The Sun. — London, England, 1824-03-17 00:00:00

con- it he i re- Silk ssed. , the scks hC was „ .( 1 to ,i fill tE ft , ;olve r the Linty' 0110 F the the lOC s OR c,bl6: he elect he 103. a g ed ev er ) the nsa- I era' Ltion but i be 11 to ace , ;sent it in lgea con of a ; the «w hvbat 0 he ition to nsa. Ica; prifer here 1611" •tain Id of the oat" es. an d d is )n- to isive ,ula- ove' Par e en" snge ale able the ;sing h r the °t hat', either to be. employed for their ownejurposes, or to be eceisiderect in the light of a personal offence. • In the outset he m ust declare that if there,was any impartiality in his nature, he had studied to bring it into the consideration of this question.— undoubtedly, if he had any partiality at alle it was in favour of abolition. He had the honour of being an humble sup -Irter of th a t cause upon its early agitat i on, an d d own to its numPh. hg But then there was a d e fi n it e object, and he n ever 7ttended . the prosect to the present subject. If he had brout orward the original question lie should not have conceived his eConduct upon the present one at all pledgedor involved by that t a : The grea t quest i on of abolition was always treated ex ivelyeof the situation o f th e W es t I n di a Coloni es . Th e y might all feel that warm th o f heart which dictated their speeches upon the former occasions, but he trusted that every Plan would pause before h e s u ff ere d th ose f ee li ngs t o carr y hi m tato the Wider subject. God forbid that he should advocate whether ermanent incurable slavery. But if any man asked him he was for perpetual slavery or instant emancipation, he knew not whether he should not prefer remaining as they Were ;_..so dreadful did the inevitable consequences appear to him But the tat he shuddered at the responsibility they would bring. y were net reduced to this choice. They had an in termediate debateable gro un d, u pon which he proposed to take his stand. He would look to emancipation, not when the individual slave should be set free, but when the station of a slave should expire. All their experience shewed them that man must h e re l ease d f rom a state o f s l avery b y slow and ant esradation—by relaxing power, and by consenting legis e Ptature. The mind must he prepared by degrees for a state of l eedom, and b roug h t t o t h at sta t e o f di sc i p li ne i n w hi c h t h e 11'ht of r eason wou ld ren d er unnecessary t h e coerc i on of autho rity, The papers which he had presented to the Ho use con t'sted partly of R e p or t s f r om the W e st I n di a Colonies, and l'''tlY of the sch eme w hi c h the Gove r nm en t h a d devised for csrcrying into execution in one of the Colonies their mode of eeeerations. The first decision he should come to by and bye, t.t that on which he should first speak would shew what the 'eevernment had been able to do in furtherance of their object. r rhe House would be aware that the West India Colonies were r divided into two classes, the one being governed by the Crown, 1 Without any Legislative Assemblies, the other having Legislative 1 A ssemblies which ruled in miniature, after the example of the Mother country, and were not a little jealous of the p riv il eges so possessed. In certain resolutions whi c h were p asse d b y the NestQum, body in this country last year, it was earnestly recom- Mended that the Government would institute one colony where there should be an undoubted trial of such experiments as were S uPPosed fitted to ameliorate the conditio n o f th e negro s l aves. They also expressed, their hope that if such a plan were once found to succeed, it would be generally adopted in other colo hies. The islands selected for this purpose were, Trinidad, 't. Lucie, and the colony of Demerara. Trinidad had been a lon g time in his Majesty's possession, and it was gratifying to himself to recollect that 20 years ago, when the . peace then concluded, confirmed to this country the possession of that ' !eland, he (Mr. Secretary Canning) was the means of prevent. tag it from being brought into the same state as our other Colonies, and left it to be the spot w here the a m e li orat i on of the negro's lot was to be commenced. The motion which lie made at that time was certainly not directed to that ob ject. But he put it forward in reference to the question on the abolition of the Slave Trade, and with the little influence P°. l :esaed by so humble an indivual as himself, it was not sur liatrineidievectthoaft the motion was unsuccessful. It had, however, calling the attention of the' House to the subject, A, e rnan Y members, among whom was the Hon. Gentleman the to g i nt for the West India interests, whose loss they had now • wa . a ; ,, ate llt., brought forward motions connected with it. It " 1 co nsequence of this that the island of Trinidad was in a state which became favourable to the experiment which s l.as intended to be made. He would now state shortly, the different arrangements proposed to be introduced, and he Would request the House, as he proceeded, to compare what he new said, with what he stated in the debate of last year, as to the most desirable objects to be obtained for ameliorating the condition of the slaves. First it had been enjoined by an Order la Council, that the practice so unseemly and so shocking to the feelings, namely, the use of the whip, as an instrument of i female chastisement should be entirely abolished. But it was U to say that such a resolution was also recognised by the West India Body at their meeting last year, and that they had " t ered heartily, into the views of Government on this subject. The nest Order in Council abolished the use of the whip, as a sthnulus to labour. This would prevent that wanton and de gradating exercise of power, and redeem them from that indis criminate treatment which had heretofore been inflicted on them a l bra cattle. Th e w hi p was no t t o b e use d summar il y, nor di s - P 4 ayed as a symbol of authority or coercion. Its use as a punish -o,44eat after mitigation of offences committed was quite a different F 4 .4 ; but even with that distinction whipping in the case of Foleilseshedwas to 'be totally abolished. For the male it was as a stimulus to labour but unnder certain restric tons it was retained as a punishment. These regulations raised the class f rom the state of the brute to that of the human being. . T he next subject in importance, or rather the first in import.. benefit but the next in order, was that alone from which all human could arise the institution of religious worship. It was intended to extend' the Ecclesiastical establishments in the Co t' lonies,,,for, without any fault attaching to that body, it had hitherto been considered that the Whites alone were the objects of the care of the Church. Extending the religious establish , //lents of the Colonies, they would give the Church of England ,Precedence and the first consideration, but united with others, i Mele e had served well in the cause. With Divine Worship W eald be combined religious instruction, and that was the Principle which would render the slave capable of receiving that amelioration of his condition which they were all solici taxis to afford. Here