“The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in these colonies where it was unhappily introduced in their infant state. But previous to the enfranchisement of the slaves we already have, it is necessary to exclude all further importations from Africa. Yet our repeated attempts to effect this by prohibition…have been hitherto defeated by his majesty’s negative.” Exactly where this out-of-the-blue statement about abolishing both the slave trade and slavery itself came from was not explained.
