The Sun. — London, England, 1824-06-02 00:00:00

eared that they knew nothing but what they had heard .:against Mr. Smith. The confession of Jack was a most .e.tierions document, and deserved the attention of the House— roe first part of it was taken down by his counsel, and put into hie own language. It stated that he was guilty, and that he •was satisfied with his trial. From that point the confession -ems written by a Gentleman whose activity, he thought, did hien very little credit. The language of this part of the con fession was very florid, and stated that the prisoner had re ceived every kindneis since his imprisonment, and that he believed if there had been no Methodists in the Colony there would have lethal no revolt. These Gentlemen seemed to have discovered the infalible means of taming the savage soul, and enlightening the untutored mind of an African slave. —They clapped him into a Demerara prison, and brought hien well to trial before a Court Martial, and it was perfectly astonishing to see how qUickly he adopted the highest moral and philosophical views, speaking of the degrees of knowledge • calculated to benefit the human mind, and discovering that half instruction was a-very dangerous thing, and never should be per oaitted.—(Cheers and laughter.)—He wondered that this slave bad not found a poet to illustrate his newly-adopted principles. —He now-tame to the part of the proceedings where hearsay evidence eras stopped by the Court ; for a light did at last break in upon them, and they discovered the illegality of -taking such evidence. In the examination of his third or fourth witness, the Court stopped Mr. Smith, and told him. that lie must not ask questions as to what the witnesses had heard, ha such evidence would not be received in future. But it had been admitted in the past—and by these judges themselves. -Courted—received with open arms. They having exceeded, if possible, the violence with which the prosecutor had gone beyond his duty for the purpose of hunting down this unfortu nate man. They refused to hear proper, legal evidence, upon a point going to the very marrow of the case—namely, that of communicatueg to the overse e r o f th e es t a t e w h a t h e knew of the revolt. He was prevented from putting these questions, and they were suppressed in the minutest of the proceedings. Directly after this, however, the Court itself was found asking a witness in cross-examination, " Were you not told that plenty of people would be at the chapel, Acc." Then they examined as to the private conversations with Mrs. Smith in her husband's absence, not one question upon which was justifiable by legal practice. Other parts of Mr. Smith's defence were gabled by suppressions of what was supposed to reflect on the Court, the Judge. Advocate, or the Government. Many of the charges were, -that he had read improper parts of .the Bible to the Slaves, and that he had protested against -what the law of God and the law of the land equally forbade; namely, the violation of the Sabbath. When defending himself upon these points, the prisoner quoted passages from Scripture in vindication of his acts as a Minister, the Court interfered, and told him that he must not do so, because the Gentlemen of -the Court were supposed to be acquainted with all the con tents of the Bible.—(Alaugh.)—The Honourable and Learned 'Cent-tertian next addressed himself to the crime of which it was the - intention of the prosecutor to convict the prisoner, and to the evidence upon which it was supported. The only authority which they had to try him upon the charges pre -ferred was the existence of Martial law. Supposing that state - to make every man a soldier, he could only be considered a soldier from the date of the Proclamation. According to this he was enlisted on the -19th; but the evidence referred to his conduct on the 18th and 17th, and even to a distance of six years previous to the transactions out of which the trial arose. Other charges were that he knew and concealed the existence of the conspiracy and revolt, and that on the 20th he was with Quamina, corresponding and abetting the revolt. He did see Quamina, and every tittle of the evidence proved that he met - him for the purpose of dissuading him from the acts in which he was engaged. Upon this point the Judge Advocate stated that there was no evidence as-to what passed at these meetings, and - that it was not material that there should be. Now he would contend that it was necessary to shew clearer than the sun at tnid-day, that these meetings related to the revolt, and to a criminal participation in it by the prisoner. But this was loudly contradicted by evidence which shewed that lie used every means in his power to induce the slaves to abandon their design. Upon this the Judge-Advocate remarked that Mr. Smith remained half an hour with Quamina, and then let him . depart without let or molestation. To this he would repeat the words of the poor Missionary, when upon his trial he de sired his Judges to look at his emaciated form, and say whether lie was able to seize upon a youthful strong negro engaged in desperate designs. All he knew of theinten tions of the negroes, he communicated to Mr. Stewart, the overseer of the Success estate. There was no other autho- Thy to whom he could communicate the information at the thee. Yet it was upon this-that the Court determined tq put down missions, and to spew mankind that no one should dare to give fhetruction to the African slave ; and therefore they sentenced this unfortunate Missionary to be hanged by the neck until lie was dead. He might have known that there was gruni tiling among the negroes, and going backwards and forwards to know whether their freedom was arrived, as they had been informed it would by a slave of the Governor's, who had picked it pp at his own table from the conversations of the (lover . nor himself, and front a kept Mistress of one of the proper -authorities. When be heard so much of .this as excited alarm, he informed the overseer. But within the four quarters of the evidence there was nothing from which lie could possibly have been guilty of misprision of treason until within half -an hour of the time when the revolt broke out. But sup posing that he had been guilty of misprision, that was not . a capital offence. If a man were convicted of concealing the knowledge of a conspiracy against the life of the So vereign, or to levy war against the King and the other two Estates i • and if his trial had been the fullest and fairest -before four of the most upright Judges that ever sat upon the Bench, his crime would amount to nothing like a capi tal offence against the law. But although this Court had re - 'solved to put down missions and missionaries, and teachers of slaves, yet they hesitated to carry their sentence into effect, net so much, he believed, from the fear of having this blood upon their head, as from the recollection, that " be who eiheds man's blood, by nian shall his blood be shed."