The Sun. — London, England, 1830-05-17 00:00:00

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'K. e learn ostura, 1 party ious to latter. lic." .2% to when quoted :ent. Cents, kred to every i from ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. A General Meeting of the Friends of this Society was held on Saturday, at the Freemasons' Tavern. &ion after the hourannouneed for opening the doors, the great room became crowded to excess in every part, and the utmost difficulty was experienced in introducing the speakers and other persons who came to take part in the proceedings, but who arrived later, to the platform. Among the Noblemen and Gentlemen present in the course of the day we observed Lord Calthorp, Lord Milton, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Denman, Mr. Macauley, Mr. T. Macauley, Mr. E . Buxton, Mr. Rice, Mr. 0. Cave, Mr. Brownlow, Mr. O'Connell, Rev. D. Wilson, Mr. R. Owen, M r . W. Smith, H o n. an d R ev . G. T. N oel, Hon. and Rev. W. B. Noel, Dr. Lush ington, and Mr. Clarkson. On the motion of Mr. CLARKSON, Mr. WILBER FORCE was called to the chair. The CHAIRMAN said, he bad the satisfaction of thinking that it could not be necessary for him to f detain the meeting long with any observations o r his, inasmuch as he trusted that the purpose fo o which they had assembled had sunk so deeply rot s the hearts of all present as to render many remark from the chair on the subject of 'the meeting need less. It was impossible for him to meet his old friend, Mr. Clarkson, after a long interval, without finding his mind occupied (as no doubt his friend's mind was also) in looking back to earlier days of their labours and warfare in the good cause. In that warfare his friend had preceded him. When the pro position was first made to the House of Com mons to abolish the slave trade—when the light was first let in upon that vale of dark ness—every one said, " Let it be abolished." But see the danger of trifling with the honest con victions of the mind; by degrees self-interest began to operate, and the ardour at first felt for the total extinction of the horrible traffic was abated. Under the patronage of the late Mr. Dundas, (the first Lord Melville), the gradual abolition of the slave trade was proposed to be adopted. He (Mr. Wil berforce) saw at once the danger of such a step, and believing that he ought to contend for an entire, in preference to a partial, eradication of the evil, he re sisted the proposition. Mr. Dundas maintained that it was right to attend to the West India interest in any course that might be taken upon the subject. In 1792, he proposed the death-warrant of the sys tem should be signed, which, however, was to be continued in operation for eight years longer. In fact, it was proposed that from the Ist of January, 1800, not only should the slave-trade be abolished, but that every nego born after that day should be considered free. He had since frequently asked him self, " Ought I not to have assented to Mr. Dun das's proposition ?" But the answer of his mind had ever been in the negative. Parliament being willing to abolish the slave-trade for ever, it was re quired that we should give our consent to its exist ence for eight years longer; that we should sanc tion the carrying across the Atlantic of 70,000 or 80,000 individuals in a state of slavery, and the con tinuance of them and their descendants for ever, in that condition. (So we understood the Hon. Gentleman to say, but he spoke in so feeble a tone, that although occupying a place at a short distance behind the Chair, we could not always be certain of his precise words.) If he ever could have assented to such a proposition, at least he could not do so now, when he found that they who, from time to time, had made concessions retracted them. He and his friend Mr. Clarkson went on their way cheered by the consciousness of labouring in a good cause. Already :had they achieved one triumph ; he trusted they might both live to see the comple-1 tion of their great object. There was now no longer time for delay, or 'for attempting half measures; on , the contrary, it was the duty of all to be in earnest, and to show that they were in earnest. Mr. Dun des could not be charged with being a wild reformer, or one led astray by visionary and theoretical schemes. He was no such man; on the contrary, he was the enemy (though generous and liberal in his heart) of every thing that looked that way, of every thing that the most prudent could term extravagant. According to his system, the death blow was to have been given to slavery in l 800 ; and yet, now that 30 years had elapsed since that period, there was nothing done; and we were now told we could only look for the accomplishment of our ob ject through a long vista of possible disappointments and certain obj ections. In 1823 another step was taken for the purpose of carrying into effect the de sirable object we had in view : in that year Mr. Canning entered into aegociations with all the prin cipal West India proprietors, or their agents, resident in this country, for the purpose of effecting a mate rial alteration in the state of things in the West In dies; and the result was, that all the leading and influential men of that body, not only assented to the measures (with one single exception) which he proposed, but recommended them to the adoption of their correspondents and fellow planters in the dif ferent islands of the West Indies. One might have thought that Mr. Canning's propositions (many of them highly important if acted on) would have been accepted, particularly as they came recommended to the parties by the advice and concurrence of their own friends. But no such thing ; they contuma ciously rejected all the proposals, scarcely one single colonial Assembly adopted any one of them. But this was not all; after the consent that had been given to Mr. Cunning's measures by the proprietors in this country, how painful was it to have lived to see those very planters, after their declaration in favou r of the wisdom and moderation of the mea sures, turn round, and not only retract that decla ration, but also declare the conduct of the planters in the West Indies in resisting them, not only wise and prudent, but actually humane. He feared there was a disposition in the minds of many in high station in the Government of this country to leave the slaves in the hands of the planters. This was a melancholy reflection; for was it possible to believe any thing but this, — that the only endeavour of the colonial assemblies, and of those whom they represented, was to get into the management of the affair for the purpose of Mocking the hopes and frustrating the designs of England ? After these renewed specimens of what their intentions were, it would