The Sun. — London, England, 1839-04-10 00:00:00

Nv‘‘ 11`,VEN iNG DITION TO THEGirl` REV LORD FITZROY ,()\'l",l &c., Sze., &e. UT it.~;v h ,11.„er LORD,— As you now possess more power and nfl,,usnce over the Army than any other person, by the .eh F o nfidener:-y ou so honourably enjoy in. the estima olmeatien and you of our worthy and most respected Ar n eral., the Commander-in-Chief of her Majesty's , a ' co Y 4 and most justly so,—ter it He 1 "-''''' 4 1 won by your larave and stallaet conduct by the battle -field—I venture to address your Lords hi p Pl , efi e aid of th e pu b lic press. It has given 1,,e greatd to to see th at several Serjeants have been premete "'" 'tie rank of Ensign during the last few months, as it proves to me th at your Lordship is of opinion that it will benefit the service. Pardon me for being concise, as I ot:sa to be fully understood by your Lordship. It will give !leg encouragement, and obtain for the Army a be. ter 4 ss of recruits ; it will promote the moral character of our soldiers ; it will abolish the horrid lash. Armed men, !nY Lord, are b est governed by eqiiity, truth, and prompt juistice. It will g i ve us a usetal and highly valuable C l ?of offic ers f or out-post duty, male to contend with '' subalt erns of the enemy's hussars and light troops. to th e use were boys just come from school or cellege e i arm y (let in the Peninsula, when sent with cavalry on ,0 eeted duty to the out-posts ? You must recollect the hestant false alarms, and whole is nets surprised end ( ta .t , i g _, n b 7 the enemy, the troops in camp constantly dis med,theirspirit bioken,and,inconsequence,their bodily eaxeertion much impaired ; for sound sleep and good rest hrearedfulforboth men and horses in active service, as the wh th off the army in a great measure depends on it : for e n toouch thought for the morrow, or ennui, takes possession f an English camp, by false alarms, the ranks dsuoereen t tbin, and the hospitals in the rear full. W e had proof of that fact in the Peninsular war. Par !ll,l3 tne—but truth requires no disguise. Your Lord 'lf.s. generous and Meritorious protection of, and good rrvieei to the sons of our gallant friends who have ;oat their lives on the battle-field, or on duty in erre ao ,,(lntes by the ravages of unhealthy climates, have won rll'Oil the prayers and. snore esteem of hundreds of ex ent mothers, who mourn the loss of their gal have who 'have fallen in the service of their l the ir t 4 ' The 'proof of the high honour and noble spirit ottethe sons of old officers is their anxious desire to fol gallant example of their parents, and to serve L r country in her Majesty's army, and navy. Your °l.d sl"P's kind remembrance of your comrades in arll convinces your fellow-subjects that you h i , possess a true and noble heart, and that the honours, seg%o. rank, and confidence bestowed on you by your 10 "ign are well-deserved, as you keep in mind, what u 'lady practise, that the great and real value of r l ank , s ubjects riche s is the power of doing good to your fel oa se j e . c ts• but more particularly to that branch of the rviee to which you belon I e g• vent ure to call your attention to the great good it would do the. Army t o abolish the rank of Ensign, and to make all Lieutenants "of one grade." The extra e xpense to the country would be under 25,000/. a year, Year Which would give SOO Subalterns upwards of 301. a ear each, and add much to their comfort and the well ldoing of the Service. The difference of pay and ailow n nees betwee n E nsign and Lieutenant in the East :,, M . nal es is very considerable, to the manifest injury of the gns This alone calls for your Lordship's prompt attentl • • on• The ad vance of pay and allowances to Su abaltern office rs i s a matter that calls for the considera n of th e Military Commission now sitting in London, s it would place officers promoted from th e ran k s i n a con dition t o l i ve with comfort and support the position 1 so ciety to w hi c h t h ey had been advanced by their go o d conduct. Queen Anne increased the pay of the Q ,.ilia lterns of th e F orces. I hope our Must Grecous ueen Victoria will now bestow her Mejesty's favour and Royal b ounty on the gallant Subalterns of th Arms Woo are th e ma i nspr i ng of our Forces, both at home and a broad, by a message to Parliament from her _Majesty t o Place all Subalterns on the same rate of pay at home, and allowances abroad. As regards the colours of regiments of foot, in place o f two immense pieces of useless silk, as at present, each tiegiment ought to hav e one stan d ard (the same size as th ose now used by cavalry regiments) to direct the March of a regiment when in line, and to rally on, should occasion require it, to be always carried by a Colour-Sergeant, in place of a boy-officer, who has quite e nough to do to carry himself. A superior class of Ser geants ought to be established—to promote the disci pline of the Army --to be called Colour-Sergeants, one to each troop and company, and, when appointed Colour-Sergeant, to have a warrant from the Secre tary-at-War, the same as the old Quarter -masters to troops of cavalry (at two shillings a day each .4 extra- Pay.") This would hold out a just reward for good Conduct among the non-commissioned officers : for good ' example to a soldier is far before precept. Such a step would prove a great advantage to the Service, and cost the country under 40,000/. a year. Colour-Sergeants notto be Pay-Sergeants, but Assistant-Adjutants, &c. &c. kt present we have about one officer to every fifteen fi n in th e army, w hi ch m i ght be increased at least ltY thou san d men w i thout the expense of a single ad- `tlional officer. If th e fl an k compan i es of all regiments were abolished, it would benefit the Service, as it wi.o.uld destroy . all jealous feeling and invidious dis i,ection in regiments, and last, though not least, . t Would greatly improve the appearance of the army w hen under arms, formed in line. And if the army were r emodelled, say four battalions to each regiment, eight c ompanies i n eac h b atta li on , t h ree b a tt a li ons may se rve abr oa d and one remain at home, to form men an ( Meer: t o supply the battalions in service. Such arrangement would d o j us tice to the officers and _ ! vi ten I t ! the Army to e amman d i n c hi e f eac h reg i men t o f one four l natraions, and to remain w ith th e battalion at home, and a "dal Ought to be given to soldiers for good conduct and sisrvices in the field, to have the names of all battles engraved on it, by order of a General Gazette. Such an arrangem ent would keep us effective in the field and P ro mote the di sc i p li ne of the Army to a very great extent. 111 January, 1835 I called Lord Howick's attention to th e a b solute necessity of making a better arrangement for the transport of officers' baggage when on service, as also the great b enefit and advantage it would prove to our caval ry to have the equipment reduced in weight and made as light and compact as possible. For example, the wretched system of our Hussars furnishing their oven blankets to put under the s addle -tree in place of a proper well-made pannel ; such a system ought to be abolished, and proper Pannels supplied by Government in place of blankets, Which sent hundreds of horses to the rear with sore backs in the Peninsular War. And, as regiments are given to General Officers as a pecuniary reward, I ho pe at no distant day the Secretary at-War will re mend the House of Commons to give a fixed sum to each General so promoted. In the first place, the Government ought to clothe our soldiers and furnish saddles, &c. &c., to the cavalry, in the s .me nay that t he Ordnance now supply every article for the use of the Artillery service. The articles used by the Ord ( 'lance are all of good materials ; the clothing is of a fir m and good texture, fit for bard work and expo flare to the weather, which is not the case with much of th e clothing of soldiers of the line, as contracts are Made to obtain the clothing as cheap as 'r he benefit o f th e Colonel orsill of e-A thertregiment.ery are m uc h b etter i n and b r idl es o f the l every respect than the saddles now used by our Hussars d other cavalry-regiments, whic'e ought n o t t o b e the case. As regards the equipment of the French cavalry, the 17th and 27th i l i ttg a itr i, nts in ofs Spain, were n ‘lntnanded by General Laiem ouch lighter and better equipped than our cavalry. : e took several of both Regiments prisoners in e, • , Spain, as also l e i th June, I Sl2. We had a . &c., the General s full Ai ° A inspecting all their arms, clothing, saddles, opportunity d-de-C i m 'ee., in derision of our c umbersome cloaks_ (that , Put our h orses out of condition an d greatly Re ; !