The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-31 00:00:00

to obtain it, he must be satisfied that there was a reasonoble prospect of
success, which he could not then see in the slight feeling which pre.
vailed on the subject throughout the country. He accordingly abstained
from taking any share in the agitation until the montis of March,
and he (Dr. Lushington) pursued the same course, and had no con-
nection with the agitation wh'ch was going forward. In the mean
time Lord Sligo's letter, No. 5, and the blue book was published, and
the progress of feeling in the publle mind upon the subject was so great
that he wrote to Mr. Buxton to take some part in the agitation of the
question. Before the receipt of that letter Mr. Buxton had himselfcome
to the same conclusion, and in doing 30 he thought he aeted wisely. Every
word that he intended to advance should be founded on three docu-
ments—the Parliamentary papers four and five, and the pamphlet of
Lord Sligo. These documents amply proved that there had been a
uniform and constant, though not a universal violation of the contract
entered into. He would ask if the House of Assembly participated in
the British feeling on this subject ? Did the Grand Juries participate
in it, or the petty juries ? Had not the grand juries been visited with
severe reprobation by the Government for their disregard to their oaths?
Did the law officers of the Crown participate in the feelings of the Go-
vernmcnt ? On the contrary, their utmost exertions were used to
defeat tier Majesty's Government ; and even the King's advocate had
been dismissod by Lord Glenelg for pursuing a course hostile to the
wishes of the Government. The Learned Gentleman here related a
number of instances in which the negroes hail been cruelly dealt with,
..nd said that the whole period of apprenticeship hitherto had been one
c,f b:ckerings and sparrings, which this Bill would foster and encourage
the continuance of fur the remainder of the term of the apprentice.
ships. According to the statements in Lord Sligo's pamphlet even
murder passed unheeded in Jamaica—no inquests were held. Where
was the indignation of the colonists at these enormities ? There was
not a trace of such a feeling throughout the whole annals of Jamaica.
If a special magistrate neglected his duty and was dimissed, there were
persons to be found who would rally round him and present him with a
piece of plate, as a reward and as a mark of their sympathy for his mis.
conduct. Were these men to whom it was proposed to intrust for two
,y,beua rsseda and
as
taohhaal
el o ge
,e,rd
et
rheede xaeprperiesie,
toi
ef a
es
hpiopw
only
ha
at
mh
ialdd
ealready
obefeonr sao
worse description of slavery than had ever existed before--men through
whom the public faith had been so utterly broken in respect to particu.
lars on which the British mind had been so unusually excited ? Would
that House, in the face of the British people, who had been thus out.
raged, dare to entrust still longer this power to the planters ? Dare
they admit to the public that they were aware of all the facts on which
the complaints had been founded, and yet propose to continue to these
msn the power of committing still further abuses ?—to resort, in fact,
to no other remedy than a repetition of that course which had already
been found useless and futile ?—to trust to the good will, the
principles, and the feelings of men whose great pride had been
to neutralise all our efforts—who delighted in evading all our laws—who,
when bound down to abstain from flogging their apprentices, laughed at
1 our statutes, and only redoubled their former cruelties ? Was it to
these men the British Parliament would dare, in the face of the nation,
and of the civilised world, to continue a trust which they had noto-
riously betrayed, who, when reminded of the statutes. of the Imperial
Parliament, answered that they had statutes of their own, and in pur.
suance of those local laws, and the licence which they allowed, would
proceed to seize and imprison an apprentice—keep her in prison nine
months without preferring any charge against her, or obtaining any legal
sanction for her detention—chain her by an iron collar to the neck of
another unhappy prisoner—and then, At the expiration of nine months,
turn her out from gaol the miserable wreck of her former self? Was
it to such as these that it was now proposed still longer to entrust the
happiness and the lives of the freed negroes ?—(Hear.) He said
lives, because it was in evidence that starvation was not un-
common in the workhouses—that, in fact, the plSnters had
acted in violation of that Just law, which required that if liberty
was taken from a man, the necessaries of existence should be allowed
him in his confinement or his bondage ?—(Bear, hear.) It might be
said he was exaggerating isolated cases. lie denied it. The case he
had put was by no means a singular one.—(Hear, hear.) Fault had
been found with Mr. Stnrge, because, when he discovered these things,
he had not communicated them to the Governor. Why, if that gentle.
man had turned informer, as it were, to the Governor on every case
which came under his notice, how would he have been able to prose-
cute those inquiries in which it was so necessary for him to pro.
