Star.
London, England, 1829-06-04 00:00:00

• THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 4, 1829.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS, Jima S.
To the appeal case Fox e. tbe asp of Chester, a reversal of the
Jadmisent of the Court of Kites angels was prommuced.
The Scotch sod Irish &eke Ass Antendass BM, the Insol-
vent Debtors (Ireland) RS, the Offences against the Person (Ire-
land) BM, the lapr Doke 11., and several Private Bills were
read a third time and pint Several other Private Rills were
forwarded through their wive Salim
Sir A. Gears, and other Members of the House of Commons,
brought up the Customs Regulation BM, the Exchequer Mils
(13,438,0004) Bill, sad the Charing Cross Improvement Bill,
which were read a Snt tima,

Lord CARBIIRRY laid on the table the Report of the Coin-
=Mee on the Better Trade of Ireland.
Lord SALCOUN presented a Petition from Inverness, praying
for an alteration in the Scotch Law of Ratalls.—Lsid on the table.
The Rome then Adjoorood.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
Mr. MASTRRTON URIC moved fora new writ for the
borough of Weymouth. In the roam of Mr. &Idea, who had ac-
cepted the edam of Solicitor General.
The Liadhen and Casalit's Divorce Bins went through Commit-
tees, and were ordered to be reported.
Mr. LOTT presented a Petition from the county of Devon.
praying for a repeal of the taxes on coals.
IL Sir VITVYAN presented petitions front difereot parishes In
Cornwall, praying for the continuance of the bounty on the piichard
fishery.
Colonel STRUTT presented a Petition from a resident of Mal-
don, complaining that a barge had been run down on the river
Thames by a foreign vessel, and that the owner could get no re-
dress In a Court of Law, as the vessel was navigated by a branch
OW: - _ _

Mr. LENNA RD supported the petition, sad observed that the
state of the law on this subject was worthy of the attend= of
Government.

Mr. ROBERT GORDON presented a Petition fres an in&
vidual named Brown, praying that persons practidng ea Anomies
should be put under certain regulations, and complalubqg of the In.
cility with width persons were admitted to practice as anoraks.

MA ISMS 114111111711.411 11111.4

Sir J. MACINTOSH said, be found it was phydcaUy Imposd.
bk to carry the Madras Registrar Bill through the Horse daring
the present Session. He should, therefore, move, that the Bill
should be read a second dam this day six meths; but if he lived ha
should certainly Wog it toward again on the lint day of nut
Sodom

Mr. HUMS presented thirteen Petitions from parishes Is Ire-
land, praying foe the repeal of the Vestry Act.
After a few words from the Cuescuass of the Exeneweas.
Mr. S. Race, and Sir R. bums, the petitions were brought up and
ordered to be printed.
Sir C. BU KRELL, in presenting three Petitions from certain
Hundreds in Swam praying for further protection to the WOW
Trade, said the petitioners represented the trade as hi a deplorable
condition, in which be concurred. That the wool trade was one
well Gadded to the protection of the Legidature be possessed alms
dant proofs; the following extract of a letter, which he received
from a Noble Lard upon this subject. was one among many—
" My opinion is. that the production of. every article suited to
our son and climate shoeld be our lint object of encouragement,
both as to abundance in quality and perfeedos Is quality. The
opposite system is now in force. and I do sot expect to use it altered
tin the experience of great National calamity has restored us to
common sense."

