Mr. Fox said, that after what had fallen from the two last speakers he
could remain no longer silent. Something so mischievous had come out, and
something so like a foundation had been laid for preserving, not only for
years to come, but for ever, this detestable traffic, that he should feel
himself wanting in his duty, if he were not to deprecate all such
deceptions and delusions upon the country.
The honourable gentlemen had called themselves moderate men: but upon this
subject he neither felt, nor desired to feel, any thing like a sentiment of
moderation. Their speeches had reminded him of a passage in Middleton's
Life of Cicero. The translation of it was defective, though it would
equally suit his purpose. He says, "To enter into a man's house, and kill
him, his wife, and family, in the night, is certainly a most heinous crime,
and deserving of death; but to break open his house, to murder him, his
wife, and all his children, in the night, may be still very right, provided
it be done with moderation." Now, was there any thing more absurd in this
passage, than to say, that the Slave-trade might be carried on with
moderation; for, if you could not rob or murder a single man with
moderation, with what moderation could you pillage and wound a whole
nation? In fact, the question of the abolition was simply a question of
justice.
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