# Substance of the speech of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, in the House of Lords

This is a speech by William, at the time Duke of Clarence, in opposition to proposed restrictions to the slave trade in the United Kingdom.
SUBSTANCE
OF
THE SPEECH
OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CLARENCE,
IN THE
HOUSE OF LORDS,
ON THE MOTION FOR
THE RECOMMITMENT OF THE SLAVE TRADE LIMITATION BILL,
ON THE FIFTH DAY OF JULY, 1799.
[Published at the Request of the West India Merchants and Planters, and the Mercantile Interest of Liverpool.]
LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM, DEAN STREET, FETTER LANE; AND SOLD BY F. AND C. RIVINGSTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD.
[PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.]
TO THE PUBLIC.
THE West India Merchants and Planters, together with the Mercantile Interest of Liverpool, acknowledging, with the most lively sensibility, the very eminent services of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, were eagerly solicitous to publish his Sentiments on the last Discussion of the Slave Trade. Their application meeting with the desired effect, they now offer the Substance of His Royal Highness's Speech, in the present form, not only as a testimony of their greatest esteem, but as the best means of combating, in a rational and argumentative may, the erroneous and dangerous doctrines of their adversaries.——For similar reasons, they have also requested the publication of the very able Speech of the Earl of Westmoreland, whose permission has also been obtained.
SUBSTANCE
OF
THE SPEECH,
&c. &c.
MY LORDS,
WHEN contemplating the vast importance of the present question, I feel concerned and perplexed that it should fall to my lot to open a discussion of such magnitude. It would have been fortunate indeed for those materially interested, had some of your Lordships undertaken the arduous task—Some of your Lordships who are much older than myself, consequently from years, knowledge, and experience, ​much abler and better calculated to form a correct judgment of the subject.
The Noble Secretary of State (Lord Grenville) has frequently thrown out the idea, that the delay originated with those Peers who had taken a decided part against the Bill. If professional knowledge and local experience have extended the examination at the Bar to a length that may, in the opinion of some Noble Lords, have been much more than what was satisfactory, I, for one, plead guilty. It was my wish, by the most minute research, to produce such a body of evidence as would convince your Lordships of the rectitude and policy of those with whom I have the happiness to act. We have not been the cause of unnecessary delay. The delay has, in fact, originated with the Noble Secretary himself; for on the day appointed for the second reading of this Bill—upon which I had intended to have submitted a motion to your Lordships—he ​presented a petition from the Sierra Leone Company in favour of it. I beg, therefore, that the delay may be attributed to those who have actually produced it.
Having, on every occasion, when the subject of the Slave Trade has been mentioned in this House, declared, that I never would act but in the most open, honourable, and candid manner; and it being the intention of those Noble Lords with whom I have the honour to agree, to persevere firmly in their resistance of any plan of Abolition, I did not, although fully empowered, object to the Petitioners being heard by counsel at the bar. It is not my most distant intention to throw any censure upon the Noble Secretary of State, whose general conduct, during the present critical situation of Europe, has been such as to prove his affection to the King and country. To him I impute no blame upon the subject of the Petition in favour of the Bill; but far differently do I think of ​those Gentlemen who drew it.—When the Bill was first brought up to this House, my Lords, I own I did not conceive it possible for its supporters to defend the measure, but upon the general grounds of Abolition; and indeed, thanks to Mr. Plomer, he took care to defend it upon the principle of total and complete Abolition. I may, therefore, be permitted to enter with the same firmness into the general principles of the whole question.
To persons so well acquainted with the history of this country as your Lordships, it would be too great presumption on my part to engage your attention, by a detailed account of the African Trade carried on by the European nations; suffice it to say, that in the year 1442, the Portuguese began it. In 1471, the Portuguese built the first forts on the Gold Coast, and had thirty-seven vessels in the trade. In 1502, the Spaniards commenced the same trade; and in 1517, ​Charles V. allowed the Portuguese to furnish Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, With 4000 slaves annually.
That able navigator, Hawkins, in 1562, first sailed to Sierra Leone; and at that time the African Trade was considered of such importance in this country, that Queen Elizabeth, the ensuing year, sent Hawkins to trade there. He gives an account of their barbarity, and states, that the people were at that time mere slaves. He also mentions, that he found the French trading in that quarter of the world; so that your Lordships may perceive, that even so early as the latter part of the sixteenth century, the different nations of Europe that had possessions in the West Indies, considered the Slave Trade as absolutely necessary for the existence of these colonies. It is said, that Queen Elizabeth gave the first charter, and I believe the fact, as it comes from a very respectable channel. In 1618, James I. granted a charter to Sir ​Robert Rich and others. In 1631, Charles I. granted another; but the troubles opened the trade till 1660.
The dreadful events of the Civil War, during the latter part of the reign of the unfortunate Charles, and the capture of the Island of Jamaica, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, are historical facts well known to your Lordships. But even these calamities did not annihilate the trade. Upon the capture of Jamaica, Cromwell promised to send a supply of Africans; and highly requisite indeed it was, for the British settlers would not undertake to cultivate the lands in Jamaica, unless encouraged and protected by this promise of the Usurper. To confirm the settlers in their opinion of that necessity, those of Barbadoes had, by fatal experience, ascertained the impossibility of carrying on labour in tropical climates by Whites. In 1662, Charles II. granted a new charter to the African Company; his brother, the Duke ​of York, was at the head of it. In 1665, the Company's factors settled at Jamaica. In 1672 another African Company was formed, the King himself, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, with others, appeared as the patrons, and many of high rank, amongst whom was the celebrated Mr. Locke.
In 1688, the Revolution put an end to the Company, because all monopolies were contrary to its spirit and principles. In 1698, the first Assiento Contract was entered into with the Spaniards, and encouraged by King William. In the same year the famous Act was passed by King William, entitled, "An Act for the Protection of that Trade, and for the Advantage of England, and the Preservation of its Colonies." This Act is considered by the West Indians as their birth-right. Now, my Lords, who were the men that passed this famous Act? They were those great and illustrious characters, who, under the blessings of Divine ​Providence, secured to this country the happiness of the constitution under which we now live, and many of whose descendants I have the honour of addressing.
