with numerous large and beautiful villages; its inhabitants are induftriously employed in trade, fishing, or agriculture; they export rice to all the Gold Coast"-" there is a great number of fine populous villages on the River Ancobar"

The inhabitants of Adom always expofe large quantities of corn, &c. to fale, befides what they want for their own use.”

The people of Acron feldom or never go to war; they husband their time and grounds fo well that every year produces a plentiful harveft." Speaking of the Gold Couft, he fays, "their most artful works are the gold and filver hatbands they make for us, the thread and contexture of which is fo fine that I question whether our European artists would not be put to it to imitate them; and indeed if they could, and were no better paid than the Negroes, they would be obliged to live on dry bread."—" The people of Fida are so ftrongly bent on trade and agriculture, that they never think of war."-Speaking of the Fetu country, he fays, "frequently when walking through it, I have feen it abound with fine well-built and populous towns, agreeably enriched with vast quantities of corn and cattle, palm wine and oil. The inhabitants all apply themselves without diftinction to agriculture: fome fow corn, others prefs oil, and draw wine from the palm trees,"

I will now read from the evidence certain extracts defcriptive of the ftate of Slaves in Africa; and from thefe it will appear whether even their fituation is fuch, a one as to give them much reason to envy the condition of their brethren, who have been carried to the Weft Indies. "The Slaves are well fed, their labour is not conftant, and there is no driver in Senegal and Gambia."-" Domestick Slaves have all the advantages of free men."-" Born Slaves cannot be fold but for a crime on trial by their own clan."

And again, domefticks are not fold by their mafters but for enormous crimes, and after trial by their own clan." "Many flaves in Africa are not easily distinguished from their mafters."" Slaves are treated well and familiarly at Angola,"-"On the continent of Africa Slaves are few in

number,

number, they are treated well, eat with their masters, work along with them, and are well clothed."-" The Slaves of perfons in Africa are treated by them as Europeans treat people of their own family;" and not to multiply extracts unneceffarily, I will only add on this head the declaration of a witnefs, who informs us, that though "Blacks in Africa have faid they were Slaves, he never difcovered this from their treatment."

I cannot difmifs this branch of the subject without begging the Committee to attend to fome few farther extracts from authors of credit, which fuggeft how far Africa has benefited from her connection with Europeans. They shall be but few, for were I difpofed to multiply them, there would be no end of my labour. I will pafs over many I had selected for the purpose of ftating them to the House, which respect the practices of breaking up villages, and of depredations both of the Whites on the Blacks, and of the Blacks on each other, encouraged and ftimulated by the Europeans; but I muft beg leave to read to the Committee a few which speak of the exertions of our active benevolence in inciting them to war, and of the effect of the Slave Trade upon the criminal law and the administration of justice. From thefe laft it will appear how far we can pretend with any decency, that by our humane interference we had refcued their convicts from the barbarous severity of their fanguinary laws, and introduced a milder fyftem of criminal jurisprudence.

Smith, who was fent out by the Royal African Company, in 1726, affures us, that "the discerning natives account it their greatest unhappiness that they were ever vifited by the Europeans. They fay that we Chriftians introduced the traffick of Slaves, and that before our coming they lived in peace. But, fay they, "it is obfervable wherever Christianity comes, there come with it a fword, a gun, powder, and ball.”

"The Europeans," fays Brue, " are far from defiring to act as peace-makers among them. It would be too contrary to their interests; for the only object of their wars is to carry off Slaves, and as these form the principal part of their traffick,

they

they would be apprehenfive of drying up the fource of it, were they to encourage the people to live well together."—" The neighbourhood of the Damel and Tin keep them perpetually at war, the benefit of which accrues to the Company, who buy all the prisoners made on either fide, and the more there are to fell, the greater is their profit; for the only end of their armaments is to make captives to fell them to the White Traders."

Artus of Dantzick fays, that in his time "thofe liable to pay fines were banished until the fine was paid, when they returned to their houses and poffeffions."

Bosman affirms, that "the punishment for adultery is by fine; the fine among the common people is 4, 5, or 6 pounds, and among the rich more, perhaps 100l. or 2001. he has heard of fines of 5,000l."-" The punishment for theft on the Gold Coast is by fine."-" The greatest crimes at Whydah are generally compenfated by money." Speaking of the Gold Coaft, he says, "Nobody is here fined above his ability, unless by an accumulation of crimes he hath given occafion thereto, and then he is fent into Slavery."-At Benin he informs us, that " theft is punished by reftitution and fine, and if the thief is poor, after the reftitution of the goods, if in his power, he is very well beaten."

