The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-17 00:00:00

k • A E;tt kt „ _ 0waii........... e !e g toTi?nient inflict on that wife (laughter, or sister, de ieb?),,---ta. t Punishment on her 'hire person' (continued , e,l„ - t ; eei tlg ,°_,e repeated, of their improving ' the negro as a 0: 0 1, 41 1)e 3 rp, n li a " t u ed as a subject of the laws, while they. them -1 ts th, Iv alier . y...... th a Practice, the test of barbarism, of fierce a t i, n e ba r , a . at test which separated the civilized man le ?.) if la ti -- --the ' 1 - kt it ow , inatiman treatment of women! (Great. 4 4 in. r could a negro 1g tti ,i, act s o av . , with degrading and' ck..- %„ it . , k ii letab tog nun in the face improve as a moral r, th io n , wa.B er of political society 2 ' (Hear, hear.) The t( e !Poet t a alcickerY-cruel insult: (Hear , and cheers.) ki 4stiactl ? ile g r° property though the order in council Nikitu.' ti , ,, e ll s d _ er cer )BPe , cit i,ed the . rig, though of the slave to enjoy pro f I , so faintnniti,..enned circumstances the several local le kWtitos co liticii Piled restrictions and qualifications that the iniNof th e e lt i so well intended and %und in rinciple, was li;!4tea 4 °l°niesthaaltogether nugat - ory and ine p flicien . t._ He et r e ''' state 1 , e tNi nio ved 0 , , a t som e of the colonies had facilitated, I ‘ 4 4,l t l le o t t s on tiiis t li c e l: xsi in the way of negro marriage; r b a u e t_ L iq s r, toth e i gr o entered the chiefly of a t ph v ys t i h coa u l t ch b a eing 1 0 t o `e of well aware of the mo in r:f ria g etan religious Obligations of 4 ` . 41 ,1 ' 18 thli °clc ' Tile next- ' an h ld their atten.- k, 49 of th` ° f slave P°int would call which the ro 1411nrit e coloni a l e vidence,, in reference to . p . (Itali, el scorn legislatures were characterised by the 4 1. 11 to th e re and mockery that he had been pointing out sho t ,;!;he ordecat.lnendations and order in council orlEd3 : taken in lti all can 11 1 council prescribed thatthe evidence of t v e el 41a ., as i n th a sea be admissible in courts of jus . tice,. care Ikai • a ed ue ,e case, of infants and persons of imperfect ktqereiltent s) 4 4 1 1 ,1 4 ; that the negro (a fa gown infant to all th told th e , uld be thoroughly examined, and proved uktige o nus "11gation of a th d the effects-of his evi -14 it ao it i of d ispiov . noa an 1 0, le,°, eq w h o , mg his competency being thrown on i' the''Alertil i n act sought redress. How was this just 4 e ... . e foli o • ~,h, (as we Ised by the colonial legislatures ?In but hi1144,,t-aoe a we and the right hon. gentleman) was k i l l , h o : whit e. 41Ie at all, and in none against his master L iti l , } ,'e 4 vl ', bot t „ ear, hear.) There was an , exception, Ili se c i etre(l a ..engthened the rule-a negro s evideuce ei,,,.. C od ._g.ainst a white in any - case in which a white 01 1 , , ` , 1 1t e of`ta' (...o-operate as an accomplice with a black in t,,oc. e :rolvi,,,,ifaster's oppression; but in no other case 1 3 ` 1 0 s t ar ° e bis s ibi e ga attack upon another white, was a slave's liktkot a l t° re ve . r And this, again, was justice, and teach- Idl y h„ jlid e, ence the law and to revere the white man ~relive t o fe ,(Cheers.) The negro was taught, and of ,it could , e` that though his evidence might hang a Ilt4t isp,a shilli not affect a white man's property to the /dswi i §: °ad yet he was discontented with the tender 4 i tu y c ruel white Protector ? Was not the whole system, he l ' 4ttl 1 4 1 t1 1 °111 d e 4 ° leery . ? (Hear, hear.) The last point on ktiQtQd hi t an e utn , e!:it in relation to the orders in council. of 1,4 hi s l ao a i os l,sion of the slave,-a principle which alone 10Pe tta ,u.lael est ',.. the effects of despair by gilding the ho 61oNer itl ti oN of 4ot:times with the bright lanes of hope, an . d kk t e t eelin e iM 0 ! freedom, ease; and independence. K hi s el and h is 11 41 d it down that the slave should bee - 14'0 of tLaster. t_latt.urnission on the payment of a certain hit,efro eti ',.° 134:u all the colonies, with the honourable ex k ehi 'e i th o ta as, this order in council was very par -01, 1 , faeili tio ugh he admitted in some of them improve kiLeiv7attalissies had been adopted with respect to the 1 4,1' 4 th e r i4ht to n , , but in none (save the Bahamas) was k 4 tr er stip u i, t Qelnand his manumission, on the pay,. 1ti,"'6,,!°11 aiding ° ll price, practically recognised, the power 4 . N: 4 t entirely vested with the master. (Hear.) r l. ll OO he nl t te_r gontvit:_the colonies had been left alone, and to on smooth t1,,, ! ;e 111 ., ha w p ee n the v ria ra a lu st e e n v t, a : i ll would have go tha n t e both would i , ) 1,(1 \,'tio/11)Y,pd Prosperous hut for the perpetual agitation Iqlk, 444eist Indi aegro slavery- in this country, which had so 41 t hereb y Property as to seriously lower the planter's hi t tl tend to the injury of the slave. Now, tio koh r st India:able than he was of the depth of distress in stpy eti e?f th e &rePerty was just now placed, as no man was t i . N it, 'Y th e h r ng colours in which that distress had been :t4AI. aoe us wders of the property themselves. He did , / colo„ foree}hes representations as being exaggerated, Oit °it l'ietar-reu theoccasion, and_ theretore t, would re- N lt l e e t . raa e i n a t s .they themselves had drawn i prepared, 11,. triks i a 'n that it had no connexion whatever with s,:tsitit4 atteont.Parlitunent since 1823, of which he had just lid t tl i l: ll t fo rth [The right hon.. gentleman here read a it, tti, 'lt the uY the West India interest, front which it o