Star. — London, England, 1826-04-21 00:00:00

,~ Jamaica. Tltk he pronounced to be an unfounded calumny. Was it not also a calumny to assert that the taw passed by the Jamaica House of Assembly to prevent arrests du Sundays, bad been famed with a view to the benefit of the masters and not of the slaves. He averred that this measure had been adopted particularly on account of the slaves, to whom the Sitaday market was important. The work of atetulation was much easier than that of defence. Mr. MANNING complained of the tricks and artifices resorted to for the purrse of getting up Petitions. One of the exaggerations employed with that view Was the assertion, that the 800,000 slaves in the West Indies were kept in the lowest state of misery and degradation. lie would appeal to the lion. Secretary of State if this was an accurate representation. Mr. T. WILSON deprecated the manner of getting up Petitions. That from the metropolis sighed by 80,000 had laid at different shops allover London, and at the doors or windows of these shops a picture had been placed, representing negroes in chains. This he thought must disgraceful. Forms of petitions had been • is ued, and the Clergymen and other individuals called upon to assist its procuring signatures. If Ministers wanted the support of such petitions, or were to he in any degree swayed by them, they would be unworthy to hold their situati%us. SOme petitions had been got up, praying for'an alteration of the sugar duties, on the ground that the duty on West India sugar was smaller than on sugar from the Havannah. This wis a bad argument even upon the principle of the petiti iners, for if the West lad es had not done all that might be wished, the Havandah had done nothing. The Slave Trade had at least been abolished as it respected the West ladies, but it was still carried on in the Havannah. By an equalization of the dudes the West Indies would * be ruined. The conduct of the Anti•slavery Society had been such as ought to put the Howse upon its guard. Some of the Petitioners affe'cted liberality and talked of indemnity. But their liberality was to sio the mischief first and adjust the indemnity afterwards. He thought it would be right on the part of Ministers to enquire itdir - vire-state of St Domingo. in order to see if the black population there was happier under the system of free labour, or if in fact the cultivation ut sugar was effectually carried on ender that system. Mr. EVANS said, that the lion. Member who spoke last had misapprehended the obj'cct of some of the Petitioners. They in sisted, that if any favour was shewn in respect to duty, it ought to be the sugar produced by free labour, rather than as at present, to that produced by slave labour. Mr. W. &bum was convinced that his Hon. Friend and those Gentlemen on this side of the water, who thought with him, were in total ignorance of what was passing on the other side. His Hon. Friend had said that the branding was an old story, Now he held in his hand the Supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, in which a greet :lumber of advertisements appeared, describing Creole Negroes as marked with various initials and signs. Now, if be was in the situation of the persons who published those advertisements, he would rather lose his Creole negro than offend the eyes and ears and feelings of Great Britain in such a manner. Mr. BERNAL said, that he had stated the practice of marking to be generally out of use. Undoubtedly there might be cases of runaway slaves, who were a disgrace to the estates to which they belonged, being branded. But he repeated his denial that the prat.. tice of general branding was in existence. Mr. it. ELLIS said, that the branding of nerves was by law punishable as cruelty ; and if he bad expected the discussion of this subject he would have pointed out a case in which apemen bad been so punished. The Petition was then ordered to be printed. B/r. BUTTERWORTH presented a Petition from the Inhabitants of Dover, expressing there satisfaction at the measures taken by the House for ameliorating the cond.tion of Slaves, and praying kir the Abolition of Slavery. The Hon. Member stated that from his knowledge of the planters and owners of slaves in the West Indies bad done much to ameliorate the condition of the negro population. Also live similar Petitions from Bow, Amesbury, and other places. Ur de ed to he printed. r REGISTRATION 01 ALIEAt. Mr. S,:cr,tary PEEL said, it was some time since held out to the House, by his Right Hun. Friend the Secre• tary for the Fireign Department, that he hoped the period would soon arrive when the G 'vernment would feel itself able to dispense with the powers given them by the Alien Bill. That period, he was happy to say, had now arrived, and he was glad to have it in his power to realize those expectations which were formerly h-Id out. Ile now rose, for the purpose of providing for the registration of all foreigners resorting to this country, without attempting to ask for any authority to compel their departure from it, other than would be used towards the natural born subjects of this realm.