After a few words from Mr. Beaten (of Wilts), Mr. Jame.
and Mr. C. PiLNANI, the petitions were brought up, sod ordered
to be printed.
A Bill for the better regulation of the ollice.of nadir in coun-
ties in Ireland was brought in by Lord F. L. GOWER, read a
Era time, and ordered to be read a second dme that day three
months, and to be printed.
Mr. FYLER presented a Petition, dined by the Mayor and
4,000 inhabitants of the city of Coventry, paying that some means
might be adopted to prevent the bunting of widows In India.
After a few words from Lord Annum Mr. Rimes, and Mr.
nears, the reticles wan Laid at the table, and ordered to he printed.
Mr. W. W. WYNN gave notice that to.morrow he would pre-
sent a Petition from certain inhabitants of India on the subject of
their eligibility to serve ea Grand Juries.
Mr. MAXWELL presented a Padden from Paisley, in favour
of the opening of the trade to India.
Mr. FOWELL BUX fON, having moved for some
Returns connected with the Report of the Commis-
sioners appointed to inquire into the effect of the Ordi-
nances of Government for the termination of the Slave
Trade in the Mauritius,
Sir ROBERT FARQUHAR rose to ask the Hon.
Member for Weymouth (Mr. Buxton) whether it was
his intention to proceed with the charges he had pre.
(erred against him on the subject of his conduct at the
Mauritius? Those charges had been first brought for-
ward in the year 1827. They had been postponed,
upon one plea or another, until the present period. The
Honourable Member for Weymouth must sorely by
this time have determined upon the course he meant to
put sue, and formed a deliberate opinion on the truth or
falsehood of the charges which be had made. If he
believed them to be true, then he (Sir R. Farquhar)
called upon the Hon. Member to proceed at once to'
inquiry. If the Hon. Member had discovered they were
false—if he was satisfied that he had slandered the in-
nocent and made accusations which could not be sup-
ported. he (Sir R. Farquhar) called upon him now to
rise in his place in that House and make an acknow-
ledgment candidly and honestly that he bad been mis-
taken in the opinion he formed with respect to his con-
duct. He proposed to the Hon. Member the alternative
of proceeding with his charges, or of recanting his
accusations.

Mr. F. BUXTON entered into a history of the course
be had adopted with regard to these accusations, and
observed. that they were first made in the year WV, at
which time he bad postponed the motion for inquiry, at
the express request of Mr. Canning, communicated
through a Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, who could
bear testimony to the fact. Since that time the state of
his health, to which the certificates of his medical at-
tendant bore testimony, had prevented him from pro-
secuting these charges; but he had more than once
offered the evidence he possessed to the Colonial Secre-
tary, and entreated him to appoint a Commission for
the investigation of the circumstances of the case. For
himself be could only say, that, in the opinion of his
medical attendant, any attention to public business, so
ardent and so close as be was in the habit of bestowing
on it, would endanger his health, and perhaps his life.
The Hon. Baronet had pot to him an alternative. In
reply to it he must say, it was impossible for him to re-
tract what be had advanced against the administration
of the Hon. Baronet in the Mauritius. It was impossi-
ble to deny that the slave trade existed to a most enor-
mous extent under that Administration. He repeated,
he bad offered to the Government the evidence he pos-
sessed. if they were disposed to appoint that Commission
which he understood they were about to appoint; bet
if they did not, be pledged himself to accept the chal-
lenge of the Hoo. Baronet. and to bring the whole sub-
ject under consideration at the very earliest period of
the next Session. He begged the Hon. Baronet to ob.
serve, however, that there was another person who had
an interest in this inquiry. Gen. Hall, who succeeded
the Hon. Baronet in the Government, although he re-
fused, in a manner which called down the warmest com-
mendation, to give any private information, had offered,
if be was called on publicly, to prove, on the faith of a
man and the reputation of as officer. that the slave trade

was, during the government of the Hon. Baronet, car.
tied on to the extent which bad been asserted. While,
however, he could not admit he had been misinformed
with respect to the character of the Hoo. Baronet's Go.
moment, he must do the Hon. Baronet the justice to
say. there was no stronger proof of innocence than that
which is afforded by a disposition to court inquiry. He
admitted, to its full extent. the doctrine that all general
accusations must be received with caution until they are
proved; but, at the same time, he now warned the
Hon. Baronet, that the inquiry which he demanded
would demonstrate a profuse waste of the public money,
and a profligate encouragement of the slave trade, an-
exampled in the history of man.
Dr. LUSHINGTON contended, that inquiry into the
Government of the Honourable Baronet was become
indispensable, and asserted that the nine years of his
Government would show an uninterrupted encourage-
ment of the Slave Trade. It was well known, and he
defied those who asserted otherwise to the proof. that
the prisons were opened to all charfed with offences
against the Slave Laws; and that prisoners accused of
these offences invariably took themselves off, so that
there was no possibility of a conviction. He admitted
that the Honourable Baronet might have used his ezer- 1
tions to repress these practices, but those exertions were
unseccesstul, es he believed the inquiry would sutfi.

