Star. — London, England, 1824-06-12 00:00:00

m in Ly. bs ire is rs• Mr. Smith was judged. Now. he humbly conceived ' t h at before the House came to the resolution they were ca ll e d upon by the motiOn to adopt, they must be satis fied ef the truth of one of either of these three propo sition,; 1 t Tina the punishment was too severe; 2d. That the Court had not jurisdiction ; or, 3d. That the conduct of the Court was partial or unjust--(Hear). Th e y most, he repeated it, trod he could not too strongly e nforce it upon the attenti o n of the House, they mu t be qu ite satisfied of the justice of one of these imputa tions, before they decided, that so gross a violation of duty had been committed by the Court who tried Mr. smith. The Proclamation for martial law was issued e a Tuesday, the 19th of August, and on the 17th, the alleged misprision occurred ; but on the other side, it was contended that there was an extreme injustice in subjectili to the provisions of martial law those offences w h ica were alleged to have been previously comm i tte d. A s a geoeral proposition, he admitted the truth of this as sertioo ; but teas not ready to admit it without limitation. 1i it seas asked, are you prepared to call before a Court-martial an individual charged with a felony committed in a preceding year? b e should answer, Certainly not—(Hear). But how did the case stan d? .slr. Smith was charged with arriving at a guilty know ledge on the 17th of August. The revolt took place on the 19th. i t %ea .; then that martial law was proclaimed ; but was it not a L ax diaiaction tn %ay, that an offence committed on that 17th, out e f which arose a revolt, that revolt on the 19th was to be regarded a , a by-gone offence ?—( Hear). The Mouse would casserve, that in pemerara there was no regular Court before which Mr. Smith could be !nought for trial. Had he been brought before the planters of Demerara, they would have beets judges both of the law and the fact, with the selfsame Presidents who had been so unsparingly aaluntouatledly accused—all of them intereated in the question—all damn naturally anxious that the case brought forward for trial s hould terminate in a conviction. Now he put it with confidence to the ilause, whether Mr. Smith's chance of an acquittal could Vs: ',oat, under such circumstances, equal to the ch aICeS he had viler the unprejudiced tribunal by which he was tried? The House vaail recollect that, with the exception of one iudividual, there had ' r a single pet son on the trial of Smith whose motives were t I:::tispic'artss. There was one individual to whom his lima and Lamed Friend, the Member fur Winchelsea (Mr. Burnham) had ;a:al.al, who cettainly had sonic slight interest in Ow sale of ,ai a „ but unquestionably not sufficient to prejudice his juilonent. altah misrepresentation had, in his mind, prevailed upon the coo that of Mr. Wray in this alfaiia lac had lung known that Gentle and he had learned to respect him for the amiability of his ll:at:nets; he was known to both him and his easrned Friends op pate, aial never, until the accusation of partiality, had he heard the diglaea imputation against hint, and tks charge he believed to be utterly wiihout fundatin. Much hid beeu urged upon the il -1 of the leading nature of the questions asked ; and he rust say, from a careful perusal of the evidence, that many more le sting questions were :.seed fur the defence than for the prosecu lila, and the balance of whit was termed hearsay evidence gi•eatly tlCLlaled on the part of the defendant. Then it was before a Court ems constituted that Mr. Smith was tried; and here began the a astion, whether Of o u t he had a fair trial ?—(llear)—and upon to part us . 'he case he must be permitted to say, that his Learned An a llon. Friend (Dr. Lushington) had not used his habitual can aar. Ilis (Mr. Smith's) own concession had in it sullieiean to Con ;icr him. He had heard a conversation respactitig " managers and tew laws." The object of that coaversation he must have known, ‘a he never communicated it to the Governor. There were other :cumstarcts cannected with this transaction of a very suspicious tear.. The revolution broke out in Augast—on the 19:h of A ug ust. It was heaAtel by the principal persons of Mi. Smith's congrega- ] r a. Mr. and Mts. South thought proper to remain in their own! It ace ala' that pi, clod. Mr. Smith bad an opportunity—this Lan liia own admission was evilest—uf communicatiaa the re• s).:, the intended revolt, and lw had not made that conunuaieation. ik did slot mean now to argue the queatiun whether Mr. Smith was iguihy or innocent? but ht, meant to say, was this case butliciently out by the evidence given before the Court, to satisfy it of Smith's guilt? And would it :tat he the hardest thing possible, aialaut hearing the members of ti n t Court—without hearing those a:., led the prisoner, and le:.:•thiog from them what parts of this aadence influenced their minds—would it not, he asked, be the haalest case possible to pass a vote of censure on thirst: honourable vaiiins, and can‘ian theai to ignominy for life?