Begging your pardon, sir.
I thought everyone was in bed.
She brings the breakfasts. What time is it?
Does it matter?
That year we should have won.
With the evidence we had collected, by natural justice we should have won.
[man] Winds blow ships from Africa to the Indies naturally,
as if the route were blessed by God.
Another argument in defence of the trade
is that the Newfoundland fishing industry is kept afloat
by the fact that slaves in the West Indies
consume that part of the fish
which is fit for no other consumption.
[clamouring]
I do feel that if my honourable friend
continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel for objections,
he is in danger of getting splinters under his fingernails.
[laughter]
Now, if I may continue with my argument...
As representative of the great and flourishing
commercial town of Liverpool,
I must once again remind the House that we have no evidence
that the Africans themselves have any objection to the trade.
[clamouring]
I have here an account written by a... Mr Clutterbuck...
[laughter]
...which states that most slaves in the Indies
have a snug little garden with plenty of pigs and poultry.
[clamouring, snorting]
There are many poor families in Liverpool who do not have as much.
Which... Which is why,
apart from a few mendicant physicians and itinerant clergymen,
the ordinary people of Britain are not at all exercised
- by the whole issue of slavery. - [clamouring]
My honourable friend, the member for Liverpool,
seeks evidence of people's concern.
In the past year, I and my itinerant clergymen friends
have been gathering just such evidence.
We have taken a petition calling for the abolition of the slave trade
to all the great cities of this country.
It has been signed by over 390,000 people.
However, this petition is not yet complete.
There is one more person who wishes to add his name.
[shouting]
Do something.
Mr Speaker, I humbly request a suspension
while we take time to examine the signatures on this document.
There is something very provoking
in the calm way my honourable friend seeks delay.
- Mr Speaker, will he not give way? - Is the desolation of Africa suspended?
- Please, gentlemen. - Is the work of death suspended?
- You bring petitions into the House... - Mr Speaker...
...as if this country should be governed by the rule of the mob,
- rather than its natural rulers! - Order!
That roll of paper reeks of rebellion!
No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!
The people?
This session will be suspended while the petition is examined.
[clamouring]
Wilber.
My spies tell me that Tarleton and Coconut Clarence
have gone to see the Home Secretary.
- What would they want with Lord Dundas? - He's one of ours, isn't he?
James. James.
- Where does Lord Dundas stand? - Probable, I think.
We have him down as a probable.
Last year he stopped the deportation of a Jamaican slave from Scotland,
- so his heart's in the right place. - Be wary of Dundas.
If he's capable of compassion once, why not twice?
What damage could he do if he's turned?
He controls the Scottish vote, 34 MPs.
We'll have to have faith in his integrity.
Integrity?
Where are you going?
To look up the word "integrity" in Dr Johnson's Dictionary.
- [knocking] - Come.
Prime Minister, Lord Charles Fox to see you.
You look more at home when doing something devious.
Prime Minister, your friend Wilberforce doesn't play cards any more.
No. He resigned from all five card clubs when he saw the light.
Pity. He was good.
Well, I think there's a hand you should play for him.
- Against whom? - Someone who stands in his way.
So name him.
Good evening.
Billy, did I not win enough money from you on Saturday evening?
Really, I have no time for cards. I have urgent business in the House.
[sighs]
As prime minister, idle gossip collects around you like scum in slack water.
What have you heard?
Lord Tarleton's throwing East India Company money
at people who are speaking against abolition tonight.
Of course, no true friend of mine would accept such an offer.
I appear to have three jacks.
I've always ensured that you have been dealt a favourable hand.
- Are you threatening me? - You are threatening our friendship.
It isn't money that has made me decide to oppose Wilberforce.
His enemy is my enemy.
You are sleepwalking hand-in-hand with a bloody rebel.
Wilberforce follows no leader but the preacher in his head.
How much were you offered?
Keep yourjacks.
The planters still have the king, and I, at least, am still loyal to him.
Don't force me to put a pistol to your head.
Well, if you do, there will be two pistols,
one from each side.
And perhaps if I duck, you'll shoot each other.
[murmuring]
[Speaker] Order.
