§ The EARL of ABERDEENsaid: My Lords, I adverted yesterday to a return recently laid on your Lordships' table, containing an account of the number of deaths which have taken place in, and the state of health of, the squadron employed off the coast of Africa in the suppression of the slave trade during the last few years. This return has been moved for, I know not with what special object, but at all events it contains information which cannot but be highly important and interesting to your Lordships. At the same time, however, before your Lordships can form any just opinion of the services of that squadron, and of the real character and condition of that force, you must have other information than that contained in the return I have alluded to. The circumstances connected with the squadron, have been subject to much misapprehension in consequence of misrepresentation; and it is to remove this misapprehension that I have ventured to give notice of my intention to bring the matter under the consideration of the House. Among the various circumstances which have attended our recent commercial legislation, there is nothing which I have witnessed with more apprehension and concern than the partial change which appears to have taken place in the public mind on the subject of the abolition of the slave trade. I say "partial change," because I hope and believe that the great majority of the people of this country are as much disposed as ever to persevere in those laudable endeavours which have been made for the extinction of that odious traffic, and are resolved to adhere to that great object on account of which this country has hitherto, and justly, acquired the greatest credit and honour. Nevertheless, I hear suggestions made which a short time ago would never have been entertained or thought of for a single moment; and those suggestions are of the greater importance because they proceed from quarters which are supposed—I know not with what truth—to speak, more or less, the sentiments of Her Majesty's Government—to sympathise with 1038 their opinions, and to share their views. It is, therefore, of great importance that no doubt should prevail on this subject, and that we and the country should know what are the real intentions of Her Majesty's Government upon this most important and interesting subject. Having been absent in a distant part of the country at the meeting of the present Parliament, I had not the advantage of hearing my noble Friend, sitting on the bench below me (Lord Stanley), on the first night of the Session; but he is reported to have made a declaration on that occasion which he will forgive me for saying was one that, in my opinion, he could not fully have considered. I have acted with my noble Friend as a Colleague for several years, during which time, with one exception—and certainly that was an important exception—I am not aware that we entertained any difference of opinion. Certainly, in all matters connected with measures for the abolition of the slave trade, on which, from the nature of our offices, we were necessarily brought into frequent and close communication, not a shadow of difference ever existed between us. It was not, therefore, without some surprise that I was informed that my noble Friend had declared, that such was the impression made on his mind by the accounts of the horrors of the middle passage, and so deeply did he feel the loss of life attending the extertions of our countrymen employed off the coast of Africa in the suppression of the slave trade, that he would willingly see the force so employed recalled. My noble Friend is perfectly well aware that the horrors of the middle passage have always been held out as a great inducement to permit the existence of the slave trade; and, no doubt, if the trade were permitted, the condition of those unhappy beings who are the subjects of it would be infinitely better than at present during the passage. Their condition would then be improved for the sake of their owners, who undoubtedly would treat them with more indulgent consideration than they can at present, consistently with a regard to the security of the slaves; for, as the chances of the capture of these slave vessels increase, precisely in the same proportion are the sufferings of these unhappy wretches augmented; and as these chances are lessened, so are their sufferings diminished. The only consolation we can have in executing these measures of suppression, is to know that the number of the 1039 slaves subject to the ordeal of the middle passage is greatly diminished, and to hope that in no long time we may see a cessation of the slave traffic altogether. But with respect to the health of our squadron, there is no doubt that on this subject the greatest exaggeration and misrepresentations have taken place. Undoubtedly the climate and swamps on the coast of Africa are injurious to health and life; but with due precaution the climate on the coast of Africa is not at all more unhealthy than any other tropical climate. The return on your Lordships' table shows that the loss of life in the squadron has been exaggerated to a degree scarcely credible; and if due precautions are taken, the amount of deaths occurring is not greater, as I have before stated, than might be expected in any other tropical climate. Taking the year 1847, if the last six months should prove not more fatal than the first six months (the returns for the latter period being the latest received), the loss in the squadron in the course of the year would be considerably less than two per cent for the year. This is not such a loss as should make the country abandon efforts having so important an object in view. I may mention that, from the account of a vessel employed in this service, which has recently arrived in our ports, it appears that the health of the squadron off the coast of Africa is such as need not give rise to uneasiness in any one. The noble Earl here read the following account, dated the 14th of November, from Portsmouth:—