t II eitio_ thass of West India property was mortgaged, & li la!) ?gagees ' afraid pit He my , t , Were to . foreclose, lest they . should • h at, rep eat neinselves proprietors of West India pro , th,) kit th , e, € l , he did not mean to deny the truth of this ,10,,? spas td begged to direct the attention of the house I t,'N 1 " as t• w ilen it was issued What, then, was that I ti l • til e tSs4.l ?is a picture drawn of state of the West In rt,ttlio4wilitir,„as this a picture of the state of the colonies 1/4iii!qii eot a il e 7f the slave` trade in 1807 ? Was it a picture 4 4 ti t i t . at t i t ' au the property of the West India planters t k ,l i i eto to th e e ab olitionists to . suppress the slave trade, and 4, ll ,i f te t h e s stein of slavery ? Did it refer to a period Itltillity ati nili ) i e4r 1823 ? No"! This picture of unmitigated I tl h th iiii(ltontilva_ted credit-of ruined hopes-end of the_un t - It4Ht,pyßiz!,sthoef ctltivhe h a v ti e on tra lth an e s d o w il, as re c f n e n rr tn ell net e l t i P i l l t, t t i kt te tt li`oventninittee of the House of Assembly of Ja •'118, In, ll at tr i 4l , l '9', 1804. condition) Such was pie / k 4,!'tr e the v . p a ‘ time of the of the West Indian '4 tie was - q class of men who now declared. that all 'rl h'' h • w In. t tt,, tB th 42 1. 344 pa ,s ri. o one single cause-the th fanatical agi w_ a taint ou their 1 . , q 4 5, th ' One e t a ent " I wul d e ' ll tr distress the W 1, 1 4 41, ! 0t1e i a j t p ossessin u g s h o e f m t o le nop is ol) e , West Indian of the Englishmarket, th t :tat!a gpoid its wants ; and they could now no longer ~ wk,: . Th: 44 would repay them for the cultivation of ' 4 4 44 4 , 4410 unt of su ar imported at present exceed (l4,llil4'heeil ott.nsyroption%y 1,000,000 cwt. annually..- ve j i a th, tt • theints enormous excess of supply over tne Vtly t and the ouoplv was, as respected . the lanter:, a s qlptliglitatejlite of their produce in this country a !t, l 'tt. t . 4 4(4 .. . " by the price of the same article in . the t ,, lt i ii , -1 „ . ilis't't-Nothing therefore could effectually relieve 6, of , this of enabling the consumption of that country t li Prodti",,Produce of the colonies, or of. reducing the i ris s tola ti ," -I ° ll in the colonies to the amount of consump k;\taatl4.oiilid. t y i N e ew soils and lands had been brought conseq,uence n o ew f this was, that additional o ili RN,, t 4 0U the cultivators of the old soils. To meet it4P e lted f B ' 411 d to enable them to pav their debts, they Its ,„dun, 4°,,rth,e same amount of money to raise s a still 4 4 liy ' prtuance. The increased amount of produce tt:i.i v i lt a. 1 ,. which the article bore, and, thus running , 1 e teio,"lous circle, one embarrassment led to expe- NtZet o f e k,,,, relief, which in the course of events had s i 7, o cont.Bnbhug the evil. (Cheers.) If he should be "01,Z; cou rse he was taking was unsafe, and that, indeed, NC l 's and s he could pursue which was not full of danger s od boais his country 'he would reply, that of all the .li e Ntuett."at could be adopted , the most likely to entail J 4l. jkno w i l t r l lEolo the colonies and the mother country was 1,,, (ehtettre, 4 1i e l y,impracticable of standing stailnldaLtehie ,es ipita !r s . ) va " : _kt_ t at once acting fearlessly r, .t,,,. ~, amid hasty objections had bee . raiied against ,li ol r 1 4t , th e ~'Ld'AY measure; indeed, against . the taking sf "t`tfree,,'onversion of the slave population into a t i tt ° FY sn,Cn• In the first place, it wns said that the th e able Pt°4l teti, ra ti e nsOre would be greatly to diminish the e plant The c ~ aed to render the cultivation of sugar iiii !lt or er s io °tomes would consequently been thrown u . p, t it „ th e , vol in absolute • Now as far as the i f `l , at i t i!rodu ctie thin. , , 'N es liould 11 of sugar was concerned, he was not 1 iti , ed , ' I b ti th e e zt , ke for the benefit of the . planters and Ifr k tii,! r w, l, But she if that. production were in some degree question for the members of that. house to 1 1, 41 a s ° 37 lle kir to l e n rl. l ( 3 )o f ing at the statements which he should tt„k r s tern by Ivi _. e ore them -they would encourage and. l ia me e t e t r lip • I le held this extension and amount of produc ii qth: i 't Wet jecii- in hand a comparative statement, with tilt wi th .slav e po a la. colonies, showing the decrease or in tNs x ' t n those malln, and the amount of the production ands duri d` th period. The ac- N/1 to ti ~,,, tli f kiri Ta. no , w h aen fr re T. or a e u offiell statement ee in the Triennial e , ' Open to no objection on the score of t t ' tit ation, and - was made in it for every importation, 11q.• gad a h, for every m ission• it gave the 4 1 s J t ?tts o f tall ? the real increa uu se urn and dec'reaoe, during 'fir.itibtlte 1826; 7r Years,--- nainely, from the month of June Ve p e ° Jun e 14, 134 , J'lne 1826 ;to Jude 18'29, and from etioplatiqn a ,' ; and likewise the average amount of 6lkit a • Ile o ,: i ' q the production of sugar during the , trio(' all Iht, however, to state, that with respect ik s l'e ( . 4 '' . (loi tiin L,! returns had not yet been made, He 1, 1 t ,,,, a n a t ti„ ~:.,',l l tat, with two exceptions, and even l i ect n '', 4 1 ioe,e'tittelnentin all those islands there has iitoll,l Zraduc A S C. in the Production of sugar, _ and a cor ita4/learleer_ense in the amount of the labouring th i 1,%4 1 1,D: .of B ,: r . r ) In the Island of Jamaica, the 11 1 ,41 1 " e I, <Yror.- k wt ..; feti: the aniluali c r eZrte4 was the first , 1 . 