CHAPTER III.

_Continuation from July 1790 to July 1791--Author travels again throughout

the kingdom--Object of his journey--Motion in the House of Commons to

resume the hearing of evidence in favour of the abolition--List of all

those examined on this side of the question--Machinations of interested

persons, and cruel circumstances of the times previously to the day of

decision--Motion at length made for stopping all further importation of

Slaves from Africa--debates upon it--motion lost--Resolutions of the

committee for the Abolition of the Slave-trade--Establishment of the Sierra

Leone Company._

It was a matter of deep affliction to us to think, that the crimes and

sufferings inseparable from the Slave-trade were to be continued to another

year. And yet it was our duty, in the present moment, to acquiesce in the

postponement of the question. This postponement was not now for the purpose

of delay, but of securing victory. The evidence, on the side of the

abolition, was, at the end of the last session, but half finished. It was

impossible, for the sake of Africa, that we could have then closed it. No

other opportunity might offer in parliament for establishing an indelible

record in her favour, if we were to neglect the present. It was our duty

therefore even to wait to complete it, and to procure such a body of

evidence, as should not only bear us out in the approaching contest, but

such as, if we were to fail, would bear out our successors also. It was

possible indeed, if the inhabitants of our islands were to improve in

civilization, that the poor slaves might experience gradually an improved

treatment with it; and so far testimony now might not be testimony for

ever: but it was utterly impossible, while the Slave-trade lasted, and the

human passions continued to be the same, that there should be any change

for the better in Africa; or that any modes, less barbarous, should come

into use for procuring slaves. Evidence therefore, if once collected on

this subject, would be evidence for posterity. In the midst of these

thoughts another journey occurred to me as necessary for this purpose; and

I prayed, that I might have strength to perform it in the most effectual

manner; and that I might be daily impressed, as I travelled along, with the

stimulating thought, that the last hope for millions might possibly rest

upon my own endeavours.

The committee highly approved of this journey. Mr. Wilberforce saw the

absolute necessity of it also; and had prepared a number of questions, with

great ingenuity, to be put to such persons, as might have information to

communicate. These I added to those in the tables, which have been already

mentioned; and they made together a valuable collection on the subject.

This tour was the most vexatious of any I had yet undertaken; many still

refused to come forward to be examined, and some on the most frivolous

pretences; so that I was disgusted, as I journeyed on, to find how little

men were disposed to make sacrifices for so great a cause. In one part of

it I went over nearly two thousand miles, receiving repeated refusals. I

had not secured one witness within this distance. This was truly

disheartening. I was subject to the whims and the caprice of those, whom I

solicited on these occasions[A]. To these I was obliged to accommodate

myself. When at Edinburgh, a person who could have given me material

information, declined seeing me, though he really wished well to the cause.

When I had returned southward as far as York, he changed his mind; and he

would then see me. I went back, that I might not lose him. When I arrived,

he would give me only private information. Thus I travelled, backwards and

forwards, four hundred miles to no purpose. At another place a circumstance

almost similar happened, though with a different issue. I had been for two

years writing about a person, whose testimony was important. I had passed

once through the town, in which he lived; but he would not then see me. I

passed through it now, but no entreaties of his friends could make him

alter his resolution. He was a man highly respectable as to situation in

life; but of considerable vanity. I said therefore to my friend, on leaving

the town, You may tell him that I expect to be at Nottingham in a few days;

and though it be a hundred and fifty miles distant, I will even come back

to see him, if he will dine with me on my return. A letter from my friend

announced to me, when at Nottingham, that his vanity had been so gratified

by the thought of a person coming expressly to visit him from such a

distance, that he would meet me according to my appointment. I went back.

We dined together. He yielded to my request. I was now repaid; and I

returned towards Nottingham in the night. These circumstances I mention,

and I feel it right to mention them, that the reader may be properly

impressed with the great difficulties we found in collecting a body of

evidence in comparison with our opponents. They ought never to be

forgotten; for if with the testimony, picked up as it were under all these

disadvantages, we carried our object against those, who had almost

numberless witnesses to command, what must have been the merits of our

cause! No person can indeed judge of the severe labour and trials in these

journeys. In the present, I was out four months. I was almost over the

whole island, I intersected it backwards and forwards both in the night and

in the day. I travelled nearly seven thousand miles in this time, and I was

able to count upon twenty new and willing evidences.

[Footnote A: Ten or twelve of those, who were examined, much to their

honour, came forward of their own accord.]

Having now accomplished my object, Mr. Wilberforce moved on the fourth of

February in the House of Commons, that a committee be appointed to examine

further witnesses in behalf of the abolition of the Slave-trade. This

motion was no sooner made, than Mr. Cawthorne rose, to our great surprise,

to oppose it. He took upon himself to decide, that the house had heard

evidence enough. This indecent motion was not without its advocates. Mr.

Wilberforce set forth the injustice of this attempt; and proved, that out

of eighty-one days, which had been given up to the hearing of evidence, the

witnesses against the abolition had occupied no less than fifty-seven. He

was strenuously supported by Mr. Burke, Mr. Martin, and other respectable

members. At length, the debate ended in favour of the original motion, and

a committee was appointed accordingly.

The examinations began again on February the seventh, and continued till

April the fifth, when they were finally closed. In this, as in the former

session, Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. William Smith principally conducted them;

and indeed it was necessary that they should have been present at these

times; for it is perhaps difficult to conceive the illiberal manner, in

which our witnesses were treated by those on the other side of the

question. Men, who had left the trade upon principle, and who had come

forward, against their apparent interest, to serve the cause of humanity

and justice, were looked upon as mercenaries and culprits, or as men of

doubtful and suspicious character. They were brow-beaten. Unhandsome

questions were put to them. Some were kept for four days under examination.

It was however highly to their honour, that they were found in no one

instance to prevaricate, nor to waver as to the certainty of their facts.

But this treatment, hard as it was for them to bear, was indeed good for

the cause; for, coming thus pure out of the fire, they occasioned their own

testimony, when read, to bear stronger marks of truth than that of the

generality of our opponents; nor was it less superior, when weighed by

other considerations. For the witnesses against the abolition were

principally interested. They who were not, had been hospitably received at

the planters' tables. The evidence too, which they delivered, was almost

wholly negative. They had not seen such and such evils. But this was no

proof that the evils did not exist. The witnesses, on the other hand, who

came up in favour of the abolition, had no advantage in making their

several assertions. In some instances they came up against their apparent

interest; and, to my knowledge, suffered persecution for so doing. The

evidence also, which they delivered, was of a positive nature. They gave an

account of specific evils, which had come under their own eyes. These evils

were never disproved. They stood therefore on a firm basis, as on a tablet

of brass. Engraved there in affirmative characters; a few of them were of

more value, than all the negative and airy testimony, which had been

advanced on the other side of the question.

That the public may judge, in some measure, of the respectability of the

witnesses in favour of the abolition, and that they may know also to whom

Africa is so much indebted for her deliverance, I shall subjoin their names

in the three following lists. The first will contain those, who were

examined by the privy council only; the second those, who were examined by

the privy council and the house of commons also; and the third those, who

were examined by the house of commons only.

LIST I.

Andrew Spaarman, physician, botanist, and successor to Linnaeus, traveller

on discovery in Africa for the King of Sweden.

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

Grampus.

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

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

slave-vessel.

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

Africa.

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

Thomas Eldred, two voyages there, as mate.

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

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

LIST II.

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

Henry Hew Dalrymple, esquire, lieutenant of the 75th regiment at Goree, and

afterwards in all the West Indian islands.

Thomas Willson, esquire, naval commander at Goree.

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

Sir George Yonge, two voyages as lieutenant, and two as captain, of a ship

of war, on the African station.

Charles Berns Wadstrom, esquire, traveller on discovery in Africa for the

King of Sweden.

