Star. — London, England, 1828-02-11 00:00:00

..-..... aa---- z..: -----.....------ Te -- ; -- a - - ....................... which can come under the utittpahVaay Le b islat Ire. His Majesty's Ministers do not seem th have heel) atitare: that the ati A liva Law affords already a certain degree ...t,, • , • of protrcrfo ito h t Inasir from the designs of enthu -04.4- ' s. .. 'ZI`, giattastid necessi'ous preachers. The dis.llowince of " 'then - fa/ taw will only compel him to exact more con. • stately, and perhaps more rigorously, his authority as master; and if he cannot by law punish the religious extortioner, he can at least punish the trespasser, and drive him off his lands; and he can keep his slave within limits whete no preacher dare intrude. The House must regret that, having extended the rights of the slave, and abridged the authority of the Master, in the hope of giving satisfaction to the King, their intentions and their law should be so strangely misunderstood as to be made the plea for depriving them of a large part of their constitutional privileges. What privileges are left to them are of trifling value, since they too may be r educed, or altogether taken away, whenever it may please h is Majesty s Ministers to be discontented with the use that is made of them. The House little expected that the very disrtch that bears such m irked respect to mendicant bectarians, would contain a mandate that overturns the ancient and acknowledged Constitution of this important island. His Majesty's Ministers "do not consider tl e Cr un cil of protection, established under the thirty-third clause of the new Act, an effectual substitute fur the office of a distinct and independent Protector." This House will-never consent to fix an onmerited stigma on their constituents, by sanctioning the introduction of a spy into the bosom of Society, under the name of a Protector of Slaves, and by admitting, in the face of truth, that our laws are not maintained and respected by the people. The House never 'will sanction the hu miliating and unjust conclusion, that our Magistracy are incapable of discharging honestly and efficiently the duties imposed on them. Such an anomaly was never before heard of ist a countty having its own laws and legislature, as the introduction of officers from a distant kingdom to keep watch upon the inhabitant, to pry into their actions, and to put thereon whatever construction they please, or rather to construction that will best please the persons that arpoint them and pay them.— Besides the shame of being subjected to such controul and superintendence, what truth and justice could be hoped for from men, who are to be independent both in purse and character of the people they are to reside amongst? Looking to Great Britain, and, postis bly, to the bitter enemies of the colonies, for reward and praise, either of which they can only expect in propor tion to the diligence they exercise in their inquisitorial office, it is impossible to doubt that the most innocent , actions will appear suspicious ; that no one would dare to inflict the most necessary chastisement on his slaves, lest he incur the imputation of cruelty; and that, cornea quently, insubordination will ensue, and the free lobes' bitants will be forced to abandon their possessions. His Mjesty's subjects of this island will never permit this 1 novel inquisition to be established am.sngst them, nor ,will they ever cease to regard the proposition to introduce it as the artfully devised plan of our enemies and rivals to destroy the colony, by rendering the slaves dis .bedient and valueless, and thereby inducing a voluntary and uncompensated surrender of the claims of the owner to their services. But, throwing aside cur rights of pro perty, as Englishmen ourselves, and the descendants of Englishmen, we view with abhortence that minute in terference al:hour domestic affairs, which is only exer cised by the weakest Governmedts, and yielded to by the most degraded to,mlation. Mr. Huskisson 's dispatch proceeds to state; " that in the provisions for the doe observance of Sunday, I re mark that the continuance cf the mai kets on that day till the hour of eleven is contemplated as a permanent reguiati n. It is however, impossible to sanction this systematic violation a the law prevailing in every other Christian country." In the proposals transmitted by Lord Bathurst to his Grace the Duke of Manchester a estempoiary departure from this rule was permitted, but only as a relaxation required by peculiar and tran sitory circum-tances." In reply to this annseasureil reprobation of the sixth clause of the Disallowed Act, it might be sufficient to say, that by the old law the markets are permitted to be held till Sunday night (except during the hours of Divine Service), and that the restriction to eleven o'clock in the morning was undeniably an improvement on the ancient mode of:observing the S