be a want of com mon sense not to see tl.at there could be no hope of good by putting the management of the affair into their jiands. When men said they disapproved equally of the point you were travelling towards, andllteWaryou took to reach it, was there any pos sibility asi ,agreement? Under such circumstances, we must not transfer to others, least of all to the West Indian interests, the performance of a duty devolved by Providence upon ourselves. Convinced he was that it was equally our duty to God and man to endeavour to put an end to this system by all the means within our power. It was said the slaves were the happiest people in the world, much happier indeed than our own peasantry,—a disgust ing a, ser ti on , f or h ow could that man be happier than a free man who was in 'rant of all those bless ings which liberty afforded ? When he heard per sons of high rank and station maintaining such a Proposition, he always thought, however high their condition in life, that they wanted true nobility of mind. If the slave was indeed happy in his situ ation, why was he so ready to give all that he could serape together, all his little earnings, for the pur- Pos e of purchasin g hi s own freedom or that o f hi s family ? By the way, in doing so he manifested more true nobility of mind than those who could speak so lightly of slavery. We must exert our selves by prayer and endeavouis, by speech and ac tion, private and public, at all times, and upon all occasions, to put an end to t h e system. If we did not, there was a power abov e th at wou ld not a llow this country to continu e to enjoy the blessings and privileges which it had long possessed : our sky was loweting; if we went on trifling with the rights and liberties of others, the Almighty would not suffer us to enjoy our own. It wits impossible that the colonial assemblies could safely be left to do the work : we must do it ourselves : it was our bounden duty to set ourselves to work in earnest, by bring ing to the contest all our best energies, for the pur pose of putting an end to so flagrant and afflicting an evil. Mr. F. BUXTON said, when he saw what numbers were present, and by what persons he was surround ed, he could not help feeling that it might appear presumptuous in him to step forward for the pur pose of moving the first resolution : but he did so in obedience to the commands of the principal friends of the society, and as the organ of the Com mittee, who had certain facts to state and certain opinions to propound, which they called upon him to explain. But first he must congratulate the meeting, that he who so long had been the leader, the chief and the pride of their good cause, still conti nued to cheer them with his presence, and that they had this day heard from lips that had so often pleaded the cause of Africa, advice, encourage ment, and instruction, in what manner to pro ceed. He felt the time to be come in which they must speak out; they had hitherto been re strained by a faint and slender hope that the plant ers would take the matter in hand, and at least awake to a sense of their own true interests. In 1823, exactly upon that day seven years, Govern ment took the question in hand, and gave us a so lemn pledge that such steps should be taken as would eventually give the negro population a participation in all the rights and privileges of freemen. The determination was announced to, and approved by the Houses of Lords and Commons,—the West In dia interests—and it was heard and hailed with grateful delight by the public. Was it too much to expect that the proposition would have been recei red with decent compliance, if not with cordiality, by the colonial assemblies ? What was their answer to it ? Their verbal answer came first :—Jamaica said she had done her utmost—she had made her people the happiest peasantry in the world, and she would " go no further." The little island of Tobago said to Great Britain, " There is our ultimatum ; nothing shall induce us to go further." These were the an swers of the colonies in words; their acts were still more intelligible and decisive. The first direction of the order in council was, that the shocking and unseemly practice of chastising females with the cart-whip should be abolished, as the first step from a state of barbarism to civilization. Had this first step been taken ? In Jamaica there was at least found one individual in the colonial assembly who had the courage to propose, not the aboli• tion of the punishment of females by the cart whip, but that such punishment should, in future, be inflicted decently. The proposition was nega tived, and it was resolved by a majority of two to one that female slaves should continue to be flogged indecently. " Next in importance," said Mr. Can ning, " is the abolition of the wanton and degrading use of the whip to excite negroes to labour—a practice placing them on a level with the cattle of the field.' In reference to this, it was true an or dinance had been passed in Jamaica, nominally to prevent arbitrary punishment, but which allowed the infliction of 39 lashes by the cart-whip--equal to 500 lashes of the cat-o'nine-tails. The third point was the instruction of the negroes in the Christian religion—and this was prevented by diffi culties raised as to the time of instruction. The last point embraced in the regulation was, that the negro should be entitled to purchase his own free dom, or that of his family, by paying the full market price of it. This, too, was rejected. Thus we had the answer of the colonies in words and actions which they had omitted to do; but we had a still better answer in the acts which they had done. In Demerara occurred the murder of the missionary Smith; in Barbadoes the destruction of a Metho dist chapel; in Berbice we had the report of the fiscal of the colony ; and from the Bahamas came the story of the Mosses. From Jamaica came a distinct answer in the pretended plots and fabricated rebel lions, which were brought to light and discovered in Parliament by his Hon. Friend Mr. Denman, who extorted from an unwilling House of Commons a vote of condemnation of them. We had another answer in the deportation of free people of colour; and at this moment they were preparing for us a further and equally intelligible answer in the perse cution of the teachers of the negroes : one missionary had already fallen a victim, arid another had returned to his native land with health broken by persecu tion. We were brought to this point,—shall we abandon the cause of the negroes, and commit 800,000 fellow-creatures to the well-known tender mercies of the planters, or shall we strike a blow at the root of slavery ? There could be only one an swer. it was said we did not understand the ques tion, and were enthusiasts. Certainly we were en thusiasts in this—that we did not wish the negro, whom we considered as a man, to be treated like a beast. To whom did the right to the negroes be long ? It was said, some years ago, that the slave trade was the birth-right of the West Indian colo nists ; but he thought this principle would not be contended for now. Thirty years ago there arose a set of theologians, who found out that the negroes were the descendants of Ham, and that their slavery was authorized by the oracles of God.