The Sun.
London, England, 1806-06-25 00:00:00

SLAVE TRADE.

Lord TVESTIIIOIILiVD, after referring to the
PetitiOns which he had presented against the Reso-
lutiOns intended to. be proposed-respee)ing the--Abo-
lition of the Slave Trade; declared it to be his opinion
that the parties whom these ResolutiOns might af-
feet should be heard, by, their Counsel at the Bar
previous to the Resolutions being proposed.

Lord GRENVILLE did not conceive this to be
the moment for entering into the examination of
evidence. When the Petitions were.first presented,
it was competent then for the Noble Earl to move
that Counsel be heard; but as that opportunity had
not then been taken. to make the Motion, he could
not alldw that, such qUestion .be now started; and
Mixed with the question fixed for this day's diScus-
sion. .He should therefore move the Order of the
Day for taking into consideration the Resolutions
upon this-subjed communicated by' the Commons,
and leave it open for any Noble Lord to make what
objedions,to it he should deem proper. -
Lord WESTMORLAND thought the ResolutiOns
affeCted such weighty and -Various interests, that
!it was .but justice. the parties should be heard by
-their Counsel. . He should not, however, press any
Motion upon. the-subjeCt: • •
- Lord GRENVILLE then rose. to explain the
r
nature of the .ReSolutions- which the other. House of
Parliament had come to, respecting the Abolition of
itte•Sla've.Trade,..arid which they bad corninunica-
I led to their. Lordships'_House tbr their concurrence
1 and, acquiescence. The Resolutions stated, that the
•
,Slave 'lracle Ans, unjust, inhuman;anu
flc-I,the inference from these premises was,. that the
Slave Trade.should be..abolished, in such manner,
'and at such period,. as Parliament should deem ad-
, xiseable. The premises--stood in no need of proof,
-and What proofs might be' advanced in support of
:them could.now. buve but little novelty; neither
Aid. they pledge their LOrdships to any new deter-
lnination. -:Could that thing be just which-deprived
men: of their best rights, Without any right at all on
.ithe.part of thoie who disquieted them ..to interfere
. • with; or annoy them iii any sort ?. Such, however,
• were our in tm rterencer.od annoyance of the in habitants
.of the coast of Africa. Could that thing be humane
,Which
.tended to tear asunder all the bonds, by which
the societies of men. were held together ; which
violated all the dearest charities-of Littman life ; which
--(tore children from their parents, brothers from sis-
ters, husbands from wives ; and which, by forcing
men frcim their native homes, tore them away-from
every thing which they held valuable and dear'? If,-
therefore (as no man would venture to deny), the.
.SlaVe Trade, was evidently unjust and inhuman,
would it not be a waste of their Lordships' time, and
;an. insult to their und4stituding, to enter upon any
proofs, to show it was impolitic ? If, therefore, it
must be,confessed that suck a traffic was unjust, in,
and impolitic, was not the conclusion ob-
vious, a conclusion- to which their Lordships' minds
and :hearts must unavoidably yield, that such a traffic
, should be put an, end to, as soon'as possible ? His
i Lordship, after enforcing all these topies•at great
' length, and in a manner the most eloquent and-con-
..vincing, concluded with moving, that the House do
concur in the. Resolutions agreed to, and communi-
cated by the Commons.
• . Lord HA WIC.EOB-OR Y could not entirely.agree
to the inference drawn by the 'Noble Baron from the
arguments he had advanced. The general tenor of
the Noble Baron's arguments went against the exist-
ence of slavery in general, as much as against the
slave. He was ready to admit the abstrad position,
that slavery was an evil compared with the situation
of those where Slavery. did not exist ; as he should
also ,egfee, that despotism was bad with reference to
the Countries that enjoyed civil and political free-
dom. But did it follow from thence, that any Re.
:solution of Parliament could suppress slavery and
annihilate despOtism ? The same might be said
respeat to the -Slave Trade; it had existed
since the earliest periods of the world; we were
. not the authors of it neither could we:abolish it.