well garrisoned. The Spaniards, though indifferent soldiers in the field, invariably fight well when they are behind ramparts.

WEST INDIES.-The Barbadoes Mercury of the 28th of January states, that on the morning of the 25th, between ten and eleven o'clock, an alarming fire broke out in Bridge Town, which continued to rage with great violence until near three in the afternoon. Upwards of one hun dred houses were burnt, and property to almost an incalculable amount destroyed. It was not known how the fire originated. A general meeting of the inhabitants was held on the 27th, at which a committee was appointed to ascertain the losses of individuals, and a subscription immediately entered into, which amounted, at the termination of the meeting, to £.765, 7s. 6d.

ASIA.

EAST INDIES.-Accounts received by the way of Ceylon, speak in positive terms of peace being concluded with the Burmese. The conditions are said to be,

that we are to retain possession of Rangoon, Cheduba, Arracan, and all the rest of our conquests except Prome and the other towns on the higher parts of the Irawaddy river; and farther, that the golden monarch is to pay us a large sum as an indemnity for the expenses of the war. The letters profess to announce the fact of peace being concluded on the authority of a Gazette, but it is admitted that there is no better ground than ru mour for the terms mentioned.

AFRICA.

Discoveries in Africa. (From the Sierra Leone Gazette.)-His Majesty's ship Brazen, Captain Willes, sailed on Thurs day last for the Bights of Benin and Bia fra. Captains Clapperton and Pearce, with Messrs Morrison and Dickson, who came out in the Brazen, went down in her, and will be landed at such part of the cosat as circumstances may render most advisable; their object will then be to reach Soccatoo, where Captain Clapperton resided some time last year, when in the interior, with Major Denham. We had much conversation with him, and were much gratified with his statements. They confirm (what we are sure will be more apparent the more we become acquainted with the country) that the centre of Africa is far advanced in civilization; that the farther the Negro is removed from the baneful effects of the slave trade (the contamination of the coast,) the more he is raised in the scale of humanity-the more

intelligent, honest, and industrious does he become. We understand, that on reaching Soccatoo,some of the party will remain to form more intimate relations with that extraordinary sovereign, Sultan Bello, and endeavour to establish a safe and permanent communication between Soccatoo/ and the coast, whilst others will visit the Niger, trace its course, and follow it to the sea; with such other excursions, for the benefit of science and the extension of knowledge, as circumstances may admit. We were favoured with the view of a map, containing the late discoveries of Major Denham and Captain Clapperton, from which it seems certain, that the Niger of Joliba, passing within a short distance of Soccatoo, flows into the Bight of Benin, and, we have no doubt, forms Lagos, and the rivers round it. If so, what an important opening is made into the interior of Africa! With the excep tion of the rapids of Yaouree, a steamvessel may traverse this immense contiFoulah country-a water communication nent from the Bight of Benin to the scarcely equalled in any other part of the world. We were much gratified with

Captain Clapperton's account of the ex

tent and neatness of the fences and plan. tations in the interior, especially of cotton and indigo, and the care that they are kept clear of weeds. We were also struck with the circumstance, that all the gold carried to Timbuctoo and Soccatoo is

brought from the west and south-west; a strong corroboration of what is always stated by our travelling merchants, that the most productive gold mines of Western or Interior Africa are not far from us. We wish these adventurous travellers may succeed.

SANDWICH ISLANDS.-His Majesty's ship Blonde, commanded by Lord Byron, lately arrived from the Sandwich Islands, whither she conveyed the bodies of the King and Queen of those islands, with the chiefs who had accom◄ panied them to England. The Blonde left England in the Autumn of 1824; on her arrival at Valparaiso, Mr Charleton, consul-general of the islands in the Paci fic, was sent forward to Woahoo, to an◄ nounce the death of the King and Queen, and the expected arrival of the Blonde with the bodies. It was regarded as a remarkable circumstance by the natives, that just previous to the period of Mr Charleton's arrival at Woahoo, certain natural phenomena such as the extraor dinary overflowing and recession of the tide, an eclipse of the moon, and so forth, had taken place, which impressed them with a belief that some fatality had hap pened to the King or Queen; similar

