report that this event was probable, began now to
show itself throughout the kingdom. Letters were written from various
parts, manifesting the greatest fear and anxiety on account of the state of
the bill, and desiring answers of consolation. Nor was this state of the
mind otherwise than what might have been expected upon such an occasion;
for the bill was yet to be printed--Being an amended one, it was to be
argued again in the Lords--It was then to receive the royal assent--All
these operations implied time; and it was reported that the new ministry[A]
was formed; among whom were several, who had shown a hostile disposition to
the cause.

[Footnote A: The only circumstance, which afforded comfort at this time,
was that the honourable Spencer Perceval and Mr. Canning were included in
it, who were warm patrons of this great measure.]

On Monday, the twenty-third, the House of Lords met. Such extraordinary
diligence had been used in printing the bill, that it was then ready. Lord
Grenville immediately brought it forward. The Earl of Westmoreland and the
Marquis of Sligo opposed it. The Duke of Norfolk and the Bishop of Llandaff
(Dr. Watson) supported it. The latter said, that this great act of justice
would be recorded in heaven. The amendments were severally adopted without
a division. But here an omission of three words was discovered, namely,
"country, territory, or place," which, if not rectified, might defeat the
purposes of the bill. An amendment was immediately proposed and carried.
Thus the bill received the last sanction of the Peers. Lord Grenville then
congratulated the House on the completion, on its part, of the most
glorious measure, that had ever been adopted by any legislative body in the
world.

The amendment, now mentioned, occasioned the bill to be sent back to the
Commons. On the twenty-fourth, on the motion of Lord Howick, it was
immediately taken into consideration there, and agreed to; and it was
carried back to the Lords, as approved of, on the same day.

But though the bill had now passed both houses, there was an awful fear
throughout the kingdom, lest it should not receive the royal assent before
the ministry was dissolved. This event took place the next day; for on
Wednesday the twenty-fifth, at half past eleven in the morning; His
Majesty's message was delivered to the different members of it, that they
were then to wait upon him to deliver up the seals of their offices. It
then appeared that a commission for the royal assent to this bill among
others had been obtained. This commission was instantly opened by the Lord
Chancellor (Erskine), who was accompanied by the Lords Holland and
Auckland; and as the clock struck twelve, just when the sun was in its
meridian splendour to witness this august Act, this establishment of a
Magna Charta for Africa in Britain, and to sanction it by its most vivid
and glorious beams, it was completed. The ceremony being over, the seals of
the respective offices were delivered up; so that the execution of this
commission was the last act of the administration of Lord Grenville; an
administration, which, on account of its virtuous exertions in behalf of
the oppressed African race, will pass to posterity, living through
successive generations, in the love and gratitude of the most virtuous of
mankind.

Thus ended one of the most glorious contests, after a continuance for
twenty years, of any ever carried on in any age or country. A contest, not
of brutal violence, but of reason. A contest between those, who felt deeply
for the happiness and the honour of their fellow-creatures, and those, who,
through vicious custom and the impulse of avarice, had trampled under-foot
the sacred rights of their nature, and had even attempted to efface all
title to the divine image from their minds.

Of the immense advantages of this contest I know not how to speak. Indeed,
the very agitation of the question, which it involved, has been highly
important. Never was the heart of man so expanded. Never were its generous
sympathies so generally and so perseveringly excited. These sympathies,
thus called into existence, have been useful in the preservation of a
national virtue. For any thing we know, they may have contributed greatly
to form a counteracting balance against the malignant spirit, generated by
our almost incessant wars during this period, so as to have preserved us
from barbarism.

It has been useful also in the discrimination of moral character. In
private life it has enabled us to distinguish the virtuous from the more
vicious part of the community[A]. It has shown the general philanthropist.
It has unmasked the vicious in spite of his pretension to virtue. It has
afforded us the same knowledge in public life. It has separated the moral
statesman from the wicked politician. It has shown us who, in the
legislative and executive offices of our country are fit to save, and who
to destroy, a nation.

[Footnote A: I have had occasion to know many thousand persons in the
course of my travels on this subject; and I can truly say, that the part,
which these took on this great question, was always a true criterion of
their moral character. Some indeed opposed the abolition, who seemed to be
so respectable, that it was difficult to account for their conduct; but it
invariably turned out in a course of time, either that they had been
influenced by interested motives, or that they were not men of steady moral
principle. In the year 1792, when the national enthusiasm was so great, the
good were as distinguishable from the bad, according to their disposition
to this great cause, as if the divine Being had marked them; or, as a
friend of mine the other day observed, as we may suppose the sheep to be
from the goats on the day of judgment.]

It has furnished us also with important lessons. It has proved what a
creature man is! how devoted he is to his own interest! to what a length of
atrocity he can go, unless fortified by religious principle! But as if this
part of the prospect would be too afflicting, it has proved to us, on the
other hand, what a glorious instrument he may become in the hands of his
Maker; and that a little virtue, when properly leavened, is made capable of
counteracting the effects of a mass of vice!

