XXXVII. 1839. CHAP. ing to justify the violent language used by the Jamaica Assembly in May, yet it is doubtful whether the bill now under consideration is either justified by its antecedents, or Answer of recommended by its probable consequences. In a country the Conser which had been accustomed always to impose its own 130. vatives. taxations, it is in contemplation to vest in a governor and council, and three commissioners appointed by the Crown, authority to levy taxes to the amount of £500,000 a-year; and that too at the very time when Lord Durham, in his report on Canada, has recommended them to make the executive officers of that colony responsible, not to the Crown or the home Government, but to the colonial Assembly. Is it likely that we shall advance the cause of negro emancipation throughout the world, and especially in the United States, by thus proclaiming that it is inconsistent with responsible government, and that the first thing which must be done after its adoption is to destroy the political rights of the State by which it has been adopted? Many considerations urge us to consider maturely whether no other alternative exists, in the present posture of affairs, than the entire abolition of the Jamaica constitution. The insolent language of the Assembly cannot be justly pleaded in justification of such an extreme measure; for what popular government could be maintained for an hour if that ground were held justifiable? The Jamaica Assembly had no slight grounds of provocation. When it was proposed last year to remit the remaining term of apprenticeship, Ministers very properly met the demand with a refusal, alleging with truth that the national faith was pledged to its continuance for the entire term of seven years. Yet, in the very next year, Sir Lionel Smith, on the part of Government, urged on the Jamaica Assembly that they ought to terminate the apprenticeship themselves. Finding then the executive government combined with the influence of numbers at home, no option was left to them but to do what the Government at home had refused to sanction, and abo XXXVII. lish the apprenticeship. This is the real cause of differ- CHAP. ence between the two legislatures, and on this account the colonial Assembly is entitled to some little indulgence. 1839. 131. "There are,' said Mr Canning in 1824, 'three possible modes in which the Parliament might deal with the Concluded. people of Jamaica. By the application of direct force we might crush them with a finger; we might harass them with penal regulations restraining their navigation; or we might pursue the slow and steady course of authoritative admonition. I am for trying first that which I have last mentioned; I hope we shall never be driven to the second. And with respect to the first, I trust that no feeling of wounded pride, no motive of questionable expedience-nothing short of real and demonstrable necessity, shall induce me to moot the awful question of the transcendental power of Parliament over every dependency of the British Crown. That transcendental power is an arcanum of the empire, which ought to be kept back within the penetralia of the constitution. It exists, but it should be veiled. It should not be produced in cases of petty refractoriness, nor indeed on any occasion short of the utmost extremity of the State.' Adopting the sentiments of this great statesman, are we prepared to assert that the occasion which has now occurred is one in which the necessity appears of bringing the transcendental power from the penetralia of the temple? Devoutly is it to be wished that the House may be made to perceive the probable consequences of the double precedent now about to be set, and the general uneasiness which will prevail. The violent step now under consideration is proposed to be applied to half the whole white population in the British colonies in the West Indies and South America. The whole public revenue Parl. Deb. of these dependencies is £540,000; that of Jamaica 967; Ann. alone is £300,000.1 The value of our imports into 104-106. these colonies in 1838 was (official) £5,806,000; that 1 xlvii. 943, Reg. 1839, XXXVII. 1839. CHAP. of Jamaica alone, £3,000,000. The exports from our South American and West Indian colonies were laid at £9,932,000. Such is the importance of the colonies. into which it is now proposed to throw the firebrand of discord, by at once stripping the most important of them of their whole rights as British citizens !" 132. The debate was protracted through several nights, and Ministers counsel were heard at great length against the bill. The majority of division took place at five in the morning of 6th May, have only a 5, and re sign. May 7. and although Ministers were supported by the whole of the Irish Catholic and Scotch Liberal members, which made up their usual majority, they had on this occasion only one of FIVE, the numbers being 294 to 289. So small a majority upon a vital question necessarily drew after it a resignation by Ministers; for, deducting the members of the Cabinet who had a seat in the House, they were actually in a minority. It was a matter of no surprise, therefore, when Lord John Russell announced on the 7th May that Ministers had tendered their resignation, which had been accepted by her Majesty. The reasons assigned by him for this step were, that the vote which had passed must weaken the authority of the Crown in the colonies, by giving support to the contumacy of 1 Parl. Deb. Jamaica, encourage others of them to follow the bad example of its Assembly, and render impossible the measures which they had in contemplation for the settlement of the affairs of Upper and Lower Canada.1 xlvii. 