—Some one might have whispered in their ears, that if they dared to touch a hair of this man's head, they themselves must die - the death of felons. If lie had committed guilt such as they .believed him to have committed, what were the crimes of those poor benighted Africans compared to his? Yet he was the person reeommended to mercy by the Court, while these pour wretched people were sacrificed. He wished to say a few words upon those who suffered. He hoped they had met with fair trial:, and that justice, though heavy, had still been justly administered to them. Some speedy anti decisive ex amples were undoubtedly necessary, but he thought that some might have been spared whose execution had been so long de layed. According to the opinion of Mr. Austin, the object , of the revolt was not blood. He stated his belief that no thing but the religious instruction which Mr. Smith gave to the negroes had saved the blood of those who were then seeking hie. They stated their object to be that of driving their mas ters to the towns; and by driving they simply meant to use e only such force as would compel them to go. In fact, it meant nomore than that they would strike work. They stated in the very_ heat of their passions, where every passion was heated but that of revenge, that they would not take away life, be .. (*use their instructor had told them that they had no right _to take away that which they could not give. Much blood had been spilt on the part of the negroes, for he believed that above two Hundred had suffered altogether. He had in his hand Gazettes, by which. it appeared that others had been submitted to the minor punishment of flogging. Two had received I 000 lashes each, and were condemned to work in chains for seven years. A good -deal of this punishment appeared to _Lim to be unnecessary, and calculated to disgrace the white man, and still more to increase his insecurity. He could say little of other individuals, when he _found the Governor telling a Missionary that if he dared to teach the - negroes, Jee would send him out of the -Colony. The Honourable ..and Learned Gentleman here referred to a paper issued, _as it was understood, by some member of the established „ church in the colony, declaring that there would be no more psalm-singing in the colony ; condemning the mode of preach ing adopted by the Missionaries in addressing the slaves; and observing that it was only in the Bethel :Chapel that slaves wer e addressed by the title of " Dearly beloved Brethren."— Thie last assertion shelved how little this orthodox religionist must have attended to the service of his own church.—(A 1 e paper went on to observe, that slavery must either continue as it now-did, or not continue at all. How ignorant . must be such individuals as this ! They had before them danger enough to satisfy thhwhrmest ch ivalr y; t h e y were a mer e hand ful of slaqe masters in the midst of myriads of African elaves, of all tempers and dispositions, hut who would all for ge t t h e shades of distinction between themse lves to join against the *lkea. An immense ocean separated these ignorant men from all European assistance in. the moment of immediate dang er; and yet were they proceeding in a manner which must extol_ perate the coolest, and which could not fail to w arns religi ous euxhusiam into madness. To avert the danger, if possible, he called for the assistance of Parliament. He called upon them -to sav e the West Indians themselves from the horrors which threatened them. He made this call first on behalf of the staves, to whom we owed all that mild be owed to illetreated mak, - from those who were in close connection with the men who had ill-treated them. He made the call next in behalf of • the masters themselves, te s prevent their continuing in that ..ruinous course which had begun in the martyrdom of Mr. Smith.—(Heart fromeheOpposition,)—lle called upon them .last, though not the leaat, to discharge a duty.which they owed . to all classes in thihcount e y, by disavowing the whole of the -proceedings relati ve to that Gentleman. The. Hon and Learn ..ed Membe r rzn ebKled by moving, in substance,_ as follows : " That an humiAe Addres esented to his Majesty, repre .eentiog, that the House hadtak e nnto their serious consideration . the papers laid before the - House relative to-the,coadmination of Mr.• J. Smith, late a Missionary to Deinarara ; and that they conceived it to be their duty to declare that in their opinion that csndemnation was unjust ; and beseeching his Majesty to take such measures as he should consider effectual, for preventing a recurrence of any proceedings of a similar na ture ; and for securing religions instruction to the Negroes, through the exertion of Missionaries, by affording them all due protection." _ - - - Mr. W. HORTON rose to oppose the motion. It was sup ported, he observed, by reference to documents so volumi nous, that it would be necessary for him to intreat the attention of the House while he went through them, for the purpose of inducing the House to arrive at conclusions very different from those drawn by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. With out that attention it must be obvious that he would be totally unable to wage the unequal war to which he felt he was ex posed.(Hear, hear !)—The Hon. and Learned Gentleman appeared to express his surprise that the subject had caused so little interest in the House compared with that which it had excited out of the House. He (Mr. H.) could not join in this surprise; because he could form some opinion, and he had no doubt the House could do the same of the means by which that interest had been created out of door;.—(Cheers.)—The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had connected the case of this unfor tunate individual, Mr. Smith, with a body of persons, (he meant the Methodists), with whom, as a body, the subject could have no relation whatever. Had that unfortunate person given proper attention to the admirable regulations laid clown by the Missionary Society, the subject now before the House would never have been heard of, and the unfortunate Gentleman him self might at this moment be living; under a different state of things in the Colony. What were the circumstances by which he was surrounded when he first went there ? He was in a place wherei n s l aver y was authorized by law ; and it was therefore his duty as a Christian Minister to recommend patience and obedience in its objects. He (Mr. H.) had no wish to speak harshly of Mr. Smith ; indeed he really believed he was a mere enthusiasm, and of course he did not speak of this as being 1 of itself a crime. Thus much he was willing to say of him, though his actions carried every-appearance of criminality_ The whole of the proceedings, it was admitted, arose oat of the vote passed by the Colonial Assembly, and as it caused much difficulty and danger in the Colony, he believed no one would deny that the Governor was justified in proclaimi..;L; Martial Law. It was, of course, an extreme. resource, never to be acted upon but in extreme cases, as it necessa r ily i n _ volved the suspension of all the forms of law. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman, speaking ; with reference to M r . S m i t h' s trial by a Court Martial, had observed that the rules of evi dence in usual cases had been infringed upon ; but such rules could not be expected to be observed with strictness in such a case, when the very necessity for this mode of trial implied a necessity for some departure from technical form. But in support of the assertion that there had been this departure the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had relied not upon the evidence of the proceedings as they appeared before the House, but upon a publication issued by the Missionary Society. Mr. BROUGHAM here explained across the table. We understood him to say that the fact appeared from the Papers before the House. Mr. HORTON resumed.—Th e lion. and Learned Gentle man had certainly alluded to one fact which did not take place at the trial. He had said that hearsay evidence had been ad mitted. He (Mr. Horton) begged to deny this; and there was not the least appearance of any circumstance to justify the assertion. The Honourable and Learned Gentle. man had also complained of the Constitution of the Court. The President of the Court of Justice was a Member of it; and this circumstance was, in his (Mr. Horton's) opi nion, an argument rather in favour of the Court ; because it would give the Court the benefit of his legal education and habits. Seeing that this Gentleman was one of the Mem bers of the Court, it was almost impossible to believe the monstrous suppositon that hear-say evidence had been ad mitted. With regard to the President of the Court-martial, and the remarks used by the Honourable and Learned Gentleman as to the politic course of conduct he might have taken, he (Mr. Horton) begged to say, that nothing could be more impolitic than to lay down generel rules of this nature for the guidance of a Judge in discharge of his judicial duty.— (Hear, hear !)—He admitted that there was but a choice of evils for the Governor; and he believed that Martial Law, which had been resolved upon, was the least. But the m a ny ques tions now before th e ouse might be much reduced by put ting one, which was, in fact, the princip a l. W a s sub s t an ti a l justice administered in Mr. Smith's case ?—(Cheers from all parts of the House.)--By this test he was perfectly willing to try the present motion, because he was not prepared, nor was it necessary to defend the case by technical rules. It should be remembered that the colony was in imminent danger; and that for 3,000 whites there were 77,000 slaves. The Court which tried Mr. Smith was formed as unexceptionably as it was pos sible, considering all the circumstances of difficulty. And would Hon. Gentlemen say not only that Mr. Smith was inno cent, hut that the Court which tried him had formed a delibe rate intention to commit injustice ? Was it likely too that he would have had more justice administered to hint had he been tried by the usual forms of law in the Colony ? The lion. and Learned Gentleman said that sentence of death had been passed for an offence which by law was not punishable by death. The legal part of the question he did not attempt to meddle with • but even supposing the Hon. and L earne d Gentleman to be correct in his legal view of it, the sentence had been qualified by a recommendation to mercy; and when it was remembered that in no case within memory had such a sentence, so qualified, been acted upon, irwas too much to say that the Court desired to take away the prisoner's life.— They conceived (whether right or wrong was not the question) that the crime was legally punishable with death ; but they thought there were palliating circumstances which rendered it proper to mitigate the strict severity of the lava • He under stood that by the law of Demerara misprision of treason was punishable with death, though he did not affect to be competent to deal with this part of the question. lint whether this was the fact or not, he repeated that the recommendation to mercy completely answered the charge of ialtuni s an n i e ty r ee , b wh n ic tr h ie h d ad by her le brought against the Court. Had the prio ordinary constitutional form of proceeding, lie was much more likely to be brought before a prejudiced Court than that which had actually tried him. He would then have been tried by a jury of planters; negro evidence would have been equally admissable against him; and he would no more have been al lowed counsel than lie was under the proCeedings as they had actually taken place. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman not only complained of the original proclamation of martial law, but of its continuance after all necessity for it (as the Hon ourable and Learned Gentleman thought) had cea'ed. To shew that this was net do'ne vexatiously towards Mr. Sarah, as had been held out, he would refer the House to the Go vernor's dispatches to the Government at home, in which he observed that he was most anxious to abolish martial law, and I would take the first safe opportunity of doing, but that the whites were still very muc h a l arme d , an d relied chiefly upon their arms; especially when they considered the vast dispro portion in number between the whites anti the slaves. He ' now came to the most important part of the whole transaction. lie meant the insurrection itself. In the very outset he would ask, had the Honourable and I.earned Gentleman denied that the agents of Mr. Smith had been engaged in the Insurrection ? He had not done so; and was there not proof, or at all events suspicion of a very strong nature that those persons had been so engaged ? He admitted that this alone was not proof of guilt ; but this was a fact not to be overlooked when they were trying the conduct of the Court. It was impossible, he thought, to read the papers and pronounce Mr. Smith to be the spotless character he was ascribed to be by the Missionary Society. He (Mr. Horton) did not think he had any mali cious design ; for he believed him to be a mere enthusiast, and by no means qualified for a temperate performance of the duties of his office. He begged the House only to look at the topics which Mr. Smith had chosen to address to the slaves. —He (Mr. Horton) did not say that they were wrong in the abstract; but were they fit to be addressed to the slaves ? In two instances he had quoted the conduct of the Israelites in Egypt, whom he characterized as slaves. To shew the state of Mr. Smith's mind, he should refer to the Journal of that Gentleman, notwithstanding the objection made by the [lon. and Learned Member to any reference to it,—[The Hon. Member here referred to that part of Mr. Smith's Journal which spoke of the spirit being within hint on his hearing some prayer tittered by a slave.]