The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-14 00:00:00

PRICE sd.

NEGRO APPRENTICESHIP.

GREAT MEETING-(THIS DAY.)

A public meeting, unequalled in numbers and respectability
(for an in-door meeting), was this day held at Exeter Hall,
for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for the abolition of
Negro Apprenticeship. It had been announced that Lord
Brougham would take the chair at eleven o'clock, and long be-
fore the doors were opened, a considerable crowd of most respect-
able persons, raostly ladies, was collected before the entrance.
The doors were opened at half-past nine, and by ten the great
Hall, which, before the galleries were built, was calculated
to hold conveniently 4,000 people seated, was crowded to ex-
cess. There were not less than 5,000 present, and many hun-
dreds went away unable to obtain an entrance. For hours
after the room had been literally crammed, the crowds of per-
sons endeavouring to force their way in, and of others
with equal difficulty forcing their way out, were flowing
to and fro, along the avenues and approaches. The
greatest discontent was expressed by the disappointed
hundreds, amongst whom the ladies, whose tickets failed to
make way for them, were by no means the least loud in their
complaints. To appease them, they were assured of another
meeting on the same subject, and with the same Chairman,
in a day or two, and we were told that the Committee had it
for some time in contemplation to open another room for the
accommodation of those who could not obtain access to the
hall. We cannot avoid complaining of the neglect of accom-
modation which was annoying in the extreme ; and when
application was made to permit some of the Reporters
to take places on the platform, as there was not
standing room for half those who attended in the little
box into which they were crammed, they were politely
told by a Mr. Wilson, of Nottingham, the only person on the
platform who seemed to take part in the arrangement, that he
did not believe they were all Reporters, but that they wanted
room for their friends. Certainly this person has as little
knowledge of their respectability as of their numbers, and the
arduous nature of their duty.
On the platform we observed Mr. Baines, M. P., Mr.
Gillon, M. P., Mr. Scholefield, M. P., the Chinese student,
Choo-tik-lay, and the celebrated Missionary and Linguist
whom he accompanied to England ; Capt. Harvard, the Rev.
Drs. Heugh, Cox, Styles, &c. ; the Rev. Mr. Burnet, and a
great number of the most eminent Dissenting ministers.
The advertisement had stated that the Chair would be taken
at eleven o'clock, and at half-past eleven the impatience of
the meeting- began to be loudly expressed, when it was
announced that Lord Brougham bad arrived, and had been
for some time endeavouring to make his way up the stairs which
were still crowded with vast numbers who could not be persuaded
there was no room. At a quarter before twelve his Lordship,
accompanied by his lady and the Hon. Miss Brougham, ap-
peared on the platform, and was greeted with the most en-
thusiastic applause which lasted several minutes. On taking
the Chair,

