The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition - Thomas Clarkson
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Compensation was also insisted upon by Mr. Drake, Alderman Newnham, Mr.
Senniker, Mr. Cruger, and others. This was resisted by Mr. Burke; who
said, that compensation in such a case would be contrary to every
principle of legislation. Government gave encouragement to any branch of
commerce while it was regarded as conducive to the welfare of the
community; or compatible with humanity and justice; but they were
competent to withdraw their countenance from it, when it was found to be
immoral, and injurious, and disgraceful to the state: They who engaged
in it knew the terms under which they were placed, and adopted it with
all the risks with which it was accompanied; and of consequence it was
but just, that they should be prepared to abide by the loss which might
accrue, when the public should think it right no longer to support it.
But such a trade as this it was impossible any longer to support. Indeed
it was not a trade. It was a system of robbery. It was a system, too,
injurious to the welfare of other nations. How could Africa ever be
civilized under it? While we continued to purchase the natives, they
must remain in a state of barbarism. It was impossible to civilize
slaves. It was contrary to the system of human nature. There was no
country placed under such disadvantageous circumstances, into which the
shadow of improvement had ever been introduced.
Great pains were taken to impress the house with the propriety of
regulation. Sir Grey Cooper; Aldermen Sawbridge, Watson, and Newnham;
Mr. Marsham, and Mr. Cruger, contended strenuously for it instead of
abolition. It was also stated, that the merchants would consent to any
regulation of the trade which might be offered to them.
In the course of the debate much warmth of temper was manifested on both
sides. The expression of Mr. Fox in a former debate, "that the Slave
Trade could not be regulated, because there could be no regulation of
robbery and murder," was brought up, and construed by planters in the
house as a charge of these crimes upon themselves. Mr. Fox, however,
would not retract the expression. He repeated it. He had no notion,
however, that any individual would have taken it to himself. If it
contained any reflection at all, it was on the whole parliament, who had
sanctioned such a trade. Mr. Molyneux rose up, and animadverted severely
on the character of Mr. Ramsay, one of the evidences in the privy
council report, during his residence in the West Indies. This called up
Sir William Dolben and Sir Charles Middleton in his defence, the latter
of whom bore honourable testimony to his virtues from an intimate
acquaintance with him, and a residence in the same village with him, for
twenty years. Mr. Molyneux spoke also in angry terms of the measure of
abolition. To annihilate the trade, he said, and to make no compensation
on account of it, was an act of swindling. Mr. Macnamara called the
measure hypocritical, fanatic, and methodistical. Mr. Pitt was so
irritated at the insidious attempt to set aside the privy council
report, when no complaint had been alleged against it before, that he
was quite off his guard, and he thought it right afterwards to apologize
for the warmth into which he had been betrayed. The Speaker, too, was
obliged frequently to interfere. On this occasion no less than thirty
members spoke. And there had probably been few seasons, when so much
disorder had been discoverable in that house.
The result of the debate was, a permission to those interested in the
continuance of the Slave Trade to bring counsel to the bar on the 26th
of May, and then to introduce such witnesses, as might throw further
light on the propositions in the shortest time: for Mr. Pitt only
acquiesced in this new measure on a supposition, "that there would be no
unnecessary delay, as he could by no means submit to the ultimate
procrastination of so important a business." He even hoped (and in this
hope he was joined by Mr. Fox) that those concerned would endeavour to
bring the whole of the evidence they meant to offer at the first
examination.
