He had also heard proved, in courts of justice,
facts still more dreadful than those which he had seen. One of these he
would just mention. The slaves on board a certain ship rose in a mass to
liberate themselves, and having advanced far in the pursuit of their
object, it became necessary to repel them by force. Some of them
yielded, some of them were killed in the scuffle, but many of them
actually jumped into the sea and were drowned, thus preferring death to
the misery of their situation; while others hung to the ship, repenting
of their rashness, and bewailing with frightful noises their horrid
fate. Thus the whole vessel exhibited but one hideous scene of
wretchedness. They who were subdued and secured in chains were seized
with the flux, which carried many of them off. These things were proved
in a trial before a British jury, which had to consider whether this was
a loss which fell within the policy of insurance, the slaves being
regarded as if they had been only a cargo of dead matter. He could
mention other instances, but they were much too shocking to be
described. Surely their lordships could never consider such a traffic to
be consistent with humanity or justice.
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