Colonial Intelligence.
The Times, 1824-11-19T00:00:00

(From the Barbadoes Globe.) Tueaday last hia Excellency the Governor, attended by Itis body guards, went in state to the Town.hali, abd opened the new session of Colonial Parliament. The house having formed, unanimously called the Hon. Cheesman Aloe te t' Wir chair as Speaker, anid then waited on his Excellency the Governor in the Council Chamber, and presented him for confirmation, when his Excellency was plcatsd to make a speech, of which the foilowing is an extract:_ " I cannot conceal from yoa the great disappointment I have ex- perienced from the fallure of a well-grounded hope that some bill for the amendment of thie slave-laws would have been, long ere this, enacted. As both branches of the legislature, immediately after tle clobe of the last session, honoured me with'their separate statemeRts in explanation of thedelays whlich had occurred,and as it ha: been, is, and ever will be,my anxiouas lesire thatall the brancies of the Legislature should, if possible, co.operate iuost cordially for the public welfare, and as the documents previously alluded to have both been trans. mitietd to Earl Bathuret for Ilsi Mlajesty's information, I shall for. hear from making a single cemment, further than by remarking, that it in a very great consolation to me that the sentiments expressed in both statements lead me again to expect that every exertion will be miiade for thespeedy completion and enactment of a bill for thc amendment, melioration, and consolidation of the slave laws. And I now seize, with pleasure and sincerity, this public opportunity to express those sentiments most unequivocally, whici have long been felt, but never called forth, that, though cases as exceptions tio ex- ist, which, under similar circumstances, would exist in every other part of the globe, so long as men are imperfect, andttheirdispositions diRTer In an innumerable varicty of shades. from good to vile; yet, aftcr more than three years' constant residence on this island, it is my firm conviction (as far as it has come within my own observation tojudge), that the slaves, as a body throughout the colony, are uni. formly treated with kindness, lenity, and liberality; and to whiclh, their general appearance of clheerfulniess and happiness may be fairly attributed. " Council Cliamber, Sept. 28, 1824." The only business transacted by the Ilouise, after the usual forms had been gone through of opening the new session, was the reading of a petition which Mir. King presented from certain inhabitants of Bridgetown. praying the repeal or alteration of the Alien Act. A similar petition was presented in the last sessidn, but from the " un- parliamentary ttyle in which it was couched," but which we feel satisfied was never intended by the respectable body who signed it, the honoutable member who introduced it felt himself under the necessity of withdrawing it in order to avoid a division of the house, as a member moved that the sense of the house skoultl be takeen whether they cotild subtmit to receive a petition " containing lan- guage disrespectful to the Legislature." Altlough such was the fate of that petition, yet the lion. memvber (Air. Cumnsias) who in. 1atwi; for in the Polf{c Bill wlici fli initroduced; and whtc passed the lhouse unanimously after 'much time had been spent on it, all regulations necessary to the true design of an Alien Act were embraced, and the present one repealed ; but the llonour. able Board of Council having thought fit to reject this bill, the inhabitants of Barbadtoes and other His lMajesty's liege sub. jects visiting these shores, still remain subject, not only to all the unpleasant regulations of undergoing examination at the Alien-of. flce, but are made to pay the sum of 12s. 6:i. cash, for coming to, and the like sum for going from, the island. We presume that the persons who signed the petition wltich Mr. King introduced cannot be aware that this act was repealed by the Police Bill, otherwise they would no0 have troubled the House again; for we do not think it possible that the present or any other Ifouse of Assembly will be more earnest than the late House was in affording relief upon thits particular subject: they did all in their power; the continuance, therefore, of this very unjust law rests with Hiis Majesty's Board of Council, and to tliem should the petitioners direct their attention. It is rather unfortanate that tlle framers of the petition tius introduced by iMlr. King, should have fallen into the same error as those who framed the one which Mr. Cummins introduced in the late session, by using language of an unparliamentary nature: altltough there was no nmotion to reject this second petition, yet Alr. Speaker cotikli not help remarking that " Its tone and style betrayed a want of re- tspect towards the Legislature which he felt it lhis duty to notice." ANTIGUA, Sgpl. 17. WVe feel no surprise at Sir .Judwon Lowe having declined the (4o, vertnment of this island. Considering the highly important office le tilled at St. Helena, upon whiich the peace of all Europe depended, we should hardly lhave expectedl his acceptance of it, but we do inot suppose the reduction of the island salarY to he the. ' ef i- Jlne tempestuous weather which prevailed during the early part of this month liuas been severely felt in the other islands, where much damage has been done. At Guadalgupe a vessel of war has been totally lost, wsith a hundred men. Happily for us, we have hitherto escaped the visitation of this sconrge of the West 1intlies. ST. VINCENT'S, SsrT. 12. On Tuesday an half-yearly Court of Grand Sessions of the Peace was held at the Court-house. Trhe trial of the negro man Snzitht, fer the murder of Thomas Adams, win, the only subject of censequence that came before the above (ourt; and from the atrocity of the crimne-the fortunate infrequency of such offences in this commun;ty-with the place and circumstances under which it was committed-very general attention was excited towards it, and the Oourt was oppressively,crowded. The eviden,ce-taken oD- theoc-ateien-did not- difTbr rnaterially fronri that given before the Goroner'e. Inques of which we published a re- port in our number ef the 28th ult. hlost of the witnesses were examined as to their opinion of the prisoner's sanity- and although some circurnstancet were mentioned fromi which it would seem that he d'ccasionially laboured under a certain aberration of mind, that might have approached very nearly to idiotcy, still it did not appear -that he was so affected at the tiane of committing the murder, which he no doubt did in a fit of ungovernable vaosion. fie was accordingly fbnrndguizt1y, andreceived s8ntencc of death on Wed- nesday morning. APrivy Council wae, morcover, held yesterday, at whicih this man'b case was we believe, again contidered, ats his Elxcellency the Goveraor'Y oroer to catry the aentence of the law into effect was issued shortly after. Thc uinhappy inan was therefore exccuted this, moris in ?ntyheFmearzketpjale abpout io'clock. Hedeniedthecrime, VlhiC tvaa proved against him on the clearest circumnstntial evidence u nti nth edla si fom e n t,fbe heed t h r o u t w ith th e s m e h a rd e n e d indi?~rncathathe anieste onhistrial, anti constanitly refused spirtua cosoltio frm te mnisersof religion, who repeatedly visied iniin risn, nd ttededtheexeution. COL,ONVIAL I TA rELLI .ExCE. BARBADOES, SEPT. 3Q.