Mr. Brougham. He only mentioned it incidentally. Mr. Peel said, that he only intended to do the same. It was asserted, that this enactment had not only a prospective but a retrospective operation. Without entering upon the question as to what decision a court of justice might pronounce, in reference to the penalties for not taking the oaths, he would maintain, that the Relief act had a retrospective operation, so as to embrace Mr. O'Connell's case, and it could in no other way be made applicable to it; for Mr. O'Connell was elected before the passing of that act. It was not the law under which he was elected, and there could be no cavil on that point; for so early as the reign of Henry the 6th, the certificate of the sheriff that an individual was duly elected constituted sufficient evidence as to the time that member was returned, and such certificate as to the learned gentleman's return was in possession of the House. The hon. and learned gentleman had adroitly endeavoured, by referring to proceedings in another place, and by alluding to a clause which had been there proposed by a high legal authority, during the progress of the Relief bill, for the purpose of excluding Mr. O'Connell by name, to prove that there was a strong presumption that the present enactment was insufficient for that purpose. Now, he apprehended that the argument of lord Tenterden on that occasion was, that if Mr. O'Connell would take the Oath of Supremacy, there was nothing to prevent him from taking his seat; that the necessity of making the Declaration against Transubstantiation was removed, and that there only remained the Oath of Supremacy to keep him out. But, by referring to the act, it would be seen that its operation was wholly prospective; for it enacted, "that from and after the commencement of this act, it shall be lawful for any person professing the Roman Catholic religion, being a peer, or who shall, after the commencement of this act, be returned as a member for the House of Commons, to sit and vote in either House of Parliament respectively, being in all other respects duly qualified to sit and vote therein, upon taking and subscribing the following oath, instead of the Oath of Allegiance, Abjuration, and Supremacy." The act thus applied, not only to a Catholic in the situation of a peer, but to a Catholic who should be returned a member of the House of Commons; and its operation was strictly confined to the future.---The right hon. gentleman proceeded to state, that they were to deal judicially with this question, and to decide according to the privilege of parliament, without reference to extrinsic circumstances. Mr. O'Connell had complained that he was excluded from the enjoyment of a civil privilege. But the legislature had drawn the distinction in the Relief act between a mere civil privilege and the right of sitting in parliament; and the House would see at once the justice of the distinction. The hon. member was excluded from no franchise or civil right whatever to which his Catholic fellow-countrymen had been admitted by the Relief act. He was entitled to the enjoyment of all the privileges and franchises conferred by that act on complying with its provisions; but, in this instance, he claimed a right to sit as member of parliament under the old law, and by the operation of that law he was excluded. Upon the whole, he considered it their bounden duty to act in accordance with all the previous custom of parliament in such cases; and no considerations connected with, or arising out of other questions, should induce them to depart from that course. To Roman Catholics returned hereafter they would extend the benefit of the existing law; but it would be wrong to extend its benefit, by a retrospective operation, to a Roman Catholic who had been returned under a different state of the law. Under such circumstances, he felt himself bound to say that, on this occasion, he was not governed by a reference to any external circumstances, and that, let the consequences be what they might, he could not bring himself to adopt a different course. He was acting judicially, and he must vote for the resolution proposed by his hon. and learned friend. The House divided: Ayes 190; Noes Majority 74. 116. called to the bar; whereupon the Speaker communicated to him the Resolution agreed to by the House. Then the Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House, asked Mr. O'Connell whether he would take the Oath of Supremacy? Whereupon Mr. O'Connell requested to see the said Oath, which being shewn to him, he stated, that it contained one proposition which he knew to be false, and another proposition which he believed to be untrue, and that he therefore refused to take it. Mr. O'Connell having withdrawn, The Solicitor-general said, the Resolution which he was now about to move, was founded on various precedents. When a party, called upon to take certain oaths, to enable him to take his seat, refused to take them, the uniform course had been to move a new writ immediately. He would therefore move, "that Mr. Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown, to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Knight of the Shire to serve in this present Parliament for the county of Clare, in the room of Daniel O'Connell, esq., who, having been returned a Member of this House before the commencement of an Act passed in this Session of Parliament for the relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects,' has refused to take the Oath of Supremacy." Mr. Wynn begged to ask the learned gentleman, whether this was a resolution to which the House, consistently with law, could come? He found in an act of the present session, the following clause, "and be it enacted, that when the session herein directed to be first holden for the purpose of registering freeholds shall have terminated in any county, the Lord-lieutenant or other chief governor of Ireland shall cause notice thereof to be inserted in the Dublin Gazette:' and that in case of a vacancy in the representation of any such county in this present parliament, before the publication of such notice of the termination of the session for such county, no writ shall issue for the holding of an election of a knight of the shire for such county, until after the publication of such notice." Now, as the act also required, that no session for registering freeholds should be held until forty days after the commencement of the act, and that forty days had not yet expired, he doubted whether it would be regular for the Speaker to direct the issue of a writ which could not be complied with. Mr. Peel was quite aware that this doubt would be suggested, and was inclined to think that, notwithstanding the objection, the motion would be better as it stood. The order of the House was not that a new writ should be issued, but merely that the Speaker should issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown. He apprehended that the Clerk of the Crown, notwithstanding the Speaker's warrant, might suspend the issue of the writ until it could be legally issued. The law, I apprehend, will justify the Clerk of the Crown in disobeying if it can be called disobeying or rather in not acting upon the Speaker's warrant until the time specified by act of parliament for the issue of the writ has arrived. The clerk will receive the warrant, but he will not act upon it until the law allows him. Thus it appears to me, that the House will perform the duty that devolves upon it, without acting inconsistently with the law. However, the order of the Speaker to issue his warrant may be delayed till the forty days are expired, if that course is deemed the better one; and the question, therefore, is, whether the warrant shall be immediate or delayed for forty days. Mr. Wynn certainly thought, that the warrant should not be issued until the law allowed the writ to issue; because he thought that the act of parliament should be obeyed. Mr. Portman put it to the Solicitorgeneral, whether it was reasonable to propound to the House, without notice, a proposition to which it was likely there would be considerable opposition. This was undoubtedly the most important step connected with this case; yet they were called upon to take it without notice. He would move, that the debate be adjourned till Thursday. Mr. Brougham would support the amendment. This was a perfectly new case, and as delay could not be prejudicial to any party, the House ought to take time for consideration. After some further consultation, the debate was adjourned till Thursday. SIERRA LEONE.] Mr. Stuart Wortley rose to move for certain papers, having reference to the colony of Sierra Leone. He observed, that, in 1825, a commission had been appointed to ascertain the state and prospects of the colony of Sierra Leone. That commission proceeded to its destination, and entered into a full investigation of every thing connected with the colony. The result of its labours was a report which contained a frightful representation of the condition of the colony. It was now about forty years since we originally commenced the settlement, for purposes different from those to which it was now applied. About twenty years since, it was applied to the latter purposes. With respect to the original purposes of the colony, it was found, that though some of the settlers brought from Nova Scotia and Barbadoes were capable of assuming the highest functions in the administration of affairs, the general body of the settlers was of a degraded character. With respect to the colony, as applied to its present purposes, the case was no better. The liberated negroes who arrived there were, for the most part, labouring under sickness and disease. There was no proper accommodation for them after they did arrive. No attention was bestowed upon the cure of their maladies; there was no system of regulation to induce habits of industry; there was no provision for the religious instruction of the negroes, so that they continued almost in a state of barbarism and idleness. The report stated, that in order to supply instruction to two thousand one hundred and eleven youths, who were scattered over the settlement, there were only twenty-two schools and six teachers, with four native assistants. Another point for grave consideration was the mixed commission for the termination of the Slave-trade. The Slave-trade had been repressed on one part of the African coast, but it raged with undiminished violence in another. Sierra Leone was at so great a distance from the present scene of the Slave-trade, that the vessels captured for being engaged in the illicit traffic, had to traverse a distance of about seven hundred and ninety miles. The consequence was, that before the vessels arrived at Sierra Leone, one half of the liberated Slaves died on board: the other half being in such a state of disease, that a considerable portion of them died before adjudication, and those who survived were unfit for active exertion for a long time after. It had been suggested that the adjudication courts should be removed nearer to the scene of the Slave-trade, and Fernando Po had been pointed out as a convenient place for their establishment. The period had now arrived when it was necessary to take the whole subject into serious consideration. | possible; and, as the means of doing so, It was expedient to consider whether the it had been proposed to establish the establishment could be so far amended, as mixed commission at Fernando Po instead effectually to serve the purpose for which of Sierra Leone. The former place was it was intended, and if not, whether we not only nearer the spot where the chief should persevere in a system which had captures were made, but it would place produced such unsatisfactory results. He the commission in a situation where they would not now state whether he intended would have a better prospect of communito found any measure on the papers for cating with the interior of Africa, and ́enwhich he should move. It was the opi- deavouring by that means to check the nion of many persons, that the establish- trade. The hon. member had alluded to ment at Sierra Leone should be wholly the want of religious instruction, and of abandoned, whilst others thought that it education generally. On that branch of ought to be maintained at any cost. He the subject, he would observe, that the would not give an opinion either one way government was acting in co-operation or the other. He would, however, go so with that Society which had in view the far as to state, that if it were possible to extension of religious knowledge and moral improve the settlement and render it effi- instruction; and he should be happy at cient, he should wish it to be maintained. all times to contribute to the attainment The hon. member concluded by moving of such beneficial objects. for copies of the correspondence between the governors of Sierra Leone and the colonial secretary, and a variety of other papers relating to the colony. Mr. W. Smith was glad that the papers had been moved for, because they would be the means of correcting many misrepresentations which had got abroad respecting the colony. Sir G. Murray said, it appeared to him extremely proper that a full investigation should take place as to the settlement. It was of serious importance to ascertain whether the advantages or disadvantages which had resulted from the colony of Sierra Leone, counterbalanced each other. The colony was established with the view of introducing, not only civilization, but all the habits of trade and cultivation in those districts. It was a fit object of inquiry, whether the want of success which had been imputed to these establishments was derived from circumstances connected with the localities