. And
the second was the oppression of the People of Colour, and of the Slaves.
In the first of the causes we saw something like the moderation of Mr.
Dundas and Mr. Addington. One day this Assembly talked of liberty, and
favoured the Blacks. Another day they suspended their measures, and
favoured the Whites. They wished to steer a middle course; but decision had
been mercy. Decision even against the Planters would have been a thousand
times better than indecision and half measures. In the mean time, the
People of Colour took the great work of justice into their own hands.
Unable, however, to complete this of themselves, they called in the aid of
the Slaves. Here began the second cause; for the Slaves, feeling their own
power, began to retaliate on the Whites. And here it may be observed, that,
in all revolutions, the clemency or cruelty of the victors will always be
in proportion to their former privileges, or their oppression. That the
Slaves then should have been guilty of great excesses was not to be
wondered at; for where did they learn their cruelty? They learnt it from
those who had tyrannized over them. The oppression, which they themselves
had suffered, was fresh in their memories, and this had driven them to
exercise their vengeance so furiously. If we wished to prevent similar
scenes in our own islands, we must reject all moderate measures, and at
once abolish the Slave-trade. By doing this, we should procure a better
treatment for the Slaves there; and when this happy change of system should
have taken place, we might depend on them for the defence of the islands as
much as on the Whites themselves.

Upon the whole, he would give his opinion of this traffic in a few words.
He believed it to be impolitic--he knew it to be inhuman--he was certain it
was unjust--he though it so inhuman and unjust, that, if the colonies could
not be cultivated without it, they ought not to be cultivated at all. It
would be much better for us to be without them, than not abolish the
Slave-trade. He hoped therefore that members would this night act the part
which would do them honour. He declared, that, whether he should vote in a
large minority or a small one, he would never give up the cause. Whether in
the House of Parliament or out of it, in whatever situation he might ever
be, as long as he had a voice to speak, this question should never be at
rest. Believing the trade to be of the nature of crimes and pollutions,
which stain