—(The Learned tiatieman sat down amidst considerable cheering). Mr. J. WILLIAMS said, that his Honourable and Limined Finnic', for whom he had the weatest respect, aud the mildness of whose rea s oning formed so striking a contrast to the proceedings which he had undertaken to vindicate, had thought proper, in the commence ment of his address, to stare that this question was en tirely new—and he (Mr. Williams) must be ',ermined to add, that one line of the defence furnished by his ilonoarab;e and Learned Friend was at least equally remarkable for its novelty—(llear) for neither in the itboured researches of the Colonial Sect etary, nor in the ingenious reasoning of his Honourable and Learned Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Scariett) %Ns the: e any allusion to that obscure law which his Honourable and Lt-arned Friend had brought into the conflict to-night. To the stores of the Dutch commen tators learned in the law, the Deputy Judge-Advocate had never dreamt of referring; he contented himself rtrh applying to the authority of Mr. Justice Black stone—he appealed to the provisions of the Mutiny Act —but never until this night had it occurred to any one to resort to the subterfuge to which his Honourable and Darned Friend (Mr. Tindall) had recurred. It was upon Air. Smith's own admission, and u i ,on no other evi dence, that he was at all inculpated at Demerara or maligned in England ; for the testimony of Sewn went no further than to charge him with not snaking known, on the Sunday evening, at six o'clock, a revolt that was open and notorious at half-past four on the same day. The evidence of Bristol and Manuel did not bring home to Air. Smith any cognizance of treason. lie would admit that it. was nut necessary that treason should have been completed in order to implicate a party in the misprision of it ; but still it was essential that there should have been a disclosure of treason for that purpose. ]fete there was no disa Ile denied that Mr. Smith was acquainted with any complete or specified treason on the part of the Negroes, Lor could the evidence be so distorted as to make such appear. The Honourable Member here entered into a strict scrutiny of the depositions of Bristol, Manuel, and Peter, and from which he inferred that there was no proof of treason having existed. The conduct of the Negroes was no mote than an indefinite and undigested plan for the amelioration of their unhappy condition. Jr. Smith's behaviour throughout was uniform and consistent ; not an expression nor an action was attri buted to him but such as discouraged and discounte nanced all attempts at violence. lie (Mr. Williams). challenged any Honourable Alember to point out any cot cet tcd measures or specific scheme to overturn the - elision or the government of the country, in which kit. Smith had been concerned, and therefore he could *-,t be charged with nriptision of treason, and it was 7 !lerefure a scandal to turn him over Lobe tried by such tribunal as a Court-martial, w hich was a satire on 14w, .7:d a condemnation of the country where it existed. Aese legislators, who had been eulogised by his Hon. tend the Member for Peter borough, were so happily versed in the laws they were called on to dispense, that, tv, ithstanding one of them had been described as a kcflow (1 . Trinity College, Cambridge, and might there t,re, according to his Learned and Honourable Friend's be supposed to have some knowledge of law . --yet, notwithstanding all this, these humane judges cl Mr. Smith had forced against him a portion of What he had said, yet they refused to hear him in exilanation of it—(Clies of Hear, hear, hear").""'' Tilt whole chitue agiiust Mr. Smith was, that be had heard of something like a plan which might perhaps have been enforced at some distant period, unless their grievances were attended to, yet his Judges had imputed to him a desire to revolutionize the Co lony, of which he was to become Emperor, and to have a black Administration ender him ; but front all that he had ever heard of Mr. Smith, if indeed he did dream of kingdoms, they were not kingdoms of this world—(Hear).