On the 8th of March Sir Robert Inglis took occasion to remind Lord Palmerston of the address which had been carried on the subject of the Portuguese slave-trade, and begged to be informed whether the government had succeeded in obtaining a treaty with Portugal, or were prepared to resort to the measures promised by the noble lord in the event of the failure of such negociations. In reply, Lord Palmerston stated, that after four years spent in negociation, a note, which had just been received from Lord Howard de Walden, assured him that there was no longer any hope of procuring the assent of the Portuguese cabinet to a treaty for the suppression of the traffic. It was, therefore, the intention of government to introduce a bill which should give to her majesty’s cruisers and commissioners the same right of search with regard to slave-trading vessels met with below the line, which they already possessed in the case of those which were found north of the equator. This bill was introduced on the 10th of July, and it passed through all its stages in silence until it arrived at the second reading in the house of lords. On that occasion Lord Minto said, that he deemed it necessary to state the present condition of the law relating to the slave-trade, and the existing treaties between Great Britain and Portugal. The most important of these treaties, his lordship said, was that of 1815, by which the slave-trade was declared illegal; and Portugal undertook to bring about its eventual abolition, consenting in the meantime not to suffer her flag to be employed in that traffic for any other purpose than to furnish slaves for her own transatlantic dominions. For this concession England had agreed to pay, and had paid, £600,000. In 1817, an additional convention was entered into, defining still more precisely the limits within which the slave-trade to the Brazils was to be exercised. By this treaty the Portuguese government undertook, within two months from the date on which it was signed, to pass a law declaring the commerce in question unlawful, and subjecting persons implicated therein to punishment. It was further stipulated that, within a specified period, Portugal should treat with this country for the final abolition of the slave-trade, and assimilate its legislation on the subject with that of Great Britain. His lordship went on to say, that when Portugal ceased to hold the Brazils, the slave-trade ought to have been abolished, as there were no longer any transatlantic possessions to which the terms of the treaty would apply. Yet, notwithstanding these engagements, the traffic had been carried on almost entirely under the flags of Portugal and Spain. With the latter country, however, we had concluded an efficient treaty, which gave us the power of seizing vessels equipped for the slave-trade, without waiting till they had taken on board their miserable cargo, which gave rise to hopes that this would have the effect of extinguishing the trade. It was desirable that we should obtain similar conditions from Portugal; and he was bound to say that the persons opposed to the abolition were not the Portuguese people, but certain influential parties who were interested in the maintenance of the contraband commerce, and continued to violate the treaty with the sanction of the Portuguese government. In conclusion, his lordship entreated the house to pass this bill, which had been introduced in redemption of the pledge given by government in the last session, and formed an indispensable preliminary to any undertaking upon a greater: scale. Through the influence of the Duke of Wellington the bill was rejected by a majority of thirty-eight against thirty-two.
On the 2nd of August Lord Brougham moved the following resolution on the same subject:—“That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying her majesty, by all the means within her majesty’s power, to negociate with the governments of foreign nations, as well in America as in Europe, for their concurrence in effectually putting down the traffic in slaves; and also, that her majesty will be graciously pleased to give such orders to her majesty’s cruisers as may be most efficacious in stopping the said traffic, more especially that carried on under the Portuguese and Brazilian flags, or by the Brazilian and Portuguese ships, assuring her majesty that this house will cheerfully concur with the other house of parliament in whatever measure might be rendered necessary, if her majesty shall be graciously pleased to comply with this prayer.” Lord Brougham intimated that he moved this address under the apprehension that if it went out to Portugal that the bill recently rejected was done so by the unanimous opinion of the house of lords, their lordships might be represented as giving a sanction, which none of them had ever contemplated, to so odious a traffic. The motion for an address, after some observations from the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earl of Minto, was agreed to, and ordered to be communicated to the other house. On the 8th of August the Duke of Argyle, as lord-high-steward of the household, announced that her majesty had been waited on with the address, and returned the following gracious answer:—“I receive this address with great satisfaction. I will direct orders to be given to my cruisers in accordance with your wishes, fully relying upon your assurance that you will concur in the measures which will thus be rendered necessary.”
