Author returns to his History.--Committee formed as before-mentioned;
its proceedings.--Author produces a summary view of the Slave Trade,
and of the probable consequences of its abolition.--Wrongs of Africa,
by Mr. Roscoe, generously presented to the committee.--Important
discussion as to the object of the committee.--Emancipation declared
to be no part of it.--Committee decides on its public title.--Author
requested to go to Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster, to collect
further information on the subject of the trade.
I return now, after this long digression, to the continuation of my
history.
It was shown in the latter part of the tenth chapter, that twelve
individuals, all of whom were then named, met together by means which no
one could have foreseen, on the 22d of May, 1787; and that, after having
voted the Slave Trade to be both unjust and impolitic, they formed
themselves into a committee for procuring such information and evidence,
and for publishing the same, as might tend to the abolition of it, and
for directing the application of such money as had been already, and
might hereafter be collected for that purpose. At this meeting it was
resolved also, that no less than three members should form a quorum;
that Samuel Hoare should be the treasurer; that the treasurer should pay
no money but by order of the committee; and that copies of these
resolutions should be printed and circulated, in which it should be
inserted that the subscriptions of all such as were willing to forward
the plans of the committee should be received by the treasurer or any
member of it.
On the 24th of May the committee met again to promote the object of its
institution.
The treasurer reported at this meeting, that the subscriptions already
received amounted to one hundred and thirty-six pounds.
As I had foreseen long before this time that my _Essay on the Slavery
and Commerce of the Human Species_ was too large for general
circulation, and yet that a general circulation of knowledge on this
subject was absolutely necessary, I determined directly after the
formation of the committee to write a short pamphlet consisting only of
eight or ten pages for this purpose. I called it _A Summary View of the
Slave Trade, and of the probable consequences of its Abolition_. It
began by exhibiting to the reader the various unjustifiable ways in
which persons living on the coast of Africa became slaves. It then
explained the treatment which these experienced on their passage, the
number dying in the course of it, and the treatment of the survivors in
the colonies of those nations to which they were carried. It then
announced the speedy publication of a work on the impolicy of the trade,
the contents of which, as far as I could then see, I gave generally
under the following heads:--Part the first, it was said, would show that
Africa was capable of offering to us a trade in its own natural
productions as well as in the persons of men; that the trade in the
persons of men was profitable but to a few; that its value was
diminished from many commercial considerations; that it was also highly
destructive to our seamen; and that the branch of it, by which we
supplied the island of St. Domingo with slaves, was peculiarly impolitic
on that account. Part the second, it was said, would show that if the
slaves were kindly treated in our colonies, they would increase; that
the abolition of the trade would necessarily secure such a treatment to
them, and that it would produce many other advantages which would be
then detailed.
This little piece I presented to the committee at this their second
meeting. It was then duly read and examined; and the result was, that
after some little correction it was approved, and that two thousand
copies of it were ordered to be printed, with lists of the subscribers
and of the committee, and to be sent to various parts of the kingdom.
On June the 7th, the committee met again for the despatch of business,
when, among other things, they voted their thanks to Dr. Baker, of Lower
Grosvenor-street, who had been one of my first assistants, for his
services to the cause.
At this committee John Barton, one of the members of it, stated that he
was commissioned by the author of a poem, entitled _The Wrongs of
Africa_, to offer the profits which might arise from the sale of that
work, to the committee, for the purpose of enabling them to pursue the
object of their institution. This circumstance was not only agreeable,
inasmuch as it showed us that there were others who felt with us for the
injured Africans, and who were willing to aid us in our designs, but it
was rendered still more so when we were given to understand that the
poem was written by Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, and the preface to it by
the late Dr. Currie, who then lived in the same place. To find friends
to our cause rising up from a quarter where we expected scarcely
anything but opposition, was very consolatory and encouraging. As this
poem was well written, but cannot now be had, I shall give the
introductory part of it, which is particularly beautiful, to the perusal
of the reader. It begins thus:--
Offspring of Love divine, Humanity!
To whom, his eldest born, th' Eternal gave
Dominion o'er the heart; and taught to touch
Its varied stops in sweetest unison;
And strike the string that from a kindred breast
Responsive vibrates! from the noisy haunts
Of mercantile confusion, where thy voice
Is heard not; from the meretricious glare
Of crowded theatres, where in thy place
Sits Sensibility, with wat'ry eye,
Dropping o'er fancied woes her useless tear;
Come thou, and weep with me substantial ills;
And execrate the wrongs that Afric's sons,
Torn from their natal shore, and doom'd to bear
The yoke of servitude in foreign climes,
Sustain. Nor vainly let our sorrows flow,
Nor let the strong emotion rise in vain;
But may the land contagion widely spread,
Till in its flame the unrelenting heart
Of avarice melt in softest sympathy--
And one bright blaze of universal love
In grateful incense rises up to Heaven!