On the day appointed, the house met for the purposes now specified; when
Alderman Newnham, thinking that such an important question should not be
decided but in a full assembly of the representatives of the nation,
moved for a call of the House on that day fortnight. Mr. Wilberforce
stated that he had no objection to such a measure; believing the greater
the number present the more favourable it would be to his cause. This
motion, however, produced a debate and a division, in which it appeared
that there were one hundred and fifty-eight in favour of it, and
twenty-eight against it. The business of the day now commenced. The
house went into a committee, and Sir William Dolben was put into the
chair. Mr. Serjeant Le Blanc was then called in. He made an able speech
in behalf of his clients; and introduced John Barnes, Esquire, as his
first witness, whose examination took up the remainder of the day. By
this step they who were interested in the continuance of the trade,
attained their wishes, for they had now got possession of the ground
with their evidence; and they knew they could keep it, almost as long as
they pleased, for the purposes of delay. Thus they, who boasted, when
the privy council examinations began, that they would soon do away all
the idle tales which had been invented against them, and who desired the
public only to suspend their judgment till the report should come out,
when they would see the folly and wickedness of all our allegations,
dared not abide by the evidence which they themselves had taught others
to look up to as the standard by which they were desirous of being
judged: thus they, who had advantages beyond measure in forming a body
of evidence in their own favour, abandoned that which they had
collected. And here it is impossible for me not to make a short
comparative statement on this subject, if it were only to show how
little can be made out, with the very best opportunities, against the
cause of humanity and religion. With respect to ourselves, we had almost
all our witnesses to seek. We had to travel after them for weeks
together. When we found them, we had scarcely the power of choice. We
where obliged to take them as they came. When we found them, too, we had
generally to implore them to come forward in our behalf. Of those so
implored, three out of four refused, and the plea for this refusal was a
fear lest they should injure their own interests. The merchants, on the
other hand, had their witnesses ready on the spot. They had always ships
in harbour, containing persons who had a knowledge of the subject, they
had several also from whom to choose. If one man was favourable to their
cause in three of the points belonging to it, but was unfavourable in
the fourth, he could be put aside and replaced. When they had thus
selected them, they had not to entreat, but to command their attendance.
They had no fear, again, when they thus commanded, of a refusal on the
ground of interest; because these were promoting their interest by
obliging these who employed them. Viewing these and other circumstances,
which might be thrown into this comparative statement, it was some
consolation to us to know, amidst the disappointment which this new
measure occasioned, and our apparent defeat in the eyes of the public,
that we had really beaten our opponents at their own weapons, and that,
as this was a victory in our own private feelings, so it was the presage
to us of a future triumph.
On the 29th of May, Mr. Tierney made a motion to divide the
consideration of the Slave Trade into two heads, by separating the
African from the West Indian part of the question. This he did for the
more clear discussion of the propositions, as well as to save time. This
motion, however, was overruled by Mr. Pitt.
At length, on the 9th of June, by which time it was supposed that new
light, and this in sufficient quantity, would have been thrown upon the
propositions, it appeared that only two witnesses had been fully heard.
The examinations, therefore, were continued, and they went on till the
23rd. On this day, the order for the call of the house, which had been
prolonged, standing unrepealed, there was a large attendance of members.
A motion was then made, to get rid of the business altogether, but it
failed. It was now seen, however, that it was impossible to bring the
question to a final decision in this session; for they who were
interested in it, affirmed that they had yet many important witnesses to
introduce. Alderman Newnham, therefore, by the consent of Mr.
Wilberforce, moved that "the further consideration of the subject be
deferred to the next session." On this occasion, Mr. William Smith
remarked, that though the decision on the great question was thus to be
adjourned, he hoped the examinations at least would be permitted to go
on. He had not heard any good reason why they might not be carried on
for some weeks longer. It was known that the hearing of evidence was,
at all times thinly attended. If, therefore, the few members who did
attend, were willing to give up their time a little longer, why should
other members complain of an inconvenience in the suffering of which
they took no share? He thought that by this the examination of witnesses
on the part of the merchants might be finished, and of consequence the
business brought into a very desirable state of forwardness against the
ensuing session. These observations had not the desired effect, and the
motion of Mr. Alderman Newnham was carried without a division. Thus the
great question, for the elucidation of which all the new evidences were
to be heard at the very first examination, in order that it might be
decided by the 9th of June, was, by the intrigue of our opponents,
deferred to another year.
The order of the day for going into the further consideration of the
Slave Trade having been discharged, Sir William Dolben rose to state,
that it was his intention to renew his bill of the former year, relative
to the conveyance of the unhappy Africans from their own country to the
West Indies, and to propose certain alterations in it. He made a motion
accordingly, which was adopted; and he and Mr. Wilberforce were desired
to prepare the same.