Order.
First, let me be clear.
After long consideration and much consultation,
I am in favour of the abolition of the slave trade.
[clamouring]
There's no doubt in my mind that this trade in human beings
is an almighty calumny and is a disgrace to this nation.
However... I also take the point of my honourable friend,
the member for Liverpool.
If we were to outlaw the trade tomorrow, it would bring financial disaster
to many cities and industries in this country.
[clamouring]
I therefore suggest a period of reflection.
After a year and a half of privy council investigations,
what good would it do to delay the inevitable?
Inevitable? Is my honourable friend counting the votes before they are cast?
- [laughter] - I didn't mean that.
If the trade were to be abolished, I suggest that we do so gradually.
- [murmuring] - Violent storms sink ships.
This great ship of state must not be sunk
by a wave of good intentions.
[clamouring]
- [dog barking] - [church bell ringing]
They are cleverer than us, Thomas.
And yet...
...outside the House of Commons, the mood is with us.
And what good is that?
I have friends in France.
Our counterparts. Men of principle, like you and I.
- They bring me only good news. - News of what?
Revolution.
They're certain it's coming.
In Paris they speak openly in the streets of emancipation.
Freedom for all men, and women too.
The Americans pulled the cork out of the bottle, Wilberforce.
Now the French share the wine.
You talk about revolution as if it were a safe thing.
It's just a word.
Every day we change things, by degrees. Education, factories.
By degrees. You sound like Dundas! Gradually.
An imperfect order's better than no order.
We must fight for a perfect order!
I've pledged an allegiance to the king.
You know as well as I do... the king is insane.
He shakes hands with oak trees
and claims he can see Germany through his telescope.
I know you have your loyalties, Wilberforce,
but underneath it you're more radical than any of us.
You see, you never doubt you're right.
What we say of the slave is true of the worker in the field,
the weaver, the miner.
Shouldn't they be free to prosper too,
instead of the fruits of their labours going to men like Tarleton?
Men who spend their money on whores and comic operas.
Young girls debauched.
Soldiers forced to beg.
It's a natural wave that's flowing, Wilber.
First Boston, then Paris.
Next London.
Thomas...
...you must never speak of revolution in my presence ever again.
I'm going to Paris to see for myself.
Why don't you come with me?
Drink some of that wine?
Africa, your sufferings have been a theme
that has engaged and arrested my heart.
Your sufferings...
...no tongue can express, no language impart.
Agh!
God has set before me two great objects:
The suppression of the slave trade
and the reformation of society.
Agh! Agh!
[moaning]
Sir!
Marjorie.
The trouble is, Doctor, he doesn't believe he has a body.
Utterly careless of it. He, um...
[whispers] He thinks he's a disembodied spirit.
Perhaps you should spend some time away from London.
- What's this? - Laudanum, for the pain.
An opiate? No, no, no. I need my mind sharp.
You need to rest.
My bill is before the House in three weeks.
- Would you leave us a moment, Doctor? - Yes, Prime Minister.
It's now five years since you first brought this bill to the House.
And each time we get a little closer.
Wilberforce, there are other MPs who could carry the debate.
Who? Name one.
The only man I would trust is you.
Well?
I can't be seen to openly oppose the king
when the streets of Paris run with blood.
You've read too many lurid newspaper articles.
The French Republic plans to declare war within the year.
- On who? - On who?
You're locked inside your own head! Us, Great Britain, everything we stand for!
Considering the situation, you mix with the wrong people.
- Who do I mix with? - Clarkson, for one.
- Who introduced me to Clarkson? - In different times.
They say in the cafés that Clarkson's a French spy.
And Equiano, they say he was born in Carolina,
and as an American, therefore must be a revolutionary.
Others say they've seen with their own eyes
letters addressed to you from Thomas Jefferson.
- On matters to do with abolition. - War changes everything.
- Even friendships? - Especially those!
So you will keep your precious conscience intact
and let the rest of us do the war's dirty work.
Conscience is indeed precious.
I am warning you as your prime minister
that when war comes, opposition will soon be called sedition!
By who?
By you?
This evening I would like to return to the theme of abolition.