— ' There was only one occasion in which the power con ferred by the Alien Bill had been put into operation. Every effort had been made to prevent the unwarrant able interference with foreigners, and to free them from the meddling or impertinence of the subordinate agents of police. He would now merely require that every alien, on landing in this country, should be compelled, under a certain penalty, to give his name ) a true de scription of himself, and the probable place of his in tended abode. In certain cases, also, the 'Bill would provide that the Sfcretary of State might call on them to state if they had changed their places of abode, but that only at certain intervals. These were all the powers he now wished to retain. After lauding the conduct of the Aliens, the Right Hoa. Gentleman concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to provide for the Registration of Alien,. Lord A LTHORPEspoke in favour of the new Bill. dlr. HOBHOUSE had no hesitation it saying, that the tntended Mat was only returning to-that policy which was one of the greatest privileges England possessed. He did not know of terms sufficiently moil to express his admiratitin of the excellent intention of the Right Hon. Gentleman's lid!. Sir It. WILSON would not object to some poitus of the Bill. The registry of names was calculated, Lowever,to create much per plexity. There might be times when individuals would seek this country by means of false names. After a desultory conversation 1-etween Mr. It. Swett, ?Jr. Dee na; and Mr. Secretary Par.t., leave was given to bring in the Bill. SLAVERY IN DEMERARA AND REMO& Mr. W. SMall ruse to bring forward the motion, of which he had given notice, ot the state of Slavery in the Colonies ot Demerara arts! 1.3-rbice. He attributed the greatest evils of slavery to that assertion of the masters—that they had the same right of property in their slaves as in their other goods and chattels. This a.sertion, he contended, was equally mischievous, and opposed to common sense. Would any man in this country say that he had the same right of property in his horse as in his chair or his table? Would any man say that he had as flinch right to chop off the leg ot the one as the other ? He remembered that some years ago, when Governor Elliott was a Governor in the Vvest rndies, it was stated in his dispatches that the Attorney-General had expressed himself shocked to hear such language used in Court, as that there was no more harm in kiliing a, negro than a dog. This arose out of the preva:ence of the idea of unquali&d property in the slaves. The lion. Member then adverted to the state of the Slavery 4uebtion before the Colonies of D.. inerara and Berbice passed from the Dutch. From the debates which then took place, it was impossible not to feel that abolition could not long be prevented. under such citcunwances, persons chose to invest their propetty in slaves in the Dutch Colonies, their com plaints and applicstions to Parliament mete not it w entitled to the least considerati n. He contended that these Colonies h jd no right to refuse compliance with the Orders in Council sent from this country. The MILO Cut.rt iu Ihmerara was pur I c.y i 1, and had no right whatever to legislate for the population. Yet when Lord Bathurst's Orders Were tent out, they refused, obedience entirely. They then proceeded to discussion, and .now, after three years had elapsed, the Colony was just beginning to reap the benefits of the Older in Council, which they had no right to refuse at first, and which might to have been in execution two years and a half ago. The Ho nourable Member then alluded to the insurrections which had taken place at various times in Demerara, denying that the Missionaries could be charged with ] having produced the last. In former insurrections, the slaves had burnt houses and plantations, and murdered the whites; and all the Missionaries had done by their influence and doctrines was to soften the character of the last, so that not one white life was lost. From the Fiscal's return, he saw but one single case in which a master had been punished for the ill-treatment of slaves; and that was not for cruelty, but for the more tangible offence of starving his slave. In most cases where the unfortunate slave complained, he had been punished instead of obtaining tedress against the wrong doer. He and his friends had always said, that one of tie greatest sources of exasperation to the slaves was the liberties by the managers, overseers, and drivers, with the women. He referred to the case of a slave, named Felix, who had compl .ined of a manager having gone with all tire men's wives, but particularly with his. The result of the complaint was that the slave , was punished, and the manager was reprimanded. The owner of the estate was also recommended to remove him, but which he never did. It was designed by Mi nisters to appoint protectors or guardians of slaves, and a principal who was not to be the owner of any slaves nor the proprietor of a plantation ; hut this re gulation was by no means sufficient for the purpose. . In Demerara, those very persons were the moat ia terested in perpetuating abuses; and the matter stood thus—if A finds fault a ith B to-day, B will accuse A 0-1210113 w. According to Mr. Henry, who went to Beibice, the Dutch criminal law which prevailed them Was one of exceeding nicety in the examination of wit nesses, and-one which he told us, the Burgo-Captains were calculated to know nothing at all about. He spoke of them as totally unfit for the administration of justice, even when both parties to the suit were slaves; but most particularly unfit to decide where the suit depended between slaves and their own friends; and fur this reason, that the lower the instrument was, the less character had he to lose by his abuse of authority, and the mere liable was he to the influence of the bad passions in the exercise of it. If then it were provided thAt the principal alone should not be a, planter—he being one whom, in 99 cases out of 100, the slaves could not see---there would he no - chance of justice. It was a siogular fact, that while Catholics were accused as incapable of 'maintaining . the civil relations of society, all the Cathoiic conies possessed regulations more merciful, and of bettpr effects than our own.