During the latter part of King William, and the whole of the reign of Queen Anne, the Parliament was engaged in the African trade. In the proceedings of Parliament from 1707 to 1713, are records to support the trade. Your Lordships may recollect the long, the great, and glorious war, the war of succession, carried on in the reign of Queen Anne, and your Lordships may also have impressed on your minds, that the treaty of Utrecht was the consequence of that war. The Commissioners appointed by her Majesty for the peace, were the Earl of Strafford and the Bishop of Winchester. In their instructions, the Assiento Contract was one of the articles of peace; and I cannot suppose that a Right Reverend and Learned Prelate would have undertaken to go as a Commissioner with ​such an article in his instructions, had he considered the Slave Trade as contrary to the benign dictates of the Christian religion. Queen Anne, in her most gracious speech of June 6th, 1712, from the throne of the very House in which I have now the honour of addressing your Lordships, mentions this essential advantage in favour of Great Britain.
Now, my Lords, I have ever understood the speech of the Sovereign to be the speech of the Minister; I am therefore to suppose that the then Ministry considered the Assiento Contract, as a matter of the highest advantage to the Queen and her subjects, and an article to be insisted upon, in consequence of the glorious termination of the war. But a reference to the speech itself may serve to dissipate any doubts which may arise in your Lordships minds. In one passage Queen Anne says—"The apprehension that Spain and the West Indies might be united to ​France, was the chief inducement to begin this war; and the effectual preventing of such an union was the principle I laid down at the commencement of this treaty."
Again, "The division of the Island of St. Christopher between us and the French, having been the cause of great inconveniency and damage to my subjects, I have demanded to have an absolute cession made to us of that whole island; and France agrees to this demand."
And lastly, which is by far the most essential passage of the speech, her Majesty most emphatically states: "But the part which we have borne in prosecuting this war entitling us to some distinction in the terms of peace, I have insisted and obtained, That the assiento or contract for furnishing the Spanish West Indies with Negroes, shall be made with us for the term of thirty years, in the same manner as it ​has been enjoyed by the French for these ten years past."
After these pertinent quotations, I need scarcely farther impress on the minds of my auditors the vast importance of the West India Settlements. Here I might make my stand, were it not that the spirit of perversion and falsehood, ever hostile to the rights of the Liverpool Merchant and West India Planter, demanded my most serious and active interference.
The Treaty to supply the Spaniards with 4800 Negroes annually, lasted till 1750. Upon the Peace of 1763, the Assiento Contract was not renewed; and, my Lords, a Right Honourable and eloquent Author, now no more (Mr. Burke) wrote in the strongest manner possible against the impolicy of the peace of 1763, because this country not only neglected to supply the Spaniards, but even the French, with Negroes; ​and in 1765, upon the change of Administration, the Right Honourable Gentleman brought in his first Free-Port Act, and which has continued to be adopted by the Government down to the present moment. It may, my Lords, be thought singular, that in the latter part of Mr. Burke's life, he should have voted for an Abolition of the Slave Trade; but in his character, like that of many other great men, there are several shades irreconcilable with the prominent features. I perfectly well remember, my Lords, that when I thought it my duty as a Member of Parliament to take a decided part in this important business, I had occasion to mention to the Right Honourable Gentleman his change of sentiments. He acknowledged that my observation was just, as referring to his former conduct; and emphatically concluded—"My own words must rise up in judgment against me." It recur to this great and enlightened authority for the rectitude of my position; and if in the vale of life he chose ​to deviate from his previous principles, sanctioned by years and fortified by experience, I have yet to learn the cause of his conversion.
But we shall, my Lords, take a more minute survey.—At the very moment in which I address your Lordships, the state of the African Trade is thus: One hundred and eighty-three vessels, measuring 49,065 tons, navigated by 6276 seamen.
Having given this account of the African Trade, and brought it down to the present moment, I beg leave to call your Lordships attention to the Sierra Leone Company, who are the Petitioners in favour of this Bill. Mr. Stevens has informed us, that the object of the Company was not so much that of commerce, as a total and complete Abolition. I approve of his confession, and admire his candour: but while I bestow encomiums on the power of his talents, and the honesty of ​his avowal, I implore your particular attention, my Lords, to the interest of the West India Merchants and Planters, who adventure in Colonial Commerce, on the solemn pledge and honour of the British Government.
From what I have submitted to your Lordships, relative to the History of the Trade, it is evident that the traffick in Slaves is congenial with and suitable to the manners, laws, and customs of Africa. No wonder, therefore, that the chiefs, princes, and the different native powers of that country, should set their faces against the New Settlers at Sierra Leone.
Mr. Dawes and Mr. Macaulay, the only two evidences produced at the Bar in favour of the Bill, are men, it must be confessed, of the most accommodating memories. It is difficult to follow them through all their various digressions. When it is convenient, ​they appear to possess the most tenacious and perfect recollection; and when it suits their purpose, their memories, with remarkable facility, totally fail them. Mr. Dawes, a marine officer, who had the honour of serving the King the whole of the last war, and the greater part of it in America, does not recollect what both these gentlemen chose to call the Nova Scotia Blacks! These Blacks were Slaves in the American Colonies, and promised their freedom by Royal Proclamation, upon condition of serving the whole war with the army; in which situation they acted as guides and pioneers; and in every menial capacity that an army requires. On the Peace of 1783, these Negroes were carried to the remaining part of the British settlements in North America, where the government of this country, with great liberality, gave them tools and utensils for the erection of houses and the cultivation of their lands; in addition to these cherishing acts, they were also supplied the first year with ​twelve months provisions; the second year with a sufficiency for six months; and the third year with what would answer for three months consumption. But in this instance, the fostering hand of government was stretched out in vain; these Negroes, after the irregular and Wanton consumption of the provisions so humanely bestowed upon them, sold their utensils of husbandry, relapsed into a state of idleness and dissipation, and by various stratagems arrived in this country, where they were taken up by the Sierra Leone Company, to be transplanted as a Colony on their part of the African shore.
