The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Vol. I by Thomas Clarkson

T >> Thomas Clarkson >> The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Vol. I

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"It is a melancholy fact, but it can be abundantly proved, that great
numbers of the unfortunate strangers, who are carried from Africa to our
colonies, are fraudulently and forcibly taken from their native soil. To
descant but upon a single instance of the kind must be productive of pain
to the ear of sensibility and freedom. Consider the sensations of the
person, who is thus carried off by the ruffians, who have been lurking to
intercept him. Separated from every thing which he esteems in life, without
the possibility even of bidding his friends adieu, behold him overwhelmed
in tears--wringing his hands in despair--looking backwards upon the spot
where all his hopes and wishes lay,--while his family at home are waiting
for him with anxiety and suspense--are waiting, perhaps, for
sustenance--are agitated between hope and fear--till length of absence
confirms the latter, and they are immediately plunged into inconceivable
misery and distress.

"If this instance, then, is sufficiently melancholy of itself, and is at
all an act of oppression, how complicated will our guilt appear, who are
the means of snatching away thousands annually in the same manner, and who
force them and their families into the same unhappy situation, without
either remorse or shame!"

Having proceeded to show, in a more particular manner than I can detail
here, how, by means of the Slave-trade, we oppressed the stranger, I made
an inquiry into the other branch of the subject, or how far we had a
knowledge of his heart.

To elucidate this point, I mentioned several specific instances, out of
those which I had collected in my journey, and which I could depend upon as
authentic, of honour--gratitude--fidelity--filial, fraternal, and conjugal
affection--and of the finest sensibility, on the part of those, who had
been brought into our colonies from Africa, in the character of slaves, and
then I proceeded for a while in the following words:--

"If, then, we oppress the stranger, as I have shown, and if, by a knowledge
of his heart, we find that he is a person of the same passions and feelings
as ourselves, we are certainly breaking, by means of the prosecution of the
Slave-trade, that fundamental principle of Christianity, which says, that
we shall not do that unto another, which we wish should not be done unto
ourselves, and, I fear, cutting ourselves off from all expectation of the
Divine blessing. For how inconsistent is our conduct! We come into the
temple of God; we fall prostrate before him; we pray to him, that he will
have mercy upon us. But how shall he have mercy upon us, who have had no
mercy upon others! We pray to him, again, that he will deliver us from
evil. But how shall he deliver us from evil, who are daily invading the
right of the injured African, and heaping misery on his head!"

I attempted, lastly, to show, that, though the sin of the Slave-trade had
been hitherto a sin of ignorance, and might therefore have so far been
winked at, yet as the crimes and miseries belonging to it became known, it
would attach even to those who had no concern in it, if they suffered it to
continue either without notice or reproach, or if they did not exert
themselves in a reasonable manner for its suppression. I noticed
particularly, the case of Tyre and Sidon, which were the Bristol and the
Liverpool of those times. A direct judgment had been pronounced by the
prophet Joel against these cities, and, what is remarkable, for the
prosecution of this same barbarous traffic. Thus, "And what have ye to do
with me O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? Ye have cast
lots for my people. Ye have sold a girl for wine. The children of Judah,
and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might
remove them far from their own border. Behold! I will raise them out of the
place whither ye have sold them, and will recompense your wickedness on
your own heads." Such was the language of the prophet; and Tyre and Sidon
fell, as he had pointed out, when the inhabitants were either cut off, or
carried into slavery.

Having thrown out these ideas to the notice of the audience, I concluded in
the following words:--

"If, then, we wish to avert the heavy national judgment which is hanging
over our heads (for must we not believe that our crimes towards the
innocent Africans lie recorded against us in heaven) let us endeavour to
assert their cause. Let us nobly withstand the torrent of the evil, however
inveterately it may be fixed among the customs of the times; not, however,
using our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness against those, who perhaps
without due consideration, have the misfortune to be concerned in it, but
upon proper motives, and in a proper spirit, as the servants of God; so
that if the sun should be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
and the very heaven should fall upon us, we may fall in the general
convulsion without dismay, conscious that we have done our duty in
endeavouring to succour the distressed, and that the stain of the blood of
Africa is not upon us."

