them, although I feel how uncharitably they have attributed motives to me. I accuse no man of bad intentions; although, from recent exposures and shameful conspiracies every day bringing into light, one is almost disposed to think some of those loud in their cry of public purity, to have violated all those principles of honour and morality which form the only sure basis of social life. In recurring to the agitation that prevails abroad relative to the privileges of both houses of parliament, I feel it would be indecorous to advert to the question specifically. But generally I may say that these privileges must, like the other great principles of government, rest upon their utility and their known and admitted existence. Next, whether they were not necessary to support the legislature in the discharge of its functions against the crown? They were necessary, and if the deliberations of parliament could be impeded by popular insult and cmmotion, why not as necessary to suppress the civium ardor prava jubentium as the unconstitutional invasions of the crown on the freedom of parliament? That these privileges have ever been considered as the undoubted privileges of parlament we have the authority of that great statesman Mr. Fox, whose knowledge of the constitution and of constitutional law cannot be disputed, and who in the clearest and most forcible language stated that to be his decided opinion, an opinion which was never attempt. ed to be controverted by his political antagonist Mr. Pitt, and who there is no doubt held the same sentiments. It is, however, unnecessary for me to rest the case upon authorities: the privileges of parliament arise from the necessity of their ex istence, in order to preserve to par liament the due exercise of those important functions with which it is intrusted. Those who thus attack the privileges of parliament choose to forget that a supreme power must rest somewhere, and must be inherent in some part of every constitution. The argument they apply to parliament would go to an extent far beyond the wishesof those who use it, and would tend to the annihilation of some of the most valuable rights of the subject. If they would not allow to the house of commons the supreme. power over the public purse-if they would not allow to this house the supreme judicial power-if they would not allow to the crown the more dangerous power of appointing to offices, and the commandin-chief of the army,—by what argument will they maintain that jurors ought to be intrusted with the power they exercise? Sir Francis Burdett says that he is a martyr to the good old cause for which Sydney and Russel bled on the scaffold; but Sydney and Russel did not fall martyrs to their resistance to any stretch or undue exercise of the power or privileges of parliament, but to their attempting to curb and restrain the arbi trary exercise of the power of the crown; and how did they fall martyrs to that cause, but by the verdicts of juries?—It was the verdict of a jury that sent them to their deaths, of a jury influenced by the most base and profligate judges. It is very far from my wish, my lords, to detract in the least from that most valuable institution, the trial by jury; but let those who would argue from the abuse of a privilege or a power, against the use of it, consider to what an extent that argument might be car ried. It is asked, however, Will you allow a power to be exercised by the house of commons which the king does not possess? My lords, the crown with the command-inchief of the army requires no such power to the house of commons it is necessary for the due exercise of their functions. There may happen instances in which this power may be needlessly or improperly exercised; but I must do this justice to all governments for a long series of years past, to observe that there has been no disposition on the part of any of them to stretch their power to an extent which would render it burdensome to the people. The free discussion of public mea. sures has been allowed to as great an extent as is compatible with any free government. Against the abuse of such a power in the house of commons, a security arises from the very constitution of the house. Such a power vested in the crown might be frequently arbitrarily exercised; but it is not likely that the members of this house would combine together to abuse the power with which it is intrusted, still less likely that the members of the house of commons, who are elected by the people, and who to the people must return, would combine together arbitrarily or tyrannically to exercise a power against the people, by which themselves, as a part of the people, must soon be affected. I am aware that what I have said upon this point may not be a popular doctrine; but however pleasing popularity may be, I cannot for a moment hesitate, when popularity is on one side, and my duty on the other, which to choose. I cannot but feel a deep regret if I am deprived of my popularity by any misunderstanding of my views and objects on the part of the people; but it excites my indignation if I am robbed of my popularity by the basest misrepresentations, and the vilest delusions practised by men who, without any regard to truth, sacrifice every really virtuous and patriotic object to the shouts of popular clamour. To obtain