NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 07591291 9 NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTED BY Jessie P. Norton, Augusta- -H»- - S -imps-en ,- Olivia N. McGregor, 8 April 1914. tax m ''f 'v I T> '■t'' !'■ Ir^t'i'-f EMANCIPATION WEST INDIES. SIX MONTHS' TOUR *"V' ANTIGUA, BARBADOS, AND JAMAICA, IN THE YEAR 1837 BY JAS. A. THOME, AM^. HORACE Mim^h, SECOND EDITION.': ?- !,8 ) u * * J * N NEW YORK; PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY No. 143 NASSAU STREET. 1839. v*\i>,\V j >» %^\ THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 740.139 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILOEN Foundations R 1916 L Entered According to act of Congress, in the year 1838, by JOHN RANKIN, TREASURER OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERV SOCIETY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. PRINTED BY 8. W. BENEDICT. < ., . -aa. INTRODUCTION It is hardly possible that the success of British West India Emancipation should be more conclusively proved, than it has been by the absence among us of the exultation which awaited its failure. So many thousands of the citizens of the United States, without counting slaveholders, would not have suf- fered their prophesyings to be falsified, if they could have found whereof to manufacture'fuJftlmetny. J3ut it ^remarkable that, even since the first of August, 4884, the byifs-df West India emancipation on the lips of the jidypfeitBs of- slavery, or, as the most of them nicely prefer to be' terhled,ith.e opponents of abolition, have remained in the filfure; "tense.; -The,- bad re- ports of the newspapers, spiritless' as theyhavS besen; compared with the predictions, have been traceable, on the slightest inspection, not to emanqipation, but to the illegal continuance of slavery, under the cover of its legal substitute. Not the slightest reference to the rash act, whereby the thirty thousand slaves of Antigua were immediately "turned loose," now mingles with the croaking which strives to defend our repub- lican slavery against argument and common sense. The Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, deemed it important that the silence which the pro- rV ;. IV INTRODUCTION. slavery press of the United States has seemed so desirous to maintain in regard to what is strangely enough termed the "great experiment of freedom," should be thoroughly broken up by a publication of facts and testimony collected on the spot. To this end, Rev. James A. Thome, and Joseph H. Kimball, Esq., were deputed to the West Indies to make the proper in- vestigations. Of their qualifications for the task, the subsequent pages will furnish the best evidence: it is proper, however, to remark, that Mr. Thome is thoroughly acquainted with our own system of slavery, being a native, and still a resident of Kentucky, and the son of a slaveholder, (happily no longer so,) and that Mr. Kimball is well known as the able editor of the Herald of Freedom, published at Concord, New Hampshire. They sailed from New York the last of November, 1836, and returned early in June, 1837. They improved a short stay at the Danish island of St. Thomas, to give a description of slavery as it exists there, which, as it appeared for the most part in the anti-slavery papers, and as it is not directly connect- ed with 8the, great; qiiesiiop ai'jSsjie, has not been inserted in the presgnt'.Velturife.; Hastily touching at some of the other British islands, th Tortola. Daniel Stepney, Nevis. James Walton, Montserrat CHAPTER n. GENERAL RESTJTLTS. Having given a general outline of our sojourn in Antigua, we proceed to a more minute account of the results of our investiga- tions. We arrange the testimony in two general divisions, placing that which relates to the past and present condition of the colony in one, and that which bears directly upon the ques- tion of slavery in America in another. ANTIGUA. 19 RELIGION. There are three denominations of Christiana in Antigua—the Established Church, the Moravians, and Wesleyans. The Mo- ravians number fifteen thousand—almost exclusively negroes. The Wesleyans embrace three thousand members, and about as many more attendants. Of the three thousand members, says a Wesleyan missionary, " not fifty are whites—a larger num- ber are colored ; but the greater part black." "The attendance of the negro population at the churches and chapels," (of the es- tablished order) says the Rector of St John's, "amounts to four thousand six hundred and thirty-six." The whole number of blacks receiving religious instruction from these Christian bodies, making allowance for the proportion of white and colored includ- ed in the three thousand Wesleyans, is about twenty-two thou- sand—leaving a population of eight thousand negroes in Antigua who are .unsupplied with religious instruction. The Established Church has six parish churches, as many "chapels of ease," and nine clergymen. The Moravians have five settlements and thirteen missionaries. The Wesleyans have seven chapels, with as many more small preaching places on es- tates, and twelve ministers—half of whom are itinerant mission- aries, and the other half local preachers, employed as planters, or in mercantile and other pursuits, and preaching only occasion- ally. From the limited number of chapels and missionaries, it may be inferred that only a portion of the twenty-two thousand can enjoy stated weekly instruction. The superintendent of the Moravian mission stated that their chapels could not accommo- date more than one-third of their members. Each of the denominations complains of the lack of men and houses. The Wesleyans are now building a large chapel in St. John's. It will accommodate two thousand persons. "Besides free sittings, there will be pearly two hundred pews, every one of which is now in demand." However much disposed the churches of different denomina- tions might have been during slavery to maintain a strict disci- pline, they found it exceedingly difficult to do so. It seems im- 80 ANTIGUA. possible to elevate a body of slaves, remaining such, to honesty and purity. The reekings of slavery will almost inevitably taint the institutions of religion, and degrade the standard of piety. Accordingly, the ministers of every denomination in Antigua feel that in the abolition of slavery their greatest enemy has been van- quished, and they now evince a determination to assume higher ground than they ever aspired to during the reign of slavery. The motto of all creeds is, " We expect great things of freemen." A report which we obtained from the Wesleyan brethren states, "Our own brethren preach almost daily." "We think the ne- groes are uncommonly punctual and regular in their attendance upon divine worship, particularly on the Sabbath." "They always show a readiness to contribute to the support of the gospel With the present low wages, and the entire charge of self-maintenance, they have little to spare. Parham and Sion Hill (taken as spe- cimens) have societies almost entirely composed of rural blacks— about thirteen hundred and fifty in number. These have contri- buted this year above j£330 sterling, or sixteen hundred and fifty dollars, in little weekly subscriptions—besides giving to special objects occasionally, and contributing for the support of schools.* In a letter dated December 2d, 1834, but four months after emancipation, and addressed to the missionary board in England, the Rev. B. Harvey thus speaks of the Moravian missions: "With respect to our people, I believe I may say that in all our places here, they attend the meetings of the church more numerously than ever, and that many are now in frequent attendance who could very seldom appear amongst us during slavery." The same statements substantially were made to us by Mr. H., showing that instead of any falling offj the attendance was still on the in- crease. In a statement drawn up at our request by the Rector of St. John's, is the following: "Cases of discipline are more frequent than is usual hi English congregations, but at the same time it * The superintendent of the Wesleyan mission informed us that the collection in the several Wesleyan chapels last year, inde- pendent of occasional contributions to Sunday schools, Missiona- ry objects, &c, amounted to £850 sterling, or more than $4000; ANTIGUA. 81 should be observed, that a closer oversight is maintained by the ministers, and a greater readiness to submit themselves (to dis- cipline) is manifested by the late slaves here than by those who have always been a free people." "lam able to speak very favorably of the attendance at church—it is regular and crowded." "The negroes on some estates have been known to contribute willingly to the Bible Society, since 1832. They are now be- ginning to pay a penny and a half currency per week for their children's instruction. MORALITY. The condition of Antigua, but a very few years previous to emancipation, is represented to have been truly revolting. It has already been stated that the Sabbath was the market-day up to 1832, and this is evidence enough that the Lord's day was utterly desecrated by the mass of the population. Now there are few parts of our own country, equal in population, which can vie with Antigua in the solemn and respectful observance of the Sabbath. Christians in St. John's spoke with joy and gratitude of the tranquillity of the Sabbath. They had long been shocked with its open and abounding profanation—until they had well nigh forgot the aspect of a Christian Sabbath. At length the full-orbed blessing beamed upon them, and they rejoiced in its brightness, and thanked God for its holy repose. All persons of all professions testify to the fact that marriages are rapidly increasing. In truth, there was scarcely such a thing as marriage before the abolition of slavery. Promiscuous intercourse of the sexes was almost universal. In a report of the Antigua Branch Association of the Society for advancing the Christian Faith in the British West Indies, (for 1836,) the fol- lowing statements are made: "The number of marriages in the six parishes of the island, in the year 1835, the first entire year of freedom, was 476—all of which, excepting about 50, were between persons formerly slaves. The total number of marriages between slaves solemnized in the church during the nine years ending December 31, 1832, was 157; in 1833, the last entire year of slavery, it was 61." 82 ANTIGUA. Thug it appears that the whole number of marriages during' ten years previous to emancipation (by far the most favorable ten years that could have been selected) was but half as great as the number for a single year following emancipation! The Governor, in one of our earliest interviews with him, said, "the great crime of this island, as indeed of all the West India colonies, has been licentiousness, but we are cer- tainly fast improving in this particular." An aged Christian, who has spent many years in the island, and is now actively en- gaged in superintending several day-schools for the negro children, informed us that there was not one-third as much concubinage as formerly. This he said was owing mainly to the greater frequency of marriages, and the cessation of late night work on the estates, and in the boiling-houses, by which the females were constantly exposed during slavery. Now they may all be in their houses by dark. Formerly the mo- there were the betrayers of their daughters, encouraging them to form unhallowed connections, and even selling them to licen- tious white and colored men, for their own gain. Now they were using great strictness to preserve the chastity of then- daughters. A worthy planter, who has been in the island since 1800, stated that it used to be a common practice for mothers to sell their daughters to the highest bidder!—generally a manager or overseer. But now," said he, " the mothers hold their daugh- ters up for marriage, and take pains to let every body know that their virtue is not to be bought and sold any longer." He also stated that those who live unmarried now are uniformly neg- lected and suffer great deprivations. Faithfulness after marriage exists also to a greater extent than could have been expected from the utter looseness to which they had been previously ac- customed, and with their ignorance of the nature and obligations of the marriage relation. We were informed both by the mis- sionaries and the planters, that every year and month they are becoming more constant, as husband and wife, more faithful as parents, and more dutiful as children. One planter said, that out of a number who left his employ after 1834, nearly all had companions on other estates, and left for the purpose of being ANTIGUA. 83 with them. He was also of the opinion that the greater propor- tion of changes of residence among the emancipated which took place at that time, were owing to the same cause.* In an address before the Friendly Society in St. John's, the Archdeacon stated that during the previous year (1835) several individuals had been expelled from that Society for domestic unfaithfulness; but he was happy to say that he had not heard of a single instance of expulsion for this cause during the year then ended. Much inconvenience is felt on account of the Moravian and Wesleyan missionaries being prohibited from performing the marriage ser- vice, even for their own people. Efforts are now making to obtain the repeal of the law which makes marriages per- formed by sectarians (as all save the established church are called) void. That form of licentiousness which appears among the higher classes in every slaveholding country, abounded in Antigua during the reign of slavery. It has yielded its redundant fruits in a population of four thousand colored people—double the num- ber of whites. The planters, with but few exceptions, were un- married and licentious. Nor was this vice confined to the un- married. Men with large families, kept one or more mistresses without any effort at concealment. We were told of an " Hon- orable" gentleman, who had his English wife and two concu- bines, a colored and a black one. The governor himself stated as an apology for the prevalence of licentiousness among the slaves, that the example was set them constantly by their mas- ters, and it was not to be wondered at if they copied after their superiors. But it is now plain that concubinage among the whites is nearly at an end. An unguarded statement of a pub- lic man revealed the conviction which exists among his class that concubinage must soon cease. He said that the present race of * What a resurrection to domestic life was th?t, when long- severed families nocked from the fonr corners of the island to meet their kindred members! And what a glorious resurrec- tion will that be in our own country, when the millions of emancipated beings scattered over the west and south, shall seek the embraces of parental, and fraternal, and conjugal love! f 84 ANTIGtfA. colored people could not be received into the society of the whites, because of illegitimacy; but the next generation would be fit associates for the whites, because they w*uld be chiefly born in wedlock. The uniform testimony respecting intemperance was, that it never had been one of the vices of the negroes. Several planters declared that they had rarely seen a black person intoxicated. The report of the Wesleyan missionaries already referred to, says, "Intemperance is most uncommon among the rural ne- groes. Many have joined the Temperance Society, and many act on tee-total principles." The only colored person, (either black or brown) whom we saw drunk during a residence of nine weeks in Antigua, was a carpenter in St John's, who as he reeled by, stared in our faces and mumbled out his sentence of condemnation against wine-bibbers, "Gemmen—you sees I'se a little bit drunk, but 'pon honor I only took th—th-ree bottles of wine—that's all." It was " Christmas times," and doubtless the poor man thought he would venture for once in the year to copy the example of the whites. In conclusion, on the subject of morals in Antigua, we are warranted in stating, 1st, That during the continuance of sla- very, immoralities were rife. 2d. That the repeated efforts of the home Government and the local Legislature, for several successive years previous to 1834, to ameliorate the system of slavery, seconded by the labors of clergymen and missionaries, teachers and catechists, to im- prove the character of the slaves, failed to arrest the current of vice and profligacy. What few reformations were effected were very partial, leaving the more enormous immoralities as shameless and defiant as ever, up to the very day of abolition; demonstrating the utter impotence of all attempts to purify the streams while the fountain is poison. 3d. That the abolition of slavery gave the death blow to open vice, overgrown and emboldened as it had become. Immediate emancipation, instead of lifting the flood-gates, was the only power strong enough to shut them down! It restored the proper restraints upon vice, and supplied the incentives to virtue. Those great controllers of moral action, self-respect, attachment ANTIGUA. 85 to law, and venerationfor God, which slavery annihilated, freedom has resuscitated, and now they stand round about the emancipated with flaming swords deterring from evil, and with cheering voices exhorting to good. It is explicitly affirmed that the grosser forms of immorality, which in every country attend upon slavery, have in Antigua either shrunk into concealment or become extinct. BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. We insert here a brief account of the benevolent institutions of Antigua. Our design in giving it is to show the effect of freedom in bringing into play those charities of social life, which slavery uniformly stifles. Antigua abounds in benevolent socie- ties, all of which have been materially revived since emancipa- tion, and some of them have been formed since that event. THE BIBLE SOCIETY. This is the oldest society in the island. It was organized in 1815. All denominations in the island cordially unite in this cause. The principal design of this society is to promote the circulation of the Scriptures among the laboring population of the island. To secure this object, numerous branch associations —amounting to nearly fifty—have been organized throughout the island among the negroes themselves. The society has been enabled not only to circulate the Scriptures among the people of Antigua, but to send them extensively to the neighboring islands. The following table, drawn up at our request by the Secretary of the Society, will show the extent of foreign operations: Bibles. Tesfs. Years. Colonies Supplied. 1822 Anguilla 23 Demerara 24 Dominica 25 Montserrat 27 Nevis 94 156 18 18 89 204 57v 149 79 117 8 86 ANTIGUA. 32 Saba 6 12 33 St. Bart's 111 65 34 St. Eustatius 97 148 36 St. Kitt's 227 487 St. Martin's 48 37 36 Tortola 69 136 To 1837 Trinidad 25 67 Total 920 1596 From the last annual report we quote the following cheering account, touching the events of 1834: "The next event of importance in our annals is the magnifi- cent grant of the parent society, on occasion of the emancipa- tion of the slave, and the perpetual banishment of slavery from the shores of Antigua, on the first of August, 1834; by which a choice portion of the Holy Scriptures was gratuitously circulated to about one third of the inhabitants of this colony. Nine thousand seven hundred copies of the New Testament, bound together with the book of Psalms, were thus placed at the dis- posal of your committee." * * * "Following hard upon this joyful event, another gratifying circumstance occurred among us. The attention of the people was roused, and their gratitude excited towards the Bible Society, and they who had freely received, now freely gave, and thus a considerable sum of money was presented to the parent society in acknowledgment of its beneficent grant." We here add an extract from the annual report for 1826. Its sentiments contrast strongly with the congratulations of the last report upon 'the joyful event' of emancipation. "Another question of considerable delicacy and importance still remains to be discussed. Is it advisable, under all the cir- cumstances of the case, to circulate the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, among the slave population of these islands7 Your Committee can feel no hesitation in affirming that such a measure is not merely expedient, but one of almost indispensa- ble necessity.8 The Sacred Volume is in many respects pecu- liarly adapted to the slave. It enjoins upon him precepts so ANTIGUA. 87 plain, that the most ignorant cannot fail to understand them: 'Slaves, obey in all things your masters, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.' It furnishes him with motives the most impressive and consoling: iYe serve,' says the Apostle, 'the Lord Christ.' It promises him rewards sufficient to stimulate the most indolent to exer- tion: 'Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.' And it holds forth to him an example so glorious, that it would ennoble even angels to imitate it: 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a slave!' It may here be proper to observe, that the precise import of the word, which in general throughout the English Bible is translated servant is strictly that which has been assigned it in the foregoing quotations; (!) and so understood, the Sa- cred Volume will be found to hold out to our slaves, both by precept and example, the most persuasive and the most com- pelling motives to industry, obedience, and submission." Nothing could more plainly show the corrupting influences of slavery, upon all within its reach, than this spectacle of a noble, religious institution, prostituted to the vile work of defending oppression, and, in the zeal of its advocacy, blasphemously de- grading the Savior into a self-made slave! The receipts of the Antigua Branch Society have greatly increased since emancipation. From receipts for the year 1836, in each of the British islands, it appears that the contributions from Antigua and Bermuda, the only two islands which adopted entire emancipation, are about double those from any other two islands. MISSIONARY ASSOCIATIONS. These associations are connected with the Wesleyan mission, and have been in existence since 1820. Their object is to raise funds for the parent society in England. Although it has been in existence for several years, yet it was mostly confined to the whites and free people of color, during slavery. The calling " 88 ANTIGUA. together assemblies of rural negroes, and addressing them on the subject of missions, and soliciting contributions in aid of the cause, is a new feature in the missionary operations to which nothing but freedom could give birth. TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. The first temperance society in Antigua was formed at the beginning of 1836. We give an extract from the first annual report: "Temperance societies have been formed in each town, and on many of the estates. A large number of persons who once used spirituous liquors moderately, have entirely re- linquished the use. Some who were once intemperate have been reclaimed, and in some instances an adoption of the prin- ciples of the temperance society, has been followed by the pur- suit and enjoyment of vital religion. Domestic peace and quiet- ness have superseded discord and strife, and a very general sense of astonishment at the gross delusion which these drinks have long produced on the human species is manifest. "The numbers on the various books of the society amount to about 1700. One pleasing feature in their history, is the very small number of those who have violated their pledge. "On several estates, the usual allowance of spirits has been discontinued, and sugar or molasses substituted." {The temperance society in Antigua may be specially re- garded as a result of emancipation. It is one of the guardian angels which hastened to the island as soon as the demon of slavery was cast out. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. The friendly societies are designed exclusively for the benefit of the negro population. The general object is thus stated in the constitution of one of these societies: "The object of this society is to assist in the purchase of articles of mourning for the dead; to give relief in cases of unlooked for distress; to help those who through age or infirmities are incapable of helping themselves by marketing, or working their grounds; to ANTIGUA. 89 encturage sobritty and industry, and to check disorderly and immor- al conduct" These societies obtain their funds by laying a tax of one shil- ling per month on every member above eighteen years of age, and of six pence per month on all members under that age and above twelve, which is the minimum of membership. The aged members are required to pay no more than the sum last mentioned. The first society of this kind was established in St John's by the present rector, in 1829. Subsequently the Moravians and Wesleyans formed similar societies among their own people. Independent of the pecuniary assistance which these societies bestow, they encourage in a variety of ways the good order of the community. For example, no one is allowed to receive assistance who is "disabled by drunkenness, debauchery, or dis- orderly living;" also, "if any member of the society, male or female, is guilty of adultery or fornication, the offending member shall be suspended for so long a time as the members shall see At, and shall lose all claim on the society for any benefit during the suspension, and shall not be re-admitted until clear and satisfactory evidence is given of penitence." Furthermore, "If any member of the society shall be expelled from the church to which he or she belongs, or shall commit any offence punishable by a magistrate, that member forfeits his membership in the society." Again, the society directly encourages marriage, by "making a present of a young pig to every child born in wedlock, and according as their funds will admit of it, giving rewards to those married persons living faithfully, or single persons living virtuously, who take a pride in keeping their houses neat and tidy, and their gardens nourishing. These societies have been more than doubled, both in the number of members and in the annual receipts, since emancipa- tion. Of the societies connected with the established church, the rector of St. John's thus speaks: « At the beginning of 1834 there were eleven societies, embracing 1602 members. At the beginning of 1835 they numbered 4197; and in 1836 there were 4560 members," almost quadrupled in two years! 8* 90 ANTIGUA. The societies connected with the Moravian church, have more than doubled, both in members and funds, since emancipa- tion. The funds now amount to $10,000 per year. The Wesleyans have four Friendly societies. The largest society, which contained six hundred and fifty members, was organized in the month of August, 1834. The last year it had expended £700 currency, and had then in its treasury £600 currency. Now, be it remembered, that the Friendly societies exist solely among the freed negroes, and that the monies are raised ex- clusively among them. Among whom ) A people who are said to be so proverbially improvident, that to emancipate them, would be to abandon them to beggary, nakedness, and starva- tion ;—a people who "cannot take care of themselves;" who "will not work when freed from the fear of the lash;" who "would squander the earnings of the day in debaucheries at night;" who "would never provide for to-morrow for the wants of a family, or for the infirmities of old age." Yea, among negroes these things are done; and that, too, where the wages are but one shilling per day—less than sufficient, one would reasonably suppose, to provide daily food. DAILY MEAL SOCIETY. The main object of this society is denoted by its name. It sup- plies a daily meal to those who are otherwise unprovided for. A commodious house had just been completed in the suburbs of the town, capable of lodging a considerable number of beneficiaries. It is designed to shelter those who are diseased, and cannot walk to and fro for their meals. The number now fed at this house is from eighty to a hundred. The diseased, who live at the dispen- sary, are mostly those who are afflicted with the elephantiasis, by which they are rendered entirely helpless. Medical aid is sup- plied free of expense. It is worthy of remark, that there is no public poor-house in Antigua,—a proof of the industry and pros- perity of the emancipated people. ^v 91 DISTRESSED FEMALES FKIEND SOCIETY. This is a society in St . John's: there is also a similar one, called the Female Refuge Society, at English Harbor. Both these societies were established and are conducted by colored la- dies. They are designed to promote two objects: the support of destitute aged females of color, and the rescue of poor young colored females from vice. The necessity for special efforts for the first object, arose out of the fact, that the colored people were allowed no parochial aid whatever, though they were re- quired to pay their parochial taxes; hence, the support of their own poor devolved upon themselves. The demand for vigorous action in behalf of the young, grew out of the prevailing licen- tiousness of slave-holding times. The society in St. John's has been in existence since 1815. It has a large and commodious asylum, and an annual income, by subscriptions, of j6350, currency. This society, and the Fe- male Refuge Society established at English Harbor, have been instrumental in effectmg a great reform in the morals of females, and particularly in exciting reprobation against that horrid traf- fic—the sale of girls by their mothers for purposes of lust. We were told of a number of cases in which the society in St. John's had rescued young females from impending ruin. Many mem- bers of the society itself, look to it as the guardian of their or- phanage. Among other cases related to us, was that of a lovely girl of fifteen, who was bartered away to a planter by her mo- ther, a dissolute woman. The planter was to give her a quan- tity of cloth to the value of £80 currency, and two young slaves; he was also to give the grandmother, for her interest in the girl, one gallon of rum! The night was appointed, and a gig in waiting to take away the victim, when a female friend was made acquainted with the plot, just. in time to save the girl by removing her to her own house. The mother was infuriated, and endeavored to get her back, but the girl had occasionally attended a Sabbath school, where she imbibed principles which forbade her to yield even to her mother for such an unhallowed purpose. She was taken before a magistrate, and indentured herself to a milliner for two years. The mother made an at- 92 ANTIGUA. tempt to regain her, and was assisted by some whites with mo- ney to commence a suit for that purpose. The lady who de- fended her was accordingly prosecuted, and the whole case be- came notorious. The prosecutors were foiled. At the close of her apprenticeship, the young lady was married to a highly re- spectable colored gentleman, now resident in St. John's. The notoriety which was given to the above case had a happy effect. It brought the society and its object more fully before the public, and the contributions for its support greatly increased. Those for whose benefit the asylum was opened, heard of it, and came begging to be received. This society is a signal evidence that the colored people nei- ther lack the ability to devise, nor the hearts to cherish, nor the zeal to execute plans of enlarged benevolence and mercy. The Juvenile Association, too, of which we gave some account in describing its anniversary, originated with the colored people, and furnishes additional evidence of the talents and charities of that class of the community. Besides the societies already enu- merated, there are two associations connected with the Estab- lished Church, called the "Society for the Promotion of Chris- tian Knowledge," and the "Branch Association of the Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in the British West Indies, &c." These societies are also designed chiefly for the benefit of the negro population. EDUCATION. Our inquiries under this head were directed to three principal points—first, The extent to which education prevailed previous to emancipation; second, The improvements introduced since; and third, The comparative capacity of negroes for receiving in- struction. Being providentially in the island at the season of the year when all the schools have their annual examinations, we enjoy- ed the most favorable opportunities for procuring intelligence on the subject of education. From various quarters we received invitations to attend school examinations. We visited the schools at Parham, Willoughby Bay, Newfield, Cedar Hall, ANTIGUA. 93 Grace Bay, Pitch's Creek, and others: besides visiting the pa- rochial school, the rectory school, the Moravian and Wesleyan schools, in St . John's. All the schools, save those in St. John's, were almost exclusively composed of emancipated children from the estates. i VISIT TO THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL. At the invitation of the Governor, we accompanied him to the annual examination of the parochial school, in St. John's, under the superintendence of the Episcopal church. It has increased greatly, both in scholars and efficiency, since emancipation, and contributions are made to its support by the parents whose chil- dren receive its benefits. We found one hundred and fifty chil- dren, of both sexes, assembled in the society's rooms. There was every color present, from the deepest hue of the Ethiopian, to the faintest shadowing of brown. The boys constituting the first class, to the number of fifty, were called up. They read with much fluency and distinctness, equalling white boys of the same age anywhere. After reading, various questions were put to them by the Archdeacon, which they answered with promptness and accuracy. Words were promiscuously selected from the chapter they had read, and every one was promptly spelled. The catechism was the next exercise, and they manifested a thorough acquaintance with its contents. Our attention was particularly called to the examination in arithmetic. Many of the children solved questions readily in the compound rules, and several of them in Practice, giving the different parts of the pound, shilling, and penny, used in that rule, and aU the whys and wherefores of the thing, with great promptness. One lad, only ten years of age, whose attend- ance had been very irregular on account of having been em- ployed in learning a trade, performed intricate examples in Practice with a facility worthy the counting-house desk. We put several inquiries on different parts of the process, in order to test their real knowledge, to which we always received clear answers. 94 ANTIGUA. The girls were then examined in the same studies and exercises, except arithmetic, and displayed the same gratify- ing proficiency. They also presented specimens of needlew*rk and strawbraiding, which the ladies, on whose better judg- ment we depend, pronounced very creditable. We noticed several girls much older than the others, who had made much less advance in their studies, and on inquiry learned, that they had been members of the school but a short time, having formerly been employed to wield the heavy hoe in the cane field. The parents are very desirous to give their children education, and make many sacrifices for that pur- pose. Many who were field-laborers in the country, receiving their shilling a day, have sent their children to reside with some relations or friends in town, for the purpose of giving them the benefits of this school. Several such children were pointed out to us. The increase of female scholars during the first year of emancipation, was in this school alone about eighty. For our gratification, the Governor requested that all the chil- dren emancipated on the first qf August, might be called up and placed on our side of the room. Nearly one hundred children, of both sexes, who two years ago were slaves, now stood up before us free. We noticed one little girl among the rest, about ten years old, who bore not the least tinge of color. Her hair was straight and light, and her face had that ming- ling of vermilion and white, which Americans seem to consider, not only the nonpareil standard of beauty, but the immaculate test of human rights. At her side was another with the deep- est hue of the native African. There were high emotions on the countenances of those redeemed ones, when we spoke to them of emancipation. The undying principle of freedom living and burning in the soul of the most degraded slave, like lamps amid the darkness of eastern sepulchres, was kindling up bril- liantly within them, young as they were, and flashing in smiles upon their ebon faces. The Governor made a few remarks, in which he gave some good advice, and expressed himself highly pleased with the ap- pearance and proficiency of the school. ANTIGUA. 95 His excellency remarked to us in a tone of pleasantry, "You see, gentlemen, these children have souls." t During the progress of the examination, he said to us, "You perceive that it is our policy to give these children every chance to make men of themselves. We look upon them as our fu- ture citizens." He had no doubt that the rising generation would assume a position in society above the contempt or op- position of the whites. INFANT SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY. We had the pleasure of attending one of the infant schools in the vicinity of Parham, on the east side of the island. Having been invited by a planter, who kindly sent his horse and car- riage for our conveyance, to call and take breakfast with him on our way, we drove out early in the morning. While we were walking about the estate, our attention was arrested by distant singing. As we cast our eyes up a road crossing the estate, we discovered a party of children! They were about twenty in number, and were marching hand in hand to the music of their infant voices. They were children from a neighboring estate, on their way to the examination at Parham, and were singing the hymns which they had learn- ed at school. All had their Testaments in their hands, and seemed right merry-hearted. - We were received at the gate of the chapel by the Wes- leyan missionary located in this district, a highly respectable and intelligent colored man, who was, ten years since, a slave. He gave us a cordial welcome, and conducted us to the chapel, where we found the children, to the number of four hundred, assembled, and the examination already commenced. There were six schools present, representing about twenty estates, and arranged under their respective teachers. The ages of the pupils were from three to ten or twelve. They were all, with the exception of two or three, the children of emancipated slaves. They came up by classes to the superintendent's desk, were they read and were examined. They read correctly; some of 96 ANTIGUA. them too, who had been in school only a few months, in any portion of the New Testament selected for them. By request of the superintendent, we put several inquires to them, which they answered in a way which showed that they thought. They manifested an acquaintance with the Bible and the use of language which was truly surprising. It was delightful to see so many tiny beings stand around you, dressed in their tidy gowns and frocks, with their bright morning feces, and read with the self-composure of manhood, any passage chosen for them. They all, large and small, bore in their hands the charter of their freedom, the book by the influence of which they received all the privileges they were enjoying. On the cover of each was stamped in large capitate—" Presented bt the British and Foreign Bible Society, in commemoration of the First of August, 1834." At the close of the examination, the rewards, consisting of books, work-bags, &c. &c., chiefly sent by a society of females in England, were distributed. It was impossible to repress the effervescence of the little expectants. As a little one four years old came up for her reward, the superintendent said to her— "Well, little Becky, what do you want V "Me wants a bag," said Becky, "and me wants a pin-cushion, and me wants a little book." Becky's desires were large, but being a good girl, she was gratified. Occasionally the girls were left to choose between a book and a work-bag, and although the bag might be gaudy and tempting, they invariably took the book. The teachers were all but one blacks, and were formerly slaves. They are very devoted and faithful, but are ill-quali- fied for their duties, having obtained all the learning they pos- sess in the Sabbath school. They are all pious, and exert a happy influence on the morals of their pupils. The number of scholars has very greatly increased since emancipation, and their morals have essentially improved. Instancep of falsehood and theft, which at first were fearful- ly frequent and bold, have much lessened. They begin to have a regard for character. Their sense of right and wrong is en- lightened, and their power of resisting temptation, and adhering to right, manifestly increased. ANTIGUA. 