ments of the nation. Could he be convinced that such was really the character of that House at the present moment, he would at once admit that the ministry should bow to the decision of the majority; but when he recollected the admission of the member for Dublin last night, that notwithstanding the provisions of the reform bill, there never was an election in this country at which venality and corruption had arrived at so great a height as the last, when he looked to the means by which a vast number of individuals composing that majority had been returned to that House, notwithstanding the provisions of the reform bill, he could not for his part conceive that its decisions spoke the sense and the wishes of the people. He could not conceive it other than a mockery of representation to call those the representatives of the people, whose return had been wrung from their constituents by the exertion of every earthly ccercion and every spiritual terror, and by threats of "the death'shead and cross-bones." He could not suppose that forty individuals sent into that House, not by the unbiassed suffrages of free electors, but by the nomination of one individual, represented the sentiments of the people, and not the sentiments of the man who had brought them here for his own specific purposes. Submission to the decision of majorities procured by means such as those, would in his mind be little more than a tame surrender of the delegated authority of the sovereign to the caprices and the clamours of a faction. Nothing could be further from his intention than to restrict in the remotest degree the power to ad vise, and even remonstrate, if need be, with his majesty on the appointment of his ministers, which under the provisions of the constitution belonged indisputably to that House; but while he felt it his duty, not only as a member of parliament, but as one of the people, to protect and defend that prerogative, it was equally essential to the balance of the constitution to respect its limits; and if, by the exertions of any factious influence, the House might be enabled to control the privilege of the monarch and the prerogative of the crown by negativing the nomination of its ministers, without waiting for an impartial exposition of their measures, then did he contend that by that one effort of authority the executive powers would be transferred from the Crown to the Commons, and the monarch would be reduced to the condition described by Mr. Fox, of a mere "captive on his throne, and the first slave in his own dominions." The address as amended having been presented to the king, his majesty returned the following answer : "I thank you sincerely for the assurances which you have given me, in this loyal and dutiful address, of your disposition to cooperate with me in the improvement, with a view to the maintenance, of our institutions in church and state. "I learn with regret that you do not concur with me as to the policy of the appeal which I have recently made to the sense of my people. "I never have exercised, and I never will exercise, any of the prerogatives which I hold, ex cepting for the single purpose of promoting the great end for which they are intrusted to me -the public good; and I confidently trust that no measure, conducive to the general interests, will be endangered or in terrupted in its progress by the opportunity which I have afforded to my faithful and loyal subjects of expressing their opinions through the choice of their representatives in Parliament." CHAP. V. Discussion in the Lords regarding the Slavery Abolition Act-Conduct of the Ministry in its execution Questions put in the House of Commons regarding the policy of Ministers and rumours of an intention to dissolve Parliament-Answer of Sir Robert Peel-Mr. Hume gives notice of a Motion to limit the votes on the estimates to six months, which he subsequently reduces to three months—He abandons the motion-Motion by the Marquis of Chandos to repeal the Mall-. tax-Speech of Sir Robert Peel against it - The Opposition likewise resist it, and it is lost by a large Majority-Discussion in the Commons regarding the appointment of the Marquis of Londonderry to be ambassador at St. Petersburgh-Lord Stanley joins the opposition in disapproving of the appointment-Lord Londonderry declines the situation-Discussion thereon in the House of Lords. IN the debate on the address, produce, and to take their stand against those measures as being bad in themselves, injurious to the interests, or unsatisfactory to the sentiments of the country. There followed therefore a sort of armistice, during which, however, suspicions were insinuated, and doubts were sought to be raised, by pushing forward topics, and putting questions or demanding explanations, regarding everything on which it might be hoped that the sentiments of the ministry would and might be unpopular. Lord Howick, in the course of the speech which he delivered on the address, had stated it to be one of his reasons for not placing confidence in the new administration, that the bill for the abolition of slavery could scarcely be expected to succeed in the hands of a colonial secretary like lord Aber deen, whom he represented as almost deserving, in relation to this question, the character of an enemy of the human race. On the 27th of February, lord Mulgrave brought this subject before the House of Lords, particularly in relation to the appointment of local magistrates under the act. His lordship apparently was apprehensive that the new government would be anxious, without a cause, to gratify the planters by placing this authority in their own hands. He held the intention of the legislature, in passing the abolition bill, to have been, that the administration of justice, as between master and slave, should be placed in the hands of a certain number of gentlemen, who were to be sent out in the character