Star.
London, England, 1823-05-16 00:00:00

Papers,.and the appearance of those articles created'
nainticridation there. There were, however, dun-
gets, sertOus and nit unreal dangers, Co` he war-
. hended from a neglect of the state and condition of
the slave population. With some difficulty an esti-..
mate, not perhaps a very accurate one, had been made
lof the state of the amount of the population ; and
from the best accounts that had been had on the sub-
ject, there was every reason to apprehend that the
population was decreasing. I%ly, then, he would
ask, was it that the great principle of " increase and
multiply" did not preyed there? It was attribetable
to the over-working of the slaves, and the state of
onmmorality to which the people were unfortunately
reduced'. That this decreaoe would be the inevitable
consequence of continuing the system, he (Mr. Wil-
berforce) ventured to predict thirty years ago, when
first he embai ked in the advocacy of this cause.—
fhe Ilan. Member next adverted to the inequality be-
tween the number of males and females, and the dispro-
pertionate excess of the latter. There were two points
to which he was anxious to call the particular atten-
tion of the House—first, as to the mode of alter ing
the system, and to.on this point he concurred in opi-
nion %%HI the Right lion. Secretary, that it was de-
sirable that a gradual conversion should take place,
which would be the gradual effect of the moral pro-
gress, and not the sudden change of measures. Yet
whilst he admitted the propriety of progressive re-
form, he would not consent to delay ; for when the
force and justice of the claims of this unfortunate
population were considered, no time should be lost,
and he would not consent for a moment unnecessarily
to prolong their slavery—(cheers). At the period to
which he had before alluded, a plan had been sug-
gested by a late Noble Friend of his (Lord Melville),
which, if carried into effect, he would undertake to
say would not now leave a slave remaining in the
British dominions. The next and only point to which
he felt it important to advert, was the mode of car-
rying the proposed measures into effect ; and a choice
was here to be made between the Government of this
country and the Colonial Legislatures. For his part, if
he could calculate upon the support Of these local Le-
gislatures, he would gladly give them the preference ;
but he could not forget that they had uniformly op-
posed every measure %villa' was calculated to pro-
mote the end which this House and the country con-
templated for the amelioration of the slave population.
The propositions on these Subjects came from persons,
too, who were likely to have them attended whh suc-
cess, but they were always counteracted by the Colo-
nies. He.therefore could have no great confidence
in their efforts. The Hon. Member next adverted to
the lairlay Which masters were permitted to sell their
dares for the payment of their debts, and quoted a
passage from a speech of Sir S. Romilly, in which he
declared that in proportion as the slaves were unfor-
tunate, degraded, and oppressed, in the same degree
it was the duty of the Legislature to protect and sup-
port them. He felt himself in a new situation from
that in which be was when he came into the Huse,
after the-pledge .which had been given hy the .Right
lion. Secretary, and hoped his Honourable Friend,
after the assurance of the Right Hun. Gentleman,
would not press his Resolution.
Mr. ELLIS felt himself called upon by a tense
.of
duty to the class of persons to which he heluaged, to'
stand up in defence of the characters of the 11 est In-
dia planters. As a West India plainer,
.6e-did not
consider himself as answerable for the coMniencernent
'of slavery. They had property in those-islands under'
the protection and sanction of the Parliament; nd,Government of Great Britain. He conceived them only
,bound to mitigate and improve the condition of their
slaves, for the benefit of their own property. Our
colonial system was established for the advantage of
British commerce and enterprize. The Slave Tra..!e
had always been treated by Parliament as part of that
system of laws for the preservation of our navigation
and marine. Parliament could not throw off them-
selves the responsibility of the Slave Trade, and fix sit
upon the Colonies. An amiable feeling of humanity
should not be allowed to lead to hasty and intempe-
rate measures. Though liberty was the greatest of poe
litical blessings, it was yet capable of being abused.
What would be the consequence should the slaves,
after their emancipation, retire to the mountains, and
betake themselves to plunder and rapine? As he
thought the effect of the Resolution of the Honourable
Gentleman would be to proclaim to the negroes that
they had a right to freedom at all events, and at all
hazards, he must give it his dissent. Should the
negroes be led to believe that Parliament wished to
give them that freedom which the Colonial Assem-
blies withheld, would they -not be tempted to assert
that freedom by force of arms? He admitted that
on former occasions more might have been done by
the Colonial Legislators, when he himself had, in
1797, moved an Address on the subject. But in
that year a law had passed for the better moral and
religious instruction of the slaves. In the years
1801, 1807, and 1815, several enactments had been
made for ameliorating the condition of the slaves.—
In 1819 a law had passed, making it incumbent on
the owner of a slave to communicate his death to the
Coroner. The salaries of the Curates had been raised
without the smallest hesitation from £3OO to £5OO
currency. The good effects of these enactments were
visible in the great and progressive improvement of
the slave population. He did not believe the whip
was used as a stimulus to labour, but as a symbol of
authority ; and he was confident there would he no
objection to the prohibition of its use. He also thought
'there would be no objection to allow the negroes ano
ther day than Sunday for their markets. Much had
been taken ont'of the hands of the Colonial Legisla:
tures by the British Parliament. All the livings were
at the disposal of the Governor sent from Britain ;
an,d all that was left to the Colonial Assemblies wis
to provide the salaries: Any want of good- morals, on
the part of the negroes, would be increased, and. riot
diminished, by the proposed emancipation. The Re-
solutions of his Right Hon. Friend would, if adopted,
have the best effects.