In these dangerous times, it is easy to put aside our concerns for those in need
simply to confirm our loyalty to the nation.
But the issues of war and the issues of slavery must not be confused.
Our fear of an unknown enemy must not be allowed
to erode our long-cherished liberties.
If this is to happen, how bitter will our history be?
We must not prohibit all political discussion of political subjects.
The issue of slavery is not made any less important
by the unrelated issues of war!
In war or in peace, the buying and selling of human beings
- is equally abhorrent! - [clamouring]
This is not a seditious statement!
[whimpers]
Where is your laudanum? I'll prepare it for you.
No. No, I want to tell you how it ends.
I already know. Your bills were easily defeated.
Equiano... died in his bed.
Thomas Clarkson found a cottage in the hills to hide away in.
Charles Fox watched and waited.
The Quakers still sent their letters. No one replied.
Is that the end of your story?
- You think not? - No.
- Why not? - Because after night comes day.
The people aren't so afraid now the war with France is being won.
And when they stop being afraid, they rediscover their compassion.
So the people have their compassion back.
And you still have passion.
That matters more.
- [Thornton] Good morning, Wilber. - Morning.
- Get much sleep? - Not much.
- What time did Barbara leave? - Late.
I mean, early.
I'm afraid I'm going back to London.
- So soon? - Yes.
I think the waters worked their magic on me.
But I need to send a letter to James Stephen.
- To ask him to come back to England. - For what reason?
To put his evidence before a select committee.
Also, Barbara and I have discovered
that we're both impatient and prone to rash decisions.
But she wants to tell you about it herself.
[organ plays classical music]
Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin,
we will sing the hymn requested by the bride.
[# Amazing Grace]
[all] # Amazing Grace
# How sweet the sound
# That saved a wretch like me
# I once was lost
# But now am found
# Was blind but now I see...
- Delightful service. - Thank you so much for coming.
Thank you. How are you coping with the new kitchen?
"Great changes are easier than small ones."
- Francis Bacon. - Well done.
- Have you forgiven us yet? - Never.
It'll be wonderful to have you both living so near.
Thank you.
I do hope you didn't come to Clapham for the tranquillity.
- We're very noisy neighbours. - I'm counting on it.
Barbara.
- You have my deepest condolences. - Thank you so much.
But please, I beg of you, do this for me. Make him eat some of his pets.
- Oh, I rather like them. - I like them too. In brandy sauce.
- [laughs] - [applause from other room]
- If you'll excuse me... - There's no need, Barbara.
You're discussing politics with your eyes.
You may as well do it with your mouths.
[Pitt clears throat]
I, uh... didn't think you'd invite me.
Didn't think you'd come.
- You well? - My mind's well.
The rest of me is fraying at the edges.
Billy, I'm going to try again.
Well?
It's your wedding day. I agree with everything you say.
I never changed.
- I don't change. - Well, hurrah for you.
The mood may even be swinging back in your favour.
How can we live in houses like this when others are living in boxes?
Is that still sedition?
As your prime minister, I urge caution.
- And as my friend? - Oh, to hell with caution.
[Newton] When the slaves are flogged on the wharfs,
their arms are tied to a hook on a crane
and weights of 56 pounds
applied to their feet.
The crane is raised
so that their feet barely touch the ground.
The slaves are then whipped
with ebony bushes, comma...
...to let out the congealing blood.
I don't hear the nib scratching the page.
We have company, sir.
John, it's me, Wilber.
Leave it.
They only told me your sight was fading.
Well, now it's faded altogether.
I never did things by halves. God decided I'd seen enough.
- So it's true. - What's true?
- You're writing your account. - Uh-huh.
I wish I could see your face.
- How are you looking? - The same.
- Still too thin. - A little fatter lately.
She feeds you well then, this wife of yours?
- She's given me an appetite. - An appetite to change things?
This is my confession.
You must use it.
Names, ships' records,
ports, people.
Everything I remember is in here.
Although my memory is fading,
I remember two things very clearly:
I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great saviour.
You must publish it.
Blow a hole in their boat with it. Damn them with it!
I wish I could remember all their names.