On the same evening, in the house of commons, Viscount Palmerston moved for leave to introduce another bill in the place of that which had been rejected. After stating the grounds of objection against the former bill, the noble lord proceeded to unfold the nature of the clauses in the new bill. Although, he said, the crown might undoubtedly, by its prerogatives, take measures which would effectually put down Portuguese slavers, there were still inconveniences which demanded a remedy. The officers, his lordship said, acting under its orders, would be exposed to harassing suits in the courts of law at London; and, although we might capture ships, and deal with them accordingly, it would not be proper of this country to dispose of vessels which were the prima facie property of subjects of other states without having proved before some court of record the grounds of such proceedings. An act was therefore required to define what constituted a slave-trader. It was not considered necessary for the slaves to be on board: a ship equipped in a certain manner was a proof that she was engaged in the slave-trade; but the courts of admiralty could not condemn a ship on that ground without an act of parliament. It was further requisite, to enable the crown, by the same proceeding, to give to those who capture slave-vessels under this treaty bounties similar to those secured by conventions with other powers. These provisions, his lordship thought, would be sufficient to put down the commerce carried on by the Portuguese flag, and a great point would thereby be accomplished. After, indeed, that they had united all the flags in Christendom to put down this horrid traffic, the slavers might repudiate all flags, and divest themselves of every document which might enable th captor to identify them with any particular nation. That would be the last refuge of despairing crime; and in order to meet those circumstances, he would propose a clause by which such a ship should be dealt with as though it were an English trader, unless it appeared, in the course of the trial, that she belonged to some particular state, in which event the case should not be adjudicated by the court of admiralty, but dealt with as if at the outset she had been of the nation to which she was ultimately shown to belong. His lordship added, that when the nations of Europe were once united in giving a mutual right of search, or the power of condemning by a mixed commission, there would no longer remain any defence for carrying on the slave-trade under any European flag; and he reminded the house that he had already concluded treaties with Chili, Grenada, Venezuela, and that intelligence had recently arrived of a treaty made with Buenos Ayres. After a few words from Dr. Lushington, Sir E. Inglis, and Captain Pechell, leave was given to bring in the bill, and it was brought in and read a first time. The next evening it was read a second time, went through a committee, and passed the commons without a division.
The second reading of this new bill for the suppression of the slave-trade was moved by Lord Melbourne on the 15th of August. Previous to making this motion the noble viscount requested that the address of the house of lords on the slave-trade, together with her majesty’s gracious answer, should be read; and after explaining the provisions of the measure, he stated that, in compliance with the prayer contained in the address, her majesty had given directions to her cruisers to take the most efficacious measures for putting down the traffic, and that this bill was necessary in order to fulfil their lordships’ own intentions and wishes, as expressed in their petition to the crown. The Duke of Wellington still continued his opposition to this measure, and he moved as an amendment that it should be read that day six months. He was supported by Lord Ellenborough, who demanded that any orders which had been issued to her majesty’s cruisers should be laid before the house. The measure, however, was supported by the Bishop of London, the lord chancellor, the Earl of Minto, and Lords Brougham, Denman, and Colchester, and the second reading was eventually carried by a majority of thirty-nine against twenty-eight. On the next evening, when the bill was in committee, Lord Lyndhurst moved an amendment to the following clause;—“That in case her majesty should please to issue orders to her cruisers to capture Portuguese vessels engaged in the slave-trade, or vessels of any state whatever engaged in the slave-trade, not having on board, or the masters whereof should neglect to produce, on demand, papers showing of what state she belongs;” which amendment was to this effect:—“That in case her majesty should please to issue orders to her cruisers to capture Portuguese vessels engaged in the slave-trade, or any other vessels engaged in the slave-trade, and Hot justly entitled to claim the protection of any flag.” This amendment, which was intended to confine the operation of the bill to Portuguese vessels, and piratical vessels engaged in the slave-trade, after some remarks from Lord Brougham in opposition to it, was finally adopted, and on the 19th of August it was read a third time without discussion. After it had passed, the Duke of Wellington, who had put in a protest both against the second and third reading, stated, that he still retained all his objections to the principles of the bill; it still exhibited its criminal character, for it was a breach of the law of nations, a violation of international treaties, and would rather tend to encourage than to prevent the traffic against which its enactments were directed. On the motion of the chancellor of the exchequer the amendments were agreed to in the house of commons, and the measure became law.
MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.
Circumstances had revived the interest attending the question of voting by ballot, and thus encouraged, on the 18th of June Mr. Grote again brought the subject forward in the house of commons. The motion was seconded by Lord Worsley, and supported by Mr. Macauley; but was opposed by Lord John Russell, who, on this occasion, spoke with unusual energy. It was further opposed by-Lord Howick, Sirs J. Graham and Robert Peel, and Messrs. Gaskell and Milnes. On a division it was rejected by a majority of three hundred and thirty-five against two hundred and seventeen: one cabinet minister only voted with Mr. Grote; but others, who were in favour of it, absented themselves on the occasion.
ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING OF PRISONS.
During this session an act was passed for the “better ordering of prisons.” By this act it was provided that prisoners might be separately confined, though that separate confinement should not be deemed solitary confinement. No cell was to be used for the separate confinement of any prisoner which was not of such a size, and lighted, warmed, and ventilated in such a manner as might be required by a due regard to health, and which did not furnish the means of enabling the prisoner to communicate at any time with an officer of the prison. Every prisoner so confined was to have the means of taking air and exercise at such times as should be deemed necessary by the surgeon, and was to be furnished with the means of moral and religious instruction, and with suitable books, as well as with labour or employment. All prisoners were to be divided into the following classes: namely, debtors in those prisons in which debtors might be lawfully confined; prisoners committed for trial; prisoners convicted and sentenced to hard labour; prisoners convicted and not sentenced to hard labour; and prisoners not included in either of the foregoing classes.