The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-09 00:00:00

WINDOW-TAX.

Mr. WILLIAMS, seeing the Noble Lord the Mem! er
for Bath in his pace, wished t 3 ask him whether it was
his intention to renew his motion fur the repeal of the
window-tax this session?

Lord DUNCAN said that he should certainly take
the earliest opportunity of renewint this motion.
INTRAMURAL INTERMENTS.

In answer to a question from Mr. BERKELEY,
Sir GEORGE GREY said that the Board of Health
had it in charge to prq are a scheme f,r a Bill of this
nature; and as soon as this were forwarded to the Go-
vernment they would introduce a measure f this nature.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION.
Mr. lIORSMAN gave notice that on Monday night
he should give notice of motion fur a Committee to in-
quire into the allegations lately made against the First
Lord of the Treasury and the Secretary of &ate.
Lie wished to know whether, as it would be ineonvemei.t
fur him to attend the House at a Lite period in tt.e
evening on Monday next, the Noble Lord (Lord J. Rut-
sell) would have any objtetion to take the motion at five
o'clock?

Lord J. RUSSELL said he would have no objection
;o take it at that time.

COLONIAL POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
The House then resolved itself into a Committee of
the vhole House, and

Lord JOHN RUSSELL rose to move for a
Bill for the; better government of the Austra-
lian Colonies, and to make a statement of
the colonial policy of the Government. He said
it was, perhaps, advisable, at that early period
of the session, that some statement should be made, on
the part of the Government, of the general policy which
they meant to pursue with regard to our colonial
possessions. So many statements had been made
on the subject, and there was such a variety
of opinions entertained regarding it, that it seemed
right that the Government should declare what view
they took of the iet2rests which were from time to time
committed to theircare, and what would be the permanent
policy of this country. In undertaking this task he was
conscious how unable hi was to fulfil the whole of the
requisitions which its assumption implied—he felt how
unable he was to discharge the task which he had un-
dertaken. Nevertheless he conceived the House would
need, and perhaps be glad to receive, whatever informa-
tion the Government posses: ed to assist them in their
deliberations. There were several Hon. Gentlemen,
Members of that House, who had eminently distin.
guished themselves by their knowledge of colonial
affsire' and among them he micht distinguish the Hon.
Member for Swathe ark and the Eon. Member for Sheffield
for their eminent knowledge of colonial affairs, both in
their speeches in that House and in the printed
declarations which they had circulated throughout the
country. He was bound to say that what they proposed
was well worthy of consideration. From the time of
James I. to that of Charles I. several islands had been
discovered in the West Indies, and afterwards aban-
doned, but which were afterwards taken posses-
sion of by British navigators. Under the Pro-
tectorate certain restrictions were imposed on the inter-
course with those islands by Spain and other countries.
It was not, to be expected that Cromwell, with his high
notions of British power and British wcalth, would sub-
mit to the: e restrictions, and accordingly he sent out an
expedition to connect certain islands in the West Indies
with our own, which failed through an accident. After-
wards, in the reign of Charles the Second, other islands
in the West Indies were occupied by us. Such was the
commencement, then, of our colonial possessions. In
the beginning of the next century during the war we
added to them, and after the glorious war of 1756 many
additional places were added to our posessious. Be-
sides which we obtained possession of Canada,
which acquisition, the 'Marquis of Montcalm
declared, would be a great loss to France;
but as it would cause the separation of England from
her other American colonies, the loss would be more
than counterbalanced by that event. In the unfortunate
war with the; provinces of America our losses were
indeed great, but in the great revolutionary
war, which was begun in 1793, we made
farther accessions of colonial territory through the in.
fluence of our naval and military forces, which were
confirmed to us by the treaties of 1814. The Noble
Lord then read a list of the colonies which had come into
the possession of this country from 1617 down to 1814.
He would now state what were the general principles
upon which thosedependencies were colonized. In the first
place, it seemed to have been an object to send settlers
out from this country, and to enable them to colonize
distant islands; but, in the next place, it was evidently the
system of this country, as it was then of all the
countries of Europe, to maintain a strict commercial
monopoly with respect to those colonies. Various Acts,
to which ho need not allude, and some of which bad
been recently under the consideration of the House, took
care that the whole trade of those colonies should centre
in this country, and that their productions should be sent
nt
to this country. It was conceived at a late perio_r.
thatd
had very great advantages in that monopoly.
said
Itze_
_)
we
des, so late as 1796, speakingof thed
colonies,
market tiodrittheir
productions elsewhere. But 1.
were to permit them they wouldher fin a
annddutiheas most
remarkable character attending those
1 e w
ashr
ant
colonies,e and
was whenever
"carried vvit
es they h them the freedom and le-
Englishmen were sent to these cult)
m
(Here the Noble Lord read
some extracts from a stitutions of the mother country.—(Hear, hear.)
pa-
tent given to the Earl of Carlisle. Rho went out, as
Governor of Barbadocs, in 1629, during the reign of
Charles 1., which showed that his Lordship and his
heirs were thereby empowered to make laws for
the colony, with the consent of the inhabitants.)
The government of Jamaica, settled by Cromwell, was at
first entirely absolute; but in the reign of Charles 11. it
was ordered that an Assembly should be called in Ja-
maica; that by it laws and statutes should be ordained
upon the model of English institutions. It so hap-
pened that not long afterwards, in the reign of James
11., there was a question with regard to this very
colony of Barbadocs, and in fact affecting the huts-
rests of the whole of the British colonies. (The
Noble Lord then read a l atsage from Mr. Fox's
history of the FeMution, SiYiDg the opiuien of laud