This bill he introduced soon afterwards, and it passed; but not without
opposition. It was a matter, however, of great pleasure to find that the
worthy baronet was enabled by the assistance of Captain (afterwards
Admiral) Macbride, and other naval officers in the house, to carry such
clauses, as provided in some degree for the comfort of the poor seamen
who were seduced into this wicked trade. They could not, indeed, provide
against the barbarity of their captains; but they secured them a space
under the half deck in which to sleep. They prescribed a form of
muster-rolls, which they were to see and sign in the presence of the
clearing officer. They regulated their food, both as to kind and
quantity; and they preserved them from many of the impositions to which
they had been before exposed.
From the time when Mr. Wilberforce gave his first notice this session to
the present, I had been variously employed, but more particularly in the
composition of a new work. It was soon perceived to be the object of our
opponents, to impress upon the public the preference, of regulation to
abolition. I attempted, therefore, to show the fallacy and wickedness of
this notion. I divided the evils belonging to the Slave Trade into two
kinds. These I enumerated in their order. With respect to those of the
first kind, I proved that they were never to be remedied by any acts of
the British parliament. Thus, for instance, what bill could alter the
nature of the human passions? What bill could prevent fraud and violence
in Africa, while the Slave Trade existed there? What bill could prevent
the miserable victims of the trade from rising, when on board the ships,
if they saw an opportunity, and felt a keen sense of their oppression?
Those of the second I stated to admit of a remedy, and after making
accurate calculations on the subject of each, I showed that those
merchants who were to do them away effectually, would be ruined by their
voyages. The work was called _An Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of
Regulation or Abolition as applied to the Slave Trade_.
The committee, also, in this interval, brought out their famous print of
the plan and section of a slave-ship, which was designed to give the
spectator an idea of the sufferings of the Africans in the Middle
Passage, and this so familiarly, that he might instantly pronounce upon
the miseries experienced there. The committee at Plymouth had been the
first to suggest the idea; but that in London had now improved it. As
this print seemed to make an instantaneous impression of horror upon all
who saw it, and as it was therefore very instrumental, in consequence of
the wide circulation given it, in serving the cause of the injured
Africans, I have given the reader a copy of it in the annexed plate, and
I will now state the ground or basis upon which it was formed.
It must be obvious that it became the committee to select some one ship,
which had been engaged in the Slave Trade, with her real dimensions, if
they meant to make a fair representation of the manner of the
transportation. When Captain Parrey, of the royal navy, returned from
Liverpool, to which place Government had sent him, he brought with him
the admeasurement of several vessels which had been so employed, and
laid them on the table of the House of Commons. At the top of his list
stood the ship Brookes. The committee, therefore, in choosing a vessel
on this occasion, made use of the ship Brookes; and this they did,
because they thought it less objectionable to take the first that came,
than any other. The vessel, then, in the plate is the vessel now
mentioned, and the following is her admeasurement as given in by Captain
Parrey.
Ft. In.
Length of the lower deck, gratings, and bulk heads included at A A 100 0
Breadth of beam on the lower deck inside, B B 25 4
Depth of hold ooo, from ceiling to ceiling 10 0
Height between decks from deck to deck 5 8
Length of the men's room, C C, on the lower deck 46 0
Breadth of the men's room, C C, on the lower deck 25 4
Length of the platform, D D, in the men's room 46 0
Breadth of the platform in the men's room, on each side 6 0
Length of the boys' room, E E 13 9
Breadth of the boys' room 25 0
Breadth of platform, F F, in boys' room 6 0
Length of women's room, G G 28 6
Breadth of women's room 23 6
Length of platform, H H, in women's room 28 6
Breadth of platform in women's room 6 0
Length of the gun-room, I I, on the lower deck 10 6
Breadth of the gun-room on the lower deck 12 0
Length of the quarter-deck, K K 33 6
Breadth of the quarter-deck 19 6
Length of the cabin, L L 14 0
Height of the cabin 6 2
Length of the half-deck, M M 16 6
Height of the half-deck 6 2
Length of the platform, N N, on the half-deck 16 6
Breadth of the platform on the half-deck 6 0
Upper deck, P P
The committee, having proceeded thus far, thought that they should now
allow certain dimensions for every man, woman, and child; and then see
how many persons, upon such dimensions and upon the admeasurements just
given, could be stowed in this vessel. They allowed, accordingly, to
every man slave 6 ft. by 1 ft. 4in. for room, to every woman 5 ft. by 1
ft. 4 in., to every boy 5 ft. by 1 ft. 2 in., and to every girl 4 ft. 6
in. by 1 ft. They then stowed them, and found them as in the annexed
plate, that is, they found, (deducting the women stowed in z of figures
6 and 7, which spaces, being half of the half-deck, were allowed by Sir
William Dolben's last bill to the seamen,) that only 450 could be stowed
in her; and the reader will find, if he should think it worthwhile to
count the figures in the plate, that, on making the deduction mentioned,
they will amount to this number.
