OBSERVATIONS ON THE BILL INTRODUCED LAST SESSION, BY MR. WILBERFORCE, FOR THE MORE EFFECTUALLY PREVENTING THE UNLAWFUL IMPORTATION OF SLAVES, AND THE HOLDING FREE PERSONS IN SLAVERY IN THE BRITISH COLONIES.
London: Printed for J. M. Richardson, Cornhill, Opposite the Royal Exchange, 1816. [3]-28pp. Light scattered foxing. Bound in modern cloth [withdrawal stamp on front pastedown; inoffensive faint blindstamp on blank corner of title leaf]. Else Very Good.
Our collation matches that of the bibliographers. The nameless author disclaims any "intention to advocate the revival, or regret the abolition, of the Slave Trade. . . [I]t is a traffic so objectionable in almost every respect, that being abolished for the most part, I hope never to see it revived, and that every endeavour will be made to realize those advantages, which the zeal of the authors of the Abolition has induced them to expect."
However, "The passage of the registration bill would constitute an unwarranted interference of the central power in the planters' private affairs" [Ragatz]. The property right of the West Indian colonists in their slaves is non-negotiable. Slaves comprise "the most valuable property of our colonists." Parliament's interference with "the private rights and private property of our colonists. . . would absolutely and tyrannically deprive the individuals, whose property it is proposed to regulate and affect, of those constitutional means of redress, which all British subjects are entitled to." The pamphlet prints resolutions of West Indian Planters objecting to any such intrusions on their rights.
The anonymous author objects to the African Institution's "representations of the miseries and hardships of slaves, and in circulating (ignorantly and unguardedly no doubt) the most unfounded calumnies on the subject. If these gentlemen were to compare the situation of the Irish peasantry, with that of our colonial slaves, they would find they were comparing the extreme of wretchedness with comparative comfort."
Ragatz 442. LCP Supp. 1608. Sabin 56509. OCLC records 16 locations worldwide as of March 2025. Item #40803
Price: $1,250.00