967, 973; Ann. Reg. 1839, 119, 120. Although these reasons, thus publicly assigned, appeared abundantly sufficient to justify the step which had been taken, yet they were not the real ones. Other and more pressing remained behind, which, perhaps with more candour than prudence, were on a subsequent night stated by Lord Melbourne in the House of Lords. "I should be exceedingly sorry if the accusation could be justly made against me of abandoning my post in circumstances of difficulty or danger. When I was removed from office in 1835, I stated, in reply to various addresses presented CHAP. up XXXVII. 1839. to me, that disunions its supporters had broken among the Administration, and that nothing but the most complete co-operation of all who in any degree thought with us could re-establish us in power, or maintain us there for any length of time, if re-established then. The union I advised has subsisted for a considerable length of time, but at length it has been broken up; and considering that there was so much discord among my supporters as to render it impossible for me to conduct the Government efficiently, and for the good of the country, I resigned my office. A great change has lately taken place in the constitution, which has excited considerable alarm in the minds of many who had great experience and knowledge in public affairs. One of the ablest and most experienced statesmen in Europe gave it as his opinion, with respect to these changes, They may do very well in times of peace, when there is no financial difficulty; but should we be involved in war, and feel the pressure of pecuniary difficulties, you will see how your new constitution will work.' Unless there be a due regard to the dictates of common sense in the country, that difficulty will be hard to meet. I will not attempt to decide which of the parties which divide the country is the better fitted to govern it; but I will quote a remark of William III., a man of most prudent, simple, and sagacious mind. I do not know,' said he to Bishop Burnet, whether a monarchy or a republic be the better form of government; much may be said on either side; but I can tell you that which is the worst- a monarchy which has not the power to put in effect the measures necessary for 128-134. the good of the people.”1 its 1 Parl. Deb. 288; Ann. xlviii. 267, Reg. 1839, 134. is sent for, and forms' As a matter of course, the Queen, upon the resignation of Lord Melbourne, sent for the Duke of Wellington, the Sir R. Peel last premier of the party which had now displaced adversaries; and he recommended to her Majesty to send for Sir R. Peel, upon the ground that, situated as the constitution now was, the leader of the Government should the programme of a Govern ment. XXXVII. 1839. CHAP. be in the House of Commons. Sir Robert, accordingly, was sent for, and on entering the royal cabinet he was informed by her Majesty, who acted throughout the whole transaction in the most candid and honourable manner, "that she had parted with her late Ministers with great regret, as they had given her entire satisfaction." Yielding, however, to the conditions of a constitutional monarchy, she tendered to him the formation of a Cabinet, which he accepted, at the same time stating the difficulties which May 7. any new Ministry would have to encounter. He accordingly conferred with his immediate friends, and next day laid before her Majesty a list of persons whom he designed to form part of the new Cabinet, embracing the Duke of Wellington, Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Ellenborough, Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, Sir Henry Hardinge, and Mr Goulburn. The Duke of Wellington desired a seat in the Cabinet and the lead in the House of Lords, without office; but the Queen wished that he should hold some important situation, to which wish his Grace would doubtless have at once acceded. Some progress had been made in filling up the principal offices, Statement, when the negotiation was abruptly brought to a close by xlvii. 984; a difficulty about certain ladies in her Majesty's house1839, 120. hold, which ended in reinstating the Whig Government in power.1 1 Sir R. Peel's Parl. Deb. Ann. Reg. 135. about the appoint ments, which causes the So little had the new Premier anticipated any diffiDifficulty culty on this subject, that at the first conference with her household Majesty he did not even mention it to her; and it was only on turning to the Red Book, after conferring with some of his proposed colleagues, he found that the two negotiation ladies holding the highest situations in the Queen's household were the wife of Lord Normanby and the sister of Lord Morpeth, the noblemen most opposed to him in politics. Upon this he stated that he hoped these exalted ladies would resign, but that if they did not, he must propose their removal, in the necessity of which his colleagues acquiesced. When the subject, however, was to fail. May 20. |