Title: The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume I
Author: Clarkson, Thomas, 1760-1846
Language: English
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THE
HISTORY
OF THE
RISE, PROGRESS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF
THE ABOLITION
OF
THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE
BY THE
BRITISH PARLIAMENT.


BY THOMAS CLARKSON, M.A.


IN TWO VOLUMES.


VOL. I.


LONDON:

1808.

TO

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM, LORD GRENVILLE,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES, EARL GREY,
(LATE VISCOUNT HOWICK),
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE FRANCIS, EARL MOIRA,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE GEORGE JOHN, EARL SPENCER,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY RICHARD, LORD HOLLAND,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDWARD, LORD ELLENBOROUGH,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD HENRY PETTY,
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, THOMAS GRENVILLE,
NINE OUT OF TWELVE OF HIS MAJESTY'S LATE CABINET MINISTERS, TO WHOSE WISE
AND VIRTUOUS ADMINISTRATION BELONGS THE UNPARALLELED AND ETERNAL GLORY OF
THE ANNIHILATION (AS FAR AS THEIR POWER EXTENDED) OF ONE OF THE GREATEST
SOURCES OF CRIMES AND SUFFERINGS, EVER RECORDED IN THE ANNALS OF MANKIND;
AND TO THE MEMORIES OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT, AND OF THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE CHARLES JAMES FOX, UNDER WHOSE FOSTERING INFLUENCE THE GREAT
WORK WAS BEGUN AND PROMOTED, THIS HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE IS RESPECTFULLY AND
GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.



CHAPTER I.

_No subject more pleasing than that of the removal of evils--Evils have
existed almost from the beginning of the world--but there is a power in our
nature to counteract them--this power increased by Christianity--of the
evils removed by Christianity one of the greatest is the Slave-trade--The
joy we ought to feel on its abolition from a contemplation of the nature of
it--and of the extent of it--and of the difficulty of subduing
it--Usefulness also of the contemplation of this subject_.


I scarcely know of any subject, the contemplation of which, is more
pleasing than that of the correction or of the removal of any of the
acknowledged evils of life; for while we rejoice to think that the
sufferings of our fellow-creatures have been thus, in any instance,
relieved, we must rejoice equally to think that our own moral condition
must have been necessarily improved by the change.

That evils, both physical and moral, have existed long upon earth there can
be no doubt. One of the sacred writers, to whom we more immediately appeal
for the early history of mankind, informs us that the state of our first
parents was a state of innocence and happiness; but that, soon after their
creation, sin and misery entered into the world. The Poets in their fables,
most of which, however extravagant they may seem, had their origin in
truth, speak the same language. Some of these represent the first condition
of man by the figure of the golden, and his subsequent degeneracy and
subjection to suffering by that of the silver, and afterwards of the iron,
age. Others tell us that the first female was made of clay; that she was
called Pandora, because every necessary gift, qualification, or endowment,
was given to her by the Gods, but that she received from Jupiter at the
same time, a box, from which, when opened, a multitude of disorders sprung,
and that these spread themselves immediately afterwards among all of the
human race. Thus it appears, whatever authorities we consult, that those
which may be termed the evils of life existed in the earliest times. And
what does subsequent history, combined with our own experience, tell us,
but that these have been continued, or that they have come down, in
different degrees, through successive generations of men, in all the known
countries of the universe, to the present day?

But though the inequality visible in the different conditions of life, and
the passions interwoven into our nature, (both which have been allotted to
us for wise purposes, and without which we could not easily afford a proof
of the existence of that which is denominated virtue,) have a tendency to
produce vice and wretchedness among us, yet we see in this our constitution
what may operate partially as preventives and correctives of them. If there
be a radical propensity in our nature to do that which is wrong, there is
on the other hand a counteracting power within it, or an impulse, by means
of the action of the Divine Spirit upon our minds, which urges us to do
that which is right. If the voice of temptation, clothed in musical and
seducing accents, charms us one way, the voice of holiness, speaking to us
from within in a solemn and powerful manner, commands us another. Does one
man obtain a victory over his corrupt affections? an immediate perception
of pleasure, like the feeling of a reward divinely conferred upon him, is
noticed.--Does another fall prostrate beneath their power? a painful
feeling, and such as pronounces to him the sentence of reproof and
punishment, is found to follow.--If one, by suffering his heart to become
hardened, oppresses a fellow-creature, the tear of sympathy starts up in
the eye of another, and the latter instantly feels a desire, involuntarily
generated, of flying to his relief. Thus impulses, feelings, and
dispositions have been implanted in our nature for the purpose of
preventing and rectifying the evils of life. And as these have operated so
as to stimulate some men to lessen them by the exercise of an amiable
charity, so they have operated to stimulate others, in various other ways,
to the same end. Hence the philosopher has left moral precepts behind him
in favour of benevolence, and the legislator has endeavoured to prevent
barbarous practices by the introduction of laws.

In consequence then of these impulses and feelings, by which the pure power
in our nature is thus made to act as a check upon the evil part of it, and
in consequence of the influence which philosophy and legislative wisdom
have had in their respective provinces, there has been always, in all times
and countries, a counteracting energy, which has opposed itself more or
less to the crimes and miseries of mankind. But it seems to have been
reserved for Christianity to increase this energy, and to give it the
widest possible domain. It was reserved for her, under the same Divine
Influence, to give the best views of the nature, and of the present and
future condition of man; to afford the best moral precepts, to communicate
the most benign stimulus to the heart, to produce the most blameless
conduct, and thus to cut off many of the causes of wretchedness, and to
heal it wherever it was found. At her command, wherever she has been duly
acknowledged, many of the evils of life have already fled. The prisoner of
war is no longer led into the amphitheatre to become a gladiator, and to
imbrue his hands in the blood of his fellow-captive for the sport of a
thoughtless multitude. The stern priest, cruel through fanaticism and
custom, no longer leads his fellow-creature to the altar, to sacrifice him
to fictitious Gods. The venerable martyr, courageous through faith and the
sanctity of his life, is no longer hurried to the flames. The haggard
witch, poring over her incantations by moon-light, no longer scatters her
superstitious poison among her miserable neighbours, nor suffers for her
crime.

But in whatever way Christianity may have operated towards the increase of
this energy, or towards a diminution of human misery, it has operated in
none more powerfully than by the new views, and consequent duties, which it
introduced on the subject of charity, or practical benevolence and love.
Men in ancient times looked upon their talents, of whatever description, as
their own, which they might use or cease to use at their discretion. But
the author of our religion was the first who taught that, however in a
legal point of view the talent of individuals might belong exclusively to
themselves, so that no other person had a right to demand the use of it by
force, yet in the Christian dispensation they were but the stewards of it
for good; that so much was expected from this stewardship, that it was
difficult for those who were entrusted with it to enter into his spiritual
kingdom; that these had no right to conceal their talent in a napkin; but
that they were bound to dispense a portion of it to the relief of their
fellow-creatures; and that in proportion to the magnitude of it they were
accountable for the extensiveness of its use. He was the first, who
pronounced the misapplication of it to be a crime, and to be a crime of no
ordinary dimension. He was the first who broke down the boundary between
Jew and Gentile, and therefore the first, who pointed out to men the
inhabitants of other countries for the exercise of their philanthropy and
love. Hence a distinction is to be made both in the principle and practice
of charity, as existing in ancient or in modern times. Though the old
philosophers, historians, and poets, frequently inculcated benevolence, we
have no reason to conclude from any facts they have left us, that persons
in their days did any thing more than occasionally relieve an unfortunate
object, who might present himself before them, or that, however they might
deplore the existence of public evils among them, they joined in
associations for their suppression, or that they carried their charity, as
bodies of men, into other kingdoms. To Christianity alone we are indebted
for the new and sublime spectacle of seeing men going beyond the bounds of
individual usefulness to each other--of seeing them associate for the
extirpation of private and public misery--and of seeing them carry their
charity, as a united brotherhood, into distant lands. And in this wider
field of benevolence it would be unjust not to confess, that no country has
shone with more true lustre than our own, there being scarcely any case of
acknowledged affliction for which some of her Christian children have not
united in an attempt to provide relief.

Among the evils, corrected or subdued, either by the general influence of
Christianity on the minds of men, or by particular associations of
Christians, the African[A] Slave-trade appears to me to have occupied the
foremost place. The abolition of it, therefore, of which it has devolved
upon me to write the history, should be accounted as one of the greatest
blessings, and, as such, should be one of the most copious sources of our
joy. Indeed I know of no evil, the removal of which should excite in us a
higher degree of pleasure. For in considerations of this kind, are we not
usually influenced by circumstances? Are not our feelings usually affected
according to the situation, or the magnitude, or the importance of these?
Are they not more or less elevated as the evil under our contemplation has
been more or less productive of misery, or more or less productive of
guilt? Are they not more or less elevated, again, as we have found it more
or less considerable in extent? Our sensations will undoubtedly be in
proportion to such circumstances, or our joy to the appretiation or
mensuration of the evil which has been removed.

[Footnote A: Slavery had been before annihilated by Christianity, I mean in
the West of Europe, at the close of the twelfth century.]

To value the blessing of the abolition as we ought, or to appretiate the
joy and gratitude which we ought to feel concerning it, we must enter a
little into the circumstances of the trade. Our statement, however, of
these needs not be long. A few pages will do all that is necessary! A
glance only into such a subject as this will be sufficient to affect the
heart--to arouse our indignation and our pity,--and to teach us the
importance of the victory obtained.

The first subject for consideration, towards enabling us to make the
estimate in question, will be that of the nature of the evil belonging to
the Slave-trade. This may be seen by examining it in three points of
view:--First, As it has been proved to arise on the continent of Africa in
the course of reducing the inhabitants of it to slavery;--Secondly, in the
course of conveying them from thence to the lands or colonies of other
nations;--And Thirdly, In continuing them there as slaves.

To see it as it has been shown to arise in the first case, let us suppose
ourselves on the Continent just mentioned. Well then--We are landed--We are
already upon our travels--We have just passed through one forest--We are
now come to a more open place, which indicates an approach to habitation.
And what object is that, which first obtrudes itself upon our sight? Who is
that wretched woman, whom we discover under that noble tree, wringing her
hands, and beating her breast, as if in the agonies of despair? Three days
has she been there at intervals to look and to watch, and this is the
fourth morning, and no tidings of her children yet. Beneath its spreading
boughs they were accustomed to play--But alas! the savage man-stealer
interrupted their playful mirth, and has taken them for ever from her
sight.

But let us leave the cries of this unfortunate woman, and hasten into
another district:--And what do we first see here? Who is he, that just now
started across the narrow pathway, as if afraid of a human face? What is
that sudden rustling among the leaves? Why are those persons flying from
our approach, and hiding themselves in yon darkest thicket? Behold, as we
get into the plain, a deserted village! The rice-field has been just
trodden down around it. An aged man, venerable by his silver beard, lies
wounded and dying near the threshold of his hut. War, suddenly instigated
by avarice, has just visited the dwellings which we see. The old have been
butchered, because unfit for slavery, and the young have been carried off,
except such as have fallen in the conflict, or have escaped among the woods
behind us.

But let us hasten from this cruel scene, which gives rise to so many
melancholy reflections. Let us cross yon distant river, and enter into some
new domain. But are we relieved even here from afflicting spectacles? Look
at that immense crowd, which appears to be gathered in a ring. See the
accused innocent in the middle. The ordeal of poisonous water has been
administered to him, as a test of his innocence or his guilt. He begins to
be sick, and pale. Alas! yon mournful shriek of his relatives confirms that
the loss of his freedom is now sealed.

And whither shall we go now? The night is approaching fast. Let us find
some friendly hut, where sleep may make us forget for a while the sorrows
of the day. Behold a hospitable native ready to receive us at his door! Let
us avail ourselves of his kindness. And now let us give ourselves to
repose. But why, when our eyelids are but just closed, do we find ourselves
thus suddenly awakened? What is the meaning of the noise around us, of the
trampling of people's feet, of the rustling of the bow, the quiver, and the
lance? Let us rise up and inquire. Behold! the inhabitants are all alarmed!
A wakeful woman has shown them yon distant column of smoke and blaze. The
neighbouring village is on fire. The prince, unfaithful to the sacred duty
of the protection of his subjects, has surrounded them. He is now burning
their habitations, and seizing, as saleable booty, the fugitives from the
flames.

Such then are some of the scenes that have been passing in Africa in
consequence of the existence of the Slave-trade; or such is the nature of
the evil, as it has shown itself in the first of the cases we have noticed.
Let us now estimate it as it has been proved to exist in the second; or let
us examine the state of the unhappy Africans, reduced to slavery in this
manner, while on board the vessels, which are to convey them across the
ocean to other lands. And here I must observe at once, that, as far as this
part of the evil is concerned, I am at a loss to describe it. Where shall I
find words to express properly their sorrow, as arising from the reflection
of being parted for ever from their friends, their relatives, and their
country? Where shall I find language to paint in appropriate colours the
horror of mind brought on by thoughts of their future unknown destination,
of which they can augur nothing but misery from all that they have yet
seen? How shall I make known their situation, while labouring under painful
disease, or while struggling in the suffocating holds of their prisons,
like animals inclosed in an exhausted receiver? How shall I describe their
feelings, as exposed to all the personal indignities, which lawless
appetite or brutal passion may suggest? How shall I exhibit their
sufferings as determining to refuse sustenance and die, or as resolving to
break their chains, and, disdaining to live as slaves, to punish their
oppressors? How shall I give an idea of their agony, when under various
punishments and tortures for their reputed crimes? Indeed every part of
this subject defies my powers, and I must therefore satisfy myself and the
reader with a general representation, or in the words of a celebrated
member of Parliament, that "Never was so much human suffering condensed in
so small a space."

I come now to the evil, as it has been proved to arise in the third case;
or to consider the situation of the unhappy victims of the trade, when
their painful voyages are over, or after they have been landed upon their
destined shores. And here we are to view them first under the degrading
light of cattle. We are to see them examined, handled, selected, separated,
and sold. Alas! relatives are separated from relatives, as if, like cattle,
they had no rational intellect, no power of feeling the nearness of
relationship, nor sense of the duties belonging to the ties of life! We are
next to see them labouring, and this for the benefit of those, to whom they
are under no obligation, by any law either natural or divine, to obey. We
are to see them, if refusing the commands of their purchasers, however
weary, or feeble, or indisposed, subject to corporal punishments, and, if
forcibly resisting them, to death. We are to see them in a state of general
degradation and misery. The knowledge, which their oppressors have of their
own crime in having violated the rights of nature, and of the disposition
of the injured to seek all opportunities of revenge, produces a fear, which
dictates to them the necessity of a system of treatment by which they shall
keep up a wide distinction between the two, and by which the noble feelings
of the latter shall be kept down, and their spirits broken. We are to see
them again subject to individual persecution, as anger, or malice, or any
bad passion may suggest. Hence the whip--the chain--the iron-collar. Hence
the various modes of private torture, of which so many accounts have been
truly given. Nor can such horrible cruelties be discovered so as to be made
punishable, while the testimony of any number of the oppressed is invalid
against the oppressors, however they may be offences against the laws. And,
lastly, we are to see their innocent offspring, against whose personal
liberty the shadow of an argument cannot be advanced, inheriting all the
miseries of their parents' lot.

The evil then, as far as it has been hitherto viewed, presents to us in its
three several departments a measure of human suffering not to be
equalled--not to be calculated--not to be described. But would that we
could consider this part of the subject as dismissed! Would that in each of
the departments now examined there was no counterpart left us to
contemplate! But this cannot be. For if there be persons, who suffer
unjustly, there must be others, who oppress. And if there be those who
oppress, there must be to the suffering, which has been occasioned, a
corresponding portion of immorality or guilt.

We are obliged then to view the counterpart of the evil in question, before
we can make a proper estimate of the nature of it. And, in examining this
part of it, we shall find that we have a no less frightful picture to
behold than in the former cases; or that, while the miseries endured by the
unfortunate Africans excite our pity on the one hand, the vices, which are
connected with them, provoke our indignation and abhorrence on the other.
The Slave-trade, in this point of view, must strike us as an immense mass
of evil on account of the criminality attached to it, as displayed in the
various branches of it, which have already been examined. For, to take the
counterpart of the evil in the first of these, can we say, that no moral
turpitude is to be placed to the account of those, who living on the
continent of Africa give birth to the enormities, which take place in
consequence of the prosecution of this trade? Is not that man made morally
worse, who is induced to become a tiger to his species, or who, instigated
by avarice, lies in wait in the thicket to get possession of his
fellow-man? Is no injustice manifest in the land, where the prince,
unfaithful to his duty, seizes his innocent subjects, and sells them for
slaves? Are no moral evils produced among those communities, which make war
upon other communities for the sake of plunder, and without any previous
provocation or offence? Does no crime attach to those, who accuse others
falsely, or who multiply and divide crimes for the sake of the profit of
the  punishment, and who for the same reason, continue the use of barbarous
and absurd ordeals as a test of innocence or guilt?

In the second of these branches the counterpart of the evil is to be seen
in the conduct of those, who purchase the miserable natives in their own
country, and convey them to distant lands. And here questions, similar to
the former, may be asked. Do they experience no corruption of their nature,
or become chargeable with no violation of right, who, when they go with
their ships to this continent, know the enormities which their visits there
will occasion, who buy their fellow-creature man, and this, knowing the way
in which he comes into their hands, and who chain, and imprison, and
scourge him? Do the moral feelings of those persons escape without injury,
whose hearts are hardened? And can the hearts of those be otherwise than
hardened, who are familiar with the tears and groans of innocent strangers
forcibly torn away from every thing that is dear to them in life, who are
accustomed to see them on board their vessels in a state of suffocation and
in the agonies of despair, and who are themselves in the habits of the
cruel use of arbitrary power?

The counterpart of the evil in its third branch is to be seen in the
conduct of those, who, when these miserable people have been landed,
purchase and carry them to their respective homes. And let us see whether a
mass of wickedness is not generated also in the present case. Can those
have nothing to answer for, who separate the faithful ties which nature and
religion have created? Can their feelings be otherwise than corrupted, who
consider their fellow-creatures as brutes, or treat those as cattle, who
may become the temples of the Holy Spirit, and in whom the Divinity
disdains not himself to dwell? Is there no injustice in forcing men to
labour without wages? Is there no breach of duty, when we are commanded to
clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, and visit the sick and in prison, in
exposing them to want, in torturing them by cruel punishment, and in
grinding them down, by hard labour, so as to shorten their days? Is there
no crime in adopting a system, which keeps down all the noble faculties of
their souls, and which positively debases and corrupts their nature? Is
there no crime in perpetuating these evils among their innocent offspring?
And finally, besides all these crimes, is there not naturally in the
familiar sight of the exercise, but more especially in the exercise itself,
of uncontrolled power, that which vitiates the internal man? In seeing
misery stalk daily over the land, do not all become insensibly hardened? By
giving birth to that misery themselves, do they not become abandoned? In
what state of society are the corrupt appetites so easily, so quickly, and
so frequently indulged, and where else, by means of frequent indulgence, do
these experience such a monstrous growth? Where else is the temper subject
to such frequent irritation, or passion to such little control? Yes--If the
unhappy slave is in an unfortunate situation, so is the tyrant who holds
him. Action and reaction are equal to each other, as well in the moral as
in the natural world. You cannot exercise an improper dominion over a
fellow-creature, but by a wise ordering of Providence you must necessarily
injure yourself.

Having now considered the nature of the evil of the Slave-trade in its
three separate departments of suffering, and in its corresponding
counterparts of guilt, I shall make a few observations on the extent of it.

On this subject it must strike us, that the misery and the crimes included
in the evil, as it has been found in Africa, were not like common maladies,
which make a short or periodical visit and then are gone, but that they
were continued daily. Nor were they like diseases, which from local causes
attack a village or a town, and by the skill of the physician, under the
blessing of Providence, are removed, but they affected a whole continent.
The trade with all its horrors began at the river Senegal, and continued,
winding with the coast, through its several geographical divisions to Cape
Negro; a distance of more than three thousand miles. In various lines or
paths formed at right angles from the shore, and passing into the heart of
the country, slaves were procured and brought down. The distance, which
many of them travelled, was immense. Those, who have been in Africa, have
assured us, that they came as far as from the sources of their largest
rivers, which we know to be many hundred miles in-land, and the natives
have told us, in their way of computation, that they came a journey of many
moons.

It must strike us again, that the misery and the crimes, included in the
evil, as it has been shown in the transportation, had no ordinary bounds.
They were not to be seen in the crossing of a river, but of an ocean. They
did not begin in the morning and end at night, but were continued for many
weeks, and sometimes by casualties for a quarter of the year. They were not
limited to the precincts of a solitary ship, but were spread among many
vessels; and these were so constantly passing, that the ocean itself never
ceased to be a witness of their existence.

And it must strike us finally, that the misery and crimes, included in the
evil as it has been found in foreign lands, were not confined within the
shores of a little island. Most of the islands of a continent, and many of
these of considerable population and extent, were filled with them. And the
continent itself, to which these geographically belong, was widely polluted
by their domain. Hence, if we were to take the vast extent of space
occupied by these crimes and sufferings from the heart of Africa to its
shores, and that which they filled on the continent of America and the
islands adjacent, and were to join the crimes and sufferings in one to
those in the other by the crimes and sufferings which took place in the
track of the vessels successively crossing the Atlantic, we should behold a
vast belt as it were of physical and moral evil, reaching through land and
ocean to the length of nearly half the circle of the globe.

The next view, which I shall take of this evil, will be as it relates to
the difficulty of subduing it.

This difficulty may be supposed to have been more than ordinarily great.
Many evils of a public nature, which existed in former times, were the
offspring of ignorance and superstition, and they were subdued of course by
the progress of light and knowledge. But the evil in question began in
avarice. It was nursed also by worldly interest. It did not therefore so
easily yield to the usual correctives of disorders in the world. We may
observe also, that the interest by which it was thus supported, was not
that of a few individuals, nor of one body, but of many bodies of men. It
was interwoven again into the system of the commerce and of the revenue of
nations. Hence the merchant--the planter--the mortgagee--the
manufacturer--the politician--the legislator--the cabinet-minister--lifted
up their voices against the annihilation of it. For these reasons the
Slave-trade may be considered, like the fabulous hydra, to have had a
hundred heads, every one of which it was necessary to cut off before it
could be subdued. And as none but Hercules was fitted to conquer the one,
so nothing less than extraordinary prudence, courage, labour, and patience,
could overcome the other. To protection in this manner by his hundred
interests it was owing, that the monster stalked in security for so long a
time. He stalked too in the open day, committing his mighty depredations.
And when good men, whose duty it was to mark him as the object of their
destruction, began to assail him, he did not fly, but gnashed his teeth at
them, growling savagely at the same time, and putting himself into a
posture of defiance.

We see then, in whatever light we consider the Slave-trade, whether we
examine into the nature of it, or whether we look into the extent of it, or
whether we estimate the difficulty of subduing it, we must conclude that no
evil more monstrous has ever existed upon earth. But if so, then we have
proved the truth of the position, that the abolition of it ought to be
accounted by us as one of the greatest blessings, and that it ought to be
one of the most copious sources of our joy. Indeed I do not know, how we
can sufficiently express what we ought to feel upon this occasion. It
becomes us as individuals to rejoice. It becomes us as a nation to rejoice.
It becomes us even to perpetuate our joy to our posterity. I do not mean
however by anniversaries, which are to be celebrated by the ringing of
bells and convivial meetings, but by handing down this great event so
impressively to our children, as to raise in them, if not continual, yet
frequently renewed thanksgivings, to the great Creator of the universe, for
the manifestation of this his favour, in having disposed our legislators to
take away such a portion of suffering from our fellow-creatures, and such a
load of guilt from our native land.

And as the contemplation of the removal of this monstrous evil should
excite in us the most pleasing and grateful sensations, so the perusal of
the history of it should afford us lessons, which it must be useful to us
to know or to be reminded of. For it cannot be otherwise than useful to us
to know the means which have been used, and the different persons who have
moved, in so great a cause. It cannot be otherwise than useful to us to be
impressively reminded of the simple axiom, which the perusal of this
history will particularly suggest to us, that "the greatest works must have
a beginning;" because the fostering of such an idea in our minds cannot but
encourage us to undertake the removal of evils, however vast they may
appear in their size, or however difficult to overcome. It cannot again be
otherwise than useful to us to be assured (and this history will assure us
of it) that in any work, which is a work of righteousness, however small
the beginning may be, or however small the progress may be that we may make
in it, we ought never to despair; for that, whatever checks and
discouragements we may meet with, "no virtuous effort is ever ultimately
lost." And finally, it cannot be otherwise than useful to us to form the
opinion, which the contemplation of this subject must always produce,
namely, that many of the evils, which are still left among us, may, by an
union of wise and virtuous individuals, be greatly alleviated, if not
entirely done away: for if the great evil of the Slave-trade, so deeply
entrenched by its hundred interests, has fallen prostrate before the
efforts of those who attacked it, what evil of a less magnitude shall not
be more easily subdued? O may reflections of this sort always enliven us,
always encourage us, always stimulate us to our duty! May we never cease to
believe, that many of the miseries of life are still to be remedied, or to
rejoice that we may be permitted, if we will only make ourselves worthy by
our endeavours, to heal them! May we encourage for this purpose every
generous sympathy that arises in our hearts, as the offspring of the Divine
influence for our good, convinced that we are not born for ourselves alone,
and that the Divinity never so fully dwells in us, as when we do his will;
and that we never do his will more agreeably, as far as it has been
revealed to us, than when we employ our time in works of charity towards
the rest of our fellow-creatures!



CHAPTER II.

_As it is desirable to know the true sources of events in history, so this
will be realized in that of the abolition of the Slave-trade--Inquiry as to
those who favoured the cause of the Africans previously to the year
1787--All these to be considered as necessary forerunners in that
cause--First forerunners were Cardinal Ximenes--the Emperor Charles the
Fifth--Pope Leo the Tenth--Elizabeth queen of England--Louis the Thirteenth
of France._


It would be considered by many, who have stood at the mouth of a river, and
witnessed its torrent there, to be both an interesting and a pleasing
journey to go to the fountain-head, and then to travel on its banks
downwards, and to mark the different streams in each side, which should run
into it and feed it. So I presume the reader will not be a little
interested and entertained in viewing with me the course of the abolition
of the Slave-trade, in first finding its source, and then in tracing the
different springs which have contributed to its increase. And here I may
observe that, in doing this, we shall have advantages, which historians
have not always had in developing the causes of things. Many have handed
down to us events, for the production of which they have given us but their
own conjectures. There has been often indeed such a distance between the
events themselves and the lives of those who have recorded them, that the
different means and motives belonging to them have been lost through time.
On the present occasion, however, we shall have the peculiar satisfaction
of knowing that we communicate the truth, or that those, which we unfold,
are the true causes and means. For the most remote of all the human
springs, which can be traced as having any bearing upon the great event in
question, will fall within the period of three centuries, and the most
powerful of them within the last twenty years. These circumstances indeed
have had their share in inducing me to engage in the present history. Had I
measured it by the importance of the subject, I had been deterred: but
believing that most readers love the truth, and that it ought to be the
object of all writers to promote it, and believing moreover, that I was in
possession of more facts on this subject than any other person, I thought I
was peculiarly called upon to undertake it.

In tracing the different streams from whence the torrent arose, which has
now happily swept away the Slave-trade, I must begin with an inquiry as to
those who favoured the cause of the injured Africans from the year 1516 to
the year 1787, at which latter period a number of persons associated
themselves in England for its abolition. For though they, who belonged to
this association, may, in consequence of having pursued a regular system,
be called the principal actors, yet it must be acknowledged that their
efforts would never have been so effectual, if the minds of men had not
been prepared by others, who had moved before them. Great events have never
taken place without previously disposing causes. So it is in the case
before us. Hence they, who lived even in early times, and favoured this
great cause, may be said to have been necessary precursors in it. And here
it may be proper to observe, that it is by no means necessary that all
these should have been themselves actors in the production of this great
event. Persons have contributed towards it in different ways:--Some have
written expressly on the subject, who have had no opportunity of promoting
it by personal exertions. Others have only mentioned it incidentally in
their writings. Others, in an elevated rank and station, have cried out
publicly concerning it, whose sayings have been recorded. All these,
however, may be considered as necessary forerunners in their day. For all
of them have brought the subject more or less into notice. They have more
or less enlightened the mind upon it. They have more or less impressed it.
And therefore each may be said to have had his share in diffusing and
keeping up a certain portion of knowledge, and feeling concerning it, which
has been eminently useful in the promotion of the cause.

It is rather remarkable, that the first forerunners and coadjutors should
have been men in power.

So early as in the year 1503 a few slaves had been sent from the Portuguese
settlements in Africa into the Spanish colonies in America. In 1511,
Ferdinand the Fifth, king of Spain, permitted them to be carried in greater
numbers. Ferdinand, however, must have been ignorant in these early times
of the piratical manner in which the Portuguese had procured them. He could
have known nothing of their treatment when in bondage, nor could he have
viewed the few uncertain adventurous transportations of them into his
dominions in the western world, in the light of a regular trade. After his
death, however, a proposal was made by Bartholomew de las Casas, the bishop
of Chiapa, to Cardinal Ximenes, who held the reins of the government of
Spain till Charles the Fifth came to the throne, for the establishment of a
regular system of commerce in the persons of the native Africans. The
object of Bartholomew de las Casas was undoubtedly to save the American
Indians, whose cruel treatment and almost extirpation he had witnessed
during his residence among them, and in whose behalf he had undertaken a
voyage to the court of Spain. It is difficult to reconcile this proposal
with the humane and charitable spirit of the bishop of Chiapa. But it is
probable he believed that a code of laws would soon be established in
favour both of Africans and of the natives in the Spanish settlements, and
that he flattered himself that, being about to return and to live in the
country of their slavery, he could look to the execution of it. The
cardinal, however, with a foresight, a benevolence, and a justice, which
will always do honour to his memory, refused the proposal, not only judging
it to be unlawful to consign innocent people to slavery at all, but to be
very inconsistent to deliver the inhabitants of one country from a state of
misery by consigning to it those of another. Ximenes therefore may be
considered as one of the first great friends of the Africans after the
partial beginning of the trade.

This answer of the cardinal, as it showed his virtue as an individual, so
it was peculiarly honourable to him as a public man, and ought to operate
as a lesson to other statesmen, how they admit any thing new among
political regulations and establishments, which is connected in the
smallest degree with injustice. For evil, when once sanctioned by
governments, spreads in a tenfold degree, and may, unless seasonably
checked, become so ramified, as to affect the reputation of a country, and
to render its own removal scarcely possible without detriment to the
political concerns of the state. In no instance has this been verified more
than in the case of the Slave-trade. Never was our national character more
tarnished, and our prosperity more clouded by guilt. Never was there a
monster more difficult to subdue. Even they, who heard as it were the
shrieks of oppression, and wished to assist the sufferers, were fearful of
joining in their behalf. While they acknowledged the necessity of removing
one evil, they were terrified by the prospect of introducing another; and
were therefore only able to relieve their feelings, by lamenting in the
bitterness of their hearts, that this traffic had ever been begun at all.

After the death of cardinal Ximenes, the emperor Charles the Fifth, who had
come into power, encouraged the Slave-trade. In 1517 he granted a patent to
one of his Flemish favourites, containing an exclusive right of importing
four thousand Africans into America. But he lived long enough to repent of
what he had thus inconsiderately done. For in the year 1542 he made a code
of laws for the better protection of the unfortunate Indians in his foreign
dominions; and he stopped the progress of African slavery by an order, that
all slaves in his American islands should be made free. This order was
executed by Pedro de la Gasca. Manumission took place as well in Hispaniola
as on the Continent. But on the return of Gasca to Spain, and the
retirement of Charles into a monastery, slavery was revived.

It is impossible to pass over this instance of the abolition of slavery by
Charles in all his foreign dominions, without some comments. It shows him,
first, to have been a friend both to the Indians and the Africans, as a
part of the human race. It shows he was ignorant of what he was doing when
he gave his sanction to this cruel trade. It shows when legislators give
one set of men an undue power over another, how quickly they abuse it,--or
he never would have found himself obliged in the short space of twenty-five
years to undo that which he had countenanced as a great state-measure. And
while it confirms the former lesson to statesmen, of watching the
beginnings or principles of things in their political movements, it should
teach them never to persist in the support of evils, through the false
shame of being obliged to confess that they had once given them their
sanction, nor to delay the cure of them because, politically speaking,
neither this nor that is the proper season; but to do them away instantly,
as there can only be one fit or proper time in the eye of religion, namely,
on the conviction of their existence.

From the opinions of cardinal Ximenes and of the emperor Charles the Fifth,
I hasten to that which was expressed much about the same time, in a public
capacity, by pope Leo the Tenth. The Dominicans in Spanish America,
witnessing the cruel treatment which the slaves underwent there, considered
slavery as utterly repugnant to the principles of the gospel, and
recommended the abolition of it. The Franciscans did not favour the former
in this their scheme of benevolence; and the consequence was, that a
controversy on this subject sprung up between them, which was carried to
this pope for his decision. Leo exerted himself, much to his honour, in
behalf of the poor sufferers, and declared "That not only the Christian
religion, but that Nature herself cried out against a state of slavery."
This answer was certainly worthy of one who was deemed the head of the
Christian church. It must, however, be confessed that it would have been
strange if Leo, in his situation as pontiff, had made a different reply. He
could never have denied that God was no respecter of persons. He must have
acknowledged that men were bound to love each other as brethren. And, if he
admitted the doctrine, that all men were accountable for their actions
hereafter, he could never have prevented the deduction, that it was
necessary they should be free. Nor could he, as a man of high attainments,
living early in the sixteenth century, have been ignorant of what had taken
place in the twelfth; or that, by the latter end of this latter century,
Christianity had obtained the undisputed honour of having extirpated
slavery from the western part of the European world.

From Spain and Italy I come to England. The first importation of slaves
from Africa by our countrymen was in the reign of Elizabeth, in the year
1562. This great princess seems on the very commencement of the trade to
have questioned its lawfulness. She seems to have entertained a religious
scruple concerning it, and, indeed, to have revolted at the very thought of
it. She seems to have been aware of the evils to which its continuance
might lead, or that, if it were sanctioned, the most unjustifiable means
might be made use of to procure the persons of the natives of Africa. And
in what light she would have viewed any acts of this kind, had they taken
place, we may conjecture from this fact,--that when captain (afterwards Sir
John) Hawkins returned from his first voyage to Africa and Hispaniola,
whither he had carried slaves, she sent for him, and, as we learn from
Hill's Naval History, expressed her concern lest any of the Africans should
be carried off without their free consent, declaring that "It would be
detestable, and call down the vengeance of Heaven upon the undertakers."
Captain Hawkins promised to comply with the injunctions of Elizabeth in
this respect. But he did not keep his word; for when he went to Africa
again, he seized many of the inhabitants and carried them off as slaves,
which occasioned Hill, in the account he gives of his second voyage, to use
these remarkable words:--"Here began the horrid practice of forcing the
Africans into slavery, an injustice and barbarity, which, so sure as there
is vengeance in heaven for the worst of crimes, will sometime be the
destruction of all who allow or encourage it." That the trade should have
been suffered to continue under such a princess, and after such solemn
expressions as those which she has been described to have uttered, can be
only attributed to the pains taken by those concerned in it to keep her
ignorant of the truth.

From England I now pass over to France. Labat, a Roman missionary, in his
account of the isles of America, mentions, that Louis the Thirteenth was
very uneasy when he was about to issue the edict, by which all Africans
coming into his colonies were to be made slaves, and that this uneasiness
continued, till he was assured, that the introduction of them in this
capacity into his foreign dominions was the readiest way of converting them
to the principles of the Christian religion.

These, then, were the first forerunners in the great cause of the abolition
of the Slave-trade. Nor have their services towards it been of small
moment. For, in the first place, they have enabled those, who came after
them, and who took an active interest in the same cause, to state the great
authority of their opinions and of their example. They have enabled them,
again, to detail the history connected with these, in consequence of which
circumstances have been laid open, which it is of great importance to know.
For have they not enabled them to state, that the African Slave-trade never
would have been permitted to exist but for the ignorance of those in
authority concerning it--That at its commencement there was a revolting of
nature against it--a suspicion--a caution--a fear--both as to its
unlawfulness and its effects? Have they not enabled them to state, that
falsehoods were advanced, and these concealed under the mask of religion,
to deceive those who had the power to suppress it? Have they not enabled
them to state that this trade began in piracy, and that it was continued
upon the principles of force? And, finally, have not they, who have been
enabled to make these statements, knowing all the circumstances connected
with them, found their own zeal increased and their own courage and
perseverance strengthened; and have they not, by the communication of them
to others, produced many friends and even labourers in the cause?



CHAPTER III.

_Forerunners continued to 1787--divided from this time into four
classes--First class consists principally of persons in Great Britain of
various description--Godwyn--Baxter--Tryon--Southern--Primatt--
Montesquieu--Hutcheson--Sharp--Ramsay--and a multitude of others, whose
names and services follow._


I have hitherto traced the history of the forerunners in this great cause
only up to about the year 1640. If I am to pursue my plan, I am to trace it
to the year 1787. But in order to show what I intend in a clearer point of
view, I shall divide those who have lived within this period, and who will
now consist of persons in a less elevated station, into four classes: and I
shall give to each class a distinct consideration by itself.

Several of our old English writers, though they have not mentioned the
African Slave-trade, or the slavery consequent upon it, in their respective
works, have yet given their testimony of condemnation against both. Thus
our great Milton:--

  "O execrable son, so to aspire
  Above his brethren, to himself assuming
  Authority usurpt, from God not given;
  He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,
  Dominion absolute; that right we hold
  By his donation;--but man over men
  He made not lord, such title to himself
  Reserving, human left from human free."

I might mention bishop Saunderson and others, who bore a testimony equally
strong against the lawfulness of trading in the persons of men, and of
holding them in bondage, but as I mean to confine myself to those, who have
favoured the cause of the Africans specifically, I cannot admit their names
into any of the classes which have been announced.

Of those who compose the first class, defined as it has now been, I cannot
name any individual who took a part in this cause till between the years
1670 and 1680. For in the year 1640, and for a few years afterwards, the
nature of the trade and of the slavery was but little known, except to a
few individuals, who were concerned in them; and it is obvious that these
would neither endanger their own interest nor proclaim their own guilt by
exposing it. The first, whom I shall mention, is Morgan Godwyn, a clergyman
of the established church. This pious divine wrote a Treatise upon the
subject, which he dedicated to the then archbishop of Canterbury. He gave
it to the world, at the time mentioned, under the title of "The Negros and
Indians Advocate." In this treatise he lays open the situation of these
oppressed people, of whose sufferings he had been an eye-witness in the
island of Barbadoes. He calls forth the pity of the reader in an affecting
manner, and exposes with a nervous eloquence the brutal sentiments and
conduct of their oppressors. This seems to have been the first work
undertaken in England expressly in favour of the cause.

The next person, whom I shall mention, is Richard Baxter, the celebrated
divine among the Nonconformists. In his Christian Directory, published
about the same time as the Negros and Indians Advocate, he gives advice to
those masters in foreign plantations, who have Negros and other slaves. In
this he protests loudly against this trade. He says expressly that they,
who go out as pirates, and take away poor Africans, or people of another
land, who never forfeited life or liberty, and make them slaves and sell
them, are the worst of robbers, and ought to be considered as the common
enemies of mankind; and that they, who buy them, and use them as mere
beasts for their own convenience, regardless of their spiritual welfare,
are fitter to be called demons than Christians. He then proposes several
queries, which he answers in a clear and forcible manner, showing the great
inconsistency of this traffic, and the necessity of treating those then in
bondage with tenderness and a due regard to their spiritual concerns.

The Directory of Baxter was succeeded by a publication called "Friendly
Advice to the Planters: in three parts." The first of these was, "A brief
Treatise of the principal Fruits and Herbs that grow in Barbadoes, Jamaica,
and other Plantations in the West Indies." The second was, "The Negros
Complaint, or their hard Servitude, and the Cruelties practised upon them
by divers of their Masters professing Christianity." And the third was, "A
Dialogue between an Ethiopian and a Christian, his Master, in America." In
the last of these, Thomas Tryon, who was the author, inveighs both against
the commerce and the slavery of the Africans, and in a striking manner
examines each by the touchstone of reason, humanity, justice, and religion.

In the year 1696, Southern brought forward his celebrated tragedy of
Oronooko, by means of which many became enlightened upon the subject, and
interested in it. For this tragedy was not a representation of fictitious
circumstances, but of such as had occurred in the colonies, and as had been
communicated in a publication by Mrs. Behn.

The person, who seems to have noticed the subject next was Dr. Primatt. In
his "Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy, and on the Sin of Cruelty to
Brute-animals," he takes occasion to advert to the subject of the African
Slave-trade. "It has pleased God," says he, "to cover some men with white
skins and others with black; but as there is neither merit nor demerit in
complexion, the white man, notwithstanding the barbarity of custom and
prejudice, can have no right by virtue of his colour to enslave and
tyrannize over the black man. For whether a man be white or black, such he
is by God's appointment, and, abstractedly considered, is neither a subject
for pride, nor an object of contempt."

After Dr. Primatt, we come to baron Montesquieu. "Slavery," says he, "is
not good in itself. It is neither useful to the master nor to the slave.
Not to the slave, because he can do nothing from virtuous motives. Not to
the master, because he contracts among his slaves all sorts of bad habits,
and accustoms himself to the neglect of all the moral virtues. He becomes
haughty, passionate, obdurate, vindictive, voluptuous, and cruel." And with
respect to this particular species of slavery he proceeds to say, "it is
impossible to allow the Negros are men, because, if we allow them to be
men, it will begin to be believed that we ourselves are not Christians."

Hutcheson, in his System of Moral Philosophy, endeavours to show that he,
who detains another by force in slavery, can make no good title to him, and
adds, "Strange that in any nation where a sense of liberty prevails, and
where the Christian religion is professed, custom and high prospect of gain
can so stupefy the consciences of men and all sense of natural justice,
that they can hear such computations made about the value of their
fellow-men and their liberty without abhorrence and indignation!"

Foster, in his Discourses on Natural Religion and Social Virtue, calls the
slavery under our consideration "a criminal and outrageous violation of the
natural rights of mankind." I am sorry that I have not room to say all that
he says on this subject. Perhaps the following beautiful extracts may
suffice:

    "But notwithstanding this, we ourselves, who profess to be
    Christians, and boast of the peculiar advantages we enjoy by means
    of an express revelation of our duty from heaven, are in effect
    these very untaught and rude heathen countries. With all our
    superior light we instil into those, whom we call savage and
    barbarous, the most despicable opinion of human nature. We, to the
    utmost of our power, weaken and dissolve the universal tie, that
    binds and unites mankind. We practise what we should exclaim
    against as the utmost excess of cruelty and tyranny, if nations of
    the world, differing in colour and form of government from
    ourselves, were so possessed of empire, as to be able to reduce us
    to a state of unmerited and brutish servitude. Of consequence we
    sacrifice our reason, our humanity, our christianity, to an
    unnatural sordid gain. We teach other nations to despise and
    trample under foot all the obligations of social virtue. We take
    the most effectual method to prevent the propagation of the gospel,
    by representing it as a scheme of power and barbarous oppression,
    and an enemy to the natural privileges and rights of man."

    "Perhaps all that I have now offered may be of very little weight
    to restrain this enormity, this aggravated iniquity. However, I
    shall still have the satisfaction of having entered my private
    protest against a practice, which, in my opinion, bids that God,
    who is the God and Father of the Gentiles unconverted to
    Christianity, most daring and bold defiance, and spurns at all the
    principles both of natural and revealed religion."

The next author is sir Richard Steele, who, by means of the affecting story
of Inkle and Yarico, holds up this trade again to our abhorrence.

In the year 1735, Atkins, who was a surgeon in the navy, published his
Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, and the West-Indies, in his Majesty's ships
Swallow and Weymouth. In this work he describes openly the manner of making
the natives slaves, such as by kidnapping, by unjust accusations and
trials, and by other nefarious means. He states also the cruelties
practised upon them by the white people, and the iniquitous ways and
dealings of the latter, and answers their argument, by which they
insinuated that the condition of the Africans was improved by their
transportation to other countries.

From this time the trade beginning to be better known, a multitude of
persons of various stations and characters sprung up, who by exposing it
are to be mentioned among the forerunners and coadjutors in the cause.

Pope, in his Essay on Man, where he endeavours to show that happiness in
the present depends, among other things, upon the hope of a future state,
takes an opportunity of exciting compassion in behalf of the poor African,
while he censures the avarice and cruelty of his master:

  "Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor'd mind
  Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind;
  His soul proud Science never taught to stray
  Far as the solar walk, or milky-way;
  Yet simple Nature to his hope has giv'n
  Behind the cloud-topt hill an humbler heav'n;
  Some safer world in depth of woods embrac'd,
  Some happier island in the watry waste,
  Where slaves once more their native land behold,
  No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold."

Thomson also, in his Seasons, marks this traffic as destructive and cruel,
introducing the well-known fact of sharks following the vessels employed in
it;

  "Increasing still the sorrows of those storms,
  His jaws horrific arm'd with three-fold fate,
  Here dwells the direful shark. Lur'd by the scent
  Of steaming crowds, of rank disease, and death,
  Behold! he rushing cuts the briny flood,
  Swift as the gale can bear the ship along,
  And from the partners of that cruel trade,
  Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons,
  Demands his share of prey, demands themselves.
  The stormy fates descend: one death involves
  Tyrants and slaves; when straight their mangled limbs
  Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas
  With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal."

Neither was Richard Savage forgetful in his poems of the Injured Africans:
he warns their oppressors of a day of retribution for their barbarous
conduct. Having personified Public Spirit, he makes her speak on the
subject in the following manner:--

  "Let by my specious name no tyrants rise,
  And cry, while they enslave, they civilize!
  Know, Liberty and I are still the same
  Congenial--ever mingling flame with flame!
  Why must I Afric's sable children see
  Vended for slaves, though born by nature free,
  The nameless tortures cruel minds invent
  Those to subject whom Nature equal meant?
  If these you dare (although unjust success
  Empow'rs you now unpunish'd to oppress),
  Revolving empire you and yours may doom--
  (Rome all subdu'd--yet Vandals vanquish'd Rome)
  Yes--Empire may revolt--give them the day,
  And yoke may yoke, and blood may blood repay."

Wallis, in his System of the Laws of Scotland, maintains, that "neither men
nor governments have a right to sell those of their own species. Men and
their liberty are neither purchaseable nor saleable." And, after arguing
the case, he says, "This is the law of nature, which is obligatory on all
men, at all times, and in all places.--Would not any of us, who should be
snatched by pirates from his native land, think himself cruelly abused, and
at all times entitled to be free? Have not these unfortunate Africans, who
meet with the same cruel fate, the same right? Are they not men as well as
we? And have they not the same sensibility? Let us not therefore defend or
support an usage, which is contrary to all the laws of humanity."

In the year 1750 the reverend Griffith Hughes, rector of St. Lucy, in
Barbadoes, published his Natural History of that island. He took an
opportunity, in the course of it, of laying open to the world the miserable
situation of the poor Africans, and the waste of them by hard labour and
other cruel means, and he had the generosity to vindicate their capacities
from the charge, which they who held them in bondage brought against them,
as a justification of their own wickedness in continuing to deprive them of
the rights of men.

Edmund Burke, in his account of the European settlements, (for this work is
usually attributed to him,) complains "that the Negroes in our colonies
endure a slavery more complete, and attended with far worse circumstances,
than what any people in their condition suffer in any other part of the
world, or have suffered in any other period of time. Proofs of this are not
wanting. The prodigious waste, which we experience in this unhappy part of
our species, is a full and melancholy evidence of this truth." And he goes
on to advise the planters for the sake of their own interest to behave like
good men, good masters, and good Christians, and to impose less labour upon
their slaves, and to give them recreation on some of the grand festivals,
and to instruct them in religion, as certain preventives of their decrease.

An anonymous author of a pamphlet, entitled, An Essay in Vindication of the
Continental Colonies of America, seems to have come forward next. Speaking
of slavery there, he says, "It is shocking to humanity, violative of every
generous sentiment, abhorrent utterly from the Christian religion--There
cannot be a more dangerous maxim than that necessity is a plea for
injustice, for who shall fix the degree of this necessity? What villain so
atrocious, who may not urge this excuse, or, as Milton has happily
expressed it,

                        "And with necessity,
  The tyrant's plea, excuse his dev'lish deed?"

"That our colonies," he continues, "want people, is a very weak argument
for so inhuman a violation of justice--Shall a civilized, a Christian
nation encourage slavery, because the barbarous, savage, lawless African
hath done it? To what end do we profess a religion whose dictates we so
flagrantly violate? Wherefore have we that pattern of goodness and
humanity, if we refuse to follow it? How long shall we continue a practice
which policy rejects, justice condemns, and piety revolts at?"

The poet Shenstone, who comes next in order, seems to have written an Elegy
on purpose to stigmatize this trade. Of this elegy I shall copy only the
following parts:

  "See the poor native quit the Libyan shores,
  Ah! not in love's delightful fetters bound!
  No radiant smile his dying peace restores,
  No love, nor fame, nor friendship heals his wound.

  "Let vacant bards display their boasted woes;
  Shall I the mockery of grief display?
  No; let the muse his piercing pangs disclose,
  Who bleeds and weeps his sum of life away!

  "On the wild heath in mournful guise he stood
  Ere the shrill boatswain gave the hated sign;
  He dropt a tear unseen into the flood,
  He stole one secret moment to repine--

  "Why am I ravish'd from my native strand?
  What savage race protects this impious gain?
  Shall foreign plagues infest this teeming land,
  And more than sea-born monsters plough the main?

  "Here the dire locusts' horrid swarms prevail;
  Here the blue asps with livid poison swell;
  Here the dry dipsa writhes his sinuous mail;
  Can we not here secure from envy dwell?

  "When the grim lion urg'd his cruel chase,
  When the stern panther sought his midnight prey,
  What fate reserv'd me for this Christian race?
  O race more polish'd, more severe, than they--

  "Yet shores there are, bless'd shores for us remain,
  And favour'd isles, with golden fruitage crown'd,
  Where tufted flow'rets paint the verdant plain,
  And ev'ry breeze shall med'cine ev'ry wound."

In the year 1755, Dr. Hayter, bishop of Norwich, preached a sermon before
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in which he bore his
testimony against the continuance of this trade.

Dyer, in his poem called The Fleece, expresses his sorrow on account of
this barbarous trade, and looks forward to a day of retributive justice on
account of the introduction of such an evil.

In the year 1760, a pamphlet appeared, entitled, "Two Dialogues on the
Mantrade, by John Philmore." This name is supposed to be an assumed one.
The author, however, discovers himself to have been both an able and a
zealous advocate in favour of the African race.

Malachi Postlethwaite, in his Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce,
proposes a number of queries on the subject of the Slave-trade. I have not
room to insert them at full length. But I shall give the following as the
substance of some of them to the reader: "Whether this commerce be not the
cause of incessant wars among the Africans--Whether the Africans, if it
were abolished, might not become as ingenious, as humane, as industrious,
and as capable of arts, manufactures, and trades, as even the bulk of
Europeans--Whether, if it were abolished, a much more profitable trade
might not be substituted, and this to the very centre of their extended
country, instead of the trifling portion which now subsists upon their
coasts--And whether the great hindrance to such a new and advantageous
commerce has not wholly proceeded from that unjust, inhuman,
unchristian-like traffic, called the Slave-trade, which is carried on by
the Europeans." The public proposal of these and other queries by a man of
so great commercial knowledge as Postlethwaite, and by one who was himself
a member of the African commitee, was of great service in exposing the
impolicy as well as immorality of the Slave-trade.

In the year 1761, Thomas Jeffery published an account of a part of North
America, in which he lays open the miserable state of the slaves in the
West Indies, both as to their clothing, their food, their labour, and their
punishments. But, without going into particulars, the general account he
gives of them is affecting: "It is impossible," he says, "for a human heart
to reflect upon the slavery of these dregs of mankind, without in some
measure feeling for their misery, which ends but with their lives--Nothing
can be more wretched than the condition of this people."

Sterne, in his account of the Negro girl in his Life of Tristram Shandy,
took decidedly the part of the oppressed Africans. The pathetic, witty, and
sentimental manner, in which he handled this subject, occasioned many to
remember it, and procured a certain portion of feeling in their favour.

Rousseau contributed not a little in his day to the same end.

Bishop Warburton preached a sermon in the year 1766, before the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel, in which he took up the cause of the
miserable Africans, and in which he severely reprobated their oppressors.
The language in this sermon is so striking, that I shall make an extract
from it. "From the free savages," says he, "I now come to the savages in
bonds. By these I mean the vast multitudes yearly stolen from the opposite
continent, and sacrificed by the colonists to their great idol the god of
gain. But what then, say these sincere worshippers of mammon? They are our
own property which we offer up.--Gracious God! to talk, as of herds of
cattle, of property in rational creatures, creatures endued with all our
faculties, possessing all our qualities but that of colour, our brethren
both by nature and grace, shocks all the feelings of humanity, and the
dictates of common sense! But, alas! what is there, in the infinite abuses
of society, which does not shock them? Yet nothing is more certain in
itself and apparent to all, than that the infamous traffic for slaves
directly infringes both divine and human law. Nature created man free, and
grace invites him to assert his freedom."

"In excuse of this violation it hath been pretended, that though indeed
these miserable outcasts of humanity be torn from their homes and native
country by fraud and violence, yet they thereby become the happier, and
their condition the more eligible. But who are you, who pretend to judge of
another man's happiness; that state, which each man under the guidance of
his Maker forms for himself, and not one man for another? To know what
constitutes mine or your happiness is the sole prerogative of him who
created us, and cast us in so various and different moulds. Did your slaves
ever complain to you of their unhappiness amidst their native woods and
deserts? or rather let me ask, Did they ever cease complaining of their
condition under you their lordly masters, where they see indeed the
accommodations of civil life, but see them all pass to others, themselves
unbenefited by them? Be so gracious then, ye petty tyrants over human
freedom, to let your slaves judge for themselves, what it is which makes
their own happiness, and then see whether they do not place it in the
return to their own country, rather than in the contemplation of your
grandeur, of which their misery makes so large a part; a return so
passionately longed for, that, despairing of happiness here, that is, of
escaping the chains of their cruel taskmasters, they console themselves
with feigning it to be the gracious reward of heaven, in their future
state"--

About this time certain cruel and wicked practices, which must now be
mentioned, had arrived at such a height, and had become so frequent in the
metropolis, as to produce of themselves other coadjutors to the cause.

Before the year 1700, planters, merchants, and others, resident in the West
Indies, but coming to England, were accustomed to bring with them certain
slaves to act as servants with them during their stay. The latter, seeing
the freedom and the happiness of servants in this country, and considering
what would be their own hard fate on their return to the islands,
frequently absconded. Their masters of course made search after them, and
often had them seized and carried away by force. It was, however, thrown
out by many on these occasions, that the English laws did not sanction such
proceedings, for that all persons who were baptized became free. The
consequence of this was, that most of the slaves, who came over with their
masters, prevailed upon some pious clergyman to baptize them. They took of
course godfathers of such citizens as had the generosity to espouse their
cause. When they were seized they usually sent to these, if they had an
opportunity, for their protection. And in the result, their godfathers,
maintaining that they had been baptized, and that they were free on this
account as well as by the general tenour of the laws of England, dared
those, who had taken possession of them, to send them out of the kingdom.

The planters, merchants, and others, being thus circumstanced, knew not
what to do. They were afraid of taking their slaves away by force, and they
were equally afraid of bringing any of the cases before a public court. In
this dilemma, in 1729 they applied to York and Talbot, the attorney and
solicitor-general for the time being, and obtained the following strange
opinion from them:--"We are of opinion, that a slave by coming from the
West Indies into Great Britain or Ireland, either with or without his
master, does not become free, and that his master's right and property in
him is not thereby determined or varied, and that baptism doth not bestow
freedom on him, nor make any alteration in his temporal condition in these
kingdoms. We are also of opinion, that the master may legally compel him to
return again to the plantations."

This cruel and illegal opinion was delivered in the year 1729. The
planters, merchants, and others, gave it of course all the publicity in
their power. And the consequences were as might easily have been
apprehended. In a little time slaves absconding were advertised in the
London papers as runaways, and rewards offered for the apprehension of
them, in the same brutal manner as we find them advertised in the land of
slavery. They were advertised also, in the same papers, to be sold by
auction, sometimes by themselves, and at others with horses, chaises, and
harness. They were seized also by their masters, or by persons employed by
them, in the very streets, and dragged from thence to the ships; and so
unprotected now were these poor slaves, that persons in nowise concerned
with them began to institute a trade in their persons, making agreements
with captains, of ships going to the West Indies to put them on board at a
certain price. This last instance shows how far human nature is capable of
going, and is an answer to those persons, who have denied that kidnapping
in Africa was a source of supplying the Slave-trade. It shows, as all
history does from the time of Joseph, that, where there is a market for the
persons of human beings, all kinds of enormities will be practised to
obtain them.

These circumstances then, as I observed before, did not fail of producing
new coadjators in the cause. And first they produced that able and
indefatigable advocate Mr. Granville Sharp. This gentleman is to be
distinguished from those who preceded him by this particular, that, whereas
these were only writers, he was both a writer and an actor in the cause. In
fact, he was the first labourer in it in England. By the words "actor" and
"labourer," I mean that he determined upon a plan of action in behalf of
the oppressed Africans, to the accomplishment of which he devoted a
considerable portion of his time, talents, and substance. What Mr. Sharp
has done to merit the title of coadjutor in this high sense, I shall now
explain. The following is a short history of the beginning and of the
course of his labours.

In the year 1765, Mr. David Lisle had brought over from Barbadoes Jonathan
Strong, an African slave, as his servant. He used the latter in a barbarous
manner at his lodgings in Wapping, but particularly by beating him over the
head with a pistol, which occasioned his head to swell. When the swelling
went down, a disorder fell into his eyes, which threatened the loss of
them. To this an ague and fever succeeded, and a lameness in both his legs.

Jonathan Strong, having been brought into this deplorable situation, and
being therefore wholly useless, was left by his master to go whither he
pleased. He applied accordingly to Mr. William Sharp the surgeon for his
advice, as to one who gave up a portion of his time to the healing of the
diseases of the poor. It was here that Mr. Granville Sharp, the brother of
the former, saw him. Suffice it to say, that in process of time he was
cured. During this time Mr. Granville Sharp, pitying his hard case,
supplied him with money, and he afterwards got him a situation in the
family of Mr. Brown, an apothecary, to carry out medicines.

In this new situation, when Strong had become healthy and robust in his
appearance, his master happened to see him. The latter immediately formed
the design of possessing him again. Accordingly, when he had found out his
residence, he procured John Ross keeper of the Poultry-compter, and William
Miller an officer under the lord-mayor, to kidnap him. This was done by
sending for him to a public-house in Fenchurch-street, and then seizing
him. By these he was conveyed, without any warrant, to the Poultry-compter,
where he was sold by his master, to John Kerr, for thirty pounds.

Strong, in this situation, sent, as was usual, to his godfathers, John
London and Stephen Nail, for their protection. They went, but were refused
admittance to him. At length he sent for Mr. Granville Sharp. The latter
went, but they still refused access to the prisoner. He insisted, however,
upon seeing him, and charged the keeper of the prison at his peril to
deliver him up till he had been carried before a magistrate.

Mr. Sharp, immediately upon this, waited upon Sir Robert Kite, the then
lord-mayor, and entreated him to send for Strong, and to hear his case. A
day was accordingly appointed. Mr. Sharp attended, and also William McBean,
a notary-public, and David Laird, captain of the ship Thames, which was to
have conveyed Strong to Jamaica, in behalf of the purchaser, John Kerr. A
long conversation ensued, in which the opinion of York and Talbot was
quoted. Mr. Sharp made his observations. Certain lawyers, who were present,
seemed to be staggered at the case, but inclined rather to recommit the
prisoner. The lord-mayor, however, discharged Strong, as he had been taken
up without a warrant.