tbbath. It is submitted that this amendment of the law does not m-rit the re proach of a systematic violation of the Sabbath; nor were the House assured, until informed thereof by the dispatch of Mr. Huskisson, that Sunday was held sacred for religious worship by -the laws of every Christian country, Jamaica only excepted. It was supposed by the House that in all Catholic, and mast Protestant. States, Sunday is considered a day of tectettion, and even sometimes of agricultural labour. Nevertheless, though somewhat averse to deprive the slaves of their accustomed relaxation, and to limit tl e hours of mar keting, which it was apprehended would create, and actually did create mach dissatisfaction, and some tumult, the House, so far from contemplating the sys tematic violation of the Sabbath, complied almost with the letter of Lord Bathurst's filth proposition. They ventured, it is true, to extend the time limited in the proposition from ten till eleven o'clock, that the more distant negroes might participate in the advantage of the market. Mr. Huskisson and his Majesty's Ministers seem to have overlooked the last clse of the Disal 'rset! Act, limiting its duration to t ree yearlyother wise they neverwould have contemplad theconthtuauco of the markets on Sunday till the bohr of eleven ' or any other clause of the Act, as a permanent regulation. It is apprehended by the House that there is no am biguity in the clauses denouncing penalties on persons employing •heir slaves to labour on Sunday. The eighth clause enacts "that slaves emit be allowed one day in every fortnight, exclusive of SendayerSo culti vate their own provision grounds, except during the time of crop, under the penalty of 20i. to be recovered against the overseer or person having the care of such slaves." The plain interpretation of this elan:Xis, that to work negro.% on Sundays, except during crop, is an offence punishable by a fine of 2tfl. and to prevent too much latitude to this exception, the tenth clause provides that, even during crop, slaves shall be exempted from the erditiary labour of the estate on Sundays, and that no mill ‘hall be put about between the hours of 7 o'clock on Saturday night and five o'clock on Monday morn ing ; and, as it is not provided by the law that owners may persuade or hire their slaves to work on Sunday, the House conceive that the penalty would be ckarly incurred, whether the labour was extorted by compul- Sion, or induced by persuasion. or purchased by money. It was not thought proper to make 4 , provision for those' of unavoidable necessity, which Mould create an kite to the general rule," because is is scarcely se define all the cases of unavoidable siecessity may arise, and it was considered that the distin )g such cases from the usual plantation labour ;hk be safely left to the tribunals. t,ty is inspecting punishments, inflicted by eases of exceimio c si that ma guishiq altkb thF &mettle ayu.ority. of :the wareer, thi; fluuse:tepry that, alter the him( attentivelavesiigation of the•ststi jeet 'twit determined that a report, of punishments in. flicied, to a public officer, would be only throwing out a temptation to evasion and perjury, *hem undue seve rity WAS practised, and would be troublesome and ufe less where the slaves were humanely treated ; and would also be incomplete without the creation of new officers and a new office.. Any inctease tt thiburthens of the island_cannot be endured. whilst it remains in its present poor and tottering condition ; and the House Mint lassetve, in answer to this and others of Lord Ba thurst's propsitions, that they are conceived under the mistaken impression that our slaves are miserable and abject, our free inhabitants lawless and tyrannical, and our magistracy isnotant and prejudiced, and without authority to maintain ihe laws. The inhabitants of Jamaica do not deserve these imputations, and the House cannot be expected to legislate as if they did deserv: them. The presence of free witnesses at the infliction of pu• nishm• nt is not declared necessary, because the island is too ext• nsive, 'and too thinly peopled, to make the execution of such a regulati• , n practicable, even were no other inconveniences apprehended from it; and the law does not require that an interval should elapse be tween tl'e commission of the crime and the infliction cf the punishment, because, where only a slight punish ment is deserved, it migt.t be necepary to confine the culprit till the hour of punishment au ived, which would add to the penalty of his offence, and, in more serious offences, to postpone the punishment is .to give the offender a chance of escape. Evlty plantation cannot be provided with a secure prison for the detention of culprits under sentence ; the particular time of punish. anent wac, theretOre. left to the di.cre ion of the mat ter or overseer. Mr. Huakisscn says the law would not be broken, whatever might he