Great Britain might abandon her share of this trade, but she could not abolish it.  Parliament was not an assembly of delegates from the powers of Europe, but of a single nation.  It could not therefore suppress the trade; but would eventually aggravate those miseries incident to it, which every enlightened man must acknowledge, and every good man must deplore.  He wished the traffic for ever closed.  But other nations were only waiting for our decision, to seize the part we should leave them.  The new projects of these would be intemperate; and, in the zeal of rivalship, the present evils of comparatively sober dealing would be aggravated beyond all estimate in this new and heated auction of bidders for life and limb.  We might, indeed, by regulation give an example of new principles of policy and of justice; but if we were to withdraw suddenly from this commerce, like Pontius Pilate, we should wash our hands, indeed, but we should not be innocent as to the consequences.

On the first agitation of this business, Mr. Wilberforce had spoken confidently of other nations following our example.  But had not the National Assembly of France referred the Slave Trade to a select committee, and had not that committee rejected the measure of its abolition?  By the evidence it appeared, that the French and Spaniards were then giving bounties to the Slave Trade; that Denmark was desirous of following it; that America was encouraging it; and that the Dutch had recognized its necessity, and recommended its recovery.  Things were bad enough indeed as they were, but he was sure this rivalship would make them worse.

He did not admit the disorders imputed to the trade in all their extent.  Pillage and kidnapping could not be general, on account of the populousness of the country; though too frequent instances of it had been proved.  Crimes might be falsely imputed.  This he admitted; but only partially.  Witchcraft, he believed, was the secret of poisoning, and therefore deserved the severest punishment.  That there should be a number of convictions for adultery, where polygamy was a custom, was not to be wondered at; but he feared, if a sale of these criminals were to be done away, massacre would be the substitute.

An honourable member had asked on a former day, “Is it an excuse for robbery to say that another would hare committed it?” But the Slave Trade did not necessarily imply robbery.  Not long since Great Britain sold her convicts, indirectly at least, to slavery; but he was no advocate for the trade.  He wished it had begun, and that it might soon terminate.  But the means were not adequate to the end proposed.

Mr. Burke had said on a former occasion, “that in adopting measure we must prepare to pay the price of our virtue.”  He was ready to pay his share of that price; but the effect of the purchase must be first ascertained.  If they did not estimate this, it was not benevolence, but dissipation.  Effects were to be duly appreciated; and though statesmen might rest everything on a manifesto of causes, the humbler moralist, meditating peace and good will towards men, would venture to call such statesmen responsible for consequences.