again he must do justice to ithe West Indian body to whom he had before alluded, who had manifest ed every dispo who had actually sition to extend those advanges through the Colonies, and communicated them to more t han one. He next came to that institution which religion es pecially sanctioned. It was intended to order that every en.. epuragement should be given to marriage among the slaves. was to be provided, that in all future sales care should be taken not to separate families. Thehusband should not be se- Parated from his wife. The reputed husband should not be se- Aerated from the reputed wife, anti the parent should not be se its parated from the child. The property of the negro was to have sec urity. That which had hitherto been respected as the ,p r operty Qf the n egro b y custom on l y, s h ou ld now b e hi s b y J.:gm. Next, after the possession of property, came the assur innsetltef its safety, savings and to effect this object it was intended to publi u c te n Banks, so that besides the law, the eye of bused °° ri would secure the property of the slave from fused into mo l es t e d,th When, by such measures, new ideas were in fer improvedebnegr° • d doubt his nature would 's min , no be so difficulty in yrntivi.ense of moral duty, that there would be no ad certain restrict in his evidence i Justice, 'll l a Court of un der• He ca todid not mean to say, that the pacity or condition of eve negro w . be entrusted with this .3' would render him at once fit fones,ehe mind of a child, l i: ll : , I right. According to our own expanded, was not con sidered equal to the discharge o€ rki:sacred duty, and some Precautionary questions were put, to ascertain if the nature of the 'obligation were fully understood. So it would be wrong to e eceive the testimony of an uneducated negro in a Court of of without some inquiry as to his ideas of the character 1 the duty he was about to perform. It was therefore in tended,_ that those under whose instruction and care the ne- F_°e l were placed should be called upon to certify, not for 7 .e ?! Particular purpose, or any particular case, but to certify inl ne _ r allY, that the individual had made such advancement moral and religious knowledge, as qualified him thus to con c"onu..ii.lF to the administration of justice. They would be thus sta tuting, as it were, an elevated class, which would be a c0n %,1.?.s stimulus to the exertions of the rest, by operating on that a t :J. ll g of all human actions, ambition. It was but Just here eu' to observe, that under more or less restriction the evi. ;: ti __ v of some negroes was already received in criminal cases „,. 4 ! eral of the islands. They had also abolished the Sunday :', L ar e ket and the Sunday toil in some of those Colonies at ;" , recommendation of that respectable body to which he Id before alluded. They also recommended such facilities .:, be afforded for the manumission of slaves, as to do away itili_the unwillingness which many felt to encounter the diffi 'llea teea at 'present the subject of complaint. In some Colo ', e xe_s had been taken away, and other obstacles removed.— Pushed _ 9rder of Council the question of manumission was sued further, for it dietinctly prescribed—and in that it went itutYondo acquired wishes of the West Indies—it prescribed that if tieesr. tproperty under certain guards and regula , '45 1 he Should be entitled to purchase freedom for himself, freedom for his w . ife, or freedom for his child. With respect their freedom to this last provis on, which gave men the power to purchase , he i knew there was great difference of opinion ; but the practice was not altogether unknown, it recurred in St. Kitt's, and b nsage it was also known in Trinidad. He should be disposed rejected could be ' to say that no amelioration of the slaves ceivable how muc a h s 7 of success could impracticable, of which a solitary instance be found in the Colonies. It . was incon ferent amelioratio s gcn3 ral society. might be done by bringing the dif- Thi n- or This, however,n classes to bear upon one gene found it practicable was all that the Government tia applied to the to do at present. They abolished the whip asa stimulus female altogether. They abolished the whip a s 4 ~..___ . 8. to labour, and put great restraint upon its use eieeXual tynent, as applied,to the males. They gave to the ship 7 vos religious amon ,instruction and encouraged religious wor fa • • • gst tnem • and kept truhes to th * They recommended marriage, betto ge er. Property was secured to them by law, and a course of ad mitted accumulation. The elidence of slaves was to coura o under certain regulations. And lastly, to en an e manumission they gave the power of self-purchaee to to ) I ; r e l diVidual for himself and k' d - ow T 1 stern was first ' -e adopted • T • in red. The sy r esult in rinidad, and such he hoped would be the , that it would soon be extended to the other Colonies. He was perfectly aware that upon: the last point, relative to the purchase of freedom, he went beyond what some Gentle= men wished ; .but there were others ready to go along way. farther. He'knew that a Hon. Gentleman had gone so much farther as to ,wish. to declare emancipation of the whole race. He heard with painful alarm the declaration of such opinions. He understood the Hon. Gentleman to propose, that after a certain period every negro would be born free. But accord ing to all his experience and observation it -would , be contrary to the spirit of legislation to enact the liberty of a rising gene ration, leaving the existing race only to partake in. the ac van:. tages of amelioration. Such a course would be pregnant with the most fearful evils. The Hon. Centleman was surely not prepared to expect the slave to. look quietly on his children who were free, when there was no other moral difference be tween them. And to let in the full light of freedom upon the eyes .of the slave, when they scarcely had unsealed his bon dage; could not but produce effects the most disastrous and terrible. Liberty so placed before his eyes, he would regard as the intellect of an infant viewed the object of its desire, without the possibility of calculating the distance which sepa rated him from it. Was there not something to be appre hended in telling the slave that they would extend to his child that for which he must labour and toil in vain ? Surely it was a wiser, a better, a more natural course, to make the child find the source of his, freedom in the parent. By the course they proposed, amelioration would come to all equally, and form the ground of eventual emancipation. It would be a . better and safer blessing when conferred under the operation of these circumstances, than if created by a sudden enactment. They . must deal with a negro as with an infant, not a brute ; as with infants of a larger growth.. Before he was matur ed and chastened in his moral duties, he must not be turned loose in all the vigour and wildness of passion. To adopt such a course would be like that child of genius, who, accord ing to a modern romance, contrived to make a living man, and to endow him with form and action; but not having infused into his mind the intellectual power of distinguishing right and wrong, he found that he had created a giant to turn upon him self, and to become his destroyer.