(i i° giving ti.em sore backs) the French eaval; y op- ' Posed t o us in the Peninsular war, on the outposts, called 1: le t ?unison rouges, for we certainly did look mere like h ouses th an men on horseback, they had snug cc atees, as Comfortable a dress as could be worn as an upper Invering for Dra eans—something in appearance and ii oan:rikeierleieskosepywhat are g now called pea-jackets in England. all the bad customs of foreign troops as to ! ; but to the good articles of dress for . active service we shut our eyes. In the second place, it would n. S e a t i s t i to r promote the comfort of both officers and men, and t e e. E re a regular turn of duty to all regiments : for kept Tri pre se r o i n T es en t ts are oftentimes sent to and or in plain l nches to give better allowances and _pay,titto the English, to give a greater .1 d o ho' '4° hers is a General in snug quarters at pro horne. So *h e i r ° P e the Military Commission will give this h letter ,onsideration and attention. I.l3;etntaievve.. been Subalterns in the se l‘ r i vle ny e . , o but most of enjoy hereditary honors by birth-rielt, and I , oprivit4ons e do not think so much about the . wa ' nts anu a l of officers and soldiers when in a bivouac in ' eign land as they ought to do. The transport of troops on ship-board ought to . be a "tnended, and, in place of a small bad class of vessels, to provision ought to be made by the Government _OO carry troop s in large and roomy 1 fl.oating barracks by the Admiralty, with a proper crew d ti navigate the vessels vessels, fitted as so employed, to be commanded ..? ° 3' a Lieutenant in the Navy. Then a regular exchange i/11,1 re g i ments may take place, with great befit to e t *alth o f the troops, and with comf or t to en the officer th s 1 end their famili es , who at a ll t i mes oug h t to b e f u ll y c onsider e d. i but custom—the curse of Britain—retards all good a nd Useful improveme n t s f or t he goo d o f t h e A rmy a nd Nevy b 1 ! y the cry o f veste d interests of voters of tt b ~I n tteu tou I gas, such as the late borou g h o f i I eeueenborough to furnish transports by contract. So i ! noscle f or the love of job, in preference to justice and a !I Prope r reg ar d f or the health and safety of our troops 1 1 wn on a sea voyage. Th e E mperor Napoleon called us a nation of shop ) Iteefiers, not i n derision of our wealth by eon:mires,— i, shop )ter that he envied—but been use we made our G:mends i' dealers and chapmen, to their A rmy by contract, without considering the iojury we W ere Joi n . ' g to th e health and comfort of our soldiers. -,...._ N'ap()l r for of joy to our vce is cot. a surmise of my OWN, but wi , at one of thu Emperor': own Aide-de -Camps told me ai Lercea. i., Spam. wh.2n 1 was detained by him as a prisoner of war in 1812. I was sent with a flag of truce. I lived in the Gene ral's house, and was treated with great attention and hospitality, but had a sentry at my room-door. I there sax the equipment 01 the French cavalry. I consider it much lightor tmail 1.1,-rotOcc leatter than our own. As regards the ssord exercise, 1 hear it is now to be treacle as clear and simple as possible : instead of filling a Dra goon's head with '• Horse's near side protect," &c. "parry and point" is all that is required. It would have been well had our Dragoons known the use of the points of their swords at Fuentes d'Onoro as well as they did at Waterloo ; as it was we nearly annihilated the sth Regiment of Hussars of the Imperial Guard. The regi mr•nt was wed mounted and most splendidly accoutred ; it was in appemowe the most magnifieent regiment in dress I ever saw—widte jackets and black fur on their pelisses, scarlet trowsers, and caps with white plumes. Colonel Lemotte, who commanded the regi ment, and several men were made prisoners. They had pistols with long barrels, with double sights in the bar rel, which they used with great effect when skirmishing with our men. Our cavalry carbines are of little or no use, except to add weight to our equipment ; good pis- , tols with proper sights on the barrels are the best wea pons for hussars or cavalry at the out-posts.. Had jus tice been fairly distributed after the battle of Waterloo, many old and brave Subalterns would have been pro moted. But party spirit ran high and did much mis chief to the claims of many gallant officers. I hope the Military Commission and the Reform Parliament will now take the case of the Subalterns of the British Army into their immediate consideration, and give them an increase of pay and allowances, with military honours or badges, for they are the mainspring of the Army on the battle field. And I beg to call your Lordship's most particular attention to the rifle carcass, or shell, invented by my friend,. Captain Norton. late of her Majesty's 34th Regiment. It has been fully tried in Switzefiatel,seas.d. found to answer every purpose. I expect we shall have 'some of our ammunition-waggons blown up by them without being able to return the compliment to our enemy, from the jealous feeling that the valuable disco very was not made by an officer of our Ordnance. As regards my own services in the army, the testimo nials of my Commanding Officers and the Generals under whom I served in the late war, are convincing proofs of the confidence they placed in my discretion, ability, and zeal for the serv►ce. I marched the Grenadier company of a distinguished regiment from England into the field of battle at Vimeira, as also a troop of heavy Dragoons from Truro into the battle field of Waterloo. I was there severely wounded in the grand charge at 3 p. m., on Sunday, the 18th of June. I came out of the battle the senior Lieute nant, and I remained the senior Lieutenant of my regi ment for seven years, when I went on half-pay in dis gust. I beg here to state the courtesy and kindness I always received at the hands of his Royal Highness the late Duke of York. I had a pension granted to me in 1816 of a Captain of Dragoons, but on the 12th of July, 1817, it was reduced to that of a Lieute nant, which the Duke told me was unkind. His Royal Highnesss' act of kindness to me in 1819, four veers after the battle, in giving me the difference of a year's pay from that of a Lieutenant to that of a Captain of Dragoons, spoke volumes as to his Royal Highness's opinion of my conduct and the justness of my claim to promotion. Facts are stubborn things to deal with. I spoke my mind in very strong language in the presence of General Offices, which male me many enemies. So to the fact. Your Lordship must remember the escape iof the French garrison from Almeida in May, 1811. Had Cavalry Officers of experience been employed to patrol the different roads round that foriress, the French General would not have been able to have read the British General in command of the out-posts so severe a lesson, by passing at midnight with the garrison of Almeida through the division that were in the blockade, and making a most brilliant retreat to San Felices, by the bridge of Barba del Puero. Part of my regiment was that night quartered in Villa de Ccrvos. Our Dragoons took the General prisoner, and some of his troops. I had been on duty to visit our advanced piquet on the Aguedas, when, shortly after my return, before day light, General Pack, with some Portuguese Cavadores, arrived from the rear ; an interchange of s h o t s soon a f terwar d s too k p l ace b etween thL s t e,ecacwandroeresunansaded and our d d th l eheadof t mheFern in bed enchcol,umad the a n ; our h French firing down the streets. I was annoyed and highly irritated that we should be taken by surprise by regiment an enemy th a t h a d passed the on duty in our rear, and I expressed myself in very theagainst the G enera l who ivas then on duty in strong charge outpost. h l a t d w s a ai s d.A reported, • itgeerm of s and gamed some addi tion gallantle sa tColonel that of time cavalry, a very kind of f r i en d of mine, was at head-quarters, and soon afterwards on the staff of the Commander-in-chief. My friend told me I had made many bitter enemies by what I had said, and it would not be soon forgotten by the Scotch party. But they could not prejudice the most influential quarter against me, who, my friend believed, entertained an opinion similar to my own. Be that as it may ; the General proved himself to be insane, as he committed suicide in Spain, and I was present on duty at his funeral. At that period the Scotch party in Eng land had the controul of the Fountain of Fortune—head quarters in Downing-street—And my promotion was sa crificed by malignant slander and party malice. But to conclude. In January, 1838, I addressed a letter to Lord Melbourne on the Diet of the Army when on Field Service ; as also the advantage it would prove to the health and comfort of the soldiers to furnish them with a compact portable canteen, with a small leather bag (the patterns may be seen at the United Service In stitution, at Whitehall), in preference to the present wretched equipment of linen haversacks and wooden canteens, now furnished by the Commissariat when sol diers take the field. Many eminent medical men assure me that my plan for an improved ration for soldiers on service is well deserving the full attention of Govern ment, and in support of my views the highest military medical authority has written to me to say—MY PLAN WOULD BENEFIT TIIE SOLDIER.—I have the honour to be, your Lordship's most faithful and obliged friend, GEORGE GUNNING. 