-- But this position, also, had been given up as un tenable. In point of fact, the only claim of the planters to the negroes consisted in the slave trade; in other words, robbery, murder, and mas sacre, constituted the right and title-deeds of the West India planters to their slaves. To come to the point—what were we to do ? He thought we must aim at the extinction of slavery. He did not want to disparage the plan of mitigating slavery, but that would not do : to use the words of Mr. Burke, it was all anent trifling, and wanted an executory principle. Slavery, in any form, was horrible; and so little did he think of amelioratory measures, that if the colonies now offered to obey the Order in Council, striking out the words "even tual participation in equal rights and privileges," he, for one, would oppose it. He was not an advocate for emancipation. It was said that slaves were so degraded, that it would not be safe to liberate them at present. Granting this, what greater argument could there be against slavery, than that it placed human beings in so degraded a state as to be unfit for liberty; but if the parents were unfit for liberty, the unborn children were not under that disqualifi cation. The first thing was to aim at the extinc tion of slavery, by cut dng off the supply; and though there might be difficulties in this course, they were not insurmountable, for it was much easier to prepare a child for freedom than for slavery. Leave it to nature, and nature would do much. Give the child instruction, and you prepare him for society; give him religion, and you lay the founda tion of his happiness and your own security. The process by which children were made slaves was much more circuitous. It required years of blows and stripes before you could teach them the unna tural docility of that situation. We should deal with the planters fairly ; and he said at once, that they had no claim to remuneration for the negro from the friend of the negro. The negroes had claims against the planters and against their accom plice—the British Government. However, when the time arrived, he was sure we should be as anxious to afford liberal justice to the master, as to give freedom to the slave. The Hon. Gentleman then concluded by moving a resolution in accord ance with his speech. Lord MILTON seconded the resolution, and ob served that slavery was repugnant to Christianity, which was a religion of liberty ; it was not only in consistent with the existence of Christianity in the possessors of slaves, but with the reception. of Christianity in these who were subject to these masters. The resolution contemplated the utter extinction of slavery. He observed in the Times of that morning an attack (but he ought not to call it an attack of the Times, for it was beaded " Ad vertisement"), charging Mr. Wilberforce with in consistency because he now claimed the extinction of slavery, having in earl er life demanded only the extinction of the slave-trade. In point of fact, there was no inconsistency, and the attack was as futile as unitise—The resolution was a:greedto. Mr. MACAULEY, jun., in proposing the second resolution, declared that his opinion of the principle of compensation fully agreed with that of his Von. Friend Mr. Buxton. He the; proceeded to cot.- tend that the effect of slavery was to diminish popu lation, and that it was a mistake to say that the com forts of the slave would keep pace with the prosperity of the master. To assert such a proposition was to reason from the phenomena of liberty to the pheno mena of slavery. It might well be said that the post horse at an election was benefitted by increased travelling, which added to the profits of the master, and in the same degree increased the labours and diminished the comforts of the post-horse. The reasoning which applied to the post-horse also ap plied to the slave,—the human beast of burden. H e then moved the second resolution. Lord CALTHORP said, if we contrasted what was expected from the West India interest with what had been done, we should have reason to be miserably disappointed. But he turned with satis faction and confidence from this consideration to the well-grounded expectation of the abolition of slavery, which we possessed in the feelings of the English people. The power of public opinion, if unani mous upon the point, must be irresistible. He was no advocate for mob law, but felt that, in appealing to the people of this country on such a subject, he appealed to a power which could be legitimately ex ercised, and which was equally irresistible from physical, political, and moral force. The Noble Lord concluded by seconding the resolution, which was carried unanimously. Mr. HUNT next addressed the meeting. He said he hoped he might be permitted to express his sentiments at the risk of their not being altogether palatable to the majority of .his hearers.—(Di,ap probation.)—He was not the enemy of negro eman cipation; on the contrary, he had ever been its ad vocate : but he thought the enemies of slavery bad much employment at their own doors without going to the West Indies for objects for their sympathies. —(Hisses and " Off," " off.")—He was not to be put down by clamour. He was an Englishman, and not a negro slave, and had a right to express his opinions, and would assert that right. Here the clamour increased so much, that Mr. BROUGHAM rose to order. He trusted that he was addressing a rational assembly, and not one so borne away by passion that a fair hearing to those who conscientiously differed from them in opinion would not be afforded. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman implored the meeting to give every person a calm and fair hearing, otherwise it would he justly felt as a censure on their proceed ings that they would hear but one side.—(Hear.) Mr. HUNT resumed.