As soon as this determination was made known, the parties began to move
off. Captain Laird, however, who kept close to Strong, laid hold of him
before he had quitted the room, and said aloud, "Then I now seize him as my
slave." Upon this, Mr. Sharp put his hand upon Laird's shoulder, and
pronounced these words: "I charge you, in the name of the king, with an
assault upon the person of Jonathan Strong, and all these are my
witnesses." Laird was greatly intimidated by this charge, made in the
presence of the lord-mayor and others, and, fearing a prosecution, let his
prisoner go, leaving him to be conveyed away by Mr. Sharp.

Mr. Sharp, having been greatly affected by this case, and foreseeing how
much he might be engaged in others of a similar nature, thought it time
that the law of the land should be known upon this subject. He applied
therefore to Doctor Blackstone, afterwards Judge Blackstone, for his
opinion upon it. He was, however, not satisfied with it, when he received
it; nor could he obtain any satisfactory answer from several other lawyers,
to whom he afterwards applied. The truth is, that the opinion of York and
Talbot, which had been made public and acted upon by the planters,
merchants, and others, was considered of high authority, and scarcely any
one dared to question the legality of it. In this situation, Mr. Sharp saw
no means of help but in his own industry, and he determined immediately to
give up two or three years to the study of the English law, that he might
the better advocate the cause of these miserable people. The result of
these studies was the publication of a book in the year 1769, which he
called "A Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of
Tolerating Slavery in England." In this work he refuted, in the clearest
manner, the opinion of York and Talbot. He produced against it the opinion
of the Lord Chief Justice Holt, who many years before had determined, that
every slave coming into England became free. He attacked and refuted it
again by a learned and laborious inquiry into all the principles of
Villenage. He refuted it again, by showing it to be an axiom in the British
constitution, "That every man in England was free to sue for and defend his
rights, and that force could not be used without a legal process," leaving
it to the judges to determine, whether an African was a man. He attacked,
also, the opinion of Judge Blackstone, and showed where his error lay. This
valuable book, containing these and other kinds of arguments on the
subject, he distributed, but particularly among the lawyers, giving them an
opportunity of refuting or acknowledging the doctrines it contained.

While Mr. Sharp was engaged in this work, another case offered, in which he
took a part. This was in the year 1768. Hylas, an African slave, prosecuted
a person of the name of Newton for having kidnapped his wife, and sent her
to the West Indies. The result of the trial was, that damages to the amount
of a shilling were given, and the defendant was bound to bring back the
woman, either by the first ship, or in six months from this decision of the
court.

But soon after the work just mentioned was out, and when Mr. Sharp was
better prepared, a third case occurred. This happened in the year 1770.
Robert Stapylton, who lived at Chelsea, in conjunction with John Malony and
Edward Armstrong, two watermen, seized the person of Thomas Lewis, an
African slave, in a dark night, and dragged him to a boat lying in the
Thames; they then gagged him, and tied him with a cord, and rowed him down
to a ship, and put him on board to be sold as a slave in Jamaica. This base
action took place near the garden of Mrs. Banks, the mother of the present
Sir Joseph Banks. Lewis, it appears, on being seized, screamed violently.
The servants of Mrs. Banks, who heard his cries, ran to his assistance, but
the boat was gone. On informing their mistress of what had happened, she
sent for Mr. Sharp, who began now to be known as the friend of the helpless
Africans, and professed her willingness to incur the expense of bringing
the delinquents to justice. Mr. Sharp, with some difficulty, procured a
habeas corpus, in consequence of which Lewis was brought from Gravesend
just as the vessel was on the point of sailing. An action was then
commenced against Stapylton, who defended himself, on the plea, "That Lewis
belonged to him as his slave." In the course of the trial, Mr. Dunning, who
was counsel for Lewis, paid Mr. Sharp a handsome compliment, for he held in
his hand Mr. Sharp's book on the injustice and dangerous tendency of
tolerating slavery in England, while he was pleading; and in his address to
the jury he spoke and acted thus: "I shall submit to you," says Mr.
Dunning, "what my ideas are upon such evidence, reserving to myself an
opportunity of discussing it more particularly, and reserving to myself a
right to insist upon a position, which I will maintain (and here he held up
the book to the notice of those present) in any place and in any court of
the kingdom, that our laws admit of no such property[A]." The result of the
trial was, that the jury pronounced the plaintiff not to have been the
property of the defendant, several of them crying out "No property, no
property."

[Footnote A: It is lamentable to think, that the same Mr. Dunning, in a
cause of this kind, which came on afterwards, took the opposite side of the
question.]

After this, one or two other trials came on, in which the oppressor was
defeated, and several cases occurred, in which poor slaves were liberated
from the holds of vessels, and other places of confinement, by the
exertions of Mr. Sharp. One of these cases was singular. The vessel on
board which a poor African had been dragged and confined had reached the
Downs, and had actually got under weigh for the West Indies. In two or
three hours she would have been out of sight; but just at this critical
moment the writ of habeas corpus was carried on board. The officer, who
served it on the captain, saw the miserable African chained to the
mainmast, bathed in tears, and casting a last mournful look on the land of
freedom, which was fast receding from his sight. The captain, on receiving
the writ, became outrageous; but, knowing the serious consequences of
resisting the law of the land, he gave up his prisoner, whom the officer
carried safe, but now crying for joy, to the shore.

But though the injured Africans, whose causes had been tried, escaped
slavery, and though many, who had been forcibly carried into dungeons,
ready to be transported into the Colonies, had been delivered out of them.
Mr. Sharp was not easy in his mind. Not one of the cases had yet been
pleaded on the broad ground, "Whether an African slave coming into England
became free?" This great question had been hitherto studiously avoided. It
was still, therefore, left in doubt. Mr. Sharp was almost daily acting as
if it had been determined, and as if he had been following the known law of
the land. He wished therefore that the next cause might be argued upon this
principle. Lord Mansfield too, who had been biassed by the opinion of York
and Talbot, began to waver in consequence of the different pleadings he had
heard on this subject. He saw also no end of trials like these, till the
law should be ascertained, and he was anxious for a decision on the same
basis as Mr. Sharp. In this situation the following case offered, which was
agreed upon for the determination of this important question.

James Somerset, an African slave, had been brought to England by his
master, Charles Stewart, in November 1769. Somerset, in process of time,
left him. Stewart took an opportunity of seizing him, and had him conveyed
on board the Ann and Mary, captain Knowles, to be carried out of the
kingdom and sold as a slave in Jamaica. The question was-"Whether a slave,
by coming into England, became free?"

In order that time might be given for ascertaining the law fully on this
head, the case was argued at three different sittings. First, in January,
1772; secondly, in February, 1772; and thirdly, in May, 1772. And that no
decision otherwise than what the law warranted might be given, the opinion
of the Judges was taken upon the pleadings. The great and glorious result
of the trial was, That as soon as ever any slave set his foot upon English
territory, he became free.

Thus ended the great case of Somerset, which, having been determined after
so deliberate an investigation of the law, can never be reversed while the
British Constitution remains. The eloquence displayed in it by those who
were engaged on the side of liberty, was perhaps never exceeded on any
occasion; and the names of the counsellors Davy, Glynn, Hargrave,
Mansfield, and Alleyne, ought always to be remembered with gratitude by the
friends of this great cause. For when we consider in how many crowded
courts they pleaded, and the number of individuals in these, whose minds
they enlightened, and whose hearts they interested in the subject, they are
certainly to be put down as no small instruments in the promotion of it:
but chiefly to him, under Divine Providence, are we to give the praise, who
became the first great actor in it, who devoted his time, his talents, and
his substance to this Christian undertaking, and by whose laborious
researches the very pleaders themselves were instructed and benefited. By
means of his almost incessant vigilance and attention, and unwearied
efforts, the poor African ceased to be hunted in our streets as a beast of
prey. Miserable as the roof might be, under which he slept, he slept in
security. He walked by the side of the stately ship, and he feared no
dungeon in her hold. Nor ought we, as Englishmen, to be less grateful to
this distinguished individual than the African ought to be upon this
occasion. To him we owe it, that we no longer see our public papers
polluted by hateful advertisements of the sale of the human species, or
that we are no longer distressed by the perusal of impious rewards for
bringing back the poor and the helpless into slavery, or that we are
prohibited the disgusting spectacle of seeing man bought by his
fellow-man.--To him, in short, we owe this restoration of the beauty of our
constitution--this prevention of the continuance of our national disgrace.

I shall say but little more of Mr. Sharp at present, than that he felt it
his duty, immediately after the trial, to write to Lord North, then
principal minister of state, warning him, in the most earnest manner, to
abolish immediately both the trade and the slavery of the human species in
all the British dominions, as utterly irreconcileable with the principles
of the British constitution, and the established religion of the land.

Among other coadjutors, whom the cruel and wicked practices which have now
been so amply detailed brought forward, was a worthy clergyman, whose name
I have not yet been able to learn. He endeavoured to interest the public
feeling in behalf of the injured Africans, by writing an epilogue to the
Padlock, in which Mungo appeared as a black servant. This epilogue is so
appropriate to the case, that I cannot but give it to the reader. Mungo
enters, and thus addresses the audience:--

  "Thank you, my Massas! have you laugh your fill?
  Then let me speak, nor take that freedom ill.
  E'en from _my_ tongue some heart-felt truths may fall,
  And outrag'd Nature claims the care of all.
  My tale in _any_ place would force a tear,
  But calls for stronger, deeper feelings here;
  For whilst I tread the free-born British land,
  Whilst now before me crowded Britons stand,--
  Vain, vain that glorious privilege to me,
  I am a slave, where all things else are free.

  "Yet was I born, as you are, no man's slave,
  An heir to all that lib'ral Nature gave;
  My mind can reason, and my limbs can move
  The same as yours; like yours my heart can love;
  Alike my body food and sleep sustain;
  And e'en like yours--feels pleasure, want, and pain.
  One sun rolls o'er us, common skies surround;
  One globe supports us, and one grave must bound.

  "Why then am I devoid of all to live
  That manly comforts to a man can give?
  To live--untaught religion's soothing balm,
  Or life's choice arts; to live--unknown the calm
  Of soft domestic ease; those sweets of life,
  The duteous offspring, and th' endearing wife?

  "To live--to property and rights unknown,
  Not e'en the common benefits my own!
  No arm to guard me from Oppression's rod,
  My will subservient to a tyrant's nod!
  No gentle hand, when life is in decay,
  To soothe my pains, and charm my cares away;
  But helpless left to quit the horrid stage,
  Harass'd in youth, and desolate in age!

  "But I was born in Afric's tawny strand,
  And you in fair Britannia's fairer land.
  Comes freedom, then, from colour?--Blush with shame!
  And let strong Nature's crimson mark your blame.
  I speak to Britons.--Britons, then, behold
  A man by Britons _snar'd_, and _seiz'd_, and _sold_!
  And yet no British statute damns the deed,
  Nor do the more than murd'rous villains bleed.

  "O sons of freedom! equalize your laws,
  Be all consistent, plead the Negro's cause;
  That all the nations in your code may see
  The British Negro, like the Briton, free.
  But, should he supplicate your laws in vain,
  To break, for ever, this disgraceful chain,
  At least, let gentle usage so abate
  The galling terrors of its passing state,
  That he may share kind Heav'n's all social plan;
  For, though no Briton, Mungo is--a man."

I may now add, that few theatrical pieces had a greater run than the
Padlock; and that this epilogue, which was attached to it soon after it
came out, procured a good deal of feeling for the unfortunate sufferers,
whose cause it was intended to serve.

Another coadjutor, to whom these cruel and wicked practices gave birth, was
Thomas Day, the celebrated author of Sandford and Merton, and whose virtues
were well known among those who had the happiness of his friendship. In the
year 1773 he published a poem, which he wrote expressly in behalf of the
oppressed Africans. He gave it the name of The Dying Negro. The preface to
it was written in an able manner by his friend counsellor Bicknell, who is
therefore to be ranked among the coadjutors in this great cause. The poem
was founded on a simple fact, which had taken place a year or two before. A
poor Negro had been seized in London, and forcibly put on board a ship,
where he destroyed himself, rather than return to the land of slavery. To
the poem is affixed a frontispiece, in which the Negro is represented. He
is made to stand in an attitude of the most earnest address to Heaven, in
the course of which, with the fatal dagger in his hand, he breaks forth in
the following words:

  "To you this unpolluted blood I poor,
  To you that spirit, which ye gave, restore."

This poem, which was the first ever written expressly on the subject, was
read extensively; and it added to the sympathy in favour of suffering
humanity, which was now beginning to show itself in the kingdom.

About this time the first edition of the Essay on Truth made its appearance
in the world. Dr. Beattie took an opportunity, in this work, of vindicating
the intellectual powers of the Africans from the aspersions of Hume, and of
condemning their slavery as a barbarous piece of policy, and as
inconsistent with the free and generous spirit of the British nation.

In the year 1774, John Wesley, the celebrated divine, to whose pious
labours the religious world will be long indebted, undertook the cause of
the poor Africans. He had been in America, and had seen and pitied their
hard condition. The work which he gave to the world in consequence, was
entitled Thoughts on Slavery. Mr. Wesley had this great cause much at
heart, and frequently recommended it to the support of those who attended
his useful ministry.

In the year 1776, the abbé Proyart brought out, at Paris, his History of
Loango, and other kingdoms in Africa, in which he did ample justice to the
moral and intellectual character of the natives there.

The same year produced two new friends in England, in the same cause, but
in a line in which no one had yet moved. David Hartley, then a member of
parliament for Hull, and the son of Dr. Hartley who wrote the Essay on Man,
found it impossible any longer to pass over without notice the case of the
oppressed Africans. He had long felt for their wretched condition, and,
availing himself of his legislative situation, he made a motion in the
house of commons, "That the Slave-trade was contrary to the laws of God,
and the rights of men." In order that he might interest the members as much
as possible in his motion, he had previously obtained some of the chains in
use in this cruel traffic, and had laid them upon the table of the house of
commons. His motion was seconded by that great patriot and philanthropist,
sir George Saville. But though I am now to state that it failed, I cannot
but consider it as a matter of pleasing reflection, that this great subject
was first introduced into parliament by those who were worthy of it; by
those who had clean hands and irreproachable characters, and to whom no
motive of party or faction could be imputed, but only such as must have
arisen from a love of justice, a true feeling of humanity, and a proper
sense of religion.

About this time two others, men of great talents and learning, promoted the
cause of the injured Africans, by the manner in which they introduced them
to notice in their respective works.

Dr. Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, had, so early as the
year 1759, held them up in an honourable, and their tyrants in a degrading
light. "There is not a Negro from the coast of Africa, who does not, in
this respect, possess a degree of magnanimity, which the soul of his sordid
master is too often scarce capable of conceiving. Fortune never exerted
more cruelly her empire over mankind, than when she subjected those nations
of heroes to the refuse of the gaols of Europe, to wretches who possess the
virtue neither of the countries they came from, nor of those they go to,
and whose levity, brutality, and baseness so justly expose them to the
contempt of the vanquished." And now, in 1770, in his Wealth of Nations, he
showed in a forcible manner (for he appealed to the interest of those
concerned) the dearness of African labour, or the impolicy of employing
slaves.

Professor Millar, in his Origin of Ranks, followed Dr. Smith on the same
ground. He explained the impolicy of slavery in general, by its bad effects
upon industry, population, and morals. These effects he attached to the
system of agriculture as followed in our islands. He showed, besides, how
little pains were taken, or how few contrivances were thought of, to ease
the labourers there. He contended, that the Africans ought to be better
treated, and to be raised to a better condition; and he ridiculed the
inconsistency of those who held them in bondage. "It affords," says he, "a
curious spectacle to observe that the same people, who talk in a high
strain of political liberty, and who consider the privilege of imposing
their own taxes as one of the unalienable rights of mankind, should make no
scruple of reducing a great proportion of their fellow-creatures into
circumstances, by which they are not only deprived of property, but almost
of every species of right. Fortune perhaps never produced a situation more
calculated to ridicule a liberal hypothesis, or to show how little the
conduct of men is at the bottom directed by any philosophical principles."
It is a great honour to the university of Glasgow, that it should have
produced, before any public agitation of this question, three
professors[A], all of whom bore their public testimony against the
continuance of the cruel trade.

[Footnote A: The other was professor Hutcheson, before mentioned in p. 49.]

From this time, or from about the year 1776, to about the year 1782, I am
to put down three other coadjutors, whose labours seem to have come in a
right season for the promotion of the cause.

The first of these was Dr. Robertson. In his History of America, he laid
open many facts relative to this subject. He showed himself a warm friend
both of the Indians and Africans. He lost no opportunity of condemning that
trade which brought the latter into bondage: "a trade," says he, "which is
no less repugnant to the feelings of humanity than to the principles of
religion." And in his Charles the Fifth, he showed in a manner that was
clear, and never to be controverted, that Christianity was the great cause
in the twelfth century of extirpating slavery from the West of Europe. By
the establishment of this fact, he rendered important services to the
oppressed Africans. For if Christianity, when it began to be felt in the
heart, dictated the abolition of slavery, it certainly became those who
lived in a Christian country, and who professed the Christian religion, to
put an end to this cruel trade.

The second was the abbé Raynal. This author gave an account of the laws,
government, and religion of Africa, of the produce of it, of the manners of
its inhabitants, of the trade in slaves, of the manner of procuring these,
with several other particulars relating to the subject. And at the end of
his account, fearing lest the good advice he had given for making the
condition of the slaves more comfortable should be construed into an
approbation of such a traffic, he employed several pages in showing its
utter inconsistency with sound policy, justice, reason, humanity, and
religion.

"I will not here," says he, "so far debase myself as to enlarge the
ignominious list of those writers, who devote their abilities to justify by
policy what morality condemns. In an age where so many errors are boldly
laid open, it would be unpardonable to conceal any truth that is
interesting to humanity. If whatever I have hitherto advanced hath
seemingly tended only to alleviate the burthen of slavery, the reason is,
that it was first necessary to give some comfort to those unhappy beings,
whom we cannot set free, and convince their oppressors, that they were
cruel, to the prejudice of their real interests. But, in the mean time,
till some considerable revolution shall make the evidence of this great
truth felt, it may not be improper to pursue this subject further. I shall
then first prove that there is no reason of state, which can authorize
slavery. I shall not be afraid to cite to the tribunal of reason and
justice those governments, which tolerate this cruelty, or which even are
not ashamed to make it the basis of their power."

And a little further on he observes--"Will it be said that he, who wants to
make me a slave, does me no injury, but that he only makes use of his
rights? Where are those rights? Who hath stamped upon them so sacred a
character as to silence mine?"--

In the beginning of the next paragraph he speaks thus: "He, who supports
the system of slavery, is the enemy of the whole human race. He divides it
into two societies of legal assassins; the oppressors, and the oppressed.
It is the same thing as proclaiming to the world, If you would preserve
your life, instantly take away mine, for I want to have yours."

Going on two pages further, we find these words: "But the Negros, they say,
are a race born for slavery; their dispositions are narrow, treacherous,
and wicked; they themselves allow the superiority of our understandings,
and almost acknowledge the justice of our authority.--Yes--The minds of the
Negros are contracted, because slavery destroys all the springs of the
soul. They are wicked, but not equally so with you. They are treacherous,
because they are under no obligation to speak truth to their tyrants. They
acknowledge the superiority of our understanding, because we have abused
their ignorance. They allow the justice of our authority, because we have
abused their weakness."

"But these Negros, it is further urged, were born slaves. Barbarians! will
you persuade me, that a man can be the property of a sovereign, a son the
property of a father, a wife the property of a husband, a domestic the
property of a master, a Negro the property of a planter?"

But I have no time to follow this animated author, even by short extracts,
through the varied strains of eloquence which he displays upon this
occasion. I can only say, that his labours entitle him to a high station
among the benefactors to the African race.

The third was Dr. Paley, whose genius, talents, and learning have been so
eminently displayed in his writings in the cause of natural and revealed
religion. Dr. Paley did not write any essay expressly in favour of the
Africans. But in his Moral Philosophy, where he treated on slavery, he took
an opportunity of condemning, in very severe terms, the continuance of it.
In this work he defined what slavery was, and how it might arise
consistently with the law of nature; but he made an exception against that
which arose from the African trade.

"The Slave-trade," says he, "upon the coast of Africa, is not excused by
these principles. When slaves in that country are brought to market, no
questions, I believe, are asked about the origin or justice of the vendor's
title. It may be presumed, therefore, that this title is not always, if it
be ever, founded in any of the causes above assigned."

"But defect of right in the first purchase is the least crime with which
this traffic is chargeable. The natives are excited to war and mutual
depredation, for the sake of supplying their contracts, or furnishing the
markets with slaves. With this the wickedness begins. The slaves, torn away
from their parents, wives and children, from their friends and companions,
from their fields and flocks, from their home and country, are transported
to the European settlements in America, with no other accommodation on
ship-board than what is provided for brutes. This is the second stage of
the cruelty, from which the miserable exiles are delivered, only to be
placed, and that for life, in subjection to a dominion and system of laws,
the most merciless and tyrannical that ever were tolerated upon the face of
the earth: and from all that can be learned by the accounts of people upon
the spot, the inordinate authority, which the Plantation-laws confer upon
the slave-holder, is exercised by the English slave-holder, especially,
with rigour and brutality."

"But necessity is pretended, the name under which every enormity is
attempted to be justified; and after all, What is the necessity? It has
never been proved that the land could not be cultivated there, as it is
here, by hired servants. It is said that it could not be cultivated with
quite the same conveniency and cheapness, as by the labour of slaves; by
which means, a pound of sugar, which the planter now sells for sixpence,
could not be afforded under sixpence-halfpenny--and this is the necessity!"

"The great revolution, which has taken place in the western world, may
probably conduce (and who knows but that it was designed) to accelerate the
fall of this abominable tyranny: and now that this contest and the passions
which attend it are no more, there may succeed perhaps a season for
reflecting, whether a legislature, which had so long lent its assistance to
the support of an institution replete with human misery, was fit to be
trusted with an empire, the most extensive that ever obtained in any age or
quarter of the world."

The publication of these sentiments may be supposed to have produced an
extensive effect. For the Moral Philosophy was adopted early by some of the
colleges in our universities into the system of their education. It soon
found its way also into most of the private libraries of the kingdom; and
it was, besides, generally read and approved. Dr. Paley, therefore, must be
considered as having been a considerable coadjutor in interesting the mind
of the public in favour of the oppressed Africans.

In the year 1783, we find Mr. Sharp coming again into notice. We find him
at this time taking a part in a cause, the knowledge of which, in
proportion as it was disseminated, produced an earnest desire among all
disinterested persons for the abolition of the Slave-trade.

In this year, certain underwriters desired to be heard against Gregson and
others of Liverpool, in the case of the ship Zong, captain Collingwood,
alleging that the captain and officers of the said vessel threw overboard
one hundred and thirty-two slaves alive into the sea, in order to defraud
them, by claiming the value of the said slaves, as if they had been lost in
a natural way. In the course of the trial, which afterwards came on, it
appeared, that the slaves on board the Zong were very sickly; that sixty of
them had already died; and several were ill and likely to die, when the
captain proposed to James Kelsall, the mate, and others, to throw several
of them overboard, stating "that if they died a natural death, the loss
would fall upon the owners of the ship, but that, if they were thrown into
the sea, it would fall upon the underwriters." He selected accordingly one
hundred and thirty-two of the most sickly of the slaves. Fifty-four of
these were immediately thrown overboard, and forty-two were made to be
partakers of their fate on the succeeding day. In the course of three days
afterwards the remaining twenty-six were brought upon deck to complete the
number of victims. The first sixteen submitted to be thrown into the sea;
but the rest with a noble resolution would not suffer the officers to touch
them, but leaped after their companions and shared their fate.

The plea, which was set up in behalf of this atrocious and unparalleled act
of wickedness, was, that the captain discovered, when he made the proposal,
that he had only two hundred gallons of water on board, and that he had
missed his port; It was proved, however, in answer to this, that no one had
been put upon short allowance; and that, as if Providence had determined to
afford an unequivocal proof of the guilt, a shower of rain fell and
continued for three days immediately after the second lot of slaves had
been destroyed, by means of which they might have filled many of their
vessels[A] with water, and thus have prevented all necessity for the
destruction of the third.

[Footnote A: It appeared that they filled six.]

Mr. Sharp was present at this trial, and procured the attendance of a
short-hand-writer to take down the facts, which should come out in the
course of it. These he gave to the public afterwards. He communicated them
also, with a copy of the trial, to the Lords of the Admiralty, as the
guardians of justice upon the seas, and to the Duke of Portland, as
principal minister of state. No notice however was taken by any of these,
of the information which had been thus sent them.

But though nothing was done by the persons then in power, in consequence of
the murder of so many innocent individuals, yet the publication of an
account of it by Mr. Sharp in the newspapers, made such an impression upon
others, that new coadjutors rose up. For, soon after this, we find Thomas
Day entering the lists again as the champion of the injured Africans. He
had lived to see his poem of The Dying Negro, which had been published in
1773, make a considerable impression. In 1776, he had written a letter to a
friend in America, who was the possessor of slaves, to dissuade him by a
number of arguments from holding such property. And now, when the knowledge
of the case of the ship Zong was spreading, he published that letter under
the title of Fragment of an Original Letter on the Slavery of the Negroes.

In this same year, Dr. Porteus, bishop of Chester, but now bishop of
London, came forward as a new advocate for the natives of Africa. The way
in which he rendered them service, was by preaching a sermon in their
behalf, before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Of the wide
circulation of this sermon, I shall say something in another place, but
much more of the enlightened and pious author of it, who from this time
never failed to aid, at every opportunity, the cause, which he had so ably
undertaken.

In the year 1784, Dr. Gregory produced his Essays Historical and Moral. He
took an opportunity of disseminating in these a circumstantial knowledge of
the Slave-trade, and an equal abhorrence of it at the same time. He
explained the manner of procuring slaves in Africa; the treatment of them
in the passage, (in which he mentioned the case of the ship Zong,) and the
wicked and cruel treatment of them in the colonies. He recited and refuted
also the various arguments adduced in defence of the trade. He showed that
it was destructive to our seamen. He produced many weighty arguments also
against the slavery itself. He proposed clauses for an act of parliament
for the abolition of both; showing the good both to England and her
colonies from such a measure, and that a trade might be substituted in
Africa, in various articles, for that which he proposed to suppress. By
means of the diffusion of light like this, both of a moral and political
nature, Dr. Gregory is entitled to be ranked among the benefactors to the
African race.

In the same year, Gilbert Wakefield preached a sermon at Richmond in Surry,
where, speaking of the people of this nation, he says, "Have we been as
renowned for a liberal communication of our religion and our laws as for
the possession of them? Have we navigated and conquered to save, to
civilize, and to instruct; or to oppress, to plunder, and to destroy? Let
India and Africa give the answer to these questions. The one we have
exhausted of her wealth and her inhabitants by violence, by famine, and by
every species of tyranny and murder. The children of the other we daily
carry from off the land of their nativity, like sheep to the slaughter, to
return no more. We tear them from every object of their affection, or, sad
alternative, drag them together to the horrors of a mutual servitude! We
keep them in the profoundest ignorance. We gall them in a tenfold chain,
with an unrelenting spirit of barbarity, inconceivable to all but the
spectators of it, unexampled among former ages and other nations, and
unrecorded even in the bloody registers of heathen persecution. Such is the
conduct of us enlightened Englishmen, reformed Christian. Thus have we
profited by our superior advantages, by the favour of God, by the doctrines
and example of a meek and lowly Saviour. Will not the blessings which we
have abused loudly testify against us? Will not the blood which we have
shed cry from the ground for vengeance upon our sins?"

In the same year, James Ramsay, vicar of Teston in Kent, became also an
able, zealous, and indefatigable patron of the African cause. This
gentleman had resided nineteen years in the island of St. Christopher,
where he had observed the treatment of the slaves, and had studied the laws
relating to them. On his return to England, yielding to his own feelings of
duty and the solicitations of some amiable friends, he published a work,
which he called An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of the African
Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies. After having given an account of the
relative situation of master and slave in various parts of the world, he
explained the low and degrading situation which the Africans held in
society in our own islands. He showed that their importance would be
increased, and the temporal interest of their masters promoted, by giving
them freedom, and by granting them other privileges. He showed the great
difficulty of instructing them in the state in which they then were, and
such as he himself had experienced both in his private and public attempts,
and such as others had experienced also. He stated the way in which private
attempts of this nature might probably be successful. He then answered all
objections against their capacities, as drawn from philosophy, form,
anatomy, and observation; and vindicated these from his own experience. And
lastly, he threw out ideas for the improvement of their condition, by an
establishment of a greater number of spiritual pastors among them; by
giving them more privileges than they then possessed; and by extending
towards them the benefits of a proper police. Mr. Ramsay had no other
motive for giving this work to the public, than that of humanity, or a wish
to serve this much-injured part of the human species. For he compiled it at
the hazard of forfeiting that friendship, which he had contracted with many
during his residence in the islands, and of suffering much in his private
property, as well as subjecting himself to the ill-will and persecution of
numerous individuals.

The publication of this book by one, who professed to have been so long
resident in the islands, and to have been an eye-witness of facts,
produced, as may easily be supposed, a good deal of conversation, and made
a considerable impression, but particularly at this time, when a storm was
visibly gathering over the heads of the oppressors of the African race.
These circumstances occasioned one or two persons to attempt to answer it,
and these answers brought Mr. Ramsay into the first controversy ever
entered into on this subject, during which, as is the case in most
controversies, the cause of truth was spread.

The works, which Mr. Ramsay wrote upon this subject, were, the Essay, just
mentioned, in 1784. An Enquiry, also, into the Effects of the Abolition of
the Slave-trade, in 1784. A Reply to personal Invectives and Objections, in
1785. A Letter to James Tobin, Esq., in 1787. Objections to the Abolition
of the Slave-trade, with Answers: and an Examination of Harris's Scriptural
Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-trade, in 1788;--and An Address on
the proposed Bill for the Abolition of the Slave-trade, in 1789. In short,
from the time when he first took up the cause, he was engaged in it till
his death, which was not a little accelerated by his exertions. He lived
however to see this cause in a train for parliamentary inquiry, and he died
satisfied, being convinced, as he often expressed, that the investigation
must inevitably lead to the total abolition of the Slave-trade.

In the next year, that is, in the year 1785, another advocate was seen in
monsieur Necker, in his celebrated work on the French Finances, which had
just been translated into the English language from the original work, in
1784. This virtuous statesman, after having given his estimate of the
population and revenue of the French West Indian colonies, proceeds thus:
"The colonies of France contain, as we have seen, near five hundred
thousand slaves, and it is from the number of these poor wretches that the
inhabitants set a value on their plantations. What a dreadful prospect! and
how profound a subject for reflection! Alas! how little are we both in our
morality and our principles! We preach up humanity, and yet go every year
to bind in chains twenty thousand natives of Africa! We call the Moors
barbarians and ruffians, because they attack the liberty of Europeans at
the risk of their own; yet these Europeans go, without danger, and as mere
speculators, to purchase slaves by gratifying the avarice of their masters,
and excite all those bloody scenes, which are the usual preliminaries of
this traffic!" He goes on still further in the same strain. He then shows
the kind of power, which has supported this execrable trade. He throws out
the idea of a general compact, by which all the European nations should
agree to abolish it. And he indulges the pleasing hope, that it may take
place even in the present generation.

In the same year we find other coadjutors coming before our view, but these
in a line different from that, in which any other belonging to this class
had yet moved. Mr. George White, a clergyman of the established church, and
Mr. John Chubb, suggested to Mr. William Tucket, the mayor of Bridgewater,
where they resided, and to others of that town, the propriety of
petitioning parliament for the abolition of the Slave-trade. This petition
was agreed upon, and, when drawn up, was as follows:--

    "The humble petition of the inhabitants of Bridgewater showeth,

    "That your petitioners, reflecting with the deepest sensibility on
    the deplorable condition of that part of the human species, the
    African Negros, who by the most flagitious means are reduced to
    slavery and misery in the British colonies, beg leave to address
    this honourable house in their behalf, and to express a just
    abhorrence of a system of oppression, which no prospect of private
    gain, no consideration of public advantage, no plea of political
    expediency, can sufficiently justify or excuse.

    "That, satisfied as your petitioners are that this inhuman system
    meets with the general execration of mankind, they flatter
    themselves the day is not far distant when it will be universally
    abolished. And they most ardently hope to see a British parliament,
    by the extinction of that sanguinary traffic, extend the blessings
    of liberty to millions beyond this realm, hold up to an enlightened
    world a glorious and merciful example, and stand foremost in the
    defence of the violated rights of human nature."

This petition was presented by the honourable Ann Poulet, and Alexander
Hood, esq., (now lord Bridport) who were the members for the town of
Bridgewater. It was ordered to lie on the table. The answer, which these
gentlemen gave to their constituents relative to the reception of it in the
house of commons, is worthy of notice: "There did not appear," say they in
their common letter, "the least disposition to pay any farther attention to
it. Every one almost says, that the abolition of the Slave-trade must
immediately throw the West Indian islands into convulsions, and soon
complete their utter ruin. Thus they will not trust Providence for its
protection for so pious an undertaking."

In the year 1786, captain J.S. Smith of the royal navy offered himself to
the notice of the public in behalf of the African cause. Mr. Ramsay, as I
have observed before, had become involved in a controversy in consequence
of his support of it. His opponents not only attacked his reputation, but
had the effrontery to deny his facts. This circumstance occasioned captain
Smith to come forward. He wrote a letter to his friend Mr. Hill, in which
he stated that he had seen those things, while in the West Indies, which
Mr. Ramsay had asserted to exist, but which had been so boldly denied. He
gave also permission to Mr. Hill to publish this letter. Too much praise
cannot be bestowed on captain Smith, for thus standing forth in a noble
cause, and in behalf of an injured character.

The last of the necessary forerunners and coadjutors of this class, whom I
am to mention, was our much-admired poet, Cowper; and a great coadjutor he
was, when we consider what value was put upon his sentiments, and the
extraordinary circulation of his works. There are few persons, who have not
been properly impressed by the following lines:

                   "My ear is pain'd,
  My soul is sick with every day's report
  Of wrong and outrage with which earth is fill'd.
  There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart,
  It does not feel for man. The nat'ral bond
  Of brotherhood is sever'd as the flax
  That falls asunder at the touch of fire.
  He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
  Not colour'd like his own, and having pow'r
  T'inforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
  Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
  Lands intersected by a narrow frith
  Abhor each other. Mountains interpos'd,
  Make enemies of nations, who had else,
  Like kindred drops, been mingled into one.
  Thus man devotes his brother, and destroys;
  And, worse than all, and most to be deplor'd
  As human Nature's broadest, foulest blot,--
  Chains him, and tasks him, and exacts his sweat
  With stripes, that mercy with a bleeding heart
  Weeps, when she sees inflicted on a beast.
  Then what is man? And what man, seeing this,
  And having human feelings, does not blush
  And hang his head to think himself a man?
  I would not have a slave to till my ground,
  To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,
  And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth
  That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
  No! dear as freedom is,--and in my heart's
  Just estimation priz'd above all price,--
  I had much rather be myself the slave,
  And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.
  We have no Slaves at home--then why abroad?
  And they themselves once ferried o'er the wave
  That parts us, are emancipate and loos'd.
  Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
  Receive our air, that moment they are free;
  They touch our country, and their shackles fall[A].
  That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud
  And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then,
  And let it circulate through every vein
  Of all your empire--that where Britain's pow'r
  Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too."

[Footnote A: Expressions used in the great trial, when Mr. Sharp obtained
the verdict in favour of Somerset.]



CHAPTER IV.

_Second class of forerunners and coadjutors, up to May 1787, consists of
the Quakers in England--of George Fox, and others--of the body of the
Quakers assembled at the yearly meeting in 1727--and at various other
times--Quakers, as a body, petition Parliament--and circulate books on the
subject--Individuals among them become labourers and associate in behalf of
the Africans--Dilwyn--Harrison--and others--This the first association
ever formed in England for the purpose._


The second class of the forerunners and coadjutors in this great cause up
to May 1787 will consist of the Quakers in England.

The first of this class was George Fox, the venerable founder of this
benevolent society.

George Fox was contemporary with Richard Baxter, being born not long after
him, and dying much about the same time. Like him, he left his testimony
against this wicked trade. When he was in the island of Barbadoes, in the
year 1671, he delivered himself to those who attended his religious
meetings, in the following manner:--

"Consider with yourselves," says he, "if you were in the same condition as
the poor Africans are--who came strangers to you, and were sold to you as
slaves--I say, if this should be the condition of you or yours, you would
think it a hard measure; yea, and very great bondage and cruelty. And
therefore consider seriously of this; and do you for them, and to them, as
you would willingly have them, or any others do unto you, were you in the
like slavish condition, and bring them to know the Lord Christ." And in his
Journal, speaking of the advice, which he gave his friends at Barbadoes, he
says, "I desired also, that they would cause their overseers to deal mildly
and gently with their Negros, and not to use cruelty towards them, as the
manner of some had been, and that after certain years of servitude they
should make them free."

William Edmundson, who was a minister of the Society, and, indeed, a
fellow-traveller with George Fox, had the boldness in the same island to
deliver his sentiments to the governor on the same subject. Having been
brought before him and accused of making the Africans Christians, or, in
other words, of making them rebel and destroy their owners, he replied,
"that it was a good thing to bring them to the knowledge of God and Christ
Jesus, and to believe in him who died for them and all men, and that this
would keep them from rebelling, or cutting any person's throat; but if they
did rebel and cut their throats, as the governor insinuated they would, it
would be their own doing, in keeping them in ignorance and under
oppression, in giving them liberty to be common with women, like brutes,
and, on the other hand, in starving them for want of meat and clothes
convenient; thus giving them liberty in that which God restrained, and
restraining them in that which was meat and clothing."

I do not find any individual of this society moving in this cause for some
time after the death of George Fox and William Edmundson. The first
circumstance of moment, which I discover, is a Resolution of the whole
Society on the subject, at their yearly meeting held in London in the year
1727. The resolution was contained in the following words:--"It is the
sense of this meeting, that the importing of Negros from their native
country and relations by Friends, is not a commendable nor allowed
practice, and is therefore censured by this meeting."

In the year 1758 the Quakers thought it their duty, as a body to pass
another Resolution upon this subject. At this time the nature of the trade
beginning to be better known we find them more animated upon it, as the
following extract will show:--

"We fervently warn all in profession with us, that they carefully avoid
being any way concerned in reaping the unrighteous profits arising from the
iniquitous practice of dealing in Negro or other slaves; whereby, in the
original purchase, one man selleth another, as he doth the beasts that
perish, without any better pretension to a property in him, than that of
superior force; in direct violation of the Gospel rule, which teacheth all
to do as they would be done by, and to do good to all; being the reverse of
that covetous disposition, which furnisheth encouragement to those poor
ignorant people to perpetuate their savage wars, in order to supply the
demands of this most unnatural traffic, by which great numbers of mankind,
free by nature, are subject to inextricable bondage; and which hath often
been observed to fill their possessors with haughtiness, tyranny, luxury,
and barbarity, corrupting the minds and debasing the morals of their
children, to the unspeakable prejudice of religion and virtue, and the
exclusion of that holy spirit of universal love, meekness, and charity,
which is the unchangeable nature and the glory of true Christianity. We
therefore can do no less than, with the greatest earnestness, impress it
upon Friends every where, that they endeavour to keep their hands clear of
this unrighteous gain of oppression."

The Quakers hitherto, as appears by the two resolutions which have been
quoted, did nothing more than seriously warn all those in religious
profession with them, against being concerned in this trade. But in three
years afterwards; or at the yearly meeting in 1761, they came to a
resolution, as we find by the following extract from their Minutes, that
any of their members having a concern in it should be disowned. "This
meeting, having reason to apprehend that divers under our name are
concerned in the unchristian traffic in Negros, doth recommend it earnestly
to the care of Friends every where, to discourage, as much as in them lies,
a practice so repugnant to our Christian profession; and to deal with all
such as shall persevere in a conduct so reproachful to Christianity; and to
disown them, if they desist not therefrom."

The yearly meeting of 1761 having thus agreed to exclude from membership
such as should be found concerned in this trade, that of 1763 endeavoured
to draw the cords still tighter, by attaching criminality to those, who
should aid and abet the trade in any manner. By the minute, which was made
on this occasion, I apprehend that no one, belonging to the Society, could
furnish even materials for such voyages. "We renew our exhortation, that
Friends every where be especially careful to keep their hands clear of
giving encouragement in any shape to the Slave-trade, it being evidently
destructive of the natural rights of mankind, who are all ransomed by one
Saviour, and visited by one divine light, in order to salvation; a traffic
calculated to enrich and aggrandize some upon the misery of others, in its
nature abhorrent to every just and tender sentiment, and contrary to the
whole tenour of the Gospel."

Some pleasing intelligence having been sent on this subject by the Society
in America to the Society in England, the yearly meeting of 1772 thought it
their duty to notice it, and to keep their former resolutions alive by the
following minute:--"It appears that the practice of holding Negros in
oppressive and unnatural bondage hath been so successfully discouraged by
Friends in some of the colonies as to be considerably lessened. We cannot
but approve of these salutary endeavours, and earnestly entreat they may be
continued, that, through the favour of divine Providence, a traffic so
unmerciful and unjust in its nature to a part of our own species, made,
equally with ourselves, for immortality, may come to be considered by all
in its proper light, and be utterly abolished as a reproach to the
Christian name."

I must beg leave to stop here for a moment, just to pay the Quakers a due
tribute of respect for the proper estimation, in which they have uniformly
held the miserable outcasts of society, who have been the subject of these
minutes. What a contrast does it afford to the sentiments of many others
concerning them! How have we been compelled to prove by a long chain of
evidence, that they had the same feelings and capacities as ourselves! How
many, professing themselves enlightened, even now view them as of a
different species! But in the minutes, which have been cited, we have seen
them uniformly represented as persons "ransomed by one and the same
Saviour"--"as visited by one and the same light for salvation"--and "as
made equally for immortality as others." These practical views of mankind,
as they are highly honourable to the members of this society, so they
afford a proof both of the reality and of the consistency of their
religion.

But to return:--From this time there appears to have been a growing desire
in this benevolent society to step out of its ordinary course in behalf of
this injured people. It had hitherto confined itself to the keeping of its
own members unpolluted by any gain from their oppression. But it was now
ready to make an appeal to others, and to bear a more public testimony in
their favour. Accordingly, in the month of June 1783, when a bill had been
brought into the House of Commons for certain regulations to be made with
respect to the African trade, the Society sent the following petition to
that branch of the legislature:--

"Your petitioners, met in this their annual assembly, having solemnly
considered the state of the enslaved Negros, conceive themselves engaged,
in religious duty, to lay the suffering situation of that unhappy people
before you, as a subject loudly calling for the humane interposition of the
legislature.

"Your petitioners regret that a nation, professing the Christian faith,
should so far counteract the principles of humanity and justice, as by the
cruel treatment of this oppressed race to fill their minds with prejudices
against the mild and beneficent doctrines of the Gospel.

"Under the countenance of the laws of this country many thousands of these
our fellow-creatures, entitled to the natural rights of mankind, are held
as personal property in cruel bondage; and your petitioners being informed
that a Bill for the Regulation of the African Trade is now before the
House, containing a clause which restrains the officers of the African
Company from exporting Negros, your petitioners, deeply affected with a
consideration of the rapine, oppression, and bloodshed, attending this
traffic, humbly request that this restriction may be extended to all
persons whomsoever, or that the House would grant such other relief in the
premises as in its wisdom may seem meet."

This petition was presented by Sir Cecil Wray, who, on introducing it,
spoke very respectfully of the Society. He declared his hearty approbation
of their application, and said he hoped he should see the day when not a
slave would remain within the dominions of this realm. Lord North seconded
the motion, saying he could have no objection to the petition, and that its
object ought to recommend it to every humane breast; that it did credit to
the most benevolent society in the world; but that, the session being so
far advanced, the subject could not then be taken into consideration; and
he regretted that the Slave-trade, against which the petition was so justly
directed, was in a commercial view become necessary to almost every nation
of Europe. The petition was then brought up and read, after which it was
ordered to lie on the table. This was the first petition (being two years
earlier than that from the inhabitants of Bridgewater), which was ever
presented to parliament for the abolition of the Slave-trade.

But the Society did not stop here; for having at the yearly meeting of 1783
particularly recommended the cause to a standing commitee appointed to act
at intervals, called the Meeting for Sufferings, the latter in this same
year resolved upon an address to the public, entitled, The Case of our
Fellow-creatures, the oppressed Africans, respectfully recommended to the
serious Consideration of the Legislature of Great Britain, by the People
called Quakers: in which they endeavoured in the most pathetic manner to
make the reader acquainted with the cruel nature of this trade; and they
ordered two thousand copies of it to be printed.

In the year 1784 they began the distribution of this case. The first copy
was sent to the King through Lord Carmarthen, and the second and the third,
through proper officers, to the Queen and the Prince of Wales. Others were
sent by a deputation of two members of the society to Mr. Pitt, as
prime-minister; to the Lord Chancellor Thurlow; to Lord Gower, as president
of the council; to Lords Carmarthen and Sidney, as secretaries of state; to
Lord Chief Justice Mansfield; to Lord Howe, as first lord of the Admiralty;
and to C.F. Cornwall, Esq. as speaker of the House of Commons. Copies were
sent also to every member of both Houses of Parliament.

The Society, in the same year, anxious, that the conduct of its members
should be consistent with its public profession on this great subject,
recommended it to the quarterly and monthly meetings to inquire through
their respective districts, whether any, bearing its name, were in any way
concerned in the traffic, and to deal with such, and to report the success
of their labours in the ensuing year. Orders were also given for the
reprinting and circulation of ten thousand other copies of 'The Case.'

In the year 1785, the Society interested itself again in a similar manner.
For the meeting for sufferings, as representing it, recommended to the
quarterly meetings to distribute a work, written by Anthony Benezet, in
America, called, A Caution to Great Britain and her Colonies, in a short
Representation of the calamitous State of the enslaved Negros in the
British Dominions. This book was accordingly forwarded to them for this
purpose. On receiving it, they sent it among several public bodies, the
regular and dissenting clergy, justices of the peace, and particularly
among the great schools of the kingdom, that the rising youth might acquire
a knowledge, and at the same time a detestation, of this cruel traffic. In
this latter case, a deputation of the Society waited upon the masters, to
know if they would allow their scholars to receive it. The schools of
Westminster, the Charter-house, St. Paul, Merchant-Taylors, Eton,
Winchester, and Harrow were among those visited. Several academies also
were visited for this purpose.

But I must now take my leave of the Quakers as a public body[A], and go
back to the year 1783, to record an event, which will be found of great
importance in the present history, and in which only individuals belonging
to the Society were concerned. This event seems to have arisen naturally
out of existing or past circumstances. For the Society, as I have before
stated, had sent a petition to Parliament in this year, praying for the
abolition of the Slave-trade. It had also laid the foundation for a public
distribution of the books as just mentioned, with a view of enlightening
others on this great subject. The case of the ship Zong, which I have
before had occasion to explain, had occurred this same year. A letter also
had been presented, much about the same time, by Benjamin West, from
Anthony Benezet before mentioned, to our Queen, in behalf of the injured
Africans, which she had received graciously. These subjects occupied at
this time the attention of many Quaker families, and among others, that of
a few individuals, who were in close intimacy with each other. These, when
they met together, frequently conversed upon them. They perceived, as facts
came out in conversation, that there was a growing knowledge and hatred of
the Slave-trade, and that the temper of the times was ripening towards its
abolition. Hence a disposition manifested itself among these, to unite as
labourers for the furtherance of so desirable an object. An union was at
length proposed and approved of, and the following persons (placed in
alphabetical order) came together to execute the offices growing out of it:

  William Dillwyn,     Thomas Knowles, M.D.
  George Harrison,     John Lloyd,
  Samuel Hoare,        Joseph Woods.

[Footnote A: The Quakers, as a public body, kept the subject alive at their
yearly meeting in 1784, 1785, 1787, &c.]

The first meeting was held on the seventh of July, 1783. At this "they
assembled to consider what steps they should take for the relief and
liberation of the Negro slaves in the West Indies, and for the
discouragement of the Slave-trade on the coast of Africa."

To promote this object they conceived it necessary that the public mind
should be enlightened respecting it. They had recourse therefore to the
public papers, and they appointed their members in turn to write in these,
and to see that their productions were inserted. They kept regular minutes
for this purpose. It was not however known to the world that such an
association existed.

It appears that they had several meetings in the course of this year.
Before the close of it they had secured a place in the General Evening
Post, in Lloyd's Evening Post, in the Norwich, Bath, York, Bristol,
Sherborne, Liverpool, Newcastle, and other provincial papers, for such
articles as they chose to send to them. These consisted principally of
extracts from such authors, both in prose and verse, as they thought would
most enlighten and interest the mind upon the subject of their institution.

In the year 1784 they pursued the same plan; but they began now to print
books. The first, was from a manuscript composed by Joseph Woods, one of
the commitee. It was entitled, Thoughts on the Slavery of the Negroes. This
manuscript was well put together. It was a manly and yet feeling address in
behalf of the oppressed Africans. It contained a sober and dispassionate
appeal to the reason of all without offending the prejudices of any. It was
distributed at the expense of the association, and proved to be highly
useful to the cause which it was intended to promote.

A communication having been made to the commitee, that Dr. Porteus, then
bishop of Chester, had preached a sermon before the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, in behalf of the injured Africans, (which sermon
was noticed in the last chapter,) Samuel Hoare was deputed to obtain
permission to publish it. This led him to a correspondence with Mr. Ramsay
before mentioned. The latter applied in consequence to the bishop, and
obtained his consent. Thus this valuable sermon was also given to the
world.

In the year 1785 the association continued their exertions as before; but I
have no room to specify them. I may observe, however, that David Barclay, a
grandson of the great apologist of that name, assisted at one of their
meetings, and (what is singular) that he was in a few years afterwards
unexpectedly called to a trial of his principles on this very subject. For
he and his brother John became, in consequence of a debt due to them,
possessed of a large grazing farm, or pen, in Jamaica, which had thirty-two
slaves upon it. Convinced, however, that the retaining of their
fellow-creatures in bondage was not only irreconcileable with the
principles of Christianity, but subversive of the rights of human nature,
they determined upon the emancipation of these. And they[A] performed this
generous office to the satisfaction of their minds, to the honour of their
characters, to the benefit of the public, and to the happiness of the
slave[B]. I mention this anecdote, not only to gratify myself, by paying a
proper respect to those generous persons who sacrificed their interest to
principle, but also to show the sincerity of David Barclay, (who is now the
only surviving brother,) as he actually put in practice what at one of
these meetings he was desirous of recommending to others.

[Footnote A: They engaged an agent to embark for Jamaica in 1795 to effect
this business, and had the slaves conveyed to Philadelphia, where they were
kindly received by the Society for improving the Condition of free Black
People. Suitable situations were found for the adults, and the young ones
were bound out apprentices to handicraft trades, and to receive school
learning.]

[Footnote B: James Pemberton, of Philadelphia, made the following
observation in a letter to a Friend in England:--"David Barclay's humane
views towards the Blacks from Jamaica have been so far realized, that these
objects of his concern enjoy their freedom with comfort to themselves, and
are respectable in their characters, keeping up a friendly intercourse with
each other, and avoiding to intermix with the common Blacks of this city,
being sober in their conduct and industrious in their business."]

Having now brought up the proceedings of this little association towards
the year 1786, I shall take my leave of it, remarking, that it was the
first ever formed in England for the promotion of the abolition of the
Slave-trade. That Quakers have had this honour is unquestionable. Nor is it
extraordinary that they should have taken the lead on this occasion, when
we consider how advantageously they have been situated for so doing. For
the Slave-trade, as we have not long ago seen, came within the discipline
of the Society in the year 1727. From thence it continued to be an object
of it till 1783. In 1783 the Society petitioned Parliament, and in 1784 it
distributed books to enlighten the public concerning it. Thus we see that
every Quaker, born since the year 1727, was nourished as it were in a fixed
hatred against it. He was taught, that any concern in it was a crime of the
deepest dye. He was taught, that the bearing of his testimony against it
was a test of unity with those of the same religious profession. The
discipline of the Quakers was therefore a school for bringing them up as
advocates for the abolition of this trade. To this it may be added, that
the Quakers knew more about the trade and the slavery of the Africans, than
any other religious body of men, who had not been in the land of their
sufferings. For there had been a correspondence between the Society in
America and that in England on the subject, the contents of which must have
been known to the members of each. American ministers also were frequently
crossing the Atlantic on religious missions to England. These, when they
travelled through various parts of our island, frequently related to the
Quaker families in their way the cruelties they had seen and heard-of in
their own country. English ministers were also frequently going over to
America on the same religious errand. These, on their return, seldom failed
to communicate what they had learned or observed, but more particularly
relative to the oppressed Africans, in their travels. The journals also of
these, which gave occasional accounts of the sufferings of the slaves were
frequently published. Thus situated in point of knowledge, and brought up
moreover from their youth in a detestation of the trade, the Quakers were
ready to act whenever a favourable opportunity should present itself.



CHAPTER V.

_Third class of forerunners and coadjutors, up to 1787, consists of the
Quakers and others in America--Yearly meeting for Pennsylvania and the
Jerseys takes up the subject in 1696--and continue it till 1787--Other five
yearly meetings take similar measures--Quakers, as individuals, also become
labourers--William Burling and others--Individuals of other religious
denominations take up the cause also--Judge Sewell and others--Union of the
Quakers with others in a society for Pennsylvania, in 1774--James Pemberton
--Dr. Rush--Similar union of the Quakers with others for New York and other
provinces_.


The next class of the forerunners and coadjutors, up to the year 1787, will
consist, first, of the Quakers in America; and then of others, as they were
united to these for the same object.

It may be asked, How the Quakers living there should have become
forerunners and coadjutors in the great work now under our consideration. I
reply, first, That it was an object for many years with these to do away
the Slave-trade as it was carried on in their own ports. But this trade was
conducted in part, both before and after the independence of America, by
our own countrymen. It was, secondly, an object with these to annihilate
slavery in America; and this they have been instruments in accomplishing to
a considerable extent. But any abolition of slavery within given boundaries
must be a blow to the Slave-trade there. The American Quakers, lastly,
living in a land where both the commerce and slavery existed, were in the
way of obtaining a number of important facts relative to both, which made
for their annihilation; and communicating many of these facts to those in
England, who espoused the same cause, they became fellow-labourers with
these in producing the event in question.

The Quakers in America, it must be owned, did most of them originally as
other settlers there with respect to the purchase of slaves. They had lands
without a sufficient number of labourers, and families without a sufficient
number of servants, for their work. Africans were poured in to obviate
these difficulties, and these were bought promiscuously by all. In these
days, indeed, the purchase of them was deemed favourable to both parties,
for there was little or no knowledge of the manner in which they had been
procured as slaves. There was no charge of inconsistency on this account,
as in later times. But though many of the Quakers engaged, without their
usual consideration, in purchases of this kind, yet those constitutional
principles, which belong to the Society, occasioned the members of it in
general to treat those whom they purchased with great tenderness,
considering them, though of a different colour, as brethren, and as persons
for whose spiritual welfare it became them to be concerned; so that
slavery, except as to the power legally belonging to it, was in general
little more than servitude in their hands.

This treatment, as it was thus mild on the continent of America where the
members of this Society were the owners of slaves, so it was equally mild
in the West India islands where they had a similar property. In the latter
countries, however, where only a few of them lived, it began soon to be
productive of serious consequences; for it was so different from that,
which the rest of the inhabitants considered to be proper, that the latter
became alarmed at it. Hence in Barbadoes an act was passed in 1676, under
Governor Atkins, which was entitled, An Act to prevent the people called
Quakers from bringing their Negros into their meetings for worship, though
they held these in their own houses. This act was founded on the pretence,
that the safety of the island might be endangered, if the slaves were to
imbibe the religious principles of their masters. Under this act Ralph
Fretwell and Richard Sutton were fined in the different sums of eight
hundred and of three hundred pounds, because each of them had suffered a
meeting of the Quakers at his own house, at the first of which eighty
Negros, and at the second of which thirty of them, were present. But this
matter was carried still further; for in 1680, Sir Richard Dutton, then
governor of the island, issued an order to the Deputy Provost Marshal and
others, to prohibit all meetings of this Society. In the island of Nevis
the same bad spirit manifested itself.--So early as in 1661, a law was made
there prohibiting members of this Society from coming on shore. Negros were
put in irons for being present at their meetings, and they themselves were
fined also. At length, in 1677, another act was passed, laying a heavy
penalty on every master of a vessel, who should even bring a Quaker to the
island. In Antigua and Bermudas similar proceedings took place, so that the
Quakers were in time expelled from this part of the world. By these means a
valuable body of men were lost to the community in these islands, whose
example might have been highly useful; and the poor slave, who saw nothing
but misery in his temporal prospects, was deprived of the only balm, which
could have soothed his sorrow--the comfort of religion.

But to return to the continent of America.--Though the treatment, which the
Quakers adopted there towards those Africans who fell into their hands, was
so highly commendable, it did not prevent individuals among them from
becoming uneasy about holding them in slavery at all. Some of these bore
their private testimony against it from the beginning as a wrong practice,
and in process of time brought it before the notice of their brethren as a
religious body. So early as in the year 1688, some emigrants from Krieshiem
in Germany, who had adopted the principles of William Penn, and followed
him into Pennsylvania, urged in the yearly meeting of the Society there,
the inconsistency of buying, selling, and holding men in slavery, with the
principles of the Christian religion.

In the year 1696, the yearly meeting for that province took up the subject
as a public concern, and the result was, advice to the members of it to
guard against future importations of African slaves, and to be particularly
attentive to the treatment of those, who were then in their possession.

In the year 1711, the same yearly meeting resumed the important subject,
and confirmed and renewed the advice, which had been before given.

From this time it continued to keep the subject alive; but finding at
length, that, though individuals refused to purchase slaves, yet others
continued the custom, and in greater numbers than it was apprehended would
have been the case after the public declarations which had been made, it
determined, in the year 1754, upon a fuller and more serious publication of
its sentiments; and therefore it issued, in the same year, the following
pertinent letter to all the members within its jurisdiction:--

"Dear Friends,

"It hath frequently been the concern of our yearly meeting to testify their
uneasiness and disunity with the importation and purchasing of Negros and
other slaves, and to direct the overseers of the several meetings to advise
and deal with such as engage therein. And it hath likewise been the
continual care of many weighty Friends to press those, who bear our name,
to guard, as much as possible, against being in any respect concerned in
promoting the bondage of such unhappy people. Yet, as we have with sorrow
to observe, that their number is of late increased among us, we have
thought it proper to make our advice and judgment more public, that none
may plead ignorance of our principles therein; and also again earnestly to
exhort all to avoid, in any manner, encouraging that practice, of making
slaves of our fellow-creatures.

"Now, dear Friends, if we continually bear in mind the royal law of doing
to others as we would be done by, we should never think of bereaving our
fellow-creatures of that valuable blessing--liberty, nor endure to grow
rich by their bondage. To live in ease and plenty by the toil of those,
whom violence and cruelty have put in our power, is neither consistent with
Christianity nor common justice; and, we have good reason to believe, draws
down the displeasure of Heaven; it being a melancholy but true reflection,
that, where slave-keeping prevails, pure religion and sobriety decline, as
it evidently tends to harden the heart, and render the soul less
susceptible of that holy spirit of love, meekness, and charity, which is
the peculiar characteristic of a true Christian.

