Monmouthshire Merlin

ANTI-SLAVERY MEETING AT NEWPORT. A numerous and highly respectable meeting was held at New- port on the 11th instant, for the purpose of petitioning the legis- lature for the immediate extinction of slavery throughout the British dominions, under such provisions as the legislature may deem requisite to ensure the safety of all the parties affected. Thomas Prothero, Esq., on making his appearance at the meet- ing, was greeted with three cheers, and unanimously called to the chair. He addressed the meeting as follows :-Agreeably with your request to preside over the proceedings of the numerous and respectable assemblage now convened, I feel that I have been much honoured, though I regret that some gentleman, more conversant than myself with the present state of slavery in the British West India Colonies, was not selected for the occasion. That slavery does exist in those colonies, and is the condition of a large proportion of the population, is not denied and I know slavery in every form to be so contrary to every law of our na- ture, and so incompatible with the doctrines of Christianity, that I feel for it the utmost detestation and abhorrence, and deem it a duty to contribute, by every means within my power, to its utter and immediate extinction in all the West India Colonies, and all other colonies subject to British dominion. (Cheers.) Wherever it is permitted or sanctioned by law, it is a most foul blot on the institutions of the country whereby it is suffered to exist; but to hold any portion of our fellow men in bondage, is, to Englishmen, who themselves prize personal freedom as almost their chief good, a greater disgrace and reproach than it is to any other people on the face of the earth. It has been urged by some, that slavery has existed in almost every age, from the re- motest antiquity to the present time, and that it was one of the institutions of the Jews, God's chosen people; but that, though brought forward as an argument for the continuance of slavery, deserves no weight for I contend it is equally true that is has always tended, and from its nature must necessarily tend, to bru- talize and demoralize no less the slave owner than the wretched slave, and that its effects are as inconsistent with the virtue of the one, as the happiness of the other. If that be so, then surely the sooner the better slavery is entirely abolished. Even amongst the Greeks and Romans, the two most enlightened and civilized nations of antiquity, we read of the greatest atrocities committed by them on their slaves. That late humane and elegant writer, Dr. Beattie, in writing on the subject of slavery, says—" At Sparta slaves were treated with a degree of rigour that is hardly conceivable, although to them their proud masters were indebted for all the necessaries of life. The Lacedemonian youth, trained up in the practice of deceiving and butchering these poor men, were from time to time let loose upon them, to shew their profi- ciency in stratagem and massacre and once, without any pro- vocation, and merely for their own amusement, we are told that they murdered 3000 in one night, not only with the connivance of the law, but with its avowed permission." A memorable in- stance, shewing the horrible condition of slaves amongst the Ro- mans, I have read in another author, whose name I cannot call to mind, and which I will relate. In the time of Augustus, the golden age of the Romans, a patrician, and a friend of the Em- peror, Vedius Pollio by name, was accustomed to throw stich slaves as gave him the slightest offence into his fishponds, to fat- ten his lampreys and yet that monster, when his crime was dis- covered, was suffered to die in peace, and the only punishment that was inflicted on him was, that his ponds were filled up, and his lampreys destroyed. Those who are conversant with the his- tory of the African slave trade, carried on by the modern nations of Europe, will, no doubt, recall to their recollection horrors and barbarities inflicted by slave traders, almost, if not quite, equal in atrocity to the two instances I have referred to as illustrative of the horrible treatment of slaves by the ancients. The nature of man is little altered since then, and the brutal agents con- cerned in that detestable traffic, the slave trade, are scarcely more humane and merciful than were the polished Greeks and Ro- mans. That trade, to the great joy of every friend to humanity in this kingdom, was^prohibited to British subjects by an act of parliament, which received the royal assent on the 25th March, 1807, since which time there has been, I believe, no importation of slaves into any part of the British Colonies. To that event, so interesting to humanity, it would be injustice not to observe, that Thomas Clarkson, who may be styled the Apostle against slavesy, contributed more exertion than any person now living for, at the age of 24 years, he devoted his then future life to its accomplishment. Other men, illustrious for their talents and virtues, in the two houses of parliament, were unwearied in their efforts 10 effect that great measure, and did not rest until success crowned their exertions. Two of them, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, who contended on almost all other great subjects brought before parliament, agreed in that, though they did not live to see the triumph of the cause they advocated, and for which they had pre- pared the way. Of Mr. Fox, it is said that the prospect of that triumph soothed his pains, and cheered him in the time of sick- ness, and that the confident hope of it was expressed by him, and consoled him in one of the last hours of his life. But though the continuance of the horrible traffic in human beings was thus prohibited to British subjects, the measure of justice was not complete for there was then, and there still is, in the British Colonies, a large slave population, subject to all the ills of sla- very. To extinguish and put an end to that condition of a por- tion of our fellow men, and to place them within the pale and protection of the law, has heen for some years a great aim and object of many good men, on whom the mantle of Wilberforce, Pitt, Fox, Burke, and Wyndham has fallen and who, by their zeal and devotion to the cause, if not in their splendid talents, have equalled their great masters and predecessors. For the purpose of promoting that end, by petitioning the two houses of parliament for the immediate extinction of slavery in the West Indies, we are met here to-day and I have no doubt that every argument that has been used against the immediate adoption of the measure, will be answered and shewn