The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition - Thomas Clarkson
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And now, as the House must bring this matter to an issue, he would beg
their attention to a particular point. He entreated them to look further
than the present moment, and to ask themselves if they had fortified
their minds sufficiently to bear the consequences which might arise from
the abolition of the Slave Trade, supposing they should decide upon it.
When they abandoned it, other foreign powers might take it up, and
clandestinely supply our islands with slaves. Had they virtue enough to
see another country reaping profits, which they themselves had given up;
and to abstain from that envy natural to rivals, and firmly to adhere to
their determination? If so, let them thankfully proceed to vote the
immediate abolition of the Slave Trade. But if they should repent of
their virtue, (and he had known miserable instances of such repentance,)
all hopes of future reformation of this enormous evil would be lost.
They would go back to a trade they had abandoned with redoubled
attachment, and would adhere to it with a degree of avidity and
shameless ardour, to their own humiliation, and to the degradation and
disgrace of the nation in the eyes of all Europe. These were
considerations worth regarding, before they took a decisive step in a
business, in which they ought not to move with any other determination
than to abide by the consequences at all hazards. The honourable
gentleman (who to his eternal honour had introduced this great subject
to their notice) had, in his eloquent oration, knocked at every door,
and appealed to every passion, well knowing that mankind were governed
by their sympathies. But there were other passions to be regarded; men
were always ready to obey their sympathies when it cost them nothing;
but were they prepared to pay the price of their virtue on this great
occasion? This was the question. If they were, they would do themselves
immortal honour, and would have the satisfaction of having done away a
commerce, which, while it was productive of misery not to be described,
most of all hardened the heart and vitiated the human character.
With respect to the consequences mentioned by the two members for
Liverpool, he had a word or two to offer upon them. Lord Penrhyn had
talked of millions to be lost and paid for; but seeing no probability of
any loss ultimately, he could see no necessity for compensation. He
believed on the other hand, that the planters would be great gainers by
those wholesome regulations, which they would be obliged to make, if the
Slave Trade were abolished. He did not however flatter them with the
idea that this gain would be immediate. Perhaps they might experience
inconveniences at first, and even some loss. But what then? With their
loss, their virtue would be the greater. And in this light he hoped the
House would consider the matter; for, if they were called upon to do an
act of virtuous energy and heroism, they ought to think it right to
submit to temporary disadvantages for the sake of truth, justice,
humanity, and the prospect of greater happiness.
The other member, Mr. Gascoyne, had said that his constituents, if the
trade were abolished, could not employ their capitals elsewhere. But
whether they could or not, it was the duty of that House, if they put
them into a traffic which was shocking to humanity and disgraceful to
the nation, to change their application, and not to allow them to be
used to a barbarous purpose. He believed, however, that the merchants of
Liverpool would find no difficulty on this head. All capitals required
active motion; it was in their nature not to remain passive and
unemployed; they would soon turn them into other channels. This they had
done themselves during the American war; for the Slave Trade was almost
wholly lost, and yet they had their ships employed, either as transports
in the service of government or in other ways.
And as he now called upon the House not to allow any conjectural losses
to become impediments in the way of the abolition of the Slave Trade, so
he called upon them to beware how they suffered any representations of
the happiness of the state of slavery in our islands to influence them
against so glorious a measure. Admiral Barrington had said in his
testimony, that he had often envied the condition of the slaves there.
But surely, the honourable admiral must have meant, that, as he had
often toiled like a slave in the defence of his country, (as his many
gallant actions had proved,) so he envied the day when he was to toil in
a similar manner in the same cause. If, however, his words were to be
taken literally, his sensations could only be accounted for by his
having seen the negroes in the hour of their sports, when a sense of the
misery of their condition was neither felt by themselves not visible to
others. But their appearance on such occasions did by no means disprove
their low and abject state. Nothing made a happy slave but a degraded
man. In proportion as the mind grows callous to its degradation, and all
sense of manly pride is lost, the slave feels comfort. In fact, he is no
longer a man. If he were to define a man, he would say with Shakespeare,
Man is a being holding large discourse,
Looking before and after.