The Waterwitch, 8, Commander T, Francis Birch, arrived at Spithead yesterday 'morning from the west coast of Africa station, where she has been enaged in the suppression of the slave-trade, chiefly on the Kabenda station. The squadron generally were exceedingly healthy. The cruisers had been very fortunate in captures in the Bight. The Contest had taken two recently in those waters. The Waterwitch has been especially vigilant in the search and capture of slavers, of whom she has taken twelve, and 1,060 slaves on board of them. The Waterwitch has been very healthy all the time she has been out, only having lost one man by sickness on board.The loss of only one man through sickness on board during a period of three years, can, I think, give rise to no great uneasiness. Without due precaution being taken, a similar loss might occur in the Channel; but if such sickness can be prevented by due precautions, we have a right to expect that they will be adopted. Therefore, I contend, both from the return on your Lordships' table, and from 1040 general information of the state of the squadron off the coast of Africa, that there is nothing serious to be apprehended on the score of unhealthiness of the climate. Before the squadron was augmented to the present amount, I applied to officers the most experienced, and the best entitled to give an opinion to carry weight with the Government, for information on the subject; and every one of them to a man declared that, with due precaution, no apprehension need exist with respect to the health of the squadron. It is true that an unfortunate epidemic occurred on board of a single vessel; but it was confined there, and did not extend to other ships of the squadron; consequently, it could not be held that the squadron generally was unhealthy because of that single instance of an epidemic prevailing in one vessel. Notwithstanding all this, it may be said by some that the squadron so employed has failed in its object—that it has failed to diminish the extent of the slave-trade—and that we are making great sacrifices to extinguish it, but that the attempt is hopeless. I venture to say that such is by no means the case; that the system has been attended with great success; and that perseverance in proper measures for a short time would see it crowned with complete success. I will endeavour to show your Lordships in a few words the facts of the case. I shall, in the first place, move for an account of the captures made during the last three years. I am aware that the amount of the captures made affords no criterion as to the diminution of the number of slaves carried to the slave-importing countries. It is possible that a large amount of captures might be made, whilst an equal number of slavers might escape; and that thus the slave trade might be carried on, and a considerable number of unhappy victims carried off to those countries where there is a market for them; on the other hand, with a very small number of captures it may be that there are a still less number of escapes. Therefore the positive number of captures is no certain test of the extent to which the trade is or is not successfully carried on, or of the success attending the efforts of the force employed off the coast of Africa. But there is one test which is quite infallible, and that is the state of the slave markets to which these slave vessels are directed. If you find that no slaves, or a greatly diminished number, arrive in those markets, it is perfectly clear that the trade is successfully interrupted. 1041 I would request your Lordships' attention to an account of a recent state of the slave trade. I recollect when, from the other side of the House a few years ago, I think in 1842, I made a statement, in which I certainly indulged in very sanguine hopes of the success of our endeavours for the suppression of the slave trade. I described the course of our proceedings, and augured from them the speedy termination of the slave trade. At that time General Valdez was Governor General of Cuba. He adopted an entirely different course of policy from his predecessor, and in the short period of his government, instead of the average amount of the slaves imported being 13,000, he had reduced it to 3,000. That was in 1842. Unfortunately General Valdez was recalled, and was succeeded by General O'Donnell, and in 1843 the importation of slaves rose to 8,000, and in 1844 to 10,000. At the same time Brazil also increased its import of slaves. Under these circumstances, it appeared to me impossible to trust to the co-operation of Spain and Brazil, and that it was absolutely necessary to make some new attempt to arrive at the successful suppression of the slave trade. Considering this matter, it appeared to me that if we could contrive to prevent the embarkation of slaves on the coast of Africa, we should of course at once put an end to the slave trade; and that, as slaves did not rise from the sea, the chief point to which to direct our attention was that coast of Africa from which they were all exported. While attending to this subject, and endeavouring to see how this might be made practicable, a paper was put into my hands, the author of which is a most distinguished and gallant officer, well known to your Lordships and the country for the vigour and effect of his services on that very coast where the slave trade originates. In this paper the plan which I had only desired myself, was fully detailed and developed in the most clear, admirable, and practical manner. The paper was prepared by Captain Denman, who, learning that I had the same object in view, communicated it to me. It was submitted to some gallant officers, fully competent to form a judgment on the subject; and they, after fully discussing the plan and its details, all concurred in opinion, that on the score of unhealthiness there existed no objection to its execution. There is, as it appears to me, every reason for adopting the plan of that gallant officer—every reason why the utmost efforts should 1042 be made to stop those communications which are so well known to be favourable to the prosecution of the slave trade. I may just take the liberty to remind jour Lordships that it was during the year 1844 that the outlines