to be futile, by some gentlemen who are prepared to address you. To the Missionaries of several denominations and sects of Christians, we are much indebted for the knowledge we have of the state of the slaves, both as regards their wrongs and privations, and their fitness for emancipation; and when we look at the persecutions some of those Missionaries have undergone, and the bitter feeling enter* at- tained towards them by most of the slave owners, we,are strongly reminded of the treatment that some of the, first Apostles of Christianity experienced in their propagation of the Christian revelation. Indeed, there can be but little doubt but the same sentiment actuates the persecutors of those who wish to propagate Christianity amongst the slaves now, as did the persecutors of the Apostles for it is written in holy writ—" Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." I will not attempt to exalt your feelings of indignation against the slave proprietors, by de- tailing the sufferings endured by the slaves; but I contend for the immediate emancipation of the latter, simply on the ground that they are entitled to be free, and that no man can, or ought to be allowed to, possess a property in the person of another. (Cheers.) Rev. B. Byron said, it had been well, sir, in my judgment, if those venerated men, who now rest from their labours, or calmly wait on the confines of eternity their summons to depart, had made slavery, as well as the slave trade, the common evil they determined to bring to an end. The contest might, perhaps, have been a little more fierce-the victory might have been a little longer delayed-but the cause of freedom, of humanity, of re- ligion, had been greatly promoted. They thought, doubtless, that this lesser evil might afterwards be overcome or that the planters, not being able to import more slaves, would nourish and cherish those they had, as a father does his children." But they did not think that twenty or thirty years after the abolition of the slave trade, nothing would have been effectually done to secure the emancipation, or even to ameliorate the condition, of those already in bondage. They did not think that those bar- barities would to this hour be continued which reverse the great law of nature and of God-increase and multiply, and replenish the earth-and which year after year prematurely sweep from the face of the globe thousands and tens of thousands of our fellow men and fellow subjects. There was, indeed, one of these men, who, gifted with somewhat of a prophetic spirit, foresaw and predicted the terrible consequences that would result from con- senting to do away with half the evil instead of the whole of it. The venerable Granville Sharp, whose name will be had in ever- lasting remembrance, single and unsupported, stood forth in the committee, and lifting up his hands to heaven, declared with a loud voice and powerful emphasis, that slavery was as much a crime against the divine law as the slave trade that it became them to exert themselves equally against both and that he did not hesitate to pronounce all present guilty before God, for shut- ting those who were then slaves out of the pale of their approach- ing labours." Finding he could not alter the views of the com- mittee, he devoted himself assiduously to further that part of the work to which, by more general consent, the society thought fit to confine itself. The unaltered conviction of his own mind, that he was right and that they were wrong, appears from a private paper, written long afterwards, in which he declares that he had carefully maintained the principles of the society, and in his offi- cial endeavours had strictly limited himself to the abolition of the slave trade yet that he held a fixed detestation of slavery itself, in whatever form it was favoured. No authority on earth," says he, can ever render such enormous iniquities legal; and the divine retribution will inevitably follow every government or legislature that shall even tolerate such abominable injustice." And," he adds, I should forfeit all title to true loyalty, as an Englishman, did I not continue the same fixed detestation of slavery, which I have avowed for 30 years past." I shall not attempt that, sir, which would be much less difficult than pain- ful, to trace the fulfilment of the prediction of that venerable man, who, by his efforts in this cause, has bound his brows with laurel wreaths, and consigned his memory to immortal fame," in the divine retribution which has followed every government and legislature that has tolerated such abominable injustice. The fact is that one half of the original evil still remains for us to remove. The work demands the immediate, the energetic, the untiring, co-operation of every one who pretends to claim for himself the feelings of a man and a brother the love of freedom, which ought ever to distinguish a Briton; and the principles which are dear to the heart of a christian. Sir, the melioration of the condition of the slaves must not be left to the planters and the colonial legislative assemblies. Their alleged measures for the improvement of the slaves do not, and are not meant to be- nefit them at all, but to pacify the government at home, and to throw dust in the eyes of the negro's friends. That the slaves are most cruelly treated is manifest from their own shewing for whilst they pretend that they have an ample sufficiency of food, clothing, and medicine, and are every way much better off than the English peasantry, they, in the same breath, tell us, that, let but an act of emancipation be passed, and, on the very day it is proclaimed, the slaves will rise up against their masters and mur- der them in cold blood Sir, if they are thus kindly treated, to attribute to them such atrocious designs against their kind bene- factors is monstrous: if they have revengeful feelings, which they only want opportunity to gratify, there must be the keen re- membrance and the heavy endurance of past and present bar- barities, to kindle and keep alive these feelings. But why do I talk of ameliorating their condition ? The time is gone by for any thing of the kind. The spirit of British patriots and philan- thropists and christians is now aroused; and nothing short of emancipation will the negro's friends accept. They shall no longer be goods and chattels-freehold property-as Mr. Burge, the Jamaica agent, had the imprudence to style them in the House of Commons, and thereby excited a feeling of horror and indignation in that assembly. They shall be recognised here- after as possessing the rights of men, the claims of fellow sub- jects, the dignity of rational and accountable