Page images
PDF
EPUB

Mr. Wil

and deteftation of, this war, was greater in Holland than in England. Now, faid the Minifter's friends, if war enfues, we may thank the fpeeches of the Minority. He had long been callous to this fort of abufe; but if this was their opinion, they ought to prorogue the Parliament; for it was impoffible for him to fit in it, and not speak his honeft fentiments on a question which fo nearly concerned the public interest. But he believed there would be no war: the Empress would either be compelled to give up Oczakow, or, what was much more probable, the Minifter, after all his bullying and blustering, would recede from all his arrogant demands, and we fhould have nothing in return for an expence of perhaps half a million, but the fhame of having interfered where we had no right to interfere, and the difgrace of having completely failed. To what a ftate were we reduced, when this was the foundation of our hopes; and when to be baffled and difgraced in the eyes of Europe was an object of ardent expectation! Mr. Fox, in the courte of his fpeech, charged the Minister with infolence, arrogance, incapacity, and wilful impofition on the House of Commons, in the conduct of foreign affairs, and dared him to the proof. The confidence, he said, that there would be no war, that he durft not go to war, was the only tie which kept his majority about him. He entered into a comparison of the prefent ftate of France with its former condition, both as it respected the politics of Europe, and the happiness of the people, for the purpose of fhewing that thofe who detefted the principles of the Revolution, had reafon to rejoice in its effes.

The Houfe divided on the previous question;

Ayes, 162; Noes, 254. Majority, 92.

The Houle adjourned.

Monday, 18th April.

Mr. Filberforce rising, observed, that although he should berforce. not prefume to determine what, upon the prefent occafion were the emotions and fentiments of others, he could fincerely anfwer for himself that when he confidered the infinite importance, and the vaft extent of the fubject which they were preparing to difcufs, when he took a view of the prodigious mats of information they had before them, he was prompted, both for his own fake, and that of the Houfe, to request fome farther time for preparation; he waved this idea, however, in compliment to the gentlemen moft concerned in point of intereft, who had expreffed themselves ftrongly against another adjournment. He had alfo been in fome degree influenced by a regard to what he understood to be their wishes, in determining to bring forward the bufinefs in the fhape of a general motion, rather than in that of the propofitions which

had

had been laid before the Houfe in the laft Parliament; but these propofitions, though not formally before them, would ferve as a clue to direct the courfe of their inquiry.

Meaning to confine himfelf within the leading topics, he trufted that gentlemen would argue the matter with him point by point, being fure that the more diftinct and complete the difcuffion proved, the more clearly and irrefragably it would appear that truth and reafon were on his fide. He had long looked forward, he owned, to this day, with fome degree of impatience, as what would afford him the opportunity of difpelling the prejudices, and correcting the mifreprefentations which had gone forth; but befides that, he had. always felt that this was the propereft time and place for him to meet them, and to convince the world that in undertaking and perfifting in his prefent purfuit, he had not been influenced by any unworthy feelings of a perfonal nature, he had also been determined to remain filent from another confideration: for, though he had been fometimes a little roughly handled by anonymous affailants, it was a tribute of justice he gladly paid to fome of thofe gentlemen, by whom he had been moft ftrenuoufly oppofed both on this and the other fide of the Atlantic, to acknowledge that he had been treated by them with the utmost candour and liberality: these were proofs of the liberality of their minds, and highly gratifying to his own feelings; he trufted alfo that he might draw from them a good omen to his caufe, and derive a hope that, in the iffue, they might all rejoice together in the hapiness which would refult from the fuccefs of it. In the fame manner, he wifhed to difcufs the fubject, frankly indeed, but with fairness and moderation; he called on the House to do the fame, and flattered himself that the present debate, inftead of exciting afperity and confirming prejudice, would tend to produce a general conviction of the truth of what, in fact, was incontrovertible, that the abolition of the flave trade was indifpenfably required of them, not only by religion and morality, but by every principle of found policy. On the prefent occafion, he could not avoid earnestly imploring the Houfe to favour him with its moft ferious attention on the most important queftion, on which a Houfe of Commons had ever been called on to decide.

The first point to which he wished to direct the atten tion of the Committee, was the manner in which the flaves were obtained on the coaft of Africa. In order to be convinced of the truth of all his allegations on this head, it would be merely neceffary to apply unquestionable principles of general reafoning to the particular circumstances of the cafe before them. That vaft country was divided into various communities of different fizes, fome governed by

kings more or less abiolute, others, and those the greater number, by elders. Their state of civilization was in general very imperfect, their notions of morality extremely rude, and the powers of their governments ill defined: it was natural, therefore, to imagine, that when the kings or chieftains should be tempted by the preffing folicitations of appetite to acts of injuftice or oppreffion, they would not be flow to the commiffion of them; and temptations of this kind were continually thrown in their way, by the European traders; the effects of thefe were to be traced in every fpecies of fraud and violence, whilft they, who ought to have been the guardians and protectors, were thus made the ravagers of their country. The fame caufes might be expected to produce the fame confequences throughout the whole fociety; the feeds of difusion and diforder would every where be fown, every man would dread in a neighbour to meet with an enemy, and diftruft and infecurity would univerfally prevail; the fountain of justice also would be poisoned, and changed into a fource of oppreffion. Thefe fpeculations, founded on the principles of human nature, and verified by the experience of all ages, accorded in all refpects with the most authentic accounts which had heretofore been publifhed, of the Continent of Africa, which were now confirmed by teftimonies of the most unexceptionable nature. He begged the Committee would advert to the characters, fituations, and means of information, of the witneffes, to whom he was now alluding: they were of various defcriptions, fome of them officers in his Majefty's fervice; others, men of fcience, who had visited the country from motives of curiofity; others again, who had themfelves been concerned in the flave trade, and whose prejudices might have been fuppofed to run in fa vour of its continuance; feveral of them had poffeffed the moft ample opportunities of intelligence; fome had been many hundred miles up the rivers into the interior country. The teftimony of these witneffes embraced the whole of that vast extent of country to which we reforted for the purchase of flaves, and from one end of it to the other, it established, beyond contradiction, the existence of thofe acts of fraud, oppreffion, rapine, and murder, which he had charged on the flave trade.