of this plan were prepared; and that it was brought into full activity about the beginning of the year 1845. On the 1st of January, 1846, the Slave Trade Commissioners at the Havannah addressed a despatch to me, in which they stated that during the preceding year not more than six vessels had entered their ports, and that the number of slaves which they contained did not exceed 1,300. They stated that, in former years, many cargoes of slaves arrived, but that they had received no information during the past year leading them to suppose that more than one or two had arrived; and they believed that their great and constant attention, rendered more effective by their residing on the spot, would have enabled them to be aware of the arrival of any such vessels, if any there had been. The nearest approach that they could make to an estimate of the average number of slaves imported, was 1,300. This afforded great cause for satisfaction, for as many as 1,300 had formerly been imported in the course of one year; and even during the administration of Governor Valdez, the number was not lower than 3,000. So much for the operation of the squadron on the coast of Africa, as we can learn from the effect upon the trade with Cuba. The receipt and perusal of that despatch afforded me, I venture to assure your Lordships, much satisfaction, and induced me to entertain very sanguine hopes of success. I now come to the next year, 1846. On the 7th of October, 1846, the Slave Trade Commissioners in the Havannah announced that in their monthly report they had already stated that no ships had arrived with slaves from the coast of Africa, nor had they any reason to believe that any slavedealer, most of whom were known, had entered into any negotiation for that purpose; the price of negroes had therefore risen to an enormous amount, and scarcely any purchases of slaves had taken place. This despatch brings down the history of matters connected with the slave trade in that part of the world to the end of the month of November, 1846; and from that despatch it appears that there had not been a single importation of slaves into Cuba during the year 1846. The Commissioners in their despatch then went on to state, that there had been various 1043 conjectures afloat on the subject, and attempts at the renewal of the trade with more or less success; but of this no particular evidence has, so far as I know, reached this country. With respect to Porto Rico, it does not appear that any trade is carried on; there is, I believe, no reason whatever to suppose that any trade is there prosecuted; and I think there is also every reason to believe that that satisfactory result is owing, not only to the vigour with which measures of prevention have been adopted, but also to the good faith and highly honourable character of the Governor, whose measures were in every respect calculated to carry out the principles which he put forth, and the motives by which he professed to be actuated. In the month of July, 1846, the Consul stated, that a vessel of rather a suspicious appearance had been seen, but that, with that one exception, the slave trade was suspended; and he further stated, that we might rest assured of the good faith of the Governor. In July, 1846, a communication was received by Her Majesty's Government to the effect that the slave trade had now no existence in Porto Rico. With respect to the Brazils, from the statements laid before Parliament, having reference to the year it appears that as many as 16,000 slaves had been imported in the course of one year. In this there is an amount of misery fearful to contemplate; but a yet more lamentable consideration arose out of the fact, that between the years 1835 and 1840 about 100,000 slaves had been imported. Upon that state of the trade even the falling-off to 16,000 was an improvement, and the other numbers which I have stated formed a still further improvement; thus I venture to say, that an important advantage has been gained. Further, I am inclined to believe that of the 16,000 a very considerable proportion was from the east coast, where the squadron of observation is not so efficient as on the west coast. I think, my Lords, I have now stated enough to show, that during the years 1845 and endeavours of the most zealous kind were made, attended by most gratifying success; but as to what may have been the state of things during the past year, it is most grievous to think of. Her Majesty's Government, no doubt, are in possession of full information as to the state and practice of the trade, as well in Cuba as in Brazil; and, though I am not in possession of any exact information respecting those places during the year 1846, I yet 1044 cannot avoid giving way to strong apprehensions that the returns respecting that year will display very different results from those which I have this evening been presenting for the consideration of the House. Independently, however, of the exertions made by Great Britain for the suppression of the slave trade, there are other circumstances of a more promising kind that offer themselves to our view, and which might have led us to hope that if the judicious plans of operation which have been proposed, had been perseveringly carried out, we should, by this time, have been in a situation to congratulate ourselves upon the full success of our endeavours. I repeat, that the hopes which we have been able to derive of late from the conduct of other Powers have been most encouraging. The ancient policy of Portugal, with reference to the slave trade, has been quite changed, and the Portuguese Government have been confirmed in that change by the treaties of 1842 and 1843. That Government not only discouraged the trade, if carried on by Portuguese subjects, but sent out a squadron to co-operate with ours in repressing the trade. It is also a gratifying fact that the Portuguese ships of war employed for this purpose made is many as eleven or twelve captures of vessels engaged in the slave trade; and in this statement I confine myself to what occurred before the year 1846, having no information subsequent to that