beings, the high destinies of christians, redeemed by the same blood as ourselves. The Leeds petition, with its seventeen thousand signatures, will be followed by like petitions from almost every town and every village in the empire these shall be succeeded by separate pe- titions from almost every congregation in every town and every village; the government shall rise above the fear of the West India interest, and acting according to their recorded judgments and their kindly feelings, shall promulgate the fiat-" Set the captive free." (Cheers.) But sudden emancipation will be sure to be attended with confusion and even bloodshed Sir, no incidental evils which instantaneous emancipation may occa- sion, are at all to be compared to the daily misery and wretched- ness produced by their continuance in bondage. Population decreases in our sugar colonies at the rate of 4000 a-year it ought to increase at the rate of 18,000 a-year; the system is therefore carried on at an annual sacrifice of 22,000 lives. But they will all starve if the planters cease to be obliged to provide for them ? Sir, by working two days only in the week, they will be better fed, and better clad, and better housed, than they now are; but they will work, and work hard, for remuneration, as the evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons shews they will acquire a taste for conveniences, comforts, and luxuries, far beyond the weekly salt herring, and the yearly garb which costs 4s 7jd, and they will have the means of gra- 2 tifying that taste, and our colonies will furnish extensive markets for the disposal of our exportable commodities, by which the colonies will be benefitted and the country enriched. But the planters will renounce their allegiance to the mother country, and transfer the colonies to the United States of America ? Sir, the planters have not the power to do so, if they had the will. They live, move, and have their being, under the protection of British troops, with which, at an immense expense, we furnish them, and were those troops withdrawn they could not maintain their standing for a month. As for being transferred to America, the slaves will one and all resist that; as it destroys the prospect of freedom Jay which they are animated. But it is not right to set free the slaves without remunerating the proprietors for their loss and how shall compensation be provided by our already over-taxed and impoverished country ? Sir, the time to settle the question of compensation is not yet arrived. Let the great the question of compensation is not yet arrived. Let the great act of justice be done, and then, if losses be really suffered, the question of compensation may be considered. Who knows but that advantage instead of loss would accrue from the substitu- tion of free labour for slave labour 1 It has been argued, and, I think, conclusively argued, that free labour would be the more profitable, and that emancipation would render West India estates more valuable. While the abolition of the slave trade was under discussion, it was said that compensation must be provided to remunerate the ship owners and the inhabitants of our seaport towns. Abolish the slave trade, it was said, and Liverpool will be ruined grass will grow in the streets, and who is to compensate those who have invested their property there? These, sir, were idle dreams-Liverpool has flourished more since the abolition of the slave trade than before, and bids fair to rival the metropolis itself. And what proof have we that the anticipated losses and ruin of West India proprietors are not idle dreams ? In my opinion they are. If, however, cases of grievance be really made out after emancipation shall have taken place, let compensation be made, provided only that those be first compensated who have suffered most by the system. This mode being settled, then, sir, I claim that the slaves be first and fairly compensated, for they have suffered unspeakably more than any of their proprietors ever will. Sir, the present time is pecu- liarly favourable for successful exertion and if Englishmen are true to themselves, this great question of humanity and religion must be speedily and triumphantly carried. Government by patronage has had its day; government by representation has just commenced. Before the last election, 200 candidates in England alone declared themselves in favour of the speedy ex- tinction of slavery. In Ireland and Scotland, the proportions were greater. Most of these have been returned to parliament, and will, I doubt not, fulfil their pledges. Our esteemed repre- sentatives, Mr. Williams and Mr. Hall, are hearty in the cause, and will give effect to our appeals to the legislature. It will be a happy day when slavery ceases throughout the British domi- nions. America, it may be hoped, will follow the example, and put away the disgrace which slavery in her southern states attaches to the union. It will give effect to the appeals of our govern- ment to other countries to abolish their slave trade, and hasten the progress of civil and religious liberty all over the world. The rev. gentleman concluded by moving the following resolution That this meeting views the system of colonial slavery as at variance with the great principles of justice, humanity, and re- ligion and contemplating the occurrences that have recently transpired in the West India islands, feels deeply impressed with the conviction, that this system not only involves the sacrifice of individual and social happiness, but endangers the peace and safety of the colonies themselves." This resolution was seconded, in an appropriate address, by John Lewis, Esq. Thomas Phillips, jun., Esq., said-Mr. Chairman,-In rising to move the resolution that has been entrusted to me, I certainly present myself before you with some diffidence-a diffidence oc- casioned by the consciousness that I am but very imperfectly acquainted, as well with the difficulties that must be encountered in extinguishing colonial slavery, as with the measures by which the advocates of immediate abolition propose to surmount those difficulties. I should therefore have felt considerable hesitation in coming forward as the advocate for immediate emancipation, entertaining as I do (in common, I believe,) with many sincere supporters of the abolition of slavery, the opinion, that the well- being of the slaves themselves, and the safety of the colonies, may be both compromised by precipitate and hasty legislation. I am, however, relieved from all difficulty on this point by the words of the resolution I am about to move, which, declaring the imperative necessity that slavery should be early