—His demeanour was humble, modest, and retiring. Yet this was the man who was accused of dreaming of empires. " Imperiumfasces legions." These sapient Judges also found Mr. Smith guilty of the first charge, but ac quitted him of the intent, which was the very essence of the charge. Gun defend hint front ever being put on his trial before such Judges—such Fellows of Trinity College—such Daniels, or rather, he would say, &acmes and Rhadainanthuses—(Hear).— The Deputy Judge Advocate of Demerara had also studied law so conveniently, that he had declared that the fourth charge was satisfied, by its having been proved that Mr. Smith was in the presence of Quaniiirt on the 19th of August. The, persecuted individual has been summoned before another tribunal, and before a more lenient Judge than those who tried him here. It should be remembered, that it was two months after tranquillity had been re stored, when no necessity existed, and when matters were dail; ' continuing to improve, that he was brought to his trial—atter time bad allowed the passions to grow cool, and the laws had resumed their accustomed fume, was he causelessly tried and sentenced, when there was no necessity for such an act : for necessity is the plea of tyranny. His Hon. Friend ( Mr. Tindall) had forgotten this circumstance in the course of his argument. The second charge against Smith was, that he met Quamina on the Wednesday before the insurrection, with the intent to give it his assistance ; but this was tint only without proof, it was against all the evidence which had been brought forward on the trial. The conduct of Smith was, on the contrary, invariably, and without the shadow of turning, to dissuade and drive from such a purpose, if such a purpose were communicated to him. lie (Mr. .1. IVidiains) would pause fur a moment to declare his rooted opinion, that it was not Mr. Smith who had been attacked in the present instance, but it was all instruction, all religious instruction, from a belief that the mild principles of Christianity, and the principles at which human na ture shudders, could not long endure together—(hear, hear, hear.) Ile would ask, how did it hap;:to th:it Smith should have been per secuted, and I Ismiltun spared? It was because he was no Mis sionary, and had no partiality except for additional punishment; yet he, who taught nothing, whose only instruction was torture, hal been spared, while the other had persecuted to death. If it were ladeed true that the Colonies could not be preserved but by the continuance of ignorance, then he would say, tear down your Chapels, recal your Clergy, and burn your Bibles ; but if it were, on the contrary, proved iiiar instruction . was the only means to ame liorate the condition of the stave population, then he would say, do not let us, because on the other side of the water an idea prevails that slavery and n-ligion cannot exist together, give our sanction to an act of gross injustice. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL was ready to admit this to be a most important question. He did not think it necessary here to acknowledge that had he sat upon this Court-martial upon the evidence ;as it now appeared upon paper, he should have come to the same conclu sion they bad done—(Hear, hear). But the persons who sat on this Court-martial, were persons of high honour and integrity, and it was not sufficient that this Court had come to a judgment in the filament of danger dif ferent to that which, on revision and consideration, the House of Commons, sitting in perfect safety, would have come to; let Gentlemen look at the state of De merara, and the danger to which the Whites were ex posed, and then say if it was not the duty of the Governor to act with vigour. The safety of the white population was at stake, and Martial Law was proclaimed. It was acceded that this was a necessary step, but it was said, " Oh ! but the rebellion WAS put down, and so ought, Martial Law." He was prepared to contend that we, at this distance from the „spot, were not capable of judging of that circumstance : the Authorities of the Colony alone could judge of that. The Gover nor, in one of his dispatches, said the disturbances were put down, but the negroes were still sullen and brood ing over their disappointment ; and though anxious to get lid of Martial Law, he considered it unad visable at present to put an end to it. Could the Honourable and Learned Gentleman say, that we, at this distance from the spot, were better able to judge of this fact tlian the Governor was? The Honourable and Learned Gentleman then proceeded to comment upon the formation of the" Court-martial, and on the conduct of Mr. Preadent Rae. Much had been saii of heat say evidence having been received. Why hearsay evidence would have been received by the ordinary tri bunals ; and although