Mr. W. SMITH, while he admitted that the eman•
cipation should be gradual, must at the same t6ise
contend that it ought to be certain. To the want .cf
that certainty he chiefly objected in the Resolutions
of the Right Horn Gentleman. In 1816 a strong tc-
commenuation had been addressed to the Colonial
Legislatures, on the subject of the amelioration of
'the Slave population'. He wcruld-asit, irad anything
been- done in consequence or that recommendation ;
ovine anything in train to be done? As far as Ibis
information went, very little benefit had resulted from

I
•

the attempts to impart moral and religious culture
to the Negroes,.and emancipation had heen rendered
itiore difficult-than he ore. He wished to tearrifrom
the Right Hotioarahle Gentleman S hen his ptans'for
tfie amelioritinn of Vic S:avc n Ivotal-rt com-
mence ?—( (fear, heat).
Mr. ii RIG lIT defended the condart of :the We,e
InAia Pr3prietors, an.l conten fed that they were
anx:ously; employed 'n er.de v Mg to invoiove the
conqitiow of their slaves. He •ta.e.l that maaaniis-
, sions in the respective Islands had oil ite year; greatly
increased. The Colonial Legislator; had paid every
attention to the recommendation of the Crown in 1816.
Mr. GEORGE ROSE said th'et mach good had
arisen from thel tbours of the Wesleyan Missionaries,
particul 11.1:: in :he great dimirfution-of corporal pu-
nishment in the estates where the alegl.r,e, had the
advairage of their instructions.' If tbe,,Weslcyant
had ample funds, they could-do stiil:lnswe good. •
Mr. SYKES said.rt could not lie ...48411eiti. that the
negroes were called to labour bY-• the'Sertriel.hf the
whip, which was suspended • over .tlie-m..,:tureg the
day, and by it they were dismis-ed to rest.- The .evi-
*deuce of no slave-crsuld he taken in a CourL.of Jus-
tice. llc hoped Ministers-would keep a tsalchful
eye over the Colonial Legislatures.
Mr. MA It RYATT said, that in D.)mi,iiia-the tes-
.

