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

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr. M. A. TAYLOR presented a Petition from the Inhabit-
ants of Durham, praying for the gradual Abolition of Slavery in
the West Indies.—Ordered to be printed.
Similar Petitions were presented from Frome-Selwood,Witham,
Bridport, Belf.ut, Oldenby. the City of Gloucester, Loughbo-
rough, Dudley, Worcester, Norwich, Waltbamstow, Mansfield,
the town of Maryport, Wokingham, Dover, Buxton, GreatYar-
mouth, Swansea, the City of Bristol, Eye, Bath, Caine, and
three from Cumberland.

Mr.SCOTT presented aPetition from the Inhabitants of Brid-
port, against the Insolvent Debtors'Act.—Ordered to be printed.
A Petition was presented from the Inhabitants of Bronton,
against the Coal Duty.—Ordered to he printed.
SM ITH presented a Petition from the Merchants and
Bankers of Norwich, praying for some alteration in the
Insol-
vent Debtors' Act.—Ordered to be printed.
The Hon. Member presented a Petition from the same place,
praying flt- the repeal of the Coal Duties.
A similar Petition was presented front Upborough.
A Petition was presented from the Merchants and Bankers of
the City of Bristol, stating that the Petition presented from the
same city against Slavery did not speak the sentiments of the
inhabitants generally.
Mr. HUSKISSON presented a Petition front the Merchants
of Liverpool, praying that such steps might be taken as would
gradually prepare the Negro population of the West Indies for
emancipation from slavery.—Ordered to be printed.
Petitions were presented for the abolition of Slavery from the
Magistrates of Chester, by Lord lice ucava ; front the Jolla..
bitants of Giggleswich, in the county of York, by Lord MILTON;
from the Inhabitants of Maltby; from the Mayor and Aldermen '
of the Borough of Pontefract, by Mr. F. Buxton; also front
Coggeshall and Giggleham, in the county of Essex, by the same
Honourable Member; from the Inhabitants of Exeter, by Mr.
Conwrznair ; from the Borough of Thetford, by Mr. Commas;
from the Inhabitants of the county of Huntingdon, by Lord J.
Russets.; from the Inhabitants of Knaresborough, by Mr.
Tsaansv; and from the Bankers and Inhabitants of Ludlow, by
Lord Crave—all of which were ordered to be printed.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER gave notice,
that he should, on Friday, the 23d instant, move in the Com-
mittee of Supply a vote for the new additional Building at the
British Museum.

A Message from the Lords announced that their Lordships
had agreed to several public and private Bills.
Mr. W. SMITH, seeing the Honourable Gentleman, the
Colonial Secretary, in his place, begged to ask a question of him
connected with a Subject about to be discussed. In July,
1821, he had moved for certain Returns from the Colonies, re-
lative to the state of the Slave population. Many of those Re-
turns had been made, and yet they were not only not in the
hands of Honourable Members, but they were not even to
he found in the Colonial Office. He admitted having heard that
they had been laid upon the table last night, but he could find
no mention of them in the Votes. _ _ _

Mr. WI IshIOT-HORTON said the Returns had been laid
upon the table last night, although they had not been described
in the Votes.

Sir J. MACKINTOSH observed, that as Wednesday next
had been fixed upon for resuming the inquiry into the Irish busi-
ness, he thought it right to mention that be should on that even-
ing claim that priority for his motion on the Criminal Law, to
which he was by Parliamentary usage entitled.
Mr. BARING presented a Petition from the respective
Agents of the West Indian Colonists, praying the House to act
with great deliberation in the discussion respecting Slavery,
about to occupy their attention that evening. The Hun. Member
observed, that he did not wish to be understood, in presenting
this Petition, as giving any opinion on the subject, further than
to point out to the House that a question of this momentous na-
ture„involving the property and lives of the Colonists, could not
be treated with too much caution. He begged also to remind
the. House, that the property thus questioned was property which
it had been admitted might be held consistently with honour and
morality, and that they were not turned Christians for the first
time that night. He might complain, in behalf of the Petitioners,
that a motion of this kind should be brought forward without
any notice of the nature of the propositions to be submitted he-
ing given to them. He had always been a most resolute aboli-
tiorist, and he anxiously desired to see the slaves of the West
Indies ameliorated, and eventually emancipated ; but in doing
so, he hoped the Proprietors would be duly considered.—Head,
and ordered to be printed.
LINEN TRADE OF SCOTLAND.

