PAPERS

RELATING TO THE

ABOLITION of the SLAVE TRADE:

P’lZ.
''No. 1.—Note from Lords Holland and Auckland, to McflVs. Monroe and Pinkney; dated Domring-
Street, 15th O&ober 180G,
No. 2.—Extraft of a Bifpateh from the Honourable D. M. Erfkine, to Lord Vifcount Hovvick;
dated Wafliington, 30lh March 1807.
No. 3,-r-Copy of a Difp.ttch from Mr. Secretary Canning, to Lord Vifcount Straugford; dated
Foreign Ollice, 15th April 1807.
No. 4.—Copy of a Difpatch from Mr. Secretary Canning, to Lord Vifcount Strangford; dated
Foreign Ofifice, 17th April 1808.
No. 3.—Copy of a Difpatch from Mr. Secretary Canning, to Lord Vifcount Strangford; dated
Foreign Ofifice, 17.th April 1808.
No. O’.—Exlraft of. a Difpatch from Lord Vifcount Strangford, to Mr. Secretary Canning; dated
Litbon, 4lh June 1807.
No. 7.—Ex trail of a Difpatch from Lord Vifcount Straugford, to Mr. Secretary Canning; dated
Hio do Janeiro, 30th September 1808.
No. 8.—-Copy of a Difpatch from Mr. Secretary Canning, to the Right Honourable J. H. Frere;
dated Foreign Office, 7th Odtobcf 1.808.
No. <)•—Copy of a Difpatch from Lord Vifcount Strangford, to Mr. Secretary Canning; dated
Rio dc Janeiro, 7th June JSOP; with one Inclofnre.
No. 10.—Copy of u Difpatch from Mr. Secretary Canning, to the Marquis Wcllefley; dated Foreiga
Offices 8th July 180.9. <*
No. 11.—Memorandum ; dated Foreign Office, 26th March 1810.
No. 12.—Memorandum; dated Foreign Ollice, 11th April IS 10.

Ordered, /iy The Houle of Commons, to be printed, tit/i April 1810.

—No. l.—
NOTE from I<oi'ds Holland and Auckland, to Mefirs Monroe and Pinkney.

L Downing-Strect, 15th October 1806.

ORD Holland and Lord Auckland have ithe honour to inform Mr. Monroe and
Mr. Pinkney, that a joint Addrcls of the two Houfes of Parliament, tvas pro-
jfented to His Majcfty on Wcdiiefday the 25th June 1806 ; befeeching His Majefty to
take fuch, meafures as in his wifdom he fhall judge proper, for eftablifliing, by nego-
tiation with Foreign Powers, a concert and agreement for abolifhi.ng the African Slave
Trade; and they cannot help expreffing their confidence, as it is their earneft wifii,
that Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney wilf be difpoled to co-operate with them in the
molt cordial manner, for effectually promoting the objects of that Addrcls.

—No. 2.—
ExtraCt of a DISPATCH from the Honourable D. M. Erfkine, to Lord
Vifcount Howick.
Wafliington, 30th March 1807.
The Laws that were paffed during the laft Seflion of Congrcfs, have not as yet been-
printed. But there were only two that were particularly connected with His Ma-
jefty’s interefr; the Abolition of the Slave Trade, from the lit of January }$oS, and
the ACt.

-No.
Copy of a DISPATCH from Mr. Secretary Canning, to Lord Vifcount
Strangford.
My Lord, Foreign Office, 13th April 1807.
Alter the Iblcmn and final dccifion of the Legillature of this Kingdom, with reipect
to the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in as fur as His Majefty s fubjeCts have been
engaged therein; it is extremely delirablc that the principles of juft ice and humanity,
by which the King and His Parliament have been actuated on deciding in this important
204. A m allure.

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 2 r A P E.'R S relating to 'the
■niearurc,ftiouldnotbetlnvarted norfruftrnted by the pertinacity of otlicrPoivers, in allow-
ing their fubjc&s to continue this difgraceful Tradiclc. Py the concurrence of a majority
oAhc principal maritime Nations of Europe, it lias been prohibited, and His Majelly
.cannot entertain.the fufpicion, that taking-the aclvantage.of the legillativti exclufion of
Pritith Subjects from this Trade, the Subjects Of Portugal will be encouraged in the
profccution, much more in the extenlion of it b.y the countenance or protection of their
Cxovernment.
1 have therefore to fignify to your Lordfliip His Majefty’s plcafure, that you omit
no.opportunity to reprefent to the Portugucfc Minilters, the general henelit that would
rellilt from the acccflion of the Government of Portugal, to the fulldt extent of the
.mcafures which the* Brilifh Legillaturc, after the moft patient and laborious invei'ii-
gation, has finally determined to adopt, on,a queftion which has To long intcrcfted and
■ agitated the public mind in this and in every other civilized Country.
If, -however, from any cont;raCicd,.and (as .there is no doubt thatat will prove to
hg) miftaken policy, the JJorLiiguefe Government Ihould perfift in allowing their
fubjeds to ])rofccuie this Tiailick, His Majefty has an undoubted right to require
that their commercial operations ihould ;be confined to the.tcrritoriesdn Africa, wliich
the Portugucfc Traders have hitherto been accuftomed to frequent, and ihould not he
extended to the TraCt of Coaft which His Majefty has determined to .abandon, and-to
..leave to the undifturbed poHcflion of its native inhabitants.
.1 am, &c.
.(Signed) -GEO. 'CANNING.