Form'd with the same capacity of pain,
The same desire of pleasure and of ease,
Why feels not man for man! When nature shrinks
From the slight puncture of an insect's sting,
Faints, if not screen'd from sultry suns, und pines
Beneath the hardship of an hour's delay
Of needful nutriment;--when liberty
Is priz'd so dearly, that the slightest breath
That ruffles but her mantle, can awake
To arms unwarlike nations, and can rouse
Confed'rate states to vindicate her claims:--
How shall the suff'rer man his fellow doom
To ills he mourns and spurns at; tear with stripes
His quiv'ring flesh; with hunger and with thirst
Waste his emaciate frame; in ceaseless toils
Exhaust his vital powers; and bind his limbs
In galling chains? Shall he, whose fragile form
Demands continual blessings to support
Its complicated texture, air, and food,
Raiment, alternate rest, and kindly skies,
And healthful seasons, dare with impious voice
To ask those mercies, whilst his selfish aim
Arrests the general freedom of their course;
And, gratified beyond his utmost wish,
Debars another from the bounteous store?
In this manner was the subject of this beautiful poem introduced to the
notice of the public. But I have no room for any further extracts, nor
time to make any further comment upon it. I can only add, that the
committee were duly sensible as well of its merits, as of the virtuous
and generous disposition of the author, and that they requested John
Barton to thank him in an appropriate manner for his offer, which he was
to say they accepted gratefully.
At this sitting, at which ten members were present out of the twelve, a
discussion unexpectedly arose on a most important subject. The
committee, finding that their meetings began to be approved by many, and
that the cause under their care was likely to spread, and foreseeing,
also, the necessity there would soon be of making themselves known as a
public body throughout the kingdom, thought it right that they should
assume some title, which should be a permanent one, and which should be
expressive of their future views. This gave occasion to them to
reconsider the object for which they had associated, and to fix and
define it in such a manner that there should be no misunderstanding
about it in the public mind. In looking into the subject, it appeared to
them that there were two evils quite distinct from each other, which it
might become their duty to endeavour to remove. The first was the evil
of the Slave Trade, in consequence of which many thousand persons were
every year fraudulently and forcibly taken from their country, their
relations and friends, and from all that they esteemed valuable in life.
The second was the evil of slavery itself, in consequence of which the
same persons were forced into a situation where they were deprived of
the rights of men, where they were obliged to linger out their days
subject to excessive labour and cruel punishments, and where their
children were to inherit the same hard lot. Now the question was, which
of the two evils the committee should select as that to which they
should direct their attention with a view of the removal of it; or
whether, with the same view, it should direct its attention to both of
them.
It appeared soon to be the sense of the committee, that to aim at the
removal of both, would be to aim at too much, and that by doing this we
might lose all.
The question then was, which of the two they were to take as their
object? Now, in considering this question, it appeared that it did not
matter where they began, or which of them they took, as far as the end
to be produced was the thing desired. For first, if the Slave Trade
should be really abolished, the bad usage of the slaves in the colonies,
that is, the hard part of their slavery, if not the slavery itself,
would fall. For the planters and others being unable to procure more
slaves from the coast of Africa, it would follow directly, whenever this
great event should take place, that they must treat those better whom
they might then have. They must render marriage honourable among them.
They must establish the union of one man with one wife. They must give
the pregnant women more indulgences. They must pay more attention to the
rearing of their offspring. They must work and punish the adults with
less rigour. Now it was to be apprehended that they could not do these
things, without seeing the political advantages which would arise to
themselves from so doing; and that, reasoning upon this, they might be
induced to go on to give them greater indulgences, rights, and
privileges, in time. But how would every such successive improvement of
their condition operate, but to bring them nearer to the state of
freemen? In the same manner it was contended, that the better treatment
of the slaves in the colonies, or that the emancipation of them there,
when fit for it, would of itself lay the foundation for the abolition of
the Slave Trade. For if the slaves were kindly treated, that is, if
marriage were encouraged among them; if the infants who should be born
were brought up with care; if the sick were properly attended to; if the
young and the adult were well fed and properly clothed, and not
over-worked, and not worn down by the weight of severe punishments, they
would necessarily increase, and this on an extensive scale. But if the
planters were thus to get their labourers from the births on their own
estates, then the Slave Trade would in time be no longer necessary to
them, and it would die away as an useless and a noxious plant. Thus it
was of no consequence, which of the two evils the committee were to
select as the object for their labours; for, as far as the end in view
only was concerned, that the same end would be produced in either case.