Can your Lordships be surprised, that with all the ingenious and logical arguments of Mr. Stevens, the learned counsel should be obliged to admit, that the Imports from the establishment of the Colony of Africa is 4000l. per annum, while their expence is 10,000l. Your Lordships will observe, that the Sierra Leone Company set out with a ​capital of 250,000l.; that Mr. Stevens has laboured to prove, that at present they are worth 50,000l. though I have the strongest reason to believe that they are not worth more than 30,000l. By Mr. Stevens's own account, there is an annual deficit of 6000l. a year; so that these great and flourishing colonists, as they wish to be thought, must shortly dissolve partnership, or continue trade at an immense loss, and consequently increase their capital, or become bankrupts.
Considering, my Lords, the manner in which this investigation has been carried on by those Noble Peers who support the Bill, I am confident, that if Mr. Mungo Park had been favourable to the Abolition of this Trade, he would have been brought to your Lordships Bar. I am, therefore, not a little surprised to hear Mr. Stevens quote certain pages in Mr. Park's very excellent work. And, my Lords, nothing could so completely refute Mr. Stevens's different quotat​tions, as the simple but elegant and forcible passage, quoted from the same author, by my valuable and learned friend, Mr. Law. The interior of Africa, my Lords, is at best but very little known to Europeans; nor indeed can it be a matter of astonishment, when, with one exception, or two, the only occasions on which that coast has been visited by Europeans, were for the purposes of traffic; and it is well known, that on such adventures, the whole time of the Merchants and Masters of Vessels is occupied by objects of commerce. But, my Lords, it is to me highly gratifying, that the plain, undigested, and simple account, presented at your Lordships Bar, both on the present investigation, and on the general inquiry made some years ago by the African Merchants, agrees with the statement of Mr. Mungo Park, relative to the intended prohibited district. It is therefore but fair to presume, that had Mr. Mungo Park, or any other unprejudiced and impartial traveller, visited ​the other parts of the Slave Coasts, the evidence produced upon the general investigation, at your Lordships Bar, by the African Merchants, would have proved equally true and correct. For the sake of humanity, therefore, my Lords—and I repeat it—for the sake of humanity—this Trade ought to continue; for how many thousands, how many millions of lives have been saved in the Kingdom of Dahomy! and how much bloodshed has been spared amongst the wretched and miserable victims in that quarter of the globe, thus rescued from the knife.
Mr. Macaulay, that very accommodating Witness, who sometimes inadvertently glances at the truth, has entered into the different causes of Slavery in Africa, and has given a very minute account on the subject of kidnapping, in which, my Lords, he does not dare to insinuate that the British Trader is indirectly concerned. As for war's being ​the cause of Slavery, it is proved by Mr. Park, that whether upon the Coast or the Interior, so far from that being favourable to the Slave Trade, that in either situation the Trade for the time is utterly suspended: therefore it is not the interest of the British Trader to encourage wars amongst the natives. But I beg pardon of the Commercial World.—I have too great a respect for the character of a British Trader, to suppose that he would be guilty of such infamy. His conduct is distinguished by plain dealing and honest meaning; and he has too much pride of character to deviate from the paths of honour.
In all climates, where food is easily obtained, cultivation is little attended to. Mr. Park bears strong testimony to that fact. For having been in the East Indies, on mentioning to the inhabitants of the interior of Africa the advantageous uses to which the Elephant and Bullock are applied on that ​continent, the natives laughed at him, and observed, that the only beast of burden was the ass. Whenever a famine arises in any country where cultivation is little known, the consequences must indeed be fatal; and during dearths, Mr. Park mentions several instances of the natives selling themselves for food.
As for crimes being the cause of Slavery in Africa, it is, my Lords, even no more than the law of this country; for what are the Convicts that are annually transported to Botany Bay but Slaves? The last cause of Slavery in Africa, and which Mr. Stevens has, with his usual candour and close argument, dwelt largely upon, is the crime of Witchcraft. Now, my Lords, though this country has been for many centuries under the benign influence of Christianity, it is a fact well ascertained, that at the close of the last century, people were tried and convicted of Witchcraft, Can your Lordships, therefore, ​be astonished, that the wild, ferocious, and ignorant African, unenlightened by the Christian Religion, should frequently consider persons conversant with, and consequently guilty of a communication with evil spirits? Indeed, my Lords, though the civilization of Africa was professed to be, together with the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the principal object of the Sierra Leone Company, it does not appear that any great benefit can soon arise from the propagation of Christianity under the influence of this Colony; for even Mr. Macaulay has acknowledged, that for the last three years no Clergyman of the Church of England has been within the Settlement; and indeed, notwithstanding that the salary of Chaplains was 140l. per annum, no clergyman, after earnest solicitation, could be procured to venture to this pernicious climate.
I have heard that the staple commodity of Africa is Slaves. Every other article of Com​merce, even including ivory, is very small; and many of these articles, it has been satisfactorily proved at your Lordships Bar, have lain upon the hands of the merchants of this country at a considerable loss. It has been stated by Mr. Macaulay, and likewise by Mr. Dawes, that the Grumattes, or domestic Slaves, who attend the caravans of Slaves down to the coast, must be in great numbers, in order to carry back the different British Manufactures bartered for a ton of ivory. It is a very specious, though a very fallacious argument, in support of the idea intended to be impressed upon your Lordships minds by the friends of the Bill, that the Slave Trade is not so materially an object With the natives, as that of other productions in Africa. Mr. Macaulay and Mr. Dawes are obliged to admit, that the ivory brought down to the markets is suspended upon the backs of the Slaves for sale, and, consequently, that it cannot be brought down from the interior in any other ​manner: From my own experience, my Lords, amongst the Indians in North America, the use of any beast to carry burthens is equally as unknown as in Africa. The reason, my Lords, I take to be the same with the Indians as with the Africans; namely, that the conveyance is water-carriage; and that the Africans, as well as the North American Indians, have only a few carrying places between their great water communication: Therefore, my Lords, it is evident, that these goods, bartered in lieu of ivory, are only carried short distanees by men, and transported chiefly by water. Far be it from me, my Lords, to draw any insidious inference from the evidence of Mr. Macaulay or Mr. Dawes, relative to Grumattes, or Domestic Slaves, employed by the Colony, notwithstanding that the charter does not permit such a conduct, directly or indirectly; but Slavery is so congenial to the laws, habits, and customs of Africa, that even Mr. Park, with his extensive knowledge of that ​territory, was not able to distinguish the Freeman from the Slave.