— In Demerara it Was objected to Mr. Smith, the Mis sionary, that he went about making inquiries of slaves respecting their treatmeet for the purpose of afterwards using their statements as evidence against their owners.. Now it was remarkable that this very conduct, of which Nlt. Smith was accused, was enjoined by. the Spanish Gaiernment to Catholic Priests, who were ordered to, make such inquiries in order to the redress of griev.. anen t with an assurance that the names of those who made disclosures should be kept secret. Jt was said that the slaves were nor yet fit for emancipation, and he be lieved the assertion to be perfectly true, and would be sorry for any order which went to their imme diate emancipation. But then whose was the fault? If the slave population were ever so debased—ever so brutalised—they were yet nothing but what their masters made them. Mr. Bryan Edwards, who was a planter of eminence, and connected with others, said that the state of morals in the West Indies was of the most debased character, and that the examples set by the Colonists were so depraved, that it was no wonder the negroes were what they were. Religious instruction among them was altogether out of the question, notwithstanding all the regulations made for the education of slaves. This disregard of the planters for•the moral instruction of the slaves reminded him of. a story told of the King of Prussia, who, when a soldier was brought before him, charged with an immoral offence, inquired, " is he a good soldier ?" and being answered an the affirmative, he added, " then what have Ito do with his amours ?" Just so with the Co lonists. Their question was,, whether the party was a good working slave ? but any further they were utterly regardless of the slave's condition, while they made his immorality and misconduct a reason not merely for not emancipating him at the present time, but also for pre venting his emancipation at any future period. Had they availed themselves of the warning so long since given by Mr. Wilberforce-i-by Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt— had they taken the alarm, and ameliorated the condi don of the slaves, he had no hesitation in saying that we should now have our Colonies filled with a sound, healthy, and industrious population. He, therefore, came to a legitimate conclusion, in charging upon the Colonists an utter neglect of the Signs of the times.— As to the traffic in slaves, it was held to be only a ',whim pokibitunt ; but who would say that forty years ago, an honest man could not understand by the mere exer cise of reason, that slave dealing was then as great a crime as at this day, when a glorious law made such a practice piracy. It was true, to be sure, that a pro prietor might have a qualified property in his slaves being bound to attend to their condition and moral im• pavement ; but it was absurd to refer the existence of crime to the enactment of the 30th of George the Third. There was a moral obligation antecedent to all statutes, written on the heart of man, whose dic tates all were bound to obey. They said that the sugar cultivation was the most labotiouslask imposed upon slaves, and it was proved to be so by its effects.— A. paper was lately laid upon the table of the House from the little island of Anguilla, stating that the ground there was poor ; that they had no government, no morals to restrain them ; that the slaves, who were not numerous, had little food and' no clothing ; and the re porter addedfthat it was impossible to imagine a system more ruinous to both masters and slaves. Now, in those Colonies where most sugar was produced, and. Where the propottion for each slave's work was the largest, there was the greatest decrease of human life. , Where a slave's task amounted to eight hundred weight of sugar, the decrease t f life was at about two per cent. ' , Whete the task did not excee d t h r. e, f our, or fi ve huna ' drell weight, there was no decrease ; and in BM badoes 1 sod one other island, where but little sugar was pro duced, there was a small increase. In Anguilla, the inconsiderable and wretched island of Anguilla, where the quantity oF sugar was little more than two hundred weight for each, the Reporter said that the slaves looked Vigoll US and healthy, and that their numbers were Oil the increase, though they were under such poor e:rcum stances. Facim the considerations which he had stated, he was induced to move this resolution " RiesoLvro—That from the documents laid before this House, and other authentic information respecting the Colonies of Demerara and Berhice, it appears, that althotigh protection has been affected to be afforded to the slave population in those coun tries, either by the Fiscal or Chief Judge, in the capacity of Pro tector of Slaves, or by some other person acting in that character, yet that the slaves have been, and still