occurrences being observed when Tamahama the First died-the first sovereign who conquered all the seven islands, brought them under one Government, and afterwards ceded them to Vancouver, in 1794 This omen, or presentiment, was confirmed by Mr Charleton's arrival. When the Blonde arrived at Honoruru (the anchorage of Woahoo) in May last, she was, however, immediately saluted by 19 guns from the fort. The day afterward, Lord Byron and all his officers had an audience of the Regent (Karaimoku, the brother of Boki, the governor, who came to England,) at his house, at which were delivered, in presence of all heads of the nation, the presents sent out in the Blonde by our King. The present King of the island is Kaukiauly, a lad about eleven years of age, brother of Rio Rio, who died in England. On the 23d of May (four days after the arrival of the Blonde) at eleven A. M., the bodies of the King and Queen were landed, attended by Lord Byron and all the officers of the Blonde, dressed in their full uniforms. On the arrival of the boats at the landingpoint, they were placed on two funeral cars, and drawn by native Chiefs (about 40 to each car) to the late room of audience belonging to the Prince Regent, the tomb-house not being finished. Kaukiauli (brother of the late King) and the Princess Nahienaena, were the chief mourners, supported by Lord Byron and the British Consul-the numerous chiefs ofthe island, and the officers of the Blonde, forming an extensive funeral cavalcade. The Blonde continued at the island about six weeks, during which Lord Byron attended the meetings of the chiefs, who gravely deliberated respecting the succession of the young King and Princess to the throne-as heretofore, might had constituted right. This important matter was, however, very amicably arranged, the heads of the nation, and all the chiefs, expressing their earnest desire to conform themselves strictly to the laws of legitimacy and consanguinity. This island is described as the most fertile of all the Sandwich Islands. The inhabitants, by a late census, amounted to 40,000.

The Blonde proceeded from Woahoo to visit the Isle of Owhyhee, (about three days' run,) and refit there. She anchored in one of the finest bays in the world, (now called Byron Bay,) which Vancouver was deterred from entering by a coral rock appearing to impede the entrance, but which actually forms its principal security. It is a most safe position, and its rich and beautifully-varied scenery has obtained for it the appellation of "The Eden of the Sandwich Islands." In the

neighbourhood of this bay, the island is in the highest state of fertility: but the natives are in nearly the same state as they were when Captain Cook discovered them in 1779. An American missionary had arrived there about six months since, whose instructions would, no doubt, advance them in civilization, as those of his brethren had the natives at Woahoo. The Blonde then returned from Byron Bay to Woahoo, and Lord Byron took leave of the King, Regent, and Chiefs, and fulfilled the purpose of his visit to the islands, in the highest degree satisfactory to them, and beneficial to the country. The kindness, grace, and attentions of his Lordship to the natives, we are assured, have made the most favourable impression on them of the English character. The Blonde was literally laden with stock and provisions of every description by the natives, who refused payment for any thing they could supply the ship. The Blonde left Woahoo for Karakokoa Bay, where Captain Cook was unfortunately killed. Here Lord Byron erected a humble, simple monument, to the memory of the great circumnavigator: not on the spot where he was killed, as that was found impracticable, it being under water, but where his body was cut up, on the top of a hill, about a mile from the shore. The natives of the island having embraced Christianity, the Regent gave permission to Lord Byron to visit the sacred sepulchre, and take therefrom whatever relics of their former religion he wished to possess. The sanctuary was filled with their gods

"the work of men's hands"-some manufactured of wicker-work and feathers, others carved of wood, with numerous articles which had been made sacred, by being offered to them, in acts of gratitude, for success in fishing, hunting, and other occupations of their simple life. But the article that most struck the visitors as remarkable, was an English consecrated drum. The temple was despoiled of most of its former sacred treasures, which are brought to England in the Blonde. [We understand it is intended to publish a detailed account of this very interesting voy. age and visit to the islands.] The Blonde left the Sandwich Islands to proceed to Otaheite, but, in consequence of the trade-winds, she could not fetch it by 500 miles, and therefore made a direct course for the coast of Chili, during which she fell in with Malden's, Husbruck's, and Parry Islands, the two former uninhabit ed, and the latter only known to the inhabitants of Otaheite, and made a won. derful run of 4500 miles in three weeks, and 7694 miles in 49 days,