such a species of popularity requires neither virtue nor talents. - Indeed men without virtue or talents are the best fitted to acquire such a popularity-men who, as we have seen in the present day, set themselves above all the decencies of private life, and above all those courtesies which men who really endeavour to do their duty, concede even to their adversaries. Much more might be said, my lords, upon the various topics to which I have adverted, but I must at present content myself with moving an address to his majesty." [This address will be found among the Public Papers in another part of the volume.] This motion excited a very animated debate, in which almost all the leading members of the house took a part: but on the division the numbers including proxies were, Majority against the address 62 June 15-Mr. Brougham, in the house of commons, rose to call the attention of the house to the state of the slave-trade; a subject, he said, of the first importance; and though it was neither a personal nor a party question; though it touched rather no higher than the honour of the country and the house, and the interests of humanity, he trusted it would receive that favourable consideration which it had before experienced. The quesᎷ Ꮞ tion tion was, what steps could be taken to watch over the execution of the sentence which the house had pronounced? It was four years since Mr. Fox made his last motion in that house, and his last speech, there, he believed, in favour of the abolition. Since he proposed a resolution, pledging the house to the abolition of the traffic, and an address to the crown to procure the concurrence of foreign states in the same great object. An address to the same effect was agreed to in the other house with equal umanimity, and next year two noble friends of his (Grenville and Grey) followed up these preliminary steps, and by their exertions, second only to those of the men ber for Yorkshire, who was prevented by indisposition from attending this day, the abolition bill passed. That measure, which had been so long retarded, as some thought from the slowness with which truth made its way, or, as others imagined, from the want of zeal in its official supporters, experienced none of the obstacles which it formerly met with, and passed by a majority greater, perhaps, than was ever witnessed on an important contested question. The friends of the abolition, however, never expected that an act of parliament would at once put an end to a traffic which had been carried on so long, and had taken such a deep root. But both he and others had certainly over-rated the effects of the act, and under-rated the wickedness of the slave-trader, and the infatuation of the planter. What had already been done had not been sufficient to answer the purpose. He hoped then that the house would favour him with its attention, while from the papers on the table, and whatever private information he had been able to procure, he laid before it a statement, which would in some measure enable it to appreciate the extent of the evil, and to apply the proper remedy. He then proeded to call the attention of the house to the state of the slave-trade in foreign countries; in Spain, Portugal, and America: and having given many affecting details relat ing to this subject, and pointed out the manner in which foreigners carried on the traffic, he came with great pain to the evasions of the abolition act in this country. All the various means which the ingenuity of unprincipled avarice had been able to suggest had been adopted for the purpose. Vessels were fitted out at Liverpool, as if for innocent traffic with Africa. The cargoes for the most part were the same as those carried out for the purchase of gold dust and ivory., That part which was necessary for the slave ships was concealed so as to elude the search of the officers. The vessels wanted the bulk-head, &c. which was the distinguishing mark of slave-ships. Having got to sea, and cleared the Channel by four days sail, the carpenters set to work, with planks previously prepared, to fit the vessels for the reception of slaves. For better concealment, some of the sailors were Portuguese, and sometimes the master. But the never-failing mark was, that in some capacity or other an ancient hoary slave-trader was always to be found aboard, by whose cunning they were enabled to escape detection. Mr. Brougham then called the attention of the house to the record of the condemnation of the Commercia Deskio, a large vessel which had been seized in the river by means of a friend of his, who having held a high situation in Sierra Leone was acquainted with the arts of the slave-traders, and had submitted to the pain of a voyage for the purpose of more completely exposing them. He gave a list of the contents of the vessel, which proved the object for which she had been fitted out. Having mentioned the number of guns, the stock of provision, &c. &c. he stated 55 dozen of padlocks, 197 iron shackles for the feet, 93 pair of hand-cuffs, &c. &c. and for 800 slaves in a long voyage, out of their vast humanity, one small medicine chest, value five pounds sterling! The vessel was fitted out with British capital, and, he believed, insured here. He had before mentioned that six vessels had been fitted out by a detestable series of