The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-02 00:00:00

measure, which can neither be appealed -from,•
evaded, nor resisted. We subjoin a paragraph
from the letter in question, which bears the
signature
" John Rosson," as exhibiting the na-
ture of the abuse, and the principles and means
of the proposed amelioration :
" The principal amendment in the old corporate consti-
tutions will, of course, be a grant of the freedom of the bo-
rough to the registered householders under the Reform
Bill. Ail householders were anciently corporators. This
should be on payment of reasonable fees, such fees,- after a
fixed remuneration to the proper officers for registration
and certificates, to go in aid of the funds for the improve.
ment of the respective towns. Another important amend-
ment will be the election of the Common Council, as well
as the- Mayor and Bailiffs, by the householders and freemen
at large ; eaeh Member of the Council to sit only for three
years, hut eligible to be re-elected ; the system of the rota
might gradually he introduced, so that a certain number
might go out of office annually. This provision would put
a term to all those heartburnings which the present exclu-
sive system engenders, and make the corporation of Liver-
pool the strongest and most respectable municipal govern-
ment in the empire. Let not people run away with the
notion that men who had no claim to fill high office in the
town would be elected : the late returns to Parliament
under the Reform Bill are an answer to that objection-
The experience derived from an active political lifenf twelve
v-ars previously to the enactment of the Catholic Relief
Bill has convinced me that my countrymen are naturally
aristocratic, and that no one belsmging to the three great
parties in Liverpool would be else ed unless from his edu-
• Ann, his t dents, properly, or position in society, he had
just pr,tensions to that honour. In proof of this observa
tion, when in the years 1824.5 I was engaged in orea-
nizing the Catholic population of this county, I uniformly
found that the Committees, even in small villages, esta-
blished for the purpose of correspondence and collecting
sign Mures to petitions, invariably elected their Chairmen
out of a class in a higher walk of life, or distinguished by
some generally acknowledged superiority."— Times.

The remarkable case,• " Thornely v. Burn,"
involving the question of the practicability of
negro emancipation, on which the judgment of
the Court of Chancery has just been pronounced,
presents some points well worthy of public at-
tention at the present ,moment, when the strug-
gle which has been so long maintained between
the champions of African bondage and the ad-
vocates of manumission seems drawing towards
a crisis. It will be recollected that the case was
originally brought before the Court of Chan-
cery on a motion in support of a petition,
which set forth the following facts:—That, in
the year 1825, Lord Crawfurd and Lindsay
died, seized of an estate in Antigua, on which
there were then 140 slaves. His Lordship had,
by his will, dated in 1816, directed that, after his
death, the rents and profits accruing from his
estate should accumulate (excepting the neces-
sary deductions for the current expenses) until
February, 1833, when the slaves should be
manumitted, and the accumulated fund be equally
divided among them for their future mainte-
nance. It was further set forth that from the
depreciation of West India property, and other
causes, the whole sum applicable to this purpose
was but 7501. It was also alleged that, by the
laws of Antigua for the regulation of the manu-
mission of slaves, it was provided that if any mas-
ter manumitted a slave who, from age or infirmity,
was unable to work, he must deposit 300/.in the
public treasury, as a security that the slave
should not become chargeable to the parish,
from the interest of which deposit he was to
be supported. The number of slaves to be
manumitted, in the present case, was 134.
of whom 12, from age, infirmity, or ill health,
were incapable of earning their own livelihood,
and 18 were infants. Under these circum-
stances, the trustees came before the Court to
know what course they were to pursue. They
played by their petition, in the first place, for
the appointment of a receiver to the estates of
the late Lord Cri6ifurd and Lindsay, in place
of the late receiver, who was deceased ; and, in
the next, that directions might be given to
carry into effect the manumission of the slaves,
as intended by his Lordship's will. When Sir
Edward Sugden formerly addressed the Court
in support of this petition, he strenuously en-
deavoured, acting, no doubt, upon his in-
structions, to make the circumstances of this
particular case, as stated by himself,_ appear to
support an inference against the general policy
of negro emancipation. Having informed the
Court that Lord Crawfurd had directed that the
slaves, on being manumitted, should be taught
to read the Holy Bible, and treated with all the
humanity that reason and justice could dictate,
he went on to say, " It was found impossible to
carry into effect the humane and benevolent in-
tentions of the testator. Ail the flattering pro-
spects respecting the manumission of those slaves
were utterly hopeless. Nothing could prevent
those slaves from claiming their freedom, and they
knew it. It had been proposed to lay. out the fund
to which they were entitled for theirgeneral benefit
by erecting huts for them, and apportioning to
each a small plot of land, if they would consent
to remain together, and work on the estate ; but
they had all declared they meant to avail them-
selves of their liberty to separate, and to remain
no longer on the estate where they had been
heretofore located. It was beyond doubt ►hat
they could not be continued and worked as
slaves—their freedom they must have, although
there was no fund for supporting the helpless in
their emancipated condition." After some other
observations of the same sort, the Learned
.Counsel proceeded to say, " There was in all
this a powerful illustration of the difficulties that
must be encountered in any attempt to bring
about an immediate emancipation of slaves.
However anxious all might be, there should be
some amelioration in the condition of slaves,
yet when it was found that having only one hun-
dred and thirty-four slaves to deal with, and,
having some property to dispose of among them,
it was found impossible to point out any mode
of liberating them without the prospect of the
greatest mischief resulting from it, and of plung-
ing them into misery, the circumstances cer-
tainly were calcutated to teach a lesson
to the more ardent among the emanci-
pationists. Every proposition had been made
that could be thought of to the slaves in this
case, but the idea of liberty so intoxicated them
that they would listen to no terms whatever—a
melancholy proof how often it was that the
kindest and best intentions of individuals were
often lost upon the objects of them." So spoke
Sir Edward Sugden, as if he were the reta►ned
advocate for the system of colonial slavery, in-1
stead of being only the paid Counsel in a parti-
cular case, which should be argued on its own
peculiar circumstances. Not content with
making the observations which we have already
quoted, he told the Lord Chancellor once more,
at the conclu,ion of the hearing, that the case
" showed the greatest danger was to be appre-
hended from yielding to the almost general
public cry for the immediate emancipation of the
slaves." The Lord Chancellor admitted that
the case, as presented, suggested many and
very serious reflections with regard to negro
slavery, but said, before he would pronounce his
decision, he would advise with the Government.
The Lord Chancellor, having given the case ma-
ture deliberation, and carefully inquired into all
the circumstances that could serve to elucidate