them; and after Mr. Samuel Gurney had read the address and commented on it, Mr. Buxton stepped forward and pointed out the extent of the movement which had sent the delegates thither. "This, my lord," said he, "is the deputy from Cork-this is the one from Belfast; these are from Edinburgh, those from Dundee; this gentleman is from Aberdeen, that from Carmarthen; these are the delegates from Bristol, those from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield; these from York and Leeds," &c.

.

It cannot be doubted that this manifestation had a great effect on the Government; it was the first occasion on which public feeling so emphatically expressed itself, and it was felt to be called forth by no ordinary earnestness of purpose. Mr. Stanley afterwards acknowledged its importance, but, at the time, he gave no further pledge than that he would not again postpone his motion. With this the applicants were, for the present, compelled to be satisfied. They retired, and on the same day dined together. When the cloth was removed, Mr. Buxton spoke with great feeling, expatiating more than was usual with him on his deep sense of the Providence that had attended their course, as well as on the hopes for the future, and the motives and principles by which they ought to be governed. He ended with "gladly seizing a long-wished-for opportunity of bearing testimony to the merits of the real leader of this cause-the Anti-slavery tutor of us all-Mr. Macaulay."

SATION. PROGRESS OF THE BILL THROUGH THE HOUSE OF

THE Government plan was now expected with the utmost anxiety. In the interval Mr. Buxton, who stood much in need of rest and quiet, retreated with his daughters to a fishing cottage at Dagenham Breach, near the Thames, belonging to Mr. Fry. This could be reached only by water, and afforded the most perfect seclusion. "We trust," writes one of the party, "not to see the face of a visitor, nor the direction of a letter, till Monday the 13th." Dr. Lushington remained in town, to watch the progress of affairs. Many contradictory reports were afloat, and Mr. Buxton's brief holiday was spent in deep meditation on the course which he should pursue. His eldest daughter thus writes from Dagenham:

"Saturday, May 11. 1833.

"Here we are in our singular retirement, living out of doors on the rich bank, which is overflowing with grass and flowers, and watching the hundreds of fine ships, which from here seem to float among the fields; but when we climb the bank, there lies the river stretched out its lovely reaches glittering in the sun. We have tasted some real enjoyment in the exuberance of spring in this place, but far more in

seeing my dear father wandering about without his hat for hours together. He has, I fear, been reflecting too deeply during these walks. A set of harassing letters came from London yesterday, which immediately gave him a sharp headache."

At last the 14th of May arrived. Mr. Buxton afterwards told his daughter, that just as they were going off to the House on that memorable eveningperhaps the most memorable of his life- he had reached his study door, when he went back to have one look at his Bible. It opened on the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, and he read those two verses, "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually," &c. "The remembrance of them preserved me," he said, "from being in the least anxious the whole evening; I felt so sure the promise would be fulfilled to me, 'The Lord shall guide thee continually.""

The proceedings of the evening commenced with the presentation of a huge petition from the females. of Great Britain. The scene is thus described in the Mirror of Parliament:

"Mr. Fowell Buxton, on presenting the petition from the females of Great Britain, said, 'Ten days ago, this petition was not prepared; it was not even in contemplation; but within that short period, without any solicitation whatever, it has received from all parts of the country through which it has been circulated, no less than 187,000 signatures. I wish to consult you, Sir, as to the manner in which I am to get it to the table, for it is so heavy that I really am unable to carry it.'

"The Speaker. If the hon. gentleman cannot bring up

1833.

MR. STANLEY'S SPEECH.

321

the petition himself, he must procure the assistance of some other members of the House.'

"Three hon. members then went out with Mr. Buxton, and by the united exertions of the four, the petition was brought in and placed upon the table," (as we are told elsewhere,) amidst the laughter and cheers of the House."

Mr. Stanley then opened the debate. He had been Colonial Secretary little more than a month, yet he showed that, vast as the subject was, he had, in that short time, completely mastered its details, had become conversant with all its dangers and difficulties, and was prepared to settle it for ever. He began by noticing the depth and extent of public feeling upon the question of slavery; and that this feeling had its source in religious principle. then entered into the history of the case, pointing out how confidently Parliament had looked for the co-operation of the colonial legislatures, and that in these expectations "the country had been grievously disappointed."

He

This bulky document was the result of a very simple movement. A short form of petition was sent through the country with the intimation, that if sheets of signatures were sent in by Monday the 13th, they would be appended to the original in London. The time being so short, many answers to this appeal were not anticipated, but by the appointed day they poured in from all parts of the country in numbers almost unmanageable.

The preparation of the petition is thus described by a member of the Ladies' Committee: "We were hard at work at it from ten in the morning till past nine at night. The two petitions became enormous; much heavier than we could move, or even roll over; so we had two men to each, tureens of paste, and everything in proportion. They were like two great feather beds. One broke entirely to pieces, and we

had to begin it all again, so we kept bracing them with broad tape, and at last they were sewn up, each in a great sacking, and sent off, the one to Lord Suffield, the other to Mr. Buxton, for presentation.

Y

"The voice," he said, "of friendly warning-the voice of authority, has been found to be in vain. Not a single step has been taken by any one of the colonial legislatures, with a view to the extinction of Negro slavery."

After asserting the right of the mother country to legislate for the colonies, he proceeded to show that the distresses of the colonists were not owing "to the unceasing efforts of the abolitionists," and the discussion of the slavery question in Parliament; and he read documents to prove that those distresses existed to the same extent, not only before slavery was discussed, but even in the days of the Slave Trade.

He then entered forcibly into the arguments founded on the rapid decrease of population, and the immense amount of punishments with the whip, proving the pregnant and dreadful fact, that as the population diminished, the number of stripes increased.

"We are told," he said, "that the slaves, at the present moment, are unfitted for the enjoyment of the blessings of freedom; that they have no domestic ties, and no habits of industry; that they do not provide for their wants, and would not provide for their families; that they have no forethought, no discretion; and that, in short, they would be totally ruined, were you to throw them loose upon the world.

Sir,

it is slavery which debars them from acquiring industrious habits; it is slavery which prevents them from exercising the virtues of foresight and prudence; it is slavery which leaves them nothing to labour for; it is slavery which takes away from them all the incentives to industrious labour, which debars them from all the ties of social intercourse: and then you declare them to be ignorant of the duties of social life, that they have no foresight, no industry, no prudence, no dis