The Sun.
London, England, 1807-02-06 00:00:00

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them,- and from 'the happiness whiCif they, fellthe enjoYment of its blessings at home. .Eug-:
lishmen then would surely note be backward in
granting that .to others for which they themselves
had often had most glorious struggles: • "
Lord SIDMOUTH entered into a minute detail
of the proceedings which had taken place in the,
other House of Parliament, as well:as in this, .for
the last twenty-two years, in order:to support'his
• Consistency of charaaer, and to justify himself in a.
difference of opinion with those whom he •respeaed,
most as his "political and private friends. Reso-
lutions had passed the other House that duties
should be charged on the importation of Slaves,
and it was agreed that these duties should be after-
Wards increased, so that it was- hoped that in
Course of time the Planter would ameliorate the con-
dition of the Slave, the population would be increas-
I, and the necessity 'of further importation would
be superseded. This_ met with his entire concur-
rence; but this their Lordships had stopped in li-
n'ine. Parliament, however, had afterwards pre-
•setibed limits to this trade, and enacted that no new
ships should be engaged in it, adding, that no new .
Proprietor should take up any of the present ship-
Ping. This had also his support. But, as lie most
.eonscientiously
.believed that a gradual emancipation
would best tend to abolition, he felt himself bound
thisppose- the irnmedia'te and sudden abolition of
trade. •
Lord
ROSSLY/V was- convinced that the imme-
diate abolition of this odious traffic would be attend-
ed With no' injurious effeas to the colonies, to the
'.Culture of which the negroes already imported were
Iktlily competent, if properly treated. Such treat-
en, it Might be said, it was the obvious interest of
the Planter to give tne negroes, and therefore it might
be inferred that they experienced it already, and yet
that importation became 'necessary to keep up the
tUPPIY. This, however, he was prepared to contradiot.
PA knew that planters and their agents were too much
1p the habit of sacrificing their interest to their pas-
',l•Ons, which they were not likely to controal, either
PArum their own will or from the prescriptions 9f4he •
ulonial- Legislatures, until by prohibiting- 'farther
;.._ll)nortation they.should be urged by the pressute, of
B,ily 'to (to so. It was onlyfrom the, strongest
rPulse of seif-interest—from the most cogent .per-
sion of necessity, that men .of such habits were
2,41ee1y to adopt the pra6tice of humanity. WhWhenun-
rto procure any more Negroes, they would
el the urgency of taking care of those they al-
e,cly had. 'With regard to the statement of the
."01710. Earl (Westmorland),as.to the various descrip-
!ion of persons who concurred in a wish to produce
,he Abolition of this 'Trade, he thought that form-
-1 a forcible argument in favour of the measure be-
'ore the House. For the concurrence of men of all
l'eliZiOns, of all political' parties, and even of those
sh'.o professed no
.religion, in support of this mea-
gre,re, served to sheW that to all who were susceptible
°f a sentiment of humanity—who were capable of
qiSeriminating between the beauty of virtue and-the
deformity of %ice, this traffic was abhorrent. With
Neh au uniinimity of sentiment—with such a corn-
bihation of powers, could that House, without .fix-
ing a stain upon its charaiter—without incurring uni-
'ersal *odium, hesitate to accede to the Motion of his
oble Friend ?

