The Sun. — London, England, 1814-06-28 00:00:00

! s - 14)r firatiCe yielded tlie liad li C h. point." It e regretted that :tad not earlv , ealled the attention .of Govern rent to this siibject, that ihe'Coriditions might be have h s "!sed On which al one h er C o l on i es , ough t t o 6en restoi•cd., he now 'wished; was, that the voi ce of •Pagianient and of the Nation of raid he r aised4gainst '-t!.e further continuance lavr Trade, i n th e hope that such an ap •sice4l. rnight lie t o th e f ee li ngs o f . the French lade, 'they. ‘vodid not refuse to give up the vr a ttl in Slaves, and he for one would be content to such a concession by part., lase I‘viereiniz.siotatpopoilionate sacrifice. If tfi e trade once terminated, be 'trusted the pe-• i f c l of its continuance would , be shortened, and not done be should expect at least, Af--; thev'would,not carte it,on in those, parts of ki r r,a wilere We had succeeded in rooting out, l e to substituting for it a legitimate commerce. b e e ,,, ii , a(l itl . st heard of a body of,Slave Dealers haV te," P" down near Sierra Leone, ,so that an t i e ''' . of coast of seven or eight hundred miles was tid.Z d • He was eXulting'that these human vul e,°44l no l onger see k th e i r prey ;—that there *i4, ants. would not longer be stimulated to . npon each other, when the Treaty of t h l 'ne Lord met his eye, and checked hisjoy. ttit-°s' Parts, a considerable improvement .11 . ad ( T e '‘`lein the situation of the natives. h a T h ea Pied M an y, a nd f r o t h 100 to 150 were i n P r oli e of receiving daily instinction. Was a •,, ;( 40 th - so fair to!be now skied, and these un- IVe ,; a te ). beings abandoned to increased misery . ght t o obtain some security that the Slave ‘ w° i'lld not be renewed in these paris: But etr; o Partic u l ar i v incumbent on England to take e wh en t h e p er i vl d fur w hi c h by t h e 41 1 o ld the Treaty it was to b e co nt i n u e d 41; 1 „' e xpire, that its abolition SboUld take place. 144 t aware that it might be said w h en th at %a c as °ll es, " France has -nOw great iuterets tkpeeer;led iu the-trade, and.it is not reasonableto t ha se ct will give it up." lie was not one of of th aria considered as nothing the' recognition the s' i e Principle, which had been obtained, that . t ,, l 'N ' h a t ve Trade ought not to continue. This he tN,j,` of great importance. Ile was not dis- S t , () say France - did not intend to fulfil the the Treaty which pie ea her t o a b o li s h .r taC a ve Trade at the end of five years ; -hut I lit ib 'e e awes subject to the wea k nesses o f h uman • 4 1 4, and a, , zainst the 'effects" of - these she ought e ' ieasures to secure h e r se lf as M uc h as p os - l e r, ,the ikh o liti on ' o f t h e Sl ave T ra d e mig h t to 41 r 1 ',"ePend en t on t h e - article now agreee to be at once deelai ed by all die great :t'cit e 1 -4 ,. 4) 1 . &mine, that , contimfe the Slave I tol ati a tter the five vears.have passed; will h e . a 4 4. . Jl4 (If piihlie hw. This cle,creed now, if no ctnalcoLld be made iir'the- Treaty, more ef- , . ( 1 to Meet his.wisbes, would enable •the prance to uy„e o th e C o l on i a l _ an d Ship ‘,l.Youhave no right to : say you in th e traffic oil . an .understanding ) that • tj~di of its cr.ntinuance would be extruded rk live years, as, from the expiration -of .- V 0 ' 4 , 1 .ic.1 - . 4 q ~ it - becomes an offence a gainst the Enripe. - lle,hadthought of pro :4`6ll4;"at it should be denounced as piracy z 4 i t oo tiro ; but on reflection he had felt •it ' t o er) i t to to -expect that-Fr ance would con-' t , n u , t kit,7 l t ,,, that naive-to a - tra ffi c which -she was 'eat c 'crty to enjoy for five years 'with the . , g ,, t 'Eugland.• Jt was as well .not to use t ' a de 1 4'"s) as, at all events, the• Treaty might-he t o )( L' i red, when the five , yearsshou . b ir i still ° * l r a the, mean time, his hopes of ei t i c tu, f r e favour of .Afrien rested on the! act o f e; of Russia, the Rhig of Prussia; add ‘4 l 'ti o l- tt : t° , , ,r of Austria being ill favourable to its ' If they were adequately .acqunint e d e extent of the evil, he d ou bted no t . :t h e y 'u w , t tha t "'c'Pera te Nvi.th Great 21.1ritain in securing Rri,Pa' 4 ed . ll d er existing eiteumstances, might be' • ‘vi,". of si 't was to him peculiarly a .subject of laine and pain, to reflect, that at.a.tinie t retrirtr of Peace, and to dq e • -4 1- to off rtiolrin _ - the our thanks to Heave n , f or put til° th e tad to th e war, t h at ,e •stoidd be direct -11,-1111/41ild we °I mis er y an d,d