f the full power of it, till the Slave-trade became a subject of
discussion. He had always conceived, that the custom of trafficking in
human beings had been incautiously begun, and without any reflection upon
it; for he never could believe that any man, under the influence of moral
principles, could suffer himself knowingly to carry on a trade replete with
fraud, cruelty, and destruction; with destruction, indeed, of the worst
kind, because it subjected the sufferers to a lingering death. But he found
now, that even such a trade as this could be sanctioned.

It was well observed in the petition from the University of Cambridge
against the Slave-trade, "that a firm belief in the Providence of a
benevolent Creator assured them that no system, founded on the oppression
of one part of mankind, could be beneficial to another." He felt much
concern, that in an assembly of the representatives of a country, boasting
itself zealous not only for the preservation of its own liberties, but for
the general rights of mankind, it should be necessary to say a single word
upon such a subject; but the deceitfulness of the human heart was such, as
to change the appearances of truth, when it stood in opposition to
self-interest. And he had to lament that even among those, whose public
duty it was to cling to the universal and eternal principles of truth,
justice, and humanity, there were found some, who could defend that which
was unjust, fraudulent, and cruel.

The doctrines he had heard that evening, ought to have been reserved for
times the most flagrantly profligate and abandoned. He never expected then
to learn, that the everlasting laws of righteousness were to give way to
imaginary, political, and commercial expediency; and that thousands of our
fellow-creatures were to be reduced to wretchedness, that individuals might
enjoy opulence, or government a revenue.

He hoped that the house for the sake of its own character would explode
these doctrines with all the marks of odium they deserved; and that all
parties would join in giving a death-blow to this execrable trade. The
royal family would, he expected, from their known benevolence, patronize
the measure. Both Houses of Parliament were now engaged in the prosecution
of a gentleman accused of cruelty and oppression in the East. But what were
these cruelties, even if they could be brought home to him, when compared
in number and degree to those, which were every day and every hour