1315

Foreign Slave Trade.

1316

in

{COMMONS} Foreign Slave Trade. this purpose, but the Portuguese adminis- |fering under the worst government, that tration proposed several modifications, to perhaps ever existed in Europe-a gosome of which the British Government vernment under which no public opinion, acceded, while to others they objected. and no public virtue, could be expected, Subsequently, the Portuguese administra- for public opinion, and public virtue, tion made another reference to the British could not arise without a free press, and Government with a view to the alteration free, and public, discussion, in popular of the treaty, and latterly he had sent meetings. Now, however, fortunately, back to Lisbon a draft with such modifi- Portugal had obtained the advantage of a cations as he felt it possible to accede to, constitutional government; and it was to without defeating the purpose of the treaty. be hoped, that the feelings of her people That draft was given to the Portuguese would change on this, as well as on many government as our ultimatum, but he had other subjects. At present one of the not yet received the final answer to it. He great. difficulties which prevented this sucwas not without hopes, however, that that cessful termination of the negotiations answer might be satisfactory to this coun- with that country arose from the circumtry, and consistent with the engagements stance, that many influential persons which Portugal had contracted. At the Lisbon had a direct and personal influence same time, the Portuguese government in this traffic. With respect to Brazil to should not forget, that the British Parlia- which country the right hon. Baronet had ment, the British people, the British adverted, this Government was pressing Government, were determined to put an two matters on the Brazilian administraend to the slave-trade now carried on tion. The first was, the ratification of the under the Portuguese flag, which trade equipment and breaking-up articles. Portugal had bound herself by treaty to When last he heard from Rio Janeiro the abolish, and that, if the Portuguese go- chambers had recently assembled, and our vernment should decline signing the chargé d'affaires had been instructed to treaty which might be necessary for the urge the Brazilian government to use accomplishment of this great object, Great every effort to obtain the ratification of Britain would be compelled to employ her these articles by the chambers. The se own means for effecting that purpose. He cond point was, that they should pass a was sure, however, that the House would law affixing to the slave-trade the punishfeel, that her Majesty's Ministers were ment of piracy. Brazil had by treaty deright in forbearing from taking such a clared the slave-trade to be piracy, but course, so long as any hope remained of had not yet passed a law which should accomplishing the object with the concur- carry that stipulation into effect. The rence and co-operation of Portugal. An noble Viscount concluded by assuring the avowal had recently been made by the right hon. Baronet and the House, that governor of a Portuguese settlement on this important subject would occupy the the coast of Africa unexampled in the most anxious attention of Government history of civilized nations. That officer during the recess, and he hoped, that when had confessed, that the only revenue of Parliament re-assembled he should be able the colony was derived from duties paid to give a more satisfactory statement on on the exportation of slaves, and that the this point than it had been in his power exportation of slaves was the only com- to afford on this occasion. merce which the colony carried on; and that while other nations, such as Spain and Brazil, excused their slave-trade on the ground, that it was necessary to the development of the resources of the country to obtain additional labour, the Portuguese, on the contrary, admitted that they by carrying on the same trade, were dispeopling their colonies and depriving them of that labour by which alone their natural resources could be developed. Some allowances, however, were to be made for Portugal. That country had had for a long course of time the misfortune of suf

Sir R. H. Inglis had heard with great pleasure what had fallen from the noble Viscount, and he begged on the part of the House to confirm the assertion which had been made, that Parliament and the country would not permit the continuance of the slave-trade under the Portuguese flag, and, he was sure, that the Government would be fully supported by Parlia ment in any measure which they might be driven to resort to for its suppression, if Portugal should finally refuse to accede to the treaty which had been proposed to it,

M

"Most Gracious Sovereign,

"We, your faithful Commons, approach your Majesty at the close of a laborious and unusually protracted Session of Parliament. The serious disturbances which unhappily broke out in the province of Lower Canada demanded our immediate attention. It was our first care to place at the disposal of your Majesty such means as we deemed to be indispensable for the restoration of order and the maintenance of future tranquillity.

