Star.
London, England, 1826-03-02 00:00:00

Berlina, AC AdOr.de as aht bn•pfill -17°'!"eert to the
*Option Of.those Orals, in that
altbotigh the adet had total Iti for tare :Abe,
no incoaveniefice Itafkbeiti*Ojetlibtra.' He hid 'to-
plained to his slaves i at dB otteitees erould be ehreFed
in the Black Kook, which would be sent tei the
That the new stocks would not He tred, excepting 'in
'cotes of absolute necessity, ariting (tom their own, mis-
conduct ; did that the mime)! ilestitied 'fir the erection
of a new gaol would be spent in the' lepsiii 'of their
houses; and he promised them that tfirie shinil4ll*-no
increa eof the amount of the taA work. rrhe date of
this letter, the Hon-Gentleman stated, hilift*Wiir Itft
question, was the 6th ot 'of J.4nu ary, 1139.62111-: effeet of
the system of task-work which had b.:eo adopted at Tvl-
'lliad was this—that an avet age calculation was matlibf
the amount of labour which should be reqnited 'fiftisti
each slave, and if that was perfmmed before the
time a11..t ed for it, the slave had the remaiadOi
for relax ttion, or to employ it for his.owrs benefit. • As
the conviction spread that them was sto intention to
attack or i jure the interests of the masters, the opposi-
tion would cease. In Jamaica, vatitta 'the. opposition
had been the strongest, it had been produced solely
by the doubt of that. To remove this doubt, much had
been'done ; but much also remained still to be done.—
lie spoke from the information which the situation he
had the honour to fill had given him, 'and he was fully
convinced that in order to .enspre the success of the

measures which were to be proposed, it was of paraloonnt
necessity for the House to carry the masters with diem.
It must, however, in justice to the Galenists, not be
supposed that nothing had been done but to exercise
oppression. On the contrary, *hough the details
had not perhaps leached the Hon.,aud Lesirned Gentle-
man, steps had been taken towards the improvement
of the conditi. nof the slaves. From St. Vincent's he
had just received a Bill which provided that the Suss
day markets should be limited to an early hour, that
the evide ce of slaves under certain regu'ations should
be admitted, that their marriages should be legalised,
and their right to acquire property shou4l be recog.
nixed. Then, as to their punishments, they were regu-
lated by the authority of justices of the peace. At
Dominica also a Bill has passed the Committ e, bat
had nor yet been approved by the Assembly, although
it w..s believed it would be. By this Bill the &today
labour was abolished, and stave-evidence was admitted
in cases not of a capital nature, nor against the owners
of slaves. He diJ not say this was enough to satisfy
the House; but it showed that there was a disposition
_ .

on the part of the colonists to improve the condition- of their slaves.
He did not presume to antkipate what night be the eontents of
the Bill of the Hoe. and Learned Gent. but he trusted that if the
House pursued the course of forbearance and moderation which
had been pointed out, they would find by the next Session that
much hadbeen done by the colonists in accomplhhatent of that object
which was on all considerations so desirable. _ _

Me. K. DOUGLAS espresso, hii perfect concurrence in the
mane proposed by his Majesty's Oweernment—a Course which.
.without injuring the interests of any class of the 'colonists, would
eventually tend to promote the prosperity of all.
Mr. SYXES was willing to give his assent to delay, provided
she light Hon. Secretary opposite would undertake to pledge the
'illinewistment to interfere next Session, if the Colonial Legislatures
*Cant, before that period. given their assent to the meassres.
whidt the feelings of the people of this country, as well as the cep-
*don of its Legislature, considered absolutely necessary.
Sir FR ANCISELAKE thought, that as the countlyisatt called
en littidlT for the abolition of Negro Slavery, it was the duty of his
Majesty s Ministers to Inquire Inuit, and lose nu time in setting
she question at rest.
Mr. THOMAS WILSON said that whatever might be his in-
dividual *pledges span the question before the House, he could
art 11* *hiking it extremely unfair towards the West India
Planters to deprive them oT their vested rights without an adrilivate
compensation.
Mr. HUME contended that there was no analogy
between the state of slave* in the East and West Indies.
In all the places where he was, in India, the slave, were
at liberty to leave one master for ano:her, mad there
was no law which compelled them to re: urn. No man
was more anxious than he was to see slavery abolished;
but he would not wish to are it done in a precipitate
and rash manner, so as to endanger the peace and the
property of those who ware connected with it. He
thought the Hon. Colonial Secretary was right in cos-
sidering that they ought to carry the masters with
them in erecting their object ; and he protested against
'any definite time being pointed out by the Government
at which Slavery was to cease. An Honorable Mem-
ber had not hesitated to assert that free black labour
would be equally advantageous to the master. But he
called upon Government. to lay before: the House the
result of the experiments which had been made upon
that -point in Trinidad and Sierra Leone, and he thought
the reverse of that fact would be proved. The Han.
Member then deprecated the practice of distributing
prints with shocking representations of the stiffer ngs of
slaves; he had one in his pocket which had been sent to
him, represenaing the case of a woman who was fl,igged
as far back as the year 1782. He thought such a me-
thod of proceeding was only calculated to inflame art
passions, and that the humane feelings of the people of
England did not require such appeals. With regard to aompensa-
don, he did not wish-those whom he considered toile the unfortu-
nate holders of this species of property to suffer by ail public act,
but be agreed with the Right Hon. Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
that they should br improving the value &the Slaves by raising
them in the scale of humanity, and that it would net be a case
where compensation was required. •., 1 . -, .:, .
Sr H. 'EAST said, that he was. a .considemble proprietor of
tr
slaves ;in his yopth he had given his support, to . urea of
the abolitionists, and he never had Tot .t,, repel* 1 °Aims .1
the subject. He also objected to too great it preciplta tit ha eman-
cipating the slaves.
Mr. BROUGHAM said, that theitibertut coMplained
of the charges brought ngaftiSti dib •Satioe Proprietore
by the advocates of gasancipatiSis, etre*, not to es.
dulge in charges against their own etsuorrymen who
espoused the cause of the negroes. However different
might be the opinions entertained upon_ ?Are points of
the subject, there was no daference whatever, 44thet
specific, or in the degree of feeling tateatsiiiied:by all
parties, against the enormous masasof practiCad abuse,
in the slave system. By far the strongestypeatt thai
-could be made to the humane feitiugibf the 'etiOutry
might be found in the speeches of, the Colonia!,Legir-.
latures. They 'afforded the most appillifli details 0
that most infernal scourge to humanity, the S aarepade
He was not for immediate emanciAtion, though. Wan:
measures were to be promptly pursued, they conk
not be reproached as rash or headstrong, for sufficient
warning had been given to ail the parties uoncerned.
The object at present, however, was not to compel pet.
sons to emancipate their slaves; but only to afford Jaci•
lities to slaves who hod the desire, antrthe means to
emancipate themselves. The scheme proposed was, to
allow the slave to purchase his own freedom, an ap-
praiser upon the part of the owner and another appointed
by Public Authorities to kale 'the -price. 'He might
once have thought that the mothee•couturrought to
interfere solely with the abolition, andlsio• leave all other
points of the subject to the local Legislatures ; but h.;
now thought that it was high time for the mother coun-
try to interlete in every respect necessary, Acing that Lie