—No. 4.—>
Copy of a DIS-P AT C H from Mr. Secretary Canning, to Lord Vifcount
Strangford.
My Lord, 17th April 180S.
The Portugucfc Settlement of Bifias-omthc weftcrn coaft of Africa, is in the midfl
of a T’erritory in which the Slave Trade-is now nearly difufed, and, from its fituation,
interrupts the prqgrefsof the .endeavours which has been made of late years, to afford
to, atieaft a coniiderable.portion of the Coaft of that Continent, a chance of improve-
ment and repofe.
’If your Lordfliip fhould fcc*no immediate •profpocl. of-being abIc*to obtain theaffent
of the Portuguefe Government, to the principle which, by my other Difpatch on the
fit. .1 _ 1 ±.! . 7 1 A. ...ill i— U .1 ^

w ^ r — 7 \’ o —

other Commerce may belong to it), or’to alberta in whether on any and -what'Condi-
tions the Portuguefe Government might die induced >to cede it-to Bis Majefty.
1 am, &c.
.(Signed) GEO. CANNING.

—No. 5.—
Copy of a D IS P.AT C H .from Mr. Secretary Cunning, to Lord Vifcount
Strangford;
My -Lord, -Foreign Office, April 17., V808.
Tour Lordfliip was inftruCted ‘by me, during the laft year of your xofidcnce at
Lifbon, to make carneft reprefentations to the Portugucfc Government, on the fubjcCl
of the African Slave Trade.
I ftated on-that occafion-to your Lordfliip, the grounds on which ;it appeared to-the
•Britifh Government to be no lefs for the iiitereft than for the honour of Portugal,
■that fhe fhould not continue to maintain a Traffick as unjufdfiablc as impolitic; pro-
ductive at once, of fo much inifery to the Country, from .which the fiipply .of Slaves
is drawn, and of fb much infecurity to thofe into Avhich they arc imported.
If tliefe confidcrations were prefial upon the attention of the Portuguefe Govern-
ment, at a time when its South American poffuffions were only fccondary objcCts
of its folicitudo, their importmcc is increaled ten-fold, now that Brazil is become
the Seat of the Monarchy, and when therefore to augment and ftrengthen the popu-
lation of that Country, is a concern of the molt vital neccffity.
A continued importation of Negroes, capable neither of being incorporated into
the

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 ABOLITION of Che SLAVE '-'TRADE. 3
the clafs of'the community, nor of imbibing any fentiment of attachment for the
•Prince, muft contribute to weaken the general power of refiltance againltan Enemyj
to multiply the fourccs of internal danger, and to check the progrefs of valuable
improvement, and'the growth of a native population,
On the other hand, that article of produce to which the labour of Slaves is for the
molt part applied, and which it will probably be contended by the Portuguefe
Government is not to’be raifed by the exertions of any other defeription of Labourers,
is unqucltionably that, from the cultivation of which the Brazilian Empire is likely to
derive the leaft.part of its permanent prolperity, and of which even the immediate
profit in the prelcnt Hate of the World, fcarccly repays the coft of its production.
With refpeCt to Cotton, though raifed by the fame means, at prefent there is nothing
in'■.the nature of it’s Gulture .that Ihould render the labour of Africans peculiarly
applicable to it. .
But whatever be the motives of immediate convenience, or the force of exifting
habits, the immenle interdt which the Prince Regent has at ftakc in the permanent
profperity of his Country, will, it is hoped, overbalance mere temporary confidcratidns,
and lead his Royal Highncfs to take heps at leaft for the gradual difufc, and ultimate
and not diftant Abolition of -a Trade lb difgraceful to human nature.
Your Lordlhip is plainly to (ignify to the Portuguefe Government, that in any
Treaty which lhall contain-the final arrangement of the relations of the two Countries,
you will be inllruCted to propole an article for .this objeCt; and you will expreis His
Majefty’s juft expectation, that fo long as that Trade lhall be continued by the Por-
tuguefe, they lhall at leaft abltain from furnilhing' Slaves to other Nations, and fliail
forbear from any parts of the Coalt of Africa, to which Britilh Ships have hereto-
fore been tiled; to refort, and which by the benevolence and juftico of the Britilh
(Legillature have’becn delivered 'from thutvilitation.
I am, See,
•Vifcount Strangford. ■ -(Signed) GEO. CANNING.