The King of the Sandwich Islands, Tamahama the First, who died in 1819, had made most considerable advances towards civilization: he had erected for the defence of his island three forts, one of which mounts 42 pieces of ordnance; he possessed also a considerable fleet, with which he had subdued the whole group of islands, and at the time of his death was arranging an expedition for the conquest of Otaheite and the other Society Islands, situate at least a thousand miles from him. The simple habits and easy modes of living of the natives do not prompt to much personal exertion; they require no clothing; and their fish, which is abundant, with the tarra-root, which grows spontaneously, afford them a gratuitous, constant, and plentiful subsistence. It has never until now been ascertained with certainty how they disposed of their dead. It appears that this duty of concealment devolves upon the next of kin, who buries the body in the middle of the night following their death; and when the flesh has been consumed,

they gather up the bones, which they convey into the interior, and lodge them in a cavity or cliff of the rocks; these spots are then tabooed, or held sacred, by the erection of four poles, to go within which is death. The only symptoms of anger any of the natives discovered towards the Blonde's people, was when, accidentally, one of them removed a portion of one of these depositories of the remains of mortality. The bones of the Royal Family, in the same manner, are collected in a temple or sepulchre, and which is the only remaining building of the former religion now on the island, and which is situated in Karakakoa Bay. The bow, arrow, slings, and clubs of the deceased Kings and chief warriors are also deposited with their remains.

The dagger with which Captain Cook was killed is in the possession of a literary gentleman of the Blonde, who has collected many new, interesting, and curious particulars, relative to his death, and of the past history of these interesting isl anders.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-March 1-The Royal assent was given by commission to the Transfer in Aids Bill, and the Exchequer Bills Bill. The Commissioners were, the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lord Viscount Melville. A person presented a copy of the Charters granted to the Banks in Scotland. Lord Viscount Melville presented a petition from Edinburgh against any alteration being made in the banking system in Scotland. Laid on the table.-Adjourned. 2. Several private Bills passed through their respective stages, and there being no public business, their Lordships adjourned at five o'clock.

3.-Lord Melville presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh, against any change in the bank ing system of Scotland. A variety of petitions were presented against slavery. Lord King, after expressing the strong opinion that the corn-laws were founded in gross injustice, presented a petition from the weavers and artisans of Manchester, to the numberof 40,000, for a repeal of the Corn Bill. Lord Lauderdale presented petitions from the Magistrates, &c. of the county of Forfar, against any interference with the banking system of Scotland. The Duke of Gloucester expressed the great satisfaction with which he had heard of the determination of Ministers on the sub. ject of slavery; he firmly relied on their

zeal and sincerity, and he hoped, that the colonial legislature would, without compulsion, follow up the great object. His Royal Highness then presented petitions against the continuance of slavery from the Chancellor, masters, and scholars of Cambridge, and from 72,000 in habitants of London.

CONFERENCE WITH THE COMMONS.

The message from the Commons, brought up by Mr Canning, requested a conference with the Lords on matters chiefly connected with the interests of the West-India colonies. On the motion of the Earl of Shaftesbury, the conference was agreed to in the painted chamber forthwith. Among those appointed were Lord Bathurst, the Marquis of Lans. downe, Lord Grosvenor, the Duke of Gloucester, the Earl of Liverpool, and the Bishop of London. The Lords having returned from the conference, with the resolution agreed to by the House of Commons last night, the concurrence of the House was desired. On the motion of Lord Bathurst, the resolution was ordered to be printed, and taken into con sideration on Tuesday next.

The Duke of Gloucester then presented petitions from Aberdeen, Buckingham, Montrose, and Belhaven, for the abolition of slavery. Lord Rosebery presented a petition for the abolition of sla very from the inhabitants of Edinburgh, which his Lordship prefaced, by observ.