-1-ie was not, he expected, an enemy of negro emancipation. Far from it; he cordially concurred with the sentiments of the speakers who had preceded him—(Cheers)—for he was the enemy of tyranny in every quarter of the globe, be the victim of the instrument who and where he might. But still he was not to be led away by artful appeals to the passions of the meeting in favour of the negro slaves in the West Indies, from the consideration of the state of the white slaves in his native England. Mr. F. Buxton had, with a view to inflaming their sympathies, told them of the cruelties which had been practised towards a poor black slave girl, and highly coloured statements were daily put forth of the harsh treatment and de graded condition of the negro population of our West Indian colonies; but did they never hear of the at least equally harsh treatment and degraded condition of the poor at home ? Did they ever hear of the cruelties which he was himself instrumental in bringing to light, as practised in Ilchester gaol ? A man was tied down almost naked for a fortnight to the floor, and a blister, in the shape of a pitch plaster, put on his head by the governor! And yet, when he called the attention of Parliament, by peti tion, to the enormous cruelty, some of the most zealous of the friends of the negroes denied the fact. Among others, an Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. Brougham) near him, on the ground that it was too atrocious to have been practised in this country in these civilized times. But he proved it beyond a question of doubt ; and he was bound to say the Hon. and Learned Gentleman admitted that he was deceived when, on a former occasion, he questioned the truth of the statement. --(Hear, hear.)—What if this torture had been inflicted in the West Indies on some poor slave ! What speeches and appeals to our best feelings; and yet he had great diffi culty in getting any body to notice it.—(Hear.)—They ought not, in the excess of their philanthropy, he con tended, to overlook the tyrannical practices towards, and the degraded condition and the sufferings of, our own poor, in their long-sighted zeal to ameliorate the condition of the negroes in the West Indies. It was but one-eyed or left handed humanity, to say the least of it, though unfortu nately that which found most encouragement from meet ings like the present. In the very neighbourhood of the residence of the Right Reverend Prelate (Bishop of Bath and Wells) near him, at Frome, in S o mersetshire, he saw last winter hundreds of poor in a condition far inferior to that of the Waves in the West Indies. They were there compelled—he said compelled, for they would starve if they dared refuse—to drag carts, to which men, women, and children were yoked, for sixpence a day the married, and fourpence a day the single labourer. Who ever heard any complaint of this disgraceful state of things from those who were so zealous and eloquent in their, he ad mitted, laudable advocacy of the rights of the black slaves in the colonies ?—(Disapprobation.) The Rev. DANIEL WitsoN proposed the next resolu tion, He did so, he said, on the great broad principle on which he would rest the measure they had all in view, namely, that slavery was opposed to the spirit of the Gos pel. Christianity was the religion of love—brotherly love and equality in the eyes of the Lord ; and so long as the negro-slave was kept in his degraded condition, neither he nor his master could participate entirely of its healing fruit. Mr. BENNET was enabled to speak as an eye-witness of the deplorable state in which the present system of slavery placed the poor negroes in the West India colonies. li e saw men, honourable and respectable in all the conventional relations of life, coolly traffic in their slaves as if they were so many animals to whom was denied the inheritance of an immortal soul. Female negroes were placed in the condition of mothers, solely to increase their market value, and all moral and religious ties were broken to suit the views of Mammon. Mr. Bennet quoted some cases in detail which had fallen under his own observations, illus trative of his general statement. Mr. BROWNLOW, M.P., proposed the next resolution. In doing so, he said that he felt that no apology was ne cessary for him, except an apology for being there for the first time ; but he hoped, that in future he should not be open to censure for absence. After adverting to a resolu•- tion moved by Mr. Dundas in the year 1800, he said that the time had at length arrived when the people of England should, acting practically upon that resolution, come for ward and say that slavery should cease—they had tried the colonial legislatures long enough, and now the Parliament of the mother country was boorai to take the matter into their own hands. Mr. BROUGItAIt had never seen, great as was his expe rience in public meetings, a meeting at once so numerous (2,000 persons), so respectable, and so unanimous in the pursuit of the one great object—the abolition of the de testable, the degrading, the demoralizing—alike to the victim and the instrument, the slave and his master—prac tice of negro slavery.—(Cheers.)—He was particularly glad of this unanimity and this zeal ; for never was their aid more necessary to the interests of the great cause for the promotion of which they were then assembled. Seven years had elapsed since Parliament had passed certain reso lutions in favour of our negro brethren in the West Indies, and yet what had been done by the local legislature and the planters towards carrying the spirit of these resolutions into effect? Let the murder of the missionary Smith answer the question.—(Hear, hear.)—ln tact, nothing would be done but through the voice of the British people speaking as one man, and calling upon Parliament by one decided measure to:put an end forever to slavery, and the monstrous brood of evils whish it engendered.—(Cheers.)—He trusted that the pledge which every one who then heard him gave by his presence to apply his 'best energies to the advancement of the great cause of the human race would have the effect of eliciting such an expression of public opinion, that the whole system of slave labour and its de moralizing consequences would be eradicated for ever.— The Hon. and Learned Gentleman next proceeded to defend the party with whom he usually acted in forwarding the views of the anti-Slavery Society from the imputation thrown out against them by Mr. Hunt ; that they neglected evils at home while they busied themselves with the abuses under the slave labour system of the colonies. Did the gentleman, he asked, recollect, when he branded their exertions as a kind of one-eyed or left-handed humanity, the names of those most distinguished for zeal against negro slavery ? Did he ever hear who, indeed, had not heard of William Allen ?-.a man who had devoted the unceasing energies of his life to the education of the peasantry of England.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Gentleman also alluded to the state of our prisons. In doing so, was it possible to forget the incalculable services of Mr. Fowel Buxton ?—( Hear, hear.) Did he forget the labours, the unremitting labours, of Mr. Wilberforce, their venerable chairman, in the cause of humanity ?