Mr: H. GURNEY deprecated the continuance of dis-
cussions which had assumed a personal character very
far from being agreeable. He confessed he did not
know much of the charges brought against the Hoo.
Baronet, but he bad occasionally examined with atten-
tion the statement and papers circulated by the Anti.
Slavery Society, and he really thought they bore on the
face of them the marks of having been put forth with-
out that previous inquiry which justice to the Colonists
demanded from them. They seemed, indeed, to be a
mere collection of isolated occurrences, taken at ran-
dom from the records of Colonies widely separated from
each other, and without a doe consideration of the
situation in which the inhabitants of these Colonies may
have been placed. Some of these occurrences were
stated in terms too strong for ordinary credulity; aid,
in his opinion, they ought not to be received and acted
upon without strict previous inquiry. The Hon. Bari.
(Sir Robin Farquhar) bad a difficult ta.k to perforni.
He was the first Governor of a conquered Colony, in
which the slave trade bad been tolerated to a great ex-
tent, and mach was to be allowed for the novelty of
his situation.

Mr. BROUGHAM concurred with other Hon. Mem-
bers in hoping that no prejudice would be infused into
the discussions on this subject, and that no premature
judgment might be formed on the conduct of the Hon.
Baronet. He agreed also with the Hon. Member for
Weymouth (Mr.Buston) that the readiness to meet these
charges bore the appearance of innocence, and he
trusted, therefore, that the Hon. Baronet would come
clear out of the ordeal. He believed also that no man
could suppose any part of the delay which had taken
place was to be attributed to his Hon. Friend (Mr.
Buxton); but he, at the same time, ventured to express
a hope that the Hon. Baronet, when the inquiry did
come, would be prepared %kb a better witness to sup-
port his cause than the Hon. Member behind him (Mr.
Gurney). That Hon. Member had taken occasion to
draw a conclusion unfavourable to the opinions of his
Hon. Friends, the Members for Tregony and Wey.
mouth, and against the publications of the Anti-Slavery
Swim, which he stigmatised as rash and headstrong,
for no other reason than that he was ignorant on the
subject, and that he did not understand, from any pre-
em.
u
sinquiry, whether his Hon. Friend was right or
wrong. He did hope that the Hon. Baronet would be
provided with better compurgators than she Honour-
able Member for Newton (Mr. Gurney). He could
understand very well why that Hon. Member considered
the publications to which he alluded a mass of exagge-
ration. The Honourable Member could not believe it
possible—he could not bring his mind to the belief that
such atrocities could be perpetrated by any human
being as those which were detailed in the statements to
which he alluded. It was not surprising that such
cases, for instance, as the Mosses should be supposed
to be mere fictions of the brain, the inventions of
fancy, the result of flimsy rumours collected in all
quarters, and dressed out in all the fantastic colours
• hich a morbid imagination could bestow upon them.
People supposed that it was not possible that such stories
could be true; that it was oot possible for human nature
to be guilty of such atrocities. They did not suppose
it possible that a woman could be found capable of
taking a helpless and unprotected female, excoriating
her body with the lash, rubbing Cayenne pepper into
the wounds, and repeating that dreadful punishment
again and again, until, with the addition of fever,wbich
alone prevented her being tried, and, as he (Mr. B.)
trusted, hung for murder, it ended in the premature
death of the unhappy being. The circumstance was
incredible, but it had happened. What the Honourable
Member for Newton—what be (Mr. B.)—what the
House could not believe, was nevertheless recorded in
the proceedings of Courts of Justice, was nevertheless
made the subject of communication from the Colonial
Government to his Majesty's Government at home. It
was also made the subject of a dispatch from the Right
Hon. Gentleman who, at the period of the occurrence,
held the situation of Secretary of State for the Colonial
Department, and who expressed the feelings of the Eng-
lish nation upon the subject in a tone ct manly indigos-
tion,which he(Mr. B.)trusted no English Minister would
ever be unwilling to useon such an occasion, or, if ;um&
ling.would everdare not to melt was the imperative duty
of the House not only not to shut their ears to statements
of facts such as those now alluded to, but to listen
patiently to them ; and after the fullest investigation,
and after coming to a just and safe conclusion, fearlessly
to do their duty, whatever that might be.
Mr. IRVING observed, that he bad regularly at-
tended the Committee to which the circumstances now
brought under the notice of the House had been referred,
and, therefore, that he was not totally unacquainted
with the subject; and he was bound to say, as a man
of troth and honour, that he had formed from the evi-
dence which bad been adduced before that Committee
a conclusion very different from that at which the Hon.
Member for Weymouth had arrived. He did not im-
pute any improper motives to those by whom that evi•
dance bad been collected, bat hehad Dever beard before
a Committee of that House evidence which appeared to
him to be so little entitled to credit; or which, doubtful
as it was, was so decidedly contradicted by evidence on
the other side, which it was impossible to impugn. The