"In considering, as it was our duty to do, the causes which had led to these deplorable events, we found that the discord which had so long existed between the different branches of the Government and Legislature had rendered it impossible to conduct public affairs with that efficiency and harmony which were essential to the prosperity and safety of that province.

piness of its people, as well as cement its unionwith the mother country.

"Among the subjects recommended to our consideration in your Majesty's gracious speech on the opening of the Parliament, there was none that presented greater difficulties, or which demanded more care and circumspection, than the provision to be made for the destitute in Ireland. We felt that no measure for the introduction of a poor-law into a country circumstanced as Ireland is with respect to the number and condition of its population could be proposed without incurring heavy responsibility; but, looking at the example of what had been done on this subject by former Parliaments with respect to England, we thought that the time was come when we might legislate for Ireland with safety and with a reasonable hope of success.

"We have firmly adhered to those principles which have been sanctioned by general concurrence and by experience, but we have not carried them further than was necessary to give them a fair chance of success, and to meet the pressing exigency of the case. If the execution of this most important law shall be watched over and guided by the same prudent and impartial spirit which governed our deliberations in its enactment, we confidently hope that the benefits which it is calculated to confer will be gradually developed, that it will be found to be just towards all who are affected by its provisions, and that it will eventually be the means of greatly improving the comforts and the habits of the people of Ireland.

"Under this conviction we felt, that it was necessary to interpose by adopting a vigorous and decisive measure,and we have passed an Act suspending for a limited time the constitution of Lower Canada, and have given large and extensive powers "We have passed an Act abolishing to be exercised under the control of your compositions for tithes in Ireland, and Majesty, and on the responsibility of your have substituted rent-charges, payable by Ministers. We are conscious that such those who have a perpetual interest in the a measure can only be defended by the land. The exaction of tithes from those deepest conviction of its necessity, and we who were either unable, or who refused to anxiously look for our justification in the pay, has been a fruitful source of strife, early re-establishment of the free institu- alike injurious to the public peace and tions of that important colony, with such the real interests of the Church. We amendments as may best secure the hap- I have given the strongest proof of our de

"I have to lament that the civil war in Spain forms an exception to the general tranquillity. I continue to receive from all foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their de sire to maintain with me the most amicable relations.

"The disturbances and insurrec

sire to extinguish these evils, and to pro-
cure present repose and tranquillity, by
making a liberal and munificent grant to
indemnify in certain cases those to whom
arrears of compositions for tithes are due.
"We have mitigated the severity of the
law, and the sufferings of the unfortunate,
by abolishing in certain cases imprison-
ment for debt, and we have endeavoured
to increase the usefulness of the church tions which had unfortunately broken
by abridging the holding of benefices in out in Upper and Lower Canada have
plurality, and by making better provision been promptly suppressed, and I en-
for the residence of the clergy. In pas-tertain a confident hope that firm and
sing these measures we have again recorded judicious measures will empower you
our conviction that the surest way to to restore a constitutional form of
maintain respect for our laws and attach- Government, which unhappy events
ment to our institutions is by gradually have compelled you for a time to sus-
introducing such amendments as are most
likely to recommend them to the im-
proving opinions and increasing know-
ledge of the educated classes of the com-
munity.

"We have made provision with liberality, but without improvidence, for the necessary expenditure of the year, as also for those additional expenses arising

from the events in Canada.

"We now tender to your Majesty the last Act of Supply of the present Session, entitled, An Act for appropriating the surplus of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the year 1838.""

Her Majesty was then pleased to give the Royal assent to the following Bills: The Consolidated Fund (Appropriation),

pend.

"I rejoice at the progress which
has been made in my colonial posses-
sions towards the entire abolition of
Negro Apprenticeship.

"I have observed with much satis-
faction the attention which you have
bestowed upon the amendment of the
domestic institutions of the country.
I trust that the mitigation of the law
of Imprisonment for Debt will prove
at once favourable to the liberty of
my subjects, and safe for commercial
credit, and that the Established
Church will derive increased strength
and efficiency from the restriction of
the granting of Benefices in Plura-
lity.