year. I hope we shall be favoured with returns upon those points, that we may be able to see how far our expectations have been justified by the result. Thus much, however, I am happy to say, that the Admiral in command on that station bears his testimony most fully to the good faith as well as the zeal of the Portuguese officers. The Government of the United States also well deserve the thanks of every one interested in the cause of justice and humanity, for the manner in which they have proceeded against this evil traffic; they sent out a squadron in 1845, and captured six vessels engaged in the slave trade. They may have since that year made several other captures, of which, however, if there be any such, we have not received any correct returns. In addition to this I may state, that within the last few years the manner in which the French Government have co-operated with the enemies of the slave trade, is entitled to the highest approbation. This is a most important advantage. For many years the French Government did little more 1045 than denounce in strong language the horrors of the slave trade; but this was nothing more than mere words. Now, however, they have sent out a squadron to co-operate with us; and that I consider to have been a most valuable and important change—a change much more advantageous than a continued exercise on the part of England of the right of search—a right, the exercise of which, under such circumstances, necessarily led to much disagreement, and to the discussion of questions most serious in their consequences. All your Lordships are well aware that we have no squadron on the coast of Africa sufficient for the suppression of the slave trade—our squadron was well known not to be sufficiently numerous. At first view it would seem that, in giving up the right of search, which had been so highly valued, we obtained no adequate return—that we got nothing in its place; the truth is, however, that the example of two great countries co-operating for such a purpose is a matter of the very highest importance. What those Powers did, consisted not of mere empty admonitions, but was a practical proceeding, directly tending to secure the object in view; nor was it attended with any condition injurious to the means necessary for a suppression of the slave trade. It formed a very valuable part of the French convention, and one well worthy the attention of Parliament, that it operated to the discouragement of slave factories on the coast. With difficulty have the provisions of that treaty been carried out; and if it had not been for the most active co-operation between the French and the English, those barracoons could not have been destroyed. Another advantage, also, of the treaty is this, that for all purposes connected with the suppression of the slave trade we required the cordial co-operation of a French force; and the whole of the force employed was thus enabled, under the joint instructions of the English and the French authorities, to accomplish objects which otherwise would be beyond their power; and it was practicable to do this in several places at once. In Senegal, for example, the French were enabled to maintain a black corps, in which they justly placed the fullest confidence, and which were able to execute any measures which the French and English authorities might think it expedient to direct. I confess that I am in some respects a little disappointed that results have not been produced in this quarter, which, from 1046 our experience in other places, we had reason to expect. I imagined that in every case instructions would have been issued for joint operations; but I venture to believe that eventually that hope will be realised. I hope also we may be informed as to what the French squadron has done recently upon the coasts of Africa. Before I conclude I must be permitted to say, that neither our intentions nor our measures have had fair play. At one time stimulus and encouragement have been applied; at another a totally opposite course has been in favour. I well remember the irrational views taken of this subject when the negotiations respecting the Treaty of Paris were going forward. I well remember Prince Talleyrand saying, with reference to this country, "I fully believe that you wish to get rid of the slave trade; I give you entire credit for sincerity; but I do not believe that there is another man in France who considers you to be sincere." Looking, then, at the state of our measures, our means and appliances for the suppression of the slave trade, next to our adoption of a course of policy tending directly to encourage it, and now to our proposal to withdraw our squadron altogether, must not any man say, either that we are the most egregious hypocrites, or that, if sincere, we must be mad? I recollect the obligations which we entered into by that treaty, and I know it may be proposed to us to withdraw our squadron; but I do not envy the British Minister who may be engaged in such a negotiation. It is quite true that the French Government may exonerate us from our engagements; they may say to us, "You who have put your hand to this work—you may withdraw if you will;" but this all the world will say, that by so drawing back you admit that you have given up all attempt or hope for the future abolition of the slave trade. You will thus, after years of exertion—after almost endless labours in the cause—labours which do honour to this country—you will thus, after yielding to the demands of your true interests—after obeying the dictates of humanity and justice—you will have your name mentioned with disgrace and shame—On all sides, from innumerable tonguesA dismal universal hiss, the soundOf public scorn.But I still hope that the country will not abandon that honourable course of policy in which for many years we have been with varying success engaged. The noble 1047 Earl concluded by moving for a return of all slave vessels captured by the ships of Her Majesty's Navy during the years 1845, 1846, and 1847; also of those captured by the ships of the Portuguese, French, and American squadrons in the years 1845 and 1846.
