I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 619: American Anger

3 Clapham High Street.

The reporter looked at Wilberforce eagerly and said, "So, you have heard about the abolition of slavery on a certain island?"

In fact, the members of the "Clapham Saints" only heard that the St. Domingo Parliament had passed an abolition bill, but they were not clear about the specific details.

But the reporter just brought them the "latest news obtained by the newspaper", so they didn't doubt it at all.

Wilberforce nodded: "Yes, this is really exciting news for me!"

"What is your attitude toward the Abolition Bill?"

"I have always been against the inhumane slave trade, so any action that can free slaves should be encouraged."

As a government official, Wilberforce could only say some official words, and then he looked at Thomas Clarkson, a member of the "Clapham Saints".

The latter obviously had no scruples and said with a smile: "The French persecuted those West African blacks extremely cruelly, and now the slaves are taking revenge on them. This is a huge victory for the abolition movement.

"I hope that the free blacks on Saint-Domingo...ah, that island, and their allies can make the slave owners pay the price they deserve! Haha, you can't post this."

Several other members of the Clapham Saints immediately started laughing.

The British have always been very happy to see the French suffer a setback. In fact, the British had far more black slaves in Jamaica, the West Indies and other places than the French, but double standards have always been what they are best at.

Earl Middleton said, "It is well known that the French are the most cruel to black slaves in the world. It is not surprising that they are in the situation today."

The reporter continued the interview in a roundabout way for a long time and, through leading questions, made Wilberforce and others appear to be quite familiar with the situation in Saint-Domingo.

The next day, the reporter gave the written interview transcript to Wilberforce for review.

The latter just took a quick look at it and seeing that it did not mention any specific names such as Saint-Domingo, he agreed to publish the article in tomorrow's newspaper.

Since Wilberforce was a famous abolitionist, his support for the abolition of slavery would enhance his political prestige. At the same time, this would disgust the French, so he would not refuse.

As a result, British newspapers soon published his interview about the abolition of slavery on "a certain island", and it was soon reprinted in many countries, even in American newspapers.

Wilberforce didn't realize until this point that he had fallen into a trap.

The reporter was naturally arranged by the French Intelligence Agency. Much of the information he introduced to Wilberforce and others about Saint-Domingo had not yet been reported to Britain.

For example, Auger's army defeated the government army of Saint-Domingue, and the people of the Bouquer movement fled Saint-Domingue, etc. These all happened more than a month ago. The French intelligence agency knew Auger's plan long ago, so it was able to send the news back to Europe as quickly as possible, but the British would not know about it until at least a week later. After all, there was no Internet in this era, and you had to send people to the scene to find out what happened.

But Wilberforce got "spoilers" from the reporter and wrote them into the interview transcript.

More than half a month later, news of a serious slave rebellion in the United States finally reached Europe. People soon learned that the blacks sweeping across Georgia were the "Booker Rebellion" elements driven into the sea by the government forces of Saint Domingo.

Then, there was another explosive news that these rioting blacks spread the word that it was the "great Duke of Leeds" who provided them with weapons. When they were defeated by the army of the Governor of Saint-Domingue, it was also the Duke of Leeds' ship that sent them to the United States.

These niggers even forced American craftsmen to erect a statue of the Duke of Leeds in the town of Merry - with his full name engraved on the base of the statue.

St James's Palace.

In the reception room on the second floor, American envoy Connor Tristan was handing a note to Lord Grenville, who had just returned home, with a sullen face.

"If you can't give a reasonable explanation, your country's actions will be regarded as a provocation against the United States!" Tristan roared angrily, almost to the point of disregarding diplomatic etiquette.

Thousands of people in Georgia have been killed by Booker's mob, nearly one-third of the plantations have been destroyed, and more plantation owners have chosen to leave their homes for fear of their own safety.

At present, the city of Savannah is being besieged by more than 1300 blacks, and there are more than 7 people living there. Once it is breached, the consequences will be disastrous.

You know, so far no white person who fell into the hands of those brutal blacks has survived, and most of them were tortured and killed. More than a month ago, more than 50 white people on a plantation were thrown into boiling water and boiled to death, which shocked the whole United States.

Lord Grenville took a deep breath and said defensively, "I think those niggers are just trying to frame the Duke of Leeds. I can assure you that he has absolutely nothing to do with it."

Tristan said coldly: "You may have seen an interview with Mr. Wilberforce in the newspaper more than a month ago. He is obviously very familiar with the situation in Saint Domingo. It was only a month after the incident, and he had already mentioned many details. At that time, the news could not be transmitted back to Europe.

"We can only explain that he was one of the participants and was able to know the inside story in advance."

Lord Grenville cursed in his heart, why did the Duke of Leeds tell this to Wilberforce, an abolitionist. And Wilberforce, this fool, actually told such a secret thing to the reporter!

He had to pretend to be ignorant: "There are many possibilities, such as Mr. Wilberforce happened to send someone to Saint Domingo to handle official business and accidentally witnessed the incident.

"In fact, as far as I can remember, Mr. Wilberforce did not mention Saint Domingo at all in that interview..."

"Your words can't even fool a child." Tristan said loudly, "I hope your country can give our country a reasonable explanation for this matter and compensate our country for its losses!"

"No, no, you are being too arbitrary. I reiterate that my country has nothing to do with the abolition of slavery in Saint-Domingue. I will send a formal note to your country later."

Tristan protested for a long time, but to no avail, and finally left in anger.

At that time, the United States was still just a small, poor and backward country. Even if the world hegemon Britain really wanted to deal with them, they would have no way to stop them.

However, as an important producer of raw materials, the United States can make some small moves in trade to retaliate against the British.

As soon as Tristan came out of the reception room, he saw the French envoy Segur passing by him with an angry face and rushing into the hall.

(End of this chapter)