I do not wish to make any wrong impression on the minds of your Lordships; but a man less suspicious than myself might have good grounds for insinuating, that some Members of the Sierra Leone Company view, with an envious eye, the advantageous traffic now carried on between the African and British Trader. If the grand object of the Sierra Leone Company, like every other Commercial Association, be gain rather than loss, I have a right to think that some of the Members lament their exclusion from the Slave Trade. If there be no cause for this suspicion, why molest and annoy the British Trader in the exercise of that traffic sanctioned for such a long series of years by custom and by Parliament? Surveying the subject in this view, I have a right to maintain, that the British Legislature, on the passing of the Act for Incorporating and Establishing the Sierra ​Leone Company, renewed and confirmed all their former Acts in favour of the Slave Trade. So tender was the Parliament of that period, namely, that of 1790, about the acknowledged right of the British Trader to Africa, that fearful of affecting the interest of the West India Merchants and Planters, by the monopoly or prohibition of the Slave Trade, they cautiously introduced in the Bill, for the Establishment of the Sierra Leone Company, the following protecting Clause:
"Provided also, and be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the said Company, either directly or indirectly, by itself or themselves, or by the Agents or Servants of the said Company, or otherwise howsoever, to deal or traffic in the buying or selling of Slaves, or in any manner whatsoever to have, hold, appropriate, or employ any person or persons, in a state of slavery, in the service of the said Company."
​And here, my Lords, I have additional proof to offer concerning the protecting wisdom of the Parliament in favour of the British Trader to Africa. In another part of the same law is a Clause, expressly "securing the British Merchants to Africa from the operations of the Act." What am I, my Lords, to conclude from this protecting Clause, but that the wisdom of Parliament, penetrating into futurity, had resolved that all the former Acts of the Legislature should be respected and confirmed beyond the possibility of a doubt? If I am wrong in my conclusion, then why pass such a Clause in an Act of such vast importance to the interest of the Sierra Leone Company? Why attempt to fix a stigma upon their future conduct, by supposing that they would infringe upon the rights of the British Trader in the Slave Trade? Why introduce such a protecting Clause? If found requisite to check and control future avarice and ambition, my argument is fortified in an im​pregnable manner. If useless and of no avail, this part of the act is an exposure of the folly and absurdity of Parliament. It is a mere piece of waste paper, and serves to commemorate the weakness of the legislature. But, my Lords, I have too great respect for the proceedings of a British Parliament to entertain for a moment such an opinion. In acts framed and passed by the collective wisdom of the British empire, by whom every consequence is fully weighed, it would be a libel on Parliament to suppose that it could pass a Clause without some specific object in view. The object, my Lords, was certainly the protection of the right of the trader, acknowledged and established for time immemorial. I confess, my Lords, my astonishment at the presumption of the men calling themselves the Sierra Leone Company. They audaciously appear at your Lordships Bar, and arrogantly insinuate, that you are incapable of deciding on the merits or demerits of an important case of ​legislation. On the ill-founded plea of humanity, they desire you to relinquish your colonial wealth, the sinews of our commercial existence, and sink into insignificance and contempt in the eyes of Europe and the world, by the adoption of their new system of philosophy and humanity! They call upon you to disfranchise the West India Merchants and Planters—to depopulate Liverpool—and to deprive some thousands of industrious and respectable men of their birth-right as British subjects. These are incontrovertible facts; but your Lordships penetration will easily discover the true aim of the petitioners, who labour so anxiously to destroy your former acts of Parliament. From principles of honour and justice to the West India Planters, I appeal to the protecting Clause alluded to. But do not, my Lords, take my ipse dixit—let the Clause speak for itself:
​"Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to affect the rights of any other British subjects trading to Africa, so as to prevent, or in any manner to obstruct the ships or vessels belonging to British subjects from anchoring in Sierra Leone or Camaranca Rivers, or in any of the creeks, bays, or harbours within the limits specified in this act, for the purpose of refitting and repairing as heretofore, with full liberty to the same to erect temporary tents, huts, or sheds, on the shores of the said peninsula, for the security of the stores and accommodation of the persons employed upon such occasions."
It has been falsely asserted, and an attempt has thence been made to mislead the public mind, that European nations only carry on the Slave Trade with Africa. Even Mr. Stevens allows that Blacks are carried into Tur​key, for the purposes of state, of luxury, and even for the seraglios of Mahometans. As to the fact, I will admit that gentleman to be right; but he is erroneous as to numbers; for, my Lords, the numbers annually transported by the Eastern channels to Turkey, to Egypt, to Russia, and to the East Indies, are immense. I will not shock your Lordships minds by the horrid cruelties and barbarities which the miserable and devoted wretches experience from the gratification of their Mahomedan and Eastern masters. And here, my Lords, I have a right to draw a contrast between the humanity of the West India Traders, and the atrocity of those now described. In one case, we find the milk of human kindness; in the other, acts of turpitude and violence which outrage the sensibilities of nature, and mortify and disgrace mankind.
The Portuguese transport 40,000 annually to the Brazils. The French, previous to the revolution, during the last peace, supplied ​their own islands with Negroes, from the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. I beg leave, my Lords, to impress upon your memories a few stubborn facts. The Portuguese and native merchants in India, carry on at this time the Slave Trade through Bombay. Since that period, a tax has been laid upon the importation of Negroes into that place by British merchants. I am the last man in the world, my Lords, to detract from the merits of those concerned in the management of this business; and I dare say, the Court of Directors of the East India Company were actuated by the most laudable and humane motives, when they imposed a duty upon the importation of Negroes in British bottoms.