—(Cheers.) —lt was therefore his desire to go gradually, because he would go safely to his work. There were some who went beyond him in enthu siasm, and said that this plan would take time. Time ! To be sure it would. To be sure it ought. Time ! What was it that they were struggling with A thing grown up in a few years ? No ; it was the growth of centuries—nay, of tens of centuries, if not co-eval with the deluge. And was this a subject requiring so little time that they.in the fullness, of their nascent legislation—for be it recollected that this had b een a country centuries b e f ore they thought of meddling with it. Should they think of managing with a blow this vast system which had endured through all ages ?—(Cheers.)—Thei r d u ty was to watch with an anxious and a jealous eye over the silent ' progress of a sure and gradual change, until they arrived at the consunimation of their hopes. This brought him to another part of the subject. He had mentioned. one colony as the scene of this experiment, but it would be tried with modifi cations at Saint Lucie. They had not the same materials to work upon, as in Trinidad they had the Spanish Law, and in Saint Lucie, the French. It would be next extended to Demerara, where it would have been begun, but for some recent events, with which the House was acquainted. But he should be asked how these measures would be received by the Colonies ; and he might as well answer the question before-hand. It might be suggested that after the resolution of Parliament, the Colonial Legislators might object. If upon subject it were possible to feel any thing like irritation, either on the part. of the Government, or of the HouSe, or even of the humble person who then addressed them, there might he -no lack. of justification in what had occurred, and there might even be ground for vigorous coercion. But lie should undertake no such thing.—(hear, hear, hear!)—ln what had passed he saw much to condemn, much to lament, something to excuse, and nothing to punish. He saw very well that nothing was easier th a n t o fall into a very foolish contest, to commence a very ridiculous struggle ; and if there was any purity of strength between the contending powers, nothing was snore probable than that a quarrel would have ensued. It was very easy to see that this Legislative Assembly might soon be wound up to a high pitch of exasp era t e d majesty.—(A But he did not t hi n k - it prudent to take any , steps whatever in reference t o t h e i r offended di gn i t y. There were three courses which could be adopted towards them, if necessity required. The first was force. With force they could crush them to atoms. The next course was , that of making legislative enactments and fiscal 'regulations, which would stop their commerce. The. other was the silent course of admonition and forbearance. lie hoped the first would never be rendered necessar. Certainly he would never allow any state of things arising out of this question,. to make it so with regard to the question of the transcendental powers of Parliament over every part of the British Empire; lie trusted that would be kept back as much as possible in the penetralia of the Constitution, and only brought forward to stay the plague ; not brought into disrepute by its familiar employment on every little occasion of petty contempt or misrepresentation. He believed that nothing more would be necessary than to read the Gazette containing the Order in Council to put these Gen tlemen of the Legislative Assembly into a towering fury.--(A tg l a eer u tlgyi ' n i p; ro e l u eg t sl s i o t rt y N h v e a oy s f aw o f ecr n oen o ,t u easn s t e d. . lollt:4lwicaanrs compared detic, eo impossible inrsiwd ee weakness o dn r chs : o h ‘tv e o m tui to e to the honlurwoelietlies omnipotence of those with whom Q of u sect t o h s e e se g o o, en t e Gentlemen o eprreesntotccoomnpnoinngeroev..tuCttiuw.s.' speeches he would not admit them anxious trif to contend, o l f f l a i n " y as ‘ hington, to prepare themselves for deeds of patriotism, he advised them to lay all aside, and think no more of being patriots. He positively would give them nothing to combat. ' It should be a question for the Colonies alone ; an insurrection for the liberty of the whip, and a contest for the privilege of using it. He would give DO cause for their rage, and if they saw they were to have no fuel for their patriotic fire it would soon go out. When they found that the next year passed away and no Commissioner was sent out to controul them, they would. sink into the calm of reason, and he was not without hopes that they would come to adopt the system which was now to be applied to the other colonies. With Trinidad on the one hand and Demerara and St. Lucie on the other, they would not, he though, shut their eyes to the advantages which were to be expected in those colonies from the introduction of such ame liorations. As far as religious instruction went, England was ready to extend it to Jamaica as to any other places, inde pendent of its connection with the proposed system. It was at present in contemplation that one Episcopal See should be established at Jamaica, and another at the Leeward Islands, and this would not be accompanied with any demand upon their finances. lie might here say, that upon a calculation of the expence of those establishments for the first two years, it could be defrayed out of the interest of a sum reserved by his Right honourable Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be appropriated to the erecting of churches in this coun try. There was already a grant for the same purpose not yet expended, and the winding up of the accounts would extend over two years, so that the interest of the last sum could be applied to the purpose lie had mentioned during that period. The whole of the sum would not then be employed at once, and during its gradual application to the object in view, there would be something afforded towards supporting the co. lonial establishments. There was another fund also which he had reason to hope might be rendered available to the same purpose. 'Without being able to announce any decided act, he believed there was a disposition in another quarter to con sent to an arrangement by which the Crown would tie up its hands froin granting any further pension upon the Four and Half per Cent. Duties, until this object was provided for out of such funds. And now being more desirous of putting the House in possession of the course of conduct intended to be pursued by his Majesty's Governinent, he should defereany observations upon the general state of the slave population.