With respect to the end obtained by this contest, or the great measure of
the abolition of the Slave-trade as it has now passed, I know not how to
appreciate its importance. To our own country, indeed, it is invaluable. We
have lived, in consequence of it, to see the day, when it has been recorded
as a principle in our legislation, that commerce itself shall have its
moral boundaries. We have lived to see the day, when we are likely to be
delivered from the contagion of the most barbarous opinions. They, who
supported this wicked traffic, virtually denied, that man was a moral
being. They substituted the law of force for the law of reason. But the
great Act now under our consideration, has banished the impious doctrine,
and restored the rational creature to his moral rights. Nor is it a matter
of less pleasing consideration, that, at this awful crisis, when the
constitutions of kingdoms are on the point of dissolution, the stain of the
blood of Africa is no longer upon us, or that we have been freed (alas, if
it be not too late!) from a load of guilt, which has long hung like a
mill-stone about our necks, ready to sink us to perdition.

In tracing the measure still further, or as it will affect other lands, we
become only the more sensible of its importance: for can we pass over to
Africa; can we pass over to the numerous islands, the receptacles of
miserable beings from thence; and can we call to mind the scenes of misery,
which have been passing in each of these regions of the earth, without
acknowledging, that one of the greatest sources of suffering to the human
race has, as far as our own power extends, been done away? Can we pass over
to these regions again, and contemplate the multitude of crimes, which the
agency necessary for keeping up the barbarous system produced, without
acknowledging, that a source of the most monstrous and extensive wickedness
has been removed also? But here, indeed, it becomes us peculiarly to
rejoice; for though nature shrinks from pain, and compassion is engendered
in us when we see it become the portion of others, yet what is physical
suffering compared with moral guilt? The misery of the oppressed is, in the
first place, not contagious like the crime of the oppressor. Nor is the
mischief, which it generates, either so frightful or so pernicious. The
body, though under affliction, may retain its shape; and, if it even
perish, what is the loss of it but of worthless dust? But when the moral
springs of the mind are poisoned, we lose the most excellent part of the
constitution of our nature, and the divine image is no longer perceptible
in us. Nor are the two evils of similar duration. By a decree of
Providence, for which we cannot be too thankful, we are made mortal. Hence
the torments of the oppressor are but temporary; whereas the immortal part
of us, when once corrupted, may carry its pollutions with it into another
world.

But independently of the quantity of physical suffering and the innumerable
avenues to vice in more than a quarter of the globe, which this great
measure will cut off, there are yet blessings, which we have reason to
consider as likely to flow from it. Among these we cannot overlook the
great probability, that Africa, now freed from the vicious and barbarous
effects of this traffic, may be in a better state to comprehend and receive
the sublime truths of the Christian religion. Nor can we overlook the
probability, that, a new system of treatment necessarily springing up in
our islands, the same bright sun of consolation may visit her children
there. But here a new hope rises to our view. Who knows but that
emancipation, like a beautiful plant, may, in its due season, rise out of
the ashes of the abolition of the Slave-trade, and that, when its own
intrinsic value shall be known, the seed of it may be planted in other
lands? And looking at the subject in this point of view, we cannot but be
struck with the wonderful concurrence of events as previously necessary for
this purpose, namely, that two nations, England and America, the mother and
the child, should, in the same month of the same year, have abolished this
impious traffic; nations, which at this moment have more than a million of
subjects within their jurisdiction to partake of the blessing; and one of
which, on account of her local situation and increasing power, is likely in
time to give, if not law, at least a tone to the manners and customs of the
great continent, on which she is situated.

Reader! Thou art now acquainted with the history of this contest! Rejoice
in the manner of its termination! And, if thou feelest grateful for the
event, retire within thy closet, and pour out thy thanksgivings to the
Almighty for this his unspeakable act of mercy to thy oppressed
fellow-creatures.




THE END.




TABLE OF CONTENTS.




VOL. I.


CHAP. 1. INTRODUCTION--Estimate of the evil of the Slave-trade--and of the
blessing of the Abolition of it--Usefulness of the contemplation of this
subject

CHAP. 2. Those, who favoured the cause of the Africans previously to 1787,
were so many necessary forerunners in it--Cardinal Ximenes--and others

CHAP. 3. Forerunners continued to 1787--divided now into four
classes--First consists of persons in England of various descriptions,
Godwyn, Baxter, and others

CHAP. 4. Second, of the Quakers in England, George Fox, and his religious
descendants

CHAP. 5. Third, of the Quakers in America--Union of these with individuals
of other religious denominations in the same cause

CHAP. 6. Facility of junction between the members of these three different
classes

CHAP. 7. Fourth consists of Dr. Peckard--then of the Author--Author wishes
to embark in the cause--falls in with several of the members of these
classes

CHAP. 8. Fourth class continued--Langton--Baker--and others--Author now
embarks in the cause as a business of his life

CHAP. 9. Fourth class continued--Sheldon--Mackworth--and others--Author
seeks for further information on the subject--and visits Members of
Parliament

CHAP. 10. Fourth class continued--Author enlarges his knowledge--Meeting at
Mr. Wilberforce's--Remarkable junction of all the four classes, and a
Committee formed out of them, in May 1787, for the Abolition of the
Slave-trade