1 ' 11 . g til oto el ,q ,„,secon ,1, ~5 / 6 cwts.; and for ), ft, e tntst n„, ,The number of slave population Jt''t h rett r` ri " , a34,a93, and daring the second, tt s , o en iro ~i t, ,, gi c0m., 11 , she number •th e third - period hiul Woof v t ect Th In 1 of the d' 6 ,_ 9 Island of Demerara afforded a witetive effects which the amount of / ; 1 0 h ? 4 tP:4' THE LI VER,PI labour compelled from the slaves had .on the population. In that Island the quantity of sugar exported during the three period& was, respectively, 652,336 cwts., 662,655 cwts., and. 809,120 cwts, of sugar while in the first 72,722 slaves were re quired to 'produce 652, ' 336 cwts. (Hear.) He had now shown that. increased production was accompanied by decreased popu lation : that the decrease of population. fell heaviest on those classes where the severest labour was exacted; and he had now to show the mode in which this. labour was exacted by the increased' severity ; the recorded punishments in Demarara were 17,359, the number of slaves being 60,599. In 1830 the number of slaves had decreased to 59,547, while the num ber of lashes inflicted in that year was no less than 194,744. In 1831 the population had still further decreased, 58,404, but the lashes amounted to 199,507. (Hear, hear, hear.) Now, let the house bear in mind that this was the official record of punishment, not including the punishment inflicted by judi cial authority, or on reference to magistrates, because there ex isted no return of this latter sort, but inflicted in one of the crown. colonies, under the improved system, and under the check of the record. (Hear, hear.) It was a return given by the masters of the slaves themselves, of the extent of despotic and irresponsible punishment inflicted by their own authority, amounting in one to almost 200,000 lashes. (Hear, hear.) Without desiring to impute any cruelty to the planters, he called on the house-to consider what must be the amount of un recorded punishment in colonies where the same protection was not afforded the slave as in this comparatively free colony of Demerara, and what the extent of unredressed injustice, and of ' bitter oppression; and he was sure that the house would not re fuse to interfere and to interpose its supreme authority between the oppression of the slaves and what Mr. Canning called " the abstract love of the cart whip." (Hear, hear.) They were told that it - would be impossible, under any other system, to render the slaves industrious; thus, all their legislation pro ceeded on a mistaken notion; that they knew not the condition of the colonies, and that they were absolutely ignorant of what those gentlemen pleased to call the " negro character." He conscientiously believed that any man who chose to take the pains of informing himself on the subject might form a better and clearer idea, because a snore unprejudiced one, of the " negro character" than those men who had passed their lives in the West Indies. (Hear, hear.) The latter individuals made this palpable mistake; they attributed to the character of the negro those faults which necessarily resulted from the moral degradation of slavery. (Cheers.) He believed that it might .be proved, that the negro, under proper inducements, would be ;found neither less inchned to be• industrious or to accumulate roperty than those whose lot it was to wear a fstirer skin. (Hear, hear.) But they were told, with an air of triumph, to !look atthe manumitted negro; and they were asked to point out, if they could, twenty instances of manumitted slaves.en gaged in field labour. In reply to this objection, he would ask another question ; and he called upon these' objectors to pro duce him twenty instances of field labourers who had been ma numitted. (Hear, hear.) The fact was, that the manumitted slaves mostly belonged to one class, and. that not the class of field labourers. Within a period of ten years, commencing in 1817, there had been 14,163 slaves manumitted, and hardly au instance could be produced of a field negro among the number. (Hear, hear.) Two-thirds, if not three-fourths, were females, a fact which spoke for itself; for it was not difficult to under stand to what class of females they belonged, and what induce ment the planters had to liberate them as well as their children. ! (Hear, hear.) If it could be proved that manumissions oc curred only among domestic slaves, mechanics, and tradesmen, , it was not extraordinary that no case could be discovered of their' applying themselves immediately on their manumission to„the snore degrading and fatiguing occupation of field labour. (Hear.) - The facts of the case, then, destroyed Um-inference which was sought to be drawn from it. (Hear, hear.) If an instance was shown of a manumitted field slave who would not work, he would then admit that a prima facie case was made out by those who asserted the incapacity of the negro for freedom.;. but if this argument was good for anything—if it was to be considered conclusive, it was an argument against the abo lition of slavery within any definite period; not merely within the next ten years, but within the next hundred years. (Cheers.) Assuming that religious instruction was inconsistent with the continuance of slavery, would that house shut out the light of gospel truth, and stifle education on purpose that at all hazards and at all risks the system of slavery might be preserved?