— He only conjured Gentlemen on the one side by the natural interests and ties which connected them with the subject not to provoke censure by violence; and those who had made the other view of the question dearer to them by feeling than any in terest could make it, not to open a contest by indulging in those exaggerated pictures, which only served to irritate on all sides, without a chance of producing benefit to any. It would only be putting in jeopardy what had already been achieved, and stopping a progress which had been substantially, and, as he thought, well begun. When they argued upon the question and all its bearings, they must remember that in their minds rankled none of the deep fellings which seemed to be immoveable in the breasts of the different colours when living together in the same community. They should recollect that their debate would be read elsewhere, and think of the dissensions which it might awaken .and keep up. Above all, he hoped that a restraint would be put upon that enthusiastic eloquence which could lead to no practical good upon this individual question, however potent its effect upon some other occasions. Every man came into the House fettered with too many ties and interests to allow any exaggerated scope of statement or enthusiasm to pro duce the results which sometimes followed its employment. Such a course could not affect a single vote, or influence a soli tary opinion. But beyond all, it could never persuade the House to extend sudden and uncontroulled liberty to an immense population which had been in no degree prepared to receive it. That liberty could not he conveyed to them by the sound of some great name, or the mention of an eminent virtue. It must be in their own conduct that they would find the enjoy ment of liberty ; and it would be extended to them, as they acquired the means of knowing its value, and of using it for their own advantage. The House must recollect that it was through the masters of these slaves, their emancipation must eventually be-extended, and that they,must be the instruments of all amelioration and improvement. Let Gentlemen therefore look to the consequence of setting the two classes in hatred to each other. If any Hon. Member could suggest propositions better calculated to attain the end so much desired; he was pedectly , willing to listen to.them. ,-But-the only chance of arriving at it with safety, as far as. he was at present sd vised, consisted in temperate discussion, calm investigation and a gradual amelioration of the moral condition of the slave. In , connection with the state of a large portion of our fellow creatures, it was not irrevelant to consider that trade which brought them into their unfortunate condition. As regarded this country, he was perfectly convinced, that trade was really abolished. There were some who thought otherwise ; but all the attention and inquiry which he 'could _give to the subject convinced him that in the British West Indies, the prohibition was effectual. But true it was, the trade prevailed to an enor mous extent among some other nations. True it was that attempts had been made to induce other Powers to abolish it, which had hitherto proved unsuccessful. "Among the mea sures proposed to be resorted to was that of making every per son dealing in slaves obnoxious, not only to be captured by vessels of his own nation, but by those of others; in other words, to make the traffic piracy in the consideration of the law. Some mistakes with regard to these negociations• had gone abroad. It was thought that at the Congress of Vienna, an unsuccessful attempt had been made to erect the slave trade into a piratical offence. But he need not say that the assembled PoWers could make no such law. We should be the last country to allow the right of any five Sovereigns, or any other persons to m a k e a law which should be binding on States that were not present, or did not give their consent.— The course to be adopted, was that of getting all countries to declare the law for themselves. They had proposed to America and France a mutual right of search under certain fixed regu lations. But the extreme jealousy of maritime rights, and the difficulties to which they gave rise, always stood in the way of a successful issue. He was happy to say, however, that within a few hours a treaty h a d arr i ved, signed by hisßight Hon. Friend, an Hon. Relation of his, and the Minister of the United States, by which a mutual agreement was come to for effect ing this so long a desired object. In furtherance of this treaty he should have to move for leave to bring in a Bill to change the character of the Slave Trade,' and to render it piracy here as it was already in America; which, when passed, would enable the natives of both countries to act against slave traders as pirates—not each against the pirates of each, but each against the other. •So that an American might capture a Bri tish slave ship (which if there was one be hoped in God they would do), and we might make prize of an American slaVer.— Of course the proper Jealousy of maritime rights had occa ' sioned certain dignities and forms to be preserved in the exer cise of this mutual right of search, and it was exclusively limited to this particular case. Although the right of cap ture was allowed on each side, yet justice was to be admi nistered by the country to which the pirate belonged. If an American captured a British slave ship, she niust be sent into a British port_ for adjudication. The benefits of this treaty he trusted would not stop here. If the two first Maritime powers in the world submitted to a regulated search for the accomplishment of this object, he thought they might go with no small power and grace to ask a similar compliance at the hands of a third party. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded amidst the cheers of the House, by moving for leave to bring iii a Bill for the mere effectu.ll Suppression of the African Slave Trade. Mr. F. BUXTON said, he had heard the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman with mortification and with keen disap pointment. lie contended that the resolutions which the House carried in the last Session pledged them to a stronger course, and referred to the condition of the whole. negro population__ not to a small portion limited to the Colony of Trinidad.— If by amelioration in the'condition of all the slaves of all the colonies were meant only one colony, he for one must protest against that application of the promise formerly held out.— And in the same tone must he speak of the apparent intention to leave that amelioration to be wrought in some undefined period, at the end of which, probably, no one now living would be alive, which he could only infer from the declaration of the Right lion. Gentleman (31r. Secretary Canning); that the ex tinction of slavery could only lie obtained through the opera tion of slow and silent causes, the assistance of gradual mea sures, and the all-powerful, and, above all; prompt intcrven tionin answer to that cheer, tha i t ii i:the , y of the light of reason ! —(Cheers from different parts of the House.)—He should say intended to leave the pledge wh , c o h u I had e to be m r i eWc i e e n b l?.. r d by thei jesty's Government and that only—(Hear,. hear!)