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MR. ALEXANDER BARIRa's
SPEECH
HOUSE OF COMMONS,
or
THE 15th DAY OF MAY, 1828,
ON
MR. BUXTON'S MOTION
FOR A
RESOLUTION DECLARATORY OF SLAVERY
IN THE
33ritish Colonies
BEING CONTRARY TO THE ENGLISH . CoNSTITUTION
AND TO
* , CHRISTIANITY.
i
* ,
;
J AOINT: DOINTE
J. S. BRICKwooD, PRINTER,47, THREADNEEDLE-STREET.
1823.


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S P E E CH
ALEXANDER BARING, Esq.
1N THE
House of CoMMONS,
On Mr. Buxton's Motion for a resolution de-
• * & r # 2 . . . . * , si
claratory of Slavery in the British Colonies
being contrary to the English Constitution
and to Christianity.
HAVING been alluded to by the Honourable
Mover, Mr. Baring rose to deliver his senti-
ments on the very important subject, before the
House, which must be touched with the utmost
delicacy, though he thought it necessary that,
something should be done. “If there were
B
4
facts of that extreme atrocity, which had been
set forth, every risk must be encountered to
get the better of the system which had pro-
duced them ; and no time should be lost in
setting about the work. But he considered
the statements of the condition of the negroes,
and the hardships to which they were exposed,
made by the supporters of the Motion, as very
much exaggerated ; and the House should be
cautious how it reposed its confidence on
those whose thoughts, for many years past,
had been continually brooding on this subject,
but who knew nothing of the matter from ex-
perience, and had probably received a bias of
mind incompatible with a sound and prudent
decision. He preferred to confide in the tes-
timony of the Governors of the Colonies,
which had been read by the Member for
Sandwich. . . [Mr. Marryatt..] He trusted to
the accounts of gentlemen of education and
merit, , who had no interest in the Colonies ;
and who had been directed by the Govern-
ment, of which they were the servants, to
5
give them a faithful account of the slave po-
pulation. It was very improbable, that those
high officers should mislead the Government.
It was much more likely, that the supporters of
the Motion should themselves be deceived, as to
the general condition of the slaves in the West
Indies, by those in whose narratives they had
confided, and who may have drawn the pic-
tures they have presented, as portraits of the
whole, from individual likenesses, or solitary
instances of oppression, after having exagge-
rated them ; and thus have converted the dis-
torted exceptions into the rule. He had no
property in the West Indies, but he had been
himself through the southern states of America,
and had therefore witnessed the situation of
megro slavery. From his personal observation
in that country, and all the information he
had been able to collect from the West In-
dies, if he were considering the condition of
the different classes of mankind, and the
degrees in which they were deserving of the
consideration of the Philanthropist and of
B 2
§
the Christian, the fate of the West Indian
slave is far from being that which would first
arrest his attention, or which he should con-
sider as burthened with the greatest portion
of those hardships, which are more or less the
lot of all conditions of life. ... The name of
slave is a harsh one; but their real condition is
undoubtedly, in many respects, superior to that
of most of the peasantry of Europe. They
were well clothed and well fed, and, he be-
lieved, generally treated with justice and
kindness. Their moral state is, probably, that
which most loudly calls out for consideration
and amendment. He hoped that, in this
respect, considerable improvement would take
place ; nor could he see what danger or
injury could arise to the planters from a well-
digested and prudently-executed plan of reli-
gious instruction, by which alone the negro
could be raised in the scale of human
beings. Should, however, Parliament de-
cide, that any more material alteration
should be effected in the condition of the
7
blacks, the masters are undeniably entitled to
compensation for any losses which such a
new course of policy might bring upon them.
