The Sun.
London, England, 1832-04-18 00:00:00

LONDON,
WEDNESDAY EVENING. APRIL 18, 1832.

An interesting discussion took place last night
in the House of Lords on the subject of the
Colonial Trade. The Lad of HAREwOOD
opened the debate by the presentation of a peti-
tion which was agreed to at the late important
meeting of the West India Proprietors. In al-
luding to the distresses of these gentlemen, his
Lordship observed that they pressed to so
great a degree as to annihilate a considerable
portion of the property of the West India
Proprietors. In fact the state of things was
such, that the produce of the country was
literally confiscated, and he would not hesi-
tate to say that if the present system were
allowed to be carried on, the British %Vest
India Colonies must sink. His Lordship com-
mented at some length on the Orders in Coun-
cil, which, he said, had been framed as if all
the moral, religious, and physical wants of the
negroes had been utterly neglected, and which
hitherto had only hal the effect of making the
slaves look abroad, instead of at home, for
protection.

Lord SUFFIELD admitted the existence of
great distress in the West India colonies, but con-
tended that it arose solely from the oppressive
system of slavery. 'With regard to the
Orders in Council, his Lordship expressed
his great obligations to Government for
these, the only, means that had been
found to carry into effect the manumission
of slaves. On the subject of an inquiry, he
would not consent to an investigation into that
which could not but be manifest to every one.
Lord GODERICII was willing to comply with
the prayer of the petitioners for a full Parlia-
mentary inquiry into the state of the slaves and
their civilization, though, were he a West Indian
proprietor, he should not think such an inquiry
requisite. As a Member of the Committee he
would endeavour to elicit truth ; but nothing
could be more unfortunate than the slightest de-
sire to stop any of the measures of amelioration.

Lord SEAF.ORD was warmly in favour of a
Parliamentary inquiry, and conjured the Noble
Viscount not to pursue a course which might
again light up the flames in the Island of Jamaica.
He hoped instead, that he would send out the
new Governor (Earl MULGRAVE) with the
olive branch in his hand.

The Archbishop of CANTERBURY bore tes-
timony to the uniform liberality of 'West Indian
proprietors i❑ subscribing towards giving the
slaves the benefit of a religious education. We
cannot help thinking with our contemporary, the
Morning Chronicle, that the Right Rev. Pre-
late is a little in error on this point. To pro-
mote education among the slaves, is to unfit them,
more or less, for the task of servitude, to whet
their ambition, and render them wholly
discontented with that lot, which has
assigned them a rank in the scale of creation little
inferior to the brute animals. The West Indian
proprietors cannot but be aware of this, and
would therefore, " from the very nature of
things, (as the chronicle truly observes) be
jealous of the growth of intelligence among the
blacks," and regard the advent of the school-
master among them, as an event rather to be de-
precated, than desired.
The Duke of WELLINGTON was anxious
that their Lordships sh mid go into an inquiry