Moore, who refided seven years on the Coast, as Factor to the Company, fays, " fince this Trade has been used, all punishments have been changed into Slavery; there being an advantage in fuch condemnation, they ftrain the crimes very hard in order to get the benefit of felling the criminal. Not only murder, theft, and adultery, are punished by felling the criminal for a Slave, but every trifling crime is punished in the fame manner."

Atkins, fpeaking of adultery and theft, fays, "Trade has fo infected them with covetousness and fraud, that the Chiefs will put fnares both for the one and the other, driving at the profit, and not at the punishment of a crime."

Loyer affirms, that " the King of Sain on the least pretence fells his fubjects for European goods. He is fo tyrannically

fevere,

1

fevere, that he makes a whole village refponfible for the faults of one inhabitant, and on the leaft offence fells them all for Slaves."

Such, Sir, are the teftimonies that have been borne, not by perfons whom I have fummoned, not by friends to the Abolition, but by men who were, many of them, themselves engaged in the Slave Trade. Many, many more I could add of the fame kind, but these are abundantly fufficient to refute the unfounded affertions of thefe pretended advocates for humanity. But in truth were they even to make good their affertions, they would in my mind little mend their cause were it ever so true, as it is most false, that you made them happier by taking them away, this would give you no right to take them against their will,

I have fometimes been reproached with my extravagant humanity. But I may now repel the accufation, and for myself declare, as I have faid before, that I reft this question not on the ground of humanity, but of religion and juftice. It has fometimes also been imputed to me, that I am actuated by a fpirit of fanaticifin and bigotry; but I beg it may here be obferved, that it is on my opponents and not on me that these charges may be fairly urged; their's are the very principles on which have been refted the groffeft fyftems of bigotry and fuperftition that ever difgraced the annals of mankind. On what other principles was it that Mahomet fent forth his Muffulmen to ravage the world. Was it not these that lighted the fires of the inquifition? Have not both these systems been founded on the notion of your having a right to violate the laws of juftice, for the purposes of humanity? Did they not both plead that they were promoting the eternal happiness of mankind; and that their proceedings were therefore to be jus tified on the dictates of true and enlarged benevolence? But the religion I profefs is of another nature; it teaches me first to do justice, and next to love mercy; not that the claims of thefe two will ever be really found to be jarring and inconfiftent: When you obey the laws of God, when you attend

to

to the claims of justice, you will then also best confult and most advance the happiness of mankind. This is true, this is enlarged benevolence; and of this it may be affirmed in the unparalleled language of a great writer, "that her feat "is the bofom of God, her voice the harmony of the world: "all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very "leaft as feeling her care, the greatest as not exempted "from her influence: both angels and men, and every other "creature, though each in different fort and order, yet all "with uniform confent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy."

I fhall next touch for a moment on a ground whereon our opponents, driven as they are from place to place in queft of argument, have often attempted to take their ftand; that I mean of other nations being likely to carry on the Slave Trade if we were to abandon it; on which the conclufion is then rested, that if fo, however wicked, however cruel it is, we might as well carry it on ourselves. Admitting the fuppofition to be juft, the inference that is drawn from it was fo completely expofed last year by the Right Honourable Gentleman oppofite to me, that it can hardly be neceffary for me now to fay a fyllable on the subject. I will therefore only repeat what I have declared on former occafions, that I have no doubt if we were to abolish the Slave Trade, other nations would follow our example.

Nor can any thing be more unreasonable than for Gentlemen to urge against the probability of this event, that the nations in queftion fo far from abolishing, have even lately paffed edicts, and granted bounties for the encouragement of the Trade. If for four or five years we have been carrying on a laborious investigation into its nature and cir cumstances; if after developing its genuine character, and afcertaining its dreadful effects, we ftill hang back and hefitate, was it fair to expect, as I argued on a former occafion, that the nations in queftion fhould relinquish the Trade without inquiry, little acquainted as they must be fuppofed to be with its accumulated horrors, and even confirmed by our