22, Hanover-crescent, Brighton, March 26, 1839. NATIONAL CONVENTION. (YESTERDAY.) Mr. MILLS, Delegate from Oldham, in the Chair. CO RRESPONDENCE. Letters were read from Mr. ‘Villiams, at Bishop Wey mouth, Sunderland, giving an account of meetings in different parts of Durham and Northumberland, where the Charter was supported by muititudes. Also from Bailie Craig, an account of his progress through Galloway shire, Wigtonshire, Dumbartonshire, Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfriesshire, where he got up so many as nine great meetings in Kilmar nock, Dumfries, Sandforth, Castle Douglas, Kirkcud bright, Creaghtown, May bole, Girvan, and Stranrser. The demonstrations of the people in all those places in in favour of the Charter was most cheering. The mid dle class vying with the labouring population in for warding the principles of Universal Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, Annual Parliaments, no Property Qualification, and Payment of Members. The reading of those letters elicited much applause. PROGRESS OF THE CIIARTER DESPITE TOW: OPPOSI. TioN. Mr. P. BUSSEY went into a detail of his late mis sion. He went through that part of Yorkshire which had hitherto not taken part in the Charter movement. He held public meetings at Bradford, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Mahon, Pickering, Gisborough, Stokesby, Swanville, Northallerton, Brompton, Rich mond, and Yolk. In most of those places the par sons and political Tories exerted themslves to the utmost in order to prevent the people from assembling. They threatened the shopkeepers with the loss of their cus tom, and the labourers with the loss of employment, in case they should lend their assistance to support the People's Charter. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. BUSSEY, for his persevering and arduous exertions on this mission. Mr. F. O'CONNOR gave an account of meetings held at Leeds and other places, which meetings were nume rously attended, and were demonstrative of confidence in the Convention. Mr. COLLINS bore testimony to the vast numbers which were present at the Birmingham meeting on Wednesday ; and further, the great bulk of the Bir mingham men who could not be present at that meet ing joined in the sentiments of confidence which that meeting expressed in the measures of the Convention. ARMING THE PEOPLE. Mr. RICHARDSON brought forward a resolution which had remained over from a former date relative to the right of the people to arm. Mr. Richardson, in sup port of the people's right to have arms, quoted a number of authorities; ancient and modern, writers on civil polity and legal jurisprudence ; among the former were Cicero, Justinian, Fletcher, Saltoun, Sir Walter Ra leigh, Sir J. Fortescuc, Sir Philip Sydney, Sir W. Jones, and Queen Elizabeth, who, in an Address to an as sembly of Lieutenants and Sheriffs of Counties, told them " to look well to it, that her people were all well armed, and fit to take the field in defence of their li berties."—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Richardson said that he wished Queen Victoria would make a similar declara tion ; if she did, she might, like her predecessor Queen Elizabeth, walk without an attendant from St. Paul's to Whitehall. Yes, if she did this it would not be ne cesary for her to have the attendance of a tribe of courtiers and a host of military to protect her when ever she went abroad. Mr. Richardson then quoted the legal authorities and sundry Acts of Parliament in proof of the rights of Britons to carry arms. Sorn , of those Acts went so far as to compel the Sheriffs of Counties to inspect the arms of the people twice in each year, and ter fine such as had not arms, or those whose ar ms were i n b a d repa i r. H e th en went over the many bad iffects of allowing the Government at any period to wrest from the people this inalienable . ,:a-; and c.onciuci.ed by 5t,::.... - 111.,::: thal. iii', did think his motion would not introlye any question of physical force or mural force. He therefore moved that Courel's opinion be taken, to know how far the people had the right to arm. Mr. O'BRIEN, in seconding Mr. Richardson's motion, would reserve to himself the right to speak on the ques tion, when he had heard other Members declare their sentiments on it. Dr. FLETrIIER thought that the right of arming was so well established, that no opinion should be taken ; more s°. as any optmon which they would obtain would be given in such a quibbling and sophisticated manner as would lead them to doubt, what was now beyond doubt conceded, the right of the people to arm. He would, therefore, move as an amendment to Mr. Richard son's resolution, " That it was admitted by the highest legal authority, beyond a possibility of doubt, that the people of this country had the right to 1.1. , e arms." Dr. M.Dow ALL seconded Dr. Fletcher's amendment. Mr. HARNEY did not dissent from the motion itself, but from the expense which it would involve them in : Mr. Richardson, who had so frequently called to their notice when any question of finance was debated, that the funds were contributed by the starving hand-loom weavers, and that they should be very careful in their expenditure, was the last person who should bring on a motion of this nature. He also said that an address should be sent forward to the people, advising them how they should act on this question. However, as he was not prepared with an address, and not wishing that ex pense should be incurred, he would vote for Dr. Flet cher's amendment. Mr. NEESOM would always insist on the right of the people to carry arms. He always went to public meetings armed,--for this reason, that he thought ex ample was mach better than precept.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. O'BRIEN, thought it would have a very good effect on the multitude throughout the country if a , lawyer's opinion, sanctioning the right to carry arms, was distributed among the people. A great many per sons doubted their right in this respect, and if the Con vention did venture to send forth an address on this right, it would not have sufficient weight unless accom panied by a legal aocumer.t.---(F,Te.ar, hear.) Mr. O'CONNOR supported the amendment, as a Mr. BUSSEY. Mr. HALLEY was quite opposed to anything tending to give the people a notion that the Convention incul cated that arms were to be used as a means for obtain ing the Charter. This motion would be taken up in that light by the people if any document should be pub lished on this subject.—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Halley) would persist in saying hat if any document was sent among the people, it would be next expected that the Convention would issue orders for training and getting the people into a position to make war against their fellow-subjects.—(No, no.) He did think, not withstanding the contradictions of those who had cried " No," that the people would expect to be ad vised to make use of the arms which they pos sessed in obtaining the Charter.—( Hear, hear.) How could the Convention give any expression of opinion to the people at large on this subject, as the representatives of the nation, when they had yet so little of public sympathy in their favour?—(Loud cries of " Oh, oh !") He did maintain that when only 1,200,000 signatures were had to the petition they did not express the voice of the people.—(Oh, oh.) He would move the previous question. Mr. BURNS would second the previous question being carried. In doing so he begged to say in contra diction to Mr. Halley that the number of signatures to the petition was no criterion of public sympathy. Hundreds of thousands were prevented from sign ing, it from inability, or terror, or want of opportunity, and were the most warm supporters of the Charter.— ( Hear, and cheers.) Mr. CARDO stated that so far from the people of the south of England being disposed to oppose the Charter, in consequence of the opinion entertained by some of the Convention on the right of arming, this opinion was the chief reason that induced them to come forward as they did in supporting the Charter. In many places in the south, the people were following the example of the north, and he had witnessed himself an exhibition of this feeling in the persons of some 200 or 300 who were armed and had a military band in a neighbourhood where there was never before seen such a demonstration.— (Hear, and cheers). Mr. HARNEY, in reply to some observations of Mr. Carpenter, which alluded to an expression in his (Mr. Harney's) fo , mer speech on this question, stated that he never had advised the people to carry arms to the different public meetings, as Mr. Carpenter stated ; what he said was, that the people had every right to use their arms on every occasion where their liberties were going to be attacked, and that their best argu ments would be of little influence if they had not arms in their hands. Mr. ROGERS was for the previous question. Messrs. Lowry, Marsden, and Ryder supported Dr. Fletcher's amendment. Mr. MARSDEN, in his remarks, said that no matter what was the opinion of the lawyers, the people were arming in thousands. In a small village in his neigh bourhood no less than twenty muskets were purchased lately with no other intention than to carry out the Charter principles.—( Hear.) Mr. Men A ansoN replied in a few remarks addressed to the different arguments adduced against his position of wishing to obtain the sanction of the Convention towards getting Counsel's opinion. In speaking to Mr. Ncesom on his objection against giv ing money to lawyers, who are proverbially dishonest, Mr. Richardson said, that his (Mr. Neesom's) objection would be the best possible reason to get Mr. O'Connell's opinion ; who he was sure would reply to the question with his well-known quotation of— " Hereditary bondsmen, know ye not, Who would be free, himself must strike the blow." Mr. Sichardson then gave many reasons to strengthen his foimer arguments and concluded by pressing his resolution. IMPERI 1 3 41111,1 A .11',ENT. HOUSE OF Go.llMoss. Apiul, 9. The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four o'clock. On the motion of Mr. SPEARS, the Glasgow and Renfrew Roads' Bill was read a second time, and or dered to be comm;tted. Mr. HEATON moved the second reading of the Melbourne (C.lmbi Lige) Inclosure Bill. D. W. HARVEY, before the Bill was read a second time, wisned to make a few observations relative to Enclosure Bills in general, as several stood for second reading.