The Sun. — 1838-02-21 (London, England)

SAVEY. Lord BROUGHAM then adraßnced to the table, and said —I do not think, my Lords, that ever, upon any but one occasion, in the whole course of my Parliamentary life, I have risen to address either House of Parliament with so much anxiety as I do this evening; The occasion to which alone I can liken this present, was when I brought to the consideration of the other House of Parliament, the ill usage of our \Vest Indian relations, and when my motion gave rise to that great debate upon the condition of our brethren in the Colonies, which happily has not been without result. But there is this difference to sustain my spirit upon this occasion, that whereas at that time our sky was clouded, and scarcely a ray of light shot through our atmosphere, vr o have now a bright and luminous prospect over the path on which we are about to enter. I attribute much of it to that debate, and I am gratified, my Lords, that I have the means of enabling your Lordships to recommend yourselves to your fellow countryenen, by leading the way in this safe, practical, and glorious work. Ido not say that your Lordships hare need of this occasion, or of any ether, to recommend yourselves to the good esteem of the people. But if you have any favour to recover, I know of no more speedy road to accomplish the attainment of that purpose than the present question holds out to you. But I will not rest my appeal to your Lordships upon such grounds. I claim your aequieseenee upon the justice of my case. I claim it upon your consciences—l claim it on your duty to God and to man—l claim it upon your consistency with yourselves—on your own measure of 1833. I call upon you to work out the wise and Christian principle—l rush at once without preface, into the midst of this argument—l come at once to the main question—l tell you that it is the question of the Slave Trade which I bring before you now, and which I have already in this House and elsewhere denounced. On that there can be no difference of opinion. We have everything with us—everything of reason, of argument, of fact, and of experience upon our side. I call upon your Lordships to take the matter in your own hands. To use the words of the late Mr. Canning, I should say to you, that I would not trust the masters of the slaves to legislate for the Yet I can refer you to the example of those masters for aslarvuelee. which may govern you in making laws for slaves. I hold in my hand a document which, I thank Heaven, I hare lived to see—that the Legislation of Jamaica itself, the masts:is of slaves, representing all the slave owners of the Island, felt that they also represented the slaves too themselves; and they approached the Throne of the Sovereign with a unanimous request, thankful, as they expressed themselves —tardily thankful, as they expressed themselves, that the Slave traffic had been now put down by the Imperial Parliament for above thirty years, and beseeching the Sovereign, with the advice and consent of her Parliament, to consummate that work—to prohibit for ever all traffic in human beings, and to join with all the powers of the earth interested in that trade in the only effectual remedy, by having it declared by the law of nations as it is, robbery, and murder, and piracy, by the law of God. The Legislature observed, " nor can we fuser the higher position ;" the Colonial Legislature having stated that their interests were concerned in its suppression ; ,t Nor can we forego the higher position, as a question of humanity ; representing all classes in the island, we consider ourselves entitled to offer to your Majesty the respectful remonstrance to the continuance of this condemned traffic in human beings. As a community composed of the descendants of Africa as well as Britain, we are anxious to advance the character of the country, and we, therefore, entreat your Majesty to exert your interest with foreign powers to cause this trade at once to be called piracy as the only effectual means of putting it down, and thereby grace the commencement of your auspicious reign."—( Hear.) My Lords, I will not stop to remind those law-givers of Jamaica why it is that the slave trade is a crime of so black a dye—l will not stop to remind them that, if slavery were no more, that if the West Indies were like England, that if the West Indies knew