97 On the whole, we know not where we have looked on a more delightful scene. To stand in front of the pulpit and look around on a multitude of negro children, gathered from the sordid huts into which slavery had carried ignorance and misery, to see them coming up, with their teachers of the same proscribed hue, to hear them read the bible, answer with readiness the questions of their superintendent, and lift up together their songs of infant praise, and then to remember that two years ago these four hundred children were slaves, and still more to re- member that in our own country, boasting its republicanism and Christian institutions, there are thousands of just such children under the yoke and scourge, in utter heathenism, the victims of tyrannic Jaw or of more tyrannic public opinion—caus- ed the heart to swell with emotions unutterable. There were as many intelligent countenances, and as much activity and sprightliness, as we ever saw among an equal number of chil- dren anywhere. The correctness of their reading, the perti- nence of their replies, the general proofs of talent which they showed through all the exercises, evinced that they are none inferior to the children of their white oppressors. After singing a hymn they all kneeled down, and the school closed with a prayer and benediction. They continued singing as they retired from the house, and long after they had parted on their different ways home, their voices swelled on the breeze at a distance as the little parties from the estates chanted on their way the songs of the school room. WILLOUGHBY BAY EXAMINATION. When we entered the school house at Willoughby Bay, which is capable of containing a thousand persons, a low murmur, like the notes of preparation, ran over the multitude. One school came in after we arrived, marching in regular file, with their teacher, a negro man, at their head, and their standard bearer following; next, a sable girl with a box of Testaments on her head. The whole number of children was three hundred and fifty. The male division was first called out, and marched several times around the room, singing and keeping a regular 9 98 ANTIGUA. ■tep. After several rounds, they came to a halt, filing off and forming into ranks four rows deep—in quarter-circle shape. The music still continuing, the girls sallied forth, went through the same evolutions, and finally formed in rows corresponding with those of the boys, so as to compose with the latter a semicircle. The schools were successively examined in spelling, reading, writing, cyphering, &c., after the manner already detailed. In most respects they showed equal proficiency with the children of Parham; and in reading the Testament, their accuracy was even greater. In looking over the writing, several "incendiary" copies caught our eyes. One was, "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal." Another," If I neglect the cause of my servant, what shall I do when I appear before my Master?" A few years ago, had children been permitted to write at all, one such copy as the above would have exploded the school, and perchance sent the teacher to jail for sedition. But now, thanks to God! the negro children of Antigua are taught liberty from their Bibles, from their song books, and from their copy books too; they read of liberty, they sing of it, and they write of it; they chant to liberty in their school rooms, and they resume the strains on their homeward way, till every rustling lime-grove, and waving cane-field, is alive with their notes, and «very hillock and dell rings with "free" echoes. The girls, in their turn, pressed around us with the liveliest eagerness to display their little pieces of needle-work. Some had samplers marked with letters and devices in vari-colored silk. Others showed specimens of stitching; while the little ones held up their rude attempts at hemming handkerchiefs, aprons, and so on. During the exercises we spoke to several elderly women, who were present to witness the scene. They were laborers on the estates, but having children in the school, they had put on their Sunday dresses, and "come to see." We spoke to one of the privileges which the children were enjoying, since freedom. Her eyes filled, and she exclaimed, "Yes, massa, we do tank de good Lord for bring de free—never can be too tankful." She said she had seven children present, and it made her feel happy to know that they were learning to read. Another woman said, ANTIGUA. 99 when she heard the children reading so finely, she wanted to "take de words out of da mouts and put em in her own." In the morning, when she first entered the school house, she felt quite sick, but all the pleasant things she saw and heard, had made her well, and she added, "I tell you, me massa, it do my old heart good to come here." Another aged woman, who had grand-children in the school, said, when she saw what advan- tages the children enjoyed, she almost cried to think she was not a chiid too. Besides these there were a number of adult men and women, whom curiosity or parental solicitude had brought together, and they were thronging about the windows and doors witnessing the various exercises with the deepest interest. Among the rest was one old patriarch, who, anxious to bear some part, however humble, in the exercises of the occasion, walked to and fro among the children, with a six feet pole in his hand, to keep order. These schools, and those examined at Parham, are under the general supervision of Mr. Charles Thwaites, an indefatigable and long tried friend of the negroes. We here insert a valuable communication which we received from Mr. T. in reply to several queries addressed to him. It will give further information relative to the schools. Mr. Charles Thioaites' Replies to Queries on Education in An- tigua. 1. What has been your business for some years past in An- tigua! A superintendent of schools, and catechist to the negroes. 2. How long have you been engaged in this business 1 Twenty-four years. The first four years engaged gratuitously, ten years employed by the Church Missionary Society, and since by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. 3. How many schools have you under your charge? Sunday schools, (including all belonging to the Wesleyan Missionary Society,) eight, with 1850 scholars; day schools, seventeen with 1250 scholars; night schools on twenty-six ' 100 ANTIGUA. estates, 396 scholars. The total number of scholars under instruction is about 3500. 4. Are the scholars principally the children who were eman- cipated in August, 1834? Yes, except the children in St John's, most of whom were free before. 5. Are the teachers negroes, colored, or white? One wlnte, four colored, and sixteen black.* 6. How many of the teachers were slaves prior to the first of August, 1834? Thirteen. 7. What were their opportunities for learning? The Sunday and night schools; and they have much improved themselves since they have been in their present employment. 8. What are their qualifications for teaching, as to education, religion, zeal, perseverance, &c.? The white and two of the colored teacher.', I presume, are well calculated, in all respects, to carry on a school in the ablest manner. The others are deficient in education, but are zealous, and very persevering. 9. What are the wages of these teachers? The teachers' pay is, some four, and some three dollars per month. This sum is far too small, and would be greater if the funds were sufficient. 10. How and by whom are the expenses of superintendent, teachers, and schools defrayed? The superintendent's salary, &a, is paid by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. The expenses of teachers and schools are defrayed by charitable societies and friends in England, particu- larly the Negro Education Society, which grants 501. sterling per annum towards this object, and pays the rent of the Church Mis- sionary Society's premises in Willoughby Bay for use of the schools. About 467. sterling per annum is also raised from the children; each child taught writing and needle-work, pays 1 l-2d. sterling per week. * This number includes only salaried teachers, and not the gratuitous. ANTIGUA. 101 11. Is it your opinion that the negro children are as ready to receive instruction as white children? Yes, perfectly so. 12. Do parents manifest interest in the education of their children? They do. Some of the parents are, however, still very ignorant, and are not aware how much their children lose by irregular attendance at the schools. 13. Have there been many instances of theft among the scholars? Not more than among any other class of children. results. Besides an attendance upon the various schools, we procured specific information from teachers, missionaries, planters, and others, with regard to the past and present state of education, and the weight of testimony was to the following effect: First, That education was by no means extensive previous to emancipation. The testimony of one planter was, that not a tenth part of the present adult population knew the letters of the alphabet. Other planters, and some missionaries, thought the proportion might be somewhat larger; but all agreed that it was very small. The testimony of the venerable Mr. Newby, the oldest Moravian missionary in the island, was, that such was the opposition among the planters, it was impossible to teach the slaves, excepting by night, secretly. Mr. Thwaites informed us that the children were not allowed to attend day school after they were six years old. All the instruction they obtained after that age, was got at night—a very unsuitable time to study, for those who worked all day under an exhaust- ing sun. It is manifest that the instruction received under six years of age, would soon be effaced by the incessant toil of sub- sequent life. The account given in a former connection of the adult school under the charge of Mr. Morrish, at Newfield, shows most clearly the past inattention to education. And yet Mr. M. stated that his school was a fair specimen of the intelli- gence of the negroes generally. One more evidence in point is 9* 102 ANTIGUA. the acknowledged ignorance of Mr. Thwailes' teachers. After searching through the whole freed population for a dozen suita- ble teachers of children, Mr. T. could not find even that number who could read well. Many children in the schools of six years old read better than their teachers. We must not be understood to intimate that up to the period of the Emancipation, the planters utterly prohibited the educa- tion of their slaves. Public sentiment had undergone some change previous to that event. When the public opinion of England began to be awakened against slavery, the planters were induced, for peace sake, to tolerate education to some extent; though they cannot be said to have encouraged it until after Emancipation. This is the substance of the statements made to us. Hence it appears that when the active opposition of the planters to education ceased, it was succeeded by a general indifference, but little less discouraging. We of course speak of the planters as a body; there were some honorable exceptions. Second, Education has become very extensive since eman- cipation. There are probably not less than six lhousand children who now enjoy daily instruction. These are of all ages under twelve. All classes feel an interest in knowledge. While the schools previously established are flourishing in newness of life, additional ones are springing up in every quarter. Sabbath schools, adult and infant schools, day and evening schools, are all crowded. A teacher in a Sabbath school in St. John's informed us, that the increase in that school immediately after emancipation was so sudden and great, that he could compare it to nothing but the rising of the mercury, when the thermometer is removed out of the shade into the sun. We learned that the Bible was the principal book taught in all the schools throughout the island. As soon as the child- ren have learned to read, the Bible is put into their hands. They not only read it, but commit to memory portions of it every day;—the first lesson in the morning is an examina- tion on some passage of scripture. We have never seen, even among Sabbath-school children, a better acquaintance with the ANTIGUA. 103 characters and events recorded in the Old and New Testaments, than among the negro children in Antigua. Those passages which inculcate obedience to law are strongly enforced; and the prohibitions against stealing, lying, cheating, idleness, &c., are reiterated day and night. Great attention is paid to singing in all the schools. The songs which they usually sung, embraced such topics as love to God—the presence of God—obedience to parents— friendship for brothers and sisters and schoolmates—love of school —the sinfulness of sloth, of lying, and of stealing. We quote the following hymn as a specimen of the subjects which are introduced into their songs: often were we greeted with this sweet hymn, while visiting the different schools throughout the island. BKOTHERLT LOVE. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, We're sisters and brothers, And heaven is our home. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, We're sisters and brothers, And heaven is our home. The God of heaven is pleased to see That little children all agree; And will not slight the praise they bring, When loving children join to sing: We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. For love and kindness please him more Than if we gave him all our store; And children here, who dwell in love, Are like his happy ones above. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c . 104 ANTIGUA. The gentle child that tries to please, That hates to quarrel, fret, and teaze, And would not say an angry word— That child is pleasing to the Lord. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. O God! forgive, whenever we Forget thy will, and disagree; And grant that each of us may find The sweet delight of being kind. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. We were convinced that the negroes were as capable of re- ceiving instruction as any people in the world. The testimony of teachers, missionaries, clergymen and planters, was uniform on this point. Said one planter of age and long experience on the island,— "The negroes are as capable of culture as any people on earth. Color makes no difference in minds. It is slavery alone that has degraded the negro." Another planter, by way of replying to our inquiry on this sub- ject, sent for a negro child of five years, who read with great fluency in any part of the Testament to ..which we turned her. "Now," said the gentleman, "I should be ashamed to let you hear my own son, of the same age with that little girl, read after her." We put the following questions to the Wesleyan mis- sionaries: "Are the negroes as apt to learn as other people in similar circumstances?" Their written reply was this: "We think they are; the same diversified qualities of intellect appear among them as among other people." We put the same ques- tion to the Moravian missionaries, to the clergymen, and to the teachers of each denomination, some of whom, having taught school in England, were well qualified to judge between the European children and the negro children; and we uniforml received substantially the same answer. Such, however, wa the air of surprise with which our question was often received, that it required some courage to repeat it. Sometimes it excited a smile, as though we could not be serious in the inquiry. And ANTKHTA. 105 indeed we seldom got a direct and explicit answer, without pre- viously stating by way of explanation, that we had no doubts of our own, but wished to remove those extensively entertained among our countrymen. After all, we were scarcely credited in Antigua. Such cases as the following were common in every schoool: children of four and five years old reading the Bible; children beginning in their A, B, C's, and learning to read in four months; children of five and six, answering a variety of questions on the historical parts of the Old Testament; children but a little older, displaying fine specimens of penmanship, performing sums m the compound rules, and running over the multiplication table, and the pound, shilling and pence table, without mistake. We were grieved to find that most of the teachers employed in the instruction of the children, were exceedingly unfit for the work. They are very ignorant themselves, and have but little skill in the management of children. This however is a neces- sary evil. The emancipated negroes feel a great anxiety for the education of their children. They encourage them to go to school, and they labor to support them, while they have strong temptation to detain them at home to work. They also pay a small sum every week for the maintenance of the schools. In conclusion, we would observe, that one of the prominent features of regenerated Antigua, is its education. An intelli- gent religion, and a religious education, are the twin glories of this emancipated colony. It is comment enough upon the differ- ence between slavery and freedom, that the same agents which are deprecated as the destroyers of the one, are cherished as the defenders of the other. Before entering upon a detail of the testimony which beats more directly upon slavery in America, we deem it proper to con- sider the inquiry, "What is the amount of freedom in Antigua, as regulated by law'!" 1st. The people are entirely free from the whip, and from all compulsory control of the master. 2d. They can change employers whenever they become dis- satisfied with their situation by previously giving a month's notice. 106 ANTIGUA. 3d. They have the right of trial by jury in all cases of a serious nature, while for small offences, the magistrate's court is open. They may have legal redress for any wrong or violence inflicted by their employers. 4th. Parents have the entire control of their children. The planter cannot in any way interfere with them. The parents have the whole charge of their support. 5th. By an express provision of the legislature, it was made obligatory upon every planter to support all the superannuated, infirm, or diseased on the estate, who were such at the time of emancipation. Those who have become so since 1834, fall upon the hands of their relatives for maintenance. 6th. The amount of wages is not determined by law. By a general understanding among the planters, the rate is at pre- sent fixed at a shilling a day, or a little more than fifty cents per week, counting five working days. This matter is wisely left to be regulated by the character of the seasons, and the mu- tual agreement of the parties concerned. As the island is suf- fering rather from a paucity of laborers, than otherwise, labor must in good seasons command good wages. The present rate of wages is extremely low, though it is made barely tolerable by the additional perquisites which the people enjoy. They have their houses rent-free, and in connection with them small premises forty feet square, suitable for gardens, and for raising poultry, and pigs, &c., for which they always find a ready market Moreover, they are burthened with no taxes whatever; and added to this, they are supplied with medical at- tendance at the expense of the estates. 7th. The master is authorized, in case of neglect of work, or turning out late in the morning, or entire absence from labor, to reduce the wages, or withhold them for a time not exceed- ing a week. 8th. The agricultural laborers may leave the field whenever they choose, (provided they give a month's previous notice) and engage in any other business; or they may purchase land and become cultivators themselves, though in either case they are of course liable to forfeit their houses on the estates. 9th. They may leave the island, if they choose, and seek their ANTIGUA. 107 fortunes in any other part of the world, by making provision for their near relatives left behind. This privilege has been lately tested by the emigration of some of the negroes to Demerara. The authorities of the island became alarmed lest they should lose too many of the laboring population, and the question was under discussion, at the time we were in Antigua, whether it would not be lawful to prohibit the emigration. It was settled, however, that such a measure would be illegal, and the planters were left to the alternative of either being abandoned by their negroes, or of securing their continuance by adding to their com- forts and treating them kindly. 10th. The right of suffrage and eligibility to office are subject to no restrictions, save the single one of property, which is the same with all colors. The property qualification, however, is so great, as effectually to exclude the whole agricultural negro popu- lation for many years. 11th. The main constabulary force is composed of emanci- pated negroes, living on the estates. One or two trust-worthy men on each estate are empowered with the authority of con- stables in relation to the people on the same estate, and much reliance is placed upon these men to preserve order and to bring offenders to trial. 12th. A body of police has been established, whose duty it is to arrest all disorderly or riotous persons, to repair to the estates in case of trouble, and co-operate with the constables in arraign- ing all persons charged with a violation of law. 13th. The punishment for slight offences, such as stealing sugar-canes from the field, is confinement in the house of cor- rection, or being sentenced to the treadmill, for any period from three days to three months. The punishment for burglary and other high offences, is solitary confinement in chains, or trans- portation for life to Botany Bay. Such are the main features in the statutes, regulating the free- dom of the emancipated population of Antigua. It will be seen that there is no enactment which materially modifies, or unduly restrains, the liberty of the subject. There are no secret reser- vations or postscript provisoes, which nullify the boon of freedom, Not only is slavery utterly abolished, but all its appendages are 1*8 ANTIGUA. scattered to the winds ; and a system of impartial laws secures justice to all, of every color and condition. The measure of success which has crowned the experiment of emancipation in Antigua—an experiment tried under so many adverse circumstances, and with comparatively few local advan- tages—is highly encouraging to slaveholders in our country. It must be evident that the balance of advantages between the situation of Antigua and that of the South, is decidedly in favor of Che latter. The South has her resident proprietors, her resour- ces of wealth, talent, and enterprise, and her preponderance of white population; she ako enjoys a regularity of seasons, but rarely disturbed by desolating droughts, a bracing climate, which imparts energy and activity to her laboring population, and comparatively numerous wants to stimulate and press the laborer up to the working mark: she has close by her side the example of a free country, whose superior progress in internal improvements, wealth, the arts and sciences, morals and reli- gion, all ocular demonstration to her of her own wretched poli- cy and a moving appeal in favor of abolition; and above all, she has the opportunity of choosing her own mode, and of ensuring all the blessings of a voluntary and peaceable manumission, while the energies, the resources, the sympathies, and the prayers of the North, stand pledged to her assistance. CHAPTER III. FACTS AND TESTIMONY. We have reserved the mass of facts and testimony, bearing immediately upon slavery in America, in order that we might present them together in a condensed form, under distinct heads. These heads, it will be perceived, consist chiefly of propositions which are warmly contested in our country. Will the reader examine these principles in the light of facts 7 Will the candid of our countrymen—whatever opinions they may hitherto have ANTIGUA. 109 entertained on this subject—hear the concurrent testimony of numerous planters, legislators, lawyers, physicians, and mer- chants, who have until three years past been wedded to slavery by birth, education, prejudice, associations, and supposed inte- rest, but who have since been divorced from all connection with the system? In most cases we shall give the names, the stations, and business of our witnesses; in a few instances, in which we were requested to withhold the name, we shall state such circum- stances as will serve to show the standing and competency of the individuals. If the reader should find in what follows, very little testimony unfavorable to emancipation, he may know the reason to be, that little was to be gleaned from any part of An- tigua. Indeed, we may say that, with very few exceptions, the sentiments here recorded as coming from individuals, are really the sentiments of the whole community. There is no such thing known in Antigua as an opposing, disaffected party. So complete and thorough has been the change in public opinion, that it would be now disreputable to speak against emancipation. Fikst proposition.—The transition from slavery to freedom is represented as a great revolution, by which a prodigious change was effected in the condition of the negroes. In conversation with us, the planters often spoke of the greatness and suddenness of the change. Said Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle estate, "The transition from slavery to freedom, was like passing suddenly out of a dark dungeon into the light of the sun." R. B. Eldridge, Esq., a member of the assembly, remarked, that, "There never had been in the history of the world so great and instantaneous a change in the condition of so large a body of people." The Honorable Nicholas Nugent, speaker of the House of assembly, and proprietor, said, "There never was so sudden a transition from one state to another, by so large a body of peo- ple. When the clock began to strike the hour of twelve on the last night of July, 1834, the negroes of Antigua were slaves— when it ceased they were all freemen! It was a stupendous change," he said, "and it was one of the sublimest spectacles 10 110 ANTIGUA. ever witnessed, to see the subjects of the change engaged at the very moment it occurred, in worshiping God." These, and very many similar ones, were the spontaneous ex- pressions of men who had long contended against the change of which they spoke. It is exceedingly difficult to make slaveholders see that there is any material difference between slavery and freedom; but when they have once renounced slavery, they will magnify this distinction more than any other class of men. Second peoposition.—Emancipation in Antigua was the re- sult of political and pecuniary considerations merely. Abolition was seen to be inevitable, and there were but two courses left to the colonists—to adopt the apprenticeship system, or immediate emancipation. Motives of convenience led them to choose the latter. Considerations of general philanthrophy, of human rights, and of the sinfulness of slavery, were scarcely so much as thought of. Some time previous to the abolition of slavery, a meeting of the influential men of the island was called in St. John's, to me- morialize parliament against the measure of abolition. When the meeting convened, the Hon. Samuel O. Baijer, who had been the champion of the opposition, was called upon to propose a plan of procedure. To the consternation of the pro-slavery meeting, their leader arose and spoke to the following effect:— "Gentlemen, my previous sentiments on this subj ect are well known to you all; be not surprised to learn that they have under- gone an entire change. I have not altered my views without ma- ture deliberation. I have been making calculations with regard to the probable results of emancipation, and J have ascertained beyond a doubt, that I can cultivate my estate at least one third cheaper by free labor than by slave labor." After Mr. B. had finished his remarks, Mr. S. Shands, member of assembly, and a wealthy proprietor, observed that he entertained precisely the same views with those just expressed; but he thought that the honorable gentleman had been unwise in uttering them in so public a man- ner; "for," said he, " should these sentiments reach the ear of parliament, as coming from us, it might induce them to withhold the compensation." ANTIGUA. Ill Col. Edwards, member of the assembly, then arose and said, that he had long been opposed to slavery, but he had not dared lo avow his sentiments. As might be supposed, the meeting adjourned without effect- ing the object for which it was convened. When the question came before the colonial assembly, similar discussions ensued, and finally the bill for immediate emancipa- tion passed both bodies unanimously. It was an evidence of the spirit of selfish expediency, which prompted the whole pro- cedure, that they clogged the emancipation bill with the proviso that a certain governmental tax on exports, called the four and and a half per cent . tax,* should be repealed. Thus clogged, the bill was sent home for sanction, but it was rejected by par- liament, and sent back with instructions, that before it could re- ceive his majesty's seal, it must appear wholly unencumbered •We subjoin the following brief history of the four and a half per cent. tax, which we procured from the speaker of the assem- bly. In the reign of Charles II., Antigua was conquered by the French, and the inhabitants were forced to swear allegiance to the French government. In a very short time the French were driven off the island, and the English again took posses- sion of it. It was then declared, by order of the king, that as the people had, by swearing allegiance to another government, for- feited the protection of the British government, and all title to their lands, they should not again receive either, except on con- dition of paying to the king a duty of four and a half per cent. on every article exported from the island—and that they were to do in perpetuity. To this hard condition they were obliged to submit, and they have groaned under the onerous duty ever since. On every occasion, which offered any hope, they have sought the repeal of the tax, but have uniformly been de- feated. When they saw that the abolition question was coming to a crises, they resolved to make a last effort for the repeal of the four and a half per cent. duty. They therefore adopted im- mediate emancipation, and then, covered as they were with the laurels of so magnanimous an act, they presented to parliament their cherished object. The defeat was a humiliating one, and it produced such a reaction in the island, as well nigh led to the rescinding of the abolition bill. 112 ANTIGUA. with extraneous provisoes. This was a great disappointment to the legislature, and it so chagrined them that very many actual- ly withdrew their support from the bill for emancipation, which passed finally in the assembly only by the casting vote of the speaker. The verbal and written statements of numerous planters also confirm the declaration that emancipation was a measure solely of selfish policy. Said Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle estate—" Emancipation was preferred to apprenticeship, because it was attended with less trouble, and left the planters independent, instead of being saddled with a legion of stipendiary magistrates." Said Dr. Daniell, member of the council, and proprietor— "The apprenticeship was rejected by us solely from motives of policy. We did not wish to be annoyed with stipendiary ma- gistrates." Said Hon. N. Nugent—" We wished to lot ourselves down in the easiest manner possible; therefore v, o chose immediate freedom in preference to apprenticeship." "Emancipation was preferred to apprenticeship, because of the inevitable and endless perplexities connected with the lat- ter system."—David Cranstoun, Esq., a colonial magistrate and planter. "It is not pretended that emancipation was produced by the influence of religious considerations. It was a measure of mere convenience and interest."—A Moravian Missionary. The following testimony is extracted from a letter ad- dressed to us by a highly respectable merchant of St. John's—a gentleman of long experience on the island, and now agent for several estates. "Emancipation was an act of mere policy, adopted as the safest and most economic measure." Our last item of testimony under this head is from a' written statement by the Hon. N. Nugent, speaker of the assembly, at the time of emancipation. His remarks on this subject, although long, we are sure will be read with interest. Alluding to the adoption of immediate emancipation in preference to appren- ticeship, he observes:— "The reasons and considerations which led to this step were ANTIGUA. 113 various, of course impressing the minds of different individuals in different degrees. As slave emancipation could not be avert- ed, and must inevitably take place very shortly, it was better to meet the crisis at once, than to have it hanging over our heads for six years, with all its harassing doubts and anxieties; bet- ter to give an air of grace to that which would be ultimately unavoidable; the slaves should rather have a motive of grati- tude and kind reciprocation, than to feel, on being declared free, that their emancipation could neither be withheld nor retarded by their owners. The projected apprenticeship, while it destroyed the means of an instant coercion in a state of involuntary labor, equally withdrew or neutralised all those urgent motives which constrain to industrious exertion in the case of freemen. It ab- stracted from the master, in a state of things then barely re- munerative, one fourth of the time and labor required in culti- vation, and gave it to the servant, while it compelled the master to supply the same allowances as before. With many irksome restraints, conditions, and responsibilities imposed on the master, it had no equivalent advantages. There appeared no reason, in short, why general emancipation would not do as well in 1834 as in 1840. Finally, a strong conviction existed that from pe- culiarity of climate and soil, the physical wants and necessities of the peasantry would compel them to labor for their subsist- ence, to seek employment and wages from the proprietors of the soil; and if the transformation could be safely and quietly brought about, that the free system might be cheaper and more profitable than the other. The general testimony of planters, missionaries, clergy- men, merchants, and others, was in confirmation of the same truth. There is little reason to believe that the views of the colonists on this subject have subsequently undergone much change. We did not hear, excepting occasionally among the missionaries and clergy, the slightest insinuations thrown out that slavery was sin- ful; that the slaves had a right to freedom, or that it would have been wrong to have continued them in bondage. The politics of anti-slavery the Antiguans are exceedingly well versed in, but of its religim, they seem to feel but little. They 10* 114 ANTIGUA. seem never to have examined slavery in its moral relations; never to have perceived its monstrous violations of right and its impious tramplings upon God and man. The Antigua plan- ters, it would appear, have yet to repent of the sin of slave- holding. If the results of an emancipation so destitute of principle, so purely selfish, could produce such general satisfaction, and be followed by such happy results, it warrants us in anticipating still more decided and immingled blessings in the train of a vo- luntary, conscientious, and religious abolition. Third proposition.—The event of emancipation passed peacearly. The first of August, 1834, is universally regarded in Antigua, as having presented a most imposing and sublime moral spectacle. It is almost impossible to be in the company of a missionary, a planter, or an emancipated negro, for ten minutes, without hearing some allusion to that occasion. Even at the time of our visit to Antigua, after the lapse of nearly three years, they spoke of the event with an admiration apparently unabated. For some time previous to the first of August, forebodings of disaster lowered over the island. The day was fixed! Thirty thousand degraded human beings were to be brought forth from the dungeon of slavery and "turned loose on the community!" and this was to be done "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Gloomy apprehensions were entertained by many of the planters. Some timorous families did not go to bed on the night of the 31st of July; fear drove sleep from their eyes, and they awaited with fluttering pulse the hour of midnight, fearing lest the same bell which sounded the jubilee of the slaves might toll the death knell of the masters.* * "We were informed by a merchant of St. John's, that several American vessels which had lain for weeks in the harbor, weigh- ed anchor on the 3Vst of July, and made their escape, through actual fear, that the island would be destroyed on the following day. Ere they set sail they earnestly besought our informant to escape from the island, as he valued his life. ANTIGUA. 115 The more intelligent, who understood the disposition of the negroes, and contemplated the natural tendencies of emancipa- tion, through philosophical principles, and in the light of human nature and history, were free from alarm. To convey to the reader some idea of the manner in which the great crisis passed, we give the substance of several ac- counts which were related to us in different parts of the island, by those who witnessed them. The Wesleyans kept " watch-night" in all their chapels on the night of the 31st July. One of the Wesleyan missionaries gave us an account of the watch meeting at the chapel in St John's. The spacious house was filled with candidates for li- berty. All was animation and eagerness. A mighty chorus of voices swelled the song of expectation and joy, and as they united in prayer, the voice of the leader was drowned in the uni- versal acclamations of thanksgiving and praise, and blessing, and honor, and glory to God, who had come down for their de- liverance. In such exercises the evening was spent until the hour of twelve approached. The missionary then proposed that when the clock on the cathedral should begin to strike, the whole congregation should fall upon their knees and receive the boon of freedom in silence. Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first note, the immense assembly fell prostrate on their knees. All was silence, save the quivering half-stifled breath of the struggling spirit. The slow notes of the clock fell upon the multitude; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolled over the prostrate throng, in tones of angels' voices, thrilling among the desolate chords and weary heart strings. Scarce had the clock sounded its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly around, and a loud peal of thunder roared along the sky—God's pillar of fire, and trump of jubilee! A moment of profoundest silence pass- ed—then came the burst—they broke forth in prayer; they shouted, they sung, "Glory," "alleluia;" they clapped their hands, leaped up, fell down, clasped each other in their free arms, cried, laughed, and went to and fro, tossing upward their unfet- tered hands; but high above the whole there was a mighty sound which ever and anon swelled up; it was the utterings in bro- ken negro dialect of gratitude to God. 116 ANTIGUA. After this gush of excitement had spent itself, and the con- gregation became calm, the religious exercises were resumed, and the remainder of the night was occupied in singing and prayer, in reading the Bible, and in addresses from the missiona- ries explaining the nature of the freedom just received, and ex- horting the freed people to be industrious, steady, obedient to the laws, and to show themselves in all things worthy of the high boon which God had conferred upon them. The first of August came on Friday, and a release was proclaimed from all work until the next Monday. The day was chiefly spent by the great mass of the negroes in the churches and chapels. Thither they flocked "as clouds, and as doves to their windows." The clergy and missionaries throughout the island were actively engaged, seizing the op- portunity in order to enlighten the people on all the duties and responsibilities of their new relation, and above all, urg- ing them to the attainment of that higher liberty with which Christ maketh his children free. In every quarter we were assured that the day was like a Sabbath. Work had ceased; the hum of business was still, and noise and tumult were unheard on the streets. Tranquillity pervaded the towns and country. A Sabbath indeed! when the wicked ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest, and the slave was free from his master! The planters informed us that they went to the chapel where their own people were assembled, greeted them, shook hands with them, and exchanged the most hearty good wishes. The churches and chapels were thronged all over the island. At Cedar Hall, a Moravian station, the crowd was so great that the minister was obliged to remove the meeting from the cha- pel to a neighboring grove. At Grace Hill, another Moravian station, the negroes went to the Missionary on the day before the first of August, and beg- ged that they might be allowed to have a meeting in the chapel at sunrise. It is the usual practice among the Moravians to hold but one runrise meeting during the year, and that is on the morning of Easter; but as the people besought very earnestly ANTIGUA. 117 for this special favor on the Easter morning of their freedom, it was granted to them. Early in the morning they assembled at the chapel. For some time they sat in perfect silence. The missionary then proposed that they should kneel down and sing. The whole audience fell upon their knees, and sung a hymn commencing with the following verse: "Now let us praise the Lord, With body, soul and spirit, . Who doth such wondrous things, Beyond our sense and merit." The singing was frequently interrupted with the tears and sob- bings of the melted people, until finally it was wholly arrested, and a tumult of emotion overwhelmed the congregation. During the day, repeated meetings were held. At eleven o'clock, the people assembled in vast numbers. There were at least a thousand persons around the chapel, who could not get in. For once the house of God suffered violence, and the violent took it by force. After all the service of the day, the people went again to the missionaries in a body, and petitioned to have a meeting in the evening. At Grace Bay, the people, all dressed in white, assembled in a spacious court in front of the Moravian chapel. They form- ed a procession and walked arm in arm into the chapel. Si- milar scenes occurred at all the chapels and at the churches also. We were told by the missionaries that the dress of the negroes on that occasion was uncommonly simple and modest. There was not the least disposition to gaiety. We were also informed by planters and missionaries in every part of the island, that there was not a single dance known of, either day or night, nor so much as a fiddle play- ed. There were no riotous assemblies, no drunken carousals. It was not in such channels that the excitement of the emanci- pated flowed. They were as far from dissipation and debauch- ery, as they were from violence and carnage. Gratitude was the absorbing emotion. From the hill-tops, and the valleys, the cry of a disenthralled people went upward like the sound of many waters, "Glory to God, glory to God." 116 ANTIGUA. The testimony of the planters corresponds fully with that ot the missionaries. Said R. B. Eldridge, Esq., after speaking of the number emancipated, - Yet this vast body, (30,000,) glided out of slave- ry into freedom with the utmost tranquillity." Dr. Daniel observed, that after so prodigious a revolution in the condition of the negroes, he expected that some irregulari- ties would ensue; but he had been entirely disappointed. He also said that he anticipated some relaxation from labor during the week following emancipation. But he found his hands in the field early on Monday morning, and not one missing. The same day he received word from another estate, of which he was the proprietor,* that the negroes had to a man refused to go to the field. He immediately rode to the estate and found the people standing with their hoes in their hands doing nothing. He accosted them in a friendly manner: "What does this mean, my fellows, that you are not at work this morning i" They immediately replied,"It's not because we don't want to work, massa, but we wanted to see you first and foremost to know what the bargain would be." As soon as that matter was settled, the whole body of negroes turned out cheerfully, without a mo- ment's cavil. Mr. Bourne, of Millar's, informed us that the largest gang he had ever seen in the field on his property, turned out the week after emancipation. Said Hon. N. Nugent, "Nothing could surpass the universal propriety of the negroes' conduct on the first of August, 1834! Never was there a more beautiful and interesting spectacle ex- hibited, than on that occasion." Fourth proposition.—There has been since emancipation, not only no rebellion in fact, but no fear or it in Antigua. Proof 1st The Militia were not called out during Christmas holidays. Before emancipation, martial law invariably prevailed on the holidays, but the very first Christmas after emancipation, * It is not unusual in the West Indies for proprietors to com- mit their own estates into the hands of managers; and be themselves the managers of other men's estates* ANTKHTA. 119 the Governor made a proclamation stating that in consequence of the abolition of slavery it was no longer necessary to resort to such a precaution. There has not been a parade of soldiery on any subsequent Christmas.* 2d. The uniform declaration of planters and others: "Previous to emancipation, many persons apprehended vio- lence and bloodshed as the consequence of turning the slaves all loose. But when emancipation took place, all these apprehen- sions vanished. The sense of personal security is universal. We know not of a single instance in which the negroes have exhibited a revengeful spirit.''—S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's— Watfcms, Esq., of Donovan's. "It has always appeared to me self-evident, that if a man is peaceable while a slave, he will be so when a free man."—Dr. Ferguson. * This has been followed by a measure on the part of the Le- gislature, which is further proof of the same thing. It is " an Act for amending, and further continuing the several Acts at present in force for better organizing and ordering the militia. The preamble reads thus: "Whereas the abolition of slavery in this island renders it expedient to provide against an unnecessary augmentation of the militia, and the existing laws for better organizing and ordering that local force require amendment." The following military advertisement also shows the'increas- ing confidence which is felt in the freed men: "Recruits Wanted.—The freemen of Antigua are now called on to show their gratitude and loyalty to King William, foT the benefits he has conferred on them and their families, by vo- lunteering their services as soldiers in Ms First West India Re- giment; in doing which they will acquire a still higher rank in society, by being placed on a footing of perfect equality with the other troops in his Majesty's service, and receive the same bounty, pay, clothing, rations and allowances. None but young men of good character can be received, and all such will meet with every encouragement by applying at St. John's Barracks, to H. DOWNIE, Captain 1st W. I. Reg. September 15th, 1836. 120 ANTIGUA. "There is no possible danger of personal violence from the slaves; should a foreign power invade our island, I have n* doubt that the negroes would, to a man, fight for the planters. I have the utmost confidence in all the people who are under my management; they are my friends, and they consider me their friend."—H. Armstrong, Esq., of Fitch's Creek. The same gentleman informed us that during slavery, he used frequently to he sleepless on his bed, thinking of his dangerous situation—a lone white person far away from help, and sur- rounded by hundreds of savage slaves; and he had spent hours thus, in devising plans of self-defence in case the house should be attacked by the negroes. "If they come," he would say to himself, "and break down the door, and fill my bed-room, what shall I do? It will be useless to fire at them; my only hope is to frighten the superstitious fellows by covering myself with a white sheet, and rushing into the midst of them, crying, 'ghost, ghost'" Now Mr. A. sleeps in peace and safety, without conjuring up a ghost to keep guard at his bed-side. His body-guard is a bat- talion of substantial flesh and blood, made up of those who were once the objects of his nightly terror! "There has been no instance of personal violence since free- dom. Some persons pretended, prior to emancipation, to appre- hend disastrous results; but for my part I cannot say that I ever entertained such fears. I could not see any thing which was to instigate negroes to rebellion, after they had obtained their liberty. I have not heard of a single case of even meditated re- venge."—Dr. Darnell, Proprietor, Member of Council, Attorney of six estates, and Manager of Weatheritt's. "One of the blessings of emancipation has been, that it has banished the fear of insurrections, incendiarism," &c. Mr. Favey, Manager of Lavicount's. "In my extensive intercourse with the people, as missionary, I have never heard of an instance of violence or revenge on the part of the negroes, even where they had been ill-treated dur- ing slavery."—Rev. M. Morrish, Moravian Missionary. ANTIGUA. 121 "Insurrection or revenge is in no case dreaded, not even by those planters who were most cruel in the time of slavery. My family go to sleep every night with the doors unlocked, and we fear neither violence nor robbery.''—Hon. N. Nugent. Again, in a written communication, the same gentleman re- marks :—" There is not the slightest feeling of insecurity—quite the contrary. Property is more secure, for all idea of insurrec- tion is abolished forever." "We have no cause now to fear insurrections; emancipation has freed us from all danger on this score."—David Cranstoun, Esq. Extract of a letter from a merchant of St John's, who has re- sided in Antigua more than thirty years: "There is no sense of personal danger arising from insurrec- tions or conspiracies among the blacks. Serious apprehensions of this nature were formerly entertained; but they gradually died away during the first year of freedom." We quote the following from a communication addressed to us by a gentleman of long experience in Augusta—now a mer- chant in St. John's—James Scotland, Sen*, Esq. "Disturbances, insubordinations, and revelry, have greatly decreased since emancipation; and it is a remarkable fact, that on the day of abolition, which was observed with the solemnity and services of the Sabbath, not an instance of common inso- lence was experienced from any freed man. "There is no feeling of insecurity. A stronger proof of this cannot be given than the dispensing, within five months after emancipation, with the Christmas guards, which had been regu- larly and uninterruptedly kept, for nearly one hundred years— during the whole time of slavery. "The military has never been called out but on one occasion, since the abolition, and that was when a certain planter, the most violent enemy of freedom, reported to the Governor that there were strong symptoms of insurrection among his negroes. The story was generally laughed at, and the reporter of it was quite ashamed of his weakness and fears. "My former occupation, as editor of a newspaper, rendered it 11 122 ANTIGUA. necessary for me to make incessant inquiries into the conduct as well as the treatment of the emancipated, and I have never heard of any instance of revenge for former injuries. The negroes have indeed quilled managers who were harsh or cruel to them in their bondage, but they removed in a peaceable and orderly manner. "Our negroes, and I presume other negroes too, are very lit- tle less sensible to the force of those motives which lead to the peace, order, and welfare of society, than any other set of people." To the foregoing, we add the testimony of Ralph Higinbot- hom, Esq., U. S. Consul. "The general conduct of the negroes has been worthy ot much praise, especially concerning the sudden transition from slavery to unrestricted freedom. Their demeanor is peaceable and orderly." As we mingled with the missionaries, both in town and coun- try, they all bore witness to the security of their persons and families. They, equally with the planters, were surprised that we should make any inquiries about insurrections. A question on this subject generally excited a smile, a look of astonishment, or some exclamation, such as "Insurrection! my dear sirs, we do not think of such a thing;" or, "Rebellion indeed! why, what should they rebel for now, since they have got their liberty!" Physicians informed us that they were in the habit of riding into the country at all hours of the night, and though they were constantly passing negroes, both singly and in companies, they never had experienced any rudeness, nor even so much as an insolent word. They could go by night or day, into any part of the island where their professional duties called them, without the sbghtest sense of danger. A residence of nine weeks in the island gave us no small opportunity of testing the reality of its boasted security. The hospitality of planters and missionaries, of which we have re- corded so many instances in a previous part of this work, gave us free access to their houses in every part of the island. In many cases we were constrained to spend the night with them, ANTIGUA. 123 and thus enjoyed, in the intimacies of the domestic circle, and in the unguarded moments of social intercourse, every opportu- nity of detecting any lurking fears of violence, if such there had Deen; but we saw no evidence of it, either in the arrangements of the houses or in the conduct of the inmates.* Fifth proposition.—There has been no fear of house break- ing, highway-robberies, and like misdemeanors, since emanci- pation. Statements, similar to those adduced under the last head, from planters, and other gentlemen, might be introduced here; but as this proposition is so intimately involved in the foregoing, separate proof is not necessary. The same causes which excite apprehensions of insurrection, produce fears of robberies and other acts of violence; so also the same state of society which establishes security of person, insures the safety of property. Both in town and country we heard gentlemen repeatedly speak of the slight fastenings to their houses. A mere lock, or bolt, was all that secured the outside doors, and they might be burst open with ease, by a single man. In some cases, as has already been intimated, the planters habitually neglect to fasten their doors—so strong is their confidence of safety. We were not a little struck with the remark of a gen- tleman in St. John's. He said he had long been desirous to re- move to England, his native country, and had slavery continued much longer in Antigua, he certainly should have gone; but now the security of property was so much greater in Antigua than it was in England, that he thought it doubtful whether he should ever venture to take his family thither. * In addition to the evidence derived from Antigua, we would mention the following fact: A planter, who is also an attorney, informed us that on the neighboring little island of Barbuda, (which is leased from the English government by Sir. Bethel Coddrington,) there are five hundred negroes and only three white men. The negroes are entirely free, yet the whites continue to live among them without any fear of having their throats cut. Though, under the govern- ment of Antigua, the act of entire emancipation did not extend to that island. But Sir. Bethel, the proprietor, emancipated the slaves by deed under his own hand. 124 ANTIGUA. Sixth proposition.—Emancipation is regarded by all classes as a great blessing to the island. There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the abolition of slavery as a special blessing to them. The rich be- cause it relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as it had always been a vexation and a tax, and be- cause it has emancipated them from the terrors of insurrec- tion, which kept them all their life time subject to bondage. The poor whites—because it lifted from off them the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored population—because it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed them, and opened the prospect of social, civil, and political equality with the whites. The slaves—because it broke open their dungeon, led them out to liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their wives, their children, their bodies, their souls—every thing! The following extracts from the journals of the legislature, show the state of feeling existing shortly after emancipation. The first is dated October 30, 1834: "The Speaker said, that he looked with exultation at the prospect before us. The hand of the Most High was evidently working for us. Could we regard the universal tranquillity, the respectful demeanor of the lower classes, as less than an inter- position of Providence? The agricultural and commercial pros- perity of the island were absolutely on the advance; and for hie part he would not hesitate to purchase estates to-morrow." The following remark was made in the course of a speech by a member of the council, November 12, 1834: "Colonel Brown stated, that since emancipation he had never been without a sufficient number of laborers, and he was certain he could obtain as many more to-morrow as he should wish." The general confidence in the beneficial results of emancipa- tion, has grown stronger with every succeeding year and month. It has been seen that freedom will bear trial; that it will en- dure, and continue to bring forth fruits of increasing value. The Governor informed us that "it was universally admit- ted, that emancipation had been a great blessing to the island." In a company of proprietors and planters, who met us on a ANTIGUA. 126 certain occasion, among whom were lawyers, magistrates, and members of the council, and of the assembly, the sentiment was distinctly avowed, that emancipation was highly beneficial to the island, and there was not a dissenting opinion. "Emancipation is working most admirably, especially for the planters. It is infinitely better policy than slavery or the ap- prenticeship either."—Dr. Ferguson. "Our planters find that freedom answers a far better purpose than slavery ever did. A gentleman, who is attorney for eight estates, assured me that there was no comparison between the benefits and advantages of the two systems."—Archdeacon Parry. "All the planters in my neighborhood (St. Philip's parish) are highly pleased with the operation of the new system."—Rev. Mr. Jones, Rector of St. Philip's. "I do not know of more than one or two planters in the whole island, who do not consider emancipation as a decided advan- tage to all parties."—Dr. Daniell. That emancipation should be universally regarded as a bless- ing, is remarkable when we consider that combination of un- toward circumstances which it has been called to encounter—a combination wholly unprecedented in the history of the island. In 1835, the first year of the new system, the colony was visited by one of the most desolating hurricanes which has occurred for many years. In the same year, cultivation was arrested, and the crops greatly reduced, by drought. About the same time, the yellow fever prevailed with fearful mortality. The next year the drought returned, and brooded in terror from March until January, and from January until June—not only blasting the harvest of '36, but extending its blight over the crops of'37. Nothing could be better calculated to try the confidence in the new system. Yet we find all classes zealously exonerating emancipation, and in despite of tornado, plague, and wasting, still affirming the blessings and advantages of freedom! Seventh proposition.—Free labor is decidedly less expen- sive than slave labor. It costs the planter actually less to pay his free laborers daily wages, than it did to maintain his slaves. It will be observed in the testimony which follows, that there is 11* 126 ANTIGUA. some difference of opinion as to the precise amount of reduction in the expenses, which is owing to the various modes of manage- ment on different estates, and more particularly to the fact, that some estates raise all their provisions, while others raise none. But as to the fact itself, there can scarcely be said to be any dispute among the planters. There was one class of planters whose expenses seemed to be somewhat increased, viz.,—those who raised all their provisions before emancipation, and ceased to raise any after that event. But in the opinion of the most intelligent planters, even these did not really sustain any loss, for originally it was bad policy to raise provisions, since it en- grossed that labor which would have been more profitably di- rected to the cultivation of sugar; and hence they would ulti- mately be gainers by the change. S. Bourne, Esq., stated that the expenses on Millar's estate,of which he is manager, had diminished about one.third. Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle, thought his expenses were about the same that they were formerly. Mr. Favey, of Lavicount's estate, enumerated, among the ad- vantages of freedom over slavery, "the diminished expense." Dr. Nugent also stated, that "the expenses of cultivation were greatly diminished." Mr. Hatley, manager of Fry's estate, said that the expenses on his estate had been greatly reduced since emancipation. He showed us the account of his expenditures for the last year of slavery, and the first full year of freedom, 1835. The expenses during the last year of slavery were 13711. 2s. Aid.; the expenses for 1835 were 821?. 16s. 7jrf.: showing a reduction of more than one-third. D. Cranstoun, Esq., informed us that his weekly expenses during slavery, on the estate which he managed, were, on an average, 45Z.; the average expenses now do not exceed 20Z. Extract of a letter from Hon. N. Nugent: "The expenses of cultivating sugar estates have in no in- stance, I believe, been found greater than before. As far as my experience goes, they are certainly less, particularly as regards those properties which were overhanded before, when proprie- tors were compelled to support more dependents than they re- ANTIGUA. 127 quired. In some cases, the present cost is less by one-third. I have not time to furnish you with any detailed statements, but the elements of the calculation are simple enough." It is not difficult to account for the diminution in the cost of cultivation. In the first place, for those estates that bought their provision previous to emancipation, it cost more money to purchase their stores than they now pay out in wages. This was especially true in dry seasons, when home provisions failed, and the island was mainly dependent upon foreign supplies. But the chief source of the diminution lies in the reduced number of people to be supported by the planter. During sla- very, the planter was required by law to maintain all the slaves belonging to the estate; the superannuated, the mfirm, the pregnant, the nurses, the young children, and the infants, as well as the working slaves. Now it is only the latter class, the ef- fective laborers, (with the addition of such as were superannu- ated or infirm at the period of emancipation,) who are dependent upon the planter. These are generally not more than one half, frequently less than a third, of the whole number of negroes resident on the estate; consequently a very considerable burthen has been removed from the planter. The reader may form some estimate of the reduced expense to the planter, resulting from these causes combined, by con- sidering the statement made to us by Hon. N. Nugent, and re- peatedly by proprietors and managers, that had slavery been in existence during the present drought, many of the smaller es- tates must have been inevitably ruined; on account of the high price of imported provisions, (home provisions having fallen short) and the number of slaves to be fed. Eighth proposition.—The negroes work more cheerfully, and do (heir work better than they did during slavery. Wages are found to be an ample substitute for the lash—they never fail to secure the amount of labor desired. This is particularly true where task work is tried, which is done occasionally in cases of a pressing nature, when considerable effort is required. We heard of no complaints on the score of idleness, but on the con- trary, the negroes were highly commended for the punctuality 128 ANTIGUA. and cheerfulness with which they performed the work assigned them. The Governor stated, that " he was assured by planters, from every part of the island, that the negroes were very industriously "My people have become much more industrious since they were emancipated. I have been induced to extend the sugar cultivation over a number of acres more than have ever been cultivated before."—Mr. Walkins, of Donovan's. "Fearing the consequences of emancipation, I reduced my cultivation in the year '34; but soon finding that my people would work as well as ever, I brought up the cultivation the next year to the customary extent, and this year ('36) I have added fifteen acres of new land."—S. Bourne,of Millar's. "Throughout the island the estates were never in a more ad- vanced state than they now are. The failure in the crops is not in the slightest degree chargeable to a deficiency of labor. I have frequently adopted the job system for short periods; the results have always been gratifying—the negroes accomplished twice as much as when they worked for daily wages, because they made more money. On some days they would make three shillings—three times the ordinary wages."—Dr. Darnell. "They are as a body more industrious than when slaves, for tbe obvious reason that they are working for themselves."—Ralph Higinbothom, U. S. Consul. "I have no hesitation in saying that on my estate cultivation is more forward than ever it has been at the same season. The failure of the crops is not in the least degree the fault of the la- borers. They have done well."—Mr. Favey, of Lavicounl's estate. "The most general apprehension prior to emancipation was, that the negroes would not work after they were made free— that they would be indolent, buy small parcels of land, and 'squat' on them to the neglect of sugar cultivation. Time, how- ever, has proved that there was no foundation for this appre- hension. The estates were never in better order than they are at present. If you are interrogated on your return home con- cerning the cultivation of Antigua, you can say that every thing ANTIGUA. 129 depends upon the weather. If we have sufficient rain, you may be certain that we shall realize abundant crops. If we have no rain, the crops must inevitably fail. But we can aboays depend upon the laborers. On account of the stimulus to industry which wages afford, there is far less feigned sickness than there was during slavery. When slaves, the negroes were glad to find any excuse for deserting their labor, and they were incessantly feigning sickness. The sick-house was thronged with real and pretended invalids. After '34, it was wholly deserted. The negroes would not go near it; and, in truth, I have lately used it for a stable."—Hon, N. Nugent. "Though the laborers on both the estates under my manage- ment have been considerably reduced since freedom, yet the grounds have never been in a finer state of cultivation, than they are at present . When my work is backward, I give it out in jobs, and it is always done in half the usual time." "Emancipation has almost wholly put an end to the practice of skulking, or pretending to be sick. That was a thing which caused the planter a vast deal of trouble during slavery. Every Monday morning regularly, when I awoke, I found ten or a dozen, or perhaps twenty men and women, standing around my door, waiting for me to make my first appearance, and begging that I would let them off from work that day on account of sick- ness. It was seldom the case that one fourth of the applicants were really unwell ; but every one would maintain that he was very sick, and as it was hard to contend with them about it, they were all sent off to the sick-house. Now this is entirely done away, and my sick-house is converted into a chapel for religious worship."—James Howell, Esq. "1 find my people much more disposed to work than they , formerly were. The habit of feigning sickness to get rid of going to the field, is completely broken up. This practice was very common during slavery. It was often amusing to hear their complaints. One would come carrying an arm in one hand, and declaring that it had a mighty pain in it, and he could not use the hoe no way ; another would make his appearance with both hands on his breast, and with a rueful look complain of a great pain in the stomach; a third came limping along, 130 ANTIGUA. with a dreadful rheumatiz in his knees; and so on for a dozen or more. It was vain to dispute with them, although it was often manifest that nothing earthly was ailing them. They would say,' Ah! me massa, you no tink how had me feel—it's deep in, massa.' But all this trouble is passed. We have no sick-house now; no feigned sickness, and really much less actual illness than formerly. My people say ' they have not time lobe sick now.' My cultivation has never been so far advanced at the same season, or in finer order than it is at the present time. I have been encouraged by the increasing industry of my people to bring several additional acres under cultivation."—Mr. Hatley, Fry's estate. "I get my work done better than formerly, and with incom- parably more cheerfulness. My estate was never in a finer state of cultivation than it is now, though I employ fewer labor- ers than during slavery. I have occasionally used job, or task work, and with great success. When I give out a job, it is accomplished in about half the time that it would have required by giving the customary wages. The people will do as much in one week at job work, as they will in two, working for a shilling a day. I have known them, when they had a job to do, turn out before three o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight"— D. Cransioun, Esq. "My people work very well for the ordinary wages; I have no fault to find with them in this respect"—Manager of Scot- land's estate. Extract from the Superintendent's Report to the Commander in Chief. Superintendent's Office, June Qth, 1836. "During the last month 1 have visited the country in almost every direction, with the express object of paying a strict atten- tion to all branches of agricultural operations at that period pro- gressing. The result of my observations is decidedly favorable, as re- gards proprieters and laborers. The manufacture of sugar has advanced as far as the long and continued want of rain will ad- mit; the lands, generally, appear to be in a forward state of .ANTIGUA. 131 preparation for the ensuing crop, and the laborers seem to work with more steadiness and satisfaction to themselves and their employers, than they have manifested for some length of time past, and their work is much more correctly performed. Complaints are, for the most part, adduced by the employers against the laborers, and principally consist, (as hitherto,) of breaches of contract; but I am happy to observe, that a diminu- tion of dissatisfaction on this head even, has taken place, as will be seen by the accompanying general return of offences re- ported. Your honor's most obedient, humble servant, Richard S. Wickham, Superintendent of police." Ninth proposition.—The negroes are more easily managed as freemen than they were when slaves. On this point as well as on every other connected with the system of slavery, public opinion in Antigua has undergone an entire revolution, since 1834. It was then a common maxim that the peculiar characteristics of the negro absolutely required a government of terror and brute force. The Governor said, "The negroes are as a race remarkable for docility; they are very easily controlled by kind influence. It is only necessary to gain their confidence, and you can sway them as you please." "Before emancipation took place, I dreaded the consequences of abolishing the power of compelling labor, but I have since found by experience that forbearance and kindness are sufficient for all purposes of authority. I have seldom had any trouble in managing my people. They consider me their friend and the expression of my wish is enough for them. Those planters who have retained their harsh manner do not succeed under the new system. The people will not bear it."—Mr. J. Howell. "I find it remarkably easy to manage my people. I govern them entirely by mildness. In every instance in which mana- gers have persisted in their habits of arbitrary command, they have failed. I have lately been obliged to discharge a manager from one of the estates under my direction, on account of his overbearing disposition. If I had not dismissed him, the people would have abandoned the estate en masse."—Dr. Daniell. 189 ANTIGUA. "The minagement of an estate under the free system is a much lighter business than it used to be. We do not have the trouble to get the people to work, or to keep them in order."— Mr. Favey. u Before the abolition of slavery, I thought it would be utterly impossible to manage my people without tyrannizing over them as usual, and that it would be giving up the reins of government entirely to abandon the whip; but I am now satisfied that I was mistaken. I have lost all desire to exercise arbitrary power. I have known of several instances in which unpleasant distur- bances have been occasioned by managers giving way to their anger, and domineering over their laborers. The people be- came disobedient and disorderly, and remained so untill the es- tates went into other hands, and a good management immedi- ately restored confidence and peace."—Mr. Watkins. "Among the many advantages belonging to the free system, may be enumerated the greater facility in managing estates. We are freed from a world of trouble and perplexity."—David Cranstoun, Esq. "I have no hesitation in saying, that if I have a supply of cash, I can take off any crop it may please God to send. Having already, since emancipation, taken off one fully sixty hogsheads above the average of the last twenty years, I can speak with confidence."—Letter from S. Bourne, Esq. Mr. Bourne stated a fact which illustrates the ease with which the negroes are governed by gentle means. He said that it was a prevailing practice during slavery for the slaves to have a dance soon after they had finished gathering in the crop. At the completion of his crop in '35, the people made arrangements for having the customary dance. They were particularly elated because the crop which they had first taken off was the largest one that had ever been produced by the estate, and it was also the largest crop on the island for that year. With these extra- ordinary stimulants and excitements, operating in connection with the influence of habit, the people were strongly inclined to have a dance. Mr. B. told them that dancing was a bad prac- tice—and a very childish, barbarous amusement. and he thought it was wholly unbecoming freemen. He hoped therefore that ANTISTM. 133 they would dispense with it. The negroes could not exactly agree with their manager—and said they did not like to he dis- appointed in their expected sport. Mr. B. finally proposed to them that he would get the Moravian minister, Rev. Mr. Har- vey, to ride out and preach to them on the appointed evening. The people all agreed to this. Accordingly, Mr. Harvey preach- ed, and they said no more ahout the dance—nor have they ever attempted to get up a dance since. We had repeated opportunities of witnessing the management of the laborers on the estates, and were always struck with the absence of every thing like coercion. By the kind invitation of Mr. Bourne, we accompianed him once on a morning circuit around his estate. After riding some distance, we came to the 'great gang' cutting canes. Mr. B. saluted the people in a friendly manner, and they all responded with a hearty 'good morning, massa.' There were more than fifty persons, male and female, on the spot . The most of them were employed in cutting canes,* which they did with a heavy knife called a bill. Mr. B. beckoned to the superintendent, a black man, to come to him, and gave him some directions for the forenoon's work, and then, after saying a few encouraging words to the people, took us to another part of the estate, re- marking as we rode off; "I have entire confidence that those laborers will do their work just as I want to have it done." We next came upon some men, who were hoeing in a field of corn. We found that there had been a slight altercation between two *The process of cutting canes is this:—The leafy part at top is first cut off down as low as the saccharine matter. A few of the lowest joints of the part thus cut off, are then stripped of the leaves, and cut off for plants, for the next crop. The stalk is then cut off close to the ground—and it is that which fur- nishes the juice for sugar. It is from three to twelve feet long, and from one to two inches in diameter, according to the quality of the soil, the seasonablcness of the weather, &c. The cutters are followed by gatherers, who bind up the plants and stalks, as the cutters cast them behind them, in different bundles. The carts follow in the train, and take up the bundles—carrying the stalks to the mill to be ground, and the plants in another direction. 