The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-02-22 00:00:00

RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH,

That we, your Memorialists, have heard, with feelings of the
greatest dismay, the report made to us of the conference held
between your• Lordship and a deputation of our body, on the
28th ult.
We respectfully recall tc, your Lordship's recollection, that.
in the year Is3l, your Memorialists, as well as the agents of the
several Legislative colonies, seamed their application. to his
Majesty's government, that an enquiry upon oath into the con-
dition of our slave population should be instituted, in order to
remove erroneous impressions from the public mind.
In the justice and necessity of such an enquiry a numerous
meeting of all classes of the commercial and manufacturing
interests of the city of London concurred, and by a Resolution
adopted at that meeting, on the sth April, 1832, declared, that—
" As an act of justice to the 'colonists, and with a view of'
preventing the fatal effects of that c,onkinual excitement which
has already brought them to the brink of destruction, and of
removing from the public mind erroneous impressions in regard
to the state of slavery in the British colonies, this meeting is of
opinion, that a fall and, impaitial parliamentary enquiry CM
oath should be immediately instituted, for the purpose of -aseer-
taMing the laws and usages of the colonies, the actual condition
and treatment of the slaves, their habits and dispositions, and
the degree of their progressive improvement and civilization.
The information obtained from such authority would not onlyre-
move erroneous impressions, but lead to the consideration of'tuch
further constitutional measures of amelioration, as in the words

of the faTliatnentary 'resolution of 1823; 'shall be compatible
with the well-being of the. slaves themselves, with the safety of
the colonies, and with a fair and equitable consideration of the

interests of private .property.'"
A petition founded on that resolution, was presented to the
House of Lords; and their, lordships, on the 17th April last,

appointed a Select Committee. •
"To inquire into the laws and usages of the several West
India colonies in relation to the slave population, the actual
condition and treatment of the slaves; their habits and disposi-

tions ; the means Which are adopted in the several colonies for
their progressive improvement and civilization. and the degree
of improvement and civilization which they have at present at-
tained, and also to inquire into the distressed condition of
those colonies."