extinguished, asserts a proposition which, in this free country and in this en- lightened age, will meet with universal assent. It is to the dis- covery of the New World that we owe the existence of colonial slavery, with all the sufferings, the miseries, the crimes, of which, during a period of three centuries, it has been the fruitful parent. The conquest of America was marked with every cruelty and outrage that could disgrace human nature. Avarice and the thirst of gain never exhibited more hideous features than amongst the early colonists, who, to glut their own rapacity, condemned the unoffending, indolent, and effeminate natives of the country to labours far beyond their strength. The result of this treat- ment was, that Hispaniola, where the population, when Colum- bus discovered the island, was computed to be at least a million, in fifteen years afterwards possessed only sixty thousand inhabi- tants. The cruelties practised upon the unoffending Indians, procured for them an advocate in the person of the celebrated Las Cases, a native of Seville, and one of the priests that accom- panied Columbus in his first voyage. It is to this intrepid, zealous, and fearless defender of the Indians, that we owe the origin of the colonial slave trade and, with a strange inconsist- ency, whilst encountering dangers and surmounting difficulties to restore liberty to the Americans, Las Cases justified the in- fliction upon the Africans of the most grievous and intolerable slavery. The Africans were found to be a more hardy race of men than the natives of the New World—more capable of en- during fatigue-more patient under servitude and these circum- stances were deemed sm ample apology for dragging them from their country—separating them from their kindred—subjecting them to the most cruel sufferings, and selling them into slavery. This horrid traffic, which continued for upwards of three cen- turies, was put an end to in 1807, as far as regarded the colonies of this country. But although the abolition of the slave trade was supported as a step to the final extinction of slavery, which the supporters of the measure avowed to be the end of their ex- ertions, little, I fear, has been done during the 26 years that have since elapsed, to ameliorate the condition of the slave po- pulation in the colonies of Great Britain. That slavery is de- structive of the very foundation of civil society, and whilst it debases the slave, brutalises the master, is established by univer- sal experience. The late Mr. Fox, the enlightened and benevo- lent supporter of every measure calculated to benefit the human race in every clime, answered an advocate for the advantages of slavery, by saying-" My detestation of slavery is so deeply rooted, that were you clearly to establish the expediency of the system, I should only hate it the more." Slavery, however, is as much opposed to national expediency as it is to the maxims of eternal justice, and is at variance with the principles on which alone colonization can be defended. Where a great country scatters, in some vast and fertile wilderness, the seeds of a civi- lised population—protects the infant community through the period of helplessness—and rears it to a mighty nation,-she increases the sum of human happiness, and benefits the human race. She, too, is amply repaid for the original expenditure, by an extensive and lucrative commerce with flourishing and popu- lous regions she has called into existence. But what advantages can be derived from colonies in which the population, under a cruel and grinding system of oppression, is so rapidly passing away, that, unless an entire and early change takes place in colonial slavery, it is not impossible but some persons now alive may see the last Negro disappear from our Transatlantic posses- sions ? Acting upon the loudly-expressed opinion of the Bri- tish public, the House of Commons, on the 15th May, 1823, adopted the following resolutions :—1st, That it is expedient to adopt effectual and decisive measures for ameliorating the con- dition of the slave population in his Majesty's colonies. 2d, That through a determined and persevering, but judicious and temperate enforcement of such measures, this house looks for- ward to a progressive improvement in the character of the slave population such as may prepare them for a participation in those civil rights and privileges which are enjoyed by other classes of his Majesty's subjects. 3d, That this house is anxious for the accomplishment of this purpose at the earliest period that may be compatible with the well-being of the slaves, the safety of the colonies, and with a fair and equitable consideration of the interests of all parties concerned. Ten years have elapsed since those resolutions were adopted and we may be now per- mitted to ask, whether they have been acted on, or whether they have not been permitted to remain dormant on the journals of the House of Commons. The executive government is entitled to credit for having honestly intended to carry those resolutions into effect; and shortly after they were agreed to, various regu- lations were forwarded to the colonies for ameliorating the condi- tion of the slaves. Those resolutions have, however, been stre- nuously opposed by the colonial legislatures and the House of Assembly of Jamaica has recently declared, that the legislature of the United Kingdom has not the power to make laws for the colonies. Such being the case, we now demand that a period shall be named when the disgrace of slavery, in any form, shall no longer be suffered within the territories of this free country. Whilst we are advocates for the liberties of Europe, it behoves us peculiarly to preserve that freedom unpolluted within the pale of the British empire. (Cheers.) We call upon the legislature to adopt, without delay, such measures as will ameliorate the condition of the slaves in our colonial possessions so that they may be fitted for the enjoyment of that liberty which, in every region of the earth, is the common right of human nature. (Cheers.) I will now, sir, move that the following resolution be adopted by the meeting That the failure of all attempts to induce the colonial legislatures effectually to ameliorate the civil condition of the slaves-the essential repugnance of the very system of slavery to the great principles on which social in- stitutions rest-and the absolute injustice of holding the negroes in bondage, and subjecting them to oppressive and wasting la- bours,-appear to this meeting imperatively to call for measures for their general and early liberation, subject to those civil pro- visions which may be necessary to insure the