Paws Ski

Hon. Member for Weymouth had spoken of the readi-
ness of General Hall to support the charges against the
Hon. Baronet. What the evidence of General Hall
might be he could not say ; but he must give the most
decided contradiction to the assertion, that in the evi.
deuce which bad been brought before the Committee
there was any thing crirninatory of the Hon. Baronet.
When it was considered that his Hon. Friend the Hon.
Baronet, had been three years labouring under the ac-
cusation of a great public crime, stigmatised by public
feeling, was it surprising that he should come forward
and require, nay, and. insist, either that the case should
be immediately investigated, or that he shoold stand ac-
quitted of the imputation cast upon him? His Hon.
Friend, the Member for Weymouth, had, undoubtedly,
given sufficient reasons for not having himself proceeded
with the investigation—reasons the existence of which
no man could regret more sincerely than he (Mr.
Irving) did. It was unfortunate for his Hon. Friend,
the Member for Weymouth, that he had been labouring
under such indisposition ; but it was still more unfortu-
nate for his Honourable Friend the Honourable Baro-
net, for he (Mr. Irving) was persuaded that if the in-
vestigation bad been proceeded with, the Honourable
Baronet would have been completely cleared in the opi-
nion of the House and of the public. He had seen
enough of the subject in the Committee to entertain not
the least apprehension for the character of his Honour-
able Friend the Honourable Baronet, or sit any other
individual under similar circumstances. It was very
easy for the Honourable and Learned Member forWin-
chelsea to get up in his place in tLe House, and by r -
lacing occurrences such as no one could listen to with-
out horror, and connecting them with a matter wish
which they bad nothing to do, to make an undue im-
pression with respect to the subject immediately before
the House. What right had the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman to advert to the horrors in the West Indies
when speaking of what bad occurred in the Mauritius?
He (Mr. Irving) might as well, if he wished to il.ustrate
the character of the English, allude to the atrocities
lately committed by Mrs. Hibner.
Mr. BROUGHAM begged to observe, that be did
sot connect the two circumstances. He was replying
to two statements made by the Hon. Member for New.
ton—the one with reference to the slave trade and
slavery generally ; the other with re'erence to the par-
ticular case immediately under the notice of the House.
Mr. IRVING resumed, and said that at least there
was this benefit resulting from the line of argument
which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had pursued,
namely, that it would give him (Mr. Irving) an oppor-
tonity of expressing his opinions of the publications of
the Anti-Slavery Society. He did not know whether
or not the Hon. and Learned Gentleman was a Member
of that Society, or if he was aware of the tone and
manner in which the Anti-Slavery Reporter was got op.
Its object appeared to be to degrade and stigmatise, and
call the public attention to every man who had any
property or interest io the West Indies. A more libel-
lous, and generally untrue publication, never issued
from the British press. It was to this publication shot
the Hon. Member for Newton had most justly alluded,
when he stated that after the public had been satisfied
that the charges against the Hun. Baronet were un-
founded, the accusation had been revived, and the Ho-
nourable Baronet had again been dragged forward to
answer imputations which no attempt had ever been
made to establish. So far was his Honourable Friend
the Honourable Baronet from having favoured the Slave
Trade at the Mauritius, that these was not a dispatch
from him to his Majesty's Government in which he did
not represent the prevalence of the traffic, and complain
that his Majesty's Government had not given him suffi-
cient power to put it down. At length, in 1821, a
squadron and other means were furnished him; and
from that time the Slave Trade had ceased to exist in
the Island of Mauritius. He apologized to the House
, for having trespassed so long upon their attention; but,
as a Member of the Committee to which the subject had
been referred, be had felt bound to state his imp:es:ions
with respect to it.
Mr. BROUGHAM, in explanation, said that he be-
lieved he was a Member, in common a ith many thou-
sands, of the Anti Slavery Society. With respect to the
publications of the Society, he only occasionally read
the statements in them; he wished he could say he dis-
believed them. .

