the increase of prisoners materially arose tween the hours of sun-rise and sun-set, from the great discharge of sailors from with a felonious intention; but would justhe navy. He begged to state, that out tice require that a boy who should open of 350 male prisoners now confined in the latch of a door between those hours Newgate, there were only 12 who had should be punished as guilty of the of served in the navy. In his humble judg- fence, although he might possibly be subment, the only way to prevent or decrease ject to the punishment by the mere letter crime was, to fix a definite punishment, of the act? The same observation might and nothing which could be adopted, ap- be made respecting robbery on the highpeared to him to be equal to the enforce- way; because it was impossible for the ment of hard labour, which would enable law to take every possible consideration the prisoner at the expiration of his im- of the various circumstances under which prisonment, to obtain a livelihood. It such offences might be committed. Some was on this account that he strongly urged might be such as in justice to require the adoption of a plan, mentioned in the capital punishment, and others might be report of a committee laid before the attended with extenuating circumstances. House in the last year: viz. the convert- With respect to the bill which had been ing of Dartmoor prison into a receptacle introduced by an hon. and learned gentlefor convicts. They might there be fully man, whose name he should never hear employed in cutting stone and turf, in mentioned without respect, he had obbuilding cottages, and in cultivating the jected to the preamble of that bill land. This would be a saving to the when under the consideration of the country of at least 100,000l. per annum; House, as involving an abstract proposiand he would further suggest, that every tion, which might afterwards be made a prisoner, at the expiration of his term of precedent for establishing conclusions that punishment, should be sent to his parish, were questioned. There never was a and that he should there be registered, more religious, just, and humane man placed under the especial care of the than lord chief justice Hale, and yet he parish officers, employed, maintained, and was for inflicting the highest punishment not allowed to depart without a passport. on certain offences, without entering into Much stress had been laid by the noble the demerits of the individual who might lord and the right hon. gentleman oppo- have committed them. With regard to site upon the increase of the crime of capital punishment for one species of privately stealing from the person, since crime, to which the hon. and learned the capital part of the punishment had mover wished to direct the attention of been taken off. It had been well replied the House, he would ask, whether there to by the hon. and learned gentlemen was not as much moral guilt in forgery, who spoke last; viz. that other crimes which, by a stroke of the pen, deprived a had increased in a similar proportion. man of his property, as in the act which He considered the best answer to this ob- should deprive him of it by forcible servation was, that previously to the means? If the hon. and learned member passing of sir S. Romilly's act, all offences had called for a committee of inquiry into of such a nature were capital, and conse- the operation of punishment for any spequently numerous prosecutions were con- cific crime, he should perhaps have given tinually abandoned from the humanity of it his support; but as the motion stood the prosecutor. Under all these circum- at present, he must vote for the previous stances, he felt it his duty to support the question. motion of his hon. and learned friend. The Attorney General said, that he should not occupy much of the attention of the House. With respect to the assertion that capital punishment should, if possible, in every instance, follow the commission of crime, he could not but disagree from the position. Well might our laws be considered as sanguinary, if, in every case, suppose of burglary, death was necessarily to follow the commission of the act. The crime of burglary was defined to be the entering of a house be Sir James Mackintosh, in reply, observed, that he should be unreasonable if he did not think that the state of the argument lay fairly before the House, and that therefore it would not be requisite for him to trouble the House long at that late hour. With respect to his hon. and learned friend who had spoken last, he should set him right on one or two points. He did not intend that the punishment of death should in every instance follow the commission of burglary, nor did he mean at all to refer to the question of forgery. The committee he had intended to move, would, if he were to read the list, be found to contain as fair a selection from all parts of the House as could be made. The previous question being put, " That that question be now put," the House divided: Ayes Noes.... Majority in favour of sir James Mackintosh's motion Longman, G. 147 Martin, John 128 Maitland, J. B. 19 The result of the division was received with repeated cheers. The main question was then put and