—(Hear.) With respect to these Bill, the standing orders of the House required what was a most salutary regulation, that a provision should be made, enacting that a certain portion of the waste land, intended to be enclosed, should be set apart for the recreation of the labouring population. Now he had read many of the breviates of Enclosure Bills, and in some of them the quantity of waste land proposed to be enclosed, was stated, and in others it was not, but he found invaria'lly that the quantity to be appropriated for recreation, was not stated, or its situation. He considered that this was not right, particularly when the rights of the Lord of the Manor were specially provided for. He thought, in in order to give value to the wholesome safeguard provided by the Legislature in Enclosure Bills, the quantity of land for recreation should be set out and its locality shown, otherwise in a short course of time the property would be called no man's land, and would fall into the hands of those who were the strongest. After a few words from Mr. HEATON, the Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. On the motion of Mr. CHRISTOPHER, the Tim berland Drainage Bill was read a third time and passed. On the motion of Mr. R. STEUART, the Manches ter Improvement Bill was read a third time and passed. On the motion of Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE, the Bassingstoke Road Bill, was read a second time and ordered to be committed. Mr. WILSON PATTEN presen,ted a petition from Manchester against certain clauses the Manchester Railway Win. BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAIL- WAY BILL. On the motion of Mr. PHILPOTT, the Birming ham and Gloucester Railway Bill sias read a second time, and ordered to be committed. Sir W. MOLES WORTH brought up the Report of the Committee on the Leeds Soka Corn Toll. Bill. Mr. LOCKHART presented a petition from the county of Lanark in favour of Church Extension in Scotland. Mr. DENNISTOUN presented a petition from Glasgow against certain parts of the Prison (Scotland) Bill, and another in favour of a uniform rate of postage. Lord FITZALAN also presented a petition in fa vour of a penny postage. Mr. MACKENZIE presented several petitions in favour of Church Extension in Scotland. Mr. COLQU NOUN presented petitions from Ayr shire against any alteration in the Corn-laws, and in favour of an alteration in the rate of postage. Mr. SANFORD presented a petition from a place in the county of Somerset, praying for a uniform rate of postage. Mr. W. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from a parish in the North Riding of the county of York against the bastardy clauses in the Poor-law Bill ; pe titions from Knaresborough and Stokesby, praying for the protection of the Church in Canada ; and five pe titions against any alteration in the Corn-laws. Sir E. KNATCIIBULL presented a petition from a parish in Kent for the protection of the Church in Canada ; and petitions from Canterbury and two other places, in favour of a penny postage. Mr. WYNNE presented petitions from places in the dioceses of St. Asaph and Bangor, praying that what ever funds might arise from the union of the two Bishop ricks, and the separation of the Chapters, might be ap plied within those dioceses. Also a petition from the Clergymen, Freeholders, and other inhabitants of Den bigh, in favour of the present system of Corn-laws. On the motion of Sir S. GLYNN, the Report of the Committee on the Aberbrothwick Harbour Bill was further considered. Sir R. INGLIS presented a petition against the Ecclesiastical Appointments Suspension Bill. Mr. R. STEU ART presented a petition from Had dington, praying for the establishment of a penny post age ; also a petition from Dunbar, praying for a reduc tion of the duty on foreign coffee. Sir ROBERT INGLIS presented a petition from Boroughbridge, in favour of Church Extension in the Colonies. Mr. F. FRENCH presented a petition from the county of Roscommon, against any alteration in the Corn-laws. Sir E. KNATCHBULL presented a petition from the Chairman of the General Sessions of the county of Kent. stating the great inconvenience experienced in collecting the county rate through the medium of the Poor-law Unions, and praying the House to remedy the grievance. Sir R. PEEL presented a petition from the landed proprietors and tenants in the county of Ayr, against any alteration in the Corn-laws. Mr. VILLIERS-presentscl.xt petition from Bilston in favour of Mr. Rowland- Hill's Plan of Postage ; also a petition from Perth in favour of a repeal of the Corn-laws. Sir G. SINCL AIR presented several petitions in favour of Church Extension (Scotland); THE MINISTRY. Sir R. PEEL rose and said—Sir, I wish to state that on Monday next I shall move an amendment to the resolution of which the Noble Lord opposite has given notice; and in order that the House may not be called upon suddenly to pronounce upon it, I will at the earliest opportunity, at the latest upon Friday next—if I can, earlier—state the precise terms of that amendment.—( Hear, hear.) APPOINTMENT OF MR. O'CONNELL TO Dr. Fletcher's amendment was carried by a majority of seventeen. Mr. FEARGUS O'CONNOR proposed the formation of a Committee to confer with Messrs. Attwood, M.P. and Fielden, M.P., on the Charter, which was carried, and a Committee appointed. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1639 that. great public as well as private inconvenience would be the result if any material delay took place. He could not agree with his Right Hon. Friend in his sys tem of ea- post facto legislation. The whole subject of railway police and regulation, should have been taken up long ago, instead of having been left to the present hour, and he thought the proposition came with.a very bad grace from his Right Hon. Friend. Under these circumstances he hoped the House would allow the Report to be received. After a few words from Mr. PALMER in explanation, Mr. FRES HFIELD thought the arguments of the Hon. Member for Lambeth were in favour of the pro positions. He thought no Bill ought to be allowed to pass the House without coming within the operation of the general measure. Air. HAWES believed be was perfectly accurate in the statement he had made. Mr. POULETT THOMSON said that he con sidered it right that those Railway Companies which had now come before the House for fresh powers should be subjected to the regulations respecting Railways, which would be shortly before the House; but if they let them off now before those regulations were passed, then they would indeed become subject to an cv post facto law— he would now leave the matterin the hands of the House. Mr. HAWES said, that if the general sense of the House were against him he would not divide on the subject. The amendment was then carried without a division. GOVERNMENT OF JAMAICA. Mr. LA BOUCHERE said that in rising to bring forward the motion of which he had given notice for leave to bring in a Bill to suspend the existing govern ment of the Island of Jamaica, and to make provision for the government of that Island during the time of such suspension ; he felt deeply that it was to a measure of no ordinary nature that he was about to ask the consent of the House. He was perfectly aware that he should have to prove to the House that it was under cir cumstances of no ordinary character that he asked at their hands the temporary abrogation of that form of Government of three estates which was deservedly so valued by every Englishmen.—(Hear.) The proposition which he should have the honour of layin - g htfcre *-6. House had been come to by her Majesty's Government with great pain ; but after mature reflection be felt satisfied that although the subject was made up of details which were dry and uninteresting, yet the House would feel it their duty, he was perfectly sure, more parti cularly when the high judicial character of the mea- sure was considered, to give their utmost attention to the proposition, and he trusted that that indul- . . , . . gence would also be extended to him, which in similar cases the House was so kindly accustomed to extend to those whose duty it was to explain to the House the intentions of the Government. n the first place he was sure he should have the unani- mous opinioil of the House in this assertion, that a state of things had arisen, and at present existed, in Jamaica, which imperatively demanded the interference of the Legislature of this country. Whatever difference of opinion there might be about the causes which led to this, he was sure that no one who had paid the most cursory attention to what had been going on in Jamaica, who had _ read the papers that had been laid on the able of the Houie: or who had read the information conveyed in the Newspapers on that subject, could doubt but that there did exist a state of things which it had been impossible for the Government to look on with in difference, and which it did become that House to take under its most serious consideration, and to apply whatever remedy it might in its wisdom think fit. Under these circumstances he had the honour of pro- posing to the House that course which it appeared to the