—(Cheers.) Did he forget what that geutleman had done towards remedying the abuses of charities, in which it was also his (Mr. Brougham's) good fortune to afford him some assist ance ?—( Cheers.) Even on the question of reform, did he forget that Mr. Wilberforce, as well as himself, had voted for every proposition in favour of that measure which had been submitted to Parliament since he had been a Member of it, except one ?—(Hear.) In a word, let the gentleman look around him, and he would see the warmest friends of every measure likely to promote the general weal among those who had that day assembled to effect the abolition of negro slavery. Mr. PowNALL proposed, as an amendment on the last resolution, a resolution to the effect that Parliament should pass a measure by which every negro born after the Ist of January, 1831, should be declared free.—(Cheers.)— They ought not, he contended, to separate without ex pressing a decided opinion that there should be an end to the accursed system of slavery.—(Hear, hear.)—They should strike at the root of the evils at once, and instead of mincing and huckstering about minor points, of good and bad treatment, assert and insist upon. for the negro the inalienable right of every British subject.—(Cheers.) Mr. H. DRUMMOND, in supporting the amended re solution, experienced great difficulty in restraining the feel ings of indignation which the thought of the infamous system of negro slavery excited. The friends of humanity had slept too long on their posts, while the enemy never slackened his endeavours to perpetuate the present abuse by which his avarice was fostered. Indeed, he feared that till some black O'Connell, or an African Bolivar, devoted his unceasing energies to effecting the emancipation of his negro brethren, the condition of the West India slaves would never be that which every well-wisher of his species must wish to see them placed in. —(Hear, hear.) Mr. BROUGHAM implored the meeting not to permit itself to be carried away too hastily by its passions, how ever laudable and natural might be their source. What did the resolution of Mr. Pownall—which the meeting had hailed with such enthusiastic acclamation—call upon Parliament to effect? Why, that after the Ist of next January every negro born should be free.—(Loud cheers.) Now he could assure the meeting that there was no open day for the introduction—the very first stage of the mea sure by which that declaration would be made law—before the middle of the next month ; and as it could not be ex pected to pass either House without opposition, the sea son would be so far advanced before it could receive the Royal sanction, that not more than four, or at most five, months would remain between its enactment and its being in force to inform and prepare the West Indians for it.— (Hear, hear.) He need not say that he and the members of the Anti-Slavery Society cordially concurred with the principle of the resolution, since it was merely copied from one they had themselves years ago recorded and sub mitted to Parliament ; all that he wished to deprecate was their hastily fixing upon too near a day for its coming into effect.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. O'CoNNELL saw no difficulty in adopting the amendment ; they could not expect to accomplish their object all at once—let them make a beginning.—(Hear.) They might fix the Ist of January, 1831 ; but the diffi culty the Hon. and Learned Gentleman who opposed the amendment saw in the way of passing such a Bill would never present itself practically ; for even if they agreed to the 14th of April, 1532, a day which he had most Pleasing reason to remember, yet, if they agreed to that day, or even earlier, there would still be a cry of " You are too hasty; you do not give time enough to educate the young descendants of slaves before they come to man's estate, and make them fit for freedom.—(Hear, hear.)-- The resolution was a distinct and tangible proposition, upon which they should take their stand, and if they failed in the struggle, they at least would have the consolation of knowing that they had failed in attempting the spread of freedom and religion. Mr. F. Burrosi, M.P. read the resolution in an altered form to the meeting, pledging it to petition Parliament to proceed forthwith with such measures, as might be ne• cessary for abolishing slavery, and praying that an early day might be fixed, the children born after which to be deemed free.—The resolution was ultimately adopted. Mr. DENMAN and Dr. LUSHINCTON proposed and se conded the next resolution, and called upon the meeting not to slacken its exertions till negro slavery, with all its accursed evils, was not known in any part of the British empire. Thanks having been given with acclamation to the Chairman, the meeting, a most highly respectable and crowded one, broke up about six o'clock. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. On Saturday prizes and certificates of honours were dis tributed to those students of, the London University who, on examination, had been found to possess the highest acquirements in medical science. The ceremony took place in the Theatre of the University, which was crowded with spectators. Among others we observed the Earl of Darnley, Lord Auckland, Lord John Russell, Dr. Birkbeck, Major Carnac, Mr. Croly, Mr. James Brougham, &c. _ _ _ Sir JAMES GRAHAM took the chair. He said he was fully sensible that the seat he was that day called upon to occupy would have been tilled much better by many of the noble and learned persons by whom he found himself sur rounded, and he had, for that reason, felt some reluctance in consenting to preside on this occasion ; but when it was suggested by him that by so doing he might be of service to an institution, the success of which he contemplated with the most heartfelt gratification, he at once overcame that reluctance. It was impossible that he should hesi tate for a moment after such an intimation ; for if there were any means by which lie could contribute, even in the slightest degree, to the aiivancernent of the interests of the London University, nothing would give him greater plea sure than to employ those means for so desirable and so laudable an object.