Lord SIDMOUTH explainer!.
Earl ST.' VINCENT depiecated the measure,
41eh, if passed, would, he was satisfied, have the
tii," of transferring British capital to other coun-
s which would not be 'disposed to abandon
-e" a • produdive brabch of trade. As to the huinanity --
.so much contended for, it would be well if
hThle Lords refieded upon this question, whether
nlanity was consulted by the Abolition. If it
ere, their arguments would be well founded. But,
nin his own experience, he was enabled to state,
that the West-India Islands formed Paradise itself,
Co. the Negroes; in comparison with their native
Lluiry. Knowing this, tvhich, upon clue inquiry,
lj Was in the power of any Noble Lord to ascertain,
'e was surprised at the proposition beforethe House; L
considering
the high chara&er and intelligence.
the Noble Proposer, he declared that he could
;nattnt in no other way for his having brought,it
:tward, but by supposing that sortie Obi,maii it ad
4',L a spell upon him.:
af--Qi'd KING argued forcibly in support of 'the;
t.t.: inn, which, in his opinion,. nothing but the .sa-
e„ii;ce of every generous and madly sentiment to
7 and low calculations of self-interest—nothing
6
d„.."' perversion of justice and humanitycould in-
:ri!'e any man to defend. And. with regard to the
tiance which some persons professed to.place upon
,ii:,equity and feelings of the Colonial Legislatures,
11Z °egged to know if a perversion of justice and hu-
,,atlity were supported in that House, what was to
bl:sleEted from less enlightened and liberal Assem-
Lord NORtFIESIC detailed several instances of
Canton cruelty pra&ised upon the Negroes in the
ia °lollies by their, masters, who were scarcely oh-
e'et the controul of any law vitith regard to their
:11441. If humane_ treatment were praaised to;
iTds the Negroes; he was certain, from his know-
egel of the interior of the Colonies, that a sufficient
ver,-1Y could be kept up for every purpose of culti-
he 1;11.; and such treatment, the good effeds of which '
the 6", witnessed in St. Christoper's and other of
likei,°l,nnies; was not, he was very much afraid, ever
foc"° become general, until the Planters were
tided from farther the; supplies. As to the assertion
tei„,
shat
Noble Earl (St. Vincent), with resped to the
po -sual Comforts of the Slaves, he was rather dis-
41.sed to think that however long that Noble Lord
taight have been stationed in the West Indies, he_,
low seen very little of the interior of any of the Co= `
Zs, or he would not have 'made that assertion.
Le O,N ELDON spoke against the measure, which
,42nought went farther, and urged a procedure
ice. precipitate, than even the advocates for the
Infic4ninn could, require, if their feelings were at all
l',enced by considerations of policy or justice to-
t: oar own Merchants. The Ad prohibiting any
„,.re vessels from engaging or being built for the pur-
rur!e. of the Slave Trade, Would taturally tend to the
Vnual abolition of that trade, which was as much as
4;sy. rational refleding advocate of the measure could
041.11 c The consequence of a sudden abolition upon
tu_ c.ol9nies, upon the colonies of others, and upon:our
uvtk.antile interest, ought to be seriously 'ufged:'
totlctt was contended 'that justice and humanity so .
drawnl called for the Abolition, that no argument
rtwo,froin any other source ()ught to he atterided to.
u'd be well, however, before any deeision was

. _
come to upon ti i'slinVittant meadire, alibentely to
consider these questions ; first, whether the trade was
contrarl tipi cite principles. of justice ancilthttnianity ?
and, secondly, whether it world be conformable to
those principles to 'abolish it, while it was continued
by 'other nations ? rt was admitted on all sides that the
treatment which the negroes experienced from Bri-
tish dealers was humanity: itself compared to, that
which they met from those of other nations concerned
in the traffic. Of-course, shouldwe withdraw from the
trade, while other nations pursue it, humanity would
be outraged, becduse the fate of the Negroes'would
be aggravated. The Noble Lord concluded with an
exhortation to the House, if the Abolition were de-
termined on, at least to take care that the property of
those who have so long, upon the faith of Parlia-
ment, been engaged in this traffic, should not suffer.
The Bishop of DURHAM considered the African
Slave Trade contrary to huinsanity, to religion, and
justice, and against the principles of all sound po-
licy. He, therefore, most strenuously supported the
measure of abolition.

The_ Earl of 11101 RA, in a very eloquent, but
temperate speech, took a general view of the sub-
jeet he thought that the evidence upon the table.
of the House must be sufficient to convince their
Lordships of the necessity of abolishing this sangui-
nary Trade. If Noble Lords were not satisfied with
this evidence, he referred to Holy Writ ; he referred
them to that great work of our forefathers (the Old
Testament), and that great Commentator upon that
work,whose maxim was, « Do unto others as you
wolild they should do unto you."