We should otherwise be committing the gross-
est injustice, under professions of justice and
humanity. He warned the country, that if
the Negroes in the West Indies were liberated,
either immediately or remotely, or in any way
whatever, those colonies would be of no farther
value to Great Britain. It would not be worth
our while to keep up governments and garri-
sons among them. It was ridiculous to sup-
pose that a free black population in those is-
lands, sufficiently enlightened to know the value
of their rights, and to be able to appreciate their
strength, would long continue to serve the in-
terests of proprietors residing in England, or
that England would long preserve any interest
whatever in those colonies. He thought the
plan of the Honourable Mover of the Resolu-
tion for emancipating the children, born after
a certain day, would he attended with very
great difficulty, as well as much injustice. It
8
would convert a real property into an interest
for life, and what planter would calculate his
own interest so badly, as to rear up, at consider-
able cost, those children, who would be taken
from him as soon as their labour would be valu-
able? Besides, at the time the slave trade was
abolished, the promoters of that measure relied,
with great reason, upon its good effects being
felt, in obliging the planters to take care of
the children of their slaves, and of the mothers
during and after their pregnancy. Deprived
of the means of purchasing other slaves, it
was said, that it would be highly their inter-
est to do so; but now, according to the no-
tions of the supporters of the Resolution, this
principle was to be abandoned, and , another,
directly the reverse, substituted for it, which
would make it the interest of the planters to
neglect the children, in whom they would
cease to have any interest. Such inconsistency
was a proof that the abolitionists had not cal-
culated their plans correctly, and therefore gave
the House no encouragement to follow them
{{j
\.
with #my confidence. Héº could hotº agree
with those who thought there was he danger
of the slaves mistaking the nature of such dis-
F. : * * * *-
cussions in Parliament. It had been said by
an Honourable and Learned Gentleman (Mr.
Brougham) that the insurrection of the slaves
in Barbados, which had occurred a few years
ago, was not owing to their having mistaken
the object of the registry, a measure at that
time about to be established. He called upon
that Honourable and Learned Gentleman for
the authority on which he made that assertion
[no answer]. He (Mr. Baring), on the autho-
rity of the governor of the island, Sir James
Leith, maintained, that it was in consequence
of the intervention of Parliament at that time
being mistaken by the slaves; and from that
instance of mischief having ensued, he argued,
that further evil may be expected from the repe-
tition of the same causes, Indeed it was im-
possible but that the arguments in their favour
should cause great excitement in the minds of
the slaves. If Parliament were to deliberate
10
whether the property of the rich in this coun-
try should not be divided among the poor—if
the poor were told that it was hard for them
to live upon bread and water, while the rich
feasted upon venison and champaign, (and, on
the principles of Christianity, good arguments
on such a topic could not be wanting,) it
would be exhibiting an entire ignorance of
human nature to suppose that such discussions
could be entertained without imminent danger,
even in the presence of a population more en-
lightened, and more accustomed to the occa-
sional extravagances of free discussion than
the negroes of the West Indies. The Honour-
able Mover of the Resolution had given cases of
negro slavery which had been put an end to
without any convulsion or ill consequences having
followed. Those who spoke of these instances
could hardly express themselves in terms of
sufficient delight. They were full of the beauty
of the scene, in observing how gradually the
..whole mass of slavery melted and sunk away,
without disorder of any kind, or any measures
11
on the part of the Legislature being needed,
to prevent the danger and ºmischief: usually
anticipated.” But he begged leave to say,
that the instances mentioned are cases so little
in point, that it would require much candour
to suppose they could be selected, with good
faith, by those who brought them forward,
Iā New York, the white population was about
a million. Its slaves, at the time of their
liberation, did not exceed, five thousand. It
was impossible that the whites could fear any
thing from the emancipation of the few slaves
that were among them. It was the same in
New Jersey, another instance which had been
adduced. There the white population was
very numerous, and the number of the slaves
did not exceed ten thousand. In Pennsylvania
the whites were nearly as numerous as in New
York, but the slave population, owing to the
exertions of the Quakers, has at all times been
inconsiderable. The case of Columbia , was,
perhaps, a little more in point. Yet accord-
ing to the statement of the Honourable Mover,
#2
the free population was more than double that
of the slaves, and the fate, of that country, can
hardly be considered as yet sufficiently settled,
to draw: any sober-conclusions: from what is
passing there.” In Ceylon, another of his
examples; the islaves were in a state of vassal-
age, more like the condition of the ancient
peasantry of Englandji and all classes con-
sisted of men who derived their origin from
the same source, viz. the Malabar race. That
country was under a strong; military govern-
ment. Its tranquillity did not rest on the
opinion of the freeman or the slave, and, there-
fore, neither in this nor in the other instances
brought forward, is there that resemblance
with the situation of our West India colonies,
where the slaves out-number the whites, in the
proportion of at least 10 to 1, to constitute
any thing like a perfect analogy. We are not,
therefore, justified in believing, that slavery in
our West India colonies would melt into free-
dom, without convulsion, or that the agitation
of questions of this nature is unattended with
13
imminent peril. We ought always to remem-
ber, that the West India Planters are our
brethren, the descendants of the same ances-
ſtors, equally with ourselves entitled to the
protection of the laws, and to the parental
affection and care of the state. With every
respect for the motives of the numerous Peti-
tioners on this subject, hē must confess, that
he had witnessed too much the tricks and
calumnies by which these representations were
collected, to ascribe much weight to them;
and he conjured the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman, as a Minister of the Crown, not to be
led away by petitions so got up. They were
signed by persons, few of whom had any
means of information, and mostly by those
who were in the habit of annually quieting an
over-timid conscience by, a subscription, to
missions and to some petition about slavery,
of the nature of which they knew nothing, but
from the distorted exaggerations of enthusiasts.