crimes at one single port of this country. It was now three years since that traffic had been abolished by law, and therefore he might indulge now in an expression of feeling, which delicacy before rendered it proper to suppress. The slavetraders were not only like other smugglers employed in the violation of law, but were engaged in the pursuit of crimes; and to call them traders or merchants was an abuse of the term. He would not deem so lightly of trade, so calculated to promote humanity and civilization, so alienated in its nature from murder and rapine, and flourishing most by peace and fair dealing; he would not deem so lightly of it as to call those traders and merchants, who still dared to be guilty of the worst of crimes for the basest of possible purposes. He could conceive some palliation for murder, for piracy, for public robbery, &c. Revenge might be palliated, and the boldness with which the pirate and the robber exposed themselves threw a sort of The cruisers gloss over their crimes. But these suborners of murder employed others as bad as themselves, except that they were not so cowardly. They ought no longer to be called traders, but Liverpool suborners of piracy and assassination. Before he concluded, he wished to ask, whether it was not possible to execute our own law better? For that purpose he suggested, first, that we should endeavour to obtain the cession of a Portuguese island, for some years, or in perperuity, which stood in the middle of our own African coast. This would put in our possession a range of 500 miles. Secondly, the number of cruisers on the African coast was too scanty; the cruisers ought to be sent to Africa, and not to America. The slave ships were under the necessity of remaining there for six or eight weeks to get cargoes, and had less chance of escape. ought to be light vessels, with a great number of boats, to follow the slave-ships into the creeks. Six or seven vessels could hardly be better employed, and only for a short time. If the trade were once rooted out, it would not readily commence again. The industry and capital of these people must find some other channel. Some would engage, perhaps, in piracy, while others took the highway, so that the law might at length dispose of them. All means of stopping the trade were as nothing, compared with what might arise from the feelings of mankind when its nature and effects should be impartially considered. He should have called the attempt to stop it by pecuniary penalty as absurd, if the law had not gone further. When it was observed how easily acts of parliament might be passed, making those acts capital to which the mind had been long accustomed; when the difficulty experienced by an honourable and learned friend of his in doing away the capital part from the stealing of five shillings was considered; when it was remarked that lord Ellenborough by one act, for which he honoured him, created twelve capital of fences; when forgeries were so severely punished, while the oppor tunities and temptations to commit it were so numerous, could any one hesitate to say that this ought to be punished as a felony?-Adverting again to the record before mentioned, he calculated the value of the ship's expenses of a voyage, &c. at 20,000l. 800 negroes at 1007. a head, the present price, would produce $0,0007. Here then would be a profit of 60,0007. Was this then to be stopped by a pecuniary penalty? if they succeeded in one voyage out of five, they would have an abundant profit. If they fitted out 10 or 20 vessels, and succeeded with only three or four, their profits were ample; while, whether successful or not, they spread devastation over Africa. While you levied your pence, they would pocket their pounds, and laugh at your two-penny penalty. He next adverted to the severity of the 10th of George the Second, with respect to watermen overloading their boats with people; in which cases, if one was drowned by any accident, the boatman was to be transported for seven years. The punishment would be more applicable to the slave merchant. It had been said that the Divine Legislator had not forbidden this crime. He would show that he had. "Whosoever stealeth a man and selleth him shall surely be put to death :" and our gloss on that was, "Whosoever stealeth, tortureth, and selleth a man for interminable slavery, shall be fined 201.” He hoped the house would leave nothing unattempted to give full effect to the abolition act, which he called the most holy of laws: and concluded by moving, that a humble address be presented to his majesty, stating in substance, that the abolition law had not been attended with the desired effect in putting an end to this traffic, beseeching his majesty to take further steps for promoting this great object, &c. &c. This address was carried; as was another, moved by lord Hol-. land, on the same subject, in the house of peers. Such is a brief sketch of the proceedings in parliament, in one of its most eventful sessions; to do justice to which would require a volume much larger than that of which it of necessity makes but at small part. On the 21st of June the royal assent was notified, in the usual form, to various bills; after which the lord chancellor delivered a speech in his majesty's name to both houses, and then prorogued the parliament. СНАР |