Mr. FERGUSON observed, that for three years the
Hon. Baronet bad been under the charge in question.
and all chat he had now asked the Hon. Member for
Weymouth was, whether he was ready to proceed with
the investigation of that charge, or whether he was
ready to say that it was unfounded? It would have
been quite sufficient if the Hon. Member for Weyrnouth
had confined himself to en answer to that question ; in-
stead of that he proceeded to tell his Hon. Friend, the
Hon. Baronet, that if the investigation proceeded, facts
of great criminality would be estsblisht d against him;
facts, not merely referring to the charges already pre-
ferred against him, but having reference to a waste of
the public money—to a mal-adarnistration of his Go-
vernment—and to other matters totally unconnected
with those charges. Now that, he (fir. F.) thought,was
unfair. He by no means imputed any unjust or dis-
honourable motive to the Hon. Member for Weymnnth,
but be lamented that he had taken that course. With
respect to the cases of horror alluded to by the Hon. an/
Learned Member fur Winchelsea, be allowed that he did
not understand that Hon. and Learned Gent. in stating
those cases, to refer. in any way, to the administration
of the Hon. Baronet in the Mauritius. From what he
knew of the Hon. Baronet, he was quite sure that no
man would mote heartily and sincerely concur in de-
testing such acts as those to which the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman had adverted. When it was proposed, in
the last Session, to postpone the investigation, he (Mr.
Ferguson) had told the House that no man could be
more anxious for the investigation to proceed than the
Honourable Baronet, who was not only no parry to the
delay, bat had done every thins in his power to prevent
its occurrence. On that occasion. be (Mr. Ferguson)
bad stated that, in the opinion of the whole Eastern
World, no person in the Hon. Baronet's situation bad
ever exerted his authority more strenuously to put an
end to the Slave Trade—a traffic which was in a nourish-
ing condition when the Hon. Baronet assumed the go-
vernment of the Mauritius, but which, it appeared from
the papers on the table of the House, was extinct when
the Hon. Baronet relinquished that government. He
would venture to say that the Hon. Baronet would hail
with the greatest joy the day when the Hon. Member
for Weymouth, or any other person, would publicly
bring forward the charges against him; and he (Mr.