But, a slave was incapable of looking before and after; he had no motive
to do it; he was a mere passive instrument in the hands of others to be
used at their discretion. Though living, he was, dead as to all
voluntary agency; though moving amidst the creation with an erect form,
and with the shape and semblance of a human being, he was a nullity as a
man.
Mr. Pitt thanked his honourable friend Mr. Wilberforce for having at
length introduced this great and important subject to the consideration
of the House. He thanked him also for the perspicuous, forcible, and
masterly manner in which he had treated it. He was sure that no argument
compatible with any idea of justice could be assigned for the
continuation of the Slave Trade. And at the same time that he was
willing to listen with candour and attention to everything that could be
urged on the other side of the question, he was sure that the
principles, from which his opinion was deduced, were unalterable. He had
examined the subject with the anxiety which became him, where the
happiness and interests of so many thousands were concerned, and with
the minuteness which would be expected of him, on account of, the
responsible situation which he held; and he averred that it was
sophistry, obscurity of ideas, and vagueness of reasoning, which alone
could have hitherto prevented all mankind (those immediately interested
in the question excepted) from agreeing in one and the same opinion upon
the subject. With respect to the propriety of introducing the individual
propositions which had been offered, he differed with Mr. Burke, and he
thanked his honourable friend Mr. Wilberforce for having chosen the only
way in which it could be made obvious to the worlds that they were
warranted on every ground of reason and of fact in coming to that vote,
which he trusted would be the end of their proceeding. The grounds for
the attainment of this end were distinctly stated in the propositions.
Let the propositions be brought before the House, one by one, and argued
from the evidence, and it would then be seen that they were such as no
one, who was not deaf to the language of reason, could deny. Let them be
once entered upon the journals of that House, and it was almost
impossible they should fail. The abolition must be voted; as to the mode
of it, or how it should be effected, they were not at present to discuss
it; but he trusted it would be such as would not invite foreign powers
to supply our islands with slaves by a clandestine trade. After a debt,
founded on the immutable principles of justice, was found to be due, it
was impossible but the country had means to cause it to be paid. Should
such an illicit proceeding be attempted; the only language which it
became us to adopt, was, that Great Britain had resources to enable her
to protect her islands, and to prevent that traffic from being
clandestinely carried on by them, which she had thought fit from a
regard to her character to abandon. It was highly becoming Great Britain
to take the lead of other nations in such a virtuous and magnificent
measure, and he could not but have confidence that they would he
inclined to share the honour with us, or be pleased to follow us as
their example. If we were disposed to set about this glorious work in
earnest, they might he invited to concur with us by a negotiation to be
immediately opened for that purpose. He would only now observe, before
he sat down, in answer to certain ideas thrown out, that he could by no
means acquiesce in any compensation for losses which might be sustained
by the people of Liverpool or by others in any other part of the
kingdom, in the execution of this just and necessary undertaking.
Sir William Yonge said, he wanted no inducement to concur with the
honourable mover of the propositions, provided the latter could be
fairly established, and no serious mischiefs were to arise from the
abolition. But he was apprehensive, that many evils might follow in the
case of any sudden or unlooked-for decrease in the slaves. They might be
destroyed by hurricanes. They might be swept off by many fatal
disorders. In these cases, the owners of them would not be able to fill
up their places, and they who had lent money upon the lands, where the
losses had happened, would foreclose their mortgages. He was fearful,
also, that a clandestine trade would be carried on, and then the
sufferings of the Africans, crammed up in small vessels, which would be
obliged to be hovering about from day to day, to watch an opportunity of
landing, would be ten times greater than any which they now experienced
in the legal trade. He was glad, however, as the matter was to be
discussed, that it had been brought forward in the shape of distinct
propositions, to be grounded upon the evidence in the privy council
report.
