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

yet he did not shrink from particulars such as the
Hon. Member had gone into: The Hon. Gentleman
asked, whether it were proper that there should be
driving to the field with the cart-whip ? 'He should
say, certainly not. lle was for abolishing. in tote -that
degi aJing punishment as applied to !males. He
would have the Sabbath more strictly avroptiated
to devotion and religious instruction, and greater
time allowed for recreation. .The-e duce points he
was disposed to yield entirely ; there were other paints
upon which he wished for a mole gradual change, but
upon which he also agreed with the4.lon.tientleman in
principle. The r ig iot (die:Wing p, ()per ty and the liberty
of irekrest should he extended to the slaves, it possible;
it was desirable al-o to allow of their evidence being
received, with certain tete: ictions and regulations.—
lle agieed, too, u ith the Honourable Gentleman
upon the subject of the valuation of slaves; he agreed
ss ith l,im, GOI morally, but legally, that the writ of
tliTow:s should be abolished : on these
points the:e was every disposition to enter upon in-
((airy, and he should but ill discharge his duty if he
were not prepared to say, that on most of these points
there was no indisposition amongst those Gentlemen
who there the Representatives of the Colonial inte-
rests 1 er , to cuter into a full and candid considera-
tion. There was orre sense in which, indeed, they
disagreed with the opinions of the Honourable Gen-
tleman. lie (Mr. Buxton) thought the shortest and
the best way of extinguishing slavery would be to
name a day, after which all who were born should
be free; and he moreover thought that such a mea-
sure would satisfy the present race of slaves, and
tender them contented with their situation. ;Now
his (Alr. Canning's) opinion was, not from any know-
ledge which he possessed of the wishes and feelings
of that unhappy race, but from all be knew of
human nature, that the very fact of pouring in
its fell blaze of liberty on some, would, from its
very cot:oast. to the gloom of the others, be a step
of the most hazardous desceiption
He only threw out these doubts as preseittrog 'them-
selves strongly• to hiS, mind; yet they were but doubts,
and if he, and those who acted with him, could be
ultimately convinced by the Hon. Gentleman that
such doubts were not well-founded, the channel of
their conduct would still be open. But he objected
to giving any pledge of an abstract nature, and
laying it down for the construction of those whose
every feeling and passion would be awakened to force
extreme, unanticipated, and contradictory meanings
upon the terms employed. They must not lay down
their principles too largely, or their qualifications
would come too lite. The course he-would earnestly
recommend to the House was, to ln4l:trip- their qua-
lifications in the body of their principlc, so tkat nd
misapprehension could be pleaded, and no misinterl
pretation arise. To effect this he should propose the
following Resolutions:
First—That it is expedient to adopt the most efficient•and de-
cisive measures for ameliorating the condition of Slaves in our
Colonies.

Second—That this House and the Government, by a firm,
determined, and temperate enforcement of such measures, hope
so to improve the condition of the Slaves, as to prepare them for
the enjoyment of those civil rights and liberties which are en-
joyed by others of his Majesty's subjects.
And if these Resolutions were agreed to, the third
would be,
That this (louse and the Government were anxious, at.the
eariiest period, to enter into the subject, with every view com-
patible with the well-being of the Slaves, the safety of our Colo-
n'e-, and the interests of all those who were concerned in the
preservation of their property.

. . •
—lf these Resolutions were agreed to by the House,
he should then move that they be laid on the table
and printed. There was one other topic upon which
he would detain the House for a short time; livmeant
the conduct to be pursued by the Executive. There,
were some Colonies in which the Crown held au-
thority without independent Legislatures; and there
the measures decided upon might be carried into effect
without obstruction. What was done there, he trusted,
would operate witifthe force of example upon the other
Colonies. Ile thought it was only fair to expect a real
and earnest co-operation from the Colonial establish-
ments. Looking to the extreme, and what he believed
not to be the probable case, of any disinclination or op-
position to the measures recommertded by the Execu-
tive, on the part of the local Legislatures, he should not
be slow in coming to Parliament for its assistance.—
He had no wish to prolong this discussion, but he
rather endeavoured to close it. He gave every cre-
dit to the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Ruston), for the mo-
tives which animated him in bringing this subject
forward. He was sure it was in per feet consistency
with his sympathy to his moral feelings ; but stand-
ing in the situation in which he (Mr. Canning) had the
honour to stand, it was his duty to look at the subject
more practically, more critically, and more dubiously
than the Hon. Gentleman (Mr.Buston). He assured the
House, and every one concerned in the question, that'
whatever might be the result, he was not more anxious
to redeem the character of this country upon the sub-
' ject of slavery in our colonies, than he was to guard
the just interests of those who, by no fault of their
own—who by inheritance or purchase—repeated'
Acts of Parliament, and the encouragement of • the
Legislature—were induced to risk greater hazards of
climate and capital than could be known to persons
not placed in their situation—(Hear).
The Amended Resolutioni being put,
Mr. WILBERFORCE had heard with much plea-
sure the speech with which his Hon. Friend (Mr.
Buxton) had prefaced the resolution which he had
.submitted to the House, as also the declaration and
assurance of the Right Hon. Secretory, that early
and earnest attention should be directed to the con-
sideration of this important question. In the eloquent
speech which the Right Hon. Gentleman addressed
to the House, he had said, that after Christianity had
been introduced, a system of- the most degrading
slavery had prevailed; an essential distinction, how-
ever, should be made between that period and the
present, for the assembly of Rome at that time .was
an assembly of heathens, whereas the present ap-
peal was made to a legislative assembly of Chris.
tians—(Hear, hear). He would contend that the
abolition of ,slavery was enjoined by the precepts
of Christianity, and was perfectly compatible with
the spirit and practice of the British Constitution.—
As to the apprehensions of the Right Honourable Se-
cretary from the discussia.s in that House reaching
the Colonies, he thought them altogether unfounded.
All the discussions hitherto on this subject had been
published in the Colonial Newspapers and Gazettes,.
and even plans by which a successful. insurrection of
the slaves might be effected were pit:444W in. their