THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION.
Although defeated in his humane endeavours to effect the abolition of the slave-trade during the last session, yet Mr. Wilberforce resolved to persevere in the great cause which he had undertaken. And in this he was now supported by popular opinion; not less than five hundred and eight petitions having been presented, in the early part of the sessions, praying for the abolition of that abominable traffic. Thus encouraged, on the 2nd of April, Wilberforce moved, in a committee of the whole house, “that it is the opinion of this committee, that the trade carried on by British subjects, for the purpose of procuring slaves from Africa, ought to be entirely abolished.” In his speech, which was very able and eloquent, the mover declared that he would never abandon this business till he had obtained his object; and he intimated that if he carried his present motion, he would follow it up by another to this effect:—“That the chairman be directed to move the house for leave to bring in a bill for the abolition of the slave-trade.” Wilberforce was opposed by Jenkinson, Colonel Tarleton, and other members interested in the slave-trade, who endeavoured to show that our West India islands would be useless without such a traffic, and who treated the petitions on the table with contempt, as signed by raw youths, inexperienced persons, or needy individuals, who wrote their names for money. On the other hand, the motion was eloquently supported by Thornton, Montague, Whitbread, Pitt, and Fox. One of the most powerful speeches was that delivered by the prime-minister. The subject was not made a cabinet question; but every member of administration was left to follow that line of conduct which their own notions of policy, expediency, or right might dictate. Dundas, who had recently become secretary of state, by the resignation of the Duke of Leeds, was averse to instant abolition; and he recommended a middle course, which he thought might reconcile the interests of the West India islands with the eventual abolition of the trade; and he concluded by moving, that the word “gradual” should be inserted before the word “abolition.” In reply, Pitt asked why injustice was to be suffered to remain for a single hour? “Reflect,” said he, “on the eighty thousand persons annually torn from their native land; on the connexions which are broken; on the friendships, attachments, and relationships that are rent asunder! There is something in the horror of it that surpasses all the bounds of imagination. How shall we repair the mischiefs we have brought upon that continent? If, knowing the miseries we have caused, we refuse, even now, to put a stop to them, how greatly aggravated will be the guilt of Britain! Shall we not rather count the days and hours that are suffered to intervene, than to delay the accomplishment of such a work? If we listen to the voice of reason and duty, and pursue this night the line of conduct which they prescribe, some of us may live to see the reverse of that picture from which we now turn our eyes with shame and regret. We may live to behold the natives of Africa engaged in the calm occupations of industry; in the pursuits of a just and legitimate commerce. We may behold the beams of science and philosophy breaking in upon their land, which, at some happy period, in still later times, may blaze with full lustre; and, joining their influence to that of pure religion, may illuminate and invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense continent.” It was argued by some of its supporters, that slavery was a necessary evil. On this argument Pitt remarked:—“The origin of the evil is indeed beyond the reach of human understanding; and the permission of it by the Supreme Being is a subject into which we are not concerned to inquire. But where the evil in question is a moral evil, which a man can scrutinise, and where that moral evil has its origin within ourselves, let us not imagine that we can clear our consciences by this general, not to say irreligious, way of putting aside the question.” Pitt concluded by urging on the house the influence which their decision would produce in other countries, and that the divine blessing was to be expected on their own, by exertions in such a righteous cause. His speech was rapturously applauded, but he failed in obtaining total and immediate abolition; the amendment which Dundas proposed being adopted by one hundred and ninety-three against one hundred and twenty-five. Wilberforce was now asked whether he meant to bring in a gradual abolition bill; but he declared that he could not do any such thing; he could not sanction for a time that which ought not to endure for one moment longer. It was for Dundas, or some one of his supporters, he said, to bring in such a bill; and though Dundas exhibited much unwillingness to take up the matter, he felt called upon to do so; and on the 23rd of April, therefore, he produced twelve resolutions, to the effect that all that branch of the trade which did not refer to the supply of the British West India islands, should cease forthwith; that no male slaves above the age of twenty-five, or female slaves above the age of twenty, should henceforth be exported from Africa in British ships; that the tonnage employed in the slave-trade should be limited and strictly ascertained; that the duties on slaves imported into the colonies should be increased; that laws should be enacted against those who maltreated their slaves; that the colonial legislatures should be invited to concur in these measures; and that the trade should be finally abolished in the year 1800. Wilberforce, Pitt, and Fox warmly opposed these resolutions; and amendments were made, first, that the trade should cease in 1793, and then 1795, both of which were lost; but it was finally agreed, on the motion of Sir Edward Knatchbull, that the final abolition should take place on the 1st of January, 1796. The resolutions, as thus amended, were carried up to the lords on the 2nd of May; on which occasion Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who, in the course of his naval training, had visited the West India islands, and who, conceiving that the state of society there did not justify the pictures drawn of it by the abolitionists, opposed the abolition with great facility of elocution. The friends of immediate abolition were very few in the house of lords; and in order to retard the business, a committee for the hearing of evidence at the bar of the house was proposed. This was objected to by Lords Grenville, Porchester, Stanhope, and Rawdon, and by Bishop Beilby Porteus; but it was carried by a large majority. The examination of witnesses at the bar commenced forthwith; but little progress was made in it before the prorogation, so that the business was virtually postponed till the next session. Wilberforce complained that it was owing to the appeal made by Dundas to the gradual abolition of this horrid traffic, that he was defeated; but it may fairly be questioned whether he could have carried an immediate abolition at the present time, if this appeal had not been made; for, at this period, there were many circumstances which operated to the injury of his cause. Thus the abolitionists had recently determined to use no sugar which came from the West Indies; a determination that would materially interfere with the revenue. Then again, the massacres and burnings in the French division of the island of St. Domingo, where the negro slaves had been set free from their chains, gave rise to a fear that, if a total abolition took place, these troubles might extend to Jamaica and our other West India islands, and hence indisposed the king and many members of parliament to support the measure. Moreover, Clarkson, one of the most active abolitionists, and the bosom friend of Wilberforce, openly advocated the principles of the French revolution, whence occasion was offered of representing the friends of abolition as levellers. Finally, the knowledge that Brissot and the other friends of the blacks in France were fierce revolutionists, and that the redoubtable Tom Paine ranged on the side of Wilberforce in the cause of humanity, had the effect of depriving him of many votes. All these circumstances, combined with the powerful motive of self-interest, would, doubtless have ensured his defeat, had not Dundas interposed his scheme of gradual abolition. So the murderous traffic was to be continued unmitigated; and, as it proved, for another long twenty years.