— (Cheers.) He believed that from the state of most of the colo nies belonging to other countries they might draw a lesson of deep censure to themselves. In the Catholic colonies the greatest attention had been paid by the priesthood to the re ligious instruction and education of the slaves. In some of these colonies it was a regulation that no man should be at liberty to keep a slave unless he could prove that he had taken pains to instruct him in the principles of the Catholic religion. Had any such system prevailed in the English colonies?— (Hear, hear.) He had no wish to touch on any point of an irritating nature, nor to refer further to the obstacles which had been put in the way of the spread of religious instruction in the colonies, but this he would say, that that house would ill discharge its duty if it did not put forth its authoritative declaration, that throughout all the possessions of His Majesty the benefit of re ligious instruction, and the free choice of religious worship, should be left undisputed to all classes of the King's subjects. Since the plan of government had been before the country, he had had an opportunity of conversing with the Vice-President of the republic of Venezuela, who had been protector of slaves in the Caraceas, oil the subject; and he learned from that gen tleman that in 1821, Bolivar having determined on adopting a general system of emancipation, a council was formed of _persons , of high station, to purchase, according to a tariff of,value, the freedom of slaves out of funds raised from a tax on the property of persons dying . intestate. They first of all liberated those who had borne arms in the cause of their country, next the aged and decrepit, and afterwards they preferred such as were remarkable for industrious and moral habits. In 1821 there were 100,000. slaves in Venezuela, and at the present moment there were only 25,000. The effect of the manumition, he was told, had been most happy. The freed slaves were industrious, and felt no degradation in associating with those who had not yet gained spenty every .ayd He was also informed that sugar cane, which their liberty ; while on the part of those therawas no jealousy, be cause they felt that their hour of freedom was approaching surely, though perhaps slowly. The freed slaves showed no reluctance to engage in agricultural employment; and the consequence was, that the agriculture of the country was increasing in pros before was not cultivated, was now produced in great abundance; and that rum was exported to the neighbouring islands, and to the British possessions of Trinidad, and sold in the Trinidad market under the name of the best damaica'rum. (Cheers.) — Having stated what he conceived to be the circumstances under which the question was now placed—he would now proceed to lay before the conunittee the means by which, in his opinion, the great transition from slavery to freedom might be effected with the most certainty and the least danger.— He held that, in a plan of this kind, embracing objects so im portant and so various, there was an absolute impossibility that any government could devise a measure which in all its parts should be unexceptionable—which should not be liable to many great and grave objections, and which should slot be capable of receiving imtn3.- amendments from the advocates of the different interests which would be affected by it. He thought that by submitting it to their calm and dispassionate consideration, and. by endeavouring to reconcile the conflicting interests and claims to which it was likely to give rise, they would be enabled to ac complish the hallowed object of extinguishing slavery in every country which owed allegiance to the British crown. 'The hon. member-for Weymouth, in the Year 1823, had made a proposal to this effect—tgat, after a period to be limited by law, the child ren of all slaves born in the British plantations should be declared free. That was the extent to which the proposal of the hon. mem ber for Weymouth then went. He stated that that was all he wanted—that he asked for nothing else—that it would be the consummation, the full consummation, of all his wishes. He had even gone so far as to declare that that proposal, if carried, would secure the speedy extinction of slavery. The memorable expression which the member for Weymouth - had then employed was this:—" I call upon you, not to go back, but to abstain from going forward—l call upon you, not to retrace your steps, but not to advance them—l call upon you, to make no further slaves; and I demand that every cluld, hereafter born of slave parents in any part of the British dominions, should be entitled, front the hour of its birth, to all the rights and privileges of a free man." Now, to the entire and full extent of what the hon. mem ber for Weymouth,. in the year 1823, declared to be the consum mation of his wishes, his Majesty's government were now pre. pared to go (hear, hear) ;_ but under certain limitations, which they had devised to avoid, . the danger which was no less dis. tinctly than eloquently pointed out by Mr. Canning, in the speech which he delivered on this question in the year 1822.