Africa, and from that coast to the West India islands, was not, generally speaking, attended with greater inconveniences than other voyages. He had not heard any evidence to prove, that the Africans were treated with peculiar hardship, in the voyage to the West Indies, or that there was reason to suppose that they would be so treated. Why, then, after the general question had been postponed till the next session, need the House be so much in a hurry to take up a part of the consideration? He reminded the House, that the French government acted in a very different manner respecting the African Trade; and that, so far from wishing to curb and cramp it with needless regulations, they gave large premiums upon every negro landed on their islands in the West Indies. In some instances they gave as much as 200 livres per head, in others 100 livres. The islands of St. Lucie, Tobago, and St. Domingo were in that manner provided with Slaves. If therefore, we deprived our own merchants of the power of carrying on this traffic, we should insensibly increase the power and advantages of the French in that respect. What our merchants lost, theirs would gain-a consideration that he thought worthy their lordships' most serious attention. Exceed ingly important were the West India islands to our commerce and navigation, and he could appeal to the noble lord (Heathfield) behind him, whether he did not think the Bill unnecessary, and likely rather to introduce evils than benefits. Lord Heathfield said, that since the question was addressed to him, he must own it to be his private opinion that the Bill was unnecessary. He had a good deal considered the subject, and though perhaps few others had given themselves the trouble to inquire into, and ascertain the number of the cubical feet of air breathed by the Africans on board the vessels usually employed in transporting them from their own coast to the West India islands, he had done so, and compared it with the number of cubical feet of air breathed by soldiers in camp. Soldiers in their tents were allowed about 17 cubical feet of air each, whereas the African slaves were severally allowed full 30. His lordship reasoned on this calculation, and after objecting to the Bill's commencing its operation so early, professed himself a friend to the African merchants, whose interests he thought would be materially and unjustly affected by the Bill. The Duke of Richmond contended, that the proper subject of discussion was, merely the amendment necessary in the clause before their lordships; but as the noble lords who had already spoken had gone into the principle of the Bill, he must beg to say a few words in reply. The noble lords, both of whom stood so high in their respective professions, had relied a good deal on the natural humanity of those concerned in the African Slave Trade. Unfortunately, the subject of the present Bill was one of those in which considerations of private interest might be supposed to bear down and supersede the feelings of humanity. The noble lord who spoke first had suggested, that as the profit of the merchant depended on the number of healthy slaves he landed in the West Indies, he necessarily would not stow more together on ship-board, than could exist in safety, and without risk of disease. That argument was fallacious; because if 400 Africans only could be stowed without danger of sickness, the insuperable avarice of those concerned in the traffic might induce them to cram 500 on board; since if they lost fifty out of the fifth hundred it would still be worth their while. If their lordships would calculate, they would find, that according to the evidence, taking the fair measurement of the vessel, upon a moderate calculation, according to the customary stowage of the African ships, no room was allowed for passages, but the whole deck was strewed with human bodies. With regard to the French giving premiums on each negro landed, he saw no occasion for us to follow the example; and he trusted that this nation would not barter its humanity so basely. In answer to what another noble lord had said, respecting the number of cubical feet of air allotted to a soldier in camp and an African on board a trade ship, the two cases bore no analogy to each other. Soldiers were put six in a tent, but then they not only had free egress, and were seldom all six in it for a long time together, on account of military duty, but the canvas of their tents was not generally of so close a texture as to exclude all air, much less to reduce the air they breathed to that state of unwholesomeness that could easily be imagined to be the quality of the air breathed by African slaves stowed close together, between decks, on board of the transport ships. With regard to there being no evidence of the severe treatment of the Africans while on board, abundance of evidence might have been adduced in support of the Bill, had it been necessary; but as it was merely a Bill of regulation, he had forborne to bring before their lordships evidence of the many horrid cruelties that could have been proved to have been practised, and the recital of which must have shocked their lordships. The Bill certainly stood in need of a variety of amendments. He intended to propose a clause to give a compensation to all those merchants whose ships were already sailed, or would be in Africa at the time that the Bill should pass, for the losses they would incur from the Bill attaching upon their ships retrospectively. No fair argument, therefore, could be grounded against the Bill, on account of its retrospective operation. In respect to the day on which the Bill was to commence, it certainly ought not to stand the 10th of June; but it was to be remembered, that the Bill had been introduced into the other House so early as the 2d of June; the blanks had therefore been filled up with the 10th of June, from an idea that it might possibly pass about that time. Lord Hawkesbury said, the Bill must have a