tifying instances of true Irish independence of character. How often have the poor parents pleaded with the priest for permission to send their children to the society's schools, and in the face of the most arbitrary refusal, they have ventured to ask for a reason; but no reason, except his will, would be given. Often after a severe struggle between subjection to priestly domination, and an affectionate concern for their children's education, the latter has prevailed, and, braving all consequences, they have continued to send their children to the schools. Whilst I record these instances of hostility I am happy in being able to mention some very pleasing instances of the reverse of all this."-Now, said Mr. B., I submit to the House, whether the work which the hon. baronet has quoted, notwithstanding all its forbearance and desire to conciliate the Roman Catholics, bears him out in the high character for candour, which he has given of their priesthood in Ireland?—The hon. baronet has stated that the pope's late bull, which had been issued in Poland against the Bible, and Bible societies, was framed in consequence of attempts made in Poland, by the Bible society, to proselyte the Roman Catholics to the Protestant faith. Now, it unfortunately happened for the hon. baronet's argument, that the Polish Bible society was not in operation till after the pope's bull had been issued. There had been a disposition manifested by some of the nobility and gentry of Poland, to establish a Bible society, and a plan was drawn up, but it was suspended by the opposition made to it by the Roman Catholic primate of Poland, the archbishop of Gnezn, who, fearing that his opposition would be insufficient, wrote to Rome for instructions how to prevent or oppose the Bible society. The Pope's bull of June, 1816, was issued in consequence of this application, and it would have been effectual in preventing the formation of a Bible society in Poland, had not the emperor Alexander happened to be at Warsaw in October, when the friends of the Bible submitted the plan of the society, together with the Pope's bull, to his imperial majesty, who declared his intention of becoming a patron of the society; and it was publicly formed at Warsaw in consequence of the emperor's sanction, and in opposition to the pope's bull. The hon. baronet has stated, that the Polish Bible society, and the Irish Bible societies, were occupied in proselyting to the Protestant faith. Now, it is well known, that the Bible societies are not occupied in making any proselytes whatever. They merely circulate the word of God, leaving that word to speak for itself, and to find its own level in the mind of man. Their sole object is, not to proselyte, but to make both Protestants and Roman Catholics better christians. Mr. B. stated, that it was not any wish to create unfriendly feelings towards the Roman Catholics, that had induced him to make these observations, as he entertained a great regard for some individuals of that body, both of the clergy and laity; but as he knew that a strong spirit of intolerance towards Protestants existed in Ireland, and as he could state many facts to establish this assertion, he had felt it his duty to correct some mistatements in the hon. baronet's speech, which might otherwise have made an undue impression. Mr. V. Fitzgerald presumed, that the object of the motion had been effected by the opportunity it presented the two hon. baronets of making their statements. He defended the conduct of the member for Yarmouth, who had, he firmly believed, been influenced by the most conscientious motives. Sir H. Parnell said, that the topics on which he had animadverted were not contained in the speech which the hon. member had made in the Catholic debate, but in the notes which he had published with that speech. His object in referring to that speech at all was to show the grounds on which he called for information respecting the course of studies pursued at Maynooth. He begged to notice the unfair way in which an hon. member had selected passages from the book he had just quoted, tending to show that the Catholic clergy were hostile to the schools of the Hibernian society. For if the hon. member had read a whole page, instead of half a one, he would have found, that though they were at first, in some instances, hostile to them, they had ultimately become the warmest supporters of them. The motion was agreed to. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, July 9. MR. GEORGE MANNERS.] Mr. Broughham inquired of the noble lord opposite, whether the Mr. George Manners, whose only, on the gold coast, had he heard of the slave trade being carried on under the auspices of Holland; and he had heard of no charge of the sort against Denmark and Sweden. But the great evil, in com appointment to be his majesty's consul to a foreign state had lately appeared in the Gazette, was the same George Manners who had been for some years, in London, the editor of the most slanderous and infamous publication in the land, "The Sa-parison of which all others sunk into insigtirist" who had stood on the floor of the King's-bench, and received the sentence of the court for a slanderous attack on a private individual? Lord Castlereagh declared, that he had no knowledge that the individual in question had been subjected to any prosecution whatever. Mr. Brougham could assure the noble lord, from his own knowledge, that if that George Manners was the same as the editor of "The Satirist," he had been tried and imprisoned for slander. He admitted, at the same time, that the said Manners had always been in favour of the noble lord, and had supported his politics. SLAVE TRADE.3 Mr. Wilberforce, in rising to bring forward the motion of which he had given notice, said, he felt gratified in standing before an audience who were but of one mind on this subject. His object was, by proposing an address to