But with all deference to that high and respectable Association, I think it a matter of great national importance, seriously to consider, how far it is prudent to encourage not only the Portuguese, but even the native ​powers, in efforts for the improvement of navigation, and the consequent increase if seamen, in seas so remote from our home possessions. And here, my Lords, I wish to remark, that this observation arises from pure motives of patriotism, as I am fearful of impolicy and danger from such rival powers, when usurping and armed with the authority of the moment.
Permit me, my Lords, to illustrate these observations by some additional truths. It is a fact, perhaps well known to every British Officer of the army and navy who has been at Gibraltar, that the Emperor of Morocco has a very large black army within his dominions, the number of which he regularly maintains by sending down armed Moors to bring away, by force, the negroes from their wives and families, without the advantage of barter, and without the most distant respect to the customs and manners of the Africans.
​I have said thus much, my Lords, upon the subject of Africa, upon its trade, and upon the state of the petitioners in favour of the Bill, namely, the Sierra Leone Company. I shall therefore conclude my remarks on Africa with the strong and memorable words of Mr. Park:—
"Such are the general outlines of that system of slavery which prevails in Africa; and it is evident from its nature and extent, that it is a system of no modern date. It probably had its origin with remote ages of antiquity, before the Mahomedans explored a path across the desert. How far it is maintained and supported by the Slave Traffic, which, for two hundred years, the natives of Europe have carried on with the natives of the coast, it is neither within my province, nor in my power to explain. If my sentiments should be required concerning the effect which a discontinuance of that ​commerce would produce on the manners of the natives, I should have no hesitation in observing, that in the present unenlightened state of their minds, my opinion is, the effect would neither be so extensive nor beneficial, as many wise and worthy persons fondly expect."
Having, in what I have already had the honour of submitting to your Lordships, stated, that I should discuss this business upon the general question of Abolition, and being indeed supported by the arguments used both by Mr. Plomer and Mr. Stevens, I naturally come, having left the African Coast, to the Middle Passage, This subject having lately been much debated before your Lordships, I shall not labour under the unpleasant necessity of taking up a great deal of your time. I have declared, and I always shall declare, that I have been, that I am, and that I always shall be, a sincere friend to wise and humane regulations ​in transporting the Negroes from Africa to the West Indies.
The noble Earl, my friend, (Liverpool) who so advantageously for the King and Country, and so honourably for himself, presides at the head of the trade of this kingdom, in the year 1788, brought in the first Carrying Bill—very wise and useful measure: For, my Lords, should the British merchants, under any false principle of gain, crowd the slave ships to that degree so as to produce pestilence and disease among the Negroes on board, it is humane, it is wise and praiseworthy of this Great Commercial Nation, to prevent diseased and infected Negroes from being imported into the British West India Plantations. Let foreign nations, my Lords, if they choose it, make no regulations for their own vessels, and let them import into their own islands, disease and discontent amongst the slaves brought from the coast of Africa; but we, ​God, are actuated by other considerations than mere gain. We are actuated by principles of humanity. To prove to your Lordships the wisdom and the efficacy of my noble friend's arrangement upon the subject of the Middle Passage, I will beg leave to call your Lordships attention to the following statement and calculation:—
MIDDLE PASSAGE.
By an account delivered by Mr. Cock, the very able and intelligent Commercial Agent for Liverpool, in a paper already much commented upon, it appears, that out of 15,508 Negroes, shipped in the year 1706, 559 died, being about 3 ½ per Cent.
That according to the New Carrying Bill, the above 15,508 Negroes will be reduced to 10,352, which is a reduction of one third; besides that a great many ships will be altogether excluded from the trade, wherein ​the slaves have been carried in most health, as will be seen from a calculation made on a number of ships which traded in the
YEARS 1794, 1795, and 1796.
Several of these vessels were altered to their present heights, at a very great expence, in consequence of an Act passed in the year 1797, for regulating the height between decks, which will not bear further elevation.
Your Lordships will therefore perceive, that every attention has not only been paid to the health of the slaves, but by the expe​rience of eleven years, and by the documents I have already shewn, that that object has been completely and fully established.
Much having been said in a former debate upon the subject of the height between decks, and a vessel named the Plumper, particularly alluded to by the Noble Secretary of State, I have to observe, that the Plumper being only two feet seven inches between decks, as stated by the Secretary of State, shipped 140 slaves, out of whom only two died.
Great stress has been laid upon the evidence of Captain Schank; and, my Lords, to prove that my words and my actions shall always be the same, and that upon this grand and important question I shall always act with liberality and candour, I did not propose to Captain Schank certain questions relative to the height between decks of ​vessels, though I was possessed of his sentiments, that the height between decks, by his experience, was a matter of no moment to the health of men on board of the ship. Being myself an advocate for height between decks, I had at all times, where the vessel would admit, wished it as high as possible. But, my Lords, I always shall oppose any proposition brought forward for the mere purpose of harassing and distressing the British Slave Trader, after every wise and good regulation has been established for the health and comfort of the Negroes by the Bill of 1788. In short, my Lords, the Carrying Bill just passed, is merely for the purpose of harassing and distressing the British Merchant; and it is not more conducive to the health or comfort of the Negro. Even the Bounty Clause, as an inducement for the Master and Surgeon to take care of the health of the Negro, is omitted. We are, my Lords, and it is with pleasure I affirm it, the ablest sea-faring nation on the globe; ​and it is therefore to be presumed, that the health of the Negro Slave, whilst on board British ships, is as much attended to as on board the ships of any other nation, and Mr. Park corroborates my opinion in the following words:—
"The mode of confining and securing Negroes in American Slave ships (owing chiefly to the weakness of their crews) is abundantly more rigid than in British Vessels."