of special magistrates from this country. ance with the spirit of the act; and the effect of such an alteration would be to restore the ancient power of the whip to the master. Mulgrave master. He thought it impossible to select, in the different parishes, any individuals unconnected with slave property to act in the capacity of special magistrates. He wished therefore to know whether the new government would maintain the rule on which the governor of Jamaica had acted, and continue to enforce the principle, that no person connected with slave property should be intrusted with the administration of justice between the master and slave. He wished likewise for some assurance that protection and encouragement would be extended to the missionaries, a point intimately connected with the tranquillity of Jamaica. A great degree of prejudice had been manifested against them, and it extended in nearly the same degree to members of the established church denominated evangelical. Encouragement and protection ought to be extended to these individuals, whose efforts were zealously exerted in the cause of religious education. Complaints had been made with respect to the conduct of those persons; but when he assumed the government of the island, he found that the complaints were not well founded. The religious teachers executed the duties of their different spheres with creditable zeal, and they were most useful in imparting instruction to the negroes. That instruction could be imparted with perfect safety to property; and the planters themselves, if they saw the question in its true light, were as much interested as any other body of men in extending education amongst the negroes, That was one of the most important principles of the bill, because it tended to prevent arbitrary or unjust punishment. As a great degree of discretion was left in the hands of those gentlemen, it was necessary, in order to secure impartial justice, that the parties intrusted with the administration of the law should have no interest on the one side or on the other. But in the last session of the Jamaica legislature a representation was made by the House of Assembly and Council, calling on the governor to appoint a certain number of special magistrates to act in each parish. The governor, the marquis of Sligo, exercising the power with which he was invested, thought proper not to comply with this requisition. He approved of the conduct of the noble marquis; for, in his view of the matter, a compliance with the wishes of the assembly and council would have been distinctly at vari Lord Aberdeen answered, that he would not yield to any member even of the government which had brought in the abolition bill, in anxiety to see its provisions faithfully executed. The first vote he had ever given in parliament had been against slavery; and his first act on now coming into office would, he thought, be admitted to manifest the same spirit. After having cursorily examined the correspondence of the governor of Jamaica, and satisfied himself with the general characterof his conduct, recollecting that changes of administration very frequently produced changes of functionaries abroad-recollecting that one of the noble marquis's predecesso s had relieved himself from the government of that colony without any disapprobation having been expressed of his conduct, and thinking that such might be the intention of the noble marquis-he wrote at once to him upon the state of the great cause in which he was engaged, and the administration of the law with the execution of which in that island he was intrusted. He had entreated the marquis of Sligo to retain the office he then held, and proffered to him the most cordial and hearty support of his majesty's government in the execution of his duty, and in every other thing which was calculated to produce the complete success of that cause. To that application he had received no answer, but he expected that a request so earnestly pressed would secure to him the benefit of the noble marquis's assistance. With respect to the intention of confining the execution of the law between master and slave to stipendiary magistrates sent from this country, he had already conveyed his majesty's ap probation of the governor's exercise of his power on that point; and he had no intention whatever to alter any instructions which had been sent out. At the same time he must say, that the situation of the colony, in that respect, had furnished one great ground of complaint, which certainly had not been contemplated by the government. In the distribution of the stipendiary magistrates, thirty had been given to Jamaica. The duties were thus to be performed by a small number of persons, who were scarcely acquainted with the extent or the geographical divisions of the country. Urgent representations had been made on this subject, and his predecessor in office, acting on his own responsibility, made a considerable addition to the number of stipendiary magistrates from this country. He himself, on coming into office, had added a few more to the number; and he had the satisfaction of thinking, that a sufficient number was now appointed to perform the duty without inconvenience, the number of magistrates having been increased from thirty to sixty-one. As to the second point, he was aware that great animosity prevailed on the subject of missionaries in the island of Jamaica; and though he could not go so far as to say, that in no case had their zeal outrun their discretion, still they should receive the full protection of the law, whenever it was necessary. He was quite convinced, that if they did not, by strong and vigorous measures, provide for the education of the negroes during the period of apprenticeship-if they left them free in person, but enslaved in ignorance, as they were at present, the abolition act would prove a curse instead of a blessing |