Colonel Tarleton had insinuated, that the petitions on the table had been obtained in an objectionable manner.  He had the honour to present one from his constituents; which he would venture to say had originated with themselves; and that there did not exist more respectable names in the kingdom, than those of the persons who had signed it.  He had also asserted, that there was a strong similitude in their tenour and substance, as if they had been manufactured by the same persons.  This was by no means to be wondered at.  There was surely but one plain tale to tell; and it was not surprising, that it had been clothed in nearly the same expressions.  There was but one boon to ask, and that was—­the abolition of this wicked trade.

It had been said by another, (Mr. Baillie) that the horrible insurrections in St. Domingo arose from the discussion of the question of the Slave-trade.  He denied the assertion; and maintained that they were the effect of the trade itself.  There was a point of endurance, beyond which human nature could not go; at which the mind of man rose by its native elasticity with a spring and violence proportioned to the degree to which it had been depressed.  The calamities in St. Domingo proceeded from the Slave-trade alone; and, if it were continued, similar evils were to be apprehended in our own islands.  The cruelties, which the slaves had perpetrated in that unfortunate colony, they had learnt from their masters.  Had not an African eyes?  Had he not ears?  Had he not organs, senses, and passions?  If you pricked him, would he not feel the puncture and bleed?  If you poisoned him, would he not die? and, if you wronged him, would he not revenge?  But he had said sufficient; for he feared he could not better the instruction.

Mr. Milbank would only just observe, that the policy of the measure of the abolition was as great, as its justice was undeniable.  Where slavery existed, every thing was out of its natural place.  All improvement was at an end.  There must also, from the nature of the human heart, be oppression.  He warned the planters against the danger of fresh importations, and invited their concurrence in the measure.

Mr. Dundas (now Lord Melville) declared, that he had always been a warm friend to the abolition of the Slave-trade, though he differed with Mr. Wilberforce as to the mode of effecting it.

The abolitionists, and those on the opposite side of the question, had, both of them, gone into extremes.  The former were for the immediate and abrupt annihilation of the trade.  The latter considered it as essentially necessary to the existence of the West Indian islands, and therefore laid it down, that it was to be continued for ever.  Such was the vast distance between the parties.  He would now address himself to each.