The House, he said, had, on the motion of
Mr. Ellis, in the year 1797, prayed his Majesty to consult with the
colonial legislatures to take such measures, as might conduce to the
gradual abolition of the African Slave Trade. This address was
transmitted to them by Lord Melville. It was received in some of the
islands with a declaration, "that they possibly might, in some
instances, endeavour to improve the condition of their slaves; but they
should do this, not with any view to the abolition of the Slave Trade;
for they considered that trade as their birth-right, which could not be
taken from them; and that we should deceive ourselves by supposing, that
they would agree to such a measure."
He desired to add to this the declaration of General Prevost in his
public letter from Dominica. Did he not say, when asked what steps had
been taken there in consequence of the resolution of the House in 1797,
"that the act of the legislature, entitled an act for the encouragement,
protection, and better government of slaves, appeared to him to have
been considered, from the day it was passed until this hour, as a
political measure to avert the interference of the mother country in the
management of the slaves.
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