"My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—At the express wish of the Lord Mayor I am asked to preside on this auspicious occasion. I need hardly tell you that in such a cause it gives me more than ordinary pleasure to occupy the chair at so great and influential a meeting as this. I confess I had some reluctance in presiding to-day, feeling that others could accomplish the task far better than I should. But I also felt that possibly I might have some slight claim to occupy the chair on such an occasion, as so many members of my family have presided over former meetings in connection with Anti-Slavery movements. In the years 1825 and 1828, my uncle the late Duke of Gloucester presided at meetings of the Society, which were numerously attended. The Duke of Sussex did so in 1840; and you are well aware of the interest they took in promoting the objects of the Society by bringing forward questions concerning it in Parliament. In the same year my lamented father occupied the chair at a very large and crowded meeting at Exeter Hall; and I believe that occasion was the very first on which he occupied the chair at any public meeting in this country. Let me say that my excuse for standing before you to-day may be given in words used by him forty-four years ago. They were these—'I have been induced to preside at the meeting of this Society from the conviction of its paramount importance to the greatest interests of humanity and justice.'
"This is a great and important anniversary. To-day we celebrate the jubilee of the emancipation of Slavery throughout our colonies; and it is also a day which has been looked forward to with pleasure and satisfaction by this excellent Society, which has worked so hard in this great cause of humanity.
"We may be all proud, ladies and gentlemen, that England was the first country which abolished negro Slavery. Parliament voted, and the nation paid, twenty million pounds to facilitate this object. Our example was followed by many other countries, though I regret to say that in Brazil and Cuba slavery still exists, as well as in Mohammedan and heathen countries. It is a very natural temptation that, in newly-peopled countries, and especially when the climate prevents Europeans from working, forced labour should be introduced. The Duke of Gloucester very properly said that 'The Slave-trade can only be thoroughly abolished by the abolition of Slavery; that while there is a demand, there will be a supply; this is the keynote of the Society during its existence.'
"Principally owing to the indefatigable exertions of the undaunted Thomas Clarkson and his great Parliamentary coadjutor, William Wilberforce, the Slave-trade and the untold horrors of the Middle Passage were, as far as Great Britain was concerned, put an end to in the year 1807. The majority, therefore, of the Slaves in the West Indian Islands who received the benefit of the Emancipation Act were descendants of those Africans who had been originally torn from the forests of Africa. Speaking of the proclamation of the emancipation of the Slaves in the colonies, Mr. Buxton said:—'Throughout the colonies the churches and chapels had been thrown open, and the Slaves had crowded into them on the evening of the 31st of July, 1834. As the hour of midnight approached they fell upon their knees, and awaited the solemn moment, all hushed, silent, and prepared. When twelve o'clock sounded from the chapel bells they sprang upon their feet, and through every island rang glad sounds of thanksgiving to the Father of all, for the chains were broken and the Slaves were free.'
"I may mention that I have within a short time ago received a telegram from the President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in session at Burslem, congratulating me and you on the meeting of to-day, and stating that it was during the session of the Conference in 1834 that the abolition of Slavery in the West Indian Colonies became an accomplished fact—a consummation for which, as Wesleyan Methodists, they had universally prayed and laboured. They cannot therefore, but profoundly rejoice at the jubilee of the great event, with its incalculable benefits, not only to the West Indies, but to all other peoples throughout the world.
"It may not, perhaps, be generally known to you that Slavery was abolished in India in 1843 by the simple passing of an Act destroying its legal status, and putting the freeman and Slave on the same footing before the law. The natural result took place, and millions of Slaves gratuitously procured their own freedom without any sudden dislocation of the rights claimed by their masters. A plan similar to this would be found a most effectual one in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries. This example was followed by Lord Carnarvon in 1874 on the Gold Coast of Western Africa, where he was able to abolish Slavery without any serious interference with the habits and customs of the people. Under the influence of England, the Bey of Tunis issued a decree in 1846, abolishing Slavery and the Slave-trade throughout his dominions, which concluded in the following simple and forcible terms:—'Know that all Slaves that shall touch our territory by sea or by land shall become free.'
"In connection with this there are two names which I cannot do otherwise than allude to to-day—that of Sir Samuel Baker, and one which is on everybody's lips—that of General Gordon. You are well aware that during the term of five or six years that they were governors of the Soudan their great object was to put down the Slave-trade on the White Nile. They were successful to a great extent, but I fear they had great difficulties to contend with, and when their backs were turned much of the evil came out again which they had found on their arrival.
"I will now turn to Europe. The great Republic of France in 1848, under the guidance of the veteran Abolitionist M. Victor Schœlcher and his colleagues, passed a short Act abolishing Slavery throughout the French dominions: 'La République n'admet plus d'esclaves sur le territoire Français.' In Russia the emancipation of twenty millions of serfs in 1861 by the late Emperor of Russia must not pass unchronicled in a review of the history of emancipation, although, strictly speaking, this form of Slavery can scarcely be classed with that resulting from the African Slave-trade. In the United States of America in 1865 the fetters of six millions of Slaves in the Southern States were melted in the hot fires of the most terrible civil war of modern times. Passing on to South America, and looking to Brazil, it may be noted with satisfaction that all of the small republics formerly under the rule of Spain put an end to Slavery at the time they threw off the yoke of the mother country. The great Empire of Brazil has alone, I regret to say, retained the curse which she inherited from her Portuguese rulers. At the present moment she possesses nearly a million and a half of Slaves on her vast plantations, but arrangements are made for their gradual emancipation.