cso l at i on aga i nst t h e l it :" ro t re 11 ' 1 4 inh a bi tants o f , t h e coast of Africa, • C eti ig % () ti '' t ilities were to b e carr i e d ou w i t h t re j 'ttl ‘v!Passing a ,COllllllOll war in Zurope, Worltj circumst a n ces as much more dis kaet as 1", o those -of a. war. in this part of the e I e a state of war is worse tha n by s feelin g ly contrastel with the noble . rP it 't N i Warfare which had been conducted th eir ine i ,l l 4)l e and Illustrious Witrricir, V: ) rose it had been properly b ro u g ht under : ' t ra tion . th a t d a y. Permittin g 'France \v as ' ` S lave Trade, was not like tarrying a6ouj t b`'t it l e : a t God forbid, that he should say it -` 0 be Aire', repugnantto his feelings, that we - :"Ppli e ''• her Colonies, knOwing they were 11 4 4 titre lee with hail& thiS:aborninable traf the %.I(l.v4t‘v i:,v,,eepitulated the objects which he ,Cion u ic e of re : ( ) aging this subject forward. If °Ppeo .'e ' re att e , - ; 11 , feeling, humanity, and reli .qf 46- ` v4 S . % (1 to by France, 'When a further cii e behalf of the iinfOrtunate sous °f tit n u t . be ; , c ot ''~ doubt the' result. They futsensible to ,what history would say w, if j ur e limes when all their heads were s.st Cu r i p 4 ou r l ab l y: to ' seize an oppoitunity the % , (1 th e re c in the history of the world for se tlieui`,l he th e i lk ' s ," of Africa ; and how different sth„ t uctat es „,, 4 1 , 4 of the historian, if obedient to 111 ; i 1 shi very "si'l utimanity arld ce, decreed 4 11 °11 he v o , 11 :1thl‘ be know n j no usti mor t e, hey from that i t re t° record, t hat to pe r f orm, if t h ey compe ll e d I,4t.e nc es, the firs hayi ng havi ng ad j usted their own dif te4 () f int er , l4 u se or-Atie by th e E uro p eans o f a ftud• a4 e co t a ti Peace, was to make war where this hg r6 illion s, " t be oti:ered, and doom unof o r Y• hi-lather part of the globe, to R,, e4 g t reat :eluded, by moving an Address ,07satisti_s..ono th© Prince Regent, expressing Is. c . c ~,,e de' l L l l , an ? the successful efforts made to mt to the ' Ab and particularly Holland, to ' I ln e es4n g regretul'ti on ‘,17 the,Slave Trade, but t , 4 and Su .that France had not done the i ii 6dar, § 9!.n.e i tir s ,i ting the expediency of attemping on;reas. Th e concessions at the approach- Val h int . Address embodied all the tOti, q , and of , ,many tile arguments of the the Or CAsTus,' sP"ch , e vie w 3 ti:, - -, 4EAGn, concurring as he did in 011. Gentleman, regretted, and St! ~ i? tFJ t riot ;tl ° o'l 4 ki PP? fey tiP7 CIO ? pre' (1 Ca 0 d' e oil' 3 iliog ) );,( 1 ti)e, hoP triv4s )a ell •T , cer' ,~~tr itI VC &Lilts , . : • deeply i'egi;etted that any teniporrity obstacles should be thrown in the way of the AbolitiOn- of the Slave Trade. Ile might, libWever, if 'disposed to do so; have complained of the course taken by his Hon. Friend '(Mr. Wilberforce) 'in - hringirig this took under the consideration Of the flotise separate from - the Treaty, and thus placing the whale ariangeMent in au invidious point of view This was that which be might have urged ; but if on the question of the Slave Trade he could not satisfy - them he had done his duty, not only to the Hoose and to the Nation, but even to the great quest itself, which they had so much at heart; he should he little disposed to shelter himself by ..any other - arraOgeMent contained in that Treaty. The Hon.Gentlemaii seemed to think this question had been prejudiced .hy its discussion in si.'preli minary Treaty, not having been brought forward. On this point he :wished to relieve' his mind by observing, a, Preliminary Treaty was ,as .binding on the Crown, and consequently on the Parlia ment, as a-Definitive Treaty, and therefore, the question was not.more closed now than it would have .been, in all probability, by a Preliminary Treatystating the outline of such an arrangement. The question wow for thelionse to conSjilet' was, Whether the article in the Treaty:on the sub ject of the Slave Trade was a benefit, and if a benefit, whether such a benefit as the House had a right to expect ? What the expectations of the House had been'he knew not, but he had never understood that .the total Abolition of .the Slave Trade must be secured in any Treaty of Peace con cluded with France. He had conceived it to be the duty of an 'English Negotiator to make every exertion coosistentlst with the other great interests to which he had to attend; to gain some advance towards the abolition of the Slave . Trade, but he apprehended he was not bound, under-any circum