Mr. Secretary Canning,in moving the third reading of this bill, said, he was desired by his hon. friend, the member for Bramber (Mr. Wilberforce) who was unable to attend from indisposition, to state, how much he regretted that he could not be present on this occasion, to express his joy at what he considered the accomplishment of the great object, for the attainment of which he had so long laboured.
§ Sir J. Mackintoshsaid, he could not let the present opportunity pass without congratulating the House and the friends of the abolition generally, on the success which had attended a measure which he had seen so long opposed. Looking back at the difficulties with which its friends had had to encounter, he could not at one time have thought it possible that they should have been overcome in such a comparatively short time. In the early part of his life, he had seen the measure combated, in and out of that House, as one which it would be most dangerous and most unjust to pass. He had seen the slave trade defended as a legitimate trade, and he now lived to find it where it ought to be placed—amongst the number of capital crimes. He had heard merchants advocating it as a source of national wealth, and gallant admirals defending it as a source of naval strength; he had heard it supported and justified as a trade which rescued the negro from the cruelty of his African enemies, and conferred a blessing on him by transporting him from that inhospitable shore, to the paradise of our West-India Islands. One gallant officer, indeed, had gone so far on the subject, and thought the situation of the enslaved African so enviable, as to have expressed a regret, that he himself had not been, born a negro. He remembered to have heard it stated, that the question of abolition was supported only by a set of political incendiaries and religious enthusiasts: but, a set of virtuous men, by perseverance, had triumphed over all these obstacles, 1425 and now the trader in slaves was justly held up to the execration of the civilized world. The crime of man-stealing, which had stood without punishment in any European code, was now justly classed amongst those which were to be visited with the severest punishments; and it was to the credit of his hon. and learned friend, the member for Winchelsea (Mr. Brougham) that he was the first man by whose exertions that crime had been so classed; and though the versatility of the mind of his hon. and learned friend had fitted him for almost every kind of public business, and his genius bad qualified him to undertake those of the most arduous nature, yet he believed there was no act of his public life which would reflect greater credit on his memory than this. It was also a source of great satisfaction to him to perceive, that by the treaty about to be finally concluded between the two British nations on both sides of the Atlantic, they would shortly enter into such arrangements as would be likely to shame mankind out of this horrid traffic. It was satisfactory to perceive that while the Americans were emulating the maritime glory of their ancestors, and were not less jealous of their national honour, they had yielded on two important points to the cause of humanity [The hon. and learned gentleman was proceeding, when Mr. Canning intimated to him, that the other House were waiting to have the bill sent up to them]. He then observed, that in consequence of what had been communicated to him, he would not delay the House any longer.
§ The bill was then read a third time, and passed.