—No. 6.—
.•Extract of a Di. SPAT CXI from Lord Vifcount Strangford, to Mr. Secre-
tary Canning.
•Lilbon, June 4, 1807.
’I have lately ‘had fome iiltereffing converftition with M. d’Araujo, on the fubje&
?of your Difpatch, No. 1. * , ^
He bcgun by dedaring his‘ignorance of the precife wiflies of His Majcftws Govern-
•ment, -relpeCting the fteps to be taken by Portugal for the Abolition of the Slave
'Trade. If His Majefty’s Government expected Portugal to annihilate, or even to dif-
•courage that Trade, he had no difficulty in declaring, that fuch a meafurc was utterly
■impracticable at prefent-; and that there were no means of collecting public opinion'
in this Country, nor -of rendering the Abolition fo generally popular as to make the
eights and intereltof Colonies a comparatively fmall confideration.
That thole Colonists were m cited: the very perfons whom this Government feared
iinolt to dilbblige; and finally, that England could afford fo make experiments, which
-would prove deitruCtive if hazarded by any other Nation.
He admired the philanthrony of His Majelty’s Government, but he declared
Jrankly that he Ihould be lorry to 'imitate it.
He entered at great length into accounts of the aShiafftate of the Portuguefe
•Colonies, and endeavoured to prove that their very exiltencc would be endangered
.by the adoption of any new lyltein of cultivation, however plauliblc and apparently
favourable to the general interefts of 'humanity.
Y I . \ I .PA

capacity of Britith Subjedts

.quires a promiltTthat the Portuguefe traders will abandon that TraCt of Coait which
IBs Majelty has determined to leave to the undifturbed polleltion of its native inhabi-
tants, no hoiitation will be made to give fuch alfurance, in any mode that may be
•deemed expedient.

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 4 * PAPERS relating'fo tlie
It is, however, lie continued, to be diftinctly underftood, tliat Portugal will
not forego the right which (lie undoubtedly poflefifes of providing her own Colonies
with Slaves from other parts of her Dominions, and that the Traffick thereof is ftill to
be kept up at Cabinda, the fource from whence the Portuguefe Colonics are principally
fupplied.

—No. 7.—
ExtraQ;of a DISPATCH from LordVifcount Strangford, to Mr. Secret
tary Canning. '
Rio dc Janeiro, 30th September 1808;
My communications with the Portuguelc Government on the lubjcCt of the
African Slave Trade, have aflumed an official form, and lhall be duly laid before
you.
I dare not, however, flatter myfelf that my exertions on that moft interefling fub-
je£t will be completely fuccefsful.
I have fomc realbn to believe that the Prince Regent would be contented to cede
the Settlement of Bill a u to His Majefty, either in perpetuity or for a term of years..
I have not yet received any regular overtures on this matter, but fliould fuch a
propolal be made to me, I lhall not helitate to take it “ ad referendum”

—No. 8.—
DISPATCH from Mr. Secretary Canning, to the Right Honourable
J. H. Erere.
Foreign Office, 7th October 1808.
Sir,
I enclofe to you a Copy of a Difpatch which I addrefs by His Majefty’s commands
to Lord Strangford, His Majefty*s Envoy Extraordinary and Minifter Plenipotentiary
to the Prince Regent of Portugal, at the time of that Minifter s departure for the
,0/)‘/ Brazils on the fubjedt of the Slave Trade, as connected' with the Portuguefe
^ X Dominions in South America.
4* / So manv of the circumftanccs and arguments ftated in this Difpatch apply alfo to
y' Spanilh America, that I have thought it right, to put you in pofleflion of them; and,
X though I am not to inltruCt you to bring forward at prefent any dillinCt .proportion
upon the lubjeCfc of the Slave Trade, I have' yet to delire that you will keep that fub-
•jeCt fo far in your view, as to omit no favourable opportunity of explaining and
enforcing the principles which have guided the coiiduCfc of the Brilifli Government
upon it.
I am, &e.
■ (Signed) GEO. CANNING.

