worthy," if any of "the pest" should resist," to send them to sleep with their forefathers." Only last year the same spirit had manifested itself. The proclamation of these parties described Lord Bathurst to be no friend to the religion or welfare of the state, and imputed to the hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. W. Horton) and the highest quarters in the state, "the baleful injection of methodism," which they proceeded to denounce in an absurd manner. He (Mr. Buxton) would not remark upon it, however; it being very well known in that house what methodism was. Now, on a well-known occasion in the last session of parliament, the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Canning) had declared, "that if the West Indies should be guilty of contumacy in resisting the wishes of parliament, he should be prepared to come down to this house and ask its advice and assistance." Why, what would the right hon. gentleman term contumacy, if perseverance in such a system as this did not amount to it? There was not only contumacy, but the coming armed, to resist the military or other force to be employed by the governor in the suppression of a meditated outrage, was rebellion also. On the occasion of the very first outrage, which the subsequent tumults had rendered a thousand times worse and more aggravated, the governor had described the conduct of the rioters to be a flagrant violation of all law and order, and a proceeding pregnant with the worst possible consequences in a slave colony. All he (Mr. Buxton) meant to ask for on the present occasion was, — first, that the law should

be exercised and respected; secondly, that they who had pulled down this chapel should be obliged to build it up again; and thirdly, that care should be taken that disgraceful outrages of this kind should not be hereafter repeated. Before he sat down he wished to compare the crime and punishment of the unfortunate Mr. Smith of Demerara with those of the magistrates of Barbadoes who had been concerned in this business. Mr. Sinith, it had been said, knew of the intended insurrection half an hour according to some opinions, a quarter of an hour according to others, before it was to break out, and did not give intimation of it, (as indeed it was impossible, from the distance of his dwelling, and the shortness of the time, that he should do). That was Mr. Smith's crime. Now to the Barbadoes magistrates the governor in council put this question-" Did you know that a riotous assemblage had met to pull down this chapel?" The answer was, "Yes; we knew of it." Mr. Smith, it was known at Demerara, had saved the life of Hamilton, and remonstrated with the blacks who were about to kill him with the pistol. Now had these magistates interfered in any such way y? The governor asked them this question "Did you take any steps to suppress or to quell this riot?" To this query, addressed successively and severally to five magistrates, the answer in each case was, in effect, "No." So far, therefore, the conduct of poor Mr. Smith had greatly the advantage over theirs. But Mr. Smith, like the magistrates, did not communicate his knowledge of what was to happen, in sufficient time to government. He had al

already

did not.

ready said that it was impossible for Mr. Smith to do any such thing, unless he had possessed the rapid means of communication that a telegraph possessed. Those magistrates admitted they knew of the outrage; they could have interfered to put it down; they were asked whether they had done so; they all admitted they Then as to punishment: poor Mr. Smith was condemned to be hung by his neck till he was dead. The privy council of Barbadoes declared-what? That in their opinion the conduct of these magistrates had been most reprehensible. The governor then asked advice of his council as to what was proper to be done in consequence. The council replied, it would be proper for the governor to express his reprobation of such conduct as the magistrates had been guilty of; and this was done in such a manner, that even the expression of the governor's displeasure was evaded. The hon. gentleman concluded by moving, "That this house, having taken into their most serious consideration the papers laid before them, relating to the demolition of the methodist chapel in Barbadoes, and the expulsion of Mr. Shrewsbury, a licensed teacher of religion, deem it their duty to declare, that they view with the utmost amazement and detestation that scandalous and daring violation of law; and that they beseech his Majesty to take such steps as shall secure the reconstruction of the chapel, at the expense of the colony of Barbadoes, and to assure his Majesty that this house will afford him every assistance which may be required, in order to prevent the recurrence of such out1825.

rages,

and in order to secure ample protection and religious toleration to all his Majesty's subjects in that part of his dominions."