rviiiaio, exposed to numerous vexatious and grievous oppressions, demanding effectual relief ; and that this House has, thererom, bad great satisfaction in observing the declared determination of Lis Majesty's Ministers to promulgate he those Colonies an Order in Council on this important subject, to which unqualified obedience wiU be required. But that from all reasoning and experience this House is led to conclude, that no legal enactments, however well devised and strongly framed, can prove sufficient for the effectual protection of the slave, unless the officers. both principal and subordinate, to whom the execution of the law is to be entrusted, shall be appointed and supported by the Govern ment at home, and absolutely prohibited from possessing or cm ploying slaves in any capacity, either pradial or domestic." —The Hon. Member, after having read the Resolution, observed that tke languaze on the subject of unqualified obedience, was precisely the same as that used by Lord Bathurst when the two Colonies had been in vain urge.i to adopt those Orders in Council which had been transmitted with the approbation of the House. He die not mean the Resolution in censure of the conduct of Government, but unless they adopted them, it was in vain to expect any good from the appointment of Inspectors. Mr. WILNIOT-UORTON said, that the greater part of the lion. Member's speech teas so little applicable to the Resolutions that he had submitted, that he himself felt some difficulty in knowing whether he was to ad dress his observations to the si:eech or to the Re s olutions. As, however, the course taken by his Majesty's Minis ters with regard to the Order in Council for Trinidad was at present in full operation in Demerara, and would shortly be so also in Berbice, he thought the H •use would do more service in endeavouring to improve and bring into full effect what had been already done in this matter, than in casting any implied censure as to i what nad been omitted. He had the pleasure to inform the House, that a Gentleman had already seen ap pointed by the power vested in the Crown to act as the protector of the slaves in these Colonies ; and that he would depart from this country in a short tim-, to take upon himself the duties of that office. Though they were not yet laid upon the table, he would take the liberty of reading to the House the instructions which Lord Bathurst had drawn up for the direction of that Gen tleman's conduct in his capacity of protector of slaves. [The Hon. Secretary here read a voluminous paper of instructions, from which it appeared that the protector of slaves WAS enjoined to watch strictly over the execu- . tion of all provisions made, or to be made, for the be nefit of the slave population in Demerara and Berbice— to apply to the Governor of the Colony for assistance, in case the powers with which he was vested were found insufficient to the discharge of the trust reposed in him —to visit the slaves in person, for the purpose clif seeing that they were properly treated by their masters, and of affording them speedy redress when they were mal treated; to be accessible upon all occasions to slaves, who had complaints to make to hint; to see that those complaints were legally examined into before the pro • per tribunal; and to use every exertion in his power to make their slaves understand that the provisions made on their behalf were not intended to interfere with the labour aqd industry which they owed their masters, but were intended to secure to that labour and industry the protection which they requirecl.3 He sboald be able to place these instructions in a few days on the table of the House; but he trusted that the extracts which he had already read from them would be sufficient to meet the statement of the question which had that evening been made by the lion. Member for Norwich. The House would see from them that the Protect' r had power given him to enforce the duties of his office, and that, if that power were riot sufficient for his object, he was authorized to apply to the Governor for more. The plan which had been tried in Trinidad was already carried into execution iu Demerara, and was preparing to be carried into execution in Berbice an improvement to which the Hon. Member ought to have referred in preference to the acts of exasperrion whit had taken place at former periods. Indeed, he t ught that it would be wiser for the Honourable Me er to draw the attention of the House to the favourable prospects of the future, than to involve it in these inconvenient discussions on . the past, from which no advantage could be derived either to the question which the Hon. Member had at heart, or to the more general and more impOrtant interests. of Society. The Hon. Secretary then proceeded to notice that part of the speech of the lion. Member for Norwich in which he had declared it to be desirable that all the persons connected with the tribunals in these Colonies, subordi nates as well as principals, sh .uld he prohibited from having any property in slaves. In the case of the protector of slaves, of the Chief Justice, and of the Attorney General of the Colony, be was prepared to say, that the Government was determined to enforce such a regula tion ; but he doubted whether it was prudent to say that in all the minor officers of judicature all property in slaves should be prohibited. A regulation to that effect would render property in slaves a