Reverend John Newton, five voyages to Africa in a slave-vessel, and

resident eighteen months there.

Captain John Ashley Hall, in the merchant service, two voyages in a

slave-vessel as a mate.

Alexander Falconbridge, four voyages in a slave-vessel as surgeon and

surgeon's mate.

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

LIST III.

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

Africa.

Sir Thomas Bolton Thompson, two voyages as a lieutenant, and two as

commander of a ship of war on the African station.

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

the African station.

Lieutenant Richard Storey, of the royal navy, four years on the

slave-employ all over the coast.

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

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

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

slave-trade.

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

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

slave-ship.

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

slave-ship.

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

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

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

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

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

in the interior of Africa.

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

America.

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

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

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

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

Indies.

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

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

station.

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

West Indies.

Mr. Ninian Jeffreys, a master in the royal navy, five years mate of a West

Indiaman, and for two years afterwards in the Islands in a ship of war.

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

West Indies.

Reverend Robert Boucher Nicholls, dean of Middleham, many years resident in

the West Indies.

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

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

pilot.

Mr. Mark Cook, sixteen years in the West Indies, first in the planting

business; and then as clerk and schoolmaster.

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

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

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

then as an overseer.

Mr. William Fitzmaurice, fifteen years, first as a book-keeper, and then as

an overseer, in the West Indies.

Mr. Robert Forster, six years, first in a store, then as second master and

pilot of a ship of war in the West Indies.

Mr. Robert Ross, twenty-four years, first as a book-keeper, then as an

overseer, and afterwards as a planter, in the West Indies.

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

Mr. Matthew Terry, twelve years resident, first as a book-keeper and

overseer, than as a land-surveyor in the King's service, and afterwards,

as a colony-surveyor, in the West Indies.

George Woodward, esquire, an owner and mortgagee of property, and

occasionally a resident in the West Indies.

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

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

Indies.

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

J. Harrison, esquire, M.D. twenty-three years resident, in the medical

line, in the West Indies and America.

Robert Jackson, esquire, M.D. four years resident in the West Indies in the

medical line, after which he joined his regiment, in the same profession,

in America.

Thomas Woolrich, esquire, twenty years a merchant in the West Indies, but

in the interim was twice in America.

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

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

America.

William Beverley, esquire, eighteen years in America.

John Clapham, esquire, twenty years in America.

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

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

The evidence having been delivered on both sides, and then printed, it was

judged expedient by Mr. Wilberforce, seeing that it filled three folio

volumes, to abridge it. This abridgement was made by the different friends

of the cause. William Burgh, esquire, of York; Thomas Babington, esquire,

of Rothley Temple; the Reverend Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge; Mr.

Campbell Haliburton, of Edinburgh; George Harrison, with one or two others

of the committee, and myself, were employed upon it. The greater share,

however, of the labour fell upon Dr. Dickson. That no misrepresentation of

any person's testimony might be made, Matthew Montagu, esquire, and the

honourable E.J. Eliott, members of parliament, undertook to compare the

abridged manuscripts with the original text, and to strike out or correct

whatever they thought to be erroneous, and to insert whatever they thought

to have been omitted. The committee, for the abolition, when the work was

finished, printed it at their own expense. Mr. Wilberforce then presented

it to the House of Commons, as a faithful abridgement of the whole

evidence. Having been received as such under the guarantee of Mr. Montagu

and Mr. Eliott, the committee sent it to every individual member of that

House.

The book having been thus presented, and a day fixed for the final

determination of the question, our feelings became almost insupportable:

for we had the mortification to find, that our cause was going down in

estimation, where it was then most important that it should have increased

in favour. Our opponents had taken advantage of the long delay, which the

examination of evidence had occasioned, to prejudice the minds of many of

the members of the House of Commons against us. The old arguments of

emancipation, massacre, ruin, and indemnification, had been kept up; but,

as the day of final decision approached, they had been increased. Such was

our situation at this moment; when the current was turned still more

powerfully against us by the peculiar circumstances of the times. It was

indeed the misfortune of this great cause to be assailed by every weapon,

which could be turned against it. At this time Thomas Paine had published

his Rights of Man. This had been widely circulated. At this time also the

French revolution had existed nearly two years. The people of England had

seen, during this interval, a government as it were dissected. They had

seen an old constitution taken down, and a new one put up, piece by piece,

in its stead. The revolution, therefore, in conjunction with the book in

question, had had the effect of producing dissatisfaction among thousands;

and this dissatisfaction was growing, so as to alarm a great number of

persons of property in the kingdom, as well as the government itself. Now

will it be believed that our opponents had the injustice to lay hold of

these circumstances, at this critical moment, to give a death-blow to the

cause of the abolition? They represented the committee, though it had

existed before the French revolution or the Rights of Man were heard of, as

a nest of Jacobins; and they held up the cause, sacred as it was, and

though it had the support of the minister, as affording an opportunity of

meeting for the purpose of overthrowing the state. Their cry succeeded. The

very book of the abridgment of the evidence was considered by many members

as poisonous as that of the Rights of Man. It was too profane for many of

them to touch; and they who discarded it, discarded the cause also.

But these were not the only circumstances which were used as means, at this

critical moment, to defeat us. News of the revolution, which had commenced

in St. Domingo in consequence of the disputes between the Whites and the

People of Colour, had, long before this, arrived in England. The horrible

scenes which accompanied it, had been frequently published as so many

arguments against our cause. In January new insurrections were announced as

having happened in Martinique. The Negros there were described as armed,

and the planters as having abandoned their estates for fear of massacre.

Early in the month of March insurrections in the smaller French islands

were reported. Every effort was then made to represent these as the effects

of the new principles of liberty, and of the cry for abolition. But what

should happen, just at this moment, to increase the clamour against us?

Nothing less than an insurrection in Dominica.--Yes!--An insurrection in a

British island. This was the very event for our opponents. "All the

predictions of the planters had now become verified. The horrible massacres

were now realizing at home." To give this news still greater effect, a

meeting of our opponents was held at the London Tavern. By a letter read

there it appeared, that "the ruin of Dominica was now at hand." Resolutions

were voted, and a memorial presented to government, "immediately to

dispatch such a military force to the different islands, as might preserve

the Whites from destruction, and keep the Negros in subjection during the

present critical state of the slave-bill." This alarm was kept up till the

seventh of April, when another meeting took place to receive the answer of

government to the memorial. It was there resolved, that "as it was too late

to send troops to the islands, the best way of preserving them would be to

bring the question of the Slave-trade to an immediate issue; and that it

was the duty of the government, if they regarded the safety of the islands,

to oppose the abolition of it." Accounts of all these proceedings were

inserted in the public papers. It is needless to say that they were

injurious to our cause. Many looked upon the abolitionists as monsters.

They became also terrified themselves. The idea with these was, that unless

the discussion on this subject was terminated, all would be lost. Thus,

under a combination of effects arising from the publication of the Rights

of Man, the rise and progress of the French revolution, and the

insurrections of the Negros in the different islands, no one of which

events had any thing to do with the abolition of the Slave-trade, the

current was turned against us; and in this unfavourable frame of mind many

members of parliament went into the House, on the day fixed for the

discussion, to discharge their duty with respect to this great question.

On the eighteenth of April Mr. Wilberforce made his motion. He began by

expressing a hope, that the present debate, instead of exciting asperity

and confirming prejudice, would tend to produce a general conviction of the

truth of what in fact was incontrovertible; that the abolition of the

Slave-trade was indispensably required of them, not only by morality and

religion, but by sound policy. He stated that he should argue the matter

from evidence. He adverted to the character, situation, and means of

information of his own witnesses; and having divided his subject into

parts, the first of which related to the manner of reducing the natives of

Africa to a state of slavery, he handled it in the following manner.