Mr. LINDSAY presented Petitions from Dundee
and other places in Scotland, praying that the House
would seriously reflect before they made any altera-
tion iu the Linen Laws of Scotland, under which that
manufacture had gone on gradually improving until
it arrived at its present flourishing state. The Hon.
Member spoke in support of the Petition.
Mr. RICARDO opposed the Petition.
Sir It. FERGUSON also opposed it. The stamp-
masters had got the mob to go along with them.—
The Petition was signed, not by weavers, but by
tailors, coblers, and coal-merchants. He begged
to mention that his Hon. Friend • had, indeed, one
Petition from the county of Perth, which was

Mr. HUME, in reply to the Hon. lietiiiier who
spoke last, begged to call to his recollection that Irish
manufactured cottons had been frequently passed ail
linens, by their having stamps affiied to them. Hi
thought the trade ought to be left free; those who.
clio,e might adopt the stamps, and those who thought
them unnecessary might dispense with them.
Mr. LI USK ISSON hoped that the Petitioneri might
have clic liberty to stamp if they thought proper.
Mr. BA RING considered the stamp as g most ins:.
po: taitt security to the trade, by siting tonfidence to
the purchaser. The Ii is!i provision trade was mainly
indebted to that practice for its success. In America;
where the same practice prevailed, similar success at-
tended it. The system was in many respects wise:
though in particular casei it might be objeitionable,
yet in general it tould not be denied that it was pro;
ductive of great advantage.
Mr. MABERLY thought the stamp said nothing
for the quality, but merely that the article was pro-
perly manufactured. The stamping was no security
to the merchant, as had been repeatedly proved.
Mr. LINDSAY was not so well aware of the man
ner in which the Petitions had been got up, as the
gallant General opposite professed to be. Itphad
been confided to him by his constituents, and he
could assure the House, that all the Petitions con-
tained the names of most respectable persons.
The Petition was then ordered to lie on the table:

MERCHANT AND FACTOR.
Mr. J. SMITH moved that a Select Committee
be appointed, to inquire into the state of the law re-
lating to consigned merchandize as between principal
and agent.
Mr. Serjeant ONSLOIV felt extreme pleasure in
seconding the motion.
Mr. M A RRYATT doubted the expediency of alter.;
inu the law as it now stood. They had heard much
about the merchant and the factor, but they were not
the persons who were most interested in the present
question. The person really interested was the
broker, who advanced money upon the bills of lading,
without first asking the merchant whether the pro-
perty was his own. But if the broker would not put
so necessary a question, he had no right to call upon
the Legislature to alter the laws for his own private
convenier.ce. Perfectly satisfied however, that in
the hands of his hon. Friend the interests of com-
merce would be safe, he should not object to the ap..
pointment of the proposed Committee.
Mr. SYKES thought that some alteration of the
law was absolutely necessary. He had in his own ex-
perience met with cases ofgreat injury to individuals;
arising from the present law. He could not see how
the interest of the consigner could be affected by the
measure proposed by his lion. Friend.
Mr. ROBERTSON was decidedly opposed to the
measure. He objected to the precipitancy with which
the measure was attempted to be carried. The Peti-
tion had only been presented on Monday, and notice
had then been given of the present motion, whilst no
opportunity had been given to Honourable Memberi
to collect the sense of those who were most interested
in the subject.
Mr. J. SMITH defended himself from the charge
of having precipitately brought forward the mea-
sure, It was his intention to give to every Honour.;
able Member full opportunity of giving to it all the
opposition which he might be authorised to offer.
Motion agreed to, and a Committee appointed:
SLAVE TRADE.