—Mr. Smith also advanced a most dangerous doctrine, by attempting to find reasons for not mak ing a matter of such importance as the conspiracy known to the Constituted Authorities. He appeared to say, too, that slavery could not be mitigated, but must be altogether abo lished. He begged to ask, was this a doctrine which would be sanctioned by the Missionary Society? No doubt, Mr. Smith thought the doctrine was right, and regulated his own conduct in consequence of it. All the evidence on this point clearly went to shew the frame of mind in which Mr. Smith was at the time shortly previous to the insurrection. His allu sion to the many wars and sheddings of blood about mat ters-a religion--his allusion to the affairs of St. Domingo—and his laying it down that it was culpable in the slaves to work on Sundays, all went to prove what he (Mr. II.) had before observed on this paint. Ile (Mr. H.) believed it was the wish of Government and of that House to see the practice of Sun day work altogether discontinued; but it was not the business of Mr. Smith to tell the slaves that by obedience to the present law they would be offending their Maker. He would have shewn better, and more truly religious feeling, if he had held out to them hopes that they would be relieved from the work by the proper authorities.—(lloar, hear l) --Having shown the turn of mind of this Gentleman, he came to the evidence showing that lie was privy to the insurrection. Bris tol, the black, and others, had conversations with him on the subject. Upon one expression respecting the driving of their mastery,. the Hmtourable and - Learned Gentlemen wished to put an innocent meaning, by Supposing that it meant they should strike, and not work. Even with this softened interpretation, it clearly meant an intended • resist ance to their masters with regard to their property. The Hon. Member here referred to the evidence as to the letter addressed to Mr. Smith, and which had been destroyed, re specting the slaves being " ready at-seven o'clock," that they nut " their entire trust in him," and " were fully prepared."— / The answer of Mr. Smith was, that he had heard something the day before; but had advised the person who told him not to have any thing to do with it —(Cheers from the Opposition.) This however chewed that, on the day before, he had heard of the subject—(Cheers from the Ministerial Benches.)—Was this conduct becoming the character a a Missionary ? If it should event w ould cause much, injury to' religion in general, and to the s: e id that ii ssioriar i ya, Cause i n particular.. How could the Missionary Societies ever carry th e i r i ntentions into effect if the had not the aid of the Slave Masters ? Knowing the facts Mr. Smith did, it was his duty to have communicated them to the Government; and not having done so, lie was guilty of misprision of treason. The evidence of Romeo shewed that lie must have known it. • Mrs. Smith had certainly made a statement since the trial, which went to throw a doubt over Romeo's evidence a but lie was compelled to say, that lie thought the attempt had failed. The chief of rebels was in direct. communication with Mr. Smith ; and if after read ing the whole of-the evidence, and considering it, any man could say he believed Mr. Smith was not guilty of knowing of the insurrection, and suppressing his knowledge of it from the proper authorities, that man undoubtedly ought 'to aay that the Court Martial were not justified. But men were to be tried not by their professions, but by their actions. Mr. Smith knew of the formation of a conspiraey'which would deluge the Colony in blood - , and he had kept it a secret within his own breast.-a(Cheers.)—The Missionary Petition now before the House stated that many slaves had been executed, although little injury had been- done to property. • What did the Society mean by saying this ? Were not a suspension of the law which protected property a diminution of the credit which was placed upon the property, and a tedious, harassing Militia Duty forced upon its owners for its protection—were not these an injury to property ?—( Hear !)-lii di regard to personal injury, he begged to refer the House to the evidence of Mrs. Waldron, who stated that the Blacks forced open her husband's house, fired at and wounded her twice, dragged her about, demanded of her where her husband was, and treated her cruelly while she was streaming in her blood. They had killed a Mr. Forbes, a re spectable man, who was the superintendant of the slaves, and who, while dying, exclaimed, that " he wished Wilberforce was present to see the effect of his work."—(Loud cheering!) —He read this, not to justify the remark, but to shew what were the facts, in the face of which the Missionary Meeting had presented their petition. Did or did not the Missionary Society know of these facts which appeared in evidence, when they presented their petition.—(Long continued cheering.) —And how did it happen that out of the whole Colony the slaves who attended the Bethal Chapel were the only per sons affected by the impulse of insurrection. The-Mis sionary Society might be assured that they alone could not ac complish any of the objects so much desired by this country ; and that they never could have any chance of accomplishment without an union of prudence and temper. What had been the claims of Mr. Smith to these .qualities the House might already have collected ; but the Missionary Society al - peaeed to give him ample credit for both of them. The fact wi.s, fiat Mr. Smith, • had lie - been disposed, might have averted the danger without even a breach of confidence; for he 'might, in general terms have cautioned the Government; and this might be done without a tithe of that . species of ingenuity which Mr. Smith certainly possessed. He had not done so ; and to whom did they owe it that the shocking scenes detailed in the evidence of Mrs. Waldron were not repeated in a thousand instances ? Why to the firmness and exertions of the military who were at that moment arraigned before the House as guilty of brutality and injustice ?—(Cheers.)