Tin Duties, Canada Government Indemnity, Private Bill Deposit, the Valuation of Lands (Ireland), Personal Diligence (Scotland), the Custom Duties, the County Treasurers (Ireland), the Imprisonment for Debt, the Sheriffs' Courts (Scotland), and the St. Saviour's, Southwark, Free Grammar School Bills.

Her Majesty then read in a clear and distinct voice the following gracious speech :-

My Lords and Gentlemen,

"The state of public business enables me to close this protracted and laborious Session.

"I have felt great pleasure in
Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ire-
giving my assent to the Bill for the

land. I cherish the expectation that
its provisions have been so cautiously
framed, and will be so prudently exe-
cuted, that whilst they contribute to
relieve distress, they will tend to pre-
serve order, and to encourage habits
of industry and exertion.

"I trust likewise that the Act
which you have passed relating to the

in

a

Composition for Tithe in Ireland will increase the security of that property, and promote internal peace.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

"I cannot sufficiently thank you for your despatch and liberality in prohouseof my viding for the expenses hold, and the maintenance of the honour and dignity of the Crown. I offer you my warmest acknowledgments for the addition which you have made to the income of my beloved mother.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,

Thursday, August 16, 1838.

MINUTES.] Petitions presented. By Mr. LEADER, from Tradesmen, and other Inhabitants of Glasgow, to extend the Royal mercy to the men who were lately condemned at Edinburgh for a conspiracy at Glasgow; from the Working Men's Association at Carmarthen, praying that the twenty-three persons, eight of whom had been sent to Bermuda by order of the Governor-General of Canada, and the remaining fifteen forbidden to enter the province on pain of death, may receive a full, free, and unconditional Pardon.-By Mr. HAWES, against any Alteration of the Beer Act.-By Mr. O.CAVE, from the Chairman and Secretary of a Society in the county of Tipperary, for the Total Abolition of Tithes in Ireland.-By Sir R. INGLIS, from Slingsby, in favour of the Established Church in Canada; from Oxbroke (Derby), against the Encouragement of Idolatrous practices in the East Indies; and from the Clergy and Archdeaconry of Colchester, against any measure for settling Parochial Assessments similar to the late Bill.

Sir R.

LABOURS OF THE SESSION.] "I thank you for the supplies Inglis, after having presented some petiwhich you have voted for the ordi- tions, said, he hoped he might be allowed nary public service, as well as for the to take that opportunity of congratulating the right hon. Gentleman in the chair, readiness with which you have pro-and the House generally, on the termina vided means to meet the extraordinary expenses rendered necessary by the state of my Canadian possessions. "My Lords and Gentlemen,

"The many useful measures which you have been able to consider, while the settlement of the Civil List, and the state of Canada, demanded so much of your attention, are a satisfactory proof of your zeal for the public good.

you

You are so well acquainted with the duties which now devolve upon you in your respective counties, that it is unnecessary to remind of them. In the discharge of them you may securely rely upon my firm support, and it only remains to express an humble hope that Divine Providence may watch over us all, and prosper our united efforts for the welfare of our country.

The Lord Chancellor then, by her Majesty's command, declared Parliament to stand prorogued until Thursday, the 11th of October next, to be then here holden, and her Majesty, after bowing to the assembled Lords and Commons, retired.

tion of a Session of almost unexampled
He found
duration, toil, and fatigue.
that the House had now sat 173 days,
during which no less than 1,134 hours
had been occupied with public business, a
number which was unexampled in the
annals of Parliament, with the exception
of a single year, in which the amount had
been exceeded, partly on account of the
morning sittings which were then on trial,
and partly owing to the lengthened dis-
cussions on the Reform Bill, which was
pending that Session. But if they com-
pared the labours of the last Session with
those which their predecessors had to un-

dergo, indeed, if they went back only so
far as the reign of George 4th, or the
beginning of William 4th, the contrast
In the first
would appear most striking.
Session after the accession of the former
monarch, the House of Commons had sat
only 111 days. In the first Session of
William 4th they sat only 84 days, and
rolling this as it was rolled into the last
Session of George 4th, still the united
number of days only reached 107. The
first Session of the present century was
the longest previous to the Session just
past, the number of days occupied by sit-
tings being 132. He thought the country
must see with satisfaction the testimony
of attention to the duties of legislation
exhibited in the numbers he had men-
tioned, but while he thought this, he
could not but feel also, that there was no