"How then can we, who have been concerned to publish the Gospel of
universal love and peace among mankind, be so inconsistent with ourselves,
as to purchase such as are prisoners of war, and thereby encourage this
antichristian practice; and more especially as many of these poor creatures
are stolen away, parents from children, and children from parents; and
others, who were in good circumstances in their native country, inhumanly
torn from what they esteemed a happy situation, and compelled to toil in a
state of slavery, too often extremely cruel! What dreadful scenes of murder
and cruelty those barbarous ravages must occasion in these unhappy people's
country are too obvious to mention. Let us make their case our own, and
consider what we should think, and how we should feel, were we in their
circumstances. Remember our Blessed Redeemer's positive command--to do unto
others as we would have them do unto us;--and that with what measure we
mete, it shall be measured to us again. And we intreat you to examine,
whether the purchasing of a Negro, either born here or imported, doth not
contribute to a further importation, and, consequently, to the upholding of
all the evils above mentioned, and to the promoting of man-stealing, the
only theft which by the Mosaic law was punished with death;--'He that
stealeth a man, and selleth him; or if he be found in his hand, he shall
surely be put to death.'

"The characteristic and badge of a true Christian is love and good works.
Our Saviour's whole life on earth was one continual exercise of them. 'Love
one another,' says he, 'as I have loved you.' But how can we be said to
love our brethren, who bring, or, for selfish ends, keep them, in bondage?
Do we act consistently with this noble principle, who lay such heavy
burthens on our fellow-creatures? Do we consider that they are called, and
do we sincerely desire that they may become heirs with us in glory, and
that they may rejoice in the liberty of the sons of God, whilst we are
withholding from them the common liberties of mankind? Or can the Spirit of
God, by which we have always professed to be led, be the author of those
oppressive and unrighteous measures? Or do we not thereby manifest, that
temporal interest hath more influence on our conduct herein, than the
dictates of that merciful, holy, and unerring Guide?

"And we likewise earnestly recommend to all, who have slaves, to be careful
to come up in the performance of their duty towards them, and to be
particularly watchful over their own hearts, it being by sorrowful
experience remarkable, that custom, and a familiarity with evil of any
kind, have a tendency to bias the judgement and to deprave the mind. And it
is obvious that the future welfare of these poor slaves, who are now in
bondage, is generally too much disregarded by those who keep them. If their
daily task of labour be but fulfilled, little else perhaps is thought of.
Nay, even that which in others would be looked upon with horror and
detestation, is little regarded in them by their masters,--such as the
frequent separation of husbands from wives and wives from husbands, whereby
they are tempted to break their marriage covenants, and live in adultery,
in direct opposition to the laws of God and men, although we believe that
Christ died for all men without respect of persons. How fearful then ought
we to be of engaging in what hath so natural a tendency to lessen our
humanity, and of suffering ourselves to be inured to the exercise of hard
and cruel measures, lest thereby in any degree we lose our tender and
feeling sense of the miseries of our fellow-creatures, and become worse
than those who have not believed.

"And, dear Friends, you, who by inheritance have slaves born in your
families, we beseech you to consider them as souls committed to your trust,
whom the Lord will require at your hand, and who, as well as you, are made
partakers of the Spirit of Grace, and called to be heirs of salvation. And
let it be your constant care to watch over them for good, instructing them
in the fear of God, and the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, that they
may answer the end of their creation, and that God may be glorified and
honoured by them as well as by us. And so train them up, that if you should
come to behold their unhappy situation, in the same light, that many worthy
men, who are at rest, have done, and many of your brethren now do, and
should think it your duty to set them free, they may be the more capable of
making proper use of their liberty.

"Finally, Brethren, we entreat you, in the bowels of gospel love, seriously
to weigh the cause of detaining them in bondage. If it be for your own
private gain, or any other motive than their good, it is much to be feared
that the love of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit are not the
prevailing principles in you, and that your hearts are not sufficiently
redeemed from the world, which, that you with ourselves may more and more
come to witness, through the cleansing virtue of the Holy Spirit of Jesus
Christ, is our earnest desire. With the salutation of our love we are your
friends and brethren--

"_Signed, in behalf of the yearly meeting, by_ 'John Evans, Abraham
Farringdon, John Smith, Joseph Noble, Thomas Carleton, James Daniel,
William Trimble, Joseph Gibson, John Scarborough, John Shotwell, Joseph
Hampton, Joseph Parker.'"

This truly Christian letter, which was written in the year 1754, was
designed, as we collect from the contents of it, to make the sentiments of
the Society better known and attended to on the subject of the Slave-trade.
It contains, as we see, exhortations to all the members within the yearly
meeting of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys, to desist from purchasing and
importing slaves, and, where they possessed them, to have a tender
consideration of their condition. But that the first part of the subject of
this exhortation might be enforced, the yearly meeting for the same
provinces came to a resolution in 1755, That if any of the members
belonging to it bought or imported slaves, the overseers were to inform
their respective monthly meetings of it, that "these might treat with them,
as they might be directed in the wisdom of truth."

In the year 1774, we find the same yearly meeting legislating again on the
same subject. By the preceding resolution they, who became offenders, were
subjected only to exclusion from the meetings for discipline, and from the
privilege of contributing to the pecuniary occasions of the Society; but by
the resolution of the present year, all members concerned in importing,
selling, purchasing, giving, or transferring Negro or other slaves, or
otherwise acting in such manner as to continue them in slavery beyond the
term limited by law[A] or custom, were directed to be excluded from
membership or disowned. At this meeting also all the members of it were
cautioned and advised against acting as executors or administrators to
estates, where slaves were bequeathed, or likely to be detained in bondage.

[Footnote A: This alludes to the term of servitude for white persons in
these provinces.]

In the year 1776, the same yearly meeting carried the matter still further.
It was then enacted, That the owners of slaves, who refused to execute
proper instruments for giving them their freedom, were to be disowned
likewise.

In 1778 it was enacted by the same meeting, That the children of those, who
had been set free by members, should be tenderly advised, and have a
suitable education given them.

It is not necessary to proceed further on this subject. It may be
sufficient to say, that from this time, the Minutes of the yearly meeting
for Pennsylvania and the Jerseys exhibit proofs of an almost incessant
attention, year after year[A], to the means not only of wiping away the
stain of slavery from their religious community, but of promoting the
happiness of those restored to freedom, and of their posterity also. And
as the yearly meeting of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys set this bright
example, so those of New England, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and of
the Carolinas and Georgia, in process of time followed it.

[Footnote A: Thus in 1779, 1780,-1,-2,-4,-5,-6. The members also of this
meeting petitioned their own legislature on this subject both in 1783 and
in 1786.]

But whilst the Quakers were making these exertions at their different
yearly meetings in America, as a religious body, to get rid both of the
commerce and slavery of their fellow-creatures, others in the same
profession were acting as individuals (that is, on their own grounds and
independently of any influence from their religious communion) in the same
cause, whose labours it will now be proper, in a separate narrative, to
detail.

The first person of this description in the Society, was William Burling of
Long Island. He had conceived an abhorrence of slavery from early youth. In
process of time he began to bear his testimony against it, by representing
the unlawfulness of it to those of his own Society, when assembled at one
of their yearly meetings. This expression of his public testimony he
continued annually on the same occasion. He wrote also several tracts with
the same design, one of which, published in the year 1718, he addressed to
the elders of his own church, on the inconsistency of compelling people and
their posterity to serve them continually and arbitrarily, and without any
proper recompense for their services.

The next was Ralph Sandiford, a merchant in Philadelphia. This worthy
person had many offers of pecuniary assistance, which would have advanced
him in life, but he declined them all because they came from persons, who
had acquired their independence by the oppression of their slaves. He was
very earnest in endeavouring to prevail upon his friends, both in and out
of the Society, to liberate those whom they held in bondage. At length he
determined upon a work called The Mystery of Iniquity, in a brief
Examination of the Practice of the Times. This he published in the year
1729, though the chief judge had threatened him if he should give it to the
world, and he circulated it free of expense wherever he believed it would
be useful. The above work was excellent as a composition. The language of
it was correct. The style manly and energetic. And it abounded with facts,
sentiments, and quotations, which, while they showed the virtue and talents
of the author, rendered it a valuable appeal in behalf of the African
cause.

The next public advocate was Benjamin Lay[A], who lived at Abington, at the
distance of twelve or fourteen miles from Philadelphia. Benjamin Lay was
known, when in England, to the royal family of that day, into whose private
presence he was admitted. On his return to America, he took an active part
in behalf of the oppressed Africans. In the year 1737, he published a
treatise on Slave-keeping. This he gave away among his neighbours and
others, but more particularly among the rising youth, many of whom he
visited in their respective schools. He applied also to several of the
governors for interviews, with whom he held conferences on the subject.
Benjamin Lay was a man of strong understanding and of great integrity, but
of warm and irritable feelings, and more particularly so when he was called
forth on any occasion in which the oppressed Africans were concerned. For
he had lived in the island of Barbadoes, and he had witnessed there scenes
of cruelty towards them, which had greatly disturbed his mind, and which
unhinged it, as it were, whenever the subject of their sufferings was
brought before him. Hence if others did not think precisely as he did, when
he conversed with them on the subject, he was apt to go out of due bounds.
In bearing what he believed to be his testimony against this system of
oppression, he adopted sometimes a singularity of manner, by which, as
conveying demonstration of a certain eccentricity of character, he
diminished in some degree his usefulness to the cause which he had
undertaken; as far indeed as this eccentricity might have the effect of
preventing others from joining him in his pursuit, lest they should be
thought singular also, so far it must be allowed that he ceased to become
beneficial. But there can be no question, on the other hand, that his warm
and enthusiastic manners awakened the attention of many to the cause, and
gave them first impressions concerning it, which they never afterwards
forgot, and which rendered them useful to it in the subsequent part of
their lives.

[Footnote A: Benjamin Lay attended the meetings for worship, or associated
himself with the religious society of the Quakers. His wife too was an
approved minister of the gospel in that Society. But I believe he was not
long an acknowledged member of it himself.]

The person, who laboured next in the Society, in behalf of the oppressed
Africans, was John Woolman.

John Woolman was born at Northampton, in the county of Burlington and
province of Western New Jersey, in the year 1720. In his very early youth
he attended, in an extraordinary manner, to the religious impressions which
he perceived upon his mind, and began to have an earnest solicitude about
treading in the right path. "From what I had read and heard," says he, in
his Journal[A], "I believed there had been in past ages people, who walked
in uprightness before God in a degree exceeding any, that I knew or heard
of, now living. And the apprehension of there being less steadiness and
firmness among people of this age, than in past ages, often troubled me
while I was a child." An anxious desire to do away, as far as he himself
was concerned, this merited reproach, operated as one among other causes to
induce him to be particularly watchful over his thoughts and actions, and
to endeavour to attain that purity of heart, without which he conceived
there could be no perfection of the Christian character. Accordingly, in
the twenty-second year of his age, he had given such proof of the integrity
of his life, and of his religious qualifications, that he became an
acknowledged minister of the gospel in his own Society.

[Footnote A: This short sketch of the life and labours of John Woolman, is
made up from his Journal.]

At a time prior to his entering upon the ministry, being in low
circumstances, he agreed for wages to "attend shop for a person at Mount
Holly, and to keep his books." In this situation we discover, by an
occurrence that happened, that he had thought seriously on the subject, and
that he had conceived proper views of the Christian unlawfulness of
slavery. "My employer," says he, "having a Negro woman, sold her, and
desired me to write a bill of sale, the man being waiting, who bought her.
The thing was sudden, and though the thought of writing an instrument of
slavery for one of my fellow-creatures made me feel uneasy, yet I
remembered I was hired by the year, that it was my master who directed me
to do it, and that it was an elderly man, a member of our Society, who
bought her. So through weakness I gave way and wrote, but, at executing it,
I was so afflicted in my mind, that I said before my master and the friend,
that I believed slave-keeping to be a practice inconsistent with the
Christian religion. This in some degree abated my uneasiness; yet, as often
as I reflected seriously upon it, I thought I should have been clearer, if
I had desired to have been excused from it, as a thing against my
conscience; for such it was. And some time after this, a young man of our
Society spoke to me to write a conveyance of a slave to him, he having
lately taken a Negro into his house. I told him I was not easy to write it;
for though many of our meeting, and in other places, kept slaves, I still
believed the practice was not right, and desired to be excused from the
writing. I spoke to him in good-will; and he told me that keeping slaves
was not altogether agreeable to his mind, but that the slave being a gift
to his wife he had accepted of her."

We may easily conceive that a person so scrupulous and tender on this
subject (as indeed John Woolman was on all others) was in the way of
becoming in time more eminently serviceable to his oppressed
fellow-creatures. We have seen already the good seed sown in his heart, and
it seems to have wanted only providential seasons and occurrences to be
brought into productive fruit. Accordingly we find that a journey, which he
took as a minister of the gospel in 1746, through the provinces of
Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, which were then more noted than
others for the number of slaves in them, contributed to prepare him as an
instrument for the advancement of this great cause. The following are his
own observations upon this journey. "Two things were remarkable to me in
this journey; First, in regard to my entertainment. When I ate, drank, and
lodged free-cost, with people who lived in ease on the hard labour of their
slaves, I felt uneasy; and, as my mind was inward to the Lord, I found,
from place to place, this uneasiness return upon me at times through the
whole visit. Where the masters bore a good share of the burthen, and lived
frugally, so that their servants were well provided for, and their labour
moderate, I felt more easy. But where they lived in a costly way, and laid
heavy burthens on their slaves, my exercise was often great, and I
frequently had conversations with them in private concerning it. Secondly,
This trade of importing slaves from their native country being much
encouraged among them, and the White people and their children so generally
living without much labour, was frequently the subject of my serious
thoughts: and I saw in these southern provinces so many vices and
corruptions, increased by this trade and this way of life, that it appeared
to me as a gloom over the land."

From the year 1747 to the year 1753, he seems to have been occupied chiefly
as a minister of religion, but in the latter year he published a work upon
Slave-keeping; and in the same year, while travelling within the compass of
his own monthly meeting, a circumstance happened, which kept alive his
attention to the same subject. "About this time," says he, "a person at
some distance lying sick, his brother came to me to write his will. I knew
he had slaves, and, asking his brother, was told, he intended to leave them
as slaves to his children. As writing was a profitable employ, and as
offending sober people was disagreeable to my inclination, I was straitened
in my mind, but as I looked to the Lord he inclined my heart to his
testimony; and I told the man, that I believed the practice of continuing
slavery to this people was not right, and that I had a scruple in my mind
against doing writings of that kind; that, though many in our Society kept
them as slaves, still I was not easy to be concerned in it, and desired to
be excused from going to write the will. I spoke to him in the fear of the
Lord; and he made no reply to what I said, but went away: he also had some
concerns in the practice, and I thought he was displeased with me. In this
case, I had a fresh confirmation, that acting contrary to present outward
interest from a motive of Divine love, and in regard to truth and
righteousness, opens the way to a treasure better than silver, and to a
friendship exceeding the friendship of men."

From 1753 to 1755, two circumstances of a similar kind took place, which
contributed greatly to strengthen him in the path he had taken; for in both
these cases the persons who requested him to make their wills, were so
impressed by the principle upon which he refused them, and by his manner of
doing it, that they bequeathed liberty to their slaves.

In the year 1756, he made a religious visit to several of the Society in
Long Island. Here it was that the seed, now long fostered by the genial
influences of Heaven, began to burst forth into fruit. Till this time he
seems to have been a passive instrument, attending only to such
circumstances as came in his way on this subject. But now he became an
active one, looking out for circumstances for the exercise of his labours.
"My mind," says he, "was deeply engaged in this visit, both in public and
private; and at several places observing that members kept slaves, I found
myself under a necessity, in a friendly way, to labour with them on that
subject, expressing, as the way opened, the inconsistency of that practice
with the purity of the Christian religion, and the ill effects of it as
manifested amongst us."

In the year 1757, he felt his mind so deeply interested on the same
subject, that he resolved to travel over Maryland, Virginia, and North
Carolina, in order to try to convince persons, principally in his own
Society, of the inconsistency of holding slaves. He joined his brother with
him in this arduous service. Having passed the Susquehanna into Maryland,
he began to experience great agitation of mind. "Soon after I entered this
province," says he, "a deep and painful exercise came upon me, which I
often had some feeling of since my mind was drawn towards these parts, and
with which I had acquainted my brother, before we agreed to join as
companions.

"As the people in this and the southern provinces live much on the labour
of slaves, many of whom are used hardly, my concern was that I might attend
with singleness of heart to the voice of the true Shepherd, and be so
supported, as to remain unmoved at the faces of men."

It is impossible for me to follow him in detail, through this long and
interesting journey, when I consider the bounds I have prescribed to myself
in this work. I shall say therefore, what I purpose to offer generally and
in a few words.

It appears that he conversed with persons occasionally, who were not of his
own Society, with a view of answering their arguments, and of endeavouring
to evince the wickedness and impolicy of slavery. In discoursing with
these, however strenuous he might appear, he seems never to have departed
from a calm, modest, and yet dignified and even friendly demeanour. At the
public meetings for discipline, held by his own Society in these provinces,
he endeavoured to display the same truths and in the same manner, but
particularly to the elders of his own Society, exhorting them, as the most
conspicuous rank, to be careful of their conduct, and to give a bright
example in the liberation of their slaves. He visited also families for the
same purpose: and he had the well-earned satisfaction of finding his
admonitions kindly received by some, and of seeing a disposition in
others to follow the advice he had given them.

In the year 1758, he attended the yearly meeting at Philadelphia, where he
addressed his brethren on the propriety of dealing with such members, as
should hereafter purchase slaves. On the discussion of this point he spoke
a second time, and this to such effect that he had the satisfaction at this
meeting to see minutes made more fully than any before, and a commitee
appointed, for the advancement of the great object, to which he had now
been instrumental in turning the attention of many, and to witness a
considerable spreading of the cause. In the same year also, he joined
himself with two others of the Society to visit such members of it, as
possessed slaves in Chester county. In this journey he describes himself to
have met with several, who were pleased with his visit but to have found
difficulties with others, towards whom however he felt a sympathy and
tenderness on account of their being entangled by the spirit of the world.

In the year 1759, he visited several of the Society who held slaves in
Philadelphia. In about three months afterwards, he travelled there again,
in company with John Churchman, to see others under similar circumstances.
He then went to different places on the same errand. In this last journey
he went alone. After this he joined himself to John Churchman again, but he
confined his labours to his own province. Here he had the pleasure of
finding that the work prospered. Soon after this he took Samuel Eastburne
as a coadjutor, and pleaded the cause of the poor Africans with many of the
Society in Bucks county, who held them in bondage there.

In the year 1760, he travelled, in company with his friend Samuel
Eastburne, to Rhode Island, to promote the same object. This island had
been long noted for its trade to Africa for slaves. He found at Newport,
the great sea-port town belonging to it, that a number of them had been
lately imported. He felt his mind deeply impressed on this account. He was
almost overpowered in consequence of it, and became ill. He thought once of
promoting a petition to the legislature, to discourage all such
importations in future. He then thought of going and speaking to the House
of Assembly, which was then sitting; but he was discouraged from both these
proceedings. He held, however, a conference with many of his own Society in
the meeting-house-chamber, where the subject of his visit was discussed on
both sides, with a calm and peaceable spirit. Many of those present
manifested the concern they felt at their former practices, and others a
desire of taking suitable care of their slaves at their decease. From
Newport he proceeded to Nantucket; but observing the members of the Society
there to have few or no slaves, he exhorted them to persevere in abstaining
from the use of them, and returned home.

In the year 1761, he visited several families in Pennsylvania, and, in
about three months afterwards, others about Shrewsbury and Squan in New
Jersey. On his return he added a second part to the treatise before
published on the keeping of slaves, a care which had been growing upon him
for some years.

In the year 1762, he printed, published, and distributed this treatise.

In 1767, he went on foot to the western shores of the same province on a
religious visit. After having crossed the Susquehanna, his old feelings
returned to him; for coming amongst people living in outward ease and
greatness, chiefly on the labour of slaves, his heart was much affected,
and he waited with humble resignation, to learn how he should further
perform his duty to this injured people. The travelling on foot, though it
was agreeable to the state of his mind, he describes to have been wearisome
to his body. He felt himself weakly at times, in consequence of it, but yet
continued to travel on. At one of the quarterly meetings of the Society,
being in great sorrow and heaviness, and under deep exercise on account of
the miseries of the poor Africans, he expressed himself freely to those
present, who held them in bondage. He expatiated on the tenderness and
loving-kindness of the apostles, as manifested in labours, perils, and
sufferings, towards the poor Gentiles, and contrasted their treatment of
the Gentiles with it, whom he described in the persons of their slaves: and
was much satisfied with the result of his discourse.

From this time we collect little more from his journal concerning him, than
that, in 1772, he embarked for England on a religious visit. After his
arrival there, he travelled through many counties, preaching in different
meetings of the Society, till he came to the city of York. But even here,
though he was far removed from the sight of those whose interests he had so
warmly espoused, he was not forgetful of their wretched condition. At the
quarterly meeting for that county, he brought their case before those
present in an affecting manner. He exhorted these to befriend their cause.
He remarked that as they, the Society, when under outward sufferings, had
often found a concern to lay them before the legislature, and thereby, in
the Lord's time, had obtained relief; so he recommended this oppressed part
of the creation to their notice, that they might, as the way opened,
represent their sufferings as individuals, if not as a religious society,
to those in authority in this land. This was the last opportunity that he
had of interesting himself in behalf of this injured people; for soon
afterwards he was seized with the small-pox at the house of a friend in the
city of York, where he died.

The next person belonging to the Society of the Quakers, who laboured in
behalf of the oppressed Africans, was Anthony Benezet. He was born before,
and he lived after, John Woolman; of course he was cotemporary with him. I
place him after John Woolman, because he was not so much known as a
labourer, till two or three years after the other had begun to move in the
same cause.

Anthony Benezet was born at St. Quintin in Picardy, of a respectable
family, in the year 1713. His father was one of the many protestants, who,
in consequence of the persecutions which followed the revocation of the
edict of Nantz, sought an asylum in foreign countries. After a short stay
in Holland, he settled, with his wife and children, in London, in 1715.

Anthony Benezet, having received from his father a liberal education,
served an apprenticeship in an eminent mercantile house in London. In 1731,
however, he removed with his family to Philadelphia, where he joined in
profession with the Quakers. His three brothers then engaged in trade, and
made considerable pecuniary acquisitions in it. He himself might have
partaken both of their concerns and of their prosperity; but he did not
feel himself at liberty to embark in their undertakings. He considered the
accumulation of wealth as of no importance, when compared with the
enjoyment of doing good; and he chose the humble situation of a
schoolmaster, as according best with this notion, believing, that by
endeavouring to train up youth in knowledge and virtue, he should become
more extensively useful than in any other way to his fellow-creatures.

He had not been long in his new situation, before he manifested such an
uprightness of conduct, such a courtesy of manners, such a purity of
intention, and such a spirit of benevolence, that he attracted the notice,
and gained the good opinion, of the inhabitants among whom he lived. He had
ready access to them, in consequence, upon all occasions; and, if there
were any whom he failed to influence at any of these times, he never went
away without the possession of their respect.

In the year 1756, when a considerable number of French families were
removed from Acadia into Pennsylvania, on account of some political
suspicions, he felt deeply interested about them. In a country where few
understood their language, they were wretched and helpless; but Anthony
Benezet endeavoured to soften the rigour of their situation, by his kind
attention towards them. He exerted himself also in their behalf, by
procuring many contributions for them, which, by the consent of his
fellow-citizens, were entrusted to his care.

As the principle of benevolence, when duly cultivated, brings forth fresh
shoots, and becomes enlarged, so we find this amiable person extending the
sphere of his usefulness, by becoming an advocate for the oppressed African
race. For this service he seems to have been peculiarly qualified. Indeed,
as in all great works a variety of talents is necessary to bring them to
perfection, so Providence seems to prepare different men as instruments,
with dispositions and qualifications so various, that each, in pursuing
that line which seems to suit him best, contributes to furnish those parts,
which, when put together, make up a complete whole. In this point of view,
John Woolman found, in Anthony Benezet, the coadjutor, whom, of all others,
the cause required. The former had occupied himself principally on the
subject of Slavery. The latter went to the root of the evil, and more
frequently attacked the Trade. The former chiefly confined his labours to
America, and chiefly to those of his own Society there. The latter, when he
wrote, did not write for America only, but for Europe also, and endeavoured
to spread a knowledge and hatred of the traffic through the great society
of the world.

One of the means which Anthony Benezet took to promote the cause in
question, (and an effectual one it proved, as far as it went,) was to give
his scholars a due knowledge and proper impressions concerning it. Situated
as they were likely to be, in after-life, in a country where slavery was a
custom, for the promotion of his plans.

To enlighten others, and to give them a similar bias, he had recourse to
different measures from time to time. In the almanacs published annually in
Philadelphia, he procured articles to be inserted, which he believed would
attract the notice of the reader, and make him pause, at least for a while,
as to the licitness of the Slave-trade. He wrote, also, as he saw occasion,
in the public papers of the day. From small things he proceeded to greater.
He collected, at length, further information on the subject, and, winding
it up with observations and reflections, he produced several little tracts,
which he circulated successively (but generally at his own expense), as he
considered them adapted to the temper and circumstances of the times.

In the course of this his employment, having found some who had approved
his tracts, and to whom, on that account, he wished to write, and sending
his tracts to others, to whom he thought it proper to introduce them by
letter, he found himself engaged in a correspondence, which much engrossed
his time, but which proved of great importance in procuring many advocates
for his cause.

In the year 1762, when he had obtained a still greater store of
information, he published a larger work. This, however, he entitled, A
short Account of that Part of Africa inhabited by the Negros. In 1767 he
published, A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and her Colonies, on the
Calamitous State of the enslaved Negros in the British Dominions;--and soon
after this, appeared, An Historical Account of Guinea; its Situation,
Produce, and the General Disposition of its Inhabitants; with an Inquiry
into the Rise and Progress of the Slave-Trade, its Nature, and Calamitous
Effects. This pamphlet contained a clear and distinct development of the
subject, from the best authorities. It contained also the sentiments of
many enlightened men upon it; and it became instrumental, beyond any other
book ever before published, in disseminating a proper knowledge and
detestation of this trade.

Anthony Benezet may be considered as one of the most zealous, vigilant, and
active advocates, which the cause of the oppressed Africans ever had. He
seemed to have been born and to have lived for the promotion of it, and
therefore he never omitted any the least opportunity of serving it. If a
person called upon him who was going a journey, his first thoughts usually
were, how he could make him an instrument in its favour; and he either gave
him tracts to distribute, or he sent letters by him, or he gave him some
commission on the subject, so that he was the means of employing several
persons at the same time, in various parts of America, in advancing the
work he had undertaken.

In the same manner he availed himself of every other circumstance, as far
as he could, to the same end. When he heard that Mr. Granville Sharp had
obtained, in the year 1772, the noble verdict in the cause of Somerset the
slave, he opened a correspondence with him, which he kept up, that there
might be an union of action between them for the future, as far as it could
be effected, and that they might each give encouragement to the other to
proceed.

He opened also a correspondence with George Whitfield and John Wesley, that
these might assist him in promoting the cause of the oppressed.

He wrote also a letter to the Countess of Huntingdon on the following
subject.--She had founded a college, at the recommendation of George
Whitfield, called the Orphan-house, near Savannah, in Georgia, and had
endowed it. The object of this institution was, to furnish scholastic
instruction to the poor, and to prepare some of them for the ministry.
George Whitfield, ever attentive to the cause of the poor Africans, thought
that this institution might have been useful to them also; but soon after
his death, they who succeeded him bought slaves, and these in unusual
numbers, to extend the rice and indigo plantations belonging to the
college. The letter then in question was written by Anthony Benezet, in
order to lay before the Countess, as a religious woman, the misery she was
occasioning in Africa, by allowing the managers of her college in Georgia
to give encouragement to the Slave-trade. The Countess replied, that such a
measure should never have her countenance, and that she would take care to
prevent it.

On discovering that the Abbé Raynal had brought out his celebrated work, in
which he manifested a tender feeling in behalf of the injured Africans, he
entered into a correspondence with him, hoping to make him yet more useful
to their cause.

Finding, also, in the year 1783, that the Slave-trade, which had greatly
declined during the American war, was reviving, he addressed a pathetic
letter to our Queen, (as I mentioned in the last chapter,) who, on hearing
the high character of the writer of it from Benjamin West, received it with
marks of peculiar condescension and attention. The following is a copy of
it.

    "_To_ CHARLOTTE _Queen of Great Britain_.

    "IMPRESSED with a sense of religious duty, and encouraged by the
    opinion generally entertained of thy benevolent disposition to
    succour the distressed, I take the liberty, very respectfully, to
    offer to thy perusal some tracts, which, I believe, faithfully
    describe the suffering condition of many hundred thousands of our
    fellow-creatures of the African race, great numbers of whom, rent
    from every tender connection in life, are annually taken from their
    native land, to endure, in the American islands and plantations, a
    most rigorous and cruel slavery; whereby many, very many of them,
    are brought to a melancholy and untimely end.

    "When it is considered that the inhabitants of Great Britain, who
    are themselves so eminently blessed in the enjoyment of religious
    and civil liberty, have long been, and yet are, very deeply
    concerned in this flagrant violation of the common rights of
    mankind, and that even its national authority is exerted in support
    of the African Slave-trade, there is much reason to apprehend, that
    this has been, and, as long as the evil exists, will continue to
    be, an occasion of drawing down the Divine displeasure on the
    nation and its dependencies. May these considerations induce thee
    to interpose thy kind endeavours in behalf of this greatly injured
    people, whose abject situation gives them an additional claim to
    the pity and assistance of the generous mind, inasmuch as they are
    altogether deprived of the means of soliciting effectual relief for
    themselves; that so thou mayest not only be a blessed instrument in
    the hand of him 'by whom kings reign and princes decree justice,'
    to avert the awful judgments by which the empire has already been
    so remarkably shaken, but that the blessings of thousands ready to
    perish may come upon thee, at a time when the superior advantages
    attendant on thy situation in this world will no longer be of any
    avail to thy consolation and support.

    "To the tracts on this subject to which I have thus ventured to
    crave thy particular attention, I have added some which at
    different times I have believed it my duty to publish[A], and
    which, I trust, will afford thee some satisfaction, their design
    being for the furtherance of that universal peace and goodwill
    amongst men, which the gospel was intended to introduce.

    "I hope thou wilt kindly excuse the freedom used on this occasion
    by an ancient man, whose mind, for more than forty years past, has
    been much separated from the common intercourse of the world, and
    long painfully exercised in the consideration of the miseries under
    which so large a part of mankind, equally with us the objects of
    redeeming love, are suffering the most unjust and grievous
    oppression, and who sincerely desires thy temporal and eternal
    felicity, and that of thy royal consort.

    "ANTHONY BENEZET."

[Footnote A: These related to the principles of the religious society of
the Quakers.]

Anthony Benezet, besides the care he bestowed upon forwarding the cause of
the oppressed Africans in different parts of the world, found time to
promote the comforts, and improve the condition of those in the state in
which he lived. Apprehending that much advantage would arise both to them
and the public, from instructing them in common learning, he zealously
promoted the establishment of a school for that purpose. Much of the two
last years of his life he devoted to a personal attendance on this school,
being earnestly desirous that they who came to it might be better qualified
for the enjoyment of that freedom to restored. To this he sacrificed the
superior emoluments of his former school, and his bodily case also,
although the weakness of his constitution seemed to demand indulgence. By
his last will he directed, that, after the decease of his widow, his whole
little fortune (the savings of the industry of fifty years) should, except
a few very small legacies, be applied to the support of it. During his
attendance upon it he had the happiness to find, (and his situation enabled
him to make the comparison,) that Providence had been equally liberal to
the Africans in genius and talents as to other people.

After a few days' illness this excellent man died at Philadelphia in the
spring of 1784. The interment of his remains was attended by several
thousands of all ranks, professions, and parties, who united in deploring
their loss. The mournful procession was closed by some hundreds of those
poor Africans, who had been personally benefited by his labours, and whose
behaviour on the occasion showed the gratitude and affection they
considered to be due to him as their own private benefactor, as well as the
benefactor of their whole race.

Such, then, were the labours of the Quakers, in America, of individuals,
from 1718 to 1784, and of the body at large, from 1696 to 1787, in this
great cause of humanity and religion. Nor were the effects produced from
these otherwise than corresponding with what might have been expected from
such an union of exertion in such a cause; for both the evils, that is, the
evil of buying and selling, and the evil of using, slaves, ceased at length
with the members of this benevolent Society. The leaving off all concern
with the Slave-trade took place first. The abolition of slavery, though it
followed, was not so speedily accomplished; for, besides the loss of
property, when slaves were manumitted without any pecuniary consideration
in return, their owners had to struggle, in making them free, against the
laws and customs of the times. In Pennsylvania, where the law in this
respect was the most favourable, the parties wishing to give freedom to a
slave were obliged to enter into a bond for the payment of thirty pounds
currency, in case the said slave should become chargeable for maintenance.
In New Jersey the terms were far less favourable, as the estate of the
owner remained liable to the consequences of misconduct in the slave, or
even in his posterity. In the southern parts of America manumission was not
permitted but on terms amounting nearly to a prohibition. But,
notwithstanding these difficulties, the Quakers could not be deterred, as
they became convinced of the unlawfulness of holding men in bondage, from
doing that which they believed to be right. Many liberated their slaves,
whatever the consequences were; and some gave the most splendid example in
doing it, not only by consenting, as others did, thus to give up their
property, and to incur the penalties of manumission, but by calculating and
giving what was due to them, over and above their food and clothing, for
wages[A] from the beginning of their slavery to the day when their
liberation commenced. Thus manumission went on, some sacrificing more, and
others less; some granting it sooner, and others later; till, in the year
1787[B], there was not a slave in the possession of an acknowledged Quaker.

[Footnote A: One of the brightest instances was that afforded by Warner
Mifflin. He gave unconditional liberty to his slaves. He paid all the
adults, on their discharge, the sum, which arbitrators, mutually chosen,
awarded them.]

[Footnote B: Previously to the year 1787, several of the states had made
the terms of manumission more easy.]

Having given to the reader the history of the third class of forerunners
and coadjutors, as it consisted of the Quakers in America, I am now to
continue it, as it consisted of an union of these with others on the same
continent in the year 1774, in behalf of the African race. To do this I
shall begin with the causes which led to the production of this great
event.

And in the first place, as example is more powerful than precept, we cannot
suppose that the Quakers could have shown these noble instances of
religious principle, without supposing also that individuals of other
religious denominations would be morally instructed by them. They who lived
in the neighbourhood where they took place, must have become acquainted
with the motives which led to them. Some of them must at least have praised
the action, though they might not themselves have been ripe to follow the
example. Nor is it at all improbable that these might be led, in the course
of the workings of their own minds, to a comparison between their own
conduct and that of the Quakers on this subject, in which they themselves
might appear to be less worthy in their own eyes. And as there is sometimes
a spirit of rivalship among the individuals of religious sects, where the
character of one is sounded forth as higher than that of another; this, if
excited by such a circumstance, would probably operate for good. It must
have been manifest also to many, after a lapse of time, that there was no
danger in what the Quakers had done, and that there was even sound policy
in the measure. But whatever were the several causes, certain it is, that
the example of the Quakers in leaving off all concern with the Slave-trade,
and in liberating their slaves (scattered as they were over various parts
of America) contributed to produce in many of a different religious
denomination from themselves, a more tender disposition than had been usual
towards the African race.

But a similar disposition towards these oppressed people was created in
others by means of other circumstances or causes. In the early part of the
eighteenth century, Judge Sewell of New England came forward as a zealous
advocate for them. He addressed a memorial to the legislature, which he
called The Selling of Joseph, and in which he pleaded their cause both as a
lawyer and a Christian. This memorial produced an effect upon many, but
particularly upon those of his own persuasion; and from this time the
presbyterians appear to have encouraged a sympathy in their favour.

In the year 1739, the celebrated George Whitfield became an instrument in
turning the attention of many others to their hard case, and of begetting
in these a fellow sympathy towards them. This laborious minister, having
been deeply affected with what he had seen in the course of his religious
travels in America, thought it his duty to address a letter from Georgia to
the inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. This
letter was printed as follows--

"As I lately passed through your provinces in my way hither, I was sensibly
touched with a fellow-feeling for the miseries of the poor Negros. Whether
it be lawful for Christians to buy slaves, and thereby encourage the
nations from whom they are bought to be at perpetual war with each other, I
shall not take upon me to determine. Sure I am it is sinful, when they have
bought them, to use them as bad as though they were brutes, nay worse; and
whatever particular exceptions there may be (as I would charitably hope
there are some) I fear the generality of you, who own Negros, are liable to
such a charge; for your slaves, I believe, work as hard, if not harder,
than the horses whereon you ride. These, after they have done their work,
are fed and taken proper care of; but many Negros, when wearied with labour
in your plantations, have been obliged to grind their corn after their
return home. Your dogs are caressed and fondled at your table; but your
slaves, who are frequently styled dogs or beasts, have not an equal
privilege. They are scarce permitted to pick up the crumbs which fall from
their master's table. Not to mention what numbers have been given up to the
inhuman usage of cruel task-masters, who, by their unrelenting scourges
have ploughed their backs, and made long furrows, and at length brought
them even unto death. When passing along I have viewed your plantations
cleared and cultivated, many spacious houses built, and the owners of them
faring sumptuously every day, my blood has frequently almost run cold
within me, to consider how many of your slaves had neither convenient food
to eat, nor proper raiment to put on; notwithstanding most of the comforts
you enjoy were solely owing to their indefatigable labours."

The letter, from which this is an extract, produced a desirable effect upon
many of those, who perused it, but particularly upon such as began to be
seriously disposed in these times. And as George Whitfield continued a firm
friend to the poor Africans, never losing an opportunity of serving them,
he interested, in the course of his useful life, many thousands of his
followers in their favour.

To this account it may be added, that from the year 1762, ministers, who
were in the connection of John Wesley, began to be settled in America, and
that as these were friends to the oppressed Africans also, so they
contributed in their turn[A] to promote a softness of feeling towards them
among those of their own persuasion.

[Footnote A: It must not be forgotten that the example of the Moravians had
its influence, also, in directing men to their duty towards these oppressed
people; for though, when they visited this part of the world for their
conversion, they never meddled with the political state of things, by
recommending it to masters to alter the condition of their slaves, as
believing religion could give comfort in the most abject situations in
life, yet they uniformly freed those slaves, who came into their own
possession.]

In consequence then of these and other causes, a considerable number of
persons of various religious denominations had appeared at different times
in America, besides the Quakers, who, though they had not distinguished
themselves by resolutions and manumissions as religious bodies, were yet
highly friendly to the African cause.

This friendly disposition began to manifest itself about the year 1770: for
when a few Quakers, as individuals, began at that time to form little
associations in the middle provinces of North America, to discourage the
introduction of slaves among people in their own neighbourhoods, who were
not of their own Society, and to encourage the manumission of those already
in bondage, they were joined as colleagues by several persons of this
description[A], who cooperated with them in the promotion of their design.

[Footnote A: It then appeared that individuals among those of the church of
England, Roman Catholics, presbyterians, methodists, and, others, had begun
in a few instances to liberate their slaves.]

This disposition however became more manifest in the year 1772; for the
house of burgesses of Virginia presented a petition to the King, beseeching
his majesty to remove all those restraints on his governors of that colony,
which inhibited their assent to such laws, as might check that inhuman and
impolitic commerce, the Slave-trade: and it is remarkable, that the refusal
of the British government to permit the Virginians to exclude slaves from
among them by law, was enumerated afterwards among the public reasons for
separating from the mother country.

But this friendly disposition was greatly increased in the year 1773, by
the literary labours of Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia[A], who, I
believe, is a member of the presbyterian church. For in this year, at the
instigation of Anthony Benezet, he took up the cause of the oppressed
Africans in a little work, which he entitled An Address to the Inhabitants
of the British Settlements on the Slavery of the Negros; and soon
afterwards in another, which was a vindication of the first, in answer to
an acrimonious attack by a West Indian planter. These publications
contained many new observations. They were written in a polished style; and
while they exhibited the erudition and talents, they showed the liberality
and benevolence, of the author. Having had a considerable circulation, they
spread conviction among many, and promoted the cause for which they had
been so laudibly undertaken. Of the great increase of friendly disposition
towards the African cause in this very year, we have this remarkable
proof;--that when the Quakers, living in East and West Jersey, wished to
petition the legislature to obtain an act of assembly for the more
equitable manumission of slaves in that province, so many others of
different persuasions joined them, that the petition was signed by upwards
of three thousand persons.

[Footnote A: Dr. Rush has been better known since for his other literary
works; such as his Medical Dissertations, his Treatises on the Discipline
of Schools, Criminal Law, &c.]

But in the next year, or in the year 1774[A], the increased good-will
towards the Africans became so apparent, but more particularly in
Pennsylvania, where the Quakers were more numerous than in any other state,
that they, who considered themselves more immediately as the friends of
these injured people, thought it right to avail themselves of it: and
accordingly James Pemberton, one of the most conspicuous of the Quakers in
Pennsylvania, and Dr. Rush, one of the most conspicuous of those belonging
to the various other religious communities in that province, undertook, in
conjunction with others, the important task of bringing those into a
society who were friendly to this cause. In this undertaking they
succeeded. And hence arose that union of the Quakers with others, to which
I have been directing the attention of the reader, and by which the third
class of forerunners and coadjutors becomes now complete. This society,
which was confined to Pennsylvania, was the first ever formed in America,
in which there was an union of persons of different religious denominations
in behalf of the African race.

[Footnote A: In this year, Elhanan Winchester, a supporter of the doctrine
of universal redemption, turned the attention of many of his hearers to
this subject, both by private interference and by preaching expressly upon
it.]

But this society had scarcely begun to act, when the war broke out between
England and America, which had the effect of checking its operations. This
was considered as a severe blow upon it. But as those things which appear
most to our disadvantage, turn out often the most to our benefit, so the
war, by giving birth to the independence of America, was ultimately
favourable to its progress. For as this contest had produced during its
continuance, so it left, when it was over, a general enthusiasm for
liberty. Many talked of little else but of the freedom they had gained.
These were naturally led to the consideration of those among them, who were
groaning in bondage. They began to feel for their hard case. They began to
think that they should not deserve the new blessing which they had
acquired, if they denied it to others. Thus the discussions, which
originated in this contest, became the occasion of turning the attention of
many, who might not otherwise have thought of it, towards the miserable
condition of the slaves.

Nor were writers wanting, who, influenced by considerations on the war and
the independence resulting from it, made their works subservient to the
same benevolent end. A work, entitled, A Serious Address to the Rulers of
America on the Inconsistency of their Conduct respecting Slavery, forming a
Contrast between the Encroachments of England on American Liberty and
American Injustice in tolerating Slavery, which appeared in 1783, was
particularly instrumental in producing this effect. This excited a more
than usual attention to the case of these oppressed people, and where most
of all it could be useful. For the author compared in two opposite columns
the animated speeches and resolutions of the members of congress in behalf
of their own liberty with their conduct in continuing slavery to others.
Hence the legislature began to feel the inconsistency of the practice; and
so far had the sense of this inconsistency spread there, that when the
delegates met from each state, to consider of a federal union, there was a
desire that the abolition of the Slave-trade should be one of the articles
in it. This was, however, opposed by the delegates from North and South
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia, the five states which had the
greatest concern in slaves. But even these offered to agree to the article,
provided a condition was annexed to it, (which was afterwards done,) that
the power of such abolition should not commence in the legislature till the
first of January 1808.

In consequence then of these different circumstances, the society of
Pennsylvania, the object of which was "for promoting the abolition of
slavery and the relief of free Negros unlawfully held in bondage," became
so popular, that in the year 1787 it was thought desirable to enlarge it.
Accordingly several new members were admitted into it. The celebrated Dr.
Franklin, who had long warmly espoused the cause of the injured Africans,
was appointed president; James Pemberton and Jonathan Penrose were
appointed vice-presidents; Dr. Benjamin Rush and Tench Coxe, secretaries;
James Star, treasurer; William Lewis, John D. Coxe, Miers Fisher, and
William Rawle, counsellors; Thomas Harrison, Nathan Boys, James Whiteall,
James Reed, John Todd, Thomas Armatt, Norris Jones, Samuel Richards,
Francis Bayley, Andrew Carson, John Warner, and Jacob Shoemaker, junior, an
electing commitee; and Thomas Shields, Thomas Parker, John Oldden, William
Zane, John Warner, and William McElhenny, an acting commitee for carrying
on the purposes of the institution.

I shall now only observe further upon this subject, that as a society,
consisting of an union of the Quakers, with others of other religious
denominations, was established for Pennsylvania in behalf of the oppressed
Africans, so different societies, consisting each of a similar union of
persons, were established in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, and other states for the same object, and that these afterwards
held a correspondence and personal communion with each other for the
promotion of it.



CHAPTER VI.

_Observations on the three classes already introduced--Coincidence of
extraordinary circumstances--Individuals in each of these classes, who
seem to have had an education as it were to qualify them for promoting the
cause of the abolition--Sharp and Ramsay in the first--Dillwyn in the
second--Pemberton and Rush in the third--These, with their respective
classes, acted on motives of their own, and independently of each
other--and yet, from circumstances neither foreseen nor known by them, they
were in the way of being easily united in 1787--William Dillwyn, the great
medium of connection between them all._


If the reader will refer to his recollection, he will find, that I have
given the history of three of the classes of the forerunners and coadjutors
in the great cause of the abolition of the Slave-trade up to the time
proposed. He will of course expect that I should proceed with the history
of the fourth. But, as I foresee that, by making certain observations upon
the classes already introduced in the present rather than in any future
place, I shall be able to give him clearer views on the subject, I shall
postpone the history of the remaining class to the next chapter.

The account, which I shall now give, will exhibit a concurrence of
extraordinary and important circumstances. It will show, first, that in
each of the three classes now introduced, there were individuals in the
year 1787, who had been educated as it were for the purpose of becoming
peculiarly qualified to act together for the promotion of the abolition of
the Slave-trade. It will show, secondly, that these, with their respective
classes, acted upon their own principles, distinctly and independently of
each other. And, lastly, that by means of circumstances, which they
themselves had neither foreseen nor contrived, a junction between them was
rendered easily practicable, and that it was beginning to take place at the
period assigned.

The first class of forerunners and coadjutors consisted principally, as it
has appeared, of persons in England of various descriptions. These, I may
observe, had no communication with each other as to any plan for the
abolition of the Slave-trade. There were two individuals, however, among
them, who were more conspicuous than the rest, namely, Granville Sharp, the
first labourer, and Mr. Ramsay, the first controversial writer, in the
cause.

That Granville Sharp received an education as if to become qualified to
unite with others, in the year 1787, for this important object, must have
appeared from the history of his labours, as detailed in several of the
preceding pages. The same may be said of Mr. Ramsay; for it has already
appeared that he lived in the island of St. Christopher, where he made his
observations, and studied the laws, relative to the treatment of slaves,
for nineteen years.

That Granville Sharp acted on grounds distinct from those in any of the
other classes is certain. For he knew nothing at this time either of the
Quakers in England or of those in America, any more than that they existed
by name. Had it not been for the case of Jonathan Strong, he might never
have attached himself to the cause. A similar account may be given of Mr.
Ramsay; for, if it had not been for what he had seen in the island of St.
Christopher, he had never embarked in it. It was from scenes, which he had
witnessed there, that he began to feel on the subject. These feelings he
communicated to others on his return to England, and these urged him into
action.

With respect to the second class, the reader will recollect that it
consisted of the Quakers in England: first, of George Fox; then of the
Quakers as a body; then of individuals belonging to that body, who formed
themselves into a commitee, independently of it, for the promotion of the
object in question. This commitee, it may be remembered, consisted of six
persons, of whom one was William Dillwyn.

That William Dillwyn became fitted for the station, which he was afterwards
to take, will be seen shortly. He was born in America, and was a pupil of
the venerable Benezet, who took pains very early to interest his feelings
on this great subject. Benezet employed him occasionally, I mean in a
friendly manner, as his amanuensis, to copy his manuscripts for
publication, as well as several of his letters written in behalf of the
cause. This gave his scholar an insight into the subject, who, living
besides in the land where both the Slave-trade and slavery were
established, obtained an additional knowledge of them, so as to be able to
refute many of those objections, to which others for want of local
observation could never have replied.

In the year 1772 Anthony Benezet introduced William Dillwyn by letter to
several of the principal people of Carolina, with whom he had himself
before corresponded on the sufferings of the poor Africans, and desired him
to have interviews with them on the subject. He charged him also to be very
particular in making observations as to what he should see there. This
journey was of great use to the latter in fixing him as the friend of these
oppressed people, for he saw so much of their cruel treatment in the course
of it, that he felt an anxiety ever afterwards, amounting to a duty, to do
everything in his power for their relief.

In the year 1773 William Dillwyn, in conjunction with Richard Smith and
Daniel Wells, two of his own Society, wrote a pamphlet in answer to
arguments then prevailing, that the manumission of slaves would be
injurious. This pamphlet,--which was entitled, Brief Considerations on
Slavery, and the Expediency of its Abolition; with some Hints on the Means
whereby it may be gradually effected,--proved that in lieu of the usual
security required, certain sums paid at the several periods of manumission
would amply secure the public, as well as the owners of the slaves, from
any future burthens. In the same year also, when the Society, joined by
several hundreds of others in New Jersey, presented a petition to the
legislature, (as mentioned in the former chapter,) to obtain an act of
assembly for the more equitable manumission of slaves in that province,
William Dillwyn was one of a deputation, which was heard at the bar of the
assembly for that purpose.

In 1774 he came to England, but his attention was still kept alive to the
subject. For he was the person, by whom Anthony Benezet sent his letter to
the Countess of Huntingdon, as before related. He was also the person, to
whom the same venerable defender of the African race sent his letter,
before spoken of, to be forwarded to the Queen.

That William Dillwyn and those of his own class in England acted upon
motives very distinct from those of the former class may be said with
truth, for they acted upon the constitutional principles of their own
Society, as incorporated into its discipline, which principles would always
have incited them to the subversion of slavery, as far as they themselves
were concerned, whether any other persons had abolished it or not. To which
it may be added, as a further proof of the originality of their motives,
that the Quakers have had ever since their institution as a religious body,
but little intercourse with the world.

The third class, to which I now come, consisted, as we have seen, first, of
the Quakers in America; and secondly, of an union of these with others on
the same continent. The principal individuals concerned in this union were
James Pemberton and Dr. Rush. The former of these, having taken an active
part in several of the yearly meetings of his own Society relative to the
oppressed Africans, and having been in habits of intimacy and friendship
with John Woolman and Anthony Benezet, with the result of whose labours he
was acquainted, may be supposed to have become qualified to take a leading
station in the promotion of their cause. Dr. Rush also had shown himself,
as has appeared, an able advocate, and had even sustained a controversy in
their favour. That the two last mentioned acted also on motives of their
own, or independently of those belonging to the other two classes, when
they formed their association in Pennsylvania, will be obvious from these
circumstances; first, that most of those of the first class, who
contributed to throw the greatest light and odium upon the Slave-trade, had
not then made their public appearance in the world. And, with respect to
the second class, the little commitee belonging to it had neither been
formed nor thought of.

And as the individuals in each of the three classes, who have now been
mentioned, had an education as it were to qualify them for acting together
in this great cause, and had moved independently of each other, so it will
appear that, by means of circumstances which they themselves had neither
foreseen nor contrived, a junction between them was rendered easily
practicable, and that it was beginning to take place at the period
assigned.

To show this, I must first remind the reader that Anthony Benezet, as soon
as he heard of the result of the case of Somerset, opened a correspondence
with Granville Sharp, which was kept up to the encouragement of both. In
the year 1774, when he learned that William Dillwyn was going to England,
he gave him letters to that gentleman. Thus one of the most conspicuous of
the second class was introduced, accidentally as it were, to one of the
most conspicuous of the first. In the year 1775 William Dillwyn went back
to America, but, on his return to England to settle, he renewed his visits
to Granville Sharp. Thus the connection was continued. To these
observations I may now add; that Samuel Hoare, of the same class as William
Dillwyn, had, in consequence of the Bishop of Chester's sermon, begun a
correspondence in 1784, as before mentioned, with Mr. Ramsay, who was of
the same class as Mr. Sharp. Thus four individuals of the two first classes
were in the way of an union with one another.

But circumstances equally natural contributed to render an union between
the members of the second and the third classes easily practicable also.
For what was more natural than that William Dillwyn, who was born and who
had resided long in America, should have connections there? He had long
cultivated a friendship (not then knowing to what it would lead) with James
Pemberton. His intimacy with him was like that of a family connection. They
corresponded together. They corresponded also as kindred hearts, relative
to the Slave-trade. Thus two members of the second and third classes had
opened an intercourse on the subject, and thus was William Dillwyn the
great medium, through whom the members of the two classes now mentioned, as
well as the members of all the three might be easily united also, if a fit
occasion should offer.



CHAPTER VII.

_Fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors up to 1787--Dr. Peckard,
vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the first of these--gives
out the Slave-trade as the subject for one of the annual prizes--Author
writes and obtains the first of these--reads his Dissertation in the
Senate-house in the summer of 1785--his feelings on the subject during his
return home--is desirous of aiding the cause of the Africans, but sees
great difficulties--determines to publish his prize-essay for this
purpose--is accidentally thrown into the way of James Phillips, who
introduces him to W. Dillwyn, the connecting medium of the three classes
before mentioned--and to G. Sharp, and Mr. Ramsay--and to R. Phillips._


I proceed now to the fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors up to the
year 1787 in the great cause of the abolition of the Slave-trade.

The first of these was Dr. Peckard. This gentleman had distinguished
himself in the earlier part of his life by certain publications on the
intermediate state of the soul, and by others in favour of civil and
religious liberty. To the latter cause he was a warm friend, seldom
omitting any opportunity of declaring his sentiments in its favour. In the
course of his preferment he was appointed by Sir John Griffin, afterwards
Lord Howard, of Walden, to the mastership of Magdalen College in the
University of Cambridge. In this high office he considered it to be his
duty to support those doctrines which he had espoused when in an inferior
station; and accordingly, when in the year 1784 it devolved upon him to
preach a sermon before the University of Cambridge, he chose his favourite
subject, in the handling of which he took an opportunity of speaking of the
Slave-trade in the following nervous manner:--

"Now, whether we consider the crime, with respect to the individuals
concerned in this most barbarous and cruel traffic, or whether we consider
it as patronized and encouraged by the laws of the land, it presents to our
view an equal degree of enormity. A crime, founded on a dreadful
preeminence in wickedness--A crime, which being both of individuals and the
nation, heaviest judgment of Almighty God, who made of one blood all the
sons of men, and who gave to all equally a natural right to liberty; and
who, ruling all the kingdoms of the earth with equal providential justice,
cannot suffer such deliberate, such monstrous iniquity, to pass long
unpunished."

But Dr. Peckard did not consider this delivery of his testimony, though it
was given before a learned and religious body, as a sufficient discharge of
his duty, while any opportunity remained of renewing it with effect. And,
as such an one offered in the year 1785, when he was vice-chancellor of the
University, he embraced it. In consequence of his office, it devolved upon
him to give out two subjects for Latin dissertations, one to the middle
bachelors, and the other to the senior bachelors of arts. They who produced
the best were to obtain the prizes. To the latter, he proposed the
following: "Anne liceat Invitos in Servitutem dare?" or, "Is it right to
make slaves of others against their will?"

This circumstance of giving out the subjects for the prizes, though only an
ordinary measure, became the occasion of my own labours, or of the real
honour which I feel in being able to consider myself as the next coadjutor
of this class in the cause of the injured Africans. For it happened in this
year that, being of the order of senior bachelors, I became qualified to
write. I had gained a prize for the best Latin dissertation in the former
year, and, therefore, it was expected that I should obtain one in the
present, or I should be considered as having lost my reputation both in the
eyes of the University and of my own College. It had happened also, that I
had been honoured with the first of the prizes[A] in that year, and
therefore it was expected again, that I should obtain the first on this
occasion. The acquisition of the second, however honourable, would have
been considered as a falling off, or as a loss of former fame. I felt
myself, therefore, particularly called upon to maintain my post. And, with
feelings of this kind, I began to prepare myself for the question.

[Footnote A: There are two prizes on each subject, one for the best and the
other for the second-best essays.]

In studying the thesis, I conceived it to point directly to the African
Slave-trade, and more particularly as I knew that Dr. Peckard, in the
sermon which I have mentioned, had pronounced so warmly against it. At any
rate, I determined to give it this construction. But, alas! I was wholly
ignorant of this subject; and, what was unfortunate, a few weeks only were
allowed for the composition. I was determined, however, to make the best
use of my time. I got access to the manuscript papers of a deceased friend,
who had been in the trade. I was acquainted also with several officers who
had been in the West Indies, and from these I gained something. But I still
felt myself at a loss for materials, and I did not know where to get them;
when going by accident into a friend's house, I took up a newspaper then
lying on his table. One of the articles, which attracted my notice, was an
advertisement of Anthony Benezet's Historical Account of Guinea. I soon
left my friend and his paper, and, to lose no time, hastened to London to
buy it. In this precious book I found almost all I wanted. I obtained, by
means of it, a knowledge of, and gained access to, the great authorities of
Adanson, Moore, Barbot, Smith, Bosman and others. It was of great
consequence to know what these persona had said upon this subject. For,
having been themselves either long resident in Africa, or very frequently
there, their knowledge of it could not be questioned. Having been concerned
also in the trade, it was not likely that they would criminate themselves
more than they could avoid. Writing too at a time, when the abolition was
not even thought of, they could not have been biassed with any view to that
event. And, lastly, having been dead many years, they could not have been
influenced, as living evidences may be supposed to have been, either to
conceal or to exaggerate, as their own interest might lead them, either by
being concerned in the continuance of the trade, or by supporting the
opinions of those of their patrons in power, who were on the different
sides of this question.

Furnished then in this manner, I began my work. But no person can tell the
severe trial, which the writing of it proved to me. I had expected pleasure
from the invention of the arguments, from the arrangement of them, from the
putting of them together, and from the thought in the interim that I was
engaged in an innocent contest for literary honour. But all my pleasure was
damped by the facts which were now continually before me. It was but one
gloomy subject from morning to night. In the day-time I was uneasy. In the
night I had little rest. I sometimes never closed my eye-lids for grief. It
became now not so much a trial for academical reputation, as for the
production of a work, which might be useful to injured Africa. And keeping
this idea in my mind ever after the perusal of Benezet, I always slept with
a candle in my room, that I might rise out of bed and put down such
thoughts as might occur to me in the night, if I judged them valuable,
conceiving that no arguments of any moment should be lost in so great a
cause. Having at length finished this painful task I sent my Essay to the
vice-chancellor, and soon afterwards found myself honoured as before with
the first prize.

As it is usual to read these essays publicly in the senate-house soon after
the prize is adjudged, I was called to Cambridge for this purpose. I went
and performed my office. On returning however to London, the subject of it
almost wholly engrossed my thoughts. I became at times very seriously
affected while upon the road. I stopped my horse occasionally, and
dismounted and walked. I frequently tried to persuade myself in these
intervals that the contents of my Essay could not be true. The more however
I reflected upon them, or rather upon the authorities on which they were
founded, the more I gave them credit. Coming in sight of Wades Mill in
Hertfordshire, I sat down disconsolate on the turf by the roadside and held
my horse. Here a thought came into my mind, that if the contents of the
Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to
their end. Agitated in this manner I reached home. This was in the summer
of 1785.