stances,.to insist at once,on the cession of-all that was desired on thii point. in the feelings of the present, or of the former French Government, there was nothing that ought to prevent a Mini ster of England pressing forward with ardour to acoomplish the great object in view—the final Abolition of -the Slave Trade; but at the same time he could not refrain from stating, there was nothing in either that could make him believe success inevitable, or encourage him to insist up on this cession as a sine qua non. In adverting to the argiiMenis used on the opposite side, he hoped 'it would not be thought that he stated merely that which-had occurred to his own mitid. He had never heard that this country was prepared to declare the Abolition of the Slave Trade her sine "qua non, and that she would he on terms of amity with no power in Europe who did not adopt her views on this 'subject. lie was perfectly prepared to say, -such a rule had never been laid down by Parliament,,nor could it .be in reason ; for he was certain if we could nut persuade the Powers - of Europe to unite with us in the cause, we could never compel theta to:do it.—(Llear. bear !,) JosLead of 4ervin the cause of humanity, by endeavouring to enforce its precepts at the point of the bayonet, he was certain the progress of that moositre, which he wished to see ,generally adopted, would -be much .slower if such means were resorted to, than under a per suasive system. The precedent' established by the conduct of a former Gevernment bad .never been censured by the Hon.-Gentleman, but on the contrary had met with approbation, as according with his views. The opinion was then, that the cause could only triumph by gradually overcom ing the difficulties which opposed it: When the measure was brought forward in the negociatious carried on by that Government which abolished the Slave Trade, though - no one would have betn more likely to -open 'his views on the subject, with perfect candour, from the ardour which he engaged in the cause, and from hiS general Character, than Mr. Fox, he had never made the • • final termination of the, Slave Trade a sine qua non. Could it be supposed, that if such had been his intention, be would have reserved the disclo sure of it to the last ? Would he not rather have said at the outset of the Negotiation," lf.France expects,to recover her Colonies with an under standing that the Slave Trade is to continue, it is fit she should be disabused. They will "not be re stored till the Slay s -e Trade is abosished." Nothing Of this kind was advanced ; and whin the subject was touched upon; what. was the language held by the then French Government ? The • answer - given by M. Talleyrand was, " The Emperor is - of-opinion that point-can be discussed when the greater questions are settled." This answer was given on the -10th of July, and the more delibe rate sense of the French Government may be col lected from a dispatch of the 2-Ith of the sante month :—" As to the Slave Trade, Gen. Clarke has assured me the Emperor will be willing to - discuss this question when the peace has been made. It cannot form an article in the Treaty, as the subject has not yet beets sufficiently cons sidered."He (Lord Castlereagh), never heard that the Government of that -day wanted zeal in the caase, and he had never heard the ground they took on that occasion objected to. With other Powers the total abolition had never . been in sisted upon; concessions and approaches towards 'that which they desitetl to accomplish _WAS all that bad been demanded. Tillnow it had never beenemi -tended that it was the duty -of the English Govern meat to takeup a moral question ;and enforce it by' interfering with the internal policy of other coun tries. He had always understood, all the legiti mate influence they could exercise to prevail on other Powers to unite with England to put an east to the Slave Trade, but not to 'refuse peace if it could be obtained with honour, because this point was not conceded. He unreservedly would say, he conceived the stipulation which had been made was of great importance. He was glad his Hou. Friend (Mr. 