— Upon ' the imprudence of Mr. Smith he believed. there could be no difference of opinion among impartial men. The• ques tion of his guilt or innocence must remain hetweenhim and his Creator. ,He (Mr. Horton) thought lie was an imprudent enthusiastic man, who conceived that the end justified the means. He (Mr. H.) contended that he was properly brought to trial ; and that, if there was a failure of any technical forms i'n the course of Isis trial, there was none of substantial justice. The Missionary petition stated, that the insurrection was not caused by Mr. Smith, but by the cruelty of the slave owners to their slaves. Now the fact was, that the leaders of the insitnec lion were high in the confidence of their masters; well paid, well fed, anti in good circumstances.. The whole of the evi dence proved that Mr. Smith had not fcllowed the instructions given hini by the Missionary Society. Ilisimprisonment had been partially alluded to ; but this could not be laid entirely to the proceeding by Court Martial; as he would have auffered Fonder a proceeding in the usual constitutional form. He. called upon the House to read the evidence of Mrs. Waldron, and say whether the slaves were not violent. Was it for any neces,ary purpose Mrs. 'Waldron was shot at ? The fact was, that very circumstance proved the inaccuracy of the Petition. Then it was said Mr. Smith,. an innocent unfortu nate man, had been the victim of the wrath of popular reclin e , ' in the Colony of Demerara. It was not against Mr. Smith, as a Missionary, that the Court Martial decided, but against one who had concealed a knowledge of insurrec tion. They were justified in considering him criminal. For these reasons the Hon. Member thought he had shewn the Pe tition was inaccurate. It was the parent of other Petitions, also inaccurate. No person having a knowledge of the facts, and speaking as a lawyer, could say they were not justified in finding him guilty—(Bear, hear !)—No man could be guilty of misprision of treason without appearing criminal. The House, with the evidence which had been laid before them, could not contemplate an act of injustice. It appeared to the Hon. Mem ber that justice had been done. With respect to the concluding part of the. Resolution, re :ommending a new and proper mode of instruction for the negeoes, no one could object .to such'a proposition, but the thing proposed had actually been done, and therefore the Resolution had been anticipated. The Hon. Member concluded by expressing a hope that the House would not sanction the motion. Sir J. . 11 ACKINTOSII said, that even though he had not been called upon by the Hon. G ent l eman (31 r . IV. IIorton) , to vindicate the statements of the petition, he should still feel anxious, as early as possible, to bear testimony against a pro ceeding as unwarantable as ever disgraced the a dministration of law in any part of the British dominions. With respect to the petition, he was sorry to inform the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. W. Horton) that it was not in his power to substantiate the Charges brought against its accuracy. The first charge implied merely that the Society were n.9t philosophers. With respect to the second, that cruelty to the Negroes was not the cause of the insurrection, the reason given by the Hon. Gentleman was that the ringleaders had not the excuse of cruelty. There could be no greater fallacy than this. The great mass of a people might be oppressed, though the leaders in an insurrection to oppose oppression did not feel it. Leaders in such cases were generally persons of superior talent or station, who though they might not feel so much as others the wrongs inflicted, would still be the foremost to avenge them. The next charge against the petition was inaccuracy as to the loss of life. Now what said Governor Murray ? that during the progress of the insurrection no man was voluntarily put to death. He stated that no Whites were delibera ely murdered. No doubt a loss of lives took place._. That was a necessary consequence of attack and defence. The petition meant merely to state that assassination did not dis grace the insurrection. On one plantation three were killed in defence of the house. He applauded that defence, and the con duct of those who maintained it; but it was a miserable objec tion to the petition to say that lives were lost, when it only de nied that murder or assassination took place. The London Missionary Society appealed to Mr. Austin's statement, a man of the highest charatter,avho declared 4 , that nothing bat those religious impressions which under Providence Mr. Smith has been instrumental in fixing nothing but those principles of the Gospel of Peace which he has been proclaiming, could have prevented a dreadfill effusion of blood here, and saved the lives of those very persons who are now (I shudder to write it) seek ing his life!" To this petition he confidently appealed. No thing had been yet stated to refute a single allegation it con tained. It was said that no attempt had been made to draw out hearsay evidence on the trial. He would refer to the copy of the evidence where the following queStions were to be found : Did any negro insinuate that these misfortunes were owing to Mr. Smith? Did you hear any persh impute these misfor tunes to him ? What was this but an attempt to draw forth hear say evidence ? No allusion was made to the evidence given be fore the Commissio n o f Inquiry. The Court was well aware of that evidence, but they did not believe it. If they believed the testimony of Harris, who said that the negroes took a Solemn oath in the presence of Mr. Smith, binding themselves torise in rebellion against the Authorities, would they not have preserved the life of Harris as the apple of their eye;- that he might be produced to prove a fact which would shew Mr Smith to be the most flagicious of men ? They rejected all that part of the evidence which they knew to be false and incredible, and they preserved th e rest. He be li eve d th e Chi ef Justice *ray to be a respectable man, but it was in vain to argue against facts, from character. Hearsay evidence of the worst kind was admitted. Let the character of Mr. Wray have its weight, butlet it be used as a shield to protect,not as a sword to stab the charac ter of Mr. Smith, the only thing now unfortunately left in their hands of that most Mused gentleman. He could lay his hand to his heartand declareupon his honour, or ifthere was any pledge more sacred, that he believed him to be a most innocent and virtuous man, illegally tried, unjustly condemned to death, and persecuted in a manner that was a disgrace to any enlightened Govtrnment. even in the case of the worst criminal. He did not think it possible that an Assembly, which, as one of its first s appointed a grand acts it; the be g i nning of each session, laway Committee of Courts of Justice, could refuse this motion and not pronounce judgment on such a question as this. They had to try this issue whether the jurisdiction was a legal one, and whether the proofs were sufficient. The question was not whether Mr. Smith was imprudent, or an enthusiast. Nine tenths of the evidence had no relation 'at all to the charge against him. Why receive as evidence a conversation that . took place long before with Mr. M‘Turk on the subject of the smallpox? 