I

• .„

F.) was sure that his Horn Friend, the Hon. Baronet,
would come out of the investigation with triumph.
Mr. WODEHOUSE observed, that he also had been
a Member of the Committee, and that the proceedings
before that Committee, as far as they went, had been
decidedly favourable to the Honourable Baronet. Truth
being the great object of the inquiry, he should rejoice
to see the investigation continued. It was certainly said
that a great mass of evidence was seedy to be produced
on the subject; and as bad been stated by the Hon.
Member for Weymouth, that General Hall was ready
at any time to substantiate the charges which bad been
preferred against the Honourable Baronet.
Sir JAMEB MACINTOSH agreed with every Hon.
Member who bad spoken, that the Hon. Baronet, besides
else general presumption in favour of any man against
whom nothing had been proved, had earned for him-
self the additional presumption in his favour which nes
suited from an eagerness to meet investigation and in-
quiry. Besides his (Sir J. Macintosh's) wish that any
man in the situation of the Hon. Baronet might clear
himself from all imputation, be (although he bad not
the honour of knowing the Hon. Baronet) had parti-
cular motives for wishing the Honourable Baronet to
clear himself on the present occasion. Although some
warmth had entered into the present conversation, no
substantial difference of opinion had been atani-
festal in it. They were all agreed that theHonourable
Baronet had earned a presumption in his favour br
courting inquiry ; they were all agreed that the delay,
in the investigation had been not the fault, but the mis'
fortune of the Hon. Member for Weymouth. If more
evidence were wanting of the incapacity of his Hon.
Friend the Hon. Member for Weymouth, from severe
indisposition, to conduct any business of importance, he
(Sir James Macintosh) could most readily afford it.—
Knowing the seal of his Hon. Friend, and his earnest
attention to the proceedings of that House, he was quite
sure that the eminent Physician, estreets from whose
letters his Hon. Friend bad read, was perfectly justified
in the opinion which he had given. Here he should end
his remarks, had not the Hon. Member for Newton
been the first to introduce into the discussion topics
altogether different. in tone and temper, from the judi-
cial subject to which the attention of the House had in
the first instance been drawn. For that introduction the
Hon. Member had received a just chastisement from his
Hon. and Learned Friend. With that censorial gravity
which so a ell became him. the Honourable Member for'
Newton condemned the levity of accusation against
others, while at the same time be had himself furnished
an example of considerablalevity—not of accusation.
fur the proceeding of the Hop. Member bad not been
of so fair a character; accusation having reference to
some individual, and particularising the how, and the
where, and the when—but of broad and indefinite and
ondistitiguishing assertions against great bodies of men ;
assertions which came with great weight from the Hon.
Gentleman, because he had an opportunity of knowing
the character of many of those on whom he had heaped
reproach, and whom he had charged with being calum-
niators. He would not retaliate by applying the term
to the Hon. Gentleman; for that would be neither just
to the Hon. Gentleman nor consistent with his (Sir J.
Macintosh's) feelings towards that Hon. Gentleman.—
But the fact-was, that the Honourable Member for
Newton hid thought fit to condemn a body of respect-
able persons, who for forty yeen liart,laboured to abo-
lish what—although tie remembered the time when it
was considered jacobinieal to make the assertion—was
now allowed by every one to be a most atrocious crime
—and the ktemest stain on human nature. That body
had fur furry years persevered, under every variety
of circumstances, through good and bad report, in their
endeavours to wipe out this stain. Having succeeded
in abolishing the Slave Trade, they were sow turning
their attention to the wisest and best mode of raising the
olives into a condition which a mild admit at their being
relieved from their present unhappy situation. He (Sir
James Macintosh) was a Member of the Anti-Slavery
Society ; but he seldom read their publications, or any
other periodical publications, having too little of life
remaining to employ it in such a manner; but when he
beard such accusations against the Society. he called
upon those who preferred them (as the Honourable
Baronet had very fairly called upon the Honourable
Member for Weymouth) either to substantiate their
charges or to silence their attacks. For the warmth
which had been shown by the Honourable Member for
Bramber, he was willing to make the greatest allowance.
If a man were not capable of being sometimes trans-
ported beyond the bounds of moderation, in matters of
feeling, sack a man would never reach those bounds.
The only charge, however, that the Hon. Member for
Bramber brought against the Anti. Slavery Society was,
that it had renewed the subject of the horrible traffic
which bad so long been carried on at the Mauritius.
But how was that a charge ? Was not silence on the
subject the very circumstance of which the Honourable
Baronet and the Honourable Member for Bramber
complained? The Hon: Member for Britisher bad
had mow se to a species of argument respecting the
case oit tire Mosses. which he (Sir James Macintosh) re-
wrombeted was used at the beginning of the debateson
the proposed abolition of the Slave Tiede. A great
West India proprietor said on the occasion to which be
bad alluded. that the House might as well judge
of the morals of England by the records of the Old
Bailey, as to judge of the character of the West
India planters from a lew occurrences selected for
the purpose of making an unfavourable impression
with respect to them. To this Mr. Fes replied—"' I do
not wonder that the Slave Trade should remind the
Hon. tientlemen of the Old Bailey. Nothing can be
so congenial as the two subjects. Nevertheless I will
point out to the Hon. Gentleman a contrast between
them. At the Old Bailey we hear of crimes which shock
our moral feelings; but we are consoled by the punish-
ment of the criminals. We read of crimes as atrocious
in the West India Islands, but our moral feelings are
shocked at hearing not only of the impunity of the cri-
minals, bet of their triumph." In adverting to the case
of the Mosses. the Hon. Member for Bramber had, most
unfortunately for his argument, alluded to the case of
Mrs. Hibner. The contrast which these eases presented
between the moral feeling of the Bahamas and the tiro-
ca l feeling of this country was much mote striking than
the contrast to which Mr. Fos had formerly called the
ei tents= of the House. The offenders in the Bahamas,
shaving not only committed a minder. but committed it
in the most barbarous manner possible, bad been con-
demned to three months imprisonment. Whet followed?
That a Memorial had been presented to the Colonial
Secretary, signed by what were called the most re-
spectable persons in the colony, attesting that the cha-
racter of these cruel murderers was generally one of
=meaty, and praying for a remission of their
et. That was the manner in which this aro-
ciao: crime was considered in an island, the inhabitants
• of which were in no other way immoral. than as the pos.
session cf unbounded and irresponsible Omer always
canopied the bean of man. Nay more, a public dinner.
as a matter of triumph, was actually given to the per-
sons who bad escaped condign punishment for their