'Wilberforce) was not among -those who undervalued the concession thus obtained from one of the greatest Powers of the Continent. He lamented the long period during which the trade Might continue ; but he could state this it had not been agreed to till a shorter time had been proposed, but in vain. If there were any value in the stipulation obtained, it had not been gained-by the threat of withholding the colonies of France. Had it been pressed in connection with any colonial cession, - he was convinced it would never haiie been agreed to--Hear !) By denying France that rank in the scale of Nations to which she bad a right, our own object would b I,ve be ii defeated. Hach unworthy to possess colonies till she came into our views, she would tiot havB given that aeltithw ledgatent Which she had yielded When the subject Was separated frtini the qUeltiou Of cession, and urged Its a common stipulation. It was not till the • point could be conceited hi perfect freedom; without appearing to be yielded to pnrchaSe Peaee,, that that article of the Treaty was agreed to. He was driven into that situation in which he could not but seem to defend what he was fated to de plore. He lamented that the Slave Trade had not been finally abolished on the part of France, Loft in candour they otight to admit it was alittle hard on the French peopl e t o censure them for nof being prepared to adopt the,propositions recommended by the lion.. Gentleman, -whose voice was echoed hy.the NatiOn. We ought to have the candour to remember that the must hiraluable truths were not insensibly adopted and at once. In this country, country as Much enlightened as any in Europe, the question was long discussed, and the. propriety of pitting an end to the Slave Tradeadmitted, and yet it.was not abolished:. No question was entertained as to :the practicability of 'dOing it . away, but thegreatinterests•Concerned after Par liatnent'had resolved that at a period fixed upon it should cease,•caused it to be continued for a longer.period. It was thonght ioexpedient to op -poe the current of publie opinion, and Parlia ment itself, to a' certain degree, a fleeting body, on that account extended .the period of its con tinuance. We should not then censure others if they refuse to decide at once on taking that line of conduct.whichave had at last adopted ; still less should we urge the cause we have at heart, not merely as a truth which ought to be acknowledg ed, but as our dictum, to •be enforced with the point of the bayonet. 'On the minds of the great body of the French people there was an impres sion that the. English were not sincere in their professions on the subject of the Slave Trade. They considered the people of this country as a mercantile body, trying to impose upon their neighbours. If, then, it had been desirable to make them fundamentally adverse to any stipu lations on this head, there Was no way. of so ef fectually opposing the views of the Hon. Gentle man, as . making it a question of power. Had this been done, .it would have been at once believed' that England was bent upon. keeping the French colonies, and therefore only offered to.give them ty accompanied, with a stipulation which they would have said made them worth nothing. This would have seemed a,confirmation of what had been ig norantly, and at one time maliciously said, that the Object of England, in keeping on the war, was to conquer the Colonies of France - . With respect-to the great Powers, our Allies, he ob served, that feeling strongly as they did on this question, and willing to go with us all prudent lengths, would not have been prepared to force the Abolition of the Slave Trade on,France as a sine qua non, by continuing the war.(a war of unprecedented exertion) for this object. It would hame been wrong to bring the question to such a test. - The great cause which they-had so much 'heart would have suffered irreparable injury had this been proposed to the Allies, and that union had possibly been dissolved which hassaved the world. That France under her former bead would hear nothiog on this subject, he had had..occasion to say on a fOrmer. evening. For himself he could .wish the papers on this subject produced, though he felt his duty to withhold them .t least till the Sittings of the Congress about to aneet were over. Both at Cha tillon and at Paris the Abolition of the Slave Trade had heen pushed as far as it had been with Swe den and Holland ; that which was gained had been undervalued, and that which could not be :obtained over-rated. It was discouraging not only to those concerned in the Negotiation, but to all our Allies,. to see there was a greater disposi tion in this country to ,vent reproaches on what was - considered bad, than to bestow pane gyric on what was admitted to be good. 