12 134 ANTIGUA. of the men. Peter, who was a foreman, came to Mr. B., and complained that George would not leave the cornfield and go to another kind of work as he had bid him. Mr.B. called George, and asked for an explanation. George had a long story to tell, and he made an earnest defence, accompanied with impassioned gesticulation; but his dialect was of such outlandish description, that we could not understand him. Mr. B. told us that the main ground of his defence was that Peter's direction was altogether unreasonable. Peter was then called upon to sustain his com- plaint; he spoke with equal earnestness and equal unintelligi- bility. Mr. B. then gave his decision, with great kindness of manner, which quite pacified both parties. As we rode on, Mr. B. informed us that George was himself the foreman of a small weeding gang, and felt it derogatory to his dignity to be ordered by Peter. We observed on all the estates which we visited that the planters, when they wish to influence their people, are in the habit of appealing to them as freemen, and that now better things are expected of them. This appeal to their self-respect seldom fails of carrying the point. It is evident from the foregoing testimony, that if the negroes do not work well on any estate, it is generally speaking the fault of the manager. We were informed of many instances in which arbitrary men were discharged from the management of estates, and the result has been the restoration of order and industry among the people. On this point we quote the testimony of James Scotland, Sen., Esq., an intelligent and aged merchant of St. John's: "In this colony, the evils and troubles attending emancipation have resulted almost entirely from the perseverance of the plant- ers in their old habits of domination. The planters very fre- quently, indeed, in the early stage of freedom, used their power as employers to the annoyance and injury of their laborers. For the slightest misconduct, and sometimes without any rea- son whatever, the poor negroes were dragged before the ma- gistrates, (planters or their friends,) and mulcted in their wages, fined otherwise, and committed to jail or the house of correction. And yet those harassed people remained patient, orderly and ANTIGUA. 135 submissive. Their treatment now is much improved. The plant- ers have happily discovered, that as long as they kept the cultivators of then lands in agitations and sufferings, their own interests were sacrificed." Tenth proposition.—The negroes are more trust.tvorthy, and take a deeper interest in their employers' affairs, since emancipation. "My laborers manifest an increasing attachment to the estate. In all their habits they are becoming more settled, and they begin to feel that they have a personal interest in the suc- cess of the property on which they live."—Mr. Favey. "As long as the negroas felt uncertain whether they would remain in one place, or be dismissed and compelled to seek a home elsewhere, they manifested very little concern for the advancement of their employers' interest; but in proportion as they become permanently established on an estate, they seem to identify themselves with its prosperity. The confidence between master and servant is mutually increasing."—Mr. James Howell The Hon. Mr. Nugent, Dr. Daniel], D. Cranstoun, Esq., and other planters, enumerated among the advantages of freedom, the planters being released from the perplexities growing out of want of confidence in the sympathy and honesty of the slaves. S. Bourne, Esq., of Millar's, remarked as we were going to wards his mill and boiling-house, which had been in operation about a week, "I have not been near my works for several days; yet I have no fears but that I shall find every thing going on properly." The planters have been too deeply experienced m the nature of slavery, not to know that mutual jealousy, distrust, and aliena- tion of feeling and interest, are its legitimate offspring; and they have already seen enough of the operation of freedom, to entertain the confident expectation, that fair wages, kind treat- ment, and comfortable homes, will attach the laborers to the estates, and identify the interests of the employer and the em- ployed. Eleventh proposition.—The experiment in Antigua proves that emancipated slaves can appreciate law. It is a prevailing opinion that those who have long been slaves, cannot at once be safely subjected to the control of law. 136 ANTIGUA. It will now be seen how far this theory is supported by facte. Let it be remembered that the negroes of Antigua passed, "by a single jump, from absolute slavery to unqualified freedom."* In proof of their subordination to law, we give the testimony of planters, and quote also from the police reports sent in monthly to the Governor, with copies of which we were kindly furnished by order of His Excellency. "I have found that the negroes are readily controlled by law; more so perhaps than the laboring classes in other countries.— David Cransloun, Esq. "The conduct of the negro population generally, has sur- passed all expectation. They are as pliant to the hand of legislation, as any people; perhaps more so than some."—Wes- leyan Missionary. Similar sentiments were expressed by the Governor, the Hon. N. Nugent, R. B. Eldridge, Esq., Dr. Ferguson, Dr. Daniel], and James Scotland, Jr., Esq., and numeroiin other planters, managers, &c. This testimony is corroborated by the police reports, exhibiting, as they do, comparatively few crimes, and those for the most part minor ones. We have in our possession tb,e police reports for every month from September, 1835, to January, 1837. We give such specimens as will serve to show the general tenor of the reports. Police-Office, St. John's, Sept. 3, 1&35. "From the information which I have been able to collect by my own personal exertions, and from the reports of the assistant inspectors, at the out stations, I am induced to believe that, in general, a far better feeling and good understanding at present prevails between the laborers and their employers, than hitherto. "Capital offences have much decreased in number, as well as all minor ones, and the principal crimes lately submitted for the investigation of the migistrates, seem to consist chiefly in trifling' offences and breaches of contract. Signed, Richard S. Wickham, Superintendent of Police. "To his excellency, SiK C. I. Murray McGregor, Governor, i BARBADOS. 175 place. Mr. C. did not expect his people would go to work that day. He told them what the conditions of the new system were, and that after the first of August, they would be required to turn out to work at six o'clock instead of five o'clock, as before. At the appointed hour every man was at his post in the field. Not one individual was missing. The apprentices do more work in the nine hours required by law, than in twelve hours during slavery. His apprentices are perfectly willing to work for him during their own time. He pays them at the rate of twenty-five cents a day. The people are less quarrelsome than when they were slaves. About eight o'clock in the evening, Mr. C. invited us to step out into the piazza. Pointing to the houses of the laborers, which were crowded thickly together, and almost concealed by the cocoanut and calabash trees around them, he said, "there are probably more than four hundred people in that village. All my own laborers, with their free children, are retired for the night, and with them are many from the neighboring estates." We listened, but all was still, save here and there a low whistle from some of the watchmen. He said that night was a specimen of every night now. But it had not always been so. During slavery these villages were oftentimes a scene of bickering, revelry, and contention. One might hear the inmates reveling and shouting till midnight Sometimes it would be kept up till morning. Such scenes have much decreased, and instead of the obscene and heathen songs which they used to sing, they are learning hymns from the lips of their children. The apprentices are more trusty. They are more faithful in work which is given them to do. They take more interest in the prosperity of the estate generally, in seeing that things are kept in order, and that the property is not destroyed. They are more open-hearted. Formerly they used to shrink before the eyes of the master, and appear afraid to meet him. They would go out of their way to avoid him, and never were willing to talk with him. They never liked to have him visit their houses; they looked on him as a spy, and always expected a reprimand, or perhaps a flogging. Now they look up cheer- 176 BARBADOS. fully when they meet him, and a visit to their homes is esteemed a favor. Mr. C. has more confidence in his people than he ever had before. There is less theft than during slavery. This is caused by greater respect for character, and the protection afforded to property by law. For a slave to steal from his master was never considered wrong, but rather a meritorious act. He who could rob the most without being detected was the best fellow. The blacks in several of the islands have a proverb, that for a thief to steal from a thief makes God laugh. The blacks have a great respect for, and even fear of law. Mr. C. believes no people on earth are more influenced by it. They regard the same punishment, inflicted by a magistrate, much more than when inflicted by their master. Law is a kind of deity to them, and they regard it with great reverence and awe. There is no insecurity now. Before emancipation there was a continual fear of insurrection. Mr. C. said he had lain down in bed many a night fearing that his throat would be cut before morning. He has started up often from a dream in which he thought his room was filled with armed slaves. But when the abolition bill passed, his fears all passed away. He felt assured there would be no trouble then. The motive to insurrection was taken away. As for the cutting of throats, or insult and violence in any way, ho never suspects it. He never thinks of fastening his door at night now. As we were retiring to bed, he looked round the room in which we had been sitting, where every thing spoke of serenity and confidence—doors and win- dows open, and books and plate scattered about on the tables and sideboards. "You see things now," he said, "just as we leave them every night, but you would have seen quite a differ- ent scene had you come here a few years ago." Mr. C. thinks the slaves of Barbados might have been entirely and immediatety emancipated as well as those of Antigua. The results, he doubts not, would have been the same. He has no fear of disturbance or insubordination in 1840. Ho has no doubt that the people will work. That there may be a little unsettled, excited, experimenting feeling for a short time, BARBADOS. 177 he thinks probable—but feels confident that tliings generally will move on peaceably and prosperously. He looks with much more anxiety to the emancipation of the non-predials in 1838. There is no disposition among the apprentices to revenge their wrongs. Mr. C. feels the utmost security both of person and property. The slaves were very much excited by the discussions in England. They were well acquainted with them, and looked and longed for the result. They watched every arrival of the packet with great anxiety. 'The people on his estate often knew its arrival before he did. One of his daughters remarked, that she could see their hopes flashing from their eyes. They manifested, however, no disposition to rebel, waiting its anxious but quiet hope for their release. Yet Mr. C. had no doubt, that if parliament had thrown out the emancipation bill, and all measures had ceased for their relief, there would have been a general insurrection. While there was hope they remained peaceable, but had hope been destroyed it would have been buried in blood. There was some dissatisfaction among the blacks with the apprenticeship. They thought they ought to be entirely free, and that their masters were deceiving them. They could not at first understand the conditions of the new system—there was some murmuring among them, but they thought it better, how- ever, to wait six years for the boon, than to run the risk of losing it altogether by revolt. The expenses of the apprenticeship are about the same as during slavery. But under the free system, Mr. C. has no doubt they will be much less. He has made a calculation of the expenses of cultivating the estate on which he resides for one year during slavery, and what they will probably be for one year under the free system. He finds the latter are less by about $3,000. Real estate has increased in value more than thirty per cent. There is greater confidence in the security of property. In- stances were related to us of estates that could not be sold at any price before emancipation, that within the last two years have been disposed of at great prices. 178 BARBADOS. The complaints to the magistrates, on the part of the planters, were very numerous at first, but have greatly diminished. They are of the most trivial and even ludicrous character. One of the magistrates says the greater part of the cases that come before him are from old women who cannot get their coffee early enough in the morning! and for offences of equal importance. Prejudice has much diminished since emancipation. The discussions in England prior to that period had done much t* soften it down, but the abolition of slavery has given it its death blow. * Such is a rapid sketch of the various topics touched upon dur- ing our interview with Mr. C. and his family. Before we left the hospitable mansion of Lear's, we had the pleasure of meeting a company of gentlemen at dinner. With the exception of one, who was provost-marshal, they were merchants of Bridgetown. These gentlemen expressed their full concurrence in the statements of Mr. C, and gave additional testimony equally valuable. Mr. W., the provost-marshal, stated that he had the supervi- sion of the public jail, and enjoyed the best opportunity of know- ing the state of crime, and he was confident that there was a less amount of crime since emancipation than before. He also spoke of the increasing attention which the negroes paid to neatness of dress and personal appearance. The company broke up about nine o'clock, but not until we had seen ample evidence of the friendly feelings of all the gen- tlemen toward our object. There was not a single dissenting voice to any of the statements made, or any of the sentiments expressed. This fact shows that the prevailing feeling is in favor of freedom, and that too on the score of policy and self- interest. Dinner parties are in one sense a very safe pulse in all matters of general interest. They rarely beat faster than the heart of the community. No subject is likely to be introduced amid the festivities of a fashionable circle, until it is fully endorsed by public sentiment. Through the urgency of Mr. C, we were induced to remain all night. Early the next morning, he proposed a ride before BARBADOS. 179 breakfast to Scotland. Scotland is the name given to an abrupt, hilly section, in the north of the island. It is about five miles from Mr. C.'s, and nine from Bridgetown. In approaching, the prospect burst suddenly upon the eye, extorting an involuntary exclamation of surprise. After riding for miles, through a coun- try which gradually swells into slight elevations, or sweeps away in rolling plains, covered with cane, yams, potatoes, ed- does, corn, and grass, alternately, and laid out with the regulari- ty of a garden; after admiring the cultivation, beauty, and skill exhibited on every hand, until almost wearied with viewing the creations of art ; the eye at once falls upon a scene in which is crowded all the wildness and abruptness of nature in one of her most freakish moods—a scene which seems to defy the hand of cultivation and the graces of art. We ascended a hill on the border of this section, which afforded us a complete view To describe it in one sentence, it is an immense basin, from two to three miles in diameter at the top, the edges of which are composed of ragged hills, and the sides and bottom of which are diversified with myriads of little hillocks and corresponding indentations. Here and there is a small sugar estate in the bottom, and cultivation extends some distance up the sides, though this is at considerable risk, for not unfrequently, large tracts of soil,, covered with cane or provisions, slide down, over- spreading the crops below, and destroying those which they carry with them. Mr. C. pointed to the opposite side of the basin to a small group of stunted trees, which he said were the last remains of the Barbados forest. In the midst of them there is a boiling spring of considerable notoriety. In another direction, amid the rugged precipices, Mr. C. pointed out the residences of a number of poor white families, whom he described as the most degraded, vicious, and aban- doned people in the island—" very far below the negroes." They live promiscuously, are drunken, licentious, and poverty- stricken,—a body of most squalid and miserable human beings. From the height on which we stood, we could see the ocean nearly around the island, and on our rght and left, overlooking the basin below us, rose the two highest, points of land of which r 180 BARBADOS. Barbados can boast. The white marl about their naked tops gives them a bleak and desolate appearance, which contrasts gloomily with the verdure of the surrounding cultivation. After we had fully gratified ourselves with viewing the minia- ture representation of old Scotia, we descended again into the road, and returned to Lear's. We passed numbers of men and women going towards town with loads of various kinds of pro- visions on their heads. Some were black, and others white—of the same class whose huts had just been shown us amid the hills and ravines of Scotland. We observed that the latter were barefoot, and carried their loads on their heads precisely like the former. As we passed these busy pedestrians, the blacks almost uniformly courtesied or spoke; but the whites did not appear to notice us. Mr. C. inquired whether we were not struck with this difference in the conduct of the two people, remarking that he had always observed it. It is very seldom, said he, that I meet a negro who does not speak to me polite- ly; but this class of whites either pass along without looking up, or cast a half vacant, rude stare into one's face, without opening their mouths. Yet this people, he added, veriest raggamuffins as they are, despise the negroes, and consider it quite degrad- ing to put themselves on terms of equality with them. They will beg of blacks more provident and industrious than them- selves, or they will steal their poultry and rob their provision grounds at night; but they would disdain to associate with them. Doubtless these sansculottes swell in their dangling rags with the haughty consciousness that they possess white skins. What proud reflections they must have, as they pursue their bare- foot way, thinking on their high lineage, and running back through the long line of their illustrious ancestry, whose notable badge was a white skin! No wonder they cannot stop to bow to the passing stranger. These sprouts of the Caucasian race are known among the Barbadians by the rather ungracious name of Red Shanics. They are considered the pest of the island, and are far more troublesome to the police, in proportion to their num- bers, than the apprentices. They are estimated at about eight thousand. The origin of this population we learned was the following: It BARBADOS. 181 has long been a law in Barbados, that each proprietor should provide a white man for every sixty slaves in his possession, and give bin an acre of land, a house, and arms requisite for defence of the island in case of insurrection. This caused an importation of poor whites from Ireland and England, and their number has been gradually increasing until the present time. During our stay of nearly two days with Mr. C., there was nothing to which he so often alluded as to the security from danger which was now enjoyed by the planters. As he sat in his parlor, surrounded by his affectionate family, the sense of personal and domestic security appeared to be a luxury to him. He re- peatedly expressed himself substantially thus : " During the exis- tence of slavery, how often navel retired to bed fearing that I should have my throat cut before morning, but now the danger is all over." ti We took leave of Lear's, after a protracted visit, not without a pressing invitation from Mr. C. to call again. SECOND VISIT TO LEAB's. The following week, on Saturday afternoon, we received a note from Mr. Ct, inviting us to spend the Sabbath at Lear's, where we might attend service at a neighboring chapel, and see a congregation composed chiefly of apprentices. On our arrival, we received a welcome from the residents, which reassured us of their sympathy in our object We joined the family circle around the centre table, and spent the evening in free conversa- tion on the subject of slavery. During the evening Mr. C. stated, that he had lately met with a planter who, for some years previous to emancipation, and in- deed up to the very event, maintained that it was utterly impos- sible for such a thing ever to take place. The mother country, he said, could not be so mad as to take a step which must inevit- ably ruin the colonies. Now, said Mr. C, this planter would be one of the last in the island to vote for a restoration of slavery; nay, he even wishes to have the apprenticeship terminated at once, and entire freedom given to the people. Such changes as this were very common. 16 182 BARBADOS. Mr. C. remarked that during slavery, if the negro ventured to express an opinion about any point of management, he was met at once with a reprimand. If one should say, " I think such a course would be best," or, « Such a field of cane is fit for cut- ting," the reply would be, " Think ! you have no right to think any thing about it . Do as I bid you." Mr. C. confessed frank- ly, that he had often used such language himself. Yet at the same time that he affected such contempt for the opinions of the slaves, he used to go around secretly among the negro houses at night to overhear their conversation, and ascertain their views. Sometimes he received very valuable suggestions from them, which he was glad to avail himself of, though he was careful not to acknowledge their origin. Soon after supper, Miss E., one of Mr. C.'s daughters, retired for the purpose of teaching a class of colored children which came to her on Wednesday and Saturday nights. A sister of Miss E. has a class on the same days at noon. During the evening we requested the favor of seeing Miss E.'s school. We were conducted by a flight of stairs into the base- ment story, where we found her sitting in a small recess, and surrounded by a dozen negro girls, from the ages of eight to fifteen. She was instructing them from the Testament, which most of them could read fluently. She afterwards heard them recite some passages which they had committed to memory, and interspersed the recitations with appropriate remarks of ad- vice and exhortation. At ten o'clock on Sabbath morning, we drove to the chapel of the parish, which is a mile and a half from Lear's. It con- tains seats for five hundred persons. The body of the house is appropriated to the apprentices. There were upwards of four hundred persons, mostly apprentices, present, and a more quiet and attentive congregation we have seldom seen. The people were neatly dressed. A great number of the men wore black or blue cloth. The females were generally dressed in white. The choir was composed entirely of blacks, and sung with character- istic excellence. There was so much intelligence in the countenances of the people, that we could scarcely believe we were looking on a con- gregation of lately emancipated slaves. BARBADOS. 183 We returned to Lear's. Mr. C. noticed the change which has taken place in the observance of the Sabbath since emanci- pation. Formerly the smoke would be often seen at this time of clay pouring from the chimneys of the boiling-houses; but such a sight has not been seen since slavery disappeared. Sunday used to be the day for the negroes to work on their grounds; now it is a rare thing for them to do so. Sunday mar- kets also prevailed throughout the island, until the abolition of slavery. He said " I sometimes wonder, at myself, when I think how long I was connected with slavery; but self-interest and custom blinded me to its enormities." Taking a short walk towards sunset, we found ourselves on the margin of a beautiful pond, in which myriads of small gold fishes were disporting—now cir- cling about in rapid evolutions, and anon leaping above the sur- face, and displaying their brilliant sides in the rays of the setting sun. When we had watched for some moments their happy gambols, Mr. C. turned around and broke a twig from a bush that stood behind us ; "there is a bush," said he, " which has commu- ted many a murder." On requesting him to explain, he said, that the root of it was a deadly poison, and that the slave women used to make a decoction of it and give to their infants to de- stroy them; many a child had been murdered in this way. Mothers would kill their children, rather than see them grow up to be slaves. "Ah," he continued, in a solemn tone, pausing a moment and looking at us in a most earnest manner, " I could write a book about the evils of slavery. I could write a book about these things." What a volume of blackness and blood !* *We are here reminded of a fact stated by Mr. C. on another occasion. He said that he once attended at the death of a planter who had been noted for his severity to his slaves. It was the most horrid scene he ever witnessed. For hours before his death he was in the extremest agony, and the only words which he uttered were, " Africa, O Africa!" These words he repeated every few minutes, till he died. And such a ghastly countenance, such dis- tortions of the muscles, such a hellish glare of the eye, and such, convulsions of the body—it made him shudder to think of them. 184 BARBADOS. When we arose on Monday morning, the day-light had scarcely broken. On looking out of the window, we saw the mill slowly moving in the wind, and the field gang were going out to their daily work. Surely, we thought, this does not look much like the laziness and insubordination of freed negroes. After dressing, we walked down to the mill, to have some con- versation with the people. They all bade us a cordial " good mornin'." The tender of the mill was an old man, whose de- spised locks were gray and thin, and on whose brow the hands of time and sorrow had written many effaceless lines. He ap- peared hale and cheerful, and answered our questions in distinct intelligible language. We asked him how they were all getting along under the new system. "Very well massa," said he, "very well, thank God. All peaceable and good." "Do you like the apprenticeship better than slavery V " Great deal bet- ter, massa ; we is doing well now." "You like the apprentice- ship as well as freedom, don't you V "O no, me massa, free- dom till better." "What will you do when you are entirely free V "We must work; all have to work when de free come, white and black." "You are old, and will not enjoy freedom long; why do you wish for freedom then V "Me want to die free, massa—it good ting to die free, and me want to see children free too." We continued at Lear's during Monday, to be in readiness for a tour to the windward of the island, which Mr. C. had pro- jected for us, and on which we were to set out early the next morning. In the course of the day we had opportunities of see- ing the apprentices in almost every situation—in the field, at the mill, in the boiling-house, moving to and from work, and at rest. In every aspect in which we viewed them, they appeared cheer- ful, amiable, and easy of control. It was admirable to see with what ease and regularity every thing moved. An estate of nearly seven hundred acres, with extensive agriculture, and a large manufactory and distillery, employing three hundred ap- prentices, and supporting twenty-five horses, one hundred and thirty head of horned cattle, and hogs, sheep, and poultry in pro- portion, is manifestly a most complicated machinery. No wonder BARBADOS. 185 it should have been difficult to manage during slavery, when the main spring was absent, and every wheel out of gear. We saw the apprentices assembled after twelve o'clock, to receive their allowances of yams. These provisions are dis- tributed to them twice every week—on Monday and Thursday. They were strewed along the yard in heaps of fifteen pounds each. The apprentices came with baskets to get their allow- ances. It resembled a market scene—much chattering and talking, but no anger. Each man, woman, and child, as they got their baskets filled, placed them on their heads, and marched off to their several huts. On Tuesday morning, at an early hour, Mr. C. took us in his phaeton on our projected excursion. It was a beautiful morn- ing. There was a full breeze from the east, which had already started the ponderous wings of the windmills in every direction. The sun was shaded by light clouds, which rendered the air quite cool. Crossing the rich valley in which the Belle estate and other noble properties are situated, we ascended the cliffs of St. John's—a high ridge extending through the parish of that name—and as we rode along its top, eastward, we had a delight- ful view of sea and land. Below us on either hand lay vast estates glowing in the verdure of summer, and on three sides in the distance stretched the ocean. Rich swells of land, cultivated and blooming like a vast garden, extended to the north as far as the eye could reach, and on every other side down to the water's edge. One who has been accustomed to the wildness of American scenery, and to the imperfect cultivation, inter- cepted with woodland, which yet characterizes even the oldest portions of the United States, might revel for a time amid the sunny meadows, the waving cane-fields, the verdant provision grounds, the acres of rich black soil without a blade of grass, and divided into holes two feet square for the cane-plants, with the precision almost of the cells of a honey-comb; and withal he might be charmed with the luxurious mansions—more luxu- rious than superb—surrounded with the white cedar, the cocoa- nut tree, and the talL rich mountain cabbage—the most beautiful *f all tropical trees; but perchance it would not require a very long excursion to weary him with the artificiality of the scenery, 16* 186 BARBADOS. and cause him to sigh for the "woods and wilds," the i' banks and braes" of his own majestic country. After an hour and a half's drive, we reached Colliton estate, where we were engaged to breakfast. We met a hearty wel- come from the manager, Samuel Hinkston, Esq. We were soon joined by several gentlemen whom Mr. H. had invited to take breakfast with us; these were the Rev. Mr. Gittens, rector of St. Philip's parish, (in which Colliton estate is situated,) and member of the colonial council; Mr. Thomas, an extensive attor- ney of Barbados; and Dr. Bell, a planter of Demerara—then on a visit to the island. We conversed with each of the gen- tlemen separately, and obtained their individual views respecting emancipation. Mr. Hinkston has been a planter for thirty-six years, and is highly esteemed throughout the island. The estate which he manages ranks among the first in the island. It comprises six hundred acres of superior land, has a population of two hundred apprentices, and yields an average crop of one hundred and eighty hogsheads. Together with his long experience and standing as a planter, Mr. H. has been for many years local magistrate for the parish in which he resides. From these cir- cumstances combined, we are induced to give his opinions on a variety of points. 1. He remarked that the planters were getting along infinitely better under the new system than they ever did under the old. Instead of regretting that the change had taken place, he is looking forward with pleasure to a better change in 1840, and he only regrets that it is not to come sooner. 2. Mr. H. said it was generally conceded that the island was never under better cultivation than at the present time. The crops for this year will exceed the average by several thousand hogsheads. The canes were planted in good season, and well attended to afterwards. 3. Real estate has risen very much since emancipation. Mr. H. stated that he had lately purchased a small sugar estate, for which he was obliged to give several hundred pounds more than it would have cost him before 1834. * 4. There is not the least sense of insecurity now. Before BARBADOS. 187 emancipation there was much fear of insurrection, but that fear passed away with slavery. 5. The prospect for 1840 is good. That people have no fear of ruin after emancipation, is proved by the building of sugar- works on estates which never had any before, and which were obliged to cart their canes to neighboring estates to have them ground and manufactured. There are also numerous improve- ments making on the larger estates. Mr. H. is preparing to make a new mill and boiling-house on Colliton, and other plant- ers are doing the same. Arrangements are making too in various directions to build new negro villages on a more commo- dious plan. 6. Mr. H. says he finds his apprentices perfectly ready to work for wages during their own time. Whenever he needs their labor on Saturday, he has only to ask them, and they are ready to go to the mill or the field at once. There has not been an instance on Colliton estate in which the apprentices have refused to work, either during the hours required by law, or during their own time. When he does not need their ser- vices rai Saturday, they either hire themselves to other estates, or work on their own grounds. 7. Mr. H. was ready to say, both as a planter and a magis- trate, that vice and crime generally had decreased, and were still on the decrease. Petty thefts are the principal offences. He has not had occasion to send a single apprentice to the court of sessions for the last six months. 8. He has no difficulty in managing his people—far less than he did when they were slaves. It is very seldom that he finds it necessary to call in the aid of the special magis- trate. Conciliatory treatment is generally sufficient to maintain order and industry among the apprentices. 9. He affirms that the negroes have no disposition to be re- vengeful. He has never seen any thing like revenge. 10. His people are as far removed from insolence as from vin- dictiveness. They have been uniformly civil. 11. His apprentices have more interest in the affairs of the estate, and he puts more confidence in them than he ever did before. 18S BARBADOS. 12. He declares that the working of the apprenticeship, as also that of entire freedom, depends entirely on the planters. If they act with common humanity and reason, there is no fear but that the apprentices will be peaceable. Mr. Thomas is attorney for fifteen estates, on which there are upwards of two thousand five hundred apprentices. We were informed that he had been distinguished as a severe dis- ciplinarian under the old reign, or in plain terms, had been a cruel man and a hard driver; but he was one of those who, since emancipation, have happily conformed their mode of treatment to the new system. In reply to our inquiry how the present system was working, he said, "infinitely better (such was his language) than slavery. I succeed better on all the estates under my charge than I did formerly. I have far less difficulty with the people. I have no reason to com- plain of their conduct. However, I think they will do still better after 1840." We made some inquiries of Dr. Bell concerning the results of abolition in Demcrara. He gave a decidedly flattering ac- count of the working of the apprenticeship system. No fears are entertained that Demerara will be ruined after 1840. On the contrary, it will be greatly benefited by emancipation. It is now suffering from a want of laborers, and after 1840 there will be an increased emigration to that colony from the older and less productive colonies. The planters of Demerara are making arrangements for cultivating sugar on a larger scale than ever before. Estates are selling at very high prices. Every thing indicates the fullest confidence on the part of the planters that the prosperity of the colony will not only be perma- nent, but progressive. After breakfast we proceeded to the Society's estate. We were glad to see this estate, as its history is peculiar. In 1726 it was bequeathed by General Coddrington to a society in England called "The Society for the promotion of Christian Knowledge." The proceeds of the estate were to be applied to the support of an institution in Barbados, for educating missionaries of the es- tablished order. Some of the provisions of the will were, that the estate should always have three hundred slaves upon it; BAEBADOS. 189 that it should support a school for the education of the negro children, who were to be taught a portion of every day until they were twelve years old, when they were to go into the field; and that there should be a chapel built upon it. The negroes belonging to the estate have for upwards of a hundred years been under this kind of instruction. They have all been taught to read, though in many instances they have forgotten all they learned, having no opportunity to improve after they left school. They enjoy some other comforts peculiar to the Society's estate. They have neat cottages built apart—each-on a half-acre lot, which belongs to the apprentice, and for the cultivation of which he is allowed one day out of the five working days. Another peculiarity is, that the men and women work in separate gangs. At this estate we procured horses to ride to the College. We rode by the chapel and school-house belonging to the Society's estate, which are situated on the brow of a high hill. From the same hill we caught a view of Coddrington college, which is situated on a low bottom extending from the foot of the rocky cliff on which we stood to the sea shore, a space of a quarter of a mile. It is a long, narrow, ill-constructed edifice. We called on the principal, Rev. Mr. Jones, who received us very cordially, and conducted us over the buildings and the grounds connected with them. The college is large enough to accommodate a hundred students. It is fitted out with lodging- rooms, various professors' departments, dining hall, chapel, libra- ry, and all the appurtenances of a university. The number of students at the close of the last term was fifteen. The professors, two in number, are supported by a fund, con- sisting of £40,000 sterling, which has in part accumulated from the revenue" of the estate. The principal spoke favorably of the operation of the appren- ticeship in Barbados, and gave the negroes a decided superiority over the lower class of whites. He had seen only one colored beggar since he came to the island, but he was infested with multitudes of white ones. It is intended to improve the college buildings as soon as the toil of apprentices on the Society's estate furnishes the requisite means. This robbing of God's image to promote education is 100 BARBADOS. horrible enough; taking the wages of slavery to spread the kingdom of Christ! On re-ascending the hill, we called at the Society's school. There are usually in attendance about one hundred children, since the abolition of slavery. Near the school-house is the chapel of the estate, a neat building, capable of holding three or four hundred people. Adjacent to the chapel is the burial- ground for the negroes belonging to the Society's estate. We noticed several neat tombs, which appeared to have been erected only a short time previous . They were built of brick, and covered over with lime, so as to resemble white marble slabs. On being told that these were erected by the negroes themselves over the bodies of their friends, we could not fail to note bo beautiful an evidence of their civilization and humanity. We returned to the Society's estate, where we exchanged our saddles for the phaeton, and proceeded on our eastward tour. Mr. C. took us out of the way a few miles to show us one of the few curiosities of which Barbados can boast . It is called the "Horse." The shore for some distance is a high and pre- cipitous ledge of rocks, which overhangs the sea in broken cliffs. In one place a huge mass has been riven from the main body of rock and fallen into the sea. Other huge fragments have been broken off in the same manner. In the midst of these, a number of steps have been cut in the rock for the purpose of descending to the sea. At the bottom of these steps there is a broad platform of solid rock, where one may stand se- curely, and hear the waves breaking around him like heavy thunders. Through the fissures we could see the foam and spray mingling with the blue of the ocean, and .flashing in the sunshine. To the right, between the largest rock and the main land, there is a chamber of about ten feet wide and twenty feet long. The fragment, which forms one of its sides, leans towards the main rock, and touches it at top, forming a roof, with here and there a fissure, through which the light enters. At the bottom of the room there is a clear bed of water, which communicates with the sea by a small aperture under the rock. It is as placid as a summer pond, and is fitted with steps for a BARBADOS. 