—it would require ten centuries was accomplished • and under such cir cumstances, d rree t a h ist o ow s n e who with him had 9 taken in hand this great eb o at u ynb ld feel themselves no longer parties to that pledge. e e d a g n e s dictated ~ v hw a be s made to 700,000 slaves, and if one iota of it were abandoned, they should not consider themselves parties to one tittle of it. In adverting to the Order in Council re lating to this subject, notwithstanding the differences that might exist between him and those from whom that Order proceeded, he was willing to admit that there was nothing to induce him to withhold his acknowledgments for it, and ' to confess that as far as it had gone it was unobjectionable., at the same time he must accompany this admission by a de claration that it had not gone far enough. The first point in the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech to which he should refer was what he had said with respect to the abolition of the cart propriety of this the he entirely concurred with that Right Hon.' Gentleman, for of _society what could be the statein which it was permis sible for females to be stripped naked, and in the presence of whip in the punishment of females. In t h e males openly and unmercifully chastised with a cart whip.— unpleasant necessity of . going int o )— He was 40711 , 16 be under the such details to an unwil_ part of his duty. No man he vered. This was not the first time he would add, dexterous speech, , . .ow kl(iilinilgeuw7HlNnvouausrssem'oofbrdtelitsualniPefiPfsr:tlt;iaal it to on l e 've a tf) wmch had just been deli_ the brilliant, and on him for pursuing such a course 1: • ht ring • his ears ten time* as loud, bef ore ; but they c iTilg ,.. a l e n sable indemnity from reproach, byhe re roaches had been cast cause he had undertaken. It never should nid e. be said of him that knowing the difficulties he had to wo ul i sa pPr de n s a e s rtion or a undertook to advocate a certain e -a nse, he sat still under the ef fects of a brilliant speech whilst a pledge relating to a whole archipelago dwindled down to •to contend with, when he ft °Jingle island. But he again ground, whilst the cart whip was' applied by which a in thepresen d sclareda,thweirtilsiedretfhereetnackeintgo femaleathat ovision of West India law negro, stretching her naked ce of son or husband, and then pinninguon ti the earth,er to t h e four negroes, he again declared, that at the abolition of this outrage he rejoiced with the Right Honourable Secretary with all his heart. The Right Honourable Gentleman told them that the first step towards Moral improvement must be the establishment of a distinction between the sexes. He (Mr. Buxton) agreed with him in this, and asked upon this prin ciple, how such improvement could ever be expected to take place where the females of th e community were publicly and shamelessly flogged ? Could they expect that a young negro girl should be chaste, modest, reserved, and decent, when this was the prevailing state of the law ? But if the Right Hon. Gentleman wished to effect his chan ge through the medium of moral improvement, why did he n ot apply the same means to Lucie, that that which' to 22,0f10 in Trini dad, been promised, by granting to 700,000 N egroes i n t h e w h ole of the bd a ,twh and d Co not 1 8 7 0 : 10 e eo s f e ? irar e N ds V t h . y colonies.—(Expressions of dissent.)—He whished to know then whether Government intended that the use of the whip upon females should be put down in all the Colonies. He knew it was in all the Crown Colonies, but these were not one tenth part, and the question then was whether they were to al low this scandalous barbarity to remain, affecting not only females, but strongly operating upon public decency. When the Right Hon. Gentleman told them that he had hopes that the views which he entertained would be cherished and embraced by the West Indians at large, he wished he had communicated to them on what grounds he entertained that expectation. He did not think he could have drawn such hopes from the mouths of the Colonists themselves. As for Jamaica, it was impossible that island could have spoken in a tone of more exasperated ma jesty than they had done. And how had the more enlightened community of Barbadoes treated the measures of his Majesty's Government ? Honourable Gentlemen had no doubt read the speech of Mr. Hampden ; of that speech he was ready to express himself in terms of commendation, inasmuch as it was the only speech uttered in the West Indies upon this occasion breathing temperate principles, and couched in the language of courtesy. Mr. Hampden agreed in nearly all the propositions laid down by him (Mr. Buxton) in the speech in which' he introduced the Resolutions he had brought forward last year. But when he came to the whipping of females, he said that his (Mr. Buxton's) sound principles and sense of duty were completely carried away by his " fanatical feelings." He then went on to pass jokes on the subject of flogging females. To some of these jokes he could not refrain from vieating the House. He said that certainly the practice of flogging females might somewhat shock their gallantry, but the fact was, that their females were rather of the Amazoni a n or d er, and diat he really thought their husbands would grumble if their wives were put out of the.reach of the whip. When he heard the clamours which were but lately raised against him for the course he took upon this momentous question, he could not help reverting to those damning facts which he had before stated, and which, without going further back than seven years, he should again detail to the House.--(Murmurs of dissent.)—He should like; then, to ace any one get up and deny that women were publicly flogged in a state . of nakedness. The first case to which he should relate was that of Mr. Huggins. It occurred in 1817, and was not the same as that Huggins who, in 1810, was guilty of one of the greatest enormities that ever stained the character of human nature.— Oil this occasion two male slaves were flo:Ned, and received one hundred lashes from the cart-whip. Two females were observed to cry, upon which he exclaimed, " bring out the ladies." This being done, they were st r ipp e d, laid down upon the earth in the presence of the men, and received lashes each. Now these poor wretches cried cause it was their brother that was flogged.: and it turned out that the father of •the males was the man obliged, although he believed, by accident, to inflict the. punishment On the males. The next case to which he should, allude was the celebrated one of the Negress, America, at Berbice.— Her crime was in fact nothing more than a misunderstanding on the part of the manager's wife. The latter had had occasion to correct the child of this woman for some act of neglect; the mother went to the place to lecture the child upon the neglect. —The manager's wife conceiving she came to make a noise, drove her away, and complained to her husband that she had Come there to talk and make a great noise. For this she was . ' ordered to be stripped naked before the males. She begged to be heard, but the manager refused till she had been flogged. The.woman was pregnant at the time, and miscarried in conse quence of the treatment she experienced. She was 14 days in the stocks, and it was seventeen days after her chastisement that the Clergyman who related the case saw her. He said— " America came limping to.us, her body was one wound, and we looked with amazement at the long furrows with which her body was covered by the cart-whip, which, however, by this time were scaled over." The relation was too horrible to pro ceed with. It was sufficient to say th a t s h e h a d rece i ve d . 