He had no doubt, if parliament were to begin, so wise and enlightened a
body as the National Assembly would follow the example. But even if France
were not to relinquish the trade, how could we, if justice required its
abolition, hesitate as to our part of it?
The trade, it had been said, was conducted upon the principles of humanity.
Yes: we rescued the Africans from what we were pleased to call their
wretched situation in their own country, and then we took credit for our
humanity; because, after having killed one half of them in the seasoning,
we substituted what we were again pleased to call a better treatment than
that which they would have experienced at home.
It had been stated that the principle of war among savages was a general
massacre. This was not true. They frequently adopted the captives into
their own families; and, so far from massacring the women and children,
they often gave them the protection which the weakness of their age and sex
demanded.
There could be no doubt, that the practice of kidnapping prevailed in
Africa. As to witchcraft, it had been made a crime in the reign of James
the First in this country, for the purpose of informations; and how much
more likely were informations to take place in Africa, under the
encouragement afforded by the Slave-trade! This trade, it had been said,
was sanctioned by twenty-six acts of parliament.
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