Government to be their duty to recommend. The Government came to the House in this critical state of affairs for council—for correction and . reproof, if the measures they proposed were bad ; but for encouragement, for assistance, and support, if, after the deliberate attention of the House, those measures should appear politic and necessary. In the month of Oc tober last year, Sir Lionel Smith called together the Legislature. There certainly never was a period in the history of that colony when subjects of • more grave or momentous importance had to be discussed, and when they ought to have been considered impar tially and deliberately. - It was the first time the Legislature had met after the passing of that Act, which had put an end to the system of apprenticeship in Jamaica, and which had given unqualified freedom to the great body of the negro population. At the meeting of the House of Assembly, in answer to a speech from the Governor, that House stated they would proceed to no business, with the exception of passing certain Acts, necessary in order to keep invio late the faith of the public credit of the island—that they should proceed to no other business, in consequence of an Act passed at the end of last Session, which went by the name of the West India Gaol Act. The House of Assembly stated they would have been ready now, as they ever had been, to give their consideration to every matter for promoting the public welfare of the colony, but having taken into their consideration the ag gressions the British Parliament continued to make on the rights of the people of this colony, and the mischief's that must result from the present anomalous system, they have come to the determination that they will best con- . suit their own honour, the,rights txt . , their constituents, and the peace and well-being of the colony by abstain, ing from any Legislative' enactutentemsept fattish es may preserve inviolate .the credit and tmuqui/lity of-the colony: This resolution passed by a large majority. , The Go vernor prorogued the House feett few days. On their meeeting again he advised them to proceed to public business, an detailed many impoitant measures - which it would be his duty, in pursuance of directions from the Home Government, to lay before them ; among which were, the relative rights of mas ters and servants, and the regulation of the Militia. To this communication the House of As sembly returned an answer that they would adhere to their first resolution. The Council, however, passed a unanimous vote in favour of proceeding to public business. The Governor determined to appeal to the constituent body ; and he dissolved the Assembly. When the new House assembled they confirmed the resolution of their predecessors, and returned the fol lowing answer to the speech of the Governor :—" We can assure your Excellency that in deciding upon this course we have done so with extreme reluctance. We see the inconvenience that must result. We are more than sensible of the many existing evils which call for legislative remedy. But we feel that the power is no longer in our hands to apply the remedy, inasmuch as the Legislature of Great Britain has in vaded our rights by passing an Act for the regulation of our gaols—a matter of mere internal arrangement." The Governor then:prorogued the House for a short time. In transmitting the proceedings of this second House of Assembly to the Home Office, the observations were made which he should read. This would be the most fit moment for him to call the attention of the House to that which would be found to be most important to be borne in mind throughout the whole consideration of this sub ject, he meant the relation in which the House of Assembly stood, as at present constituted, towards the population of Jamaica. Of the three classes into which the population of Jamaica may be divided, the following might be taken as a fair statement--5,000 white persons, 2,800 black and coloured persons, who had been for some time free, and 320,000 persons who bad been lately emancipated negroes. The constituent body of Jamaica consisted of about 2,000 persons, and not only at this moment had the emancipated negroes no voice in the representation, but by the Registration Act fifteen months must elapse before they could have the slightest choice in the representation. The House would perceive that the point upon which the House of Assembly in Jamaica was at issue, was not with the Executive of that country, but with the Imperial Legislature. He trusted, however, that the House would not sup pose that upon that alone he wished the House to con clude that of necessity the Imperial Legislature were in the right, and that the Provisional Legisla ure were wrong, and that upon the mere statement of this fact, the House was to proceed to treat the House of Assembly as contumacious. He should ill represents the intention of the Govern ment, if he sought to make any such statement as that. He did not ask the House at once to conclude that, because they differed from the Legislature of Jamaica, that, therefore, - the Legislature of Jamaica were wrong; but what he asked the House to do, was carefully to review the proceedings that had taken place, because it might be that they had been taken in error. H e en treated the House to examine all the points ; and if it was found from that examination that they had been in error, and had acted unadvisedly, the sooner they re traced their steps the better. If, however, on the con trary, it was found that the House had acted rightly, and the Assembly of Jamaica wrongly, then he should have a right to call upon the House to retain its former decision, and support the Executive Govern ment.—(Hear, hear, hear.) Now he would, in the first place, state to the House, as clearly and as briefly as possible, what were the steps that led to the enactments. The regulation of prison discipline was an important part, doubtless, of the legislation of every country, it was a subject that honourably distinguished the age in which they lived that the public mind had been awakened to the great im portance of that subject, and great care had been taken in every civilised country in Europe with respect to it. Important as it was in every country that proper regu lations should be made with respect to prisons, it be came doubly important in a society constituted like the West Indian possessions of Great Britain. As long as the great body of the population were slaves the question of prison discipline scarcely arose. All punishments were inflicted by domestic authority. The consequence was that prison discipline attracted verylittle attention, but the moment slavery was abolished and the apprenticeship system abandoned, it became a point of the first-rate consequence. From that moment the power was taken out of the hand of the master ; all he could do wastobrir g his charge against the negro who was then com mitted ; and it then became a matter of the utmost con sequence to take care what the regulations in the gaols were, for there was the greatest danger, if the regulations ABSENT MEMBERS. A motion of Dr. M‘DowALL, which called for the im mediate attendance of some few Members who have ab sented themselves for a long time, gave rise to a very protracted discussion. It was met by an amendment of Mr. DEEGAN, which went to order the Secretary to inquire from those Members the reasons for so absent ing themselves, in order that measures may be adopted to have their places filled up. Mr. Deegan's amendment was carried by a majority of nine. FINANCIAL. A resolution proposed by Dr. Fletcher, and se conded by Mr. O'Connor, that Messrs. Sankey, J. Taylor, and Richardson, be appointed to audit the Missionaries' accounts, was passed unanimously. PIRMINGHAM UNION. Dr. TAYLOR said that at this late hour he would not be doing justice to the question which he intended to bring on this day, on the conduct of the Birmingham Delegates, if he introduced it at a time when it could not be expected that members, worn out with their heavy and arduous sittings, would give it that attentive consideration which its great importance demanded. He would therefore beg leave to ask that it Tight stand over until to-morrow. —Leave granted. Upon which a vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting dissolved. BANK OF ENGLAND.