commencement; the question therefore was, at what period its operation should begin? His opinion was, that it ought to commence from some day after the Bill should pass into a law, and attach upon every ship that might sail from any British port after the day of its commencement; and as to the ships already sailed, or in Africa, only from the day that the Bill should be served upon such ship; for nothing could be more unjust than to make any ship captain, crew, &c. liable to a penalty before they could possibly know, that any such penalty was declared to be legal. He therefore moved, That the operation of the Bill should commence from the 10th of July next. -The Lord Chancellor pres med that the wish of their lordships was to pass some bill of regulation; but as the Bill stood, it was nonsense. He therefore concluded that some amendments would be proposed to connect the nonsense of one part of the Bill, with the nonsense of the other. He pointed out the words, "the 10th of June," as stated in one clause to be the period of the commencement of the operation of the Bill; and said, that in a subsequent clause at some distance, mention was made of such ships as had sailed before the 10th of June, [VOL. XXVII.] although in the former part of the Bill, no notice whatever had been taken of any thing in the Bill being to affect ships that had sailed before the 10th of June. Earl Stanhope considered the Bill to be as ill worded, in respect to its clauses, as any Bill ever introduced into that House; but that its principle was undoubtedly founded in humanity. It was therefore their lordships' duty, to correct and amend the clauses, so as to make them correspond with its principle, and thus remove all objection to the Bill. As several of their lordships were not present on Saturday, when the counsel were heard against the Bill, he would state what those objections had been. In the first place, the counsel had objected that the whole of the scale adopted in the other House was wrong; and that exactly the reverse of that scale was the true proportion of the number of Africans to the number of tons of each ship, according to the principle of the Bill, and the avowed intention of its supporters. Earl Stanhope explained this, by showing that as the Bill stood, three men to two tons were to be allowed to all ships of 100 tons, so that such ships were to carry 150 Africans each; but if the ships were upwards of 100 tons, the number of Africans, proportionably to the tonnage, was to diminish; by which means a ship of one size would carry 250, and a ship of a greater size would, as the Bill stood, carry only 228 Africans. This was undoubtedly absurd, and must have been a mistake; but it was easily remedied by an amendment, regulating the first proportion to the 100 tons, and then adding a smaller number as the tonnage increased, by which scale, a ship of 100 tons would have a right to take 150 Africans; a ship of 101 tons, 151, and so on, adding one African for each additional ton. This would create a regular, clear, and unobjectionable rise of the scale, governing that rise, however, strictly by the increase of tonnage. Earl Stanhope took notice of the argument of lord Heathfield relative to the comparison' of soldiers in a tent to Africans on board, and denied that it bore the smallest analogy. The Africans were packed between decks on platforms, like books on shelves, and were thought to be perfectly at their ease, if they had just room enough to turn." Was that the case with soldiers in a tent? Most undoubtedly not. The air breathed between decks by the Africans was rendered putrid by the closeness of the space and their own respiration; whereas a tent [2 T] was all outside, and constantly replenished with fresh air. His lordship, in this part of his speech, introduced some philosophical remarks on the nature of air as breathed by mankind. He said, it had been recently discovered, and the discoveries were as beautiful as they were instructive, that the air we breathed was not homogeneous, as had heretofore been conceived, but that it consisted of one part only that was vital, and by which we lived, and that one part was mixed with four other different fluids. That by being confined to a short space, by breathing the same air over and over again, the vital air became tainted, as in the black hole in Calcutta, and thence the danger of death. Thus, confine an animal to a very close place for some time, he would breathe the same air so often, that at last he would drop down dead; and, if it were possible to confine the air in which their lordships were at that moment for a length of time, the inevitable consequence must be, that they would all drop down dead. If the noble duke had not intimated an intention to move a clause of compensation for the losses which those merchants whose ships had already sailed, would sustain in consequence of the Bill attaching upon their ships, he certainly should have offered such a clause. With regard to the commencement of the operation of the Bill, the date must certainly be altered from the 10th of June, but he conceived that the sooner the Bill commenced after it should pass the better. in the ships already sailed, and would be ruined by the Bill. One witness, he understood, had come to their lordships' bar, with a face of woe, his eyes full of tears, and his countenance fraught with horror, and had said," My Lords, I am ruined if you pass this Bill. I have risked 30,000l. upon the Trade this year. It is all I have been able to gain by my industry, and if I lose it, I must go to the hospital." The chancellor pressed this point upon their lordships' most serious consideration. The Earl of Carlisle expressed some astonishment that the learned lord should talk of a five days fit of philanthropy, when it was a matter of public notoriety, that the question of the Slave Trade had engrossed the attention of every part of the kingdom for above these twelve months, and that innumerable petitions