the Crown, to give weight to the exertions of the executive power in its negotiations with foreign states. He lamented to say, that in the instance of powers which had already declared their intention to abolish the Slave Trade, there were no appearances that they were disposed to carry that intention into effect; and that even subjects of some of the powers which had abolished the traffic were engaged in carrying it on. He was sorry to be obliged to state, that even under the flag of America, which, to its honor, was the first power which set the example of the abolition, the trade was carried on; and there was reason to suppose that American property and also American subjects were engaged in it. In the colonies which had been restored to France, the trade had also been carried on, though it was to be stated, to the honour of the French government, that a governor who had sanctioned, and perhaps to some extent participated in the traffic, had been turned out of his office. But at Goree and Senegal the trade had been carried on to a great extent; and as the native princes had not been in the practice of collecting slaves by war, they made up cargoes of their domestic slaves. In one instance nificance, was the trade as carried on by Portugal and Spain. And even the trade of Portugal, which confined its devastation to the north of the Line, was small compared with the ravages of the Spaniards. When he contemplated the whole conduct of Spain on the subject of the slave trade, he could not sufficiently express his wonder, that a great and high-minded and spirited people, which had made such efforts for its own liberation, should lend itself to the devastation and slavery of a whole continent. Till we abolished the slave trade we had been in the habit of supplying Spain with slaves, and an article in a celebrated treaty stipulated for our privilege of being the carriers of Spain in this traffic. It now appeared from the conduct of Spain, as if they almost intended to ridicule our efforts for the amelioration of the state of Africa. It was known that we had chosen certain part of the coast of Africa, on which we made efforts to introduce a relish for the enjoyments of civilized life, and to carry on this good work it was absolutely necessary to secure it against the ravages of the slave trade. To this end we stipulated with Portugal, that she should confine her trade to the north of the Line. France, before she abolished the trade, made the same stipulation. In the negotiations with Spain, that power also conceded that she would confine the trade to a certain part of the coast. But when Spain had to point out the particular portion of the coast, she chose the very portion which we had selected for our efforts for civilization. This was an insult almost too great for an independent nation to bear. It was was supposed at first that this choice of Spain originated in mistake, but when the effect of her conduct was pointed out, she seemed to cling the more closely to it. Even in the paper which gave notice of this choice of the king of Spain, as if to ridicule us, it was boasted that he was entitled to the praise of Great Britain. All the consequences which had been predicted had happened. Great numbers of real Spaniards filled the coast, and greater numbers of others under the flag of Spain. In places where schools had been established, and efforts had been made to induce the chieftains to supply their demands for European comforts by peaceful industry and legitimate commerce, there the Spaniards now came to persuade the little princes to return to their old habits, and supply themselves more expeditiously with European luxuries by selling their subjects or making war on their neighbours. Tribe was set against tribe, village against village, and family against family. Even an individual would crouch like a tyger in a thicket to spring forth on a defenceless woman, to seize her and drag her to captivity. When thirty years ago, the barbarities of the slave trade were brought before the House, though it was not immediately abolished, an act was passed to alleviate the sufferings of the slaves in the middle passage. At present, however, ships were crowded beyond all precedent. In a letter from sir James Yeo, it was stated that in a vessel of 120 tons there had been conveyed 600 slaves. In one of the examinations before a committee of the House, a captain of a slave ship had been asked whether the slaves (of whom he had carried 450 in a ship of 230 or 240 tons) enjoyed comfort, said, they enjoyed tolerable comfort; but being asked whether they had room to lie on their backs, he said they had not. What idea of comfort this person had it was difficult to conceive; but if 450 slaves had not room to lie on their backs in a ship of 240 tons, what would be the condition of the 600 slaves in a ship of 120 tons ? He should also read and affidavit of lieutenant Eike, in the case of a ship taken by his majesty's ship Cumberland:-"Affidavit of Lieutenant James Eike, sworn 17th of March, 1815, allowed by the court to be exhibited, in which he deposes, that on the 15th of February last he went on board the San Joaquim, as prize-master, and continued on board her some days after her arrival in Simon's Bay, which was on the 19th of the said month; that he remained on board until the slaves were landed by virtue of a decree from the court, and was actually superintending and assisting in their disembarkation; that when he first went on board, he was informed that the said vessel had left Mosambique only 22 days, at which time every person on board, was in good health, and that 13 of the slaves had died during that period; that between the capture and their arrival in Simon's Bay, the survivors were all of them sickly and weak, and nearly 100 of them afflicted with the flux; that medical aid was afforded to those who required it; that the brig appears to