that the only postulate required, to render the feeble sketch here exhibited a correct portrait, is that leading measure which the enlightened legislature of Great Britain stands pledged in a manner to adopt,-the total and immediate abolition of the slave trade.

THE RIGHT OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT TO LEGISLATE FOR THE COLONIES.ALARMS RESPECTING NEGRO REBELLIONS.*

In looking back to the statement which we made nearly two years ago, at the commencement of the controversy (see the No. for October, 1815), it is extremely gratifying to perceive, that the argument and the facts there urged in defence of the superintendence of the mother country generally, and more especially in behalf of the Registry, stand unmoved by all that has taken place, whether in England or in the Colonies. They are, on the contrary, exceedingly strengthened by what has since passed, and by many things which have come to light during the controversy.

The first great argument used by the Planters, was the incompetence of the British Parliament to legislate for the internal affairs of the Colonies -which they said might safely be left to the local governments, who would do all that sound policy could sanction, or justice require. It may now be gathered from what took place in Parliament at the close of the session 1816, and from what has since been done in Jamaica, that the West Indians have materially lowered their pretensions to exclusive legislation. They seem only to require a priority of law-making; a sort of option to pass the acts themselves, or suffer them to be passed in England. For it was distinctly stated in the debate, that the Registry Bill should be given up for that session, in order to see whether the Colonies would adopt the plan of registration themselves and with a distinct understanding that, if nothing were done, the measure should be revived next session. Instructions were sent by the Crown to all the Islands, urging the adoption of the plan, as the only alternative to having it forced upon them by Act of Parliament. And the West Indians felt, by a kind of instinct, that the sense of the public at home was as strongly against them as ever. The consequence has been, a partial acquiescence, sufficient to justify the friends of the question in allowing the last session to pass without renewing its discussion: and we should not be surprised to find the whole of the Islands pass bills similar to that recently carried in Jamaica.

:

If this shall happen, all that will remain on the part of the Abolitionists will be, to watch over the execution of those acts; to see that they do not become a dead letter, like so many other colonial laws, made to silence complaints at home, and never intended to be effectual. Now, one way of accomplishing, or at least furthering this object, is the establishment of a

Medical and Miscellaneous Observations relative to the West India Islands. By John Williamson, M. D.-Vol. xxviii. p. 340. August, 1817.

See, Vol. xxv. p. 315., a convincing article, in which the right of interposition on the part of the mother country is fully proved, and the fallacious arguments opposed to it successfully refuted.

Duplicate Registry for all the Colonies, in London, and a statutory provision, that no money lent upon mortgage of colonial property shall be recoverable in the courts of this country; nor any money lent upon such mortgage by British subjects in the mother country, shall be recoverable in the West Indian courts, unless the slaves belonging to the mortgaged estates are registered in the Records of the London office. The creditors of West Indian estates almost all reside in England; and, without supplies from hence, the business of planting could not be carried on. The proposed enactment would prevent any money from being advanced to estates deficient in registration. To prevent frauds by the mortgager upon his creditor, it would only be necessary so to frame the provisions of the law, that the mortgagee could not proceed against the estate in equity, except in so far as the slaves were duly registered; or sue upon the specialty at law, except for a sum proportioned to the number of registered slaves. It would further be requisite, to prevent omissions in the registration subsequent to the date of the mortgage, without throwing upon the mortgagee the burden of seeing the title to the slaves kept up, that any omission should operate as a foreclosure.

To a provision of this kind, the objection of internal legislation is inapplicable. Parliament has not yet been told by the Planters, that it has no right to make laws binding upon British subjects within the realm. But we conceive it to be equally clear, that if any of the Colonies shall make a Registry law, with defects likely to prevent its efficacy within the settlement, Parliament ought to interpose, and supply the deficiency by a general enactment, extending to all the Islands, and declaratory of the universal law, by which it is now understood that the title to a slave really and effectually depends upon his being duly registered. To make such a statute, undoubtedly, is an act of internal legislation; but as, both on this and other branches of the question, such an interference seems to be absolutely necessary, where the Insular assemblies refuse to perform their duty, we shall shortly remind the reader, of a few among the many acts of internal legislation of which Parliament has been guilty. The groundlessness of the clamour raised by the West Indians upon this topic, will thus be made apparent.