§ The EARL of AUCKLANDhad no objection to the returns as far as regarded the cruisers employed in Her Majesty's service; but he doubted whether he could obtain those of the Portuguese and United States. With regard to the French squadron, he hoped to be able to give the number of the captures also; but he could not positively promise. The noble Earl then read a letter from the Commander-in-chief of Her Majesty's squadron on the west coast of Africa, praising in the highest terms the general arrangements of those officers in command on that coast, as well for the efficiency of their arrangements for the suppression of the slave trade, as for the measures they had adopted for securing the health of those employed under them. The letter stated that the writer would, he had no doubt, be able at the proper time to report fewer cases of death, less of illness, and a greater number of captures this year, than at any former period. The expeditions up the rivers he considered most useful. Much had been said of the unhealthiness of the African station; but the sea on the coast of Africa was not more unhealthy than the sea on any other coast within the tropics. The mortality on board Her Majesty's squadron on that coast was, in 1845, equal to 5 per cent; but in 1847, it was reduced to 2 per cent; while the number of invalids, which in 1846 was equal to 10 per cent, in 1847 was only equal to 5 per cent. In addition to this, ships were now allowed to remain on the station only for two years. He (the Earl of Auckland) could further say, that Admiral Sir Charles Hotham was most indefatigable in his exertions to promote the health of those who served under him, as well as to suppress the trade in slaves. It would, in his opinion, be the infliction of a cruel injury upon those native States which had joined this country in treaties for the suppression of the slave trade, and who now began to taste the advantages of regular commerce, if, by the withdrawal of our fleet from the coast, they were plunged into civil war with their neighbours, which would infallibly be the case, as well as their relapse into the old system of slavery. He did not feel called 1048 upon to make any further remarks upon the observations of the noble Earl.
LORD STANLEYwould not have offered a single observation had it not been for a misapprehension into which the noble Earl (the Earl of Aberdeen) had fallen with respect to what he (Lord Stanley) had stated on a former occasion. He remembered, with satisfaction, that during the time he held office along with the noble Earl, there was no subject on which they felt more concurrence than in the measures taken for the prevention of the slave trade. He was a Member of the Government at the time the convention with France was concluded; he was a party to sending a naval force to the coast of Africa; and nothing would be more inconsistent in him, after having been a party to such a measure, than to have used the language the noble Earl had supposed him to have held—language condemning the employment of a naval squadron on the coast of Africa. The opinion he expressed on the occasion alluded to, was the same as that held by the noble Earl, however less plainly stated than in the observations of his noble Friend. He was not aware that the noble Earl intended to advert to anything that had fallen from him (Lord Stanley); but, since he had done so, he had referred to a record of what passed in their Lordships' House, and, though not strictly regular, he might advert to it for the sake of explanation. In the debate on the Address in the last Session of Parliament, he adverted to the change of policy in the sugar duties, deprecating that change as much as he did at the present moment, as calculated to encourage the slave trade to an extent greater than all the damage the successes of a squadron on the African coast could do to it; he returned also to an important treaty—important since it was mentioned in Her Majesty's Speech—that had been concluded with the Republic of the Ecuador, for the suppression of the slave trade; and, in doing so, he said—
He hoped this important paper would speedily be laid before Parliament, to enable them to judge of this subject—to let them see what was the naval force of that republic, and what were the stipulations which had been agreed to for keeping a naval force on the coast of Africa. Before leaving this subject, he begged to warn the Government to take care that while they were suppressing the slave trade with the light hand, they were not encouraging it with the left. He did not hesitate to say that their past legislation had given a stimulus to the slave trade—had increased the labour and exertions of the slave, as 1049 well as raised his price; and, if he had to choose between the two alternatives—the abolition of the protective duty or the withdrawal of the squadron from the African coast, with its heavy expense and loss of life, and its aggravations of the evil it vainly endeavoured to put down, he believed he should choose the latter alternative, as the more innocent and less ruinous of the two.What he meant to state was, that however great the exertions of the squadron had been in 1845 and 1846, yet their unfortunate legislation towards the end of 1846 had given such a stimulus and encouragement to the slave trade, that it more than neutralised the efforts of the naval force; and that, if he had to choose the most effective means of putting an end to this traffic, and was compelled to choose one of these means, and one only, he should prefer—as one more innocent, far less destructive, and far more efficient—retaining the differential duty on slave-grown sugar, and withdrawing the naval squadron. The returns from Cuba showed that in 1845, and up to October, 1846, there was a de-crease and rapid diminution in the importation of slaves; but after that period, in consequence of a policy which the noble Earl justly described as inconsistent, nay, as irrational and insane, he feared a great increase would be shown in the import of negroes to the Havannah, notwithstanding the vigilance and exertions of the naval force on the coast of Africa. He concurred with the noble Earl in not thinking the number of captures a proof of the success of the preventive squadron; on the contrary, he had stated that the diminished captures in 1845 and 1846 indicated a decline in the trade, rather than a relaxation in the activity of the naval force. The statement of the increased attention paid to the health of the crews, and its result, was very gratifying; but the increased number of captures alluded to was no test of the increased efficiency of the squadron; it rather proved that the trade was again on the increase: the traffic revived, and the captures increased in the same proportion. He was still further confirmed in this opinion by the fact, that though in the sixteen months previous to the alteration in the sugar duties there were several captures, yet they were almost all empty vessels which were prevented from going in to fetch cargoes; and there was a complaint among the West Indian proprietors that so few captured Africans were landed to recruit the number of labourers. But since 1846 the number captured by the cruisers amounted to 5,000: a real proof that the trade was largely on the increase. 1050 This increase was subsequent to, and he might say in consequence of, the change in their policy adopted in 1846.