This committee proceeded in its inquiries until they were
terminated by the prorogation of parliament, and then re- .
ported to the house, that, " considering that there was no pros-
pect of their being able to examine into the state of all the
West India colonies during the then present session, they had • .
come to an early determination to confine their inquiry, in the
first instance, to the island of Jamaica; and though they had
collected much evidence upon the condition of the slaves in
that island, some of which is of the most contradictory descrip-
tion, yet they had not found it possible to enter into a detailed
examination of many of the other points referred to them, and
upon none had their inquiry been so complete as to enable them
to submit to the house any definitive opinion." Their lord-
ships' further state that "adverting to the advanced period of
the session, and to the probable arrival of persons of authority
from Jamaica; whose evidence would be most desirable, they
have determined to postpone the consideration of any detaileil
report."
Since their lordships have thus reported, persons of au-
thority have 'arrived in England, from different colOnies,
amongst others, the late Governors of Jamaica and of Barba-
does, of whom, the former personally investigated the causes of
the insurrection in Jamaica, and the state and condition of the
Slaves taking part in it. Several eminent persons have, also,
been specially appointed and sent to this country-by the colo-
nies, at considerable expense, for the express purpose of giv-.
ing evidence before their lordship? committee.
• A committee of the House of Commons was afterwards ap- •
pointed, (not, however, at the instance of your memorialists, )
To consider and report upon the 'measures which it may be
expedient to adopt for the purpose' of effecting 'the extinction of
slavery throughout the British dominions; at the earliest period
compatible with the safety of • all classes in the colonies, and in
conformity with the resolutions- of the Commons' Houseon the
15th day of May, 1823." •
That committee have made only a partial report. They re-
port that, "with some few exceptions, the inquiry has been
confined to 'the island of Jamaica, and the important question.
of what is due to the fair mad equitable consideration of the in-:
terests of private property, as connected with emancipation,
has not been investigated by your committee." " Sonic opi-
nions (also) have been pronounced," says the report, " and
some expressions used; by witnesses, which may seem to be in-
jurious to the character or persons in high stations in the colo-
nies,--unwilling to present the evidence in a garblea state,
your committee have resolved not to exclude from their mi-
nutes testimony thus implicating. the conduct of public func-
-tithaaties, but they are bound to impress On the house the con-
sideration, which it is just constantly to remember, that no op-
portunity of contradicting, 'or of explaining these statements,
has been afforded to the parties accused; and evidence of this
description must be received with peculiar caution," The
committee further declare, that "even the limited examination"
to which they have been confined, "had not been fully accom-
plished," and that they "had been compelled to close their la-
bours in an abrupt and unfinished state. '
In a despatch to the Governor of Dominica, dated sth June,
1832, Viscount Goderich says,—" In the present posture of this
controversy, the only course which remains open to his Ma-
jestY, with regard to the colonies possessing legislative assem-
blies, is, to abstain from any measure whatever, until the labours
,of the two parliamentary committees have been brought to a
close."
'rhe Governor of Jamaica, who had been recently in personal
communication with his Majesty's Ministers, in his speech to
the legislature of that island, on the 30th October last, said,—
" Since you last met, both branches of the imperial legislature
have been engaged in an inquiry as -to the actual relations of
society in the slave. colonies." "The proceedings of these com-
mittees have been interrupted by the. close of the session, but
will be resumed at the next meeting; and their final report,
when prepared, will be the dispassionate and impartial result of
ample and patient examination."
Your memorialists respectfully submit, that the want of that
informatiOn which called for the appointment of these commit-
tees, has not yet been supplied, and that the government and
the nation are now as little qualified to deal with these difficult
and momentous subjects as they were when those committees
were appointed. Your memorialists; therefore, respectfully
urge on the consideration of his Majesty's government, the
great injustice of taking any substantive measures in relation
to the institutions or properties of the colonists, without the
completion of these inquiries, to which the government itself
may be considered as pledged, no less by the appointment and
reports of the committees, than by the despatch and the speech
above quoted.
Your memorialists are convinced that from the magnitude of
the property invested in the West India colouies, and the nu-
merous and extensive commercial relations in this country in-
volved in their fate, any substantive proceeding or declaration
affecting their rights and' interests, rashly adopted or given,
must be followed by a commercial crisis unparalleled in the
history of the empire.
The recent insurrection in Jamaica, which is proved to have
been mainly excited by the mischievous representations im-
pressed on the negro mind, that " the King had wished them.
to be free, but that their masters withheld' their freedom," can-
not fail to establish to your lordship's conviction the extreme
danger to which the lives and properties of the free 'population
resident in the colonies will be exposed by any such proceeding
or declaration.
In the view which your memorialists take they beg to be un-
derstood as not admitting that any distinction can be made be-
tween the legislative and crown colonies.
Under these circumstances and considerations, your memo-
rialists claim that " ample and patient- examination" of their
case which the renewal of, and a report from, the committees
of the two Houses of Parliament can 'alone afford; and they
more especially protest against any substantive measures being
taken or declaration imade, affecting their rights or properties
in the colonies, without previous communication with them-
selves. .
60, St. James-street,
Jan. 31, 1833..,

WILLIAM MURRAY.
CHAIRMAN, pro. tern.

THE COMMISSIONERS FOR BUILDING NEW CHURCHES have
just made their twelfth annual. report. They stated that at the
time of their last report 168 churches and chapels had been
completed, in which accommodation had been provided for
231,367 persons. Since that time 20 churches and chapels have
been completed, capable of accommodating 26,361 persons.
So that on the whole, 188 churches and chapels have now been
completed, and therein accommodation provided for 257,728
persons, including' 142,121 free seats. The Commissioners
state further that there are 19 churches and chapels now build.-
ing, and that they have approved plans for building eight more.