of the settlement, or whether the blame rested elsewhere. Peculiar misfortunes had attended these colonies. Many distinguished men had successively been sent out to administer the government there, and, unfortunately, all of them, with the exception of sir C. Macarthy, (who received death from the hand of the enemy) had fallen victims to the climate. The hon. member had correctly stated the great disadvantages resulting from the length of the voyage after capture; the effect of which was, that sickness was found to prevail, after landing the unfortunate victims. It was fit that all these disadvantages should be obviated if The motion was agreed to. CORN LAWS.] Mr. Hume said, he rose to introduce the motion on this subject of which he had given notice. He began by observing on the great importance of the question. His object was, to have a perfect free trade in Corn. In stating this, he meant that the change should be effected by the gradual removal of those restrictions which had grown up with this vicious system, and which had failed to answer the purposes for which they were intended. Some hon. members were anxious that he should postpone the measure for the present session, on the ground that there was not time; but the present time was the most proper. ters might wish to get rid of parliament; but looking back to the periods to which the House had sat for several sessions past, he could not but think that there was full time for the consideration of the subject in a committee, and for the discussion of any measures which might grow out of it. The present time was the most fitting, for another reason. The people, in many parts of the country, were in want of food; and if he proved, as he should do, that a large supply from abroad would not only be a benefit to them, but no injury to the landed interest, he thought he should lay a reasonable ground for the inquiry. All they should have to do would be, to consider the operation of the measures passed since 1821, and how far their results had borne out the policy which produced them. The hon. member then adverted to what had been said a few days ago on the sub ject of free trade; namely, that we had a | eighty-three thousand quarters annually. very large portion of the working classes From the great increase in our manufac unemployed, and a large capital, which if tures, it became necessary to import Corn invested in manufactures, would give em- to feed our artisans, and in return we sent ployment to those classes; and yet neither out the produce of their labour. 70our manufacturing power nor our capital Now, it was clear, that any change in were productive, because, under the pre- our system with respect to Corn, which sent system, neither could find proper em- tended to narrow the means of employment ployment; and he contended, that the among the manufacturers, must, as a matcause of so extraordinary an anomaly was ter of course, reduce them to distress. He a matter deserving of strict investigation. would show how this had been done. Could any thing be more useful than to There had been from 1773 to 1795, and give a solution to this enigma? He was from that period, with little interval, till not bound to assign the precise causes of 1815, virtually a free trade in Corn; but the very artificial situation in which the at the latter period the increase in the ma→ country was now placed. He was not nufactures commenced, and in the same bound to point how far that situation had degree the improvement of the agricultural been produced by the effect of taxation; interest advanced. The hon. member here to what extent the changes in our currency entered into several calculations to show, might have caused it; or how far it was that while the trade in Corn was free, we owing to the Corn-laws. The fairest way were an exporting country; and that in would be, to attribute it to the operation those periods when the greatest tempta of the three causes combined. The hon. tions existed to the foreign grower by the member, after observing that we ought high prices which sometimes existed here, not now to endeavour to retrace our steps such as 100s. the quarter, and sometimes in all we had done, or to attempt remedies 110s. and 120s., the quantity of Corn imwhich were out of our reach, but to apply ported bore no proportion to that exported. ourselves to what was really practicable, Taking twenty years from 1796 to 1815 went on to notice the vast increase which inclusive,our whole import of Corn amounthad taken place in our manufactures within ed to 9,622,000 quarters, being an average the last seventy years, our manufacturing of 481,135 quarters. If, then, we had any classes having within that time risen to a fears of the excess of foreign import, that degree of greatness and power unexampled was the period when it might have been among nations and unequalled by any made with the greatest ease. It was true, other classes in the country. The result that we were at war, during that period; was, to place the greater part of the world but hon. members would remember, that dependent upon us for manufactures; those when the war was at its height, and even parts at the same time supplying us with when an attempt was made by the Berlin the raw material. Having thus so large a and Milan decrees to exclude us from the portion of our population for a long time trade of the continent, we received a large engaged in manufactures, we could not supply of Corn. The facts he had mennow throw them back for support on the tioned afforded a proof, that we need have other classes of the community. Our no fear from an open trade in Corn. duty therefore was to adopt such measures as, by again opening a demand for our productions, would give them the means of supporting themselves. To shew the effect of the change that had been made in our system, he would carry the attention of members back to the half century preceding the year 1765. During that period England was a corn-exporting country, and on the average of those years sent forth annually about two hundred and fifteen thousand quarters, thus coming into competition with the Corn of Poland, and often underselling that of Dantsic in the foreign market. The average export from Dantsic in the same time did not exceed . The hon. member then went on to contend, that the operation of the Cornlaws was, to limit the exertions of the manufacturer, by raising the price of provisions at home, and thus rendering him less able to compete with those who were opposed to him in the foreign market. He would contend, that what prevented the employment of the million of men, women, and children-for there were that number of the working classes now out of work-was the present state of the Cornlaws. If those laws did not exist, the poor labouring manufacturer could exchange the produce of his industry for corn for the support of his family. He |