He would begin, he said, with the first boundary of the trade. Captain

Wilson and Captain Hills, of His Majesty's navy, and Mr. Dalrymple of the

land service, had concurred in stating, that in the country contiguous to

the river Senegal, when slave-ships arrived there, armed parties were

regularly sent out in the evening, who scoured the country, and brought in

their prey. The wretched victims were to be seen in the morning bound back

to back in the huts on shore, whence they were conveyed, tied hand and

foot, to the slave-ships. The design of these ravages was obvious, because,

when the Slave-trade was stopped, they ceased. Mr. Kiernan spoke of the

constant depredations by the Moors to procure slaves. Mr. Wadstrom

confirmed them. The latter gentleman showed also that they were excited by

presents of brandy, gunpowder, and such other incentives; and that they

were not only carried on by one community against another; but that the

Kings were stimulated to practise them, in their own territories, and on

their own subjects: and in one instance a chieftain, who, when intoxicated,

could not resist the demands of the slave-merchants, had expressed, in a

moment of reason, a due sense of his own crime, and had reproached his

Christian seducers. Abundant also were the instances of private rapine.

Individuals were kidnapped, whilst in their fields and gardens. There was

an universal feeling of distrust and apprehension there. The natives never

went any distance from home without arms; and when Captain Wilson asked

them the reason of it, they pointed to a slave-ship then lying within

sight.

On the windward coast, it appeared from Lieutenant Story and Mr. Bowman,

that the evils just mentioned existed, if possible, in a still higher

degree. They had seen the remains of villages, which had been burnt, whilst

the fields of corn were still standing beside them, and every other trace

of recent desolation. Here an agent was sent to establish a settlement in

the country, and to send to the ships such slaves as he might obtain. The

orders he received from his captain were, that "he was to encourage the

chieftains by brandy and gunpowder to go to war, to make slaves." This he

did. The chieftains performed their part in return. The neighbouring

villages were surrounded and set on fire in the night. The inhabitants were

seized when making their escape; and, being brought to the agent, were by

him forwarded to his principal on the coast. Mr. How, a botanist in the

service of Government, stated, that on the arrival of an order for slaves,

from Cape Coast Castle, while he was there, a native chief immediately sent

forth armed parties, who brought in a supply of all descriptions in the

night.

But he would now mention one or two instances of another sort, and these

merely on account of the conclusion, which was to be drawn from them. When

Captain Hills was in the river Gambia, he mentioned accidentally to a Black

pilot, who was in the boat with him, that he wanted a cabin-boy. It so

happened that some youths were then on the shore with vegetables to sell.

The pilot beckoned to them to come on board; at the same time giving

Captain Hills to understand, that he might take his choice of them; and

when Captain Hills rejected the proposal with indignation, the pilot seemed

perfectly at a loss to account for his warmth; and drily observed, that the

slave-captains would not have been so scrupulous. Again, when General Rooke

commanded at Goree, a number of the natives, men, women, and children, came

to pay him a friendly visit. All was gaiety and merriment. It was a scene

to gladden the saddest, and to soften the hardest heart. But a

slave-captain was not so soon thrown off his guard. Three English

barbarians of this description had the audacity jointly to request the

general, to seize the whole unsuspicious multitude and sell them. For this

they alleged the precedent of a former governor. Was not this request a

proof of the frequency of such acts of rapine? for how familiar must such

have been to slave-captains, when three of them dared to carry to a British

officer of rank such a flagitious proposal! This would stand in the place

of a thousand instances. It would give credibility to every other act of

violence stated in the evidence, however enormous it might appear.

But he would now have recourse for a moment to circumstantial evidence. An

adverse witness, who had lived on the Gold Coast, had said that the only

way, in which children could be enslaved, was by whole families being sold

when the principals had been condemned for witchcraft. But he said at the

same time, that few were convicted of this crime, and that the younger part

of a family in these cases was sometimes spared. But if this account were

true, it would follow that the children in the slave-vessels would be few

indeed. But it had been proved, that the usual proportion of these was

never less than a fourth of the whole cargo on that coast, and also, that

the kidnapping of children was very prevalent there.

All these atrocities, he said, were fully substantiated by the evidence;

and here he should do injustice to his cause, if he were not to make a

quotation from the speech of Mr. B. Edwards in the Assembly of Jamaica,

who, though he was hostile to his propositions, had yet the candour to

deliver himself in the following manner there. "I am persuaded," says he,

"that Mr. Wilberforce has been rightly informed as to the manner in which

slaves are generally procured. The intelligence I have collected from my

own Negros abundantly confirms his account; and I have not the smallest

doubt, that in Africa the effects of this trade are precisely such as he

has represented them. The whole, or the greatest part, of that immense

continent is a field of warfare and desolation; a wilderness, in which the

inhabitants are wolves towards each other. That this scene of oppression,

fraud, treachery, and bloodshed, if not originally occasioned, is in part

(I will not say wholly) upheld by the Slave-trade, I dare not dispute.

Every man in the Sugar Islands may be convinced that it is so, who will

inquire of any African Negros, on their first arrival, concerning the

circumstances of their captivity. The assertion that it is otherwise, is

mockery and insult."

But it was not only by acts of outrage that the Africans were brought into

bondage. The very administration of justice was turned into an engine for

that end. The smallest offence was punished by a fine equal to the value of

a slave. Crimes were also fabricated; false accusations were resorted to;

and persons were sometimes employed to seduce the unwary into practices

with a view to the conviction and the sale of them.

It was another effect of this trade, that it corrupted the morals of those,

who carried it on. Every fraud was used to deceive the ignorance of the

natives by false weights and measures, adulterated commodities, and other

impositions of a like sort. These frauds were even acknowledged by many,

who had themselves practised them in obedience to the orders of their

superiors. For the honour of the mercantile character of the country, such

a traffic ought immediately to be suppressed.

Yet these things, however clearly proved by positive testimony, by the

concession of opponents, by particular inference, by general reasoning, by

the most authentic histories of Africa, by the experience of all countries

and of all ages,--these things, and (what was still more extraordinary)

even the possibility of them, were denied by those, who had been brought

forward on the other side of the question. These, however, were chiefly

persons, who had been trading governors of forts in Africa; or who had long

commanded ships in the Slave-trade. As soon as he knew the sort of

witnesses which was to be called against him, he had been prepared to

expect much prejudice. But his expectations had been greatly surpassed by

the testimony they had given. He did not mean to impeach their private

characters, but they certainly showed themselves under the influence of

such gross prejudices, as to render them incompetent judges of the subject

they came to elucidate. They seemed (if he might so say) to be enveloped by

a certain atmosphere of their own; and to see, as it were, through a kind

of African medium. Every object, which met their eyes, came distorted and

turned from its true direction. Even the declarations, which they made on

other occasions, seemed wholly strange to them. They sometimes not only

forgot what they had seen, but what they had said; and when to one of them

his own testimony to the privy council was read, he mistook it for that of

another, whose evidence he declared to be "the merest burlesque in the

world."

But the House must be aware that there was not only an African medium, but

an African logic. It seemed to be an acknowledged axiom in this; that every

person, who offered a slave for sale, had a right to sell him, however

fraudulently he might have obtained him. This had been proved by the

witnesses, who opposed him. "It would have stopped my trade," said one of

them, "to have asked the broker, how he came by the person he was offering

me for sale"--"We always suppose," said another, "the broker has a right to

sell the person he offers us"--"I never heard of such a question being

asked," said a third; "a man would be thought a fool, who should put such a

question."--He hoped the House would see the practical utility of this

logic. It was the key-stone, which held the building together. By means of

it, slave-captains might traverse the whole coast of Africa, and see

nothing but equitable practices. They could not, however, be wholly

absolved, even if they availed themselves of this principle to its fullest

extent; for they had often committed depredations themselves; especially

when they were passing by any part of the coast, where they did not mean to

continue or to go again. Hence it was (as several captains of the navy and

others had declared on their examination) that the natives, when at sea in

their canoes, would never come near the men of war, till they knew them to

be such. But finding this, and that they were not slave-vessels, they laid

aside their fears, and came and continued on board with unsuspecting

cheerfulness.