In the course of the autumn of the same year I experienced similar
impressions. I walked frequently into the woods, that I might think on the
subject in solitude, and find relief to my mind there. But there the
question still recurred, "Are these things true?"--Still the answer
followed as instantaneously "They are."--Still the result accompanied it,
"Then surely some person should interfere." I then began to envy those who
had seats in parliament, and who had great riches, and widely extended
connections, which would enable them to take up this cause. Finding
scarcely any one at that time who thought of it, I was turned frequently to
myself. But here many difficulties arose. It struck me, among others, that
a young man of only twenty-four years of age could not have that solid
judgment, or knowledge of men, manners, and things, which were requisite to
qualify him to undertake a task of such magnitude and importance;--and with
whom was I to unite? I believed also, that it looked so much like one of
the feigned labours of Hercules, that my understanding would be suspected
if I proposed it. On ruminating however on the subject, I found one thing
at least practicable, and that this also was in my power. I could translate
my Latin dissertation. I could enlarge it usefully. I could see how the
public received it, or how far they were likely to favour any serious
measures, which should have a tendency to produce the abolition of the
Slave-trade. Upon this then I determined; and in the middle of the month of
November 1785, I began my work.

By the middle of January, I had finished half of it, though I had made
considerable additions. I now thought of engaging with some bookseller to
print it when finished. For this purpose I called upon Mr. Cadell, in the
Strand, and consulted him about it. He said that as the original Essay had
been honoured by the University of Cambridge with the first prize, this
circumstance would ensure it a respectable circulation among persons of
taste. I own I was not much pleased with his opinion. I wished the Essay to
find its way among useful people, and among such as would think and act
with me. Accordingly I left Mr. Cadell, after having thanked him for his
civility, and determined, as I thought I had time sufficient before dinner,
to call upon a friend in the city. In going past the Royal Exchange, Mr.
Joseph Hancock, one of the religious society of the Quakers, and with whose
family my own had been long united in friendship, suddenly met me. He first
accosted me by saying that I was the person, whom he was wishing to see. He
then asked me why I had not published my Prize Essay. I asked him in return
what had made him think of that subject in particular. He replied, that his
own Society had long taken it up as a religious body, and individuals among
them were wishing to find me out. I asked him who. He answered, James
Phillips, a bookseller, in George-yard, Lombard-street, and William
Dillwyn, of Walthamstow, and others. Having but little time to spare, I
desired him to introduce me to one of them. In a few minutes he took me to
James Phillips, who was then the only one of them in town; by whose
conversation I was so much interested and encouraged, that without any
further hesitation I offered him the publication of my work. This
accidental introduction of me to James Phillips was, I found afterwards, a
most happy circumstance for the promotion of the cause, which I had then so
deeply at heart, as it led me to the knowledge of several of those, who
became afterwards material coadjutors in it. It was also of great
importance to me with respect to the work itself. For he possessed an acute
penetration, a solid judgment, and a many alterations and additions he
proposed, and which I believe I uniformly adopted, after mature
consideration, from a sense of their real value. It was advantageous to me
also, inasmuch as it led me to his friendship, which was never interrupted
but by his death.

On my second visit to James Phillips, at which time I brought him about
half my manuscript for the press, I desired him to introduce me to William
Dillwyn, as he also had mentioned him to me on my first visit, and as I had
not seen Mr. Hancock since. Matters were accordingly arranged, and a day
appointed before I left him. On this day I had my first interview with my
new friend. Two or three others of his own religious society were present,
but who they were I do not now recollect. There seemed to be a great desire
among them to know the motive by which I had been actuated in contending
for the prize. I told them frankly, that I had no motive but that which
other young men in the University had on such occasions; namely, the wish
of being distinguished, or of obtaining literary honour; but that I had
felt so deeply on the subject of it, that I had lately interested myself in
it from a motive of duty. My conduct seemed to be highly approved by those
present, and much conversation ensued, but it was of a general nature.

As William Dillwyn wished very much to see me at his house at Walthamstow,
I appointed the thirteenth of March to spend the day with him there. We
talked for the most part, during my stay, on the subject of my Essay. I
soon discovered the treasure I had met with in his local knowledge, both of
the Slave-trade and of slavery, as they existed in the United States, and I
gained from him several facts, which with his permission I afterwards
inserted in my work. But how surprised was I to hear in the course of our
conversation of the labours of Granville Sharp, of the writings of Ramsay,
and of the controversy in which the latter was engaged, of all which I had
hitherto known nothing! How surprised was I to learn, that William Dillwyn
himself, had two years before associated himself with five others for the
purpose of enlightening the public mind upon this great subject! How
astonished was I to find that a society had been formed in America for the
same object, with some of the principal members of which he was intimately
acquainted! And how still more astonished at the inference which instantly
rushed upon my mind, that he was capable of being made the great medium of
connection between them all. These thoughts almost overpowered me. I
believe that after this I talked but little more to my friend. My mind was
overwhelmed with the thought that I had been providentially directed to his
house; that the finger of Providence was beginning to be discernible; that
the daystar of African liberty was rising, and that probably I might be
permitted to become a humble instrument in promoting it.

In the course of attending to my work, as now in the press, James Phillips
introduced me also to Granville Sharp, with whom I had afterwards many
interesting interviews from time to time, and whom I discovered to be a
distant relation by my father's side.

He introduced me also by letter to a correspondence with Mr. Ramsay, who in
a short time afterwards came to London to see me.

He introduced me also to his cousin, Richard Phillip of Lincoln's Inn, who
was at that time on the point of joining the religious society of the
Quakers. In him I found much sympathy, and a willingness to cooperate with
me. When dull and disconsolate, he encouraged me. When in spirits, he
stimulated me further. Him I am now to mention as a new, but soon
afterwards as an active and indefatigable coadjutor in the cause. But I
shall say more concerning him in a future chapter. I shall only now add,
that my work was at length printed; that it was entitled, An Essay on the
Slavery and Commerce of the human Species, particularly the African,
translated from a Latin Dissertation, which was honoured with the First
Prize in the University of Cambridge, for the Year 1785; with
Additions;--and that it was ushered into the world in the month of June
1786, or in about a year after it had been read in the Senate-house in its
first form.



CHAPTER VIII.

_Continuation of the fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors up to
1787--Bennet Langton--Dr. Baker--Lord and Lady Scarsdale--Author visits
Ramsay at Teston--Lady Middleton and Sir Charles (now Lord Barham)--Author
declares himself at the house of the latter ready now to devote himself to
the cause--reconsiders this declaration or pledge--his reasoning and
struggle upon it--persists in it--returns to London--and pursues the work
as now a business of his life._


I had purposed, as I said before, when I determined to publish my Essay, to
wait to see how the world would receive it, or what disposition there would
be in the public to favour my measures for the abolition of the
Slave-trade. But the conversation, which I had held on the thirteenth of
March with William Dillwyn, continued to make such an impression upon me,
that I thought now there could be no occasion for waiting for such a
purpose. It seemed now only necessary to go forward. Others I found had
already begun the work. I had been thrown suddenly among these, as into a
new world of friends. I believed also that a way was opening under
Providence for support. And I now thought that nothing remained for me but
to procure as many coadjutors as I could.

I had long had the honour of the friendship of Mr. Bennet Langton, and I
determined to carry him one of my books, and to interest his feelings in
it, with a view of procuring his assistance in the cause. Mr. Langton was a
gentleman of an ancient family, and respectable fortune in Lincolnshire,
but resided then in Queen's-square, Westminster. He was known as the friend
of Dr. Johnson, Jonas Hanway, Edmund Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and
others. Among his acquaintance indeed were most of the literary, and
eminent professional, and public-spirited, men of the times. At court also
he was well known and had the esteem of his present Majesty, with whom he
frequently conversed. His friends were numerous also in both houses of the
legislature. As to himself, he was much noted for his learning, but most of
all for the great example he gave with respect to the usefulness and
integrity of his life.

By introducing my work to the sanction of a friend of such high character
and extensive connections, I thought I should be doing great things. And so
the event proved. For when I went to him after he had read it, I found that
it had made a deep impression upon his mind. As a friend to humanity he
lamented over the miseries of the oppressed Africans, and over the crimes
of their tyrants as a friend to morality and religion. He cautioned me,
however, against being too sanguine in my expectations, as so many
thousands were interested in continuing the trade. Justice, however, which
he said weighed with him beyond all private or political interest, demanded
a public inquiry, and he would assist me to the utmost of his power in my
attempts towards it. From this time he became a zealous and active
coadjutor in the cause, and continued so to the end of his valuable life.

The next person, to whom I gave my work with a like view, was Dr. Baker, a
clergyman of the Establishment, and with whom I had been in habits of
intimacy for some time. Dr. Baker was a learned and pious man. He had
performed the duties of his profession from the time of his initiation into
the church in an exemplary manner, not only by paying a proper attention to
the customary services, but by the frequent visitation of the sick and the
instruction of the poor. This he had done too to admiration in a
particularly extensive parish. At the time I knew him he had May-fair
chapel, of which an unusual portion of the congregation consisted then of
persons of rank and fortune. With most of these he had a personal
acquaintance. This was of great importance to me in the promotion of my
views. Having left him my book for a month, I called upon him. The result
was that which I expected from so good a man. He did not wait for me to ask
him for his cooperation, but he offered his services in any way which I
might think most eligible, feeling it his duty, as he expressed it, to
become an instrument in exposing such a complication of guilt and misery to
the world. Dr. Baker became from this time an active coadjutor also, and
continued so to his death.

The person, to whom I sent my work next, was the late lord Scarsdale, whose
family I had known for about two years. Both he and his lady read it with
attention. They informed me, after the perusal of it, that both of them
were desirous of assisting me in promoting the cause of the poor Africans.
Lady Scarsdale lamented that she might possibly offend near and dear
connections, who had interests in the West Indies, by so doing; but that
conscious of no intention to offend these, and considering the duties of
religion to be the first to be attended to, she should be pleased to become
useful in so good a cause. Lord Scarsdale also assured me, that, if the
subject should ever come before the house of lords, it should have his
constant support.

While attempting to make friends in this manner, I received a letter from
Mr. Ramsay, with an invitation to spend a month at his house at Teston,
near Maidstone in Kent. This I accepted, that I might communicate to him
the progress I had made, that I might gain more knowledge from him on the
subject, and that I might acquire new strength and encouragement to
proceed. On hearing my account of my proceedings, which I detailed to him
on the first evening of our meeting, he seemed almost overpowered with joy.
He said he had been long of opinion, that the release of the Africans from
the scourges of this cruel trade, was within the determined views of
Providence, and that by turning the public attention to their misery, we
should be the instruments of beginning the good work. He then informed me
how long he himself had had their cause at heart; that, communicating his
feelings to sir Charles Middleton (now lord Barham) and his lady, the
latter had urged him to undertake a work in their behalf; that her
importunities were great respecting it; and that he had on this account,
and in obedience also to his own feelings, as has been before mentioned,
begun it; but that, foreseeing the censure and abuse, which such a subject,
treated in any possible manner, must bring upon the author, he had laid it
aside for some time. He had, however, resumed it at the solicitation of Dr.
Porteus, then bishop of Chester, after which, in the year 1784, it made its
appearance in the world.

I was delighted with this account on the first evening of my arrival; but
more particularly as I collected from it, that I might expect in the bishop
of Chester and sir Charles Middleton, two new friends to the cause. This
expectation was afterwards fully realized, as the reader will see in its
proper place. But I was still more delighted, when I was informed that sir
Charles and lady Middleton, with Mrs. Bouverie, lived at Teston-hall, in a
park, which was but a few yards from the house in which I then was. In the
morning I desired an introduction to them, which accordingly took place,
and I found myself much encouraged and supported by this visit.

It is not necessary, nor indeed is there room, to detail my employments in
this village, or the lonely walks I took there, or the meditations of my
mind at such seasons. I will therefore come at once to a particular
occurrence. When at dinner one day with the family at Teston-hall, I was
much pleased with the turn which the conversation had taken on the subject,
and in the joy of my heart, I exclaimed that, "I was ready to devote myself
to the cause." This brought great commendation from those present; and Sir
Charles Middleton added, that if I wanted any information in the course of
my future inquiries relative to Africa, which he could procure me as
comptroller of the navy, such as extracts from the journals of the ships of
war to that continent, or from other papers, I should have free access to
his office. This offer I received with thankfulness, and it operated as a
new encouragement to me to proceed.

The next morning, when I awoke, one of the first things that struck me was,
that I had given a pledge to the company the day before, that I would
devote myself to the cause of the oppressed Africans. I became a little
uneasy at this. I questioned whether I had considered matters sufficiently
to be able to go so far with propriety. I determined therefore to give the
subject a full consideration, and accordingly I walked to the place of my
usual meditations, the woods.

Having now reached a place of solitude, I began to balance every thing on
both sides of the question. I considered first, that I had not yet obtained
information sufficient on the subject, to qualify me for the undertaking of
such a work. But I reflected, on the other hand, that Sir Charles Middleton
had just opened to me a new source of knowledge; that I should be backed by
the local information of Dillwyn and Ramsay, and that surely, by taking
pains, I could acquire more.

I then considered, that I had not yet a sufficient number of friends to
support me. This occasioned me to review them. I had now Sir Charles
Middleton, who was in the House of Commons. I was sure of Dr. Porteus, who
was in the House of Lords. I could count upon Lord Scarsdale, who was a
peer also. I had secured Mr. Langton, who had a most extensive acquaintance
with members of both houses of the legislature. I had also secured Dr.
Baker, who had similar connections. I could depend upon Granville Sharp,
James Phillips, Richard Phillips, Ramsay, Dillwyn, and the little commitee
to which he belonged, as well as the whole society of the Quakers. I
thought therefore upon the whole, that, considering the short time I had
been at work, I was well off with respect to support; I believed also that
there were still several of my own acquaintance, whom I could interest in
the question, and I did not doubt that, by exerting myself diligently,
persons, who were then strangers to me, would be raised up in time.

I considered next, that it was impossible for a great cause like this to be
forwarded without large pecuniary funds. I questioned whether some thousand
pounds would not be necessary, and from whence was such a sum to come? In
answer to this, I persuaded myself that generous people would be found, who
would unite with me in contributing their mite towards the undertaking, and
I seemed confident that, as the Quakers had taken up the cause as a
religious body, they would not be behind-hand in supporting it.

I considered lastly, that, if I took up the question, I must devote myself
wholly to it. I was sensible that a little labour now and then would be
inadequate to the purpose, or that, where the interests of so many thousand
persons were likely to be affected, constant exertion would be necessary. I
felt certain that, if ever the matter were to be taken up, there could be
no hope of success, except it should be taken up by some one, who would
make it an object or business of his life. I thought too that a man's life
might not be more than adequate to the accomplishment of the end. But I
knew of no one who could devote such a portion of time to it. Sir Charles
Middleton, though he was so warm and zealous, was greatly occupied in the
discharge of his office. Mr. Langton spent a great portion of his time in
the education of his children. Dr. Baker had a great deal to do in the
performance of his parochial duty. The Quakers were almost all of them in
trade. I could look therefore to no person but myself; and the question
was, whether I was prepared to make the sacrifice. In favour of the
undertaking I urged to myself, that never was any cause, which had been
taken up by man in any country or in any age, so great and important; that
never was there one in which so much misery was heard to cry for redress;
that never was there one, in which so much good could be done; never one,
in which the duty of Christian charity could be so extensively exercised;
never one, more worthy of the devotion of a whole life towards it; and
that, if a man thought properly, he ought to rejoice to have been called
into existence, if he were only permitted to become an instrument in
forwarding it in any part of its progress. Against these sentiments on the
other hand I had to urge, that I had been designed for the church; that I
had already advanced as far as deacon's orders in it; that my prospects
there on account of my connections were then brilliant: that, by appearing
to desert my profession, my family would be dissatisfied, if not unhappy.
These thoughts pressed upon me, and rendered the conflict difficult. But
the sacrifice of my prospects staggered me, I own, the most. When the other
objections, which I have related, occurred to me, my enthusiasm instantly,
like a flash of lightning, consumed them: but this stuck to me, and
troubled me. I had ambition. I had a thirst after worldly interest and
honours, and I could not extinguish it at once. I was more than two hours
in solitude under this painful conflict. At length I yielded, not because I
saw any reasonable prospect of success in my new undertaking (for all
cool-headed and cool-hearted men would have pronounced against it), but in
obedience, I believe, to a higher Power. And this I can say, that both, on
the moment of this resolution, and for some time afterwards I had more
sublime and happy feelings than at any former period of my life.

Having now made up my mind on the subject, I informed Mr. Ramsay, that in a
few days I should be leaving Teston, that I might begin my labours,
according to the pledge I had given him.



CHAPTER IX.

_Continuation of the fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors up to
1787--Author resolves upon the distribution of his Book--Mr. Sheldon--Sir
Herbert Mackworth--Lord Newhaven--Lord Balgonie (now Leven)--Lord
Hawke--Bishop Porteus--Author visits African vessels in the Thames--and
various persons for further information--Visits also Members of Parliament
--Sir Richard Hill--Mr. Powys (late Lord Lilford) Mr. Wilberforce and
others--Conduct of the latter on this occasion._


On my return to London, I called upon William Dillwyn, to inform him of the
resolution I had made at Teston, and found him at his town lodgings in the
Poultry. I informed him also, that I had a letter of introduction in my
pocket from Sir Charles Middleton to Samuel Hoare, with whom I was to
converse on the subject. The latter gentleman had interested himself the
year before as one of the commitee for the Black poor in London, whom Mr.
Sharp was sending under the auspices of government to Sierra Leone. He was
also, as the reader may see by looking back, a member of the second class
of coadjutors, or of the little commitee which had branched out of the
Quakers in England as before described. William Dillwyn said he would go
with me and introduce me himself. On our arrival in Lombard-street, I saw
my new friend, with whom we conversed for some time. From thence I
proceeded, accompanied by both, to the house of James Phillips in
George-yard, to whom I was desirous of communicating my resolution also. We
found him at home, conversing with a friend of the same religious society,
whose name was Joseph Gurney Bevan. I then repeated my resolution before
them all. We had much friendly and satisfactory conversation together. I
received much encouragement on every side, and I fixed to meet them again
at the place where we then were in three days.

On the evening of the same day I waited upon Granville Sharp to make the
same communication to him. He received it with great pleasure, and he hoped
I should have strength to proceed. From thence I went to the Baptist-head
coffee-house, in Chancery-lane, and having engaged with the master of the
house, that I should always have one private room to myself when I wanted
it, I took up my abode there, in order to be near my friend Richard
Phillips of Lincoln's Inn, from whose advice and assistance I had formed
considerable expectations.

The first matter for our deliberation, after we had thus become neighbours,
was, what plan I ought to pursue to give effect to the resolution I had
taken.

After having discussed the matter two or three times at his chambers, it
seemed to be our opinion, That, as members of the legislature could do more
to the purpose in this question than any other persons, it would be proper
to circulate all the remaining copies of my work among these, in order that
they might thus obtain information upon the subject. Secondly, That it
would be proper that I should wait personally upon several of these also.
And thirdly, That I should be endeavouring in the interim to enlarge my own
knowledge, that I might thus be enabled to answer the various objections,
which might be advanced on the other side of the question, as well as
become qualified to be a manager of the cause.

On the third day, or at the time appointed, I went with Richard Phillips to
George-yard, Lombard-street, where I met all my friends as before. I
communicated to them the opinion we had formed at Lincoln's Inn, relative
to my future proceedings in the three different branches as now detailed.
They approved the plan. On desiring a number of my books to be sent to me
at my new lodgings for the purpose of distribution, Joseph Gurney Bevan,
who was stated to have been present at the former interview, seemed uneasy,
and at length asked me if I was going to distribute these at my own
expense. I replied, I was. He appealed immediately to those present whether
it ought to be allowed. He asked whether, when a young man was giving up
his time from morning till night, they, who applauded his pursuit and
seemed desirous of cooperating with him, should allow him to make such a
sacrifice, or whether they should not at least secure him from loss; and he
proposed directly that the remaining part of the edition should be taken
off by subscription, and, in order that my feelings might not be hurt from
any supposed stain arising from the thought of gaining any thing by such a
proposal, they should be paid for only at the prime cost. I felt myself
much obliged to him for this tender consideration about me, and
particularly for the latter part of it, under which alone I accepted the
offer. Samuel Hoare was charged with the management of the subscription,
and the books were to be distributed as I had proposed, and in any way
which I myself might prescribe.

This matter having been determined upon, my first care was that the books
should be put into proper hands. Accordingly I went round among my friends
from day to day, wishing to secure this before I attended to any of the
other objects. In this I was much assisted by my friend Richard Phillips.
Mr. Langton began the distribution of them. He made a point either of
writing to or of calling upon those, to whom he sent them. Dr. Baker took
the charge of several for the same purpose. Lord and Lady Scarsdale of
others. Sir Charles and Lady Middleton of others. Mr. Sheldon, at the
request of Richard Phillips, introduced me by letter to several members of
parliament, to whom I wished to deliver them myself. Sir Herbert Mackworth,
when spoken to by the latter, offered his services also. He seemed to be
particularly interested in the cause. He went about to many of his friends
in the House of Commons, and this from day to day, to procure their favour
towards it. Lord Newhaven was applied to, and distributed some. Lord
Balgonie (now Leven) took a similar charge. The late Lord Hawke, who told
me that he had long felt for the sufferings of the injured Africans,
desired to be permitted to take his share of the distribution among members
of the House of Lords, and Dr. Porteus, now bishop of London, became
another coadjutor in the same work.

This distribution of my books having been consigned to proper hands, I
began to qualify myself, by obtaining further knowledge, for the management
of this great cause. As I had obtained the principal part of it from
reading, I thought I ought now to see what could be seen, and to know from
living persons what could be known, on the subject. With respect to the
first of these points, the river Thames presented itself as at hand. Ships
were going occasionally from the port of London to Africa, and why could I
not get on board them and examine for myself? After diligent inquiry, I
heard of one which had just arrived. I found her to be a little
wood-vessel, called the Lively, captain Williamson, or one which traded to
Africa in the natural productions of the country, such as ivory, beeswax,
Malaguetta pepper, palm-oil, and dye-woods. I obtained specimens of some of
these, so that I now became possessed of some of those things of which I
had only read before. On conversing with the mate, he showed me one or two
pieces of the cloth made by the natives, and from their own cotton. I
prevailed upon him to sell me a piece of each. Here new feelings arose, and
particularly when I considered that persons of so much apparent ingenuity,
and capable of such beautiful work as the Africans, should be made slaves,
and reduced to a level with the brute creation. My reflections here on the
better use which might be made of Africa by the substitution of another
trade, and on the better use which might be made of her inhabitants, served
greatly to animate, and to sustain me amidst the labour of my pursuits.

The next vessel I boarded was the Fly, captain Colley:--Here I found myself
for the first time on the deck of a slave-vessel.--The sight of the rooms
below and of the gratings above, and of the barricade across the deck, and
the explanation of the uses of all these, filled me both with melancholy
and horror. I found soon afterwards a fire of indignation kindling within
me. I had now scarce patience to talk with those on board. I had not the
coolness this first time to go leisurely over the places that were open to
me.--I got away quickly.--But that which I thought I saw horrible in this
vessel had the same effect upon me as that which I thought I had seen
agreeable in the other, namely, to animate and to invigorate me in my
pursuit.

But I will not trouble the reader with any further account of my
water-expeditions, while attempting to perfect my knowledge on this
subject. I was equally assiduous in obtaining intelligence wherever it
could be had; and being now always on the watch, I was frequently falling
in with individuals, from whom I gained something. My object was to see all
who had been in Africa, but more particularly those who had never been
interested, or who at any rate were not then interested, in the trade. I
gained accordingly access very early to General Rooke; to Lieutenant
Dalrymple, of the army; to Captain Fiddes, of the engineers; to the
reverend Mr. Newton; to Mr. Nisbett, a surgeon in the Minories; to Mr.
Devaynes, who was then in parliament, and to many others; and I made it a
rule to put down in writing, after every conversation, what had taken place
in the course of it. By these means things began to unfold themselves to me
more and more, and I found my stock of knowledge almost daily on the
increase.

While, however, I was forwarding this, I was not inattentive to the other
object of my pursuit, which was that of waiting upon members personally.
The first I called upon was Sir Richard Hill.--At the first interview he
espoused the cause. I waited then upon others, and they professed
themselves friendly; but they seemed to make this profession more from the
emotion of good hearts, revolting at the bare mention of the Slave-trade,
than from any knowledge concerning it. One, however, whom I visited, Mr.
Powys (the late Lord Lilford), with whom I had been before acquainted in
Northamptonshire, seemed to doubt some of the facts in my book, from a
belief that human nature was not capable of proceeding to such a pitch of
wickedness. I asked him to name his facts. He selected the case of the
hundred-and-thirty-two slaves who were thrown alive into the sea to defraud
the underwriters. I promised to satisfy him fully upon this point, and went
immediately to Granville Sharp, who lent me his account of the trial, as
reported at large from the notes of the short-hand writer, whom he had
employed on the occasion. Mr. Powys read the account.--He became, in
consequence of it, convinced, as, indeed, he could not otherwise be, of the
truth of what I had asserted, and he declared at the same time that, if
this were true, there was nothing so horrible related of this trade, which
might not immediately be believed. Mr. Powys had been always friendly to
this question, but now he took a part in the distribution of my books.

Among those, whom I visited, was Mr. Wilberforce. On my first interview
with him, he stated frankly, that the subject had often employed his
thoughts, and that it was near his heart. He seemed earnest about it, and
also very desirous of taking the trouble of inquiring further into it.
Having read my book, which I had delivered to him in person, he sent for
me. He expressed a wish that I would make him acquainted with some of my
authorities for the assertions in it, which I did afterwards to his
satisfaction. He asked me if I could support it by any other evidence. I
told him I could.--I mentioned Mr. Newton, Mr. Nisbett, and several others
to him. He took the trouble of sending for all these. He made memorandums
of their conversation, and, sending for me afterwards, showed them to me.
On learning my intention to devote myself to the cause, he paid me many
handsome compliments. He then desired me to call upon him often, and to
acquaint him with my progress from time to time. He expressed also his
willingness to afford me any assistance in his power in the prosecution of
my pursuits.

The carrying on of these different objects, together with the writing which
was connected with them, proved very laborious, and occupied almost all my
time. I was seldom engaged less than sixteen hours in the day. When I left
Teston to begin the pursuit as an object of my life, I promised my friend
Mr. Ramsay a weekly account of my progress. At the end of the first week my
letter to him contained little more than a sheet of paper. At the end of
the second it contained three; at the end of the third six; and at the end
of the fourth I found it would be so voluminous, that I was obliged to
decline writing it.



CHAPTER X.

_Continuation of the fourth class of forerunners and coadjutors up to
1787--Author goes on to enlarge his knowledge in the different departments
of the subject--communicates more frequently with Mr. Wilberforce--Meetings
now appointed at the house of the latter--Dinner at Mr. Langton's--Mr.
Wilberforce pledges himself there to take up the subject in
parliament--Remarkable junction, in consequence, of all the four classes of
forerunners and coadjutors before mentioned--commitee formed out of these
on the 22d of May, 1787, for the abolition of the Slave-trade._


The manner in which Mr. Wilberforce had received me, and the pains which he
had taken, and was still taking, to satisfy himself of the truth of those
enormities which had been charged upon the Slave-trade, tended much to
enlarge my hope, that they might become at length the subject of a
parliamentary inquiry. Richard Phillips also, to whom I made a report at
his chambers almost every evening of the proceedings of the day, had begun
to entertain a similar expectation. Of course, we unfolded our thoughts to
one another. From hence a desire naturally sprung up in each of us to
inquire, whether any alteration in consequence of this new prospect should
be made in my pursuits. On deliberating upon this point, it seemed proper
to both of us, that the distribution of the books should be continued; that
I should still proceed in enlarging my own knowledge; and that I should
still wait upon members of the legislature, but with this difference, that
I should never lose sight of Mr. Wilberforce, but, on the other hand, that
I should rather omit visiting some others, than paying a proper attention
to him.

One thing however appeared now to be necessary, which had not yet been
done. This was to inform our friends in the city, upon whom I had all along
occasionally called, that we believed the time was approaching, when it
would be desirable that we should unite our labours, if they saw no
objection to such a measure; for, if the Slave-trade were to become a
subject of parliamentary inquiry with a view to the annihilation of it, no
individual could perform the work which would be necessary for such a
purpose. This work must be a work of many; and who so proper to assist in
it as they, who had before so honourably laboured in it? In the case of
such an event large funds also would be wanted, and who so proper to
procure and manage them as these? A meeting was accordingly called at the
house of James Phillips, when these our views were laid open. When I stated
that from the very time of my hopes beginning to rise I had always had
those present in my eye as one day to be fellow-labourers, William Dillwyn
replied, that from the time they had first heard of the Prize Essay, they
also had had their eyes upon me, and, from the time they had first seen me,
had conceived a desire of making the same use of me as I had now expressed
a wish of making of them, but that matters did not appear ripe at our first
interview. Our proposal, however, was approved, and an assurance was given,
that an union should take place, as soon as it was judged to be seasonable.
It was resolved also, that one day in the week[A] should be appointed for a
meeting at the house of James Phillips, where as many might attend as had
leisure, and that I should be there to make a report of my progress, by
which we might all judge of the fitness of the time of calling ourselves an
united body. Pleased now with the thought that matters were put into such a
train, I returned to my former objects.

[Footnote A: At these weekly meetings I met occasionally Joseph Woods,
George Harrison, and John Lloyd, three of the other members, who belonged
to the commitee of the second class of forerunners and coadjutors as before
described. I had seen all of them before, but I do not recollect the time
when I first met them.]

It is not necessary to say any thing more of the first of these objects,
which was that of the further distribution of my book, than that it was
continued, and chiefly by the same hands.

With respect to the enlargement of my knowledge, it was promoted likewise.
I now gained access to the Custom-house in London, where I picked up much
valuable information for my purpose.

Having had reason to believe that the Slave-trade was peculiarly fatal to
those employed in it, I wished much to get copies of many of the
muster-rolls from the Custom-house at Liverpool for a given time. James
Phillips wrote to his friend William Rathbone, who was one of his own
religious society, and who resided there, to procure them. They were
accordingly sent up. The examination of these, which took place at the
chambers of Richard Phillips, was long and tedious. We looked over them
together. We usually met for this purpose at nine in the evening, and we
seldom parted till one, and sometimes not till three in the morning. When
our eyes were inflamed by the candle, or tired by fatigue, we used to
relieve ourselves by walking out within the precincts of Lincoln's Inn,
when all seemed to be fast asleep, and thus, as it were, in solitude and in
stillness to converse upon them, as well as upon the best means of the
further promotion of our cause. These scenes of our early friendship and
exertions I shall never forget. I often think of them both with
astonishment and with pleasure. Having recruited ourselves in this manner,
we used to return to our work. From these muster-rolls I may now observe,
that we gained the most important information. We ascertained beyond the
power of contradiction, that more than half of the seamen, who went out
with the ships in the Slave-trade, did not return with them, and that of
these so many perished, as amounted to one-fifth of all employed. As to
what became of the remainder, the muster-rolls did not inform us. This,
therefore, was left to us as a subject for our future inquiry.

In endeavouring to enlarge my knowledge, my thoughts were frequently turned
to the West Indian part of the question, and in this department my friend
Richard Phillips gained me important intelligence. He put into my hands
several documents concerning estates in the West Indies, which he had
mostly from the proprietors themselves, where the slaves by mild and
prudent usage had so increased in population, as to supersede the necessity
of the Slave-trade.

By attending to these and to various other parts of the subject, I began to
see as it were with new eyes: I was enabled to make several necessary
discriminations, to reconcile things before seemingly contradictory, and to
answer many objections which had hitherto put on a formidable shape. But
most of all was I rejoiced at the thought that I should soon be able to
prove that which I had never doubted, but which had hitherto been beyond my
power in this case, that Providence, in ordaining laws relative to the
agency of man, had never made that to be wise which was immoral, and that
the Slave-trade would be found as impolitic as it was inhuman and unjust.

In keeping up my visits to members of parliament, I was particularly
attentive to Mr. Wilberforce, whom I found daily becoming more interested
in the fate of Africa. I now made to him a regular report of my progress,
of the sentiments of those in parliament whom I had visited, of the
disposition of my friends in the City of whom he had often heard me speak,
of my discoveries from the Custom-houses of London and Liverpool, of my
documents concerning West India estates, and of all, indeed, that had
occurred to me worth mentioning. He had himself also been making his
inquiries, which he communicated to me in return. Our intercourse had now
become frequent, no one week elapsing without an interview. At one of
these, I suggested to him the propriety of having occasional meetings at
his own house, consisting of a few friends in parliament, who might
converse on the subject. Of this he approved. The persons present at the
first meeting were Mr. Wilberforce, the Honourable John Villiers, Mr.
Powys, Sir Charles Middleton, Sir Richard Hill, Mr. Granville Sharp, Mr.
Ramsay, Dr. Gregory, (who had written on the subject, as before mentioned,)
and myself. At this meeting I read a paper, giving an account of the light
I had collected in the course of my inquiries, with observations as well on
the impolicy as on the wickedness of the trade. Many questions arose out of
the reading of this little Essay. Many answers followed. Objections were
started and canvassed. In short, this measure was found so useful, that
certain other evenings as well as mornings were fixed upon for the same
purpose.

On reporting my progress to my friends in the City, several of whom now
assembled once in the week, as I mentioned before to have been agreed upon,
and particularly on reporting the different meetings which had taken place
at the house of Mr. Wilberforce, on the subject, they were of opinion that
the time was approaching when we might unite, and that this union might
prudently commence as soon as ever Mr. Wilberforce would give his word that
he would take up the question in parliament. Upon this I desired to
observe, that though the latter gentleman had pursued the subject with much
earnestness, he had never yet dropped the least hint that he would proceed
so far in the matter, but I would take care that the question should be put
to him, and I would bring them his answer.

In consequence of the promise I had now made, I went to Mr. Wilberforce.
But when I saw him, I seemed unable to inform him of the object of my
visit. Whether this inability arose from any sudden fear that his answer
might not be favourable, or from a fear that I might possibly involve him
in a long and arduous contest upon this subject, or whether it arose from
an awful sense of the importance of the mission, as it related to the
happiness of hundreds of thousands then alive and of millions then unborn,
I cannot say. But I had a feeling within me for which I could not account,
and which seemed to hinder me from proceeding. And I actually went away
without informing him of my errand.

In this situation I began to consider what to do, when I thought I would
call upon Mr. Langton, tell him what had happened, and ask his advice. I
found him at home. We consulted together. The result was, that he was to
invite Mr. Wilberforce and some others to meet me at a dinner at his own
house, in two or three days, when he said he had no doubt of being able to
procure an answer, by some means or other, to the question which I wished
to have resolved.

On receiving a card from Mr. Langton, I went to dine with him. I found the
party to consist of Sir Charles Middleton, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Hawkins
Browne, Mr. Windham, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Mr. Boswell. The latter was
then known as the friend of Dr. Johnson, and afterwards as the writer of
his Tour to the Hebrides. After dinner the subject of the Slave-trade was
purposely introduced. Many questions were put to me, and I dilated upon
each in my answers, that I might inform and interest those present as much
as I could. They seemed to be greatly impressed with my account of the loss
of seamen in the trade, and with the little samples of African cloth, which
I had procured for their inspection. Sir Joshua Reynolds gave his
unqualified approbation of the abolition of this cruel traffic. Mr. Hawkins
Browne joined heartily with him in sentiment; he spoke with much feeling
upon it, and pronounced it to be barbarous, and contrary to every principle
of morality and religion. Mr. Boswell, after saying the planters would urge
that the Africans were made happier by being carried from their own country
to the West Indies, observed, "Be it so. But we have no right to make
people happy against their will." Mr. Windham, when it was suggested that
the great importance of our West Indian islands, and the grandeur of
Liverpool, would be brought against those who should propose the abolition
of the Slave-trade, replied, "We have nothing to do with the policy of the
measure. Rather let Liverpool and the Islands be swallowed up in the sea,
than this monstrous system of iniquity be carried on[A]." While such
conversation was passing, and when all appeared to be interested in the
cause, Mr. Langton put the question, about the proposal of which I had been
so diffident, to Mr. Wilberforce, in the shape of a delicate compliment.
The latter replied, that he had no objection to bring forward the measure
in parliament, when he was better prepared for it, and provided no person
more proper could be found. Upon this, Mr. Hawkins Browne and Mr. Windham
both said they would support him there. Before I left the company, I took
Mr. Wilberforce aside, and asked him if I might mention this his resolution
to those of my friends in the City, of whom he had often heard me speak, as
desirous of aiding him by becoming a commitee for the purpose. He replied,
I might. I then asked Mr. Langton, privately, if he had any objection to
belong to a society of which there might be a commitee for the abolition of
the Slave-trade. He said he should be pleased to become a member of it.
Having received these satisfactory answers, I returned home.

[Footnote A: I do not know upon what grounds, after such strong
expressions, Mr. Boswell, in the next year, and Mr. Windham, after having
supported the cause for three or four years, became inimical to it.]

The next day, having previously taken down the substance of the
conversation at the dinner, I went to James Phillips, and desired that our
friends might be called together as soon as they conveniently could, to
hear my report. In the interim I wrote to Dr. Peckard, and waited upon Lord
Scarsdale, Dr. Baker, and others, to know (supposing a society were formed
for the abolition of the Slave-trade) if I might say they would belong to
it? All of them replied in the affirmative, and desired me to represent
them, if there should be any meeting for this purpose.

At the time appointed, I met my friends. I read over the substance of the
conversation which had taken place at Mr. Langton's. No difficulty
occurred. All were unanimous for the formation of a commitee. On the next
day we met by agreement for this purpose. It was then resolved unanimously,
among other things, That the Slave-trade was both impolitic and unjust. It
was resolved also, That the following persons be a commitee for procuring
such information and evidence, and publishing the same, as may tend to the
abolition of the Slave-trade, and for directing the application of such
moneys as have been already, and may hereafter be collected for the above
purpose.

  Granville Sharp.
  William Dillwyn.
  Samuel Hoare.
  George Harrison.
  John Lloyd.
  Joseph Woods.
  Thomas Clarkson.
  Richard Phillips.
  John Barton.
  Joseph Hooper.
  James Phillips.
  Philip Sansom.

All these were present. Granville Sharp, who stands at the head of the
list, and who, as the father of the cause in England, was called to the
chair, may be considered as representing the first class of forerunners and
coadjutors, as it has been before described. The five next, of whom Samuel
Hoare was chosen as the treasurer, were they who had been the commitee of
the second class, or of the Quakers in England, with the exception of Dr.
Knowles, who was then dying, but who, having heard of our meeting, sent a
message to us, to exhort us to proceed. The third class, of that of the
Quakers in America, may be considered as represented by William Dillwyn, by
whom they were afterwards joined to us in correspondence. The two who stand
next, and in which I am included, may be considered as representing the
fourth, most of the members of which we had been the means of raising.
Thus, on the twenty-second of May 1787, the representatives of all the four
classes, of which I have been giving a history from the year 1516, met
together, and were united in that commitee, to which I have been all along
directing the attention of the reader; a commitee, which, labouring
afterwards with Mr. Wilberforce as a parliamentary head, did, under
Providence, in the space of twenty years, contribute to put an end to a
trade, which, measuring its magnitude, by its crimes and sufferings, was
the greatest practical evil that ever afflicted the human race.

After the formation of the commitee[A], notice was sent to Mr. Wilberforce
of the event, and a friendship began, which has continued uninterruptedly
between them, from that to the present day.

[Footnote A: All the members were of the society of the Quakers, except Mr.
Sharp, Sansom, and myself. Joseph Gurney Bevan was present on the day
before this meeting. He desired to belong to the society, but to be excused
from belonging to the commitee.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



CHAPTER XI.

_The preceding history of the different classes of the forerunners and
coadjutors, to the time of the formation of the commitee, collected into
one view by means of a map--Explanation of this map--and observations upon
it._


As the preceding history of the different classes of the forerunners and
coadjutors, to the time of their junction, or to the formation of the
commitee, as just explained, may be thought interesting by many, I have
endeavoured, by means of the annexed map, so to bring it before the reader,
that he may comprehend the whole of it at a single view.

The figure beginning at A and reaching down to X represents the first class
of forerunners and coadjutors up to the year 1787, as consisting of so many
springs or rivulets, which assisted in making and swelling the torrent
which swept away the Slave-trade.

The figure from B to C and from C to X represents the second class, or that
of the Quakers in England, up to the same time. The stream on the
right-hand represents them as a body, and that on the left, the six
individuals belonging to them, who formed the commitee in 1783.

The figure from B to D represents the third class, or that of the Quakers
in America when joined with others in 1774. The stream passing from D
through E to X shows how this class was conveyed down, as it were, so as to
unite with the second. That passing from D to Y shows its course in its own
country, to its enlargement in 1787. And here I may observe, that as the
different streams which formed a junction at X, were instrumental in
producing the abolition of the Slave-trade in England, in the month of
March 1807, so those, whose effects are found united at Y, contributed to
produce the same event in America, in the same month of the same year.

The figure from F to X represents the fourth class up to 1787.

X represents the junction of all the four classes in the commitee
instituted in London on the twenty-second day of May, 1787.

The parallel lines G, H, I, K, represent different periods of time, showing
when the forerunners and coadjutors lived. The space between G and H
includes the space of fifty years, in which we find but few labourers in
this cause. That between H and I includes the same portion of time, in
which we find them considerably increased, or nearly doubled. That between
I and K represents the next thirty-seven years. But here we find their
increase beyond all expectation, for we find four times more labourers in
this short term, than in the whole of the preceding century.

In looking over the map, as thus explained, a number of thoughts suggest
themselves, some of which it may not be improper to detail. And first, in
looking between the first and second parallel, we perceive, that Morgan
Godwyn, Richard Baxter, and George Fox, the first a clergyman of the
Established Church, the second a divine at the head of the Nonconformists,
and the third the founder of the religious society of the Quakers, appeared
each of them the first in his own class, and all of them about the same
time, in behalf of the oppressed Africans. We see then this great truth
first apparent, that the abolition of the Slave-trade took its rise, not
from persons, who set up a cry for liberty, when they were oppressors
themselves, nor from persons who were led to it by ambition, or a love of
reputation among men, but where it was most desirable, namely, from the
teachers of Christianity in those times.

This account of its rise will furnish us with some important lessons. And
first, it shows us the great value of religion. We see, when moral
disorders become known, that the virtuous are they who rise up for the
removal of them. Thus Providence seems to have appointed those, who devote
themselves most to his service, to the honourable office of becoming so
many agents, under his influence, for the correction of the evils of life.
And as this account of the rise of the abolition of the Slave-trade teaches
us the necessity of a due cultivation of religion, so it should teach us to
have a brotherly affection for those, who, though they may differ from us
in speculative opinions concerning it, do yet show by their conduct that
they have a high regard for it. For though Godwyn, and Baxter, and Fox,
differed as to the articles of their faith, we find them impelled by the
spirit of christianity, which is of infinitely more importance than a mere
agreement in creeds, to the same good end.

In looking over the different streams in the map, as they are discoverable
both in Europe and America, we are impressed with another truth on the same
subject, which is, that the Christian religion is capable of producing the
same good fruit in all lands. However men may differ on account of climate,
or language, or government, or laws, or however they may be situated in
different quarters of the globe, it will produce in them the same virtuous
disposition, and make them instruments for the promotion of happiness in
the world.

In looking between the two first parallels, where we see so few labourers,
and in contemplating the great increase of these between the others, we are
taught the consoling lesson, that however small the beginning and slow the
progress may appear in any good work which we may undertake, we need not be
discouraged as to the ultimate result of our labours; for though our cause
may appear stationary, it may only become so, in order that it may take a
deeper root, and thus be enabled to stand better against the storms which
may afterwards beat about it.

In taking the same view again, we discover the manner in which light and
information proceed under a free government in a good cause. An individual,
for example, begins; he communicates his sentiments to others. Thus, while
alive, he enlightens; when dead, he leaves his works behind him. Thus,
though departed, he yet speaks, and his influence is not lost. Of those
enlightened by him, some become authors, and others actors in their turn.
While living, they instruct, like their predecessors; when dead, they speak
also. Thus a number of dead persons are encouraging us in libraries, and a
number of living are conversing and diffusing zeal among us at the same
time. This, however, is not true in any free and enlightened country, with
respect to the propagation of evil. The living find no permanent
encouragement, and the dead speak to no purpose in such a case.

This account of the manner in which light and information proceed in a free
country, furnishes us with some valuable knowledge. It shows us, first, the
great importance of education; for all they who can read may become
enlightened. They may gain as much from the dead as from the living. They
may see the sentiments of former ages. Thus they may contract, by degrees,
habits of virtuous inclination, and become fitted to join with others in
the removal of any of the evils of life.

It shows us, secondly, how that encouraging maxim may become true, That no
good effort is ever lost. For if he, who makes the virtuous attempt, should
be prevented by death from succeeding in it, can he not speak, though in
the tomb? Will not his works still breathe his sentiments upon it? May not
the opinions, and the facts, which he has recorded, meet the approbation of
ten thousand readers, of whom it is probable, in the common course of
things, that some will branch out of him as authors, and others as actors
or labourers, in the same cause?

And, lastly, it will show us the difficulty (if any attempt should be made)
of reversing permanently the late noble act of the legislature for the
abolition of the Slave-trade. For let us consider how many, both of the
living and the dead, could be made to animate us. Let us consider, too,
that this is the cause of mercy, justice, and religion; that as such, it
will always afford renewed means of rallying; and that the dead will always
be heard with interest, and the living with enthusiasm, upon it.



CHAPTER XII.

_Author devotes this chapter to considerations relative to himself--fears
that by the frequent introduction of himself to the notice of the reader he
may incur the charge of ostentation--Observations on such a charge._


Having brought my History of the Abolition of the Slave-trade up to the
month of May 1787, I purpose taking the liberty, before I proceed with it,
to devote this chapter to considerations relative to myself. This, indeed,
seems to be now necessary: for I have been fearful for some pages past,
and, indeed, from the time when I began to introduce myself to the notice
of the reader, as one of the forerunners and coadjutors in this great
cause, that I might appear to have put myself into a situation too
prominent, so as even to have incurred the charge of ostentation. But if
there should be some, who, in consequence of what they have already read of
this history, should think thus unfavourably of me, what must their opinion
ultimately be, when, unfortunately, I must become still more prominent in
it! Nor do I know in what manner I shall escape their censure. For if, to
avoid egotism, I should write, as many have done, in the third person, what
would this profit me? The delicate situation, therefore, in which I feel
myself to be placed, makes me desirous of saying a few words to the reader
on this subject.

And first, I may observe, that several of my friends urged me from time to
time, and this long before the abolition of the Slave-trade had been
effected, to give a history of the rise and progress of the attempt, as far
as it had been then made. But I uniformly resisted their application.

When the question was decided last year, they renewed their request. They
represented to me, that no person knew the beginning and progress of this
great work so well as myself; that it was a pity that such knowledge should
die with me; that such a history would be useful; that it would promote
good feelings among men; that it would urge them to benevolent exertions;
that it would supply them with hope in the midst of these; that it would
teach them many valuable lessons:--these and other things were said to me.
But, encouraging as they were, I never lost sight of the objection, which
is the subject of this chapter; nor did I ever fail to declare, that
though, considering the part I had taken in this great cause, I might be
qualified better than some others, yet it was a task too delicate for me to
perform. I always foresaw that I could not avoid making myself too
prominent an object in such a history, and that I should be liable, on that
account, to the suspicion of writing it for the purpose of sounding my own
praise.

With this objection my friends were not satisfied. They answered, that I
might treat the History of the Abolition of the Slave-trade as a species of
biography, or as the history of a part of my own life: that people, who had
much less weighty matters to communicate, wrote their own histories; and
that no one charged them with vanity for so doing.

I own I was not convinced by this answer. I determined, however, in
compliance with their wishes, to examine the objection more minutely, and
to see if I could overcome it more satisfactorily to my own mind. With this
view, I endeavoured to anticipate the course which such a history would
take. I saw clearly, in the first place, that there were times, for months
together, when the commitee for the abolition of the Slave-trade was
labouring without me, and when I myself for an equal space of time was
labouring in distant parts of the kingdom without them. Hence I perceived
that, if my own exertions were left out, there would be repeated chasms in
this history, and, indeed, that it could not be completed without the
frequent mention of myself. And I was willing to hope that this would be so
obvious to the good sense of the reader, that if he should think me
vain-glorious in the early part of it, he would afterwards, when he
advanced in the perusal of it, acquit me of such a charge. This
consideration was the first, which removed my objection on this head. That
there can be no ground for any charge of ostentation, as far as the origin
of this history is concerned, so I hope to convince him there can be none,
by showing him in what light I have always viewed myself in connection with
the commitee, to which I have had the honour to belong.

I have uniformly considered our commitee for the abolition of the
Slave-trade, as we usually consider the human body, that is, as made up of
a head and of various members, which had different offices to perform.
Thus, if one man was an eye, another was an ear, another an arm, and
another a foot. And here I may say, with great truth, that I believe no
commitee was ever made up of persons, whose varied talents were better
adapted to the work before them. Viewing then the commitee in this light,
and myself as in connection with it, I may deduce those truths, with which
the analogy will furnish me. And first, it will follow, that if every
member has performed his office faithfully, though one may have done
something more than another, yet no one of them in particular has any
reason to boast. With what propriety could the foot, though in the
execution of its duty it had become weary, say to the finger, "Thou hast
done less than I;" when the finger could reply with truth, "I have done all
that has been given me to do?" It will follow also, that as every limb is
essentially necessary for the completion of a perfect work; so in the case
before us, every one was as necessary in his own office, or department, as
another. For what, for example, could I myself have done if I had not
derived so much assistance from the commitee? What could Mr. Wilberforce
have done in parliament, if I, on the other hand, had not collected that
great body of evidence, to which there was such a constant appeal? And what
could the commitee have done without the parliamentary aid of Mr.
Wilberforce? And in mentioning this necessity of distinct offices and
talents for the accomplishment of the great work, in which we have been all
of us engaged, I feel myself bound by the feelings of justice to deliver it
as my opinion in this place, (for, perhaps, I may have no other
opportunity,) that knowing, as I have done, so many members of both houses
of our legislature, for many of whom I have had a sincere respect, there
was never yet one, who appeared to me to be so properly qualified, in all
respects, for the management of the great cause of the abolition of the
Slave-trade, as he, whose name I have just mentioned. His connections, but
more particularly his acquaintance with the first minister of state, were
of more service in the promotion of it, than they, who are but little
acquainted with political movements, can well appreciate. His habits also
of diligent and persevering inquiry made him master of all the knowledge
that was requisite for conducting it. His talents both in and out of
parliament made him a powerful advocate in its favour. His character, free
from the usual spots of human imperfection, gave an appropriate lustre to
the cause, making it look yet more lovely, and enticing others to its
support. But most of all the motive, on which he undertook it, insured its
progress. For this did not originate in views of selfishness, or of party,
or of popular applause, but in an awful sense of his duty as a Christian.
It was this, which gave him alacrity and courage in his pursuit. It was
this, which made him continue in his elevated situation of a legislator,
though it was unfavourable, if not to his health, at least to his ease and
comfort. It was this, which made him incorporate this great object among
the pursuits of his life, so that it was daily in his thoughts. It was
this, which, when year after year of unsuccessful exertion returned,
occasioned him to be yet fresh and vigorous in spirit, and to persevere
till the day of triumph.

But to return:--There is yet another consideration, which I shall offer to
the reader on this subject, and with which I shall conclude it. It is this;
that no one ought to be accused of vanity until he has been found to assume
to himself some extraordinary merit. This being admitted, I shall now
freely disclose the view, which I have always been desirous of taking of my
own conduct on this occasion, in the following words:--

As Robert Barclay, the apologist for the Quakers, when he dedicated his
work to Charles the Second, intimated to this prince, that any merit, which
the work might have, would not be derived from his patronage of it, but
from the Author of all spiritual good; so I say to the reader, with respect
to myself, that I disclaim all praise on account of any part I may have
taken in the promotion of this great cause, for that I am desirous above
all things to attribute my best endeavours in it to the influence of a
superior Power; of Him, I mean, who gave me a heart to feel--who gave me
courage to begin--and perseverance to proceed--and that I am thankful to
Him, and this with the deepest feeling of gratitude and humility, for
having permitted me to become useful, in any degree, to my
fellow-creatures.



CHAPTER XIII.

_Author returns to his History--commitee formed as before mentioned--its
proceedings--Author produces a summary view of the Slave-trade and of the
probable consequences of its abolition--Wrongs of Africa, by Mr. Roscoe,
generously presented to the commitee--Important discussion as to the object
of the commitee--Emancipation declared to be no part of it--commitee
decides on its public title--Author requested to go to Bristol, Liverpool,
and Lancaster, to collect further information on the subject of the trade._


I return now, after this long digression, to the continuation of my
History.

It was shown in the latter part of the tenth chapter, that twelve
individuals, all of whom were then named, met together, by means which no
one could have foreseen, on the twenty-second of May 1787; and that, after
having voted the Slave-trade to be both unjust and impolitic, they formed
themselves into a commitee for procuring such information and evidence, and
for publishing the same, as might tend to the abolition of it, and for
directing the application of such money, as had been already and might
hereafter be collected for that purpose. At this meeting it was resolved
also, that no less than three members should form a quorum; that Samuel
Hoare should be the treasurer; that the treasurer should pay no money but
by order of the commitee; and that copies of these resolutions should be
printed and circulated, in which it should be inserted that the
subscriptions of all such, as were willing to forward the plans of the
commitee, should be received by the treasurer or any member of it.

On the twenty-fourth of May the commitee met again to promote the object of
its institution.

The treasurer reported at this meeting, that the subscriptions already
received, amounted to one hundred and thirty-six pounds.

As I had foreseen, long before this time, that my Essay on the Slavery and
Commerce of the Human Species was too large for general circulation, and
yet that a general circulation of knowledge on this subject was absolutely
necessary, I determined, directly after the formation of the commitee, to
write a short pamphlet consisting only of eight or ten pages for this
purpose. I called it A Summary View of the Slave-trade, and of the probable
Consequences of its Abolition. It began by exhibiting to the reader the
various unjustifiable ways in which persons living on the coast of Africa
became slaves. It then explained the treatment which these experienced on
their passage, the number dying in the course of it, and the treatment of
the survivors in the colonies of those nations to which they were carried.
It then announced the speedy publication of a work on the Impolicy of the
Trade, the contents of which, as far as I could then see, I gave generally
under the following heads:--Part the first, it was said, would show, that
Africa was capable of offering to us a trade in its own natural productions
as well as in the persons of men; that the trade in the persons of men was
profitable but to a few; that its value was diminished from many commercial
considerations; that it was also highly destructive to our seamen; and that
the branch of it, by which we supplied the island of St. Domingo with
slaves, was peculiarly impolitic on that account. Part the second, it was
said, would show, that, if the slaves were kindly treated in our colonies,
they would increase; that the abolition of the trade would necessarily
secure such a treatment to them, and that it would produce many other
advantages which would be then detailed.

This little piece I presented to the commitee at this their second meeting.
It was then duly read and examined; and the result was, that, after some
little correction, it was approved, and that two thousand copies of it were
ordered to be printed, with lists of the subscribers and of the commitee,
and to be sent to various parts of the kingdom.

On June the seventh the commitee met again for the dispatch of business,
when, among other things, they voted their thanks to Dr. Baker, of Lower
Grosvenor Street, who had been one of my first assistants, for his services
to the cause.

At this commitee John Barton, one of the members of it, stated that he was
commissioned by the author of a poem, entitled The Wrongs of Africa, to
offer the profits, which might arise from the sale of that work, to the
commitee, for the purpose of enabling them to pursue the object of their
institution. This circumstance was not only agreeable, inasmuch as it
showed us, that there were others who felt with us for the injured
Africans, and who were willing to aid us in our designs, but it was
rendered still more so, when we were given to understand that the poem was
written by Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, and the preface to it by the late Dr.
Currie, who then lived in the same place. To find friends to our cause
rising up from a quarter, where we expected scarcely any thing but
opposition, was very consolatory and encouraging. As this poem was well
written, but cannot now be had, I shall give the introductory part of it,
which is particularly beautiful, to the perusal of the reader. It begins
thus,--

  "Offspring of Love divine, Humanity!
  To whom, his eldest born, th' Eternal gave
  Dominion o'er the heart; and taught to touch
  Its varied stops in sweetest unison;
  And strike the string that from a kindred breast
  Responsive vibrates! from the noisy haunts
  Of mercantile confusion, where thy voice
  Is heard not; from the meretricious glare
  Of crowded theatres, where in thy place
  Sits Sensibility, with, watry eye,
  Dropping o'er Fancied woes her useless tear;--
  Come thou, and weep with me substantial ills;
  And execrate the wrongs, that Afric's sons,
  Torn from their natal shore, and doom'd to bear
  The yoke of servitude in foreign climes,
  Sustain. Nor vainly let our sorrows flow,
  Nor let the strong emotion rise in vain;
  But may the kind contagion widely spread,
  Till in its flame the unrelenting heart
  Of avarice melt in softest sympathy--
  And one bright blaze of universal love
  In grateful incense rises up to Heaven!

  "Form'd with the same capacity of pain,
  The same desire of pleasure and of ease,
  Why feels not man for man! When nature shrinks
  From the slight puncture of an insect's sting,
  Faints, if not screen'd from sultry suns, and pines
  Beneath the hardship of an hour's delay
  Of needful nutriment;--when Liberty,
  Is priz'd so dearly, that the slightest breath,
  That ruffles but her mantle, can awake
  To arms unwarlike nations, and can rouse
  Confed'rate states to vindicate her claims:--
  How shall the suff'rer man his fellow doom
  To ills he mourns or spurns at; tear with stripes
  His quiv'ring flesh; with hunger and with thirst
  Waste his emaciate frame; in ceaseless toils
  Exhaust his vital powers; and bind his limbs
  In galling chains! Shall he, whose fragile form
  Demands continual blessings to support
  Its complicated texture, air, and food,
  Raiment, alternate rest, and kindly skies,
  And healthful seasons, dare with impious voice
  To ask those mercies, whilst his selfish aim
  Arrests the general freedom of their course;
  And, gratified beyond his utmost wish,
  Debars another from the bounteous store!"

In this manner was the subject of this beautiful poem introduced to the
notice of the public. But I have no room for any further extracts, nor time
to make any further comment upon it. I can only add, that the commitee were
duly sensible as well of its merits, as of the virtuous and generous
disposition of the author, and that they requested John Barton to thank him
in an appropriate manner for his offer, which he was to say they accepted
gratefully.

At this sitting, at which ten members were present out of the twelve, a
discussion unexpectedly arose on a most important subject. The commitee,
finding that their meetings began to be approved by many, and that the
cause under their care was likely to spread, and foreseeing also the
necessity there would soon be of making themselves known as a public body
throughout the kingdom, thought it right that they should assume some
title, which should be a permanent one, and which should be expressive of
their future views. This gave occasion to them to reconsider the object,
for which they had associated, and to fix and define it in such a manner,
that there should be no misunderstanding about it in the public mind. In
looking into the subject, it appeared to them that there were two evils,
quite distinct from each other, which it might become their duty to
endeavour to remove. The first was the evil of the Slave-trade, in
consequence of which many thousand persons were every year fraudulently and
forcibly taken from their country, their relations, and friends, and from
all that they esteemed valuable in life. The second was the evil of slavery
itself, in consequence of which the same persons were forced into a
situation, where they were deprived of the rights of men, where they were
obliged to linger out their days subject to excessive labour and cruel
punishments, and where their children were to inherit the same hard lot.
Now the question was, which of the two evils the commitee should select as
that, to which they should direct their attention with a view of the
removal of it; or whether, with the same view, it should direct its
attention to both of them.

It appeared soon to be the sense of the commitee, that to aim at the
removal of both would be to aim at too much, and that by doing this we
might lose all.