From Manchester I proceeded to Keddleston in Derbyshire, to spend a day
with Lord Scarsdale, and to show him my little collection of African
productions, and to inform him of my progress since I last saw him. Here a
letter was forwarded to me from the reverend John Toogood, of Keinton Magna
in Dorsetshire, though I was then unknown to him. He informed me that he
had addressed several letters to the inhabitants of his own county, through
their provincial paper, on the subject of the Slave-trade, which letters
had produced a considerable effect. It appeared, however, that, when he
began them, he did not know of the formation of our commitee, or that he
had a single coadjutor in the cause.

From Keddleston I turned off to Birmingham, being desirous of visiting
Bristol in my way to London, to see if any thing new had occurred since I
was there. I was introduced by letter, at Birmingham, to Sampson and
Charles Lloyd, the brothers of John Lloyd, belonging to our commitee, and
members of the religious society of the Quakers. I was highly gratified in
finding that these, in conjunction with Mr. Russell, had been attempting to
awaken the attention of the inhabitants to this great subject, and that in
consequence of their laudable efforts, a spirit was beginning to show
itself there, as at Manchester, in favour of the abolition of the
Slave-trade. The kind manner in which these received me, and the deep
interest which they appeared to take in our cause, led me to an esteem for
them, which, by means of subsequent visits, grew into a solid friendship.

At length I arrived at Bristol at about ten o'clock on Friday morning. But
what was my surprise, when almost the first thing I heard from my friend
Harry Gandy was, that a letter had been dispatched to me to Liverpool,
nearly a week ago, requesting me immediately to repair to this place; for
that in consequence of notice from the Lords of the Admiralty, advertised
in the public papers, the trial of the chief mate, whom I had occasioned to
be taken up at Bristol, for the murder of William Lines, was coming on at
the Old Bailey, and that not an evidence was to be found. This intelligence
almost paralysed me. I cannot describe my feelings on receiving it. I
reproached myself with my own obstinacy for having resisted the advice of
Mr. Burges, as has been before explained. All his words now came fresh into
my mind. I was terrified, too, with the apprehension that my own reputation
was now at stake. I foresaw all the calumnies which would be spread, if the
evidences were not forthcoming on this occasion. I anticipated, also, the
injury which the cause itself might sustain, if, at our outset, as it were,
I should not be able to substantiate what I had publicly advanced; and yet
the mayor of Bristol had heard and determined the case,--he had not only
examined, but re-examined, the evidences,--he had not only committed, but
re-committed, the accused: this was the only consolation I had. I was
sensible, however, amidst all these workings of my mind, that not a moment
was to be lost, and I began, therefore, to set on foot an inquiry as to the
absent persons.

On waiting upon the mother of William Lines, I learnt from her, that two
out of four of the witnesses had been bribed by the slave-merchants, and
sent to sea, that they might not be forthcoming at the time of the trial;
that the two others had been tempted also, but that they had been enabled
to resist the temptation; that, desirous of giving their testimony in this
cause, they had gone into some coal-mine between Neath and Swansea, where
they might support themselves till they should be called for; and that she
had addressed a letter to them, at the request of Mr. Gandy, above a week
ago, in which she had desired them to come to Bristol immediately, but that
she had received no answer from them. She then concluded, either that her
letter had miscarried, or that they had left the place.

I determined to lose no time, after the receipt of this intelligence; and I
prevailed upon a young man, whom my friend Harry Gandy had recommended to
me, to set off directly, and to go in search of them. He was to travel all
night, and to bring them, or, if weary himself with his journey, to send
them up, without ever sleeping on the road. It was now between twelve and
one in the afternoon. I saw him depart. In the interim I went to
Thompson's, and other places, to inquire if any other of the seamen,
belonging to the Thomas, were to be found; but, though I hunted diligently
till four o'clock, I could learn nothing satisfactory. I then went to
dinner, but I grew uneasy. I was fearful that my messenger might be at a
loss, or that he might want assistance on some occasion or other. I now
judged that it would have been more prudent if two persons had been sent,
who might have conferred with each other, and who might have divided, when
they had reached Neath, and gone to different mines, to inquire for the
witnesses. These thoughts disturbed me. Those, also, which had occurred
when I first heard of the vexatious way in which things were situated,
renewed themselves painfully to my mind. My own obstinacy in resisting the
advice of Mr. Burges, and the fear of injury to my own reputation, and to
that of the cause I had undertaken, were again before my eyes. I became
still more uneasy; and I had no way of relieving my feelings, but by
resolving to follow the young man, and to give him all the aid in my power.