safety of all the parties affected." The Rev. W. Miles seconded this resolution. He alluded to the vast expenses which have been incurred to support slavery in our West India Colonies, the moral degradation by which it is characterised, and the awful destruction of human life with which it has been attended. He vindicated the immediate ex- tinction of slavery, accompanied with those civil provisions which may be deemed necessary to ensure the safety of all the parties affected, on the principles of economy, humanity, and religion. Joseph Corsbie, Esq., in moving the third resolution—"That the following petition be presented to the Lords and Commons," said—The cause we have met to promote has been so ably advo- cated, that it is difficult to find an argument which has not already been urged (and, if I may judge from myself, most con- clusively) in favour of the immediate abolition of slavery. It has been proved, before the committee of the House of Commons, that the slave in 1833 is very different from what the slave was even in 1810, and that the danger of withholding freedom is greater than granting it; that the slave, if emancipated, will, under the excitement of adequate wages, do as the labouring po- pulation of other countries—cheerfully work to acquire the neces- saries and comforts of life and it has been further demonstrated, that tropical produce can be raised at less cost by the labour of freemen than by slaves. It may be asked, if this is true, why has the West Indian proprietor not adopted it? Deep-rooted, bigoted prejudice appears to have blinded them, even to their own interest. For the last thirty years the value of their pro- perty has been depreciating and yet, so apprehensive have they been of any innovation that might in the least degree interfere with their slaves, that they have stood still while great changes have been progressing in the cultivation of tropical produce. They now complain that their property is unproductive, notwith- standing they have most unrighteously resisted every proposed plan for the gradual introduction of free labour. Look at the present situation of the West India proprietors a large portion of the estates under heavy mortgage to the merchants, who must be remunerated by commissions and interest. Most of the real owners of the estates reside in England their plantations are left to the management of agents and overseers, whose interests are not so identified with those of their employers as to insure all the advantages arising from the inspection and vigilance of the master and it may be observed, that these agents and over- seers have proved the most uncompromising advocates of slavery, their interest being wrapped up in it. On the other hand, the cultivation of superior land by free labour, on the American Con- tinent, under the eye and personal superintendence of the pro- prietors themselves, is extending, and supplying not only North America, but Europe in fact, there is an over production, and were it not for the monopoly of the British market being secured to our colonies, many of them would be in a still worse situation. From these premises, in addition to the arguments you have already heard, I draw the conclusion, that had the slaves been emancipated ten years ago, the planters would have been in a much better situation, and that they have not any claim for in- demnity in the event of the liberation of the slaves. The time is come wlien they cannot avert their asserting their freedom and if they could retain them in bondage, it would be only pur- suing a course which has already rendered their estates value- less. In perusing the evidence before the House of Commons, I have been highly gratified at finding that the mental faculty of the negro has been much under-rated. The inestimable exertions of the Missionaries have afforded corroborative evidence, that the negro possesses a sound intellect, as susceptible of cultivation as that of any other class of the human race. If I am not mis- taken, the ancient population of Egypt at least approximated to the negro race and from Egypt, we must recollect the Greeks themselves drew their sources of civilization.■ The Rev. H. W. Williams observed, t1 at the difficulties in the way of immediate, or almost immediate, emancipation were much fewer, and much less formidable than some had*, apprehended. It had been objected that the negroei were naturally indolent; but the evidence lately taken before a Committee of the House of Commons fully established the fact, that the alaves are dis- posed to labour, when the hope of remuneration is held out to them. Some had feared, that the overthrow of the present system would leave the slaves in a state of poverty and starvation but it had been clearly proved, that on most of the estates in the West Indies, the slaves now maintain themselves by the culti- vation of their plantation grounds and on the produce of these they would, in a state of freedom, be able to subsist with com- fort and respectability, paying a rent for their use. Indeed, the fear of the planters was, that the negroes, if free, would attach themselves to the cultivation of these grounds, and not engage in the raising of sugar, an employment which, from its having been connected with the system of slavery, would become disreputable and degrading. Nor would there exist any great difficulty in the establishment of an efficient police, since there is in the West India islands a large and influential class of the free blacks and people of colour, deeply interested in the peace and safety of the colonies, as well as disposed to sympathise with the oppressed negroes. The only delay which should take place, should be that very trifling delay required for the introduction of those civil arrangements which would secure to the colonies, under the system of freedom, the benefits of well ordered government. The two following resolutions were also proposed and agreed to That copies of these resolutions and of the petition be for- warded to Lord Dacre, with a request that he will present the petition to the House of Lords, and support its prayer." "That copies of the resolutions and of the petition be also forwarded to Benjamin Hall, Esq., member for the boroughs of Monmouth, Newport, and Usk, with a request that he will pre- sent the petition to the House of Commons; and that W. A. Williams, Esq., member for the county, be requested to support its prayer." Moved by the Rev. Daniel Hateley seconded by the Rev. Hugh Jones. That the thanks of this meeting be presented to Thomas Prothero, Esq., for his able conduct in the chair." Moved by Joseph Latch, Esq.; seconded by Joseph Corsbie, Esq.