offences. What was the ease in Loudon when a criminal
of the lowest order, whose cdas. was not aggravated
by the consideration that she was possessed of informa-
tion which ought to have taught her better, committed
a similar offence? He was not the apologist of the 'iodic-
tive feeling exhibited by the populace on the occasion;
but it was well known that they departed from the hums.
nity which they usually exhibited towardsthe unfottunate
persons who underwent the last
,sentence of the law.
They could not conceal their horror at a crime, which,
however, was less atrocious than that which had been
committed by the Mosses, and rent the air with shoots
of triumph when they witnessed the payment of the
dreadful penalty. In justice, however, to the people of
London, he mess observe, that he remembered only
three instances in which they bad thus deviated from
their usual humanity s and those were all cases in which
the punishment of death bad been inflicted for the crime
of murder. accompanied with circumstances of great
,creeity. Thus eireo in their errors the generosity which
belonged to their general character was strongly evinced
Sir GEORGE MURRAY was not surprised. when'
the subject was slavery and the cruelties which pro-
ceeded from it, that the jest indignation which every
one must feel on that subject should seduce Honourable
Members into a greater 'warmth of expression than
perhaps the immediate occasion justified. He die not,
however, rise to pursue the same course, or to protract
the. discussion, but to bring the attention of the House
beek to the original question; and that he did in con-
.sequence of the-allusion to himself by the Honourable
Member for Weymouth, who bad said be had intimated
to him (Sir George Murray) his willingness to pursue
the inquiry. and his being prepared with convincing
evidence on the subject. The Honourable Member
for Weymouth was perfectly correct in that statement.
But it was only just to add, that the Hon. Baroet bad
expressed with equal confidence his conviction, that he
could rebut the imputations cast upon him. He (Sir
G. Murray) could have no.other feeling than an anxiety,
if guilt existed, that that guilt should be clearly esta-
blished; or. if possible, the greater anxiety, that if no
guilt existed, that tact should be made equally clear.—
'Mete was one observation which bad been made by the
Hoe. Member for Weymouth, in which also he (Sir G.
Murray) perfectly concurred; namely, that where guilt
had not. been established, it ought not to be presumed.
As to the continuation of the Slave Trade at the Man-
cities, there was that in the geographical situation of the
island which was extremely favourable to the protects-
bon of that trade; and to that circumstance he imputed
a great part of the difficulty which had been found in
putting it down. He bad the satisfaction, however, of
saying most confidently, that that difficulty had been
overcome, and that the slave trade at the Mauritius no
longer existed.
Mr. SYKES, as a Member of the Committee which
had been appointed to inquire into this subject, ob-
served that be bad gone into the investigation with the
most nor ejudiced mind; that be had given the greatest
attention to the proceedings, and that be deeply la-
mented they had been terminated before any satis-
factory conclusion bad been arrived at. At the
same time he most say, that the evidence adduced
during the existence of the inquiry, was not such
as to justify any inculpatory opinion. Still, how-
ever, when it was considered that only three or four
witnesses had been examined, and that 30 or 40 were
ready to be produced, there was nothing in this initiatory
part of the proceeding which entitled the Honourable
Baronet or his friends to express any confidence as to
what might have been the result. He declared that if
it should be his lot to belong to the next Committee
that might be appointed on the subject, be should re-
sume the investigation with a mind tree from all pre-
judice. and anxious to devote itself to the patient exs-
Initiation of the evidence that might be adduced oil
both sides of the question.

