been committed in the case of Mr Smith. The course which had been pursued by the able men who had, in that House, endeavoured to sustain the defence, he would not say, but who had attempted the palliation of the conduct of the Court-martial, had been this; they had addressed themselves to one or two particular facts, out of the immense number which had been adduced, to show the partiality of the conduct adopted towards the much-wronged and excellent minister; and if there happened to be parts in which that partiality was not quite so glaring and apparent as the others, they contended upon the strength of them for the entire acquittal of the Court-martial, and the government of the island. The case for the defence of this Court-martial, and its proceedings, had really been argued almost to an admission that persons who lived in these colonies acquired particular feelings, and habits, and characters, different from those which persons possessed in this country. Why, therefore, the properties and liberties of individuals who resided in them were likely to be well considered and protected by tribunals so composed-but, in truth, this was another argument in favour of the benefit of an appeal. It was in vain for the House to be told that the individuals of this Court-martial must, of course, be unprejudiced men! for he and his honourable friends well knew that both naval and military officers acquired habits, and feelings, and opinions upon the slave question, and all interference with that question, which did vitiate their judgments to a very great degree. It was notorious, also, that forty years ago, before any of those ameliorating statutes that were now in existence had passed; statutes, by which the condition of the islands and colonies was allowed upon all hands to have been so vastly improved; when all those abuses and oppressions which at that time disgraced the West Indies

were in all their vigour, there were not wanting judges, and generals, and admirals, in England, who declared, from their own experience and observation too, that the system of slavery and slave management in the West Indies was as perfect, and as proper, and as free from all objections, as could possibly be. He himself had often heard a naval commander-a most highly valued friend of his, and a just, a wise, grave, and good man-who had positively carried his approbation so far, as to express a wish that he was one of those slaves himself. The honourable gentleman adverted to the recent resolution passed by the House of Commons in favour of the slave amelioration, and education; and contended that the principles advanced by the Advocate-general, and those which were promulgated in the Demerara Gazette, (a paper understood to be directly patronized by the colonial government,) were in direct and unseemly opposition to the recorded sentiments and intentions of that House. He then added, that unless the motion of his honourable and learned friend were complied with, all the measures on behalf of negroes, and with the view of providing them with a religious education, would be rendered nugatory. He remained firmly convinced that this good and excellent man, Mr Smith, had not the slightest knowledge of any intention on the part of the negroes of Demerara to revolt, and declared his intention of supporting Mr Brougham's motion.

Mr Canning said, that whatever difference of opinion might prevail in the House, with respect to the vote which they ought to come to on this occasion, and whatever shades of difference might exist even among those honourable gentlemen who concurred in the same sentiment upon the question before them, there was one point upon which he thought the opinions of all who heard him would be in unison; and that was,

that the question of this night was one of the most painful ever discussed within these walls. Indeed, he scarcely recollected any one question being agitated in Parliament, upon which he could say—as he felt he must say upon this that there was no part of it on which he could look with the least satisfaction. To many of the principles which had been upon this occasion enforced with so much eloquence, he was disposed to give his hearty support; but he entirely differed with his honourable friend who had spoken last, as to the assertion, that the House was placed in the dilemma of being obliged either to contend, upon one hand, for the perfect propriety of every part of the proceedings of the Court-martial, or, upon the other hand, to be prepared to assign to the unfortunate gentleman who had been the subject of these proceedings, the titles and honours of martyrdom. He (Mr Canning) was prepared for neither of these extravagant extremes. The charges that were brought against the proceedings of the Court-martial, seemed to resolve themselves into three principal heads-1st, as to the impropriety of the tribunal; 2dly, as to its mode of action; and 3dly, as to the evidence upon which the sentence had been passed; qualified as these charges were, by the presumption throughout, that Mr Smith was perfectly justified. It had been stated that no man could dissent from the honourable and learned gentleman's resolution, who was not at the same time prepared to maintain the guilt of Mr Smith, to the utmost extent at which that guilt had been alleged against him. But here again, Mr Canning was compelled to declare himself of a very different opinion; and without wearying the House by repeated references to those passages of the evidence which had been discussed with so much ability by several members, as to impress upon the mind of every man who had gone through the

duty of reading that evidence, a complete analysis of all its contents and their bearings, he had no difficulty in stating the impression of his own mind to be this-that of that crime, call it by what name they would, which consisted in the silence of Smith, upon the subject of those alarming movements which he knew to be pending, and those dangers which he knew to be imminent, he could not acquit Mr Smith. He stated this impression of his, however, with no circumstances of exaggeration-with no imputation of design, as upon the part of Mr Smith; and with no presumption that he could dive into the motives of that individual. Under the laws of Demerara, as derived from its former Dutch connexion— under those of the Court-martial, as sitting to try a crime of this nature-under the proclamation of martial law, instituted at that time-and under all the circumstances of this most peculiar case, whether the punishment which was so apportioned to that crime or offence, was proper, or expedient, or justifiable, was a question which, upon his own resources of learning and information, Mr Canning was not competent to decide. But when the question proposed to the House was to inculpate this Court-martial of murder, for that was the effect of the proposition, what he was to ask himself, was, did the Court-martial believe that they were acting legally in passing this sentence? He would not inquire into the motives of the deceased; they might have been good in his own opinion; but, whatever they were, he would say on one hand, that he was not entitled to the honours of martyrdom; nor were his judges proved to have had that malus animus, that they should be condemned for their sentence. In conclusion, he would observe, that the House would best consult its duty by taking no farther cognizance of the affair, satisfied that the discussion would answer every purpose of public justice, as well