have been built for a privateer, and for fast sailing, not for stowage; that the slaves were all stowed together, perfectly naked, and nothing but rough unplaned planks to crouch down upon, in a hold situated over their water and provisions, the place being little more than two feet in height, and the space allowed to each slave being so small, that it was impossible for them to avoid touching and pressing upon those immediately surrounding; the greatest part of them were fastened, some three together, by one leg each, in heavy iron shackles, a very large proportion of them having the flux; that they were compelled to perform their natural evacuations under these dreadful circumstances, without being able to move, and to remain amidst their own excrement, which could not be cleared away until the said slaves were all disembarked; that between the 19th and 24th days of their being landed, 13 more died, notwithstanding good provisions, medical aid, and kind treatment, and 30 more died between the 24th of February and the 16th of March instant, all occasioned, as he in his conscience verily believes, and is firmly persuaded, by the cruel and inhuman treatment of the Portuguese owners; that more than 100 of them were, at the time of their landing, just like skeletons covered with skin, and moving by slow machinery, hardly maintaining the appearance of animated human beings; that the remainder were all of them enervated, and in a sickly state; he says that the pilot, upon being asked by captain Baker, how many he supposed would have reached the place of their destination alive, replied, about half the number that were embarked; that from the time of seizure, till the said slaves were landed, the Portuguese owners fed and attended them, giving them two meals each day, one at seven in the morning, the other at five in the evening, but never allowing to each person more than half a pint of water at each meal; he lastly says, that he never saw brute beasts treated with such cruelty as the slaves on board the San Joaquim were treated by their aforesaid owners."-As the persons engaged in this illicit traffic were apprehensive of being taken, they constructed vessels not calculated for stowage, but for fast sailing, and the miseries of the unhappy beings were increased. It would be seen that in three weeks or a month all this mortality had taken place. In another instance it had been stated, that of 540 negroes embarked, 340 had died. It was not the mere bodily pain these wretched beings suffered, crowded thus together in bulk between the tropics; men who had never been at sea before, and collected from different countries. These details were horrid to relate, but he recol-ing which many individual Englishmen lected the saying of a right hon. gentleman, whose loss he deplored, that humanity did not consist in a squeamish ear, but in a feeling heart. The sentiment spoke its author, and made it superfluous to name Mr. Fox. Of the multitude of deaths which took place, it had been stated, that more were occasioned by broken hearts than by bodily disease. Of the slaves procured by the Spaniards, the greater part were sent to Havannah. By a paper which had been obtained by the cortes, it appeared, that there had been imported into that colony in 11 years, from 1799 to 1811, about 110,000, or 10,000 slaves a year; and in the three last years, the importation had been much greater-even amounting to 25,000 a year. The pretence, therefore, that the Spanish colonies were denuded of slaves, was entirely without foundation. They had provided for themselves most amply. The Spanish and Portuguese flags formed also a cover for the illicit traders of other nations. It had been decided also, by high authority, that it was law, that though Portuguese vessels might be found trading for slaves, in parts which they had renounced the right to trade to, they could not be made a prize, unless they had intruded on our possessions. The ships of Spain when questioned, often defended themselves, or anticipated attack by aggression; they had indeed committed acts of piracy of the most flagrant kind. They had driven away the native merchants from the coast, to keep it clear for their horrible traffic, and to prevent the intrusion or interference of strangers. Every consideration impelled us to stop a traffic like this. If it were not put an end to, any hope for our colonies selling their produce beyond our own possessions would be at an end. He should not hesitate, if the two powers would not put an end to the slave trade, to advise a recourse to an expedient the prospect of which had been held out, viz. a treaty with the great powers of Europe to prevent the purchase of colonial produce from colonies of those states which had not abolished the slave trade. In negociations on this subject, we should always be ready to admit that we had ourselves been heretofore eminently criminal, and to express our remorse at our former conduct. While he lamented the attempts to revive the slave trade in many places, he could not but be proud of the distinguished spirit and feel had shown to their own personal hazard and inconvenience to repress this disgraceful traffic. He alluded to the transactions in the islands near the cape (Mauritius and Madagascar), and to the neighbourhood of Java, where the late governor himself, Raffles, had joined in the efforts for suppressing the trade, which had converted some fertile and once happy islands into scenes of devastation. He alluded with pleasure also to the exertions of captain Curran, who had released many wretches in a situation equally afflicting with that which he had before described, and which he would not again repeat. On the Western coast of Africa the same disposition had been shown by colonel Chiswell, at Goree; and at Sierra-Leone, that excellent man governor Macarthy had extended the advantages of civilization to a considerable