It was now near six o'clock. The night was cold and rainy, and almost dark.
I got down, however, safe to the passage-house, and desired to be conveyed
across the Severn. The people in the house tried to dissuade me from my
design. They said no one would accompany me, for it was quite a tempest. I
replied, that I would pay those handsomely who would go with me. A person
present asked me if I would give him three guineas for a boat, I replied I
would. He could not for shame retract. He went out, and in about half an
hour brought a person with him. We were obliged to have a lanthorn as far
as the boat. We got on board, and went off. But such a passage I had never
before witnessed. The wind was furious. The waves ran high. I could see
nothing but white foam. The boat, also, was tossed up and down in such a
manner that it was with great difficulty I could keep my seat. The rain,
too, poured down in such torrents, that we were all of us presently wet
through. We had been, I apprehend, more than an hour in this situation,
when the boatmen began to complain of cold and weariness. I saw, also, that
they began to be uneasy, for they did not know where they were. They had no
way of forming any judgment about their course, but by knowing the point
from whence the wind blew, and by keeping the boat in a relative position
towards it. I encouraged them as well as I could, though I was beginning to
be uneasy myself, and also sick. In about a quarter of an hour they began
to complain again. They said they could pull no longer. They acknowledged,
however, that they were getting nearer to the shore, though on what part of
it, they could not tell. I could do nothing but bid them hope. They then
began to reproach themselves for having come out with me. I told them I had
not forced them, but that it was a matter of their own choice. In the midst
of this conversation I informed them that I thought I saw either a star or
a light straight forward. They both looked at it, and pronounced it to be a
light, and added with great joy that it must be a light in the
Passage-house: and so we found it; for in about ten minutes afterwards we
landed, and, on reaching the house, learnt that a servant maid had been
accidentally talking to some other person on the stair-case, near a window,
with a candle in her hand, and that the light had appeared to us from that
circumstance.

It was now near eleven o'clock. My messenger, it appeared, had arrived safe
at about five in the evening, and had proceeded on his route. I was very
cold on my arrival, and sick also. There seemed to be a chilliness all over
me, both within and without. Indeed I had not a dry thread about me. I took
some hot brandy and water, and went to bed; but desired, as soon as my
clothes were thoroughly dried, to be called up, that I might go forward.
This happened at about two in the morning, when I got up. I took my
breakfast by the fire side. I then desired the post-boy, if he should meet
any persons on the road, to stop, and inform me, as I did not know whether
the witnesses might not be coming up by themselves, and whether they might
not have passed my messenger without knowing his errand. Having taken these
precautions, I departed. I travelled on, but we met no one. I traced,
however, my messenger through Newport, Cardiff, and Cowbridge. I was
assured, also, that he had not passed me on his return; nor had any of
those passed me, whom he was seeking. At length, when I was within about
two miles of Neath, I met him. He had both the witnesses under his care.
This was a matter of great joy to me. I determined to return with them. It
was now nearly two in the afternoon. I accordingly went back, but we did
not reach the Passage-house again till nearly two the next morning.

During our journey, neither the wind nor the rain had much abated. It was
quite dark on our arrival. We found only one person, and he had been
sitting up in expectation of us. It was in vain that I asked him for a boat
to put us across the water. He said all the boatmen were in bed; and, if
they were up, he was sure that none of them would venture out. It was
thought a mercy by all of them, that we were not lost last night.
Difficulties were also started about horses to take us another way. Unable
therefore to proceed, we took refreshment and went to bed.