the severity of the pu nisliment, if it were inflicted by any other method than that of whipping or imprisonment." If .Ir. I - lu•kisson will refer to the 83d clauie, he vt ill di tout r that he has fallen into a usost important error. It is there p.ovided that " if any persof, shall mutilate, or direct or cause It to muii.ate, dismember, wantonly or crudily whip, mal treat, beat, bruise, wound, or imprison, or keep in con finement without sufficieht support, of brand, any slave or slaves, he shall be punished by fine, not exceeding 100/. or imprisonment, not exceeding twelve months, or both ; and the slaves so mutilated or otherwise mal treated, shall, in atrocious cases, be manumitted by the Court be. ore whom the offender shall have been con victed." And moreover, the fine of 1001. is to be paid to the Justices and Ves.ry of the parish to which the slave belongs, who shall, in consideration thereof, pay to the suffering slave a pension of 101. per annum for his life; and, in case the owner or owners of such slave or slaves shall appear capable of paying the costs and charges of such prosecution, the Justices and Vestry are empowered to commence a suit against such owner or owners of such slave or slaves, and recover all costs and charges out of purse paid by them, laid out,,and ex pended on such suit. 'the House conceive that there cannot possibly exist an instance of cruelty or severity that is not punishable by this clause ; it c.•ntains a com plete enumeration of every possible case of personal ill trea:ment, and its efficacy is proved by several con. vict:ons. Mr. Huskisson closes the paragraph with these re mark.: " The use of the wh•p in the field is not for hidden. Women are not exempted from punishment by flogging. Nor is any presu.npti , n of guilt to Arise, if tl:e slave shall make a pi. !sable, particular, and con sistent charge against his owner, confirmed by the es hi birion of his person bearing the marks of recent and illegal punishment. The whip is not forbidden in the field, lest the aban donment too suddenly if a lot:g e•tablished usage should be misunderstood by the slates. Oa many properties the whip is no longet an instrument • f punishment, and the use of it will soon be so generally discontinued, as to enable the Lvgislatute to restrict or abolish it by law. Oita negro women have a• tilled more of the sense of ..hame that distinguishes Eutopean females, it will be impossible, in re.pect to them, to lay aside altogether punishment by flogging, there being no substitute that promises to be acc, mpanied with the same salutary dread. By the I-30th clause of the Di allowed Act, slave evidence is admissible in cases of " rape, mutihtion, branding, dismembei ing, or cruelly beating or confining, without sufficient support, a slave or slaves." And the House cannot avoid t.. e express on of their surprise - that his Majesty's Government have a. , entirely overlooked ' this clause as to imagine that no presurisption olguilt is to arise under the citcumstances mentioned in the close of the abOve tsti.ict. It is difficult to conceive a case in which either, by direct or circumstantial evidence, a guilty person will not be convicted under this clause'. If, however, his Majesty's (love' nme3t would iissi,t that the marks of ill treatment alone, without other evirreiree than the ass rtion of the m .Itreated slave, are to be suffi cient to insure convic:ion, the House can only regret that they feel it to be impossible to place the lives, per• sons, and properties of their constitue .ts at hazard, on what appears to them such unsatisfactory and uncertain proofs of guilt. It is complained that the Disallowed Act "sanctions an unlimited delegari n of punishment, even to slaves, provided that the correction does not exceed ten lashes." It must frequently occur that slaves ate pladed in su perintendence over their fellow slaves, and, unless they possess some power of punishment, their authority will not be submitted to. It was therefore thought that ten lashes, which may not be repeated in the same day, was the most moderate limitation of the power of in flicting punishment which could be delegated to a negro in authority, consistent with the maintenance of good order and obedience. And it appears to the House not quite consistent with the r nlargedriews of Govet ntnent in favour of the slaves, th.t the most confidential amongst them should be denied the limited power entrusted to them by this Act. Fir if slaves, however well behaved, are regarded as onfit apportioners of a slight punish ment, they must also be considered as unworthy to be' distinguished in any way from their fellows, and rile best encouragement for good conduct will be taken away. The Legislature did not deprive the owner of the power of inflicting punishment to the extent of -39 lab's on his slave, because, however humane a contrary opt m may at first sight appear, it would be