With respect to the miseries of the Middle Passage, he had said so much on

a former occasion, that he would spare the feelings of the committee as

much as he could. He would therefore simply state that the evidence, which

was before them, confirmed all those scenes of wretchedness, which he had

then described; the same suffering from a state of suffocation by being

crowded together; the same dancing in fetters; the same melancholy singing;

the same eating by compulsion; the same despair; the same insanity; and all

the other abominations which characterized the trade. New instances however

had occurred, where these wretched men had resolved on death to terminate

their woes. Some had destroyed themselves by refusing sustenance, in spite

of threats and punishments. Others had thrown themselves into the sea; and

more than one, when in the act of drowning, were seen to wave their hands

in triumph, "exulting" (to use the words of an eye-witness) "that they had

escaped." Yet these and similar things, when viewed through the African

medium he had mentioned, took a different shape and colour. Captain Knox,

an adverse witness, had maintained, that slaves lay during the night in

tolerable comfort. And yet he confessed, that in a vessel of one hundred

and twenty tons, in which he had carried two hundred and ninety slaves, the

latter had not all of them room to lie on their backs. How comfortably then

must they have lain in his subsequent voyages! for he carried afterwards in

a vessel of a hundred and eight tons four hundred and fifty and in a vessel

of one hundred and fifty tons, no less than six hundred slaves. Another

instance of African deception was to be found in the testimony of Captain

Frazer, one of the most humane captains in the trade. It had been said of

him, that he had held hot coals to the mouth of a slave, to compel him to

eat. He was questioned on this point; but not admitting, in the true spirit

of African logic, that he who makes another commit a crime, is guilty of it

himself, he denied the charge indignantly, and defied a proof. But it was

said to him, "Did you never order such a thing to be done?" His reply was,

"Being sick in my cabin, I was informed that a man-slave would neither eat,

drink, nor speak. I desired the mate and surgeon to try to persuade him to

speak. I desired that the slaves might try also. When I found he was still

obstinate, not knowing whether it was from sulkiness or insanity, I ordered

a person to present him with a piece of fire in one hand and a piece of yam

in the other, and to tell me what effect this had upon him. I learnt that

he took the yam and began to eat it, but he threw the fire overboard." Such

was his own account of the matter. This was eating by duresse, if any thing

could be called so. The captain, however, triumphed in his expedient, and

concluded by telling the committee, that he sold this very slave at Grenada

for forty pounds. Mark here the moral of the tale, and learn the nature and

the cure of sulkiness.

But upon whom did the cruelties, thus arising out of the prosecution of

this barbarous traffic, fall? Upon a people with feeling and intellect like

ourselves. One witness had spoken of the acuteness of their understandings;

another of the extent of their memories; a third of their genius for

commerce; a fourth of their proficiency in manufactures at home. Many had

admired their gentle and peaceable disposition; their cheerfulness; and

their hospitality. Even they, who were nominally slaves in Africa, lived a

happy life. A witness against the abolition had described them as sitting

and eating with their masters in the true style of patriarchal simplicity

and comfort. Were these then a people incapable of civilization? The

argument that they were an inferior species had been proved to be false.

He would now go to a new part of the subject. An opinion had gone forth

that the abolition of the trade would be the ruin of the West India

Islands. He trusted he should prove that the direct contrary was the truth;

though, had he been unable to do this, it would have made no difference as

to his own vote. In examining, however, this opinion, he should exclude the

subject of the cultivation of new lands by fresh importations of slaves.

The impolicy of this measure, apart from its inhumanity, was indisputably

clear. Let the committee consider the dreadful mortality, which attended

it. Let them look to the evidence of Mr. Woolrich, and there see a contrast

drawn between the slow, but sure progress of cultivation, carried on in the

natural way, and the attempt to force improvements, which, however

flattering the prospect at first, soon produced a load of debt, and

inextricable embarrassments. He might even appeal to the statements of the

West Indians themselves, who allowed that more than twenty millions were

owing to the people of this country, to show that no system could involve

them so deeply as that, on which they had hitherto gone. But he would refer

them to the accounts of Mr. Irving, as contained in the evidence. Waving

then the consideration of this part of the subject, the opinion in question

must have arisen from a notion, that the stock of slaves, now in the

islands, could not be kept up by propagation; but that it was necessary,

from time to time, to recruit them with imported Africans. In direct

refutation of this position he should prove, First, that in the condition

and treatment of the Negros, there were causes, sufficient to afford us

reason to expect a considerable decrease, but particularly that their

increase had not been a serious object of attention; Secondly, that this

decrease was in fact, notwithstanding, very trifling; or rather, he

believed, he might declare it had now actually ceased; and, Thirdly, he

should urge many direct and collateral facts and arguments, constituting on

the whole an irresistible proof, that even a rapid increase might

henceforth be expected.

He wished to treat the West Indians with all possible candour; but he was

obliged to confess, in arguing upon these points, that whatever splendid

instances there might be of kindness towards their slaves, there were some

evils of almost universal operation, were necessarily connected with the

system of slavery. Above all, the state of degradation, to which they were

reduced, deserved to be noticed; as it produced an utter inattention to

them as moral agents. They were kept at work under the whip like cattle.

They were left totally ignorant of morality and religion. There was no

regular marriage among them. Hence promiscuous intercourse, early

prostitution, and excessive drinking, were material causes of their

decrease. With respect to the instruction of the slaves in the principles

of religion, the happiest effects had resulted, particularly in Antigua,

where, under the Moravians and Methodists, they had so far profited, that

the planters themselves confessed their value, as property, had been raised

one-third by their increased habits of regularity and industry.

Whatever might have been said to the contrary, it was plainly to be

inferred from the evidence, that the slaves were not protected by law.

Colonial statutes had indeed been passed; but they were a dead letter;

since, however ill they were treated, they were not considered as having a

right to redress. An instance of astonishing cruelty by a Jew had been

mentioned by Mr. Ross. It was but justice to say, that the man was held in

detestation for it; but yet no one had ever thought of calling him to a

legal account. Mr. Ross conceived a master had a right to punish his slave

in whatever manner he might think proper. The same was declared by

numberless other witnesses. Some instances, indeed, had lately occurred of

convictions. A master had wantonly cut the mouth of a child, of six months

old, almost from ear to ear. But did not the verdict of the jury show, that

the doctrine of calling masters to an account was entirely novel; as it

only pronounced him "Guilty, subject to the opinion of the court, if

immoderate correction of a slave by his master be a crime indictable!" The

court determined in the affirmative; and what was the punishment of this

barbarous act?--A fine of forty shillings currency, equivalent to about

twenty-five shillings sterling.

The slaves were but ill off in point of medical care. Sometimes four or

five, and even eight or nine thousand of them, were under the care of one

medical man; which, dispersed on different and distant estates, was a

greater number than he could possibly attend to.

It was also in evidence, that they were in general under-fed. They were

supported partly by the produce of their own provision-ground, and partly

by an allowance of flour and grain from their masters. In one of the

islands, where provision-ground did not answer one year in three, the

allowance to a working Negro was but from five to nine pints of grain per

week: in Dominica, where it never failed, from six to seven quarts: in

Nevis and St. Christophers, where there was no provision-ground, it was but

eleven pints. Add to this, that it might be still less, as the

circumstances of their masters might become embarrassed; and in this case

both an abridgment of their food, and an increase of their labour, would

follow.

But the great cause of the decrease of the slaves was in the non-residence

of the planters. Sir George Yonge, and many others, had said, they had seen

the slaves treated in a manner, which their owners would have resented, if

they had known it. Mr. Orde spoke in the strongest terms of the misconduct

of managers. The fact was, that these in general sought to establish their

characters by producing large crops at a small immediate expense; too

little considering how far the slaves might suffer from ill-treatment and

excessive labour. The pursuit of such a system was a criterion for judging

of their characters, as both Mr. Long and Mr. Ottley had confessed.