191 bathing place. Bathe, truly! with the sea ever dashing against the side, and roaring and reverberating with deafening echo. On a granite slab, fixed in the side of the rock at the bottom of the first descent, is an inscription. Time has very much effaced the letters, but by the aid of Mr. C.'s memory, we succeeded in deciphering them. They will serve as the hundred and first ex- emplification of the Bonapartean maxim—" There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous." "In this remote, and hoarse resounding place, Which billows clash, and craggy cliffs embrace, These bubbling springe amid such horrors rise, But armed with virtue, horrors we despise, Bathe undismayed, nor dread the impending rock, 'Tis virtue shields us from each adverse shock. OENIO LOCI SACRUM POSUIT. J. R. MARTIS MEN8E 1769." From the » Crane," which is the name given to that section of the country in which the '• Horse" is situated, we bent our way in a southerly direction to the Ridge estate, which was about eight miles distant, where we had engaged to dine. On the way we passed an estate which had just been on fire. The apprentices, fearing lest their houses should be burnt, had carried away all the moveables from them, and deposited them in separate heaps, on a newly ploughed field. The very doors and window shutters had been torn off and carried into the field, several acres of which were strewed over with piles of such furniture. Mr. C. was scarcely less struck with this scene than we were, and he assured us that he had never known such providence manifested on a similar occasion during slavery. At the Ridge estate we met Mr. Clarke, manager at Staple Grove estate, Mr. Applewhitte of Carton, and a brother of Mr. C. The manager, Mr. Cecil, received us with the customary cordi- ality. Mr. Clarke is the manager of an estate on which there are two hundred apprentices. His testimony was, that the estate was 192 BARBADOS. better cultivated since abolition than before, and that it is far easier to control the laborers, and secure uniformity of labor un- der the present system. He qualified this remark, by saying, that if harsh or violent measures were used, there would be more difficulty now than during slavery; but kind treatment and a con- ciliatory spirit never failed to secure peace and industry. At the time of abolition, Mr. C. owned ten slaves, whom he entirely emancipated. Some of these still remain with him as domestics; others are hired on an adjoining estate. One of those who left him to work on another estate, said to him, "Massa, whenever you want anybody to help you, send to me, and I'll come. It makes no odds when it is—I'll be ready at any time." Mr. C. declared himself thoroughly convinced of the propriety of immediate eman- cipation, though he was once a violent opposer of abolition. He said, that if he had the power, he would emancipate every appren- tice on his estate to-morrow. As we were in the sugar-house examining the quality of the sugar, Mr. C. turned to one of us, and putting his hand on a hogshead, said," You do not raise this article in your state, (Kentucky,) I believe." On being answer- ed in the negative, he continued, " Well, we will excuse you, then, somewhat in your state—you cant't treat your slaves so cruelly there. This, this is the dreadful thing! Wherever sugar is cul- tivated by slaves, there is extreme suffering." Mr. Applewhitte said emphatically, that there was no danger in entire emancipation. He was the proprietor of more than a hun- dred apprentices, and he would like to see them free all at once. During a long sitting at the dinner table, emancipation was the topic, and we were gratified with the perfect unanimity of senti- ment among these planters. After the cloth was removed, and we were about leaving the table, Mr. Clarke begged leave to pro- pose a toast Accordingly, the glasses of the planters were once more filled, and Mr. C, bowing to us, gave our health, and « suc- cess to our laudable undertaking"—« most laudable undertaking," added Mr. Applewhitte, and the glasses were emptied. Had the glasses contained water instead of wine, our gratification would have been complete. It was a thing altogether beyond our most sanguine expectations, that a company of planters, all of whom i BARBADOS. 193 were but three years previous the actual oppressors of the slave, should be found wishing success to the cause of emancipation. At half-past eight o'clock, we resumed our seats in Mr. C.'a phaeton, and by the nearest route across the country, returned to Lear's. Mr. C. entertained us by the way with eulogies upon the industry and faithfulness of his apprentices. It was, he said, one of the greatest pleasures he experienced, to visit the different estates under his charge, and witness the respect and affection which the apprentices entertained towards him. Their joyful welcome, their kind attentions during his stay with them, and their hearty 'good-bye, massa,' when he left, delighted him. VISIT TO COLOHEL ASHBt's. We were kindly invited to spend a day at the mansion of Co- lonel Ashby, an aged and experienced planter, who is the proprie- tor of the estate on which he resides. Colonel A.'s estate is situat- ed in the parish of Christ Church, and is almost on the extreme point of a promontory, which forms the southernmost part of the island. An early and pleasant drive of nine miles from Bridge- town, along the southeastern coast of the island, brought us to his residence. Colonel A. is a native of Barbados, has been a prac- tical planter smce 1795, and for a long time a colonial magistrate and commander of the parish troops. His present estate contains three hundred and fifty acres, and has upon it two hundred and thirty apprentices, and a large number of free children. His aver- age crop is eighty large hogsheads. Colonel A remarked to us, that he had witnessed many cruelties and enormities under " the reign of terror." He said, that the abolition of slavery had been an in- calculable blessing, but added, that he had not always entertain- ed the same views respecting emancipation. Before it took place, he was a violent opposer of any measure tending to abolition. He regarded the English abolitionists, and the anti-slavery members in parliament, with unmingled hatred. He had often cursed Wil- berforce most bitterly, and thought that no doom, either in this life, or in the life to come, was too bad for him. "But," he exclaimed, * how mistaken I was about thatman—I am convinced of it now— O he was a good man—a noble philanthropist—if there is a chair 17 194 BARBADOS. in heaven, Wilberforce is in it.'" Colonel A. is somewhat scep- tical, which will account for his hypothetical manner of speaking about heaven. He said that he found no trouble in managing his apprentices. As local or colonial magistrate, in which capacity he still con- tinued to act, he had no cases of serious crime to adjudicate, and very few cases of petty misdemeanor. Colonel A. stated empha- tically, that the negroes were not disposed to leave their employ- ment, unless the master was intolerably passionate and hard with them; as for himself, he did not fear losing a single laborer after 1840. He dwelt much on the trustiness and strong attachment of the negroes, where they are well treated. There were no people in the world that he would trust his property or life with sooner than negroes, provided he had the previous management of them long enough to secure their confidence. He stated the following fact in confirmation of this sentiment. During the memorable insurrec- tion of 1816, by which the neighboring parishes were dreadfully ravaged, he was suddenly called from home on military duty. Af- ter he had proceeded some distance, he recollected that he had left five thousand dollars in an open desk at home. He immedi- ately told the fact to his slave who was with him, and sent him back to take care of it. He knew nothing more of his money until the rebellion was quelled, and peace restored. On return- ing home, the slave led him to a cocoa-nut tree near by the house, and dug up the money, which he had buried under its roots. He found the whole sum secure. The negro, he said, might have taken the money, and he would never have suspect- ed him, but would have concluded that it had been with other larger sums, seized upon by the insurgents. Colonel A. said that it was impossible for him to mistrust negroes as a body. He spoke in terms of praise also of the conjugal attachment of the negroes. His son, a merchant, stated a fact on this subject. The wife of a negro man whom he knew, became afflicted with that loathsome disease, the leprosy. The man continued to live with her, notwithstanding the disease was universally considered con- tagious, and was pecuilarly dreaded by the negroes. The man, on being asked why he lived with his wife under such circum- BARBADOS. 105 stances, said, that he had lived with her when she was well, and he could not bear to forsake her when she was in distress. Colonel A. made numerous inquiries respecting slavery in America. He said there would certainly be insurrections in the slaveholding states, unless slavery was abolished. Nothing but abolition could put an end to insurrections. Mr. Thomas, a neighboring planter, dined with us. He had not carried a complaint to the special magistrate against his appren- tices for six months. He remarked particularly that emancipa- tion had been a great blessing to the master; it brought free- dom to hiin as well as to the slave. A few days subsequently to our visit to Colonel A.'s, the Reverend Mr. Packer, of the Established Church, called at our lodgings, and introduced a planter from the parish of St. Thomas. The planter is proprietor of an estate, and has eighty appren- tices. His apprentices conduct themselves very satisfactorily, and he had not carried a half dozen complaints to the special magistrate since 1884. He said that cases of crime were very rare, as he had opportunity of knowing, being local magis- trate. There were almost no penal offences brought before him. Many of the apprentices of St. Thomas parish were buying their freedom, and there were several cases of appraise- ment* every week. vThe Monday previous, six cases came before him, in four of which the apprentices paid the money on the spot. Before tins gentleman left, the Rev. Mr. C. called in with Mr. Pigeot, another planter, with whom we had a long con- versation. Mr. P. has been a manager for many years. We had heard of him previously as the only planter in the island who had made an experiment in task work prior to abolition. He tried it for twenty months before that period on an estate of four hundred acres and two hundred people. His plan was simply to give each slave an ordinary day's work for a task; and after that was performed, the remainder of the * When an apprentice signifies his wish to purchase his free- dom, he applies to the magistrate for an appraisement. The ap- praisement is made by one special and two local magistrates. 196 BARBADOS. time, if any, belonged to the slave. No wages toere allowed. The gang were expected to accomplish just as much as they did before, and to do it as well, however long a time it might require; and if they could finish in half a day, the other half was their own, and they might employ it as they saw fit. Mr. P. said, he was very soon convinced of the good policy of the system; though he had one of the most unruly gangs of negroes to manage in the whole island. The results of the experiment he stated to be these: 1. The usual day's work was done generally before the middle of the afternoon. Sometimes it was completed in five hours. 2. The work was done as well as it was ever done under the old system. Indeed, the estate continued to improve in cultivation, and presented a far better appearance at the close of the twenty months, than when he took the charge of it. 3. The trouble of management was greatly diminished. Mr. P. was almost entirely released from the care of over- seeing the work; he could trust it to the slaves. 4. The whip was entirely laid aside. The idea of having a part of the day which they could call their own, and employ for their own interests, was stimulus enough for the slaves without resorting to the whip. 5. The time gained was not spent (as many feared and prophesied it would be) either in mischief or indolence. It was diligently improved in cultivating their provision grounds, or working for wages on neighboring estates. Frequently a man and his wife would commence early and work together until they got the work of both so far advanced that the roan could finish it alone before night; and then the woman would gather up a load of yams and start for the market. 6. The condition of the people improved astonishingly. They became one of the most industrious and orderly gangs in the parish. Under the former system they were considered inade- quate to do the work of the estate, and the manager was obliged to hire additional hands every year, to take off the crop; but Mr. P. never hired any, though he made as large crops as were made formerly. BARBADOS. 197 7. After the abolition of slavery, bis people chose to continue on the same system of task work. Mr. P. stated that the planters were universally opposed to his experiment. They laughed at the idea of making negroes work without using trie whip; and they all prophesied that it would prove an utter failure. After some months' successful trial, he asked some of his neighbor planters what they thought of it then, and he appealed to them to say whether he did not get his work done as thoroughly and seasonably as they did theirs. They were compelled to admit vit; but still they were opposed to his system, even more than ever. They called it an innovation.—it was setting a bad example; and they honestly de- clared that they did not wish the slaves to have any time of their own. Mr. P. said, he was first induced to try the system of task work from a consideration that the negroes were men as well as himself, and deserved to be dealt with as liberally as their relation would allow. He soon found that what was in- tended as a favor to the slaves was really a benefit to the mas- ter. Mr. P. was persuaded that entire freedom would be better for all parties than apprenticeship. He had heard some fears expressed concerning the fate of the island after 1840; but he considered them very absurd. Although this planter looked forward with sanguine hopes to 1840, yet he would freely say that he did not think the appren- ticeship would be any preparation for entire freedom. The single object with'the great majority of the planters seemed to be to get as much out of the apprentices as they possibly could during the term. No attention had been paid to preparing the apprentices for freedom. We were introduced to a planter who was notorious during the reign of slavery for the strictness of his discipline, to use the Barbadian phrase, or, in plain English, for his rigorous treatment and his cruelty. He is the proprietor of three sugar estates and one cotton plantation in Barbados, on all of which there are seven hundred apprentices. He was a luxurious looking personage, bottle- cheeked and huge i' the midst, and had grown fat on slavehold- ing indulgences. He mingled with every sentence he uttered 17* 108 BARBADOS. some profane expression, or solemn appeal to his "honor," and seemed to be greatly delighted with hearing himself talk. He displayed all those prejudices which might naturally be looked for in a mind educated and trained as his had been. As to the conduct of the apprentices, he said they were peaceable and industrious, and mostly well disposed. But after all, the negroes were a perverse race of people. It was a singular fact, he said, that the severer the master the better the apprentices. When the master was mild and indulgent, they were sure to be lazy, insolent, and unfaithful. He knew this by experience; this was the case with his apprentices. His house-servants especially were very bad. But there was one complaint he had against them all, domestics and praedials—they always hold him to the letter of the law, and are ready to arraign him before the special magistrate for every infraction of it on his part, however tri- fling. How ungrateful, truly! After being provided for with parental care from earliest infancy, and supplied yearly with two suits of clothes, and as many yams as they could eat, and only having to work thirteen or fifteen hours per day in return; and now when they are no longer slaves, and new privileges are conferred, to exact them to the full extent of the law which secures them—what ingratitude! How soon are the kindnesses of the past, and the hand that bestowed them, forgotten! Had these people possessed the sentiments of human beings, they would have been willing to take the boon of freedom and lay it at their master's feet, dedicating the remainder of their days to his discretionary service! But with all his violent prejudices, this planter stated some facts which are highly favorable to the apprentices. 1. He frankly acknowledged that his estates were never tmder better cultivation than at the present time: and he could say the same of the estates throughout the island. The largest crops that have ever been made, will be realized this year. 2. The apprentices are generally willing to work on the es- tates on Saturday whenever their labor is needed. 3. The females are very much disposed to abandon field labor. He has great difficulty sometimes in inducing them to take their hoes and go out to the field along with the men; it BARBADOS. 199 was the case particularly with the mothers! This he regarded as a sore evil! 4. The free children he represented as being in a wretched condition. Their parents have the entire management of them, and they are utterly opposed to having them employed on the estates. He condemned severely the course taken in a particu- lar instance by the late Governor, Sir Lionel Smith. He took it upon himself to go around the island and advise the parents never to bind their children in any kind of apprenticeship to the planters. He told them that sooner than involve their free children in any way, they ought to "work their own fingers to the stubs." The consequence of this imprudent measure, said our informant, is that the planters have no control over the child- ren born on their estates; and in many instances their parents • have sent them away lest their residence on the property should, by 6ome chance, give the planter a claim upon their services. Under the good old system the young children were placed to- gether under the charge of some superannuated women, who were fit for nothing else, and the mothers went into the field to work ; now the nursery is broken up, and the mothers spend half of their time "in taking care of their brats." 5. As to the management of the working people, there need not be any more difficulty now than during slavery. If the ma- gistrates, instead of encouraging the apprentices to complain and be insolent, would join their influence to support the author- ity of the planters, things might go on nearly as smoothly as before. In company with Rev. Mr. Packer, late Rector of St . Thomas, we rode out to the Belle estate, which is considered one of the finest in the island. Mr. Marshall, the manager, received us cordially. He was selected, with two others, by Sir Lionel Smith, to draw up a scale of labor for general use in the island. There are five hundred acres in the estate, and two hundred and thirty-five apprenticed laborers. The manager stated that every thing was working well on his property. He corroborated the statements made by other planters with regard to the con- duct of the apprentices. On one point he said the planters had found themselves greatly disappointed. It was feared that after 200 BARBADOS. emancipation the negroes would be very much averse to culti- vating cane, as it was supposed that nothing but the whip could induce them to perform that species of labor. But the truth is, they now not only cultivate the estate lands better than they did when under the lash, but also cultivate a third of their half- acre allotments in cane on their own accounts. They would plant the whole in-cane if they were not discouraged by the planter, whose principal objection to their doing so is that it would lead to the entire neglect of provision cultivation. The apprentices on Belle estate will make little short of one thousand dollars the present season by their sugar. Mr. M. stated that he was extensively acquainted with the cultivation of the island, and he knew that it was in a better condition than it had been for many years. There were twenty-four estates under the same attorneyship with the Belle, and they were all in the same prosperous condition. A short time before we left Barbados we received an invita- tion from Coi. Barro8", to breakfast with him at his residence on Edgecome estate—about eight miles from town. Mr. Cum- mins, a colored gentl' at in, a merchant of Bridgetown, and agent of Col. B., accompanied us. The proprietor of Edgecome is a native of Barbados, of pol- ished manners and very liberal views. He has travelled ex tensively, has held many important offices, and is generally con. sidered the cleverest man in the island. He is now a member of the council, and acting attorney for about twenty estates. He remarked that he had always desired emancipation, and had prepared himself for it; but that it had proved a greater bless- ing than he had expected. His apprentices did as much work as before, and it was done without the application of the whip. He had not had any cases of insubordination, and it was very seldom that he had any complaints to make to the special ma- gistrate. "The apprentices," said iie, "understand the mean- ing of law, and they regard its authority." He thought there was no such thing in the island as a sense of insecurity, either as respected person or property. Real estate had risen in value. Col. B. alluded to the expensiveness of slavery, remarking that after all that was expended in purchasing the slaves, it BARBADOS. 201 cost the proprietor as much to maintain them, as it would to hire free men. He spoke of the habit of exercising arbitrary power, which being in continual play up to the time of abolition, had become so strong that managers even yet gave way to it, and frequently punished their apprentices, in spite of all penal- ties. The fines inflicted throughout the island in 1836, upon planters, overseers, and others, for punishing apprentices, amounted to one thousand two hundred dollars. Col. B. said that he found the legal penalty so inadequate, that in his own practice he was obliged to resort to other means to deter his book-keepers and overseers from violence ; hence he discharged every man under his control who was known to strike an ap- prentice. He does not tlduk that the apprenticeship will be a means of preparing the negroes for freedom, nor does he believe that they need any preparation. He should have apprehended no danger, had emancipation taken place in 1834. At nine o'clock we sat down to breakfast. Our places were assigned at opposite sides of the table, between Col. B. and Mr. C. To an American eye, we presented a singular spectacle. A wealthy planter, a member of the legislative council, sitting at the breakfast table with a colored man, whose mother was a negress of the most unmitigated hue, and who himself showed a head of hair as curly as his mother's! But this colored guest was treated with all that courtesy and attention to which his intelligence, worth, and accomplished manners so justly entitle him. About noon, we left Edgecome, and drove two miles farther, to Horton—an estate owned by Poster Clarke, Esq., an attorney for twenty-two estates, who is now temporarily residing in Eng- land. The intelligent manager of Horton received us and our colored companion with characteristic hospitality. Like every one else, he told us that the apprenticeship was far better than slavery, though he was looking forward to the still better system, entire freedom. After we had taken a lunch, Mr. Cummins invited our host to take a seat with us in his carriage, and we drove across the country to Drax Hall. Drax Hall is the largest estate in the island, consisting of eight hundred acres. The manager of this 202 BARBADOS. estate confirmed the testimony of the Barbadian planters in every important particular. From Drax Hall we returned to Bridgetown, accompanied by our friend Cummins. CHAPTER II. TESTIMONY OF SPECIAL MAGISTRATES, POLICE OFFICERS, CLERGYMEN, AND MISSIONARIES. Next in weight to the testimony of the planters is that of the special magistrates. Being officially connected with the administration of the apprenticeship system, and the adjudicators in all difficulties between master and servant, their views of the system and of the conduct of the different parties, are entitled to special consideration. Our interviews with this class of men were frequent during our stay in the island. We found them uniformly ready to communicate information, and free to express their sentiments. In Barbados there are seven special magistrates, presiding over as many districts, marked A, B, C, &c, which include the whole of the apprentice population, praedial and non-praedial. These districts embrace an average of twelve thousand appren- tices—some more and some less. All the complaints and diffi- culties which arise among that number of apprentices and their masters, overseers and book-keepers, are brought before the single magistrate presiding in the district in which they occur. From the statement of this fact it will appear in the outset either that the special magistrates have an incalculable amount of busi- ness to transact, or that the conduct of the apprentices is wonder- fully peaceable. But more of this again. About a week following our first interview with his ex- cellency, Sir Evan McGregor, we received an invitation to dine at Government House with a company of gentle- men. On our arrival at six o'clock, we were conducted into a large ante-chamber above the dining-hall, where we were BARBADOS. 203 soon joined by the Solicitor-General, Hon. R. B. Clarke, Dr. Clarke, a physician, Maj. Colthurst, Capt . Hamilton, and Mr. Galloway, special magistrates. The appearance of the Gover- nor about an hour afterwards, was the signal for an adjournment to dinner. Slavery and emancipation were the engrossing topics during the evening. As our conversation was for the most part gene- ral, we were enabled to gather at the same time the opinions of all the persons present. There was, for aught we heard or could see to the contrary, an entire unanimity of sentiment. In the course of the evening we gathered the following facts and testimony: 1. All the company testified to the benefits of abolition. It was affirmed that the island was never in so prosperous a con- dition as at present. 2. The estates generally are better cultivated than they were during slavery. Said one of the magistrates: "If, gentlemen, you would see for yourselves the evidences of our successful cultivation, you need but to travel in any part of the country, and view the superabundant crops which are now being taken off; and if you would satisfy yourselves that emancipation has not been ruinous to Barbados, only cast your eyes over the land in any direction, and see the flourishing con- dition both of houses and fields: every thing is starting into new life." It was also stated that more work was done during the nine hours required by law, than was done during slavery in twelve or fifteen hours, with all the driving and goading which were then practised. 3. Offences have not increased, but rather lessened. The Solicitor-General remarked, that the comparative state of crime could not be ascertained by a mere reference to statistical re- cords, since previous to emancipation all offences were sum- marily punished by the planters. Each estate was a little des- potism, and the manager took cognizance of all the misdemean- ors committed among his slaves—inflicting such punishment as he thought proper. The public knew nothing about the offences of the slaves, unless something very atrocious was commit- 294 BARBADOS. ted. But since emancipation has taken place, all offences, hov» ever trivial, come to the light and are recorded. He could only give a judgment founded on observation. It was his opinion, that there were fewer petty offences, such as thefts, larcenies, &c., than during slavery. As for serious crime, it was hardly known in the island. The whites enjoy far greater safety ot person and property than they did formerly. Maj. Cplthurst, who is an Irishman, remarked, that he had long been a ' magistrate or justice of the peace in Ireland, and he was certain that at the present ratio of crime in Barbados, there would not, be as much perpetrated in six years to come, as there is in Ireland among an equal population in six months. For his part, he had never found in any part of the world so peaceable and inoffensive a community. 4. It was the unanimous testimony that there was no dispo- sition among the apprentices to revenge injuries committed against them. They are not a revengeful people, but on the con- trary are remarkable for forgetting wrongs particularly when they are succeeded by kindness. 5. The apprentices were described as being generally civil and respectful toward their employers. They were said to manifest more independence of feeling and action than they did when slaves; but were seldom known to be insolent unless grossly insulted or very harshly used. 6. Ample testimony was given to the law-abiding character of the negroes. When the apprenticeship system was first in- troduced, they did not comprehend its provisions, and as they had anticipated entire freedom, they were disappointed and dis- satisfied. But in a little while they became reconciled to the operations of the new system, and have since manifested a due subordination to the laws and authorities. 7. There is great desire manifested among them to purchase their freedom. Not a week passes without a number of ap- praisements. Those who have purchased their freedom have generally conducted well, and in many instances are laboring on the same estates on which they were slaves. 8. There is no difficulty in inducing the apprentices to work on Saturday. They are usually willing to work if proper wages BARBADOS. 205 are given them. If they are not needed on the estates, they either work on their own grounds, or on some neighboring estate. 9. The special magistrates were all of the opinion that it would have been entirely safe to have emancipated the slaves of Bar- bados in 1834. They did not believe that any preparation was needed; but that entire emancipation would have been decided- ly better than the apprenticeship. 10. The magistrates also stated that the number of complaints brought before them was comparatively small, and it was gradu- ally diminishing. The offences were of a very trival nature, mostly cases of slight insubordination, such as impertinent replies and disobedience of orders. 11. They stated that they had more trouble with petty over- seers and managers and small proprietors than with the entire black population. 12. The special magistrates further testified that wherever the planters have exercised common kindness and humanity, the apprentices have generally conducted peaceably. Whenever there are many complaints from one estate, it is presumable that the manager is a bad man. 13. Real estate is much higher throughout the island than it has been for many years. A magistrate said that he had heard of an estate which had been in market for ten years before abo- lition and could not find a purchaser. In 1835, the year follow- ing abolition, it was sold for one third more than was asked for it two years before. 14. It was stated that there was not a proprietor in the island, whose opinion was of any worth, who would wish to have slavery restorea. Those who were mostly bitterly opposed to abolition, have become reconciled, and are satisfied that the change has been beneficial. The Solicitor-General was candid enough to own that he himself was openly opposed to emancipation. He had declared publicly and repeatedly, while the measure was pending in Parliament, that abolition would ruin the colonies. But the results had proved so different that he was ashamed of his former forebodings He had no desire ever to see slavery re- established. 18 206 BARBADOS. 15. The first of August, 1834, was described as a day of re- markable quiet and tranquillity. The Solicitor-General remark- ed, that there were many fears for the results of that first day of abolition. He said he arose early that morning, and before eight o'clock rode through the most populous part of the island, over an extent of twelve miles. The negroes were all engaged in their work as on other days. A stranger riding through the island, and ignorant of the event which had taken place that morning, would have observed no indications of so extraordinary a change. He returned home satisfied that all would work well. 16. The change in 1840 was spoken of as being associated with the most sanguine expectations. It was thought that there was more danger to be apprehended from the change in 1838. It was stated that there were about fifteen thousand non-praedi- als, who would then be emancipated in Barbados. This will most bkely prove the occasion of much excitement and uneasi- ness, though it is not supposed that any thing serious will arise. The hope was expressed that the legislature would effect the emancipation of the whole population at that time. One of the magistrates informed us that he knew quite a number of planters in his district who were willing to liberate their apprentices im- mediately, but they were waiting for a general movement It was thought that this state of feeling was somewhat extensive. 17. The magistrates represented the negroes as naturally con- fiding and docile, yielding readily to the authority of those who are placed over them. Maj. Colthurst presides over a district of 9,000 apprentices; Capt. Hamilton over a district of 13,000; and Mr. Galloway over the same number. There are but three days in the week devoted to hearing and settling complaints. It is very evident that in so short a time it would be utterly im- possible for one man to control and keep in order such a number, unless the subjects were of themselves disposed to be peaceable and submissive. The magistrates informed us that notwith- standing the extent of their districts, they often did not have more than from a dozen to fifteen complaints in a week. We were highly gratified with the liberal spirit and the intel- ligence of the special magistrates. Major Colthurst is a gen- BARBADOS. 207 tleman of far more than ordinary pretensions to refinement and general information. He was in early life a justice of the peace in Ireland, he was afterwards a major in his Majesty's service, and withal, has been an extensive traveler. Fifteen years ago he traveled in the United States, and passed through several of the slaveholding states, where he was shocked with the abomi- nations of slavery. He was persuaded that slavery was worse in our country, than it has been for many years in the West Indies. Captain Hamilton was formerly an officer in the British navy. He seems quite devoted to his business, and attached to the in- terests of the apprentices. Mr. Galloway is a colored gentleman, highly respected for his talents. Mr. G. informed us that preju. dice against color was rapidly diminishing—and that the present Governor was doing all in his power to discountenance it. The company spoke repeatedly of the noble act of abolition, by which Great Britain had immortalized her name more than by all the achievements of her armies and navies. The warmest wishes were expressed for the abolition of sla- very in the United States. All said they should rejoice when the descendants of Great Britain should adopt the noble example of their mother country. They hailed the present anti-slavery movements. Said the Solicitor-General, "We were once strange- ly opposed to the English anti-slavery party, but now we sympa- thize with you. Since slavery is abolished in our own colonies, and we see the good which results from the measure, we go for abolition throughout the world. Go on, gentlemen, we are with 'you; we are all sailing in the same vessel." Being kindly invited by Captain Hamilton, during our inter- view with him at the Government House, to call on him and at- tend his court, we availed ourselves of his invitation a few days afterwards. We left Bridgetown after breakfast, and as it chanced to be Saturday, we had a fine opportunity of seeing the people coming into market. They were strung all along the road for six miles, so closely that there was scarcely a minute at any time in which we did not pass them. As far as the eye could reach there were files of men and women, moving peaceably forward. From the cross paths leading through the estates, the busy marketers were pouring into the high way. To their 208 BARBADOS. beads as usual was committed the safe conveyance of the various commodities. It was amusing to observe the almost intimte diversity of products which loaded them. There were sweet potatoes, yams, eddoes, Guinea and Indian corn, various fruits and berries, vegetables, nuts, cakes, bottled beer and empty bottles, bundles of sugar cane, bundles of fire wood, &c. &c . Here was one woman (the majority were females, as usu- al with the marketers in these islands) with a small black pig doubled up under her arm. Another girl had a brood of young chickens, with nest, coop, and all, on her head. Further along the road we were specially attracted by a woman who was trudging with an immense turkey elevated on her head. He quite filled the tray; head and tail projecting beyound its bounds. He ad- vanced, as was very proper, head foremost, and it was irresisti- bly laughable to see him ever and anon stretch out his neck and peep under the tray, as though ho would discover by what manner of locomotive it was that he got along so fast while his own legs were tied together. Of the hundreds whom we past, there were very few who were not well dressed, healthy, and apparently in good spirit?. We saw nothing indecorous, heard no vile language, and wit- nessed no violence. About four miles from town, we observed on the side of the road a small grove of shade trees. Numbers of the marketers were seated there, or lying in the cool shade with their trays beside them. It seemed to be a sort of rendezvous place, where those going to, and those returning from town, occasionally halt for a time for the purpose of resting, and to tell and hear news concerning the state of the market. And why should not these traveling merchants have an Exchange as well as the station- ary ones of Bridgetown? On reaching the station-house, which is about six miles from town, we learned that Saturday was not one of the court days. We accordingly drove to Captain Hamilton's residence. He stated that during the week he had only sir cases of complaint among the thirteen thousand apprentices embraced in his district. Saturday is the day set apart for the apprentices to visit him at his house for advice on any points connected with their dutie?. BARBADOS. 