Ing, that it was signed by nearly 17,000 inhabitants, and was agreed to at the most numerous and as respectable a meeting as was ever held. It spoke the sentiments of the great mass of the population of the enlightened city whence it came. His Lordship presented similar petitions from the town and county of Banff and Haddington. Another petition was presented from Norfolk; to the same effect, by Lord Suffolk, signed by more than 17,000 individuals. His Lordship represented, that, on private information, Ministers had been induced to postpone for a year any fresh regulations. Other petitions of the same kind were presented from Birmingham and Lisburn, which were read, and laid on the table.

Adjourned till Monday.

6. Lord Lauderdale presented petitions from the merchants, &c. of Ayr, from the Magistrates and Council of the same place; from the Provost, &c. of Elgin; from the Provost, &c. of Banff'; from the Provost, &c. of Macduff; against any change in the banking system of Scotland. Lord Kingston presented a petition in favour of the Roman Catholic claims, from the nobility, gentry, &c. of the county of Cork. Lord Melville presented petitions from the Magistrates, &c. of Forfar, Peebles, Tain, and Kil. marnock, against changing the banking system of Scotland. Earl Grey presented a petition from North Shields, for the abolition of slavery; also petitions from Halifax, Ripton Bridge, Somerby, and Towarden, with the same prayer. .. Lord Boringdon laid on the table a petition to the same effect, from Ply mouth. A message was sent to the Commons for a copy of the fourth report of the committee on the state of Ireland. Adjourned.

7. The Duke of Atholl presented a petition from Perth against any altera tion in the Scotch banking system. Laid on the table.The Earl of Glasgow presented a petition from Ayr to the same effect. Laid on the table. Earl Grosvenor presented a petition from the county of Suffolk against any alteration in the corn laws,

SLAVE-TRADE.

Several petitions were presented from various places praying the abolition of slavery.

The resolutions brought up from the Commons being then read,

Earl Bathurst rose to submit a motion on the subject. The Noble Earl began by observing, that two years since he had the satisfaction of communicating to the House the improvements which had

Those im

taken place in the colonies. provements were in a progressive state. The Noble Lord proceeded to descant upon the different topics connected with the subject, and to point out the various ameliorations the slaves enjoyed in the different islands. Religious instruction by the Moravians, and other persuasions, had been afforded with the most benefi cial results. The Noble Lord then stated the different regulations founded on the resolutions to which the attention of the different colonies would be called, and ob served, that between and the next Session time would be given to ascertain how far they were practicable. The Noble Earl then moved that the resolutions be agreed to. Lord Calthorpe followed the Noble Lord in the various statements which had been made, and forcibly insisted on the great advantages which would accrue to the slaves, as well as to the masters, from a religious education; and observed, that it was our duty to put an end to the sys tem of slavery by fair means. The Earl of Liverpool argued, that by their adop tion of the resolutions, the House would approach the object, in a desire to attain to which they were all unanimous-the abolition of slavery, by the safest, least invidious, and most certain path. The Duke of Gloucester lamented that the re solutions had not been earlier communi. cated; but recommended that they should now be unanimously adopted. The Lord Chancellor supported the resolutions; he defended the use of the word "expedi ency," to describe the ground upon which Parliament should pledge itself; because the use of any stronger term would be an uncalled-for imputation upon the many great statesmen, divines, and legislators of former times, who had either actively promoted or assented to the slave system. Lord Redesdale followed to the same pur. pose. The Bishop of Bath and Wells declared unequivocally his opinion that the continuance of slavery was irreconcileable to the Christian religion. The Bishop of Ferns concurred in the doctrine of his right reverend brother; he explained, that the absence of petitions from Ireland against slavery arose from the fact, that that kingdom was never disgraced by the traffic in slaves, and mentioned the interesting circumstance which had preserved his country from that stain. After some observations by Lord Suffield, and Lord Bathurst, the resolutions were then put and agreed to.

The South-American Treaties Bill passed through a committee. The Earl of Shaftesbury presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow, against any alteration in the currency of

Scotland. Ordered to lie on the table.The House adjourned at a quarter to ten o'clock.