But he must contend, in addition to this, that the object of keeping up the

stock of slaves by breeding had never been seriously attended to. For this

he might appeal both to his own witnesses, and to those of his opponents;

but he would only notice one fact. It was remarkable that, when owners and

managers were asked about the produce of their estates, they were quite at

home as to the answer; but when they were asked about the proportion of

their male and female slaves, and their infants, they knew little about the

matter. Even medical men were adepts in the art of planting; but when they

were asked the latter questions, as connected with breeding and rearing,

they seemed quite amazed; and could give no information upon the subject of

them.

Persons, however, of great respectability had been called as witnesses, who

had not seen the treatment of the Negros as he had now described it. He

knew what was due to their characters; but yet he must enter a general

protest against their testimony. "I have often," says Mr. Ross, "attended

both governors and admirals upon tours in the island of Jamaica. But it was

not likely that these should see much distress upon these occasions. The

White People and drivers would take care not to harrow up the feelings of

strangers of distinction by the exercise of the whip, or the infliction of

punishments, at that particular time; and, even if there were any

disgusting objects, it was natural to suppose that they would then remove

them." But in truth these gentlemen had given proofs, that they were under

the influence of prejudice. Some of them had declared the abolition would

ruin the West Indies. But this, it was obvious, must depend upon the

practicability of keeping up the stock without African supplies; and yet,

when they were questioned upon this point, they knew nothing about it.

Hence they had formed a conclusion without premises. Their evidence, too,

extended through a long series of years. They had never seen one instance

of ill-treatment in the time; and yet, in the same breath, they talked of

the amended situation of the slaves; and that they were now far better off

than formerly. One of them, to whom his country owed much, stated that a

master had been sentenced to death for the murder of his own slave; but his

recollection must have failed him; for the murder of a slave was not then a

capital crime. A respectable governor also had delivered an opinion to the

same effect; but, had he looked into the statute-book of the island, he

would have found his error.

It had been said that the slaves were in a better state than the peasantry

of this country. But when the question was put to Mr. Ross, did he not

answer, "that he would not insult the latter by a comparison?"

It had been said again, that the Negros were happier as slaves, than they

would be if they were to be made free. But how was this reconcileable with

facts? If a Negro under extraordinary circumstances had saved money enough,

did he not always purchase his release from this situation of superior

happiness by the sacrifice of his last shilling? Was it not also notorious,

that the greatest reward, which a master thought he could bestow upon his

slave for long and faithful services, was his freedom?

It had been said again, that Negros, when made free, never returned to

their own country. But was not the reason obvious? If they could even reach

their own homes in safety, their kindred and connections might be dead. But

would they subject themselves to be kidnapped again; to be hurried once

more on board a slave-ship; and again to endure and survive the horrors of

the passage? Yet the love of their native country had been proved beyond a

doubt. Many of the witnesses had heard them talk of it in terms of the

strongest affection. Acts of suicide too were frequent in the islands,

under the notion that these afforded them the readiest means of getting

home. Conformably with this, Captain Wilson had maintained, that the

funerals, which in Africa were accompanied with lamentations and cries of

sorrow, were attended, in the West Indies, with every mark of joy.

He had now, he said, made good his first proposition, That in the condition

of the slaves there were causes, which should lead us to expect, that there

would be a considerable decrease among them. This decrease in the island of

Jamaica was but trifling, or, rather, it had ceased some years ago; and if

there was a decrease, it was only on the imported slaves. It appeared from

the privy council report, that from 1698 to 1730 the decrease was three and

a half per cent.; from 1730 to 1755 it was two and a half per cent.; from

1755 to 1768 it was lessened to one and three quarters; and from 1768 to

1788 it was not more than one per cent.: this last decrease was not greater

than could be accounted for from hurricanes and consequent famines, and

from the number of imported Africans who perished in the seasoning. The

latter was a cause of mortality, which, it was evident, would cease with

the importations. This conclusion was confirmed in part by Dr. Anderson,

who, in his testimony to the Assembly of Jamaica, affirmed, that there was

a considerable increase on the properties of the island, and particularly

in the parish in which he resided.

He would now proceed to establish his second proposition, That from

henceforth a very considerable increase might be expected. This he might

support by a close reasoning upon the preceding facts. But the testimony of

his opponents furnished him with sufficient evidence. He could show, that

wherever the slaves were treated better than ordinary, there was uniformly

an increase in their number. Look at the estates of Mr. Willock, Mr.

Ottley, Sir Ralph Payne, and others. In short, he should weary the

committee, if he were to enumerate the instances of plantations, which were

stated in the evidence to have kept up their numbers only from a little

variation in their treatment. A remedy also had been lately found for a

disorder, by which vast numbers of infants had been formerly swept away.

Mr. Long also had laid it down, that whenever the slaves should bear a

certain proportion to the produce, they might be expected to keep up their

numbers; but this proportion they now exceeded. The Assembly of Jamaica had

given it also as their opinion, "that when once the sexes should become

nearly equal in point of number, there was no reason to suppose, that the

increase of the Negros by generation would fall short of the natural

increase of the labouring poor in Great Britain." But the inequality, here

spoken of, could only exist in the case of the African Negros, of whom more

males were imported than females; and this inequality would be done away

soon after the trade should cease.

But the increase of the Negros, where their treatment was better than

ordinary, was confirmed in the evidence by instances in various parts of

the world. From one end of the continent of America to the other their

increase had been undeniably established; and this to a prodigious extent,

though they had to contend with the severe cold of the winter, and in some

parts with noxious exhalations in the summer. This was the case also in the

settlement of Bencoolen in the East Indies. It appeared from the evidence

of Mr. Botham, that a number of Negros, who had been imported there in the

same disproportion of the sexes as in West India cargoes, and who lived

under the same disadvantages, as in the Islands, of promiscuous intercourse

and general prostitution, began, after they had been settled a short time,

annually to increase.

But to return to the West Indies.--A slave-ship had been many years ago

wrecked near St. Vincent's. The slaves on board, who escaped to the island,

were without necessaries; and, besides, were obliged to maintain a war with

the native Caribbs: yet they soon multiplied to an astonishing number; and,

according to Mr. Ottley, they were now on the increase. From Sir John

Dalrymple's evidence it appeared, that the domestic slaves in Jamaica, who

were less worked than those in the field, increased; and from Mr. Long,

that the free Blacks and Mulattoes there increased also.

But there was an instance which militated against these facts (and the only

one in the evidence) which he would now examine. Sir Archibald Campbell had

heard, that the Maroons in Jamaica in the year 1739 amounted to three

thousand men fit to carry arms. This supposed their whole number to have

been about twelve thousand. But in the year 1782, after a real muster by

himself, he found, to his great astonishment, that the fighting men did not

then amount to three hundred. Now the fact was, that Sir Archibald

Campbell's first position was founded upon rumour only; and was not true.

For according to Mr. Long, the Maroons were actually numbered in 1749; when

they amounted to about six hundred and sixty in all, having only a hundred

and fifty men fit to carry arms. Hence, if when mustered by Sir Archibald

Campbell he found three hundred fighting men, they must from 1749 to 1782

have actually doubled their population.

Was it possible, after these instances, to suppose that the Negros could

not keep up their numbers, if their natural increase were made a subject of

attention? The reverse was proved by sound reasoning. It had been confirmed

by unquestionable facts. It had been shown, that they had increased In

every situation, where there was the slightest circumstance in their

favour. Where there had been any decrease, it was stated to be trifling;

though no attention appeared to have been paid to the subject. This

decrease had been gradually lessening; and, whenever a single cause of it

had been removed (many still remaining), it had altogether ceased. Surely

these circumstances formed a body of proof, which was irresistible.

