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Clarkson, Thomas, 1760-1846

"The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808) Volume II"

Brownrigg to stamp this polished
metropolis with the general brand of murder. There was once a haberdasher's
wife (Mrs. Nairne) who locked up her apprentice girl, and starved her to
death; but did ever any body think of abolishing haberdashery on this
account? He was persuaded the Negros in the West Indies were cheerful and
happy. They were fond of ornaments; but it was not the characteristic of
miserable persons to show a taste for finery. Such a taste, on the
contrary, implied a cheerful and contented mind. He was sorry to differ
from his friend Mr. Wilberforce, but he must oppose his motion.
Mr. Pitt rose, and said, that from the first hour of his having had the
honour to sit in parliament down to the present, among all the questions,
whether political or personal, in which it had been his fortune to take a
share, there had never been one in which his heart was so deeply interested
as in the present; both on account of the serious principles it involved,
and the consequences connected with it.
The present was not a mere question of feeling. The argument, which ought
in his opinion to determine the committee, was, that the Slave-trade was
unjust.


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