"Now, having taken this glance at the condition of Slavery to-day, I will add, in the words of the Society, that 'the chief object of this jubilee meeting is to rekindle the enthusiasm of England, and to assist her to carry on this civilising torch of freedom until its beneficent light shall be shed over all the earth.' The place in which this meeting is held, the character of this great meeting, and the reception these words have received, assure me that I have not done wrong in stating freely these objects. One of the objects of the Society is to circulate at home and abroad accurate information on the enormities of the Slave-trade and of Slavery, to give evidence—if evidence, indeed, be wanting—to the inhabitants of Slave-holding countries of the pecuniary advantages of free labour, and to diffuse authentic information respecting the beneficial result to the countries of emancipation. The late Duke of Gloucester, in the course of a speech made by him in 1825, said that 'his family had been brought to this country for the protection of the rights and liberties of its subjects, and as a member of that family he should not be discharging his duty towards them if he did not recommend the sacred principles of freedom by every means in his power.' Most heartily and most cordially do I endorse his words.
"I rejoice that we have on the platform the eminent sons of two eminent fathers in the work of abolishing the Slave-trade and Slavery. Lord Derby and Mr. Forster, whom I rejoice to see here, have a hereditary connection with emancipation. The late Lord Derby, then Mr. Stanley, was Colonial Secretary to the Liberal Government of that day, which had set before it the task of carrying through Parliament a measure which was to put a term to Slavery in all the dependencies of the United Kingdom. Mr. Forster's father, having taken his full share of the agitation which led to the abolition of colonial Slavery, went to Tennessee on an Anti-Slavery errand and died in that State. There are glimpses, ladies and gentlemen, in Mr. Trevelyan's 'Life of Macaulay,' of the devotion with which this great movement was carried on. Zachary Macaulay, father of our great historian, was one of the chief workers in the cause, and it is said of him that for forty years he was ever burdened with the thought that he was called upon to wage war with this gigantic evil. In some of the West India islands the apprenticeship system produced worse evils than the servitude of the Slave. The negroes were theoretically free, but practically Slaves. The masters had been paid for their emancipation, but still held them to service. In a year or two the term of apprenticeship was shortened, and soon afterwards public opinion at home demanded and effected its complete abolition. There were four years of disappointment, trouble, dispute, and suffering in all the West Indies, except the island of Antigua, where the planters had preferred to make the change from Slavery to freedom at a single step. Full emancipation of the colonies had to be enforced in 1838 by another Act, which abolished the transition stage, and proclaimed universal and complete emancipation. This Act Only completed the work which 1833 began. The battle in which so many noble spirits had been engaged was practically won when the name of Slavery was abolished. The negroes of the West Indies look back to the 1st August, 1834, as the birthday of their race. The Emancipation Act, which on that day came into force, spoke the doom of Slavery all round the world.
"I have ventured on this occasion to touch on different topics and dates which I thought would be of interest, but it is not my wish to weary you with longer details. Allow me to thank you for the kind way in which you have listened to the remarks I have made, and to assure you how deeply I am with you on this occasion, both heart and soul."
It was no formal compliment when Earl Granville, who followed the President, said, that "the illustrious Prince, following the example of his noble father, and of other members of the Royal Family, not only presided on this occasion with dignity and grace, but had spoken with earnestness and power on this great question." He also paid a generous tribute to the memory of Lord Palmerston, under whom he had begun his own official life, and who had laboured long and zealously in the anti-slavery cause.
The speakers who succeeded, without exception, rose to the height of the great argument. Sir Stafford Northcote, the Lord Iddesleigh of after years, closed his speech with a noble peroration: "They had deep reason to be thankful for the position which England had been allowed to take in this great controversy. They knew what that great position was; they knew how it astonished the world, and how it astonished ourselves, that this island had spread itself in its intentions and designs over so large a portion of the world's surface, and what responsibility it had taken upon itself in consequence. This position had brought us into communication with every portion of the globe where Slavery prevailed. It gave us great opportunities, and we must see that they are not neglected. England's mission was not to magnify herself and speak of the greatness she had achieved: it was rather to look to the happiness and the advancement of the world. There were lines written by a great poet which were originally applied to the great Empire of Rome, but which were applicable to England. They spoke of that which became an Imperial race, and of the aptitude of other nations for other arts and pursuits. It was the Imperial position and the boast of England to release the captive, and set free the Slave; and, in the words of the poet to whom he had referred, he would say: 'These are Imperial arts, and worthy thee.'"