150 lashes •administered by one driver on one s id e , an d anot h er on the otlier. There was another case, in which a female was stripped naked, her feet bound by tight cords, a stick passed along the exterior of her body to keep her in a painful posi tion ; and thus chained above the earth, she was exposed to the burning sun, and tortured from morning to night. She was flogged according to the evidence, first on the back, and then . on the face and breast. The narrator went on to state that, ' convicted of this load of enormity, a Honduras Jury could not be roused to impose 'a larger penalty on the barba rous master than thirty-five pounds English money. The next fact was that Patie. On the bare suspicion of hay ing made away with some trifling property, she was tied up and flogged, and then put into an old store infested with vermin. The House might form an idea of her situation, when they knew that, with her hands free, the attacks of the musquito and other insects .of those climates would be almost intolerable. She, however. escaped, and lodged a complaint the next day, for which she was again stripped and flogged in the presence of men in a state of nature, and sill , - mitted for a longer period to the same inhuman treatment. This happenedin Honduras in 1821. In answer to a juror who asked if any . person could have lived lon g in such a place, a witness said he saw no reason against it, and that he had seen three snakes come out of it a few days before. When then he saw these things occurring at so late a period, and above all negrowlie i he fe saw aa, l e t s h , e b j l o a k c e k s ? h e e l i r p i, n d . e ta na z b o O n u i i fillantri towards grumbling of husb a nd s a t th e i r w i ves escaphiegfotrhis the. cart good jokes as he mi g ht conce d e them to be, he held then to furnish good re asons f or not confiding such' powers; in the hands of West Indi an attorn i es 3 ,000 miles off; still less for con fiding them to the a tt orney ' s agent, and less still to his driver, Who had been so j us tly c h aracter i zed by theltight lion. Secre tary. He hated su c h a system b ecause of the personal cruelties ,a and the which it favoured,but he hated it much more hecause it tended to debase the possessor of such powers, and to render the master of slaves vile in the eyes of the world, and in his own eyes. This practice then must be put down, for with it no moral im provement could be attained. If what Mr. Hampden stated about the husband were true, then he must hate slavery for its physical evils, but ten thousand. times more for the moral de basement which it fostered ; for he held that all the qualities of manhood must be eradicated from that mind which could en tertain such a sentiment towards a wife or a mother. The charge against him, and those who felt with him on this sub ject, was, that there.was, the greatest wildness and enthusiasm in their notions.—( Hear, hear, hear !)—He required then that those who made that charge should point out, article by article, the particular notions deserving these epithets. Had they, he asl - ed, outrun the feelings of the country in demand ing that the practice. of using the .cart whip to females should be pot down ? They had been told from respectable authority last Session by an lion. Member of that House, that the driv ing system had been discontinued, and that the whip was no longer used as a stimulus to labour—that it was carried by the driver as a symbol of oilice, a badge of authority, a sort of ornament—that it was the remnant of a barbarous custom ; but the whip was now no more to the negro-driver than the mace was to the Sergeant at Arms, and that it would be as absurd to suppose that it was used to flog the negroes to work, as to suppoee that the mace was used to knock clown every Member as he came in at the door. When he (Mr. Buxton) heard this, he certainly thought he had been much abused in the information given to him on this subject, and was re volving in his mind whist atonement he should make for hav ing given currency to contrary statements, when he happened to take up a file of Jamaica Papers. Here he stumbled upon sundry advertisements for Negroes run away, and whose de scriptions were by this means made public for various reasons. Oae of these ran thus He is marked. on the flesh with the initials C. C. P., and has flogging marks on the shoulders." In another was the expression, as part of the description, " with marks of severe floggin g ." Another described female Negro by the name of Sarah, marked J. D. with a scar ou her back ; and indeed the papers were filled with a multitude of cases of this kind. There were no less than five hundred in, one year. What then became of the Honour able Member's " symbol of office—badge of authority," &c. These advertisements distinctly proved the condition of negroes With furrowed and excoriated backs, which meant that the whip was used as a stitnulus to labour._( Cries of No, no.)—The next fact would, perhaps, be denied in the same , way. He alluded • to the practice of branding human flesh with a hot iron with the initials •of the name and estate of the negro.. There was one advertisement in these papers describi ng a s l ave , B etty, ! with S. 0. A. marked on her, besides several letters which were not plain on her breasts. A second was a Creole, marked J. 13. and other marks on his cheeks. Another, Peter, marked A. C. I. E. R. 0. N. V. T. S. Yet they were told these things were abolished. The next point conceded was, with respect to religious. worship, the regulation s. for llr ews t n c e h s . e u T n i d i e e r fi s t n o e o s d u p w o e i r i e m t a o mi extend m isio n to a t s l o i e w w e l r i e o a e b o o f l s t he e . ed. In both of these he was fully agreed with the Right lion. Secretary, and he thought.there could be little reason in cons iegrh next t Honourable adverted Gentleman to the e himself. oe plaining of him, when it appeared that he saentr e no further than the the i e Honourableevidence" Meitib of negroes in Court s of Law. This was in fact, he conceived, a refusal to protect them by the laws. The population of the rtr whites was 50,000, that of the blacks 700,000; so that in every legal investigation the population was one that could give evi dence to fourteen that could not. Thus murders might be committed in the face of open day, provided none but negroes were near. In the case of Thurtell, for instance, who was convicted on a- chain of evidence against him, one link was wanting, and that was supplied by his aecomplice.— Were not great facilities granted by the law, murder would frequently go unpunished. 