The committee then thought it right to inquire how many slaves the act
of Sir William Dolben allowed this vessel to carry, and they found the
number to be 454; that is, they found it allowed her to carry four more
than could be put in without trespassing upon the room allotted to the
rest; for we see that the bodies of the slaves, except just at the head
of the vessel, already touch each other, and that no deduction has been
made for tubs or stanchions to support the platforms and decks.
[Illustration: Slave Ship]
[Illustration: Slave Ship]
[Illustration: Slave Ship]
[Illustration: Slave Ship]
Such was the picture which the committee were obliged to draw, if they
regarded mathematical accuracy, of the room allotted to the slaves in
this vessel. By this picture was exhibited the nature of the Elysium
which Mr. Norris and others had invented for them during their
transportation from their own country. By this picture were seen also
the advantages of Sir William Dolben's bill; for many, on looking at the
plate, considered the regulation itself as perfect barbarism. The
advantages, however, obtained by it were considerable; for the Brookes
was now restricted to 450 slaves, whereas it was proved that she carried
609 in a former voyage.
The committee, at the conclusion of the session of parliament, made a
suitable report. It will be unnecessary to detail this, for obvious
reasons. There was, however, one thing contained in it, which ought not
to be omitted. It stated, with appropriate concern, the death of the
first controversial writer, and of one of the most able and
indefatigable labourers in their evils which come upon us, some are
often so heavy as to overpower the sources of consolation for a time,
and to leave us wretched. This was nearly our situation at the close of
the last session of parliament. It would be idle not to confess that
circumstances had occurred which wounded us deeply. Though we had foiled
our opponents at their own weapons, and had experienced the
uninterrupted good wishes and support of the public, we had the great
mortification to see the enthusiasm of members of parliament beginning
to cool; to see a question of humanity and justice (for such it was when
it was delivered into their hands) verging towards that of commercial
calculation; and finally to see regulation, as it related to it, in the
way of being substituted for abolition; but most of all were we
affected, knowing as we did the nature and the extent of the sufferings
belonging to the Slave Trade, that these should be continued to another
year. This last consideration almost overpowered me. It had fallen to my
lot, more than to that of any other person, to know these evils, and I
seemed almost inconsolable at the postponement of the question. I
wondered how members of parliament, and these Englishmen, could talk as
they did on this subject; how they could bear for a moment to consider
their fellow-man as an article of trade; and how they should not count
even the delay of an hour, which occasioned so much misery to continue,
as one of the most criminal actions of their lives.