But in looking further into this question, it seemed to make a material
difference which of the two they selected, as far as they had in view
the due execution of any laws, which might be made respecting them, and
their own prospect of success in the undertaking. For, by aiming at the
abolition of the Slave Trade, they were laying the axe at the very root.
By doing this, and this only, they would not incur the objection, that
they were meddling with the property of the planters, and letting loose
an irritated race of beings, who, in consequence of all the vices and
infirmities which a state of slavery entails upon those who undergo it,
were unfit for their freedom. By asking the government of the country to
do this, and this only, they were asking for that which it had an
indisputable right to do; namely, to regulate or abolish any of its
branches of commerce: whereas it was doubtful, whether it could
interfere with the management of the internal affairs of the colonies,
or whether this was not wholly the province of the legislatures
established there. By asking the government, again, to do this, and this
only, they were asking what it could really enforce. It could station
its ships of war, and command its custom-houses, so as to carry any act
of this kind into effect. But it could not insure that an act to be
observed in the heart of the islands should be enforced[A]. To this it
was added, that if the committee were to fix upon the annihilation of
slavery as the object for their labours, the Slave Trade would not fall
so speedily as it would by a positive law for the abolition; because,
though the increase from the births might soon supply all the estates
now in cultivation with labourers, yet new plantations might be opened
from time to time in different islands, so that no period could be fixed
upon, when it could be said that it would cease.
[Footnote A: The late correspondence of the governors of our colonies
with Lord Camden in his official situation, but particularly the
statements made by Lord Seaforth and General Prevost, have shown the
wisdom of this remark, and that no dependence was to be had for the
better usage of the slaves but upon the total abolition of the trade.]
Impressed by these arguments, the committee were clearly of opinion,
that they should define their object to be the abolition of the Slave
Trade, and not of the slavery which sprung from it. Hence from this
time, and in allusion to the month when this discussion took place, they
styled themselves in their different advertisements, and reports, though
they were first associated in the month of May, The Committee instituted
in June, 1787, for effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Thus, at
the very outset, they took a ground which was for ever tenable. Thus
they were enabled also to answer the objection, which was afterwards so
constantly and so industriously circulated against them, that they were
going to emancipate the slaves. And I have no doubt that this wise
decision contributed greatly to their success; for I am persuaded that,
if they had adopted the other object, they could not for years to come,
if ever, have succeeded in their attempt.
Before the committee broke up, I represented to them the necessity there
was of obtaining further knowledge on all those individual points which
might be said to belong to the great subject of the abolition of the
Slave Trade. In the first place, this knowledge was necessary for me, if
I were to complete my work on _The Impolicy of this Trade_, which work,
the _Summary View_, just printed, had announced to the world. It would
be necessary, also, in case the Slave Trade should become a subject of
parliamentary inquiry; for this inquiry could not proceed without
evidence. And if any time was peculiarly fit for the procuring of such
information or evidence, it was the present. At this time the passions
of men had not been heated by any public agitation of the question, nor
had interest felt itself biassed to conceal the truth. But as soon as
ever it should be publicly understood, that a parliamentary inquiry was
certain, (which we ourselves believed would be the case, but which
interested men did not then know,) we should find many of the avenues to
information closed against us. I proposed, therefore, that some one of
the committee should undertake a journey to Bristol, Liverpool, and
Lancaster, where he should reside for a time to collect further light
upon this subject; and that if others should feel their occupations or
engagements to be such as would make such a journey unsuitable, I would
undertake it myself. I begged, therefore, the favour of the different
members of the committee, to turn the matter over in their minds by the
next meeting, that we might then talk over and decide upon the propriety
of the measure.
The committee held its fourth meeting on the 12th of June. Among the
subjects which were then brought forward, was that of the journey before
mentioned. The propriety, and indeed, even the necessity, of it was so
apparent, that I was requested by all present to undertake it, and a
minute for that purpose was entered upon our records. Of this journey,
as gradually unfolding light on the subject, and as peculiarly connected
with the promotion of our object, I shall now give an account; after
which I shall return to the proceedings of the committee.