CHAP. 11. History of the preceding classes, and of their junction, shown by
means of a map

CHAP. 12. Author endeavours to do away the charge of ostentation in
consequence of becoming so conspicuous in this work

CHAP. 13. Proceedings of the Committee--Emancipation declared to be no part
of its object--Wrongs of Africa by Mr. Roscoe

CHAP. 14. Author visits Bristol to collect information--Ill usage of seamen
in the Slave-trade--Articles of African produce--Massacre at Calebàr

CHAP. 15. Mode of procuring and paying seamen in that trade--their
mortality in it--Construction and admeasurement of Slave-ships--Difficulty
of procuring evidence--Cases of Gardiner and Arnold

CHAP. 16. Author meets with Alexander Falconbridge--visits ill-treated and
disabled seamen--takes a mate out of one of the Slave-vessels--and puts
another in prison for murder

CHAP. 17. Visits Liverpool--Specimens of African
produce--Dock-duties--Iron-instruments used in the traffic--His
introduction to Mr. Norris

CHAP. 18. Manner of procuring and paying seamen at Liverpool in the
Slave-trade--their treatment and mortality--Murder of Peter
Green--Dangerous situation of the Author in consequence of his inquiries

CHAP. 19. Author proceeds to Manchester--delivers a discourse there on the
subject of the Slave-trade--revisits Bristol--New and difficult
situation--suddenly crosses the Severn at night--returns to London

CHAP. 20. Labours of the Committee during the Author's journey--Mr. Sharp
elected chairman--Seal engraved--Letters from different correspondents to
the Committee

CHAP. 21. Further labours of the Committee to February 1788--List of new
Correspondents

CHAP. 22. Progress of the cause to the middle of May--Petitions to
Parliament--Author's interviews with Mr. Pitt and Mr. Grenville--Privy
council inquire into the subject--examine Liverpool-delegates--Proceedings
of the Committee for the abolition--Motion and debate in the House of
Commons--Discussion of the general question postponed to the next session

CHAP. 23. Progress to the middle of July--Bill to diminish the horrors of
the Middle Passage--Evidence examined against it--Debates--Bill passed
through both Houses--Proceedings of the Committee, and effects of them.




VOL. II.


CHAP. 1. Continuation from June 1758 to July 1739--Author travels in search
of fresh evidence--Privy council resume their examinations--prepare their
report--Proceedings of the Committee for the abolition--and of the Planters
and others--Privy council report laid on the table of the House of
Commons--Debate upon it--Twelve propositions--Opponents refuse to argue
from the report--Examine new evidence of their own in the House of
Commons--Renewal of the Middle Passage-Bill--Death and character of Ramsay

CHAP. 2. Continuation from July 1789 to July 1790--Author travels to Paris
to promote the abolition in France--His proceedings there--returns to
England--Examination of opponents' evidence resumed in the Commons--Author
travels in quest of new evidence on the side of the abolition--This, after
great opposition, introduced--Renewal of the Middle Passage-Bill--Section
of the Slave-ship--Cowper's Negro's Complaint--Wedgwood's Cameos.

CHAP. 3. Continuation from July 1790 to July 1791--Author travels
again--Examinations on the side of the abolition resumed in the
Commons--List of those examined--Cruel circumstances of the times--Motion
for the abolition of the trade--Debates--Motion lost--Resolutions of the
Committee--Sierra Leone Company established

CHAP. 4. Continuation from July 1791 to July 1792--Author travels
again--People begin to leave off sugar--Petition Parliament--Motion renewed
in the Commons--Debates--Abolition resolved upon, but not to commence till
1796--The Lords determine upon hearing evidence on the resolution--This
evidence introduced--Further hearing of it postponed to the next session

CHAP. 5. Continuation from July 1792 to July 1793--Author travels
again--Motion to renew the Resolution of the last year in the
Commons--Motion lost--New motion to abolish the foreign Slave-trade--Motion
lost--Proceedings of the Lords

CHAP. 6. Continuation from July 1793 to July 1794--Author travels
again--Motion to abolish the foreign Slave-trade renewed and carried--but
lost in the Lords--Further proceedings there--Author, on account of
declining health, obliged to retire from the cause

CHAP. 7. Continuation from July 1794 to July 1799--Various motions within
this period

CHAP. 8. Continuation from July 1799 to July 18O5--Various motions within
this period

CHAP. 9. Continuation from July 1805 to July 1806--Author, restored, joins
the Committee again--Death of Mr. Pitt--Foreign Slave-trade
abolished--Resolution to take measures for the total abolition of the
trade--Address to the King to negotiate with foreign powers for their
concurrence in it--Motion to prevent new vessels going into the trade--all
these carried through both Houses of Parliament

CHAP. 10. Continuation from July 1806 to July 1807--Death of Mr. Fox--Bill
for the total abolition carried in the Lords--Sent from thence to the
Commons--amended, and passed there, and sent back to the Lords--receives
the royal assent--Reflections on this great event