The Sun.
London, England, 1815-04-15 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

tord Viscount Glerawly took his seat for Downpatrick,
ill-
'trodncrd by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir J. C.
I?iI, islrv..
'sir John Newport postponed his motion (which stood for
vi-5t,...,,ay) for the,.Abolition of cerfain Law o:ficers •in Ire-
land, to Thursday next.
Mr. Rackhurst brought up a copy of the Accounts 'of the
i‘ornpany's Expenditure for the fear 1813, classing
each article atri item separately.
Sir SAMVEL ItOMILLY gare notice that he would, on
Monday, move for a Cony of the Recorder's. Report respect-
ing M. Lathrope lihrray,
Mr. Flrvircien brought up the Report of the Scotch Miry
Bill, which was agreed to.

SLAVE TRADE.

Mr. WILBERFORCE rose to move for an address
to his Rya Highness the Prince Regent, for a
copy of the proceedings an the triitl of Messrs.
Brodie. Cook, and Dunbar, ,who were.senteliced
to seven years' transportation, but the sentence
on whom was-Set aside. nor, on the merits of the
case, but on the gromids of the incompetency of
the jurisdiction by which they were tried. There
wag Ito doubt, lie said, as to the-commission of the
crime, or as to their being guilty. The ground of
setting the sentence aside, ire understood, was
that the crime was not. committed on Bsh ter-
titory. -
Mr. Mena, ADDINGTON said, he felts it his in-
dispensable dirty to ohjeet to the motion.
Mr. HORNER said, that as Parliament felt -the
greatest anxiety on the abolition _of the Slave
Trade, it was natural to enquire why three per-
sons, who had been legally tried and found guilty
Of a violation of the laws ou that subject, had been
found pardoned. It was important that the'do-
contents should he laid on the table, in order that
if it, was -through any informality hethe proceed-
ings, their guilt had not met its due punishment,
the forms should be remedied: It could not be
argued tliet 'those perSOns were not guilty, be-
cause- the crime had not been comtnit•ed oil Bri-
tish territory. They were Briti.sh subjie'lseand
as such should be amenable to British laws,
wherever- the crime was committed. There was
no blame- meant to beat' present attached any,
• xvhera, and he trusted the Hon. Gentleman would
seeet:.e propriety of acceding to the motion.
Mr. BRAGGr. BATHUIIST tvonlrl agree„ to the
men ion, if there appeared any ground of aeces-
sity or utility. It was not said that there was
Roy wrung use made of. the prerogative of the'
CI*0•411. Then! was.a full admission of the guilt
of the persons, and the only cause' of their not
being punished was the incompetency of the Court
by which they were tried. He therefore did not
see that there sere any grounds for the motion.
Mr. WifiTereean said, that ire had no doubt if
the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. —Wilbertorce) who
- made the mctiop, had taken his place on the other
ante of the House,- motion would have met
with no °position- The, motion did not lay ce; ,:114:1. In Va, rct Ella
made merely with' art intention that the circum-
stan-cs which prevented the punishment orric-
knowledeed guilt should be corrected, anti that
it tironlit appear that Government had taken no
parragainst the AboLtionisls. He trusted there-
fore that the Right Hon. Gentleman would not
give the motion any- oprsition.
The SOLICI7ORMENRRAL said, OW the opinion
which the Law Officers of the Crown bad given
on tire occasion, Was -tint foonded either on the
imperfection of the Act of Parliantent for the
abolition of the Slave Trade, or on that of the
Commission which-was sent out to•carrytlie pur-
po,ies of the Act into -execution. There was no
question, that whenever the crime was commicted,
if by a British. subject, it was liable and punish-
able by lute.. But the opinion wes.founded on the
deficiency of the power of the Colonial Jurisdie..
Lion. This crime was tried by the Colonial Court
of Sierra Leone, thotigh not committed within
the territories of Sierra Leone. It might be ano-
ther (ptestion, whether'it might not • be-right to
give the Co!emial Court the same poWers in cri-
minal matters which the Court have, But the
fact is, that they bare not 'them. He said so
much to strew drat it wits not on the grotto(' of
any point of form, but on -that of. tire deficiency
of the jilrisdiction of the Colonial Court, the sen-
tence had beern.laid'aside. 'On no other occasion
did Parliament give a Colonial Cou'rt a power to
try for crimes committed out of the Colonial ter-
ri►suits, and it wes Hot extraordinary that they
did net do so ill this,

Aloof: E said, that as it was, he laid
the sto:ie for this wbuld

it,; words on the occasion, • lie that
the !.e.tir ion of Messrs. Brodie, Cook, and Dun-
bar, had made its way to him, and that he had.

given it to Mr. Will;erforpe, who transmitted it
to the SeeretarY of State's Otfice.-; Only for this,
Gentienwn ~vonld have now been ia Botany
Bay, though their guilt had. been proved_ by very
iinpurfect evHence... The Commissioners for the
Abolition of.t11:: Slave Trade, and the mintier of
its execution had done more mischief than that
abominable qiuk itself in its greatest fury. On
the whole, he would wish for a Committee above
stairs to inquile into the manner of the execution
Of Commissioners, clod there would he a volume
of information_ on the strbject hroaght 'to
At hick' would ht 'of the greatest ad'vantage.
would engage, it the lion. Ce»tleman woidd
move for such a Committee, to apply all his facul-
ties to the soniect, and to give it the most un,-
,
remitted attention.