ceed without molestation ? It was said that the advocates of przelial
emancipation were incurring a heavy responsibility. He, for one,
in voting for the resolution, was willing to incur that respon.
sibility. He was the more emboldened to the course he took by the
example of Lord Sligo, whose opinion on these matters was of high
value. It had been said of that Noble Lord, by no mean au-
thority, that no man was more intimately acquainted than he with
the workings of slavery in the West Indies. The recent con-
duct of the Noble Marquis with regard to his own apprentices, was likely
to be immediateiy and generally followed by others. Mr. William
Hankey had already signified his determination to emancipate all his
negroes alike on the Ist of August.—(Cheers.) He denied that it had
been proved that the negroes were unfit to enjoy their freedom. Not-
withstanding that he had not beers conciliated during the last two years
and a half, he nevertheless had exhibited all the qualifications necessary
to the full enjoyment of liberty. He (Dr. Lushington) did not see how
it was possible to secure the continuance of slavery until 1840, when
50,000 predials would be free from the Ist of August next. In such a
state of things, if outrage were adverted, it would certainly only be by
tire exercise on the part of the negro, of that patience for which he was
proverbial, and which was perhaps to be found to such an extent in the
breast of the negro only.—(Cheers.)
Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not shut his eyes to the fact that after
40 years' discussion of the subject of slavery—after the Parliament be-
fore the last had enacted a measure upon the subject which was so far
satisfactory that those wire took an interest in the question—those who
symyathised with the negroes, and those who opposed them—those who
supported the Government, and those who supported the opposition—
all agreed in looking on it as a remedy of for all the evils of a deep.rooted
and long existent system, it was now proposed (at the very period at
which the question was to be finally settled) that this present Parliament
should break into that Act and totally change the nature of the relations
between the master and the apprentice, contrary to the opinions and
wishes of one party, and quite, as he believed, against the expectations
of the other, and that they were called upon to put a sudden and ab-
rupt termination to that to which a fixed period had been assigned.
Nor could he shut his eyes to the fact that motives had been
urged for the extraordinary pains that had been taken to excite the
public mind on this subject, which, when contrasted with those that
ought to be excited by so pure and holy a cause, were certainly wholly
unworthy of it. However that might be, the proposition was certainly
made in the absence of those measures of preparation which persons'on
all sides of the House agreed ought to precede emancipation. The dis-
trust entertained by the 'sincere and ardent friends of the Negroes to.
wards the Colonial authorities and Assemblies was at the time urged on
the Government as one of the principal reasons for delay. The speech
of the Hon. and Learned Member who had just sat down compelled him
(Lord J. Russell) to remind the House that they were not now discussing
the question whether or not slavery ought to be abolished. That was no
longer a subject for discussion in that House, for it was one on which,
happily, the mind of the public was made up. Still, it was not to be ex.
pected but that such an important change could not be made without
some of the dregs and impurities of the old slavery system being retained.
One great argument in favour of slavery was, that the slave was better off
than the free poor man, in so far that his food and clothing were provided
for him by his master. He (Lord J. Russell) did not use such ati
ment in favour of slavery, but it was good, as showing that the change
from slavery to freedom ought not to be made too suddenly, because the
proprietors of the slaves who had formerly felt it incumbent on them to
maintain their slaves would, from that time forward, have no longer
any interest in doing so, and the freed roan would therefore be de.
prived of most essential aids. Those helps which the slave derived
from his master, did in some small degree compensate for the
horrors and criminality of slavery. At the moment when a change
was effected in the social state of the negro, a cessation of these
comforts must neceesarily be experienced by him. Caution in
effecting the change was therefore a most essential thing. Much
had been said about the non-existence of a compact between the
Legislature and the West India interest. The fact of the existence of
that compact had been, he apprehended, sufficiently made out. With.
out attempting to enter into an argument on the nature, legally
speaking, of a compact, he would say that he looked upon this as
quite clear, that a solemn Act of the British Legislature under which
certain interests were created, and by which certain interests were trans-
ferral, must be held to be binding upon the national honour, and that
such an Act could not be altered or abrogated with justice, unless all
the interests secured by it were maintained and considered. The Act
itself had been productive of favourable results, for the result of the
app-enticeship had been that the slave was raised in mind and independ-
ence of character—a result that could scarcely have been anticipated,
had not such an Act been passed. Much misapprehension had been pro.
duced as to the actual condition of the apprentices. About three-fifths
of the whole number were to be found in Jamaica and British Guiana.