To begin with the river Senegal, the northern extremity of the district referred to, Captain Wilfon and Captain Hills of His Majesty's navy, and Mr. Dalrymple of the land fervice, being at the island of Goree, had an opportunity of making obfervations in that quarter. On the arrival of the flave fhips, armed parties were regularly fent out in the evening, who fcoured the neighbouring country, and brought in their prey in the night; thefe wretched victims were to be seen in

the

the morning bound back to back in the huts on the fhore, whence they were conveyed, tied hand and foot, on board the flave fhips. The object of these ravages, if it had wanted any confirmation, was established beyond a doubt by this circumstance, that when the flave trade was topped, the expeditions alfo ceafed. Mr. Kiernan fpoke of the conftant depredations committed by the Moors, of which, as well as of fuch expeditions as had been mentioned by Captain Hills, the Committee heard alfo from Mr. Wadftrom, who had noted down, at the time, the tranfactions of every day in a journal which he had produced before the Committee, and whofe curious and interefting relation, he could not doubt, had attracted the attention of every gentleman who had looked into the evidence: and thefe ravages, excited by prefents of brandy, gunpowder, and fuch other incentives, and by the conditional promife of larger fupplies, were not only carried on by one community against another, but the kings were ftimulated to commit them in their own territories, on their own fubjects; and, in one inftance, a chieftain, who, in the moments of intoxication, could not refift. the preffing calls of appetite, had expreffed, in an interval of reafon, a due fenfe of the enormity of his own proceedings, and had poured forth his reproaches on his Chriftian feducers. Abundant, likewife, were the inftances of private rapine: individuals were kidnapped whilft in their fields and in their gardens; there was an univerfal feeling of diftrust and apprehenfion the natives never went any diftance from home without being armed, and when asked the reafon by Captain Wilfon, pointed to a flave fhip then lying within fight. Thefe tranfactions might be paralleled by others of a fort exactly fimilar throughout every part of the flave coaft; and he thought it perfectly unneceffary for him to trespass on the time and patience of gentlemen, by attempting to enumerate all occurrences of fo atrocious a nature.

Pursuing their progrefs fouthward, they came to the Windward Coaft; where, from the evidence of Lieutenant Story and Mr. Bowman, they would find all the fore-mentioned evils exifting, if poffible, in a ftill higher degree: they would fee the remains of villages which had been burnt, whilft the fields of corn were ftill ftanding befide them, and every other trace of recent defolation. Here an agent was sent to establifh a fettlement in the interior country, and to fend down to the fhips fuch flaves as he might be able to obtain: the orders he received from his captain were a very model of concifenefs and perfpicuity; "he was to encourage the "chieftains, by brandy and gunpowder, to go to war, and "make flaves." He punctually performed his part, the chieftains were not backward in theirs; the neighbouring VOL. XXIX.

Bb

villages

villages were ranfacked, being furrounded and fet on fire in the night; their inhabitants were seized when making their efcape, and being brought to the agent, were by him forwarded, men, women, and children, to his principal on the coaft. Mr. How, a botanift, who, in the fervice cf Government, vifited that country with Captain Thompson, gave in evidence, that being at one of the fubordinate fettlements on the Gold Coast, on the arrival of an order for flaves from Cape Coaft Cafle, the native Chief immediately fent forth his armed parties, who, in the night, brought in a fupply of all defcriptions, and the neceffary afforiment was next day fent off, according to the order. But Mr. Wilberforce would not tire the attention of the Committee; the whole extent of the African coaft f rnifhed but one uniform detail of fimilar inftances of barbarity. There would be no end of multiplying particular cafes; he would, therefore, only mention one or two more, lefs for their own fakes, than for the conclufion that was to be drawn from them. When Captain Hills was in the river Gambia, happening accidentally to mention to a black pilot, who was in the boat with him, that he wanted a cabin-boy, the pilot told him he would foon obtain him one; and accordingly, fome youths being on the fhore with vegetables to fell, he beckoned to them to come on board; at the fame time, by winks and fignificant geftures, giving Captain Hills to understand that he might then take his choice: and when Captain Hills rejected the propofal with indignation, the pilot feemed perfectly at a lofs to account for his warmth, and dryly obferved, that the flave captains would not have been fo fcrupulous. There was, however, another tranfaction which he must diftinctly ftate, not only on account of its enormous magnitude, but alfo because it established, beyond all controverfy, the frequency of thofe acts of rapine, which was the conclufion he had before referred to. When General Rooke, a refpectable Member of that Houfe, commanded in His Majesty's fettlement at Goree, fome of the subjects of a neighbouring king, with whom he was on terms of amity, came to pay him a friendly vifit; there were from 100 to 150 of them, men, women, and children; all was gaiety and merriment; it was a fcene to gladden the faddeft, and to foften the hardest heart but a flave captain, ever faithful to the interefts of his employers, is not fo foon thrown off his guard; with what aftonishment would the Committee hear, that, in the midft of this feftivity, it was propofed to General Rooke to feize the whole of this unfufpecting multitude, hurry them on board the fhips, and carry them off to the West Indies. It was not merely one man, but three, who were bold enough to venture on fuch a propofal! Three English flave captains preferred

I

« PreviousContinue »