Mr. F. BUXTON, in introducing the motion of
which he had on a former evening given notice, ob-
served, that the question might be asked, what right
he had to interfere with the present subject ? and
that he might be told that there was one individual
in that House, to whom, on a question regarding
Slavery, all eyes were necessarily turned, and who
was on all hands recognized as the eloquent, perse=
vering, and successful advocate of the Negro. He
hoped that no Gentleman would think. so meanly of
him as to suppose that he wished to encroach on the
province of his Ilonourable Friend (Mr. Wilberforce).
It was only in compliance with that Gentleman's
request, and, indeed, with his actual injunction, that
he (Mr. Buxton) undertook to introduce the sebjecr.
But before he entered:upon this important and pei iloui
question, he thought it his duty to take notice of the
advice which he had received, as to the evils likely
to result to the West Indies from the agitation of this
question. He had been told that it was no slight
matter to agitate the question at all ; and he did
agree that it was no slight matter to excite appie‘
!tensions in the minds of persons so respectable as
those who signed the Petition which had that even-
ing been presented, and those connected with the
West Indies. For his own part, he bad no prejudice
either against the whole body or particnlar indivi-
duals connected with the West Indies. He consi-
deied their situation peculiarly unfortunate in this
respect, that their predecessors had been tempted to
embark their property in a species
of Investment,
which had been deemed at that time a proper invest-
ment, and one which was not inconsistent with jus-
tice or honour, but which was now allowed to be u •
terly and absolutely irreconsileahle with higher prin-
-1 ciples. Ia was, therefore, no slight matter to intro-
° duce a motion painful to the feelings pi those
indivi-
duals, and certainly no slight matter to introduce a
question affecting the honorer and humanity of the
coantry. With regard to the responsibility of the
I measure, it wits necessary that a man shoeld be sure

stances, although the strugglescould not belong, yet
that his cause was good, as he (Mr. Buxton), felt his., the.catasttpphe would be terrible; and 'it concluded
own to be, and that hesshould feel he had chosen his by saying' that the Colonies were endangered by the
line discree:ly, as he (Mr. Buxton) felt, before he ven-1 fanaticism of enthusiastic and visionary men. New
ture3 m reject such a considetatie.m. Ile would tell he would only tumble the House" by a reference to
' .ly as 1817. *Mr. Max.