had been presented to parliament on the subject. He declared himself a hearty friend to the present Bill, which was merely a bill of regulation, and did not interfere with the general question which had been postponed to the next session. But were it practicable, he was prepared to vote for the abolition of the Slave Trade altogether, and had not a doubt but the ingenuity, enterprise, and adroitness of British merchants would find out a new African Trade, equally advantageous and useful, though not liable to the same objections, were an abolition of the Slave Trade to take place. He considered the Bill as the corner stone of an edifice which the parliament had wisely determined to erect, in honourable commemoration of their humanity; and he trusted that he might venture to predict, that the ensuing session would be distinguished by the completion of so glorious a superstructure. The Lord Chancellor said, that from what had fallen from lord Rodney, it was evident the French had offered premiums to encourage the African Trade, and that they had succeeded. The natural presumption, therefore, was, that we ought to do the same. For his part, he had no scruple to say, that if the five days fit of philanthropy which had just sprung up, and which had slept for twenty years together, had continued to sleep one summer longer, it would have appeared to him rather more wise than thus to take up a subject piece-meal, which it had been publicly declared should not be agitated at all, till the next session of parliament. Perhaps, by such imprudence, the slaves might be taught, of their own accord, to proceed to an abolition of the Trade. His lordship made some remarks on the evidence, in order to show, that the Af-doubtedly great, but they took their rican merchants, trusting to the declaration, that the question should not be agitated that session, had embarked their all The Earl of Sandwich said, that when matters were thrown out in debate which might make unwarranted impressions abroad, he thought it his duty to combat them. He had heard it declared, that the African Trade was the bane of British seamen, and that Africa was their grave. He denied the fact. He knew, from experience, that a voyage to Africa was not less healthy than any other voyage. It was not the African climate that killed the seamen, but the spirituous liquors with which the captains of the merchant ships supplied them. Their wages were un wages in spirits and, as they would do in any other situation of the globe, they died in consequence of drinking spirits The Bishop of London desired to know what was the kind of compensation intended to be given to the African merchants whose ships had either already sailed or were upon the coast of Africa. in quantities. If we relinquished the Slave | It was a letter to Mr. Fuller, the agent for Trade, would there be one African slave Jamaica, acquainting him that his corresless? Most undoubtedly not. The French pondents in the island had received his would not relinquish the Trade; and as all communications of the 10th of February the seamen bred up in the African Trade and the 12th of March last; that in conwould be lost to this country, they would sequence the negroes expected an end be gained by France. He complained of was to be put to their slavery; that there our merchants having been last war al- was the greatest reason to expect that lowed to supply the French islands with they would rise in consequence, and that slaves. He ridiculed the idea of a new the island was in a state of great alarm trade to Africa being likely to be dis- and apprehension. The duke added, that covered, as visionary and speculative, since he had many more corresponding accounts, Africa afforded merely gold dust, gums, which he would not then trouble the House and spices, which were packed in so small with, but as often as the Bill was agitated, a compass, that two or three ships would he should think it his duty to warn their be sufficient to convey the whole of those lordships of the danger that any agitation objects of commerce. He scouted the of such a subject was liable to. doctrine of a compensation as impracticable, and asked, whether the American loyalists, though relieved from present misery, could be said to have been fully compensated? He admitted, that regulations were necessary, and would sup- Marquis Townshend hoped that a due port every proposed regulation that should compensation would be given to those appear to be wise and adequate to its end. merchants who were likely to incur losses The Earl of Hopetoun supported the by the Bill. No man could entertain a Bill, and said, that if it had been thought stronger dislike to what were called "ex necessary to produce evidence in support post facto" laws than he did, and he never of it, he was persuaded that the scruples would consent to any such, without guardentertained by some of their lordships ing the individuals liable to be affected by would have been effectually removed. If them against their danger, as much as posit were thought proper, evidence was still sible. The Portuguese, who were a comready to be brought to the bar. He commercial nation, allowed but one slave to plimented lord Sandwich on his know- one ton; and did it become this country ledge of naval affairs, and bowed with sub- to be outdone by any other nation in humission to such high authority, but he manity? could not help taking notice of the arguments relative to our African merchants having been suffered to supply the French West-India islands last war, declaring, that when he considered whose duty it had been to guard against the mischiefs now stated to have produced ruinous consequences, he was perfectly astonished at hearing such an argument come from the quarter from whence it had proceeded. He spoke also of the revision of the slave laws, which the house of assembly of Jamaica had entered upon, and the new regulations which they had made for the punishment of all who killed, or