[7] Various petitions had come in praying for an abolition of the slave-trade; and by an order in Council, Feb. 11, 1788, a committee of the Privy Council was ordered to take evidence on the subject. This committee presented an elaborate report in 1739. See published Report, London, 1789.
[8] For the history of the Parliamentary struggle, cf. Clarkson's and Copley's histories. The movement was checked in the House of Commons in 1789, 1790, and 1791. In 1792 the House of Commons resolved to abolish the trade in 1796. The Lords postponed the matter to take evidence. A bill to prohibit the foreign slave-trade was lost in 1793, passed the next session, and was lost in the House of Lords. In 1795, 1796, 1798, and 1799 repeated attempts to abolish the trade were defeated. The matter then rested until 1804, when the battle was renewed with more success.
[9] Statute 46 George III., ch. 52, 119; 47 George III., sess. I. ch. 36.
[10] Sparks, Diplomatic Correspondence, X. 154.
[11] Fox to Hartley, June 10, 1783; quoted in Bancroft, History of the Constitution of the United States, I. 61.
[12] Amer. State Papers, Foreign, III. No. 214, p. 151.
[13] British and Foreign State Papers, 1815–6, pp. 886, 937 (quotation).
[14] Ibid., pp. 890–1.
[15] British and Foreign State Papers, 1815–6, p. 887. Russia, Austria, and Prussia returned favorable replies: Ibid., pp. 887–8.
[16] Ibid., p. 889.