one more prediction so recently as t...
well, the then Governor of Dominica, had said, in a
letter to Lord Bathurst—
" Many instances have come to my knowledge, gncl particu-
larly some cases in which iron collars and chains have been
ari.le:l to their sufferings after severe whipping. The Colonial
Law for the regulation of the Slaves authotises the corporal pu-
nishment ; but as there exists no authority for the use of these
iron torments, I have considered it my duty to check the use of
them in every instance which comes to my knowledge; and
it w..s my int:talon to have ordered prosecutions against some
individuals for this illegal mode of punishing at the last Ses-
sions of Peace, on the 26th ultimo, but I was induced to forego
this determination, in consequence of an assurance from both
branches of the Legislature of a speedy revision of the Slave
Laws, in compliance with my Message, urging the absolute ne-
cessity of the measure.
" With reference to the presentment of the Grand Jury on
the 23:h ultimo, the Court refused to receive it, considering it
indecorous and out of the province of the Grand Jury. On this
eximorciinary proceeding of the Grand Jury I shell not make
any comment ; but I take leave to assure your Lordship that I
have not heard of any agitation or discontent among the negroes,
except what has arisen on some properties from the tyrannical
conduct of owners and managers, and on others from the dete-
riorated state of the land, and consequent poverty of the owners.
The latter lamentable circumstance is becoming more evident
every day."
Cases of Negroes who were brought to him in chains, in which
they were obliged to work by their Owners or Managers
during the last three months:
" 1. A boy, about 15 years of age, a large iron chain round
his neck; fastened with a padlock, total weighing 221bs.
" 2. Two girls of 12 years of age, much marked by the effects
of the cart-whip, fastened together with iron chains round their
necks, padlocked, weighing 161bs.
" 3. A full-grown main after a severe flogging with the cart-
whip, loaded with an iron collar and chains, weighing 211bs.
" 4. An old man, apparently 60 years of age, after having
been saverely beaten by his master, was plaied in he stocks with
an iron collar round his neck, and chains weighing 201bs.
" 5. A boy, about 12 years of age, loaded with an iron collar,
chains, and log of wood, weighing 261bs.
" Government House, Dominica, Sept. 5,1617."
Cozy of a Presentment of the Grand Jury of Dominica, dated
auth August, 1817.
The Grand Jurors of our Sovereign Lord the King do present—
That at the particular request of the Bench they visited and
inspected the Gaol, which they regret to find in the same'State
as in February last. notwithstanding the, repeated presentments
of former Grand Juries on the subject.
The Grand Jury lament that they are under the necessity of
noticing an improper interference on the part of the Executive,
between Master and Slave, which has caused considerable agita—
tion and discontent among the Negroes, and if persevered in, is
likely to lead to the most ruinous consequences.
(Signed) W. ROBINSON, Foreman.
Grand Jury-room, 26th August,lBl7.
Now here he must remark, that if that Jery had
said in their presentment that the cruel whipping and
imposition of irons had pmduced an irritation on the
minds of the negroes, and a consequent agitation on
the minds of the planters, then the meaning would be
fair and intelligible; but when they stated that the
negro was agitated, as if he considered it his own
peculiar privilege to be whipped, he did not know
what to make of the meaning. The same argument
precisely was now used. But he would ask, what
was it that they wished to do, and which was to pro--
duce such disturbances ? In ite first place, their pro-
position was, that the negro should have the Sunday
to himself as a day of rest, and another day for the
cultivation of his land ; in the next place, they wished
that negro children should be free. So far from
thinking that the negro should feel any discontent at
these regulations, he believed that there could be no
measure so directly calculated to promote tranquil-
lity as that of giving education and freedom to negro
children. Another thing that they proposed, was to
get rid of the whip, and surely no one ~could con-
tend that such a proceeding would produce an agi-
tation amongst the Negroes. All that they, in fact,
wished to do, was to ameliorate the condition of the
Negroes, to give them something like the protection
of law, and that their children born after a certain
day should be free. He could not understand how
any of these regulations could be made to excite the
discontent of Negroes. They all appeared to him to
be calculated rather to secure tranquillity than to en-
danger it. But there was one point which he should
not be satisfied to pass over, and to which he re-
quired the consideration of those Gentlemen con-
nected with the West Indies, and his Majesty's Go-
vernment, namely—the great change which had
taken place in the West Indies within the last thirty
years. They should consider the spectacle which
the Negroes had constantly before them. They
saw a neighbouring Island in which every man was
free—in which 800,000 men, women, and children,
exercised all the tights of a free people. He did
not say whether they had obtained that freedom bt
atrocious or by good conduct, but obtained it they
had. If, then, this country continued a course of
oppression, the day would come when some Empe-
ror of an adjoining island would make an attempt on
Jamaica. 'Or might not America send an army to
the West Indies, and proclaim freedom to the slaves,
in conformity with our own example, both in the
original war with America, and in the war of 1013?'
He would ask, was there not a lesson to be learnt
from this? The question was, whether they should
continue to grind the Negro until any change in
his situation would be for the better; or whether
they should make his situation .such, that any
change would be for the worse? He would quote
one authority, that of Mr. Pitt, who had said, that
it was impossible to increase the happiness of •the
Negro, without giving an equal degree.of security to
the colonist and every individual connected with them.
He did not mean to say that there would not be
great danger in the experiment. He said that there
was danger, because be knew, that wherever there
was oppression there was danger; but the question
was, how the danger was to be avoided? He would
answer, by doing justice to -the negro. But, sup-
posing (what he would not admit) that the danger of
going forward and standing still was equal, still he
would ask the House to consider whether it would
be better to incur peiil its the cause of justice, huma-
nity, and freedom,' or to incer it in the cause of sla-
very, inhumanity, and injustice? He hoped that he
should not be deemed imprudent if he threw off re-
serve, and stated truly to the House what was the
object that -they Wished to secure. The object then
was the extinction of slavery—nothing less than its
entire and total extinction in the whole of the British
dominions. At the same time they did not contem-
plate a sudden extinction, bat to take such-precau-
tions as might-10d to a gradual extinction. Gentle-
.,
men would be so good at to remember, that ht the
same breath in which he declated that the extinction

