The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, L

even should his career be as long as the friends of Ireland could
wish.—( Hear. )
Lord MORPETH would not attempt to give an answer to
the Hon. Member who had made a very convincing speech in
favour of the measure which the Government had proposed and
the principles which he (Lord Morpeth) recommended to the
adoption of the House. That plan had been unavoidably re-
linquished, and therefor) he felt precluded from sanctioning any
step by which it might be understood that the Government xere
about to undertake any plan for the promotion of railways. If
at the beginning of the next Session he found that private en-
terprise had. not been able to complete the work which was so
beneficial to Ireland, it would then be matter for consideration
with the Government whether they should persevere in the
course which they had recommended to the House.
Mr. WYSE said that one advantage of the motion made by
the Hon. Member was that it had elicited from the Noble Lord
a declaration that the Government only waited a favourable
opportunity to carry into effect their plan. He would give
his support to any measure calculated to carry out the general
improvement of all parts of the country.
An Horr. MEstuEtt here moved that the House be counted,
and there being only 36 Members present, the House adjourned
at Half-past Eight.

Irish Members present when the House was counted, during
Mr. French's motion on Irish Railways :—French, Wyse,
Lucas, Norreys, Cooper, Percival, Yates, Vigors, O'Brien.

HOUSE OF LORDS, JULY 23

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack
at Five o'Clock.

The Supreme Courts' (Scotland) Bill was read a third
time, and passed.
The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from
. . .

a public meeting held at Edinburgh, signed by nearly
5,000 persons, praying their Lordships to take into consi-
deration' the law of Church patronage in Scotland. The
Noble Duke also presented petitions from Derby. and
other places in favour of a penny postage.
Lord FITZGERALD and VESCI presented a pe-
tition from Galway, praying for an alteration in the Boun-
daries ( Ireland) Bill.
A message from the Commons brought up several Bills.
Lord EL LEN BORO UG H wished to put a question
to the Noble Marquis opposite, respecting a subject
which had been discussed last year while he was
absent in Ireland, respecting the importation of
Hill Coolies into Demerara. He had seen a Report
of some Negro Commissioners, of whom he had never
heard before, in which they gave a somewhat favourable
account of the condition of the slaves of that country ; but
with respect to the Hill Coolies they seemed to be in a very
bad situation. Of 80 that lied been imported within a f.,iv
months, 20 bed died, and 29 were described as being in a
dreadful state. The hospital in which the unfortunate
individuals who survived were, was dese. ibed as a pest-
house. He wished to know whether the Noble Marquis
was in possession of a Report of that state of things, and
whether there would be any objection to communicate it
to the House.

The Marquis of NORMANDY was not in possession
of any official Report, but he had heard that those Coolies
bad arrived, and it certainly did appear that there was
something respecting their condition which required imme-
diate attention.

Lord ELLENBOROUGH hoped that the Noble
Marquis would give that immediate attention. The Noble
Marquis was undoubtedly not responsible for such a state
of things, but those who advised the emigration of the
Hill Coolies, under that Order in Council, were deeply
responsable.

Lord BROUGHAM could not allow this opportunity
to pass without expressing his approbation of what had just
been stated by his Noble Friend opposite. This reminded
him of the warning respecting the emigration of the Hill
Coolies which he had given to their Lordships.. With refe
rence to the individuals that had been just referred to the sur-
vivors of them were no doubt in a slate compared with which
death itself would be a release to them from wretchedness ;
they who had survived the murderous passage from their
peaceful home to the charnel-house in Demerara. He knew
the amount of the blood-guiltiness which hung over the heads
they had no conscience—of those who one day hereafter,
if not here, must be answerable for the murders committed
in the middle passage, because the papers en their
Lordship? table contained the astounding fact that twenty
per cent. in one vessel perished on a voyage in five weeks,
and between Asia and the Mauritius twenty per cent.
in one week, and 30 in another, being a degree of mas-
sacre which exceeded the African middle passage itself.
It waa painful to be obliged to recur to these matters, but
the cases were of a very aggravated nature, and called for
some explanation. It was said that two or three vessels
had been seized on the Brazilian coast, which were
engaged in the illegal slave traffic, and their wretched
cargo (as they were called) of one thousand four
hundred slaves, were, under :the pretence of being libe-
rated, apprenticed for a term of seven years at a premium
of 5/. per head. And where? In foreign slave
countries, where there was no security that they would
be treated even so well as they were in Guiana, and he
wished to know whether it was the practice for their
cruizers to apprentice these unfortunate men in those
countries where slavery still existed instead of car-
rying them to their own colonies, He hoped he
would receive an answer denying these statements, which
were corroborated and confirmed by private letters he
( Lord Brougham) had received.
'The Marquis of NORM AN B Y believed his Noble Friend
the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had directed his atten-
tion to the subject, and he hoped to be able to give the
Noble and Learned Lord a satisfactory answer in a few days.