Page:Trials of the Slave Traders Samo, Peters and Tufft (1813).pdf/22

 heart, in consequence of the vile treatment and persecution of the slave traders, who hated him because he had renounced their fellowship and business, and complied with the laws of his country. Had this gentleman lived, he would have given such testimony as would have put it beyond all doubt, whether this very town was not the heart from which all the arteries and the veins of the slave trading system has for years been animated and supplied; he would have proved that the poison which the British Government wished to counteract in Africa, is in a large proportion compounded by persons in England who profess in public, under the hypocritical garb of religion, that they desire only to complete the abolition. But, to return to the evidence, I conceive, my Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury, the proofs produced are perfectly conclusive, and that nothing short of a verdict of Guilty can discharge the duty of the Jury ; nor can I see that the prisoner can expect it otherwise. How can he expect that this Jury will, to the detriment of their country, and the violation of their consciences, extend that mercy to him which the prisoner has so often denied to hundreds (perhaps thousands) of his fellow-creatures, for such were the slaves he has shipped off for years, however black their skins, ignorant their minds, or unprotected their condition. Consider, Gentlemen of the Jury, that merciful Providence, that has watched over you, and guarded you from being chained as a slave in the slave-yard of Charleston Factory. Why should the white man be entitled to bind the black man's wrists or ancles with the ignominious badge of slavery? Viewing mankind from the North Pole to the South, it is discovered, that in various climates there are various hues of complexion, from the most