The question then was, which of the two they were to take as their object.
Now in considering this question it appeared that it did not matter where
they began, or which of them they took, as far as the end to be produced
was the thing desired. For, first, if the Slave-trade should be really
abolished, the bad usage of the slaves in the colonies, that is, the hard
part of their slavery, if not the slavery itself, would fall. For, the
planters and others being unable to procure more slaves from the coast of
Africa, it would follow directly, whenever this great event should take
place, that they must treat those better, whom they might then have. They
must render marriage honourable among them. They must establish the union
of one man with one wife. They must give the pregnant women more
indulgencies. They must pay more attention to the rearing of their
offspring. They must work and punish the adults with less rigour. Now it
was to be apprehended that they could not do these things, without seeing
the political advantages which would arise to themselves from so doing; and
that, reasoning upon this, they might be induced to go on to give them
greater indulgencies, rights, and privileges in time. But how would every
such successive improvement of their condition operate, but to bring them
nearer to the state of freemen? In the same manner it was contended, that
the better treatment of the slaves in the colonies, or that the
emancipation of them there, when fit for it, would of itself lay the
foundation for the abolition of the Slave-trade. For, if the slaves were
kindly treated, that is, if marriage were encouraged among them; if the
infants who should be born were brought up with care; if the sick were
properly attended to; if the young and the adult were well fed and properly
clothed, and not overworked, and not worn down by the weight of severe
punishments, they would necessarily increase, and this on an extensive
scale. But if the planters were thus to get their labourers from the births
on their own estates, then the Slave-trade would in time be no longer
necessary to them, and it would die away as an useless and a noxious plant.
Thus it was of no consequence, which of the two evils the commitee were to
select as the object for their labours; for, as far as the end in view only
was concerned, that the same end would be produced in either case.

But in looking further into this question, it seemed to make a material
difference which of the two they selected, as far as they had in view the
due execution of any laws, which might be made respecting them, and their
own prospect of success in the undertaking. For, by aiming at the abolition
of the Slave-trade, they were laying the axe at the very root. By doing
this, and this only, they would not incur the objection, that they were
meddling with the property of the planters, and letting loose an irritated
race of beings, who, in consequence of all the vices and infirmities, which
a state of slavery entails upon those who undergo it, were unfit for their
freedom. By asking the government of the country to do this, and this only,
they were asking for that, which it had an indisputable right to do;
namely, to regulate or abolish any of its branches of commerce; whereas it
was doubtful, whether it could interfere with the management of the
internal affairs of the colonies, or whether this was not wholly the
province of the legislatures established there. By asking the government,
again, to do this and this only, they were asking what it could really
enforce. It could station its ships of war, and command its custom-houses,
so as to carry any act of this kind into effect. But it could not ensure
that an act to be observed in the heart of the islands should be
enforced[A]. To this it was added, that if the commitee were to fix upon
the annihilation of slavery as the object for their labours, the
Slave-trade would not fall so speedily as it would by a positive law for
the abolition; because, though the increase from the births might soon
supply all the estates now in cultivation with labourers, yet new
plantations might be opened from time to time in different islands, so that
no period could be fixed upon, when it could be said that it would cease.

[Footnote A: The late correspondence of the governors of our colonies with
Lord Camden in his official situation, but particularly the statements made
by Lord Seaforth and General Provost, have shown the wisdom of this remark,
and that no dependence was to be had for the better usage of the slaves but
upon the total abolition of the trade.]

Impressed by these arguments, the commitee were clearly of opinion, that
they should define their object to be the abolition of the Slave-trade, and
not of the slavery which sprung from it. Hence from this time, and in
allusion to the month when this discussion took place, they styled
themselves in their different advertisements, and reports, though they were
first associated in the month of May, The commitee instituted in June 1787,
for effecting the Abolition of the Slave-trade. Thus, at the very outset,
they took a ground which was for ever tenable. Thus they were enabled also
to answer the objection, which was afterwards so constantly and so
industriously circulated against them, that they were going to emancipate
the slaves. And I have no doubt that this wise decision contributed greatly
to their success; for I am persuaded, that, if they had adopted the other
object, they could not for years to come, if ever, have succeeded in their
attempt.

Before the commitee broke up, I represented to them the necessity there was
of obtaining further knowledge on all those individual points, which might
be said to belong to the great subject of the abolition of the Slave-trade.
In the first place, this knowledge was necessary for me, if I were to
complete my work on the Impolicy of this Trade, which work the Summary
View, just printed, had announced to the world. It would be necessary also,
in case the Slave-trade should become a subject of parliamentary inquiry;
for this inquiry could not proceed without evidence. And if any time was
peculiarly fit for the procuring of such information or evidence, it was
the present. At this time the passions of men had not been heated by any
public agitation of the question, nor had interest felt itself biassed to
conceal the truth. But as soon as ever it should be publicly understood,
that a parliamentary inquiry was certain, (which we ourselves believed
would be the case, but which interested men did not then know,) we should
find many of the avenues to information closed against us. I proposed
therefore that some one of the commitee should undertake a journey to
Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster, where he should reside for a time to
collect further light upon this subject; and that if others should feel
their occupations or engagements to be such as would make such a journey
unsuitable, I would undertake it myself. I begged therefore the favour of
the different members of the commitee, to turn the matter over in their
minds by the next meeting, that we might then talk over and decide upon the
propriety of the measure.

The commitee held its fourth meeting on the twelfth of June. Among the
subjects, which were then brought forward, was that of the journey before
mentioned. The propriety and indeed even the necessity of it was so
apparent, that I was requested by all present to undertake it, and a minute
for that purpose was entered upon our records. Of this journey, as
gradually unfolding light on the subject, and as peculiarly connected with
the promotion of our object, I shall now give an account; after which I
shall return to the proceedings of the commitee.



CHAPTER XIV.

_Author arrives at Bristol--Introduction to Quaker families there--Objects
of his inquiry--Ill usage of seamen on board the ship Brothers--Obtains a
knowledge of several articles of African produce--Dr. Camplia--Dean
Tucker--Mr. Henry Sulgar--Procures an authenticated account of the
treacherous massacre at Calebar--Ill usage of the seaman of the ship
Alfred--Painful feelings of the author on this occasion._


Having made preparations for my journey, I took my leave of the different
individuals of the commitee. I called upon Mr. Wilberforce, also, with the
same design. He was then very ill, and in bed. Sir Richard Hill and others
were sitting by his bed-side. After conversing as much as he well could in
his weak state, he held out his hand to me, and wished me success. When I
left him, I felt much dejected. It appeared to me as if it would be in this
case, as it is often in that of other earthly things, that we scarcely
possess what we repute a treasure, when it is taken from us.

I determined to take this journey on horseback, not only on account of the
relaxed state in which I found myself, after such close and constant
application, but because I wished to have all my time to myself upon the
road, in order the better to reflect upon the proper means of promoting
this great cause. The first place I resolved to visit was Bristol.
Accordingly I directed my course thither. On turning a corner, within about
a mile of that city, at about eight in the evening, I came within sight of
it. The weather was rather hazy, which occasioned it to look of unusual
dimensions. The bells of some of the churches, were then ringing; the sound
of them did not strike me, till I had turned the corner before mentioned,
when it came upon me at once. It filled me, almost directly, with a
melancholy for which I could not account. I began now to tremble, for the
first time, at the arduous task I had undertaken, of attempting to subvert
one of the branches of the commerce of the great place which was then
before me. I began to think of the host of people I should have to
encounter in it. I anticipated much persecution in it also; and I
questioned whether I should even get out of it alive. But in journeying on,
I became more calm and composed. My spirits began to return. In these
latter moments I considered my first feelings as useful, inasmuch as they
impressed upon me the necessity of extraordinary courage, and activity, and
perseverance, and of watchfulness, also, over my own conduct, that I might
not throw any stain upon the cause I had undertaken. When, therefore, I
entered the city, I entered it with an undaunted spirit, determining that
no labour should make me shrink, nor danger, nor even persecution, deter me
from my pursuit.

My first introduction was by means of a letter to Harry-Gandy, who had then
become one of the religious society of the Quakers. This introduction to
him was particularly useful to me, for he had been a seafaring man. In his
early youth he had been of a roving disposition; and, in order to see the
world, had been two voyages in the Slave-trade, so that he had known the
nature and practices of it. This enabled him to give me much useful
information on the subject; and as he had frequently felt, as he grew up,
deep affliction of mind for having been concerned in it, he was impelled to
forward my views as much as possible, under an idea that he should be thus
making some reparation for the indiscreet and profane occupations of his
youth.

I was also introduced to the families of James Harford, John Lury, Matthew
Wright, Philip Debell Tucket, Thomas Bonville, and John Waring; all of whom
were of the same religious society. I gained an introduction, also, soon
afterwards, to George Fisher. These were my first and only acquaintance at
Bristol for some time. I derived assistance in the promotion of my object
from all of them; and it is a matter of pleasing reflection, that the
friendships then formed have been kept alive to the present time.

The objects I had marked down as those to be attended to, were--to
ascertain what were the natural productions of Africa, and, if possible, to
obtain specimens of them, with a view of forming a cabinet or collection--
to procure as much information as I could, relative to the manner of
obtaining slaves on the continent of Africa, of transporting them to the
West Indies, and of treating them there--to prevail upon persons, having a
knowledge of any or all of these circumstances, to come forward to be
examined as evidences before parliament, if such an examination should take
place--to make myself still better acquainted with the loss of seamen in
the Slave-trade--also with the loss of those who were employed in the other
trades from the same port--to know the nature, and quantity, and value of
the imports and exports of goods in the former case:--there were some other
objects, which I classed under the head of Miscellaneous.

In my first movements about this city, I found that people talked very
openly on the subject of the Slave-trade. They seemed to be well acquainted
with the various circumstances belonging to it. There were facts, in short,
in every body's mouth, concerning it; and every body seemed to execrate it
though no one thought of its abolition. In this state of things I perceived
course was obvious for I had little else to do, in pursuing two or three of
my objects, than to trace the foundation of those reports which were in
circulation.

On the third of July I heard that the ship Brothers [A], then lying in
King-road for Africa, could not get her seamen, and that a party which had
been put on board, becoming terrified by the prospect of their situation,
had left her on Sunday morning. On inquiring further, I found that those
who had navigated her on her last voyage, thirty-two of whom had died, had
been so dreadfully used by the captain, that he could not get hands in the
present. It was added, that the treatment of seamen was a crying evil in
this trade, and that consequently few would enter into it, so that there
was at all times a great difficulty in procuring them, though they were
ready enough to enter into other trades.

[Footnote A: I abstain from mentioning the names of the captain of this or
of other vessels, lest the recording of them should give pain to relatives
who can have had no share in their guilt.]

The relation of these circumstances made me acquainted with two things, of
which I had not before heard; namely, the aversion of seamen to engage, and
the bad usage of them when engaged, in this cruel trade; into both which I
determined immediately to inquire.

I conceived that it became me to be very cautious about giving ear too
readily to reports; and therefore, as I could easily learn the truth of one
of the assertions which had been made to me, I thought it prudent to
ascertain this, and to judge, by the discovery I should make concerning it,
what degree of credit might be due to the rest. Accordingly, by means of my
late friend, Truman Harford, the eldest son of the respectable family of
that name, to which I have already mentioned myself to have been
introduced, I gained access to the muster-roll of the ship Brothers. On
looking over the names of her last crew, I found the melancholy truth
confirmed, that thirty-two of them had been placed among the dead.

Having ascertained this circumstance, I became eager to inquire into the
truth of the others, but more particularly of the treatment of one of the
seamen, which, as it was reported to me, exceeded all belief. His name was
John Dean; he was a Black man, but free. The report was, that for a
trifling circumstance, for which he was in no-wise to blame, the captain
had fastened him with his belly to the deck, and that, in this situation,
he had poured hot pitch upon his back, and made incisions in it with hot
tongs.

Before, however, I attempted to learn the truth of this barbarous
proceeding, I thought I would look into the ship's muster-roll, to see if I
could find the name of such a man. On examination I found it to be the last
on the list. John Dean, it appeared, had been one of the original crew,
having gone on board, from Bristol, on the twenty-second day of July, 1785.

On inquiring where Dean was to be found, my informant told me that he had
lately left Bristol for London. I was shown, however, to the house where he
had lodged. The name of his landlord was Donovan. On talking with him on
the subject, he assured me that the report which I had heard was true; for
that while he resided with him he had heard an account of his usage from
some of his ship-mates, and that he had often looked at his scarred and
mutilated back.

On inquiring of Donovan if any other person in Bristol could corroborate
this account, he referred me to a reputable tradesman living in the
Market-place. Having been introduced to him, he told me that he had long
known John Dean to be a sober and industrious man; that he had seen the
terrible indentures on his back; and that they were said to have been made
by the captain, in the manner related, during his last voyage.

While I was investigating this matter farther, I was introduced to Mr.
Sydenham Teast, a respectable ship-builder in Bristol, and the owner of
vessels trading to Africa in the natural productions of that country. I
mentioned to him by accident what I had heard relative to the treatment of
John Dean. He said it was true. An attorney[A] in London had then taken up
his cause, in consequence of which the captain had been prevented from
sailing, till he could find persons who would be answerable for the damages
which might be awarded against him in a court of law. Mr. Teast further
said, that, not knowing, at that time, the cruelty of the transaction to
its full extent, he himself had been one of the securities for the captain
at the request of the purser[B] of the ship. Finding, however, afterwards,
that it was as the public had stated, he was sorry that he had ever
interfered in such a barbarous case.

[Footnote A: I afterwards found out this attorney. He described the
transaction to me, as, by report, it had taken place, and informed me that
he had made the captain of the Brothers pay for his barbarity.]

[Footnote B: The purser of a ship, at Bristol, is the person who manages
the out-fit, as well as the trade, and who is often in part owner of her.]

This transaction, which I now believed to be true, had the effect of
preparing me for crediting whatever I might hear concerning the barbarities
said to be practised in this trade. It kindled also a fire of indignation
within me, and produced in me both anxiety and spirit to proceed. But that
which excited these feelings the most, was the consideration, that the
purser of this ship, knowing, as he did, of this act of cruelty, should
have sent out this monster again. This, I own, made me think that there was
a system of bad usage to be deliberately practised upon the seamen in this
employment, for some purpose or other which I could then neither comprehend
nor ascertain.

But while I was in pursuit of this one object, I was not unmindful of the
others which I had marked out for myself. I had already procured an
interview, as I have mentioned, with Mr. Sydenham Teast. I had done this
with a view of learning from him what were the different productions of the
continent of Africa, as far as he had been able to ascertain from the
imports by his own vessels. He was very open and communicative. He had
imported ivory, red-wood, cam-wood, and gum copal. He purposed to import
palm oil. He observed that bees-wax might be collected also upon the coast.
Of his gum copal he gave me a specimen. He furnished me also with two
different specimens of unknown woods, which had the appearance of being
useful. One of his captains, he informed me, had been told by the natives,
that cotton, pink in the pod, grew in their country. He was of opinion,
that many valuable productions might be found upon this continent.

Mr. Biggs, to whom I gained an introduction also, was in a similar trade
with Mr. Teast; that is, he had one or two vessels, which skimmed, as it
were, the coast and rivers, for what they could get of the produce of
Africa, without having any concern in the trade for slaves. Mr. Biggs gave
me a specimen of gum Senegal, of yellow wood, and of Malaguetta and Cayenne
pepper. He gave me also small pieces of cloth made and dyed by the natives,
the colours of which they could only have obtained from materials in their
own country. Mr. Biggs seemed to be assured, that if proper persons were
sent to Africa on discovery, they would find a rich mine of wealth in the
natural productions of it, and in none more advantageous to this as a
manufacturing nation, than in the many beautiful dyes which it might
furnish.

From Thomas Bonville I collected two specimens of cloth made by the
natives, and from others a beautiful piece of tulipwood, a small piece of
wood similar to mahogany, and a sample of fine rice, all of which had been
brought from the same continent.

Among the persons whom I found out at Bristol, and from whom I derived
assistance, were Dr. Camplin, and the celebrated Dean Tucker. The former
was my warm defender; for the West-Indian and African merchants, as soon as
they discovered my errand, began to calumniate me. The Dean though in a
very advanced age, felt himself much interested in my pursuit. He had long
moved in the political world himself, and was desirous of hearing of what
was going forward that was new in it, but particularly about so desirable a
measure as that of the abolition of the Slave-trade[A]. He introduced me to
the Custom-house at Bristol. He used to call upon me at the Merchants'
Hall, while I was transcribing the muster-rolls of the seamen there. In
short, he seemed to be interested in all my movements. He became also a
warm supporter both of me and of my cause.

[Footnote A: Dean Tucker, in his Reflections on the Disputes between Great
Britain and Ireland, published in 1785, had passed a severe censure on the
British planters for the inhuman treatment of their slaves.]

Among others, who were useful to me in my pursuit, was Mr. Henry Sulgar, an
amiable minister of the gospel belonging to the religious society of the
Moravians in the same city. From him I first procured authentic documents
relative to the treacherous massacre at Calabàr. This cruel transaction had
been frequently mentioned to me; but as it had taken place twenty years
before, I could not find one person who had been engaged in it, nor could I
come, in a satisfactory manner, at the various particulars belonging to it.
My friend, however, put me in possession of copies of the real depositions
which had been taken in the case of the King against Lippincott and others,
relative to this event, namely, of captain Floyd, of the city of Bristol,
who had been a witness to the scene, and of Ephraim Robin John, and of
Ancona Robin Robin John, two African chiefs, who had been sufferers by it.
These depositions had been taken before Jacob Kirby, and Thomas Symons,
esquires, commissioners at Bristol for taking affidavits in the court of
King's Bench. The tragedy, of which they gave a circumstantial account, I
shall present to the reader in as concise a manner as I can.

In the year 1767, the ships Indian Queen, Duke of York, Nancy, and Concord,
of Bristol, the Edgar, of Liverpool, and the Canterbury, of London, lay in
old Calabàr river.

It happened at this time, that a quarrel subsisted between the principal
inhabitants of Old Town and those of New Town, Old Calabàr, which had
originated in a jealousy respecting slaves. The captains of the vessels now
mentioned joined in sending several letters to the inhabitants of Old Town,
but particularly to Ephraim Robin John, who was at that time a grandee or
principal inhabitant of the place. The tenor of these letters was, that
they were sorry that any jealousy or quarrel should subsist between the two
parties; that if the inhabitants of Old Town would come on board, they
would afford them security and protection; adding at the same time, that
their intention in inviting them was, that they might become mediators,
and, thus heal their disputes.

The inhabitants of Old Town, happy to find that their differences were
likely to be accommodated, joyfully accepted the invitation. The three
brothers of the grandee just mentioned, the eldest of whom was Amboe Robin
John, first entered their canoe, attended by twenty-seven others, and,
being followed by nine canoes, directed their course to the Indian Queen.
They were dispatched from thence the next morning to the Edgar, and
afterwards to the Duke of York, on board of which they went, leaving their
canoe and attendants by the side of the same vessel. In the mean time the
people on board the other canoes were either distributed on board, or lying
close to, the other ships.

This being the situation of the three brothers, and of the principal
inhabitants of the place, the treachery now began to appear. The crew of
the Duke of York, aided by the captain and mates, and armed with pistols
and cutlasses, rushed into the cabin, with an intent to seize the persons
of their three innocent and unsuspicious guests. The unhappy men, alarmed
at this violation of the rights of hospitality and struck with astonishment
at the behaviour of their supposed friends, attempted to escape through the
cabin windows, but being wounded were obliged to desist, and to submit to
be put in irons.

In the same moment, in which this atrocious attempt had been made, an order
had been given to fire upon the canoe, which was then lying by the side of
the Duke of York. The canoe soon filled and sunk, and the wretched
attendants were either seized, killed, or drowned. Most of the other ships
followed the example. Great numbers were additionally killed and drowned on
the occasion, and others were swimming to the shore.

At this juncture the inhabitants of New Town, who had concealed themselves
in the bushes by the water-side, and between whom and the commanders of the
vessels the plan had been previously concerted, came out from their
hiding-places, and, embarking in their canoes, made for such, as were
swimming from the fire of the ships. The ships' boats also were manned, and
joined in the pursuit. They butchered the greater part of those whom they
caught. Many dead bodies were soon seen upon the sands, and others were
floating upon the water; and including those who were seized and carried
off, and those who were drowned and killed, either by the firing of the
ships or by the people of New Town, three hundred were lost to the
inhabitants of Old Town on that day.

The carnage, which I have been now describing, was scarcely over, when a
canoe, full of the principal people of New Town, who had been the promoters
of the scheme, dropped alongside of the Duke of York. They demanded the
person of Amboe Robin John, the brother of the grandee of Old Town, and the
eldest of the three on board. The unfortunate man put the palms of his
hands together, and beseeched the commander of the vessel, that he would
not violate the rights of hospitality by giving up an unoffending stranger
to his enemies. But no entreaties could avail. The commander received from
the New Town people a slave, of the name of Econg, in his stead, and then
forced him into the canoe, where his head was immediately struck off in the
sight of the crew, and of his afflicted and disconsolate brothers. As for
them, they escaped his fate; but they were carried off with their
attendants to the West Indies, and sold for slaves.

The knowledge of this tragical event now fully confirmed me in the
sentiment, that the hearts of those, who were concerned in this traffic,
became unusually hardened, and that I might readily believe any atrocities,
however great, which might be related of them. It made also my blood boil
as it were within me. It gave a new spring to my exertions. And I rejoiced,
sorrowful as I otherwise was, that I had visited Bristol, if it had been
only to gain an accurate statement of this one fact.

In pursuing my objects, I found that reports were current, that the crew of
the Alfred slave-vessel, which had just returned, had been barbarously
used, but particularly a young man of the name of Thomas, who had served as
the surgeon's mate on board her. The report was, that he had been
repeatedly knocked down by the captain; that he had become in consequence
of his ill usage so weary of his life, that he had three times jumped over
board to destroy it; that on being taken up the last time he had been
chained to the deck of the ship, in which situation he had remained night
and day for some time; that in consequence of this his health had been
greatly impaired; and that it was supposed he could not long survive this
treatment.

It was with great difficulty, notwithstanding all my inquiries, that I
could trace this person. I discovered him, however, at last. He was
confined to his bed when I saw him, and appeared to me to be delirious. I
could collect nothing from himself relative to the particulars of his
treatment. In his intervals of sense, he exclaimed against the cruelty both
of the captain and of the chief mate, and pointing to his legs, thighs and
body, which were all wrapped up in flannel, he endeavoured to convince me
how much he had suffered there. At one time he said he forgave them. At
another he asked, if I came to befriend him. At another he looked wildly,
and asked if I meant to take the captain's part and to kill him.

I was greatly affected by the situation of this poor man, whose image
haunted me both night and day, and I was meditating how most effectually to
assist him, when I heard that he was dead.

I was very desirous of tracing something further on this subject, when
Walter Chandler, of the society of the Quakers, who had been daily looking
out for intelligence for me, brought a young man to me of the name of
Dixon. He had been one of the crew of the same ship. He told me the
particulars of the treatment of Thomas, with very little variation from
those contained in the public report. After cross-examining him in the best
manner I was able, I could find no inconsistency in his account.

I asked Dixon, how the captain came to treat the surgeon's mate in
particular so ill. He said he had treated them all much alike. A person of
the name of Bulpin, he believed, was the only one who had escaped bad usage
in the ship. With respect to himself, he had been cruelly used so early as
in the outward bound passage, which had occasioned him to jump overboard.
When taken up he was put into irons, and kept in these for a considerable
time. He was afterwards ill used at different times, and even so late as
within three or four days of his return to port. For just before the Alfred
made the island of Lundy, he was struck by the captain, who cut his under
lip into two. He said that it had bled so much, that the captain expressed
himself as if much alarmed; and having the expectation of arriving soon at
Bristol, he had promised to make him amends, if he would hold his peace.
This he said he had hitherto done, but he had received no recompense. In
confirmation of his own usage, he desired me to examine his lip, which I
had no occasion to do, having already perceived it, for the wound was
apparently almost fresh.

I asked Dixon, if there was any person in Bristol, besides himself, who
could confirm to me this his own treatment, as well as that of the other
unfortunate man who was now dead. He referred me to a seaman of the name of
Matthew Pyke. This person, when brought to me, not only related readily the
particulars of the usage in both cases, as I have now stated them, but that
which he received himself. He said that his own arm had been broken by the
chief mate in Black River, Jamaica, and that he had also by the captain's
orders, though contrary to the practice in merchant vessels, been severely
flogged. His arm appeared to be then in pain. And I had a proof of the
punishment by an inspection of his back.

I asked Matthew Pyke, if the crew in general had been treated in a cruel
manner. He replied, they had, except James Bulpin. I then asked where James
Bulpin was to be found. He told me where he had lodged, but feared he had
gone home to his friends in Somersetshire, I think, somewhere in the
neighbourhood of Bridgewater.

I thought it prudent to institute an inquiry into the characters of Thomas,
Dixon, and Matthew Pyke, before I went further. The two former I found were
strangers in Bristol, and I could collect nothing about them. The latter
was a native of the place, had served his time as a seaman from the port,
and was reputed of fair character.

My next business was to see James Bulpin. I found him just setting off for
the country. He stopped, however, to converse with me. He was a young man
of very respectable appearance and of mild manners. His appearance, indeed,
gave me reason to hope that I might depend upon his statements; but I was
most of all influenced by the consideration, that, never having been
ill-used himself, he could have no inducement to go beyond the bounds of
truth on this occasion. He gave me a melancholy confirmation of all the
three cases. He told me also that one Joseph Cunningham had been a severe
sufferer, and that there was reason to fear that Charles Horseler, another
of the crew, had been so severely beaten over the breast with a knotted end
of a rope (which end was of the size of a large ball, and had been made on
purpose) that he died of it. To this he added, that it was now a notorious
fact, that the captain of the Alfred, when mate of a slave-ship, had been
tried at Barbadoes for the murder of one of the crew, with whom he had
sailed, but that he escaped by bribing the principal witness to
disappear[A].

[Footnote A: Mr. Sampson, who was surgeon's mate of the ship, in which the
captain had thus served as a mate, confirmed to me afterwards this
assertion, having often heard him boast in the cabin, "how he had tricked
the law on that occasion."]

The reader will see, the further I went into the history of this voyage,
the more dismal it became. One miserable account, when examined, only
brought up another. I saw no end to inquiry. The great question was, what
was I to do? I thought the best thing would be to get the captain
apprehended, and make him stand his trial either for the murder of Thomas
or of Charles Horseler. I communicated with the late Mr. Burges, an eminent
attorney and the deputy town-clerk, on this occasion. He had shown an
attachment to me on account of the cause I had undertaken, and had given me
privately assistance in it. I say privately; because, knowing the
sentiments of many of the corporate body at Bristol, under whom he acted,
he was fearful of coming forward in an open manner. His advice to me was,
to take notes of the case for my own private conviction, but to take no
public cognizance of it. He said that seamen, as soon as their wages were
expended, must be off to sea again. They could not generally, as landsmen
do, maintain themselves on shore. Hence I should be obliged to keep the
whole crew at my own expense till the day of trial, which might not be for
months to come. He doubted not that, in the interim, the merchants and
others would inveigle many of them away by making them boatswains and other
inferior officers in some of their ships; so that, when the day of trial
should come, I should find my witnesses dispersed and gone. He observed
moreover, that, if any of the officers of the ship had any notion of going
out again under the same owners[A], I should have all these against me. To
which he added that, if I were to make a point of taking up the cause of
those whom I found complaining of hard usage in this trade, I must take up
that of nearly all who sailed in it; for that he only knew of one captain
from the port in the Slave-trade, who did not deserve long ago to be
hanged. Hence I should get into a labyrinth of expense, and difficulty, and
uneasiness of mind, from whence I should not easily find a clew to guide
me.

[Footnote A: The seamen of the Alfred informed the purser of their ill
usage. Matthew Pyke not only showed him his arm and his back, but
acquainted him with the murder of Charles Horseler, stating that he had the
instrument of his death in his possession. The purser seemed more alive to
this than to any other circumstance, and wished to get it from him. Pyke,
however, had given it to me. Now what will the reader think, when he is
informed that the purser, after all this knowledge of the captain's
cruelty, sent him out again, and that he was the same person, who was
purser of the Brothers, and who had also sent out the captain of that ship
a second time, as has been related, notwithstanding his barbarities in
former voyages!!]

This advice, though it was judicious, and founded on a knowledge of
Law-proceedings, I found it very difficult to adopt. My own disposition was
naturally such, that whatever I engaged in I followed with more than
ordinary warmth. I could not be supposed therefore, affected and interested
as I then was, to be cool and tranquil on this occasion. And yet what would
my worthy friend have said, if in this first instance I had opposed him? I
had a very severe struggle in my own feelings on this account. At length,
though reluctantly, I obeyed. But as the passions, which agitate the human
mind, when it is greatly inflamed, must have a vent somewhere, or must work
off as it were, or in working together must produce some new passion or
effect; so I found the rage, which had been kindling within me, subsiding
into the most determined resolutions of future increased activity and
perseverance. I began now to think that the day was not long enough for me
to labour in. I regretted often the approach of night, which suspended my
work, and I often welcomed that of the morning, which restored me to it.
When I felt myself weary, I became refreshed by the thought of what I was
doing; when disconsolate, I was comforted by it. I lived in hope that every
day's labour would furnish me with that knowledge, which would bring this
evil nearer to its end; and I worked on, under these feelings, regarding
neither trouble nor danger in the pursuit.



CHAPTER XV.

_Author confers with the inhabitants of Bridgewater relative to a petition
to parliament in behalf of the abolition--returns to Bristol--discovers a
scandalous mode of procuring seamen for the Slave-trade--and of paying
them--makes a comparative view of their loss in this and in other
trades--procures imports and exports--examines the construction and
admeasurement of Slave-ships--of the Fly and Neptune--Difficulty of
procuring evidence--Case of Gardiner of the Pilgrim--of Arnold of the
Ruby--some particulars of the latter in his former voyages_.


Having heard by accident, that the inhabitants of the town of Bridgewater
had sent a petition to the House of Commons, in the year 1785, for the
abolition of the Slave-trade, as has been related in a former part of the
work, I determined, while my feelings were warm, to go there, and to try to
find out those who had been concerned in it, and to confer with them as the
tried friends of the cause. The time seemed to me to be approaching, when
the public voice should be raised against this enormous evil. I was sure
that it was only necessary for the inhabitants of this favoured island to
know it, to feel a just indignation against it. Accordingly I set off. My
friend George Fisher, who was before mentioned to have been of the
religions society of the Quakers, gave me an introduction to the
respectable family of Ball, which was of the same religious persuasion. I
called upon Mr. Sealey, Anstice, Crandon, Chubb, and others. I laid open to
those, whom I saw, the discoveries I had made relative to the loss and ill
treatment of seamen; at which they seemed to be much moved; and it was
agreed, that, if it should be thought a proper measure, (of which I would
inform them when I had consulted the commitee,) a second petition should be
sent to Parliament from the inhabitants, praying for the abolition of the
Slave-trade. With this view I left them several of my Summary Views, before
mentioned, to distribute, that the inhabitants might know more particularly
the nature of the evil, against which they were going to complain. On my
return to Bristol, I determined to inquire into the truth of the reports
that seamen had an aversion to enter, and that they were inveigled, if not
often forced, into this hateful employment. For this purpose I was
introduced to a landlord of the name of Thompson, who kept a public-house
called the Seven Stars. He was a very intelligent man, was accustomed to
receive sailors, when discharged at the end of their voyages, and to board
them till their vessels went out again, or to find them births in others.
He avoided however all connection with the Slave-trade, declaring that the
credit of his house would be ruined, if he were known to send those, who
put themselves under his care, into it.

From him I collected the truth of all that had been stated to me on this
subject. But I told him I should not be satisfied until I had beheld those
scenes myself, which he had described to me; and I entreated him to take me
into them, saying that I would reward him for all his time and trouble, and
that I would never forget him while I lived. To this he consented; and as
three or four slave-vessels at this time were preparing for their voyages,
it was time that we should begin our rounds. At about twelve at night we
generally set out, and were employed till two and sometimes three in the
morning. He led me from one of those public-houses to another, which the
mates of the slave-vessels used to frequent to pick up their hands. These
houses were in Marsh-street, and most of them were then kept by Irishmen.
The scenes witnessed in these houses were truly distressing to me; and yet,
if I wished to know practically what I had purposed, I could not avoid
them. Music, dancing, rioting, drunkenness, and profane swearing, were kept
up from night to night. The young mariner, if a stranger to the port, and
unacquainted with the nature of the Slave-trade, was sure to be picked up.
The novelty of the voyages, the superiority of the wages in this over any
other trades, and the privileges of various kinds, were set before him.
Gulled in this manner he was frequently enticed to the boat, which was
waiting to carry him away. If these prospects did not attract him, he was
plied with liquor till he became intoxicated, when a bargain was made over
him between the landlord and the mate. After this his senses were kept in
such a constant state of stupefaction by the liquor, that in time the
former might do with him what he pleased. Seamen also were boarded in these
houses, who, when the slave-ships were going out, but at no other time,
were encouraged to spend more than they had money to pay for; and to these,
when they had thus exceeded, but one alternative was given, namely, a
slave-vessel, or a gaol. These distressing scenes I found myself obliged
frequently to witness, for I was no less than nineteen times occupied in
making these hateful rounds. And I can say from my own experience, and all
the information I could collect from Thompson and others, that no such
practices were in use to obtain seamen for other trades.

The treatment of the seamen employed in the Slave-trade had so deeply
interested me, and now the manner of procuring them, that I was determined
to make myself acquainted with their whole history; for I found by report,
that they were not only personally ill-treated, as I have already painfully
described, but that they were robbed by artifice of those wages, which had
been held up to them as so superior in this service. All persons were
obliged to sign articles, that, in case they should die or be discharged
during the voyage, the wages then due to them should be paid in the
currency where the vessel carried her slaves, and that half of the wages
due to them on their arrival there should be paid in the same manner, and
that they were never permitted to read over the articles they had signed.
By means of this iniquitous practice the wages in the Slave-trade, though
nominally higher in order to induce seamen to engage in it, were actually
lower than in other trades. All these usages I ascertained in such a
manner, that no person could doubt the truth of them. I actually obtained
possession of articles of agreement belonging to these vessels, which had
been signed and executed in former voyages. I made the merchants
themselves, by sending those seamen, who had claims upon them, to ask for
their accounts current with their respective ships, furnish me with such
documents as would have been evidence against them in any court of law. On
whatever branch of the system I turned my eyes, I found it equally
barbarous. The trade was, in short, one mass of iniquity from the beginning
to the end.

I employed myself occasionally in the Merchants-hall, in making copies of
the muster-rolls of ships sailing to different parts of the world, that I
might make a comparative view of the loss of seamen in the Slave-trade,
with that of those in the other trades from the same port. The result of
this employment showed me the importance of it: for, when I considered how
partial the inhabitants of this country were to their fellow-citizens, the
seamen belonging to it, and in what estimation the members of the
legislature held them, by enforcing the Navigation-Act, which they
considered to be the bulwark of the nation, and by giving bounties to
certain trades, that these might become so many nurseries for the marine, I
thought it of great importance to be able to prove, as I was then capable
of doing, that more persons would be found dead in three slave-vessels from
Bristol, in a given time, than in all the other vessels put together,
numerous as they were, belonging to the same port.

I procured also an account of the exports and imports for the year 1786, by
means of which I was enabled to judge of the comparative value of this and
the other trades.

In pursuing another object, which was that of going on board the
slave-ships, and learning their construction and dimensions, I was greatly
struck, and indeed affected, by the appearance of two little sloops, which
were fitting out for Africa, the one of only twenty-five tons, which was
said to be destined to carry seventy; and the other of only eleven, which
was said to be destined to carry thirty slaves. I was told also that which
was more affecting, namely, that these were not to act as tenders on the
coast, by going up and down the rivers, and receiving three or four slaves
at a time, and then carrying them to a large ship, which was to take them
to the West Indies, but that it was actually intended, that they should
transport their own slaves themselves; that one if not both of them were,
on their arrival in the West Indies, to be sold as pleasure-vessels, and
that the seamen belonging to them were to be permitted to come home by what
is usually called the run.

This account of the destination of these little vessels, though it was
distressing at first, appeared to me afterwards, on cool reasoning, to be
incredible. I thought that my informants wished to impose upon me, in order
that I might make statements which would carry their own refutation with
them, and that thus I might injure the great cause which I had undertaken.
And I was much inclined to be of this opinion, when I looked again at the
least of the two; for any person, who was tall, standing upon dry ground by
the side of her, might have overlooked every thing upon her deck. I knew
also that she had been built as a pleasure-boat for the accommodation of
only six persons upon the Severn. I determined, therefore, to suspend my
belief till I could take the admeasurement of each vessel. This I did; but
lest, in the agitation of my mind on this occasion, I should have made any
mistake, I desired my friend George Fisher to apply to the builder for his
admeasurement also. With this he kindly complied. When he obtained it he
brought it to me. This account, which nearly corresponded with my own, was
as follows:--In the vessel of twenty-five tons, the length of the upper
part of the hold, or roof, of the room, where the seventy slaves were to be
stowed, was but little better than ten yards, or thirty-one feet. The
greatest breadth of the bottom, or floor, was ten feet four inches, and the
least five. Hence, a grown person must sit down all the voyage, and
contract his limbs within the narrow limits of three square feet. In the
vessel of eleven tons, the length of the room for the thirty slaves was
twenty-two feet. The greatest breadth of the floor was eight, and the least
four. The whole height from the keel to the beam was but five feet eight
inches, three feet of which were occupied by ballast, cargo, and
provisions, so that two feet eight inches remained only as the height
between the decks. Hence, each slave would have only four square feet to
sit in, and, when in this posture, his head, if he were a full-grown
person, would touch the ceiling, or upper deck.

Having now received this admeasurement from the builder, which was rather
more favourable than my own, I looked upon the destination of these little
vessels as yet more incredible than before. Still the different persons,
whom I occasionally saw on board them, persisted in it that they were going
to Africa for slaves, and also for the numbers mentioned, which they were
afterwards to carry to the West Indies themselves. I desired, however, my
friends, George Fisher, Truman Harford, Harry Gandy, Walter Chandler, and
others, each to make a separate inquiry for me on this subject; and they
all agreed that, improbable as the account both of their destination, and
of the number they were to take, might appear, they had found it to be too
true. I had soon afterwards the sorrow to learn from official documents
from the Custom-house, that these little vessels actually cleared out for
Africa, and that now nothing could be related so barbarous of this traffic,
which might not instantly be believed.

In pursuing my different objects there was one, which, to my great
vexation, I found it extremely difficult to attain. This was the procuring
of any assurance from those, who had been personally acquainted with the
horrors of this trade, that they would appear, if called upon, as evidence
against it. My friend Harry Gandy, to whom I had been first introduced, had
been two voyages, as I before mentioned; and he was willing, though at an
advanced age, to go to London, to state publicly all he knew concerning
them. But with respect to the many others in Bristol, who had been to the
coast of Africa, I had not yet found one, who would come forward for this
purpose. There were several old Slave-Captains living there, who had a
great knowledge of the subject. I thought it not unreasonable, that I might
gain one or two good evidences out of these, as they had probably long ago
left the concern, and were not now interested in the continuance of it. But
all my endeavours were fruitless. I sent messages to them by different
persons. I met them in all ways. I stated to them, that if there was
nothing objectionable in the trade, seeing it laboured under such a stigma,
they had an opportunity of coming forward and of wiping away the stain. If,
on the other hand, it was as bad as represented, then they had it in their
power, by detailing the crimes which attached to it, of making some
reparation, or atonement, for the part they had taken in it. But no
representations would do. All intercourse was positively forbidden between
us; and whenever they met me in the street, they shunned me as if I had
been a mad dog. I could not for some time account for the strange
disposition which they thus manifested towards me; but my friends helped me
to unravel it, for I was assured that one or two of them, though they went
no longer to Africa as captains, were in part owners of vessels trading
there; and, with respect to all of them, it might be generally said, that
they had been guilty of such enormities, that they would be afraid of
coming forward in the way I proposed, lest any thing should come out by
which they might criminate themselves. I was obliged then to give up all
hope of getting any evidence from this quarter, and I saw but little
prospect of getting it from those, who were then actually deriving their
livelihood from the trade. And yet I was determined to persevere. For I
thought that some might be found in it, who were not yet so hardened as to
be incapable of being awakened on this subject. I thought that others might
be found in it, who wished to leave it upon principle, and that these would
unbosom themselves to me. And I thought it not improbable that I might fall
in with others, who had come unexpectedly into a state of independence, and
that these might be induced, as their livelihood would be no longer
affected by giving me information, to speak the truth.

I persevered for weeks together under this hope, but could find no one of
all those, who had been applied to, who would have any thing to say to me.
At length Walter Chandler had prevailed upon a young gentleman, of the name
of Gardiner, who was going out as surgeon of the Pilgrim, to meet me. The
condition was, that we were to meet at the house of the former, but that we
were to enter in and go out at different times, that is, we were not to be
seen together.

Gardiner, on being introduced to me, said at once, that he had often wished
to see me on the subject of my errand, but that the owner of the Pilgrim
had pointed me out to him as a person, whom he would wish him to avoid. He
then laid open to me the different methods of obtaining slaves in Africa,
as he had learned from those on board his own vessel in his first, or
former, voyage. He unfolded also the manner of their treatment in the
Middle Passage, with the various distressing scenes which had occurred in
it. He stated the barbarous usage of the seamen as he had witnessed it, and
concluded by saying, that there never was a subject, which demanded so
loudly the interference of the legislature as that of the Slave-trade.

When he had finished his narrative, and answered the different questions
which I had proposed to him concerning it, I asked him in as delicate a
manner as I could, How it happened, that, seeing the trade in this horrible
light, he had consented to follow it again? He told me frankly, that he had
received a regular medical education, but that his relations, being poor,
had not been able to set him up in his profession. He had saved a little
money in his last voyage. In that, which he was now to perform, he hoped to
save a little more. With the profits of both voyages together, he expected
he should be able to furnish a shop in the line of his profession, when he
would wipe his hands of this detestable trade.

I then asked him, Whether upon the whole he thought he had judged
prudently, or whether the prospect of thus enabling himself to become
independent, would counterbalance the uneasiness which might arise in
future? He replied, that he had not so much to fear upon this account. The
trade, while it continued, must have surgeons. But it made a great
difference both to the crew and to the slaves, whether these discharged
their duty towards them in a feeling manner, or not. With respect to
himself, he was sure that he should pay every attention to the wants of
each. This thought made his continuance in the trade for one voyage longer
more reconcileable. But he added, as if not quite satisfied, "Cruel
necessity!" and he fetched a deep sigh.

We took our leave, and departed, the one a few minutes after the other. The
conversation of this young man was very interesting. I was much impressed
both by the nature and the manner of it. I wished to secure him, if
possible, as an evidence for Parliament, and thus save him from his
approaching voyage: but I knew not what to do. At first, I thought it would
be easy to raise a subscription to set him up. But then, I was aware that
this might be considered as bribery, and make his testimony worth nothing.
I then thought that the commitee might detain him as an evidence, and pay
him, in a reasonable manner, for his sustenance, till his testimony should
be called for. But I did not know how long it would be before his
examination might take place. It might be a year or two. I foresaw other
difficulties also; and I was obliged to relinquish what otherwise I should
have deemed a prize.

On reviewing the conversation which had passed between us after my return
home, I thought, considering the friendly disposition of Gardiner towards
us, I had not done all I could for the cause; and, communicating my
feelings to Walter Chandler, he procured me another interview. At this, I
asked him, if he would become an evidence, if he lived to return. He
replied, very heartily, that he would. I then asked him, if he would keep a
journal of facts during his voyage, as it would enable him to speak more
correctly, in case he should be called upon for his testimony. He assured
me, he would, and that he would make up a little book for that purpose. I
asked him, lastly, When he meant to sail. He said, As soon as the ship
could get all her hands. It was their intention to sail to-morrow, but that
seven men, whom the mates had brought drunk out of Marsh-street the evening
before, were so terrified when they found they were going to Africa, that
they had seized the boat that morning, and had put themselves on shore. I
took my leave of him, entreating him to follow his resolutions of kindness
both to the sailors and the slaves, and wished him a speedy and a safe
return.

On going one day by the Exchange after this interview with Gardiner, I
overheard a young gentleman say to another, "that it happened on the Coast
last year, and that he saw it." I wished to know who he was, and to get at
him if I could. I watched him at a distance for more than half an hour,
when I saw him leave his companion. I followed him till he entered a house.
I then considered whether it would be proper, and in what manner, to
address him when he should come out of it. But I waited three hours, and I
never saw him. I then concluded that he either lodged where I saw him
enter, or that he had gone to dine with some friend. I therefore took
notice of the house, and, showing it afterwards to several of my friends,
desired them to make him out for me. In a day or two I had an interview
with him. His name was James Arnold. He had been two voyages to the coast
of Africa for slaves; one as surgeon's mate in the Alexander, in the year
1785, and the other as surgeon in the Little Pearl, in the year 1786, from
which he had not then very long returned.

I asked him if he was willing to give me any account of these voyages, for
that I was making an inquiry into the nature of the Slave-trade. He
replied, he knew that I was. He had been cautioned about falling-in with
me. He had, however, taken no pains to avoid me. It was a bad trade, and
ought to be exposed.

I went over the same ground as I had gone with Gardiner relative to the
first of these voyages, or that in the Alexander. It is not necessary to
detail the particulars. It is impossible, however, not to mention, that the
treatment of the seamen on board this vessel was worse than I had ever
before heard of. No less than eleven of them, unable to bear their lives,
had deserted at Bonny on the coast of Africa,--which is a most unusual
thing,--choosing  all that could be endured, though in a most inhospitable
climate, and in the power of the natives, rather than to continue in their
own ship. Nine others also, in addition to the loss of these, had died in
the same voyage. As to the rest, he believed, without any exception, that
they had been badly used.

In examining him with respect to his second voyage, or that in the Little
Pearl, two circumstances came out with respect to the slaves, which I shall
relate in few words.

The chief mate used to beat the men-slaves on very trifling occasions.
About eleven one evening, the ship then lying off the coast, he heard a
noise in their room. He jumped down among them with a lanthorn in his hand.
Two of those, who had been ill-used by him, forced themselves out of their
irons and, seizing him, struck him with the bolt of them, and it was with
some difficulty that he was extricated from them by the crew.

The men-slaves, unable now to punish him, and finding they had created an
alarm, began to proceed to extremities. They endeavoured to force
themselves up the gratings, and to pull down a partition which had been
made for a sick-birth; when they were fired upon and repressed. The next
morning they were brought up one by one; when it appeared that a boy had
been killed, who was afterwards thrown into the sea.

The two men, however, who had forced themselves out of irons, did not come
up with the rest, but found their way into the hold, and armed themselves
with knives from a cask, which had been opened for trade. One of them being
called to in the African tongue by a Black trader, who was then on board,
came up, but with a knife in each hand; when one of the crew, supposing him
yet hostile, shot him in the right side and killed him on the spot.

The other remained in the hold for twelve hours. Scalding water mixed with
fat was poured down upon him, to make him come up. Though his flesh was
painfully blistered by these means, he kept below. A promise was then made
to him in the African tongue by the same trader, that no injury should be
done him, if he would come among them. To this at length he consented. But
on observing, when he was about half way up, that a sailor was armed
between decks, he flew to him, and clasped him, and threw him down. The
sailor fired his pistol in the scuffle, but without effect. He contrived
however to fracture his skull with the butt end of it, so that the slave
died on the third day.

The second circumstance took place after the arrival of the same vessel at
St. Vincent's. There was a boy-slave on board, who was very ill and
emaciated. The mate, who, by his cruelty, had been the author of the former
mischief, did not choose to expose him to sale with the rest, lest the
small sum he would fetch in that situation should lower the average price,
and thus bring down[A] the value of the privileges of the officers of the
ship. This boy was kept on board, and no provisions allowed him. The mate
had suggested the propriety of throwing him overboard, but no one would do
it. On the ninth day he expired, having never been allowed any sustenance
during that time.

[Footnote A: Officers are said to be allowed the privilege of one or more
slaves, according to their rank. When the cargo is sold, the sum total
fetched is put down, and this being divided by the number of slaves sold,
gives the average price of each. Such officers, then, receive this average
price for one or more slaves, according to their privileges, but never the
slaves themselves.]


I asked Mr. Arnold if he was willing to give evidence of these facts in
both cases. He said he had only one objection, which was, that in two or
three days he was to go in the Ruby, on his third voyage: but on leaving
me, he said, that he would take an affidavit before the mayor of the truth
of any of those things which he had related to me, if that would do; but,
from motives of safety, he should not choose to do this till within a few
hours before he sailed.

In two or three days after this, he sent for me. He said the Ruby would
leave King-road the next day, and that he was ready to do as he had
promised. Depositions were accordingly made out from his own words. I went
with him to the residence of George Daubeny, esquire, who was then chief
magistrate of the city, and they were sworn to in his presence, and
witnessed as the law requires.

On taking my leave of him, I asked him how he could go a third time in such
a barbarous employ. He said he had been distressed. In his voyage in the
Alexander he had made nothing; for he had been so ill-used, that he had
solicited his discharge in Grenada, where, being paid in currency, he had
but little to receive. When he arrived in Bristol from that island, he was
quite pennyless; and finding the Little Pearl going out, he was glad to get
on board her as her surgeon, which he then did entirely for the sake of
bread. He said, moreover, that she was but a small vessel, and that his
savings had been but small in her. This occasioned him to apply for the
Ruby, his present ship; but if he survived this voyage he would never go
another. I then put the same question to him as to Gardiner, and he
promised to keep a journal of facts, and to give his evidence, if called
upon, on his return.

The reader will see, from this account, the difficulty I had in procuring
evidence from this port. The owners of vessels employed in the trade there,
forbade all intercourse with me. The old captains, who had made their
fortunes in it, would not see me. The young, who were making them, could
not be supposed to espouse my cause, to the detriment of their own
interest. Of those whose necessities made them go into it for a livelihood,
I could not get one to come forward, without doing so much for him as would
have amounted to bribery. Thus, when I got one of these into my possession,
I was obliged to let him go again. I was, however, greatly consoled by the
consideration, that I had procured two sentinels to be stationed in the
enemy's camp, who keeping a journal of different facts, would bring me some
important intelligence at a future period.



CHAPTER XVI.

_Author goes to Monmouth--confers relative to a petition from that
place--returns to Bristol--is introduced to Alexander Falconbridge--takes
one of the mates of the Africa out of that ship--visits disabled seamen
from the ship Thomas--puts a chief mate into prison for the murder of
William Lines--Ill-usage of seamen in various other slave-vessels--secures
Crutwell's Bath paper in favour of the abolition--lays the foundation of a
commitee at Bristol--and of a petition from thence also--takes his leave of
that city._


By this time I began to feel the effect of my labours upon my constitution.
It had been my practice to go home in the evening to my lodgings, about
twelve o'clock, and then to put down the occurrences of the day. This
usually kept me up till one, and sometimes till nearly two in the morning.
When I went my rounds in Marsh-street, I seldom got home till two, and into
bed till three. My clothes, also, were frequently wet through with the
rains. The cruel accounts I was daily in the habit of hearing, both with
respect to the slaves, and to the seamen employed in this wicked trade,
from which, indeed, my mind had no respite, often broke my sleep in the
night, and occasioned me to awake in an agitated state. All these
circumstances concurred in affecting my health. I looked thin; my
countenance became yellow. I had also rheumatic feelings. My friends,
seeing this, prevailed upon me to give myself two or three days'
relaxation. And as a gentleman, of whom I had some knowledge, was going
into Carmarthenshire, I accompanied him as far as Monmouth.

After our parting at this place, I became restless and uneasy, and longed
to get back to my work. I thought, however, that my journey ought not to be
wholly useless to the cause; and hearing that Dr. Davis, a clergyman at
Monmouth, was a man of considerable weight among the inhabitants, I took
the liberty of writing him a letter, in which I stated who I was, and the
way in which I had lately employed myself, and the great wish I had to be
favoured with an interview with him; and I did not conceal that it would be
very desirable, if the inhabitants of the place could have that information
on the subject which would warrant them in so doing, that they should
petition the legislature for the abolition of the Slave-trade. Dr. Davis
returned me an answer, and received me. The questions which he put to me
were judicious. He asked me, first, whether, if the slaves were
emancipated, there would not be much confusion in the islands? I told him
that the emancipation of them was no part of our plan. We solicited nothing
but the stopping of all future importations of them into the islands. He
then asked what the planters would do for labourers. I replied, they would
find sufficient from an increase of the native population, if they were
obliged to pay attention to the latter means. We discoursed a long time
upon this last topic. I have not room to give the many other questions he
proposed to me. No one was ever more judiciously questioned. In my turn, I
put him into possession of all the discoveries I had made. He acknowledged
the injustice of the trade. He confessed, also, that my conversation had
enlightened him as to the impolicy of it; and, taking some of my Summary
Views to distribute, he said, he hoped that the inhabitants would, after
the perusal of them, accede to my request.

On my return to Bristol, my friends had procured for me an interview with
Mr. Alexander Falconbridge, who had been to the coast of Africa, as a
surgeon, for four voyages; one in the Tartar, another in the Alexander, and
two in the Emilia slave-vessels.

On my introduction to him, I asked him if he had any objection to give me
an account of the cruelties, which were said to be connected with the
Slave-trade. He answered, without any reserve, that he had not; for that he
had now done with it. Never were any words more welcome to my ears than
these--"Yes--I have done with the trade"--and he said also, that he was
free to give me information concerning it. Was he not then one of the very
persons, whom I had so long been seeking, but in vain?

To detail the accounts which he gave me at this and at subsequent
interviews, relative to the different branches of this trade, would fill no
ordinary volume. Suffice it to say in general terms, as far as relates to
the slaves, that he confirmed the various violent and treacherous methods
of procuring them in their own country; their wretched condition, in
consequence of being crowded together, in the passage; their attempts to
rise in defence of their own freedom, and, when this was impracticable, to
destroy themselves by the refusal of sustenance, by jumping overboard into
the sea, and in other ways; the effect also of their situation upon their
minds, by producing insanity and various diseases; and the cruel manner of
disposing of them in the West Indies, and of separating relatives and
friends.

With respect to the seamen employed in this trade, he commended captain
Frazer for his kind usage to them, under whom he had so long served. The
handsome way in which be spoke of the latter pleased me much, because I was
willing to deduce from it his own impartiality, and because I thought I
might infer from it also his regard to truth as to other parts of his
narrative. Indeed I had been before acquainted with this circumstance.
Thompson, of the Seven Stars, had informed me that Frazer was the only man
sailing out of that port for slaves, who had not been guilty of cruelty to
his seamen: and Mr. Burges alluded to it, when he gave me advice not to
proceed against the captain of the Alfred; for he then said, as I mentioned
in a former chapter, "that he knew but one captain in the trade, who did
not deserve long ago to be hanged." Mr. Falconbridge, however, stated, that
though he had been thus fortunate in the Tartar and Emilia, he had been as
unfortunate in the Alexander; for he believed there were no instances upon
naval record, taken altogether, of greater barbarity, than of that which
had been exercised towards the seamen in this voyage. In running over
these, it struck me that I had heard of the same from some other quarter,
or at least that these were so like the others, that I was surprised at
their coincidence. On taking out my notes, I looked for the names of those
whom I recollected to have been used in this manner; and on desiring Mr.
Falconbridge to mention the names of those also to whom he alluded, they
turned out to be the same. The mystery, however, was soon cleared up, when
I told him from whom I had received my intelligence: for Mr. Arnold, the
last-mentioned person in the last chapter, had been surgeon's mate under
Mr. Falconbridge in the same vessel.

There was one circumstance of peculiar importance, but quite new to me,
which I collected from the information which Mr. Falconbridge had given me.
This was, that many of the seamen, who left the slave-ships in the West
Indies, were in such a weak, ulcerated, and otherwise diseased state, that
they perished there. Several also of those who came home with the vessels,
were in the same deplorable condition. This was the case, Mr. Falconbridge
said, with some who returned in the Alexander. It was the case also with
many others; for he had been a pupil, for twelve months, in the Bristol
Infirmary, and had had ample means of knowing the fact. The greatest number
of seamen, at almost all times, who were there, were from the
slave-vessels. These, too, were usually there on account of disease,
whereas those from other ships were usually there on account of accidents.
The health of some of the former was so far destroyed, that they were never
wholly to be restored. This information was of great importance; for it
showed that they who were reported dead upon the muster-rolls, were not all
that were lost to the country by the prosecution of this wicked trade.
Indeed, it was of so much importance, that in all my future interviews with
others, which were for the purpose of collecting evidence, I never forgot
to make it a subject of inquiry.

I can hardly say how precious I considered the facts with which Mr.
Falconbridge had furnished me from his own experience, relative to the
different branches of this commerce. They were so precious, that I began
now to be troubled lest I should lose them. For, though he had thus
privately unbosomed himself to me, it did not follow that he would come
forward as a public evidence. I was not a little uneasy on this account. I
was fearful lest, when I should put this question to him, his future plan
of life, or some little narrow consideration of future interest, would
prevent him from giving his testimony, and I delayed asking him for many
days. During this time, however, I frequently visited him; and at length,
when I thought I was better acquainted, and probably in some little
estimation, with him, I ventured to open my wishes on this subject. He
answered me boldly, and at once, that he had left the trade upon principle,
and that he would state all he knew concerning it, either publicly or
privately, and at any time when he should be called upon to do it. This
answer produced such an effect upon me, after all my former
disappointments, that I felt it all over my frame. It operated like a
sudden shock, which often disables the impressed person for a time. So the
joy I felt rendered me quite useless, as to business, for the remainder of
the day.

I began to perceive in a little time the advantage of having cultivated an
acquaintance with Thompson of the Seven Stars. For nothing could now pass
in Bristol, relative to the seamen employed in this trade, but it was soon
brought to me. If there was any thing amiss, I had so arranged matters that
I was sure to hear of it. He sent for me one day to inform me that several
of the seamen, who had been sent out of Marsh-street into the Prince, which
was then at Kingroad, and on the point of sailing to Africa for slaves,
had, through fear of ill-usage on the voyage, taken the boat and put
themselves on shore. He informed me at the same time that the seamen of the
Africa, which was lying there also and ready to sail on a like voyage, were
not satisfied, for that they had been made to sign their articles of
agreement, without being permitted to see them. To this he added that Mr.
Sheriff, one of the mates of the latter vessel, was unhappy also on this
account. Sheriff had been a mate in the West India trade, and was a
respectable man in his line. He had been enticed by the captain of the
Africa, under the promise of peculiar advantages, to change his voyage.
Having a wife and family at Bristol, he was willing to make a sacrifice on
their account. But when he himself was not permitted to read the articles,
he began to suspect bad work, and that there would be nothing but misery in
the approaching voyage. Thompson entreated me to extricate him, if I could.
He was sure, he said, if he went to the Coast with that man, meaning the
captain, that he would never return alive.

I was very unwilling to refuse any thing to Thompson. I was deeply bound to
him in gratitude for the many services he had rendered me, but I scarcely
saw how I could serve him on this occasion. I promised however, to speak to
him in an hour's time; I consulted my friend Truman Harford in the interim;
and the result was, that he and I should proceed to Kingroad in a boat, go
on board the Africa, and charge the captain in person with what he had
done, and desire him to discharge Sheriff, as no agreement, where fraud or
force was used in the signatures, could be deemed valid. If we were not
able to extricate Sheriff by these means, we thought that at least we
should know, by inquiring of those whom we should see on board, whether the
measure of hindering the men from seeing their articles on signing them had
been adopted. It would be useful to ascertain this, because such a measure
had been long reported to be usual in this, but was said to be unknown in
any other trade.