'Who was this Doctor M'Turk, this gene rous Doctor, who having had a dispute with a neighbour, mentioned all the particulars of that dispute at the very moment when it might be rendered most prejudicial to the interests of the person who was thus betrayed ? if he (Sir James Mackintosh) were allowed to adopt the superstitions of other times and places, he would take special care never to sail in the same vessel with Doctor *M"furk.—(A laugh.)—He would wish him expelled, as he wished all who were capable of bringing forward injurious recollections at the season of calamity against the victims of that calamity, from the Christian world. He would put it to the house whether the letters of Mr. Smith, which merely contained general observa tions and discussion, and had no relation to action of any kind, should be taken as evidence that he was guilty of misprision of treason ? Could the journal of a man, in which he entered the sentiments of hislife, be produced in evidence against him ? The case of Sidney vanished before the atrocity of producing that journal as evidence of the guilt of Mr. Smith ; a journal which had never been seen even by his wife, which had been dragged from the most sacred secrecy for the purpose of bearing testi mony against the man who had kept this register of his religious thoughts and opinions from the eyes of all the world. But what did this document prove ? Part of it had been handed about the Court without being read to the Court, and the Advocate for the prosecution charged him upon the remain der with the crime--of what ? of being an enemy to slavery itself. Mr. Smith had in his journal said that he had been obliged to compose in the midst of agonising cries. He had been vile enough to declare that slavery should die a violent death, and the extracts which thus exhibited the feel ings and sentiments of the writer were all treasured up as proof of a wicked participation in the views of the insurgents. No one would accuse Dr. Johnstone of sectarian principles, or of a temper of mind likely to recommend a departure from the obli gations of loyalty, and yet every one knew that when the Doctor was on a visit at Oxford, he proposed as a toast—" Suc cess to the first revolt of the Negroes in the West Indies."— The Doctor did so to express his abhorence of slavery in the strongest manner, at the same time that he was notoriously one of the last men who would encourage slaves to revolt. But the opinions of this unfortunate man were taken as positive evidence of his criminality.—(Hear !)—A powerful sensation bad been excited by the Press upon this subject. He alluded to the trial which had been produced in the House. It had been there stated that the Courts had been shut because Martial Law had been proclaimed. The fact was the reverse. Necessity was the only argument in favour of Martial Law, which was unlaw ful, which it was an usurpation to continue after that necessity ceased to exist. The doctrine of Sir Edward Cooper was, that where there was Civil Law, Martial Law could not exist. The same doctrine was insisted upon by Sir Matthew Hale; and history proved, that from the reign of Edward the Second down to the commencement of the present century, it was a maxim that where the Common Law was to be found there could be found no such thing as Martial Law, which was a sort of more equitable decimation.--( Hear, hear !)—General Murray had put himself out of Court when he said that it was for the benefit of Mr. Smith that Martial Law had been resorted to in his case. The charge was unlawful, the condemnation was unlawful, and if Mr. Smith had been put to death, all who were engaged in his trial would have deserved execution. There was no such thing know:. as Martial Law applied to offences usu ally punished by the Law. It was inapplicable to all except military cases. It was not warranted by the Law of Holland, by the Law of England, or by the Law of the Colonies. Sir James Mackintosh next adverted to the concealment which, he said, had been made of all that led to a vindication of the conduct of a virtuous man, who fell a victim, not to the Aldermanic virtue of calculating upon the profits of his exer tions, but to the religious enthusiasm of his mind. Now as to the knowledge Mr. Smith had of the plan of insurrection, what evidence was there of that ? Had he or had he not such sufficent knowledge of a plan of revolt as would have been mis prision of treason if treason had been committed ? Misprision of treason could not exist, except it could be proved that the trea son existed also ; and was that the case in this instance ? It was argued that Mr. Smith had intimation of the insurrection, and that he concealed that knowledge. It was to be answered that he had no more than a general idea of disturbance, and that, so far from making a secret of that fact, he disclosed all he knew about the general dissatisfaction to two officers, who were qua lified to take the necessary precautions. He (Sir J. Mackintosh) then proceeded to describe the conduct of Mr. Hamilton's slave Susannah, appropriately so called, as she had a great variety of lovers. He hoped she was Jack's wife. An extraordinary scene which had taken place with respect to Susannah, had been omitted in the account of the part she had filled in the transac tions. She had frequent interviews with Jack, and she told him that Mr. Hamilton was friendly to the cause of the Negroes, only waited for the *coffee crop, that he might get all he wanted, and that all he wanted of her was to cause a delay amongst them until he could get away his baggage. There were besides two persons, who swore that Hamilton gave instructions as to the cutting down of the bridges against the soldiers. Now this was a worse crime than that with which Mr.S. was charged, for this was spewing how to levy war. Susannah had used the ntollia tempura fandi, and extracted from her master an acknowledment which, if it proceeded from Mr. S., would have been foremost in the 'evidence against him. Mr. S.. in the true spirit of conciliation, proposed to state from the pulpit the substance of the paper the expectation of which had made so strong an impression upon them ; and that, he submitted, would allay their anger. He did as much as he could to manifest his good intentions, and to pre vent any unfortunate termination of the disorder that began to appear. What, after all, was the corpus delicti—what was the essence of the facts upon which this valuable individual was pro.. nounced guilty ? the testimony of two slaves who were menaced with death—who had the skeletons of their brethren before their eyes, the sound of the . whip ionifanehhe decidingsi ears,r rtii ;: a rn n ! d t)h— t e h s e fai t rt e e tenor fm r ae James then arguedperpetual uprisonpen the in their nabsurditya individual, upon the evidence of persons who were strangers to the language which he spoke, and yet who se l anguage was t h e only avowed proof of his criminality. He was charged with having made a communication, but it was admitted that lie used a dissuasive ; what grounds were there then for supposing that he incited