Mr. Fox observed that he did not like, where he agreed as to the
substance of a measure, to differ with respect to the form of it. If,
however, he differed in any thing in the present case, it was with a
view rather to forward the business than to injure it, or to throw
anything like an obstacle in its way. Nothing like either should come
from him. What he thought was, that all the propositions were not
necessary to be voted previously to the ultimate decision, though some
of them undoubtedly were. He considered them as of two classes: the one,
alleging the grounds upon which it was proper to proceed to the
abolition; such as that the trade was productive of inexpressible
misery, in various ways, to the innocent natives of Africa; that it was
the grave of our seamen, and so on; the other merely answering
objections which might be started, and where there might be a difference
of opinion. He was, however, glad that the propositions were likely to
be entered upon the journals; since, if, from any misfortune, the
business should be deferred, it might succeed another year. Sure he was
that it could not fail to succeed sooner or later. He highly approved of
what Mr. Pitt had said relative to the language it became us to hold out
to foreign powers, in case of a clandestine trade. With respect,
however, to the assertion of Sir William Yonge that a clandestine trade
in slaves would be worse than a legal one, he could not admit it. Such a
trade, if it existed at all, ought only to be clandestine. A trade in
human flesh and sinews was so scandalous, that it ought not openly to be
carried on by any government whatever, and much less by that of a
Christian country. With regard to the regulation of the Slave Trade, he
knew of no such thing as a regulation of robbery and murder. There was
no medium. The legislature must either abolish it, or plead guilty of
all the wickedness which had been shown to attend it. He would now say a
word or two with respect to the conduct of foreign nations on this
subject. It was possible that these, when they heard that the matter had
been discussed in that House, might follow the example, or they might go
before us and set one themselves. If this were to happen, though we
might be the losers, humanity would be the gainer. He himself had been
thought sometimes to use expressions relative to France, which were too
harsh, and as if he could only treat her as the enemy of this country.
Politically speaking, France was our rival. But he well knew the
distinction between political enmity and illiberal prejudice. If there
was any great and enlightened nation in Europe, it was France, which was
as likely as any country upon the face of the globe to catch a spark
from the light of our fire, and to act upon the present subject with
warmth and enthusiasm. France had often been improperly stimulated by
her ambition; and he had no doubt but that, in the present instance, she
would readily follow its honourable dictates.
Mr. (afterwards Lord) Grenville would not detain the house by going into
a question which had been so ably argued; but he should not do justice
to his feelings, if he did not express publicly to his honourable
friend, Mr. Wilberforce, the pleasure he had received from one of the
most masterly and eloquent speeches he had ever heard; a speech which,
while it did honour to him, entitled him to the thanks of the House, of
the people of England, of all Europe, and of the latest posterity. He
approved of the propositions as the best mode of bringing this great
question to a happy issue. He was pleased, also, with the language which
had been held out with respect to foreign nations, and with our
determination to assert our right of preventing our colonies from
carrying on any trade which we had thought it our duty to abandon.
Aldermen Newnham, Sawbridge, and Watson, though they wished well to the
cause of humanity, could not, as representatives of the city of London,
give their concurrence to a measure which would injure it so essentially
as the abolition of the Slave Trade. This trade might undoubtedly be put
under wholesome regulations, and made productive of great commercial
advantages; but, if it were abolished, it would render the city of
London one scene of bankruptcy and ruin. It became the house to take
care, while they were giving way to the goodness of their hearts, that
they did not contribute to the ruin of the mercantile interests of their
country.
Mr. Martin stated that he was so well satisfied with the speech of the
honourable gentleman who had introduced the propositions, and with the
language held out by other distinguished members on this subject, that
he felt himself more proud than ever of being an Englishman. He hoped
and believed that the melancholy predictions of the worthy aldermen
would not prove true, and that the citizens of London would have too
much public spirit to wish that a great national object (which
comprehended the great duties of humanity and justice) should be set
aside, merely out of consideration to their own private interests.
