He desired it,
as a commercial man, on account of the commercial character of the country.
He desired it for the reputation of Parliament, on which so materially
depended the preservation of our happy constitution: but most of all he
prayed for it for the sake of those eternal principles of justice, which it
was the duty of nations, as well as of individuals, to support.
Colonel Tarleton repeated his arguments of the last year. In addition to
these he inveighed bitterly against the abolitionists, as a junto of
sectaries, sophists, enthusiasts, and fanatics. He condemned the abolition
as useless, unless other nations would take it up. He brought to the
recollection of the House the barbarous scenes which had taken place in St.
Domingo, all of which, he said, had originated in the discussion of this
question. He described the alarms, in which the inhabitants of our own
islands were kept, lest similar scenes should occur from the same cause. He
ridiculed the petitions on the table. Itinerant clergymen, mendicant
physicians, and others, had extorted signatures from the sick, the
indigent, and the traveller. School-boys were invited to sign them, under
the promise of a holiday.
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