He would now speak of the consequences of the abolition of the Slave-trade

in other points of view; and first, as to its effects upon our marine. An

abstract of the Bristol and Liverpool muster-rolls had been just laid

before the House. It appeared from this, that in three hundred and fifty

slave-vessels, having on board twelve thousand two hundred and sixty-three

persons, two thousand six hundred and forty-three were lost in twelve

months; whereas in four hundred and sixty-two West Indiamen, having on

board seven thousand six hundred and forty persons, one hundred and

eighteen only were lost in seven months. This rather exceeded the losses

stated by Mr. Clarkson. For their barbarous usage on board these ships, and

for their sickly and abject state in the West Indies, he would appeal to

Governor Parry's letter; to the evidence of Mr. Ross; to the assertion of

Mr. B. Edwards, an opponent; and to the testimony of Captains Sir George

Yonge and Thompson, of the Royal Navy. He would appeal also to what Captain

Hall, of the Navy, had given in evidence. This gentleman, after the action

of the twelfth of April, impressed thirty hands from a slave-vessel, whom

he selected with the utmost care from a crew of seventy; and he was

reprimanded by his admiral, though they could scarcely get men to bring

home the prizes, for introducing such wretches to communicate disorders to

the fleet. Captain Smith of the Navy had also declared, that when employed

to board Guineamen to impress sailors, although he had examined near twenty

vessels, he never was able to get more than two men, who were fit for

service; and these turned out such inhuman fellows, although good seamen,

that he was obliged to dismiss them from the ship.

But he hoped the committee would attend to the latter part of the assertion

of Captain Smith. Yes:--this trade, while it injured the constitutions of

our sailors, debased their morals. Of this, indeed, there was a barbarous

illustration in the evidence. A slaveship had struck on some shoals, called

the Morant Keys, a few leagues from the east end of Jamaica. The crew

landed in their boats, with arms and provisions, leaving the slaves on

board in their irons. This happened in the night. When morning came, it was

discovered that the Negros had broken their shackles, and were busy in

making rafts; upon which afterwards they placed the women and children. The

men attended upon the latter, swimming by their side, whilst they drifted

to the island where the crew were. But what was the sequel? From an

apprehension that the Negros would consume the water and provision, which

had been landed, the crew resolved to destroy them as they approached the

shore. They killed between three and four hundred. Out of the whole cargo

only thirty-three were saved, who, on being brought to Kingston, were sold.

It would, however, be to no purpose, he said, to relieve the Slave-trade

from this act of barbarity. The story of the Morant Keys was paralleled by

that of Captain Collingwood; and were you to got rid of these, another, and

another, would still present itself, to prove the barbarous effects of this

trade on the moral character.

But of the miseries of the trade there was no end. Whilst he had been

reading out of the evidence the story of the Morant Keys, his eye had but

glanced on the opposite page, and it met another circumstance of horror.

This related to what were called the refuse-slaves. Many people in Kingston

were accustomed to speculate in the purchase of those, who were left after

the first day's sale. They then carried them out into the country, and

retailed them. Mr. Ross declared, that he had seen these landed in a very

wretched state, sometimes in the agonies of death, and sold as low as for a

dollar, and that he had known several expire in the piazzas of the

vendue-master. The bare description superseded the necessity of any remark.

Yet these were the familiar incidents of the Slave-trade.

But he would go back to the seamen. He would mention another cause of

mortality, by which many of them lost their lives. In looking over Lloyd's

list, no less than six vessels were cut off by the irritated natives in one

year, and the crews massacred. Such instances were not unfrequent. In

short, the history of this commerce was written throughout in characters of

blood.

He would next consider the effects of the abolition on those places where

it was chiefly carried on. But would the committee believe, after all the

noise which had been made on this subject, that the Slave-trade composed

but a thirtieth part of the export trade of Liverpool, and that of the

trade of Bristol it constituted a still less proportion? For the effects of

the abolition on the general commerce of the kingdom, he would refer them

to Mr. Irving; from whose evidence it would appear, that the medium value

of the British manufactures, exported to Africa, amounted only to between

four and five hundred thousand pounds annually. This was but a trifling

sum. Surely the superior capital, ingenuity, application, and integrity, of

the British manufacturer would command new markets for the produce of his

industry, to an equal amount, when this should be no more. One branch,

however, of our manufactures, he confessed, would suffer from the

abolition; and that was the manufacture of gunpowder; of which the nature

of our connection with Africa drew from us as much as we exported to all

the rest of the world besides.

He hastened, however, to another part of the argument. Some had said, "We

wish to put an end to the Slave-trade, but we do not approve of your mode.

Allow more time. Do not displease the legislatures of the West India

islands. It is by them that those laws must be passed, and enforced, which

will secure your object." Now he was directly at issue with these

gentlemen. He could show, that the abolition was the only certain mode of

amending the treatment of the slaves, so as to secure their increase; and

that the mode which had been offered to him, was at once inefficacious and

unsafe. In the first place, how could any laws, made by these legislatures,

be effectual, whilst the evidence of Negros was in no case admitted against

White men? What was the answer from Grenada? Did it not state, "that they

who were capable of cruelty, would in general be artful enough to prevent

any but slaves from being witnesses of the fact?" Hence it had arisen, that

when positive laws had been made, in some of the islands, for the

protection of the slaves, they had been found almost a dead letter.

Besides, by what law would you enter into every man's domestic concerns,

and regulate the interior economy of his house and plantation? This would

be something more than a general excise. Who would endure such a law? And

yet on all these and innumerable other minutiae must depend the protection

of the slaves, their comforts, and the probability of their increase. It

was universally allowed, that the Code Noir had been utterly neglected in

the French islands, though there was an officer appointed by the crown to

see it enforced. The provisions of the Directorio had been but of little

more avail in the Portuguese settlements, or the institution of a Protector

of the Indians, in those of the Spaniards. But what degree of protection

the slaves would enjoy might be inferred from the admission of a gentleman,

by whom this very plan of regulation had been recommended, and who was

himself no ordinary person, but a man of discernment and legal resources.

He had proposed a limitation of the number of lashes to be given by the

master or overseer for one offence. But, after all, he candidly confessed,

that his proposal was not likely to be useful, while the evidence of slaves

continued inadmissible against their masters. But he could even bring

testimony to the inefficacy of such regulations. A wretch in Barbadoes had

chained a Negro girl to the floor, and flogged her till she was nearly

expiring. Captain Cook and Major Fitch, hearing her cries, broke open the

door and found her. The wretch retreated from their resentment, but cried

out exultingly, "that he had only given her thirty-nine lashes (the number

limited by law) at any one time; and that he had only inflicted this number

three times since the beginning of the night," adding, "that he would

prosecute them for breaking open his door; and that he would flog her to

death for all any one, if he pleased; and that he would give her the fourth

thirty-nine before morning."

But this plan of regulation was not only inefficacious, but unsafe. He

entered his protest against the fatal consequences, which might result from

it. The Negros were creatures like ourselves; but they were uninformed, and

their moral character was debased. Hence they were unfit for civil rights.

To use these properly they must be gradually restored to that level, from

which they had been so unjustly degraded. To allow them an appeal to the

laws, would be to awaken in them a sense of the dignity of their nature.

The first return of life, after a swoon, was commonly a convulsion,

dangerous at once to the party himself and to all around him. You should

first prepare them for the situation, and not bring the situation to them.