Having passed the river's mouth and rowed towards the sea, we came near the
Prince first, but pursued our destination to the Africa. Mr. Sheriff was
the person who received us on board. I did not know him till I asked his
name. I then told him my errand, with which he seemed to be much pleased.
On asking him to tell the captain that I wished to speak with him, he
replied that he was on shore. This put me to great difficulty, as I did not
know then what to do. I consulted with Truman Harford, and it was our
opinion, that we should inquire of the seamen, but in a very quiet manner,
by going individually to each, if they had ever demanded to see the
articles on signing them, and if they had been refused. We proposed this
question to them. They replied, that the captain had refused them in a
savage manner, making use of threats and oaths. There was not one
contradictory voice on this occasion. We then asked Mr. Sheriff what we
were to do. He entreated us by all means to take him on shore. He was sure
that under such a man as the captain, and particularly after the
circumstance of our coming on board should be made known to him, he would
never come from the coast of Africa alive. Upon this, Truman Harford called
me aside, and told me the danger of taking an officer from the ship; for
that, if any accident should happen to her, the damage might all fall upon
me. I then inquired of Mr. Sheriff if there was any officer on board, who
could manage the ship. He pointed one out to me, and I spoke to him in the
cabin. This person told me I need be under no apprehension about the
vessel, but that every one would be sorry to lose Mr. Sheriff. Upon this
ground, Truman Harford, who had felt more for me than for himself, became
now easy. We had before concluded, that the obtaining any signature by
fraud or force would render the agreement illegal. We therefore joined in
opinion, that we might take away the man. His chest was accordingly put
into our boat. We jumped into it with our rowers, and he followed us,
surrounded by the seamen, all of whom took an affectionate leave of him,
and expressed their regret at parting. Soon after this there was a general
cry of "Will you take me too?" from the deck; and such a sudden movement
appeared there, that we were obliged to push off directly from the side,
fearing that many would jump into our boat and go with us.

After having left the ship, Sheriff corroborated the desertion of the
seamen from the Prince, as before related to me by Thompson. He spoke also
of the savage disposition of his late captain, which he had even dared to
manifest though lying in an English port. I was impressed by this account
of his rough manners; and the wind having risen before and the surf now
rolling heavily, I began to think what an escape I might have had; how easy
it would have been for the savage captain, if he had been on board, or for
any one at his instigation, to have pushed me over the ship's side. This
was the first time I had ever considered the peril of the undertaking. But
we arrived safe; and though on the same evening I left my name at the
captain's house, as that of the person who had taken away his mate, I never
heard more about it.

In pursuing my inquiries into the new topic suggested by Mr. Falconbridge,
I learnt that two of three of the seamen of the ship Thomas, which had been
arrived now nearly a year from the Coast, were in a very crippled and
deplorable state. I accordingly went to see them. One of them had been
attacked by a fever, arising from circumstances connected with these
voyages. The inflammation, which had proceeded from it, had reached his
eyes. It could not be dispersed; and the consequence was, that he was then
blind. The second was lame. He had badly ulcerated legs, and appeared to be
very weak. The third was a mere spectre. I think he was the most pitiable
object I ever saw. I considered him as irrecoverably gone. They all
complained to me of their bad usage on board the Thomas. They said they had
heard of my being in Bristol, and they hoped I would not leave it, without
inquiring into the murder of William Lines.

On inquiring who William Lines was, they informed me that he had been one
of the crew of the same ship, and that all on board believed that he had
been killed by the chief mate; but they themselves had not been present
when the blows were given him. They had not seen him till afterwards; but
their shipmates had told them of his cruel treatment, and they knew that
soon afterwards he had died.

In the course of the next day, the mother of Lines, who lived in Bristol,
came to me and related the case. I told her there was no evidence as to the
fact, for that I had seen three seamen, who could not speak to it from
their own knowledge. She said, there were four others then in Bristol who
could. I desired her to fetch them. When they arrived I examined each
separately, and cross-examined them in the best manner I was able. I could
find no variation in their account, and I was quite convinced that the
murder had taken place. The mother was then importunate that I should take
up the case. I was too much affected by the narration I had heard to refuse
her wholly, and yet I did not promise that I would. I begged a little time
to consider of it. During this I thought of consulting my friend Burges.
But I feared he would throw cold water upon it, as he had done in the case
of the captain of the Alfred. I remembered well what he had then said to
me, and yet I felt a strong disposition to proceed. For the trade was still
going on. Every day, perhaps, some new act of barbarity was taking place.
And one example, if made, might counteract the evil for a time. I seemed,
therefore to incline to stir in this matter, and thought, if I should get
into any difficulty about it, it would be better to do it without
consulting Mr. Burges, than, after having done it, to fly as it were in his
face. I then sent for the woman, and told her, that she might appear with
the witnesses at the Common Hall, where the magistrates usually sat on a
certain day.

We all met at the time appointed, and I determined to sit as near to the
mayor as I could get. The hall was unusually crowded. One or two
slave-merchants, and two or three others, who were largely concerned in the
West India trade, were upon the bench. For I had informed the mayor the day
before of my intention, and he, it appeared, had informed them. I shall
never forget the savage looks which these people gave me; which indeed were
so remarkable, as to occasion the eyes of the whole court to be turned upon
me. They looked as if they were going to speak to me, and the people looked
as if they expected me to say something in return. They then got round the
mayor, and began to whisper to him, as I supposed, on the business before
it should come on. One of them, however, said aloud to the former, but
fixing his eyes upon me, and wishing me to overhear him, "Scandalous
reports had lately been spread, but sailors were not used worse in
Guineamen than in other vessels." This brought the people's eyes upon me
again. I was very much irritated, but I thought it improper to say any
thing. Another, looking savagely at me, said to the mayor, "that he had
known captain Vicars a long time; that he was an honourable man[A], and
would not allow such usage in his ship. There were always vagabonds to
hatch up things:" and he made a dead point at me, by putting himself into a
posture which attracted the notice of those present, and by staring me in
the face, I could now no longer restrain myself, and I said aloud in as
modest a manner as I could, "You, sir, may know many things which I do not.
But this I know, that if you do not do your duty, you are amenable to a
higher court." The mayor upon this looked at me, and directly my friend Mr.
Burges, who was sitting as the clerk to the magistrates, went to him and
whispered something in his ear; after which all private conversation
between the mayor and others ceased, and the hearing was ordered to come
on.

[Footnote A: We may well imagine what this person's notion of another man's
honour was; for he was the purser of the Brothers and of the Alfred, who,
as before mentioned, sent the captains of those ships out a second voyage,
after knowing their barbarities in the former. And he was also the purser
of this very ship Thomas, where the murder had been committed. I by no
means, however, wish by these observations to detract from the character of
captain Vicars, as he had no concern in the cruel deed.]

I shall not detain the reader by giving an account of the evidence which
then transpired. The four witnesses were examined, and the case was so far
clear. Captain Vicars, however, was sent for. On being questioned, he did
not deny that there had been bad usage, but said that the young man had
died of the flux. But this assertion went for nothing when balanced against
the facts which had come out; and this was so evident, that an order was
made out for the apprehension of the chief mate. He was accordingly taken
up. The next day, however, there was a rehearing of the case, when he was
returned to the gaol, where he was to lie till the Lords of the Admiralty
should order a sessions to be held for the trial of offences committed on
the high seas.

This public examination of the case of William Lines, and the way in which
it ended, produced an extraordinary result; for after this time the
slave-captains and mates, who used to meet me suddenly, used as suddenly to
start from me, indeed to the other side of the pavement, as if I had been a
wolf, or tiger, or some dangerous beast of prey. Such of them as saw me
before hand, used to run up the cross streets or lanes, which were nearest
to them, to get away. Seamen, too, came from various quarters to apply to
me for redress. One came to me, who had been treated ill in the Alexander,
when Mr. Falconbridge had been the surgeon of her. Three came to me, who
had been ill-used in the voyage which followed, though she had then sailed
under a new captain. Two applied to me from the Africa, who had been of her
crew in the last voyage. Two from the Fly. Two from the Wasp. One from the
Little Pearl, and three from the Pilgrim or Princess, when she was last
upon the coast.

The different scenes of barbarity, which these represented to me, greatly
added to the affliction of my mind. My feelings became now almost
insupportable. I was agonized to think that this trade should last another
day. I was in a state of agitation from morning till night. I determined I
would soon leave Bristol. I saw nothing but misery in the place. I had
collected now, I believed, all the evidence it would afford; and to stay in
it a day longer than was necessary, would be only an interruption for so
much time both of my happiness and of my health. I determined therefore to
do only two or three things, which I thought to be proper, and to depart in
a few days.

And first I went to Bath, where I endeavoured to secure the respectable
paper belonging to that city in favour of the abolition of the Slave-trade.
This I did entirely to my satisfaction, by relating to the worthy editor
all the discoveries I had made, and by impressing his mind in a forcible
manner on the subject. And it is highly to the honour of Mr. Crutwell, that
from that day he never ceased to defend our cause; that he never made a
charge for insertions of any kind; but that he considered all he did upon
this occasion in the light of a duty, or as his mite given in charity to a
poor and oppressed people.

The next attempt was to lay the foundation of a commitee in Bristol, and of
a petition to Parliament from it for the abolition of the Slave-trade. I
had now made many friends. A gentleman of the name of Paynter had felt
himself much interested in my labours. Mr. Joseph Harford, a man of
fortune, of great respectability of character, and of considerable
influence, had attached himself to the cause. Dr. Fox had assisted me in
it. Mr. Hughes, a clergyman of the Baptist church, was anxious and ready to
serve it; Dr. Camplin, of the Establishment, with several of his friends,
continued steady. Matthew Wright, James Harford, Truman Harford, and all
the Quakers to a man, were strenuous, and this on the best of principles,
in its support. To all these I spoke, and I had the pleasure of seeing that
my wishes were likely in a short time to be gratified in both these cases.

It was now necessary that I should write to the commitee in London. I had
written to them only two letters, during my absence; for I had devoted
myself so much to the great object I had undertaken, that I could think of
little else. Hence some of my friends among them were obliged to write to
different persons at Bristol, to inquire if I was alive. I gave up a day or
two, therefore, to this purpose. I informed the commitee of all my
discoveries in the various branches to which my attention had been
directed, and desired them in return to procure me various official
documents for the port of London, which I then specified. Having done this,
I conferred with Mr. Falconbridge, relative to being with me at Liverpool.
I thought it right to make him no other offer than that his expenses should
be paid. He acceded to my request on these disinterested terms; and I took
my departure from Bristol, leaving him to follow me in a few days.



CHAPTER XVII.

_Author secures the Glocester paper, and lays the foundation of a petition
from that city--does the same at Worcester--and at Chester--arrives at
Liverpool--collects specimens of African produce--also imports and
exports--and muster-rolls--and accounts of dock-duties--and iron
instruments used in the Slave-trade--His introduction to Mr. Norris, and
others--Author and his errand become known--People visit him out of
curiosity--Frequent controversies on the subject of the Slave-trade._


On my arrival at Glocester, I waited upon my friend Dean Tucker. He was
pleased to hear of the great progress I had made since he left me. On
communicating to him my intention of making interest with the editors of
some provincial papers, to enlighten the public mind, and with the
inhabitants of some respectable places, for petitions to Parliament,
relative to the abolition of the Slave-trade, he approved of it, and
introduced me to Mr. Raikes, the proprietor of the respectable paper
belonging to that city. Mr. Raikes acknowledged, without any hesitation,
the pleasure he should have in serving such a noble cause; and he promised
to grant me, from time to time, a corner in his paper, for such things as I
might point out to him for insertion. This promise he performed afterwards,
without any pecuniary consideration, and solely on the ground of
benevolence. He promised also his assistance as to the other object, for
the promotion of which I left him several of my Summary Views to
distribute.

At Worcester I trod over the same ground, and with the same success.
Timothy Bevington, of the religious society of the Quakers, was the only
person to whom I had an introduction there. He accompanied me to the mayor,
to the editor of the Worcester paper, and to several others, before each of
whom I pleaded the cause of the oppressed Africans in the best manner I was
able. I dilated both on the inhumanity and on the impolicy of the trade,
which I supported by the various facts recently obtained at Bristol. I
desired, however, as far as petitions were concerned, (and this desire I
expressed on all other similar occasions,) that no attempt should be made
to obtain these, till such information had been circulated on the subject,
that every one, when called upon, might judge, from his knowledge of it,
how far he would feel it right to join in it. For this purpose I left also
here several of my Summary Views for distribution.

After my arrival at Chester, I went to the bishop's residence, but I found
he was not there. Knowing no other person in the place, I wrote a note to
Mr. Cowdroy, whom I understood to be the editor of the Chester paper,
soliciting an interview with him. I explained my wishes to him on both
subjects. He seemed to be greatly rejoiced, when we met, that such a
measure as that of the abolition of the Slave-trade was in contemplation.
Living at so short a distance from Liverpool, and in a county from which so
many persons were constantly going to Africa, he was by no means ignorant,
as some were, of the nature of this cruel traffic; but yet he had no notion
that I had probed it so deeply, or that I had brought to light such
important circumstances concerning it, as he found by my conversation. He
made me a hearty offer of his services on this occasion, and this expressly
without fee or reward. I accepted them most joyfully and gratefully. It
was, indeed, a most important thing, to have a station so near the enemy's
camp, where we could watch their motions, and meet any attack which might
be made from it. And this office of a sentinel Mr. Cowdroy performed with
great vigilance; and when he afterwards left Chester for Manchester, to
establish a paper there, he carried with him the same friendly disposition
towards our cause.

My first introduction at Liverpool was to William Rathbone, a member of the
religious society of the Quakers. He was the same person, who, before the
formation of our commitee, had procured me copies of several of the
muster-rolls of the slave-vessels belonging to that port, so that, though
we were not personally known, yet we were not strangers to each other.
Isaac Hadwen, a respectable member of the same society, was the person whom
I saw next. I had been introduced to him, previously to my journey, when he
was at London, at the yearly meeting of the Quakers, so that no letter to
him was necessary. As Mr. Roscoe had generously given the profits of The
Wrongs of Africa to our commitee, I made no scruple of calling upon him.
His reception of me was very friendly, and he introduced me afterwards to
Dr. Currie, who had written the preface to that poem. There was also a
fourth, upon whom I called, though I did not know him. His name was Edward
Rushton. He had been an officer in a slave-ship, but had lost his sight,
and had become an enemy to that trade. On passing through Chester, I had
heard, for the first time, that he had published a poem called West-Indian
Eclogues, with a view of making the public better acquainted with the evil
of the Slave-trade, and of exciting their indignation against it. Of the
three last it may be observed, that, having come forward thus early, as
labourers, they deserve to be put down, as I have placed them in the map,
among the forerunners and coadjutors in this great cause, for each
published his work before any efforts were made publicly, or without
knowing that any were intended. Rushton, also, had the boldness, though
then living in Liverpool, to affix his name to his work. These were the
only persons whom I knew for some time after my arrival in that place.

It may not, perhaps, be necessary to enter so largely into my proceedings
at Liverpool as at Bristol. The following account, therefore, may suffice.

In my attempts to add to my collection of specimens of African produce, I
was favoured with a sample of gum ruber astringens, of cotton from the
Gambia, of indigo and musk, of long pepper, of black pepper from Whidàh, of
mahogany from Calabàr, and of cloths of different colours, made by the
natives, which, while they gave other proofs of the quality of their own
cotton, gave proofs also, of the variety of their dyes.

I made interest at the Custom-house for various exports and imports, and
for copies of the muster-rolls of several slave-vessels, besides those of
vessels employed in other trades.

By looking out constantly for information on this great subject, I was led
to the examination of a printed card or table of the dock-duties of
Liverpool, which was published annually. The town of Liverpool had so risen
in opulence and importance, from only a fishing-village, that the
corporation seemed to have a pride in giving a public view of this
increase. Hence they published and circulated this card. Now the card
contained one, among other facts, which was almost as precious, in a
political point of view, as any I had yet obtained. It stated, that in the
year 1772, when I knew that a hundred vessels sailed out of Liverpool for
the coast of Africa, the dock-duties amounted to 4552_l_., and that in
1779, when I knew that, in consequence of the war, only eleven went from
thence to the same coast, they amounted to 4957_l_. From these facts, put
together, two conclusions were obvious. The first was, that the opulence of
Liverpool, as far as the entry of vessels into its ports, and the
dock-duties arising from thence, were concerned, was not indebted to the
Slave-trade; for these duties were highest when it had only eleven ships in
that employ. The second was, that there had been almost a practical
experiment with respect to the abolition of it; for the vessels in it had
been gradually reduced from one hundred to eleven, and yet the West Indians
had not complained of their ruin, nor had the merchants or manufacturers
suffered, nor had Liverpool been affected by the change.

[Illustration]

There were specimens of articles in Liverpool, which I entirely overlooked
at Bristol, and which I believe I should have overlooked here, also, had it
not been for seeing them at a window in a shop; I mean those of different
iron instruments used in this cruel traffic. I bought a pair of the iron
hand-cuffs with which the men-slaves are confined. The right-hand wrist of
one, and the left of another, are almost brought into contact by these, and
fastened together, as the figure A in the annexed plate represents, by a
little bolt with a small padlock at the end of it I bought also a pair of
shackles for the legs. These are represented by the figure B. The right
ancle of one man is fastened to the left of another, as the reader will
observe, by similar means. I bought these, not because it was difficult to
conceive how the unhappy victims of this execrable trade were confined, but
to show the fact that they were so. For what was the inference from it, but
that they did not leave their own country willingly; that, when they were
in the holds of the slave-vessels, they were not in the Elysium which had
been represented; and that there was a fear, either that they would make
their escape, or punish their oppressors? I bought also a thumb-screw at
this shop. The thumbs are put into this instrument through the two circular
holes at the top of it. By turning a key, a bar rises up by means of a
screw from C to D, and the pressure upon them becomes painful. By turning
it further you may make the blood start from the ends of them. By taking
the key away, as at E, you leave the tortured person in agony, without any
means of extricating himself, or of being extricated by others. This screw,
as I was then informed, was applied by way of punishment, in case of
obstinacy in the slaves, or for any other reputed offence, at the
discretion of the captain. At the same place I bought another instrument
which I saw. It was called a speculum oris. The dotted lines in the figure
on the right hand of the screw, represent it when shut, the black lines
when open. It is opened, as at G H, by a screw below with a knob at the end
of it. This instrument is known among surgeons, having been invented to
assist them in wrenching open the mouth as in the case of a locked jaw. But
it had got into use in this trade. On asking the seller of the instruments,
on what occasion it was used there, he replied, that the slaves were
frequently so sulky, as to shut their mouths against all sustenance, and
this with a determination to die; and that it was necessary their mouths
should be forced open to throw in nutriment, that they who had purchased
them might incur no loss by their death.

The town's talk of Liverpool was much of the same nature as that at Bristol
on the subject of this trade. Horrible facts concerning it were in every
body's mouth. But they were more numerous, as was likely to be the case,
where eighty vessels were employed from one port, and only eighteen from
the other. The people too at Liverpool seemed to be more hardened, or they
related them with more coldness or less feeling. This may be, accounted
for, from the greater number of those facts, as just related, the mention
of which, as it was of course more frequent, occasioned them to lose their
power of exciting surprise. All this I thought in my favour, as I should
more easily, or with less obnoxiousness, come to the knowledge of what I
wanted to obtain.

My friend William Rathbone, who had been looking out to supply me with
intelligence, but who was desirous that I should not be imposed upon, and
that I should get it from the fountain-head, introduced me to Mr. Norris
for this purpose. Norris had been formerly a slave-captain, but had quitted
the trade and settled as a merchant in a different line of business. He was
a man of quick penetration, and of good talents, which he had cultivated to
advantage, and he had a pleasing address both as to speech and manners. He
received me with great politeness, and offered me all the information I
desired. I was with him five or six times at his own house for this
purpose. The substance of his communications on these occasions I shall now
put down, and I beg the reader's particular attention to it, as he will be
referred to it in other parts of this work.

With respect to the produce of Africa, Mr. Norris enumerated many articles
in which a new and valuable trade might be opened, of which he gave me one,
namely, the black pepper from Whidàh before mentioned. This he gave me, to
use his own expressions, as one argument among many others of the impolicy
of the Slave-trade, which, by turning the attention of the inhabitants to
the persons of one another for sale, hindered foreigners from discovering,
and themselves from cultivating, many of the valuable productions of their
own soil.

On the subject of procuring slaves he gave it as his decided opinion, that
many of the inhabitants of Africa were kidnapped by each other, as they
were travelling on the roads, or fishing in the creeks, or cultivating
their little spots. Having learnt their language, he had collected the fact
from various quarters, but more particularly from the accounts of slaves,
whom he had transported in his own vessels. With respect however to Whidàh,
many came from thence, who were reduced to slavery in a different manner.
The king of Dahomey, whose life (with the wars and customs of the Dahomans)
he said he was then writing, and who was a very despotic prince, made no
scruple of seizing his own subjects, and of selling them, if he was in want
of any of the articles which the slave-vessels would afford him. The
history of this prince's life he lent me afterwards to read, while it was
yet in manuscript, in which I observed that he had recorded all the facts
now mentioned. Indeed he made no hesitation to state them, either when we
were by ourselves, or when others were in company with us. He repeated them
at one time in the presence both of Mr. Cruden and of Mr. Coupland. The
latter was then a slave-merchant at Liverpool. He seemed to be fired at the
relation of these circumstances. Unable to restrain himself longer, he
entered into a defence of the trade, both as to the humanity and the policy
of it. But Mr. Norris took up his arguments in both these cases, and
answered them in a solid manner.

With respect to the Slave-trade, as it affected the health of our seamen,
Mr. Norris admitted it to be destructive. But I did not stand in need of
this information, as I knew this pare of the subject, in consequence of my
familiarity with the muster-rolls, better than himself.

He admitted it also to be true, that they were too frequently ill-treated
in this trade. A day or two after our conversation on this latter subject
he brought me the manuscript journal of a voyage to Africa, which had been
kept by a mate, with whom he was then acquainted. He brought it to me to
read, as it might throw some light upon the subject on which we had talked
last. In this manuscript various instances of cruel usage towards seamen
were put down, from which it appeared that the mate, who wrote it, had not
escaped himself.

At the last interview we had he seemed to be so satisfied of the
inhumanity, injustice, and impolicy of the trade, that he made me a
voluntary offer of certain clauses, which he had been thinking of, and
which, he believed, if put into an act of parliament, would judiciously
effect its abolition. The offer of these clauses I embraced eagerly. He
dictated them, and I wrote. I wrote them in a small book which I had then
in pocket. They were these:

No vessel under a heavy penalty to supply foreigners with slaves.

Every vessel to pay to government a tax for a register on clearing out to
supply our own islands with slaves.

Every such vessel to be prohibited from purchasing or bringing home any of
the productions of Africa.

Every such vessel to be prohibited from bringing home a passenger, or any
article of produce, from the West Indies.

A bounty to be given to every vessel trading in the natural productions of
Africa. This bounty to be paid in part out of the tax arising from the
registers of the slave-vessels.

Certain establishments to be made by government in Africa, in the Bananas,
in the Isles de Los, on the banks of the Camaranca, and in other places,
for the encouragement and support of the new trade to be substituted there.

Such then were the services, which Mr. Morris, at the request of William
Rathbone, rendered me at Liverpool, during my stay there; and I have been
very particular in detailing them, because I shall be obliged to allude to
them, as I have before observed, on some important occasions in a future
part of the work.

On going my rounds one day, I met accidentally with captain Chaffers. This
gentleman either was or had been in the West India employ. His heart had
beaten in sympathy with mine, and he had greatly favoured our cause. He had
seen me at Mr. Norris's, and learned my errand there. He told me he could
introduce me in a few minutes, as we were then near at hand, to captain
Lace, if I chose it. Captain Lace, he said, had been long in the
Slave-trade, and could give me very accurate information about it. I
accepted his offer. On talking to captain Lace, relative to the productions
of Africa, he told me that mahogany grew at Calabàr. He began to describe a
tree of that kind, which he had seen there. This tree was from about
eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, and about sixty feet high, or, as
he expressed it, of the height of a tall chimney. As soon as he mentioned
Calabàr, a kind of horror came over me. His name became directly associated
in my mind with the place. It almost instantly occurred to me, that he
commanded the Edgar out of Liverpool, when the dreadful massacre there, as
has been related, took place. Indeed I seemed to be so confident of it,
that, attending more to my feelings than to my reason at this moment, I
accused him with being concerned in it. This produced great confusion among
us. For he looked incensed at captain Chaffers, as if he had introduced me
to him for this purpose. Captain Chaffers again seemed to be all
astonishment that I should have known of this circumstance, and to be vexed
that I should have mentioned it in such a manner. I was also in a state of
trembling myself. Captain Lace could only say it was a bad business. But he
never defended himself, nor those concerned in it. And we soon parted, to
the great joy of us all.

Soon after this interview I began to perceive that I was known in
Liverpool, as well as the object for which I came. Mr. Coupland, the
slave-merchant, with whom I had disputed at Mr. Norris's house, had given
the alarm to those who were concerned in the trade, and captain Lace, as
may be now easily imagined, had spread it. This knowledge of me and of my
errand was almost immediately productive of two effects, the first of which
I shall now mention.

I had a private room at the King's Arms tavern, besides my bed-room, where
I used to meditate and to write. But I generally dined in public. The
company at dinner had hitherto varied but little as to number, and
consisted of those, both from the town and country, who had been accustomed
to keep up a connection with the house. But now things were altered, and
many people came to dine there daily with a view of seeing me, as if I had
been some curious creature imported from foreign parts. They thought also,
they could thus have an opportunity of conversing with me. Slave-merchants
and slave-captains came in among others for this purpose. I had observed
this difference in the number of our company for two or three days. Dale,
the master of the tavern, had observed it also, and told me in a
good-natured manner, that, many of these were my visitors, and that I was
likely to bring him a great deal of custom. In a little time however things
became serious; for they, who came to see me, always started the abolition
of the Slave-trade as the subject for conversation. Many entered into the
justification of this trade with great warmth, as if to ruffle my temper,
or at any rate to provoke me to talk. Others threw out, with the same view,
that men were going about to abolish it, who would have done much better if
they had staid at home. Others said they had heard of a person turned mad,
who had conceived the thought of destroying Liverpool, and all its glory.
Some gave as a toast, Success to the Trade, and then laughed immoderately,
and watched me when I took my glass to see if I would drink it. I saw the
way in which things were now going, and I believed it would be proper that
I should come to some fixed resolutions; such as, whether I should change
my lodgings, and whether I should dine in private; and if not, what line of
conduct it would become me to pursue on such occasions. With respect to
changing my lodgings and dining in private, I conceived, if I were to do
either of these things, that I should be showing an unmanly fear of my
visitors, which they would turn to their own advantage. I conceived too,
that, if I chose to go on as before, and to enter into conversation with
them on the subject of the abolition of the Slave-trade, I might be able,
by having such an assemblage of persons daily, to gather all the arguments
which they could collect on the other side of our question, an advantage
which I should one day feel in the future management of the cause. With
respect to the line, which I should pursue in the case of remaining in the
place of my abode and in my former habits, I determined never to start the
subject of the abolition myself--never to abandon it when started--never to
defend it but in a serious and dignified manner--and never to discover any
signs of irritation, whatever provocation might be given me. By this
determination I abided rigidly. The King's Arms became now daily the place
for discussion on this subject. Many tried to insult me, but to no purpose.
In all these discussions I found the great advantage of having brought Mr.
Falconbridge with me from Bristol: for he was always at the table; and when
my opponents, with a disdainful look, tried to ridicule my knowledge, among
those present, by asking me if I had ever been on the coast of Africa
myself, he used generally to reply, "But I have. I know all your
proceedings there, and that his statements are true." These and other words
put in by him, who was an athletic and resolute-looking man, were of great
service to me. All disinterested persons, of whom there were four or five
daily in the room, were uniformly convinced by our arguments, and took our
part, and some of them very warmly. Day after day we beat our opponents out
of the field, as many of the company acknowledged, to their no small
mortification, in their presence. Thus, while we served the cause by
discovering all that could be said against it, we served it by giving
numerous individuals proper ideas concerning it, and of interesting them in
our favour.

The second effect which I experienced was, that from this time I could
never get any one to come forward as an evidence to serve the cause. There
were, I believe, hundreds of persons in Liverpool, and in the neighbourhood
of it, who had been concerned in this traffic, and who had left it, all of
whom could have given such testimony concerning it as would have insured
its abolition. But none of them would now speak out. Of these indeed there
were some, who were alive to the horrors of it, and who lamented that it
should still continue. But yet even these were backward in supporting me.
All that they did was just privately to see me, to tell me that I was
right, and to exhort me to persevere: but as to coming forward to be
examined publicly, my object was so unpopular, and would become so much
more so when brought into parliament, that they would have their houses
pulled down, if they should then appear as public instruments in the
annihilation of the trade. With this account I was obliged to rest
satisfied; nor could I deny, when I considered the spirit, which had
manifested itself, and the extraordinary number of interested persons in
the place, that they had some reason for their fears: and that these fears
were not groundless, appeared afterwards; for Dr. Binns, a respectable
physician belonging to the religious society of the Quakers, and to whom
Isaac Hadwen had introduced me, was near falling into a mischievous plot,
which had been laid against him, because he was one of the subscribers to
the Institution for the Abolition of the Slave-trade, and because he was
suspected of having aided me in prompting that object.



CHAPTER XVIII.

_Hostile disposition towards the author increases, on account of his known
patronage of the seamen employed in the Slave-trade--manner of procuring
and paying them at Liverpool--their treatment, and mortality--Account of
the murder of Peter Green--trouble taken by the author to trace it--his
narrow escape--goes to Lancaster--but returns to Liverpool--leaves the
latter place._


It has appeared that a number of persons used to come and see me, out of
curiosity, at the King's Arms tavern; and that these manifested a bad
disposition towards me, which was near breaking out into open insult. Now
the cause of all this was, as I have observed, the knowledge which people
had obtained, relative to my errand at this place. But this hostile
disposition was increased by another circumstance, which I am now to
mention. I had been so shocked at the treatment of the seamen belonging to
the slave-vessels at Bristol, that I determined, on my arrival at
Liverpool, to institute an inquiry concerning it there also. I had made
considerable progress in it, so that few seamen were landed from such
vessels, but I had some communication with them; and though no one else
would come near me, to give me any information about the trade, these were
always forward to speak to me, and to tell me their grievances, if it were
only with the hope of being able to get redress. The consequence of this
was, that they used to come to the King's Arms tavern to see me. Hence one,
two, and three were almost daily to be found about the door; and this
happened quite as frequently after the hostility just mentioned had shown
itself, as before. They, therefore, who came to visit me out of curiosity,
could not help seeing my sailor visitors; and on inquiring into their
errand, they became more than ever incensed against me.

The first result of this increased hostility towards me was an application
from some of them to the master of the tavern, that he would not harbour
me. This he communicated to me in a friendly manner, but he was by no means
desirous that I should leave him. On the other hand, he hoped I would stay
long enough to accomplish my object. I thought it right, however, to take
the matter into consideration; and, having canvassed it, I resolved to
remain with him, for the reasons mentioned in the former chapter. But, that
I might avoid doing any thing that would be injurious to his interest, as
well as in some measure avoid giving unnecessary offence to others, I took
lodgings in Williamson Square, where I retired to write, and occasionally
to sleep, and to which place all seamen, desirous of seeing me, were
referred. Hence I continued to get the same information as before, but in a
less obnoxious and injurious manner.

The history of the seamen employed in the slave-vessels belonging to the
port of Liverpool, I found to be similar to that of those from Bristol.

They, who went into this trade, were of two classes. The first consisted of
those who were ignorant of it, and to whom, generally, improper
representations of advantage had been made, for the purpose of enticing
them into it. The second consisted of those, who, by means of a regular
system, kept up by the mates and captains, had been purposely brought by
their landlords into distress, from which they could only be extricated by
going into this hateful employ. How many have I seen, with tears in their
eyes, put into boats, and conveyed to vessels, which were then lying at the
Black Rock, and which were only waiting to receive them to sail away!

The manner of paying them in the currency of the Islands was the same as at
Bristol. But this practice was not concealed at Liverpool, as it was at the
former place. The articles of agreement were printed, so that all, who
chose to buy, might read them. At the same time it must be observed, that
seamen were never paid in this manner in any other employ; and that the
African wages, though nominally higher for the sake of procuring hands,
were thus made to be actually lower than in other trades.

The loss by death was so similar, that it did not signify whether the
calculation on a given number was made either at this or the other port. I
had, however, a better opportunity at this, than I had at the other, of
knowing the loss as it related to those, whose constitutions had been
ruined, or who had been rendered incapable, by disease, of continuing their
occupation at sea. For the slave-vessels, which returned to Liverpool,
sailed immediately into the docks, so that I saw at once their sickly and
ulcerated crews. The number of vessels, too, was so much greater from this,
than from any other port, that their sick made a more conspicuous figure in
the infirmary. And they were seen also more frequently in the streets.

With respect to their treatment, nothing could be worse. It seemed to me to
be but one barbarous system from the beginning to the end. I do not say
barbarous, as if premeditated, but it became so in consequence of the
savage habits gradually formed by a familiarity with miserable sights, and
with a course of action inseparable from the trade. Men in their first
voyages usually disliked the traffic; and, if they were happy enough then
to abandon it, they usually escaped the disease of a hardened heart. But if
they went a second and a third time, their disposition became gradually
changed. It was impossible for them to be accustomed to carry away men and
women by force, to keep them in chains, to see their tears, to hear their
mournful lamentations, to behold the dead and the dying, to be obliged to
keep up a system of severity amidst all this affliction,--in short, it was
impossible for them to be witnesses, and this for successive voyages, to
the complicated mass of misery passing in a slave-ship, without losing
their finer feelings, or without contracting those habits of moroseness and
cruelty, which would brutalize their nature. Now, if we consider that
persons could not easily become captains (and to these the barbarities were
generally chargeable by actual perpetration, or by consent) till they had
been two or three voyages in this employ, we shall see the reason why it
would be almost a miracle, if they, who were thus employed in it, were not
rather to become monsters, than to continue to be men.

While I was at Bristol, I heard from an officer of the Alfred, who gave me
the intelligence privately, that the steward of a Liverpool ship, whose
name was Green, had been murdered in that ship. The Alfred was in Bonny
river at the same time, and his own captain (so infamous for his cruelty,
as has been before shown) was on board when it happened. The circumstances,
he said, belonging to this murder, were, if report were true, of a most
atrocious nature, and deserved to be made the subject of inquiry. As to the
murder itself, he observed, it had passed as a notorious and uncontradicted
fact.

This account was given me just as I had made an acquaintance with Mr.
Falconbridge, and I informed him of it. He said he had no doubt of its
truth. For in his last voyage he went to Bonny himself, where the ship was
then lying, in which the transaction happened. The king and several of the
black traders told him of it. The report then current was simply this, that
the steward had been barbarously beaten one evening; that after this he was
let down with chains upon him into a boat, which was alongside of the ship,
and that the next morning he was found dead.

On my arrival at Liverpool, I resolved to inquire into the truth of this
report. On looking into one of the wet docks, I saw the name of the vessel
alluded to. I walked over the decks of several others, and got on board
her. Two people were walking up and down her, and one was leaning upon a
rail by the side. I asked the latter how many slaves this ship had carried
in her last voyage. He replied, he could not tell; but one of the two
persons walking about could answer me, as he had sailed out and returned in
her. This man came up to us, and joined in conversation. He answered my
question and many others, and would have shown me the ship. But on asking
him how many seamen had died on the voyage, he changed his manner, and
said, with apparent hesitation, he could not tell. I asked him next, what
had become of the steward Green. He said, he believed he was dead. I asked
how the seamen had been used. He said, Not worse than others. I then asked
whether Green had been used worse than others. He replied, he did not then
recollect. I found that he was now quite upon his guard, and as I could get
no satisfactory answer from him I left the ship.

On the next day, I looked over the muster-roll of this vessel. On examining
it, I found that sixteen of the crew had died. I found also the name of
Peter Green. I found, again, that the latter had been put down among the
dead. I observed also, that the ship had left Liverpool on the fifth of
June 1786, and had returned on the fifth of June 1787, and that Peter Green
was put down as having died on the nineteenth of September; from all which
circumstances it was evident that he must, as my Bristol information
asserted, have died upon the Coast.

Notwithstanding this extraordinary coincidence of name, mortality, time,
and place, I could gain no further intelligence about the affair till
within about ten days before I left Liverpool; when among the seamen, who
came to apply to me in Williamson Square, was George Ormond. He came to
inform me of his own ill-usage; from which circumstance I found that he had
sailed in the same ship with Peter Green. This led me to inquire into the
transaction in question, and I received from him the following, account:--

Peter Green had been shipped as steward. A black woman, of the name of
Rodney, went out in the same vessel. She belonged to the owners of it, and
was to be an interpretess to the slaves who should be purchased. About five
in the evening, some time in the month of September, the vessel then lying
in Bonny river, the captain, as was his custom, went on shore. In his
absence, Rodney, the black woman, asked Green for the keys of the pantry;
which he refused her, alleging that the captain had already beaten him for
having given them to her on a former occasion, when she drunk the wine. The
woman, being passionate, struck him, and a scuffle ensued, out of which
Green extricated himself as well as he could.

When the scuffle was over the woman retired to the cabin, and appeared
pensive. Between eight and nine in the evening, the captain, who was
attended by the captain of the Alfred, came on board. Rodney immediately
ran to him, and informed him that Green had made an assault upon her. The
captain, without any inquiry, beat him severely, and ordered his hands to
be made fast to some bolts on the starboard side of the ship and under the
half deck, and then flogged him himself, using the lashes of the
cat-of-nine-tails upon his back at one time, and the double walled knot at
the end of it upon his head at another; and stopping to rest at intervals,
and using each hand alternately, that he might strike with the greater
severity.

The pain, had now become so very severe, that Green cried out, and
entreated the captain of the Alfred, who was standing by, to pity his hard
case, and to intercede for him. But the latter replied, that he would have
served him in the same manner. Unable to find a friend here, he called upon
the chief mate; but this only made matters worse, for the captain then
ordered the latter to flog him also; which he did for some time, using
however only the lashes of the instrument. Green then called in his
distress upon the second mate to speak for him; but the second mate was
immediately ordered to perform the same cruel office, and was made to
persevere in it till the lashes were all worn into threads. But the
barbarity did not close here: for the captain, on seeing the instrument now
become useless, ordered another, with which he flogged him as before,
beating him at times over the head with the double walled knot, and
changing his hands, and cursing his own left hand for not being able to
strike so severe a blow as his right.

The punishment, as inflicted by all parties, had now lasted two hours and a
half, when George Ormond was ordered to cut down one of the arms, and the
boatswain the other, from the places of their confinement. This being done,
Green lay motionless on the deck. He attempted to utter something. Ormond
understood it to be the word water. But no water was allowed him. The
captain, on the other hand, said he had not yet done with him, and ordered
him to be confined with his arms across, his right hand to his left foot,
and his left hand to his right foot. For this purpose the carpenter brought
shackles, and George Ormond was compelled to put them on. The captain then
ordered some tackle to be made fast to the limbs of the said Peter Green,
in which situation he was then hoisted up, and afterwards let down into a
boat, which was lying alongside the ship. Michael Cunningham was then sent
to loose the tackle, and to leave him there.

In the middle watch, or between one and two next morning, George Ormond
looked out of one of the port-holes, and called to Green, but received no
answer. Between two and three, Paul Berry, a seaman, was sent down into the
boat and found him dead. He made his report to one of the officers of the
ship. About five in the morning, the body was brought up, and laid on the
waist near the half-deck door. The captain on seeing the body, when he
rose, expressed no concern, but ordered it to be knocked out of irons, and
to be buried at the usual place of interment for seamen, or Bonny Point. I
may now observe, that the deceased was in good health before the punishment
took place, and in high spirits; for he played upon the flute only a short
time before Rodney asked him for the keys, while those seamen, who were in
health, danced.

On hearing this cruel relation from George Ormond, who was throughout a
material witness to the scene, I had no doubt in my own mind of the truth
of it. But I thought it right to tell him at once that I had seen a person,
about four weeks ago, who had been the same voyage with him and Peter
Green, but yet who had no recollection of these circumstances. Upon this he
looked quite astonished, and began to grow angry. He maintained he had seen
the whole. He had also held the candle himself during the whole punishment.
He asserted that one candle and half of another were burnt out while it
lasted. He said also that, while the body lay in the waist, he had handled
the abused parts, and had put three of his fingers into a hole, made by the
double walled knot, in the head, from whence a quantity of blood and, he
believed, brains issued. He then challenged me to bring the man before him.
I desired him upon this to be cool, and to come to me the next day, and I
would then talk with him again upon the subject.

In the interim I consulted the muster-roll of the vessel again. I found the
name of George Ormond. He had sailed in her out of Liverpool, and had been
discharged at the latter end of January in the West Indies, as he had told
me. I found also the names of Michael Cunningham and of Paul Berry, whom he
had mentioned. It was obvious also that Ormond's account of the captain of
the Alfred being on board at the time of the punishment, tallied with that
given me at Bristol by an officer of that vessel, and that his account of
letting down Peter Green into the boat tallied with that, which Mr.
Falconbridge, as I mentioned before, had heard from the king and the black
traders in Bonny river.

When he came to me next day, he came in high spirits. He said he had found
out the man whom I had seen. The man, however, when he talked to him about
the murder of Peter Green, acknowledged every thing concerning it. Ormond
intimated that this man was to sail again in the same ship under the
promise of being an officer, and that he had been kept on board, and had
been enticed to a second voyage, for no other purpose than that he might be
prevented from divulging the matter. I then asked Ormond, whether he
thought the man would acknowledge the murder in my hearing. He replied,
that, if I were present, he thought he would not say much about it, as he
was soon to be under the same captain, but that he would not deny it. If
however I were out of sight, though I might be in hearing, he believed he
would acknowledge the facts.

By the assistance of Mr. Falconbridge, I found a public-house, which had
two rooms in it. Nearly at the top of the partition between them was a
small window, which a person might look through by standing upon a chair. I
desired Ormond, one evening, to invite the man into the larger room, in
which he was to have a candle, and to talk with him on the subject. I
purposed to station myself in the smallest in the dark, so that by looking
through the window I could both see and hear him, and yet be unperceived
myself. The room, in which I was to be, was one, where the dead were
frequently carried to be owned. We were all in our places at the time
appointed. I directly discovered that it was the same man with whom I had
conversed on board the ship in the wet docks. I heard him distinctly relate
many of the particulars of the murder, and acknowledge them all. Ormond,
after having talked with him some time, said, "Well, then, you believe
Peter Green was actually murdered?" He replied, "If Peter Green was not
murdered, no man ever was." What followed I do not know. I had heard quite
enough; and the room was so disagreeable in smell, that I did not choose to
stay in it longer than was absolutely necessary.

I was now quite satisfied that the murder had taken place, and my first
thought was to bring the matter before the mayor, and to take up three of
the officers of the ship. But, in mentioning my intention to my friends, I
was dissuaded from it. They had no doubt but that in Liverpool, as there
was now a notion that the Slave-trade would become a subject of
parliamentary inquiry, every effort would be made to overthrow me. They
were of opinion also that such of the magistrates, as were interested in
the trade, when applied to for warrants of apprehension, would contrive to
give notice to the officers to escape. In addition to this they believed,
that so many in the town were already incensed against me, that I should be
torn to pieces, and the house where I lodged burnt down, if I were to make
the attempt. I thought it right therefore to do nothing for the present;
but I sent Ormond to London, to keep him out of the way of corruption, till
I should make up my mind as to further proceedings on the subject.

It is impossible, if I observe the bounds I have prescribed myself, and I
believe the reader will be glad of it on account of his own feelings, that
I should lay open the numerous cases, which came before me at Liverpool,
relative to the ill treatment of the seamen in this wicked trade. It may be
sufficient to say, that they harassed my constitution, and affected my
spirits daily. They were in my thoughts on my pillow after I retired to
rest, and I found them before my eyes when I awoke. Afflicting however as
they were, they were of great use in the promotion of our cause. For they
served, whatever else failed, as a stimulus to perpetual energy. They made
me think light of former labours, and they urged me imperiously to new. And
here I may observe, that among the many circumstances, which ought to
excite our joy on considering the great event of the abolition of the
Slave-trade, which has now happily taken place, there are few for which we
ought to be more grateful, than that from this time our commerce ceases to
breed such abandoned wretches; while those, who have thus been bred in it,
and who may yet find employment in other trades, will in the common course
of nature be taken off in a given time, so that our marine will at length
be purified from a race of monsters, which have helped to cripple its
strength, and to disgrace its character.

The temper of many of the interested people of Liverpool had now become
still more irritable, and their hostility more apparent than before. I
received anonymous letters, entreating me to leave it, or I should
otherwise never leave it alive. The only effect, which this advice had upon
me, was to make me more vigilant when I went out at night. I never stirred
out at this time without Mr. Falconbridge. And he never accompanied me
without being well armed. Of this, however, I knew nothing until we had
left the place. There was certainly a time, when I had reason to believe
that I had a narrow escape. I was one day on the pier-head with many others
looking at some little boats below at the time of a heavy gale. Several
persons, probably out of curiosity, were hastening thither. I had seen all
I intended to see, and was departing, when I noticed eight or nine persons
making towards me. I was then only about eight or nine yards from the
precipice of the pier, but going from it. I expected that they would have
divided to let me through them; instead of which they closed upon me and
bore me back. I was borne within a yard of the precipice, when I discovered
my danger; and perceiving among them the murderer of Peter Green, and two
others who had insulted me at the King's Arms, it instantly struck me that
they had a design to throw me over the pier-head; which they might have
done at this time, and yet have pleaded that I had been killed by accident.
There was not a moment to lose. Vigorous on account of the danger, I darted
forward. One of them, against whom I pushed myself, fell down. Their ranks
were broken. And I escaped, not without blows, amidst their imprecations
and abuse.

I determined now to go to Lancaster, to make some inquiries about the
Slave-trade there. I had a letter of introduction to William Jepson, one of
the religious society of the Quakers, for this purpose. I found from him,
that, though there were slave-merchants at Lancaster, they made their
outfits at Liverpool, as a more convenient port. I learnt too from others,
that the captain of the last vessel, which had sailed out of Lancaster to
the coast of Africa for slaves, had taken off so many of the natives
treacherously, that any other vessel known to come from it would be cut
off. There were only now one or two superannuated captains living in the
place. Finding I could get no oral testimony, I was introduced into the
Custom-house. Here I just looked over the muster-rolls of such
slave-vessels as had formerly sailed from this port; and having found that
the loss of seamen was precisely in the same proportion as elsewhere, I
gave myself no further trouble, but left the place.

On my return to Liverpool, I was informed by Mr. Falconbridge, that a
shipmate of Ormond, of the name of Patrick Murray, who had been discharged
in the West Indies, had arrived there. This man, he said, had been to call
upon me in my absence, to seek redress for his own bad usage; but in the
course of conversation he had confirmed all the particulars as stated by
Ormond, relative to the murder of Peter Green. On consulting the
muster-roll of the ship, I found his name, and that he had been discharged
in the West Indies on the second of February. I determined therefore to see
him. I cross-examined him in the best manner I could. I could neither make
him contradict himself, nor say any thing that militated against the
testimony of Ormond. I was convinced therefore of the truth of the
transaction; and, having obtained his consent, I sent him to London to stay
with the latter, till he should hear further from me. I learnt also from
Mr. Falconbridge, that my visitors had continued to come to the King's Arms
during my absence; that they had been very liberal of their abuse of me;
and that one of them did not hesitate to say (which is remarkable) that "I
deserved to be thrown over the pier-head."

Finding now that I could get no further evidence; that the information
which I had already obtained was considerable[A]; and that the commitee had
expressed an earnest desire, in a letter which I had received, that I would
take into consideration the propriety of writing my Essay on the Impolicy
of the Slave-trade as soon possible, I determined upon leaving Liverpool. I
went round accordingly and took leave of my friends. The last of these was
William Rathbone, and I have to regret, that it was also the last time I
ever saw him. Independently of the gratitude I owed him for assisting me in
this great cause, I respected him highly as a man. He possessed a fine
understanding with a solid judgment. He was a person of extraordinary
simplicity of manners. Though he lived in a state of pecuniary
independence, he gave an example of great temperance, as well as of great
humility of mind. But however humble he appeared, he had always the courage
to dare to do that which was right, however it might resist the customs or
the prejudices of men. In his own line of trade, which was that of a
timber-merchant on an extensive scale, he would not allow any article to be
sold for the use of a slave-ship, and he always refused those, who applied
to him for materials for such purposes. But it is evident that it was his
intention, if he had lived, to bear his testimony still more publicly upon
this subject; for an advertisement, stating the ground of his refusal to
furnish any thing for this traffic upon Christian principles, with a
memorandum for two advertisements in the Liverpool papers, was found among
his papers at his decease.

[Footnote A: In London, Bristol and Liverpool, I had already obtained the
names of more than 20,000 seamen, in different voyages, knowing what had
become of each.]



CHAPTER XIX.

_Author proceeds to Manchester--finds a spirit rising among the people
there for the abolition of the Slave-trade--is requested to deliver a
discourse on the subject of the Slave-trade--heads of it--and
extracts--proceeds to Keddleston--and Birmingham--finds a similar spirit at
the latter place--revisits Bristol--new and difficult situation
there--Author crosses the Severn at night--unsuccessful termination of his
journey--returns to London._


I now took my departure from Liverpool, and proceeded to Manchester, where
I arrived on the Friday evening. On the Saturday morning Mr. Thomas Walker,
attended by Mr. Cooper and Mr. Bayley of Hope, called upon me. They were
then strangers to me. They came, they said, having heard of my arrival, to
congratulate me on the spirit which was then beginning to show itself,
among the people of Manchester and of other places, on the subject of the
Slave-trade, and which would unquestionably manifest itself further by
breaking out into petitions to parliament for its abolition. I was much
surprised at this information. I had devoted myself so entirety to my
object, that I had never had time to read a newspaper since I left London.
I never knew therefore, till now, that the attention of the public had been
drawn to the subject in such a manner. And as to petitions, though I myself
had suggested the idea at Bridgewater, Bristol, Gloucester, and two or
three other places, I had only done it provisionally, and this without
either the knowledge or the consent of the commitee. The news, however, as
it astonished, so it almost overpowered me with joy. I rejoiced in it
because it was a proof of the general good disposition of my countrymen;
because it showed me that the cause was such as needed only to be known, to
be patronised; and because the manifestation of this spirit seemed to me to
be an earnest, that success would ultimately follow.

The gentlemen now mentioned took me away with them, and introduced me to
Mr. Thomas Phillips. We conversed at first upon the discoveries made in my
journey; but in a little time, understanding that I had been educated as a
clergyman, they came upon me with one voice, as if it had been before
agreed upon, to deliver a discourse the next day, which was Sunday, on the
subject of the Slave-trade. I was always aware that it was my duty to do
all that I could with propriety to serve the cause I had undertaken, and
yet I found myself embarrassed at their request. Foreseeing, as I have
before related, that this cause might demand my attention to it for the
greatest part of my life, I had given up all thoughts of my profession. I
had hitherto but seldom exercised it, and then only to oblige some friend.
I doubted too, at the first view of the thing, whether the pulpit ought to
be made an engine for political purposes, though I could not but consider
the Slave-trade as a mass of crimes, and therefore the effort to get rid of
it as a Christian duty. I had an idea too, that sacred matters should not
be entered upon without due consideration, nor prosecuted in a hasty, but
in a decorous and solemn manner. I saw besides, that as it was then two
o'clock in the afternoon, and this sermon was to be forthcoming the next
day, there was not sufficient time to compose it properly. All these
difficulties I suggested to my new friends without any reserve. But nothing
that I could urge would satisfy them. They would not hear of a refusal, and
I was obliged to give my consent, though I was not reconciled to the
measure.

When I went into the church it was so full that I could scarcely get to my
place; for notice had been publicly given, though I knew nothing of it,
that such a discourse would be delivered. I was surprised also to find a
great crowd of black people standing round the pulpit. There might be forty
or fifty of them. The text that I took, as the best to be found in such a
hurry, was the following: "Thou shalt not oppress a stranger, for ye know
the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."

I took an opportunity of showing from these words, that Moses, in
endeavouring to promote among the Children of Israel a tender disposition
towards those unfortunate strangers who had come under their dominion,
reminded them of their own state when strangers in Egypt, as one of the
most forcible arguments which could be used on such an occasion. For they
could not have forgotten that the Egyptians "had made them serve with
rigour; that they had made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar,
and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; and that all the
service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour." The argument
therefore of Moses was simply this; "Ye knew well, when ye were strangers
in Egypt, the nature of your own feelings. Were you not made miserable by
your debased situation there? But if so, you must be sensible that the
stranger, who has the same heart, or the same feelings with yourselves,
must experience similar suffering, if treated in a similar manner. I charge
you then, knowing this, to stand clear of the crime of his oppression."

The law, then, by which Moses commanded the Children of Israel to regulate
their conduct with respect to the usage of the stranger, I showed to be a
law of universal and eternal obligation, and for this, among other reasons,
that it was neither more nor less than the Christian law, which appeared
afterwards, that we should not do that to others, which we should be
unwilling to have done unto ourselves.

Having gone into these statements at some length, I made an application of
them in the following words:--

"This being the case, and this law of Moses being afterwards established
into a fundamental precept of Christianity, I must apply it to facts of the
present day, and I am sorry that I must apply it to--ourselves.

"And first, Are there no strangers, whom we oppress? I fear the wretched
African will say, that he drinks the cup of sorrow, and that he drinks it
at our hands. Torn from his native soil, and from his family and friends,
he is immediately forced into a situation, of all others the most
degrading, where he and his progeny are considered as cattle, as
possessions, and as the possessions of a man to whom he never gave offence.

"It is a melancholy fact, but it can be abundantly proved, that great
numbers of the unfortunate strangers, who are carried from Africa to our
colonies, are fraudulently and forcibly taken from their native soil. To
descant but upon a single instance of the kind must be productive of pain
to the ear of sensibility and freedom. Consider the sensations of the
person, who is thus carried off by the ruffians, who have been lurking to
intercept him. Separated from every thing which he esteems in life, without
the possibility even of bidding his friends adieu, behold him overwhelmed
in tears--wringing his hands in despair--looking backwards upon the spot
where all his hopes and wishes lay,--while his family at home are waiting
for him with anxiety and suspense--are waiting, perhaps, for
sustenance--are agitated between hope and fear--till length of absence
confirms the latter, and they are immediately plunged into inconceivable
misery and distress.

"If this instance, then, is sufficiently melancholy of itself, and is at
all an act of oppression, how complicated will our guilt appear, who are
the means of snatching away thousands annually in the same manner, and who
force them and their families into the same unhappy situation, without
either remorse or shame!"

Having proceeded to show, in a more particular manner than I can detail
here, how, by means of the Slave-trade, we oppressed the stranger, I made
an inquiry into the other branch of the subject, or how far we had a
knowledge of his heart.

To elucidate this point, I mentioned several specific instances, out of
those which I had collected in my journey, and which I could depend upon as
authentic, of honour--gratitude--fidelity--filial, fraternal, and conjugal
affection--and of the finest sensibility, on the part of those, who had
been brought into our colonies from Africa, in the character of slaves, and
then I proceeded for a while in the following words:--

"If, then, we oppress the stranger, as I have shown, and if, by a knowledge
of his heart, we find that he is a person of the same passions and feelings
as ourselves, we are certainly breaking, by means of the prosecution of the
Slave-trade, that fundamental principle of Christianity, which says, that
we shall not do that unto another, which we wish should not be done unto
ourselves, and, I fear, cutting ourselves off from all expectation of the
Divine blessing. For how inconsistent is our conduct! We come into the
temple of God; we fall prostrate before him; we pray to him, that he will
have mercy upon us. But how shall he have mercy upon us, who have had no
mercy upon others! We pray to him, again, that he will deliver us from
evil. But how shall he deliver us from evil, who are daily invading the
right of the injured African, and heaping misery on his head!"

I attempted, lastly, to show, that, though the sin of the Slave-trade had
been hitherto a sin of ignorance, and might therefore have so far been
winked at, yet as the crimes and miseries belonging to it became known, it
would attach even to those who had no concern in it, if they suffered it to
continue either without notice or reproach, or if they did not exert
themselves in a reasonable manner for its suppression. I noticed
particularly, the case of Tyre and Sidon, which were the Bristol and the
Liverpool of those times. A direct judgment had been pronounced by the
prophet Joel against these cities, and, what is remarkable, for the
prosecution of this same barbarous traffic. Thus, "And what have ye to do
with me O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? Ye have cast
lots for my people. Ye have sold a girl for wine. The children of Judah,
and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might
remove them far from their own border. Behold! I will raise them out of the
place whither ye have sold them, and will recompense your wickedness on
your own heads." Such was the language of the prophet; and Tyre and Sidon
fell, as he had pointed out, when the inhabitants were either cut off, or
carried into slavery.

Having thrown out these ideas to the notice of the audience, I concluded in
the following words:--

"If, then, we wish to avert the heavy national judgment which is hanging
over our heads (for must we not believe that our crimes towards the
innocent Africans lie recorded against us in heaven) let us endeavour to
assert their cause. Let us nobly withstand the torrent of the evil, however
inveterately it may be fixed among the customs of the times; not, however,
using our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness against those, who perhaps
without due consideration, have the misfortune to be concerned in it, but
upon proper motives, and in a proper spirit, as the servants of God; so
that if the sun should be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
and the very heaven should fall upon us, we may fall in the general
convulsion without dismay, conscious that we have done our duty in
endeavouring to succour the distressed, and that the stain of the blood of
Africa is not upon us."

From Manchester I proceeded to Keddleston in Derbyshire, to spend a day
with Lord Scarsdale, and to show him my little collection of African
productions, and to inform him of my progress since I last saw him. Here a
letter was forwarded to me from the reverend John Toogood, of Keinton Magna
in Dorsetshire, though I was then unknown to him. He informed me that he
had addressed several letters to the inhabitants of his own county, through
their provincial paper, on the subject of the Slave-trade, which letters
had produced a considerable effect. It appeared, however, that, when he
began them, he did not know of the formation of our commitee, or that he
had a single coadjutor in the cause.

From Keddleston I turned off to Birmingham, being desirous of visiting
Bristol in my way to London, to see if any thing new had occurred since I
was there. I was introduced by letter, at Birmingham, to Sampson and
Charles Lloyd, the brothers of John Lloyd, belonging to our commitee, and
members of the religious society of the Quakers. I was highly gratified in
finding that these, in conjunction with Mr. Russell, had been attempting to
awaken the attention of the inhabitants to this great subject, and that in
consequence of their laudable efforts, a spirit was beginning to show
itself there, as at Manchester, in favour of the abolition of the
Slave-trade. The kind manner in which these received me, and the deep
interest which they appeared to take in our cause, led me to an esteem for
them, which, by means of subsequent visits, grew into a solid friendship.

At length I arrived at Bristol at about ten o'clock on Friday morning. But
what was my surprise, when almost the first thing I heard from my friend
Harry Gandy was, that a letter had been dispatched to me to Liverpool,
nearly a week ago, requesting me immediately to repair to this place; for
that in consequence of notice from the Lords of the Admiralty, advertised
in the public papers, the trial of the chief mate, whom I had occasioned to
be taken up at Bristol, for the murder of William Lines, was coming on at
the Old Bailey, and that not an evidence was to be found. This intelligence
almost paralysed me. I cannot describe my feelings on receiving it. I
reproached myself with my own obstinacy for having resisted the advice of
Mr. Burges, as has been before explained. All his words now came fresh into
my mind. I was terrified, too, with the apprehension that my own reputation
was now at stake. I foresaw all the calumnies which would be spread, if the
evidences were not forthcoming on this occasion. I anticipated, also, the
injury which the cause itself might sustain, if, at our outset, as it were,
I should not be able to substantiate what I had publicly advanced; and yet
the mayor of Bristol had heard and determined the case,--he had not only
examined, but re-examined, the evidences,--he had not only committed, but
re-committed, the accused: this was the only consolation I had. I was
sensible, however, amidst all these workings of my mind, that not a moment
was to be lost, and I began, therefore, to set on foot an inquiry as to the
absent persons.