'With in the last two years more had }nett done towards putting an end to the Slave Trade, than had . been effectedhefore, since the passing of the Alm lition Act. Sweden and - Denmark had done much ; but France, it. was notorious, had been kept in such darkness by the tyranny established there, and knew so little of what had been done in this country, that he doubted if it was gene rally known even now that England had ceased to carry on the Slave Trade. Had they received back their Colonies, on condition that they would not work them with slaves, the French people would not. have viewed them as restored, but as sold. But the Hon. Gentleman ,Said, will the French Slave Trade, at the end of five years, be finally abolished ? He (Lord Castlereagh) be lieved it would, but if it was contended this sti pulation would not be observed, and was 'of no• service, he would ask, would a stipulation of the nature desired by the lion. Gentleman have been more likely to he fulfilled than the one contained in the present Treaty ? When .in the negocia tion; he (Lord Castlereagh), had found he could not succeed in procuring the immediate abolition of the Slave Trade, be had endeavoured to get the .period of its continuance limited to three, instead of five years. Failing in this, be had then directed his care to preventing the renewal of the traffic in those parts of Africa mentioned by the Hon. Gen tleman where we had succeeded in rooting it out. On the part of France, nothing had been given up ,on this point till her Government became masters of the question. This they had contended for, as in this situation they could do no more towards complying with the I #vishes of England, without do ing viole4ce to the feelings of the people, than they I could do, if .what they conceded seemed to be ex torted from a Foreign Power. Had such a course been injudiciously persued, it could only have hAd the effect of disgusting tke people, and weakening the hands of the Government. They had, there -fore, done nothing on this head at all con nected .with -Colonial cessions, but certainly they had, given distinct and official assurancesthat they would endeavour to' accelerate the operation of -that principle which they were determined fully to adopt at :the end of five years. -The example of France was of great importance to the cause, and the difficulties in the way of her put ting an end to it-were nothing to those we had to encounter with Spain 'and Portugal. It was io small advantage that the negotiations tenni uated amicably with .E.r.ance, iastigal of olcuing is hfi Angii fbiii-zz(Efear, fled Isle" been. mean enough to reeefte het', tolotlie, terms which she thOtigh 4 .: discrokittlife, theriil;ad been l'ea6on to fear she live been. ous to 'fulfil her engage-aaents, than it tea, le be 4peeted she would now be ; and the Peace thigh have been less durabfe than they had now a right to hope it would prove. Much tetnained to he chine before the Slave Trade could be ii holly abblishecl. They aught to look full At the dit fictiltieS, raid persevere in their endeavours to re-, move their'. Let it not be thought the cup, of "joy Was dashed by the refusal .of ,France alOnt put an end to the Slave Trade. Though he V7oiild not despair of ultimate success, yet be felt the ilifficulties to be encountered in treating with Spain -and Portugal on this, were more form idab!e, than any that presented themselves on the part of France. principle they wished to .establish .could ,not triumph b,y the for c e o f arms : ; they itinst discard , theidea that arms were tc - ) he taken up. to .get .a moral . principle acknowledged, in-: stew of being resorted . to only when th-e donee of. nations .was in danger. 'He thought the most discreet part had been taken,:in.imicahly dos.: Atm thenegociation with doing violence to thefeel-: ings oftbeFrena people, ineugaging their Govean - meta to embark withus as friends to the cause, and leaving itto the-humanity of the King to do what he eau to diminish the evil before' the period ar rives at which he has engaged it shallbe done away altogether. He concurred with the Hon.' Gen; tlentan in the regret he had ,expressed that it was still 'Lb continue for a time, and would not object to the Address, as the great question to which it .referred ought never to be abandoned, and the House would, therefore, do well on every occa sion to mark the strong .feeling they had• on this subject, when their hopes or expectations were disappointed. :He hoped .the House would-give credit to Government for what they had done, and for what they were anxious to do. .They would continue to labour for the accomplisment of the object in view, with undiminislic a l zeal; but he could never. think they ought to make it an ob stacle to the peace of. Europe and the world. 