209 He had several calls while we were with him. One was from the mother of an apprentice girl who had been committed for injuring the master's son. She came to inform Captain H. that the girl had been whipped twice contrary to law, -before her commitment. Captain H. stated that the girl had said nothing about this at the time of her trial; if she had, she would in all probability have been set free, instead of being committed to prison. He remarked that he had no question but there were numerous cases of flogging on the estates which never came to light. The sufferers were afraid to inform against their mas- ters, lest they should be treated still worse. The opportunity which he gave them of coming to him one day in the week for private advice, was the means of exposing many outrages which would otherwise be unheard of. He observed that there were not a few whom he had liberated on account of the cruelty of their masters. Captain H. stated that the apprentices were much disposed to purchase their freedom. To obtain money to pay for them- selves they practice the most severe economy and self-denial in the very fewindulgences which the law grants them. They sometimes resort to deception to depreciate their value with the appraisers. He mentioned an instance of a man who had for many years been an overseer on a large estate. Wishing to purchase him- self, and knowing that his master valued him very highly, he permitted his beard to grow, gave his face a wrinkled and hag- gard appearance, and bound a handkerchief about his head. His clothes were suffered to become ragged and dirty, and he began to feign great weakness in his limbs, and to complain of a "misery all down his back." He soon appeared marked with all the signs of old age and decrepitude. In this plight, and leaning on a stick, he hobbled up to the station-house one day, and requested to be appraised. He was appraised at £10, which he immediately paid. A short time afterwards, he en- gaged himself to a proprietor to manage a small estate at £30 per year in cash and his own maintenance, all at onoe grew vigorous again, and is prospering finely. Many of the masters in turn practice deception to prevent the apprentices from buy- ing themselves, or to make them pay the very highest sum for 15* 210 BARBADOS. their freedom. They extol their virtues—they are every thing that is excellent and valuable—their services on the estate are indispensable—no one can fill their places. By such misrepre- sentations they often get an exorbitant price for the remainder of the term—more, sometimes, than they could have obtained for them for life while they were slaves. From Captain H.'s we returned to the station-house, the keep- er of which conducted us over the buildings, and showed us the cells of the prison. The house contains the office and private rooms of the magistrate, and the guard-room, below, and cham- bers for the police men above. There are sixteen solitary cells, and two large rooms for those condemned to hard labor—one for females and the other for males. There were at that time seven in the solitary cells, and twenty-four employed in labor on the roads. This is more than usual. The average number is twenty in all. When it is considered that most of the com- mitments are for trivial offences, and that the district contains thirteen thousand apprentices, certainly we have grounds to conclude that the state of morals in Barbados is decidedly superi- or to that in our own country. The whole police force for this district is composed of seven- teen horsemen, four footmen, a sergeant, and the keeper. It was formerly greater, but has been reduced within the past year. The keeper informed us that he found the apprentices, placed under his care, very easily controlled. They sometimes at- tempt to escape; but there has been no instance of revolt or in- subordination. The island, he said, was peaceable, and were it not for the petty complaints of the overseers, nearly the whole police force might be disbanded. As for insurrection, he laugh- ed at the idea of it. It was feared before abolition, but now no one thought of it. All but two or three of the policemen at this station are black and colored men. STATION-HOUSE AT DISTRICT A. Being disappointed m our expectations of witnessing some trials at the station-house in Captain Hamilton's district (B,) we visited the court in district A, where Major Colthurst pre- BARBADOS. 211 sides. Major C. was in the midst of a trial when we entered, and we did not learn fully the nature of the case then pend- ing. We were immediately invited within the bar, whence we had a fair view of all that passed. . There were several complaints made and tried, during our stay. We give a brief account of them, as they will serve as specimens of the cases usually brought before the special magis- trates. I. The first was a complaint made by a colored lady, apparently not more than twenty, against a colored girl—her domestic ap- prentice. The charge was insolence, and disobedience of orders. The complainant said that the girl was exceedingly in- solent-o-no one could imagine how insolent she had been—it was beyond endurance. She seemed wholly unable to find woids enough to express the superlative insolence of her servant. The justice requested her to particularize. Upon this, she brought out several specific charges, such as, first, That the girl brought a candle to her one evening, and wiped her greasy fingers on her (the girl's) gown; second. That one morning she refused to bring some warm water, as commanded, to pour on a piece of flannel, until she had finished some other work that she was doing at the time; third, That the same morning she de- layed coming into her chamber as usual to dress her, and when she did come, she sung, and on being told to shut her mouth, she replied that her mouth was her own, and that she would sing when she pleased; and fourth, That she had said in her mistress's hearing that she would be glad when she was freed. These several charges being sworn to, the girl was sentenced to four days solitary confinement, but at the request of her mistress, she was discharged on promise of amendment. II. The second complaint was against an apprentice-man by his master, for absence from work. He had leave to go to the funeral of his mother, and he did not return until after the time allowed him by his master. The man was sentenced to im- prisonment. III. The third complaint was against a woman for singing and making a disturbance in the field. Sentenced to six days' solitary confinement. 212 BARBADOS. IV. An apprentice was brought up for not doing his work well. He was a mason, and was employed in erecting an arch on one of the public roads. This case excited considerable interest. The apprentice was represented by his master to be a praedial— the master testified on oath that he was registered as a praedial; but in the course of the examination it was proved that he had always been a mason ; that he had labored at that trade from his boyhood, and that he knew ' nothing about the hoe,' having never worked an hour in the field. This was sufficient to prove that he was a non-praedial, and of course entitled to liberty two years sooner than he would have been as a praedial. As this matter came up incidentally, it enraged the master exceedingly. He fiercely reiterated his charge against the apprentice, who, on his part, averred that he did his work as well as he could. The master manifested the greatest excitement and fury during the trial. At one time, because the apprentice disputed one of his assertions, he raised his clenched fist over him, and threatened, with an oath, to knock hira down. The magistrate was obliged to threaten him severely before ho would keep quiet. The defendant was ordered to prison to be tried the next day, time being given to make further inquiries about his being a praedial. V. The next case was a complaint agamst an apprentice, for leaving his place in the boiling house without asking permission. It appeared he had been unwell during the evening, and at half past ten o'clock at night, his illness increasing, he left for a few moments, expecting to return. He, however, was soon taken so ill that he could not go back, but was obliged to lie down on the ground, where he remained until twelve o'clock, when he recovered sufficiently to creep home. His sickness was proved by a fellow apprentice, and indeed his appearance at the bar clearly evinced it. He was punished by several days' imprison- ment. With no little astonishment in view of such a decision, we inquired of Maj. C. whether the planters had the power to re- quire their people to work as late as half past ten at night. He replied, "Certainly, the crops must be secured at any rale, and if they are suffering, the people must be pressed the harder."* * Wc learned subsequently from various authentic sources, that BARBADOS. 213 VI. The last case was a complaint against a man for not keeping' up good fires under the boilers. He stoutly denied the charge ; said he built as good fires as he could. He kept stuffing in the trash, and if it would not burn he could not help it. Ho was sentenced to imprisonment. Maj. C. said that these complaints were a fair specimen of the cases that came up daily, save that there were many more frivolous and ridiculous. By the trials which we witnessed we were painfully impressed with two things: 1st. That the magistrate, with all his regard for the rights and welfare of the apprentices, showed a gTeat and inexcusable partiality for the masters. The patience and consideration with which he heard the complaints of the latter, the levity with which he regarded the defence, of the former, the summary man- ner in which he had despatched the cases, and the character of some of his decisions, manifested no small degree of favoritism. 2d. That the whole proceedings of the special magistrates' courts are eminently calculated to perpetuate bad feeling between the masters and apprentices. The court-room is a constant scene of angry dispute between the parties. The master ex- hausts his store of abuse and violence upon the apprentice, and the apprentice, emboldened by the place, and provoked by the abuse, retorts in language which he would never think of using on the estate, and thus, whatever may be the decision of the magistrate, the parties return home with feelings more embittered than ever. There were twenty-six persons imprisoned at the station-house, twenty-four were at hard labor, and two were in solitary confine- ment. The keeper of the prison said, he had no difficulty in man- aging the prisoners. The keeper is a colored man, and so also is the sergeant and most of the policemen. We visited one other station-house, in a distant part of the island, situated in the district over which Captain Cuppage pre- sides. We witnessed several trials there which were similar in the master had not the power to compel his apprentices to labor more than nine hours per day on any condition, except in case of a fire, or some similar emergency. If the call for labor in crop-time was to be set down as an emergency similar to a " fire," and if in official decisions he took equal latitude, alas for the poor apprentices! 214 BARBADOS. frivolity and meanness to those detailed above. We were shock- ed with the mockery of justice, and the indifference to the inter- ests of the negro apparent in the course of the magistrate. It seemed that little more was necessary than for the manager or overseer to make his complaint and swear to it, and the ap- prentice was forthwith condemned to punishment. We never saw a set of men in whose countenances fierce passions of every name were so strongly marked as in the over- seers and managers who were assembled at the station-houses. Trained up to use the whip and to tyrannize over the slaves, their grim and evil expression accorded with their hateful occupation. Through the kindness of a friend in Bridgetown we were favored with an interview with Mr. Jones, the superintendent of the rural police—the whole body of police excepting those sta- tioned in the tavein. Mr. J. has been connected with the police since its first establishment in 1834. He assured us that there was nothing in the local peculiarities of the island, nor in the character of its population, which forbade immediate emancipation in Au- gust, 1834. He had no doubt it would be perfectly safe and de- cidedly profitable to the colony. 2. The good or bad working of the apprenticeship depends mainly on the conduct of the masters. He was well acquainted with the character and disposition of the negroes throughout the island, and he was ready to say, that if disturbances should arise either before or after 1840, it would be because the people were goaded on to desperation by the planters, and not because they sought disturbance themselves. 3. Mr. J. declared unhesitatingly that crime had not increased since abolition, but rather the contrary. 4. He represented the special magistrates as the friends of the planters. They loved the dinners which they got at the plan- ters' houses. The apprentices had no sumptuous dinners to give them. The magistrates felt under very little obligation of any kind to assert the cause of the apprentice and secure him justice, while they were under very strong temptations to favor the master. 5. Real estate had increased in value nearly fifty per cent since abolition. There is such entire security of property, and BARBADOS. 215 the crops since 1834 have been so flattering, that capitalists from abroad are desirous of investing their funds in estates or merchandise. All are making high calculations for the future. 6. Mr. J. testified that marriages had greatly increased since abolition. He had seen a dozen couples standing at one time on the church floor. There had, he believed, been more mar- riages within the last three years among the negro population, than have occurred before since the settlement of the island. We conclude this chapter by subjoining two highly interesting documents from special magistrates. They were kindly fur- nished us by the authors in pursuance of an order from his excel- lency the Governor, authorizing the special- magistrates to give us any official statements which we might desire. Being made acquainted with these instructions from the Governor, we ad- dressed written queries to Major Colthurst and Captain Hamil- ton. We insert their replies at length. COMMUNICATION FROM MAJOR COLTHURST, SPECIAL MAGISTRATE. The following fourteen questions on the working of the ap- prenticeship system in this colony were submitted to me on the 30th of March, 1837, requesting answers thereto. 1. What is the number of apprenticed laborers in your dis- trict, and what is their character compared with other districts? The number of apprenticed laborers, of all ages, in my dis- trict, is nine thousand four hundred and eighty, spread over two hundred and-ninety-seven estates of various descriptions—some very large, and others again very small—much the greater number consisting of small lots in the near neighborhood of Bridgetown. Perhaps my district, in consequence of this mi- nute subdivision of property, and its contact with the town, is the most troublesome district in the island; and the character of the apprentices differs consequently from that in the more rural districts, where not above half the complaints are made. I attribute this to their almost daily intercourse with Bridgetown. 2. What is the state of agriculture in the island? When the planters themselves admit that general cultivation 216 '- BARBADOS was never in a better state, and the plantations extremely clean, it is more than presumptive proof that agriculture generally is in a most prosperous condition. The vast crop of cane grown this year proves this fact Other crops are also luxuriant. 3. Is there any difficulty occasioned by the apprentices re- fusing to work? No difficulty whatever has been experienced by the refusal of the apprentices to work. This is done manfully and cheer- fully, when they are treated with humanity and consideration by the masters or managers. I have never known an instance to the contrary. 4. Are the apprentices willing to work in their own time t The apprentices are most willing to work in their own time. 5. What is the number and character of the complaints brought before you—are they increasing or otherwise? The number of complaints brought before me, during the last quarter, are much fewer than during the corresponding quarter of the last year. Their character is also greatly improved. Nine complaints out of ten made lately to me are for small im- pertinences or saucy answers, which, considering the former and present position of the parties, is naturally to be expected. The number of such complaints is much diminished. 6. What is the state of crime among the apprentices? What is usually denominated crime in the old countries, is by no means frequent among the blacks or colored persons. It is amazing how few material breaches of the law occur in so ex- traordinary a community. Some few cases of crime do occa- sionally arise ;—but when it is considered that the population of this island is nearly as dense as that of any part of China, and wholly uneducated, either by precept or example, this absence of frequent crime excites our wonder, and is highly creditable to the negroes. I sincerely believe there is no such person, of that class called at home, an accomplished villain, to be found in the whole island.—Having discharged the duties of a general jus- tice of the peace in Ireland, for above twenty-four years, where crimes of a very aggravated nature were perpetrated almost daily, I cannot help contrasting the situation of that country with BARBADOS. 217 this colony, where I do not hesitate to Bay perfect tranquillity exists. 7. Have the apprentices much respect for law % It is, perhaps, difficult to answer this question satisfactorily, as it has been so short a time 6mce they enjoyed the blessing of equal laws. To appreciate just laws, time, and the experience of the benefit arising from them must be felt. That the appren- tices do not, to any material extent, outrage the law, is certain; and hence it may be inferred that they respect it . 8. Do you find a spirit of revenge among the negroes 1 From my general knowledge of the negro character in other countries, as well as the study of it here, I do not consider them by any means a revengeful people. Petty dislikes are frequent, but any thing like a deep spirit of revenge for former injuries does not exist, nor is it for one moment to be dreaded. 9. Is there any sense of insecurity arising from emancipation? Not the most remote feeling of insecurity exists arising from emancipation; far the contrary. All sensible and reasonable men think the prospects before them most cheering, and would not go back to the old system on any account whatever. There are some, however, who croak and forebode evil; but they are few in number, and of no intelligence,—such as are to be found in every community. 10. What is the prospect for 1840?—for 1838 i This question is answered I hope satisfactorily above. On the termination of the two periods no evil is to be reasonably anticipated, with the exception of a few days' idleness. 11. Are the planters generally satisfied with the apprentice- ship, or would they return back to the old system! The whole body of respectable planters are fully satisfied with the apprenticeship, and would not ..go back to the old system on any account whatever. A few young managers, whose opinions are utterly worthless, would perhaps have no objection to be put again into their puny authority. 12. Do you think it would have been dangerous for the slaves in this island to have been entirely emancipated in 1834? I do not think it would have been productive of danger, had 18 218 BARBADOS. the slaves of this island been fully emancipated in 1834; which is proved by what has taken place in another colony. 13. Has emancipation been a decided blessing to this island, or has it been otherwise f Emancipation has been, under God, the greatest blessing ever conferred upon this island. All good and respectable men fully admit it. This is manifest throughout the whole progress of this mighty change. Whatever may be said of the vast benefit conferred upon the slaves, in right judgment the slave owner was the greatest gainer after all. 14. Are the apprentices disposed to purchase their freedom? How have those conducted themselves who have purchased it? The apprentices are inclined to purchase their discharge, particularly when misunderstandings occur with their masters. When they obtain their discharge they generally labor in the trades and occupations they were previously accustomed to, and conduct themselves well. The discharged apprentices seldom take to drinking. Indeed the negro and colored population are the most temperate persons I ever knew of their class. The experience of nearly forty years in various public situa- tions, confirms me in this very important fact. The answers I have had the honor to give to the questions submitted to me, have been given most conscientiously, and to the best of my judgment are a faithful picture of the working of the apprenticeship in this island, as far as relates to the inquiries made.—John B. Colthurst, Special Justice of the Peace, District A, Rural Division. COMMUNICATION FROM CAPT. HAMILTON. Barbados, April 4th, 1837. Gentlemen, Presuming that you have kept a copy of the questions* you sent me, I shall therefore only send the answers. 1. There are at present five thousand nine hundred and thirty * The same interrogatories were propounded to Capt. Hamilton which have been already inserted in Major Colthurst's communi- cation. BARBADOS. 219 male, and six thousand six hundred and eighty-nine female ap- prentices in my district, (B.) which comprises a part of the parishes of Christ Church and St. George. Their conduct, compared with the neighboring districts, is good. 2. The state of agriculture is very flourishing. Experienced planters acknowledge that it is very generally far superior to what it was during slavery. 3. Where the managers are kind and temperate, they have not any trouble with the laborers. 4. The apprentices are generally willing to work for wages in their own time. 5. The average number of complaints tried by me, last year, ending December, was one thousand nine hundred and thirty- two. The average number of apprentices in the district during that time was twelve thousand seven hundred. Offences, gen- erally speaking, are not of any magnitude. They do not in- crease, but fluctuate, according to the season of the year. 6. The state of crime is not so bad by any means as we might have expected among the negroes—just released from such a degrading bondage. Considering the state of ignorance in which they have been kept, and the immoral examples set them by the lower class of whites, it is matter of astonishment that they should behave so well. 7. The apprentices would have a great respect for law, were it not for the erroneous proceedings of the managers, overseers, &c., in taking them before the magistrates for every petty offence, and often abusing the magistrate in the presence of the apprentices, when his decision does not please them. The con- sequence is, that the apprentices too often get indifferent to law, and have been known to say that they cared not about going to prison, and that they would do just as they did before as soon as they were released. 8. The apprentices in this colony are generally considered a peaceable race. All acts of revenge committed by them origi- nate in jealousy, as, for instance, between husband and wife. . 9. Not the slightest sense of insecurity. As a proof of this, property has, since the commencement of the apprenticeship, increased in value considerably—at least one third. 220 BARBADOS. 10. The change which will take place in 1838, in my opin- ion, will occasion a great deal of discontent among those called praedials—which will not subside for some months. They ought to have been all emancipated at the same period. I can- not foresee any bad effects that will ensue from the change in 1640, except those mentioned hereafter. 11. The most prejudiced planters would not return to the old system if they possibly could. They admit that they get more work from the laborers now than they formerly did, and they are relieved from a great responsibility. 12. It is my opinion, that if entire emancipation had taken place in 1834, no more difficulty would have followed beyond what we may naturally expect in 1840. "It will then take two or three months before the emancipated people finally settle them- selves. I do not consider the apprentice more fit or better pre- pared for entire freedom now than he was in 1834. 13. I consider, most undoubtedly, that emancipation has been a decided blessing to the colony. 14. They are much disposed to purchase the remainder of the apprenticeship term. Their conduct after they become free is good. I hope the foregoing answers and information may be of ser- vice to you in your laudable pursuits, for which I wish you every success. I am, gentlemen, your ob't serv't, Jos. Hamilton, Special Justice. TESTIMONY OF CLERGYMEN AND MISSIONARIES. There are three religious denominations at the present time in Barbados—Episcopalians, Wesleyans, and Moravians. The former have about twenty clergymen, including the bishop and arch-deacon. The bishop was absent during our visit, and we did not see him; but as far as we could learn, while in some of his political measures, as a member ol the council, he has ben- efited the colored population, his general influence has been un- favorable to their moral and spiritual welfare. He has discoun- BARBADOS. 221 tenanced and defeated several attempts made by his rectors and curates to abolish the odious distinctions of color in their churches. We were led to form an unfavorable opinion of the Bishop's course, from observing among the intelligent and well-disposed classes of colored people, the current use of the phrase, "bish- op's man," and "no bishop's man," applied to different rectors and curates. Those that they were averse to, either as pro- slavery or pro-prejudice characters, they usually branded as "bishop's men," while those whom they esteemed their friends, they designated as "no bishop's men." The archdeacon has already been introduced to the reader. We enjoyed several interviews with him, and were constrained to admire him for his integrity, independence and piety. He spoke in terms of strong condemnation of slavery, and of the apprenticeship system. He was a determined advocate of en- tire and immediate emancipation, both from principle and policy. He also discountenanced prejudice, both in the church and in the social circle. The first time we had the pleasure of meet- ing him was at the house of a colored gentleman in Bridgetown where we were breakfasting. He called in incidentally, while we were sitting at table, and exhibited all the familiarity of a frequent visitant. One of the most worthy and devoted men whom we met in Barbados was the Rev. Mr. Cummins, curate of St. Paul's Church, in Bridgetown. The first Sabbath after our arrival at the island we attended his church. It is emphatically a free church. Distinctions of color are nowhere recognized. There is the most complete intermingling of colors throughout the house. In one pew were seen a family of whites, in the next a family of colored people, and in the next perhaps a family of blacks. In the same pews white and colored persons sat side by side. The floor and gallery presented the same promiscuous blending of hues and shades. We sat in a pew with white and colored people. In the pew before and in that behind us the sitting was equally indiscriminate. The audience were kneeling in their morning devotions when we entered, and we were struck with the different colors bowing side by side as we passed down the aisles. There is probably no clergyman in the island 18* '222 BARBADOS. who has secured so perfectly the affections of his people as Mr. C. He is of course "no bishop's man." He is constantly em- ployed in promoting the spiritual and moral good of his people, of whatever complexion. The annual examination of the Sab- bath School connected with St. Paul's occurred while we were in the island, and we were favored with the privilege of attend- ing it. There were about three hundred pupils present, of all ages, from fifty down to three years. There were all colors— white tawny, and ebon black. The white children were classed with the colored and black, in utter violation of those principles of classification in vogue throughout the Sabbath Schools of our own country. The examination was chiefly conducted by Mr. Cummins. At the close of the examination about fifty of the girls, and among them the daughter of Mr. Cummins, were ar- ranged in front of the altar, with the female teachers in the rear of them, and all united in singing a hymn written for the occa- sion. Part of the teachers were colored and part white, as were also the scholars, and they stood side by side, mingled promis- cuously together. This is altogether the best Sabbath School in the island. After the exercises were closed, we were introduced by a colored gentleman who accompanied us to the examination, to Mr. Cummins, the Rev. Mr. Packer, and the Rev. Mr. Rowe, master of the public school in Bridgetown. By request of Mr. C, we accompanied him to his house, where we enjoyed an interview with him and the other gentlemen just mentioned. Mr. C. informed us that this Sabbath School was commenced in 1833; but was quite small and inefficient until after 1834. It now numbers more than four hundred scholars. Mr. C. spoke of prejudice. It had wonderfully decreased within the last three years. He said he could scarcely credit the testimony of his own senses, when he looked around on the change which had taken place. Many now associate with colored persons, and sit with them in the church, who once would have scorned to be found near them. Mr. C. and the other clergymen stated, that there had been an increase of places of worship and of clergy- men since abolition. All the churches are now crowded, and there is a growing demand for more. The negroes manifest an BARBADOS. 223 increasing desire for religious instruction. In respect to morals, they represent the people as being greatly improved. They spoke of the general respect which was now paid to the institu- tion of marriage among the negroes. Mr. C. said, he was con- vinced that the blacks had as much natural talent and capacity for learning as the whites. He does not know any difference. Mr. Packer, who was formerly rector of St. Thomas' parish, and has been a public teacher of children of all colors, expressed the same opinion. Mr. Rowe said, that before he took charge of the white school, he was the teacher of one of the free schools for blacks, and he testified that the latter had just as much ca- pacity for acquiring any kind of knowledge, as much inquisitive- ness, and ingenuity, as the former. Accompanied by an intelligent gentleman of Bridgetown, we visited two flourishing schools for colored children, connected with the Episcopal church, and under the care of the Bishop. In the male school, there were one hundred and ninety-five scholars, under the superintendence of one master, who is him- self a black man, and was educated and trained up in the same .school. He is assisted by several of his scholars, as monitors and teachers. It was, altogether, the best specimen of a well- regulated school which we saw in the West Indies. The present instructor has had charge of the school two years. It has increased considerably since abolition. Before the first of August, 1834, the whole number of names on the catalogue was a little above one hundred, and the average at- tendance was seventy-five. The number immediately increased, and now the average attendance is above two hundred. Of this number at least sixty are the children of apprentices. We visited also the infant school, established but two weeks previous. Mr. S., the teacher, who has been for many years an instructor, says he finds them as apt to learn as any children he ever taught. He said he was surprised to see how soon the in- structions of the school-room were carried to the homes of the children, and caught up by their parents. The very first night after the school closed, in passing through the streets, he heard the children repeating what they had been taught, and the parents learning the songs from their children's 224 BARBADOS. lips. Mr. S. has a hundred children already in his school, and additions were making daily. He found among the negro pa- rents much interest in the school. WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES. We called on the Rev. Mr. Pidler, the superintendent of the Wesleyan missions in Barbados. Mr. F. resides in Bridgetown, and preaches mostly in the chapel in town. He has been in the West Indies twelve years, and in Barbados about two years. Mr. F. informed us that there were three Wesleyan missiona- ries in the island, besides four or five local preachers, one of whom is a black man. There are about one thousand members belonging to their body, the greater part of whom live in town. Two hundred and thirty-five were added during the year 1836, being by far the largest number added in any one year since they began their operations in the island. A brief review of the history of the Wesleyan Methodists in Barbados, will serve to show the great change which has been taking place in public sentiment respecting the labors of mission- aries. In the year 1823. not long after the establishment of the Wesleyan church in the island, the chapel in Bridgetown was destroyed by a mob. Not one stone was left upon another. They carried the fragments for miles away from the site, and scattered them about in every direction, so that the chapel might never be rebuilt. Some of the instigators and chief actors in this outrage, were "gentlemen of property and standing," residents of Bridgetown. The first morning after the outrage began, the mob sought for the Rev. Mr. Shrewsbury, the mis- sionary, threatening his life, and he was obliged to flee precipi- tately from the island, with his wife. He was hunted like a wild beast, and it is thought that he would have been torn in pieces if he had been found. Not an effort or a movement was made to quell the mob, during their assault upon the chapeL The first men of the island connived at the violence—secretly rejoicing in what they supposed would be the extermination of Methodism from the country. The governor, Sir Henry Ward, utterly refused to interfere, and would not suffer the militia to BARBADOS. 225 repair to the spot, though a mere handful of soldiers could have instantaneously routed the whole assemblage. The occasion of this riot was partly the efforts made by the Wesleyans to instruct the negroes, and still more the circum- stance of a letter being written by Mr. Shrewsbury, and pub- lished in an English paper, which contained some severe stric- tures on the morals of the Barbadians. A planter informed us that the riot grew out of a suspicion that Mr. S. was "leagued with the Wilberforce party in England." Since the establishment of Wesleyanism in this island, it has continued to struggle against the opposition of the Bishop, and most of the clergy, and against the inveterate prejudices of nearly the whole of the white community. The missionaries have been discouraged, and in many instances absolutely prohibited from preaching on the estates. These circumstances have greatly retarded the progress of religious instruction through their means. But this state of things had been very much altered since the abolition of slavery. There are several estates now open to the missionaries. Mr. F. mentioned several places in the country, where he was then purchasing land, and erecting chapels. He also stated, that one man, who aided in pulling down the chapel.in 1823, had offered ground for a new chapel, and proffered the free use of a building near by, for religious meetings and a school, till it could be erected. The Wesleyan chapel in Bridgetown is a spacious building, well filled with worshippers every Sabbath. We attended ser- vice there frequently, and observed the same indiscriminate sit- ting of the various colors, which is described in the account of St. Paul's church. The Wesleyan missionaries have stimulated the clergy to greater diligence and faithfulness, and have especially induced them to turn their attention to the negro population more than they did formerly. There are several local preachers connected with the Wes- leyan mission in Barbados, who have been actively laboring to promote religion among the apprentices. Two of these are con- verted soldiers in his Majesty's service—acting sergeants of the troops stationed in the island. While we were in Barbados, 226 BARBADOS. these pious men applied for a discharge from the army, intending to devote themselves exclusively to the work of teaching and preaching. Another of the local preachers is a negro man, of considerable talent and exalted piety, highly esteemed among his missionary brethren for his labors of love. THE MORAVIAN MISSION. Of the Moravians, we learned but little. Circumstances una- voidably prevented us from visiting any of the stations, and also from calling on any of the missionaries. We were informed that there were three stations in the island, one in Bridgetown, and two in the country, and we learned in general terms, that the few missionaries there were laboring with their characteris- tic devotedness, assiduity, and self-denial, for the spiritual wel- fare of the negro population. CHAPTER III. COLORED POPULATION. The colored, or as they were termed previous to abolition, by way of distinction, the free colored population, amount in Bar- bados to nearly thirty thousand. They are composed chiefly of the mixed race, whose paternal connection, though illegitimate, secured to them freedom at their birth, and subsequently the ad- vantages of an education more or less extensive. There are some blacks among them, however, who were free born, or ob- tained their freedom at an early period, and have since, by great assiduity, obtained an honorable standing. During our stay in Barbados, we had many invitations to the houses of colored gentlemen, of which we were glad to avail ourselves whenever it was possible. At an early period after our arrival, wp were invited to dine with Thomas Harris, Esq. He politely sent his chaise for us, as he resided about a mile from our residence. At his table, we met two other colored BARBADOS. 