On waiting upon the mother of William Lines, I learnt from her, that two
out of four of the witnesses had been bribed by the slave-merchants, and
sent to sea, that they might not be forthcoming at the time of the trial;
that the two others had been tempted also, but that they had been enabled
to resist the temptation; that, desirous of giving their testimony in this
cause, they had gone into some coal-mine between Neath and Swansea, where
they might support themselves till they should be called for; and that she
had addressed a letter to them, at the request of Mr. Gandy, above a week
ago, in which she had desired them to come to Bristol immediately, but that
she had received no answer from them. She then concluded, either that her
letter had miscarried, or that they had left the place.

I determined to lose no time, after the receipt of this intelligence; and I
prevailed upon a young man, whom my friend Harry Gandy had recommended to
me, to set off directly, and to go in search of them. He was to travel all
night, and to bring them, or, if weary himself with his journey, to send
them up, without ever sleeping on the road. It was now between twelve and
one in the afternoon. I saw him depart. In the interim I went to
Thompson's, and other places, to inquire if any other of the seamen,
belonging to the Thomas, were to be found; but, though I hunted diligently
till four o'clock, I could learn nothing satisfactory. I then went to
dinner, but I grew uneasy. I was fearful that my messenger might be at a
loss, or that he might want assistance on some occasion or other. I now
judged that it would have been more prudent if two persons had been sent,
who might have conferred with each other, and who might have divided, when
they had reached Neath, and gone to different mines, to inquire for the
witnesses. These thoughts disturbed me. Those, also, which had occurred
when I first heard of the vexatious way in which things were situated,
renewed themselves painfully to my mind. My own obstinacy in resisting the
advice of Mr. Burges, and the fear of injury to my own reputation, and to
that of the cause I had undertaken, were again before my eyes. I became
still more uneasy; and I had no way of relieving my feelings, but by
resolving to follow the young man, and to give him all the aid in my power.

It was now near six o'clock. The night was cold and rainy, and almost dark.
I got down, however, safe to the passage-house, and desired to be conveyed
across the Severn. The people in the house tried to dissuade me from my
design. They said no one would accompany me, for it was quite a tempest. I
replied, that I would pay those handsomely who would go with me. A person
present asked me if I would give him three guineas for a boat, I replied I
would. He could not for shame retract. He went out, and in about half an
hour brought a person with him. We were obliged to have a lanthorn as far
as the boat. We got on board, and went off. But such a passage I had never
before witnessed. The wind was furious. The waves ran high. I could see
nothing but white foam. The boat, also, was tossed up and down in such a
manner that it was with great difficulty I could keep my seat. The rain,
too, poured down in such torrents, that we were all of us presently wet
through. We had been, I apprehend, more than an hour in this situation,
when the boatmen began to complain of cold and weariness. I saw, also, that
they began to be uneasy, for they did not know where they were. They had no
way of forming any judgment about their course, but by knowing the point
from whence the wind blew, and by keeping the boat in a relative position
towards it. I encouraged them as well as I could, though I was beginning to
be uneasy myself, and also sick. In about a quarter of an hour they began
to complain again. They said they could pull no longer. They acknowledged,
however, that they were getting nearer to the shore, though on what part of
it, they could not tell. I could do nothing but bid them hope. They then
began to reproach themselves for having come out with me. I told them I had
not forced them, but that it was a matter of their own choice. In the midst
of this conversation I informed them that I thought I saw either a star or
a light straight forward. They both looked at it, and pronounced it to be a
light, and added with great joy that it must be a light in the
Passage-house: and so we found it; for in about ten minutes afterwards we
landed, and, on reaching the house, learnt that a servant maid had been
accidentally talking to some other person on the stair-case, near a window,
with a candle in her hand, and that the light had appeared to us from that
circumstance.

It was now near eleven o'clock. My messenger, it appeared, had arrived safe
at about five in the evening, and had proceeded on his route. I was very
cold on my arrival, and sick also. There seemed to be a chilliness all over
me, both within and without. Indeed I had not a dry thread about me. I took
some hot brandy and water, and went to bed; but desired, as soon as my
clothes were thoroughly dried, to be called up, that I might go forward.
This happened at about two in the morning, when I got up. I took my
breakfast by the fire side. I then desired the post-boy, if he should meet
any persons on the road, to stop, and inform me, as I did not know whether
the witnesses might not be coming up by themselves, and whether they might
not have passed my messenger without knowing his errand. Having taken these
precautions, I departed. I travelled on, but we met no one. I traced,
however, my messenger through Newport, Cardiff, and Cowbridge. I was
assured, also, that he had not passed me on his return; nor had any of
those passed me, whom he was seeking. At length, when I was within about
two miles of Neath, I met him. He had both the witnesses under his care.
This was a matter of great joy to me. I determined to return with them. It
was now nearly two in the afternoon. I accordingly went back, but we did
not reach the Passage-house again till nearly two the next morning.

During our journey, neither the wind nor the rain had much abated. It was
quite dark on our arrival. We found only one person, and he had been
sitting up in expectation of us. It was in vain that I asked him for a boat
to put us across the water. He said all the boatmen were in bed; and, if
they were up, he was sure that none of them would venture out. It was
thought a mercy by all of them, that we were not lost last night.
Difficulties were also started about horses to take us another way. Unable
therefore to proceed, we took refreshment and went to bed.

We arrived at Bristol between nine and ten the next morning; but I was so
ill, that I could go no further; I had been cold and shivering ever since
my first passage across the Severn, and I had now a violent sore throat,
and a fever with it. All I could do was to see the witnesses off for
London, and to assign them to the care of an attorney, who should conduct
them to the trial. For this purpose I gave them a letter to a friend of the
name of Langdale. I saw them depart. The mother of William Lines
accompanied them. By a letter received on Tuesday, I learnt that they had
not arrived in town till Monday morning at three o'clock; that at about
nine or ten they found out the office of Mr. Langdale; that, on inquiring
for him, they heard he was in the country, but that he would be home at
noon; that, finding he had not then arrived, they acquainted his clerk with
the nature of their business, and opened my letter to show him the contents
of it; that the clerk went with them to consult some other person on the
subject, when he conveyed them to the Old Bailey; but that, on inquiring at
the proper place about the introduction of the witnesses, he learnt that
the chief mate had been brought to the bar in the morning, and, no person
then appearing against him, that he had been discharged by proclamation.
Such was the end of all my anxiety and labour in this affair. I was very
ill when I received the letter; but I saw the necessity of bearing up
against the disappointment, and I endeavoured to discharge the subject from
my mind with the following wish, that the narrow escape which the chief
mate had experienced, and which was entirely owing to the accidental
circumstances now explained, might have the effect, under Providence, of
producing in him a deep contrition for his offence, and of awakening him to
a serious attention to his future life[A].

[Footnote A: He had undoubtedly a narrow escape, for Mr. Langdale's clerk
had learnt that he had no evidence to produce in his favour. The
slave-merchants, it seems, had counted most upon bribing those, who were to
come against him, to disappear.]

I was obliged to remain in Bristol a few days longer in consequence of my
illness; but as soon as I was able I reached London, when I attended a
sitting of the commitee after an absence of more than five months. At this
commitee it was strongly recommended to me to publish a second edition of
my Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, and to insert
such of the facts in it, in their proper places, out of those collected in
my late travels, as I might judge to be productive of an interesting
effect. There appeared also an earnest desire in the commitee, that,
directly after this, I should begin my Essay on the Impolicy of the
Slave-trade.

In compliance with their wishes, I determined upon both these works. But I
resolved to retire into the country, that, by being subject to less
interruption there, I might the sooner finish them. It was proper, however,
that I should settle many things in London, before I took my departure from
it; and, among these, that I should find out George Ormond and Patric
Murray, whom I had sent from Liverpool on account of the information they
had given me relative to the murder of Peter Green. I saw no better way
than to take them before Sir Sampson Wright, who was then at the head of
the police of the metropolis. He examined, and cross-examined them several
times, and apart from each other. He then desired their evidence to be
drawn up in the form of depositions, copies of which he gave to me. He had
no doubt that the murder would be proved. The circumstances of the deceased
being in good health at nine o'clock in the evening, and of his severe
sufferings till eleven, and of the nature of the wounds discovered to have
been made on his person, and of his death by one in the morning, could
never, he said, be done away, by any evidence, who should state that he had
been subject to other disorders, which might have occasioned his decease.
He found himself therefore compelled to apply to the magistrates of
Liverpool, for the apprehension of three of the principal officers of the
ship. But the answer was, that the ship had sailed, and that they, whose
names had been specified, were then, none of them, to be found in
Liverpool.

It was now for me to consider, whether I would keep the two witnesses,
Ormond and Murray, for a year, or perhaps longer, at my own expense, and
run the hazard of the death of the officers in the interim, and of other
calculable events. I had felt so deeply for the usage of the seamen in this
cruel traffic, which indeed had embittered all my journey, that I had no
less than nine prosecutions at law upon my hands on their account, and
nineteen witnesses detained at my own cost. The commitee in London could
give me no assistance in these cases. They were the managers of the public
purse for the abolition of the Slave-trade, and any expenses of this kind
were neither within the limits of their object, nor within the pale of
their duty. From the individuals belonging to it, I picked up a few guineas
by way of private subscription, and this was all. But a vast load still
remained upon me, and such as had occasioned uneasiness to my mind. I
thought it therefore imprudent to detain the evidences for this purpose for
so long a time, and I sent them back to Liverpool. I commenced, however, a
prosecution against the captain at common law for his barbarous usage of
them, and desired that it might be pushed on as vigorously as possible; and
the result was, that his attorney was so alarmed, particularly after
knowing what had been done by Sir Sampson Wright, that he entered into a
compromise to pay all the expenses of the suit hitherto incurred, and to
give Ormond and Murray a sum of money as damages for the injury which they
themselves had sustained. This compromise was acceded to. The men received
the money, and signed the release, (of which I insisted upon a copy,) and
went to sea again in another trade, thanking me for my interference in
their behalf. But by this copy, which I have now in my possession, it
appears that care was taken by the captain's attorney to render their
future evidence in the case of Peter Green, almost impracticable; for it
was there wickedly stated, "that George Ormond and Patric Murray did then
and there bind themselves in certain penalties, that they would neither
encourage nor support any action at law against the said captain, by or at
the suit or prosecution of any other of the seamen now or late on board the
said ship, and that they released the said captain also from all manner of
actions, suits, and cause and causes of action, informations, prosecutions,
and other proceedings, which they then had, or ever had, or could or might
have by reason of the said assaults upon their own persons, or _other
wrongs or injuries done by the said captain heretofore and to the date of
this release_[A]."

[Footnote A: None of the nine actions before mentioned ever came to a
trial, but they were all compromised by paying sums to the injured
parties.]



CHAPTER XX.

_Labours of the commitee during the author's journey--Quakers the first to
notice its institution--General Baptists the next--Correspondence opened
with American societies for Abolition--First individual who addressed the
commitee was Mr. William Smith--Thanks voted to Ramsay--commitee prepares
lists of persons to whom to send its publications--Barclay, Taylor, and
Wedgwood elected members of the commitee--Letters from Brissot, and
others--Granville Sharp elected chairman--Seal ordered to be engraved
--Letters from different correspondents as they offered their services to
the commitee._


The commitee, during my absence, had attended regularly at their posts.
They had been both vigilant and industrious. They were, in short, the
persons, who had been the means of raising the public spirit, which I had
observed first at Manchester, and afterwards as I journeyed on. It will be
proper, therefore, that I should now say something of their labours, and of
the fruits of them. And if, in doing this, I should be more minute for a
few pages than some would wish, I must apologize for myself by saying that
there are others, who would be sorry to lose the knowledge of the
particular manner in which the foundation was laid, and the superstructure
advanced, of a work, which will make so brilliant an appearance in our
history as that of the abolition of the Slave-trade.

The commitee having dispersed five hundred circular letters, giving an
account of their institution, in London and its neighbourhood, the Quakers
were the first to notice it. This they did in their yearly epistle, of
which the following is an extract:--"We have also thankfully to believe
there is a growing attention in many, not of our religious Society, to the
subject of Negro-slavery; and that the minds of the people are more and
more enlarged to consider it as an aggregate of every species of evil, and
to see the utter inconsistency of upholding it by the authority of any
nation whatever, especially of such as punish, with loss of life, crimes
whose magnitude bears scarce any proportion to this complicated iniquity."

The General Baptists were the next; for on the twenty-second of June,
Stephen Lowdell and Dan Taylor attended as a deputation from the annual
meeting of that religious body, to inform the commitee, that those, whom
they represented, approved their proceedings, and that they would
countenance the object of their institution.

The first individual, who addressed the commitee, was Mr. William Smith,
the present member for Norwich. In his letter he expressed the pleasure he
had received in finding persons associated in the support of a cause, in
which he himself had taken a deep interest. He gave them advice as to their
future plans. He promised them all the cooperation in his power: and he
exhorted them not to despair, even if their first attempt should be
unsuccessful; "for consolation," says he, "will not be wanting. You may
rest satisfied that the attempt will be productive of some good; that the
fervent wishes of the righteous will be on your side, and that the blessing
of those who are ready to perish will fall upon you." And as Mr. Smith was
the first person to address the commitee as an individual after its
formation, so, next to Mr. Wilberforce and the members of it, he gave the
most time and attention to the promotion of the cause.

On the fifth of July, the commitee opened a correspondence, by means of
William Dillwyn, with the societies of Philadelphia and New York, of whose
institution an account has been given. At this sitting a due sense was
signified of the services of Mr. Ramsay, and a desire of his friendly
communications when convenient.

The two next meetings were principally occupied in making out lists of the
names of persons in the country, to whom the commitee should send their
publications for distribution. For this purpose every member was to bring
in an account of those whom he knew personally, and whom he believed not
only to be willing, but qualified on account of their judgment and the
weight of their character, to take an useful part in the work, which was to
be assigned to them. It is a remarkable circumstance, that, when the lists
were arranged, the commitee, few as they were, found they had friends in no
less then thirty-nine counties[A], in each of which there were several, so
that a knowledge of their institution could now be soon diffusively spread.

[Footnote A: The Quakers by means of their discipline have a greater
personal knowledge of each other, than the members of any other religious
society. But two-thirds of the commitee were Quakers, and hence the
circumstance is explained. Hence also nine-tenths of our first coadjutors
were Quakers.]

The commitee, having now fixed upon their correspondents, ordered five
hundred of the circular letters, which have been before mentioned, and five
thousand of the Summary Views, an account of which has been given also, to
be printed.

On account of the increase of business, which was expected in consequence
of the circulation of the preceding publications, Robert Barclay, John
Vickris Taylor, and Josiah Wedgwood esquire, were added to the commitee;
and it was then resolved, that any three members might call a meeting when
necessary.

On the twenty-seventh of August, the new correspondents began to make their
appearance. This sitting was distinguished by the receipt of letters from
two celebrated persons. The first was from Brissot, dated Paris, August the
eighteenth, who, it may be recollected, was an active member of the
National Convention of France, and who suffered in the persecution of
Robespiere. The second was from Mr. John Wesley, whose useful labours as a
minister of the gospel are so well known to our countrymen.

Brissot, in this letter, congratulated the members of the commitee, on
having come together for so laudable an object. He offered his own
assistance towards the promotion of it. He desired also that his valuable
friend Claviere (who suffered also under Robespiere) might be joined to
him, and that both might be acknowledged by the commitee as associates in
what he called this heavenly work. He purposed to translate and circulate
through France, such publications as they might send him from time to time,
and to appoint bankers in Paris, who might receive subscriptions and remit
them to London for the good of their common cause. In the mean time, if his
own countrymen should be found to take an interest in this great cause, it
was not improbable that a commitee might be formed in Paris, to endeavour
to secure the attainment of the same object from the government in France.

The thanks of the commitee were voted to Brissot for this disinterested
offer of his services, and he was elected an honorary and corresponding
member. In reply, however, to his letter it was stated, that, as the
commitee had no doubt of procuring from the generosity of their own nation
sufficient funds for effecting the object of their institution, they
declined the acceptance of any pecuniary aid from the people of France, but
recommended him to attempt the formation of a commitee in his own country,
and to inform them of his progress, and to make to them such other
communications as he might deem necessary upon the subject from time to
time.

Mr. Wesley, whose letter was read next, informed the commitee of the great
satisfaction which he also had experienced, when he heard of their
formation. He conceived that their design, while it would destroy the
Slave-trade, would also strike at the root of the shocking abomination of
slavery also. He desired to forewarn them that they must expect
difficulties and great opposition from those who were interested in the
system; that these were a powerful body; and that they would raise all
their forces, when they perceived their craft to be in danger. They would
employ hireling writers, who would have neither justice nor mercy. But the
commitee were not to be dismayed by such treatment, nor even if some of
those, who professed good-will towards them, should turn against them. As
for himself, he would do all he could to promote the object of their
institution. He would reprint a new and large edition of his Thought on
Slavery, and circulate, it among his friends in England and Ireland, to
whom he would add a few words in favour of their design. And then he
concluded in these words: "I commend you to Him, who is able to carry you
through all opposition, and support you under all discouragements."

On the fourth, eleventh, and eighteenth of September, the commitee were
employed variously. Among other things they voted their thanks to Mr.
Leigh, a clergyman of the established church, for the offer of his services
for the county of Norfolk. They ordered also one thousand of the circular
letters to be additionally printed.

At one of these meetings a resolution was made, that Granville Sharp,
esquire, be appointed chairman. This appointment, though now first formally
made in the minute book, was always understood to have taken place; but the
modesty of Mr. Sharp was such, that, though repeatedly pressed, he would
never consent to take the chair, and he generally refrained from coming
into the room till after he knew it to be taken. Nor could he be prevailed
upon, even after this resolution, to alter his conduct: for though he
continued to sign the papers, which were handed to him by virtue of holding
this office, he never was once seated as the chairman during the twenty
years in which he attended at these meetings. I thought it not improper to
mention this trait in his character. Conscious that he engaged in the cause
of his fellow-creatures solely upon the sense of his duty as a Christian,
he seems to have supposed either that he had done nothing extraordinary to
merit such a distinction, or to have been fearful lest the acceptance of it
should bring a stain upon the motive, on which alone he undertook it.

[Illustration]

On the second and sixteenth of October two sittings took place; at the
latter of which a sub-commitee, which had been appointed for the purpose,
brought in a design for a seal. An African was seen, (as in the figure[A],)
in chains in a supplicating posture, kneeling with one knee upon the
ground, and with both his hands lifted up to Heaven, and round the seal was
observed the following motto, as if he was uttering the words himself--"Am
I not a Man and a Brother?" The design having been approved of, a seal was
ordered to be engraved from it. I may mention here, that this seal, simple
as the design was, was made to contribute largely, as will be shown in its
proper place, towards turning the attention of our countrymen to the case
of the injured Africans, and of procuring a warm interest in their favour.

[Footnote A: The figure is rather larger than that in the seal.]

On the thirtieth of October several letters were read; one of these was
from Brissot and Claviere conjointly. In this they acknowledged the
satisfaction they had received on being considered as associates in the
humane work of the abolition of the Slave-trade, and correspondents in
France for the promotion of it. They declared it to be their intention to
attempt the establishment of a commitee there on the same principles as
that in England: but, in consequence of the different constitutions of the
two governments, they gave the commitee reason to suppose that their
proceedings must be different, as well as slower than those in England, for
the same object.

A second letter was read from Mr. John Wesley. He said that he had now read
the publications, which the commitee had sent him, and that he took, if
possible, a still deeper interest in their cause. He exhorted them to more
than ordinary diligence and perseverance; to be prepared for opposition; to
be cautious about the manner of procuring information and evidence, that no
stain might fall upon their character; and to take care that the question
should be argued as well upon the consideration of interest as of humanity
and justice, the former of which he feared would have more weight than the
latter; and he recommended them and their glorious concern, as before, to
the protection of Him who was able to support them.

Letters were read from Dr. Price, approving the institution of the
commitee; from Charles Lloyd of Birmingham, stating the interest which the
inhabitants of that town were taking in it; and from William Russell,
esquire, of the same place, stating the same circumstance, and that he
would cooperate with the former in calling a public meeting, and in doing
whatever else was necessary for the promotion of so good a cause. A letter
was read also from Manchester, signed conjointly by George Barton, Thomas
Cooper, John Ferriar, Thomas Walker, Thomas Phillips, Thomas Butterworth
Bayley, and George Lloyd, esquires, promising their assistance for that
place. Two others were read from John Kerrich, esquire, of Harleston, and
from Joshua Grigby, esquire, of Drinkston, each tendering their services,
one for the county of Norfolk, and the other for the county of Suffolk. The
latter concluded by saying, "With respect to myself, in no possible
instance of my public conduct can I receive so much sincere satisfaction,
as I shall by the vote I will most assuredly give in parliament, in support
of this most worthy effort to suppress a traffic, which is contrary to all
the feelings of humanity, and the laws of our religion."

A letter was read also at this sitting from major Cartwright, of Marnham,
in which he offered his own services, in conjunction with those of the
reverend John Charlesworth, of Ossington, for the county of Nottingham.

"I congratulate you," says he in this letter, "on the happy prospect of
some considerable step at least being taken towards the abolition of a
traffic, which is not only impious in itself, but of all others tends most
to vitiate the human mind.

"Although procrastination is generally pernicious in cases depending upon
the feelings of the heart, I should almost fear that, without very uncommon
exertions, you will scarcely be prepared early in the next sessions for
bringing the business into parliament with the greatest advantage. But be
that as it may, let the best use be made of the intermediate time; and
then, if there be a superintending Providence, which governs every thing in
the moral world, there is every reason to hope for a blessing on this
particular work."

The last letter was from Robert Boucher Nickolls, dean of Middleham in
Yorkshire. In this he stated that he was a native of the West Indies, and
had travelled on the continent of America. He then offered some important
information to the commitee, as his mite towards the abolition of the
Slave-trade, and as an encouragement to them to persevere. He attempted to
prove that the natural increase of the Negros already in the West Indian
Islands would be fully adequate to the cultivation of them without any
fresh supplies from Africa, and that such natural increase would be secured
by humane treatment. With this view he instanced the two estates of Mr. Mac
Mahon and of Dr. Mapp in the island of Barbadoes. The first required
continual supplies of new slaves, in consequence of the severe and cruel
usage adopted upon it. The latter overflowed with labourers in consequence
of a system of kindness, so that it almost peopled another estate. Having
related these instances, he cited others in North America, where, though
the climate was less favourable to the constitution of the Africans, but
their treatment better, they increased also. He combated, from his own
personal knowledge, the argument that, self-interest was always sufficient
to ensure good usage, and maintained that there was only one way of
securing it, which was the entire abolition of the Slave-trade. He showed
in what manner the latter measure would operate to the desired end. He then
dilated on the injustice and inconsistency of this trade, and supported the
policy of the abolition of it, both to the planter, the merchant, and the
nation.

This letter of the Dean of Middleham, which was a little Essay, of itself,
was deemed of so much importance by the commitee, but particularly as it
was the result of local knowledge, that they not only passed a resolution
of thanks to him for it, but desired his permission to print it.

The commitee sat again on the thirteenth and twenty-second of November. At
the first of these sittings, a letter was read from Henry Grimston,
esquire, of Whitwell Hall, near York, offering his services for the
promotion of the cause in his own county. At the second, the Dean of
Middleham's answer was received. He acquiesced in the request of the
commitee; when five thousand of his letters were ordered immediately to be
printed.

On the twenty-second a letter was read from Mr. James Mackenzie, of the
town of Cambridge, desiring to forward the object of the institution there.
Two letters were read also, one from the late Mr. Jones, tutor of Trinity
College, and the other from Mr. William Frend, fellow of Jesus College. It
appeared from these that the gentlemen of the University of Cambridge were
beginning to take a lively interest in the abolition of the Slave-trade,
among whom Dr. Watson, the bishop of Llandaff, was particularly
conspicuous. At this commitee two thousand new Summary Views were ordered
to be printed, and the circular letter to be prefixed to each.



CHAPTER XXI.

_Labours of the commitee continued to February 1788--commitee elect new
members--vote thanks to Falconbridge and others--receive letters from Grove
and others--circulate numerous publications--make a report--send circular
letters to corporate bodies--release Negros unjustly detained--find new
correspondents in Archdeacon Paley--the Marquis de la Fayette--Bishop of
Cloyne--Bishop of Peterborough--and in many others._


The labours of the commitee, during my absence, were as I have now
explained them; but as I was obliged, almost immediately on joining them,
to retire into the country to begin my new work, I must give an account of
their further services till I joined them again, or till the middle of
February 1788.

During sittings which were held from the middle of December 1787 to the
eighteenth of January 1788, the business of the commitee had so increased,
that it was found proper to make an addition to their number. Accordingly
James Martin and William Morton Pitt, esquires, members of parliament, and
Robert Hunter, and Joseph Snath, esquires, were chosen members of it.

The knowledge also of the institution of the society had spread to such an
extent, and the eagerness among individuals to see the publications of the
commitee had been so great, that the press was kept almost constantly going
during the time now mentioned. No fewer than three thousand lists of the
subscribers, with a circular letter prefixed to them, explaining the object
of the institution, were ordered to be printed within this period, to which
are to be added fifteen hundred of Benezet's Account of Guinea, three
thousand of the Dean of Middleham's Letters, five thousand Summary Views,
and two thousand of a new edition of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human
Species, which I had enlarged before the last of these sittings from
materials collected in my late tour.

The thanks of the commitee were voted during this period to Mr. Alexander
Falconbridge, for the assistance he had given me in my inquiries into the
nature of the Slave-trade.

As Mr. Falconbridge had but lately returned from Africa, and as facts and
circumstances, which had taken place but a little time ago, were less
liable to objections (inasmuch as they proved the present state of things)
than those which had happened in earlier times, he was prevailed upon to
write an account of what he had seen during the four voyages he had made to
that continent; and accordingly, within the period which has been
mentioned, he began his work.

The commitee, during these sittings, kept up a correspondence with those
gentlemen who were mentioned in the last chapter to have addressed them.
But, besides these, they found other voluntary correspondents in the
following persons, Capel Lofft, esquire, of Troston, and the reverend R.
Brome of Ipswich, both in the county of Suffolk. These made an earnest
tender of their services for those parts of the county in which they
resided. Similar offers were made by Mr. Hammond of Stanton, near St. Ives,
in the county of Huntingdon, by Thomas Parker, esquire, of Beverley, and by
William Grove, esquire, of Litchfield, for their respective towns and
neighbourhoods.

A letter was received also within this period from the society established
at Philadelphia, accompanied with documents in proof of the good effects of
the manumission of slaves, and with specimens of writing and drawing by the
same. In this letter the society congratulated the commitee in London on
its formation, and professed its readiness to cooperate in any way in which
it could be made useful.

During these sittings, a letter was also read from Dr. Bathurst, now bishop
of Norwich, dated Oxford, December the seventeenth, in which he offered his
services in the promotion of the cause.

Another was read, which stated that Dr. Horne, president of Magdalen
College in the same university, and afterwards bishop of the same see as
the former, highly favoured it.

Another was read from Mr. Lambert, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in
which he signified to the commitee the great desire he had to promote the
object of their institution. He had drawn up a number of queries relative
to the state of the unhappy slaves in the islands, which he had transmitted
to a friend, who had resided in them, to answer. These answers he purposed
to forward to the commitee on their arrival.

Another was read from Dr. Hinchliffe, bishop of Peterborough, in which he
testified his hearty approbation of the institution, and of the design of
it, and his determination to support the object of it in parliament. He
gave in at the same time a plan, which he called Thoughts on the Means of
Abolishing the Slave-trade in Great Britain and in our West Indian Islands,
for the consideration of the commitee.

At the last of these sittings, the commitee thought it right to make a
report to the public relative to the state and progress of their cause; but
as this was composed from materials, which the reader has now in his
possession, it may not be necessary to produce it.

On the twenty-second and twenty-ninth of January, and on the fifth and
twelfth of February, 1788, sittings were also held. During these, the
business still increasing, John Maitland, esquire, was elected a member of
the commitee.

As the correspondents of the commitee were now numerous, and as these
solicited publications for the use of those who applied to them, as well as
of those to whom they wished to give a knowledge of the subject, the press
was kept in constant employ during this period also. Five thousand two
hundred and fifty additional Reports were ordered to be printed, and also
three thousand of Falconbridge's Account of the Slave-trade, the manuscript
of which was now finished. At this time, Mr. Newton, rector of St. Mary
Woolnoth in London, who had been in his youth to the coast of Africa, but
who had now become a serious and useful divine, felt it his duty to write
his Thoughts on the African Slave-trade. The commitee, having obtained
permission, printed three thousand copies of these also.

During these sittings, the chairman was requested to have frequent
communication with Dr. Porteus, bishop of London, as he had expressed his
desire of becoming useful to the institution.

A circular letter also, with the report before mentioned, was ordered to be
sent to the mayors of several corporate towns.

A case also occurred, which it may not be improper to notice. The treasurer
reported that he had been informed by the chairman, that the captain of the
Albion merchant ship, trading to the Bay of Honduras, had picked up at sea
from a Spanish ship, which had been wrecked, two black men, one named Henry
Martin Burrowes, a free native of Antigua, who had served in the royal
navy, and the other named Antonio Berrat, a Spanish Negro; that the said
captain detained these men on board his ship, then lying in the river
Thames, against their will; and that he would not give them up. Upon this
report, it was resolved that the cause of these unfortunate captives should
be espoused by the commitee. Mr. Sharp accordingly caused a writ of
habeas-corpus to be served upon them; soon after which he had the
satisfaction of reporting, that they had been delivered from the place of
their confinement.

During these sittings the following letters were read also:

One from Richard How, of Apsley, offering his services to the commitee.

Another from the reverend Christopher Wyvill, of Burton Hall in Yorkshire,
to the same effect.

Another from Archdeacon Plymley, (now Corbett,) in which he expressed the
deep interest he took in this cause of humanity and freedom, and the desire
he had of making himself useful as far as he could towards the support of
it; and he wished to know, as the clergy of the diocese of Litchfield and
Coventry were anxious to espouse it also, whether a petition to parliament
from them, as a part of the established church, would not be desirable at
the present season.

Another from Archdeacon Paley, containing his sentiments on a plan for the
abolition of the Slave-trade, and the manumission of slaves in our islands,
and offering his future services, and wishing success to the undertaking.

Another from Dr. Sharp, prebendary of Durham, inquiring into the probable
amount of the subscriptions which might be wanted, and for what purposes,
with a view of serving the cause.

Another from Dr. Woodward, bishop of Cloyne, in which he approved of the
institution of the commitee. He conceived the Slave-trade to be no less
disgraceful to the legislature and injurious to the true commercial
interests of the country, than it was productive of unmerited misery to die
unhappy objects of it, and repugnant both to the principles and the spirit
of the Christian religion. He wished to be placed among the asserters of
the liberty of his fellow-creatures, and he was therefore desirous of
subscribing largely, as well as of doing all he could, both in England and
Ireland, for the promotion of such a charitable work.

A communication was made, soon after the reading of the last letter,
through the medium of the Chevalier de Ternant, from the celebrated Marquis
de la Fayette of France. The marquis signified the singular pleasure he had
received on hearing of the formation of a commitee in England for the
abolition of the Slave-trade, and the earnest desire he had to promote the
object of it. With this view, he informed the commitee that he should
attempt the formation of a similar society in France. This he conceived to
be one of the most effectual measures he could devise for securing the
object in question; for he was of opinion, that if the two great nations of
France and England were to unite in this humane and Christian work, the
other European nations might be induced to follow the example.

The commitee, on receiving the two latter communications, resolved, that
the chairman should return their thanks to the Bishop of Cloyne, and the
Marquis de la Fayette, and the Chevalier de Ternant, and that he should
inform them, that they were enrolled among the honorary and corresponding
members of the Society.

The other letters read during these sittings were to convey information to
the commitee, that people in various parts of the kingdom had then felt
themselves so deeply interested in behalf of the injured Africans, that
they had determined either on public meetings, or had come to resolutions,
or had it in contemplation to petition parliament, for the abolition of the
Slave-trade. Information was signified to this effect by Thomas Walker,
esquire, for Manchester; by John Hoyland, William Hoyles, esquire, and the
reverend James Wilkinson, for Sheffield; by William Tuke, and William Burgh
esquire, for York; by the reverend Mr. Foster, for Colchester; by Joseph
Harford and Edmund Griffith, esquires, for Bristol; by William Bishop,
esquire, the mayor, for Maidstone; by the reverend R. Brome and the
reverend J. Wright, for Ipswich; by James Clark, esquire, the mayor, for
Coventry; by Mr. Jones, of Trinity College, for the University of
Cambridge; by Dr. Schomberg, of Magdalen College, for the University of
Oxford; by Henry Bullen, esquire, for Bury St. Edmunds; by Archdeacon
Travis, for Chester; by Mr. Hammond, for the county of Huntingdon; by John
Flint, esquire, (now Corbett,) for the town of Shrewsbury and county of
Salop; by the reverend Robert Lucas, for the town and also for the county
of Northampton; by Mr. Winchester, for the county of Stafford; by the
reverend William Leigh, for the county of Norfolk; by David Barclay, for
the county of Hertford; and by Thomas Babington, esquire, for the county of
Leicester.



CHAPTER XXII.

_Further progress to the middle of May--Petitions begin to be sent to
parliament--The king orders the privy council to inquire into the
Slave-trade--Author called up to town--his interviews with Mr. Pitt--and
with Mr. (now Lord) Grenville--Liverpool delegates examined first--these
prejudice the council--this prejudice at length counteracted--Labours of
the commitee in the interim--Public anxious for the introduction of the
question into parliament--Message of Mr. Pitt to the commitee concerning
it--Day fixed for the motion--Substance of the debate which
followed--discussion of the general question deferred till the next
sessions._


By this time the nature of the Slave-trade had, in consequence of the
labours of the commitee and of their several correspondents, become
generally known throughout the kingdom. It had excited a general attention,
and there was among people a general feeling in behalf of the wrongs of
Africa. This feeling had also, as may be collected from what has been
already mentioned, broken out into language: for not only had the traffic
become the general subject of conversation, but public meetings had taken
place, in which it had been discussed, and of which the result was, that an
application to parliament had been resolved upon in many places concerning
it. By the middle of February not fewer than thirty-five petitions had been
delivered to the commons, and it was known that others were on their way to
the same house.

This ferment in the public mind, which had shown itself in the public
prints even before the petitions had been resolved upon, had excited the
attention of government. To coincide with the wishes of the people on this
subject, appeared to those in authority to be a desirable thing. To abolish
the trade, replete as it was with misery, was desirable also: but it was so
connected with the interest of individuals, and so interwoven with the
commerce and revenue of the country, that an hasty abolition of it without
a previous inquiry appeared to them to be likely to be productive of as
much misery as good. The king, therefore, by an order of council, dated
February the eleventh, 1788, directed that a commitee of privy council
should sit as a board of trade, "to take into their consideration the
present state of the African trade, particularly as far as related to the
practice and manner of purchasing or obtaining slaves on the coast of
Africa, and the importation and sale thereof, either in the British
colonies and settlements, or in the foreign colonies and settlements in
America or the West-Indies; and also as far as related to the effects and
consequences of the trade both in Africa and in the said colonies and
settlements, and to the general commerce of this kingdom; and that they
should report to him in council the result of their inquiries, with such
observations as they might have to offer thereupon."

Of this order of council Mr. Wilberforce, who had attended to this great
subject, as far as his health would permit since I left him, had received
notice; but he was then too ill himself to take any measures concerning it.
He therefore wrote to me, and begged of me to repair to London immediately
in order to get such evidence ready, as we might think it eligible to
introduce when the council sat. At that time, as appears from the former
chapter, I had finished the additions to my Essay on the Slavery and
Commerce of the Human Species, and I had now proceeded about half way in
that of the Impolicy of it. This summons, however, I obeyed, and returned
to town on the fourteenth of February, from which day to the twenty-fourth
of May I shall now give the history of our proceedings.

My first business in London was to hold a conversation with Mr. Pitt
previously to the meeting of the council, and to try to interest him, as
the first minister of state, in our favour. For this purpose Mr.
Wilberforce had opened the way for me, and an interview took place. We were
in free conversation together for a considerable time, during which we went
through most of the branches of the subject. Mr. Pitt appeared to me to
have but little knowledge of it. He had also his doubts, which he expressed
openly, on many points. He was at a loss to conceive how private interest
should not always restrain the master of the slave from abusing him. This
matter I explained to him as well as I could; and if he was not entirely
satisfied with my interpretation of it, he was at lease induced to believe
that cruel practices were more probable than he had imagined. A second
circumstance, of the truth of which he doubted, was the mortality and usage
of seamen in this trade; and a third was the statement, by which so much
had been made of the riches of Africa, and of the genius and abilities of
her people; for he seemed at a loss to comprehend, if these things were so,
how it had happened that they should not have been more generally noticed
before. I promised to satisfy him upon these points, and an interview was
fixed for this purpose the next day.

At the time appointed I went with my books, papers, and African
productions. Mr. Pitt examined the former himself. He turned over leaf
after leaf, in which the copies of the muster-rolls were contained, with
great patience; and when he had looked over above a hundred pages
accurately, and found the name of every seaman inserted, his former abode
or service, the time of his entry, and what had become of him, either by
death, discharge or desertion, he expressed his surprise at the great pains
which had been taken in this branch of the inquiry, and confessed, with
some emotion, that his doubts were wholly removed with respect to the
destructive nature of this employ; and he said, moreover, that the facts
contained in these documents, if they had been but fairly copied, could
never be disproved. He was equally astonished at the various woods and
other productions of Africa, but most of all at the manufactures of the
natives in cotton, leather, gold, and iron, which were laid before him.
These he handled and examined over and over again. Many sublime thoughts
seemed to rush in upon him at once at the sight of these, some of which he
expressed with observations becoming a great and a dignified mind. He
thanked me for the light I had given him on many of the branches of this
great question. And I went away under a certain conviction that I had left
him much impressed in our favour.

My next visit was to Mr. (now Lord) Grenville. I called upon him at the
request of Mr. Wilberforce, who had previously written to him from Bath, as
be had promised to attend the meetings of the privy council during the
examinations which were to take place. I found in the course of our
conversation that Mr. Grenville had not then more knowledge of the subject
than Mr. Pitt; but I found him differently circumstanced in other respects,
for I perceived in him a warm feeling in behalf of the injured Africans,
and that he had no doubt of the possibility of all the barbarities which
had been alleged against this traffic. I showed him all my papers and some
of my natural productions, which he examined. I was with him the next day,
and once again afterwards, so that the subject was considered in all its
parts. The effect of this interview with him was of course different from
that upon the minister. In the former case I had removed doubts, and given
birth to an interest in favour of our cause. But I had here only increased
an interest which had already been excited. I had only enlarged the mass of
feeling, or added zeal to zeal, or confirmed resolutions and reasonings.
Disposed in this manner originally himself, and strengthened by the
documents with which I had furnished him, Mr. Grenville contracted an
enmity to the Slave-trade, which was never afterwards diminished[A].

[Footnote A: I have not mentioned the difference between these two eminent
persons, with a view of drawing any invidious comparisons, but because, as
these statements are true, such persons as have a high opinion of the late
Mr. Pitt's judgment, may see that this great man did not espouse the cause
hastily, or merely as a matter of feeling, but upon the conviction of his
own mind.]

A report having gone abroad, that the commitee of privy council would only
examine those who were interested in the continuance of the trade, I found
it necessary to call upon Mr. Pitt again, and to inform him of it, when I
received an assurance that every person, whom I chose to send to the
council in behalf of the commitee, should be heard. This gave rise to a
conversation relative to those witnesses whom we had to produce on the side
of the abolition. And here I was obliged to disclose our weakness in this
respect. I owned with sorrow that, though I had obtained specimens and
official documents in abundance to prove many important points, yet I had
found it difficult to prevail upon persons to be publicly examined on this
subject. The only persons, we could then count upon, were Mr. Ramsay, Mr.
H. Gandy, Mr. Falconbridge, Mr. Newton, and the Dean of Middleham. There
was one, however, who would be a host of himself, if we could but gain him.
I then mentioned Mr. Norris. I told Mr. Pitt the nature[A] and value of the
testimony which he had given me at Liverpool, and the great zeal he had
discovered to serve the cause. I doubted, however, if he would come to
London for this purpose, even if I wrote to him; for he was intimate with
almost all the owners of slave-vessels in Liverpool, and living among these
he would not like to incur their resentment, by taking a prominent part
against them. I therefore entreated Mr. Pitt to send him a summons of
council to attend, hoping that Mr. Norris would then be pleased to come up,
as he would be enabled to reply to his friends, that his appearance had not
been voluntary. Mr. Pitt, however, informed me, that a summons from a
commitee of privy council sitting as a board of trade was not binding upon
the subject, and therefore that I had no other means left but of writing to
him, and he desired me to do this by the first post.

[Footnote A: See his evidence Chap. xvii.]

This letter I accordingly wrote, and sent it to my friend William Rathbone,
who was to deliver it in person, and to use his own influence at the same
time; but I received for answer, that Mr. Norris was then in London. Upon
this I tried to find him out, to entreat him to consent to an examination
before the council. At length I found his address; but before I could see
him, I was told by the Bishop of London, that he had come up as a Liverpool
delegate in support of the Slave-trade. Astonished at this information, I
made the bishop acquainted with the case, and asked him how it became me to
act; for I was fearful lest, by exposing Mr. Norris, I should violate the
rights of hospitality on the one hand, and by not exposing him, that I
should not do my duty to the cause I had undertaken on the other. His
advice was, that I should see him, and ask him to explain the reasons of
his conduct. I called upon him for this purpose, but he was out. He sent
me, however, a letter soon afterwards, which was full of flattery, and in
which, after having paid high compliments to the general force of my
arguments, and the general justice and humanity of my sentiments on this
great question, which had made a deep impression upon his mind, he had
found occasion to differ from me, since we had last parted, on particular
points, and that he had therefore less reluctantly yielded to the call of
becoming a delegate,--though notwithstanding he would gladly have declined
the office if he could have done it with propriety.

At length the council began their examinations. Mr. Norris, Lieutenant
Matthews, of the navy, who had just left a slave-employ in Africa, and Mr.
James Penny, formerly a slave-captain, and then interested as a merchant in
the trade, (which three were the delegates from Liverpool) took possession
of the ground first. Mr. Miles, Mr. Weuves, and others, followed them on
the same side. The evidence which they gave, as previously concerted
between themselves, may be shortly represented thus: They denied that
kidnapping either did or could take place in Africa, or that wars were made
there, for the purpose of procuring slaves. Having done away these wicked
practices from their system, they maintained positions which were less
exceptionable, or that the natives of Africa generally became slaves in
consequence of having been made prisoners in just wars, or in consequence
of their various crimes. They then gave a melancholy picture of the
despotism and barbarity of some of the African princes, among whom the
custom of sacrificing their own subjects prevailed. But, of all others,
that which was afforded by Mr. Morris on this ground was the most
frightful. The king of Dahomey, he said, sported with the lives of his
people in the most wanton manner. He had seen at the gates of his palace,
two piles of heads like those of shot in an arsenal. Within the palace the
heads of persons newly put to death were strewed at the distance of a few
yards in the passage which led to his apartment. This custom of human
sacrifice by the king of Dahomey was not on one occasion only, but on many;
such as on the reception of messengers from neighbouring states, or of
white merchants, or on days of ceremonial. But the great carnage was once a
year, when the poll tax was paid by his subjects. A thousand persons at
least were sacrificed annually on these different occasions. The great men,
too, of the country cut off a few heads on festival-days. From all these
particulars the humanity of the Slave-trade was inferred, because it took
away the inhabitants of Africa into lands where no such barbarities were
known. But the humanity of it was insisted upon by positive circumstances
also, namely, that a great number of the slaves were prisoners of war, and
that in former times all such were put to death, whereas now they were
saved; so that there was a great accession of happiness to Africa since the
introduction of the Trade.

These statements, and those of others on the same side of the question, had
a great effect, as may easily be conceived, upon the feelings of those of
the council who were present. Some of them began immediately to be
prejudiced against us. There were others who even thought that it was
almost unnecessary to proceed in the inquiry, for that the Trade was
actually a blessing. They had little doubt that all our assertions
concerning it would be found false. The Bishop of London himself was so
impressed by these unexpected accounts, that he asked me if Falconbridge,
whose pamphlet had been previously sent by the commitee to every member of
the council, was worthy of belief, and if he would substantiate publicly
what he had thus written. But these impressions unfortunately were not
confined to those who had been present at the examinations. These could not
help communicating them to others. Hence in all the higher circles (some of
which I sometimes used to frequent) I had the mortification to hear of
nothing but the Liverpool evidence, and of our own credulity, and of the
impositions which had been practised upon us: of these reports the planters
and merchants did not fail to avail themselves. They boasted that they
would soon do away all the idle tales which had been invented against them.
They desired the public only to suspend their judgment till the privy
council report should be out, when they would see the folly and wickedness
of all our allegations. A little more evidence, and all would be over. On
the twenty-second of March, though the commitee of council had not then
held its sittings more than a month, and these only twice or thrice a week,
the following paragraph was seen in a morning paper:--"The report of the
commitee of privy council will be ready in a few days. After due
examination it appears that the major part of the complaints against this
Trade are ill-founded. Some regulations, however, are expected to take
place, which may serve in a certain degree to appease the cause of
humanity."

But while they who were interested had produced this outcry against us, in
consequence of what had fallen from their own witnesses in the course of
their examinations, they had increased it considerably by the industrious
circulation of a most artful pamphlet among persons of rank and fortune at
the West end of the metropolis, which was called, Scriptural Researches on
the Licitness of the Slave-trade. This they had procured to be written by
R. Harris, who was then clerk in a slave-house in Liverpool, but had been
formerly a clergyman and a Jesuit. As they had maintained in the first
instance, as has been already shown, the humanity of the traffic, so, by
means of this pamphlet they asserted its consistency with revealed
religion. That such a book should have made converts in such an age is
surprising; and yet many, who ought to have known better, were carried away
by it; and we had now absolutely to contend, and almost to degrade
ourselves by doing so, against the double argument of the humanity and the
holiness of the trade.

By these means, but particularly by the former, the current of opinion in
particular circles ran against us for the first month, and so strong, that
it was impossible for me to stem it at once: but as some of the council
recovered from their panic, and their good sense became less biassed by
their feelings, and they were in a state to hear reason, their prejudices
began to subside. It began now to be understood among them, that almost all
the witnesses were concerned in the continuance of the Trade. It began to
be known also, (for Mr. Pitt and the Bishop of London took care that it
should be circulated,) that Mr. Morris had but a short time before
furnished me at Liverpool with, information, all of which he had
concealed[A] from the council, but all of which made for the abolition of
it. Mr. Devaynes also, a respectable member of parliament, who had been in
Africa, and who had been appealed to by Mr. Norris, when examined before
the privy council, in behalf of his extraordinary facts, was unable, when
summoned, to confirm them to the desired extent. From this evidence the
council collected, that human sacrifices were not made on the arrival of
White traders, as had been asserted; that there was no poll-tax in Dahomey
at all; and that Mr. Norris must have been mistaken on these points, for he
must have been there at the time of the ceremony of watering the graves,
when about sixty persons suffered. This latter custom moreover appeared to
have been a religious superstition of the country, such as at Otaheite, or
in Britain in the time of the Druids, and to have had nothing to do with
the Slave-trade[B]. With respect to prisoners of war, Mr. Devaynes allowed
that the old, the lame, and the wounded, were often put to death on the
spot; but this was to save the trouble of bringing them away. The young and
the healthy were driven off for sale; but if they were not sold when
offered, they were not killed, but reserved for another market, or became
house-slaves to the conquerors, Mr. Devaynes also maintained, contrary to
the allegations of the others, that a great number of persons were
kidnapped in order to be sold to the ships, and that the government, where
this happened, was not strong enough to prevent it. But besides these
draw-backs from the weight of the testimony which had been given, it began
to be perceived by some of the lords of the council, that the cruel
superstitions which, had been described, obtained only in one or two
countries in Africa, and these of insignificant extent; whereas at the
time, when their minds were carried away as it were by their feelings, they
had supposed them to attach to the whole of that vast continent. They
perceived also, that there were circumstances related in the evidence by
the delegates themselves, by means of which, if they were true, the
inhumanity of the trade might be established, and this to their own
disgrace. They had all confessed that such slaves as the White traders
refused to buy were put to death; and yet that these, traders, knowing that
this would be the case, had the barbarity uniformly to reject those whom it
did not suit them to purchase. Mr. Matthews had rejected one of this
description himself, whom he saw afterwards destroyed. Mr. Penny had known
the refuse thrown down Melimba rock. Mr. Norris himself, when certain
prisoners of war were offered to him for sale, declined buying them because
they appeared unhealthy; and though the king then told him that he would
put them to death, he could not be prevailed upon to take them, but left
them to their hard fate; and he had the boldness to state afterwards, that
it was his belief that many of them actually suffered.

[Footnote A: This was also the case with another witness, Mr. Weaves. He
had given me accounts, before any stir was made about the Slave-trade,
relative to it, all of which he kept back when he was examined there.]

[Footnote B: Being a religious custom, it would still have gone on, though
the Stave-trade had been abolished: nor could the merchants at any time
have bought off a single victim.]

These considerations had the effect of diminishing the prejudices of some
of the council on this great question: and when this was perceived to be
the case, it was the opinion of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Grenville, and the Bishop of
London, that we should send three or four of our own evidences for
examination, who might help to restore matters to an equilibrium.
Accordingly Mr. Falconbridge, and some others, all of whom were to speak to
the African part of the subject, were introduced. These produced a certain
weight in the opposite scale. But soon after these had been examined, Dr.
Andrew Spaarman, professor of physic, and inspector of the museum of the
royal academy at Stockholm, and his companion, C.B. Wadstrom, chief
director of the assay-office there, arrived in England. These gentlemen had
been lately sent to Africa by the late king of Sweden, to make discoveries
in botany, mineralogy, and other departments of science. For this purpose
the Swedish ambassador at Paris had procured them permission from the
French government to visit the countries bordering on the Senegal, and had
ensured them protection there. They had been conveyed to the place of their
destination, where they had remained from August 1787 to the end of January
1788; but meeting with obstacles which they had not foreseen, they had left
it, and had returned to Havre de Grace, from whence they had just arrived
in London, in their way home. It so happened, that by means of George
Harrison, one of our commitee, I fell in unexpectedly with these gentlemen.
I had not long been with them before I perceived the great treasure I had
found. They gave me many beautiful specimens of African produce. They
showed me their journals, which they had regularly kept from day to day. In
these I had the pleasure of seeing a number of circumstances minuted down,
all relating to the Slave-trade, and even drawings on the same subject. I
obtained a more accurate and satisfactory knowledge of the manners and
customs of the Africans from these, than from all the persons put together
whom I had yet seen. I was anxious, therefore, to take them before the
commitee of council, to which they were pleased to consent; and as Dr.
Spaarman was to leave London in a few days, I procured him an introduction
first. His evidence went to show, that the natives of Africa lived in a
fruitful and luxuriant country, which supplied all their wants, and that
they would be a happy people if it were not for the existence of the
Slave-trade. He instanced wars which he knew to have been made by the Moors
upon the Negros (for they were entered upon wholly at the instigation of
the White traders) for the purpose of getting slaves, and he had the pain
of seeing the unhappy captives brought in on such occasions, and some of
them in a wounded state. Among them were many women and children, and the
women were in great affliction. He saw also the king of Barbesin send out
his parties on expeditions of a similar kind, and he saw them return with
slaves. The king had been made intoxicated on purpose, by the French
agents, or he would never have consented to the measure. He stated also,
that in consequence of the temptations held out by slave-vessels coming
upon the coast, the natives seized one another in the night, when they
found opportunity; and even invited others to their houses, whom they
treacherously detained, and sold at these times; so that every enormity was
practised in Africa, in consequence of the existence of the Trade. These
specific instances made a proper impression upon the lords of the council
in their turn: for Dr. Spaarman was a man of high character; he possessed
the confidence of his sovereign; he had no interest whatever in giving his
evidence on this subject, either on one or the other side; his means of
information too had been large; he had also recorded the facts which had
come before him, and he had his journal, written in the French language, to
produce. The tide therefore, which had run so strongly against us, began
now to turn a little in our favour.

While these examinations were going on, petitions continued to be sent to
the house of commons, from various parts of the kingdom. No less than one
hundred and three were presented in this session, The city of London,
though she was drawn the other way by the cries of commercial interest,
made a sacrifice to humanity and justice. The two Universities applauded
her conduct by their own example. Large manufacturing towns and whole
counties expressed their sentiments and wishes in a similar manner. The
Established Church in separate dioceses, and the Quakers and other
Dissenters, as separate religious bodies, joined in one voice upon this
occasion.

The commitee in the interim were not unmindful of the great work they had
undertaken, and they continued to forward it in its different departments.
They kept up a communication by letter with most of the worthy persons who
have been mentioned to have written to them, but particularly with Brissot
and Claviere, from whom they had the satisfaction of learning, that a
society had at length been established at Paris for the Abolition of the
Slave-Trade in France. The learned Marquis de Condorcet had become the
president of it. The virtuous Duc de la Rochefoucauld, and the Marquis de
la Fayette, had sanctioned it by enrolling their names as the two first
members. Petion, who was placed afterwards among the mayors of Paris,
followed. Women also were not thought unworthy of being honorary and
assistant members of this humane institution; and among these were found
the amiable Marchioness of la Fayette, Madame de Poivre, widow of the late
intendant of the Isle of France, and Madame Necker, wife of the first
minister of state.

The new correspondents, who voluntarily offered their services to the
commitee during the first part of the period now under consideration, were,
S. Whitcomb, esq., of Gloucester; the reverend D. Watson, of Middleton
Tyas, Yorkshire; John Murlin, esq., of High Wycomb; Charles Collins, esq.,
of Swansea; Henry Tudor, esq., of Sheffield; the reverend John Hare, of
Lincoln; Samuel Tooker, esq., of Moorgate, near Rotherham; the reverend G.
Walker, and Francis Wakefield, esq., of Nottingham; the reverend Mr.
Hepworth, of Burton-upon-Trent; the reverend H. Dannett, of St. John's,
Liverpool; the reverend Dr. Oglander, of New College, Oxford; the reverend
H. Coulthurst, of Sidney College, Cambridge; R. Selfe, esq., of
Cirencester; Morris Birkbeck, of Hanford, Dorsetshire; William Jepson, of
Lancaster; B. Kaye, of Leeds; John Patison, esq., of Paisley; J.E. Dolben,
esq., of Northamptonshire; the reverend Mr. Smith, of Wendover; John
Wilkinson, esquire, of Woodford; Samuel Milford, esquire, of Exeter; Peter
Lunel, esquire, treasurer of the commitee at Bristol; James Pemberton, of
Philadelphia; and the President of the Society at New York.

The letters from new correspondents during the latter part of this period
were the following:

One from Alexander Alison, esquire, of Edinburgh, in which he expressed it
to be his duty to attempt to awaken the inhabitants of Scotland to a
knowledge of the monstrous evil of the Slave-trade, and to form a commitee
there to act in union with that of London, in carrying the great object of
their institution into effect.

Another from Elhanan Winchester, offering the commitee one hundred of his
sermons, which he had preached against the Slave-trade, in Fairfax county
in Virginia, so early as in the year 1774.

Another from Dr. Frossard, of Lyons, in which he offered his services for
the South of France, and desired different publications to be sent him,
that he might be better qualified to take a part in the promotion of the
cause.

Another from professor Bruns, of Helmstadt in Germany, in which he desired
to know the particulars relative to the institution of the commitee, as
many thousands upon the continent were then beginning to feel for the
sufferings of the oppressed African race.

Another from the reverend James Manning, of Exeter, in which he stated
himself to be authorised by the dissenting ministers of Devon and Cornwall,
to express their high approbation of the conduct of the commitee, and to
offer their services in the promotion of this great work of humanity and
religion.

Another from William Senhouse, esquire, of the island of Barbadoes. In this
he gave the particulars of two estates, one of them his own and the other
belonging to a nobleman, upon each of which the slaves, in consequence of
humane treatment, had increased by natural population only. Another effect
of this humane treatment had been, that these slaves were among the most
orderly and tractable in that island. From these and other instances he
argued, that if the planters would, all of them, take proper care of their
slaves, their humanity would be repaid in a few years by a valuable
increase in their property, and they would never want supplies from a
traffic, which had been so justly condemned.

Two others, the one from Travers Hartley, and the other from Alexander
Jaffray, esquires, both of Dublin, were read. These gentlemen sent certain
resolutions, which had been agreed upon by the chamber of commerce and by
the guild of merchants there relative to the abolition of the Slave-trade.
They rejoiced in the name of those, whom they represented, that Ireland had
been unspotted by a traffic, which they held in such deep abhorrence, and
promised, if it should be abolished in England, to take the most active
measures to prevent it from finding an asylum in the ports of that kingdom.

The letters of William Senhouse, and of Travers Hartley, and of Alexander
Jaffray, esquires, were ordered to be presented to the commitee of privy
council and copies of them to be left there.

The business of the commitee having almost daily increased within this
period, Dr. Baker, and Bennet Langton esquire, who were the two first to
assist me in my early labours, and who have been mentioned among the
forerunners and coadjutors of the cause, were elected members of it. Dr.
Kippis also was added to the list.

The honorary and corresponding members elected within the same period, were
the Dean of Middleham, T.W. Coke esquire, member of parliament, of Holkham
in Norfolk, and the reverend William Leigh, who has been before mentioned,
of Little Plumstead in the same county. The latter had published several
valuable letters in the public papers under the signature of Africanus.
These had excited great notice, and done much good. The worthy author had
now collected them into a publication, and had offered the profits of it to
the commitee. Hence this mark of their respect was conferred upon him.

The commitee ordered a new edition of three thousand of the Dean of
Middleham's Letters to be printed. Having approved of a manuscript written
by James Field Stanfield, a mariner, containing observations upon a voyage
which he had lately made to the coast of Africa for slaves, they ordered
three thousand of these to be printed also. By this time the subject having
been much talked of, and many doubts and difficulties having been thrown in
the way of the abolition by persons interested in the continuance of the
trade, Mr. Ramsay, who has been often so honourably mentioned, put down
upon paper all the objections which were then handed about, and also those
answers to each, which he was qualified from his superior knowledge of the
subject to suggest. This he did, that the members of the legislature might
see the more intricate parts of the question unravelled, and that they
might not be imposed upon by the spurious arguments which were then in
circulation concerning it. Observing also the poisonous effect which The
Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-trade had produced upon
the minds of many, he wrote an answer on scriptural grounds to that
pamphlet. These works were sent to the press, and three thousand copies of
each of them were ordered to be struck off.

The commitee, in their arrangement of the distribution of their books,
ordered Newton's Thoughts, and Ramsay's Objections and Answers, to be sent
to each member of both houses of parliament.

They appointed also three sub-commitees for different purposes: one to draw
up such facts and arguments respecting the Slave-trade, with a view of
being translated into other languages, as should give foreigners a suitable
knowledge of the subject; another to prepare an answer to certain false
reports which had been spread relative to the object of their institution,
and to procure an insertion of it in the daily papers; and a third to draw
up rules for the government of the Society.