the Honse-why he had ventured to incur such a re-
sponsibility, after the deepest consideration which he
had been able to give to the subject. t!.e first
place, he felt a conviction that the dangers apple-
hended, if not entirely groundless, were at least much
overrated ; and secondly, he felt a conviction, that
it was impossible to overrate the blessings which
would accrue to millions or persons truth the subject
being agitated in that House. There w as no doubt
that slavery could not stand an investigation. Upon
that. point he felt clearly : and as, on the one hand,
he felt that the benefit produced would be incalcula-
ble, .so, on the other, he felt that the raerils to be en-
countered were not so great as those which had been
imagined by the Government and sonic of the Ho-
nourable Members opposite. They had heard a.great
o
deal of latabout the danger of an insurreconin
the West Indies ; and to tint point he would, with
the permission of the House, first address himself.—
If he were-the first rash man who had ventured upon
the delicate subject of slavery, or.upon the more de-
li Cate subject of emancipation from slavery, then the
allegation of danger might be advanced on plausible
rounds: But it did happen that the delicate subject
•: •
olgavery and em mcipation had been debated again
and again in that House. It did also happen that a
Committee of that House had sat upon the subject
thiity" years ago, at a time when Committees had
not' been very usual, and when they had still less
usually publidied tinsir evidence; but that Com-
mittee had takini evidence and published it to the
world. A Committee of the House of Lords had at
the same time taken evidence, and published it ; and
a Committee of the Privy Council had done the same.
There was also another consideration; there had been
no man of distlnCtion in that House thirty years ago
ho had nor given his opinion on the subject; not
only those men, who from their professions of great
attachment to liberty might naturally be expected try
denounce slavery, as Mr. Fox, Sir S. Roniilly, and
Mr. Sheridan, but also those men who were opposite
to them on every point but talent. Mr. Dundas, a
wary and cautious statesmau, and who had never
been considered an enthusiast ; Mr. Burke, who had
never been suspected of being fond of change; Mr.
Pitt, Mr. Grenville, and others, had again and again
avowed their sentiments to the House; they had seen
no danger from that avowal; and no danger, in point
of fact, had attended it. But they had even gone still
further; many of tlice gentlemen had prepared Bills,
and one of them had brought forward a Bill in that
House for the emancipation of negroes; and the im-
pression upon his mind was, that it would be unwor-
thily to betray a good cause, if he were now to be
intimidated by extravagant apprehensions or un-
founded predictions, which had been constantly falsi-
fied by events. It was singular that no motion had
ever been made on the subject of the Slave Trade,
which bad not been met by exactiy the same predic-
tions. Na matter what the particular object of the
motion had been, the predictions bad been the same,
and expressed in nearly the same terms. In the year
1787, a feeble attempt had been made to abate the
horrors of the middle passage, by admitting a little
more air into the hold where the slaves were confined.
Immediately the strne a.lar.o had been raised, and
the ruin of the We.t Indies bad been foretold as the
'certain event of that measnre. hr the House Of Lords,
indeed, a Noble Duke (the Duke of Chandos), after
taking the liberty of telling their Lordships that he
was better acquainted than most of them with the
situation of the West Indies, had said that his pockets
were filled with letters from his correspondents
in the West Indies, stating that the negroes read the
papers, and that as soon as they came to the para-
graph which should inform them that the House of
Lords had taken the subject into consideration, they
'would break out into open rebellion. It did so hap-
pen, howeier, that no such consequence had followed
• the adoption of that measure. It had not been long
after that period when his Honourable Friend (Mr.
'Wilberforce) had commenced the career, of which it
would be improper in him then to speak. His endea-
vours had been marked by three striking occurrences:
1: The - effect produced for the benefit of the Ne-
groes ; 2. The predictions which had been made of
a consequent insurrection cf the Blacks; 8. The otter
falsification which the event had given to those predic-
tions At that time the Slave Trade had been found so
advantageous to this country, that we had become the
carriers of other nations. His Honourable Friend had
first introduced a Bill to check that practice. Im-
mediately the cry of an insurrection among the Blacks
had been raised ; it had been re-echoed by seven West
Indians in that blouse, but the measure had been car-
ried, and the anticipated evil had never taken place.
In the year 1802, the Governor of Bar badoes had dis-
covered a series of shocking murders which had been
perpetrated. in that island, the particulars of which he
'would not fatigue the House by detailing, but they
had been as barbarous as any ever heard of in that.
House. Some of the perpetrators had been detected,
brought to trial, and convicted ; and the Governor
had inflicted on them the highest punishment which,
the law of Banbadoes had enabled them to inflict—a
fine of El 1.45, which was somewhat less than, ac-
cording to the law of England, was paid as a penalty
for the unlawful killing of a partridge! (Hear, hear.)
The Governor had afterwards applied to the Colonial
Assembly for the repeal of the law, and for the enact-
ment of another, making the murder of a slave a ca-
pital offence. The answer had been the same that
had been continually given here, viz. that air insur-
rection of the negroes would follow; and the Assem-
bly had consequently rejected the proposition, and
inflicted, at the same time, the highest chastisement
that they could upon the Governor, in an Address,
telling him that they knew their own interests, and
• that they did not require from him instructions how
to act. The next prediction of the same kind had
been made upon an occurrence to which his attention
bad only been called within a few hours. A Com-
mittee of the House of Assembly in Jamaica had been
appointed to consider the proceedings then pending
in the British Parliament for the abolition of Slavery.
The Report had first of all stated, that the cruelties
alleged to have been practised on the Slaves had been
so satisfactorily refuted, that they could make no im-
pression on any except ignorant n.inds; that the
emancipation of the Slaves would be a dangerous
crisis to the West Indies ; that under such eii cum-