—No. 9.—
DISPATCH from Lord V ilcount Strangford, to Mr. Secretary Canning.
Sir, Rio de Janeiro, ,7th June 1809.
It lias been reprefented to me, that the [after of a Britilh Merchantman, which
failed from this port fome time ago (bound to the River of Plate), having fallen in with
a Portuguefe African Trader, did actually purchafe Slaves on board of that Veil el,
and convey them in his own Ship to Buenos Ayres, where they were fold by him in a
clandeftine and illegal manner.
In order to guard againft the recurrence of fimilar practices, I have taken upon
myfelf to infert a Claufe (of which a Copy is annexed) in the body of the Licence
granted by me in the name of the South Sea Company, to Britilh Veilels trading
with Spanilh America, declaring that Lhcfe Licences 11 mil become altogether null, and
void, in cafe it fliould appear that the Ships to which they had been granted had,
direCtly or indircCtly, engaged in the Slave Trade, or in the conveyance of Slaves,
fubfequently to the dates of the Licences.
1 te(Sig"Mi) STKANGFOUD.

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 ABOLllTON of tiro ^LA-VE TRAD:E 5

■ (rnclofure refprred to- in No. gj

Additional CLAUSE inferted by Lord V'ifcount Strangford, in LicOriccs
granted, to Britiih Ships 'trading to tlie Kiyer 'of Elate.
Trovided, however, that t!ie faid Ship or VeiTcl. be, not employed, directly or
hidiredtly, by her Owner's or by others, in trafficking or trading in Slaves^ or in the
/tranfporting or conveying thereof; in which cafe the pi'efent Licence is to ftand null
and void, and the faid Ship or Vetlel is to become liable to the pains and penalties
enumerated.in .the faid A6t of the ninth of Queen Anne.

No. 10.
Copy of a BIS PAX CH from Mr. Secretary Canning, to the Marquis
Wollefley.
Ebfeign Officej 8th July iSoq.
Lly Lord,
In my Difpatch, No. ’”8, to Mv. Erere, your Excellency will have obferved, that
I tfanfmitted to that Minifter a Copy of a Difpatch to Lord Strangford, His
Majefty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minifter Plenipotentiary to the Court of Brazil,
in which I lignified to Lord Strangford His Maje,fty5s commands, that he fnpuld
exert himfelf to procure the confent and co-operatioti .of the Court of Brazil,, to the
great work of abolilhing the Trade in Slaves; and that I recommended to Mr.
Erere to take any favourable opportunity of .inculcating firiiilar fentiments among
the perfqns in authority in Spain, though of courfe without making any demand,
or requiring any formal pledge upon the fubject.
I have how .the fatisfa&ion to inclofe to your Excellency the Copy of an Article in
a Treaty, which has been concluded * between Lord Strangford and the Portugucfe Note.—-This Trea*
Government at Rio de Janeiro, in which your Excellency will find the principles which ty has not yet been
His Majefty was defirous of feeing adopted by his Ally, recognized to their full beenretun'ed w
extent, and-confiderable hopes held out of their being at leaft gradually aSted upon the Brazils with
-by the Brazilian Government. fome alterations.
Such an adihiffion by a Government which may be fuppofed to be fo much
interefted at the prelent moment,in the continuance of a Trade interwoven with the
habits of their SubjeHs, and with die iyftera of cultivation throughout the Dominions
where the Court at prefent refides, will furnifli your Excellency with new topicks for
urging the adoption of a fnnilar policy by Spain, whenever a fit opportunity fiiall
occur for bfinging that difeuffion forward.
I have the honour to be, &c.
His Excellency (Signed) GEORGE CANNING.
Marquis Wellefley.

—No. ii.—-
MEMORANDUM.
Foreign Office, March 26, 1810.
An Article upon the fubject of the Slave Trade has beep .inferted in the Brazil
"Treaty, now under conlideration, ftipulating for the adoption, on the part of the
Prince Regent, of meafures for effecting a gradual Abolition of that Trade throughout
.his Dominions.

—No. 12.—
MEMORANDUM.
Foreign Office, April 11,1810.
The following Article on the fubjcCt of the Slave Trade, was inferted in the Ame-
rican Treaty, which was figned on the 31ft December 180G, by Lords Holland and
Auckland, and by Mefl’rs. "James Monroe and William Pinkney, but was returned
• from America not ratified,
204, B Article 24.

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 6 PAPERS relating to the ABOLITION of the SLAVE TRADE.

Article 24.
The high contracting Parties engage to communicate to each other, without delay,
nil lueh Laws as have been or fliall be hereafter cnaCted by their rcfpcCtive Lcgilla-
tures, as alfo all meafures which lliall have been taken for the abolition or limitation
of the African Slave Trade; and they further agree to ufe their belt endeavours
to procure the co-operation of other Powers, for the final and complete Abolition of
..n Trade fo repugnant to the principles of jufticc and humanity.

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House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online.
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 P A P E R S
nT.I..\TIXG TO TIIS

ABOLITION of the SLAVE TRADE.

Ordered, by iiic il mfo ot to be printed,

\ith April 1S10.

204.

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