-Yesterday a ballot was taken for the election of the Governor and Deputy. Governor of the Bank for the ensuing year. The poll was closed at four o'clock, when the scrutineers declared that the election had fallen upon Sir J. Rae Reid, Go vernor, and Pelly, Esq., Deputy-Governor. Monday an inquest was held at the workhouse of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, before Mr. Payne, on view of the body of Thomas Parker, a coal porter, aged 68 years. Ssturday last the deceased, who was in the employ cf Messrs. Corey and Sons, coal merchants, of the Belvidere road, was proceeding with a load of coals to the pre miss of Messrs. Biggers, -Atkinson, and Co., the whole sale druggists of Aldersgate-street, where the unfor tunate man, in passing out with an empty sack, took up a bottle which he thought contained cream of tartar. One of the workmen on the premises told him to put the bottle down, as it contained poison, but he (deceased) said " Nonsense," and placed it to his lips, no further notice was taken of the cir cumstance until the poor man trembled in a very violent manner, and on examination it was found he had drank of the bottle which contained oil of almonds ; no time was lost in conveying him to the Dispensary in Aldersgate street, where every possible exertion was used by Dr. Arthur Farr and his assistants; he was pumped upon (a new practice used in such cases) and the stomach pump, but all without success, as the deceased gradually sank and expired in about half an hour after. Dr. Farr stated that he bad placed four drops of the poison on the eye of a pigeon which killed it instantly. Verdict, " Accidental death." ABERDEEN LADIES' WORKING SOCIETY.. The first annual general meeting of this Society took place on the 25th ult., in the East Church Session-house, and was numerously attended—the Rev. Mr. Foote in the chair. The report of the Society's operations for the past year was read by the Rev. Mr. Davidson; and the meeting was addressed by the Chairman, the Rev. Mr. Brown of St. Paul's, the Rev. Mr. Davidson, and the Rev. Mr. Tweedie. The report, though brief, was most interest.. ing. The several speakers expressed themselves in strong terms of the good already affected, and declared that the experience of the past year fully proved the soundness of the principles of which the Society is founded, and the practicability of carrying it on for the future. It only required the support of the public, and of this, the speakers had no doubt, were the benefits it confers on the industrious poor only generally known. The labour un dertaken and performed by the ladies of the committee is very great ; but it is truly a labour of love. The total number of persons employed during the ?ear was 171 ; of these 74 were widows, 32 mothers of families whose hus bands %sere out of employment, and 65 single women, who were unahle, from age or sicknev, to obtain other employ . ment. The amount paid for work was 1181 ., and for mate rials 3601.—Aberdeen Herald. THE MAGISTRACY. Sir F. BURDETT wished to move for a copy of any appointment of Mr. O'Connell to the Magistracy in Ireland. He wished to have that appointment before the House previous to the debate respecting Ireland. Lord J. RUSSELL said there would be no objec tion to the return, which was accordingly put, and granted. - Sir EDWARD CODRINGTON postponed the motion of which he had given notice relative to the in crease of the war complements in ships for a fortnight. Mr. HAWES gave notice that on the 16th of April he should call the attention of the House to the petition of David Jones. RAILWAYS. On the motion for the further consideration of the Reports on Railway Bills, ,; Mr. P. THOMSON rose to move the amendment of which he had given notice, that the further consi deration of the Report on any Railway Bid should not be entertained before Tuesday, the 23d of April. His principalreason for making the present motion was that on the day after to-morrow, it was his intention to propose a Select Committee on the subject of Railways, and it would be very desirable that that Committee should have an opportunity of deciding upon the subject 0 be brought under their consideration, before the Bills a c left that House, because if the Bills Com r mittee third time, any regulation:e t wo had hat been late. In might come to would it was not his wish to making the present motion, him in bringing it occasion unnecessary dela y , and he trusted, therefore, that the House would concur with forward. Mr. R. PALMER seconded the motion, and as an instance showing the necessity of the motion, he need only advert to the provisions contained in the Great Western Railway Amendment Bill. No one look ing at that Bill could doubt that its object ate, he f e lt was to enable the Company to ra ise more money, and for himself, upon looking ! ,t the breviate, great surprise at the increased powers given to the Company by the new B:11. He found that the original Bill consisted of twenty clauses, and the pre sent Bill of twenty-nine, not one word of which would be understood as the original Bill stood. of and enter- The Com of the railway pang had the power of taking possession llear, ing any lands within a cer . tain distance for the purpose of depositing earth ! stones, giving such compensation as a Jury might determine. determine. That was a very strong po wer to g i ve to any Company, and in his own case not l ess than fifty b acres of good arabl e land had been taken p ossess i on of on his estate, for the p ur p ose of depositing earth, s t ones, scn which it was imp ossible could ever be removed, and the result would be a p er m anent occupation. The 18th clause of the present Bill proposed to rep ea l t h e clause in the original Bi ll, which gave the Company the power to enter into the tem p orary occupation of any land, and then enacted that it should be lawful for t he Com pany to enter upon the land of any pe rson as aforesaid for the purpose of depositing thereon, eithe r t emporar i ly or permanently—( Hear, liear)--any earth, stones &c. The agents for the Billhad stated thi s was nothing ' but a Bill for raising money, and they then took the op portunity of introducing other most important claus es . Mr. HAWES sai d, that to the motion o f the Hon. Member, the President of the Board o f Trade, he ' should under ordinary circumstances have given his support, and he was r ather surprised at the s t atements made by the Hon. Member opposite. He (Mr. H.) i was informed that the Bill was strictly a M oney Bill, but the Honourable Member had certainly p o i nte d out clauses inconsistent with that object. He was in formed by the agent and solicitor for the Bill that not one of those clauses of which the Hon oura bl e Mem ber h a d complained, had been introduced by the pro moters of the 13111 ; and,. on the contrary, th e y were considered hostile w the interests of the Comp any , an d had b een forced upon them b y authority in another place. It was well known that a Noble Lord i n anot h er p l ace exercised a sort of jurisdiction (he would a l m it a most advanta ge ous one to the public in general), and these clauses had been introduced by his authority,—.( H ear . ) The Bill was, therefore , s t r ictl y a Bill for raising a , further sum of m oney, and be was authorized to state were left under the management of the planters ex elusively, that a system of punishment might be pro duced which would be worse than slavery, and migl.t lead to coercion over the labour of the negro population. evils which were anticipated soon occurred. The houses of correction and the gaols were left under the management of the local Magistrates, and no peculiar precaution was taken, but as rapidly arose a state of things which excited the greatest attention in this country, and called for the interference of Parliament.—( Hear.) The apprentices had been treated in these gaols in so cruel and barbarous a manner—(hear, hear)—that it was quite obvious that some of the worst and most disgusting features of slavery were still in existence, and in an aggravated form, inasmuch as they were committed in the secrecy of the gaols. He referred most unwillingly to the details of some of the statements which had been brought forward, but it was such an important part of the case that he could not omit it.—( Hear, hear, hear.) On the 12th April, 1835, the Governor of Jamaica reported the case of two female apprentices who had been flogged, and on the 7th July he stated that rules had been passed au thorising the supervisor of the workhouses to flog women. A system of cutting oil' the hair of women confined in the houses of Cor rec ti on was a l so adopted, and in some cases untried prisoners were put to hard labour. In one instance two drivers were found flogging a woman, with the superior looking on. It w as t rue t h at t h e super i or had been afterwards indicted and punished ; but he merely wished to show the system that had been pur sued.—( Hear, hear.) On the 29th of August, 1835, the Governor was instructed to apply to the House of Assembly to amend the provisions of the Gaol Act, which authorized the cutting off of the hair of women, and the flogging of women. A message was sent by Lord Sligo . to the House to that effect, which was referred to a Select Committee, but no report was ever made by that Conmittee, On the 7th of March, 1836, the Governor referrred the House to the conviction of the superior of Trclawney Workhouse for punishing a woman with the cat; and on the 9th of April to the case of a negro woman, Louisa, who died on the tread mill of Morant Bay Workhouse from ill treatment. On the 11th June Lord Glenelg in his dispatch referred to a system of fastening women who refused to work, by by ligatures to the tread-mill, the result of which was that one had died ; and also to the fact, that of 11 deaths in the workhouse of Morant Bay, from January 18:33, three were confessedly occasioned by being fastened to the tread-mill, and the deaths of the other eight were in consequence of the severe treatment received by the prisoners. Other dispatches confirmed these state ments of cruel treatment, and on the Ist August, 1836, Lord Sligo used the remarkable words," I again say advisedly that the remedy must come from home." On the Ist of July, 1837, Lord Glenelg had stated that unless some improvement should take place in the management of these workhouses, it would become necessary that the stipendiary Magistrates should abstain from committing ap prentices to them. About this time a Select Committee of this House had been appointed for the purpose of taking into consideration the whole of