2,4 r.YTt7,"tuber for •Cambridge, supprted
tl.e 2I it ~1)•

IViLl3r“:F7riCi3 said, that there Was no
cl.“ri.e mote likely to he-committed by. Ent.;:ißli
suitiects than Silve-:rading in parts of 4-fr,ica not
unatt our dominion, -as the territoOts of. the Si-
t ria Leoire colony were very small. hut he was
anxious that it should he. most. drily understood
that thti crime could not be CO,Dmllitted by a Bri-

tish 31'1)ket in any part of the with impu-
nity, and that it WAS only through a deficiency of
juLlouitAiou iu the Colonial Cuurt, punishment

• Was istit pre;ei-it rieension;
through any' feeling -Of lenity. on the oars of GO.
vennnent fore the erinie. To the ,Cisoinnittee,-
svhich the Hob. Member whO-Spoke lagt; ire would
bare no objection ; though. from his age, mot
froin. his not hein4 as active Iltikit as lie w,is for-
merly, he could not protniSe it as mech attention
. as he would wish. ,The former Committee on
this subject he attended, tree:lose the• late Mr.
Henry Thornton, *hose industry; and
probity, weft' so universally acknowledged—
' (Hear!)—had been to the 'head of them, and ren-
dered his attention unnecessary. He, complained
of-the small slim, mile 95,100/. granted the Si-
erra Leone Company for civilizing the country
around them,- while there had. been Eton millions
pained formerly for rendering Sierra Leone a
depot for the Slave Trade.
Mr. HIL.P,'Y ADDISGTON explained.
Mr. IV. SMITH said, that as no injury would
arise from the motions he hoped there would be
'no farther opposition to it.
Mr. HORNER said, that all the three persons had
acknowledged their guilt. •
. Mr. BARHAM said, that as we were calling on
all Europe for the entire abolition of the trade,
we should take every opporrunity of shewing our
sincere abhorrence of so horrid and abominable
a crime, and he would diet-Ernie support the
motion.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL sopported the Speech
of his Learned Friend (the Solicitorz(ieoeral).
He said, that the motion seemed to-he •Made prin-
• cipally with a lien' of repelling -the ciof,flooes of
Dr. Thorpe On persons who stood so high in tice
poblie estimation, that any attempt- to iojore the U- -
characters Was. vain, and that therefore he la,ilted
upon the itrotion as' unnecessary. The reeom-
mendation had nor been foqucted on dire iheimi-
pletentois of evidence, Or om anty lenity for the
• Crime, but that
.the jorisdiefioo of the different.
Courts may he kept distinct.
Lord CASTLE REAGH pot 'it to his Honourable
• Friend, as there' was no donht of the guilt, amt
no attempt to the Crime, but it appeared
that the-ponishment hltd nut been solely on the
grounds of the waist of•
.jurisdiction of the Court,
whether lie smolt press the motions.
Mr. WILBEIIFORCE said, he would trot wish to.
press the motion against the sense of the House,
"and he therefore would coOsenit to withdraw it.
The motion was accordingly withdrawn.
OVERTURES OF' PEACE FROM BUONAPARTE.
Mr. POSTSONBY wished to ask the Nolde Lord
(Castlereagh) one or two slit-scions, -upon' a suh- •
lest of great imratauce to this country. It was •
rumoured, and much believed, that iiroposais, or
overtures, or commithieatios, lie knew not by
whit name to ,desigeate them, had been made,
within the last few' days, by tine present Liovero-
ment of France to- this Country. He seas de-
sirous of tvking the iN:Oile tord, first, k.eheth,r
any such communications inEa been made ; ay,d
next, if they had hero made, what had been
dime hi cOnsequence ? Ir was
• and equally believed, that those cononimications
had been transmitted to the Congress flow asse.nu-
bled at the Court of Vienna. If. this had heel,
the case, he wished to ask, when any communi., -
cation was expected in return trout the Court of
- • .
ViLnoO.uIt,ASILEREAG.H was sure the Right
Gentleman did not expect that his Majesty's Co-
veroment should at present state the nit; ore of the
c
_ .
ommon:cations to which he alluded.—(tlear,
from Mr. Pousonhy.) He had no difficulty
stating, however, that such communications had
been received, and, as the Right Hon. Gentle-
man observed, had beeu conreved to our
Allies assembled at Vienna. Nt what parti-
cular time an answer would be received, it Was
not in
.his power to state.
Mr. PoNsoNeY—" When was the.communica.
tion-made
Lord CASTLEREAGH -- " •About three days
back."

Mr. PONSONBY.—" 1 IPIVC allothCr 'ClifeStiOn to
ask the Noble Lord, which 1 think of canal jol-
t
portaoce: I wish to know, whether it is in. the
contemplation of his Majesty's Government to
take any steps of aggression against Urance, be-
fore an answer is received tram Abe'. Court of
Vienna ?""

Lord-C AsTr.EREAtu.--7" I must really beg leave
to decline giving any- answi.r its to the intention
of his Alaiesty's ,Government upon this subject 'at
present."---(llear, hear 1)