4,1 was not for continuing the war in such a cause. Morality was never yet well knight by the sword. Feeling this, anxious as he was for the final Abo- , lition of the Slave Trade, he could not take up the modern doctrine which went to teach that we keep at war; till those who were opposed to us acknowledged -the excellence of our morality, and adopted precisely that line of-conduct, which we had thought it our - duty to pursue. .111r.,PoxsOnY could not allow to pass unno ticed that part, of the Noble Lord's speech which, referred to the Treaty of ,Mr. Fox with the then, French _Government in 1806. ,It could not Dave been expected, t hat Mr. Fox should have then proposed the Abolition of the. Trade, as this country bad not at that time -abolished it. The Noble Lord had stated, that litissia,.Austria, and Prussia, were friendly to the Abolition, and vet at the same time it was alleged by that Noble Lord, that they would not have co-operated with us in enforcing such a proposition, and that such a proposition would have broken up the alliance. If the Allies were so inclined, theytertainly had 'it in their power. Was not the French capital in possession of the Allies ? ,and was it to be sup posed that, in such circumstances, the French Go vernment would have refused. The Nobleierd said, the great i difficulties were with Spain and Portugal; and could he say time Allies were se rious, if they -did not come forward to second and assist us with respect to those countries also - ? He wished to know, however, if France would,, at the end of five years, abolish the trade ? What would they do during these five years ? They would rather contribute, during that time, to the esta blishment, than the abolition of the trade. The Noble Lord said, no better terms could - be made.; but they had only his assertion for this. It was not probable that we, holding all these islands, and having for some years abolished the Slave Trade in them, France would, have refused their being returned to her, on condition that they should remain as they were with respect to the Slave Trade. It was not possible to believe that she would not have consented. The Noble Lord : had said that it was not, even known in France . to the great body of the people that we had abolished the Slave Trade, and they would have, therefore, considered such a proposition as an of fence ; but there could not be a merchant in France. that did not know the circumstance. The Noble Lord had said that Sweden co-operated with us on • the subject of the Trade ; but all the benefit of this co -operation was lost by giving up Guadaloupe to France, where the. Slave Trade would be of course renewed. In giving up the islands on such terms,' we were made parties in the continuation of the trade. Whatmischief and misery might not be occasioned during these five years—what mischief to our own COlonies and to Africa ! Africa woulkl not recover the -effects of these five years, shut as we might think -them, even in a hundred, with this scourge let loose on her. His lion. Friend • .had said, that by negociation we were obliged to Adhere to these tel Ins ; but could a nation, or an individual, Or could Eliglalld contract, that for five years France .should 'be allowed to rob and mnrder ? Had we a right to deliver up Africa tfa be scourged for five years ? He maintained that. his Hon. Friend's Address would not be prodac tive of the advantage intended. The Address would make them parties to the most disgraceful stipulations. Lord EBRINGTON spoke in favour of the Ad dress ; but wished to know what security they would have that the trade should terminate at the. . -end of five years. From the character and ; history . of the French people, could they rely that this as . surance would be complied with. ,Mr. JENNINGS contended, that ?t ought to have been considered that France at the time had no capital in the trade, and therefore could not have suffered any iucouveniency from not renewing the trade. By the stipulation, we made ourselves ac cessary to the guilt. it-was inviting them to en ter into the trade, in order to give it afterwards up. He-hoped the, Address Nv onld be successful, and .that the trade would wholly cease in Europe at the end of the five years. , 'lir. BARHAM thought the prospect still more gloomy than it has. appeared to his Hon. Friend (Mr. Wilberforce).. After a variety of reasoning, declared the artic o le fatal. First, because f . r.0 51C ogre )" I,IU the re} je~•iied j;3E1;11.3 Viler ,it ) 4' jt pet' . 0 0- 1 oil° cl{j ~g. .~•itl~ rair' , Pq s!' a ll Y C c trzcli