To show their condition in the latter, he would read an extract
from the speech of the Governor of British Guiana, on the occasion
of opening the Colonial Legislature, the 3d February, 1833. The
Noble Lord then read the extract, which stated the Governor's belief
that the continuance of the apprenticeship system till the year 1840,
was identified with the future welfare of that magnificent province.
That it was most desirable that the slave should glide almost impercep-
tibly into the state of perfect freedom: That a good feeling between the
employer and the apprentice was daily growing up, the relation being
no longer that of master and slave, but of the husbandman who re.
quired the assistance of the labourer, in order to till his ground, and
of the labourer who was willing to work, in ord.r to provide himself
with the necessities of existence; and that it would be highly im-
prudent to interrupt a system so productive of benefit and of improve.
ment in the condition of the labourer. Here was a statement made in
the face of the whole world, by one who must have had a sufficient
means of forming a judgment, and to whom every one would accord
the merit of being most desirous to improve the condition of the slaves.
in Jamaica, however, the complaints of the working of the system
were very great, and Captain Pringle was accordingly sent ou to in.
vestigate. A statement had been received from that gentleman, in
which he said, " In my travels in Jamaica I had considerable oppor-
tunity of observing the state of the country, and of forming my
opinion upon it. The crops are above the average of former
periods, and the negroes work freely and cheerfully. In many
estates the overseers wish to make the apprentices work,
and they gave them task work, under the revision of the special magis"
trate. They are occupied from 10 a. m. to 3a. m. In the afternoon
the same negroes are ready to work for pay. On one estate upwards
of 401. a week is paid for free labour of this kind." Here was the
opinion of an unprejudiced person. He must say that he was not sur-
prised to find that the negroes were disposed to be industrious, and that
the apprenticeship was serving the purpose for which it was designed--
in fact, that it was producing the result to which the term was generally
applied—that of teaching the labourer to support himself by the wages
of industry, so that when set wholly free he might not be at a
los.. The Noble Lord read other passages from Captain Prin-
gle's communication, but they were almost inaudible in the
gallery. The Noble Lord then referred to the report of the Com-
mittee appointed to inquire into the working of the system of
apprenticeship. The purport of it was that upon the authority
of Mr. Buxton, who was one of the members of the Committee, no
such measure as that now proposed ought to be adopted. All cases of
sabaunsceewoefr ewiseverelylliam
Williams,
punishedwhio:e
narrative b y the
wColonial
uch dwe authorities,ltu as in the in-
•
The Noble Lord next went on to contend that the Bill brought in innigib't;
the Government provided specific remedies for all acknowledged griev.
arm... Considering the whole of this subject he would say that they
now hadpresented to them certain terms by which all parties held
themselves bound—by which Parliament and the country held them-
selves to be bound. To permit any infraction of those terms would be
to do the greatest possible injury to the negro apprentice; for it would
bring him into direct hostility with his master. The Noble Lord fur-
ther observed that the measure now proposed could not in fairness be
adopted without granting additional compensation to the planters. But,
as additional compensation would neither be politic nor expedient, he
did not sec that the House could consistently take any other course
than to reject the motion. He protested against the excitement which
was raised upon this question, contrary to the calm and dispassionate
judgment by the country at large. He hoped that Parliament would not
establish the dangerous precedent of yielding rather to excited feeling
OM to the dictates of cool reflection.

Mr. aT4DSTRNF defended the conduct of the planters, and insisted
that there was no foundation whatever for tbe!repeated charged of cruelty
which were brought against them. The Hon. Member next went on to
iyf thAt Mr. Bl.tton; as a lumber Of the Committee, had admitted thst
the apprenticeship systent had worked well the th• Interests of freedom.
Though no written or technical compact had been entered into between
igliament and the planters, yet it could not be denied that there was a
Gampot, awl that it was founde4 on tha mrlasting prinoiplec of Potty°.
The Hon. Member next referred to sense (Jades, to show that the masters
had a pecuniary interest in the existing term of apprenticeship.
Thr Honourable Member next adverted to some calculiltion?! for
the MIMS }hit 9,qq°,981-11., cii°lol 1 *ccY
st'un, was not ad'ourit9 com'pensatson- for t 19ss swittkined
pi,iteco in 4vii* dsprivo 9c. labow. ire y 0,444