Doubts having arisen, whether money lent in England upon West Indian securities at the colonial rate of interest, was not illegally lent, as being within the usury laws, the statute 14 Geo. III. c. 79. was passed, to render all such loans valid; that is to say, to enable the lender to recover in the courts of the Colonies, and to prevent the borrower from availing himself, in those courts, of the defence that the transaction was illegal. A condition was annexed, requiring the registration of the securities in the colonial registers; that is to say, giving validity to every such transaction, provided it were recorded in a particular manner within the colony in which it terminated. This was manifestly as much an interference with the legislation of the Islands, as it would be to enact, that no lender should recover in the colonial courts, unless certain previous requisites were complied with-it signifies not of what kind, or whether the system of registry had been established before the passing of the act or not; the interference consisting, not in the nature of the thing required, but in permitting or requiring any thing in the proceedings of a colonial

court.

There is certainly no point of greater delicacy in the whole subject of

West Indian claims, than the law of debtor and creditor; and if to any act of interference we should naturally expect to see a resistance on the part of the Planters, it would be to a law giving their creditors new remedies for recovery of debts already contracted. Yet the 5 Geo. II. c. 7, was precisely such an act. It did that, with respect to all real property in the Colonies, which the landholders in the mother country have so strenously and so successfully resisted in their own case; it made all real estates assets for the payment of all debts whatever, whether by simple contract or specialty; it made them liable to the same process to which personal estates are subject; and it included slaves, making them equally liable to the remedies of the creditor, as if they were personal chattels to be severed from the plantation. In 1797, long after the arguments against Internal Legislation had been familiarly urged, not only with respect to Taxation, but also with respect to the Slave questions, another act was passed, excepting negroes from the provisions of the former statute; and this act (37 Geo. III. c. 122) was brought into the British Parliament by the West Indian body themselves; they, at least, affected to be its authors, as well-wishers to whatever could meliorate the condition of the slaves.

In 1741, it being found that the penalties of the statute 6 Geo. I. (the præmunire act) against joint stock schemes, could not be enforced in the colonies, because that statute refers to the courts of Great Britain and freland only; an act was passed, 14 Geo. II. c. 37, extending the whole provision of the former touching those speculations, to all the colonies in America and the West Indies, and enabling the colonial courts to proceed against all persons charged with such offences. This was a law made in England, for subjecting to the most severe penalities known to our jurisprudence, short of capital punishment, all persons who, in the plantations. should traffic in certain speculations formerly permitted.

In 1773, at the very time when the disputes respecting internal legislation ran highest between England and the Colonies, the stat. 13 Geo. III. c. 44, was passed, to encourage aliens to lend money on the security of West India estates. This act enables alien creditors, whether friends or enemies, to bring actions at law, or to pursue equitable remedies in the courts of law and equity within the Islands; and it enters into a considerable detail of judicial proceedings, for the purposes of facilitating the relief of the parties in those courts. As if to mark more strongly how completely this was an act of interference on the part of the Parliament, with the internal affairs of the Islands-how completely this was a local act passed by the Legislature of the mother country -the clause now usually added to local acts is found at the end of it, declaring that it shall be deemed and taken to be a public act, and taken notice of judicially, without being specially pleaded.

Now, in all these cases, some of them before, others since the American Revolution, it might have been contended by the Planters, that the subjectmatter of the enactment was local and colonial. They might have urged, in each instance, the very same reasons which they now bring forward. In some of the cases, they had even a better show of argument-for it could hardly be denied that the powers of the local governments extended to the object in view; and there could be no doubt of their willingness to exert them. Yet not a complaint was heard, nor an effort made to set up the West Indian against the British Parliament. No one dreamt of saying, the rights of fraudulent debtors are sacred, and can only be restrained by them

selves, or their representatives in Assembly. It was reserved for the present day to produce the doctrine, that the rights of cruel slave-drivers are too high matters to be touched by any body not composed of themselves. No one thought of bidding Parliament leave to the Islands the passing of laws to regulate their own judicial proceedings: but now, it seems, they alone must exercise this function; and not having even asked the exclusive performance of it, in cases where there was every reason to expect they would bona fide have made the provisions required, they are to insist upon being intrusted with it, where no man can pretend that they are friendly to the object in view. We are not, however, at present, contending for parliamentary interference, unless where the Colonies have had the opportunity given them, and neglected it. The understanding which was come to in the debate of 1816, makes it fitting that this interposition should be confined to such a case, as far as regards the Registry Act. In all other questions, the Legislature is fully entitled, and is clearly bound, by the duty it owes to the people in every part of the empire, to enact whatever laws may appear to its wisdom necessary for their protection.

