Page:Substance of the speech of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, in the House of Lords.djvu/38

 I have said thus much, my Lords, upon the subject of Africa, upon its trade, and upon the state of the petitioners in favour of the Bill, namely, the Sierra Leone Company. I shall therefore conclude my remarks on Africa with the strong and memorable words of Mr. Park:—

"Such are the general outlines of that system of slavery which prevails in Africa; and it is evident from its nature and extent, that it is a system of no modern date. It probably had its origin with remote ages of antiquity, before the Mahomedans explored a path across the desert. How far it is maintained and supported by the Slave Traffic, which, for two hundred years, the natives of Europe have carried on with the natives of the coast, it is neither within my province, nor in my power to explain. If my sentiments should be required concerning the effect which a discontinuance of that