timony of Negroes was received, be a law pass-d in
ISIS, and he had no doubt the example vvould be
speedily fahlowed in the other Islands. The Honour-
able Gentleman p:oceededto read the Reports of the ' •
Governors of many of the MIAs, by whic:r it ap-
peared that the condition of the Negro population had
been greativ improved, in consequence:of the aboli-
tion of the Save Trade. 'Those Revolt, did no: pro-
ceed from 'Nest Ind ;a Proprietors, hut from Br r:ish
Governors; in no respects tinctured with local preja•
dices. No doubt could be entertained that the House
ought to prefer the Resolutions of the Itilat Honour-
able Gmtleman, if conciiiation was the osuject,in view.
Mr. BROUGHAM bore testimony to the sincerity
of Mr. Canning in his efforts for the abolition of the
Slave Trade. But he lamented that no provisions
were made for carrying the Resolutions into rffect.
Past experience had on this subject taught him dis-
trust.—The author of the work entitled, " Negro
Slavery," had undergone the horrors of the middle
passage, that he might probe the evil to the Bottom.
The Honourable Gentleman here pronounced a bril-
liant eologiu or on Mr. Macaulay, whom he named
as the author of the work in question. The ll,nour-
able Gentleman then proceeded to comment on the
Reports read by the Member for Sandwich, and
especially on the Report from Jamaica, in which it
was stated th rt the Negroes were so well satisfied
with their situations that they would not be liberated.
This told well on papei; but it was unfortunate that
he held in his hand a Jamaica newspaper, which con-
tained numerous contradictions to this statement ; for
in this paper were advertised no less than forty run-
away slaves. This was somewhat extraordinary, con-
sidering that these people were so partial to their situa-
tions they would not change them. So much for this
Government testimony, given by persons interested.
So it was saial the cattwhip Was not used. Ile did not
mean to say the whip was always in use, or always in
the_hand of the driver, any more than a waggoner's
whip in this country was ; brit the whip was always
ready to be applied ; and, under fears of the same,
these unhappy victims ssiie forced to work, and re-
duced to a sithatitin•reserfitling that of a brine, ra-
-ther than of a man. It had been said, " Oh ! but it is
the interest of a planter.to use his slave well." Doubts
.might he held on that subject. Ile had heard that it
was not unu,ual fir a• Post-master; in this country,
to an: k his auinials much beyond-their strength,.and
thus, "in a short time, Make -a full profit of the un-
I fortunate animal,•. who, havin7.earned his value,
sunk down and died unregretted: Ile did not mean
to say. that the planters acted on this principle, but it
was a question which aJmitted Of an argument.—
The Right Hon.Gcritleman censured, in strong terms,
the whnle'Systent of West Indian economy, and espe-
•cially-ccrodemned the neglect which had taken place
in attaching the slave to the soil. Ile feared the Re-
solutions now held out for their adoption, would pro-
duce but little effect ; but even the little they *WU
give, he would gladly accept, strongly urging his
Honourable Friend, at no very distant day, to bring
forward a motion for fixing a specific day for the
emancipation of negio.childfets.
'Mr. BE RNA L defended the conduct of the Planter,
and strongly condemned the langeage7adnpted by his
Learned Friend the Member for Winchelsea.

Mr. BARING defended the Planters and West In-
dia Proprietors. He urged the injustice of touching
this description of property, unless compensation Was
made to the Proprietors. Adverting to the numerous
Petitions which had been presented on the subject,
he observed, these Petitions had been presented by
persons who had no knowledge whatever of the ques-
tion, but rather signed these Petitions as a Sklva for
their consciences.

Lord ALTHORPE admitted that the Proprietors
of Slaves were entitled to indemnity. He was quite
sure that the emancipation of the Slaves ought to be
gradual, but the state of the Slaves was one of: such
moral degradation, that no man could be found to
stand forward to advocate it. • • .
Mr. F. BUXTON rose merely to reply to one-Ob-
servation, namely, that the intention to indemnify
proprietors had not been expressed by him; he was
decidedly of opinion that indemnity ought to be
given. It had been said also that the freehold pro-
perty in a slave had been changed to a life pre-
petty ; but were we; in considering this question, to
teel as if discussing a poverty in. houses or • lands,
and not the state of human beings?—(Hear, heao.—
In reply to the.argumetit of the I-Vn. Gentleman, that .
the oeth of a Black was admissible against a White
person, he begged to refer to a case where a- persrin
hid been indicted for shooting as a Black soldier in
the Ist West India regiment, and m here the e-didence
of a Black.man would not be received. It w;t, sad
that the slave bad no feeling‘of the horrors of his si-
tuation. Wotild any man in his senses say, drat a
slave it:lt not that he was such, even though he sew
I:his wile stripped anCtortured—Ais children-sent to
maiket to be• sold* like • cattlec—until he should
read in an English newspaper that kuch were
cidaeytiint&s
,the trusted,: that. he ought to be shockcd at (Fleur)
u
usted,:replied to all that had been ad-
'vanded against his MotiOn, he wished to know to
what point•we had arrived? The Right Gca-
tlemart Hadrotated, thatlie thought the cart. whip with
rieb-,atd to females might be dispensed with—txat tlib