The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade | Page 4

the country on this dreadful subject, are enough to
curdle the blood in the veins and heart of any one endued with the
common feelings of humanity. The whole system of prevention, or
rather of capture, after the crime has been committed, seems framed
with a view to exasperate the evils of the infernal traffic, to scourge
Africa with more intolerable torments, and to make human blood be
spilt like water. Our cruisers, are excited to an active discharge of their
duty, by the benefit of sharing in the price fetched when the captured
ship is condemned and sold; but this is a small sum, indeed, compared
with the rich reward of head-money held out, being so much for every
slave taken on board. It is thus made the direct interest of these cruisers,
that the vessels should have their human cargoes on board, rather than
be prevented from shipping them. True, this vile policy may prove less
mischievous where no treaty exists, giving a right to seize when there
are no slaves in the vessel, because here a slave ship is suffered to pass,
how clear soever her destination might be; yet, even here, the
inducement to send in boats, and seize as soon as a slave or two may be
on board, is removed, and the cruiser is told, "only let all these
wretched beings be torn from their country, and safely lodged in the
vessel's hold, and your reward is great and sure." Then, whenever there
is an outfit clause, that is a power to seize vessels fitted for the traffic,
this mischievous plan tends directly to make the cruiser let the slaver
make ready and put to sea, or it has no tendency or meaning at all.
Accordingly, the course is for the cruiser to stand out to sea, and not
allow herself to be seen in the offing--the crime is consummated--the
slaves are stowed away--the pirate--captain weighs anchor--the
pirate-vessel freighted with victims, and manned by criminals fares
forth--the cruiser, the British cruiser, gives chace--and then begin those
scenes of horror, surpassing all that the poet ever conceived, whose
theme was the torments of the damned and the wickedness of the fiends.
Casks are filled with the slave, and in these they are stowed away; or to
lighten the vessel, they are flung overboard by the score; sometimes
they are flung overboard in casks, that the chasing ship may be detained
by endeavours to pick them up; the dying and the dead strew the deck;
women giving birth to the fruit of the womb, amidst the corpses of their
husbands and their children; and other, yet worse and nameless
atrocities, fill up the terrible picture, of impotent justice and triumphant

guilt. But the guilt is not all Spanish and Portuguese. The English
Government can enforce its demands on the puny cabinets of Madrid
and Lisbon, scarce conscious of a substantive existence, in all that
concerns our petty interests: wherever justice and mercy to mankind
demand our interference, there our voice sinks within us, and no sound
is uttered. That any treaty without an outfit clause should be suffered to
exist between powers so situated, is an outrage upon all justice, all
reason, all common sense. But one thing is certain, that unless we are to
go further, we have gone too far, and must in mercy to hapless Africa
retrace our steps. Unless we really put the traffic down with a strong
hand, and instantly, we must instantly repeal the treaties that pretended
to abolish it, for these exacerbate the evil a hundred fold, and are
ineffectual to any one purpose but putting money into the pockets of
our men of war. The fact is as unquestionable, as it is appalling, that all
our anxious endeavours to extinguish the Foreign Slave Trade, have
ended in making it incomparably worse than it was before we
pretended to put it down; that owing to our efforts, there are thrice the
number of slaves yearly torn from Africa; and that wholly because of
our efforts, two thirds of these are murdered on the high seas and in the
holds of the pirate vessels.
It is said, that when these scenes were described to an indignant nation
last session of Parliament, the actual effects of this bad system were
denied, though its tendency could not be disputed.
It was averred that "no British seaman could be capable of neglecting
his duty for the sake of increasing the gains of the station." But nothing
could be more absurd than this. Can the direct and inevitable tendency
of the head-money system be doubted? Are cruisers the only men over
whom motives have no influence? Then why offer a reward at all?
When they want no stimulus to perform their duty, why tell them