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Speech of Dr. Lushington, Delivered at a General Meeting of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery, throughout the British Dominions, Held at Exeter Hall, London, April 23, 1831

Friends House Library, London. Bibliothèque de la Société de l'histoire du Protestantisme français, Paris.

Speech Meeting Society Abolition Slavery Exeter Hall Address People Britain Ireland

In this speech, Lushington, who was a British judge and reformist politician, declares himself: "the advocate for the speedy and entire emancipation of every slave" (1). He alludes to the strong support for abolition among the British public, and a political culture which increasingly "compelled" even the strongest supporter of slavery "to express his abhorrence of it" (2). He suggests that slavery could be abolished with no danger for the planters, as had already taken place in Mexico. Finally he calls on those voting in the forthcoming elections to vote for anti-slavery candidates, suggesting that "the character of the nation" and the British constitution was at stake (5).

Image ©SHPF, Paris. Also contains an Address to the People of Great Britain and Ireland, Unanimously adopted at the same General Meeting (6-7), signed by leading British abolitionists including Buxton, Gurney, Wilberforce, Clarkson, Macaulay, and Lushington.