would recollect, by the advance, however extrava-
gant it might appear. The Hon. Member, in explana-
mon of his views, read the letter which we here insert,
He ftrefaced it by saying that it contained, in his opi•
nioni one or two reasons which he con] t van.
tageothly pass over in favour of his posni is was
is I.OIIOWS :

`:of slower/40a their object, he also rife ared that they
sought easing- more than a slow avid gradual ex-
tinction. Nothing could prove more strongly the
cautious measures which they wi,lred to pursue than
the fact, that no map could say (for be professed him-
self unable) at what time slavery would be abolished.
In point of fact they did not mean to ester minate or
cut it down. It would subside, and die away, and
altogether be forgotten. He would beg the I louse
to look to the manner in which these principles had
already operated. They mean to say that there
should be no more Slave Trade, that no more chil-
dren should he made slaves. There was at this mo-
ment a certain number of slaves—the next year that
-number would be somewhat reduced—tea years
hence it would be considerably abated—in twenty
or thirty years all the young negroes would he free,
whilst those only would be sid”cs who were decliningl
in age. livery succeeding year would diminish the
number, till at length the Slave Tr at would go out
and be forgotten. Ile wished also to shew to the
house that this was not a theoretical speculation, but
that the trial of it had already taken place. Many
Gentlemen might not be awa:e that slavery had gone
out of New York. Thirty years ago that State had.
been a Negro State, and subject to all the convulsionF
which slavery entailed. The principle for which tl:ey
were now contending bad been then adopted, and
by
its operation, without any inconvenience La- disturb-
ance, the Slave Trade had gone out. It had done so
in New Jersey, it had done so in Philadelphia, and in
several, of -the United States. lie requested the 1-louse
to obset., that this change had been gradual—with-
out any convulsion, without any insurrection ; and it
any person here asked what effect the change had pro-
duced ? his answer would be, that there was no per
son in the part of the world in which the change had
been brought about who did not confess that it had
not more benefited the blacks than it had con-
duced to the prosperity of the whites. There were,
then, parts of the world in which this principle
had been tried; nay, there were parts of the world
in which the principle was at this very moment ope-
rating, and in which slavery was gradually going out.
He would now put it to each Member, whether he
knew in what part of the British dominions the prin-
ciple was now in full operation ? He had said that
that operation was quiet ; his opponents had said that
it would be noisy, and produce convulsions.. Let the
dispute then be decided by the fact. He asked if
any Hon. Member knew
.where the principle was in
full operation? for if it was unknown to them, or the
greater part of them, then his statement was borne
out that it was a quiet operation. The fact was, that
the principle was now at work in the Island of Cey-
lon, and had been so for many years. It had been
introduced by Sir Alexander Johnson, in 1816, and
yet.no noisy consequence had followed. The same
system had been tried -at Bencoolen, arid in other
places, and was now at work in St. Helena. He
thought that St. Helena was a favourable illustration
of the operation of this principle. The public curio-
sity had . been drawn towards St. Helena; a great
quantity of books had been published concerning it;
every transaction of Sir Hudson Lowe's had been re-
lated at length ; every part, hoivever slight, every
expression, however trivial, had been exposed ; even
the opinions of the General as to whether the weather
would be wet or dry, had been opened to the public;
whilst the only fact which had passed so smoothly as
to escape all observation was this, that Sir Hudson
Lowe bad given the death-blow to slavery in St. He-
lena. By a fundamental law of the Republic of Co-
lombia, every child was born free, and a duty of three
per cent. was imposed upon all personal property,
such money to be exclusively employed in procuring
the freedom of slaves—with this single reservation,
that the industrious and peaceable are entitled to
the speediest liberation. There was a country over-
run by an immense population of slaves, and he
was instructed to say that the change was accom-
plished without the slightest inconvenience or danger.
Now he wished to proceed upon this principle—he
wished to cut off the supplies—to exhaust the sources
of slavery ; and that was only to be accomplished by
declaring that all children born of slaves should be
declared free. He put it to the House, what earthly
right had they to continue the slavery of these
children? It was a crime to commit murder, even
though a child was the victim—the robbery of a
child was only less criminal; but the devotion of an
infant upon the altar of slavery, at the very moment
of its birth, was justified by law, and tolerated even
in the present civilized condition of the world. Here
they did not call upon them not to take the full be-
nefit and fruition of their former traffic ; they only
said—Pause; stop where you now are, and let slavery
end with the present generation. Of this he was sure,
that when that awful day arrived which would make
bare the guilty secrets of this world, the stains and
enormities which would then bediVulged, connected
with this black trade, would call aloud for punish-
ment upon the guilty—(Hear, hear).—No nation had
ever been so much engaged in that nefarious traffic
as the British people, and their crimes were only to
be blotted out by making usurious amends to those
unhappy people, who still ate the bitter bread. of
slavery. With regard to the being who was now in
slavery, their object was to diminish his sufferings.—
They were not disposed to say, that the slave of to-day
should become the free man of to-morrow. But he
took no praise for this moderate declaration. If be
thought that a slave could at once burst his bonds
and enjoy liberty, he for one would require his free-
dom. But it was the curse of slavery, that it ren-
dered a man not capable of suddenly enjoying liberty.
There were persons whose notions of justice were so
conOned, as to fancy the planter bad a property in
the body of his slave. Here was a valuable commo-
dity in dispute. There were two contending parties.
To whom did the article belong ? What was it ?
The liberty of the black man. What was the black
man's claim to it ?—He derived it from GOD-it was
a gift no other than Himself could alienate from him ;
it was his • birth-right. And what was the title of
the white man to it ? His father bequeathed the
slave who was stolen from the land of his nativity.
If it were at all necessary, it would not Pe difficult to
shew how these Islands (the West Indies) were peo-
pled with slaves. It was enough for him to know
'that the planter had no possible right over the slave.
The planter had pet haps some right to remuneration
for Ins tosses. Indeed that remuneration cold not
fairly be denied to him by the Legislature. Let it be
as liberal as necessary ; it was .good.cause ; and
the liberty of millions of persons was procured, they