Mr. Dempster expected, notwithstanding all he had heard, that the first
proposition submitted to them would have been to make good out of the
public purse all the losses individuals were liable to sustain from an
abolition of the Slave Trade. This ought to have been, as Lord Penrhyn
had observed, a preliminary measure. He did not like to be generous out
of the pockets of others. They were to abolish the trade, it was said,
out of a principle of humanity. Undoubtedly they owed humanity to all
mankind; but they also owed justice to those who were interested in the
event of the question, and had embarked their fortunes on the faith of
parliament. In fact he did not like to see men introducing even their
schemes of benevolence to the detriment of other people; and much less
did he like to see them going to the colonies, as it were upon their
estates, and prescribing rules to them for their management. With
respect to his own speculative opinion, as it regarded cultivation, he
had no objection to give it. He was sure that sugar could be raised
cheaper by free-men than by slaves. This the practice in China
abundantly proved; but yet neither he, nor any other person, had a right
to force a system upon others. As to the trade itself, by which the
present labourers were supplied, it had been considered by that House as
so valuable that they had preferred it to all others, and had annually
voted a considerable sum towards carrying it on. They had hitherto
deemed it an essential nursery for our seamen. Had it really been such
as had been represented, our ancestors would scarcely have encouraged
it; and therefore, upon these and other considerations, he could not
help thinking that they would be wanting in their duty if they abolished
it altogether.
Mr. William Smith would not detain the House long at that late hour upon
this important subject; but he could not help testifying the great
satisfaction he felt at the manner, in which the honourable gentleman
who opened the debate (if it could be so called) had treated it. He
approved of the propositions as the best mode of bringing the decision
to a happy issue. He gave Mr. Fox great credit for the open and manly
way in which he had manifested his abhorrence of this trade, and for the
support he meant to give to the total and unqualified abolition of it;
for he was satisfied, that the more it was inquired into, the more it
would be found that nothing short of abolition would cure the evil. With
respect to certain assertions of the members for Liverpool, and certain
melancholy predictions about the consequences of such an event, which
others had held out, he desired to lay in his claim for observation upon
them when the great question should come before the House.
Soon after this the House broke up; and the discussion of the
propositions, which was the next parliamentary measure intended, was
postponed to a future day, which was sufficiently distant to give all
the parties concerned, time to make the necessary preparations for it.
Of this interval the committee for the abolition availed themselves, to
thank Mr. Wilberforce for the very able and satisfactory manner in which
he had stated to the House his propositions for the abolition of the
Slave Trade, and for the unparalleled assiduity and perseverance with
which he had all along endeavoured to accomplish this object, as well as
to take measures themselves for the further promotion of it. Their
opponents availed themselves of this interval also. But that which now
embarrassed them, was the evidence contained in the privy council
report. They had no idea, considering the number of witnesses they had
sent to be examined, that this evidence, when duly weighed, could by
right reasoning have given birth to the sentiments which had been
displayed in the speeches of the most distinguished members of the House
of Commons, or to the contents of the propositions which had been laid
upon their table. They were thunderstruck as it were by their own
weakness; and from this time they were determined, if possible, to get
rid of it as a standard for decision, or to interpose, every
parliamentary delay in their power.
On the 21st of May, the subject came again before the attention of the
House. It was ushered in, as was expected, by petitions collected in the
interim, and which were expressive of the frightful consequences which
would attend the abolition of the Slave Trade. Alderman Newnham
presented one from certain merchants in London; Alderman Watson another
from certain merchants, mortgagees, and creditors of the sugar-islands;
Lord Maitland, another from the planters of Antigua; Mr. Blackburne,
another from certain manufacturers of Manchester; Mr. Gascoyne, another
from the corporation of Liverpool; and Lord Penrhyn, others from
different interested bodies in the same town.
Mr. Wilberforce then moved the order of the day for the House to go into
a committee of the whole house on the report of the privy council, and
the several matters of evidence already upon the table relative to the
Slave Trade.
Mr. Alderman Sawbridge immediately arose, and asked Mr. Wilberforce if
he meant to adduce any other evidence, besides that in the privy council
report, in behalf of his propositions, or to admit other witnesses, if
such could be found, to invalidate them. Mr. Wilberforce replied, that
he was quite satisfied with the report on the table. It would establish
all his propositions. He should call no witnesses himself; as to
permission to others to call them, that must be determined by the House.