-- Mr. Canning argued—" What! will you consent to place the future generation in a situation so much more enviable than that in which you place the present generation ? Will you consent to elevate the child by the degradation of the parent? Will you, as it were, invert the feelings which ought to subsist be. tween the parent and the child, by saying that the child shall be entitled to its freedom from the hour of its birth, but that the parent shall be condemned to the hour of his death to a state of hopeless, irremediable, irretrievable slavery ? The house, on that occasion, felt the force of the argument which Mr. Canning addressed to it, and left both parent and child in the same degraded and degrading state of slavery. He (Mr. Stanley) trusted that the house would also feel the force of the argument now, that it would feel that it was not safe to stand still, either for the present or for the future gene, IOL •gTA.N.DARD: ration (hear, hear); and that it would say to the planters,. " You, must not only declare the children born hereafter of slave parents to be free, you must also manumit the existing generations." (Cheers.) But while he would in this manner provide that the young negro should be born a freeman, and that the old negro should not feel himself condemned to the horrors of irretrievable slavery,—he would not at once, by one hasty act of legislation, remove all. the shackle* by which the. slave was at present bound. He would not fling him,fronka state of unrelieved and unmitigated slavery into a state of absolute and unrestricted. freedom, for, which his past habits and his- past feelings had rendered him.totally unfit. But in saying this, did he mean to say that the slaves were to remain as they were for 1,345, or 10 years, and.that then they should be free unconditionally and without reserve ? Perhaps he might see more danger in that course than other gentlemen did; but certainly, as at present advised, he was not inclined to adopt it, for he thought that a period in which the slave was left, in such an undefined, unlimited and uncertain condition, would be a period of anxious irritation to all parties,—that it would be a period of great excitement, and probably of much danger; above all, that it would be a period of unmitigated authority. on the part of the master, and of determined and irresponsible disobedience on the part of the slave. (Hear, hear.) He proposed what he considered to be a middle and. therefore a. safer course, which, while it got rid at one swoop of all the restrictions which had been woven by the colonial legislatures, to fetter the rights which they professed to give, would leave the. negro at liberty to benefit by the exertion of his own talents and his own industry, would give him an incentive to regularity and assiduity, and would afford him an opportunity of forming those habits of frugal labour, of which at present he stoodinuchin need. Perhaps it would be as well for him (Mr. Stanley) to ingot here the-objection " How will you deal with the multitudinous re strictions with which the- colonial legislature- has. fettered the slave ? " He would sweep away all those restrictions at. once by. declaring the negro a freeman. From the moment he was de clared a freeman, the restrictions which applied to him as a slave would cease to apply to him in his capacity of a freeman. The negro, being no longer a slave, would be entitled to con tract marriage—his evidence would be indisputable—his right to property would be admitted,—lie would be entitled to seek the religions instructor he liked. best,—and, in a word, al - he (Mr. Stanley) had said before, he would enjoy every privilege of a freeman, upon the condition of consenting to labour for a given time upon a particular soil; He called upon the house to con trast the condition of the agricultural labourer in this country with the condition in which the negro labourer would be placed under this new system. In England the labourer. worked hard for a pittance which, God knew, was scanty enough ; he was distracted with cares for the subsistence of his wife and. family; he laboured diligently and hardly, in order to earn a sum which was barely sufficient to provide him with food and clothing. Now what was the condition in which the resolutions which. fie held in his hand would . place the negro labourer?' 11 - e would be made to enter into a contract, by which his master ' would be bound to give him food, and clothing, and such allow ances as were now made to him by law, or to give him in lieu thereof a pecuniary allowance. For this consideration he would be called upon to work fur his master three-fourths of his time, leaving it to be settled between them whether that should be for three-fourths, of - the week or of' each day. The remain- . ing fourth of his time the would be at liberty fo transfer his la bour, if he so thought fit,,elsewhere; but if he were inclined to give it to ;his master, bis master would be obliged to find him employment according to a fixed rate of wages. One of the great difficulties which environed this question was, how they were to fix this scale of wages for free labour? How could any man in this country fix a rate of wages which would be applica ble—he would, not say to all the islands, but—to any two of them ? Could the house say that it would fling this ques- . tion loose to the world—that it would leave the negro to work or no, as he pleased; and to satisfy himself, as a man easi ly could in a tropical' climate,. with a bare supply of the neces saries of life ? In some of the islands it might be difficult to obtain even that ? but in those where the quantity of land unoccupied was as great as the fertility which distinguished it, the wants of men living in a tropical climate would be so few, that it would be impossible, under a system of free and unre stricted wages, that the state of society, as it now existed, should not come to an entire cessation. -,(Hear, hear.) But it had been. asked, whether the gwagea so given would be a sufficient inducement to the negro in the present state, to give himself up to continuous labour for so many years ? Now he had already told the house that he did not give the slight est credit to what he so often heard said about the negro cha racter; but he did give