- -
" The subject divides itself into twrso—the condition cit thetz-
isting Sl.cer, and the condition of tbeir children. With regard
to_the former, I wish the foams:tog improvements:
"1. That the Slaves should be attached-to the island, ands
under modifications, to the st

2. That they ce:;se to be chattels in the eye of the law.
" That their testimony he received quantum valeta.
" 4. That when any oneputs in his claim to the services of a
Negro, the onus should rest on tit& claimant.
" 5. That obstructions to manumi,sion should be removed.
G. That the provisions of the Spanish Law (being by co
potent authority the value of the Slave, and allowing him to pur.
chat., a dai, at a time) should he introduced.
" 7. That no Governor, Judge, or Attorney-General,,shoul4
be a Slave-owner.

" S. That an effectual proyision shall be made for the ttliglosio
nstructi!):l of be Slave. •

" 9. That marriage should be enforced and sanctioned.
" 10. That the Sunday should be devoted by the Slave to re•
pose and religious instrsn:tion ; and that other time should be al,
lotted In; the ctO.tivztion of their provision grounds.
" 11. That some (hut what I cannot say) measures should be
ta?:en t ) restrain the authority of the master in puni.hing his
untried Slave, awl that some substitute should be found for the
driving system.
" These are the proposed qualifications of the rusting slavery.
But I am far more anxiously bent upon theminc!ion ef sl.xery
altugeslier.. By rendering all the Negro children, born after a errs
tain dry, free—for them it will be necessary to provide education.
" Gots grant that his Majesty's Ministers may he disposed to
accomplish these objecti, or to permit uthersito accomplish theta
" Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very truly,
" Spring-Garden Elute!, April 15, 1823. " I'. F. B."
And now, said the Honourable Gentleman, having
stated the object which we have in view, I must take
the liberty to state, that the
humanityfrriti.rinaennitt.e.iligtlir,i)sn,miefatisluerree
we owe to the calls of humanity and justice; we owe
it also to the dictates of the Christ
be any truth in ill,. doctrine of' Do unto others as you
xvisli others should do unto you.' We owe it to our re-
putation an the eyes mf Europe; we owe it too to the
;unanimous voice of the British nation; but above all,
.we owe it to that unhappy African race whom we
'have so long and so cruelly oppressed. We owe them
a long act of atonement for all the blood which was
shed in the dreadful civil war which teas created by
this odious system; for all the honors which these
poor creatures endured when roused from their rest
by the cruel man-hunters. We owe them some com-
pensation for having so long excluded them from all
the privileges of human beings, for excluding instruc-
tion, and for excluding Christianity for more than two
centuries. We owe them atonement for the tens of
thousands of unfortunate creatures who fell victims to
the midnight marauder s, for the tens of thousands who
were smothered in.the dat k holds of British slave ships.
For all these crneltieswe owe them a long and liberal
compensation, and now that we had it in our power
we were bound at least to sweeten their captivity.—
We should afford them redress ; we have it in oar
power to interpose between them and,the barbarity
of their masters servants, the protection of a Jury.—
We should introduce a free spirit amongst them, give
the children a full and complete religious education,
and strip them of every vestige of slavery. I shall
now conclude with the last sentence in my letter to
