SLAVE-TRADE ABOLITION BILL.
On the 18th of April, the evidence on the slave-trade being closed, Mr. Wilberforce moved “for a bill to prevent the further importation of African negroes into the British colonies.” He introduced this motion with a copious and convincing display of arguments in its favour, grounded on the principles of justice, humanity, and Christianity, but though it was supported by Pitt and Fox, self-interest prevailed: the motion was negatived by one hundred and sixty-three against eighty-eight. The advocates of humanity, however, completed at this time the establishment of the Sierra Leone Company, by which they proposed to introduce free labour and Christianity into Africa. A bill was brought in for this purpose by the excellent Henry Thornton, and it passed through both houses without opposition.