The march commemorating the 200th anniversary of the 1807 act abolishing Britain’s slave trade snaked through London yesterday, with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York at the helm. The Walk of Witness, which had made its way from Hull, the constituency of the great abolitionist William Wilberforce, risked ridicule but helped to put the anniversary on the map. It also renewed the debate about whether and how we should atone for the sins of the past, particularly when those sins stretch back to the Romans and beyond.

The Church of England has already done its bit, expressing a formal apology last year for its role in the slave trade - using slaves on church plantations in the West Indies. Tony Blair has expressed his “deep sorrow” for Britain’s involvement in the slave trade, although campaigners say that it stops short of the full apology that could imply financial reparations. The slave trade, Mr Blair said, was “profoundly shameful”. Words are cheap. As one descendant of a slave trader said yesterday: “You apologise for what you have done. Slavery stopped 200 years ago, that’s quite a lot before I was born. I am therefore in no position to apologise.”

More meaningful is to praise the achievements of those who fought to improve the lot of their fellow men. Lord Shaftesbury put an end to child labour in the 1840s and 1850s, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole reformed the care of the sick and Elizabeth Fry did noble work improving the wretched lot of prisoners. Figures such as the Conservative with a conscience, the Victorian philanthropist and the radical protester are as much part of our history as dark satanic mills and the slavers’ ships.

Britain’s unrevolutionary, democratic reforms were once the envy of the world. We should not wallow in historical misery but should take inspiration from the past to improve our present lot and salute those awkward souls who prick our conscience about evils today.