It may be asked, then, why the exception has been made of the Registry Act, which is left to the local authorities in the first instance? and it may further be demanded, whether, in all other cases, we are for Parliament legislating at once? Upon the first question we have to observe, that it would have been unwise, in the peculiar circumstances of the case, to have done otherwise. The extraordinary pressure of business which occupied the session 1816 is fresh in the reader's recollection. The nine or ten weeks before Easter were wholly unexampled in the history of parliamentary business, for the importance of the matters canvassed, and the constant occurrence of long and vehement discussions. The reduction of war-taxes, the peace establishment, the negociations, the agricultural distresses, beside incidental matters, created, almost every week, six nights of keen debate, from five o'clock till two or three in the morning. The consequence of so fatiguing a session before Easter is, that for some time after the recess, no attention can be obtained to any but the regular and necessary business of the season; and when it was possible to bring on the Registry question, it was much too late to carry so important a measure through both Houses. Even if there had been time allowed, an accidental occurrence made it unwise to press the bill. A negro revolt or riot had broken out in one or two parishes in Barbadoes; and the enemies of the bill lost not a moment in raising the outcry, that this unfortunate event had originated in the hopes of emancipation which the Registry debates had given to the negroes. alarm thus excited could not be allayed until time had been given for making enquiries into the fact, and for showing, merely by the cessation of the tumult, the groundlessness of the clamour. At this juncture the West Indians prudently enough urged their readiness to pass Registry acts in the Islands; and the government at home professed the strongest disposition to use its influence with the local authorities for this purpose, so that the friends of the bill were willing to see how far those professions of the Government and the Assemblies could be trusted. Jamaica, early in the ensuing winter, passed a Registry act; and other Colonies showed a disposition to follow this example. Therefore the last session also has been allowed to pass without further interference; and it only remains to wait till the beginning of the next session, in order to see how far parliamentary proceedings may still be required.

The

To the question, whether, in other cases, Parliament should legislate without waiting for a failure on the part of the local governments,-we answer, that though the right is incontestable, standing upon principle, positive statute, and invariable, undisputed practice, yet it by no means follows, that it would always be expedient to take the legislative power out of the hands of the Colonies. In many cases, much advantage may be ob tained from the local knowledge of the Assemblies, which no one ever undervalued, how absurd soever might be the pretensions founded upon it, of exclusive right to make laws for themselves. But, wherever there is reason to believe that the Islands will not pass the laws which justice and a due regard to the prosperity of the community require, or where there is ground for suspecting that the laws passed by them are intended only to blind the public at home, without being honestly executed, it becomes the duty of Parliament to interpose its authority, exactly as it would in controlling any subordinate body at home. In all cases, however, the anxiety of the West Indians to carry through the measures proposed, deserves attention, and furnishes a prima facie argument at least for permitting them to undertake the desired reformation. It will frequently be found the best way of beginning a salutary change to moot the subject in Parliament, and there show the intention of carrying the measure into effect, unless some such plan shall be in the mean time adopted by the local authorities. But it will always be necessary to watch strictly over the enforcement of the law; and, where a manifest repugnance to proceed has been exhibited in the colonial legislatures, or where evasive measures have been adopted, Parliament ought at once to interfere.

The success with which clamours were raised last year respecting negro rebellion, and the dangers of teaching the slaves notions of emancipation, demands a few remarks. It is a strange and rather a humiliating thing, to see how surely every attempt to spread an alarm is successful, for a certain time at least, in this country. Let but a few striking facts be published; and the comments which accompany them are swallowed along with the stories. The press, no doubt, is open to those who can either deny the statements, or refute the inferences; but, for a certain time, one side oply is listened to by the multitude. In a little while, the truth makes its way by means of the free discussion which substantially prevails; but irreparable mischief is often done in the interval. To take a few instances.-The whig ministers, in 1807, brought in a bill to give certain privileges to the Roman Catholics. The boon was extremely trivial, compared with the concessions made by the Court upon former occasions; it was indeed as nothing, contrasted with what the tories had done in the most critical periods of our history, the end of the American war, and the beginning of the French revolution. Yet it suited the purposes of party intrigue, to set up a religious outery; and the yell was raised all over England, that the Church was in imminent danger from the progress of Popery. That so vile a trick should be ultimately successful, was impossible; the more especially as some of those who patronised it underhand, were more willing to profit by it than to own it. But many a grave statesman avowed his fears, and many an ignorant mob acted upon the alarm. A few months, we might even say weeks, were sufficient to dispel the illusion. In the course of a year or two, several of those who had obtained office because the partial bill of 1807 was

* See our Number for October, 1815.