By the latter end of the month of March, there was an anxious expectation
in the public, notwithstanding the privy council had taken up the subject,
that some notice should be taken in the lower house of parliament of the
numerous petitions which had been presented there. There was the same
expectation in many of the members of it themselves. Lord Penrhyn, one of
the representatives for Liverpool, and a planter also, had anticipated this
notice, by moving for such papers relative to ships employed, goods
exported, produce imported, and duties upon the same, as would show the
vast value of the trade, which it was in contemplation to abolish. But at
this time Mr. Wilberforce was ill, and unable to gratify the expectations
which had been thus apparent. The commitee, therefore, who partook of the
anxiety of the public, knew not what to do. They saw that two-thirds of the
session had already passed. They saw no hope of Mr. Wilberforce's recovery
for some time. Rumours too were afloat, that other members, of whose plans
they knew nothing, and who might even make emancipation their object, would
introduce the business into the house. Thus situated, they waited as
patiently as they could till the eighth of April[A], when they resolved to
write to Mr. Wilberforce, to explain to him their fears and wishes, and to
submit it to his consideration, whether, if he were unable himself, he
would appoint some one, in whom he could confide, to make some motion in
parliament on the subject.

[Footnote A: Brissot attended in person at this commitee in his way to
America, which it was then an object with him to visit.]

But the public expectation became now daily more visible. The inhabitants
of Manchester, many of whom had signed the petition for that place, became
impatient, and they appointed Thomas Walker and Thomas Cooper, esquires, as
their delegates, to proceed to London to communicate with the commitee on
this subject, to assist them, in their deliberations upon it, and to give
their attendance while it was under discussion by the legislature.

At the time of the arrival of the delegates, who were received as such by
the commitee, a letter came from Bath, in which it was stated that Mr.
Wilberforce's health was in such a precarious state, that his physicians
dared not allow him to read any letter, which related to the subject of the
Slave-trade.

The commitee were now again at a loss how to act, when they were relieved
from this doubtful situation by a message from Mr. Pitt, who desired a
conference with their chairman. Mr. Sharp accordingly went, and on his
return made the following report: "He had a full opportunity," he said, "of
explaining to Mr. Pitt that the desire of the commitee went to the entire
abolition of the Slave-trade. Mr. Pitt assured him that his heart was with
the commitee as to this object, and that he considered himself pledged to
Mr. Wilberforce, that the cause should not sustain any injury from his
indisposition; but at the same time observed, that the subject was of great
political importance, and it was requisite to proceed in it with temper and
prudence. He did not apprehend, as the examinations before the privy
council would yet take up some time, that the subject could be fully
investigated in the present session of parliament; but said he would
consider whether the forms of the house would admit of any measures, that
would be obligatory on them to take it up early in the ensuing session."

In about a week after this conference, Mr. Morton Pitt was deputed by the
minister to write to the commitee, to say that he had found precedents for
such a motion as he conceived to be proper, and that he would submit it to
the House of Commons in a few days.

At the next meeting, which was on the sixth of May, and at which major
Cartwright and the Manchester delegates assisted, Mr. Morton Pitt attended
as a member of the commitee, and said that the minister had fixed his
motion for the ninth. It was then resolved, that deputations should be sent
to some of the leading members of parliament, to request their support of
the approaching motion. I was included in one of these, and in that which
was to wait upon Mr. Fox. We were received by him in a friendly manner. On
putting the question to him, which related to the object of our mission,
Mr. Fox paused for a little while, as if in the act of deliberation; when
he assured us unequivocally, and in language which could not be
misunderstood, that he would support the object of the commitee to its
fullest extent, being convinced that there was no remedy for the evil, but
in the total abolition of the trade.

At length, the ninth, or the day fixed upon, arrived, when this important
subject was to be mentioned in the House of Commons for the first time[A],
with a view to the public discussion of it. It is impossible for me to give
within the narrow limits of this work all that was then said upon it; and
yet as the debate, which ensued, was the first which took place upon it, I
should feel inexcusable if I were not to take some notice of it.

[Footnote A: David Hartley made a motion some years before in the same
house, as has been shown in a former part of this work, but this was only
to establish a proposition, That the Slave-trade was contrary to the Laws
of God and the Rights of Man.]

Mr. Pitt rose. He said he intended to move a resolution relative to a
subject, which was of more importance than any which had ever been agitated
in that house. This honour he should not have had, but for a circumstance,
which he could not but deeply regret, the severe indisposition of his
friend Mr. Wilberforce, in whose hands every measure, which belonged to
justice, humanity, and the national interest, was peculiarly well placed.
The subject in question was no less than that of the Slave-trade. It was
obvious from the great number of petitions, which had been presented
concerning it, how much it had engaged the public attention, and
consequently how much it deserved the serious notice of that house, and how
much it became their duty to take some measure concerning it. But whatever
was done on such a subject, every one would agree, ought to be done with
the maturest deliberation. Two opinions had prevailed without doors, as
appeared from the language of the different petitions. It had been pretty
generally thought that the African Slave-trade ought to be abolished. There
were others, however, who thought that it only stood in need of
regulations. But all had agreed that it ought not to remain as it stood at
present. But that measure, which it might be the most proper to take, could
only be discovered by a cool, patient, and diligent examination of the
subject in all its circumstances, relations, and consequences. This had
induced him to form an opinion, that the present was not the proper time
for discussing it; for the session was now far advanced, and there was also
a want of proper materials for the full information of the house. It would,
he thought, be better discussed, when it might produce some useful debate,
and when that inquiry, which had been instituted by His Majesty's
ministers, (he meant the examination by a commitee of privy council,)
should be brought to such a state of maturity, as to make it fit that the
result of it should be laid before the house. That inquiry, he trusted,
would facilitate their investigation, and enable them the better to proceed
to a decision, which should be equally founded on principles of humanity,
justice, and sound policy. As there was not a probability of reaching so
desirable an end in the present state of the business, he meant to move a
resolution to pledge the house to the discussion of the question early in
the next session. If by that time his honourable friend should be
recovered, which he hoped would be the case, then he (Mr. Wilberforce)
would take the lead in it; but should it unfortunately happen otherwise,
then he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) pledged himself to bring forward
some proposition concerning it. The house, however, would observe, that he
had studiously avoided giving any opinion of his own on this great subject.
He thought it wiser to defer this till the time of the discussion should
arrive. He concluded with moving, after having read the names of the places
from whence the different petitions had come, "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 said petitions, and
what may be fit to be done thereupon."

Mr. Fox began by observing, that he had long taken an interest in this
great subject, which he had also minutely examined, and that it was his
intention to have brought something forward himself in parliament
respecting it: but when he heard that Mr. Wilberforce had resolved to take
it up, he was unaffectedly rejoiced, not only knowing the purity of his
principles and character, but because, from a variety of considerations as
to the situations in which different men stood in the house, there was
something that made him honestly think it was better that the business
should be in the hands of that gentleman, than in his own. Having premised
this, he said that, as so many petitions, and these signed by such numbers
of persons of the most respectable character, had been presented, he was
sorry that it had been found impossible that the subject of them could be
taken, up this year, and more particularly as he was not able to see, as
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had done, that there were circumstances,
which might happen by the next year, which would make it more advisable and
advantageous to take it up then, than it would have been to enter upon it
in the present session. For certainly there could be no information laid
before the house, through the medium of the Lords of the Council, which
could not more advantageously have been obtained by themselves, had they
instituted a similar inquiry. It was their duty to advise the King, and not
to ask his advice. This the constitution had laid down as one of its most
essential principles; and though in the present instance he saw no cause
for blame, because he was persuaded His Majesty's ministers had not acted
with any ill intention, it was still a principle never to be departed from,
because it never could be departed from without establishing a precedent
which might lead to very serious abuses. He, lamented that the Privy
Council, who had received no petitions from the people on the subject,
should have instituted an inquiry, and that the House of Commons, the table
of which had been loaded with petitions from various parts of the kingdom,
should not have instituted any inquiry at all. He hoped these petitions
would have a fair discussion in that house, independently, of any
information that could be given to it by His Majesty's ministers. He urged
again the superior advantages of an inquiry into such a subject, carried on
within those walls, over any inquiry carried on by the Lords of the
Council. In inquiries carried on in that house, they had the benefit of
every circumstance of publicity; which was a most material benefit indeed,
and that which of all others made the manner of conducting the
parliamentary proceedings of Great Britain the envy and the admiration of
the world. An inquiry there was better than an inquiry in any other place,
however respectable the persons before and by whom it was carried on.
There, all that could be said for the abolition or against it might be
said. In that house, every relative fact would have been produced, no
information would have been withheld, no circumstance would have been
omitted, which was necessary for elucidation; nothing would have been kept
back. He was sorry therefore that the consideration of the question, but
more particularly where so much human suffering was concerned, should be
put off to another session, when it was obvious that no advantage could be
gained by the delay.

He then adverted to the secrecy, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
observed relative to his own opinion on this important subject. Why did he
refuse to give it? Had Mr. Wilberforce been present, the house would have
had a great advantage in this respect, because doubtless he would have
stated in what view he saw the subject, and in a general way described the
nature of the project he meant to propose. But now they were kept in the
dark as to the nature of any plan, till the next session. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer had indeed said, that it had been a very general opinion that
the African Slave-trade should be abolished. He had said again, that others
had not gone so far, but had given, it as their opinion, that it required
to be revised and regulated. But why did he not give his own sentiments
boldly to the world on this great question? As for himself, he (Mr. Fox)
had no scruple to declare at the outset, that the Slave-trade ought not to
be regulated, but destroyed. To this opinion his mind was made up; and he
was persuaded that, the more the subject was considered, the more his
opinion would gain ground; and it would be admitted, that to consider it in
any other manner, or on any other principles than those of humanity and
justice, would be idle and absurd. If there were any such men, and he did
not know but that there were those, who, led away by local and interested
considerations, thought the Slave-trade might still continue under certain
modifications, these were the dupes of error, and mistook what they thought
their interest, for what he would undertake to convince them was their
loss. Let such men only hear the case further, and they would find the
result to be, that a cold-hearted policy was folly, when it opposed the
great principles of humanity and justice.

He concluded by saying that he would not oppose the resolution, if other
members thought it best to postpone the consideration of the subject; but
he should have been better pleased, if it had been discussed sooner; and he
certainly reserved to himself the right of voting for any question upon it
that should be brought forward by any other member in the course of the
present session.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that nothing he had heard had
satisfied him of the propriety of departing from the rule he had laid down
for himself, of not offering, but of studiously avoiding to offer, any
opinion upon the subject till the time should arrive when it could be fully
argued. He thought that no discussion, which could take place that session,
could lead to any useful measure, and therefore he had wished not to argue
it till the whole of it could be argued. A day would come, when every
member would have an opportunity of stating his opinion; and he wished it
might be discussed with a proper spirit on all sides, on fair and liberal
principles, and without any shackles from local and interested
considerations.

With regard to the inquiries instituted before the commitee of privy
council, he was sure, as soon as it became obvious that the subject must
undergo a discussion, it was the duty of His Majesty's ministers to set
those inquiries on foot, which should best enable them to judge in what
manner they could meet or offer any proposition respecting the Slave-trade.
And although such previous examinations by no means went to deprive that
house of its undoubted right to institute those inquiries, or to preclude
them, they would be found greatly to facilitate them. But, exclusive of
this consideration, it would have been utterly impossible to have come to
any discussion of the subject, that could have been brought to a conclusion
in the course of the present session. Did the inquiry then before the privy
council prove a loss of time? So far from it, that, upon the whole, time
had been gained by it. He had moved the resolution, therefore, to pledge
the house to bring on the discussion early in the next session, when they
would have a full opportunity of considering every part of the subject:
first, Whether the whole of the trade ought be abolished; and, if so, how
and when. If it should be thought that the trade should only be put under
certain regulations, what those regulations ought to be, and when they
should take place. These were questions which must be considered; and
therefore he had made his resolution as wide as possible, that there might
be room for all necessary considerations to be taken in. He repeated his
declaration, that he would reserve his sentiments till the day of
discussion should arrive; and again declared, that he earnestly wished to
avoid an anticipation of the debate upon the subject. But if such debate
was likely to take place, he would withdraw his motion, and offer it
another day.

A few words then passed between Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox in reply to each
other; after which Lord Penrhyn rose. He said there were two classes of
men, the African merchants, and the planters, both whose characters had
been grossly calumniated. These wished that an inquiry might be instituted,
and this immediately, conscious that the more their conduct was examined
the less they would be found to merit the opprobrium with which they had
been loaded. The charges against the Slave-trade were either true or false.
If they were true, it ought to be abolished; but if upon inquiry they were
found to be without foundation, justice ought to be done to the reputation
of those who were concerned in it. He then said a few words, by which he
signified, that, after all, it might not be an improper measure to make
regulations in the trade.

Mr. Burke said, the noble lord, who was a man of honour himself, had
reasoned from his own conduct, and, being conscious of his own integrity,
was naturally led to imagine that other men were equally just and
honourable. Undoubtedly the merchants and planters had a right to call for
an investigation of their conduct, and their doing so did them great
credit. The Slave-trade also ought equally to be inquired into. Neither did
he deny that it was right His Majesty's ministers should inquire into its
merits for themselves. They had done their duty; but that house, who had
the petitions of the people on their table, had neglected it, by having so
long deferred an inquiry of their own. If that house wished to preserve
their functions, their understandings, their honour, and their dignity, he
advised them to beware of commitees of privy council. If they suffered
their business to be done by such means, they were abdicating their trust
and character, and making way for an entire abolition of their functions,
which they were parting with one after another. Thus,

  "Star after star goes out, and all is night."

If they neglected the petitions of their constituents, they must fall, and
the privy council be instituted in their stead. What would be the
consequence? His Majesty's ministers, instead of consulting them, and
giving them the opportunity of exercising their functions of deliberation
and legislation, would modify the measures of government elsewhere, and
bring down the edicts of the privy council to them to register. Mr. Burke
said, he was one of those who wished for the abolition of the Slave-trade.
He thought it ought to be abolished, on principles of humanity and justice.
If, however, opposition of interests should render its total abolition
impossible, it ought to be regulated, and that immediately. They need not
send to the West Indies to know the opinions of the planters on the
subject. They were to consider first of all, and abstractedly from all
political, personal, and local considerations, that the Slave-trade was
directly contrary to the principles of humanity and justice, and to the
spirit of the British constitution; and that the state of slavery, which
followed it, however mitigated, was a state so improper, so degrading, and
so ruinous to the feelings and capacities of human nature, that it ought
not to be suffered to exist. He deprecated delay in this business, as well
for the sake of the planters as of the slaves.

Mr. Gascoyne, the other member for Liverpool, said he had no objection that
the discussion should stand over to the next session of parliament,
provided it could not come on in the present, because he was persuaded it
would ultimately be found that his constituents, who were more immediately
concerned in the trade, and who had been so shamefully calumniated, were
men of respectable character. He hoped the privy council would print their
Report when they had brought their inquiries to a conclusion, and that they
would lay it before the house and the public, in order to enable all
concerned to form a judgment of what was proper to be done relative to the
subject, next session. With respect, however, to the total abolition of the
Slave-trade, he must confess that such a measure was both unnecessary,
visionary, and impracticable; but he wished some alterations or
modifications to be adopted. He hoped that, when the house came to go into
the general question, they would not forget the trade, commerce, and
navigation, of the country.

Mr. Rolle said, he had received instructions from his constituents to
inquire if the grievances, which had been alleged to result from the
Slave-trade, were well founded, and, if it should appear that they were, to
assist in applying a remedy. He was glad the discussion had been put off
till next session, as it would give all of them an opportunity of
considering the subject with more mature deliberation.

Mr. Martin desired to say a few words only. He put the case, that,
supposing the slaves were treated ever so humanely, when they were carried
to the West Indies, what compensation could be made them for being torn
from their nearest relations, and from every thing that was dear to them in
life? He hoped no political advantage, no national expediency, would be
allowed to weigh in the scale against the eternal rules of moral rectitude.
As for himself, he had no hesitation to declare, in this early stage of the
business, that he should think himself a wicked wretch if he did not do
every thing in his power to put a stop to the Slave-trade.

Sir William Dolben said, that he did not then wish to enter into the
discussion of the general question of the abolition of the Slave-trade,
which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was so desirous of postponing; but he
wished to say a few words on what he conceived to be a most crying evil,
and which might be immediately remedied, without infringing upon the limits
of that question. He did not allude to the sufferings of the poor Africans
in their own country, nor afterwards in the West India islands, but to that
intermediate state of tenfold misery which they underwent in their
transportation. When put on board the ships, the poor unhappy wretches were
chained to each other, hand and foot, and stowed so close, that they were
not allowed above a foot and a half for each individual in breadth. Thus
crammed together like herrings in a barrel, they contracted putrid and
fatal disorders; so that they who came to inspect, them in a morning had
occasionally to pick dead slaves out of their rows, and to unchain their
carcases from the bodies of their wretched fellow-sufferers, to whom they
had been fastened. Nor was it merely to the slaves that the baneful effects
of the contagion thus created were confined. This contagion affected the
ships' crews, and numbers of the seamen employed in the horrid traffic
perished. This evil, he said, called aloud for a remedy, and that remedy
ought to be applied soon; otherwise no less than ten thousand lives might
be lost between this and the next session. He wished therefore this
grievance to be taken into consideration, independently of the general
question; and that some regulations, such as restraining the captains from
taking above a certain number of slaves on board, according to the size of
their vessels, and obliging them to let in fresh air, and provide better
accommodation for the slaves during their passage, should be adopted.

Mr. Young wished the consideration of the whole subject to stand over to
the next session.

Sir James Johnstone, though a planter, professed himself a friend to the
abolition of the Slave-trade. He said it was highly necessary that the
house should do something respecting it; but whatever was to be done should
be done soon, as delay might be productive of bad consequences in the
islands.

Mr. L. Smith stood up a zealous advocate for the abolition of the
Slave-trade. He said that even Lord Penrhyn and Mr. Gascoyne, the members
for Liverpool, had admitted the evil of it to a certain extent; for
regulations or modifications, in which they seemed to acquiesce, were
unnecessary where abuses did not really exist.

Mr. Grigby thought it his duty to declare, that no privy council report, or
other mode of examination, could influence him. A traffic in the persons of
men was so odious, that it ought everywhere, as soon as ever it was
discovered, to be abolished.

Mr. Bastard was anxious that the house should proceed to the discussion of
the subject in the present session. The whole country, he said, had
petitioned; and was it any satisfaction to the country to be told, that the
commitee of privy council were inquiring? Who knew any thing of what was
doing by the commitee of privy council, or what progress they were making?
The inquiry ought to have been instituted in that house, and in the face of
the public, that every body concerned might know what was going on. The
numerous petitions of the people ought immediately to be attended to. He
reprobated delay on this occasion; and as the honourable baronet, Sir
William Dolben, had stated facts which were shocking to humanity, he hoped
he would move that a commitee might be appointed to inquire into their
existence, that a remedy might be applied, if possible, before the sailing
of the next ships for Africa.

Mr. Whitbread professed himself a strenuous advocate for the total and
immediate abolition of the Slave-trade. It was contrary to nature, and to
every principle of justice, humanity, and religion.

Mr. Pelham stated, that he had very maturely considered the subject of the
Slave-trade; and had he not known that the business was in the hands of an
honourable member, (whose absence from the house, and the cause of it, no
man lamented more sincerely than he did,) he should have ventured to
propose something concerning it himself. If it should be thought that the
Trade ought not to be entirely done away, the sooner it was regulated the
better. He had a plan for this purpose, which appeared to him to be likely
to produce some salutary effects. He wished to know if any such thing would
be permitted to be proposed in the course of the present session.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said he should be happy, if he thought the
circumstances of the house were such as to enable them to proceed to an
immediate discussion of the question; but as that did not appear, from the
reasons he had before stated, to be the case, he could only assure the
honourable gentleman, that the same motives which had induced him to
propose an inquiry into the subject early in the next session of
parliament, would make him desirous of receiving any other light which
could be thrown upon it.

The question having been then put, the resolution was agreed to
unanimously. Thus ended the first debate that ever took place in the
commons, on this important subject. This debate, though many of the persons
concerned in it abstained cautiously from entering into the merits of the
general question, became interesting, in consequence of circumstances
attending it. Several rose up at once to give relief, as it were, to their
feelings by utterance; but by so doing they were prevented, many of them,
from being heard. They who were heard spoke with peculiar energy, as if
warmed in an extraordinary manner by the subject. There was an apparent
enthusiasm in behalf of the injured Africans. It was supposed by some, that
there was a moment, in which, if the Chancellor of the Exchequer had moved
for an immediate abolition of the Trade, he would have carried it that
night; and both he and others, who professed an attachment to the cause,
were censured for not having taken a due advantage of the disposition which
was so apparent. But independently of the inconsistency of doing this on
the part of the ministry, while the privy council were in the midst of
their inquiries, and of the improbability that the other branches of the
legislature would have concurred in so hasty a measure; What good would
have accrued to the cause, if the abolition had been then carried? Those
concerned in the cruel system would never have rested quietly under the
stigma under which they then laboured. They would have urged, that they had
been condemned unheard. The merchants would have said, that they had had no
notice of such an event, that they might prepare a way for their vessels in
other trades. The planters would have said, that they had had no time
allowed them to provide such supplies from Africa as might enable them to
keep up their respective stocks. They would, both of them, have called
aloud for immediate indemnification. They would have decried the policy of
the measure of the abolition;--and where had it been proved? They would
have demanded a reverse of it; and might they not, in cooler moments, have
succeeded? Whereas, by entering into a patient discussion of the merits of
the question; by bringing evidence upon it; by reasoning upon that evidence
night after night, and year after year, land thus by disputing the ground
inch as it were by inch, the Abolition of the Slave-trade stands upon a
rock, upon which it never can be shaken. Many of those who were concerned
in the cruel system have now given up their prejudices, because they became
convinced in the contest. A stigma too has been fixed upon it, which can
never be erased: and in a large record, in which the cruelty and injustice
of it have been recognised in indelible characters, its impolicy also has
been eternally enrolled.



CHAPTER XXIII.

_Continuation to the middle of July--Anxiety of Sir William Dolben to
lessen the horrors of the Middle Passage till the great question should be
discussed--brings in a bill for that purpose--debate upon it--Evidence
examined against it--its inconsistency and falsehoods--further debate upon
it--Bill passed, and carried to the Lords--vexatious delays and opposition
there--carried backwards and forwards to both houses--at length finally
passed--Proceedings of the commitee in the interim--effects of them.--End
of the first volume_.


It was supposed, after the debate, of which the substance has been just
given, that there would have been no further discussion of the subject till
the next year: but Sir William Dolben became more and more affected by
those considerations which be had offered to the house on the ninth of May.
The trade, he found, was still to go on. The horrors of the transportation,
or Middle Passage, as it was called, which he conceived to be the worst in
the long catalogue of evils belonging to the system, would of course
accompany it. The partial discussion of these, he believed, would be no
infringement of the late resolution of the house. He was desirous,
therefore, of doing something in the course of the present session, by
which the miseries of the trade might be diminished as much as possible,
while it lasted, or till the legislature could take up the whole of the
question. This desire he mentioned to several of his friends; and as these
approved of his design, he made it known on the twenty-first of May in the
House of Commons.

He began by observing, that he would take up but little of their time. He
rose to move for leave to bring in a bill for the relief of those unhappy
persons, the natives of Africa, from the hardships to which they were
usually exposed in their passage from the coast of Africa to the Colonies.
He did not mean, by any regulations he might introduce for this purpose, to
countenance or sanction the Slave-trade, which, however modified, would be
always wicked and unjustifiable. Nor did he mean, by introducing these, to
go into the general question which the house had prohibited. The bill which
he had in contemplation, went only to limit the number of persons to be put
on board to the tonnage of the vessel which was to carry them, in order to
prevent them from being crowded too closely together; to secure to them
good and sufficient provisions; and to take cognizance of other matters,
which related to their health and accommodation; and this only till
parliament could enter into the general merits of the question. This humane
interference he thought no member would object to. Indeed, those for
Liverpool had both of them admitted, on the ninth of May, that regulations
were desirable; and he had since conversed with them, and was happy to
learn that they would not oppose him on this occasion.

Mr. Whitbread highly approved of the object of the worthy Baronet, which
was to diminish the sufferings of an unoffending people. Whatever could be
done to relieve them in their hard situation, till parliament could take up
the whole of their case, ought to be done by men living in a civilized
country, and professing the Christian religion: he therefore begged leave
to second the motion, which had been made.

General Norton was sorry that he had not risen up sooner. He wished to have
seconded this humane motion himself. It had his most cordial approbation.

Mr. Burgess complimented the worthy Baronet on the honour he had done
himself on this occasion, and congratulated the house on the good, which
they were likely to do by acceding, as he was sure they would, to his
proposition.

Mr. Joliffe rose, and said that the motion in question should have his
strenuous support.

Mr. Gascoyne stated, that having understood from the honourable Baronet
that he meant only to remedy the evils, which were stated to exist in
transporting the inhabitants of Africa to the West Indies, he had told him
that he would not object to the introduction of such a bill. Should it
however interfere with the general question, the discussion of which had
been prohibited, he would then oppose it. He must also reserve another case
for his opposition; and this would be, if the evils of which it took
cognizance should appear not to have been well founded. He had written to
his constituents to be made acquainted with this circumstance, and he must
be guided by them on the subject.

Mr. Martin was surprised how any person could give an opposition to such a
bill. Whatever were the merits of the great question, all would allow that,
if human beings were to be transported across the ocean, they should be
carried over it with as little suffering as possible to themselves.

Mr. Hamilton deprecated the subdivision of this great and important
question, which the house had reserved for another session. Every endeavour
to meddle with one part of it, before the whole of it could be taken into
consideration, looked rather as if it came from an enemy than from a
friend. He was fearful that such a bill as this would sanction a traffic,
which should never be viewed but in a hostile light, or as repugnant to the
feelings of our nature, and to the voice of our religion.

Lord Frederic Campbell was convinced that the postponing of all
consideration of the subject till the next session was a wise measure. He
was sure that neither the house nor the public were in a temper
sufficiently cool to discuss it property. There was a general warmth of
feeling, or an enthusiasm about it, which ran away with the understandings
of men, and disqualified them from judging soberly concerning it. He
wished, therefore, that the present motion might be deferred.

Mr. William Smith said, that if the motion of the honourable Baronet had
trespassed upon the great question reserved for consideration, he would
have opposed it himself; but he conceived the subject, which it
comprehended, might with propriety be separately considered; and if it were
likely that a hundred, but much more a thousand, lives would be saved by
this bill, it was the duty of that house to adopt it without delay.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, though he meant still to conceal his
opinion as to the general merits of the question, could not be silent here.
He was of opinion that he could very consistently give this motion his
support. There was a possibility (and a bare possibility was a sufficient
ground with him) that in consequence of the resolution lately come to by
the house, and the temper then manifested in it, those persons who were
concerned in the Slave-trade might put the natives of Africa in a worse
situation, during their transportation to the colonies, even than they were
in before, by cramming additional numbers on board their vessels, in order
to convey as many as possible to the West Indies before parliament
ultimately decided on the subject. The possibility, therefore, that such a
consequence might grow out of their late resolution during the intervening
months between the end of the present and the commencement of the next
session, was a good and sufficient parliamentary ground for them to provide
immediate means to prevent the existence of such an evil. He considered
this as an act of indispensable duty, and on that ground the bill should
have his support.

Soon after this the question was put, and leave was given for the
introduction of the bill.

An account of these proceedings of the house having been sent to the
merchants of Liverpool, they held a meeting, and came to resolutions on the
subject. They determined to oppose the bill in every stage in which it
should be brought forward, and, what was extraordinary, even the principle
of it. Accordingly, between the twenty-first of May and the second of June,
on which latter day the bill, having been previously read a second time,
was to be committed, petitions from interested persons had been brought
against it, and consent had been obtained, that both counsel and evidence
should be heard.

The order of the day having been read on the second of June for the house
to resolve itself into a commitee of the whole house, a discussion took
place relative to the manner in which the business was to be conducted.
This being over, the counsel began their observations; and, as soon as they
had finished, evidence was called to the bar in behalf of the petitions
which had been delivered.

From the second of June to the seventeenth the house continued to hear the
evidence at intervals, but the members for Liverpool took every opportunity
of occasioning delay. They had recourse twice to counting out the house;
and at another time, though complaint had been made of their attempts to
procrastinate, they opposed the resuming of their own evidence with the
same view,--and this merely for the frivolous reason, that, though there
was then a suitable opportunity, notice had not been previously given. But
in this proceeding, other members feeling indignant at their conduct, they
were overruled.

The witnesses brought by the Liverpool merchants against this humane bill
were the same as they had before sent for examination to the privy council,
namely, Mr. Norris, Lieutenant Matthews, and others. On the other side of
the question it was not deemed expedient to bring any. It was soon
perceived that it would be possible to refute the former out of their own
mouths, and to do this seemed more eligible than to proceed in the other
way. Mr. Pitt, however, took care to send Captain Parrey, of the royal
navy, to Liverpool, that he might take the tonnage and internal dimensions
of several slave-vessels, which were then there, supposing that these, when
known, would enable the house to detect any misrepresentations, which the
delegates from that town might be disposed to make upon this subject.

It was the object of the witnesses, when examined, to prove two things:
first, that regulations were unnecessary, because the present mode of the
transportation was sufficiently convenient for the objects of it, and was
well adapted to preserve their comfort and their health. They had
sufficient room, sufficient air, and sufficient provisions. When upon deck,
they made merry and amused themselves with dancing. As to the mortality, or
the loss of them by death in the course of their passage, it was trifling.
In short, the voyage from Africa to the West Indies "was one of the
happiest periods of a Negro's life."

Secondly, that if the merchants were hindered from taking less than two
full-sized, or three smaller Africans, to a ton, then the restriction would
operate not as the regulation but as the utter ruin of the trade. Hence the
present bill, under the specious mask of a temporary interference, sought
nothing less than its abolition.

These assertions having been severally made, by the former of which it was
insinuated that the African, unhappy in his own country, found in the
middle passage, under the care of the merchants, little less than an
Elysian retreat, it was now proper to institute a severe inquiry into the
truth of them. Mr. Pitt, Sir Charles Middleton, Mr. William Smith, and Mr.
Beaufoy, took a conspicuous part on this occasion, but particularly the two
latter, to whom much praise was due for the constant attention they
bestowed upon this subject. Question after question was put by these to the
witnesses; and from their own mouths they dragged out, by means of a
cross-examination as severe as could be well instituted, the following
melancholy account:

Every slave, whatever his size might be, was found to have only five feet
and six inches in length, and sixteen inches in breadth, to lie in. The
floor was covered with bodies stowed or packed according to this allowance.
But between the floor and the deck or ceiling were often platforms or broad
shelves in the mid-way, which were covered with bodies also. The height
from the floor to the ceiling, within which space the bodies on the floor
and those on the platforms lay, seldom exceeded five feet eight inches, and
in some cases it did not exceed four feet.

The men were chained two and two together by their hands and feet, and were
chained also by means of ring-bolts, which were fastened to the deck. They
were confined in this manner at least all the time they remained upon the
Coast, which was from six weeks to six months as it might happen.

Their allowance consisted of one pint of water a day to each person, and
they were fed twice a day with yams and horse-beans.

After meals they jumped up in their irons for exercise. This was so
necessary for their health, that they were whipped if they refused to do
it. And this jumping had been termed dancing.

They were usually fifteen and sixteen hours below deck out of the
twenty-four. In rainy weather they could not be brought up for two or three
days together. If the ship was full, their situation was then distressing.
They sometimes drew their breath with anxious and laborious efforts, and
some died of suffocation.

With respect to their health in these voyages, the mortality, where the
African constitution was the strongest, or on the windward coast, was only
about five in a hundred. In thirty-five voyages, an account of which was
produced, about six in a hundred was the average number lost. But this loss
was still greater at Calabàr and Bonny, which were the greatest markets for
slaves. This loss, too, did not include those who died, either while the
vessels were lying upon the Coast, or after their arrival in the West
Indies, of the disorders which they had contracted upon the voyage. Three
and four in a hundred had been known to die in this latter case.

But besides these facts, which were forced out of the witnesses by means of
the cross-examination which took place, they were detected in various
falsehoods.

They had asserted that the ships in this trade were peculiarly constructed,
or differently from others, in order that they might carry a great number
of persons with convenience; whereas Captain Parrey asserted that out of
the twenty-six, which he had seen, ten only had been built expressly for
this employ.

They had stated the average height between decks at about five feet and
four inches. But Captain Parrey showed, that out of the nine he measured,
the height in four of the smallest was only four feet eight inches, and the
average height in all of them was but five feet two.

They had asserted that vessels under two hundred tons had no platforms. But
by his account the four just mentioned were of this tonnage, and yet all of
them had platforms either wholly or in part.

On other points they were found both to contradict themselves and one
another. They had asserted, as before mentioned, that if they were
restricted to less than two full-grown slaves to a ton, the trade would be
ruined. But in examining into the particulars of nineteen vessels, which
they produced themselves, five of them only had cargoes equal to the
proportion which they stated to be necessary to the existence of the trade.
The other fourteen carried a less number of slaves (and they might have
taken more on board if they had pleased): so that the average number in the
nineteen was but one man and four-fifths to a ton, or ten in a hundred
below their lowest standard[A]. One again said, that no inconvenience arose
in consequence of the narrow space allowed to each individual in these
voyages. Another said, that smaller vessels were more healthy than larger,
because, among other reasons, they had a less proportion of slaves as to
number on board.

[Footnote A: The falsehood of their statements in this respect was proved
again afterwards by facts. For, after the regulation had taken place, they
lost fewer slaves and made greater profits.]

They were found also guilty of a wilful concealment of such facts, as they
knew, if communicated, would have invalidated their own testimony. I was
instrumental in detecting them on one of these occasions myself. When Mr.
Dalzell was examined, he was not wholly unknown to me. My Liverpool
muster-rolls told me that he had lost fifteen seamen out of forty in his
last voyage. This was a sufficient ground to go upon; for generally, where
the mortality of the seamen has been great, it may be laid down that the
mortality of the slaves has been considerable also. I waited patiently till
his evidence was nearly closed, but he had then made no unfavourable
statements to the house. I desired, therefore, that a question might be put
to him, and in such a manner, that he might know that they, who put it, had
got a clew to his secrets. He became immediately embarrassed. His voice
faltered. He confessed with trembling, that he had lost a third of his
sailors in his last voyage. Pressed hard immediately by other questions, he
then acknowledged that he had lost one hundred and twenty or a third of his
slaves also. But would he say that these were all he had lost in that
voyage? No: twelve others had perished by an accident, for they were
drowned. But were no others lost besides the one hundred and twenty and the
twelve? None, he said, upon the voyage, but between twenty and thirty
before he left the Coast. Thus this champion of the merchants, this
advocate for the health and happiness of the slaves in the middle passage,
lost nearly a hundred and sixty of the unhappy persons committed to his
superior care, in a single voyage!

The evidence, on which I have now commented, having been delivered, the
counsel summed up on the seventeenth of June, when the commitee proceeded
to fill up the blanks in the bill. Mr. Pitt moved that the operation of it
be retrospective, and that it commence from the tenth instant. This was
violently opposed by Lord Penrhyn, Mr. Gascoyne, and Mr. Brickdale, but was
at length acceded to.

Sir William Dolben then proposed to apportion five men to every three tons
in every ship under one hundred and fifty tons burthen, which had the space
of five feet between the decks, and three men to two tons in every vessel
beyond one hundred and fifty tons burthen, which had equal accommodation in
point of height between the decks. This occasioned a very warm dispute,
which was not settled for some time, and which gave rise to some beautiful
and interesting speeches on the subject.

Mr. William Smith pointed out in the clearest manner many of the
contradictions, which I have just stated in commenting upon the evidence.
Indeed he had been a principal means of detecting them. He proved how
little worthy of belief the witnesses had shown themselves, and how
necessary they had made the present bill by their own confession. The
worthy Baronet, indeed, had been too indulgent to the merchants, in the
proportion he had fixed of the number of persons to be carried to the
tonnage of their vessels. He then took a feeling view of what would be the
wretched state of the poor Africans on board, even if the bill passed as it
now stood; and conjured the house, if they would not allow them more room,
at least not to infringe upon that, which had been proposed.

Lord Belgrave (now Grosvenor) animadverted with great ability upon the
cruelties of the trade, which he said had been fully proved at the bar. He
took notice of the extraordinary opposition which had been made to the bill
then before them, and which he believed every gentleman, who had a proper
feeling of humanity, would condemn. If the present mode of carrying on the
trade received the countenance of that house, the poor unfortunate African
would have occasion doubly to curse his fate. He would not only curse the
womb that brought him forth, but the British nation also, whose diabolical
avarice had made his cup of misery still more bitter. He hoped that the
members for Liverpool would urge no further opposition to the bill, but
that they would join with the house in an effort to enlarge the empire of
humanity; and that, while they were stretching out the strong arm of
justice to punish the degraders of British honour and humanity in the East,
they would with equal spirit exert their powers to dispense the blessings
of their protection to those unhappy Africans, who were to serve them in
the West.

Mr. Beaufoy entered minutely into an examination of the information, which
had been, given by the witnesses, and which afforded unanswerable arguments
for the passing of the bill. He showed the narrow space, which they
themselves had been made to allow for the package of a human body, and the
ingenious measures they were obliged to resort to for stowing this living
cargo within the limits of the ship. He adverted next to the case of Mr.
Dalzell; and showed how one dismal fact after another, each making against
their own testimony, was extorted from him. He then went to the trifling
mortality said to be experienced in these voyages, upon which subject he
spoke in the following words: "Though the witnesses are some of them
interested in the trade, and all of them parties against the bill, their
confession is, that of the Negros of the windward coast, who are men of the
strongest constitution which Africa affords, no less on an average than
five in each hundred perish in the voyage,--a voyage, it must be
remembered, but of six weeks. In a twelvemonth, then, what must be the
proportion of the dead? No less than forty-three in a hundred, which is
seventeen times the usual rate of mortality; for all the estimates of life
suppose no more than a fortieth of the people, or two and a half in the
hundred, to die within the space of a year. Such then is the comparison. In
the ordinary course of nature the number of persons, (including those in
age and infancy, the weakest periods of existence,) who perish in the space
of a twelvemonth, is at the rate of but two and a half in a hundred; but in
an African voyage, notwithstanding the old are excluded and few infants
admitted, so that those who are shipped are in the firmest period of life,
the list of deaths presents an annual mortality of forty-three in a
hundred. It presents this mortality even in vessels from the windward coast
of Africa; but in those which sail to Bonny, Benin, and the Calebars, from
whence the greatest proportion of the slaves are brought, this mortality is
increased by a variety of causes, (of which the greater length of the
voyage is one,) and is said to be twice as large, which supposes that in
every hundred the deaths annually amount to no less than eighty-six. Yet
even the former comparatively low mortality, of which the counsel speaks
with so much satisfaction, as a proof of the kind and compassionate
treatment of the slaves, even this indolent and lethargic destruction gives
to the march of death seventeen times its usual speed. It is a destruction,
which, if general but for ten years, would depopulate the world, blast the
purposes of its creation, and extinguish the human race."

After having gone with great ability through the other branches of the
subject, he concluded in the following manner: "Thus I have considered the
various objections which have been stated to the bill, and am ashamed to
reflect that it could be necessary to speak so long in defence of such a
cause: for what, after all, is asked by the proposed regulations? On the
part of the Africans, the whole of their purport is, that they, whom you
allow to be robbed of all things but life, may not unnecessarily and
wantonly be deprived of life also. To the honour, to the wisdom, to the
feelings of the house I now make my appeal, perfectly confident that you
will not tolerate, as senators, a traffic, which, as men, you shudder to
contemplate, and that you will not take upon yourselves the responsibility
of this waste of existence. To the memory of former parliaments the horrors
of this traffic will be an eternal reproach; yet former parliaments have
not known, as you on the clearest evidence now know, the dreadful nature of
this trade. Should you reject this bill, no exertions of yours to rescue
from oppression the suffering inhabitants of your Eastern empire; no
records of the prosperous state to which, after along and unsuccessful war,
you have restored your native land; no proofs, however splendid, that,
under your guidance, Great Britain has recovered her rank, and is again the
arbitress of nations, will save your names from the stigma of everlasting
dishonour. The broad mantle of this one infamy will cover with substantial
blackness the radiance of your glory, and change to feelings of abhorrence
the present admiration of the world.--But pardon the supposition of so
impossible an event. I believe that justice and mercy may be considered as
the attributes of your character, and that you will not tarnish their
lustre on this occasion."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer rose next; and after having made some
important observations on the evidence (which took up much time), he
declared himself most unequivocally in favour of the motion made by the
honourable baronet. He was convinced that the regulation proposed would not
tend to the Abolition of the trade; but if it even went so far, he had no
hesitation openly and boldly to declare, that if it could not be carried on
in a manner different from that stated by the members for Liverpool, he
would retract what he had said on a former day against going into the
general question; and, waiving every other discussion than what had that
day taken place, he would give his vote for the utter annihilation of it at
once. It was a trade, which it was shocking to humanity to hear detailed.
If it were to be carried on as proposed by the petitioners, it would,
besides its own intrinsic baseness, be contrary to every humane and
Christian principle, and to every sentiment that ought to inspire the
breast of man, and would reflect the greatest dishonour on the British
senate and the British nation. He therefore hoped that the house, being now
in possession of such information as never hitherto had been brought before
them, would in some measure endeavour to extricate themselves from that
guilt, and from that remorse, which every one of them ought to feel for
having suffered such monstrous cruelties to be practised upon an helpless
and unoffending part of the human race.

Mr. Martin complimented Mr. Pitt in terms of the warmest panegyric on his
noble sentiments, declaring that they reflected the greatest honour upon
him both as an Englishman and as a man.

Soon after this the house divided upon the motion of Sir William Dolben.
Fifty-six appeared to be in favour of it, and only five against it. The
latter consisted of the two members for Liverpool and three other
interested persons. This was the first division which ever took place on
this important subject. The other blanks were then filled up, and the bill
was passed without further delay.

The next day, or on the eighteenth of June, it was carried up to the House
of Lords. The slave-merchants of London, Liverpool, and Bristol,
immediately presented petitions against it, as they had done in the lower
house. They prayed that counsel might open their case; and though they had
been driven from the commons, on account of their evidence, with disgrace,
they had the effrontery to ask that they might call witnesses here also.

Counsel and evidence having been respectively heard, the bill was ordered
to be committed the next day. The Lords attended according to summons. But
on a motion by Dr. Warren, the bishop of Bangor, who stated that the Lord
Chancellor Thurlow was much indisposed, and that he wished to be present
when the question was discussed, the commitee was postponed.

It was generally thought that the reason for this postponement, and
particularly as it was recommended by a prelate, was, that the Chancellor
might have an opportunity of forwarding this humane bill. But it was found
to be quite otherwise. It appeared that the motive was, that he might give
to it, by his official appearance as the chief servant of the crown in that
house, all the opposition in his power. For when the day arrived, which had
been appointed for the discussion, and when the Lords Bathurst and
Hawkesbury (now Liverpool) had expressed their opinions, which were
different, relative to the time when the bill should take place, he rose
up, and pronounced a bitter and vehement oration against it. He said, among
other things, that it was full of inconsistency and nonsense from the
beginning to the end. The French had lately offered large premiums for the
encouragement of this trade. They were a politic people, and the
presumption was, that we were doing politically wrong by abandoning it. The
bill ought not to have been brought forward in this session. The
introduction of it was a direct violation of the faith of the other house.
It was unjust, when an assurance had been given that the question should
not be agitated till next year, that this sudden fit of philanthropy, which
was but a few days old, should be allowed to disturb the public mind, and
to become the occasion of bringing men to the metropolis with tears in
their eyes and horror in their countenances, to deprecate the ruin of their
property, which they had embarked on the faith of parliament.

The extraordinary part, which the Lord Chancellor Thurlow took upon this
occasion, was ascribed at the time by many, who moved in the higher
circles, to a shyness or misunderstanding, which had taken place between
him and Mr. Pitt on other matters; when, believing this bill to have been a
favourite measure with the latter, he determined to oppose it. But,
whatever were his motives (and let us hope that he could never have been
actuated by so malignant a spirit as that of sacrificing the happiness of
forty thousand persons for the next year to spite the gratification of an
individual), his opposition had a mischievous effect, on account of the
high situation in which he stood. For he not only influenced some of the
Lords themselves, but, by taking the cause of the slave-merchants so
conspicuously under his wing, he gave them boldness to look up again under
the stigma of their iniquitous calling, and courage even to resume vigorous
operations after their disgraceful defeat. Hence arose those obstacles,
which will be found to have been thrown in the way of the passing of the
bill from this period.

Among the Lords, who are to be particularly noticed as having taken the
same side as the Lord Chancellor in this debate, were the Duke of Chandos
and the Earl of Sandwich. The former foresaw nothing but insurrections of
the slaves in our islands, and the massacre of their masters there, in
consequence of the agitation of this question. The latter expected nothing
less than the ruin of our marine. He begged the house to consider how, by
doing that which might bring about the Abolition of this traffic, they
might lessen the number of British sailors; how, by throwing it into the
hands of France, they might increase those of a rival nation; and how, in
consequence, the flag of the latter might ride triumphant on the ocean, The
Slave-trade was undoubtedly a nursery for our seamen. All objections
against it in this respect were ill-founded. It was as healthy as the
Newfoundland and many other trades.

The debate having closed, during which nothing more was done than filling
up the blanks with the time when the bill was to begin to operate, the
commitee was adjourned. But the bill after this dragged on so heavily, that
it would be tedious to detail the proceedings upon it from day to day. I
shall, therefore, satisfy myself with the following observations concerning
them. The commitee sat not less than five different times, which consumed
the space of eight days, before a final decision took place. During this
time, so much was it an object to throw in obstacles which might occupy the
little remaining time of the session, that other petitions were presented
against the bill, and leave was asked, on new pretences contained in these,
that counsel might be heard again. Letters also were read from Jamaica,
about the mutinous disposition of the slaves there, in consequence of the
stir which had been made about the Abolition, and also from merchants in
France, by which large offers were made to the British merchants to furnish
them with slaves. Several regulations also were proposed in this interval,
some of which were negatived by majorities of only one or two voices. Of
the regulations, which were carried, the most remarkable were those
proposed by Lord Hawkesbury (now Liverpool); namely, that no insurance
should be made on the slaves except against accidents by fire and water;
that persons should not be appointed as officers of vessels transporting
them, who had not been a certain number of such voyages before; that a
regular surgeon only should be capable of being employed in them; and that
both the captain and surgeon should have bounties, if in the course of the
transportation they had lost only two in a hundred slaves. The Duke of
Chandos again, and Lord Sydney, were the most conspicuous among the
opposers of this humane bill; and the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis
Townshend, the Earl of Carlisle, the Bishop of London, and Earl Stanhope,
among the most strenuous supporters of it. At length it passed, by a
majority of nineteen to eleven votes.

On the fourth of July, when the bill had been returned to the Commons, it
was moved that the amendments made in it by the Lords should be read; but
as it had become a money-bill in consequence of the bounties to be granted,
and as new regulations were to be incorporated in it, it was thought proper
that it should be wholly done away. Accordingly Sir William Dolben moved,
that the further consideration of it should be put off till that day three
months. This having been agreed upon, he then moved for leave to bring in a
new bill. This was accordingly introduced, and an additional clause was
inserted in it, relative to bounties, by Mr. Pitt. But on the second
reading, that no obstacle might be omitted which could legally be thrown in
the way of its progress, petitions were presented against it both by the
Liverpool merchants and the agent for the island of Jamaica, under the
pretence that it was a new bill. Their petitions, however, were rejected,
and it was committed, and passed through its regular stages and sent up to
the Lords.

On its arrival there on the fifth of July, petitions from London and
Liverpool still followed it. The prayer of these was against the general
tendency of it, but it was solicited also that counsel might be heard in a
particular case. The solicitation was complied with; after which the bill
was read a second time, and ordered to be committed.

On the seventh, when it was taken next into consideration, two other
petitions were presented against it. But here so many objections were made
to the clauses of it as they then stood; and such new matter suggested,
that the Duke of Richmond, who was a strenuous supporter of it, thought it
best to move that the commitee, then sitting, should be deferred till that
day seven-night, in order to give time for another more perfect to
originate in the lower house.

This motion having been acceded to, Sir William Dolben introduced a new one
for the third time into the Commons. This included the suggestions which
had been made in the Lords. It included also a regulation, on the motion of
Mr. Sheridan, that no surgeon should be employed as such in the
slave-vessels, except he had a testimonial that he had passed a proper
examination at Surgeons'-Hall. The amendments were all then agreed to, and
the bill was passed through its several stages.

On the tenth of July, being now fully amended, it came for a third time
before the Lords; but it was no sooner brought forward than it met with the
same opposition as it had experienced before. Two new petitions appeared
against it, one from a certain class of persons in Liverpool, and another
from Miles Peter Andrews, esquire, stating that, if it passed into a law,
it would injure the sale of his gunpowder, and that he had rendered great
services to the government during the last war by his provision of that
article. But here the Lord Chancellor Thurlow reserved himself for an
effort, which, by occasioning only a day's delay, would in that particular
period of the session have totally prevented the passing of the bill. He
suggested certain amendments for consideration and discussion, which, if
they had been agreed upon, must have been carried again to the lower house
and sanctioned there before the bill could have been complete. But it
appeared afterwards, that there would have been no time for the latter
proceeding. Earl Stanhope, therefore, pressed this circumstance peculiarly
upon the Lords who were present. He observed, that the King was to dismiss
the parliament next day, and therefore they must adopt the bill as it
stood, or reject it altogether. There was no alternative, and no time was
to be lost. Accordingly he moved for an immediate division on the first of
the amendments proposed by Lord Thurlow. This having taken place, it was
negatived. The other amendments shared the same fate; and thus, at length,
passed through the upper house, as through an ordeal as it were of fire,
the first bill that ever put fetters upon that barbarous and destructive
monster, The Slave-trade.

The next day, or on Friday, July the eleventh, the King gave his assent to
it, and, as Lord Stanhope had previously asserted in the House of Lords,
concluded the session.

While the legislature was occupied in the consideration of this bill, the
Lords of the Council continued their examinations, that they might collect
as much light as possible previously to the general agitation of the
question in the next session of parliament. Among others I underwent an
examination. I gave my testimony first relative to many of the natural
productions of Africa, of which I produced the specimens. These were such
as I had collected in the course of my journey to Bristol and Liverpool,
and elsewhere. I explained, secondly, the loss and usage of seamen in the
Slave-trade. To substantiate certain points, which belonged to this branch
of the subject, I left several depositions and articles of agreement for
the examination of the council. With respect to others, as it would take a
long time to give all the data upon which calculations had been made and
the manner of making them, I was desired to draw up a statement of
particulars, and to send it to the council at a future time. I left also
depositions with them relative to certain instances of the mode of
procuring and treating slaves.

The commitee also for effecting the abolition of the Slave-trade continued
their attention, during this period, towards the promotion of the different
objects, which came within the range of the institution.

They added the reverend Dr. Coombe, in consequence of the great increase of
their business, to the list of their members.

They voted thanks to Mr. Hughes, vicar of Ware in Hertfordshire, for his
excellent Answer to Harm's Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the
Slave-trade, and they enrolled him among their honorary and corresponding
members. Also thanks to William Roscoe, esquire, for his Answer to the
same. Mr. Roscoe had not affixed his name to this pamphlet any more than to
his poem of The Wrongs of Africa. But he made himself known to the commitee
as the author of both. Also thanks to William Smith and Henry Beaufoy,
esquires, for having so successfully exposed the evidence offered by the
slave-merchants against the bill of Sir William Dolben, and for having
drawn out of it so many facts, all making for their great object, the
abolition of the Slave-trade.

As the great question was to be discussed in the approaching sessions, it
was moved in the commitee to consider of the propriety of sending persons
to Africa and the West Indies, who should obtain information relative to
the different branches of the system as they existed in each of these
countries, in order that they might be able to give their testimony, from
their own experience, before one or both of the houses of parliament, as it
might be judged proper. This proposition was discussed at two or three
several meetings. It was however finally rejected, and principally on the
following grounds: First, It was obvious, that persons sent out upon such
an errand would be exposed to such dangers from various causes, that it was
not improbable that both they and their testimony might be lost. Secondly,
Such persons would be obliged to have recourse to falsehoods, that is, to
conceal or misrepresent the objects of their destination, that they might
get their intelligence with safety; which falsehoods the commitee could not
countenance. To which it was added, that few persons would go to these
places, except they were handsomely rewarded for their trouble; but this
reward would lessen the value of their evidence, as it would afford a
handle to the planters and slave-merchants to say that they had been
bribed.

Another circumstance, which came before the commitee, was the following:
Many arguments were afloat at this time relative to the great impolicy of
abolishing the Slave-trade, the principal of which was, that, if the
English abandoned it, other foreign nations would take it up; and thus,
while they gave up certain national profits themselves, the great cause of
humanity would not be benefited, nor would any moral good be done by the
measure. Now there was a presumption that, by means of the society
instituted in Paris, the French nation might be awakened to this great
subject, and that the French government might in consequence, as well as
upon other considerations, be induced to favour the general feeling upon
this occasion. But there was no reason to conclude, either that any other
maritime people, who had been engaged in the Slave-trade, would relinquish
it, or that any other, who had not yet been engaged in it, would not begin
it when our countrymen should give it up. The consideration of these
circumstances occupied the attention of the commitee; and as Dr. Spaarman,
who was said to have been examined by the privy council, was returning
home, it was thought advisable to consider whether it would not be proper
for the commitee to select certain of their own books on the subject of the
Slave-trade, and send them by him, accompanied by a letter, to the King of
Sweden, in which they should entreat his consideration of this powerful
argument which now stood in the way of the cause of humanity, with a view
that, as one of the princes of Europe, he might contribute to obviate it,
by preventing his own subjects, in case of the dereliction of this commerce
by ourselves, from embarking in it. The matter having been fully
considered, it was resolved that the proposed measure would be proper, and
it was accordingly adopted. By a letter received afterwards from Dr.
Spaarman, it appeared that both the letter and the books had been
delivered, and received graciously; and that he was authorised to say,
that, unfortunately, in consequence of those, hereditary possessions which
had devolved upon his majesty, he was obliged to confess that he was the
sovereign of an island, which had, been principally peopled by African
slaves, but that he had been frequently mindful of their hard case. With
respect to the Slave-trade, he never heard of an instance, in which the
merchants of his own native realm had embarked in it; and as they had
hitherto preserved their character pure in this respect, he would do all he
could, that it should not be sullied in the eyes of the generous English
nation, by taking up, in the case which had been pointed out to him, such
an odious concern.

By this time I had finished my Essay on the Impolicy of the Slave-trade,
which I composed from materials collected chiefly during my journey to
Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster. These materials I had admitted with
great caution and circumspection; indeed I admitted none, for which I could
not bring official and other authentic documents, or living evidences if
necessary, whose testimony could not reasonably be denied; and, when I gave
them to the world, I did it under the impression that I ought to give them
as scrupulously, as if I were to be called upon to substantiate them upon
oath. It was of peculiar moment that this book should make its appearance
at this time. First, Because it would give the Lords of the Council, who
were then sitting, an opportunity of seeing many important facts, and of
inquiring into their authenticity; and it might suggest to them also some
new points, or such as had not fallen within the limits of the arrangement
they had agreed upon for their examinations on this subject; and Secondly,
Because, as the members of the House of Commons were to take the question
into consideration early in the next sessions, it would give them also new
light and information upon it before this period. Accordingly the commitee
ordered two thousand copies of it to be struck off, for these and other
objects; and though the contents of it were most diligently sifted by the
different opponents of the cause, they never even made an attempt to answer
it. It continued, on the other hand, during the inquiry of the legislature,
to afford the basis or grounds upon which to examine evidences on the
political part of the subject; and evidences thus examined continued in
their turn to establish it.

Among the other books ordered to be printed by the commitee within the
period now under our consideration, were a new edition of two thousand of
the Dean of Middleham's Letter, and another of three thousand of
Falconbridge's Account of the Slave-trade.

The commitee continued to keep up, during the same period, a communication
with many of their old correspondents, whose names have been already
mentioned. But they received also letters from others, who had not hitherto
addressed them; namely, from Ellington Wright of Erith, Dr. Franklin of
Philadelphia, Eustace Kentish esquire, high sheriff for the county of
Huntingdon, Governor Bouchier, the reverend Charles Symmons of
Haverfordwest; and from John York and William Downes esquires, high
sheriffs for the counties of York and Hereford.

A letter also was read in this interval from Mr. Evans, a dissenting
clergyman, of Bristol, stating that the elders of several Baptist churches,
forming the western Baptist association, who had met at Portsmouth Common,
had resolved to recommend it to the ministers and members of the same, to
unite with the commitee in the promotion of the great object of their
institution.

Another from Mr. Andrew Irvin, of the Island of Grenada, in which he
confirmed the wretched situation of many of the slaves there, and in which
he gave the outlines of a plan for bettering their condition, as well as
that of those in the other islands.

Another from I.L. Wynne, esquire, of Jamaica. In this he gave an
afflicting account of the suffering and unprotected state of the slaves
there, which it was high time to rectify. He congratulated the commitee on
their institution, which he thought would tend to promote so desirable an
end; but desired them not to stop short of the total abolition of the
Slave-trade, as no other measure would prove effectual against the evils of
which he complained. This trade, he said, was utterly unnecessary, as his
own plantation, on which his slaves had increased rapidly by population,
and others which he knew to be similarly circumstanced, would abundantly
testify. He concluded by promising to give the commitee, such information
from time to time as might be useful on this important subject.

The session of parliament having closed, the commitee thought it right to
make a report to the public, in which they gave an account of the great
progress of their cause since the last, of the state in which they then
were, and of the unjustifiable conduct of their opponents, who
industriously misrepresented their views, but particularly by attributing
to them the design of abolishing slavery; and they concluded by exhorting
their friends not to relax their endeavours, on account of favourable
appearances, but to persevere, as if nothing had been done, under the
pleasing hope of an honourable triumph.

And now having given the substance of the labours of the commitee from its
formation to the present time, I cannot conclude this volume without giving
to the worthy members of it that tribute of affectionate and grateful
praise, which is due to them for their exertions in having forwarded the
great cause which was intrusted to their care. And this I can do with more
propriety, because, having been so frequently absent from them when they
were engaged in the pursuit of this their duty, I cannot be liable to the
suspicion, that in bestowing commendation upon them I am bestowing it upon
myself. From about the end of May 1787 to the middle of July 1788 they had
held no less than fifty-one commitees. These generally occupied them from
about six in the evening till about eleven at night. In the intervals
between the commitees they were often occupied, having each of them some
object committed to his charge. It is remarkable, too, that though they
were all except one engaged in business or trade, and though they had the
same calls as other men for innocent recreation, and the same interruptions
of their health, there were individuals, who were not absent more than five
or six times within this period. In the course of the thirteen months,
during which they had exercised this public trust, they had printed, and
afterwards distributed, not at random, but judiciously, and through
respectable channels, (besides twenty-six thousand five hundred and
twenty-six reports, accounts of debates in parliament, and other small
papers,) no less than fifty-one thousand four hundred and thirty-two
pamphlets, or books.

Nor was the effect produced within this short period otherwise than
commensurate with the efforts used. In May 1787, the only public notice
taken of this great cause was by this commitee of twelve individuals, of
whom all were little known to the world except Mr. Granville Sharp. But in
July 1788, it had attracted the notice of several distinguished individuals
in France and Germany, and in our own country it had come within the
notice, of the government, and a branch of it had undergone a parliamentary
discussion and restraint. It had arrested also the attention of the nation,
and it had produced a kind of holy flame, or enthusiasm, and this to a
degree and to an extent never before witnessed. Of the purity of this flame
no better proof can be offered, than that even bishops deigned to address
an obscure commitee, consisting principally of Quakers, and that churchmen
and dissenters forgot their difference of religious opinions, and joined
their hands, all over the kingdom, in its support.


END OF THE FIRST VOLUME


Printed by Richard Taylor and Co. Shoe Lane.





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