My 20,000 ghosts,
they all had names.
Beautiful African names.
We called them with just grunts.
Noises.
We were apes. They were human.
[Newton sobs]
I'm weeping.
I couldn't weep till I wrote this.
"I once was blind, but now I see."
Didn't I write that too?
Yes, you did.
Well, now at last it's true.
Now go, Wilber. Go.
We have lots of work to do, you and I.
"Strange treasures in this fair world appear,
strange all and new to me."
That is a poem by Thomas Traherne,
and I have absolutely no idea what it's about.
But when I was small, I was made to learn it by heart,
so I don't see why you shouldn't suffer too.
Clarkson! Clarkson!
Good God, he's got his voice back.
We need you back in London straightaway!
Oh.
- [baby coos] - Bollocks.
Hurry up, come on.
[indistinct chatter]
Wilber!
- You look fine. Fine. - I look wet and feeble.
You, however, look disgustingly like a lusty adventurer from a storybook.
Come on. I've got a coach. The others are waiting for us at Palace Yard.
- Don't I get to wash or sleep? - Sleep?
You haven't changed at all, William.
I called this meeting to welcome back James Stephen from the Indies.
But he should speak for himself.
I have here diagrams,
first-hand accounts and transcripts of trials
where innocent Africans have been convicted of crimes they did not commit
and were then burnt alive.
There are pages and pages and pages
of first-hand accounts and figures and statistics.
On every island now, there are rebellions.
Haiti is in the hands of slaves.
And the slaves are anxious. They're impatient for their freedom.
They hear about your work here.
I saw a woman and her child being beaten...
...in a coffee field.
Afterwards, I heard the woman tell her daughter
that someone was coming across the sea to save them.
She said it was King Wilberforce.
So this time, gentlemen, we must not fail them.
What is it, James?
- This is not a game for them. - We know that.
What I mean is, it's not enough.
If we go to Parliament with this evidence,
there'll be sympathy, there'll be concern,
but it'll be just the same as every other time.
Have you come back to preach hopelessness?
No. No, I've had an idea.
In my law books I might have stumbled across something
and I want to propose it as a strategy.
Nosus Decipio.
It's Latin.
Loosely translated, it means...
..."we cheat".
Oh, God.
I don't care how important this is.
I'll finish my shot.
Oh, for God's sakes, what is it?
- We've decided... - We think...
We've decided not to bring forward an abolition bill.
- No? - [Clarkson] Indeed not.
We're going to address the issue of the use of neutral flags on cargo ships.
- How unutterably dull. - Exactly.
We're going to suggest that French cargo ships
sailing under the American flag of convenience
be liable to seizure by privateers.
Part of the war effort.
Patriotism, all that.
Since when have you been interested in the war effort, patriotism and all that?
I'm not.
So... I'll continue with my game?
You don't see anything sinister in that measure?
No.
- Then neither will they. - What the hell are you talking about?
80 percent of all slave ships sailing to the Indies
are flying the neutral American flag
to prevent them from being boarded by privateers.
If we pass a law removing that protection,
no ship owner will allow his vessel to make the journey.
This will only apply to French ships, not British.
That's the beauty of it.
Once any ship raises the American flag, by law it is neither French nor British.
So our slave ships will be just as liable to seizure as French ones.
The privateers won't care whose booty they're taking,
as long as they're operating within the law.
Without the protection of neutral flags,
80 percent of the British slave trade will be finished overnight.
Dear God.
But Prime Minister, we need to...
...tuck this bill away somewhere.
Disguise it. Oh.
I won't even get on my feet in the House.
This would still fall short of abolition.
With their profits cut, half the slavers will be bankrupt in two years.
Then we'll pick off their MPs in the House one by one.
Whose idea was this?
A lawyer.
Anti-French bill which is also anti-slavery.
Don't know why I didn't think of this any sooner.
Oh...
But we can't let anyone know that we're behind this.
Instruct someone to put this bill forward who's seen as a patriot.
We don't want any fuss.
We just need someone really, really... boring.
Typically, a French ship will change its registration
to raise the American flag and pick up a cargo of sugar in Havana.