credit to what he had heard about the slave character. He knew, too, the effect of a tropical climate —he was aware how far it went to damp exertion and to para lyse aaivity,—but he likewise knew the effect of slavery, and that it was calculated to promote this idea, that as the greatest of human curses was labour, so the height of human bliss was relaxation from labour. To remove the slave suddenly from labour, and to place him in a situation in which he would be called upon to provide for nothing more than the necessaries of life,, would be to'extiug.uish labour,—would he to extinguish ci vilization,—iu a word, would be to fling before the negro popu lation the desire to recur again to savage life. Then he had been asked how this scale of wages was to be fixed ? This was undoubtedly a point of souse difficulty, as there was no criterion by which to settle it. Refer the question to the planters, and they would say that. the rate. of wages should be according to the outlay in procuring for them the necessary articles of food and. clothing. But that he denied to be a true criterion ; and yet you had no free labour to compare slave labour with, or to' regulate the prices by. (Ironical cheers.) The noble lord cheered; but he should be obliged to the noble lord to point. out to him where free labour existed in our West India colonies,. and, when he had pointed'it out, to prove its existence. He. ' (Mr. Stanley) was convinced that at present there was not that demand for free labour iu any of our slave colonies which - could form any certain regulation for the amount of wages which ought to be paid to a free negro. He could devise no better mode than that of compelling the planter to fix a price, on the labourer at the time of his apprenticeship, and by en acting that the wages to be paid by the master should bear such a proportion to the price fixed by him that for the-whole of his spare time, if given to the master, the negro should receive 142 th of his price annually. In this way the master and the slave would both act iu reference-to each other, If the master fixed a high price for his negro, he would have to pay him high wages in proportion to that price. If he fixed a low price, then, upon the payment of that price by any other per son, on his behalf, the negro would be positively and ab solutely free. The proposal, then, which he had to make to the house was, that the apprenticed labourer should give up to his owner 3-4ths of the profits of his labour, in consideration of the food and clothing which lie received from him ; that he should be at liberty, it he so thought fit, to give 1-4th of his labour elsewhere • but that if he gave it his master, whose interest it would' be receive it, he should receive it for an amount of wages proportional to the price set upon it by his master. The government had therefore divid,ed the price for Isis freedom into so many instalments that at the end of 12 years all the price put on the slave by the master would be paid to the master out of the proceeds of the slave's industry. Under these circumstances, he put it to the house whether it was not strictly iu order to allude bete to the loss which this alteration would occasion to many of the West India pro prietatv ? 'Was it fitting that upon them, and upon them alone, shouldle thrown the loss accruing from the destruction of a species of property into the legality of which he would not, at that moment, enter, but of which he would say that it had been repeatedly sanctioned by the imperial legislature? It was exceedingly difficult, iu the present condition of West India property to get any safe criterion by which to judge of its H value. e knew an instance of an estate which now produced £1,400 a-year, and on which there was a mortgage of a sum between £4,000 and £6,000. Some years ago there was a mort gage of £30,00 upon it, which had been diminished by pay ments out of the . rents of the estate to the sum lie had just mentioned. The house would scarcely credit him when he told them that that very estate had been recently sold for a sum which would be covered by the proceeds of' the first year _from it. He admitted that the insecurity of West India pro perty had had a great and palpable effect.upon the exchange able value of it in the money market, and that when West In dia property washrought there now, it was a depreciation truly frightful. Now, let the house look for a moment at the profit derived at present from West India ' property • and on this point he was speaking from the returns of West Indian pro pony to the Board of Trade. On examining those returns, the house would find the net profits arising from the sale of sugars. The planters had told the house the cost of raising a hogshead of sugar, the number of ho g sheads which they imported annu ally, and the price of each hogshead, as ascertained by the Gazette.. Now, from these data it would appear that the net profits arising from the cultivation of sugars was £1,200,000 a-year. The - house had not equal data for calculating the net. profits upon. ruin and cqffee; but taking them to amount to £250,000 or £300,000 a-year, the total net profits 'of West India property . would amount to £1,500,000 a-year. Now, his Majesty's ministers proposed to advance to the West India body a loan to the amount of ten years' purchase of this annual profit, or in other words a loan or 415,04000. It would remain as a question with Parliament in what manner and upon what condition that loan should be repaid to the country. It would also remain with Parliament to consider ' whether it would require the