We arrived at Bristol between nine and ten the next morning; but I was so
ill, that I could go no further; I had been cold and shivering ever since
my first passage across the Severn, and I had now a violent sore throat,
and a fever with it. All I could do was to see the witnesses off for
London, and to assign them to the care of an attorney, who should conduct
them to the trial. For this purpose I gave them a letter to a friend of the
name of Langdale. I saw them depart. The mother of William Lines
accompanied them. By a letter received on Tuesday, I learnt that they had
not arrived in town till Monday morning at three o'clock; that at about
nine or ten they found out the office of Mr. Langdale; that, on inquiring
for him, they heard he was in the country, but that he would be home at
noon; that, finding he had not then arrived, they acquainted his clerk with
the nature of their business, and opened my letter to show him the contents
of it; that the clerk went with them to consult some other person on the
subject, when he conveyed them to the Old Bailey; but that, on inquiring at
the proper place about the introduction of the witnesses, he learnt that
the chief mate had been brought to the bar in the morning, and, no person
then appearing against him, that he had been discharged by proclamation.
Such was the end of all my anxiety and labour in this affair. I was very
ill when I received the letter; but I saw the necessity of bearing up
against the disappointment, and I endeavoured to discharge the subject from
my mind with the following wish, that the narrow escape which the chief
mate had experienced, and which was entirely owing to the accidental
circumstances now explained, might have the effect, under Providence, of
producing in him a deep contrition for his offence, and of awakening him to
a serious attention to his future life[A].

[Footnote A: He had undoubtedly a narrow escape, for Mr. Langdale's clerk
had learnt that he had no evidence to produce in his favour. The
slave-merchants, it seems, had counted most upon bribing those, who were to
come against him, to disappear.]

I was obliged to remain in Bristol a few days longer in consequence of my
illness; but as soon as I was able I reached London, when I attended a
sitting of the commitee after an absence of more than five months. At this
commitee it was strongly recommended to me to publish a second edition of
my Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, and to insert
such of the facts in it, in their proper places, out of those collected in
my late travels, as I might judge to be productive of an interesting
effect. There appeared also an earnest desire in the commitee, that,
directly after this, I should begin my Essay on the Impolicy of the
Slave-trade.

In compliance with their wishes, I determined upon both these works. But I
resolved to retire into the country, that, by being subject to less
interruption there, I might the sooner finish them. It was proper, however,
that I should settle many things in London, before I took my departure from
it; and, among these, that I should find out George Ormond and Patric
Murray, whom I had sent from Liverpool on account of the information they
had given me relative to the murder of Peter Green. I saw no better way
than to take them before Sir Sampson Wright, who was then at the head of
the police of the metropolis. He examined, and cross-examined them several
times, and apart from each other. He then desired their evidence to be
drawn up in the form of depositions, copies of which he gave to me. He had
no doubt that the murder would be proved. The circumstances of the deceased
being in good health at nine o'clock in the evening, and of his severe
sufferings till eleven, and of the nature of the wounds discovered to have
been made on his person, and of his death by one in the morning, could
never, he said, be done away, by any evidence, who should state that he had
been subject to other disorders, which might have occasioned his decease.
He found himself therefore compelled to apply to the magistrates of
Liverpool, for the apprehension of three of the principal officers of the
ship. But the answer was, that the ship had sailed, and that they, whose
names had been specified, were then, none of them, to be found in
Liverpool.

