We have received newspapers front Jamaica to the 26th of
Fe- bruary. Governor Metcalfe continued his tour through the island, and was everywhere well received. It would seem that the more ardent of the Baptist Missionaries continued to use th.2ir influence over the Black population with much indiscretion. The kidmouth Post gives an account of proceedings at a meeting in the parish of 'I're- lawny, where the " lion-hearted Knibb " was particularly vehement. Resolutions were carried declaring the injustice and partiality of several laws passed by the Legislature of the island, and sanctioned by the Governor. These laws are enumerated in the following resolution- " That this meeting considers those unequal laws recently enacted by the Legislature of this island, such as the Vagrant Act, ilite Pofiee Bill, the Act for the Itecover.: of Tenements, the Pound law the Registration of Fire- arms, the Fisheries Bill, &c., incompatible with the freedom of the emanci- pated populati •n, for whom Great Britain has so long and so unweariedly struggled, and for which she granted so munificent a sun: as 2i ,000,000/. ster- ling; and that this meeting recommends to every kindred society in the island, forthwith to send petitions to her Majesty in Council to have all suck partial laws i:nmediately disallowed." Petitions founded on the resolutions were intrusted to the care of the Reverend William Knibb, with instructions to have them presented in the usual mannar us the Queen and both Houses of Parliament. We select a few sentences from this gentleman's speech- " I trust in God that I shall soon be hi England ; and in that happy country will I seek for the permanent establishment of those rights which you, toy friers, ought to possess. I affirm here, and I will affirm there, before the Ql14.4211, at the Colonial Office, and In fore the members iir the West Indian Association, that the peasantry of Jamaiva are the best in the world. 1 will show that Ill id men have been It down to the Court-house on sum- monses for rent : and when such things are, shall I admit that this is a time for conciliation ? No, it is not—it is no tinw fiw conciliation, as lung as Black men are prevented from acting as Magistrates, mu Ii Iv extraordivary power is placed in the lia%ds of the Local Magistracy. I know it will he asked, what right have ea, a, a minister of the gospel, to interfere with such things? My right, I answer, is the right of a 13r:too—the nil it of a man who has the pas- toral care or a people depot:ling upon him Ilir the protection of their civil and religious liberties. A great deta has been said iii some of the papers about the burning 'limniii traSb-lionses; 1 regret that they have been burnt, and hope that those wha ii mat them will he diseovered ; but I ask who set the example ? Who but the nil II len, the It:alit:glints, the Barre: is. and the Seniors? They have ,et tlw example; and why then blame the people? But while 1 thus tyeak, I must express a hope that the people will not take tlte law into dwir oivn hands, for if they do so they will but commit a suicide of freedom. They must hear up: the wheel may sometimes creak, but it must he gi.:ased agaiu ; until at last Liberty shall cast her benignant smiles on all around, when America shall he free, and it hen the yoke of shivery shall be no more put on in the isle of Cuba."
Mr, Francis told the meeting, that " if necessary, the House of Assembly itself must be set at defiance."
The Fobnouth Post, though a zealous advocate of the Blacks, expresses disapprobation of the temper exhibited by the Ils heist ministers—for they were exclusively the orators at the 'frelawny meeting. Alluding to the complaint that the Negroes are not a jujiuii iled to the Magisterial office, the Falmouth Post says -- "Black men are not prevented from eeting as Magistrates. We believe that there are two gentlemen in Kingstee who have hey essrei the duties of local Justices, and if there have not been more appointments the fault hes not with the Legislature: the truth is, that there are few Black mmmcmi in the island possessed of sufficient education to warrant their recommendation to an office of so lunch responsibility as that of Justice of the Peace. In this perish we do not know of :me. how ridiculous then it would he, were men ta be thrust into situations which they are mitt competent to till with credit to themselves or with benefit to the public! W lam our Black brethren have their mmmtutl taliciently expanded by education—when they take that stand in society which we desire to see them enjoy—then tlwir rejection front offices of honour on account of their emnplexionmay.bc justly condemned; but unte that happy day- arrives, (and we hope that it m not far di4ont,) they must he , content to remain without a. participotion in those iirivilegas which Govern- ment ought never to intrust to ignorant members of society." incendiary fires continued. 'Fhe Jamaiee Standard of the 19th February says, "Every week proluces some instance or other of' fire- raising." The Cornwall Ciron joh, and the Morning./ urnal of Fnlmouth also mention the frequent ocenrrenee of fires.
The opinion that the 1`.T.: 1•.,,e ;:re improfitable immigrants appears to be general in Demerars. G,rigna Chn.e;c1,.: of February 9t11 mentions, that at a meet l.,_ tl:,• I ,out of Por.e.y, the Chief Jus tam declared that it would well to " import a set of gipsies as Maltese." The Governor ea :Ley 're-re the 011ly persons ha be seen begging in the colony." air allehael MeTurk bad seen eighty- four of these poor creature- in oile sick-house on Mr. Postlethwaite's estate. A petition from Mr. famtlethosite, praying for compensation for losses incurred in the lmaor•ation if Mal; ese Hammers, was ordered to lie on the table flu' furthee eonsideration.
The Supreme Court of Civil Justiee hatt sna meted two har,r)i.stt-enrLs.:, Messrs. Arundell and Downie, fr arsetise tle eourt. The tr of these gentlemen was, that they let 1 sutherize 1 a defendant la all action for libel brought by Mr. Justiee 1•, the Queen ia Commit to arevent that Judge- sitting On the a ... ilt to decide in his owa cause, This was construed to be a studied insult to the .Judge, as there was no reason whatever to seppoee that he intended to act in so inde- cent a manner.
The Fairlie, 75a tons. Edward Garrett, 11.N., commander, has lately sailed from the Downs for South Australia. The vessel is chartered by the Colonization Commissiotters, and carries out a4 married couples, e7 single men, 23 single womeo, children between the ages of' seven and fifteen years, 49 children between the ages of one and seven years, and 16 infants under twelve months, under the charge of Dr. Macfar- lane, Sturgeon Superintendent—Seath Australian Record.
'rime Government has just published hy far the mest important docu- ment we have ever seen on the salubrity and insalubrity of the Colo- nies ; we mean Major Tudloeh's Statistical Reports on the Sickness, Mortality, and Invaliding. among the 'Proops in Western Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Coomi I dale, and the Mauritius; prepared from the Records of the Army Medical Department and \War-office Returns,. These Reports establish the saperier healthiness of the Eastern pro- vince of the Cape of Good 1I•ges. —African Colonizer.
Railroads have received a new impulse in France. M. Guizot has written to the Minister of Public Works that the directors of several English companiea have aarced to furnish twenty-five millious towards a railroad between Boatel end Paris. Oil the other hand, the house of Rothschild offers to constrnet the road to Lille. One of the firm has had an interview- on the subject with M. niers.
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