abolition of the slave trade, and freed the slaves brought to their
territories at great expense.

But the campaign commenced by the Quakers did not limit itself to the
northern provinces of the New World. Slaveholders were warmly attacked
beyond the Atlantic. France and England, more particularly, recruited
partisans for this just cause. "Let the colonies perish rather than a
principle!" Such was the generous command which resounded through all
the Old World, and, in spite of the great political and commercial
interests engaged in the question, it was effectively transmitted
through Europe.

The impetus was given. In 1807, England abolished the slave-trade
in her colonies, and France followed her example in 1814. The two
powerful nations exchanged a treaty on this subject--a treaty
confirmed by Napoleon during the Hundred Days.

However, that was as yet only a purely theoretical declaration. The
slave-ships did not cease to cross the seas, and to dispose of their
"ebony cargoes" in colonial ports.

More practical measures must be taken in order to put an end to this
commerce. The United States, in 1820, and England, in 1824, declared
the slave trade an act of piracy, and those who practised it pirates.
As such, they drew on themselves the penalty of death, and they were
pursued to the end. France soon adhered to the new treaty; but the
States of South America, and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies,
did not join in the Act of Abolition. The exportation of blacks
then continued to their profit, notwithstanding the right of search
generally recognized, which was limited to the verification of the