227 gentlemen, Mr. Thome of Bridgetown, and Mr. Prescod, a young gentleman of much intelligence and ability. There waa also at the table a niece of Mr. Harris, a modest and highly in- teresting young lady. All the luxuries and delicacies of a tro- pical clime loaded the board—an epicurean variety of meats, flesh, fowl, and fish—of vegetables, pastries, fruits, and nuts, and that invariable accompaniment of a West India dinner, wine. The dinner was enlivened by an interesting and well-sustained conversation respecting the abolition of slavery, the present state of the colony, and its prospects for the future. Lively dis- cussions were maintained on points where there chanced to be a difference of opinion, and we admired the liberality of the views which were thus elicited. We are certainly prepared to say, and that too without feeling that we draw any invidious distinc- tions, that in style of conversation, in ingenuity and ability of ar- gument, this company would compare with any company of white gentlemen that we met in the island. In that circle of colored gentlemen were the keen sallies of wit, the admirable repartee, the satire now severe, now playful, upon the measures of the colonial government, the able exposure of aristocratic intoler- ance, of plantership chicanery, of plottings and counterplottings in high places—the strictures on the intrigues of the special ma- gistrates and managers—and withal, the just and indignant re- probation of the uniform oppressions which have disabled and crushed the colored people. The views of these gentlemen with regard to the present state of the island, we found to differ in some respects from those of the planters and special magistrates. They seemed to regard both those classes of men with suspicion. The planters they represented as being still, at least the mass of them, under the mfluence of the strong habits of tyrannizing and cruelty which they formed during slavery. The prohibitions and penalties of the law are not sufficient to prevent occasional and even fre- quent outbreakings of violence, so that the negroes even yet suffer much of the rigor of slavery. In regard to the special magistrates, they allege that they are greatly controlled by the planters. They associate with the planters, dine with the 238 BARBADOS. planters, lounge on the planters' 6ofas, and marry the planters' daughters. Such intimacies as these, the gentlemen very plausi- bly argued, could not exist without strongly biasing the magis- trates towards the planters, and rendering it almost impossible for them to administer equal justice to the poor apprentice, who, unfortunately, had no sumptuous dinners to give them, no luxu- rious sofas to offer them, nor dowered daughters to present in marriage. The gentlemen testified to the industry and subordination of the apprentices. They had improved the general cultivation of the island, and they were reaping for their masters greater crops than they did while slaves. The whole company united in saying that many blessings had already resulted from the abolition of slavery—imperfect as that abolition was. Real es- tate had advanced in value at least one third. The fear of insur- rection had been removed; invasions of property, such as oc- curred during slavery, the firing of cane-fields, the demolition of houses, &c, were no longer apprehended. Marriage was spreading among the apprentices, and the general morals of the whole community, high and low, white, colored, and black, were rapidly improving. At ten o'clock we took leave of Mr. Harris and his interest- ing friends. We retired with feelings of pride and gratification that we had been privileged to join a company which, though wearing the badge of a proscribed race, displayed in happy combi- nation, the treasures of genuine intelligence, and the graces of accomplished manners. We were happy to meet in that social circle a son of New England, and a graduate of one of her univer- sities. Mr. H. went to the West Indies a few months after the abolition of slavery. He took with him all the prejudices com- mon to our country, as well as a determined hostility to abo- lition principles and measures. A brief observation of the as- tonishing results of abolition in those islands, effectually dis- armed him of the latter, and made him the decided and zealous advocate of immediate emancipation. He established himself in business in Barbados, where he has been living the greater part of the time since he left his native country. His prejudices BARBADOS. 229 did not long survive his abandonment of anti-abolition senti- ments. We rejoiced to find him on the occasion above referred to, moving in the circle of colored society, with all the freedom of a familiar guest, and prepared most cordially to unite with us in the wish that all our prejudiced countrymen could witness similar exhibitions. The gentleman at whose table we had the pleasure to dine, was born a slave, and remained such until he was seventeen years of age. After obtaining his freedom, he engaged as a clerk in a mercantile establishment, and soon attracted attention by his business talents. About the same period he warmly espoused the cause of the free colored people, who were doubly crush- ed under a load of civil and political impositions, and a still hea- vier one of prejudice. He soon made himself conspicuous by his manly defence ot the rights of his brethren against the en- croachments of the public authorities, and incurred the marked displeasure of several influential characters. After a protracted struggle for the civil immunities of the colored people, during which he repeatedly came into collision with public men, and was often arraigned before the public tribunals; finding his la- bours ineffectual he left the island and went to England. He spent some time there and in France, moving on a footing of hon- orable equality among the distinguished abolitionists of those coun- tries. There, amid the free influences and the generous sympa- thies which welcomed and surrounded him,—his whole character ripened in those manly graces and accomplishments which now so eminently distinguished him. Since his return to Barbados, Mr. H has not taken so public a part in political controversies as he did formerly, but is by no means indifferent to passing events. There is not, we venture to say, within the colony, a keener or more sagacious observer of its institutions, its public men and their measures. When witnessing the exhibitions of his manly spirit, and lis- tening to his eloquent and glowing narratives of his struggles against the political oppressions which ground to the dust himself and his brethren, we could scarcely credit the fact that he was himself born and reared to manhood—a slave. 20 230 BARBADOS. BREAKFAST AT MB. THORNE's. By invitation we took breakfast with Mr. Joseph Thome, whom we met at Mr. Harris's. Mr. T. resides in Bridgetown, in the parlor, we met two colored gentlemen—the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, a local Wesleyan preacher, and Mr. Cummins, a mer- chant of Bridgetown, mentioned in a previous chapter. We were struck with the scientific appearance of Mr. Thome's par- lor. On one side was a large library of religious, historical, and literary works, the selection of which displayed no small taste and judgment. On the opposite side of the room was a fine cabinet of minerals and shells. In one comer stood a number of curious relics of the aboriginal Caribs, such as bows and arrows, etc., together with interesting fossil remains. On the tops of the book-cases and mineral stand, were birds of rare species, pro- cured from the South American Continent The centre table was ornamented with shells, specimens of petrifactions, and ele- gantly bound books. The remainder of the furniture of the room was costly and elegant. Before breakfast two of Mr. Thome's children, little boys of six and four, stepped in to salute the com- pany. They were of a bright yellow, with slightly curled hair. ■When they had shaken hands with each of the company, they withdrew from the parlor and were seen no more. Their man- ners and demeanor indicated the teachings of an admirable mother, and we were not a little curious to see the lady of whose taste and delicate sense of propriety we had witnessed so attrac- tive a specimen in her children. At the breakfast table we were introduced to Mrs. Thome, and we soon discovered from her dignified air, from the chaste and elevated style of her conversa- tion, from her intelligence, modesty and refinement, that we were in the presence of a highly accomplished lady. The con- versation was chiefly on subjects connected with our mission. All spoke with great gratitude of the downfall of slavery. It was not the slaves alone that were interested in that event. Politi- cal oppression, prejudice, and licentiousness had combined great- ly to degrade the colored community, but these evils were now gradually lessening, and would soon wholly disappear after the final extinction of slavery—the parent of them alL BARBADOS. 231 Several facts were stated to show the great rise in the value of real estate since 1834. In one instance a gentleman bought a su- gar estate for nineteen thousand pounds sterling, and the very next year, after taking off a crop from which he realized a profit of three thousand pounds sterling, he sold the estate for thirty thousand pounds sterling. It has frequently happened within two years that persons wishing to purchase estates would en- quire the price of particular properties, and would hesitate to give what was demanded. Probably soon after they would re- turn to close the bargain, and find that the price was increased by several hundreds of pounds; they would go away again, re- luctant to purchase, and return a third time, when they would find the price again raised, and would finally be glad to buy at al- most any price. It was very difficult to purchase sugar estates now, whereas previous to the abolition of slavery, they were, like the slaves, a drug in the market. Mr. Joseph Thorne is a gentleman of forty-five, of a dark mu- latto complexion, with negro features and hair. He was born a slave, and remained so until about twenty years of age. This fact we learned from the manager of the Belle estate, on which Mr. T. was born and raised a slave. It was an interesting coinci- dence, that on the occasion of our visit to the Belle estate we were indebted to Mr. Thorne, the former property of that estate, for his horse and chaise, which he politely proffered to us. Mr. T. employs much of his time in laboring among the colored peo- ple in the town, and among the apprentices on the estates, in the capacity of lay-preacher. In this way he renders himself very useful. Being very competent, both by piety and talents, for the work, and possessing more perhaps than any missionary, the confidence of the. planters, he is admitted to many estates, to lec- ture the apprentices on religious and moral duties. Mr. T. is a member of the Episcopal church. BREAKFAST AT HI. PRESCOD's. We next had the pleasuro of breakfasting with Mr. Prescod. Our esteemed friend Mr. Harris, was of the company. Mr. P. is a young man, but lately married. His wife and himself were 232 BAKBADOS. both liberally educated in England. He was the late editor of the New Times, a weekly paper established since the abolition of slavery, and devoted chiefly to the interests of the colored community. It was the first periodical and the only one which advocated the rights of the colored people, and this it did with the utmost fearfulness and independence. It boldly exposed op- pression, whether emanating from the government house or ori- ginating in the colonial assembly. The measures of all parties, and the conduct of every public man, were subject to its scruti- ny, and when occasion required, to its stern rebuke. Mr. P. exhibits a thorough acquaintance with the politics of the country, and with the position of the various parties. He is familiar with the spirit and operations of the white gentry—far more so, it would seem, than many of his brethren who have been repeatedly deceived by their professions of increasing liberality, and their show of extending civil immunities, which after all proved to be practical nullities, and as such were denounced by Mr. P. at the outset. A few years ago the colored people mildly petitioned the legislature for a removal of their disabilities. Their remon- strance was too reasonable to be wholly disregarded. Something must be done which would at least bear the semblance of favor- ing the object of the petitioners. Accordingly the obnoxious clauses were repealed, and the colored people were admitted to the polls. But the qualification was made three times greater than that required of white citizens. This virtually nullified the extension of privilege, and actually confirmed the disabilities of which it was a pretended abrogation. The colored people, in their credulity, hailed the apparent enfranchisement, and had a public rejoicing on the occasion. But the delusion could not escape the discrimination of Mr. P. He detected it at once, and exposed it, and incurred the displeasure of the credulous people of colour by refusing to participate in their premature rejoicings. He soon succeeded however in convincing his brethren that the new provision was a mockery of their wrongs, and that the as- sembly had only added insult to past injuries. Mr. P. now urged the colored people to be patient, as the great changes which were working in the colony must bring to them all the rights of which they had been so cruelly deprived. On the subject would be hardy enough i have done or may do so. Kingst*n, Jamaica, -1 The following conn. 1837, of Major J. K. Rural Division, U:n''. The general ou. . has been excili. in. made upon their .... crop of canes en. Upon the lariie .. they are in thre t prietors theni.i .. consideration, i. provided and c > standing prev .. . The appro .. ly, whenever humanity. 1. complaints Iv confined to '... of Bridgetov. population o." rupted by d The wo:'' follows: O"v breakfast; f- ■■ work. It is almost v _j=. — ^ :5- 8JTe .... --v8' T7 1 . 370 APPENDIX. , Under the head of general inquiry, I beg leave to offer a few remarks. I have now great pleasure in having it in my power to state, that a manifest change for the better has taken place gradually in my district within the last few months. Asperities seem to be giving away to calm discussion, and the laws are better understood and obeyed. It is said in other colonies as well as here, that there has been, and still continues to be, a great want of natural affection among the negro parents with their children, and that great mortality among the free children has occurred in consequence. This opinion, I understand, has been lately expressed in confident terms by the legislature of St. Vincent's, which has been fully and satisfactorily contradicted by the reports of the special justices to the lieutenant-governor. The same assertion has been made by individuals to myself. As regards Barbados, I have spared no pains to discover whether such statements were facts, and I now am happy to say, that not a single instance of unnatural con- duct on the part of the negro parents to their children has come to my knowledge—far, perhaps too far, the contrary is the case; over indulgence and petting them seems in my judgment to be the only matter the parents can be, with any justic.e, accused of. They exhibit their fondness in a thousand ways. Contrasting the actual conduct of the negro parents with the assertions of the planters, it is impossible not to infer that some bitterness is felt by the latter on the score of their lost authority. When this is the case, reaction is the natural consequence, and thus misun- derstandings and complaints ensue. The like assertions are made with respect to the disinclination of the parents to send their children to school. This certainly does exist to a certain extent, particularly to schools where the under classes of whites are taught, who often treat the negro children in a most impe- rious and hostile manner. As some proof that no decided objec- tion exists in the negro to educate his children, a vast number of the apprentices of my district send ihem to school, and take pride in paying a bit a week each for them—a quarter dollar entrance and a quarter dollar for each vacation. Those schools are al- most always conducted by a black man and his married wife. However, they are well attended, but are very few in number. 372 APPENDIX. IMPORTS OF PROVISIONS. Flour. Corn Meal. Y'rs. | bbls. 1833 121,535 1834 34,191 1835 32,393 1836 | 41,975 J bbls. 397 865 828 433 bush. 629 1675 160 823 bbls. Bread and Biscuits. 265 1580 809 1123 Oats & Corn. V'rs. hds. bbls. i bbls. kegs. | bags. bags. | qrs. 1833 49 2146 30 U i1 430 1 50 1&34 401 8561 99 57 14 100 | 1025 ia% 2024 10762 It It Ii 2913 3134 1836 4 4048 " Ii 1058 8168 3119 IMPORTS OF Cattle. CATTLE, ETC. Horses. Mules. 1833 649 . 462 65 ia34 549 . 728 24 1835 569 - 1047 43 1836 1013 - 1345 104 RETURN OF EXPORTS—SUGAR. hhds. trcs. bbls. 1832 18,804 . 1278 838 1833 27,015 . 1505 651 1834 27,593 - 1464 1083 1835 24,309 - 1417 938 1836 25,060 1796 804 VALUATIONS OF APPRENTICES IN JAMAICA. "From the 1st of August, 1834, to 31st of May, 1836, 998 apprentices purchased their freedom by valuation, and paid £33,998. From 31st May, 1836, to 1st Nov. in the same year, APPENDIX. 873 562 apprentices purchased themselves, and paid £18,217—mak- ing, in all, £52,216—a prodigious sum to be furnished by the negroes in two years. From the above statement it appears that the desire to be free is daily becoming more general and more intense, and that the price of liberty remains the same, although the term of apprenticeship is decreasing. The amount paid by the apprentices is a proof of the extent of the exertions and sac- rifices they are willing to make for freedom, which can scarcely be appreciated by those who are acquainted with the disadvan- tages of their previous condition. The negroes frequently raise the money by loans to purchase their freedom, and they are scrupulous in repaying money lent them for that purpose." The above is extracted from the "West Indies in 1837," an English work by Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, page 86, Appen- dix. We insert the following tabular view of the crops in Jamaica for a series of years preceding 1837.—As the table and " Re- marks" appended were first published in the St. Jago Gazette, a decided "pro-slavery" paper, we insert, in connection with them the remarks of the Jamaica Watchman, published at Kingston, and an article on the present condition of slavery, from the Telegraph, published at Spanishtown, the seat of the colonial ffovf'rnment. 32 I vetHv8tH uoiioniistp —isnSny *03UTU10(J lUfBB Jv 8awn ouuo uoqmotj onp v3'oi00 88.8 ■t8. t888i 8t8b^ .S.8t .8tt8 .888iv , .8858I B888t8 .8:: B*88*8 bt■88e8i tei88*i Qtt8m8 ■tsW/8I ,8i888 8Ivtt88||t88H I8BI888!|88v88 ;8t88ti8 |8vi It88*88flii*H CL 8 *S ! to 8888 8888 Ifit8 8t8 88t8 888 8 IMMDIM I i w IF W8 iiC 8I 8t 8888 88v8 888 8?8 88 Bt P w p O 8*8 t88 .t8 i8v8 8HtINIv I IB « 8B8 ■t.i '*H 8iv8 t88B rc?8i 888 % P O B8 I5I B88 88 8■ 811 Ii8 W 8 8 I8 88 8svn ■B39 S- p r> 88fi I.vW *i p fcd 88(7 ■KM i nr p o v 1 m .v ■8v 8888 It8 cr IR IX 88 tis8 ii*'8 Itv .■'r tit8 9T>8 TO ttJ &- 88tieJ88tt 88tiB!i■8 p- 3 o 5) tv8t 8t8t t88i8 I*t8. H888i!8i 85*8K|888 8i*8t.!8t88 8i8?^ l8f-8s 8Ci8t^!|it5i.8 a tii tt I8 818 8i?- .88 iit8 88I ltuI 88 ?888 8I88 888 8t8 t8'n B88 888 8858 8I I t58 it8 BB*8 88*I8 £888 ttvtI t888 88iv8 888I 888I tt8SX tt888 I*8t vvvons n i-3 88t8i 8£888 88888 i8t88 Wfi8 8i8ii i888 ti88i 88*i8 I8tvtI i8B8 W8I IS8ItX tt tr afi a I888 tq888i It8B8 I8*t Ii88 I88t88 8888 UI8 88I tI 88I tI 88I 8888 888 W8T ti8 888 8t8 8t8 8t r 5. 1 a> P 3 «1 S8I 8888 t88 8888 88I It v v3STWJJ sip Jo sjmurwf sip mojj psidos—88*I Stsquitotg ?sxB Suipus 8sxvsfi gg jo/ 8vsimuvf Jo putr[si tiff wojitf si,HOdxa do NHfU.au ivuaNat) v APPENDIX. 375 © co to ao as co Cft Co © co t^ao to Co as © HOS is a 03 *h Extreme drought. Mr. Canning's resol i tions relat've to si; very. Severe drought i 1'24, the previon o no" - 0 Si if s year. S ,-3DCoa0iOa0tCOIiOOlC0tOCOC0 02 J O 32 1 ■ aot--toootoaOi--GOTfn in t- ao *<# ^f t- l> Tl ^ LT ^ (M (O OS O t- HOiO(M(M OI OI OS OI -^ -'OICoOS HWH ct HH(MCTC^C^CNG^M si s g oooortcon Ct lO -H (C 'J H W) Oi^Co O^O I— © © 'to" to irT tcT io co" to* *o >o i-H to oi as --# CT O 00 OOi^iO-^ ^ G CJ t"» O Co OI-<# OS cs t~- *<* F- ift eo lO I—I LfJ -rj* OS i— oTcd"^ co *tf ao co r» t- t-H Ot - HHtD SO i—l 00 P1t-Co rj< i—t t O 00 C l t- OS dot r- 100 to HtOOl 00 O t^ Co i-H CM Co ^ (O Co OS iOOWHHMOl cct t- co ac o co r- AiHQSiOCoOt- t- ao -* U0. i-0 OS OS OS OI iO OS O WXGC t-nO! oi as -3< H Co 00 H tO 00 OS •-153 < tf oo i en ooi > T** OS • IN OS SOI tO ^ OS t- os to CO Co OI Co O Co iOCTOh Ol ^ CD H tO lO N O -^ Co "^ OS i—i Of to ao i- t- ^t H oi Co -* Co ii0 OI Co t- H , •"' ~ '",' — CT^r tOCDi—I ^H © t- Co OI ™ "*• -" ~" 00 rH 00^-^-* m 00^ © i-TofH*—~"i—T i—t"Of HH i—i1^H1i—i"H i—i Co IOCS CT — to Tt< co -* i—t coifCftTfHHor-^fHCMHTfT)'OIaOu:iO^ Hxcik-otociHiOcooi^pjTf<(Mt-a)ociCTOHciQoei 00 00 "tWMiOt^HOi 00 ©.OS OS l> GO Co i-^Tti OS t- 00 as OS Os j^H" of wTof i—Ti—T i—Tof co" vr" ^in-*t co'co T$**& *ri m uS o«^- o OOO CoCo o as oo as H tO t- I- ,Sft IC ^ Ot Co t i—i as e - oo ci co as - as i~- as © iOWt-O t- to © io -^ i— to 00 m •* 00© ^ COGOC" - © o i i-1^1i—ICMOI—IffjHi—IHH ^-i^h^hHt-I^I^HCoCTCoOS Ol CT CT OI OI Co OI H-T l>-«—i i—i os a: ti co co to oo to to to as io to -h oi oo oi '—< © © © i^ i-o ui ro © o in co ao ©nasi—©©ioas-*—' ao©coTfiOtrtc7> Btgiflt - to^io ^ow#ww»;ciroi^CT^aswmt^ooHt^ c^co*«co"oi"co"co"mo? of of os"oto«" of co os t>. t-. -rt zo to © io i— as io -f oi -# 00©'MCo'OOSt-H©-*iOOOCoOSCot*iO©©t- 00*-0 01©©r-u,50oi-iCoOIOseou,5000}tOi*0 Ot*CO^CoOStoCoiOCIXOICoOS £»a^oS Co QO ^^G^^0,"^^.^,0, co ^ co^t-^t^H to^co iO *^^t fh t- © as co xoo t- fh'fh HHxof os" l>©" t-"os"©"oo"©"©"cros" cc t*^* Of t^" 00* t^ "O" "^ ^ iO* H ©" ©" Of ©* H -i,vj^toi>GOC^©HOSco^^tot-ooa3©HOico"*irjtor-ooas©i—ioicoxf't-'5t£> ooooooHHHHHHHHHHi7iwciciCTOtCTCT(MCTnnrtrtccefjeo XfOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOQOOOOOTO 376 APPENDIX. The following are the remarks of the editor of the Jamaica Watchman, on the foregoing, in his paper of April 8, 1837 :— A general return of exports from the island for fifty-three years, ending the 31st December last, and purporting to be ex- tracted from the journals of the assembly, has been published, and as usual, the decrease in the crops of the respective years has been attributed to the resolutions passed by the British House of Commons in 1813, and the abolition of slavery in 1833. It is remarkable that in preparing this table, a mani- fest disposition is evinced to account for the falling-off of the crops in certain years anterior, and subsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's memorable resolutions, whilst opposite to the years 1834 and 1835, is written "seasons favorable." In 1813, the sugar crop fell off 8,000 hhds. compared with the previous year, and we are told in reference to this circumstance, that there was a storm in October, 1812. This remark is evidently made to account for the decrease, and perhaps the storm at the close of the previous year was the cause of it. But it is astonishing, and the circumstance is worthy of notice, that whilst the sugar crop fell off nearly 8,000 hhds. the coffee crop increased nearly six millions of pounds. We should have supposed that the coffee trees would have suffered more from the effects of a storm, than the canes. However, the effect was as we have stated it, whatever might have been the cause. In 1824, the largest coffee crop was made. Again, in 1816, there was a decrease in the sugar crop compared with the year immediately preceding it of nearly 25,000 hhds. And here we have the storm of October, 1815, assigned as a reason. The coffee crop in this instance also fell off nearly ten millions of pounds. In 1822, the sugar crop was reduced 23,000 hhds., and the coffee crop increased three millions of pounds. The reason now assigned is an "extreme drought." The cele- brated resolutions relative to slavery now appear to begin to exercise their baneful influence on the seasons and the soU of our island. In the year in which they were passed, 1823, 94,900 hogsheads of sugar were made, and twenty millions of pounds of coffee gathered. 1824 came, and the crop, instead of being reduced, was increased from nearly 95,000 hogsheads APPENDIX. 377 to upwards of 99,000 hogsheads. The coffee crop was also greater by seven millions of pounds. In 1825, they fell off to 73,800 hogsheads and twenty-one millions. In 1826, the sugar crop rather exceeded that of 1824, but the coffee crop was seven millions less. In 1827, from causes not known to us, for none were assigned, there was a difference of 16,000 hhds. of sugar, and an increase of five millions of pounds of coffee. 1828, 29, and 30, were pretty nearly alike in sugar and coffee crops, and about equal to 1823. The crops of 1831 fell off from 93 to 88,000 hogsheads of sugar, and from 22 to 14 millions of pounds of coffee. No reason is assigned for this reduction. It was during the continuance of the driving system, and therefore no blame can attach to the managers. In 1832, the crop rose to 91,000 hogsheads of sugar, and nearly twenty millions of pounds of coffee. But 1833 comes, and with it, fresh troubles for the planters. In that ill-fated year, there was a decrease of 13,000 hogsheads of sugar, and of ten millions of pounds of coffee. Its sugar crop was the smallest made, with the exception of that of 1825, since 1793, and its coffee crop since that of 1798. But if this determination be alarming, what must be that of succeed- ing years? Can we be blamed, if, in a strain truly lachrymal, we allude to the deductions which have annually been made from the miserable return which 1833 gave to the unfortunate proprietors of estates; What boots it to tell us that we have fingered thousands of pounds sterling, in the shape of com- pensation: and what consolation is it to know, that a hogshead of sugar will now bring thirty pounds, which, a short time ago, was only worth twelve. Let any unprejudiced individual look at the return now before us, and say whether our prospects are not deplorably dull and obscure. If we take the four years im- mediately preceding the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1819,20,21, and 22, we will find the average to be 105,858 hogsheads, and if from this we even deduct one-fourth for the time now lost, there will be an average crop of 79,394 hhds., being 7,185 hogsheads more than the average of 1833, 34, 35, and 36; and no one will deny that this falling off of one-tenth, (supposing that the hogsheads made during the last four years are not larger than those of 1819 to 1822) is nearly, tf not 32* APPENDIX. 379 gages, and the tender mercies of English mortgagees before the 1st of August, 1840, arrives. And ought these parties not to be thankful 1 Unquestionably they ought. Ingratitude, we are are told, is as the sin of witchcraft, and although the table of exports exhibits our fair island as hastening to a state of ruin; and the Despatch tells us, that " by the united influence of mock philanthropy, religious cant, and humbug," a reformed parliament was forced "to precipitate the slavery spoliation act, under the specious pretext of promoting the industry and im- proving the condition of the manumitted slaves;" still we main- tain, and the reasonable will agree with us, that we are much better off now than we have been for a long time, and that Ja- maica's brightest and happiest days have not yet dawned. Let the croakers remember the remarkable words of the tory lord, Belmore, the planter's friend, and be silent—" The resources of this fine island will never be fully developed until slavery ceases." The happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Jamaica are not contingent, nor need they be, upon the number of hogsheads of sugar annually exported from her shores. To the foregoing we add the remarks of the editor of the "Spanishtown Telegraph," on the present state of the colony, made in his paper of May 9, 1837 :— "When it was understood that the island of Jamaica and the other British West Indian colonies were to undergo the blessed transition from slavery to freedom, it was the hourly cry of the pro-slavery party and press, that the ruin of Jamaica would, as a natural consequence, follow liberty. Commerce, said they, will cease; hordes of barbarians will come upon us and drive us from our own properties; agriculture will be completely paralyzed, and Jamaica, in the space of a few short months, will be seen buried in ashes—irretrievably ruined. Such were the awful predictions of an unjust, illiberal faction! Such the first fruits that were to follow the incomparable blessings of liberty! The staple productions of the island, it was vainly surmised, could never be cultivated without the name of slavery; rebel- lions, massacres, starvation, rapine, and bloodshed, danced through the columns of the liberty-hating papers, in mazes of metaphorical confusion. In short, the name of freedom was, 380 APPENDIX. according to their assertions, directly calculated to overthrow our beautiful island, and involve it in one mass of ruin, une- qualled in the annals of history! But what has been the result? All their fearful forebodings and horrible predictions have been entirely disproved, and instead of liberty proving a curse, she has, on the contrary, unfolded her banners, and, ere long, is likely to reign triumphant in our land. Banks, steam compa- nies, railroads, charity schools, etc., seem all to have remained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be en- veloped in smoke! No man thought of hazarding his capital in an extensive banking establishment until Jamaica's ruin, by the introduction of freedom, had been accomplished! No person was found possessed of sufficient energy to speak of navigation companies in Jamaica's brightest days of slavery: but now that ruin stares every one in the face—now that we have no longer the power to treat our peasantry as we please, they have taken it into their heads to establish so excellent an undertaking. Railroads were not dreamt of until darling slavery had, (in a great measure) departed, and now, when we thought of throw- ing up our estates, and flying from the dangers of emancipation, the best projects are being set on foot, and what is worst, are likely to succeed. This is the way that our Jamaica folks, no doubt, reason with themselves. But the reasons for the delay which have taken place in the establishment of all these valua- ble undertakings, are too evident to require elucidation. We behold the Despatch and Chronicle, asserting the ruin of our island; the overthrow of all order and society; and with the knowledge of all this, they speak of the profits likely to result from steam navigation, banking establishments, and railroads! What, in the name of conscience, can be the use of steam ves- sels, when Jamaica's ruin is so fast approaching? What are the planters and merchants to ship in steamers, when the ap- prentices will not work, and there is nothing doing? How is the bank expected to advance money to the planters, when their total destruction has been accomplished by the abolition of sla- very 1 What, in the name of reason, can be the use of rail- roads, when commerce and agriculture have been nipped in the bud, by that baneful weed, Freedom! Let the unjust APPENDIX. 381 panderers of discord, the haters of liberty, answer. Let them consider what has all this time retarded the development of Jamaica's resources, and they will find that it was slavery; yes, it was its very name which prevented the idea of undertakings such as are being brought about. Had it not been for the in- troduction of freedom in our land; had the cruel monster, Sla- very, not partially disappeared, when would we have seen banks, steamers, or railroads 1 No man thought of hazarding his capital in the days of slavery, but now that a new era has burst upon us, a complete change has taken possession of the hearts of all just men, and they think of improving the blessing of freedom by the introduction of other things which must ever prove beneficial to the country. "The vast improvements that are every day being effected in this island, and throughout the other colonies, stamp the assertions of the pro-slavery party as the vilest falsehoods. They glory in the introduction of banks, steam vessels, and railroads, with the knowledge (as they would have us behove) that the island is fast verging into destruction. They speak of the utility and success of railroads, when, according to their showing, there is no produce to be sent to market, when agriculture has been paralyzed, and Jamaica swept to destruction." The following copious extracts from a speech of Lord Brougham, on the workings of the apprenticeship, and on the immediate emancipation substituted therefor in Antigua and the Bermudas, are specially commended to the notice of the reader. The speech was delivered in the House of Lords, Feb. 20, 1836. We take it from the published report of the speech in the Lon- don Times, of Feb. 25: I now must approach that subject which has some time ex- cited almost universal anxiety. Allow me, however, first to remind your lordships—because that goes to the root of the evil —allow me first to remind you of the anxiety that existed pre- vious to the Emancipation Act, which was passed in January, 1833, coming into operation in August, 1834. My lords, there was much to apprehend from the character of the masters of the slaves. I know the nature of man. * * * I know that APPENDIX. 3S3 emancipation would be one of riot and debauchery, and that even the lives of the planters would be endangered. So far from this proving the case, the whole of the negro population kept it as a most sacred festival, and in this light I am convinced it will ever be viewed. * * * In one island, where the bounty of nature seems to provoke the appetite to indulgence, and to scatter with a profuse hand all the means of excitement, I state the fact when I say not one drunken negro was found during the whole of the day. No less than 800,000 slaves were liber- ated in that one day, and their peaceful festivity was disturbed only on one estate, in one parish, by an irregularity which three or four persons sufficed to put down. Well, my lords, baffled in their expectations that the first of August would prove a day of disturbance—baffled also in the expectation that no voluntary labor would be done—we were then told by the "practical men," to look forward to a later period. We have done so, and what have we seen t Why, that from the time voluntary labor began, there was no want of men to work for hire, and that there was no difficulty in getting those who, as apprentices, had to give the planters certain hours of work, to extend, upon emergency, their period of labor, by hiring out their services for wages to strangers. I have the au- thority of my noble friend behind me (the Marquis of Sligo,) who very particularly inquired into the matter, when I state, that on nine estates out of ten there was no difficulty in obtain- ing as much work as the owners had occasion for, on the pay- ment of wages. How does all this contrast with the predictions of the "practical men?" "Oh," said they, in 1833, "it is idle talking; the cart-whip must be used—without that stimu- lant no negro will work—the nature of the negro is idle and in- dolent, and without the thought of the cart-whip is before his eyes he falls asleep—put the cart-whip aside, and no labor will be done." Has this proved the case? No, my lords, it has not; and while every abundance of voluntary labor has been found, in no one instance has the stimulus of the cartwhip been found wanting. The apprentices work well without the whip, and wages have been found quite as good a stimulus as the scourge, even to negro industry. "Oh, but," it is said, "this 384 APPENDIX. may do in cotton planting and cotton picking, and indigo mak- ing; but the cane will cease to grow, the operation of hoeing will be known no more, boiling will cease to be practised, and sugar-making will terminate entirely." Many, I know, were appalled by these reasonings, and the hopes of many were dis- sipated by these confident predictions of these so-deemed expe- rienced men. But how stands the case now! My lords, let these experienced men come forth with their experience.. I will plant mine against it, and you will find he will talk no more of his experience when I tell him—tell him, too, without fear of contradiction—tha* during the year which followed the first of August, 1834, twice as much sugar per hour, and of a better quality as compared with the preceding years, was stored throughout the sugar districts; and that one man, a large plant- er, has expressly avowed, that with twenty freemen he could do more work than with a hundred slaves, or fifty indentured apprentices. (Hear, hear.) But Antigua !—what has happened there? There has not been even the system of indentured apprentices. In Antigua and the Bermudas, as would have been the case at Montserrat if the upper house had not thrown out the bill which was prepared by the planters themselves, there had been no preparatory step. In Antigua and the Ber- mudas, since the first of August, 1831, not a slave or inden- tured apprentice was to be found. Well, had idleness reigned there—had indolence supplanted work—had there been any de- ficiency of crop? No. On the contrary, there had been an increase, and not a diminution of crop. (Hear.) But, then, it was said that quiet could not be expected after slavery in its most complete and abject form had so long reigned paramount, and that any sudden emancipation must endanger the peace of the islands. The experience of the first of August at once scattered to the winds that most fallacious prophecy. Then it was said, only wait till Christmas, for that is a period when, by all who have any practical knowledge of the negro character, a rebellion on their part is most to be apprehended. We did wait for this dreaded Christmas ; and what was the result 1 I will go for it to Antigua, for it is the strongest case, there being there no indentured apprentices—no preparatory state—no transition— 386 Ari'ENDix. foohsh race. I do not ask you to adopt as your own the expe- rience of others; you have as much as you can desire of your own, and by no other test do I wish or desire to be judged. But I think my task may be said to be done. I think I have proved my case, for I have shown that the negro can work without the stimulant of the whip; I have shown that he can labor for hire, without any other motive than that of industry to inspire him. I have demonstrated that all over the West Indies, even when fatigued with working the allotted hours for the profit of his master, he can work again for wages for him who chooses to hire him, and has wherewithal to pay him; I have also most distinctly shown that the experience of Antigua and the Bermu- das is demonstrative to show, that without any state of prepa- ration, without any indenture of apprenticeship at all, he is fit to be intrusted with his freedom, and will work voluntarily as a free laborer for hire. But I have also demonstrated from the same experience, and by reference to the same state of facts, that a more quiet, inoffensive, peaceable, innocent people, is not to be found on the face of this earth than the negro—not in their own unhappy country, but after they have been removed from it, and enslaved in your Christian land, made the victim of the barbarizing demon of civilized powers, and has all this charac- ter, if it were possible to corrupt it, and his feelings, if it were possible to pervert them, attempted to be corrupted and pervert- ed by Christian and civilized men, and that in this state, with all incentives to misdemeanor poured around him, and all the temptation to misconduct which the arts and artifices and ex- amples of civilized man can give, hovering over him—that after this transition is made from slavery to apprenticeship, and from slavery to absolute freedom, a negro's spirit has been found to rival the unbroken tranquillity of the Caribbean Seas. (Cheers.) This was not the state of things we expected, my lords; and in proof that it was not so, I have but to refer you to the statute- book itself. On what ground did you enact the intermediate state of indentured apprenticeship, and on what arguments did you justify if! You felt and acknowledged that the negro had a right to be free, and that you had no right to detain him in bondage. Every one admitted this, but in the prevailing igno- APPENDIX. 