the system of Negro Apprenticeship in the West Indies. The recommendations of the Report of that Committee had been transmitted by Lord Glenelg to the Governor, who in consequence had laid those re commendations before the House of Assembly on the 27th October, 1837, urging them to make sotnealteration in the Gaol Act ; that recommendationhad been referred to a Special Committee ; no further notice had, up to the present moment, been taken cf it. On the 15th of November, 1837, Lord Glenelg had, in a despatch, again called the attention of the Governor to the neces sity of further application being made to the House of Assembly, for the amendment of the Gaol Act. On the 28th of November, 1837, the Governor sent a message to the House of Assembly, urging this subject on their consideration. This message was referred to the same Committee, and met with the same fate as the former one. On the Ist of February, 1838, Lord Glenelg referred to the case of Williams, which was now well known, as evidence of the absolute necessity of some measures being adopted to carry into effect the recommendations of the Committee of the house of Commons as to an efficent control over these gaols and workhouses. But the subsequent applications of the Governor to the I - louse of Assembly, grounded upon this recommendation of Lord Glenelg, did not prove more effectual than the preceding ones had done. A Bill had been introduced into the House of Commons for an amendment of the Emancipation Act. A contro versy had been for some time going on between the Assembly and the Colonial-office on various subjects, particularly with regard to the regulation of gaols, and the Government had resolved to come to the House of Commons for authority. The regulations, however, were intended to apply exclusively to the system of ap prenticeship. At that time a great excitement had been created as to the working of the apprenticeship ; and a cry went through the country for its repeal. lie (Mr. Labouchere) was glad that cry bad not been ac ceded to. But the House of Commons while determin ing to adhere to the contract with the planters, had passed the following resolution :—" That this House declares its opinion that no means should be untried which may tend to secure to the negro population of the British Colonies, the full enjoyment of those privileges which they were entitled to under the Act for the Abolition of Slavery and the Act to amend the 'same, and that the anxious attention of the House will be directed to the state of the negro population, when the expiration of the term of apprenticeship shall have en titled them to perfect freedom." The House of As sembly, however, denied the right of the Imperial Par liament to interfere at all with the internal affairs of the Colony. It was in July 1813, that the report of Captain Pringle on the whole subject of the West Indies, was transmitted to the Government. The House ought to recollect the position in which the Government was then placed, and he should confine his observations ex clusively to Jamaica. He had already stated that the most shocking abuses had taken place, in the gaols and in the houses of correction in Jamaica ; that five dis tinct applications had been made to the House of Assem bly to correct these abuses, and that five distinct times had the House evaded the duty of correcting them.—( Hear, hear.) The consequence of the abolition of the appren ticeship system would be, that inasmuch as by the pre vious Act protection was afforded to the labourer, all that protection which was provided for him as an apprentice would cease, the moment he be came free, and there would be no defence against his being committed to prison wherever he might be found, under a Vagrant Act by any Magistrate. The Govern ment had bad abundance of experience of the proceed ings of the House of Assembly not to be anxious to guard against this ; accordingly the West India Prison Bill was introduced, and passed both Houses of Parlia ment. The attention of those in the West India in terests was abundantly called to this Bill in both Houses, and no opposition was offered to it, except that Mr. Burge, the Colonial Agenthere , sent a protest aga inst it to the Colonial Office. It was after the passing of this Act, that open collision took place between the House of Assembly and the Imperial Parliament, and he would ask whether there was any rational probability to be entertained that a House of Assembly which had acted upon the principles, and shown such a spirit as this House of Assembly had, could continue to make such laws and regulations as would be useful and judicious for the govet nment of the community of Jamaica. He would read a few passages from a protest drawn up by the House of Assembly upon the occasion of the second interference of the Imperial Parliament, for the purpose of asking whether an Assembly capable of using such language in a deliberate manner, was very likely to be able to pass wise and wholesome laws. At the expiration of fifteen months the emancipated slaves would be en titled to a choice in the representation, and the qualification there was so low that almost all would be entitled to the franchise ; and he could not conceive a worse state of things than that the present House of Assembly should be allowed to go on for fifteen months, and then, at the expiration of that time, a complete and sudden revolution should take place. He confessed he could not view, without alarm, the bulk of the population at that time returning to the House of Assembly, as in great probability thty might, persons actuated by all the passions by which they themselves were swayed. He, therefore, could see no means of conducting the Emancipation Act to a favourable end, but by the appointment of some body calculated to make good wholesome laws for the government of the population. No one could be of opinion that the state of Jamaica ought to be left as it now was. Upon a general review of the whole case the Go vernment had come to the conclusion that it would be perfectly wise and politic to suspend the present Constitution of Jamaica for a limited pe riod, and to provide for that in the appointment of a Governor and Council. He would abstain from enter ing into the details of that appointment until after the Bill was before the House ; but still there were two points upon which he would say a word. The first was as to the period of time during which it was proposed the suspension should take place. It was proposed that it should last for five years, by the expiration of which time it was hoped opportunity sufficient could be af forded for making those laws which were absolutely ne cessary for the altered state of the population. The next thing was, that it was the intention of Govern ment to aid to the Council of Jamaica a cer tain number of persons—probably three—to be sent from this country as Special Councillors, and be could not help thinking that such an union of Councillors would have a great tendency to the formation of wise and prudent laws. This was the outline of the Bill he intended to bring in, and without further observation he begged leave to move for leave to bring in the Bill. Mr. GOULI3VItN said the Hon. Gentleman had so indistinctly shadowed forth the nature of the Bill, that he (Mr. Goulburn) would not then discuss at large so important a question, Before doing so he would prefer to see the measure, and to have time to consider all its details, so that he might be prepared to say whe ther, in his opinion, it would provide a proper remedy for the evil which existed. Ile wished, however,7to reserve to himself the perfect right of' discussing the EVENING EDITION whole of the topics touched upon by the Hon. Gentl e .. man, as well as those numerous and important ones whioh he had omitted.—(Hear, hear.) He reserved te himself the right of disoussing the question of whethe r the whole of the difficulty was to be ascribed to the conduct of the House of Assembly, and whether some blame did not attach to the Government ?—(Cheers.) He did not rise to defend the House of Assembly—in his experience of Colonial affairs he had often thought that the Assemblies were not properly constituted, and he had strenuously opposed the granting of one to the Island of Trinidad ; but when an island had had an Assembly for a century, the matter was very different, and it was a question of much inportance, when they came to be suspended. He agreed with the Hos. Gentleman, that whatever party was in fault, the tim e had arriv e d w hen it was necessary to consider what course should he pursued. Something must be done, and therefore he was willing to consider the proposition of the Gavernment. He could not, however, allow that opportunity to pass without saying that in his opinion the conduct of the Government towards the House of Assembly, had not been that which a Legis latit e Assembly bad a right to expect. In the last Session of Parliament, the Prisons Bill was introduced and passed through the Houses of Parliament with as I much speed as the forms of the House would allow—it was sent over, but how was it. communicated to the House of Assembly Were they called together, and informed of its necessity in the Governor's speech ? No, it was studiously avoided in the speech, and they were only informed of it by its being posted npou the door of the House along with a pro clamation from the Governor rendering it the law of the island. Such conduct was not in his opinion calculated to