Mr. Wilmot Horton would confine himself to such a statement as might possess the house with a knowledge of the real condition of the island to which the motion of the hon. gentleman referred, at the time the facts in question occurred, in order that the house might be the better judge of the original causes which had led to such unhappy results. In doing so, however, he hoped to induce them to conspire with him in the attempt to deduce some measure of a preventive and conciliatory nature, and calculated, therefore, to produce good understanding and harmony in the colony hereafter, and to obviate the future recurrence of such evils, rather than attempt to follow step by step the minute and generally accurate statement of facts which the hon. gentleman had made. He deprecated any proposition that was calculated to re-awaken a feeling of mutual animosity between parties who had already proceeded to such extremities. The hon. gent. had endeavoured to establish an analogy between the cases of Mr. Smith and the Barbadoes magistrates; but on his own showing it must have appeared to hon. gentlemen that no such analogy could be sustained. And it was moreover to be observed, that in the case of Demerara a particular state of slavery existed, and a particular law applicable to it, that had received our sanction for many years past. The bearing of that system and that law on Mr. Smith's case could not be analogous to the proceedings

ceedings of the Barbadoes magistrates, or the proceedings of the council in respect of them. If it could be shown that the irritation which had been so evinced in Barbadoes against Mr. Shrewsbury and those of his profession generally, was a feeling mixed up with that sort of anxiety about the fate of property which was so natural to all men, that again would go to make the present case one that was to be considered on its own peculiar grounds. Now with respect to Mr. Shrewsbury himself, he did not for one moment mean to raise any argument against the respectability of that individual. He felt no doubt on the subject. The testimonials to which the hon. gentleman alluded came from individuals of high character, and were therefore entitled to every consideration and all possible weight. At the same time it was tolerably evident that the people at Barbadoes might have considered themselves likely to be prejudiced by the conduct of Mr. Shrewsbury; for one month only after that gentleman's arrival in the island he wrote home a letter to the Wesleyan missionary society, containing some severe strictures on the state of religious and moral instruction as then existing there. These remarks, which reflected on some of those who were connected with that prevailing system, did accordingly expose Mr. Shrewsbury to a good deal of observation in Barbadoes. He himself put up a copy of his letter in the public commercial room there; a step which some were not backward to consider almost as a step of defiance. As to the chapel itself which had been destroyed, he (Mr. W.

Horton) would just mention, by the way, that three-fourths of the cost of its re-edification, and of the minister's stipend and support, had been subscribed in Barbadoes alone. The hon. gentleman then adverted to the difference observable between that resolution of the Wesleyan society of Jamaica, which declared that the society did not consider it incumbent upon them in a slave country to interpose in the laws, &c. respecting slaves, and the resolution of a very opposite tendency of the home Wesleyan society. These differences were calculated to excite a degree of alarm in the minds of the West Indian colonists, lest the proceedings of the missionaries should some day involve the property of the planters and whites in irretrievable ruin. The only practical question to be considered in respect of that part of the subject, was this - were gentlemen prepared at once to do away with a certain mitigated system of slavery, which they had sanctioned for so many years? He could inform the hon. gentleman that it was not the intention of the attorney-general at Barbadoes to take any steps until the opinion of the government should be received by him. He repeated, that he would not hesitate to assert that a scandalous outrage had been committed; and much as he deprecated it, he could not but see that its immediate cause was in the strong prejudice which existed on the part of some of the proprietors of the estates against the interference of the Wesleyan missionaries. The reason of this prejudice was, that they found them opposed to the erection of churches and to the education and

religious

religious instruction of the negroes in the manner proposed by the establishment, although they were themselves engaged in exactly similar pursuits. The proprietors preferred the instruction of the ministers of the establishment to those of the Wesleyan methodists, because the former inculcated the doctrines of peace and civil obedience on the part of the slaves; and the latter preached to them principles which, perhaps, from being imperfectly understood by the slaves, led frequently to discontent and sometimes to disorder. The hon. gentleman then quoted the statement, on oath, of Mr. Hines, of Trinity college, Cambridge, who had been in the West Indies, and who said that he had applied frequently to proprietors for permission to instruct their slaves in the principles of religion, and that he had upon almost all occasions been favourably received. He had seen great zeal displayed by the proprietors in furthering his intentions, and knew that many of them read prayers and explained the scriptures to their slaves. He added, that he believed the general sense of the planters was much in favour of their slaves being instructed in religion, if it were performed by a member of the establishment. This, the honourable gentleman observed, was in direct contradiction to the statement in the missionary report. He could offer no apology for the conduct which had been pursued in Barbadoes, and which had given rise to this motion. He believed, however, that the actors in that outrage, although they might have been under the influence of some moral dementation, had not been ac

