He exposed also the false
foundation of the hope of any reliance on the cooperation of the colonists.
The House, he said, had on the motion of Mr. Ellis in the year 1797, prayed
His Majesty to consult with the colonial legislatures to take such
measures, as might conduce to the gradual abolition of the African
Slave-trade. This address was transmitted to them by Lord Melville. It was
received in some of the islands with a declaration, "that they possibly
might, in some instances, endeavour to improve the condition of their
slaves; but they should do this, not with any view to the abolition of the
Slave-trade; for they considered that trade as their birth-right, which
could not be taken from them; and that we should deceive ourselves by
supposing, that they would agree to such a measure." He desired to add to
this the declaration of General Prevost in his public letter from Dominica.
Did he not say, when asked what steps had been taken there in consequence
of the resolution of the House in 1797, "that the act of the legislature,
entitled an act for the encouragement, protection, and better government of
slaves, appeared to him to have been considered, from the day it was passed
until this hour, as a political measure to avert the interference of the
mother-country in the management of the slaves.
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