The Archbishop of Canterbury spoke of the duty of the clergy to promote and direct public feeling on this question. Lord Derby, then Foreign Secretary, in referring to direct action by England, said that international diplomacy set limits to carrying out all that they might wish in regard to foreign slavery. "The English Act of 1834 had practically given the death-blow to slavery throughout the world. I do not think this is saying too much, for we know the force of public opinion." He concluded by saying that "the slave trade, although somewhat checked, will never be thoroughly got rid of till Slavery dies out in Asia, and in partially civilized countries. How this is to be effected, when it can be done, and through what agencies, are questions not to be settled by an off-hand sentence at a public meeting. But that it ought to be done—that it can be done, and that in time it will be done—are matters about which I entertain no doubt; and, that being so, I have much pleasure in proposing this resolution."
The resolution ran as follows:—"That this meeting, while fully recognising the great steps made by nearly all civilised nations in the path of human freedom, has yet to contemplate with feelings of the deepest sorrow the vast extent of Slavery still maintained among Mohammedan and heathen nations, producing, as its consequence, the indescribable horrors of the Central and East African Slave-trade, as fatal to human life on shore as the dreadful Middle Passage formerly was at sea; in view of this appalling state of things, this meeting pledges itself to support the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in its efforts to urge the Governments of all Slave-holding countries to put an end to Slavery as the only certain method of stopping the Slave-trade."
Mr. Forster said that this resolution had been drawn with a temperance of language which he feared he would not have been able to command. He thought that the services which England had rendered to some nations still encouraging Slavery and the Slave-trade, entitled her voice to be raised with great authority. But he recognised the difficulties, which should nerve them to greater earnestness in strengthening public opinion in this country on the subject. "I greatly rejoice," said Mr. Forster, "to see this meeting, and I believe this means a new departure, and a determination to carry on the work, and to strengthen the hands of this Society for what it has yet to do."
Cardinal Manning, in an earnest and eloquent appeal, also urged the claims of the Society. "The reports published by it, as to the actual state of Slavery and the Slave-trade, are too sadly true. We are told that Livingstone, whose name cannot be mentioned in this hall or anywhere without awaking the sympathy of all Christian men, has left it on record as his belief that half-a-million of human lives are annually sacrificed by this African Slave-trade. This horrible traffic runs in three tracks, marked by skeletons, from the centre of Africa towards Madagascar, towards Zanzibar, and towards the Red Sea. Also, we are told, that of those who are carried away by force, some are so worn by fatigue as to die, others falling by the way are slaughtered by the sword, so that of this great multitude only one-third ever reaches the end of their horrible destination. It would seem to me that never in the Middle Passage was murder and misery so great."
What was thus said by Cardinal Manning has been since confirmed by his Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers and Carthage, when recently in London, engaged in a righteous crusade to be preached by him in all the Capitals of Europe. This African prelate, from his own knowledge, during the last thirty years, as missionary and as prelate, gave terrible details of the slave trade, as the curse of that dark continent. The Cardinal says that the traffic can never be stopped, except by force, and if the Governments of Europe cannot effect this, he advocates a voluntary crusade of men, ready to form armed colonies of blacks to protect the missionaries of religion and civilization, and to defend the slave regions from the murderous raiders who invade them. The success of Emin Pasha who has for ten years kept the whole of his great Equatorial province free from the ravages of the slave-hunters shows what can be done. But for the shameful abandonment of Gordon at Khartoum, the slave trade would at this time have been almost at an end, and the grand desires of Livingstone for the peace and welfare of Africa would have been accomplished. Let us hope that Cardinal Lavigerie's visit may not be in vain so far as England is concerned. He came quietly and went quietly, only paying two visits after his public appearance at Prince's Hall, one to the Marquis of Salisbury, and the other to the Prince of Wales.
To return to the Guildhall, the loyal and hearty thanks of the meeting were offered to His Royal Highness, on the motion of the Lord Mayor, seconded by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, and carried by acclamation. The Prince, in reply, said:—
"I am not likely to forget this important day, and most sincerely do I hope that important results may accrue from it. We have to-day celebrated the past, but we have the future to look to, as many speakers have said, and I cannot do better than agree with my right hon. friend on my left (Mr. Forster) that we must act with caution. But with due caution, and with the advice and good example which have been set, I feel sure that in time all countries will follow in the footsteps of England. The best chance of a complete abolition of Slavery will lie in civilisation, in opening up those great countries, Asia and Africa, many parts of which are now known to but few Europeans, and in disseminating education. In time people will see that they have derived no benefit from having Slaves, that the freeman will do his work far better than the one who is forced to labour. I mentioned, in first speaking, the names of many men connected with the subject on which we have met to-day. I will now add the name of one who was taken from us a few months ago, and who always had the deepest interest in this Society—I allude to the eminent and much regretted statesman, Sir Bartle Frere. And on this occasion his widow, Lady Frere, has sent to us these slave irons [pointing to the chains in front], which were brought some years ago from Zanzibar by Sir Bartle Frere, and you will, by looking at these implements of the slavers, be convinced more, perhaps, than by anything else, of the cruelty and hardships which slaves in this part of Africa had to undergo. I will not detain you longer, but I must thank you once more for the kind support you have given me to-day, and also those gentlemen, many of them old and valued friends of my own, who have addressed you in such eloquent and exhaustive speeches."