Amazing Grace Page #7

Good God, he's got his voice back.

We need you back in London straightaway!

Oh.

Bollocks.

Hurry up, come on.

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?

- 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?

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,

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.

- 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.

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.

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...

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.

- 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

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