agreed to; and a committee appointed, consisting of the following members-sir James Mackintosh, Mr. Bathurst, Mr. Scarlett, Mr. Attorney General, Mr. Wilberforce, lord Nugent, Mr. Solicitor General, Mr. Abercromby, Mr. Granville Vernon, Mr. alderman Wood, sir Charles Mordaunt, viscount Althorp, Dr. Phillimore, Mr. Finlay, Mr. Fowell Buxton, Mr. Courtenay, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Williams Wynn, Mr. Littleton, Mr. Macdonald, Mr. Holford, and lord John Russell. Maxwell, John Russell, lord G. W. Russell, lord W. Russell, R. G. Althorp, lord Aubrey, sir J. Ellice, Edward Ricardo, D. Barham, Jos. Evans, William Ramsden, J. C. Baring, sir T. Fitzgibbon, hon. R. Rancliffe, lord Barnett, James Robarts, A. Becher, W. W. Fitzgerald, lord W. Robarts, W. T. Bernal, Ralph Fleming, D. Russell, lord John Bennet, hon. H. G. Folkestone, lord HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, March 3. DEFALCATION IN THE ASSESSED TAXES.] Sir W. De Crespigny said, that in the motion which he proposed to submit to the House, he was convinced the chancellor of the exchequer would give him his cordial support. If the right hon. gentleman had consulted his own private feelings, he no doubt would have sifted the matter to the bottom, for he must be convinced that it required the minutest inquiry. The object of his motion was the detection of fraud practised by collectors, assessors, surveyors, commissioners clerks, &c., to an extent unknown. before. He would do the right hon. gen tleman the justice to say, that when these abuses had been submitted to him, he had appointed a person to inquire into them, but he had not been able to accomplish what his inclination prompted him to attempt, and the system of surcharges, which had so long disgraced the country, was still continued. If he succeeded in getting the inquiry for which he was about to move, he hoped they should be able to put an end to that system of surcharge and defalcation which had so long existed. In the little parish of Westerham, in the district of Sevenoaks, the gross assessment in 1814 was 1,4387.14s.; but the returns amounted only to 1,115 8s. 11d.; consequently there was that year a defalcation of 322/. 11s. 1d. In 1815, the assessment was the same, but only 9801. 10s. were returned, leaving a defalcation of 458. 10s. In 1816, the assessment was the same, but the returns were only 858l. 14s. leaving that year a defalcation of 579/. 6s. One gentleman in that neighbourhood paid 150l. a year, but for two years this sum, had not been returned at all, but put into the pockets of these persons. There were several other cases of a similar nature, which made the whole defalcation in that parish amount to 1,9687. 3s. 2d. One of the collectors had been allowed to collect arrears, and to retain them for 15 months, at the end of which time it was found necessary to sell the furniture of his House to pay his debts. Under such circumstances, was he not justified in claiming the sanction of the House to stop this system of peculation? He hoped the right hon. gentleman would assist him in cleansing this Augean stable. The hon. baronet then moved, "That there be laid before this House, a Statement of Defalcation in the Assessed Taxes for the town of Westerham, in Kent, delivered to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, December 9th, 1816." The Chancellor of the Exchequer was willing to communicate all the information on the subject which was in the possession of government; but he suggested the propriety of withdrawing the present motion, for the purpose of bringing another in a shape more likely to answer the purpose in view. He could assure the hon. baronet, that instructions had been issued to the Board of Taxes to institute an inquiry into the defalcations alluded to. Sir E. Knatchbull said, that after what had fallen from the chancellor of the exchequer, it would not be necessary to press the motion. He was one of those who wished that the frauds in question should be sifted to the bottom. He hoped, however the motion would be withdrawn, for the purpose of bringing the subject before the House in a shape which would allow it to be taken into consideration. Sir W. De Crespigny consented to withdraw the motion, on the assurance given by the chancellor of the exchequer. It was somewhat singular, that notwithstanding these defalcations had been pointed out more than two years ago, the persons complained of were still in the same situation. Mr. Lushington read a paragraph from the report from the Board of Taxes to the Treasury, with the view of satisfying the hon. baronet, that proper measures had been adopted against the persons implicated in the defalcations. Mr. Tierney concurred in recommending the hon. baronet to withdraw the present motion. If the papers furnished by the chancellor of the exchequer did not supply him with the necessary information, it would be in his power to move for more hereafter. It appeared that great depredations had been committed, and he hoped that every thing would be done by the Treasury to investigate this affair thoroughly. The motion was then withdrawn. HOUSE OF LORDS. Thursday, February 4. SLAVES IN THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS.] Lord