found, in practice, to have rather an opposite tencency. Under the erjstingay:tem the maste r i s accustome d to polish his slaves for al.r,ost every offence of which they are guilty, and it often happens 'bat 39 lashes are inflicted by his Ludes for crimes which, in the eye of the law, are punishable with transportation and death. It is not prexeaded that offenders, in strict justice, should thus evade the penalty of their misdeeds, yet the House, in passing an Act to meliorate the condition of the slaves. would have been scarcely justifiable, had they indirectly adtied to the severity of the laws against them. But it must be remarked that, if 39, or any other outlaw of lashes are inflicted in a cruel manner, the master is exemplary punishrtieat. It is objected to the thirty-sixth and thirty seventh 'clauses, their they authrolse private persons t* commit their slaves.:to prison, without the w A rraiit of a Justice of the l'eace, and enable the gaoler to inflict punish ? went by whipping without trial: It has been found expedient to leave in the hands of the master that power over the person of the slave, by the immediate exertion of which any symptoms of disobedience may he sup. pressed. If the master or superintendent is on all occa sions to.seek-the intervention of the magistrates or of a , jury. his authority would Se •datogerousiy weakened.— The Legislature has carefully , guarded aFainst the abuse. of the master's power, but he cannot be deprived of it s ithout hazarding the everthrow of the system itself. The House, in answet to the Observation, that the fine of 101. for inflicting repeated punishments for the same offence can scarcely be incurted," adduce the fact,l that the penalty bas already been levied on the mere testimony of the slave, and the refusal of the offender to contradict the slave's testimony. If a workhouse keeper inflicts an excessive number of lashes, the punishment is not 101. only, as his Majesty's Government apprehends ; his offence comes under the clause that provides against wantonly or cruelly whip ping or mutilating slaves, and is punishable with fine and imprisonment. _ _ _ Mr. Huskisson, in his zeal for a protectorate of slaves,' " fears that the complaint which the slave is authorized to make before the magistrates, would not he a very effectual messis of redress." The House can assure Mr. Huskisson that his fear is unfounded, and that a protec tor of slaves would be a useless officer in any part of the island, the magistracy having too much regard to the oaths and the sacred duties of their office to violate the oneTand neglect the other, fur the purpose of shel tering cruelty or opptession. Mr. Flu .kisson observes —" As every groundless complaint is to be punished, it is to be fea►e.f that many well founded complaints will not be pretested." The clause is mis-stated—it runs thus If it shall api ear to the Justices of the Peace . that the complaint of such slave is frivolous and unfounded, it shall be lawful for them, sad they are hereby required, to dis miss the complaint, or to direct such punishment, by confinement to hard labour or shipping, or both, :as to them may seem proper." If this disc:eti.ut was not left to ,the Council of Pi otecririn to punish I rivolous complaints, negroes %%fluid be c•unstantly in the r oad to and about the police nth es, and never at their work. The House cannot think it m crises y to defend the testiictions on marriage, since it 'is admitted by Mr. Huskisson, that similar restrictions are imposed in Eng. land by the Marriage Act of George the Second. He is pleased to term the influence of the Dissenting Mi nisters y ;" the House has thought such influ ence may sometimes be pernicious, and they ate not yet prepared to extend it over the marriages of thek slaves. The House conceived that the holy contract of marriage should not be entered into without some know ledge of its nature and obligations, and they confess thems• lees to be yet of the same opinion. Mr. Huskiss son observes that no registry of the marl lage of slaves is kept. The House du not know why such registry' should be thought requisite, and the espence is an in surmountable objection, even were some degree of uti lity to be derived from the measure. There is, how. ever, a register of slave marriages kept in every parish 'and if Mr. Huskisson had referred to the 6th of Geo. IV. cap. 17, sec. 41, he would have found that the Rector and Curate of each parish are compelled to keep a separate register for slaves. Mr. Iluskisson remarks, " on the subject of the separation of relatives, the word " family" is left without a definition. It is susceptible of so many different meanings, that it would seem pe-' culiarly necessary to ascertain the precise sense in which. it is used. The rule laid down in this law seems also to require some better sanction. It is simply a direc tion, to the P.sivost Marshal: but if he should