extent. By the last advices he learnt that 1463 Negro children were in a course of education there. He had before he sat down, to declare that his departed right hon. friend (Mr. Pitt), the want of whose support he now so much felt, had always been impressed with the necessity of following up to the fullest extent possible, the civilization of Africa; that after the injuries Europe had inflicted on it, we should not stop short with the mere act of abolition, but as far as was possible, promote the industry, improvement, and prosperity of its cruelly oppressed children. That this was the decided assurance of Mr. Pitt, he begged to acquaint the House in as solemn a manner as if he were upon oath. Mr. W. concluded with moving, "That an humble Address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, most humbly to represent to his royal highness, that, in bringing to a close the other business of this session, a great and important duty still remains to be performed by parliament, that of again submitting to his royal highness, in the most dutiful but urgent terms, the expression of our continued and unceasing solicitude for the universal and final abolition of the African slave trade: ment: tainty, that the intermediate suspense and delay not only prolong, but greatly augment, the evil which we are thus labouring to remedy: "That we are grateful for the efforts already made, and for the progress which we have had the happiness to witness, in "That it appears to us but too notorious, the achievement of this great work: That that these crimes, hitherto partially checkwe rejoice that, in all his majesty's domin-ed by the prohibition of so many just goions, this wickedness is now for ever pro-vernments, and by the abhorrence of all scribed, and that our laws have stigmatiz- good men, are now again renewed, and ed it by severe and ignominious punish- are carried on with fresh, and continually increasing activity; that many of the sub"That we have seen, with unspeakable jects of those powers which have concursatisfaction, that so many of the other red in the abolition, are found, neverthe nations, under whose flag this criminal less, still to pursue the same nefarious traffic had formerly been protected, had course: that the stipulations by which now joined in the same prohibition, and other governments have consented to put have contracted with his majesty, and limits to this evil, stipulations purchased with each other, the obligation of perse- by this country at the price of large sacrifi vering in it, as in a duty from which they ces, are constantly, and almost openly never can be released: and that our con- disregarded, while the protection of the fident expectations of the universal adop- only remaining flag under which this tion of that prohibition have been greatly wickedness can now be carried on withconfirmed and strengthened by that me-out limit or restraint, and the intervention morable declaration which was promulgated by the plenipotentiaries of all the principal powers of Europe, assembled in their general congress; a declaration which well became the just and powerful sovereigns in whose names it was issued; proclaiming to their subjects and to the world, their deliberate conviction, that "the African slave trade is repugnant to the principles of humanity and of universal morality;" and adding to that avowal, the gracious and solemn assurance of their earnest desire" to put an end to a scourge which has so long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted humanity: "That we must indeed deeply regret, that practices acknowledged to be of such a character should, even for an hour, be continued, and even tolerated under the sanction of any civilized and christian government; but that it is impossible for us to doubt of that ultimate determination by which these crimes and miseries will finally be terminated: this engagement has been deliberately taken, and publicly and unequivocally announced, and its performance is imperiously required by every motive of interest, and of honour, of humanity, and of justice: of the only nation to which its continuance is indiscriminately permitted, are used, not merely to protect this horrible traffic in the extent to which that people formerly pursued it, but as a sanction to its indefinite increase in their hands, and as a cover for the breach of the laws by which all other civilized communities have restrained their subjects from embarking in it: "That, in humbly submitting these painful circumstances to the humane and enlightened consideration of his royal highness, we are sure it cannot be requisite to dwell upon the other and great evils which they necessarily involve: that this state of things has led, by manifest and necessary consequenee, to a system of armed defiance and outrage, a system utterly destructive of all peaceful commerce insulting to legitimate authority, and, in its effects and consequences, little, if at all, short of open piracy that this system also impedes, or rather it altogether frustrates, the just and benevolent endeavours of those powers, who are labouring to introduce among the natives of Africa the arts, and habits of civilized life; is productive of perpetual contest and irritation, leading not unfrequently to open violence between his majesty's ships and subjects, and those of the sovereigns in amity and alliance with this country; and continually endangers even those relations, the maintenance of which is of the utmost moment to their interests and to ours, as well as to the general repose and tranquilli "That we beg leave, however, with all humility, to represent to his Royal Highness, that the actual attainment of this great object can alone discharge our country from the obligation of pursuing it with unremitted attention, and with daily increasing earnestness; and that we cannot disguise from ourselves the painful cer-ty of Europe: |