CHAPTER XXV.

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 Negroes.--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 the 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 burdens. 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 Rochefoucauld, the Marquis

de Condorcet, Messieurs Pétion de Villeneuve, Clavière, 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 began 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 Negroes," 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 Negroes, 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 Warville:

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 Negroes; 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 prompting the cause of liberty, that they held daily committees to

watch and to thwart the motions of the friends of the Negroes. 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 the 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, Clavière produced anonymous letters which he had received,

and in which it was stated that, if the society of the Friends of the

Negroes 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 handwriting in both it

appeared that the same persons had written.

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 Negroes

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 Yorck, 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 patronized 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 Negroes. 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 deVille.

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 anything 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

Siéyes, Monsieur Bergasse, and Monsieur Pétion de Villeneuvé, 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 Clavière and Brissot, as members selected from the

committee of the Friends of the Negroes. 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 4th of October I went to dine with the Bishop of Chartres to

fix the day. We appointed the 7th. 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 realised. About three days

before, the officers of the Garde 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 Royal 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 19th. 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 afterwards 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 Siéyes 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 of

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

everything 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 Pétion de

Villeneuve, Bergasse, Clavière 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 Negroes. 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 Geoffroy 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

lumières, de ses recherches, et de ses travaux. Comme ma motion, et tous

ses développemens sont entièrement 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 déduction entièrement

finie, de commencer à manoeuvrer en tactique le succès douteux de cette

périlleuse 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 reconnaissance. 25_th__Décembre_,

1789.]

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 negroes. 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

afterwards 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 Siéyes, 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

forsaw that 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 Negroes had lately taken in the

Assembly. It was entirely owing to the daily intrigues of the White

Colonists. He feared they would ruin everything. 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 may be 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 session, 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 despatch 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 despatch. 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 Calabar 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 upon 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

slaveship at the dreadful massacre at Calabar. 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 evidences 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 Calabar 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 23rd of the same month, that

Captain Thomas Wilson, of the royal navy, and that Charles Berns

Wadstrom and Henry Hew Dalrymple, Esqrs., 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 co-operation, 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 26th

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 was 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 co-operation 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 enroll'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,

Fixed 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-sustained 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. Wedgewood 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 Chap. XX., 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. Wedgewood 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 (afterwards Lord Scarsdale), Dr. Frossard, of Lyons,

and Benjamin Garlike, Esq., 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."