To be under the protection of the law was in fact to be a freeman; and to

unite slavery and freedom in one condition was impracticable. The

abolition, on the other hand, was exactly such an agent as the case

required. All hopes of supplies from the Coast being cut off, breeding

would henceforth become a serious object of attention; and the care of

this, as including better clothing and feeding, and milder discipline,

would extend to innumerable particulars, which an act of assembly could

neither specify nor enforce. The horrible system, too, which many had gone

upon, of working out their slaves in a few years, and recruiting their

gangs with imported Africans, would receive its death-blow from the

abolition of the trade. The opposite would force itself on the most

unfeeling heart. Ruin would stare a man in the face, if he were not to

conform to it. The non-resident owners would then express themselves in the

terms of Sir Philip Gibbs, "that he should consider it as the fault of his

manager, if he were not to keep up the number of his slaves." This

reasoning concerning the different tendencies of the two systems was

self-evident. But facts were not wanting to confirm it. Mr. Long had

remarked, that all the insurrections and suicides in Jamaica had been found

among the imported slaves, who, not having lost the consciousness of civil

rights, which they had enjoyed in their own country, could not brook the

indignities to which they were subjected in the West Indies. An instance in

point was afforded also by what had lately taken place in the island of

Dominica. The disturbance there had been chiefly occasioned by some runaway

slaves from the French islands. But what an illustration was it of his own

doctrine to say, that the slaves of several persons, who had been treated,

with kindness, were not among the number of the insurgents on that

occasion!

But when persons coolly talked of putting an end to the Slave-trade through

the medium of the West India legislatures, and of gradual abolition, by

means of regulations, they surely forgot the miseries which this horrid

traffic occasioned in Africa during every moment of its continuance. This

consideration was conclusive with him, when called upon to decide whether

the Slave-trade should be tolerated for a while, or immediately abolished.

The divine law against murder was absolute and unqualified. Whilst we were

ignorant of all these things, our sanction of them might, in some measure,

be pardoned. But now, when our eyes were opened, could we tolerate them for

a moment, unless we were ready at once to determine, that gain should be

our God, and, like the heathens of old, were prepared to offer up human

victims at the shrine of our idolatry?

This consideration precluded also the giving heed for an instant to another

plea, namely, that if we were to abolish the trade it would be

proportionably taken up by other nations. But, whatever other nations did,

it became Great Britain, in every point of view, to take a forward part.

One half of this guilty commerce had been carried on by her subjects. As we

had been great in our crime, we should be early in our repentance. If

Providence had showered his blessings upon us in unparalleled abundance, we

should show ourselves grateful for them by rendering them subservient to

the purposes for which they were intended. There would be a day of

retribution, wherein we should have to give an account of all those

talents, faculties, and opportunities, with which we had been intrusted.

Let it not then appear, that our superior power had been employed to

oppress our fellow-creatures, and our superior light to darken the creation

of God. He could not but look forward with delight to the happy prospects

which opened themselves to his view in Africa from the abolition of the

Slave-trade; when a commerce, justly deserving that name, should be

established with her; not like that, falsely so called, which now

subsisted, and which all who were interested for the honour of the

commercial character (though there were no superior principle) should

hasten to disavow. Had this trade indeed been ever so profitable, his

decision would have been in no degree affected by that consideration.

"Here's the smell of blood on the hand still, and all the perfumes of

Arabia cannot sweeten it."

He doubted, whether it was not almost an act of degrading condescension to

stoop to discuss the question in the view of commercial interest. On this

ground, however, he was no less strong than on every other. Africa abounded

with productions of value, which she would gladly exchange for our

manufactures, when these were not otherwise to be obtained: and to what an

extent her demand might then grow exceeded almost the powers of

computation. One instance already existed of a native king, who being

debarred by his religion the use of spirituous liquors, and therefore not

feeling the irresistible temptation to acts of rapine which they afforded

to his countrymen, had abolished the Slave-trade throughout all his

dominions, and was encouraging an honest industry.

For his own part, he declared that, interested as he might be supposed to

be in the final event of the question, he was comparatively indifferent as

to the present decision of the House upon it. Whatever they might do, the

people of Great Britain, he was confident, would abolish the Slave-trade

when, as would then soon happen, its injustice and cruelty should be fairly

laid before them. It was a nest of serpents, which would never have existed

so long, but for the darkness in which they lay hid. The light of day would

now be let in on them, and they would vanish from the sight. For himself,

he declared he was engaged in a work, which he would never abandon. The

consciousness of the justice of his cause would carry him forward, though

he were alone; but he could not but derive encouragement from considering

with whom he was associated. Let us not, he said, despair. It is a blessed

cause; and success, ere long, will crown our exertions. Already we have

gained one victory. We have obtained for these poor creatures the

recognition of their human nature[A], which, for a while, was most

shamefully denied them. This is the first fruits of our efforts.

[Footnote A: This point was actually obtained by the evidence before the

House of Commons; for, after this, we heard no more of them as an inferior

race.]

Let us persevere, and our triumph will be complete. Never, never, will we

desist, till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name; till

we have released ourselves from the load of guilt under which we at present

labour; and till we have extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic,

which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened

times, will scarcely believe had been suffered to exist so long, a disgrace

and a dishonour to our country.

He then moved, that the chairman be instructed to move for leave to bring

in a bill to prevent the further importation of slaves into the British

colonies in the West Indies.

Colonel Tarleton immediately rose up, and began by giving an historical

account of the trade from the reign of Elizabeth to the present time. He

then proceeded to the sanction, which parliament had always given it. Hence

it could not then be withdrawn without a breach of faith. Hence, also, the

private property embarked in it was sacred, nor could it be invaded, unless

an adequate compensation were given in return.

They, who had attempted the abolition of the trade, were led away by a

mistaken humanity. The Africans themselves had no objection to its

continuance.

With respect to the Middle Passage, he believed the mortality there to be

on an average only five in the hundred; whereas in regiments, sent out to

the West Indies, the average loss in the year was about ten and a half per

cent.

The Slave-trade was absolutely necessary, if we meant to carry on our West

India commerce; for many attempts had been made to cultivate the lands in

the different islands by White labourers; but they had always failed.

It had also the merit of keeping up a number of seamen in readiness for the

state. Lord Rodney had stated this as one of its advantages on the breaking

out of a war. Liverpool alone could supply nine hundred and ninety-three

seamen annually.

He would now advert to the connections dependent upon the African trade. It

was the duty of the House to protect the planters, whose lives had been,

and were then, exposed to imminent dangers, and whose property had

undergone an unmerited depreciation. To what could this depreciation, and

to what could the late insurrection at Dominica, be imputed, which had been

saved from horrid carnage and midnight-butchery only by the adventitious

arrival of two British regiments? They could only be attributed to the long

delayed question of the abolition of the Slave-trade; and if this question

were to go much longer unsettled, Jamaica would be endangered also.

To members of landed property he would observe, that the abolition would

lessen the commerce of the country, and increase the national debt and the

number of their taxes. The minister, he hoped, who patronized this wild

scheme, had some new pecuniary resource in store to supply the deficiencies

it would occasion.

To the mercantile members he would speak thus: "A few ministerial men in

the house had been gifted with religious inspiration, and this had been

communicated to other eminent personages in it: these enlightened

philanthropists had discovered, that it was necessary, for the sake of

humanity and for the honour of the nation, that the merchants concerned in

the African trade should be persecuted, notwithstanding the sanction of

their trade by parliament, and notwithstanding that such persecution must

aggrandize the rivals of Great Britain." Now how did this language sound?

It might have done in the twelfth century, when all was bigotry and

superstition. But let not a mistaken humanity, in these enlightened times,

furnish a colourable pretext for any injurious attack on property or

character.

These things being considered, he should certainly oppose the measure in

contemplation. It would annihilate a trade, whose exports amounted to eight

hundred thousand pounds annually, and which employed a hundred and sixty

vessels and more than five thousand seamen. It would destroy also the West

India trade, which was of the annual value of six millions; and which

employed one hundred and sixty thousand tons of shipping, and seamen in

proportion. These were objects of too much importance to the country to be

hazarded on an unnecessary speculation.

Mr. Grosvenor then rose. He complimented the humanity of Mr. Wilberforce,

though he differed from him on the subject of his motion. He himself had

read only the privy council report; and he wished for no other evidence.