ill-treated a negro. This proved that the planters were as anxious for regulation as we were; that they were determined to run the race of humanity with us. The Duke of Chandos said, that since his entrance into the House, the paper which he held in his hand, and which had not been many hours before received from Jamaica, was given to him for his perusal. Lord Sydney professed the highest respect for the characters of those gentlemen with whom the Bill had originated in the other House, and gave them full credit for the purity of their motives; but notwithstanding his conviction, that both the one and the other deserved every degree of confidence and esteem, he could not but confess, that he wished the humanity of the African merchants had been relied on for a few months longer, and that it had been taken for granted, that pledged as the legislature was to discuss the general question fully next session, the merchants would not have abused their own characters so much as to have rendered themselves obnoxious to parliamentary censure when the subject should be taken into consideration. The question of the Slave Trade was too serious to be frequently agitated; being once brought under discussion, it must be decided; it could not be again and again agitated with any sort of safety. He therefore wished the whole of it had been reserved entire. Adverting to the system of slave laws mentioned by lord Hopetoun, he observed, that they had been transmitted to his office, and from the attention he had been able to pay them, he found them so perfectly well adapted to the subject, that he did not see room for the addition of a single clause. He bestowed much panegyric upon their wisdom and promise of efficacy; and said, that a few months ago the humanity of the very same gentlemen, perhaps, who had brought in and supported the present Bill, had prompted them to raise a subscription to transport the Africans and Lascars, that were to be seen begging in every corner of almost every street, to Africa. The project was put in execution, and captain Thompson, a most deserving officer, was entrusted with the conduct of their transportation. He had conversed with captain Thompson both before his setting sail on the expedition, and since his return from it; and the captain had assured him, that when the Africans and Lascars arrived at the place of their destination, they expressed the utmost anxiety to be any where else; and the Africans would have rejoiced at an opportunity of escaping back to the West Indies, and becoming slaves to the planters again. The event was, the Lascars did there as in London; they laid about the woods till they perished, and the few whites, who, led by false principles of humanity, or lured by an idle spirit of adventure, had chosen to accompany them, all died after reaching the shore, almost in as little time as he had taken to state the facts. The Duke of Chandos defended what he had before stated, relative to the dan ger likely to result from the agitation of the subject, and said he should think it his duty again and again to warn their lordships on that head. The universal massacre of the whites might be the consequence; and surely that was too fatal a catastrophe to be thought of with levity, or treated with ridicule. He must be permitted to know rather more of the West India islands than most of their lordships; and it was his duty to lay the result of his acquaintance with the customs of those islands before their lordships. The negroes read the English newspapers as constantly as the ships from England came in; and from what was then doing, they would conclude their final emancipation was at hand. Lord Rodney said, he had spent four years at Jamaica, the years 1770, 1, 2, and 3, and that he was present in court, when a white man was tried and convicted for the murder of a negro, and afterwards condemned and executed. The laws, there fore, which were so much boasted of by the noble earl as novelties, were old laws, and had existed in the West India islands many years. He had never heard of a negro being cruelly treated in all the time he had been in the West Indies, but had often spoken of their happiness in terms of rapture, declaring that he should rejoice exceedingly, if the English day la bourer was but half as happy. He as serted that the British seamen employed in African voyages, were killed by the spirits they drank, and not by the climate; and that the Africans on board a ship, complained more frequently of cold than heat. Marquis Townshend disdained being influenced by any reports of a probable massacre of the whites, or other ill consequences resulting, when he was doing a right thing as a legislator; nor could he suppose the negroes would be induced to rise, because parliament was intent on granting them some relief. He should rather imagine that it would induce them to wait with patience in their situation, and beget a confidence in their minds, that what could farther be done for them, consistently with national wisdom, would be effected next session. If it were true, that the negroes in the West Indies were twice as happy as the English day labourers, he thought that instead of rising in a few days, parliament ought to sit all the summer, in order to put the English yeomen on a footing with the West-Indian negro slave. The Duke of Richmond said, that his noble friend had relieved his mind from a considerable share of doubt, by declaring that the negroes in the West India islands read the English newspapers. If they did, they would know what the British parlia ment was about, and could not possibly imagine that they ought to rise, because parliament had granted them some allevia tion of their miseries. The Earl of Sandwich said, he had not uttered one word against the Bill. On the contrary, he was for it. He had declared that some regulation was necessary, and he would give his support to every amendment that went to make the Bill more useful, without touching on the gen |