Star.
London, England, 1830-07-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOUR.VALS.

Cstiowscr.s.—Among the Parliamentary Papers distributed
yesterday was an Abstract of the latest Returns from each of the
blare Colonies, including the Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope,
of the Slays Population, distinguishing the sexes. Our West Indian
and American Colonies exhibited a total of male and female Slaves
nearly equal to each other, the males being 345,882, and the females
345,424. This list is dated Colonial Registry-office, July 8, 1830,
and subscribed Time. Amyot, Registrar. Mr. Amyot,we perceive, has
drawn up this short list in a slovenly manner, for he has given to Bar.
badoes and Demerara exactly the same figures. The males in both are
37,141 the females 32,328; the total 69,467. The truth is, that be
has given to Barbados the figures of Demerara. In Barbados the
females will, we have no doubt, be found to exceed the males in
number. We notice this now, because we have seldom looked into
a Parliamentary Paper which we have net found drawn up in a
slovenly manner. The other Colonies afford, on the face of the
Returns, evldeace of a traffic in Slaves. In Mauritius the males
are 47,857, and the females 29,117. An immense number of
Slaves must have been smuggled into this Colony. to account for
this disproportion in the sexes. In the Cape of Good Hope, too,
the males are 21,210, and the females 14,299. There must have
been scandalous doings in both these Colonies.

HEIL/MD.—The legislation of lawyers is not always successful.
Of this truth the Parliamentary labours of the present Attorney.
General furnish melancholy and ludicrous proof. Of all that class
of legislators, whose genius has " expanded within the atmosphere of
Westminster Hall, be is theme who has lost most of the bloom of his
reputation by being transplanted into Parliament. The public re-
collect his abortive efforts at legislating on the poor.law system
sonic time ago. His bill upon that subject provoked more sarcastic
notice than such a dry question usually supplies to enliven the de.
liberations of a grave assembly. Even his bill to repeal that
infamous Act, which inflicted banishment, for a second
offence for a political libel, though intended as a liberal and gracious
measure, was mixed up with such objectionable matter as to excite
the severe animadversion of the press, and the serious opposition of
all liberal members of parliament. Such an innovation was made
upon the bill by a successful amendment of Lord Morpeth, that it
required all the power that government wields in the House of
Commons to repair the defeat which the Attorney. General had sue.
tinned, and to restore his bill to its original and inglorious identity.'
But the " Administration of Justice" Bill seems to be the clowning
work of his infelicitous essays at legislation. That bill, it is true,
passed the House of Commoos,not w ithstanding the hard knocks which
it received, and the gantelope of ridicule which it had to run
by the way ; yet in what state did it come to the other House ?
Here is the description which Lord Durham gave of it on
Alonday night. He raid " that this Bill had come to their
Lordships' House in so very imperfect a state, that the Lord
Chief Justice of England had felt it his duty to pay
attention to the enactments, :and had scarcely allowed a line tic
to stand without some alteration." We cannot conceive
a more severe condemnation of the Attorney-General than
is conveyed by this amicable interposition of the Lad
Chief Justice to save the Legislature from the reproach
of passing such a law. The Attorney-General has distin-
guished himself by opening a heavy tire of es-officio informs.
tions upon the press for publishing what he alleged had a
tendency to bring the ministers and the legislature into contempt ;
but has he not himself, by bringing in a bill so faulty as to require
the relentless pruning-knife of the Lord Chief Justice, done all in
his power to bring the legislature into contempt ? Lind Durham
further said, " It would be desirable the bill should be once more
examined by their lordships, for no person could be supposed to be
competent to give anything like a satisfactory opinion of this bill
and its enactments within the time now limited tor passing the bill
unless he were a lawyer by profession." Thus so much time had
been occupied in correcting the errors of the bill, that little or no time
was left for the consideration of its principle and provisions by the
House of Lords before the close of the session. We need not
wonder at the instances of clumsy and ridiculous legislation which
are to be found in the Statute-book, when in this, the 30th year of
what is emphatically called the " age of intellect," the Attorney-Go.
neral of England—the Leader of the King's Bench—a lawyer
grown grey in practice of the laws—a stern and inexorable pane
of the Press—frames a law that, when it goes to the Upper New
of the Legislature, makes it necessary for the Lend Chief Jno.
tice of the King's Bench to revise and correct it with such meved.
less criticism as " scarcely to allow a line of it to remain without
alteration." If, after this, the Attorney.thneral pursue his legis.
lathe labours any further, he must indeed have an inordinate
appetite of a very unenviable sort of distinction.

