The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-17 00:00:00

Mr. O'Driscoll, but he thought there was considerable
palliation in his case.
The Earl of WICKLOW eulogised the government of
Earl de Grey, and contended that her Majesty's Govern-
ment were justified in restoring Mr. O'Driscoll to the
bench. lie thought it would have been unjust to have
subjected this gentleman to degradation for life merely
upon the circumstances which had been detailed With
respect to his conduct.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE contended that
Mr. O'Driseoll had been replaced on the bench to suit
party views and party purposes. He thought there had
not been the shadow of an excuse offered for the conduct
of this gentleman, and therefore he was of opinion that
his rest,,ration to the bench was unjustifiable, and not to.
be defended.

The Earl of BANDON said he had signed the me•
rnorial to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, praying for
the restoration of Mr. O'Driscoll, and to that memorial
were attached the names of two Peers agreeing in NU'
tics with Noble Lords opposiP:e.
Lord CAMPBELL throught from what he had heard,
that Mr. O'Driscoll was a pets.,n-who was unfit to be re-
tained in the commission of the peace.
The Earl of GLENG ALL said there were a lot of
paltry, contemptible, pettifogging lawyers in Ireland,
who were in the habit of fr quenting courts of pettY
sessions, in order to pick tip charges against the magie"
trates, out of which they can gain something in the shape
of costs. Mr. O'Driscoll was one of the men Iv ho
had set their face against the repeal agi-
tation, and the consequence was that he had made
himself obnoxious. He asserted that this was a party
matter, for the charge against Mr. O'Driscoli had been
merely trumped up to suit party purposes. Mr.
O'Driscoll was an enlightened Roman Catholic, and he'
cause he had opposed the repeal conspiracy, every cir-
cumstance was laid hold of, in order, if possible, to do
him an injury.
The Earl of MOUNTCASHEL defended Mr. O'Dris-
coll, as a gentleman who had well performed his magis-
terial duties for a great number of years, and as a gen'
tleman every way calculated to exercise judicial func-
tions. Mr. O'Driscoll lived in a part of the country
where gentlemen were very scarce—(Laughter)—and
hence he was looked upon with anything but kindly
feeling.
The LORD CHANCELLOR defended the Lord
Chancellor of Ireland, and said that no man had ever
ado inistered justice in that country with greater ink"
partiality. He was of the same opinion with Noble
Lords on that (the Ministerial) side of the House, that
this charge had been got up in consequence of Mr.
O'Driscoll being a Roman Catholic, a Conservative, and
an anti-repealer. It appeared from the papers which
had been laid on their Lordships' table upon this sub-
ject; that the assault on the boy was anything but of an
aggravated character. .He did not mean to justify Mr.
O'Driscoll's conduct; but this he would say, that a
great deal of exaggeration had been indulged in with
respect to it.

The Earl of RADNOR looked upon this case as a most
,important one, and one upon which they ought to have
'the fullest information. If the boy who was assaulted by
Mr. O'Driscoll had assaulted that gentleman, the case
would not have been treated as a petty assault, but the
boy would have been sent to prison. There ought to
be equal justice to rich and poor, and in this matter jus-
tice had not been obtained.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE explained.
Lord CAMPBELL rose, but was interrupted by
The Earl of WICKLOW, who appealed to their
Lordships whether it was in order for the Noble and
Learned Lord to address their Lordships twice in the
same debate.
Lord CAMPBELL said he only rose to explain.
The Earl of BANDON said, the memorial to the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, praying fur the restoration
of Mr..O'Driscoll was signed by parties, of all shades of
politics, the numbers being almost equally balanced.
Earl FORTESCUE replied.
The motion was then agreed to.
CHARITABLE DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS
(IRELAND) BILL.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE then moved that the report
on this Bill be received. Several amendments had been
made in the Bill in Committee, and he confidently hoped
that the measure would prove a very beneficial one to
Ireland. There were, however, still some amendments
which it was thought expedient to make, and for this , •
purpose; he would move hereafter that the Bill be recom-
mitted.' The Noble Lord then proceeded to explain the
object of the Bill, which was intended to settle the law
with respect to charitable bequests in Ireland. It pro- .
vided that a commission Z., hould be established in Dublin, ,
consisting of five Protestants and five Roman Catholics,
for the purpose of holding charitable bequests in trust.
He believed that the Bill would meet with the general
approbation of the people of Ireland, and he confidently.
recommended it to their Lordships.
The Marquis of NORMANBY tendered his thanks
.to the Government for having introduced this measure, '
which he considered a very conciliatory one.
Lord BEAUMONT expressed his satisfaction with
the measure.

Lord CAMOYS thanked the Government for having
introduced the Bill.

After a short conversation the report was received.
certain amendments were proposed, and the Bill was
ordered to be printed.
The Customs Duties (Isle of Man) Bill passed through
Committee.