The question had then been delayed two years. Had the abolition been so

clear a point as it was said to be, it could not have needed either so much

evidence or time.

He had heard a good deal about kidnapping and other barbarous practices. He

was sorry for them. But these were the natural consequences of the laws of

Africa; and it became us as wise men to turn them to our own advantage. The

Slave-trade was certainly not an amiable trade. Neither was that of a

butcher; but yet it was a very necessary one.

There was great reason to doubt the propriety of the present motion. He had

twenty reasons for disapproving it. The first was, that the thing was

impossible. He needed not therefore to give the rest. Parliament, indeed,

might relinquish the trade. But to whom? To foreigners, who would continue

it, and without the humane regulations, which were applied to it by his

country-men.

He would give advice to the house on this subject in the words, which the

late Alderman Beckford used on a different occasion: "Meddle not with

troubled waters: they will be found to be bitter waters, and the waters of

affliction." He again admitted, that the Slave-trade was not an amiable

trade; but he would not gratify his humanity at the expense of the

interests of his country; and he thought we should not too curiously

inquire into the unpleasant circumstances, which attended it.

Mr. James Martin succeeded Mr. Grosvenor. He said, he had been long aware,

how much self-interest could pervert the judgment; but he was not apprized

of the full power of it, till the Slave-trade became a subject of

discussion. He had always conceived, that the custom of trafficking in

human beings had been incautiously begun, and without any reflection upon

it; for he never could believe that any man, under the influence of moral

principles, could suffer himself knowingly to carry on a trade replete with

fraud, cruelty, and destruction; with destruction, indeed, of the worst

kind, because it subjected the sufferers to a lingering death. But he found

now, that even such a trade as this could be sanctioned.

It was well observed in the petition from the University of Cambridge

against the Slave-trade, "that a firm belief in the Providence of a

benevolent Creator assured them that no system, founded on the oppression

of one part of mankind, could be beneficial to another." He felt much

concern, that in an assembly of the representatives of a country, boasting

itself zealous not only for the preservation of its own liberties, but for

the general rights of mankind, it should be necessary to say a single word

upon such a subject; but the deceitfulness of the human heart was such, as

to change the appearances of truth, when it stood in opposition to

self-interest. And he had to lament that even among those, whose public

duty it was to cling to the universal and eternal principles of truth,

justice, and humanity, there were found some, who could defend that which

was unjust, fraudulent, and cruel.

The doctrines he had heard that evening, ought to have been reserved for

times the most flagrantly profligate and abandoned. He never expected then

to learn, that the everlasting laws of righteousness were to give way to

imaginary, political, and commercial expediency; and that thousands of our

fellow-creatures were to be reduced to wretchedness, that individuals might

enjoy opulence, or government a revenue.

He hoped that the house for the sake of its own character would explode

these doctrines with all the marks of odium they deserved; and that all

parties would join in giving a death-blow to this execrable trade. The

royal family would, he expected, from their known benevolence, patronize

the measure. Both Houses of Parliament were now engaged in the prosecution

of a gentleman accused of cruelty and oppression in the East. But what were

these cruelties, even if they could be brought home to him, when compared

in number and degree to those, which were every day and every hour

committed in the abominable traffic, which was now under their discussion!

He considered therefore both Houses of Parliament as pledged upon this

occasion. Of the support of the bishops he could have no doubt; because

they were to render Christianity amiable, both by their doctrine and their

example. Some of the inferior clergy had already manifested a laudable zeal

in behalf of the injured Africans. The University of Cambridge had

presented a petition to that house worthy of itself. The Sister-university

had, by one of her representatives, given sanction to the measure.

Dissenters of various denominations, but particularly the Quakers, (who to

their immortal honour had taken the lead in it,) had vied with those of the

established church in this amiable contest. The first counties, and some of

the largest trading towns, in the kingdom had espoused the cause. In short,

there had never been more unanimity in the country, than in this righteous

attempt.

With such support, and with so good a cause, it would be impossible to

fail. Let but every man stand forth, who had at any time boasted of himself

as an Englishman, and success would follow. But if he were to be unhappily

mistaken as to the result, we must give up the name of Englishmen. Indeed,

if we retained it, we should be the greatest hypocrites in the world; for

we boasted of nothing more than of our own liberty; we manifested the

warmest indignation at the smallest personal insult; we professed liberal

sentiments towards other nations: but to do these things, and to continue

such a traffic, would be to deserve the hateful character before mentioned.

While we could hardly bear the sight of any thing resembling slavery, even

as a punishment, among ourselves, how could we consistently entail an

eternal slavery upon others?

It had been frequently, but most disgracefully said, that "we should not be

too eager in setting the example. Let the French begin it." Such a

sentiment was a direct libel upon the ancient, noble, and generous

character of this nation. We ought, on the other hand, under the blessings

we enjoyed, and under the high sense we entertained of our own dignity as a

people, to be proudly fearful, lest other nations should anticipate our

design, and obtain the palm before us. It became us to lead. And if others

should not follow us, it would belong to them to glory in the shame of

trampling under foot the laws of reason, humanity, and religion.

This motion, he said, came strongly recommended to them. The honourable

member, who introduced it, was justly esteemed for his character. He was

the representative too of a noble county, which had been always ready to

take the lead in every public measure for the good of the community, or for

the general benefit of mankind; of a county too, which had had the honour

of producing a Saville. Had his illustrious predecessor been alive, he

would have shown the same zeal on the same occasion. The preservation of

the unalienable rights of all his fellow-creatures was one of the chief

characteristics of that excellent citizen. Let every member in that house

imitate him in the purity of their conduct and in the universal rectitude

of their measures, and they would pay the same tender regard to the rights

of other countries as to those of their own; and, for his part, he should

never believe those persons to be sincere, who were loud in their

professions of love of liberty, if he saw that love confined to the narrow

circle of one community, which ought to be extended to the natural rights

of every inhabitant of the globe.

But we should be better able to bring ourselves up to this standard of

rectitude, if we were to put ourselves into the situation of those, whom we

oppressed. This was the rule of our religion. What should we think of

those, who should say, that it was their interest to injure us? But he

hoped we should not deceive ourselves so grossly as to imagine, that it was

our real interest to oppress any one. The advantages to be obtained by

tyranny were imaginary, and deceitful to the tyrant; and the evils they

caused to the oppressed were grievous, and often insupportable.

Before he sat down, he would apologize, if he had expressed himself too

warmly on this subject. He did not mean to offend any one. There were

persons connected with the trade, some of whom he pitied on account of the

difficulty of their situation. But he should think most contemptibly of

himself as a man, if he could talk on this traffic without emotion. It

would be a sign to him of his own moral degradation. He regretted his

inability to do justice to such a cause; but if, in having attempted to

forward it, he had shown the weakness of his powers, he must console

himself with the consideration, that he felt more solid comfort in having

acted up to sound public principles, than he could have done from the

exertion of the most splendid talents against the conviction of his

conscience.

Mr. Burdon rose, and said he was embarrassed to know how to act. Mr.

Wilberforce had in a great measure met his ideas. Indeed he considered

himself as much in his hands; but he wished to go gradually to the

abolition of the trade. He wished to give time to the planters to recruit

their stocks. He feared the immediate abolition might occasion a monopoly

among such of them as were rich, to the detriment of the less affluent. We

ought, like a judicious physician, to follow nature, and to promote a

gradual recovery.

Mr. Francis rose next. After complimenting Mr. Wilberforce, he stated that

personal considerations might appear to incline him to go against the side

which he was about to take, namely, that of strenuously supporting his

motion. Having himself an interest in the West Indies, he thought that what

he should submit to the house would have the double effect of evidence and

argument; and he stated most unequivocally his opinion, that the abolition

of the Slave-trade would tend materially to the benefit of the West Indies.