Having now brought your Lordships to the West Indies, I trust I may be allowed for a moment to pause, and consider a little who are the West India Proprietors: They are our fellow-subjects—they are Englishmen—they are, if not born, at least educated in this country. From local knowledge, and personal experience, I must bear testimony to the affection and to the loyalty they entertain for their King and the Mo​ther Country. It has been frequently, my Lords, mentioned, whenever this question has been agitated in this House—the riches and flourishing state of the West Indies. I admit it, and rejoice at the fact; and may therefore fairly assert, that in a free country, where, thank God, every thing is to be attained by individuals, it cannot be supposed that a West India proprietor pays less attention to the education of his child than any other British subject; and indeed, your Lordships know, that the great schools of Eton, Westminster, Harrow, and Winchester, are full of the sons of the West Indians. It would be a reflection indeed, which the Right Reverend and Learned Prelates I am sure would contradict, to say, that young men quitting these great public schools, to complete their educations at the seminaries of Oxford and Cambridge, and the universities of Scotland and Ireland, should turn out disgraceful to human nature, and destitute of heart and common feeling. It is not to your ​Lordships that I address this observation, because it is with real pleasure I observe, that all the idea of inhuman treatment from the British planter to the slave was done away in the opinion of your Lordships, shortly after the investigation first took place, by the examinations at the Bar of this House. I mention this, my Lords, that as an eye witness and a resident for some years amongst those West India planters, I may bear witness to their good conduct, to their humanity, and to the care and attention of their Slaves.
Facts, my Lords, speak for themselves:—Since the year 1792, and since the commencement of the French War, three events have arisen in the British West India islands. The first, the Maroon War, in the island of Jamaica. A tribe of Coromantine Negroes (part of the Maroons) in amity with the British Nation, unjustly made war upon the inhabitants of Jamaica. From the British officers employed in that war, I understand ​these Maroons, notwithstanding constant intercourse of more than a century with christians, to be totally void of all religion whatsoever; to be completely savage and barbarous, and to go entirely naked, with the exception of short trowsers. Neither have they, though surrounded by the British plantations, shewn any degree of cultivation excepting by the provisions which they grow for their own use. During this Maroon War, my Lords, the slaves on the island of Jamaica remained quiet, peaceable, loyal, and affectionate. The war was soon concluded, and the slaves had the warmest approbation of their masters.
In the Island of St. Vincent the second event took place, namely, the Carib War. The Caribs are the Aborigines of the country, and were permitted to remain in quiet possession upon the mountains of that island. It was not till the peace of 1763 that St. Vincent was entirely ceded to the King of Great ​Britain; and the Caribs, previous to this cession to England, having had communication with the French, maintained it during the whole of the peace. The island was consequently captured last war with the assistance of the Caribs; and this war, at the instigation of the French, the Caribs began a new rupture with the British inhabitants of St. Vincent's. Hostilities were fortunately concluded, and the Caribs, since that time, have been removed off the island. During this war, the slaves upon the different estates have remained steady and quiet, and still continue loyal and dutiful to their masters.
The third and last event was, I confess, an insurrection of slaves in the Island of Grenada; but, my Lords, it was an insurrection of French slaves belonging to French masters, tainted with French principles; for even at that time, the slaves belonging to the British never joined in the revolt, but remained quiet upon the plantations of their owners. ​I trust, my Lords, that these three material circumstances will hear me out in my assertion respecting the general good treatment of the British Planters to their slaves in the West Indies. I may also with truth, my Lords, affirm, that the treatment of the Negro slaves in the British Islands, is far superior to that of all foreign nations.
In the year 1788, I was in the island of Jamaica, when the first consolidated Slave Act was passing; and an honourable Gentleman, a member of the Assembly of Jamaica, who had just then arrived from England, bit by the rage of the day for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was desirous of introducing additional clauses whilst in the committee. I was at Spanish Town on the morning of the day on which the Bill was to be committed; and was told by this Gentleman of his intention to add clauses; and that he was going to Kingston to attend the debate, after having sold a particularly fine able-bodied Negro ​to a French gentleman, to carry to the island of St. Domingo; because, as this slave was an ill-behaved man, whom he would not punish upon his own estate, he meant to part with him. This gentleman, upon his return from Kingston, came up to me—having myself had frequent conversations with him upon the folly of the Abolition, and the absurdity of going against the common usage in the British islands as to the treatment of the Negroes—and said, that the slave was returned to his estate, and should be punished in the usual manner; for, upon his offering him to sale to the French gentleman, the latter asked him if he was mad; and upon the Honourable Gentleman mentioning that his reason for selling this slave was to avoid punishing him, the French gentleman made this answer: "Si nous avions cet Negre chez nous, nous assemblierons les Negros de quartier, et nous le ferrions mourir a coups de fouet." The Englishman, consequently, in​stead of proposing his amendments, voted for the Bill as it stood.
In the session of 1797, the House of Commons presented an Address to his Majesty, and a Circular Letter was sent out to the different Governors in the British West Indies, to recommend colonial regulations, and to pass different acts of the Legislature for the amelioration of slaves. It is, my Lords, with real pleasure I can observe, that the British Planters in the different islands have, with that proper deference which is due to their King and the Mother Country, given the most satisfactory answers upon that subject. All the islands indeed have taken some steps, except the island of Dominica, where the Assembly happened to be dissolved. However, my Lords, it is but justice due to the Proprietors of the British West India islands to observe, that all that has been gained upon the subject of the amelioration of the state of the Negro is, that that is now made law ​which before was an universal and established custom. In confirmation of my remark, I must refer your Lordships to Mr. President Thompson of St. Kitt's, who, in his Letter to the Duke of Portland, says—
"I have the satisfaction to observe to your Grace, that one sentiment seemed to pervade the whole of the Members who composed the General Council and Assembly, which was a sincere desire to adopt such measures as they thought would tend to make the Negroes happy and contented, and thereby promote the desired object of increasing their numbers by propagation."
