Let us not, he said, despair. It is a blessed
cause; and success, ere long, will crown our exertions. Already we have
gained one victory. We have obtained for these poor creatures the
recognition of their human nature[A], which, for a while, was most
shamefully denied them. This is the first fruits of our efforts.
[Footnote A: This point was actually obtained by the evidence before the
House of Commons; for, after this, we heard no more of them as an inferior
race.]
Let us persevere, and our triumph will be complete. Never, never, will we
desist, till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name; till
we have released ourselves from the load of guilt under which we at present
labour; and till we have extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic,
which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened
times, will scarcely believe had been suffered to exist so long, a disgrace
and a dishonour to our country.
He then moved, that the chairman be instructed to move for leave to bring
in a bill to prevent the further importation of slaves into the British
colonies in the West Indies.
Colonel Tarleton immediately rose up, and began by giving an historical
account of the trade from the reign of Elizabeth to the present time.
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