we, attached to our own institu. tionc, felt indignant at such a course, yet every lawyer . knew that in most countries, and amongst others in' France, hearsay evidence was received by ail tribunals. The Learned Member then proceeded to docribe the constitution of the regular Courts at Demerara, a majority of the members of which were planters ; and he contended, that to have been tried before such a Tribunal would have been a great disadvantage to Mr. Smith. Next, as to the law of mispri - ' of treason, was not his Honourable and Learned Friend aware, that misprision of trea son, by the law of Demerara, would not only subject a person to death, but to a cruel death? Now, did Mr. Smith know any thing of this intended insurrection? Look at his own let ter, in which he says, " I knew that something was in agitation, but I did not consider it right to ask any questions." Now, after this, could any person doubt that he was aware Of their intention ? (Hear.)—lt was plain he knew of it; but what was his defence? why, that he wa, so alarmed and agitated he did not know what to do. Now did his letter indicate any such alarm? Certainly not. Next did he, when he had obtained information, take any step for the purpose of giving information to the Governor or Overseer? Ile knew at six o'clock that the rising was to take place at seven. At six he walked out with Mrs. Smith. Which way did they go? Towards the Overseer's house, half a mile dia. tant ? Oh, no! they went directly the other way.—The lion. and Learned Gentleman proceeded to comment on the evidence, and to draw a conclusion from it that there was full ground for justifying the Court in coming to the judgment they had done. Looking at this evidence, through the medium of the notes that had been pub lished, he might not, perhaps, pronounce the same opinion on Mr. Smith's caik th:.t the Court at Demerara had done; hut he did be-' hese that that Court had been perfectly impartial, and strenuously desirous of administering justice between the country on the one hand, and the prisoner on the other—(Hear, hear.) Mr. WILBERFORCE rose amidst loud and long continued cheering, but the Honourable Gentleman was almost inaudible in the gallery. He began by saying, that after the able arguments which had been so forci. bly urged upon the House by his Honourable and Leal ned Friends, he would not, by attempting to com ment upon the particular facts of this matter, weaken the powerful impression which these arguments must have produced upon the minds of all men who heard them—that a more unjust and shameful violation of all the great principles of law, religion, and humanity had never been committed, than had been committed in the case of 31r. Smith—(heer). The course which had been pursued by dis e able men who had in that House endeavoured to sustain—the defence he would not sir) —but who had attempted the palliation of the conduct of the Court-martial had been this—they had addressed themselves to one or two particular facts out of the immense number which had been adduced to shew the partiality of the conduct adopted towards this much wronged and excellent Minister; and if there happened to be parts in which that partiality was not quite so glaring and apparent as the others, they cot.tended, upon the strength of them, for the entire acquittal of the Court-martial and the Government of the island. It was to be remembered that for many years the pub lic prints (of the colony-)—had been constantly ex citing the strongest prejudices against Mr. Smith and his usefili and pious labours, by a persevering course of unvaried calumny. And this was not the least of the many and cruel disadvantages with which the unfortunate Gentleman had to contend upon his trial. And here it might be allowed him (Mr. Wilber- force) to tell the Honourable and Learned Gentleman:, who spoke last, that he had omitted out of his argu-1' ment one very material consideration indeed; for were it possible to imagine that all Mr. Smith's judges were as devoid of prejudice as could hate been wished, he had still to complain of being tried under the mutiny law, and by a Military Court ; for had he been tried by the ordinary Courts of the colony, he would have had the benefit of an appeal to the tribunals of this country. In his situation, he (Mr. Wilberforce) certainly would have preferred to be tried in some way that would have given him the benefit of an appeal from the cruel and eppressive treatment to which he was subjected (Hear, he ar.) Again, it was impossible to conceive anythingmore unjust, or more oppressive and objec tionable than the evidence taken before the Court-mar tial, and the manner in which it "was taken. Here the