He then argued the impossibility of beasts doing the work of the
plantations. He endeavoured to prove that the number of these, adequate to
this purpose, could not be supplied with food; and after having made many
other observations, which, on account of the lowness of his voice, could
not be heard, he concluded by objecting to the motion.
Mr. William Smith rose. He wondered how the last speaker could have had the
boldness to draw arguments from scripture in support of the Slave-trade.
Such arguments could be intended only to impose on those, who never took
the trouble of thinking for themselves. Could it be thought for a moment,
that the good sense of the House could be misled by a few perverted or
misapplied passages, in direct opposition to the whole tenor and spirit of
Christianity; to the theory, he might say, of almost every religion, which
had ever appeared in the world? Whatever might have been advanced, every
body must feel, that the Slave-trade could not exist an hour, if that
excellent maxim, "to do to others as we would wish that others should do to
us," had its proper influence on the conduct of men.
Nor was Mr. Stanley more happy in his argument of the antiquity and
universality of slavery.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256