repayment of that loan, or would convert it into a gift, according to- a plan which it might hereafter become his duty to submit briefly to the house. Parliament might consider that sum equal to one-fourth of the proceeds of. the slave's labour,, and. with. that sum and the, other. ' three-fourths of his labour, he would, at. the end. of twelve years, have received a just compensation for the price of his slave, and for all the expense to which the slave might have put. him for food .and clothing. It was only. right, however, to state, that during- that time the planter would have to pay interest up on his loa n, _ and to that amount he might,perhaps be conside re d. a loser. Now, he thought that it would not be denied that, this remuneration must be borne either by the produce of: negro labour or by the revenue of England. It could not be home by the planters, for that would neither be fairnorjust ; it must, therefore, be borne by one of the two alternatives to which be had alluded. Upon one or otherof them, hey.und_aliqueationaha choice of Parliament must rest.. There might be gentlemen who thought that you ought not to take any thing from the pro-- fits of the negro so lung as he continued a' slave. In that opi nion he couldnot concur. He thoughtahat taking, a portion of their wages from them now, for the purpose of laurchastog their freedom hereafter, would induce them to. lay by. some. part of. their earnings afterwards when they became free, would teach. them habits of prudence and forethought, and would materially tend to their moral improvement. lie thought such a plait, much better than saying to them, " You shall work three fourths of the day for your master,, and your master's advan, Cage;. but, for the remaining fourth, which belongs to you, you. unit' work or not , as you please, for, in either case food and clothing will be provided for you," He. believed that he had, now st ated, in as much detail as was then necessary, the'princi pal• features of his- plan with, perhaps, one- single-eaceptiana That exception was, that it might be.neee.ssary to add te• the provisions of the bill that of which the want had rendered all former enactments null and void ; he meant that it might be, necessary to give to.the executive some discretionary power-. It might be necessary to distribute through the charterectcolo- Ines what already existed in the crown colonies, namely, stiperi a , diary magistrates appointed by the crown, uninfluenced by the locat assemblies, free from local passions and. prejudices, who. would discharge equal justice to the rich, and the poor, the black and the white—who would watch; over and protect the negrnin hie incipient state of. freedom, and who would aid and direct his inexperience in forming a contract which might have so material an effect upon his future life.. There was vise other object to which he thought that the protecting care_ of this country ought most specially to be, extended, lie would call• upon the house to aid the local legislatures, or even to proceed without the aid of the local legislatures, in establishing in the colonies schools for the religious and. moral.education of their inhabitants. ' (Hear,. hear.) They were now going to eman cipate the old negro upon certain conditions, after the lapse of a. certain fixed period of time ; but they were also going to eman cipate the young negro immediately, and without, any. condi, tions. (Hear.) " Fnna the present moment, then," continued Mr. Stanley, " your responsibility begins. Into their minds you must implant wholesome principles as the basis of wholesome habits. You are placing them in the rank of freemen, it is your duty to qualifir them- for holding that rank honourably. virtuously, and, beneficially. You are bound not to threw them upon the world impressed with the idea, that the lot of Man is labour from, his cradle to bits grave, and that be must die with no other hope and with no other cons olation than ; that he has come to the and of a weary and labourious . pilgrimag,e. (Cheers.) You must embus • them with sucleptinciples as will insure the performance of their, duty here,—as will teach them. the necessity of moral restraint to secure their happiness hereafter, as will instil into them the. purest motives of action,—fitthem for freedom in thieworld; and as will enable them to leave it, not as the brutes, who perish.. without hope of immortality. (Hear, bear.) I have now gone through the details of the propositionwhich his Majesty's go vernment have deemed it their duty. to submit.to your couside-, ration. I know the difficulties, the almost insurmountable dn . - ficulties, which it will have to encounter in carrying it.into practice. I know the disadvantages under which I bring it forward at this particular crisis; but I still bring it forward, in the confident hope, that in these resolutions the germ is sown which will soon ripen into perfect fruit, which, when. reaturetk. by the fostering care and protection of persons wiser and better qualified than myself, will secure to the country, to the colonieta, and to all ranks and classes and colours of hie Majeaty's subjecta that from this day forth there will be a virtual extinction, in ; the dominions of Britain, of all the horrorstif slavery; and that; in no distant period, by no uncertain operation, but by the action of this machinery, every trace which mars the face of freedoni will be erased and blotted for ever from our laws- and institie tions. (Great cheering.) The right hon. gentleman then moved the series of resolutions which appeared in our paper. Mr. STANLEY then said, that