—(Applause.) The Warden then read the report of the Professors on the state of the medical schools of the University. Great im • overnents were spoken of in this document ; the number of the students was represented to have increased consider ably, and the progress of the students in the various blanches of medical science was declared to have surpassed the expectations of the Professors. The mode in which the examination bad been con ducted, and the prices and honours awarded, as also the manner in which they were about tc be distributed, were described as below, the Warden adding this explanation, namely, that no student who had gained a prize in one class in a former year was competent to claim the same prize in the same class in the next year, even though he should again be found to possess the highest merit. In such a case, therefore the prize would be given to the stu dent next in merit to the candidate whose former success had disqualified him from again receiving it. following are the names of the successful candi dates for the medals : NATURE AND TREATMENT OF DISEASES-106 StUdentB, GOLD MEDAL.—MT. F. H. Taylor, of Tortola. SILVER MEDALS.— I. Mr. H. 0. Stephens, of Bristol. 2. Mr. R. Garner, of Stattbrcishlre. ANATOMY-179 Stu . dents. GOLD MEDAL.—Mr. E. Merrion, of Rye, Sussex. SILVER MEDALs.— 1. Mr. H. Cooper, of 'rranby, near Hull. 12. Mr. T. Bidwell, of Penzance. PiIYSIOLOGY-148 SCudents. GOLD MEDAL.—Mr. W:OaWs, ofDryclough, Lancashire. SILVER MEDALS.-- rI. Mr. H. Cooper, of Tranby, near Hull. 2. Mr. T. G.Wright, of Stockton-upon-Tees. SURGERY-96 Students. GOLD MEDAL.—Mr. H. . of Staffordshire. SILVER MEDALS.. rl. Mr. W. , Evans, of Dryclough, Lan cas hi re 1,2. Mr. H. Cooper, of Tranby, near Hull. MIDWIFERY. GOLD MEDAL.--Mr. F. R. Taylor: 12. Mr. T. G. Wright, of Stcekton- upon- T ees NT 1. Mr. T. Wakefield, of Judd-pl ace. of Tortola. SILVER M .--- EDICA AND THERAPEUTICS-140 Students. Stud ts . GOLD MEDAL.—Mr. T. Bidwell, of Penzance. EaAAIEEDRAILAS SILVER MEDALS. 1: Air. P. :Hulme, of Edge, Alanchester. [2. Mr. T. F. Cheetham, L ondon. CHYMISTRY— 181 Students. GOLD MEDAL—Mr. M i dtilf ogr oie:areet,Euston-square. SILVER MEDALS.— • COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. GOLD MEDAL—Mr. N. T. ‘ 'l r dep oitiallyford. [2. Mr . . W. Cooks, SILVER MEDALS.— ~' Mr . EL Mr. Benjamin Philipps. Manchester. PRACTICAL ANATOMY..., it: students. GOLD MEDAL—Mr. J il yteclt. e l i t, of Lanii] e ort, Somersetshire. of 11,1,aerrwtfii:ocrclshir • C. SILVER MEDALS.-- {2. Mr. Blackmonre:offMancshester. In each of the above classes certificates of honour were granted to many who had not succeeded in obtaining me dals. The second silver medal in the class of " Nature and Treatment of D:seases" was awarded to Mr. M, Richards, of Norwood : the first silver medal in the phy siological class, and the second silver medal in the class of comparative anatomy, to Mr. R. Garner, of Stafford shire; but these gentlemen having gained the same prizes l as t year, the medals were bestowed on the students next i n merit to them, whose names are given above. After the prizes had been given to each candidate in succession— --- Sir JAMES GRAHAM addressed the students in a short * The first silver medal has been awarded to Mr. Henry Cooper, of Tranby, near Hull; but as it had been settled that the same student was not to receive the same honour in the classes of the Professor and Demonstrator of Anatomy, and as the Professor of Anatomy had assigned his first silver medal to Mr. Cooper, the Demonstrator gave his first medal to the student in his class next in merit to Mr. Cooper. but very appropriate speech. He spoke to them of the value and importance of medical science, and of the re sponsibility of medical practitioners; and be showed them how humane, and grat , fying, and noble an occupation it was to counteract by knowledge and by skill the thousand accidents and ills to which the human frame is obnoxious. Those who had proved successful he exhorted to persevere with the same industry and application, telling them that the honours they had that day acquired would prove their disgrace, and not their glory, if their future deserts fall short of the promise of their youth. To those who had obtained no honours he recommended courage and redoubled assiduity, cheering them with the hope that, in the next year, they might be more successful. He begged them all to bear in mind that youth was the only season for acquiring knowledge, and he warned them that there were no regrets so bitter as the regrets for mis-spent time, and neglected opportunities for improvement, which came over men whose days were absorbed in the activa business of life, and who felt hourly the want of those acquirements, the cultivation of which they abandoned in their youth for short-lived enjoyments and unsubstantial pleasures. He congratulated them upon the advantages they enjoyed in being placed under such learned instructors; and he reminded them, that if they tvere sensible of what they owed to the founders and upholders of the institution, it was in their own power to demonstrate their gratitude to their own and to the honour of the University ; for the reputation of all academical institutions depended not upon the learning of the instructors, but upon the character of the pupils. It was not, for instance, to the learning, and the talents, and the research of Mr. Dugald Stewart, or of Professor Playfair, or of Professor Leslie, that the Uni versity of Edinburgh was indebted for the eminence to which it had been raised. This bad been effected by the re putation of the students who had received their education there. The Hon. Baronet mentioned, in illustration, the names of Mr. Brougham and of the late Mr. Francis Horner, and he bade the students emulate such examples. Dr. BIRXBECK also addressed a short speech to the stu dents, and complimented the Chairman upon the manner in which he had discharged his functions. The meeting then broke up, and Sir James Graham retired amidst loud and continued plaudits, which the manner in which he bad acquitted himself in the Chair richly merited. No style of address could have been more appropriate to each an occasion than the manly, unaffected, and unlaboured eloquence of the Hon. Baronet; and tie readiness and ingenuity with which he varied his congra tulations to each successful candidate, kept alive the inte rest of a ceremony which must otherwise have proved very tiresome by its sameness and long continuance. THE KING'S MALTY. (From the Court Circular.) The following Bulletins of kis MAJESTY'S health were issued on Saturday and yesterday : " Windsor Castle, May 15. " The KING has had some refreshing sleep, and his MA JESTY feels himself rather better." (Signed) " HENRY HALFORD. " MATTHEW J. TIERNEY." " Windsor Castle, May 16. " The KING has not had a very good night, but still his MAJESTY feels himself better. (Signed) " HENRY HALFORD, " MATTHEW JOHN TIERNEY." The above Bulletins were shown, as usual, at St. James's Palace, on Saturday, by Lord Gr ENLYON (Lord in Wait ing), and Lieutenant• Colonel WHATLEY (Groom), for Sir WILLIAM KErrEL ; and yesterday, by Viscount LAKE (Lord in Waiting), and Sir W 3/. HOUSTON (Groom). Sir MATTHEW TIERNEY left the