disobey that direction, it is not provided that the sale should. be, void. A provision appears to be wanting for enabling the officer to ascertain whether any particular slave is or is not a member of the family." The word Family is not left undefined by the law, as Mr. Huskisson imagises. It is declared by the' sth 1 clause of the Disallowed Act' to mean " a man and his wife, end his or their children;" and if, at a Provost Marsh sl's sale, parents are separated from their children, or vice versa, it brothers and sisters are divided; the Supreme Court will annul the sale as a matter of course. And it i, to be further remarked of the sth clause, that it is only an extension ni the Bth of Geo. 11. cap. 5, by which the Provost Marshal only and his deputies are restricted to sales of fssnsilies; but by the Disallowed Act the Collectors of all public and parish taxes are included in the re•trictiol. ' The House admit that tie property of slaves appears Ito be inadequately t rotected: hut it was found imprae ticable to pea mit slaves to appear as suitors the courts ,of justice, without in a great degtee undermining their depend, nce on their owners. it is impossible to pass laws for slaves as if they were free persons ; and, it slaves labour under any unavoidable disabilities, they alsoenjoy many immunities. If slaves cannot sue they cannot be sued. Their persons are sacred to all but their owners and their laws. his utterly inconsistent with a state of slavery to give slaves the freedom of action that is indispensable to enable them to collect witnesses, to consult lawyers, and to attend crams; and it is dif ' ficult to devise a mode by which slaves shall be corn. pelted to pay their own debts without infringing on the property ut the master. The House, the land, the clothes ; the provisions, and tools of the slave, ate supplied by the owner, and no part thereof can, without the grossest injustice, be made liable for the debts of the slave ; and still less can the person.of the slave be placed at the dispOial of his creditor, that being alsO the property of his master. it is :thought by his Majesty's government, that to exclude slaves from acquiring any interest in land is impolitic and unneces,ary. Land cannot be a desirable acquisition to the slave, his duty to his owner not af:, fording him time to cultivate more land than.the por tion always allotted to him by his master for his main tenance. Mr. llaskisson has not accurately examined the Disallowed Act, or he would have avoided his several misconcep►ions of its pi ovisioni. He imagines thit in all cases of gratuitous and testamentary manumission, security is to be given for the maintenance of the slave. But it is provided by the stventy•sixth clause, that the manumission bond shall be dispensed with, on proof being given that he is not old or infirm; and by the sixty seventh clause, the bond is likewise dispensed with in devises of firedogs,. Mr. Huskisson " fears that, serious inconvenience may arise from the neglect to , provide a method, by which a slave can ascertain what particular person is entitled to receive the price of his freedom." This question comes under the head of compulsory manumission, the discos,ion of which Mr. Huskis►ou has postponed, and the House think it most advisable to follow his example: If Mr. Ifuslisson's , bservations be intended to apply to thst provision in the Disallowed A:t, which relates to the payusint of the pt ice of those voluntary manumissions, which it is the object of the Act 40 facilitate and enci urage, the House cannot perceive that•any difficulty exists. Tlie • pi ice is to he paid info the bands of the Genet al, under the direction of the Costos magistrate of the parish, whet e the slave to mitted resides—the latter person is. selected, !hat the utmost facility may be afforded in conci the treaty of sale. It is left by the seventy-fir of the Pisaßossed Act to the Conn of Chan, Supreme Court, on sumtnary petition, to decid claims of the persons entitled to the prir interests of the purchase money—the porch; freedom, as soon as lie his paid ' cite porc h into the Receiver General's O g ee,. ii v.h o ll from any difficulty or responsibility . as to the 'persons eutitled to receive it. It is to be ohser the sixty•seventh and the six following clar . Disallowed Act are re-enactments of the Act the fifth year of the present reign, chapter 2 " An Act for removing impediments to in, Of slaves' by owners; having only a limite, and were made to eittend to *Other Ea•eii embraced by that Act: • The House expected to obtain some credit sure which removed cot siderahle difficulties voluntary manumission of slaves, and under considerable increase in the number of mar has already taken place. Mr. Huskisson remarks that, " on the impor jest of the evidence of slaves, his Majesty is pleased to signify his approbation of the adv; has been made towards a better system of la