Lord Bathurst :—" GOD grant that his Majesty's Mi-
nisters may be disposed to accomplish these objects,
or to permit others to accomplish them" He then
concluded with moving the following Resolution:
"•That the state of alavery is repugnant to the principles of the
British Constitution, and of the Christian Religion, and that it
ought to be abolished gradually throughout the British colonies,
with as much expedition as may be found consistent with a due
regard to the well-being of the parties concerned.
On the Resolution being read by Elie SPEAKER,
Mr. Secretary CANNING rose.—The appeal with
which the H .n. Member concluded his speech, di-
rected as it was to his Majesty's Government, made
him feel it to be his duty to address the House, for
the purpose of stating, without reserve, the opinion
entertained-by himself and the whole of the Govern-
ment with respect to that most important, andMie
must say, notwithstanding the denial of the Hon.-
Gentleman, that most fearful question.. He coo,
fessed that he never approached any question upon
which he felt more timidity not so much with re.
spect to any practical conclusion to which he thought
it expedient to come, as to the danger attendant
upon a discussion in which a rash word or an ar•
dent expression might raise a flame which coul4
only be extinguished in blood—(Hear,
He meant not to deprecate a free and fair discussion;
but he took the liberty, thus early in the debate, been
a confliction of opinion produced its almost invaria-
ble attendant, warmth of expression, to caution Gar
tlemen against colouring too. highly those pienttes
which had been already sketched with no lightlutedi
with no disposition to avoid effect, or to court*
scurity—(Hear, bear).—What, he confidently asked,
had the latter pant of the Honourable Geotlelsatrti
sj.eech to do with the question ? Why was it neces-
sary to recur to the past delinquencies of this country,
which, if ever delinquencies were to be atoned foro
had long since been expiated ? Why should he have
called the recollection of the House to the horrors
and cruelties of former times, when those horrors
have long since become only matter of history, nail
those cruelties ceased to exist, except in the recollec-
tion of those who have witnessed in their own day
the death of such cruelties? Why had he coupled
this question with the abolition of the Slave Trade
self? He did think that the Hon.. Gentleman bad
entered too laboriously into topics no way connected
with the question itself, to which it was bit (Mr•
Canning's) intention, however, to confine himstife
The Hon. Gentleman had stated, but surely he hid
used it as a figure of eloquence rather than any
'sub-
stantial reason, that we owed the concession of Isis
motion to the slaves, not as a measure of justice a
had
no of judgment, but as one of atonement. Now he hasad
no hesitation in declaring, that that was not a cos-
tive to influence the conduct of Parliament. Se,l7
merit and feeling might and must weigh with to°
historian and the moralist, but there were other co!
siderations, which no sound politician could prod 11
danesd h
p
how far flee
ise found
e.lie
laeolakregdeastlatvhee
population
oatfintnliewirh'ecs nist Inpdies,ma:
Lively few whites, and the question was,
ni
to those slaves without endangering the property ,
eg;
portion of happiness could be commu
those who w ere our own iellow-subjects and citiseo
se
and he who recommended the abrupt measure.
'
strongly enforced by the ain. Gentleman, inightd!
doubtedly pi-mince, with diligent preparation, eta**
quent speek.h„ but would probably fail in persuadiog