e moved this address under
the apprehension that if it went out to Portugal that the bill recently
rejected was done so by the unanimous opinion of the house of lords,
their lordships might be represented as giving a sanction, which none
of them had ever contemplated, to so odious a traffic. The motion for
an address, after some observations from the Duke of Wellington, the
Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earl of Minto, was agreed to, and ordered
to be communicated to the other house. On the 8th of August the Duke
of Argyle, as lord-high-steward of the household, announced that her
majesty had been waited on with the address, and returned the following
gracious answer:--"I receive this address with great satisfaction. I
will direct orders to be given to my cruisers in accordance with your
wishes, fully relying upon your assurance that you will concur in the
measures which will thus be rendered necessary."

On the same evening, in the house of commons, Viscount Palmerston moved
for leave to introduce another bill in the place of that which had been
rejected. After stating the grounds of objection against the former
bill, the noble lord proceeded to unfold the nature of the clauses in
the new bill. Although, he said, the crown might undoubtedly, by its
prerogatives, take measures which would effectually put down Portuguese
slavers, there were still inconveniences which demanded a remedy. The
officers, his lordship said, acting under its orders, would be exposed
to harassing suits in the courts of law at London; and, although we
might capture ships, and deal with them accordingly, it would not be
proper of this country to dispose of vessels which were the _prima
facie_ property of subjects of other states without having proved
before some court of record the grounds of such proceedings. An act was
therefore required to define what constituted a slave-trader. It was not
considered necessary for the slaves to be on board: a ship equipped in a
certain manner was a proof that she was engaged in the slave-trade; but
the courts of admiralty could not condemn a ship on that ground without
an act of parliament. It was further requisite, to enable the crown, by
the same proceeding, to give to those who capture slave-vessels under
this treaty bounties similar to those secured by conventions with other
powers. These provisions, his lordship thought, would be sufficient to
put down the commerce carried on by the Portuguese flag, and a gr