degradation contrary to the Resolutions utiinimoasly a , ,sented to by the 'loos? in 11123, which secured to the pla,iters that species of property, and gave then all a beneficial interest in it. In the progress of his speech, the Hon Member for Norwich had adverted to the insurrection which had broken out in Demerara two or three years ago. He had said that it was calumnious to attribute that insurrection to the cau,es to which-it was usually attributed, as it arose pr ncipally from the unsatisfac tory situation of the slave population. He had likewi s e made an admission on the subject which he (Mr. Wil mot) was very glad to hear. The Hon. Member had said that the slaves had risen to attain that freedom which they erroneously supp•ised had come out to them from England. Nov this was what had always been asserted on the Ministerial side of the House, and as roundly denied on the Opposition side. Th.: II)n-ur able Member for Norwich, and those with whom he was in the habit of acting, said the insurrection did not arise from any misconception on the part of the slaves, but from the mistreatment to o hich they had severally been subjected. The lion. Member now un said his loniser declaratioa ; and if there had existed a doubt of his policy in so dorn..4, it was entirely done away by one of the last despatches of Sir Benjamin D'Urban to L , rd Bathurst. That dispatch, in wirich Sir B. D'Urbaa said that be had been doing every thing in his power to teach the slaves to look up to him for protection, contained the rolls wing paragraph among others:.. I can have no doubt that the opinion I ex pressed to your Lordship on the sth was well founded, and that many of the slaves had still con.inued under the delusion which I then descr.bed t indeed, several of them avowed it, and evidently to. k leave of the hopes they had s o l ong c h er i s h e d aids strong feelings of sorrow. Their e y es , hos% ever, ar c ° I e ied now; and I they will ng longer have that strop) revolt which arose from the belief contending for rights (aqd by that t unquestionably actuated in the late they supposed had been granted filet. country, but suppressed by the colonial au,thorities.— i At the same time that they have now been made aware that freedom in the manner they had anticipated is out ,of the question, they have also learned that many real advantages are preparing for them, if they deserve tht m by quiet and subordinate behaviour; and .l have assujd them, that as, on the one hand, the severe punishment of any disorder among them will be certain, so, on the other, if any individual shall at any time think _himself oppressed or ill-treated, I shall always be retdy to .re mite his complaint personally, and redress it if it be well-founded." This dispatch did honour to Sir B. IYUrban, and must convince the house that the recent insurrection of the slaves arose from misconception on their parts, and not from ill-treatment on the part of tli4 masters. That misconception, he was happy to say. appe4red to be remoted at present entirely from the minds of the slaves, and he trusted that nothing would pass in that House calculated to renew it. lie agreed with the Honourable Member for Norwich, that the statements made by the Fiscal of Berbice were txtremely unsatisfactory ; but at the same time it ought to be re colkc ted, that his explanation of them had not yet been received. As to the observations of the same Hon. Member, on the condition of the island of A nguilht, and as to the instances whici4 he had cittd, to prove that the mortality among the slaves was always gre.tter where sugar was cultivated, than it was where any other article was cultivated, he had only one word to say, and that was, that it was no more a fair comparison than it would be to compare the mortality which occurred in a colliery, with that which occurred in the ordinary occupations of agriculture. An Hon. Friend behind him had said, that Petitions were daily presented to the House, complaining of the cruelties practised on the slaves in the collnie,-, and had called upon him to state whether the information which he received in h's official capacity confirmed er contradicted the com plaints made an those Petitions. To the call thus made upon him he would give an answer. To suppose that misconduct or oppression did not exist in those colo nies would he absurd. They existed where slavery did not exist, and they were inseparable from it where it did exist—(Hear, hear.) He was bound, however, to state, that if those in authority in those colrnies were to be credited—and he knew no reason why they should not—the complaints in these Petitions were ot,en etas. gerated, and generally unfounded. In mskhg that opinion known, he felt himself also bound to say, that any specific instance of oppression that came to the knowledge of individual Members, well deserved the consideration of the House. It was unfair, hos, ever, upon general statements, to press Governme t to carry too rapidly into execution the pledges ss hick it had given on this subject. If any Nleibber thought that it had not been sincere in its endeavours to fulfil that pledge, let him come down to- - the House ant sly so: but he trusted that if any such assertion was made, I e should be able to convince Parliament and the country that it was totally without foundation. lie %.isl,el the Hon. Member for Norwich to consider • whether he would not Consult the true interests of the cause