to revolt? He had appealed to their religion and their prudence; to the first as a security against crime, and to the second as a security ag a i ns t d anger. And who were those who testified agar „,q him ? None but men who expected a cruel death, or the reward of perjury. T rue i t i s that Mr. Smith had not informed against any particular persons. But was it not , 1 na t ur al to think that h e wou ld enterta i n a favoura b le op i n i on of ' those who had confessed_ and would he not have been culpable if he had exposed them after such confession ? But the cruelties to which Mr. Smith was exposed, and which were extended to his wife, were of the most intolerable description. From the 7th of August till the latter end of November, the sentinels stationed at his door, which lay open, called to him every two hours at night to know whether he was asleep. Some, however, of the sentinels were more kind than others, and were content with looking at him as he lay in his dungeon. And all this occurred while his wife, a most delicate woman, was with him, and when time thermometer was at eighty-three. der these circumstances, and while his body was sinking un. der disease, the first person who visited him was—not a phy sician, not a legal friend or adviser, but a person who an nounced to him hie conviction, and menaced him with death._ ' He (Sir James Mackintosh) certainly considered the sudden emancipation of slaves by violence the greatest calamity that could occur, next to that of perpetual slavery to communi ty of slaves. He had no objection to giving time for con ferring the gift of liberty, so that it was pledged in good faith. When Mrs. Smith and her friend Mrs. Elliott applied for permission to accompany the body to the grave, and pay it the last sad honours, they were refused permission to enjoy this melancholy gratification; and the funeral was ordered to take place at such an hour as would be likely to prevent their attendance. They refused however to obey the mandate, and at four o'clock in the morning had the satisfaction of seeing the remains of him they loved while living deposited in his unhonoured grave. The spirit of persecution did not however cease here, and the incident he was going to relate would sufficiently mark the eage rness with which it was sought to prevent the slightest mark of respect from being paid by his surviving friends to the memory of the unfortunate Missionary. Two of Mr. Smith's hearears—the one a carpenter, time other a bricklayer, both 'of whom had received marks of kindness at his hands—resolved to evince their gratitude by erecting some slight memorial of their respect over his grave, actuated by that sentiment to which an English Poet has so beautifully alluded— " Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect, Some frail memorial still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh." The Authorities of the Island, however, ordered this testimony of respect to he taken down, and forbade any person to imitate their example upon pain of their heavy displeasure. Such was their rancour against the unhappy victim of their persecution, such their hatred to his memory, even when the object of their revenge was beyond their reach, that at a General Al eeting of the principal Inhabitants of the Colony they ventured to pass a vote of censure against Lord Bathurst and another Body, whose name was not often before coupled with that of the Noble Lord—" The Missionary Society of London."—(A laugh.)—for screening Mr. Smith from their vengeance. They were not satisfied with his death —no; the Great Council of Demerara said to my Lord Bathurst—"° You have committed ' an unpardonable crime in not allowing ns to hang up the &le' ton of Mr. Smith as a beacon upon the shores of Demerara, . to deter in future every honest Preacher of the Gospel from the performance of his duty in correcting the immoral, soothing the unfortunate, and instructing the ignorant." The Hon. Mein' ber sat down by expressing his cordial concurrence in the TO' tion of his Learned Friend. • Mr. SCARLETT rose amidst loud cries of Question, quo' don ! Adjourn, adjourn ! The Learned Member said that he had no intention of trespassing long upon the attention of the House. He had entered the House without any previous know: ledge, except by rumour, of the motion which his Hon. and Learned Friend meant to conclude. He had attended to his able and ingenious statement with that pleasure with which he always attended t' him ; but, notwithstaaaling all the a bility and all the ingenuity with which hi olLearned Friend had stated his case, he could not help feeling considerable doubts as to the propriety of joining with him in a sweeping accusation a e galost persons who were sent, and had no advocate in that House. to defend them.—(Hear, h e a r !)—H e could not agree with his Honourable and Learned Friend in stigmatizing those Gen tlemen who found Mr. Smith guilty as murderers ;—( Heart hear !)—for if he affirmed the resolutions of his Learned Friend, such would he the conclusion that he must come to. One of these gentlemen he had the honour to be acquainted. witha-he alluded to Mr. Wray, the Chief Justice of the Island , Of this gentleman he would :say, that nobody who was ac quainted with him would believe he could commit an action foe which his friends ought to blush ; he was a man of high honour , great attainments, anti possessed of a sound anti correct judga ment. He had been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge , and when he stated this, it was sufficient to those who were acquainted with that body to prove him a man of high honour and liberal sentiments. For himself he would say, that if he was placed in Mr. Smith's situation, he would desire no greater assurance of a fair and impartial trial than the fact of Mr. Wrsl being one of his judges ; and if that gentleman knew Mr. Wrai as well as he (Mr. Scarlett) did, he was certain that he would have expressed the same opinion. There was one objection , however, to the mode in which Mr. Smith was tried, which in his (Mr. S.'s) opinion had great weight. He was improperly subjected to a trial by Court Martial, for an offence over w hirl , that Court Martial had no jurisdiction, as it had been committed; previously to the institution of that Court Martial. The offence for which. Mr. Smith was tried, and of which he was in his Mr. Scarlett's opinion guilty—(hear !)—was misprision of eleason ; but this misprision of treason was antecedent to the appointment of the Court Martial, whose jurisdiction properly extended only to such offences as were committed subsequently to its appoint , ment, and during th e ex i s t ence o f M art i a l-Law.