reference to this subject, I am to observe, ill; appears to contemplate the a..lmission of the of slaves in thc.,e cases of crimes only in ss 'are usually either the actors or the :offerers, their evidence in other eases, a distinction not seem to rest on any solid foundation." The House rejoice that these i, a pert of lowed Act approved of by his M •jesty, alts much reservation. It is an error to suppo: evidence of slaves is only a imitted when the or sufferers. No pleader would dare to us.ak twa ill not Court). In the beginning of this cases ate quoted of free persons . having I partly or wholly convicted under this Act der oe of slaves, and - in one of t ese ea:es no either an actor or a Sufferer, yet the que admissibility of negro evidence was nut moot Counsel of the prisoner. The object of the Le, in ex. luding the evidence of unbar teed side encouragement and promotion of U.iistia was consider -A that the indiscriminate at slave evidence, and the attaching thereto the before only belonged to the evidence of fi would be too sudden an innovation on loug. usage ; and, moreover, as will hereafter proposition of Lord Bathurst did not incite to the indiscriminate admission of slave ev' It is observed by Mr. Huskisson, that " of the slave is convicted of any crime on the testimony the Court has no power of declaring the slave free, ski exercise that power when the conviction proceeds on . Highly important as it is to deprive a slave of every giving false evidence against his owner, that object mitt without incurring the inconvenience of leaving the power of an owner convicted of the extreme abuse of l By the thirty-fourth clause, already referred to, the power of declaring the slave free, if, by his or any col an atrocious case of teal-treatment is proved against the if Mr. Huskisson would have slaves manumitted in • • the owner is convicted of any offence on their testimo, have only to reply, that no further enactment will be insure the speedy manumission of all the slaves of the indeed, our Juries reject such suspicious testimony, to that mus: follow its reception. In declining to accede to the proposal " for establishini of the names of all slaves, sufficiently instructed to witnesses," the Colonial Legislature was governed b' 'that such registry would be burthensonse and usel unitary In slave courts to examine slaves respecting tn, of the nature of an oath, and the punishment they hem to, if they tender false evidence. This custom has bet experience to be a sufficient protection to prisoners. venture to consider that *lea we examination in open better mode of determining the value of evidence than a names; and the House is somewhat at a loss to reconcile necessity of "a record of slaves sufficiently instructee petent witnesses," with the dissatisfaction expressed ' kisson at that portion of the evidence clause. which to be Christians, before they can be witnesses. lluskisson fears that "the exertions of the slay up to the limits allowed by the Disallowed Law, wool consistent with a due regard for the health of the Negroes do not exert themselves ,at work like Eui seldom fatigue themselves, and it is common for many miles, or to dance the entire night, after the labour. It is believed by the House, that labourer harder and longer in Great Britain, and are rewarded share of the necessaries and comforts of existtnce. It is observed by Mr. Huskisson, "that the crime murder, when committed on the persons of slaves, punishable by death; and that there are other offetices s be perpetrated on the persons of slaves, against which punishment should have been denininced." No caws can be classed with rape and murder, has ever come cognisance of our Courts, otherwise it would not hay looked by the Legislature. It is considered that the "rules for the prevention of routilsers and other cruelties would loss much of their efficacy in practice."— But a more minute inspection of the Disallowed Act IN all asinine Mr. Huskisson that his apprehension on this head is groundless.—i By such inspection he will also discover that the dismembermeatie mutilation of a slave is nut, as he conceives, only punishable to heavy fuse and long imps isonment, but also by the, manumission and consequent loss of the slave, if the owner is the offender. And, if the outrage has been committed on tine slave of another, :he offer, , le is exposed, in addition to the penalties, to an action of damages tot the injury the owner has sustained in his property. The Howe. however, are happy to add that these crimes have long ceased:o disgrace the islandof Jamaica. Pdr. Huskisson, on the subject of runaways, renews his remark that the evidence of slaves in criminal cases appears to be admissible only against slaves. The Right Hon. Gentleman does the Legis lature of this island more than justice in supposing that the he was intended to admit the evidence of slaves both for and against slaves. It is