The remaining Bills on the table were advanced *
stage, -and their Lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 16;
THE SLAVE TRADE,
Viscount PALMERSTON said that he wished to
make" a few observations on the slave trade itself
before he entered upon the motion of which he had giver'
notice. It was a subject of great importance not known
to that House,*nnd it still continued to engage the atten-
tion of Parliament and the country. Many of the most
enlightened men on both sides of the House and out of
the -House had exerted their talents to put an end to
slaveryiand they at length succeeded in rescuing this
country from the foul stain of slavery, but that great
result was not completed without much labour.
They must, therefore, look with tenderness on the errors
of other countries who had not yet resolved to follow in
their footsteps, remembering the long and painful efforts
which it had cost them to actin themselves from such
pursuits.—(Hear.) If there were thiase who had con-
tracted relations with them, the object of which was the
suppression of the slave trade, they would make themselves
participators in the crime if they relieved them from the
engagements into which they had entered. The in-
vestigiitions which had taken place, with their disgusting
details, had brought round the minds of men in this
country to determine that England at least should
adhere to such treaties. The details were well nigh
forgotten, though perhaps all men had a general
notion that the slave trade was a cruel thing ; that
it was barbarous to tear men by violence from
their homes, their families, and their country ;
to transport them across the sea, and to doom them to
pass the remainder of their short lives in pain and toil,
under the lash of a foreign tyrant : though these things
were known and felt by all, yet he believed thereto/ere few
who at that time of day had any adequate conception
of the cruelties of which the slave trade was the cause. It
was difficult to make, with any degree of certainty, a cal-
culation of the number of persons who were annually taken
to the islands and continent of America for the purpose
of being consigned to slavery. The returns for which
he was going to move would, it was true, furnish some
information, but that information was received from
their own consular agents.—(Hear, hear.) The Govern-
ments of the countries into which these negroes
were imported published no returns. Although those
Governments were bound by engagements with Eng-
land,- to prohibit the slave trade, yet many of
them—the Governments of Spain and Brazil notoriously
—set those engagements at defiance—(Hear, hear.) In
some places they even derived revenue from the violation
of the treaty. Of one thing they must be assured, that
all the accounts fell short of the truth.—(Hear, hear.)
Exceed it they could not ; and it was reasonable to be-
lieve that they fell short of it. Now, what were the
!lumbers calculated as the annual importation into the
islands and continents of America ? Mr. Vandernell, in
his able work, compiled from • official documents,
calculated the numbers of those annually landed at from
120,000 to 130,000. Sir Powell Buxton, in his most
interesting and valuable work, stated the number
to be about one hundred and fifty thousand, and
whatever calculation they took,what au enormous amount
of human misery and of human crime did that simple
statement involve. When they looked at abstract
general stetomentg of numbers, represented by
figures on paper, the mind was apt not to
embrace, in all its details, the extent of the
fact thus ascertained.—(Hear, hear.) But let any man
consider, in his own mind, what 150,000 people were.
Let any man who had seen a large army, amounting
to 150,000 men, assembled at one time, imagine
that he saw
.that number assembled together on a
plain; let him consider that they were travelling fast to•
wards their doom—that that mass of human beings were
going to painful and premature death, and under every
variety of bodily and mental torture. Why
would not any man who witnessed such a sight,
invoke the vengeance of Heaven upon the authors of
such an enormity ? But if any man looked only at the
number of victims actually sacrificed from the population
of Africa to the avarice and the cruelty of men —he would
not call them Christian men, but men belonging to
Christian nations ; he would be far indeed from
arriving at the truth. It was calculated, and,
he believed, not without good data, that for
every negro who had been landed two others
had perished in the previous stages of the slave trade
that whatever number was landed three times that
number had been sacrificed on the passage, and before
they reached the ship. It was well known that the
negroes did not collect in the immediate
neighbourhood in which they were embarked;
Many were imported from a great distance, hundreds of
miles. Some were taken captive in the wars. The
greater number was the result of slave hunting_
or man-stealing, which prevailed over the interior ea
Africa. When the time ,of year came round for sending
the slaves to the coast, some peaceful African village;
whose unsuspecting inhabitants were buried in that
repose which Nature kindly bestows on man to 15_1'
him for the useful occupations and innocent enjoymen4
of the succeeding day—that village in the dead of nikee
was surrounded by armed ruffians, the population were
roused from their sleep by the flames which enveloped
their dwellings, and endeavoured to escape, seT
by flight, some by resistance, but all in vel°l.
for they . were overpowered, and either slain °a
captured. Sometimes the village was on r
hill, which afforded. great natural facilities
buried
escape, and many of the unfortunate creatures burte:•,
themselves in caverns, but these they were compelled
evaeuate, for their inhuman pursuers made a tire at te
mouth of the cavern, so that they had only the choice
between suffocation and captivity. Thus all were e#
pelled to, yield.
_Then Caine the selection. Thuso
, -
who were pale and unhealthy, children ebt