8. Lord Stowell presented several petitions from different hundreds in the county of Bedford, against any alteration in the corn-laws. Mr Brogden and others, from the Commons, brought up the Promissory Notes' Bill. Mr Chalmer presented at the Bar the 6th and 7th re. port of the Commissioners for improving the communication between Edinburgh and Fife. Earl Bathurst moved that a conference be held with the Commons on the subject of the abolition of slavery. The Duke of Gloucester, Earl Bathurst, Earl of Shaftesbury, and several other Noble Lords, repaired forthwith to the painted chamber: in a short time they returned, and the Duke of Gloucester in formed their Lordships that they had communicated to the Commons the result of their Lordships' proceedings on this subject. On the motion of the Earl of Liverpool, the Promissory Notes' Bill was read a first time, and the second reading fixed for Monday next.-Adjourned.

9. The Earl of Kingston presented a petition from some Protestants of Clan gibbon, the Noble Earl's estate, in favour of Catholic emancipation. The Earl of Darnley took the opportunity to remark upon what he called an inconsistency in the conduct of the Protestant Dissenters, who, he said, opposed the emancipation of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, and urged the emancipation of the negroes of the West-Indies with equal zeal. Lord King presented a petition against the cornlaws, from the carpenters and joiners of London, and spoke with great severity of the impolicy and injustice of the laws in question. The Earls of Carnarvon and Darnley defended the corn-laws, and reprehended Lord King's coarse habitual style of speaking of the landed interest. The Earl of Kingston moved for a com. mittee upon the state of the Irish Church, but afterwards withdrew his motion. Adjourned.

10. The Duke of Athol presented a petition from the guildry of Perth, against any alteration in the banking system in Scotland. Lord Glasgow presented a petition from the Magistrates, householders, and others of Beith, in Ayrshire, to the same effect.

CLERKS TO THE SIGNET. Lord Viscount Melville, after a few remarks to the purport that he had great doubts respecting it, introduced a bill to incorporate the clerks to writers to the signet in Scotland, and moved that it be read a first time. The Lord Chancellor said it would be hazardous to press this VOL. XVIII.

measure during the present Session; time was necessary, that the subject might undergo farther consideration. Lord Vis count Melville acquiesced, and moved that the bill be read a second time this day six months, (which is a virtual withdrawal of the bill).

Earl Grey presented petitions from different Presbyterian churches in SilverStreet, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and from various other places, praying the abolition of slavery.-Adjourned.

13.-The Duke of Athol presented a petition from Perth, against any alteration in the banking system of Scotland. The Duke of Gloucester presented a petition from Surrey, against negro slavery, and the Bishop of Litchfield presented a petition from Newport, to the same effect. Lord Lauderdale presented petitions from Berwick, Montrose, and Arbroath, against any alteration in the banking system of Scotland, and also a petition from Arbroath, praying for an alteration of the corn-laws. The Noble Earl said he disagreed with the prayer of the latter pe tition. Lord Melville presented petitions from the Corporation of Edinburgh, from Wigton, Dundee, and Lanark, against any alteration in the banking system. The bills before the House went through their different stages, and the House adjourned.

A message from the Commons brought up the Scotch Jurors' Bill, and various private bills. Several petitions were presented against any alteration of the Scotch banking system. A great many more petitions were presented from different places against slavery. The Marquis of Lansdowne moved for various re turns of the exports and imports with India. Trade and population were increasing to a great extent. No fewer than 2289 vessels hsd entered the port of Sincapor within the last three years.Agreed to. The Earl of Limerick presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce in Limerick, against the Promissory Notes' Bill.

PROMISSORY NOTES' BILL.

The Earl of Liverpool rose to move the second reading of the Promissory Notes' Bill, He thought it unnecessary to go into any detail-if any objections were taken to it, he should be ready to state his sentiments upon it. The Noble Earl said, he would on Friday move for a committee to inquire into the banking system of Scotland and Ireland, and then moved the second reading of the bill. The Earl of Carnarvon objected to the bill, contending that, with a debt like that of Great Britain, a paper currency, founded on a metallic standard, was preferable 3 Q