Mr. C. PELHAM objected to the production of the papers.
Sir R. FARQUHAR read several *Runts from the evidence
taken before the Committee of the House, proving that he had taken
the utmost pains to suppress the Slave Trade in the Mauritius.
The question was then put and agreed to.
Mr. bOWBLL BUXTON presented ell Petitions from towns
in Ragland. against the practice of burning Widows in India.
Mr. BROUGHAM presented a Petition from a Mr. E. H.
Turner, complaining that he had been confined eight years and a
half in Scotland, for a debt contracted by his wife before his mar-
riage. He prayed that the Law Commissioners might take the
subject of Imprisonment for Debt into their consideration.
Mr. HUME asked the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite,
whether be expected any Report of the Coounissionen upon the
subject ?
Mr. PEEL had not forgotten the conversation in the House
upon the subject, and bad stated to the Commissioners, that if they
doomed their powers insufficient to the investigation of the subject,
further powers would be granted to them.

Mr. BROUGHAM said that the petitioner com-
plained of the law proceedings of Scotland, and praised
the Courts of King's Bench and Pleas in England► pray-
ing that all commercial que*tions might be tried in
Scotland by a Jury. He (Mr. Brougham) believed that
'the Use of Scotland was at least as good as the law of
England. and that the practice of the Courts was equally
good. He despaired of any amendment in the law
hogs the labours of the Commission, from the difficultie:
which were started at the moment the most obvious
reforms were recommended. This ty yeats ago Lord

Erskine had wished to 6: the Eisler Term, and a

Learned Judge wrote a pamphlet exciting the alarms
of the Clergy that the Church was in danger.—
He doubted it any Judge on the Scotch Bench could
have been found to write such a pamphlet. The term
might be filed by a shout Bill, without reference to any
general meatutz. Unless vigorous 'Deasy:es be made
early in the next Session, the measure, if carried, would
not operate till the year 1831. The House had to coca•
bat so much of nonsensical prejudices, so much of petty,
paltry, wretched interests, that be almost despaired of
teeing any Worm.
Mr. PEEL said. that hie responsibility was entirely confined to
the introduction of the MU. The delay of which the Hon. Member
complained was not to be attributed to him, nor was he aware of
the muse, of it.

Mr. BROUGHAM said. that he believed t►e delay as little at-
tributable to the Right Hon. Gentleman as to himself.
The Petition was then brought up and read.
Mr. BROUGHAM presented a Petition from -- Stanfield,
an attorney's clerk at Rochdale. Leacashire, complaining of the
Abuses of the Law.—Ordered to be printed.
Mr. BROUGHAM said. that he had given notice el bb inten-
tints to present a Petition to the Hoeft from the town of Birming-
ham, praying for relief, and witting forth the distresses of the
country ; but at that period of the evening, and in the present state
of the House, he should not discharge Me duty to the petitioners if
be pressed forward the subject. He was the snore =MOW that the
petition should be presented to a fuller flow, in order that the
petitioners might have their ease thirty discussed, as he differed
tram them in many of their-opinion& He would therefore with.
I draw the petition.