Lord fbiIViiESBURY adthittecl that the Slave_
Trade' was a
,great political evil, and that it, was de-
sirable to put an. end to it ; but considering that
slavery, had been permitted under the Jewish Dis-
pensation—that there was :no express prohibition. of
it in the Christianthat it was a condition of .mari-
kind which many great and wise men in all ages had
satiaicined, he was not prepared to say that to allow
Slavery was a crime. Nevertheless, combining
Slavery and a Slave Trade, he thought that it was
matter of regret the latter had ever existed, and that
it Was desirable- to abolish it. The question was,
however, whether it could- be abolished by the pro,
posed measure, and whether the consequences would
'be benefiCial to the Nations of Africa ? 'He con-
tended that the SlaVe Trade in Africa had subsisted
before EUropeans had entered upon the Trade, . and
he doubted whether their withdrawing ft:om it would
put an end to the evil, or tend's() much as was ar-
gued to the internal peace and iMproveMent of Afri-:
'ca. He denied, however, that our withdrawing from
it would abolish the Trade ; and if it _ only shifted
bands, the change would be to the disadvantae°e of
the Negroes, and of the cause of HUmanity. The
French would, in all probability, resort to it—the
Spaniards would encourage it—and the Portuguese
and other nations would carry.it on—and probably
British capital would embark in it. He bad always
thought that the most effeaual.rneans of abolishing
the Trade would be by regulations and duties,
amounting ultimately to a prohibition. Upon the
whole, he contended that the present measure would
only transfer the African Trade to others, to the
-great disadvantage of this Nation, and the loss of
the West India Planters. To compa& among the
different Powers to abolish the traffic would be the
most effedual remedy ; but if we began the thing in
this manner, all argument to induce other Powers
to enter into a compaet was removed.
Lord HOLLAND, in a very able and ani-
mated speech, supported the Abolition. He said
that the arguments of Lord Eldon respeaing the
opinions of former Statesmen , and Legislators,
Lord Somers, Mr. Locke, &c. would, in their
application, pot a stop to all improvement. But
could it be supposed that so great and 'wise a
man as Mr. Locke, after reading the evidence
which lay on the table respeaing the Slave Trade,
would give it .his sanction ? The evil was now ex-
posed, and could not be defended.. As well might
we be told- that the reformation was unnecessary,
as it might be said, could a Reverend Prelate
be more wise than Sir T. More, or more learned
than Erasmus ? It was in vain, therefore, to say,
that the. Slave Trade 'was justified by the au-
thority of those whose attention had never, been.
called to its enormity. .The Christian religion. had
tended to abolish'slavery in Europe, and its principle
equally led us to abolish the detestable traffic in hu-
Man beings on the Coast of Africa. He contended,
an the authority of Mr. Park, that the demand for
Slaves tended to ,perpetuate wars in the interior of
Africa, and maintained that if the market were taken
away the. horrors Which led to its supply would
'cease. He insisted that if the trade were abolished the
stock of 'Negroes in the West Indies would be
kept up by Vie ordinary Means of increase, which
. could not be the case. while the trade tontinued, and
interest of the .Planters found its account in a
different system.. He maintained that it was
possible to believe that the state of a negro in the
'West Indies was such as -to lead him tia prefer it
even to slavery in Africa, and it was absurd to think
so,' considering the new kind of labour to which he
was condemn;d, when he had never been acenS-
tomed to such habits, and when he must be
torn from his country and connexions. lie was
convinced too, that, far from weakening, the mea-
sure would tend to the security of our Islands, and he
spewed, from the instance of Barbadoes, and that in
the cases where the importation of Negroes was the
least, the proportion of Whites to Blacks was great-
est. He concluded with a pathetic allusion to the
sentiments of Mr. Fox on this Aubjea. Mr. Fox
had often told him that the two objects nearest his
heart Were, the Restoration of
.Peace and the Aboh-
qiori of the Slave Trade, and when, by the shuffling
of the French Government he anticipated disap-
pointment in the fermer, he consoled himself with
the hop.e that the latter might .be obtained. . His
Lordship.then mentioned with approbation the exer-
tion of other§ in this cause, and particularly of Mr..
Wilberforce, whom though he was hardly acquainted;
with him, he should always consider, notwithstand-
ing any past or any future differences of opinion on
other points, as an honour to his country and to lin,
man nature, on account of the zealous, able, and
persevering.efforts he had made fur .the abolition of
this odious traffic. • ,

. .
i • .
—The House then divided, and there were;
For the Second-Reading of the.nai 72—Proxies
28-100.----Against it' 2—Proxies 8-36.--',.
Majority.64..--;-=Adjourned at rive o'Clock..

EFor,tl3 Proceedings in the Rouse ofCounitonsi sce our last
Page.]