Mtgs.—The Paris papers of Tuesday contain no details respect.
ing the progress of French arms or French policy in the north of
Africa, beyond the information contained in General Bournsont's
despatch of the Bth inst. which we published yesterday. That de.
spatch itself, with all its candour and all its simplicity, supplies
abundant materials for political reflection. Without making the
slightest allusion to the nature of the instructions which be
had received from his Government, or the outline of the plan
which he is employed to execute, the pliant General de.
scribes acts and proceedings on his part which sufficiently is.
dicate the light in which he views his resent triumph. Every pert
of his conduct shows that he treats Algiers as a conquered country,
of which France may hold permanent possession. He refuses to
enter into any terms with the Dey, either as an independent ruler or
the delegate of the Porte—he deposes his Highness, if he was a
sovereign, and deposes his master, if he was a dependent.
His late Highness is not only striped of his power, but even
banished from his country. It is made to appear In the de-
spatch that the Dey asked leave to proceed to Leghorn ; but
though he had the choice of his place in Europe, he had
no power to remain at Algiers. This is evident from that part of
the General's communication which refers to the Turkish troops.
Even they, along with their commander, are to be conveyed front
their country, not as prisoners of war, to remain in depot till a
peace is concluded, but as exiles, never to return. Every vestige
of Turkish authority is thus removed ; the Dey and the Sultan
(In Napoleon language) " have ceased to reign ;" and as every
other competitor for - sovereign sway has dieappeared foe the
last three centuries, the French change places with the Turks,
and are left in the enjoyment of all the rights of conquest. The
Bey of Titery, one of the subordinate chiefs of the Regency,
had owned submission to the Dey of Algiers. He finds it impossi-
ble to continue a struggle in which his master has succumbed ; he
offers, therefore, to submit; his submission is accepted, and his de.
legated authority continued, on "condition of paying to the French
the same tribute as to the Dey." The same terms are held oat to
the other Beys of the Regency, and a similar acknowledgment of
vassalage is expected. It would be superfluous to dwell any
longer on those minute circumstances which indicate in Ge-
neral Bounnont an intention of keeping permanent
Sion of his new conquest. They are to be found posses.i
is
whole conduct, but particularly in the appointment of what
the gallant general calls " a commission to point the modifies.
tions which late events render necessary in the administration
and form of the Government." If the conqueror only contemplated
the military occupation of the city and the Regency till French ho-
nour was satisfied, French indemnities secured, and guarantees ob.
tained against future piracies, what had he to do with " the form
of the Turkish Government ?" The views and wishes, there-
fore, of the new Marshal of France, point evidently towards a
permanent occupation of Algiers as a dominion acquired by
the right of conquest, without any reference to the literate
or consent of other nations. But the policy of the French Ge.
neral is not necessarily the policy of the French Cabinet. Without
any further allusion to our own notions on this important question,
we may safely say, that it cannot thus be settled by a military coup.
de.tmain,— that the sovereignty of 2.000.000 of souls, so situated
with regard to Europe, cannot be settled by an order of the day
issued from the head quarters of a victorious army, after a cam.
paign of only 21 days ; and that the dominion of the Dey and the
Sultan, however barbarous, cannot be transferred to the French with.
out some further justification of the change than that which comes
from the mouth of their cannon. General Bourniont had only held
possession of Algiers for three days when he wrote his despatch last
published he might not be in possession of the views of his Go-
vernment, nor might he, as a soldier be aware of the negotiations
preceder
which mustthe settlement of important a conquest. The
Court of the Tuileries is too reasonable to adopt the hasty views of
its ardent and victorious commander; and whatever may be the
arrangements ultimately formed for the extinction of Algerine pi-
racy, the abolition of Christian slavery, and the civilisation of the
Barbaresque states, they will be adopted with the consent of the
Allies of France, they will have some regard to existing rights, and
will not be the mere expression of the will of the strongest. We
need scarcely add, in order to guard ourselves from misconstrue-
/ion, that we are decided friends to the civilisation and improvement
of Northern Africa, though se think it right to express our opi-
nion that our neighbours should not take the whole work into their
own hands. The settlement of so important a question as the fate
of Algiers involves, must be the result of European negotiation.

SAFRTY FROM SMEILL-PDX..--111 one of Jenner's
note. books, of 1799, we find the following anecdote I know of
no direct allusion to the disease In any ancient writer, yet the fol-
lowing seems not very distantly to bear upon It. When the Duchess
of Cleveland wu taunted by hew companions, Moll Davis (Lady
Mary Davis) and others„ that she might soon have to deplore the
loss of that beauty which was then her boast, the small-pox at that
time raging in London, she made a reply to this effeet--that she
had no fear about the matter, for she had had a disorder which
would prevent her from ever catching the small-pox. This was
lately communicated by a gentleman in this county, but unfortu-
nately he could not recollect from what author be gained this Intel.
ilgence.".—Family Library, No. XIV.