THE BALLOT IN AMERICA. To the Editor of the Monmouthshire Merlin. SIR,—Mr. W. Gore Ouseley (son of the Right Hon. Sir Gore Ouseley), who was for several years a part of the British lega- tion in America, in his very valuable and highly important book, entitled" Rernarkson the Statistics, &c. of America," lately published, speaking of elections in America, says (p. 13) —" We may, perhaps, expect, arguing from what we see of the violence of contested elections at home, that they must, a fortiori, be attended with tumult and riot a thousand-fold worse in a country where something nearly approaching to universal suf- frage exists whereas, we find that, compared with our assem- blies, the elections of the United States are ORDER ITSELF—pelt- ing, mobbing, or brawling are almost unheard of on such occa- sions and more than all, there is little or no bribery, or possibility of succeeding merely by dint of money." What an overwhelming testimony, from the mouth, too, of an employee of the late ad- ministration, is this to the efficacy of the ballot, and the necessity for further extension of the elective fra nchise Let the reflect- ing and conscientious portion of the inhabitants of Monmouth, Newport, and Usk contrast this statement, that in my last letter, and those which are still to be produced on this all-important sub- ject, with the recollection of the disgraceful state of things which took place within their boroughs at the late election, after the Tories and tools of the aristocracy had opened public houses, in defiance of all decency, and to the destruction of public morals and pure religion to say nothing of the many conscience- stricken hearts that have been caused to ache from the effects of a dictation from which the ballot would have screened them. Mr. Stuart, in his work, entitled "Three Years in North Ame- rica," just issued from the press, says, he was present at the election at Ballston Spa," and obtained a place at the table on which the ballot-boxes were placed that from local causes the excitement was greater at this time than had ever been witnessed since the declaration of independence in 1776, but that all was dumb show, or next to it." The voters approached the table, at which five or six of the inspectors were seated, by single files. Not a word was spoken. Each voter delivered his list, when he got next to the table, to the officers, who called out his name. Any person might object, but the objection was, from previous knowledge, instantly decided on." "So quiet an election," says Mr. Stuart, both within and without doors, I never wit- nessed, either in Scotland or England. I did not see or hear of a drunken person in the street of the village or neighbourhood, nor did I observe any thing extraordinary, except the increased number of carriages or waggons of all kinds, some drawn by four, others by six horses. We were residing close by the hotel where the election took place, and in the evening the tranquillity was as great as if no election had occurred." The number of votes given in this state for the election of the President, was 276,176, in a population of 1,800,000, and the majority for Jackson over Adams but 5350 The total number of votes given in the union was 1,200,000 nearly Thus, in a state far exceeding Scotland in extent, and almost equalling it in population, the votes for the Chief Magistrate and his substitute-for the Go- vernor and Lieutenant-Governor of the state-for a senator and representatives to Congress—for three representatives to the state of New York-for four coroners, a sheriff, and a clerk to the county,—were taken, and the business of the election finished with ease, and with perfect order and decorum, in three days. All voted by ballot, which is here considered the only way to (lb- tain independent and unbiassed voters. To these unhesitating and decisive testimonies, I might add those of Dr. Dwight, Pre- sident of Yale College, in Connecticut Chancellor Kent, of New York the Martyr for Reform in Scotland, Joseph Gerald Mr. James Fluit, an English traveller in the United States and many others. But though further details would be highly inter- esting, as time presses, and the eventful 28th approaches, I will defer such for a future opportunity, as well as particulars of the testimony in favour of the ballot, from the experience of our Gallic neighbours, whom the ballot saved from slavery in the last election in the reign of Charles X., and in the succeeding one, in the year 1831, proved so effectual in preventing riot and expense, that the deputies were elected at the cost of five shillings each But with these unquestionable facts before our eyes- with these irrefragable proofs of the excellence of the ballot pre- sented to our understandings,—I will conclude with calling upon all persons who value the rights of conscience as well as po- litical rights—all who value the interests of morality and re- ligion-all who abhor vice and profaneness, lying, drunkenness, and all manner of riot and profligacy,-to come forward and pe- tition for the ballot. More particularly if they do not betray the best interests of religion and its most sacred injunctions—if they do not violate their duty to their fellow creatures, and blaspheme the commandments of their God,-must the clergy of all ranks, from the mitred bishop to the hard-worked curate, and of all denominations, whether Churchman or Dissenter ;-the Episco- palian, Catholic, Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist, Metho- dist, or by whatever other name they be called or known,-step instantly forward, and appear in the foremost ranks of promoters of the ballot. If they fail in this, let them look to the denunci- ation against hypocrites contained in those holy scriptures which they profess to make the rule of their faith and conduct. HAMPDEN. Knowing the pressure of important matter on your hands, I will de- fer to a future opportunity further details of this intensely interesting subject. To the Editor of the Monmouthshire Merlin. Srn,-To those who know Mr. Williams, and aie acquainted with the circumstances of his first return to parliament, no ex- planation of the expression of his obligations to Mrs. Hanbury Leigh, at the Pontypool dinner, for his