FIFTH REPORT,

&c. &c.

NEARLY the whole of the last Report of the Directors was employed in detailing the extent to which the African Slave Trade had revived in the preceding year, and the means which had been adopted by them with a view to repress it. The present Report will consist, almost exclusively, of similar details; the evil in question having increased to a magnitude which has required the almost undivided attention of the Board. The civilization and improvement of Africa are indeed the great ends which the African Institution proposed to pursue. But what rational expectation can be formed of any material progress in the attainment of those ends, while the Slave Trade continues to flourish? This traffic stands opposed to all improvement. The passions which it excites and nourishes, and the acts of fraud, rapine, and blood, to which alone it owes its success, have a direct tendency to brutalize the human character, and to obstruct every peace

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ful and beneficial pursuit. Any advance in civilization is hopeless, where neither property nor person is secure for a moment.

On the Coast of Africa, the same melancholy scene has been exhibited during the last year, which the Directors had the pain of describing in their former Report. The Coast has swarmed with Slave ships, chiefly under Portugueze and Spanish colours. These colours have, in numerous instances, been proved to be only a disguise to conceal British and American property; and there is strong ground to believe, that this would be found to be very generally the case, if the rules of evidence, in the Prize Courts of this country, always admitted of the investigation necessary to ascertain the fact.

To confirm this statement, it would be sufficient to refer to the Records of our Prize Courts, and particularly to those of the ViceAdmiralty Court at Sierra Leone, in which, during the last year, according to information received by the Directors, about twenty Slave ships have been condemned, on satisfactory proof either of their being American or British property, or of their having cleared out from a British port.

An additional confirmation is derived from the fact of not a single appeal having hitherto

been prosecuted, in the superior Courts of Prize in this country, from the decisions of the ViceAdmiralty Court of Sierra Leone.

It seems unnecessary to detail minutely all the information which the Directors have received, on this subject, since the last meeting of the Society. Suffice it to say, that accounts from various quarters, from the Coast of Africa, from the West Indies, from the Brazils, from the United States, and from other places, concur with certain judicial proceedings which have taken place in this country, to prove, that a very considerable trade in Slaves has been carried on of late; and a large portion of it, by means of the capital and credit of British subjects,

As soon as the Directors had ascertained this point to their satisfaction, it was resolved to bring the matter before Parliament. The last session, however, was too far advanced to admit of their obtaining any legislative enactment for the repression of the evil. All that could be done, therefore, was to engage the attention of Government to the subject, by an Address; and to induce both Houses of Parliament to pledge themselves to the adoption of such farther legislative provisions, in the ensuing session, as might be necessary for giving full effect to the Acts already passed for abolishing the Slave Trade.

Resolutions to this effect were moved on the

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15th of June, 1810, in the House of Commons, by Mr. Brougham, and were adopted without one dissenting voice. An Address to the same effect was moved in the House of Lords on the 18th of June, by Lord Holland, and adopted with the same unanimity. This Address was as follows:

"Ordered, nem. diss. That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, representing to his Majesty, that we have taken into our serious consideration the papers which his Majesty was graciously pleased to communicate to us on the African Slave Trade.

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'That, while we acknowledge with gratitude the endeavours which his Majesty has been pleased to use, in compliance with the wishes of his faithful Parliament, to induce Foreign Nations to concur in relinquishing that disgraceful commerce, we have to express our deep regret that these efforts have been attended with so little success.

"That we most heartily beseech his Majesty, to persevere in those measures which may tend to induce his Allies, and such other Foreign States as he may be able to negociate with, to co-operate with this Country in a general Abolition of the Slave Trade, and to concur in the adoption of such measures as may assist in the effectual execution of the laws A

already passed for that purpose. oink Lofi

"That we most humbly pray his Majesty, that he will be graciously pleased to direct the commanders of his ships and vessels of war, the officers of his Customs, and all other persons in his service, whose situation enables them to detect and suppress any clandestine or fraudulent practices, by which persons may have contrived to carry on the detestable traffic in Slaves, in contempt of the authority of Parliament, and in violation of the laws of the land, effectually to check and put a stop to the same."

The following were the Resolutions moved by Mr. Brougham.

Resolved, "That this House has learnt with the greatest surprise and indignation, that certain persons in this country have recently been guilty of evading the prohibitions of the Acts abolishing the African Slave Trade, and that this House will, early in the next session, take into its considération such measures as may effectually prevent such daring violations of the law.

"That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, representing to his Majesty, that this House has taken into its serious consideration the papers which his Majesty was graciously pleased to cause to be laid before this House, upon the subject of the African Slave Trade.

"That while this House acknowledges with