he was too .well aware of the importance of these resolutions to call upon the house to come to a hasty decision upon them. It had 'been with the greatest reluctance that he, as a member of the government, had been obliged to announce to the West India interest that he coultt not accede to their proposition todefer the statement which he had just made beyond to-night, but after the publicity which had been given to this plan in all the public journals, he, felt that it was almost impossible not to let the government have an opportunity of stating the grounds upon which it had gone, and the principles on which it had proceeded. Having made his-- statement, he had no wish to call upon the house for an imme diate vote : on the contrary, if any gentleman should propose that further time be given for their decision he should have no objection to the proposal. In answer to a question from Sir IL Peel, which was inau dible in the gallery, Mr. STANLEY said, that though the power of corporal punish anent was taken from the masters, it was not taken away from the magistrates and judicial authorities. Upon particular vie lation of contract the apprenticed labourer would be liable to -corporal punishment; but in other respects he would not differ . from the agricultural labourer in this country. Lord Howie): said that, situated as he was, the house would, feel how painful it must be to him to be compelled, by an irrn perative sense of duty, to state an opinion adverse to the plan which had just been unfolded by his right hon. friend.. The present was a question of which the importance had not been underrated at either side of the house. It was a question open which were at issue, not only the honour of the country, but the happiness of millions. The proposed mode of treating it was pregnant with such fatal results that he must briefly state his reasons for opposing it. It had been said that the first resolu tion gave the slave the essentials of freedom: but this ors at tempting to dupe the house with words. The only distinction between the slave and the freeman was the condition on which he gave his labour, and that being the case, how did his right hon. friend seek to get rid of slavery ? For three-fourths of his time the negro is to be the apprenticed servant of his master, not by his own free choice, but by a contract forced upon him. And what, was that contract ?. That he was to give three-fourths of his thnefor the food and clothing which lie now received. In the evidence before the house of Lords, it wasstated that the value of the supply furnished to each negro was 455.. a-year. So that the negio, for three-fourths of his time, was to give his labour for one-fifteenth of its value. Was not this a distinct mark of slavery? His labour would- not be voluntary, it would be extorted by the fear of punishment. Ilis right ben. friend. asked in what respect the apprenticed negro would differ front the labourer in this country ? The difference was the greatest in the world,—it was neither more nor less than that one con tracted voluntarily, the-other-compulsorily. Was the plan in tended for the benefit of the slaves or their masters ? There would be. no doubt, a dispute upon this point. It for the mas ter, he (Lord Howick) most solemnly protested against any part of the system in respect to the pecuniary interests of the master. Whatever were the claims of the master on this country he had at least none on the slave. The slaves, on the contrary, had themselves claims. for compensation.- -(Bear.) On the view of the interest of the negro, he (Lord Howick) was prepared to reject the scheme. But there, was another view to be taken of the subject, and one to which some lion. gentlemen were likely to give their chief consideration—the interest of the planters. He asked what would be the effect of the regulations on the interest of the masters ? Nominally, the planter would ' have a right to three-fourths of the labour of the slave. But how much would that nominal .advantage really produce to the master ?. It was not to be expected that the slave would volun tarily give up his time to hii master: 'His right hon. friend had ' truly stated, that men would' not labour diligently and strenu ously, except under the impulse of some strong stimulus. In this country, in every country where free labour existed, men were induced to work to avoid the pressure of want, and they knew that the reward they should obtain would be in the direct proportion of their diligence and industry. In the case of slaves, they laboured because they knew if they did not they would be subject fo punishment, and therefore they submitted from a sense of terror to do what was disagreeable to them. Which of these motives could be brought to bear on the apprenticea ne gro ? Had the apprenticed negro any motive to voluntary ex ertion?" His wages were not increased by increasing his exer tions. In no respect would he be a greater gainer by : work than by' idleness. Ile would do as little as he could, not only from a desire to avoid fatigue, and to reserve his strength for those hours which were at his own disposal, hut front a determination to make a contract and bargain unprofitable, which was in tie highest degree unjust, and to the advantage of his master. If the plan of his.right hon. friend failed to enliSt the feelings of the neg ro, how stood the case on other grounds ? He had ad mittedthat there must be some stimulus.. The planters, 'and every witness who had spoken upon the subject, concurred in stating that a slave would do twice as much , Work foe himself, (Continua. to page 40,1