Holland rose to call the attention of the House to the measures which had been adopted by the colonial legislatures, in consequence of the address of that House, in June, 1816. Their lordships would recollect, that the address of 1816 arose out of the unfortunate transactions which had occurred in the island of Barbadoes. It was the great object of that address to induce the colonies to adopt measures calculated to prevent their recurrence. The address accordingly expressed a wish that his majesty's government would recommend to the colonial governments the carrying into execution some measures for preventing the illegal importation of slaves, and for the improvement of those already existing in the islands. With regard to the first object of the address, he was happy to learn that measures had been readily adopted by all the islands for its accomplishment. If any delusions and alarms on the subject of the address had existed, they had been dissipated by the temperate and judicious conduct of the legislatures of the different islands. He should therefore say no more on that part of the subject, but with respect to the other objects of the address he thought some observations necessary. The result of the measures adopted for the moral and religious instruction of the negroes did not appear, so far as he was informed, as satisfactory as those which, under the name of register acts, &c. had been car ried into effect to prevent the illegal importation of slaves from Africa. He was, however, happy to say, that the colonial legislatures had shown no indifference to this important part of the recommendation. When considerable pecuniary sa crifices were made, in order to attain an object, it was surely to be presumed that those who made them were sincere. Con fining himself to the island of Jamaica, he had to state, that an act had been passed there about a year and a half ago, to provide for the appointment of twenty curates to give religious instruction to the negroes, at the rate of 300l. currency each per annum. It had been found, however, that this sum was not sufficient to induce the necessary number of respectable clergymen of the church of England to go from this country and undertake the task. But whatever defect there might be in this measure, he saw no rea son to impute it to any unwillingness in the colonial legislatures. It had been found impossible to procure clergymen regularly educated for the church of England, inclined to go to the West Indies at the salary offered, and he knew not what farther measures had been adopted by the house of assembly of Jamaica to obviate that objection; but experience had shown that persons educated in a higher sphere of life were seldom so successful in communicating religious instruction to men in the unfortunate situation of slaves as humbler instruments. In doing full justice to the house of assembly for the motives which had induced the passing of the act for appointing curates, it at the same time ought not to be disguised, that some acts framed in a very different spirit had been passed he meant those against the influx of missionaries, which placed in the hands of the colonial government a (VOL. XXXIX.) power inconsistent with those principles of religious liberty which, in his opinion, ought always to be held sacred. How ever, when even in that House, in the le gislature of this country, he could find but comparatively few persons disposed to carry their principles so far as he was, he could not think that the conduct of the representatives of the colonists, in passing those laws, could, in fairness, be made ground for impeaching their sincerity. As experience had proved the advantage of employing persons in a humble situation of life to communicate religious instruction to the negroes, he would recommend the employment of a sect, against whom he thought no objection could be maintained he meant the Moravian brethren. He wished that the colonial assemblies had given more liberal encouragement to missionaries; but at any rate he hoped they would avail themselves of the assis tance of the worthy men of the sect to which he had alluded. According to the plan originally adopted for the propaga tion of Christianity in North America, an establishment was made, not only for cu rates, but for schoolmasters. He should think that this plan could be adopted with great advantage in Jamaica and the other islands, and that missionaries from the Moravians, or other sects, might be ap pointed schoolmasters. In making the recommendation contained in the address, for the general improvement of the ne groes, their lordships certainly did not confine their views to mere physical comforts. The supply of negroes from Africa being cut off, the black population of the West India islands were placed in a situation in which they must necessarily make great improvement. The colonists, doubtless, looked forward to this improvement; but at the same time it was natural, in their situation, that they should exercise much caution with respect to the measures they were led to adopt in the different stages of its progress. Conciliation on all these subjects was the duty of the British parliament, the