election, would be ne- cessary. But ignorance, if not political malice, has, it seems, been busily at work, if possible, to sow dissension between the Member they are universally attached to, and the Reformers of the County of Monmouth, and, therefore, the simple mention of the fact that, after having long hesitated, and, perhaps, even de- clined the offer of the honour, Mrs. Hanbury Leigh's arguments and persuasions prevailed on Mr. Williams to accede to the pro- posal, may not be ill-timed. The worthy Member might well tell his constituents, that, but for Mrs. Hanbury Leigh, he would not have been their representative,-a fact, the knowledge of which will only endear the character and name of that univer- sally respected lady more than ever to the Reformers of the County of Monmouth. PHILO-HAMPDEN. To the Editor of the Monmouthshire Merlin. Srn,-The following lines, found on the Bristol road, between Petty France and Cross Hands, in the morning of Thursday, the 17th of the last month, by a forty-shilling freeholder of Glouces- tershire, have been sent to me, in the vain expectation that I should discover their owner, and find means of letting him have them. I know of no better chance of restoring the lost property than by asking you to insert them in your widely-circulating paper, to whom application was particularly requested, under a belief expressed by my humble friend, that the superior intelli- gence of the Monmouthshire Merlin would be able to throw some valuable light on the subject. It seems all that was legible on the outside cover of the enclosure, were the words The Right H the remainder of the writing having been completely obliterated by the dirt which stuck to it. These few words, my informant tells me, the magistrates' clerk, to whom they were shewn, as the most sapient person near at hand, expressed his belief, meant for the right Howner; and he also remarked that the paper on which the lines are written, was very like some that he had seen some time ago. received either from the Treasury or some such high hoffice in London. He also suggested that they might possibly belong to some of the folks who went to Bristol about the time they were found, as he supposes to some fair, because the country people said a tame elephant" had passed along the road for the same place on that self-same 17th of January, or the evening before. Recommending these mat- ters. to the special attention of your readers, I remain your well wisher, A CONSTANT READER.

It Dear W -"(the remainder of the words of this affection- ate address being totally destroyed). You'll pledge yourself, through thick and thin, To labour hard with zeal devout, To get the outs-poor devils--in, And turn the ins-the wretches-out. You'll pledge yourself, though much bereft Of ways and means" of ruling ill, To make the most of what you've left, And stick to our true colours still. Though gone the days of place and pelf, And drones no more take all the honey, You'll undeitake to cram yourself With all you can of public money. To quarter on the public purse Your nephews, cousins, uncles, brothers. As heretofore, nor care a curse How much tis at the cost of others. You'll pledge yourself, whenever right And might on any point divide, To care not which is black or white, But take at once the strongest side. For instance, in all place discussions You will support the old encroachers You'll loath the Poles, applaud the Russians, And back the squires against the poachers. You'll pledge yourself to be no more With Ireland's wrongs beprosed or shamm'd, Vote all her grievances a bore, Leave her to suffer, and be d-d. Praise to the skies the Frankfort Diet, Swear newspapers but foster crimes, And boast you would for chance of quiet, Hang all the writers of The Tirnes"- Break all their correspondents' bones- All authors of reply"—" rejoinder," From Anti-Tory Colonel J-s, To Anti-Suttee Mr. P-ynd-r. Such are the pledges you'll propose And though you can't now offer gold, There's many a way of buying those Who've but the taste for being sold. So then with three times three, in turn, Give them The Tory speculation"- Long life to jobbing"—" Quick return To the glorious days of peculation

QUALIFYING XINDlm THE REFORM BILL.—It may be necessary to remind all individuals, who are entitled to the right of voting under the £ 10 qualification, that no person can be registered in September next, unless he has occupied the property in respect of which he claims from the 31st July, 1832, to the 31st July, 1833, and unless he has been duly rated as such occupier, in his own christian and surname, to all the poor-rates levied between these dates. Persons who may find errors in the way in which they are described in the rates should get them corrected, which the 30th clause of the Reform Act renders it imperative on overseers to do. LEGAL AGE.-The law of England not making portions of a day, except in cases in which it becomes necessary to ascertain the priorty of distinct events occurring on the same day, as the execution of several deeds, &c., a person is of full age who has lived during some part of every day necessary to constitute a period of 21 years. Thus, a person born at 11 o'clock at night on the 1st of January will be of age immediately after the mid- night between the 30th and 31st of December, although he wifi then want 47 hours of completing 21 years.- luanni iig's Pro- ceedings in Courts of Revision. The following anecdote is from the Rev. W. Knibb's evidence before a committee of the House of Commons During the insurrection in Jamaica, a runaway negro on being discovered in the woods, by a party of the military, and desired to return to- his work, answered, No free me, and I will work but I will never be a slave more you may shoot me He opened his breast, and was instantly fired at." Xavier Chabert, the celebrated Fire King, who caused a littTer "sensation" in London about three years since by his poison and boiling-oil swallowing feats, has recently opened a drug- gist's shop in New York. The craniologists have just discovered that their science, which has been ushered into notice as something new and strange," was equally well known, and took a temporary hold of the public mind, four centuries ago.