It will then sail to Carolina
or Virginia or Florida
or New York City or even Boston.
The cargo will then be unloaded onto a second ship
carrying the American flag and set sail for France.
As things stand, neither the Royal Navy nor licensed privateers
have power to seize such a ship.
My proposition is
that all the ships flying the American flag
be liable to search and seizure
to put an end to this lamentable deceit
on the part of the French
and their Dutch and Spanish allies.
Mr Speaker! I believe the abolitionists are coming at us at a side wind.
A side wind? What kind of side wind?
I'm not sure what kind of side wind. I just know there's something going on.
- The Jacobites are in. - [Speaker] The Jacobites?
Really, I do think you might update your invective to reflect changing times.
Am I too late to call for an adjournment?
Of course you are.
Now, will you let the honourable gentleman proceed?
As I was saying...
...my proposition is that all ships flying the American flag
be liable to search and seizure to put an end to this lamentable deceit
on the part of the French, Dutch and Spanish.
- Jackson, get into the chamber. - Right, sir.
Camber, chamber! Move your arse!
- What's going on? - Just do it!
Where the hell is everyone?
Everybody's at the races in Epsom. They were given free tickets.
I saved one for you. A free gift from William Wilberforce.
[crashing, smashing glass]
Wilby?
What on earth is happening? The poor maids are terrified.
- I'll bring your laudanum. - No! No!
I've poured it all away this morning. Every drop.
- Then I'll fetch more. - No. I'm finished with it.
I can't even feel the joy of this victory.
This new baby will find me as myself.
- What will be his name? - Who says it's a boy?
Just tell me some names. Please, just keep talking.
William, if it's a boy. Emma, if it's a girl.
It's... it's a boy. I'm sure of it.
- How will he look? - Sweet.
[moaning]
He will be strong with curly hair, but dark, like yours.
- He's inside you now. - Yes, yes, he's inside.
I can almost hear him. He's singing to us.
Yes, he will have a fine voice like you.
Yes, yes, a strong voice.
And you will play with him in the garden every morning.
- Yes. - And soon we'll have a girl and a boy.
And a girl and a boy and...
[laughing]
- [child speaking indistinct] - [dog barking]
Wilby!
Come quickly!
Come on!
Please leave us now.
They tell me you're improving, Billy.
Bull.
We cracked crowns, didn't we?
- We left the heads intact. - Because we're so pathetically English.
[Pitt laughs, chokes]
- We have agreed on a succession. - You're not gone yet.
I will be replaced by Lord Granville as prime minister,
and the foreign secretary will be Charles Fox.
And Wilber,
Fox has already secured a guarantee from the palace.
They will remain neutral in the issue of the slave trade.
Next time you will be pushing at an open door.
I'm scared, Wilber.
Of what?
At this moment, I wish I had your faith.
No more excuses now, Wilber.
Finish them off.
As you know, Equiano, I rarely drink.
But today's an exception.
Today we're drinking to victory.
Wish you were...
...here to see all this... unfolding.
Just one more push.
One more.
I say to this House that there is now no reason
why my bill should not be commended to the king.
[Wilberforce] And I urge my honourable friends to vote once and for all
- for the abolition of the slave trade - [snoring]
- throughout His Majesty's empire. - [clamouring]
They're taking the vote!
Here's the tally.
[murmuring]
Order!
On the Home and Foreign Slave Trade Act,
the unamended bill calling for the abolition of the slave trade
throughout the entire British Empire.
No's to the left: 16.
- Ayes to the right: 283. - [applause]
[cheering]
I declare the bill of abolition of the slave trade to be passed.
[cheering]
Noblesse oblige.
What the bloody hell does that mean?
It means my nobility obliges me
to recognise the virtue of an exceptional commoner.
Order!
When people speak of great men,
they think of men like Napoleon.
Men of violence.
Rarely do they think of peaceful men.
But contrast the reception they'll receive
when they return home from their battles.
Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power.
A man who's achieved the very summit of earthly ambition.
Yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war.
William Wilberforce, however,
will return to his family,
lay his head on his pillow
and remember
the slave trade is no more.
[applause]
[bagpipes play Amazing Grace]