།

circumstance connected with the Session | there were Members-he believed, a num-
which would tend to give less satisfaction ber of Members-in that house who were
than the great number of Bills which had earnestly desirous of giving a careful and
been introduced into that House within deliberate consideration to these questions.
the last few weeks. No less than sixty- With reference to the notice on the subject
four new Bills had been introduced since which he had placed on the books some
the 1st of July, a number exceeding the time ago, he had felt, that it would be
entire amount that had been presented in improper for him to make that motion
the first three months of the Session. He until after the Poor-law committee should
was very glad to see that an hon. Member have terminated their labours, and made
had given notice of a motion calculated to their final report (which had only just
correct this evil for the early part of next been done); he had made his notice con-
Session, and he must say, he earnestly tingent upon that event. He was anxious
trusted that it would be persevered in, as that there should be no misapprehension
he thought the subject deserving of the on this point. With respect to the delay
gravest consideration on the part of the which had taken place in presenting the
House.
final report of the Poor-law committee,
that delay was justified, in his opinion, by
the circumstances to which it was attribut-

Subject dropped.

able. He thought, that the recess would
be well employed by every Member of the
House in digesting the report of the Com-
mittee, and in consulting with their
constituents and ascertaining their feel-
ing. He should certainly feel it his duty
to press the subject on the notice of the
House on an early day in next Session;
but in the mean time, it was his earnest
hope, that her Majesty's Government
would see the necessity of directing their
attention to the wishes of the people ex-
pressed as they had been in almost innu-
merable petitions on this subject. Once
for all, he would say, that his object was,
to render the Poor-law more consonant to
the wishes of the poor themselves, and
though he thought, that it was by the Go-
vernment, that the country had a right to
expect, that a matter of so much im
portance should
be brought under
consideration, still if no
were found, he should persist in pressing
the subject.

THE POOR-LAW.] Sir C. Douglas, in rising to move, pursuant to notice," that each assistant Poor-law Commissioner do forthwith prepare a report to the board at Somerset-house, as to how far he may be of opinion, that the regulations now in force for refusing out of door relief in money to the able-bodied, and for the separation of man and wife in the workhouses after sixty years of age each, should or should not be modified, stating the reasons for whichever view he may take," said, that in the course which he had pursued on the subject of the Poor-law he was anxious, it should not be thought, he had intended in any way to mislead the public, and he must say, he deeply regretted, that nothing had been done on the subject. It was one on which he was quite convinced political heats and party feelings ought to have no place, and he had refused to accede to the motion brought forward by the hon. Member for Oldham in the early part of the Session, and thereby shown, that he acquiesced ge- Mr. Freshfield said, that the Poor-law nerally in the principles of the Poor-law committee, great as had been their labours Amendment Act. But, he must add, that felt no regret in reference to those labours. he did think Government might have been They complained of nothing. Four days able, had they taken up the subject early in every week, and five or six hours each in the Session, when there was a full at- day, they had devoted to their duties; tendance of Members, to have passed such but the time they had given to the inquiry, a measure, for the modification of the extended as it was, was no more than nepowers of the commissioners in those par-cessary in order to render the proceedings ticulars to which his motion referred-viz., out-door relief to the able-bodied, and the separation of the sexes, as would have given general satisfaction throughout the country. At present, however, he had risen to call attention to the subject, chiefly for the purpose of showing, that

one more able

satisfactory to the public generally, as well
as to those who had evidence to produce
on the subject, both on the one side and
on the other. And he must add, that
whatever desire hon. Members might
generally feel to show humanity and
benevolence towards the poor in their ad-