The BISHOP of EXETERwished to be allowed to say a few words on this interesting question. If it was the settled policy of this country to encourage the production of slave-grown sugar, he hoped they would decide on the removal of all difficulties in the way of importing slaves from Africa; for it was perfectly clear that the difficulties thrown in the way of that importation only caused increased suffering to those actually imported. The more vigilant and successful the squadron on the coast, the greater was the pressure on the unhappy creatures embarked in the slavers. If, then, they were to encourage the growth of slave sugar, they could not do better than at once give every help to the importation of slaves.
§ EARL GREYthought the subject too important to be fully discussed on the present occasion. But he would totally deny that it had been the policy of the Government to encourage slave-grown sugar. Its policy had been that which every day's experience convinced him was a sound one—namely, the relieving their own colonies from the encumbrance of a fancied protection, and placing the trade in sugar on the same basis of freedom as that on which every great and flourishing trade was placed. He was convinced that in the end, and at no distant period, that would prove to be a wise policy for the sugar-producing colonies; but to say they encouraged slave-grown sugar was utterly without foundation. What they maintained was, that if sugar, not the growth of their own colonies, was admitted into consumption at all, it was utterly impossible to exclude that which was slave-grown. The measure of 1844, which admitted foreign sugar, but confined the consumption to what was free-grown, had practically the same influence on the trade of Cuba as if the sugar of Cuba had been openly admitted. Sir R. Peel himself, in the House of Commons, stated that his expectations as to the amount of free-grown sugar that would be imported into this country, had been disappointed by the fact of their having been a short crop in Cuba. But more than this, those who introduced the measure were themselves on the point of being compelled, in the face of commercial treaties, to admit the importation of slave-grown sugar; and they only excluded the slave-grown sugar of Cuba by descending to a species of diplomacy which was the 1051 only specimen of the kind in English history—the only case in which an English Minister negotiated in the spirit of a pettifogging attorney—refusing to fulfil the obligations of a solemn contract on pleas really so shallow and fallacious, that in private life they would not have a very high opinion of a gentleman who endeavoured by such pleas to avoid engagements between man and man. As he had stated before, this was too extensive a subject to be discussed on this occassion. If they really believed their policy calculated to encourage slavery and the slave trade, let them bring the question to a fair issue. But he could never for a moment believe that a British House of Lords would have passed a measure which they believed would encourage the slave trade. If they were now convinced they were wrong—if they thought the measure then adopted founded in error—let the question he fairly brought before them, and they could pronounce their conviction that they had committed such an error. But till they had done that, he, for one, would not sit in that House and listen to assertions that it was the policy of the Government to encourage slave-grown sugar, and, therefore, they had better at once give every facility to the importation of slaves from Africa.