This question and this answer gave birth immediately to great disputes
upon the subject. Aldermen Sawbridge, Newnham, and Watson; Lords Penrhyn
and Maitland; Messrs. Gascoyne, Marsham, and others, spoke against the
admission of the evidence which had been laid upon the table. They
contended that it was insufficient, defective, and contradictory; that
it was _ex parte_ evidence; that it had been manufactured by ministers;
that it was founded chiefly on hearsay, and that the greatest part of it
was false; that it had undergone no cross-examination; that it was
unconstitutional; and that, if they admitted it, they would establish a
dangerous precedent, and abandon their rights. It was urged on the other
hand by Mr. Courtenay, that it could not be _ex parte_ evidence, because
it contained testimony on both sides of the question. The circumstance,
also, of its being contradictory, which had been alleged against it,
proved that it was the result of an impartial examination. Mr. Fox
observed, that it was perfectly admissible. He called upon those, who
took the other side of the question, to say why, if it was really
inadmissible, they had not opposed it at first. It had now been a long
time on the table, and no fault had been found with it. The truth was,
it did not suit them; and they were determined by a side-wind, as it
were, to put an end to the inquiry. Mr. Pitt observed, that, if
parliament had previously resolved to receive no evidence on a given
subject but from the privy council, such a resolution, indeed, would
strike at the root of the privileges of the House of Commons; but it was
absurd to suppose that the House could upon no occasion receive
evidence, taken where it was most convenient to take it, and subject
throughout to new investigation, if any one doubted its validity. The
report of the privy council consisted, first, of calculations and
accounts from the public offices; and, next, of written documents on the
subject: both of which were just as authentic as if they had been laid
upon the table of that House. The remaining part of it consisted of the
testimony of living witnesses, all of whose names were published; so
that if any one doubted their veracity, it was open to him to re-examine
all or each of them. It had been said by adversaries that the report on
the table was a weak and imperfect report, but would not these have the
advantage of its weakness and imperfection? It was strange, when his
honourable friend, Mr. Wilberforce, had said, "Weak and imperfect as the
report may be thought to be, I think it strong enough to bear me out in
all my propositions," that they, who objected to it, should have no
better reason to give than this, "We object, because the ground of
evidence on which you rest is too weak to support your cause." Unless it
were meant to say (and the meaning seemed to be but thinly disguised)
that the House ought to abandon the inquiry, he saw no reason whatever
for not going immediately into a committee; and he wished gentlemen to
consider whether it became the dignity of their proceedings to obstruct
the progress of an inquiry, which the House had pledged itself to
undertake. Their conduct, indeed, seemed extraordinary on this occasion.
It was certainly singular that; while the report had been five weeks
upon the table, no argument had been brought against its sufficiency;
but that on the moment when the House was expected to come to an
ultimate vote upon the subject, it should be thought defective,
contradictory, unconstitutional, and otherwise objectionable. These
objections, he was satisfied, neither did nor could originate with the
country gentlemen; but they were brought forward; for purposes not now
to be concealed, by the avowed enemies of this noble cause.
In the course of the discussion which arose upon this subject, every
opportunity was taken to impress the House with the dreadful
consequences of the abolition! Mr. Heriniker read a long letter from the
King of Dahomey to George the First, which had been found among the
papers of James, first Duke of Chandos, and which had remained in the
family till that time. In this, the King of Dahomey boasted of his
victory over the King of Ardrah and how he had ornamented the pavement
and walls of his palace with the heads of the vanquished. These
cruelties, Mr. Henniker said, were not imputable to the Slave Trade.
They showed the Africans to be naturally a savage people, and that we
did them a great kindness by taking them from their country. Alderman
Sawbridge maintained that, if the abolition passed, the Africans who
could not be sold as slaves would be butchered at home; while those who
had been carried, to our islands would be no longer under control. Hence
insurrections, and the manifold evils which belonged to them. Alderman
Newnham was certain that the abolition would be the ruin of the trade of
the country. It would affect even the landed interest and the funds. It
would be impossible to collect money to diminish the national debt.
Every man in the kingdom would feel the abolition come home to hit.
Alderman Watson maintained the same argument, and pronounced the trade
under discussion to be a merciful and humane trade.