he advocated by . -not pressing his moti 'n in its preset.t form? He did not wish to put a direct negative on it, because he agreed with many parts of it. He had enleavoured, in the course of his speech, to s!iew that. in Demerara and Berbice all the measures of amelio ration which he had proposed, were actually cat ried.rto effsct. That met the first part of the Hon. Member's resolution. He agreed with him likewise it certain officers whom he had before enumerated should not be permi ted to have priedial slaves; but he could not agree with him thst all the officers of justice should be prohibited from having them also.' Indeed, so far front thinking that such a regulation would bit of advantage to the colony, he conceived that it would lot. a grcgt dis advantage. For these reasons, he thought it unnecessary to went to the resolutions, and he should move for the previous que.tion. Mr. ELLIS thought if the measures of the it'uoli tionists tended to insure the property of the holders of the West India property, they were entitled to a just compensation from the Colonial Legislature; and that if this Legisla• ore refused this compensation, this angry was placed in an unpl:s4ant bitua lion relative to those planters who yielded to their widtes i i ante liorating the condition of the negroes. He bore testimony to the general humane treatment of the negroes by the planters, and con tended on the unfairness of tarnishing the character of that Body by the hard) treatment of a few individuals. He lamented the ab- sence of all satisfactory data to form aludgment of the actual state of the nrg roes. The legal documents were defective, and the Re port was defective. Out of the 200 cases of trial in Denirtara-ard Berbice, there were but 14 well-founded grounds of contplaiut, out of a population of 20,000 slaves. It appeared from the Report of the Fiscal of the Colony of Bet 'lice, as wen as from the Fiscal of Demerara, that 15 cases out of 18 w:r. unfounded. He mirrored a Pamphlet of the Anti-slavery Soc:ety, ..s a highly unjust representation of the treatment of the negro:s ht the I I .oirre, particularly at referred to the Reports of the Fiscals f,f Demerara and Lterbice. All undecided cases are misrepresented. _s a proud of the illegality of slave trials, and that too in the 1110• I wilful manner, these increased cases being italicized in the Pamphlet of the Anti- Slavery Society, He contended for the great shdkulty of regulating the quantity and mode of punishment of the negro and toaster, and of protecting the master and negro reciprocally from unfounded charges, He was gratified at the appointment of the present kgal Officers to Berbice and Demerara. Ile wished that the Colonial Governors, who were principally military men, should be afforded professional assistance in the administratiou of justice, particularly iu the Court of Chancery. Mr. R. MARTIN would vote with his Hon. Friend (Mr. Smith) If he thought his resolution bad the tendency he ascribed to it. But he (Mr. Mania) thought it would have a directly contrary effect, and must therefore oppose it. Alr. DENMAN had not heard, during the whole discossion of the evening, a single satisfactory objection taken to the Resolution of his Hon. Friend. As to the pamphlet which had been referred to by the Hon. Member who spoke last but one, perhaps there had never been a work published which was better entitled to public attention. Of course without preparation he could trot meet the Hon. Gentleman upon particular statements; but there was this fag, he could answer, peculiar to the book—it did not contain one statement for which the authority was not directly and die. tinctly given, For the necessity of going into these narratives so to the condition and sufferings of the slaves, it was must necessary to repeat them, purely becatise they were denied. The lion. Secretary for the Colonies said—" These narratives are useless, Ire- cause be the staves as well treated as they may, that will nut be a reason with us for continuing slavery ;" but in the meantime, slavery did continue; and those who supported it vowed that the slaves were better off than the peasantry of E -- ngland. The House, by the resolution of the year 1825, and by the resolu tion of the Ist of March In the present year, stood pledged to tie. declaration that slavery was the cause of all the evils co an_ tha t slavery nsplaiucd of; that they were evils inseparable from slavery ; must be got rid ofa How long war kto be before that system was to be got rid of, and before one man should cease to be takes up and carried to prison. like a beast taken and carried to the pound, or a chair or table taken in executing, in default of payment of the de!,ts of another? All that the motion required was, that individuals who were the owners of slaves should not be appointed to fill cer tain offices in the colonies; and this was count ued to be au attack on the Government. - - - - Mr. WILMOT-Jr-MR . I'ON aii, that he had not opposed the motion on the ground that it was an attack on the Government : his ohjectien tt, h was, that all which it proposed to do had alre.,dy been done by Government. Mr. DENSIAN said, if that were the cue,, he had misunder stood the Hon. Gentleman, and the time of the louse had bee.' wa ted in %Ades' ditctsix:oa—',ll,ar, heet4, 11. ttiotLht,,ho ves.r • s ' ♦ excitement to J that Elul we e belief they were e revolt) which trn in the mother r w°l47 4 • • ' r