The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-30 00:00:00

be postponed. 'He' had already taken up three quarters of an
hour in presenting these petitions, and thought the time of
their Lordships could not be better employed than in listening
to the rational prayer of these parties. He had merely read
over the name of the place from which these petitions had
been sent. He had one petition to present from an individual
Which he had separated from the rest—the petition of one indi-
vidual who was one of the surviving patriarchs of the cause, and
Who had been upwards of half a century engaged in it—ho
meant his most amiable friend, T. Clarkson ; and it was more
for the purpose of gratifying his own feelings in presenting
tois petition, that he had singled it out from the others, and
particularly noted it.—( Hear, hear, hear.) He had now
Presented petitions from Dissenters of all denominations upon
this subject—some, indeed, from Sects which he scarcely
knew of, but whose petitions nevertheless were entitled to re-
Cect from their Lordships. He had presented many from tho
hurch, and a number from inhabitants at large; and wherever
petitions came from inhabitants at large, they were
signed by persons not connected with any one parti-
cular sect. He had presented a very considerable number
from Corporations with the corporate seal—a vast number
from public meetings,—and a great many signed by Rev.
Pastors of the Established Church as well as the Magis-
trates. He would mention a most remarkable instance—
there was a large public meeting at Durham, presided
over by the Under- Sheriff in the absence of his ( Lord B.'s)
most worthy kinsman who was prevented from presiding by
illness and who wrote a letter saying that nothing but illness
should have prevented his attendance. The principal mover
at that meeting was an excellent dignatary—a friend of his, the
Rev. Prebendary Gilly, who was a great ornament to the
Church, as well as another most Rev. Prelate, who made the
Most animated appeals to the country on this question.
The Noble and Learned Lord proceeded to read a letter from
Lord Denman, who had been unavoidably absent, owing
to his judicial duties upon the late debates upon this
question, in which he said that he could not consider this
question in the light of a compact between the Planters
and the Imperial Parliament, for he strongly denied the
right of the latter to contract on behalf of the slaves. Slavery,
.Thiois was a contract between two wrong-doers, he ( Lord
Vellm) had always held to be unlawful, and he now was
decidedly in favour of the immediate emancipation of the
negroes._( Hear, hear.) The Noble and Learned Lord
(Brougham) concluded by saying that he should be sorry to
share the responsibility of those who in the present state of
the West Indies, and of public opinion in this country, should
endeavour to postpone further the emancipation of the slaves.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said—My Lords, I have
two
petitions to present, the prayer of which differs from
thosethat have been laid on the table of the House by the
Noble and Learned Lord. The first petition comes from the
undersigned West India Planters, and merchants in London,
and the other from the same class in Liverpool. These peti-
tionersatate that they are interested in plantations in the
Nestlndies, either as owners or as being entitled to mort-
gages, or other incurnbrances, on estates in that country ;
tiat, by the Act of Parliament for the abolition of slavery
ithroughout the British colonies, those persons who were
entitled to the services of the slaves received compensation
for the labour of those slaves, amounting in the whole to
20 millions sterling; and they were further compensated by a
right to the services of the emancipated slaves as apprenticed
labourers during a limited period
of time ; that such a right
t
o the services of the slaves was part and parcel of the
compensation given to them, in consideration of which your
Lordships' petitioners were compelled to resign their property
In and right to the services of the slaves ; that their right to
, mthaaservices of the apprentices have been confirmed by Par-
ent—nay, more, that Parliament has declared their right
eithersellto
for
and to dispose of the services of their apprentices
money or by will ; that they have learned there-
fore, with astonishment, that a Bill has been introduced into
your Lordships' House for putting an end to the appreticeship
of those who were foymerly slaves in the British Colonies, by
which it is intended that that apprenticeship should terminate
on the Ist of August, 1838 ; that any measure of such a nature
is contrary to all rules of British legislation ; that it is a viola-
tion Of the contract made with them, and is opposed to the
eternal principles of justice ; that although it has been alleged
as an excuse for, or as the ground of, this measure, that ade-
quate protection had not been afforded to the apprentices, and
that they have experienced cruel and oppressive treatment
from their employers, vet the petitioners state that at present
those representations and statements rest on ex parte state-
ments, and that, with some exceptions, the assertion has no
foundation ; and they confidently appeal to a circular despatch
from the Secretary of State to the Governors of the West India
colonies, dated on the 6th of Nov., 1837, in which it is stated
that hitherto the results of the great experiment of the aboli-
tion of slavery has been such as to justify the most sanguine
hopes of the authors and advisers of that measure ; and your
petitioners therefore protest against the diminution of the pe-
riod of apprenticeship, but at the same time they are ready to
carry into execution any measure which can be considered ex-
pedient by Parliament to adopt for the due performance, both
by the masters and the apprentices, of the several duties im-
posed by them by the Emancipation Act ; that the assertion
made by the enemies of the colonists, that no loss has re-
sulted to them from the Emancipation Act, is disproved by
tl.e facts ; that whilst the quantity of produce is greatly di-
minished the expense of cultivation is increased ; that the
proposed abridgment of the apprenticeship would materially
endanger the final success of the experiment of emancipa-
tion, and deteriorate the colonies as valuable and produc-
tive possessions of the country, inasmuch as no provision
bas yet been made for the new state of society in which
the colonies will be placed on the expiration of the appren-
ticeship ; that the currency of the colonies does not rest on
any sound basis, and will not be found sufficient to answer
all purposes for which a currency would be required in
eonsequenbe of the necessary payment of labour on all oc-
casions; that the establishment in the West Indies of a mone-
tary system, and the enactment of laws for the relief of the
aged and infirm poor, the summary arrangement of disputes
between the masters and men, the regulation of the militia,
of the elective franchise, and the qualification of jurors,
ought to be provided for before the termination of the ap-
prenticeship that no legislation on these important subjects
has yet taken piece, owing to the reliance placed on that
enactment; that the apprenticeship should continue until
August, 1840 ' • that it was the opinion of the Select Com-
mittee of the House of Commons on negro apprenticeship in
1836, and of her Majesty's Government, that it was impor-
tant that such enactments as mieht be intended to come
into operation after 1840 should be deferred as much as pos-
sible, and should at events be postponed until near the con-
clusion of that:period ; that there was no period in the his-
tory of the world in which a sudden change from a state of
slavery to the enjoyment of all civil rights had been beneficial,
and that the remaining period of the apprenticeship was
but a short time for the purpose the deliberate and
carefulrao consideration of the measures necessary as prepa-
tins for so momentous a change in West Indian society.
