e considered them, but he could not prevail upon
himself to retract them; because, if any gentleman, after reading the
evidence on the table, and attending to the debate, could avow himself
an abettor of this shameful traffic in human flesh, it could only be
either from some hardness of heart, or some difficulty of understanding,
which he really knew not how to account for.

Some had considered this question as a question of political, whereas,
it was a question of personal, freedom. Political freedom was
undoubtedly a great blessing; but when it came to be compared with
personal, it sunk to nothing. To confound the two, served, therefore, to
render all arguments on either perplexing and unintelligible. Personal
freedom was the first right of every human being. It was a right, of
which he who deprived a fellow-creature was absolutely criminal in so
depriving him, and which he who withheld was no less criminal in
withholding. He could not, therefore, retract his words with respect to
any, who (whatever respect he might otherwise have for them) should, by
their vote of that night, deprive their fellow-creatures of so great a
blessing. Nay, he would go further. He would say, that if the House,
knowing what the trade was by the evidence, did not, by their vote, mark
to all mankind their abhorrence of a practice so savage, so enormous, so
repugnant to all laws human and divine, they would consign their
character to eternal infamy.

That the pretence of danger to our West Indian islands from the
abolition of the Slave Trade was totally unfounded, Mr. Wilberforce had
abundantly proved; but if there were they who had not been satisfied
with that proof, was it possible to resist the arguments of Mr. Pitt on
the same subject? It had been shown, on a comparison of the births and
deaths in Jamaica, that there was not now any decrease of the slaves.
But if there had been, it would have made no difference to him in his
vote; for, had the mortality been ever so great there, he should have
ascribed it to the system of importing Negroes, instead of that of
encouraging their natural increase. Was it not evident that the planters
thought it more convenient to buy them fit for work, than to breed them?
Why, then, was this horrid trade to be kept up?--To give the planters
truly the liberty of misusing their slaves, so as to check population:
for it was from ill-usage only that, in a climate so natural to them,
their numbers could diminish.