1 t was said that the negro had little regard to truth, and was insensible to the nature and obligations of an oath ; but he was deemed a good evidence against a felloW negro. Surely if true, this objection was as good in one case as in another ; but the negro was not thought fit to be ranked even with the Proberts and Hunts of this country. There was no part of this atrocious system more horrible than that which permitted the ties of social life to be cut asunder ; for it was law in those countries that the master might seize and sell the negro separately from his mate or children —the tax-gatherer and creditor might do the same. The consequence of this part of the system was visible in the late Commotions at Demerara. One of the insur gents, wham the last account s l e f t hanging on his gibbet, was driven to become a conspirator from the cruel separation from all whom he held dear. It was really wonderful to him that such a system should have continued s o long. lie knew any motion of his on the subject would be met by overwhelming majorities in that House ; but the public, so long as they possessed the same principles" and feelings which' had hitherto distinguished them, would not be satisfied that the measures adopted towards the Colonies should be frittered doWn to Trinidad only. He wes no advocate at the present period for the emancipation of the slaves. He considered that -to be the worst thing that could be done both for master and slave. He wished to see steps . adopted which would secure the extinction of slavery at some not very remote period. He was no enemy to the planters— he had already said that compensation should be given to the masters, and emancipation to the children. As for what he had said that night, it proceeded neither front personal interest, for he had none, - nor froth resentment. He should be glad to see such a plan adopted as should injure no man's pocket, and hurt no man's feelings Mr. C. R. ELI AS said, that nothing had transpired since this question was last before the House to induce him to change his opinion upon the measures then proposed. In judging of those measures he had not relied upon -his own judgment alone, but had been fortified by the opinions of risen of practical know ledge and experience, who were considered as qualified to recommend the measures necessary to be adopted towards the Colonies.' The lion. Member who had last sat down had done him the hon Our to refer to what he had said with regard to the use of the whip in the West Indies, and he was ready to meet his observations. He admitted having said, that the whip was used as a symbol of dike, but he had not said that it was an ornament. He- had said that it was not now used as a stimulus to labour, but he had never said that it was not used as an instrument of legal punishment, which was all the Honourable Member could draw from the Jamaica ad vertisements he had read, of negroes with the mark of the whip on them,-.--( Hear, hear !)—lt was impossible to say that these marks were not the effect of punishment administered by the regular authority of Magistrates, after all the formalities of trial had been gone through. With respect to the marks of the letters, all that he could observe was, that they were one of the been used to distinguish the old slaves from . barbarous c i rcumstances o f the sieve trade, these marks having those newly im. ported. The Slave Trade having been abolished, this.praea tice of course no longer existed. With regard to the present state of the West India Colonies, he could not but observe that a great, change was visible in their condition from what it was formerly. When he lived in Jamaica, he. resided in the midst of a population of one thousand blacks, and in a house which had neither door nor window shut night or day.—(Hear!)All that time there existed contentment and attachment to their masters on the part of the Negroes, and confidence on the part of the masters towards their slaves. els to the causes which had produced the change now so obvious, it would answer no good purpose to,inquirei Moral improvement was said to be desired by all ; but while the negroes were in expectation of receiving by every packet what they called a paper of freedom—while they conceived that the British Parliament was anxious to grant them this, and their masters adverse to the grant, and the masters fearful that their slaves were watching the moment to seize that freedom by force with all the horrible circums stances of such a step, was itlikely that such a state of things could be conducive to the moral improvement of society?— .Nothing could be better calculated to still the minds of the Negroes than the I • Jelarnation which was going out by the next packer; and theintention of contributing to their moral improvement by instruction was equally well calculated to insure the same desired end. The parochial clergymen were not always selected with that care•which should mark such an appointment, but in general their task was beyond their phye. aical powerS. The Sending out of 'Missionaries of the Church of England would be of the greatessadvantage. lie trusted also • that the speech of the Right lion. Secretary would not fail of hav ing a tranquillizing tendency. When it should be seen in the • Coloniesthat the extinction of slaver* was to be looped for, not from, any Legislative Enactmeut, but from the eTatitial adVance ment to good conduct in the Negroes, they Would evince a desire to deserve that distinction. When too the'colonist perceived that from the acts of this country they had nothing to fear either for their property or their lives, there would be - an- end of that • distrust and jealousy which had lately shewn itself upon this subject. With respect to the power of the slave to purchase his manumission, he thought that privilege should be restricted Withih certain limits. As to the .compulsory clause for purs chasing freedom there were Objections .to that which affected , , both the comfort of the slaves, and the success of ihe -measure,. which he thought would have Occurred to die Right:Ron. 0611- tleman, had he reflected more 'upon it. Having referred to the temper of the colonists, it would be disingenuous in iiim hot to • state that he did regret the temper in which the Colonial Legis lature had viewed the measures of Government. Having said this, he could say no more. The colonists thought., however erroneously, that these measures were, calculated to interfere with their Constitutional privileges, invade their property, afid disturb the public tranquillity. Such. is construction, he ad mitted, was not warranted by the words of the Order, and it was practically contradicted by the commentary presented by the conduct of that House, but more satisfactorily contra dicted by the speech of -the Right Hon. Secretary. But it was to he borne in mind, that living in the midst of such dangers, it was not easy for the Colonists to view mit t..rs so coolly as Honourable Gentlemen in that House could do. Nor could it be expected they would be otherwise than indignant when they read that the mover of t h e r e so l ut i ons o f last Session talked of their " extravagant predictions, always falsified by the fact ;" and of their getting up plots issuing in the bloodshed of the blacks. It was not to be expected that they would, on the spur of the moment, make a distinction betwixt the party making such propositions and expressions, and his Majesty's Government, especially when they could not but know that if these Resolutions had been carried into effect, such a spoliation of property would have ensued as no country not in a state of revolution ever experienced., The Parliament with all its powers 'could accomplish much,. but except they were cautious and circumspect, they might occasion scenes of bloodshed only equalled by the calamities of St.