Your
petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the Bill now
before your Lordships for the immediate abolition of negro
apprenticeship may not be passed, but that your petitioners
may be heard at the bar by their counsel. Now, my Lords, I
beg leave to move that this petition do lie on the table. I
have given the greatest attention to all the speeches of the
Noble and Learned Lord opposite (Brougham) on this sub-
ject, and most particularly to the statement
this night of tae opinion of a Noble
and Lea hich he has made
(Den-
man) who is absent from the House. Nryned Lord
have the greatest re-
spect and veneration for the opinion
of. I
that Noble and Learned
Lord ; but I cannot consider his opinion delivered in a letter in
answer to another letter, which is not produced to the House
--I cannot consider that opinion as one on which the House can
entirely rely. I will not now enter into the discussion of this
question at all, whether there be a compact or be not a
compact in this Act of Parliament—l mean the Act for the
abolition of slavery. I willingly admit that I cannot find the
word compact" or " contract," but that which Ido find,
and to which I beg leave to draw your Lordships' attention,
and particularly the attention of the Right Rev. Bench, and
What I entreat them to observe is this—that a beneficial inte-
rest is created by that Act of Parliament in the services of
these apprentices for a certain number of years—for a period
of years up to 1840. I beg your Lordships to observe that
that beneficial interest has been given to the Colonists as indi-
vidual possessors of certain estates, and, as is stated in the
Petition which I have just read to your Lordships, that right
has been accorded to them by Parliament, and Parliament has
declared their right to dispose of the services of those appren-
tices of money or by will as they may deem fit. I will beg
Your Lordships to reflect whether, without manifest injustice
to the colonists, you can by an Act of Parliament deprive
them of that beneficial interest in their services. My Lords,
if you take such a step I will venture to tell you that no pro-
perty in this country will be safe for another moment.
Lord St. VINCENT did not feel disposed to adopt the
language of the Noble Marquis (Sligo), by expressing his
readiness at once to emancipate the negroes on his estate, un-
less those negroes were properly prepared, and the Legisla-
ture of the colony had made due provision for the change, ac-
cording to the statement of the petition presented by the Noble
Duke.—( Hear, hear.) If that preparation had been made,
he could not feel the slightest disinclination to do away with a
system which he had ever deplored, and from which he would
be glad to escape ; but the circumstances did not exist which
could secure to the negroes all those social enjoyments which
Would arise from the boon of emancipation when attended
with the improvement of the moral character and the requisite
breparations for the new state of things, or which, on the other
and, could secure at all the interests of the planters. He
should, therefore, oppose any premature measure. The
Noble and Learned Lord opposite had the other night remon-
strated with the Noble Earl (Earl Stanhope) for taking
measures calculated to produce excitement amongst the la-
Louring classes. Now, he would beg to ask that Noble and
Learned Lord whether he had such an opinion of the superior
eivil:sation of the negro population of the West Indies as to
suppose that the language which he had employed on this sub-
ject was not calculated to produce equally mischievous excite-
ment? He did not mean to insinuate that he was opposed
generally to the new Poor Law Bill ; he was of opinion
that it required some alteration ; but he thought that there was
some analogy between one part of it, and a part of the system
in the workhouses in the West Indies, against which violent
complaints had been made. The medical man was the person
appointed to decide when any one was unable to work ; and
so it was in the workhouses there, but still the charge
was made that the apprentices were worked when they
were in too bad a state of health. It case to the same
point, which had led to so much alarm—the decision of the
medical man us to the power to work. Ile perfectly subscribed
to all the language and reasoning set forth in the petition pre-
sented by the Noble Duke, and he could not perceive that
there was anything irrational iu that petition, although the
Noble and Learned Lord had described those who had signed
All the petitions which he had presented as rational people.
Lord St A FORD said, when the Government and Perna-
Itentaisscided on 1.4 abolition of slavery they framed the appren-
ticeship system as Op best and safest mode of accomplishing