I must bear my public testimony to the character of Mr. Thompson, who is an active, popular, and intelligent servant of the Crown. I trust, therefore, my Lords, that I have said enough to prove the superior good treatment of the British Planter to his slaves, when compared with that of foreign nations.
​To prove to your Lordships how very little can be effected by men who are unacquainted with the prejudices and customs of those who bear the relationship of master and slave, I am to inform your Lordships, from the most undoubted and respectable authority, that the East India Directors have lately sent out, certainly from the best and most laudable motives, a new code of laws to observed on the Island of St. Helena, relative to the treatment of Slaves. So far, my Lords, from producing any good effect, that the Slaves themselves are rendered unhappy by it; and if a remonstrance has not already arrived in England from the inhabitants, a very serious one may shortly be expected.
A few more words, my Lords, on the subject of Abolition. In the year 1787, the Island of Jamaica was in extreme distress for provisions, and the Assembly presented an Address to the then Governor, to induce him to allow supplies to be imported in American ​vessels. They therein state, that between 1780 and 1787, from the dreadful effects of hurricanes, and their disagreeable consequences, such as famine and disease, that notwithstanding the annual importation of Negroes from the coast of Africa into Jamaica, at the time of presenting the Address, the Negro population was 15,000 short of what it was in 1780. It is true, that upon some estates, the Negro population may and does increase; and it is equally clear, that upon many others it rapidly diminishes: consequently the planters are obliged to purchase Slaves annually. In the Island of Jamaica, a particular friend of mine has two adjoining estates, both in Montego Bay. On the one the Negroes increase; and on the other, though adjacent, they are obliged, by the decrease of population, to make annual purchases. Some estates in St. Vincent's increase, whilst in Tobago there is little probability of an increase; and as the latter, in most cases, diminish, there is consequently a very great ​inconvenience. In case the Abolition should unfortunately take place, the English Planter, more active and more fertile at expedients of commerce than any other, would inevitably, upon those estates that increase in Negro population, turn Slave-breeder, and then supply different states and different islands. The consequences that have been so often drawn,—the tearing of the Slave from his country and family, would indeed, in this case, take effect, for the civilized and domiciliated Slave would be torn from his family and connections, to supply the deficiencies on those estates and islands where the Negro population does not increase.
To give, my Lords, the sentiments of foreigners, even upon the subject of Abolition, and to prove that they are congenial with those of the British Planter, I beg leave, to quote a memorial presented to the States General by the Dutch inhabitants of Essequibo ​and Demarara, upon being precluded from the importation of Negroes by foreign ships. The words are:
"It is impossible to inform your High Mightinesses of the real annual diminution of our Slaves, but it is generally calculated at five in the hundred, or a twentieth part. This is little felt the first year: nineteen Negroes hardly perceive that they do the work which the preceding year employed twenty; but the second year, the same work falls to eighteen; and if another year passes without any augmentation by purchase, seventeen must do the work dirst allotted to twenty. This must give rise to discontent, desertion, and revolt; or if the Negroes put up patiently with this surcharge of labour, illness, and an earlier death, must be the consequence; or lastly, if the Planters seek to avoid these inconveniencies, they must gradually contract the limits of their plantations, and of course diminish their produce.”
​Whenever, my Lords, I have the honour of addressing your Lordships, God forbid that I should say any thing that could do the smallest injury to any single individual, or to society collectively considered; but it is necessary, on a subject of such importance, to make a fair and candid statement of the various circumstances requisite for the illustration of the subject. It is not for me, my Lords, to dwell upon what may be the conduct or the disposition of the British West India Islands, should the Abolition of the Slave Trade take place. I cannot, however, help calling to your Lordships attention the Address to the King from the Assembly of Jamaica——
"We can with truth assure your Majesty, that no opportunity, no circumstance, which may enable the Assembly of Jamaica to make further provisions to secure to every person in this island the certain, immediate, and active protection of the law, in propor​tion to their improvement in morality and religion, shall be neglected; but we must at the same time declare, that we are actuated by motives of humanity only, and not with any view to the termination of the Slave Trade.
"The Right of obtaining Labourers from Africa is secured to Your Majesty's faithful subjects in this colony BY several British Acts of Parliament, and by several Proclamations of Your Majesty's Royal Ancestors. They, or their predecessors, have emigrated and settled in Jamaica, under the most solemn promises of this (absolutely necessary) assistance, and they can never give up or do any act that may render doubtful their essential right.
"We have the utmost reliance on Your Majesty's paternal goodness, that this right shall remain inviolate, as long as they shall remain faithful to Your Majesty, and ​true to the allegiance they owe to the Imperial crown of Great Britain."
Much more, my Lords, might be said upon that subject; but I shall avoid all unnecessary illustration, either by facts or arguments. All European nations are anxious to wrest this valuable trade out of our hands. I shall not, like some advocates for the measure, advance as an argument that the French have abolished the trade, because they have at time no settlements in the West Indies. That is a specious but a weak position. I have every reason to believe, that the motive for the removal of Victor Hugues from the Island of Guadaloupe, by the French Directory, was for the express purpose of re-establishing the Slave Trade in that island, which, since the passing of the Abolition, had been found very beneficial in a state point of view. The new opinions adopted in France, engendered in the madness of the moment, and productive of the anarchy and confusion observable by every ​wise man, were certainly consonant to the sudden impulse for the Abolition. By the circumstances stated, respecting the Island of Guadaloupe, it is evident, that there is a considerable change of opinion on this subject in France; and that opinion, report mentions, has been strongly corroborated by a reference to the policy of the Portuguese, who carry on that trade with great advantage and profit.
Much stress has been laid upon the Abolition of the Trade by the Danes. But, my Lords, I beg leave to state that I now hold in my hand a Bill received this day, drawn upon the Danish Consul in this country, in payment for Slaves bought so late as the 12th of February 1799; and it is equally well ascertained, that the Danish Factors have, within these last twelve months, returned to the Coast of Africa. In these instances, my Lords, which I have as great a right to impress upon your Lordships minds as the supporters of the Abolition have to statements of ​a contrary nature, I am warranted by the evident acknowledgment of error on the part of the two countries mentioned.