Honourable Gentleman objected to the manner in which Mr. Smith's journal had been seized and used as evidence). Ile should like to have seen what would have been the indignation excited in this couatt y, in the public mind, and particularly in that vene rable body with which Mr. Smith was connected (the Missionary Society, by such violations of all the pi i vacies and retirement of domestic life, and ell the de cencies of moral society. What would have been said by that venerable body to which he was adverting, con stituted a, it was for the defence of the religion of the country, when they found the Judge-Advocate, for example, expressing himself in terms of concern that Mr. Smith would not allow, in tact, the sl Ives to vio late the Sabbath ; and would not iiitroducea religion better adapted to them and their habits? What would they have said here in England, if that passage of %lr. Smith's journal had been brought before them, in which it was recorded that one of the man igers in the Co-' Tony of tkrne , ara had flogged a Christian slave, merely, as it was admitted, to spite the Minister ?—(Hear, hear.) Or that other part, where Mr. Smith had written thus: —" My very heart flatters at hearing this almost inces sant cracking of the whip." But the case for the de fence of this Court-martial, aid its proceedings, had really been argued almost to an admission that persons %IA) lived in these colonies acquired particular feelings, and habits, and characters, different from those 4 which persons possessed in this country. Why, therefore the properties and liberties of individuals who resided in then) were very likely to be well considered and pro-, tected by tribunals so composed—(Hear, hear).—But,. in truth, this was another argument in favour of the benefit of an appeal. It was in vain for the House to be told that the individuals who composed this Court martial must, of course, be unprejudiced men ; for he and his Honourable Friends well knew that both naval and military officers acquired habits, and feelings, and opinions upon the slave question, and all interference with it, which did vitiate their judgments to a great degree. It was notorious, also, that 40 years ago, before any of those ameliorating statutes that were now in existence had passed—statutes by which the condition of the islands and colonies was allowed upon all hands to have been so vastly improved—when all those abuses and oppressions which at that time disgraced the West In dies were in their full vigour, there were not wanting Judges, and Genes al, and Admitals in Englane, a ho de clared, from their own experience and observation too, that the system of slavery and slave management in the West Indies was as perfect, and as proper, and as free from all objections as possibly could be—(A laugh). He himself bad often heatd a naval commander—a most .highly valued friend of Isis, a just, a wise, a grave, and a good man—who bad positively cloned his approbation so far, as to express a w ish that be was one of those slaves himself—(A laugh, and cries of" Hear"). Local influence and conversation gave to these gentle men's views a tincture of moral distortion. Upon the present painful occasion, it was some gratification to find that the: e was no individual in that anise who had undertaken to defend the conduct, and still less the sentence, of this Court-martial; and not one who said he thought that Mr. Smith was guilty of the crimes imputed to him—( f/car). For although Gentlemen opposite were for putting the whole issue upon mispri sion of treason, yet it was to be observed that the Court martial imputed to him that he had really formed a design, and prosecuted it for many years, of foment ing discontent and dissatisfaction among the Negroes, had advised concerning an intended rebellion with ne .ro slaves, and had harboured rebels—(Hear, hear). Now, he did believe Mr. Smith to have been at any rate a rational man—that he was a holy and excellent man he had no doubt. But bow could a rational man, under the peculiar circumstances of this colony, have ever formed any such designs—formed, as they were supposed to be, to effect his own destruction and that of every white family ? But if the House gave him credit for those attainments which he was known to possess, how much was the imptobability of the whole story in creased ?