—(Hear, hear!) —Of the degree of Mr. Smith's guilt he would shortly speak. At present he should reply to an accusation brought by hie Learned Friend against Mr. Wray, for sitting upon a Court Martial, the legality of whose decision might subsequently be brought under his own cognizance in his capacity of Cl.ief Jos ties of the Island. This objection, li , wever, he trusted it would be in his power to prove to be just as fallacious as he owned it to be specious and ingenious. The proceedings of the- Court Martial were authorized by the Governor, and the lairs of the bland precluded any person from bringing an a ction: against him in the Courts there, although he was willing to a llow' that a different course might be pursued here. Now with respect to the degree of guilt which attached to Mr. Smith, in adverting to which he should not follow the example of his lion. and Learned Friend who had list addressed them, and endeavour to inflame their passions by a vehement harangue ; he should con. 1 fine himself to a plain statement of what he found in theminutee of evidence, from which he hoped to prove, even upon the shewing of Mr. Smith himself, that he was not unconscious of the projected revolt, and that possessing such consciousness, Le refrained from communicating it to the proper authorities. The Learned Member then read from the printed Report of the Trial, page 18, the evidence of Bristol, who stated that he sate Quamina in communication with Mr. Smith, and heard the 1 latter tell him not to do any thing rash. That Quamina's corn' munication was of a treasonable nature, he (Mr. S.) thought was plainly to be inferred from the adinission of Mr. Smith himself. The defence of that Gentleman was conducted with the greatest talent, and lie certainly could not rand it ov.r without feeling the deepest commiseration for the fate of that unhappy Gentleman . whose intentions he was willing to allow might have brae, and probably were of the purest nature. It was not however of 1 the intention but of the act that the Co ur t M art i a l was to ' judge ; and, although in determining the degree of moral guilt, it might be well to adhere to the maxim. " Non reus, nisi meus sit rea," it was not the moral but the actual guilt and its probable consequences that the Court Martial which sat to. try Mr. Smith was bound to ascertain. He was therefore per , fectly ready to allow Mr. Smith all the benefit which such 0 palliation might afford him. All he should contend for was, that his ignorance of the crime did not alter its quality, and that the evidence which was brought forward against him, coupled with his own admissions, formed a sufficient justification of the verdict to which that Court-Martial arrived.—The Learned Gentleman here read some passages from the Defence of Mr' Smith in corroboration of his argument.—From those extracts he contended that Mr. Smith was aware of the treasonable intentions ,of Quamina and the other slaves, and that he had concealed his knowledge of their intentions from the proper authorities. All this,had been proved on the trial, and not disproved, but rather confirmed by the evidence of Air- Smith ; and under such circumstances lie could not consent to stigmatise those who sat upon the Court Martial as cal lous to every principle of justice, and guilty of the murder of an innocent individual. It had been stated in Mr. Smith's fa vour, that he had communicated his suspicions to two Per' sons, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Cort ; but no proof had been offered of this fact. He had now stated, and he trusted without travelling much out of the record, his objections to concur in the resolutions of his Learned Friend. He had now only on 9 further observation to make, which he trusted would meet the attention of the House. It was, that he did no t think they could with any degree of propriety accede to Resolutions founded upon a document not official and untie , thenticated, which had been published by the Missionary So ciety (of whom, however, he did not mean to speak in terms 0 disrespect), in contradiction to a document which was officials and which had been lair' by his Majesty's Government o n the table of the House. Haring said thus much, he had to repent his dissatisfaction at Mr. Smith having been tried by 'a Court Martial, under whose cognizance his care did not in his opinion come; and had he (Mr. Scar'.ea) been the Judge Advo:als upon that occasion, he certainly, from motives of delicael and honour, would not have allowed' the inspection of Ins private journal.—(Bear, hear !)—lle hardly thought, hop' ever, that a charge could with propriety be brought agains t . General Murray from any want of humanity towards the prisoner, and of subjecting him to the mode of trial, when,. upon tlae shewing of the Honourable and Learned Member who spoke last, the feelings ofthe planters were so ex.asperatea against him that he would have had a still worse chance had he been tried by the Civil Law of the Isl and.—(Hear !)--Hader all the circumstances he certainly thought that great allowances. ought to be made for the Officers who sat in the Court Martial , when the state of alarm in which they were placed was c orori• dered, and he certainly could not concur in the language of his Learned Friend's motion ; for which, had it been couched ill more general terms, he most probably should have concurred , although he would much prefer the adoption of some inter mediate course which might preclude the necessity of his voting, at all. Dr. LUSHINGTON then rose. amidst very loud cries for an adjournment. The Hon. and Learned Member remained standing for some minutes, during which the cries were creased to a deafening call from all parts of the House. Mr. Secretary CANNING said, that after the length W which the debate had gone, and considering the strong feeling shewn by. the House for an adjournment, he would advise the Hon. and Learned Gentleman to defer his address. Dr. LUSH INGTON said that though he was willing t° proceed, yet as there were so many other Members desirol to speak on the question, who could not possibly be hear° that night, he would throw himself on the judgment of the House as to whether he should proceed or not. He had only , ?' few observations to address to them. (Loud cries of Atl . iourn. The Hon. and*Learned Gentleman then sat down, sad Mr. CANNING moved the adjournment of the debits until this day. _ - - The - motion was agreed to, and the Members, with wh cm the House was crowded, immediately rose to depart. The Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the Flouts Adjourned at Two o'CLocK. COURT' OF KING'S BENCII. SITTINGS IN BANco.—ThiS morning, in the absence of the Lord Chief Justice, who preside 4 at the Sittings after Term, at Guildhall, Low don, the other Learned Judges sat in their pri vate room, when the Court proceeded on the Crown Paper, and disposed of several argumen" tative cases on points of law. CONSPIRACY.-THE KING V. THOS. THURTELL AND OTHERS. The trial of this catsse for a conspiracy to de fraud the County Insurance Office, is appointed for to-morrow, before a Special Jury. le i 4 tt. Au