§ LORD DENMANwas not sure that his noble Friend had perfectly understood the right rev. Prelate; but if the policy of the Government in encouraging slave-grown sugar must have the effect of greatly promoting the slave trade, he quite agreed that the question of withdrawing the squadron might require a renewed consideration. At the same time, he denied that those preventive means had increased the sufferings of the negro to so great an extent as the right rev. Prelate and the noble Lord supposed. The torture and misery had always been extreme, and must continue as long as the accursed traffic was allowed to exist. He was old enough to remember, when a Bill was brought into the House of Commons limiting the number of slaves that should be shipped on board vessels of a certain size and tonnage, that that Bill was vigorously resisted. The very discussion by Parliament whether a wretched captive was to have an inch more orless to be down in, was treated as an interference with the rights of private property, and an invasion of the principles of free trade, as they were understood at that time. The first principles of trade compelled the adoption of the cheapest means for carrying it on. He 1052 would appeal on this point to the noble Lord opposite—[Lord ASHBURTON expressed his assent]—and thus the cargo of human beings must be packed in the fetid hold without regard to their health or comfort, or to anything but the profit of the slavetrader; if the trade continued at all, the competition itself would compel overcrowding. It was with the utmost satisfaction he had heard the clear and masterly statement of the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Aberdeen). The country was infinitely indebted to him for the attention he had paid to the repression of the traffic; but he thought it would be still more indebted to him for the speech of that evening, if it induced them to reconsider the principle of their recent policy, and inquire whether its inevitable tendency was not to benefit the slavedealer, and perpetuate a traffic they must all abhor, and which he knew his noble Friends near him abhorred as much as he did. They would never have proposed any measure which they were not convinced would rather discourage the slave trade than promote it. But now, after a year's experience, that tendency which was previously discovered and exposed in argument, had been more glaringly demonstrated by the fact—by the stimulus applied to this abhorred iniquity—the sudden start into prosperity of the slave-cultivated colonies, and the hopeless depression of our own. Public opinion on this subject appeared to him to have undergone a lamentable and disgraceful change; in works issued from the press he could not find a single argument that did not bear tokens of alliance with the slavedealer, founding his unhallowed prosperity on the perpetual degradation and oppression of the unfortunate negro race. But he was told that this measure of 1846 was discussed and agreed to with such singular deliberation and care, that "a British House of Lords" (such was his noble Friend's expression) could not now take a different line of conduct without culpable inconsistency. He must say, as a witness, that the passing of that measure deserved a completely opposite description. The discussion, on the contrary, had been hurried on in a manner wholly unprecedented. The Bill had been brought from the House of Commons on Saturday, the 9th of March. In the ordinary course of things its principles would have been debated on the Motion for its second reading towards the close of the ensuing week. He had himself expected a summons to attend at that period; but he was suddenly called by 1053 three urgent messengers, and came up in feeble health, perfectly incompetent to do justice to his own sentiments on the most interesting of all subjects. This was little; but the debate was fixed for the first reading instead of the second, and the first was fixed for Monday the 11th. Dates were very material; the 12th of August was devoted to other arrangements. Noble Lords were already absent on their annual expedition against the grouse. [Earl GREY intimated that the postponement was at the request of the noble Lords opposite.] That was immaterial for his statement, which was, that the Bill had not been at all considered by the majority of the House of Lords; many of whom, he personally knew, were not aware that the Bill was in progress, while the minority, compelled by their offices to be on the spot, had passed the measure. It was, therefore, perfectly open to that House to enter upon a discussion, which really had not been submitted to them. Even the Bishop of Oxford had been left in ignorance of the premature discussion; and he could not but regret that the noble Earl (the Earl of Aberdeen) had been at a distance at that time; he believed the speech which he had just made would then have produced a great impression on the House, and might have insured the rejection of the Bill. He (Lord Denman) rejoiced, however, that the returns had been moved for; and he was glad that a Committee had been appointed in the other House that would enter into the inquiry with those full means of information which must remove the sordid prejudices industriously propagated. On the subject of the slave trade, he wished to say a few words more. It was often supposed that we were doing something very improper, and interfering with the just rights of other nations, when we aimed at a forcible suppression of that traffic. It was not so. England had relinquished the slave trade because she considered it an enormous crime; he, for his own part, was anxious to record his his opinion, that it was no less than the crime of piracy in its most aggravated form—an opinion formed on the fullest consideration, and now avowed with perfect confidence in its correctness. Lawyers had hardly turned their minds to this subject; but he was sure that if his noble Friend on the Woolsack, and his noble Friend below him (Lord Campbell), examined the subject, they would agree with him that the slave trade carried on without the authority of any State, and in contravention of the 1054 laws of that State to which the slave trader belonged, was, ipso