—That a man of talent, who for a number of years had exercised himself in a course of conduct and of duty exactly worthy of that highest of all moral stations, a Christian Missionary—a man, of whom he would only say that his life had been equal to his sta tion—( Hear)—how a Minister who thus fulfilled his calling could have wickedly engaged in a cause fraught with consequences from which the must wi:ked men alive would have shrunk with honor—this was a para ' dsix to him (Mr. Wilberforce) inexplicable. But if .he was weak rather than wicked, his foolishness appeared even yet more incredible. Where was his hope of safety in any event ? In the event of the success of an insurrec tion, in which he had been:described to haveso busied him self; could he really have ever imagosed that the colony could resist the whole force of this country, which would have been employed, if necessary, for its recovery? (Hear.) Was it possible to believe this? Was it possible not to observe, from first to last, the curious ingenuity, worthy of any grand inquisitor that ever graced the Holy Office, after being well disciplinedin all the casuistry of the Jesuits, that pervaded throughout the whole pro tees the conduct of the Advocate-General ? Everything was tortured to his own view of the case, particularly in adverting to the passages selected horn Mr. Smith's • Journal; every unguarded expression that be might have used at any time in his life was arrayed against him by this officer, with a degree of cruel malignity that never was exceeded. The Hon. Gentleman then ad verted to the recent resolutions passed by the House of Commons, in favour of the slave-amelioration, arid edu ' cation ; and contended that the principles advanced by the Advocate-General, and those which were pro . mulgated in the Demerara Gazette, (a paper tinder stood to be directly patronized by the Colonial Go- I *eminent), were in direct and unseemly opposition to the recorded sentiments and intentions of that House. He then added, that unless the motion of his Honourable and Learned Friend were complied with, all the mea sures on behalf of the negroes, and with the view of pro . - viding them with a religious education, would be ten- dered nugatory. He remained firmly convineld that - this' good and excellent man, Mr, Smith, had not the slightest knowledge of any intention on the part of the negroes of Demerara to revolt. The Honourable Gentleman pronounced a warm ettlogt up•n the cha racter and the virtues of Mr. Smith ; and pre•sed upon ' the House the testimony of Mr. rtistiol as that to hich they should attach additional value, t Ofil the circum stance of his having been at first pteithiick.d against that Gentleman and hi, labonis, and being site. ,t ards con vinced of their vast. utiiity by inquiry and'exatitination ; and finally, atter animadverting on the cruelty of Mr. Smith's imprisonment, especially Ittt , king to the de• dining state of his health,which wasevii,cea by hits speedy death alter a short confinement, t:le 11=ii.ourabie Gen- demati declared his intention of ippor Lug the resolu tion of his Hon. and Learned F. iend (Nlr. lhoughain). Mr. Secretary C A N NING—" Sir, n hatever eiffeience of opinion, or whatever shades of difference the,Houte may entertain as to the vote to which they ought to come upon this ques:ion, there is one point in which all must agree—that it is one oldie mo s t painful that could possibly engage their attention—(Elear, /rear).—lnJeed, I scarcely recollect any question of %%Inch I could say as I can of this, that there is no single part of it on which I can reflect with satisfaction. I differ from my Ilon. Friend upon one 'point, though I admit that he hac generally placed the question uvon a for issue. I deny that the noose is obliged, on one hand, to defend every act of the Court-martial, or, on the other, to conclude that the unfortunAte Gentleman who forms the subject of this discussion, is entitled to the considei a- Lion and character of a martyr—(llear, heat).-1 dis. claim t.0 . .11 those extravagant opinions —(Hear)—and I hope to shew to the House, that they can exercise their duty in this unhappy case without committing them selves in either ext:avagance. It is one of the common ' artifices of debate to attempt to throw on the Givern• meat, as the Iloneurable and Learned Gentlemen has clone, the task of proceeding step by step throutth the whold of this anomalous and difficult case. I ‘do not hold that I am hound to such a courbe; and differing, as I do, from the honourable and Lem ned Gentleman, I hope to chew that my dissent is peilectly cinksistent with justice; though I shall not i,limtify my opinions with those for which Nlr. Smith was uied,. nor with the sentence by which he was condemned—(llear). The charge which the Honourable and Leat ned Geotleman had brought forward, turned first upon the incompe tent juri diction of the Court; secondly, the illegality of the proceedings; and, thirdly, the violence and in justice of the sentence. It has been said, that no one