It was in vain, however, to sink under our burdens. Grief could do no
good; and if our affairs had taken an unfavourable turn, the question
was, how to restore them. It was sufficiently obvious that, if our
opponents were left to themselves, or without any counteracting
evidence, they would considerably soften down the propositions, if not
invalidate them in the minds of many. They had such a power of selection
of witnesses, that they could bring men forward who might say with truth
that they had seen but very few of the evils complained of, and these in
an inferior degree. We knew, also, from the example of the Liverpool
delegates, how interest and prejudice could blind the eyes, and how
others might be called upon to give their testimony, who would dwell
upon the comforts of the Africans when they came into our power; on the
sprinkling of their apartments with frankincense; on the promotion of
music and the dance among them; and on the health and festivity of their
voyages. It seemed, therefore, necessary that we should again be looking
out for evidence on the part of the abolition. Nor did it seem to me to
be unreasonable, if our opponents were allowed to come forward in a new
way, because it was more constitutional, that we should be allowed the
same privilege. By these means the evidence, of which we had now lost
the use, might be restored; indifference might be fanned into warmth;
commercial calculation might be overpowered by justice; and abolition,
rising above the reach of the cry of regulation, might eventually
triumph.
I communicated my ideas to the committee, and offered to go round the
kingdom to accomplish this object. The committee had themselves been
considering what measures to take, and as each in his own mind had come
to conclusions similar with my own, my proposal was no sooner made than
adopted.
I had not been long upon this journey when I was called back. Mr.
Wilberforce, always solicitous for the good of this great cause, was of
opinion that, as commotions had taken place in France, which then aimed
at political reforms, it was possible that the leading persons concerned
in them might, if an application were made to them judiciously, be
induced to take the Slave Trade into their consideration, and
incorporate it among the abuses to be done away. Such a measure, if
realized, would not only lessen the quantity of human suffering, but
annihilate a powerful political argument against us. He had a
conference, therefore, with the committee on this subject; and, as they
accorded with his opinion, they united with him in writing a letter to
me, to know if I would change my journey, and proceed to France.
As I had no object in view but the good of the cause, it was immaterial
to me where I went, if I could but serve it; and therefore, without any
further delay, I returned to London.
As accounts had arrived in England of the excesses which had taken place
in the city of Paris, and of the agitated state of the provinces through
which I was to pass, I was desired by several of my friends to change my
name. To this I could not consent; and, on consulting the committee,
they were decidedly against it.
I was introduced as quickly as possible, on my arrival at Paris, to the
friends of the cause there, to the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, the Marquis
de Condorcet, Messieurs Petion de Villeneuve, Claviere, and Brissot, and
to the Marquis de la Fayette. The latter received me with peculiar marks
of attention. He had long felt for the wrongs of Africa, and had done
much to prevent them. He had a plantation in Cayenne, and had devised a
plan, by which the labourers upon it should pass by degrees from slavery
to freedom! With this view he had there laid it down as a principle,
that all crimes were equal, whether they were committed by Blacks or
Whites, and ought equally to be punished. As the human mind is of such a
nature, as to be acted upon by rewards as well as punishments, he
thought it unreasonable, that the slaves should have no advantage from a
stimulus from the former. He laid it down therefore as another
principle, that temporal profits should follow virtuous action. To this
he subjoined a reasonable education to be gradually given. By
introducing such principles, and by making various regulations for the
protection and comforts of the slaves, he thought he could prove to the
planters, that there was no necessity for the Slave Trade; that the
slaves upon all their estates would increase sufficiently by population;
that they might be introduced gradually, and without detriment, to a
state of freedom; and that then the real interests of all would be most
promoted. This system he had began to act upon two years before I saw
him. He had also, when the society was established in Paris, which took
the name of "The Friends of the Negroes," enrolled himself a member of
it.
The first public steps taken after my arrival in Paris were at a
committee of the Friends of the Negroes, which was but thinly attended.
None of those mentioned, except Brissot, were present. It was resolved
there, that the committee should solicit an audience of Mr. Necker; and
that I should wait upon him, accompanied by a deputation consisting of
the Marquis de Condorcet, Monsieur de Bourge, and Brissot de Warville:
secondly, that the committee should write to the president of the
National Assembly, and request the favour of him to appoint a day for
hearing the cause of the Negroes; and thirdly, that it should be
recommended to the committee in London to draw up a petition to the
National Assembly of France, praying for the abolition of the Slave
Trade by that country. This petition, it was observed, was to be signed
by as great a number of the friends to the cause in England, as could be
procured. It was then to be sent to the committee at Paris, who would
take it in a body to the place of its destination.