When it was. considered that these petitions
were, as is well known, brought in such loads
14
to the table of the House, in consequence of a
plan organized by a few persons in the metro-
polis, Gentlemen would ascribe to them only
the weight they deserved. The operation of
this species of organized delusion has been
tried on several subjects in this House. It is
now to be tried for the destruction of the
West Indian Proprietors. However absurd the
principles sought to be promoted may be, it is
well known how difficult it is to resist, when
in this country popular opinion is once raised.
The Court, the Ministry must give way to the
fashionable humbug of the day, and even the
conclaves of Sovereigns, united at Vienna or
Verona, must promulgate something about negro
slavery. The Plenipotentiaries of England re-
gularly suffer themselves to be sneered at for
their hypocrisy in these great meetings, but
they never fail to return home with a bundle of
papers to lay before the House, to prove the
great interest which the Emperors of Austria
and Russia take in the fate of Africa. In this
instance, state papers, full of humanity and
15
Christian feelings, are cheaply bestowed; but
if these great Sovereigns were very serious,
one would suppose they could hardly want
matter in their own countries, where slavery
prevails in full force, to try the experiments
they so authoritatively recommend. He could
not but feel surprise, that the Honourable Mover
of the Resolution had made so light of vested
interests, charters of our Sovereigns, and Acts
of the Parliament of the country, in this case,
when, on a former occasion, he appeared to
be so stout a champion for the sacred obser-
vance of these titles to property. He recol-
lected, when it was proposed by his Majesty’s
Government to give the people of this country
a cheap and wholesome beer, which they might
use at home, without the necessity of going
to the ale-house, a measure which he (Mr.
Baring) considered to be one of wisdom and
humanity, because nothing could tend more
to increase the comforts of the families of the
poor, that Honourable Gentleman opposed it
with all his might, and was as loud in plead-
I6
ing for thea maintenance" of wested rights in
one class of the community, againstall others;
as any Member of the House. … There, was,
perhaps, Inoº, alteration in ours laws, which
would...more especially contributé to the well
being of the labouring classes of this country,
than emancipating them from that . monopoly
which put them at the mercy of a powerful
combination, both for the price and quality of
their principal beverage. The Honourable
Gentleman was, in this instance; a most resolute
stickler...for... vested interests, and even for
rights, which few considered to be so evident
as himself. He (Mr. Baring) was surprised;
therefore, to observe the Honourable Member
for Weymouth had said so little of the just
claims of the Planters for the losses; they might
sustain from the experiments he recommends;
[Mr. Buxton said he admitted their right to
compensation.]... If any man’s property in this
country be taken away from him for a general
purpose, the laws awarded him compensation
for it, and he must always enter his protest
17
against all violations of this wholesome and just
rule : whether the West Indians are to be de-
spoiled, or ourselves; or whether the object, of
which the owner is to be bereft, be slaves, or
other property. He concluded, by wishing well
to the endeavours of his Majesty's Ministers, in
the execution of the delicate and difficult task
which they had undertaken, trusting, as he did,
that, looking at this question with a sincere
desire of amelioration and practical improve-
ment, they would also do so with the wisdom
and caution of statesmen, who knew how to
appreciate the great interests with which
they had to treat - s
THE END.
J
LONDON : . . .
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