can oppose the Resolution who is not prepared to main tain the guilt of Mr. S Liar. From that opinion I also dissent, though I ful:y admit the talent which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman has shewn, and concur in. thinking that the country is indebted to him for having brought the subject under the consideration of Parlia ment. But with all those feelings in my mind, L have no difficulty in stating, that of the crime, call it what you will, with which Mr. Smiths was charged, of con cealing a danger from the knowledge of Government, which he knew to have existed, is one of which I cannot acquit him—(i. ear, hear, front the Mini Aerial Benches). I ascribe no motives to lOs conduct, but the fact itself; such is my conscientious After the most painful and lahot ions itivesugation of all the documents that were calculated to t - :row upon the subject, I declare noon my honour, that 1 tl itik he knew that which, it he had known its evil clots acLer, he ought to have told ; and which, it he had but an in oinary portion of discretion, he must have known to he mis chievous—(!hear, ht ar.fi nu the iUuaiateriat Beaches)._ Whether the remains of the original Dutch Cullom'. tion, or whether the nature of Coto ts-martial w at ranted the punishment which was assigned to the offence, I have not the knowledge to deciale ; but when I am asked to inculpate the Court-martial in a crime of minder, I must inquire whether they had any ioccedents to war• rant them in the course they tuck, and I must hear the defence which they are capasle of making. It is a very different thing to agree to the condemnation of a Court martial, in the terms of the motion, and to defend the sentence which they thought proper to pronounce. If I were to defend that sentence, I must, as part of the Executive Government, make myself responsible for its legality ; but it is already known to the House that, on the review of these proceedings, the Government did not hesitate for a moment to annul the sentence— (Hear, hen r).—lint I cannot, as a Member of Parliament, condemn that tribunal unheard. It is one mitigating feature at least, in the conduct of the Court-martial, that, in pronouncing sentence, they allowed the pri soner the only benefit to be found in the law of De merara, I mean, the advantage of an appeal—(Hear), They accompanied their sentence with a recommenda tion to mercy, not in an occasional way ; not in a manner that might be passed over negligently or lightly, but attached as it were to the sentence, and thus urged with a force that carried with it its own exe cution; for it is not to be supposed 'that an appeal to the King in Council, sitting in the light and libel ty of this free country, could have refused to compli . with a recommendation so urged and so applied. It is no fault of mine, if I am obliged to resort to conjecture, to ac count for the ptefet cave which the Court-martial gave to a severe course, rather than to a mild one. Many may ask why, if the sentence was accompanied with a recommendation to mercy, they did not enact some milder punishment, omitting the recommendation?... Why transportation from the Colony, or imprisonment were not inflicted? I account for it in this way, that whatever other punishment they might have assigned, could not have been delayed, and that by choosing the severest sentence, they satisfied the inflamed feelings of the Colony, which I do not pretend to disguise; and at the same time provided for the rescue of the individual. — When first Mr. Smith was taken up, application was made to the Government here, to deliver him from Co lonial prejudice, and bring him home to trial ; a letter was dispatched, in consequence, by the Secretary of State, requiring, that if proceedings were not yet com menced in the case of Mr. Smith, he should be sent to England. The note did not arrive in time, and there fore was not acted on. But where is the fault—if fault there be, when proceedings were commenced before a competent tribunal, when there is no reason to.presume the existence of malice ? %There ig the fault to justify such a censure as now proposed? What reason js there, agist: ate, .your will n w o h t e p n e i r t m i t i h t e hisase .of an ordinary that t c ; i o n t e l call e d into question without some proof of ni e„ ti requiring similar bunal with the heavy c ensure of Parliament? The proof, in this instance visit t he Tri ci Tri bunal in the Colony by which he could be faiAlz.tried, more you press the argument that there Was.Po the more was the Government justified in taking him out of the hands of the Colohial Tribunalkand .p4acios him In a situation to - be tried- by euesr *sweated with ' 4 it I