islands_. Can we forget that by the decree of Polverel, sanctioned
afterwards by the Convention, all the slaves _were made free at once_,
or _in a single day_? No notice was given of the event, and of course
_no preparation_ could be made for it. They were released _suddenly_
from _all their former obligations and restraints_. They were let loose
upon the Whites, their masters, with _all the vices of slavery_ upon
them. What was to have been expected but the dissolution of all
civilized society, with the reign of barbarism and terror? Now all I ask
for with respect to the slaves in our own islands is, that they should
be emancipated _by degrees_, or that they should be made to pass through
a certain course of discipline, _as through a preparatory school_, to
fit them for the right use of their freedom. Again, can we forget the
unfavourable circumstances, in which the slaves of St. Domingo were
placed, for a year or two before their liberation, in another point of
view? The island at this juncture was a prey to _political discord,
civil war_, and _foreign invasion_, at the same time. Their masters were
politically at variance with each other, as they were white or coloured
persons, or republicans or royalists. They were quarrelling and fighting
with each other, and shedding each other's blood. The English, who were
in possession of the strong maritime posts, were alarming the country by
their incursions: they, the slaves, had been trained up to the same
political animosities. They had been made to take the side of their
respective masters, and to pass through scenes of violence and
bloodshed. Now, whenever emancipation is to be proposed in our own
colonies, I anticipate neither _political parties_, nor _civil wars_,
nor _foreign invasion_, but a time of _tranquillity and peace_. Who then
will be bold enough to say, after these remarks, that there could be any
thing like the danger and difficulties in emancipating the slaves there,
which existed when the slaves of St. Domingo were made free? But some
objector may say, after all, "There is one point in which your analogy