ideas he threw out, therefore, were merely by way of recommendation. Many were of opinion that no further improvement could be made in the condition of the West India slaves, until they had acquired a greater degree of religious instruction; he was therefore induced to propose a plan embracing that object. All colonial proprietors or agents were now compelled by law to register the number and the ages of the negroes on their re(3 [) spective estates. He would propose that in this register there should besides be added the number of the negroes who had been baptized, and had arrived at the possession of a competent knowledge of the christian religion. As there was a deficiency of regular clergymen, this register might be made on the certificates of Moravian brethren. All the negroes thus proved to have attained to a competent religious knowledge, he would admit to give evidence in courts of justice. The right reverend prelate who had shown so laudable an anxiety for the improvement of the negroes, would, he trusted, give his support to a measure of this sort. When that right rev. prelate saw that temporal inducements were requisite to procure clergymen to preach the gospel, he could not think it improper that such inducements should be held out to the negroes to become christians. Such inducement was the more necessary, when the manner in which the question of conversion to christianity presented itself to the mind of the slave, when recommended to him by those who had authority over him. It always appeared to him that his master had some selfish view in the recommendation. On the contrary, if he found that a knowledge of christianity gave him importance among his companions, he would be eager to obtain it; for, notwithstanding the degraded state into which the original sin of the African slave-trade had plunged these unfortunate beings, they still possessed the ambition of distinguishing themselves. The right thus acquired would also be for the advantage of the master; and it was to be presumed, that every person of that class, of a wellconstituted mind, would be proud to see the number of negroes, so marked by moral and religious improvement, increase on his estate. Such conduct would cement the union which ought to subsist between the parties. The slave would not consider the distinction he acquired as a conquest from the master, nor would the master be jealous of his enjoyment by the slave. He again wished it to be understood that what he stated was merely in the nature of a recommendation. He had no intention of proposing any motion or resolution. He would not discuss what might be the rights of this country with respect to colonial legislation. He should only say, that nothing but the most dire necessity could excuse any interference of parliament with the $ local assemblies. If a measure was good, though only one-fourth of it should be obtained through the medium of the colonial legislatures, that portion was better than the whole obtained in a way in which its execution, if at all possible, would be very imperfect. For these reasons, he had thought it right to trouble their lordships with these observations. There was sometimes a strong inducement thus to travel out of the record, as in that House opportunities offered for expressing opinions which might perhaps have some weight with those who possessed influence and authority elsewhere. He concluded by moving an address, for an account of the measures adopted by the colonial legislatures in consequence of the recommendations contained in the address voted by their lordships in June, 1816. Earl Bathurst applauded the moderation and judgment with which the noble lord had brought forward his motion, and was convinced that the important object he had in view, would best be obtained by giving time to the colonial legislatures to mature the measures they were disposed to adopt. With respect to the registering of slaves, the colonies had passed acts. These acts differed from each other, and that very difference was a proof of a sincere disposition to attain the object which had been recommended to them, and also that, when they did not accomplish all that had been recommended, the deviation proceeeded from no concerted design. In this last respect they all differed in one point, from the recommendation to enact that slaves not found in the register should be immediately declared free. No clause to that effect was to be found in any of the acts: but it was provided that, after being detained one year, if not claimed, they should then be free. A clause in the different acts, that a copy of every register should be sent to this country, was a most desirable object. Since these registration acts had been passed by the colonial assemblies, it was in the contemplation of his majesty's government to recommend other measures to be adopted here. They would propose the passing an act making all sales of estates contracted for in this country void and illegal, unless a description of the slaves on the estate accompanied the sale. If there appeared to be any slaves on the estate which were not included in the colonial register, such slaves should be held not to be made over to the purchaser. As |