promote peace, and had it not been pursued pro bably the present cri s i s wou ld not h ave ar i sen, and, in his opinion, Government were much to blame in the transaction. Be wished to reserve to himself the right to enter into all these matte rs u p on a future occasion. He would hear the Counsel for the Island ; he would also hear the defence to be made by the Government, and then he would be in a situation to say whether the proposed measure was a fit and proper one for the emergency. It was a question of the utmost impor tance, and was well deserting of the deep consideration of the Government. Sir GEORGE GREY earnestly hoped that this important subject, the suspension of the Legislature of Jamaica, which the Government had reluctantly pro posed, would be discussed in that spirit which the Right HO3. Gentleman who had just sat down had re commended by his precept, rather than enforced by his example. He had made a charge against the Govern ment, that they had by a series of insults provoked the Colonial Legislature to an opposition which he ad mitted had rendered necessary the introduction of some such Bill as the one proposed. When that " full and ample discussion" came which the Right Hon. Gentle man had mentioned ; when the Right Hon. Gentlemar dealt no longer in vague declamations, he would be pre pared to meet him paragraph by paragraph, and would abide by the honest verdict of that House ; whether the Government might not rather be charged with too generous a forbearance in dealing with the Legislature of Jamaica. He begged to state it was not true that the Government had ever since 183.5, in I their possession, the whole of the facts on which the Prison Bill of last Session was founded. With respect to corporal punisments of females in I i workhouses and prisons, he had stated when that enex amined before the Committee of 183 as ou Lord Sligo's first message the practice had been - declared to be illegal, as the verdicts of jurors and the charges of judges bad thrown a doubt upJn the legali:v or illegality of it, that he believed the case was by no means hopeless. He (Sir George Grey) at that time I conscientiously believed the Legislature of Jamai ca t o be sincere in th e i r expressions of their belief of the ilk gality of the practice, and did not then despair of some legislative enactment from the Assembly of Jamaica. The Report of that Committee was accompanied by evi dence in detail enough to harrow the feelings of any man who heard it or read it---(Hear, hear, hear)—and if be had to answer any charge he felt it was the charge of misplaced confidence in the Legis lative Assembly of Jamaica, wishing to see the grievance remedied by that Legislature, rather than having to propose any measure to the Imperial Parlia ment. He regretted they did put confidence in the pro fessions of that Assembly, which lied not realized the expectations which the Government at that, time were led to form of their intentions in honestly carryir out the provisions of the Emancipation Act. That Com mittee was revived in the Spring of 18:37, in pursuance of the original recommendation of its Members, before any information was received of those proceedings on the part of the Legislature, to which th e Right Hon. Gentleman had adverted, in which they deried know ledge of the existence of any abuse, and the evidence received on dirt occasion was not submitted to thC . House, because it was conceived to be partial evidence, the House hosing closed earlier than was expected. But facts were stated, detailing outrages in work , houses and prisons, which very far exceeded any information that the Government had in their possession. He felt it his duty to state those facts to Lord Glenelg of which his Lordship had no cogni zance, and he might say even no suspicion ; but when made aware of them he thought it necessary that they ' should be proved or rebutted, and a competent person was sent to the West Indies to inspect the pri sons, in order that a proper remedy might be applied. .Captain Pringle in his Rep or t s t ate d one fact that mi g ht in some measure account for the ill-treatment of the inmates of those prisons, which was , t h at the boat swains of the prisons were convicts for life • and Cap. taro Pringle stated that as the first step to any improve. j‘l). ment, he conceived the appointment of prisontti , and their removal should be vested in the Goe s ° some competent person. The Government, however, or had not proposed to take the appointinoni of , officers out of the hands of the local authoritiespnbsount had proposed that the Governor should dismiss the the officer on being satisfied of his misconduct, an d that the same authority should have the power of ap pointing another, but that in default of appointment within fourteen days, the Governor should have the power of making an appointment to that vacant office. . But then the Right Hon. Gentleman had stated that having passed this Bill, the mode in which it was pro mulgated in Jamaica was another insult, which if it did not justify, at all events was sonic excuse for the con, duct of the House of Assembly. Had the Right Hon. Gentleman read the despatch of Lord GlenelP,:, dated the 13th of August? In that despatch L or d Glenelg stated the provisions of this Act had been framed partly en the Report of Captain Pringle, and partly in relation to the system adopted with respect to prisons in the country ; that much would probably still remain for the local legislature to do ; that her Majesty's Government felt it was necessary that a remedy should be applied by a uniform system of superintendence and inspection throughout the West Indies, but that the intervention of Parliament had been the only effectual mode of ac complishing this object. He would observe in passing that this was not a Jamaica Act, bola. Westlndia Act, respected and a variety of Colonies. Mr. GOULBURN—Was that despatch of Lord Glenelg's laid before the House of Assembly 's Sir G. GREY—Did not the Right Hon. Gentleman know that three successive tim es h a d Si r Lionel Smith- invited the Legislature to let him lay that despatch and others before them, an d th at on three successive occasions had they refused him the opportunity (Hear, hear.) The Right Ilon. Baronet then read several extracts to prove this assertion. The complaina mode was that the Bill and the despatches were not laid before the House of Assembly. It was not usual for the Governor in the opening speech to lay despatches before Colonial legislatures ; this was not done until after the reply to th e a dd ress . B ut no opportunity wins afforded to the Governor of laying before the ABllOlll.. bly either the Act, or the despatch, or the Report of • Captain Pringle. If the Government had waited last year until the legislature had read tIA report and deter mined whether they would adon', any part of its recom mendations or not, they ws.sitild have been raspousible for the perpetuity of bwman suffering, of which they were not ready to take the responsibility. He deeply re gretted that after having endeavoured by all mealss of persuasion and forbearance to induce the legislature of Jamaica to adopt a cordial spirit of co-operation with the country in carrying- out the principles of the Ema i n cipation Act, they should now be compelled to bring n a Bill to suspend the functions of that legislature, be the resolution unanimously passed by th i s Ho u s e , by cause they denied our right to interfere i n the spirit of which resolution we were pledged to watch over the rights of the emancipated negroes.—(Hear.) Mr. GLADSTONE said it appeared. to him that the remarks of the Hon. Member were wide of the suU ject before the House, and his object in rising . was to guard himself against the assumption that in allowing the introduction of the Bill without taking a division, is consideration,. except that was intended to waive every which had reference to the details. Now in the exist ing state of Jamaica, it was clear that some measures • were necessary for the maintenance of p ub lT order and faith, and the Government propose to attain thos e Parliame n t. The by the measure now proposed to The House was bound to ascertain w hat were th e de tails of the measure. A case certainly had arisen in which new steps required to be taken--wheth er i n the shape of an Act of the Imperial 1 arlnsment or of the Executive Government, was a question which h e should reserve for futurseesscwonnTlFfrahtieo;.—we(rHe eacrisi hear.) Ilis Learned friend had principally referred to the Prison Act of last . agreed that some regulation was necessary' for the pri so'ns ; but had time been allowed for the Legislature to act on the Report? He was not prep are d to say that the Act passel during the last Session was not justified by the necessity of the case ; but supposing it was , st ill the Hon. Member (the Under Secretary of S tate for the Colonies) dal not seem to think it n ecessary to prom that the question was either the rep ea l o f the Prim Act, or the passing of the piesent Bill. It might be s. ; but there was no demand in the papers before the House for the repeal of the Prison Act. He admitted , that if the Assembly of Jamaica had demanded that., Parliament should repeal the Prison Act, the aspect of th by ono , ' , e of The tank ger° Or° etea 'CD 'S err% Ater' 000 0 01 > e pr Of nnet fare , )(1 0 ' clnei ed 10 ,5.... , P r tile icto; Sro' xo d os; we' . out se l ' In!" rolS St. tied ow , i oe r '0" Ore ceo ten, I