"
Sir William Yonge censured the harsh language of Sir Samuel Romilly, who
had applied the terms rapine, robbery, and murder to those, who were
connected with the Slave Trade. He considered the resolution of Mr. Fox
as a prelude to a bill for the abolition of that traffic, and this bill
as a prelude to emancipation, which would not only be dangerous in
itself, but would change the state of property in the islands.
Lord Henry Petty, after having commented on the speeches of Sir Samuel
Romilly and Lord Castlereagh, proceeded to state his own opinion on the
trade; which was, that it was contrary to justice, humanity, and sound
policy, all of which he considered to be inseparable. On its
commencement in Africa the wickedness began. It produced there fraud and
violence, robbery and murder. It gave birth to false accusations, and a
mockery of justice. It was the parent of every crime, which could at
once degrade and afflict the human race. After spreading vice and misery
all over this continent, it doomed its unhappy victims to hardships and
cruelties which were worse than death. The first of these was
conspicuous in their transportation. It was found there, that cruelty
begat cruelty; that the system, wicked in its beginning, was equally so
in its progress; and that it perpetuated its miseries wherever it was
carried on.
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