Castle about eleven o'clock yesterday morning for London, and was expected to return about nine o'clock. This is the first time for three weeks that either of the Physicians has left the Castle for so long a period of time. The Duchess of GLOUCESTER arrived at the Castle about half-past twelve on Saturday, and had an interview with his MAJESTY for about two hours. The Royal Duchess left the Castle at a quarter before three o'clock, for London. The Duke of WELLINGTON arrived at the Castle about eleven o'clock on Saturday morning, and had au interview with the KING. His Grace left the Castle between eleven and twelve o'clock. The Duchess of GLOUCESTER paid a visit to the Princess SOPHIA and the Duchess of KENT, at Kensington Palace, on her return from Windsor, on Saturday afternoon; and the Duke of SUSSEX and the Princess AUGUSTA visited the Duchess of GLOUCESTER, in the evening, at Gloucester House, Park-lane. The Princess AUGUSTA. attended Divine Service, yester day, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Duchess of GLOUCESTE R, the Princess SOPHIA, and the Princess AUGUSTA, visited Sir HERBERT and LADY TAYLOR, yesterday, at their residence in the Regent's Park. The Duke of WELLINGTON and the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER went over the King's New Palace, in St. James's Park, yesterday afternoon. The throng of company was very numerous to see the Bulletin, at St. James's Palace; on Saturday they amounted to near 7,000, and yesterday there were about 12,000. Among the company were the SPEAKER of the HOUSE of COMMONS, the PRESIDENT of the ROYAL ACA DEMY, the LORD CIIIEF BARON, and Mr. Justice Bo- SANQUET. The Archbishop of ARMAGH, the ATTORNEY-GENZ RAL, the SUg-DEAN of the CHAPEL ROYAL, the RECOR DER of LONDON. Ambassadors and Ministers.—PßussiAw, NETHER LANDS, BAVARIAN, SARDINIAN. Charges d'Affaires. —BRA ZILIA N, NEAPOLITA N, SWE DISH. Princess —Li EVEN. Dukes.—GORDON, BIAUFORT, NORFOLK, SOMERSET, BEDFORD, GRAFTON, ST. ALBAN'S, RUTLAND. Duchesses.—GOßDON, BEDFORD, ST. ALBAN'S. MaTqUiSSeS.—DOWNSHIRE, STAFFORD, CLEVELAND, ORMOND, WINCHESTER, WORCESTER. Marchione!ses —STAFFORD, CLEVELAND, ORMOND, HERTFORD, WINCHESTER, Dowager SALISBURY, WOR CESTER. EarIs.—OXFORD, NORDIANTON, HUNTINGDON, ABING DON, GREY, HOWE, SURREY, SOILERS, SCARBOROUGH, LONSDALE. Countesses.— CHlCH ESTER, NORMA NTON, HA RROWBY, HOWE, SURREY, SOMERS, SCARBOROUGH. ViSCOUnts.-DONERAILE, STRANGFORD, KIRK WALL, LAKE, BERESFORD, MAYNARD, HEREFORD, DUNGARVAN, GAGE. Lords.—KENYoN, BEXLEY, GRANTLEY, WALLACE, WHARNCLIFFE, DUNDAS, J. TIIYNNE, DUNALLY, SEL SEY, ELIOT, TULLAMORE, WYNFORD, NORRYS, LYTTLE TON, NALMESBURY, MIDDLETox. Ladies.—LENNARD, A. BULLER, ACLAND, MARTIN, TIERNEY, WILSON, WHARNCLIFFE, J. THYNNE, A. COTTON, MALCOLAI, PAUL, DOYLE, H. RYDER, G. WORTLEY, Dowager CAWDOR, SELSEY, J. ELIOT, Dowager SHEFFIELD, JOHNSTON, VIVIAN, TULLAMORE, WYN FORD, WYNN, BENTINCE. Sirs.—T. B. LEN NA RD, G. PARRA NT, J. RICE, J. A STLEY, G. NOEL, A. CARLISLE, J. Alay, W. STIR LING, R. VA UG HAN, E. STANLEY, R. JODRELL, H. WIL SON, G. RAMIFY LDE, &C. &C. Honourables._lre. HOPE, Mr. H. Scorr, Mr. KEN - yoN,_lllr. MoNcicroN, Mr. DESBROWE• Admirals..--Sir G. MARTIN, SOTHERON• COIORCIS.*****GRA lIA AI FOSTER PIGGOTT, M.P. MIL • MAN, HIGGINS, STANLEY, COTTON, PATERSON, POWEL, M.P., WHATLEY. Rev. Doctors—BLOMBERG, MALTBY. Rev.—Mr. HOLMES. BarOns.—BOLLAND, GARROW, MuNcHeusEN. SJrjeant.—Storks. AIdermen.—WINCHESTER, THOMPSON. Messieurs.-CAPEL, SHEE, BRENT, J. BULLER, MANNERS SUTTON, ARBUTHNOT, JOHNSTON, ROUND, IRELAND, BLACKBURN, H. W. MAULE, T. Powys, G. BLACHFORD, W. F. ROSE, ELPHINSTONE, HART DAVIS, PONSONBY, EDWARDS, PULMAN, HOPE, BARING, LEN NARD, FROST, S. WoRTLEY . , AINSLIE, ADAM, F. LEWIS, EDGE, BLOOMFIELD. Mistresses.—SoTHEßoN, NEWBURY, BLOMBERG, F. LEWIS, MITFORD, J. ROUND, WHATLEY, ARBUTHNOT, J. BULLER. Misses.—Dorm, (2) JOHNSTON, UPTON, BARING, SOTHERON, (2) LENNARD, S. WORTLEY. (From the Times.) We stated on Saturday, what was then true, that the state of his 111.a.raszy's health was alarming. In fact, on Friday there were some symptoms which induced an ap prehension of mottifi.ation. We are happy to announce that these symptoms have subsided; so that the cause of immediate alarm has ceased. Beyond this, we have, we lament to say, no ground for encouraging any hope. Divine Service was performed yesterday in bt,e and E x, i‘ c i ti r. E A Q t A ; N DAwsoN, 111.13. w ere among the M em b ers . il the private Chapel at th e K ING ' S P a l ac e, at Kensington, by the Chaplain of th e D uc h ess of KENT, before the Duchess of KittiT, the P r incess VICTORIA, and their Royal Hi g hnesses' household. A Deputation from persons interested in the g rowth of tobacco in Ireland, headed by Lord KILMAINE , a ttended at the Treasury, on Saturday, and had a confer enioceonwr, M. ithtph.efoCr the HN ci city u oflin the SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. More has been done this Session in the way of making the working of our matchless Constitution intelligible to the meanest capacity than in any other Session for half a century. The Motion of Mr. D. W. Harvey on the subject of the Crown Lands, and the Motion of Sir J. Graham to obtain an Ac count of the amount of public money sacked by the Privy Council, have placed before the people much valuable information in a tangible shape. Of a truth the English Aristocracy, whose estates, according to Mr. Hallam, are chiefly the spoil of the Church, are most constant in their predilection for a liberal appropriation to themselves of public property. At the Revolution the taxes, at the highest computa tion, produced but 2,061,8.561. 7s. 90.; and yet, says the author of the History of the Taxes," With this revenue King James 11. supported his Civil List, kept a formidable navy ready to put to sea, an army of near 30,000 men at land, and saved money yearly, if we can credit the account of the issues of his revenue, which amounted to no more at a medium than 1,699,363/. 