387 ranee of their character, it was apprehended that they could not be made free at once, and that time was requisite to train the negro to receive the boon it was intended bestowing upon him. This was the delusion which prevailed, and which was stated in the preamble of the statute—the same delusion which had made the men on one side state, and the other to believe, that it was necessary to pay the slave.owners for the loss it was sup- posed they would sustain. But it was found to be a baseless fear, and the only result of the phantom 60 conjured up, was a payment of twenty millions to the conjurors. (Hear, and a laugh.) Now, I maintain that had we known what we now know of the character of the negroes, neither would this com- pensation have been given to the slave-owners, nor we have been guilty of proposing to keep the negro in slavery five years after we were decided that he had a right to his freedom. The noble and learned lord here proceeded to contend, that up to the present time the slave-owners, so far from being sufferers, had been gainers by the abolition of slavery and the enactment of the system of apprenticeship, and that consequently up to the present moment nothing had occurred to entitle them to a claim upon the compensation allotted by parliament. The slave-own- ers might be said to have pocketed the seven millions without having the least claim to them, and therefore, in considering the proposition he was about to make, parliament should bear in mind that the slave proprietors were, if anything, the debtors to the nation. The money had, in fact, been paid to them by mis- take, and, were the transaction one between man and man, an action for its recovery might lie. But the slave-owners alleged that if the apprenticeship were now done away, there would be a loss, and that to meet that loss they had a right to the money. For argument's sake he would suppose this to be true, and that there would be loss; but would it not be fair that the money should be lodged in the hands of a third party, with authority to pay back at the expiration of the two years whatever rateable sum the master could prove himself to have lost? His firm be- lief was, that no loss could arise; but, desirous to meet the planter at every point, he should have no objection to make 389 APPENDIX. terms with him. Let him, then, pay the money into court, as it were, and at the end of two years he should he fully indemni- fied for any loss he might prove. He called upon their lordships to look to Antigua and the Bermudas for proof that the free ne- gro worked well, and that no loss was occasioned to the plant- ers or their property by the granting of emancipation. But it was said that there was a difference between the cases of Anti- gua and other colonies, such as Jamaica, and it was urged that while the negroes of the former, from the smallness and barren- ness of the place, would be forced into work, that in the latter they would run away, and take refuge in the woods. Now, he asked, why should the negro run away from his work, on being made free, more than during the continuance of his apprentice- ship 1 Why, again, should it be supposed that on the first of August, 1840, the emancipated negroes should have less inclina- tion to betake themselves to the woods than in 1838 7 If there was a risk of the slaves running to the woods in 1838, that risk would be increased and not diminished during the intermediate period up to 1840, by the treatment they were receiving from their masters, and the deferring of their hopes. My lords, (continued the noble lord,) I have now to say a few words upon the treatment which the slaves have received during the past three years of their apprenticeship, and which, it is al- leged, during the next two years is to make them fitted for ab- solute emancipation. My lords, I am prepared to show that in most respects the treatment the slaves have received since 1834 is no better, and in many others more unjust and worse than it ever was in the time of absolute slavery. It is true that the use of the cart-whip as a stimulus to labor has been abolished. This, I admit, is a great and most satisfactory improvement; but, in every other particular, the state of the slave, I am prepared to show, is not improved, and, in many respects, it is materially worse. First, with regard to the article of food, 1 will compare the Jamaica prison allowance with that allotted to the appren- ticed negroes in other colonies. In the Jamaica prison the al- lowance of rice is 14 pints a week to each person. I have no return of the allowance to the indentured apprentice in Jamaica, but I believe it is little over this; but in BarbAdos and the Lee- APPENDIX. 389 ward Islands, it is much under. In Barbados, instead of receiv- ing the Jamaica prison allowance of 14 pints a week, the ap- prenticed negro received but 10 pints; while in the Leeward Islands he had but 8 pints. In the crown colonies, before 1834, the slave received 21 pints of rice : now the apprentice gets but 10; so that in the material article, food, no improvement in the condition of the negro was observable. Then, with regard to time, it is obviously of the utmost importance that the appren- tice should have at least two holidays and a half a week—the Sabbath for religious worship and instruction, the Saturday to attend the markets, and half of Friday to work in his own gar- den. The act of emancipation specified 45 hours a week as the period the apprentice was to work for his master, but the mas- ter so contrived matters as in most instances to make the 45 hours the law allotted him, run into the apprentice's half of Friday, and even in some cases into the Saturday. The planter invariably counted the time from the moment that the slave commented his work; and as it often occurs that his residence was on the border of the estate, he may have to walk five or six miles to get to the place he has to work. This was a point which he was sure their lordships would agree with him in thinking required alteration. The next topic to which I shall advert, relates to the admin- istration of justice; and this large and important subject I can- not pass over without a word to remind your lordships how little safe it is, how little deserving the name of just, or any thing like just, that where you have two classes you should separate them into conflicting parties, until they become so exasperated in their resentment as scarcely to regard each other as brethren of the same species; and that you should place all the adminis- tration of justice in the hands of one dominant class, whose prin- ciples, whose passions, whose interests, are all likely to be pre- ferred by the judges when they presume to sit where you have placed them on the judgment seat. The chief and puisne judges are raised to their situations from amongst the class which in- cludes the white men and planters. But, worse than that, the jurors are taken from the same privileged bodies; jurors, who are to assess civil damages in actions for injuries done to the 33» APPENDIX. 391 case of the negro, and which condemns offences slightly visited, if visited at all, with punishment, when committed by other men, to the sentence that for his obdurate nature none can be too se- vere. (Hear, hear.) As if we had any one to blame but-our- selves—as if we had any right to visit on him that character if it were obdurate, those habits if they were insubordinate, that dishonest disposition if it did corrupt his character, all of which I deny, and which experience proves to be contrary to the fact and truth; but even if these statements were all truth instead of being foully slanderous and absolutely false, we, of all men, have ourselves to blame, ourselves to tax, and ourselves to punish, at least for the self-abasement, for we have been the very causes of corrupting the negro character. (Cheers.) If some capricious despot, in his career of ordinary tyranny, were to tax his imagination to produce something more mon- strous and unnatural than himself, and were to place a dove amongst vultures, or engraft a thorn on the olive tree, much as we should marvel at the caprice, we should be still more as- tounded at the expectation, which exceeds even a tyrant's pro- verbial unreasonableness, that he should gather grapes from the thorn, or that the dove should be habituated to a thirst for blood. Yet that is the caprice, that is the unreasonable, the foul, the gross, the monstrous, the outrageous, incredible injustice of which we are hourly guilty towards the whole unhappy race of negroes. (Cheers.) My lords, we fill up the measure of injustice by severely executing laws badly conceived in a still more atrocious and crnel spirit. The whole punishments smell of blood. (Hear, hear.) If the treadmill stop in consequence of the languid limbs and exhausted frames of the victims, within a minute the lash resounds through the building—if the stones which they are set to break be not broken by limbs scarred, and marred, and whaled, they are summoned by thee rack of the whip to their toilsome task! I myself have heard, within the last three hours, from a person who was an eyewitness of the appalling and disgusting fact, that a leper was introduced amongst the negroes; and in pausing let me remark, that in private houses or hospitals, no more care has been taken to se- parate those who are stricken with infections diseases from the 392 APPENDIX. sound portioD, any more than to furnish food to those in prison who are compelled, from the unheard of, the paltry, the misera- ble disposition to treat with cruelty the victims of a prison, to go out and gather their own food,—a thing which I believe even the tyrant of Siberia does not commit. Yet in that prison, where blood flows profusely, and the limbs of those human beings are subjected to perpetual torture, the frightful, the nauseous, the disgusting—except that all other feelings are lost in pity towards the victim and indignation against the oppressor—sight was presented of a leper, scarred from the eruptions of disease on his legs and previous mistreatment, whaled again and again, and his blood again made to flow from the jailer's lash. I have told your lordships how bills have been thrown out for murdering the negroes. But a man had a bill presented for this offence: a petition was preferred, and by a white man. Yes, a white man who had dared, under feelings of excited indignation, to com. plain to the regularly constituted authorities, instead of receiving for his gallant conduct the thanks of the community, had a bill found which was presentedagainsthim as a nuisance. I have, within the last two hours, amid the new mass of papers laid be- before your lordships within the last forty-eight hours, culled a sample which, I believe, represents the whole odious mass. Eleven females have been flogged, starved, lashed, attached to the treadmill, and compelled to work until nature could no longer endure their sufferings. At the moment when the wretched victims were about to fall off-—when they could no longer bring down the mechanism and continue the movement, they were suspended by their arms, and at each revolution of the wheel received new wounds on their members, until, in the language of that law so grossly outraged in their persons, they "languished and died." Ask you if a crime of this murderous nature went unvisited, and if no inquiry was made respecting its circumstances? The forms of justice were observed; the hand- maid was present, but the sacred mistress was far away. .A coroner's inquest was called; for the laws decreed that no such injuries should take place without having an inquiry instituted. Eleven inquisitions were held, eleven inquiries were made, eleven verdicts were returned. For murder? Manslaughter 1 APPENDIX. 393 Misconduct? No; out that they died "by the visitation of God." A lie—a perjury—a blasphemy! The visitation of God! Yes, for of the visitations of the Divine being by which the in- scrutable purposes of his will are mysteriously worked out, one of the most mysterious is the power which, from time to time, is allowed by him to be exercised by the wicked for the torment of the innocent. (Cheers.) But of those visitations prescribed by Divine Providence, there is one yet more inscrutable, for which it is still more difficult to affix a reason, and that is, when heaven rolls down on this earth the judgment, not of scorpions, or the plague of pestilence, or famine, or war—but incompara- bly the worse plague, the worser judgment, of the injustice of judges who become betrayers of the law—perjured, wicked men, who abuse the law which they are sworn to adminis- ter, in order to gratify their own foul passions, to take the part of the wrong-doer against his victim, and to forswear them- selves on God's gospel, in order that justice may not be done. * * * My lords, I entirely concur in what was formerly said by Mr. Burke, and afterwards repeated by Mr. Canning, that while the making of laws was confined to the owners of slaves, nothing they did was ever found real or effectual. And when, perchance, any thing was accomplished, it had not, as Mr. Burke said, "an executive principle." But, when they find you determined to do your duty, it is proved, by the example which they have given in passing the Apprenticeship Amend- ment Act, that they will even outstrip you to prevent your in- terference with them. * * * Place the negroes on the same footing with other men, and give them the uncontrolled power over their time and labor, and it will become the interest of the planter, as well as the rest of the community, to treat the negro well, for their comfort and happiness depend on his industry and good behavior. It is a consequence perfectly clear, notwith- standing former distinctions, notwithstanding the difference of color and the variety of race in that population, the negro and the West Indian will, in a very few generations—when the clank of his chain is no longer heard, when the oppression of the master can vex no more, when equal rights are enjoyed by all, and all have a common interest in the general prosperity—be 394 APPENDIX. impressed with a sense of their having an equal share in the promotion of the public welfare; nay, that social improvement, the progress of knowledge, civility, and even refinement itself, will proceed as rapidly and diffuse itself as universally in the islands of the Western Ocean as in any part of her Majesty's dominions. * * * I see no danger in the immediate emancipation of the negro; I see no possible injury in terminating the apprenticeship (which we now have found should never have been adopted,) and in causing it to cease for slaves previous to August, 1838, at that date, as those subsequent to that date must in that case be ex- empt. * * * I regard the freedom of the negro as accom- plished and sure. Why! Because it is his right—because he has shown himself fit for it—because a pretext or a shadow of a pretext can no longer be devised for withholding that right from its possessor. I know that all men now take a part in the question, and that they will no longer bear to be imposed upon now they are well informed. My reliance is firm and unflinch- ing upon the great change which I have witnessed—the educa- tion of the people unfettered by party or by sect—from the be- ginning of its progress, I may say from the hour of its birth. Yes; it was not for a humble man like me to assist at royal births with the illustrious prince who condescended to grace the pageant of this opening session, or the great captain and states- man in whose presence I now am proud to speak. But with that illustrious prince, and with the father of the Q,ueen, I as- sisted at that other birth, more conspicuous still. With them, and with the lord of the house of Russel, I watched over its cradle—I marked its growth—I rejoiced in its strength—I witnessed its maturity—I have been spared to see it ascend the very height of supreme power—directing the councils of the state—accelerating every great improvement—uniting itself with every good work—propping honorable and uieful institu- tions—extirpating abuses in all our institutions—passing the bounds of our dominion, and in (he new world, as in the old, proclaiming that freedom is the birthright of man—that distinc- tion of color gives no title to oppression—that the chains now loosened must be struck off, and even the marks they have left APPENDIX. 395 effaced by the same eternal law of our nature which makes na- tions the masters of their own destiny, and which in Europe has caused every tyrant's throne to quake. But they need feel no alarm at the progress of right who defend a limited monarchy and support their popular institutions—who place their chiefest pride, not in ruling over slaves, be they white or he they black —not in protecting the oppressor, but in wearing a constitutional crown, in holding the sword of justice with the hand of mercy, in being the first citizen of a country whose air is too pure for slavery to breathe, and on whose shores, if the captive's foot but touch, his fetters of themselves fall off. (Cheers.) To the re- sistless progress of this great principle I look with a confidence which nothing can shake; it makes all improvement certain— it makes all change safe which it produces; for none can be brought about, unless all has been accomplished in a cautious and salutary spirit. So now the fulness of time is come ; for our duty being at length discharged to the African captive, I have demonstrated to you that every thing is ordered—every previous step taken—all safe, by experience shown to be safe, for the long-desired consummation. The time has come—the trial has been made—the hour is striking: you have no longer a pretext for hesitation, or faltering, or delay. The slave has shown, by four years' blameless behavior and devotion, un- surpassed by any English peasant, to the pursuits of peace- ful industry, that he is as fit for his freedom as any lord whom I now address. I demand his rights—I demand his liberty without stint, in the name of justice and of law—in the name of reason—in the name of God, who has given you no right to work injustice. I demand that your brother be no longer trampled upon as your slave. (Hear, hear.) I make my appeal to the Commons, who represent the free people of England; and I require at their hands the performance tf that condition for which they paid so enormous a price—mav. condi- tion which all their constituents are in breathless anxiety to see fulfilled! I appeal to this house—the hereditary judges of the first tribunal in the world—to you I appeal for justice. Patrons of all the arts that humanize mankind, under your protection I place humanity herself! To the merciful Sovereign of a free 396 APPENDIX. people 1 call aloud for mercy to the hundreds of thousands m whose behalf, half a million of their Christian sisters have cried aloud, that their cry may not have risen in vain. But first I turn my eye to the throne of all justice, and devoutly humblmg myself before Him who is of purer eyes than to behold any longer such vast iniquities—I implore that the curse over our heads of unjust oppression be averted from us—that your hearts may be turned to mercy—and that over all the earth His will may at length be done! 398 INDEX. Apprenticeship, ill working of, 259, 339. "modified slavery, 259. "no preparation for freedom, 260. "operation of, 256. "opinion of, in Antigua, 43. "Barbadoes, 170, 195, 197. "Jamaica, 304, 305. "system, 253. "tendency to exasperate slaves, 262. "testimony concerning, 264. "vexatious, 259, 339. v' vicious, 329. "working of, in Barbadoes, 256. "" Demerara, 188. "" Jamaica, 338. "Windward Islands, 264. Apprentices, interview with, 311. "liberated, 209. "morals of, 363, 369. "trials of, 211, 334. "valuation of, in Jamaica, 372. "willing to work, 203, 364. Apprentice's work compared with slaves, 233. Aptness of Negroes, 223. Arbitrary power dies hard, 318. Archdeacon of Antigua, 26. ""Barbadoes, 171. Aristocracy of Antigua, 26. Armstrong, H. 30. Arrival at Antigua, 21. Ashby, Colonel, 193. Assembly, Member of, 23, 34. "Speaker of, 74. Associations, Missionary, 87. Athill, Mr. 54. Atrocities by Magistrates, 339. ""Masters, 339. Attachment to home, 145. Attendance on Church, 24,299, 313, 369. Attorney general of Jamaica, 267 August, First of, 50, 206. B. Bad feeling between slaveholders and apprentices, 213. Baijer, Samuel O. 110. Baines, Major, 292. Banks, Rev. Mr. 65. Baptist Chapel, service in, 310. Baptist Missionaries, 272. Baptist Missionary, at Spanish Town, 336. Baptists in Jamaica, 271. Barbadoes, as it is, 239. "as it was, 239. "Bishop of, 221. . 'v custom-house returns, 371. "exports of, 372. "imports of, 371. Barber in Bridgetown, 237. Barbuda, 123. Barclay, Alexander, 300. Barnard, Samuel 43. Barrow, Colonel, 200. Bath, 294. Bazaar at Antigua, 54. Beast of burden, 28.' Bell, Dr. 186. Belle estate, 185, 199. Bell not tolled for colored persons, 162. "Belly 'blige 'em to work," 51. Belmore, Lord, 305. Belvidere estate, 290. Benefits of abolition, 203, 304. Benevolent institutions of An. tigua, 85. Bible society, 85. Bible society anniversary, 69. Bishop of Barbadoes, 221. Blackness and blood, 183. Black soldiers, 170. Black teacher, 223, 237. Blessings of abolition, 304. Blind colored man, 25. Blood and blackness, 183. Blue Mountain Valley, 290. Boatman, conversation with, 47. Boiling house, 56. INDEX. 401 Demerara, apprenticeship in, 188. Denominations, statistics of, 79. Design of the apprenticeship, 256. Desire for instruction, 299. Despot in convulsions, 318. Diminished crops, 351. Dinner at Mr. Harris', 226. ""the Governor's, 32. Dinner party at Lear's, 178. Dinner with a company of plan- ters, 202. Disabilities of colored people, 232, 277. Discussion, effect of, 163, 171. Discussions preceding emanci- pation, 163. Dispositionof colored people, 261: Distinction between serving and being property, 50. Distinction of color a bar to communion, 66. Distressed Females Friend's So- v ciety, 91. District A, station house, 210. District meeting, Wesleyan at . Antigua, 65. Disturbances, reason of, 362. Division of gangs, 39. Docility of the Negroes, 223. Domestic apprentices, 333. Dominica, 167, 264. Donations, religious, 80. Donovan's estate, 33. Downie, Captain, 119 Drax Hall, 201. Dress in Antigua, 26. Driver and Overseer, 29. Drought in Antigua, 22, 28, 40; 46, 49. Dublin Castle estate, 318. Duncan, Mr. 302. Dungeons in Antigua, 53. ""Barbadoes, 241. E. Economy of the negroes, 37i 150, 323 Edgecombe estate, 200. Editor of New Times, 232. Edmonson, Rev. Jonathan, 270. Education in Antigua, 92, 105. ""Barbadoes. 223. ""Jamaica, 273, 274, 337. ""of apprentices, 326. "Queries on, 99. ""Results of, 101. ""Statistics of, 273. Edwards, Colonel, 32, 111. Eldridge, R. B. 109. Elliot, Rev. Edward, 171. Emancipated, condition of, 105, 107. "more trust-worthy than slaves, 194, "slave, history of 209, 234. "slaves, 229. Emancipation changed the planter's views, 156. "discussion of restrained masters from cruelties, 171. "elevated slaves, 153. u enlivened business, 155, 284. "hostility to, 251. "immediate, 108. "motives of, in Antigua, 110. "raised the price of real estate, 155, 205. "weakened prejudice a- gainst color, 162,248,268. Emigrants from Europe, 317. "to Jamaica, 317 Employments of the colored people, 280. Encounter with mules, 319. English delegation, 160. English harbor, 52. English steamer, 258. Enrolment of colored militia, 118. Episcopal Church, service at 25. 221. 34* 402 INDEX. Episcopal Clergymen, interview with 22. Episcopalians, 79. Equitable hire of apprentices, 364. Escape of slaves from French islands, 167. Established church, 79. Estate hospital, 89. Estate on fire, 191. Estates visited, 317. Evils of apprenticeship through overseers, 332. Examination at Parham, 92. "" Willoughby Bay, 92, 97. 'v of8Parochial School, 93. "" Sabbath school, 222. v* "the consequences of emancipation, 353. Expectations in regard to 1838, and 1840, 176, 269, 308. Expense of apprenticeship com- pared with slavery, 177. ""free labor compared with slave labor, 48, 125. Explanation of terms, xiv. Exports of Jamaica for 53 years, 374, 375. Extravagance in dress, 26. Ferguson Dr., 34. Fidler Rev. Mr., 224. Field Females, 29. Filial affection in a negro girl, 300. Fines upon the planters, 201. Fire in the canes, 191. First of August, vii., 50, 206. Fitch's Creek estate, 30, 62. Flogging, 240, 258. Flogging machine, 298. Forbearance of Negroes, 245. Forten, James 239. Four and a half per cent tax, 111. Fraser Rev. Edward, 64. "Mrs., 65. Free children, 339, 356. Free church, 221. Freedom in Antigua, 105. Free labor least expensive, 125. Freeman Count, 291. Freemen more easily managed than slaves, 131. Free villages, 30. Frey's estate, 52. Friendly Societies, 88. Friendly Society, anniversary of, 41. Freight of American vessels, 114. Facts concerning Apprentice- ship, 108. » Slavery, 108. Fair of St. Johns', 54. Fairfield, 300. Favey Mr., 47. Fear of rebellion, 246. Feeding in Barbadoes, 243. Feeling intense of the negroes, 313. Females' Friend Society, 91. Females in the field, 29. Females, punishment of,330,391. Female travelling Merchant,323. Fences wanting in Antigua, 27. G. Galloway Mr., 203. Gangs, division of, 39. "in chains, 288, 292. Gardiner Rev. Mr., 271. Garling B., 75. General results of emancipation, 79. Geography of Antigua, 21. Gilbert, Rev. N., 22. Girl sold by her mother, 91. Girl's Own Book by Mrs. Child, 39. Girls sold for licentiousness, 82 Gittens, Rev. Mr., 186. INDEX. 403 Gnashings of Pro-slavery, 308. Golden Grove estate, 301. Good disposition of colored peo. pie, 261. Good, Mr., viii. Gordon Mr., 308. Governor of Antigua, 41. ""note to Kimball and Thome, 32. "Barbadoes, 23. "poisoned by turtle soup, 257. Grace Bay, 57. "Grandfather Jacob," 60. Gratitude of the Negroes, 149. Great ignorance before emanci- pation, 101. "Grecian Regale," 317. Green Castle estate, 43. Green Wall estate, 290. Grenada, 264. Grounds of Negroes, 324. Guadaloupe, 167. Guarda Costas, 167. "Gubner poisoned," 257. H. Half way tree, 325, Hall's Prospect Estate, 322. Hamilton, Captain, 203. "" testimony of 208. Hamilton, Cheney, 325. Hamilton, Rev. Mr., 230. Harrison, Colonel, 269. Harris, Thomas, 226. Harvey and Sturge, Messrs. 266 Harvey, Rev. Bennet, 22. Harvey's estate, 57. Hatley, Mr.. 52, 130. Hayes, W. R. ix. Head, the beast of burden, 28. Heroism of colored women, 339. Higginbothom, Ralph, 53, 122. ""testimony of, 158. Hill, Richard, 280. Hinkston, Samuel, 186. Hire of apprentices, 364. History of an emancipated slave, 209, 234. Holberton, Rev. Robert, 25. Holidays at Christmas, 36. "in Antigua, 36. Home, attachment of Negroes to, 145. Home, Rev. Mr., 70. "Horse," 190. Horseford, Paul, 32. Horton estate, 201. Hospitality of Antigua, 164. Hostility between master and apprentice, 213.' Hostility to Emancipation, 251. House of Correction, Andrews St., 286. ""Morant bay, 291. Howell, James, 38. Howell, Rev.Mr. of Jamaica,290. H. Rev. Mr. colored preacher, 67. Hurricane in Antigua, 125. Hymn sung at the anniversary in Antigua, 42. I. Ignorance before Emancipation, 101. Immediate Abolition, safety of, 31. Immediate Emancipation, re- sults of, vi., 164. ""toast to, 192. Immense change in the slaves' condition, 38, 109. Immoralities, 84. Imports and exports of Barba- does, 371,372. Improvement since emancipa- tion, 153, 370. Increase of crime not known, 364. Indolence of apprentices, 302. 404 INDEX. Indolence of whites, 249. Industry of apprentices, 204, 338. "of emancipated slaves, 233. "of negroes, 233. Inefficiency of whites, 249. Infanticide, 241. Infant schools in the country, 95. Influence of Missionaries over negroes, 59. Injustice of compensation to slaveholders, 387. Injustice of magistrates, 345. Inquest of the Coroner, 325, 392. Inscription on a rock, 191. Insolence, 306. Insolence of negroes diminished, 338. Instruction, desire for, 299. Insubordination, 307. Insurrection in Barbadoes in 1816, 245. Insurrections not feared in An- tigua, 48. ""Barba- does, 176. « 'Jamai- ca, 338. Intelligence of blacks 182. ""compared with that of whites, 223. Intemperance in Antigua, 84. Intense fueling of negroes, 313. Intermixture, 25, 65, 201, 221, 234,284,286. Internal improvements, 381. Interview with American Consul at Antigua, 53. » "at Jamaica, 269. "Attorney General of Ja- maica, 267. "Episcopal Clergymen,22. "Governor of Antigua, 41. ""Grandfather Jacob," 60. "Justice Hamilton, 203. "Member of Assembly, 23, 34. Interview with Missionaries, 298. ** Planters, 317. "Speaker of Assembly,49. "Superintendent of Wes- leyan Mission, 270. Introduction, iii. '* to second edition, vii. Invitation by the Governor of Antigua, 32. J. Jamaica, x., 266. Jamaica, Emigrants to, 317. Jamaica Prison, 124. Jamaica, scenery of, 266. Jamaica Watchman, 278. "" comments of, 376. Jarvis, Colonel, 32. Jarvis Estate, 38. Jobbing gang, 296. Jobs, 233. Jocken, Mr., 297. Jones, Mr., 214. Jones, Rev. Mr., 52, 189. Jones, T. Watkins, 346. Jordon, Edward, 278. trial of, 279. Jury of Inquest, 325.. Jury on the body of a negro wo- man, 392. Justice Bourne persecuted, 342. Justice Palmer suspended, 342. Justice's Court, 307. Justice's Office, 284. Juvenile Association, 44. Kimball, resolution concerning, 73. "death of, v. Kingdon, Rev. Mr., 310. Kingston, 266. Kingston Police Court, 284. Kingston schools, 272. Kirkland, Mr., 304. INDEX. 406 Labor, free and slave, 125. Lachrymal forebodings, 289. Lavicount's estate, 47. Law obeyed, 204. Law, respect for, 204. Laying corner stone of Wesley- an Chapel, 74. Lear's estate, 178. Legislature of Antigua, 124. Letter to a Special Magistrate, 347. License to marry, 248. Licentiousness, 82, 246 "daughters sold for, 82. Light-house, 249. "Limbos," 284. Local Magistrate, 289. Lock-up house at St. John's, 35. Lord Belmore's prophecy, 305. Lord's day, reverence for, 183, 338. Lord Sligo's administration, 328. Lucia, St., 264. Lyon, E. B., 361. Lyon's estate, 49. M. Machine for flogging, 298. Machinery, labor-saving 156. Magistrates, atrocities of, 339. character of, 258, 298, 348. "injustice of, 345. "partiality of, for slave- holders, 213. "provisions respecting, 253. "sympathy with mas. ters, 257. "views of, 357. Management of negroes, easy, 303. Managers, testimony of, 108. Manchioneal, 306. Mansion on the Kock, 44. Market in Kingston, 281. "St. John's, 35. Market people, 207. Markets on Sunday, 183. Maroons, 296. Marriage, 81, 82. Marriage increased, 81,215. Marriage of free colored people, 248. Marshall, Mr., 199. Martinique, 167. Masters, atrocities of, 339. Master's power over the appren- tice, 253, 255. Masters restrained from cruel- tics, 163. McCornock, Thomas, 302. McGregor, Sir Evan J. M., 169. Meal Daily Society, 90. Meeting of Wesleyan Missiona- ries, 65. Megass, 34. Member of Assembly, 23, 34. Members of Assembly, colored, 279. Merchants, colored, at Kingston, 281. Merchants, testimony of, 155. Message of Sir Lionel Smith, 349. Methodists persecuted by slave- holders, 224. Mico Charity Infant School, 299. "Middle wall of partition," 70. Millar's Estate, 27. « Sabbath at, 53. Missionaries, Baptist, 271. "influence over negroes, 59. _" interviews with Wes- leyan, 65. "resolutions of 72, 75. "views of, 66, 67. "Wesleyan, 298. Missionary Associations, 87. "Society, Wesleyan, 69. Mob, pro-slavery, in Barbadoes, 224. 406 INDEX. Modified Slavery, 259. Mohne, Mr. and Mrs., 58. Montscrrat, 66. Morality, 81. Morals, improvement of, 3G3, - 369. Morant Bay, 288. Moravian chapel, service at, 24. "Missionaries, testimony of, 48. "Missionary, 47. tt Mission at Barbadoes, 236. Moravians, 271. Moravian " Speaking," 50. "Station at Cedar Hall, 57. "" Grace Bay, 57. « " Newfield, 47. Morrish, Rev. Mr., 47. Mother sold her daughter, 91. Mount Wilton estate, 246. Mulatto Run estate, 307. Mules, encounter with 319. Mule travelling 319. Murder of a planter, 44, 246. Musgrave, Dr., 32. N. Negro girl, affection of?300. Negro grounds, 324. Negro patriarch, 42. Negro quarters, 305. Negroes, aptness to learn, 104. "confiding and docile, 205. » economy of, 37, 150, 323. "forbearance of, 245. "intense feeling of, 315. "provision grounds of, 324. Nevis, 70. Newby, Mr., 57. New Englander, 228. Newfield, Moravian station at,47. "visit to, 47. Newspaper at Kingston, 202. New Times, editor of, 232. Noble trait in the apprentices, 293. No man in his senses can defend slavery, 304. Nugent, Nicholas, 49, 74,109. Obstacles to free labor in Anti- gua, 63. Offences reported at the police stations, 139. Official communication from Justice Colthurst, 368. "Lyon, 361. "W. Anderson, of Jamaica, 367. Official cruelty, 347. Official returns of Exports, Bar- bados, 373. "" Imports, 371. Old school tyrant, 289. Opinions in Antigua in regard to Emancipation, 124. Opinions of the United States, 207. Opposition to Slavery in Jamai- ca, 341. i. >opressor punished, 318. U'Reily, Dowel, 267. Osborne, Mr., 278. Overseers, 320. Overseers, character of, 321, 325. Packer, Rev. Mr., 195, 222. Palmer, Justice, suspended, 342. Paper walls, 70. Parham, examination at, 92. Parish vestry, 285. Parliament, Brougham's speech in, 381. Parochial School, St. John, ex- amination of, 93. Parry, Archdeacon, 125. Partiality of Special Magistrates, 213. Party at Colliton Estate, 186. INDEX. 407 ' Party at Harris's, 227. "Lear's, 178. "Prescod's, 231. "the Governor's, 32. "Thome's, 230. Passage to Barbadoes, 166. Patriarch, negro, 41. Paul's St., Curate of, 221. Peaceableness of negro Tillages, 297. "of the change from slavery to freedom, 205. "the negro character,205. Pecuniary considerations favor abolition, 110. Perjury at trials of apprentices, 393. Persecution of colored people, 248. "of Methodists by slaveholders, 224. "of Special Justice Bourne, 342. Persons, security of by abolition, 119. Peter's Rock estate, 321. Philip's St., Rector of, 52, 186. Phillips, Rev. Mr., 336. Physician, testimony of, 34. Pigeot, Mr., 195. Plantain Garden River Valley, 300. Planter, death bed of, 183. Planters, company of, 32. "cruelty of, 294, 307. Planter, severe, 197. Planters fined, 201. "in Barbadoes, 227. "interviews with, 317. "testimony of, 198, 205. "views of, 317, Plough, 28. Poisoning a Governor by turtle soup, 257. Police Court, 284. "of Antigua, 107, "Officers, testimony of, 213. Police court of Kingston, 284. Reports, 136,137. "Rural, superin- tendent of, 144. Policy of colored people respect- ing prejudice, 235. Political condition of the eman- cipated, 107. Political considerations for aboli- tion, 110. Poor white families, 179. Population, colored, 226. Port Royal, 288. Practical operation of Appren- ticeship, 256. Prejudice, 247. Prejudice against color, 162. Prejudice against color weaken- ed, 162, 248, 268. "Prejudice Bell," 162. Prejudice in the churches, 248. Prejudice in the "limbos," 284, 285. Prejudice vincible, 235, 276 Preparation for freedom unne- cessary, 261. Presbyterians, Scotch, 272. Picscod, Mr., 227, 231. Pretended sickness, 39. Principal of Mico Charity School, testimony of, 299. Printing Office at Kingston, 282. Prison in Jamaica, 392. Promiscuous sitting in church, 25, 26. Property, security of, by aboli- tion, 123. Prophecy of Lord Belmorc, 305 Proprietor of Green Wall Estate, 290. Proprietor of Mount Wilton, 246 "testimony of, 426. Pro-slavery gnashings, 308. Pro-slavery pretences, 353. Providence of the emancipated, 151, 152. Provision grounds of negroes, 324. INDEX. 409 Scotland, James, letter from, 181. •Scotland, J. Jun., 62. Scotland's estate, 62. Security of persons, 118. "' property, 121. "restored, 332. "Seditious matter," 278. Self-emancipation, 904. Self-respect, 153. Selling daughters, 82. Service at Baptist chapel, 310. "Episcopal church, 25, 221. "Moravian chapel, 24, "Wesleyan chapel, 26, 226. Serving and property, distinc- tion between, 50. Shands, S., 110. Shiel, Mr., 32. Shrewsbury, Rev. Mr., 224. Sick-house, 39. Sickness, pretended, 39. Silver hill, 318. Slave-drivers gain by the aboli- tion of slavery, 387. Slaveholders, compensation to, unjust, 387. Slaveholders persecuted Metho- dists, 224. Slave labor dearer than free, 125. Slavery abolished by Christians. 66. Slavery, facts concerning, 231. Slaves, traffic in, 243. Slaves, treatment of, meliorated by discussion, 171. Sligo Lord, 328, 341. Sligo Lord, and Mr. Hill, 328. Sligo Lord, and Mr. Wright, 328. Smith, Sir Lionel, 349. Social equality, 65, 234. Social intercourse, 235. "" with Missiona- ries, 65. Societies, Benevolent, 85. "Friendly, 41. Society among Colored People, 41. "Bible in Antigua, 69,85. '' for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 108. "Missionary, Wesley- an, 69. Soldiers, Black, 170. Solicitor-General of Barbados, 203. Songs sung in the schools, 130. Spanishtown, 327. Spanishtown Telegraph, com- ments of, 379. Speaker of Assembly, Interview with, 49. "Speaking," Moravian, 50. Special Justice's Court, 307. Special Magistrates ,203. "" Testimony of, 204. Speech in British Parliament, by Brougham, 381. St. Andrew's House of Correc- tion, 286. Statements by Justice Ramsay, 334. by Mr. Reid, 272. Station-house, A, 210. Statistics of Antigua, 21. "Bible Society, 85. "Denominations, 79. "Education, 273. St. Christopher's, 264. St. Lucia, 264. Stock-keepers, 27. St. Paul's, Curate of, 221. St. Philip's, rector of, 52, 186. St. Thomas in the East, 288. Sturge and Harvey, Messrs. 266. St. Vincent's, 264. Subordination, 364. Sugar crop of Antigua, 21. "of Barbados, 187. Sugar cultivation hard for the slave, 192. Sugar MU1,184. Sunday Markets, 183. 35 410 INDEX. Supermtendent of Police, 130. '' Rural Police, Testimony of, 214. 4' Wesleyan Mis- sion. Barbados, 224. II u n Jamaica, 270. Superintendent's Report, 130. Suspension of Faithful Magis- trates, 342. Sympathy of magistrates with 'slave-drivers, 257. T. Tables by Mr. Reid, 273. Tabular view of crops in Jamai- ca, 374, 375. Task-work, 196. Tax of four-and-a-half percent., 111. Teacher, black, 97, 223. Teachers, 97, 105. Tee.totallers, 68. Telegraph, remarks of the, 379. Temperance Anniversary, 68. "in Antigua, 84. of Negroes, 289. Societies, 68, 88. Terror, reign of, 237, 238. Testimony concerning slavery and apprenticeship, 232. ""the mission of Thome & Kimball, 73. "of American Consul, 157. "of Clergymen, 202, 220. » of Governors, 23,170. "of Magistrates, 202. "of Managers, 38, 6S, 109. "of Missionaries, 202, 220. "of Mr. Cranstoun, 55. "of Physicians, 34. of Police Officers, 202. Testimony of Superintendent »f rural police, 214. Theft, decrease of, 176. Thibou Jarvis's estate, 38. Thomas, Mr., 186. Thome and Kimball's mission, testimony concerning, 73. Thome, resolution respecting. 73. Thompson, George, bust of, 160. Thomson, Thomas, 288. Thome, Mr., 227, 231. Thornton estate, 295. Thwaites, Charles, 99. Thwaites' answers to inquiries on education, 99- Tinson, Rev. Mr., 271. Toast to immediate emancipa- tion, 192. Tortola, 67. Tour through St. Thomas in the East, 288. "to Port Royal, 288. "St . Andrews, 288. "to the country, 288. "to the Windward, 184. Trade increased by emancipa- tion, 155, 284. Traffic in slaves, 243. Tranquillity at holidays, 47. Transition from slavery to free- dom, 50, 51. Treadmill, 292. Treatment of slaves meliorated by discussion, 171. Trials of Apprentices, 211, 334. ""perjury at, 393. Trinidad, 264. Trust-worthiness of negroes, 135, 194. B U. Umbrella offered to a negro by a planter, 75. INDEX 411 Union School, 275. Unwilling witness, 198. Vagrancy, 145. Valuations of Apprentices in Ja- maica, 372. Value of an Apprentice, 321. Vessels, American, 114. Vestry of a Parish, 286. Vexations of Apprenticeship, 259, 339. Viciousness of Apprenticeship, 329. View of crops in Jamaica, 374, 375. Views of Colored People, 359. "of Magistrates, 327. "of Missionaries, 357. "of Planters, 357. Villa estate, 53. Vincible, prejudice, 255, 276. Visitation of God, 393. Visit to Millar's estate, 27. "to Plantations, 317. "to the Archdeacon of Bar. bados, 171. "to the Governor of Anti- gua, 23. "to the Governor of Barba- dos, 169. Voluntary labor, 384. W. Wages, 364, 369. Wages, the stimulus of labor, 384. Walton, Rev. Mr., 66. Ward, Sir Henry, 224. Watchman, Jamaica, 278. ""remarks of the, 376. "Watch night," 31st of July, 1834, 115. • Watkins, Mr., 29. Weatherhill estate, 45. Weekly Court of Special Magis- trates, 307. Wesleyan Chapel, Antigua, 26. "" Bridgetown, 225. ."" corner-stone of, laid, 74. "" new, 74. "" service at, 26. 11 District meeting, 65. "Missionaries, inter- view with, 298. "Missionary Society, 69. ""testimony of, 290. "Mission, Superintend- ent of, Barbados, 224. "" Superintendent of, Jamaica, 270. Wesleyans in Antigua, 79. "in Barbados, 224. "in Jamaica, 271. Whip banished, 29. Whipping-machine, 298. Whipping-post, 35. White emigrants to Jamaica, 317. White families, 179. White lady, 304." Whites, indolence of, 249. "inefficiency of, 249. Wickham, Richard S., 143. Wilberforce, opinion of, 193, 252. Williamsfield estate, 308. Willis, George, 294. Willoughby Bay, examination at, 97. Windward Islands, 264. "tour to the, 184. Wolmer Free School, 273. Women abandon the Field, 198. "condition of, 153, 154. "flogging of, 330. Wooldridge, Rev. Mr., 270 412 ini.sx. Working of the Apprenticeship Working of the Apprenticeship in Barbados, 256. in the Windward Islands, 264. in Dcmarara, 188. Wright, Andrew, 290- "" "Wright, Elizur, interview with in Jamaica, 338. Lord Sligo, 328. THE NEW YOU PUBUC LIBRARY K» BEFEUMCB DEPAKTMEVT Jk -i«»» *L IT X0 ..tt S$& W"S. it"?'. *?■. *J»5*fr=Jta THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY REFERENCE DEPARTMENT This book is under no circumstances to be taken from the Building > ^.^gw^