-Domingo; if, therefore, they were actuated by real philanthropy, they winad co-operate with his Right Hon. Friend, and pursue the course which lie had ably marked out.—( Hear, hear !). Mr. WILBERFORCE said, that he had listened with Uri:. fei g ned satisfaction to w h a t had. been eonnnunicated, to learn that so many of their fellow beings whose condition was de plorable, were likely to have that condition ameliorated. The Resolutions of last Session had very properly been read; he, • however, was astonished to hear from an Hon. Member that the Resolutions had been misunderstood. lie deemed them clear and explicit. AS to the irritation of which so much had been said, it ought not to cause surprise; at the same time he thought that the conduct of some of the Assemblies had been contumacious. We had exhibited to them a pattern, in the. instance of Trinidad, of what ought to be done, trusting that their own sense of their own duties would enforce the neces sity of following such example. However, what was to be expected from the Colonial Assemblies? It would be worse than trifling to say that the fate of so tn2ny immortal beings was to be left to those Assemblies? It was for that House, for the Parliament, to do what they deemed to be their duty ; they were not to suffer the question to remain for the adjustment of the Assemblies. They could no hope that the conduct of per sons in the islands would lie different now from' what it was in - 1797 ; afcer what they. had experienced, they could not ex pect that the, local authoritir s, unless compelled to it, would pro mote these ameliorations which the Parliament thought ought to be enforced. It was the misfortune of that country that the affluent, and the weliSeducated persons, who were interested in the welfare of its inhabitants, lived in another country. There was hence little of the power of superior example. When the Honourable Member (Mr. Ellis),resided on his estates, reforms were effectually promoted ; but when he was absent, what was his influence ? When the question of the abolition of the slave trade was agitated ; a letter was, as that. Honour able Member well knew, written t o th e leading authorities in the Islands, stating that if they did not promote reforms the slave trade would certainly be abolished What was the re .eeption extended to such advice, where their interests were so deeply affected ? 'They treated it with contempt; they wholly disregarded it; . and yet when the dreaded abolition was effected by the Parliament, those persons co-operated with the wishes of the Mother Country. And why were they to expect different cenduct now ? From . his soul he believed, and so believing it was his duty to declare it to the Hou se , t h at they were on the brink of a precipice, and • that if they did not observe Much care, he lea.red the results would be most calamitous. Time state of the population was dreadful. Interested persons had spread the foulest calum nies. Even he had been accused of circulating pamphlets and statements through the Islands. He wasashamcd to have to say that such representations were wholly false; such ca lumnies might be natural to the soil of slavery, but they were altogether founded in falsehood. Had they even avowed in the Islands what they expected would take plate ? No, but in every parish in Jamaica the most violent language had been adopted, and the insurrection of the negroes talked of as the con sequence as well as the object of- those. Reforms which he, and those who thought with him, desired to see accomplished. - It was held forth that the Barbadoes insurrections of 1316 would be repeated. The violence and the activity had been with the opposite parties ; and whets such language was adopted at public meetings the parties who heard it naturally spok - e of it when they returned to their homes, and could it then surprise tleh there was restlessness amongst the negroes ? Besides that fact, there was one universal feeling amongst the negroes, that the Parliament intended to do something for their essential benefit, but that their masters resisted the adoption of such beneficial measures. . The truth was, as had been well observed by one who was com petent to judge of the subject, that the negroes were on the tip toe of expectation to learn the declarations of Parliament. But what would be their sensations when they found that the Ministers paused, and that the Parliament also paused ? Just as they had got the cup to their lips, and were about to par take, he they imagined, of the sweet draught of liberty, they would behold it dash from their hands. Such would he their feelings, and he feared the consequence would be, that they would endeavour to take the cause into their own hands.— (Hear !)—His prayers were, that such might not be the result but as he apprehended such consequences, by the hesitating conduct of Parliament and the Ministers, as an honest man he was bound to express his apprehensions.—( Hear !)—And what were they to expect? What must be the situation of men who had been led to form such expectations ? They would appear as if the lightness of day had been withdrawn from them, as if they were again hurled into all the gloom of darkness and hesita tion. Then it became that House, if it resolved to do any thing to do it quickly, but temperately. lie felt that if they did not so act, the consequences would not fail to be most calamitous. If hopes had once been aroused in the heart, and experienced disappointment, dangerous irritation was excited. They had an instance of that fact in the French Revolution. There the. hopes and fears of an irritated population had been trifled with, till eventually that explosion took place which they all too well remembered. The like was the case with St. Domingo The calamities which took place there were occasioned by the ve cillating conduct of the French Convention, which enacted measures one day, and reversed them the next. The conse quence was, that the negro population took their cause into their own hands, and the House knew the result. Ile was not satisfied with the course proposed to be pursued by his Right Hon. Friend. He was sure it would not be construed by the mas ters and the slaves as it was desired that it should be. As to in surrections being the consequences of the course which he (Mr. W.) and his friends pursued, it was a remarkable fact there never had been fewer insurrections than what characterized modern times. They used to be constantly taking place on r different estates, as well as on the islands generally; but since the efforts made during recent years few insurrections had taken place. Ir.t therefore could not be justly charged on such discon tents being occasioned by him, or those who thought with him. If the Government desired that their experiment should be so tried as to recommend it to the adoption of the other islands, it ought to be tried under favourable circumstances. But in time present instance it had been tried under unfavourable circurn