tuated by any want of respect for religion. He hoped that the proof which it afforded of an angry and dangerous spirit would have the effect of inspiring the religious missionary societies with some caution, and induce them to endeavour to disarm that spirit by measures of conciliation.

Mr. W. Smith said, that, not for the sake of the Wesleyan missionaries, but for the honour of the country, he thought it necessary that a lesson should be read on this occasion to the inhabitants of Barbadoes, who had displayed so dangerous and outrageous a spirit. He was as desirous as any person could be, that conciliation should be in all cases first resorted to; but it had now been tried more than twelve months, and had produced no good result. Those decided measures necessary in order to prevent worse consequences, and he saw no objection which could reasonably be made to the motion of his hon. friend (Mr. Buxton.)

were

Mr. Canning said, with respect to the acts which were declared in the papers before the house, it was impossible that there could be but one opinion. They were unjustifiable and indefensible --a violation of law-a defiance of authority-a flying in the face of parliament and of the country. He did not hesitate so to characterize those acts; and if he differed with the honourable member opposite, as to the mode in which the house ought to proceed, that difference was founded on practical considerations, and not upon a wrong estimate of the acts themselves. He admitted that it was the duty of parliament to guard against the recurrence of the 002

causes

causes which might produce similar acts. The case of Mr. Shrewsbury had been likened to that of Mr. Smith, but there was this striking difference between the two cases, - without wishing to say any thing harsh of Mr. Smith, that in the conduct of Mr. Shrewsbury it was impossible to find any cause for blame whatever. Allusion had been made to the letter written by Mr. Shrewsbury. He admitted-it was impossible to deny that he was perfectly at liberty to write such a letter; but he could not help declaring that in his opinion nothing was more likely to paralyse the efforts of Mr. Shrewsbury than the publishing and sending of it out to Barbadoes. The object of Mr. Shrewsbury in going to Barbadoes, was to stem the prejudices which prevailed against the sectarians; and before he had been in the island long enough to effect that object, his letter was sent out and circulated there: it was like throwing a firebrand among the Barbadians. There were several parties connected with the proceedings to which the attention of the house had been drawn-first, the unknown persons in Barbadoes who had committed the outrage-secondly, the magistrates, who it was impossible to say had done their duty, or even seemed sensible of the extent of it-thirdly, the governor of the island

and

fourthly, the home government. He was disposed to view the conduct of the governor with great indulgence. He thought he ought not to be blamed for not having called out the military force, when his legal advisers were of opinion that he had not authority to do So. The governor did not seem

to have been aware of the extent of his authority, but being advised from home that the limits of his authority were wider than he supposed, he had subsequently shown every disposition to exercise that authority to its utmost extent, and which he had done so effectually as to prevent any repetition of outrage. With respect to the home government, it was impossible to charge it with remissness. Lord Bathurst had done every thing in his power to prevent a repetition of the scenes which had occurred, by calling on the governor to exercise extended authority, to pronounce animadversions on the magistracy, and to require a more accurate investigation of the manner in which that body discharged its duty. The honourable mover said, that the magistrates had been punished in no way except by being reprimanded by the governor. Looking on the face of the papers, it certainly did appear to him that many of those magistrates should be removed from their offices to make way for others. But he did not know enough of the state of society in Barbadoes to authorize him to believe, that if the present magistrates were displaced, other persons could be procured who would discharge the duties of their offices better. He thought the honourable member asked a little too much for the Wesleyan missionaries. He was not inclined to disparage the efforts of those persons; they had certainly effected much good; but he would not confine the education of the slave children to them alone. The hon. mover had referred to some sentiments which he had expressed' on a former occasion, and inferred

that