THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.
During the present reign several petitions had been presented to parliament on the subject of the slave-trade; some praying for its total abolition, and others for a more humane treatment of the African slaves in the West Indian islands. The honour of first taking up this cause of humanity in England, as well as in America, belongs to the Society of Friends, a society which is ever ready to exert its influence for the good of mankind. By degrees, however, the subject was taken up by men of all creeds and classes; orators, poets, and prose writers exposed the iniquity of trafficking in the bones and sinews of men, and by this time a general feeling existed in favour of the oppressed sons of Africa. A society was now formed, indeed, and a considerable sum of money raised, with a view to collect information on the subject, and to support the expense of an application to parliament for the total abolition of the slave-trade; great exertions being necessary to insure success, because it was foreseen that self-interest would oppose a powerful barrier to the proposed emancipation. Among those who exerted themselves in this holy cause were Mr. Thomas Clarkson, Mr. Ramsy, Mr. Thornton, Mr. Granville Sharpe, Lady Middleton, and Mrs. Bouverie, the two former as writers on the subject, and the remainder as labourers in procuring converts and subscriptions in the principal towns of England. The great champion of the cause, however, was the philanthropic and warm-hearted Wilberforce, the bosom-friend of the premier. Mr. Wilberforce seems to have been impressed with the idea that this work, with the reformation of manners, were the two great objects of his life; and to the suppression of the slave-trade he resolved to devote his whole parliamentary career. As might be expected, Wilberforce endeavoured to bring Pitt over to his cause; and he so far succeeded—his persuasions also being aided by thirty petitions which had, during this session, been laid on the table—as to induce the minister to issue a summons to certain members of the privy-council, to examine, as a board of trade, the state of our commercial intercourse with Africa. This privy-council was soon engaged in hearing witnesses; some on the part of the African merchants, who endeavoured to prove the necessity and humanity of the slave-trade; and others on the part of the London committee, who as earnestly laboured to show its abomination and iniquity. In the meantime Mr. Wilberforce undertook to bring forward a motion in the house of commons on the subject; and as he was a member for one of the greatest counties in the kingdom (Yorkshire) and an admirable speaker, his party were sanguine as to his success. Before Wilberforce could carry out his intentions, however, he fell ill, and was obliged to retire to Bath. The question stood thus; when, on the 9th of May, Pitt, being solicited by his friends, and by Granville Sharpe, and the London committe, moved the following resolution:—“That this house will, early in the next session of parliament, proceed to take into consideration the circumstances of the slave-trade complained of in the petitions presented to the house, and what may be fit to be done thereupon.” Pitt added, that before the next session the inquiry instituted by the privy-council would be brought to a conclusion, the result of which might facilitate their investigation; and he pledged himself to submit the question to the house, if his friend should still be unable to undertake the task. Burke and Fox, in reply, expressed great concern at the delay, and severely reprobated the inquiry carried on before the privy-council, contending that it ought to have taken place before the house, whose duty it was rather to advise the king than to ask or wait for his advice. Both declared that they were willing and prepared to have taken up the question themselves; and stated that they had given way to Wilberforce from deference to his abilities and known humanity, and on account of the influence he possessed with Pitt and the rest of the ministry. Pitt’s motion was carried unanimously; but Sir William Dolben, in the course of the debate, urged that the sufferings of slaves on their voyage from Africa to the West Indies required immediate attention; and on the 21st of May he moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better regulation of their transportation. The picture which Sir William Dolben drew of the sufferings of the slaves on ship-board forcibly exhibited the horrid nature of the traffic. He represented them as chained together hand and foot, with only a space of five feet and a half in length, and sixteen inches in breadth, allotted for each slave; and being thus crammed together, putrid disorders and other dangerous diseases were generated, so that when the overseers came in the morning to examine the freight of human misery, he had to unchain the carcases of the dead from the living. To prevent this, Sir William proposed that no ship should be allowed to carry more than one slave to each ton of her burthen or register, or that a ship of three hundred tons should carry as many slaves and no more. This was, in point of fact, legislating for the slave-owners, inasmuch as the regulations would have the effect of decreasing the rate of mortality; yet as blind to their own interest as they were hardened in cruelty, petitions were presented against the proposed measure by the merchants of Liverpool, Bristol, and London, who stated that it would inflict upon themselves great injuries. They prayed to be heard at the bar of the house, which prayer was granted; but the facts reluctantly drawn from those who were brought forward in support of the present system, were so decisive against it, that the friends of the bill declined calling any counter-evidence. Indignant at the disclosures which were made, indeed. Pitt proposed a clause, rendering every slave-ship which had already sailed from England, subject to the regulations of the bill; and stated that he should think it proper to despatch a quick-sailing vessel, with copies of the act, to the coast of Africa, that they might not have a plea of ignorance to offer for the infringement of its rules. At the same time Pitt said, he trusted the house would make compensation to the merchants who might receive any pecuniary loss by the bill; an object which he thought was of no consideration when the interests of humanity were so intimately concerned. Pitt also proposed another clause, granting certain bounties to owners and surgeons of ships in which the mortality should not exceed two or three during the voyage; a clause which was intended to excite greater attention to the preservation of the slaves. With these additions the bill was carried through the commons in all its stages by considerable majorities. It also passed the lords; but it was there strenuously opposed by Admiral Lord Rodney, Lord Chancellor Thurlow, Lord Sidney, and the Duke of Chandos. The bill, which was to continue in force till August, 1783, by which time it was hoped something more would be done in favour of the slaves, received the royal assent on the 11th of July. The triumph served as an encouragement to the philanthropists to persevere in the cause of humanity; and from this time the number of their converts and their means daily increased.
GEORGE III. 1787-1789