Lord.Beouonam said—The last time that I met my fellow-
citizens in this great metropolis, and indeed at any public
meeting whatever, we were brought together on the same
occasion, which assemble you in such prodigious multitudes
this day—( Loud cheers)—and the reason why that was the
last time, and why I have abstained for the last three years
from attending assemblages of the people of England, has
been partly no doubt, an interval of ill health, but chiefly that
during the rest of those three years, I did not conceive
that it was consistent with those judicial duties which
occupied the greater portion of my time to attend those
assemblies which it is the right of the people to hold, and
the duty of statesmen to attend to. (Loud cheers.) I have
always been one of those who maintained that right on the
part of the people, and have exercised that duty on the part of
the statesman.—( Repeated cheering.) For it is at public
meetings that the principles of the Constitution and humanity
and sound policy are best disclosed. It is at public meetings
that the feelings as well as the opinions of the people are ex-
pressed, and it is at these that the all-powerful will of the
people is made known to their rulers. Therefore it is that I
used formerly from time to time to frequent such assemblies,
although I felt that during thirty years passed in public life,
yet I have recently seen it said, with many other things just
as true, and not more false—(Cheers and laughter)—that
I constantly passed my time at public meetings ; and I
made the observation, that during those thirty years,
excepting only meetings necessarily incident to pub-
eleetious, I never attended meetings even on Slavery
itself, more than two in three yeaas. This happened not
from principle, net from inclination, but from an accidental
reason—front my being occupied in the unremitting pursuit of
a laborious profession.—( Loud cheers.) So much for misre-
presentation—( A laugh)—a misrepresentation which I con-
sign to the same vault—and it must be a large one—in which
so many falsehoods are wont to be propagated, not on me
alone, but upon all men who mingle in State affairs. There
is no one question on which—against men and masses of men
—more constant, more unremitting, more foul, more false,
representations—representations more contrary to the fact
—than upon all that relates to slavery and the Slave-trade.
- Vehement cries of " Hear, hear, hear.) There is one mat-
ter of congratulation, no doubt, in reflecting on our case at the
present moment—no doubt coupled, combined, and compared
with other circumstances to which I shall presently advert—
that we are constantly making progress, and in any one year
which can be named we have been constantly approaching the
goal.—( Great cheering. )—We first abolished, or thought we
had abolished—(Cheers)—the execrable African Slave-trade.
We then abolished, cr thought that we had abolished, slavery
itself—( Cheering)—but now we find that the " transition state,"
as it is called, is only slavery under another name. —( Cheers.)
And though it be but slavery under disguise, and a very
flimsy disguise, nevertheless it is better than slavery, in this
respect, that the cart whip is abolished ; and when I state
that, I give the beginning, the middle, and the end of the
whole that we have gained by the Act of 1833.—( Cbeeis.)
The negro no longer works under the stimulus of the whip ;
he works according to a stern and iniquitous law if you will,
and a law which we meet this day to help onwards in its pro-
gress to destruction with the African slave trade which we
thought had been abolished.—( Cheers.) But there is an:
embittering reflection which I cannot for a moment shut out,
from my eyes or discard from my mind. Thirty years ago, in
1808, the slave trade, as regarded England and her colonies,
was by Act of Parliament put down ; thirty years afterwards
it is our fate to struggle against that accursed slave trade,
when we thought we had to grapple only with slavery—( Hear)
—and the Order in Council, which is persisted in by the Go-
vernment in favour of the planters—which planters are not
satisfied with having gained 20,000,000/. of the people's money,
not only for nothing, but for less than nothing—because their
estates are now worth more yearly value than they were be-
fore. Not content with this, they insist upon sending over
cargoes of Asiatic and African labourers, as they call them—
as I call them more plainly and honestly, slaves—( Loud
cheering)—to meet the unfortunate negro in competition for
wages, and to lower to nothing the earnings of the sweat of
that negroc's broes--(loud cheering)—and thus the slave-
trade, which had completely desolated the western coast,
is now to be extended to the eastern coast of
Africa, and to the harmless, innoffensive natives of
Asia, as if it were not enough that one continent had been
laid waste by the pest.—(Loud cheers.) This was pointed
out to the Government seven or eight weeks back. I warned
them of the course they were taking. I told them that if they
would withdraw the Order, I would not taunt them with
having issued it. lam sure it was issued in ignorance. I be-
lieve it was not issued with a wilful design of continuing the slave
trade, but the error once committed, they ought to have lost no
time in retracing their steps.—( Cheers ) Instead of which,
to the dismay of their friends—to the delight of their enemies
—to the astonishment of all disinterested bystanders, they
clung to the Order as if it were one of justice, of charity, and
mercy. —( Loud cheers.) It is my bounden duty to state,
that I was supported in the House of Lords by the most able
men on both sides of the Mouse—(Cheers)—and I still an-
xiously hope, that the system will speedily be stifled in its
cradle.—(Cheers.) Now, let me say a word or two as to
the more immediate object of this vast assembly. Don't let
any one tell you that this is a question of difficulty, or of
detail—that it requires investigation or inquiry.—( Hear, hear. )
The facts are " plain as path to Parish Church."----( Cheers.
In 1833, we beheld the Negro, by the greatest corrupter
of human character—the direct enemy of human na-
ture, which Providence has for mysterious ends permitted
to ravage the intellect and the virtue of mankind-
-I mean slavery, and the worst form of slavery, \lest India
slavery—the effect of which had been to denaturalize—if I
must coin a word, for what the language of former ages could
have no expression, because they knew not the thing—to de-
naturalize the character of these poor Africans, so as to make
It impossible to expect that by the mere force of an Act of
Parliament making them free, they should be enabled to assume
the habits of industry, and to work for wages in the absence
of the stimulus supplied by the cart whip—and, therefore,
we reluctantly agreed—no one more reluctantly than myself,
to a transition state which should be undergone by them—we
little dreaming that we should find the planters and the co-
lonial assemblies determined, not only not to back our plan
and to expedite emancipation, as was expected, but to
thwart us in every way.—( Loud cheers ) Only in two co-
lenies—two noble and wise colonies, whom I name to their
immortal honour, Antigua and Bermuda—was the experiment
made to rely upon the provisions of the Act upon
which we have lavished 20,000,000/.—( Loud cheers.)
Now, then, a question rests on this single sentence. If, in
1833, we knew all we know in 1838, would any man living
dare to propose one hour's continuance of the negro's appren-
ticeship Vehement cheering, and cries of " No, no.") I
say not one-sixtieth part of an hour—not one minute. This is
a question I have asked in my place in Parliament, and I have
been met by antagonists where I had not expected to find
them ; I have been met by the whole influence of the Govern-
ment—[Some interruption here took place, from the efforts
of the crowd outside endeavouring to force their way into
the hall, which was at the time completely filled. Lord
Brougham observed that these who had not been in time to
procure a place had better retire, as it was quite certain that
the meeting would be adjourned, and he would have the
honour and pleasure of meeting them all again to-morrow
morning. This announcement was received with great cheer.