Some enthusiasts for Abolition have endeavoured to maintain, that America has abandoned the Slave Trade; but it is a fact upon record, that the Americans are now carrying it on for the Spaniards; and it is a truth as well known, that notwithstanding an Act of Abolition has passed the Congress, the government of that country is not sufficiently strong to enforce its own laws on this particular subject. This spirit of resistance to the American Legislature is not a little heightened and inflamed by the many advantages obtained under the sanction of the Spanish Government. So far back as the 24th of January 1793, the Court of Madrid issued the following Declaration in favour of foreigners who may chuse to supply the Spanish Settlements with Negroes:
AN EDICT TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH.
"His Excellency Don Diego de Guardoli has communicated to this Consulate, under date of the 24th of January last past, the following Royal Order:
The Spanish nation, being one of those which most frequented the Coast of Africa to obtain Negroes, before the first contract was made with the English, and his Majesty knowing the advantages that may arise to the State from our Merchants recommencing this traffic direct, has been pleased to grant, in order to promote so important an object, the following indulgences:
"That all Spaniards may undertake these expeditions from any of the Ports of Spain or America:
"That the Crews of the Negro Vessels may be half foreigners, provided the other ​half—and the Captain in particular—are Spaniards:
"That every thing shipped for this trade, direct, shall be free of duties:
"That the vessels of foreign build, that shall be purchased expressly for the African Commerce, shall be exempted from paying the foreign and every other duty:—All which I communicate to you for your information, and that of the Commercial world."
These are the sentiments of the Court of Spain in favour of the Slave Trade; and by another Edict of a more recent date, from the same high authority, still greater encouragement is given to adventurers in that trade. It has been proved at the Bar of this House, that even the Spanish frigates carry on this trade; and that at present there are cargoes of Slaves now waiting on the coast of Africa ​to be conveyed to the Spanish part of America.
Having said thus much upon the West Indies, and upon the subject of Abolition, I beg leave to conclude this part with the words of an able writer:
"You have invited and persuaded us to purchase and occupy Crown lands in the islands; you have undertaken and promised to furnish us with labourers sufficient for the cultivation of those lands; you have encouraged us to invest our fortunes in these plantations; you have encouraged not only your merchants, but foreigners, to advance their money in loans, to a vast amount, for the improvement and extension of this culture. If you now put a stop to the cultivation, we and our creditors have a right, upon every principle of justice, to demand from you a full indemnification."
​I come, now, my Lords, to the last, though not the least, part of the subject, namely, the importance of the West Indies. However much I may regret the difference of opinion with any noble Lord upon this great and important question, I am confident that the documents which shall have the honour of submitting to the House respecting the present flourishing state of our West India Settlements, must be a picture highly gratifying to every well-wisher of this country. It is highly gratifying, indeed, that I can attract your Lordships attention with this agreeable object, after we have for seven years experienced all the difficulties and dangers of a widely-extended and expensive war—a war, my Lords, in Which our naval and military prowess has rivalled, if not surpassed, the most brilliant periods of antiquity.
I shall proceed, my Lords, to the statements which I promised, with assurances that they all are extracted from the best and most incontrovertible authorities:
IMPORTANCE OF THE WEST INDIES.
1788
​Permit me, my Lords, to make some few additional remarks. Since the year 1788, at which period I trust I have proved that the British West India capital amounted to 70,000,000l. sterling, great political events have happened. Early in the year 1793, war took place between this country and France; and by the characteristic bravery and active exertions of our army and navy, the islands of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Tobago, have been conquered from the French; the island of Trinidad from the Spaniards; and the settlements of Demarara and Essequibo from the Dutch. Hence our additional wealth and splendour in the West Indies; and hence that unbounded influence which commands the peace of our settlements, and protects them from the introduction of that political phrenzy that has outraged and convulsed the civilized society of Europe.
I cannot give your Lordships a more clear or demonstrative proof, than that the trade in 1796 required 350,230, tons, navigated by 24,000 seamen.
1798.
After describing our national happiness and prosperity in the West Indies, resulting from the united efforts of our commercial and military enterprize, it may not be amiss, by way of contrast, to demonstrate to your Lordships what the French, during the same period, have lost and sacrificed at the shrine of folly and infamy. This is no digression, my Lords, for every circumstance connected with the existence of our West India Settlements is also essentially connected with the existence of the Slave Trade. The French commerce, at the moment of the Revolution, stood thus:
From these estimates I have clearly proved, that in the year 1788 the British property in the West Indies amounted to £.70,000,000 sterling. Admitting that the price of Negroes, since the commencement of the war, has risen from £.50 to between £.80 and £.90 sterling per head, the improvement of property in the same period much more than counterbalances the advance; and hence I am perfectly well warranted in saying, that the whole capital of the Old British West India property amounts to at least ​£.80,000 sterling. If allowed to add the value of the New West India property, namely, the conquests from the French, Spaniards, and Dutch, amounting to at least £.20,000,000, I may safely assert, that the present British Capital in the West Indies, is equal, upon a fair calculation, to one hundred millions sterling! A sum, my Lords, which demands your most serious consideration, before you consent to the Abolition of a that Trade without which it could not exist. When I say, that, on the proof of this interesting fact I repose the whole strength of my argument, I am confident that your Lordships will pause, and fully weigh the consequences of your vote this evening.—I am confident that, as the hereditary guardians of British subjects, you will stretch out your hands to protect, not to destroy—I am confident that, as hereditary councillors of the crown, you will give life and spirit, instead of dejection and death, to a most numerous and most loyal description of His Majesty's subjects.
​I now, my Lords, beg leave to return warmest thanks for the great indulgence which I have experienced this evening. The sentiments which I have delivered against the Bill are the pure dictates of my conscience; and I am highly flattered by the patient hearing, which your Lordships have given me in the discharge of the duty which I owe to my King and Country.
After a long and interesting debate, the numbers were,
Printed by C. Whittingham, Dean street, Fetter lane, London.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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