MARKETS. CORN EXCHANGE, MARK LANE. Monday, February 18.—Our supplies have been, since this day se'nnight, of English wheat and barley, and foreign linseed, mo- derately good of English, Irish, and Scotch oats, English peas and beans, and English, Irish, and Scotch flour, Irish and Scotch wheat, and, with the above exception, seeds, from all quarters, very limited. This day's market was, from its commencement, well attended both by London and other local buyers, as also by a considerable number from more distant parts but their early appearance, added to the above-mentioned moderate state of the week's supply, induced the sellers to be stiff to advanced prices, and its trade was, with most articles, exceedingly dull. With very superior wheat, at, in some few instances, and fine small parcels of seed oats, at an advance of about Is with wheat and oats, generally, as also barley, malt, beans, peas, and flour, at but little, if any, variation, from last Monday's prices. Linseed, hempseed, spring tares, and clover seed, went off, to some extent, at last week's currency but in other seeds (the quotations of which are unaltered) exceedingly little was doing. Current Prices of Grain, per imperial quarter.—English Wheat, 45s to 62s; Rye, 32s to 35s Barley, 21s to 34s Malt, 35s to 61s; White boiling Peas, 36s to 41s Grey Peas, 30s to 34s Small Beans, 33s to 35s Tick Beans, 28s to 31s Potatoe Oats, 19s to 23s Poland Oats, 16s to 20s; Feed Oats, 12s to 18s Flour. 40s to 50s.—Rapeseed, new, £21 to X25 per last.—Lin- seed Oil-cake £11. 00s to £ 11. lis per 1000. Account tf Wheat, <5fc. arrived in the Port of Londoh, during the Week ending February 16, 1833. Wheat. Barley. Malt, j Oats. | Beans. Peas. yrs" 5,922 j 5,643 | 1,702 5,960 | 871 j 425 Flour, 2,201 sacks, and barrels. Imperial Weekly Average Price of Corn and Grain. Wheat 53 0 Oats 17 0 Beans 30 5 Barley 27 2 j Rye 33 0 Peas 35 I Aggregate Average of the Six Weeks, which regulates Duty. Wheat 52 11 I Oats 17 4 Beans 31 4 Barley 27 8 | Rye 32 11 ( Peas 37 10 Duty on Foreign Corn. Wheat 34 8 [ Oats 21 3 | Beans 22 9 Barley. 21 4 | Rye 21 3 Peas .14 0 SMITHFIELD MARKET. Monday, February 18.-This day's supply of beasts was, for the time of year, moderately good the supply of each kind of small stock but limited. The trade was, with each kind of meat, very dull. With beef at a depression of full 2d per stone with mutton at fully, veal and pork at barely, Friday's quotations. (Per stone of 81b. sinking offal.) Inferiorbeef, from 2 2 to 2 4 Prime beef, from 4 0 to 4 4 Ditto mutton 2 4 to 2 10 Ditto mutton. 4 10 to 5 4 Middling beef ..2 8 to 3 0 Veal 4 0 to 6 0 Ditto mutton 3 6 to 3 10 j Pork 3 2 to 4 0 Suckling calves, from 12s to 36s and quarter old store pigs 12s to 18s each. Supply of Cattle at market:—Beasts, 2,613; sheep, 16,660; calves, 125 pigs, 160. HOPS. Borough, Monday, February 18.—Hops of the two last year's growth go off heavily, for home consumption, at barley last week's prices but in older ones next to nothing is doing. Currency East Kent, in pockets, 1830, £5. 5s to £6. 5s 1831, X7. 7s to CP. 10s 1832, f8. 8s to £10. 10s Mid-Kent, 1830, £4. 15s to £6. Os; 1831, £6. 6s to £ 7. 10s 1832, 17. 10s to f9. Os; Sussex, 1830, £3. 15s to £5. Os; 1831, £ 5. 5s to £6. 10s; 1832, £ 6. 6s to E7. 7s; Essex, 1831, £0. 00s to .EO.OOs.

FRIDAY'S LONDON GAZETTE, FEBRUARY 15. BANKRUPTCIES SUPERSEDED. A. Clarke, Worcester, brewer. T. Gankrodger, Huddersfield, merchant. BANKRUPTS. Charles Holtzendorff Byrne, Liverpool, sailmaker. William Binns, Manchester, flour dealer. James Cogwell, Liverpool, wharfinger. William Dollar and George Thomson, Bucklersbury, Man- chester warehousemen. George Hern, Maldon, Essex, plumber. Thomas Lloyd Jones, Holyhead, brewer. George Keysar, Toxteth Park, Lancashire, timber merchant. George Mathews, Lawrence Pountney-lane, wine merchant. L. Mosely, High-street, Shadwell, Staffordshire warehouseman. John Page, Biimingham, tailor. John Payne, Leicester, dyer. Margaret Phillips, Plymouth, saddler. Robert Pullan, Hatfield, Yorkshire, carpenter. William Frederick Spackman, City-road, oilman. John Thomas, Walsall, Staffordshire, grocer. James Woods, Liverpool, coal merchant. CERTIFICATE.—March 8. T. Underwood, Bristol, skin dresser. MONMOUTH: Printed and Published for the Proprietor by JOHN NASH, at the General Printing-Office, Monnow-street. London Agents:—Messrs. Newton and Co., Warwick-square; Mr. R. Barker, Fleet-street; Mr. G. Reynell, Chancery-lane; and Mr. S. Deacon, Coffee House, No. 3, Walbrook, near the Mansion House, where this Paper is regularly filed. Agents for Ireland, Johnston and Co., Eden Quay, Dublin.