facto, piracy. It was true that, in a particular case, Lord Stowell had given a different opinion; but it was met by the high authority of Sir W. Grant, and could not alter the nature of things. Lord Stowell had promulgated his notions in a case which did not require them, and they would not stand the test of reason. The fact was remarkable, that in the year 1817, the very year when his doctrine was laid down, we had equipped our squadron on the coast of Africa to suppress the trade. In that same year England had entered into her treaty with the Emperor of Brazil, by which the slave trade of Brazil was tolerated till a final arrangement of the matter; but in 1820 it was finally arranged by a mutual declaration between those two Powers, that slavetrading should be "deemed and treated as piracy." Such a declaration was necessary on the part of those who had so long recognised it as a legitimate commerce; but it was made because it was true, and both parties agreed to call it by its right name. When in 1823 an offer was made by the United States of America to declare the slave trade piracy by the law of nations, it was a great misfortune that Mr. Canning did not see the advantage of agreeing to this proposal; for though the declaration of two countries could not bind all, nor make a particular crime piracy by the law of nations—if in its own nature it was not so—still it would have been binding on the subjects of each. If that proposal had been accepted, he (Lord Denman) believed that the slave trade would not now exist. But there was a still more important testimony—the declaration of the Parliament of England. In 1824 that Act received the Royal Assent which proclaimed this truth to the world, and denounced all who took part in the most atrocious of crimes—the seizure and sale of their fellow-creatures—as "pirates, robbers, and felons." Did it declare them such, because they did not deserve that character? No; but because it was their only true designation. We need not then encumber our proceedings with any scruples about their lawfulness, but proceed to inquire to what extent they had been effectual for their purpose. The noble Earl (the Earl of Aberdeen) had furnished some important information on this subject, and the disclosures likely to be brought out before the Committees alluded to, would doubtless be of the greatest value. The treatment of the 1055 efforts of our squadron as a mere failure, was purely absurd. Many piratical adventurers were baffled every year by that squadron; and many thousands of our fellow-men rescued from the pirate, instructed in the lessons of the gospel, and established as the members of a free community. In fact, some of those who affected to lament its want of success, were only annoyed that it had succeeded too well, and decried the employment of our cruisers, because it had disappointed the schemes of the slavetraders in Cuba and Brazil, and their allies in other countries. If a feeling of despair could be produced in this country as to the possibility of suppressing that hateful outrage on humanity, the aim of the slave-trader was attained, the growth of his trade would be unbounded, and the attempt to exclude our own countrymen from a share of its large but exaggerated profits, would appear a childish inconsistency, an invasion of the principles of free trade. For this reason he thought it his duty to state his decided opinion on the nature and character of slavetrading: the more so, because he had recently seen the claim of an owner of human beings, made slaves for the purpose of trade, recognised for the first time in an English court of justice.
LORD ASHBURTONsaid, as far as he understood, the proposal made to Mr. Canning through Mr. Rush was, that the United States and the British Government should declare the slave trade to be piracy by the law of nations, only as far as their own subjects were concerned. The noble and learned Lord (Lord Denman) seemed to think that, as the Act of 1846 was passed, the mischief was done, and, unless the Act was repealed, the evil was beyond a remedy. He, indeed, thought it would be too late, and that, as our colonies could not carry on the sugar cultivation at a loss, the cultivation of sugar in our colonies would cease, unless that Act were repealed. It was very well for the noble Earl the Secretary for the Colonies to argue that this would not be the consequence of the measure; but he maintained that they had passed an Act which must have that effect. If the produce of slaveholding countries was received here under circumstances which gave it a preference in our market, it must have an immediate tendency to depress our own colonies, and to give an additional incentive to the slave trade. Whether this last result happened or not, if their Lordships entered into an inquiry into the subject, they would find that our colo- 1056 nies could not maintain a competition with slaveholding countries. It was a strange policy, after the millions this country had laid out in endeavouring to suppress the slave trade, and the sums still annually expended by it, that we should now give encouragement to the produce of slaveholding countries—checking the slave trade on the one hand, and promoting it on the other.
§ LORD DENMANsaid, a declaration from Great Britain and the United States that the slave trade was piracy, as far as regarded their own subjects, would have so stigmatised the trade in all parts of the world.
§ The EARL of ABERDEEN, with reference to the term "pettifogging" which the noble Earl (Earl Grey) had applied to the interpretation put upon the treaty, observed that he was as incapable as the noble Earl of being guilty of anything that could be called "pettifogging." He had considered the subject with much care, and had been satisfied in his own conscience, and after mature consideration he was still convinced, that the interpretation put upon the treaty by Her Majesty's Government was perfectly correct.
§ EARL GREYwas understood to say, that he retained the opinion he had expressed, though he disclaimed any intention of using the term "pettifogging" in an offensive sense.
§ The EARL of HARROWBYmade some observations which were quite inaudible.
§ Returns ordered.
§ House adjourned.