It was to such deception that
the horrors of St. Domingo were to be attributed. He would not enter into
the discussion of the general subject at present. He was convinced that the
trade was what the resolution stated it to be, inhuman, unjust, and
impolitic. He wished therefore, most earnestly indeed, for its abolition.
As to the mode of effecting it, it should be such, as would be attended
with the least inconvenience to all parties. At the same time he would not
allow small inconveniences to stand in the way of the great claims of
humanity, justice, and religion.
The question was then put on the resolution, and carried by a majority of
forty-one to twenty. The same address also to His Majesty, which had been
agreed upon by the Commons, was directly afterward moved. This also was
carried, but without the necessity of a division.
The resolution and the motion having passed both Houses, one other
parliamentary measure was yet necessary to complete the proceedings of this
session. It was now almost universally believed, in consequence of what had
already taken place there, that the Slave-trade had received its
death-wound; and that it would not long survive it.
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