It was now for me to consider, whether I would keep the two witnesses,
Ormond and Murray, for a year, or perhaps longer, at my own expense, and
run the hazard of the death of the officers in the interim, and of other
calculable events. I had felt so deeply for the usage of the seamen in this
cruel traffic, which indeed had embittered all my journey, that I had no
less than nine prosecutions at law upon my hands on their account, and
nineteen witnesses detained at my own cost. The commitee in London could
give me no assistance in these cases. They were the managers of the public
purse for the abolition of the Slave-trade, and any expenses of this kind
were neither within the limits of their object, nor within the pale of
their duty. From the individuals belonging to it, I picked up a few guineas
by way of private subscription, and this was all. But a vast load still
remained upon me, and such as had occasioned uneasiness to my mind. I
thought it therefore imprudent to detain the evidences for this purpose for
so long a time, and I sent them back to Liverpool. I commenced, however, a
prosecution against the captain at common law for his barbarous usage of
them, and desired that it might be pushed on as vigorously as possible; and
the result was, that his attorney was so alarmed, particularly after
knowing what had been done by Sir Sampson Wright, that he entered into a
compromise to pay all the expenses of the suit hitherto incurred, and to
give Ormond and Murray a sum of money as damages for the injury which they
themselves had sustained. This compromise was acceded to. The men received
the money, and signed the release, (of which I insisted upon a copy,) and
went to sea again in another trade, thanking me for my interference in
their behalf. But by this copy, which I have now in my possession, it
appears that care was taken by the captain's attorney to render their
future evidence in the case of Peter Green, almost impracticable; for it
was there wickedly stated, "that George Ormond and Patric Murray did then
and there bind themselves in certain penalties, that they would neither
encourage nor support any action at law against the said captain, by or at
the suit or prosecution of any other of the seamen now or late on board the
said ship, and that they released the said captain also from all manner of
actions, suits, and cause and causes of action, informations, prosecutions,
and other proceedings, which they then had, or ever had, or could or might
have by reason of the said assaults upon their own persons, or _other
wrongs or injuries done by the said captain heretofore and to the date of
this release_[A]."

[Footnote A: None of the nine actions before mentioned ever came to a
trial, but they were all compromised by paying sums to the injured
parties.]

CHAPTER XX.

_Labours of the commitee during the author's journey--Quakers the first to
notice its institution--General Baptists the next--Correspondence opened
with American societies for Abolition--First individual who addressed the
commitee was Mr. William Smith--Thanks voted to Ramsay--commitee prepares
lists of persons to whom to send its publications--Barclay, Taylor, and
Wedgwood elected members of the commitee--Letters from Brissot, and
others--Granville Sharp elected chairman--Seal ordered to be engraved
--Letters from different correspondents as they offered their services to
the commitee._

The commitee, during my absence, had attended regularly at their posts.
They had been both vigilant and industrious. They were, in short, the
persons, who had been the means of raising the public spirit, which I had
observed first at Manchester, and afterwards as I journeyed on. It will be
proper, therefore, that I should now say something of their labours, and of
the fruits of them. And if, in doing this, I should be more minute for a
few pages than some would wish, I must apologize for myself by saying that
there are others, who would be sorry to lose the knowledge of the
particular manner in which the foundation was laid, and the superstructure
advanced, of a work, which will make so brilliant an appearance in our
history as that of the abolition of the Slave-trade.

The commitee having dispersed five hundred circular letters, giving an
account of their institution, in London and its neighbourhood, the Quakers
were the first to notice it. This they did in their yearly epistle, of
which the following is an extract:--"We have also thankfully to believe
there is a growing attention in many, not of our religious Society, to the
subject of Negro-slavery; and that the minds of the people are more and
more enlarged to consider it as an aggregate of every species of evil, and
to see the utter inconsistency of upholding it by the authority of any
nation whatever, especially of such as punish, with loss of life, crimes
whose magnitude bears scarce any proportion to this complicated iniquity."

The General Baptists were the next; for on the twenty-second of June,
Stephen Lowdell and Dan Taylor attended as a deputation from the annual
meeting of that religious body, to inform the commitee, that those, whom
they represented, approved their proceedings, and that they would
countenance the object of their institution.

The first individual, who addressed the commitee, was Mr. William Smith,
the present member for Norwich. In his letter he expressed the pleasure he
had received in finding persons associated in the support of a cause, in
which he himself had taken a deep interest. He gave them advice as to their
future plans. He promised them all the cooperation in his power: and he
exhorted them not to despair, even if their first attempt should be
unsuccessful; "for consolation," says he, "will not be wanting. You may
rest satisfied that the attempt will be productive of some good; that the
fervent wishes of the righteous will be on your side, and that the blessing
of those who are ready to perish will fall upon you." And as Mr. Smith was
the first person to address the commitee as an individual after its
formation, so, next to Mr. Wilberforce and the members of it, he gave the
most time and attention to the promotion of the cause.

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