as the resolution of the honourable and learned gentleman: and that this determination of Parliament would never be misinterpreted to any lukewarm disposition, as to affording to the negro slaves the full benefit of instruction. He then moved the previous question. Mr Denman, and Sir J. Yorke, de

clared themselves prepared to support the motion; and Mr Brougham replied.

The question being called for at three in the morning, the opponents of the measure mustered the large minority of 146 against 193, constituting a majority of only 47.

AMONG the Miscellaneous proceedings of the present year, we shall give the first place to those which related to the ecclesiastical state of the nation. The former vote of 1,000,000l. for building churches, though it had produced accommodation for 150,000 additional individuals, left still a considerable deficiency in the means of religious worship and instruction. Ministers, therefore, who showed always a laudable zeal to promote this branchof the national interests, proposed to take out of the little-expected proceeds of the Austrian repayment, half a million in addition to the sum formerly voted. This proposition, which could have no motive except the expectation of promoting the public benefit, and giving satisfaction to the nation, was brought forward under the pretty confident view of its meeting an almost unanimous assent. No sooner, however, was it named, than

Mr Hume, Mr Hobhouse, and some other members, declared their intention to resist it in the most determined manner; so that when it came forward in the shape of a separate proposition, occasion was afforded to a debate of considerable magnitude.

When the House, on the 9th April, resolved itself into a Committee, the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, that he was only induced to trouble them with any remarks, by the above unexpectedly-announced opposition. At this he owned himself much surprised. He could have imagined that other objects might have been represented as more urgent, but never that the present could be represented as bad in itself. What, however, was his surprise, when he heard the proposal to build churches denounced as blasphemous!-He knew it was difficult to assign the legal meaning to that

word, nor was he now going to make such an attempt; but this certainly was the first time such a meaning had been given to it. It was said that it was absurd to call upon the people at large to contribute to the building of these churches, because amongst them dissenters might be found, whom it would be unjust to tax for such an object. If this principle were carried to its test, it would result, that they could have no established church at all. They voted every year a sum of money for the education of the Catholics. A considerable number of persons were still left without the means of religious instruction. He knew that there were many aged and infirm persons, who could not attend divine worship, and dissenters, who ought to be taken from the account; but from this Report it would be seen that there were 179 places, containing a population of 3,548,000, in which their was no church accommodation for more than 500,000 persons, or about one out of seven. Many were in consequence precluded from attending divine worship according to the frame of the church of England. He considered it would be to show a most unworthy indifference to the interests of the church, and to those of the people, if assistance were withheld. A great anxiety for religious instruction had been manifested. The churches which were already completed, had been crowded, to the great benefit, comfort, and consolation of those who frequented them. To leave those who were anxious for religious instruction to seek it as chance might direct them, would, in his opinion, be to neglect their duty as a Christian legislature. The sum of 1,000,000l. which had already been granted for building churches, had not only done all that was expected from it, but had exceeded the calculations and hopes of the Commissioners. They bi expected it to furnish the means

of building 85 churches, which would accommodate 140,000 persons. But the result was, that 95 churches had been built, or were now building, which would offer seats for 153,000 persons. The additional 13,000 had been provided for by private subscriptions made in aid of the parliamentary million. He read letters from Blackburn, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bath, &c., which showed that the new churches were well attended, and that the ministers were not likely to preach to empty walls. Having already granted one million to erect new churches, he thought if the present grant were refused now, when they were much richer than before, and could spare the sum ten times better, it would be most extraordinary. It might be objected that this sum would still not suffice; but the not being able to do all we wished, was no reason for doing nothing. He did not say that the grant by Parliament of a larger sum would be a misapplication of the public money; but he would not at present ask for more.

Mr Hobhouse, notwithstanding the delicate ground on which he stood, and the charge of indifference to which he might subject himself, thought he would best consult the interests of his constituents and of the people of England, by opposing the present motion. He thought, if churches were wanting, they might be supplied out of the revenues of so opulent an establishment as that of England; but he doubted much if such a want existed. In six out of the eight parishes of Westminster, it was represented that one hundred and thirty-three thousand persons were thus circumstanced. He had inquired into this. In the parish of St George, Hanover Square, there was supposed to be 33,477 deficiencies. This, by the by, was assumed from a reference to the census of 1821, which included all persons living there, among whom were many infants and