2s. 9d." These were hard times for a high minded aristocracy. It is pretty clear that after paying for a formidable navy, and an army of 30,000 men, and defraying the ex pense of the Civil List, little would remain for Privy Councillors. The Nobility were then reduced to the necessity of taking' pensions from Louis XIV. —They must, of course, receive pensions from some quarter or other; but no doubt the Revolution, which enabled them to take thv money of their countrymen, was hailed as a great change ter the better. Scarcely had the Revolution been effected, when we find the Commons (for Boroughmongering had not yet identified the Lords with the Com mon.) objecting loudly to the appropriation by the Privy Council of the Irish forfeited estates to them selves. " The dispute upon this occasion (says the above-men tioned writer) seems to have been whether the forfeited estates in Ireland should be applied towards the ease of the people who had made those estates become forfeited, by defeating the rebellion, or towards glutting the insatiable MAW' of Court sycophants. And upon such a question, it was very natural for the Representatives of the people and the Courtiers to take different sides. If a majority of the former had been Courtiers, or tools of Courtiers, there could have been no such dispute ; but as the majority of this House of Commons seems to have been truly the Representatives of the people, they not only forced the pissing of the Forfeited Estates' Bill, but on the Sth of April (1700), they resolved that the procuring or pass ing exorbitant grants by any Member now of the Privy Council, or by any other that has been a Privy Council.. for in this or any former reign, to his own s'e or benefit, is a high crime sad misdemeanour.' A resolution which every such future House of Commons, if any such should ever be, will certainly approve of." Thus early do the ^ Privy Council figure in the character in which they were exhibited by Sir Jas. Graham on Friday night. The Chancellor of the Exchequer told Sir James that he knew of no pre cedent in which the Members of the Privy Council, as such, had been called on for an account of their emoluments. A resolution of the House of Com mons against Privy Councillors' procuring or passing exorbitant grants to themselves or to any who had been Privy Councillors, grounded on the known mal-practices of Privy Councillors in this way, if not a precedent, is, at all events, holding up Privy Councillors in as invidious a light as that in which they were held up by Sir James Graham's motion. " They are a body (quoth the Right Honourable Gentleman) comprising persons who, undoubt edly, receive emoluments from the public, in the whole, perhaps, to a very large amount. (Hear, hear, from the Opposition.)—To bring for ward a motion for the emoluments of the Members of the Privy Council was not, as it appeared to him, treating with sufficient respect a body compos ing the Council of the Sovereign, and a high Judie cial Court; it was treating them in an invidious point of view, and it was not adviseable to depart from precedent, and to establish the principle that all classes of men were to be held up to obloquy ? But why held up to obloquy ? Is this backing your friends ? Of course the emoluments to a large amount, received by the Privy Council from the public, are not beyond their deserts. Why then assume that the enabling the public to see in what manner those whom the King delights to honour are provided for, is holding them up to obloquy ? Obloquy forsooth ! What ? and is the sense of what is due to the splendour of the Monarchy sunk to so low an ebb in Parliament, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer even associates obloquy with the rewards bestowed on the principal body of the State ? This is not loyalty in its high and palmy state. 1 he statement of Sir J. Graham will certainly, however, surprise many, who were not aware of the extent of national gratitude to the Privy Council. 650,1GV. is no doubt a large sum to be shared by 113 mem bers of that body, exclusive of the Royal The sum divided among the 47 Peers of this body, namely, 378,8401., is not to be despised. The whole of the private estates of the House of Peery, have been calculated at about two millions a-year. But t hen, what treasures the British Constitution yields to them! What are the private estates to the places in the State, and in the Church, the sinecures at home and abroad, the pay in the navy and army ! The Chancellor of the Exchequer is beginning to be a little too honest, we fear. Stung by the insinua tion conveyed in the remark of Sir James Graham, that the insurmountable opposition to which he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was com pelled to yield when he gave up his Super animation Reduction Bill, was composed of the Honourable Members for Lincoln and Dover, for Bristol, his Gallant Friend the Member for South wark, the Honourable Member for Inverness, th e Honourab!e Member for Newcastle-under-Lyre, arid the Vice-President of the Board of Trade,--the Right Hon. Gentleman told the Hon. Baronet that " lie ought to know that it is not always the strength of the Opposition that decides a question; it is frequently the weakness of the support that leads to the abandonment of the measure. I have not been so long in Parliament without knowing something of the manner in which the measure of the evening is likely to be decided, and not only was my opinion founded on my own experience, settled as to the impossibility of their carrying that measure, but I received and acted on the assuran ce of my friends around me to the same effect." No support is to be expected when retrenchment of this nature is proposed. Dog does not eat dog. This is the second time this Session that Parliament has been told by Ministers that they will not allow them to be honest. Ott the former occasion, the speaker was Mr. Herries. It used to be the boast of the public men in Holland, before the French Revolu- - tion, that the men who filled high offices, served al most gratuitously. "It is notorious (says a writer of that country in 1759) to all those who have any knowledge of the affairs of our country, that there is not a state in the world, in which rulers and officers have such small allowances as in our re public. There are in the whole provinces of Hol land scarcely ten offices which give a decent sub sistence to those who fill them." The celebrated John de Witt did not even keep a coach. What a contrast between the frugal expenditure of the Dutch and the rapacity of our Aristocracy !-- Morning Chronicle. The doctrine of a certain class of pseudo philo sophers, which refers all the distress of the people to a super-abundant population, is a very convenient one for the " powers that be," as it throws upon Providence alone the evils that result from the mis government of man. It must be exceedingly grati fying to the rulers of the nation to know that the misery and sufferings of the community intrusted to their charge are not the consequence of their own want of wisdom, but the visible and fatal proofs of an original error in the calculation of Omnipotence itself. With such a comfortable assurance of being exempt from blame, the worst Statesmen that ever reduced a flourishing empire to the verge of ruin may stretch th e i r li m b s i n care l ess en j oyment on a tied of roses, or reve l w i t h out anx i et y o f consc i ence pestilence among in all u t , l h le ile lu d x i t s u t i r o e u e s s a ra p g p e li s an l e ik es e o a f prosperou s arobi