not easy to conceive bow a different meaning can he ascribed to the law. Mr. Huskisson " regrets that Judges, regularly educated in the legal profession, do not attend on slave trials." The unpaid Blagip tratss that preside at slave trials are acquainted with the habits and vices of negroes; they have for their guide the Slave Code, which is nel.ber intricate nor voluminous, and it is believed that as equal and substantial justice is dealt out by the Court so constituted, ail( it was composed of lawyers, versed in all the subtleties and refine ment of English jurisprudence. It is observed by Air. Huskisson, that " the crime of ing runaways may be punished with much more severity, when the offender is a slave than when be is a fret person —a distincool which reverses the established principle of justice, that the mar? laity of crimes is enhanced by the superior knowledge and stations the criminal" But, on adverting to the forty-fifth and forty-sites ilauses, the principle will be seen which has, in this inseam-, guided the Legislature. The harbouring of runaways by slave' may be comparatively innocuous, and the Court has the power of indicting a slight punishment, but it may alio be a crime of the highest order. The runaway may have designs dangerous to the peace of the community, and he may be aided in those designsll the wicked connivance of the slave that harbours hint. The free ' person cannot be presumed to have any other view in concrah;.; runaWays than to profit by their labour; his punishment is accord ingly limited to fine and imprisonment, and he is compelled to Atha that satisfaction to the owner of the runaway, i.n molt!, which is not exacted from the offending SUTC, because the l.' :liver supposes that a slave is possessed of money. The free Fee son is also liable to the beivy penalties ot the Inveigling Act. Mr. Huskisson is displeased that the nature and amount of the punishment of offending shiers are often referred to the discretion of the Court. This course has never been adopted without gtul reason, and the effect thereof is not Mei eased seventy toward, t he slave, hut a strong leaning to inflict the lowest possible de g r e e s.l punishment adapted to the nature of the otlet.ce. I n Mr. Huskin i on's dispatch " rebehion and rebellious cons!- . .raei"are declared " to he terms unknown to the law of England. the highs Hun. Gentleman will consult the .itate Tri a l., he %ill the Resin s ; Istoll or seti ct to be m ailt, . cted, in ofd •. . in enncludi r . Iy-first s ect i r chance,, s decide on.. '. • principal rchaset of trchase m busily relie, 4, 1 the pet sso 4 observed,i4 t - clauses of t i e Act passed' _ ter 21, entitle' i inannmis ~t .. nited interesk ;Eli theft thy : • !...dit for a tilt; ies in effecii n under which. •' manumissio t important sic' - y is graciou advance whit it law ; but,, !, that this In • if the evider r in which till lets, radii in inn which d t i tll • • A of the Die*i Alrhou,.!h ss . • ipou3e that t • ' tiler are act. • • make the a. bn this repots t n. , been eitf a , -• Act r' nn Cie • • rs no nem° queitiot, of u, mooted by he Legitlai n slave.„ wm, istianity; and' • admission i the weight th. of f e, person, loug-establibht. ter appear, il l Icift the Hot; ; t evidence. it " if the own ? mony of that the ve, although it ern s on other evident f every motive f.- 'et might be um g the slave in a se of his autheriq s, the Court bald ny other testicle* . net the owner. h d in all eases who stirnony, the Boa sill be necessary; of the island, ush ay, to avert the nq • .. stablishing a mot 'd to he compete ed by the assure( useless. It is ar ing their knowlrolo , i ,. icy became subjr teas been proved t f Jners. The lion in open court I: ce than a record :- econcile the allep' structed to be cos eased by Mr. He kir requires slam le slaves, if eractei , would be scam!, f the labourer:- e Eliroptaus : they for them to !roe r the longest daye osiers work much ideal with a small* e. crimes of rape and 'laves, are properly fences which Meg it which the sat I other *fence ttat r come under li2 • .4 have been own ertiors of fruit-stirs *.P . ... acy in practice."- • • Act will convinc t' ad is grourwiloi.— ''` dismembermeata 7 , i only punishable by - e, manumission rad offender. And, If 'other, :he obfer,&r • ion of damages tot rty. The Howe. we long ceased :r c renews Ma remark Ire to be admissoie is does the Legik ?ming that the he oth for and against at meaning can be y educated in the Ile unpaid 312gir eith the habits ad • ilave Code, wh,:n red that ea rqu.l o constituted, as if • . btledes and refine. '• ' crime of harbour-, ••,•. re severity, when A son—a distinctiol :e, that the mar; edge and maul, o! fib and forty-siszs in this bosom-, naways by slas:o has the power of be a crime o f Ilse i dangerous to the in those designsil , rs hint. The free iew Li concealc.4 i,hment is accurol- ie is compelled to ..: